NMBROOK

A little more progress - chainplates mounted. The kit deadeye strops were made from wire bot the strops on the real ship are flat bars so I modified them. I filled the gap with epoxy & then filed it smooth to look like a flat bar. I must thank Michael (md1400cs) for this idea. I think they came out pretty good.
 

 

 

 
Thanks for all the looks & likes / Mark

Thank you very much Dave.As you maybe aware,currently half my workshop is packed away and the shop is packed with household stuff as I am moving house.I would have actually been moving this week if our buyer hadn't pulled out,so in limbo at the minute.I have even taken on a small 'kitchen table' build that is completely different from my current projects(build log started today in the kit section).Spending my freetime watching TV is driving me to distraction   .
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Come on JP,not enough Euromodel logs on this forum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Excellent work Matti   she's looking fabulous
Kind Regards Nigel

An interesting publication Matrim.I have a couple of books on the subject and a video(yes it was bought a while ago) of the Royal Oak,including footage of the wreck.Diving is prohibited on the Royal Oak as a designated war grave.Navy divers do lay a wreath every year on the anniversary of her sinking.
Having visited the Orkneys,Scapa Flow is an eary place,the oil rising to the surface is still clearly visible(similar to Arizona) from her resting place.
Much of the steel salvaged from the German fleet is prized by space technology.Apparently because it was smelted prior to atomic bomb technology,the low radioactive value is of much use in space technology.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

@JesseLee
Thank you for the nice comment.
 
Breeching rope for the 18 - pounder
Here's another attempt to make the lashings with a brighter yarn. So it seems so that it works better with the brighter yarn.

Bye for now ...

Thanks for compliments .
So I finally completed a rigging and I am glad that this phase of the construction is done. Not that I did not enjoy it, but it's incredibly demanding job - especially tying ropes on belaying pins and cleats located on the inside of the shrouds. Well, but it has slowly but surely coming to an end. It remains to attach boat, anchors, top cannons and flags .

Hi Nigel,
I visited your log after long time. Your work on the model is amazing .

John, Steve, Denis, Druxey, Mark, Lawrence, thanks for your kind remarks. A big thanks also to all who have visited.
 
The valves and lifters have been a tricky bit of work so far. Had to make a wrench for the reduced sized nuts.
 

 

 
drilling the holes for the taper pins to fix the cams
 

 

 
All the cams are now pinned in place.
 

 
here is a video of the valves in motion
 
Michael
 
 

Spent the evening turning up the new valves.
 

 

 
decided that the flywheel might be a good way to spin the valves
 

 

 
after the valves were lapped I parted them off
 

 
then completed the rest of the turning.
 

 
popped in the new springs and the old keepers.
 

 
tomorrow I will cut the new lifters.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 

Thanks for the visits and likes.
 
Denis, the valves are just shy of the surface now and I am thinking that I need to change the amount of rise on the camshaft lobes.
 
The valve seats look so rough at this magnification I am working on sorting out how to lap the valves and  the seats
 

 

 
The tiny clearances at this scale are beginning to concern me.
 
Valve open
 

 
valve closed
 

 
I think it needs to open about 15 thou more. Oh well what's one more change, and it probably wont be the last
 
 
Michael

Bob, Carl, thanks for the kind words. And to all who visited and showed their appreciation.
 
Just a small update.
 
The trial shaping of some springs and the fitting of the valve spring keepers.
 
The first picture shows test fitting the valve into the .052" slot of the keeper, they are .110" on the major diameter and .081  on the minor diameter and .070" high.
 

 
The raw springs, these are just freehand off the mandrel which is an .067"  drill  which creates an internal diameter of .081"
 

 
Trimmed up a bit.
 

 
Trial fitting on the block.
 

 
Now I need to get some consistently formed springs made. The second from the left is the best one so that is the goal.
 
Michael
 
 

Thanks for all the fine comments, the smaller these parts get the more complex it seems to be to make them.
I had to come down to the library, because our home internet has crashed due to a problem at the tower that feeds our broardband. It is fun to work on such a fast system.
 
