Ryland Craze

Thanks to Phil and Glen for the comments, and for anyone else who has clicked the like button since I last said thank you.
 
Much to my surprise, the replacement parts for the missing stand parts arrived on Tuesday, so it took just 8 days for the mail from Spain to Austin, Tx.  I was a little unsure about what glue to use and finally got over to Home Depot today and bought some Loctite for Plastics glue.  It is two parts....you spread an "activator" on both surfaces, let that dry, then apply the glue to one surface and stick them together.  Seemed to work quite well and did not haze the acrylic.
 
Anyway, here are three more shots of the Camel on the stand provided in the kit.  In the bottom picture, you can see two of the three little cross pieces between the upright pieces of the stand.  Those are the pieces that were missing from the kit originally.
 

Indeed, it's very strange looking to almost anyone except the small niche of those who follow the sport of short track racing in the USA, particularly in the Eastern United States.
Thanks for your kind comment. 

Colorful

For me, it did start to move, but not not enough to start its cycle. I needed to push the flywheel to get momentum. I presume the initial movement was because the cylinder was at the start of its travel (at bottom of stroke), and needed external momentum to begin that cycle.

They sure are. 
 
Was a big surprise to me as the last two I bought for the school I work, were between £150 and £200, possibly. Certainly nowhere near £400. And let's be honest, they aren't great technical creations with their soldered joints and thin boiler jacket, faux chimney and rickety construction. This new one feels incredibly robust and 'sure' in its operation. 
 
If anyone wants a nice discount on this or any other model engine from EngineDIY, just use the voucher code: JAMESHATCH

Full Metal Beam Engine Steam Engine (RETROL)
EngineDIY
Catalogue # 33ED3487709
Available from EngineDIY for USD $299.99
 

 
A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newcomen around 1705 to remove water from mines in Cornwall. The efficiency of the engines was improved by engineers including James Watt, who added a separate condenser; Jonathan Hornblower and Arthur Woolf, who compounded the cylinders; and William McNaught, who devised a method of compounding an existing engine. Beam engines were first used to pump water out of mines or into canals but could be used to pump water to supplement the flow for a waterwheel powering a mill. They also could be used to power steam ships.

 
The first steam-powered ships used variants of the rotative beam engine. These marine steam engines – known as side-lever, grasshopper, crosshead, or 'walking beam', among others – all varied from the original land-based machines by locating the beam or beams in different positions to take up less room on board ship.
 
The kit

This steam engine kit comes in quite an anonymous and thick gauge cardboard box with absolutely no label! The box itself is reasonably heavy too, weighing in at just under 2kg. Lifting that lid off immediately shows the colour printed instruction sheets which are sat on a sheet of foam which protects the two trays of parts underneath.

This kit contains 84 parts, inclusive of screws etc. All parts are sat in foam cutouts which provide excellent protection for the assemblies and parts. I say assemblies, because I see this as more of a semi-kit in that a number of elements are pre-built, and the idea is to assemble these to the individual parts, which are all then mounted on a metal base.


A number of the parts are in plastic sleeves. These are the ones made from stainless steel, and are for building the boiler's mounting chassis,  and also the fuel/igniter tray. 

Work starts on mounting a number of parts to a metal stand-off frame which will eventually mount to the main plinth. This includes the piston mount/condensation block, and the column for the cross beam. Hex keys are provided for the bolts, as well as a spanner with various sized jaws for various nuts etc.



This assembly can now be mounted to the main plinth. This is done via a series of brass stand-offs. I'll also now fit the two fly wheel mounts.

All screws are tightened up except for those holding the brackets. I decided to make sure I align the drive shaft through them before properly tightening up.

This is the cross beam, and one of the number of pre-built assemblies in this model. This is composted of cast and turned brass, plus stainless steel. You can see the piston plunger on the right of the image.

This is now fitted to the column using a small grub screw to secure. I ddi apply a little lubricating oil into the piston chamber first and then made sure the beam would move freely, pulling the piston up and down. A separate sheet of instructions gives tips on how to achieve this. If not done correctly, this is about the only area which will cause enough friction to stop the engine from running freely. I found I needed to do a little adjustment of the base of the beam. That's why you can see an adjustment hole underneath this, in the main plinth. The idea is that once the piston is raised, it will drop into the piston cylinder due to gravity.

