Keith_W

This Mil Mi-24 helicopter is equally impressive. It is offered for 18,000 Euros from Helicrazy: http://www.helicrazy.com/crbst_86.html
 
That's right, you can buy a BMW with that kind of money. It is powered by a jet turbine engine. For those who don't know, real helicopters are not powered by piston engines because they generate too much vibration. Instead, a jet engine blows into a turbine, which spins the crankshaft and thus the rotor via a transmission. Most nitro powered helis use 2 stroke piston engines because of the sheer cost of manufacturing a scale miniature of a jet turbine. But if you want realism, a jet turbine is the only way.
 
Need to be convinced? Watch this video:
 

OK I know this is a ship model forum but surely most of us can appreciate other models as well
 
I thought I would post a link to this site: http://www.armortek.co.uk/index.html
 
Armortek makes 1/6 scale model tanks, fabricated from metal. Unfortunately, their production goes in runs, so once a kit is out of production, it is out of production. They are currently selling a British Mk. IV WW1 tank. Very impressive, but not as impressive as this:
 

 
... a 1/6 scale King Tiger, measuring 1.2m long and weighing 60kg. Here is a video of it in action. Note the realistic engine sound (which is computer controlled and responds to revs):
 

This Mil Mi-24 helicopter is equally impressive. It is offered for 18,000 Euros from Helicrazy: http://www.helicrazy.com/crbst_86.html
 
That's right, you can buy a BMW with that kind of money. It is powered by a jet turbine engine. For those who don't know, real helicopters are not powered by piston engines because they generate too much vibration. Instead, a jet engine blows into a turbine, which spins the crankshaft and thus the rotor via a transmission. Most nitro powered helis use 2 stroke piston engines because of the sheer cost of manufacturing a scale miniature of a jet turbine. But if you want realism, a jet turbine is the only way.
 
Need to be convinced? Watch this video:
 

OK I know this is a ship model forum but surely most of us can appreciate other models as well
 
I thought I would post a link to this site: http://www.armortek.co.uk/index.html
 
Armortek makes 1/6 scale model tanks, fabricated from metal. Unfortunately, their production goes in runs, so once a kit is out of production, it is out of production. They are currently selling a British Mk. IV WW1 tank. Very impressive, but not as impressive as this:
 

 
... a 1/6 scale King Tiger, measuring 1.2m long and weighing 60kg. Here is a video of it in action. Note the realistic engine sound (which is computer controlled and responds to revs):
 

The Sheer Clamps have been installed and the Thwart Risers are clamped in place for forming. They will be installed tomorrow. No Treenails on this one for me. At this stage in my building experience I just want to get one under my belt. As I learn more and gain more confidence I will strive for more detail. Right now it's just learning the basics. I have to say that this is a whole lot more fun for me than plastic. 
 

 
Al D.

Yes that is right, Capt. Old Baltic and Golden Teak in a 50:50 ratio. I used a syringe to accurately measure the ratios and mixed it up in a spare container with a cap that fits tight. Those little bottles that dried herbs come in are fantastic for this.
 
Don't worry about your toothpicks. When you restain them after sanding, they present an end grain and absorb much more stain than the wood around it. It will darken up nicely, I assure you.

No Al, the football we speak off is Aussie Rules Football. It's played with an oval ball like rugby. Unlike rugby (or American football) with their frequent pauses, Aussie Rules is much faster and more free flowing. Even in Australia, hardly anybody plays it outside Melbourne. Frankly, I don't care much about it but in my city, if you are not an AFL fan it's almost a social handicap.

I've read that the finish of choice is west systems, I've used it years ago on full size kayaks but couldn't justify the cost for these kits... maybe if I did a nice mahogany chris-craft... but I have this theory with glues, paints, etc. that staying consistant with what you use makes for predictable results... good or bad.
 
I didn't have any issues with bubbles... in fact, I was pretty sloppy relative to my methods, dixie cup, eye ball the quanitites & stir with a pop sicle stick. I don't care much for those foam brushes... I get a pack of cheap craft brushes at walmart & throw them away. It does go on uneven but wet sand & continue layers until there is a nice flat surface then wet sand to 2500 gt. & then the polishing pads.
 
I've had more issues with bubbles using polyurethane but I've got in the habit of not stirring it which helps a lot.