After drilling and tapping the second set of holes I removed the plate to open up the circular one to complete the installation of the new screws the smaller heads do look better even so they are still really a little on the large size scalewise. The top larger set will be replaced.
 

 
the plate was clamped in the vice to cut off the extra length of the screws... more bits to add to the growing scrap box that has been generated by this build.
 

 
Overall shot of the plates and plugs
 

 
If I had some 000x120 screws and the taps and dies then I would be able to make them a little smaller. Oh well.
 
For a change of pace I started to make the water pump cam parts, I machined some 1/2 inch diameter stainless steel into a .100" disc with a drilled 1/4 inch hole, the reason I just drilled it was to see if by drilling it straight with the 1/4 if it would drill just slightly larger by about a thou or two, and it did which caused it to be a nice slide fit over the .25" diameter cam on the gear.
 
I turned up a couple of sleeves from some drill rod and hardened them as filing guides for the excentric.
 

 

 
Step one is complete, next I need to silver solder the arm link to connect to th piston.
 

 

 
Michael
 
 

Thanks Kees, and for all those who added a like to my previous set of pictures.
 
today I modified some 00 x90 hex head brass machine screws, cheating I know. I chucked up a small drill chuck in the Myford lathe to hold the small screws.
 

 
The round head 00x90 from the suppliers are .087" max head diameter which was a bit large so I turned down some hex ones I had to .078"  diameter  then filed the round with some fine files and then gave them a burnish with a clockmaker's burnish,
 

 
Next the screw slot was cut with the jewelers saw.
 

 

 
After drilling and tapping the circular plate I discovered that the round head screw were still a bit too big, also the holes in the circular plate still needed to be opened up for a clearance for the 00 x90 screws.
 

 
I reduced the diameter of the screws to .071", which is about as small as I want to go with the 00 x 90 which has a max thread diameter of .060"
 

 
Left one is .071 next is .078, next is the commercial round head at .087" and the hex type that I used as the base for the modifications.
 
Tomorrow I will finish the other plate and the rest of the screws down to the smaller diameter.
 
Michael
 
 

Patrick, Druxey, Mark T, Germanus, Row, Jack, Igor, Carl, Bob, John, Gary, Mike, Dan, Denis, Ed, Mark.
 
Thank all so very much for the well wishes, it is indeed great that Judy is well enough to be home and she has even gone back to work at the Library, (it is a small rural one and Judy is the Librarian  Manager she was looking forward to getting back so much.
 
P.S. : the Most Honourable and Noble Swiss Watchmakers´ Society at Geneva would be pleased to send you their application form.
Germanus this made me smile, They are way way above my league, but as a kid I wanted to be a watchmaker..... it is a funny world we live in. When I was 15 I had 24 chiming clocks in my bedroom all sort of them, picked them up in junk shops in England, they would be hard to find these days, but in the late 50's early 60's they were a dime a dozen.
 
I am almost sure that if to fill in couple of drops of gasoline in this engine it will start working.
Igor, as soon as she is ready that is what will happen.
 
The cover plate for the cavity on the top of the head, took for ever to fit, but it had to be precise and snug before I could drill the holes.
 
After the blank was fitted I flipped the head upside down and clamped it in the milling machine on top of a sacrifice block of brass, I used brass so that the plate had something the same density so that the hole would not form a bur on the drill exit.
 
The set up included using a couple of the original integrated spark plugs as drill bushings to act as guides for pilot drilling the holes in the plate
 

 
After the .078 hole was drilled the bushing was removed in order to then drill out a clearance hole for the spark plug which is .136"
 

 

 
The head was then indexed over to line up the second hole this was done by trial and error, by raising and lowering the .078 drill until it slipped into the hole easily. I did ensure that the upside down bit ran true before doing the set up.
 

 
Then drilled out the second hole.
 

 
Then repeated the clearance hole for the plug.
 

 
I made a couple of large .031 brass washers to act as the small circular covers these will get mounted to the oval plate with four small 00x 90 round head screws.
 

 

 

 
It is great to get a bit more time in the shop, and I am spending more with Judy now that she is back on her feet.
 
Thanks for all the likes as well.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks to all for the likes and comments
I have not been able to spend much time in the shipyard this last few weeks, but things have improved a great deal this week, Judy is home now.
 