This drive arm is now lubricated and slid into the base of the piston block, and the two bearings are interred into the outside of each of the brackets. Notice the larger end isn't yet engaged into anything and is sat on the bracket simply for the photo opportunity!


You could say this is one of the main events...the fly wheel. This beautifully machines piece of aluminium will now be fitted between the two bearings, via that drive shaft. Flats are machined onto this so the grub screws have a proper surface to fasten to. 


The opposite side of the drive arm is now engaged into the drive shaft and a grub screw used to tighten up to the machined flat on the shaft. 

The drive wheel can now also be secured to the drive shaft via a grub screw. A small collar is used to help space the components.


This is the beam link which will connect the beam to the flywheel drive shaft. The brass fastener has a reverse screw thread which secures into the drive arm.


This beautiful little assembly is the centrifugal regulator. The lowest bolt needs to be removed from the unit and reattached from the underside of the plinth, along with the smaller bolt you can see here. Pushing the small brass linkage downwards will force the two balanced wheels outwards. This is what will happen when pressure is pushed through the brass block that you can see midway down the assembly.

A small length of silicone tube is used to link the centrifugal regulator to the condensate box/piston chamber.

Lastly, for this section, a silicone drive belt is applied between the centrifugal regulator and the fly wheel.

The boiler sits atop a stainless housing which doubles as the heat box for the boiler. The first side is fitted, via two brass shafts which also help reinforce the assembly, as well as create mounting points for the boiler securing straps.



The box is now complete, with the scalloped side towards the top, and the square cutout as shown. The latter is to accommodate the fuel tray.

This really is a very nice piece of engineering, mostly from machined brass. I remember the boilers from the Mamod steam engines, and I can vouch that there are flimsier than this, and that had soldered joints. This is a far superior unit. 

The boiler is now fitted and secured. The protruding outlet pipe is connected to the centrifugal regulator via a length of silicone tubing.

The steam engine itself is now complete.




These parts assemble to create the fuel tray. This contains a tray into which the fuel (methylated spirits, IDA etc) will be poured. The 'wick' units which create a chamber from where the fuel vapours emit, are then plugged into the tray and then the cap is fitted. This creates a shield which closes off the fuel chamber from the outside world. 




The underside of the piston block has that condensation pipe. This little tray will sit underneath that whilst in operation. 

Instructions
These are quite sparse in text, with quite a lot of Chinese present, but the illustrations themselves are enough to easily build this steam engine. 





 
With the engine complete, we can now give it a test. First, the safety valve needs to be unscrewed and then water added. I do this with a syringe. First you need to open the valve at the front of the boiler, or the water will just leak from the injection point, as you add it. I found that about 60ml of water was enough for this. I also added about 10ml to 12ml of methylated spirits to the fuel tray and then lit the burner. The boiler took just a few minutes to come to pressure. The flywheel began to rotate slowly, so I gave it a gentle push and off it went!


 
 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
Firstly, I have to say that this is a delightful little steam engine that is both easy to understand and build. This took me a little over 90 minutes to build, inclusive of taking the unedited photos. The quality of parts really is excellent, which is what you need when you are dabbling with a miniature boiler unit and the pressures within. The overall feel of the kit and the finished model is one of quality. All I would suggest is adding a little lube in areas such as the piston and gearing in the centrifugal regulator etc. When you compare the beautiful finished model here, compared with the current Mamod models which are pre-built and cost over a £100 more than this, then I consider this to be excellent value for money. It will also make a wonderful cabinet display piece too, which is exactly where mine will be heading. 
 
My sincere thanks to EngineDIY for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. To buy direct, click the link in the header of this topic.
 