Funny, you are a Hawthorn supporter eh. I live in Camberwell, so everyone here supports Hawthorn. But I grew up in Perth, so I support the Eagles
 
If I were you I would test the stain on the sapelli and the cherry to make sure they come out in a close enough shade.

Finished early today. Rushed home, ripped my tie off, and within seconds was changed from an urban work drone and into my dingy modelling clothes
 
Today, I fabricated new thwarts for positions #1 and #4, and completed much work done yesterday.
 

 
This is the fore thwart (position #1). The reason why I need a new one is because I did not read the instructions properly! It says to position the foremast stay in relation to the fore thwart to achieve the correct rake. Well, I positioned my foremast stay according to the plans. When I came to test fit the fore thwart, the mast raked forwards!
 
As you can see, my new fore thwart is much wider than the one provided in the kit. It doesn't need to be that wide - in reality I probably need a couple of mm less. I will trim it when I come to fit the fore thwart so that it sits snug against the grating.
 
You should probably note that the thwart provided in the kit is too large for the mainmast - see the gaps around the dowel in the picture? The diameter of the fore thwart fits the mainmast perfectly though.
 

 
On the other hand, the thwart for the mainmast fits perfectly. This is pictured with my new #4 thwart.
 
And finally, here are some pictures of the boat as of right now. I painted on a blue stripe to match my Bounty. The planks look slightly shiny because they have just been given a coating of Tung Oil. I have to wait for the oil to cure before proceeding, so that's all for tonight.
 
Hmm, maybe I have time to start tapering the dowels for the masts ...
 

 

 

 

 

 
The instructions remind you that this is a working boat, and should not be finished "like a yacht". Well, it's MY boat, so i'll finish it like a yacht if I want to

Hi Steve, you definitely don't have enough cherry frames. Don't forget that the quarter deck is also planked on cherry frames. Note that on my kit, the planks supplied for the quarter deck were the wrong size. I can't remember the measurements exactly, but I said so on my build log. You might want to check if yours are correct.

LOL Steve, an American thinks his nephew's 5 year old daughter's Kings English is better than yours! Feeling deflated yet?
 
I do have to warn you, that I realized from the start that I would not have enough cherry wood to finish - so I was very careful not to waste excess wood when cutting. The MS instructions claim that they supply enough cherry wood to account for breakages - baloney! There is barely enough to finish the framing even with MINIMAL breakages! Many of my cherry frames had knots in them which made it nearly impossible to bend, which meant that I had to keep them aside for other use. I thought I would have to order more wood but as it turns out, I had JUST enough to complete my framing.
 
I suggest you look at how much you have left and order more from MS if required. Also bear in mind that if you plan to bash the kit as I did and make yourself a bowsprit AND change the rigging, you may not have enough rope. So you might want to order that too.

Al, she's looking really good. I should probably tell you that when mine came off the frame, the first thing I did was to check if it was the correct width (given that all the other build logs reported that she became wider). It was 100% correct. SOMEHOW, over the next few days she became wider! In the end, I fixed the width problem by using the thwarts to hold the boat together, although I did have to fabricate a few new thwarts. I used clamps to squeeze the hull together and then made sure the thwarts were glued solidly in. Just something for you to watch out for.

Hello all, I did a search and did not come up with any results, so I thought I would start a thread.
 
Has anybody here tried making custom parts using photo-etch? I know that dafi has, so perhaps he would like to chip in.
 
I have done some googling to find out if it is possible to make parts for a ship I would like to build. The fittings that come with the kit are rather chunky and I have been thinking about how I would replace them. I think PE is the solution.
 
It is possible to do photo-etching at home, as per these links:
 

http://www.steelnavy.com/etching.htm
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/fh_pe.htm
 
... and you can buy your own PE kit here: http://www.micromark.com/micro-mark-pro-etch-photo-etch-system,8346.html
 
HOWEVER, it requires an investment in machinery (if you do not already have these): laser printer, fluorescent lamp, heat source, laminator. It also requires consumables, including some toxic chemicals, a glass plate, and so on. In the end, the investment sounds pretty substantial for making a small run of parts.
 