I did manage to get some time today to make some changes to the spark plugs. I was not happy about the way the plug were integrated into the head structure so after a couple of experiments I now have proper spark plugs they are made from some Allen key, that I annealed.
 

 
The thread is a 6x40 I had to make them long reach which meant it was a bit tricky drilling a .028" hole almost 1/2 inch long through the Corian core which is only .078" diameter.
 

 
The hand shot for scale
 

 
The brass now functions as it was intended to hold down the oval cap to enclose the water cavity, and the spark plug threads into it.
 

 

 

 
All I have to do now is add a brass  0 x 80 or a 00x90 threaded section to the top of the electrode in order the be able to make a good positive connection with the ignition cables. i will need to see how easy it is with the 00x90 which is a better scale size.
 
Michael
 

Bob, Row, Denis thanks for your great comments, and for all the likes recently.
 
 
I had to go back an measure it, it is set to be .047" I might need to change that, I don't know at this point. but the design will enable me to make a change if I need to.
 

 
spark plug.pdf
 
I will be making a small short sleeve at the bottom end of the plug that will thread in this will be then notched to creat a short stub to act as the ground for the plug so that the spark jumps from steel to steel.
 
Michael

John I know I'm completely bonkers.
 
Steve what kind of lathe do you have?
 
Screw cutting is easy if you unplug the machine and are using brass or free machining steel.
 
here is a bit of SBS of union building. I used the dremel with a small stone to add some relief to the tap. By locking the rotation of the quill and clamping the dremel in the vice I was able to take very small cuts by indexing in the grinding stone and raising and lowering the tap in the quill because the depth of the amount of threads in the union I did not need to make the relief very long. this really helped to make the threading more smooth.
 

 
threading the blank nut
 

 
threaded 3/32 deep"
 

 
filing the flats
 

 
polished ready to part off
 

 
male part threaded and bored 3/32"
 

 
parted off onto the shank end of the #42 drill(.093) I used the drill as a support because the wall thickness is around .010"
 

 
the two halves are sweated to their respective pipes. and threaded together
 

 
uncoupled
 

 
thank you for all the likes, I lost count so thank you for that.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 

This evening I had to give the union a run.
First order was to set up the change gears on the Myford lathe to cut 80 threads per inch, then did some test cuts with a freshly ground cutter on some brass.
 
then turned down some 1/4 inch drill rod to .138" which is the size of the major diameter of a #6 machine screw then turning everything by hand(I unplugged the lathe) and taking .001" cuts threaded the shaft, polished it up with a leather strop. Hardened and tempered it then ground three flats with the diamond stone.
 

 
next I turned up the brass nut, and threaded it after the threading was done the clearance hole wad drilled through and then it was parted off.
 

 
Next the male part was threaded and tested with the tapped nut and  .0005" reduction threading cuts until the nut wound on to the thread easily.
 

 
The male part was then parted off and slipped onto the end of some 3/32 tube.
 

 
A couple of tiny refinements and it will work just fine.
 
michael
 
 

The testing of various ways of dealing with the small fittings is now completed for the most part,
 

 
and the final model parts in scale are coming together well. That said I am contemplating the false union at the junction with the cylinder and wondering if I can actually make one that works as a real union. Cutting a thread on some 1/8th diameter is not a problem usually the standard thread in imperial being a 5x40 the only problem is that at this scale that is an extremely coarse thread.
 
The elements are now in scale and the tubing is 3/32.
 

 

 

 
I am thinking that if I can make a thread cutter that will cut say 5x80 then that would be a much better size for the union, the concern that I have is if the whole lot were soldered together then separating the cylinder from the crankcase would be problematic, because there would be too much piping hanging off the cylinder and therefore easy to damage. In making the union actually work like a union it eliminates that problem.
 
The saga continues.
 
Thanks to all who are following along and commenting, providing useful tips, and for the likes.
 
I am happy that some of the methods I am using are useful to some of you. it is the least I can do for all the knowledge I have gained from you all who share your methods and tips.
 
Michael
 
 

Hi Carl, I agree with your thoughts, I think that if I keep things consistent and have a good general flow then I should be OK.
I can push a fair bit of water through the .093 holes with a good pump and since I am not going to be running this engine for long stretches I am confident that I will be able to get enough cooling.
 