 
 

It is time to start rigging the mast.  Some lines are served with an additional layer of line wrapped around them to protect them wherever they would be at risk of damage from rubbing.  On this model, the pendant of tackles, the foremost shroud, the other shrouds above the catharpins and the jeer block strop are served.  Because this is a cross-section, the main and back stays will not be installed but they would also be served.  Standing rigging is protected from water damage with a tar-like compound.  This resulted in a dark brown appearance to the lines.  The running rigging was not protected and so was a natural hemp color.  On this model, the burton pendants and shrouds are standing rigging;  everything else is running rigging
 
Rope sizes are calculated from the diameter of the mast.  The kit contains a table with the dimensions for the various ropes, based on the diameter of the mast.  To measure the diameter of the line, I wrap it around a dowel twenty times, measure the width of the wrapping and divide by twenty.  This is much more accurate than  trying to measure an individual line. The first rope to go over the masthead is the pendant of tackles.  On the topmast, this line is referred to as the burton pendant.  This rope is completely served, and has a thimble on one end.  The other end is spliced to its opposite, resulting in the rope in the diagram below.  Where the red and blue lines meet are splices.  The pendants extend to approximately two feet below the hounds.  They were used with a tackle to raise and lower heavy weights.

To properly rig a model there is no substitute for the appearance of a served line.  I use 6-0 fly tying thread, which can be purchased at a sporting goods store or online.  I start by running thread, from left to right in this case, into the depression between the rope strands (worming), smoothing its surface (the yellow areas seen in the drawing below.  Then I serve the rope from right to left. 

I find it easier to serve short segments of rope, such as this, on the same piece of rope and then cut them apart.  I served the rope, leaving approximately six inches of serving thread for the splices (red circles).

Then I made a diagonal cut, following the lay of the rope ¼” away from the end of the serving.  The unserved line was held against the other line where the splice would go and I wrapped the two lines with the left-over serving thread “splicing” them together.  I continued the wrapping a few more twists to smooth out the transition and tied it off.  A tiny bit of dilute glue held everything together. The pendant was put over the mast head and onto the bolsters.  It was marked on each leg, two feet below the hounds and removed from the mast.  I used blackened 1/16” ID brass tubing for my thimbles.  The mark was placed on the side of the thimble and the pendant was wrapped around it.  For simplicity I used a simple seizing to secure the thimble and put it back on the mast.

 
 
 
 

No filler blocks required. There are 17 bulkheads with a space of around 13mm between each one. Skeletal assembly is rock solid and virtually impossible to have the banana keels of old.

Here’s a couple things I’ve made while waiting for the kit to arrive.

Crosscut jig, pre-bought ones are never as good.

 
And an adjustable jig to hold the false keel and keep it straight. 

Sanding done (mostly) and stern veneers applied. You can tell from the photo that some additional minor sanding and filling will be needed to achieve the final stern shape.
 

I did a variety of things over the last week.  I built the jib outhaul block (shown in the painfully enlarged photo below . . . warts and all, haha).  Mike (stuntflyer) has an excellent tutorial for that on his Cheerful build, so I followed that.  I then made a card stock mock up of the starboard side seat.  I used the card stock templates as a pattern to cut out the parts.  As others have said this is a bit finicky.  I have a feeling the second one will be more of a challenge as I try to get it to match the first.
 
I spent some time this week reading ahead in Chuck's monograph chapters to get a list of the last little bits I need to finish the build.  I ordered some Albion Alloys brass tube.  I also messaged Chuck, Mike, and Glenn (glbarlow) with questions about the thread type/size/color they used with Chuck's scale rope for seizing and serving.  Today I went on a region wide road trip to fly fishing shops and fabric stores.  Most of my dark brown rope is Chuck's old style rope, other than the .012" new Ultra for rat lines (so I don't need thread for seizing or serving the brown Ultra rope).  My tan rope is a mix of his old rope and the new Ultra rope.  These tan colors are close enough in shade to mix on the model, but I wanted thread for seizing that matched each shade.  The photos below are color corrected to be as close to accurate as I could possibly get the images.  The Gutermann thread is for most serving and seizing.  The smaller diameter UNI-Thread fly tying thread is for tiny serving and seizing.
 