My next thought was to look at businesses that can do it for you. So far I have found a few:
 
http://www.ppdltd.com/web_site_3/page_1_intro.html
http://www.photo-etch.co.uk/page1/page6/page6.html
http://www.photofab.co.uk/
http://saemann-aetztechnik.de/
http://www.orbel.com/photo-etched-precision-metal-parts
 
I have not looked in detail to see if any of these companies would be happy to do a one-off project. It appears that as a minimum, you need to supply your artwork in vector form, either AutoCAD format or CorelDRAW format. A pixel manipulator (like Photoshop) will not work. Does anybody know of any free CAD programs or vector drawing programs that can output to AutoCAD format or CorelDRAW format?

Hi Spencer
 
I'm pretty conversant at CAD so I'm sorry of some of this is technically a bit complex. I'm going through the same thing - except that I use CAD a lot in my job so I know the commands fairly well. 
 
My first step was to scan the plans I have of the yacht & them insert them as jpeg files into the CAD drawing. The original drawings were too large in area to scan in one go, so on screen I had to rotate & line them up etc in the CAD file. Put the scans on a separate layer (named jpegs, for example) as you want to be able to turn them on & off; they can also be a cause of programme crash so being able to turn them off when not in use will reduce this problem.
 
I started by drawing in the setup lines (horizontal lines, station positions etc), using the lines on the drawings (the horizontal section lines, whatever they are called), & I coloured them yellow, except the LWL blue & one green one. The partial view below shows some of that. The numbers are the stations, I'm adding in additional ones  - the "a" numbers. Stations in red.
 

 
Most programmes will have a polyline function & a number of alternative ways of doing a polyline. The one I use is where you click a series of dots on the curved shape of a hull section & the programme will automatically join them in a "best fit" curve that goes through the points you have clicked. You can zoom right in & click a lot of points if you are sure the drawings are accurate. For me, the drawings I am working off have a lot of poetic license so the correspondence between the plan, side view & sectional shapes is a bit off.
 
The short vertical pale blue lines were checks - checking the plan drawing against the sectional shape.
 
You should be able to tweak the polylines, but it's a fiendish task, I recommend printing pages off & sketching with a pencil to help make adjustments & then do it on screen. I then offset the final polylines by the planking thickness. On the drawing below the red represents the outside planking line & the black the mould shape to be laser cut from plywood. I will have to redo this as I'm going to build it a slightly different way, but the gist of it is there. Station #4 is shown below.
 

 
CAD programmes are pretty big, lots of commands, but you will only need maybe 10 or maybe 15 max. If you are going to work off paper prints that would simplify things, but I will need files that a cutter can read so I have to assemble lines into a connected shape - the mould shapes are one continuous line each, but that's starting to get difficult.
 
The conclusion I have reached is that if I make the plywood forms NOT part of the final build then I can make adjustments when I set them up - shave off as needed or add laminations of timber & shape to suit. The drawing above was for planking straight on plywood moulds, but I now plan to put ribs on the moulds & then planks on the ribs & remove the plywood moulds . The sheer clamp cutaways will be adjusted but in principle they will be inside the ribs as they would be on a yacht.
 
 
Does this help?
 
best, Mark
 
 

Hello all, I did a search and did not come up with any results, so I thought I would start a thread.
 
Has anybody here tried making custom parts using photo-etch? I know that dafi has, so perhaps he would like to chip in.
 
I have done some googling to find out if it is possible to make parts for a ship I would like to build. The fittings that come with the kit are rather chunky and I have been thinking about how I would replace them. I think PE is the solution.
 
It is possible to do photo-etching at home, as per these links:
 

http://www.steelnavy.com/etching.htm
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/fh_pe.htm
 
... and you can buy your own PE kit here: http://www.micromark.com/micro-mark-pro-etch-photo-etch-system,8346.html
 
HOWEVER, it requires an investment in machinery (if you do not already have these): laser printer, fluorescent lamp, heat source, laminator. It also requires consumables, including some toxic chemicals, a glass plate, and so on. In the end, the investment sounds pretty substantial for making a small run of parts.
 
My next thought was to look at businesses that can do it for you. So far I have found a few:
 
http://www.ppdltd.com/web_site_3/page_1_intro.html
http://www.photo-etch.co.uk/page1/page6/page6.html
http://www.photofab.co.uk/
http://saemann-aetztechnik.de/
http://www.orbel.com/photo-etched-precision-metal-parts
 
I have not looked in detail to see if any of these companies would be happy to do a one-off project. It appears that as a minimum, you need to supply your artwork in vector form, either AutoCAD format or CorelDRAW format. A pixel manipulator (like Photoshop) will not work. Does anybody know of any free CAD programs or vector drawing programs that can output to AutoCAD format or CorelDRAW format?