Thanks Druxey, I do have the small set of coils spring pipe bender that I purchased some time ago but they only work for gentle curves, I have done some more experiments with the styrene rod as a filler as suggested By Bob. The combination of the heavy walled brass tube benders that are bored to the pipe size plus filling the tubes with the styrene have greatly improved the quality of tight elbows. The styrene gets trapped and a quick play of the propane torch over the elbow pops most of the styrene out then after removing the blobs at each end of the bent tube a little more heat and the residue flames off, leaving a good bend and flow through.
 
Thank you Mike, Mark, Steve , and Nils for your very complimentary comments. A sincere thanks to all who have shown their appreciation by pressing the like button.
 
I am continuing with the experiments with the various shapes and components for the piping and valves. I am gathering a fair collection of bits for the spare bits box. The parts to the extreme bottom left hand corner are the present iteration, that i am working with. the hex sections have been filed instead of adding in some sections of hex stock this eliminated the need for threads etc and is quick enough to do with a few strokes of the fine file.
 

 
I filled the four mounting holes with some 00x90 threaded rod and soft soldered them in place because they won't work with the new configuration that is not quite there yet but is getting close.
 

 
I have been sorting out the stack of elements and seeing how to create the look of a number of parts screwed together but really being a solid fancy tube. here there ore the vertical part of the pump the valve to bleed off any air then the anti hammer bulb. it is bored out to accept some 1/8th inch copper pipe for the bottom elbow, and a .093 hole for the tee off to the upper union that connects the piping to the water jacket as in the one on the real engine. I am using the 1/4 inch brass rod that I purchased at home depot, this rod is nice to machine and not very expensive. By using the collet chuck instead of the three jaw I can shift the brass out as I complete each element. the collet has 6 slotted sections as part of its design which makes it easy to line up to file the hex sections.
 

 
I silver soldered the tee to the bulb section, not as good as some soldering I have seen but acceptable, in this instance.
 

 
Michael
 
 
 

Wow! those files are pricey Druxey.
 
the saga of the water-pump continues.
I am not happy with the sizes of things and also the elbow is causing the crankcase to be raised off the sump.
 

 
Mass confusion and general mayhem
 

 
A number of different experiments with heavy walled tube convinced me that it is easier to bend the heavy tube than to work at drilling 90 degree holes through elbows any other way.
 
That said I have come to the conclusion that all model locomotive engineers already know and i also knew it as well and that is one cannot scale nature, a molecule of water is a molecule of water and that is the fact of life. it also became a realization that I would not be able to get enough water through the water-jacket with a scale model pump for the same reason that nature is not scale-able.
 
I was able to make the pump open and close with a .093 ball bearing similar to a clack valve but being realistic demonstrated to me that this approach would not work to deliver the volume of water needed to cool the head(heat cannot be scaled either. (Nigel you already knew this too)
 
As there are two other places wher piping enters the water jacket I have decided to continue to make a scale operating water pump from the outside appearances but the actual path of the water will be through the other piping and will use a hidden pump that will be able to deliver the needed volumes. Disappointing in one sense, but that is the way the world works sometimes.
 
experiments
 

 
Now that I am on a new track I will be able to make the pump look correct, I have already done this with regard to the operation of the pistons and cylinders insider the engine and working to keep the exterior looking like hwe real engine.
 
I have developed a couple of new tools for bending the parts of the piping.
 

 
The elbow is first turned to include some flanged areas at each end, then annealed and slipped into the brass bending tools
 

 
I marked the center of the elbow with a felt pen and closed the two parts.
 

 
did the bend
 

 
after a few tries I am pleased that this method will work
 
 
 
michael
 
 
 

Ok. JP... START THE BUILD LOG!!!!!! 

Just a quick heads up to EuromodeI fanboys...I found an Easter greetings email  from the manufacturer this weekend. Nice gesture, I thought and a sneaky way to direct you to the website which is offering another discounted sale.
I started my Le Renommee so someone kick my behind to kickstart my build log...LOL.....
 
JP

Some photographs ... Thanks
Dimitris