Here's what I came up with based on what I could find locally.
Using with Syren old brown rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 593 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Dark Brown
Using with Syren old tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 512 - UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
Using with Syren new Ultra tan rope - Gutermann 50wt CA02776 Polyester thread Color 509 - also UNI-Thread 72D 8/0W Tan
 
Also, as Chuck had answered, the thread he uses for seizing and serving his new Ultra rope is as follows (I researched what actual size/diameter it is in wt and tex).
Ultra Brown rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 682 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
Ultra Tan rope - Gutermann Mara 150 50wt/20Tex  Color 263 or for smaller uses Mara 220 77wt/13Tex
This is hard to find in the US, so Chuck recommended this place: https://www.williamgee.co.uk/product-tag/mara/
 
Erik
 

Looks like its sold to another member on the forum !  If anything changes I will let you know

Hi Group,
Selling my first table top modeling saw - the Preac.  It works great, especially for those wanting to get into scratch building/kit bashing.  In fact I built my entire scratch build Chucks Confederacy using it.  Please PM me if interested.  I use my Byrnes saw exclusively, and this one is collecting dust.  It could use a good home.

Work has finally started on cleaning, restoring and completing our model of the 'Duchess'. Unfortunately, the cleaning process has revealed some damage on the model - it looks like an object has been dropped across the well deck, with the gangway and the boat skids damaged (both removed at the moment) and damage to the topgallant railing on both sides - a bit of extra work I don't really need! Cleaning has also revealed some unfinished areas on the deck - holes where fittings have been removed and the holes left unplugged. I'll simply fill those as I work my way along the model completing it.  She also has all four lower masts fixed. I would have preferred them loose, as the lower fore stays of the after three masts secure to the deck right bedside the masts ahead of them, so it will be pretty tight getting the stays secured when i get that far.
 The images below show the model as she is now, except that by the time I left this afternoon more cleaning had been done.  I hope to complete the cleaning next time i'm at the museum and acrually start some work on her.
 
John
 
The model on her work table secured inside her display case - sorry about all the reflections, but there are large picture windows to the right.

 
The 'Duchess' out of her case and ready to work on.

 
Looking down on the decks. At this stage I'd finished cleaning the forecastle; down all but one cleaning run on the well deck and swept the dust off the poop.
 
 

 
 

Scratch that, apparently it's awful. 
 
 

So one of the issues I've been wondering about is if I use one of the engines for a display then I will have one missing for the plane. 
 
I've found this though...
 

 
https://www.artscale.eu/132-engine-r2600-1
 
So I could build it up along with the 2 kit engines and then decide which I should display, assuming this would go in to the kit of course. Decisions....
 
 
 

Hello, fellow modelers.
Review of the model "Packard Twelve", in 35 scale, from "ICM".
Let's look at the box, look inside and explore the contents.
Check out the channel, watch the video, subscribe, and give us some likes.
Thank you.
 
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Dear all,
a short update with nothing exciting, but I needed to complete some necessary activities in preparation for closing the fuselage halves. One very tedious task was to address the many ejector pin marks on the fuselage inner sides. Then, the interior was furnished and some 'fantasy' cabling was added:

The two halves are now ready to receive some black paint before the interior green. Meanwhile, I finished to weather the bomb bay with the application of some black and brown Tamiya panel liner:

It turned out quite OK when inside the fuselage, although I must say that little of it will be seen because it will be covered by the structures that will held the bombs and half of it will be hidden by the doors of the cannons bay:

In the nose, I am replacing the Browning machine guns muzzles with the very nice Master brass additions:

I will glue them in place later on, probably after the application of the camouflage. I am not going to detail the gun bay and probably I will close this compartment after having glued the muzzle definitively in place. Finally, I am posting a picture of the completed cockpit tested inside the fuselage to show how much of it will be visible:

That is all for now, thanks for following,
Dan

Channels
 
Initial progress on channels, a really fun opportunity to cut away some of that moulding I so lovingly added a long time ago.

But before starting that I decided to bite the bullet to remove and replace the port lids. As I’ve mentioned a few times I have broken and glued back these lids too many times to count, all of course due to carelessness. It took some delicate work to remove them and the hinges without damaging the hull, especially the friezes.
 
This time I used the wider, thicker hinges @Chuck offers. Unlike I failed to do before I kept these movable rather than fixed.  I can now display these more like the right most port. My lesson learned is to install the port with both ends of the hinge on the lid, not one part on the hull and the other on the lid then threading the wire to connect them. This time I was able to keep the hinge tight enough to hold position. My first effort ended up with ‘floppy’ lids so I had to glue them into a fixed position, and by consequence made them vulnerable to my careless movements.
 