Arr. I did not do away with them temporary tabs. Shiver me timbers that ye might have thunk that. Them planks will bend, if ye applyest thy steam iron and maketh sure thy grain is in the correct direction. If thou attemptest to bendeth thy planks in the wrong direction, thy planks shalt splinter - but in the opposite direction, they shalt bendeth nicely.

Hi all, My led project was tackled today amongst other things, quite a success..  I purchased a remote controlled 'led candle' off ebay for $11 delivered..
 
I gutted it and re wired and modified to suit, lost the progress pictures unfortunately.
 
Remote works from a bout a metre, but it will need some kind of 'line of sight' (you cant box the electronics completely if you want to remote to work properly.). It is housed inside the unit originally so it does work somewhat inside a model, but in a closed timber hull may be a bit much i think..  I get a pathway through my cut-away... 
 
How long this setup lasts in the long term is unknown. But it will get used rarely..  And if fails its no big loss or can be replaced..
 
The light is appropriate looking, dim and flickers well... I may put a lantern over it instead of just a crude bulb...   If anyone wants a link send me a msg i can provide one for Australian or NZ memebers.. 
 
NOTE - it would be safest to contain batteries in plastic bag or container in case of future leakage..
 
I had to make a video to help show the result..Excuse my mumbling..   Ollie
 

Arr. I did not do away with them temporary tabs. Shiver me timbers that ye might have thunk that. Them planks will bend, if ye applyest thy steam iron and maketh sure thy grain is in the correct direction. If thou attemptest to bendeth thy planks in the wrong direction, thy planks shalt splinter - but in the opposite direction, they shalt bendeth nicely.

That one is a cyanoacrylate. Go to this page: http://www.titebond.com.au/products/index.htm
 
It is near the bottom. Download one of the PDF's and it will tell you it is a CA glue.
 
I haven't used it, but I do use the Titebond PVA glue. It is very fast setting, about 5 minutes of clamp time required with full strength reached in 12-24 hours. The downside is that it dries into a yellowish residue. It can be scraped off, but it is far better to wipe it off when it is still wet. Because it sets so fast, I also keep some normal PVA glue at home when I need more time to adjust things after clamping.

Good luck with your build! I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

Arr. I did not do away with them temporary tabs. Shiver me timbers that ye might have thunk that. Them planks will bend, if ye applyest thy steam iron and maketh sure thy grain is in the correct direction. If thou attemptest to bendeth thy planks in the wrong direction, thy planks shalt splinter - but in the opposite direction, they shalt bendeth nicely.

Arr. I did not do away with them temporary tabs. Shiver me timbers that ye might have thunk that. Them planks will bend, if ye applyest thy steam iron and maketh sure thy grain is in the correct direction. If thou attemptest to bendeth thy planks in the wrong direction, thy planks shalt splinter - but in the opposite direction, they shalt bendeth nicely.

Arr. I did not do away with them temporary tabs. Shiver me timbers that ye might have thunk that. Them planks will bend, if ye applyest thy steam iron and maketh sure thy grain is in the correct direction. If thou attemptest to bendeth thy planks in the wrong direction, thy planks shalt splinter - but in the opposite direction, they shalt bendeth nicely.

Does Anyone Else Hate Vacuum Formed Parts as Much as I Do?
day 57, 101 hours
 

I jumped a little ahead and started to build the fore and aft cowlings, The parts are made from vacuum formed polystyrene plastic. I always cringe when I open a kit and see vacuumed formed parts, for the following reasons:
1. They tend to be flimsy.
2. The mold lines are indistinct and hard to cut to.
3. The edges are thin so there's not much glue surface.
4. Static causes plastic dust and shavings to stick to everything.
5. If you screw up, you're screwed.
 
That said, the cowling parts were fairly heavy and well formed. You can see some photos of the molded parts on the first page of this blog. I cut the parts very carefully with an X-acto blade, sanded them, and glued them with CA for plastic. The long joints have thin reinforcement strips on the inside. I cut additional holes for the air intake and exhaust headers. There are several more holes to cut, panel lines to incise, and a few cast resin parts to add before I can paint the cowlings.
 
But it's sure starting to look cool!