Though it took several days it was a good call to take this step back and get a better result. I’m happy to report the friezes all survived as did my sanity.

Well the friezes survived around the ports anyway.  Cutting away moulding the exact width and shape needed for the channels was pucker time, go slow, measure once, twice, three times before cutting, did I mention go slow. @FrankWouts was wise to factor this in at the time he installed his moulding, wish I’d thought of that.
 
I did remove and replace the frieze below the fore channel, it didn't prove necessary for the main and mizzen.

The beauty of this forum is the willingness to share means and methods. Something I always try to do and certainly take advantage of myself. This surgical tool, for podiatry I think, is absolutely perfect. My thanks to @Blue Ensign for sharing it. Two choices for replaceable blades: The wider chisel blade is thin, sharp and the perfect width for pushing through the moulding, keeping a clean edge on the remaining moulding either side. The smaller blade that opens up the slot for the strap perfectly. I have used this tool repeatedly for many varied purposes when my even my mini-Veritas chisels (@DelF) prove to large. A multi purpose sharp, light tool for model work. I have not yet tried them on my feet.
 
I have a wood chisel set for my lathe that until now were a bit too large to be useful. However one of those with a tight, sharp curved edge was perfect to notch and shape the moulding to match the channel. You can see the wood handle in the background, I failed to include it in the photo.
 
The tall height gauge, courtesy of @Stuntflyer, was very helpful in keeping the channels level with the waterline, I added the bubble level to make sure it was first level itself.  I need a better platform for it than a bowl, but it does the job. The tumblehome of the hull distorts what level seems just looking at it, the gauge brings it to actual level.

Long ago I acquired ebony deadeyes I wanted to use, however the center diameter of these proved too large for Chuck’s nice acrylic strops. So after splitting a few to learn that I went to Chuck’s make your own 5mm and 6mm versions. I still had a desire to go with ebony, but didn’t like my result just painting them black so I went with this ebony wood dye. With the thickness of water it takes 4 coats (and maybe still one more) to get them there, I like the  resulting look. It’s hard to tell in the photos but the boxwood grain still shows through and they look more “natural,” not perfectly black. The little paint stand is a strip of wood with the mill cutting a groove its length.
 
I didn’t take any photos of constructing the actual channels. Not much to it, just removing char, minimal shaping, and gluing together the three layers, and of course multiple coats of WOP.



So here where it stands. I’m going to wait until I have all the 5 and 6 mm deadeyes finished and both port and starboard channels installed before finishing these (including straightening the smiling faces) to ensure uniformity. Not too much to go on chapter 11 after that, I’ve been working on the gangways, posts and ladders in parallel to the channels so it's fitting and mounting them. I’m of mixed thoughts on the swivel guns - so decision deferred for now.
 
As always thanks for stopping by - I appreciate your taking the time with your likes and comments.

You could stop right here and it would be an amazing model.
 

That is kind of difficult to do with planking.  The planking needs to be sanded. afterwards to be neat and smooth and it will only get wrecked.   At least for me.  Most items are indeed painted beforehand but I just dont see how you can do it with bulwark planking and have nice neat planking.

What a difference some paint makes.   Bulwarks are painted however as usual, I will be applying many more thin coats over the next few weeks as I progress.   
 
Before and after...
 

 

If you really wanted to remove the sharpie, plain ‘ole rubbing alcohol will quickly and easily remove the ink.
 
Best Regards …. Rick

Actually it survived without a scratch.   I was very lucky.   But yes they clearly dont know how to handle a ship model.   I wonder if Ed Harris also autographed an original Jackson Pollock with a sharpie during that film....LOL.  Not that you would be able to tell.
 
 

Not for sale, LOL...
 
Interestingly enough,  there were about eight or nine models that I placed on the set.   Several of mine and many others from members of my local Ship Model Society of New Jersey club.   Someone was so taken by one of the models  that they bought it.   And for a very handsome sum.  I have no idea who.   It was an anonymous sale through the production studio.  So it was a success for many model ship modelers I know.   Maybe if it goes well and enough ship model content isnt cut from the final movie, it will also encourage a few to give it a try.   You never know!!!