Landrotten Highlander

A little slow in the shop this week. Here is the complex plank installed. This required a great deal of finding high spots by holding artist transfer paper between the joints at various places, then filing down with a very fine flat Swiss file, then checking again. When I felt my patience disappearing, I would leave it and go do something else. So it took me a while.
 
Mark

Hello dear friends,
I would like to thank you for your interest and support, which I appreciate very much. 
For the suggestions and assistance I find in your building reports here in form I thank you.

Here is a short update of my report:

I've just been working on the anchors for the dromon. I've made 5 of them.
 
Byzantine ships seem to have had many lightweight anchors rather than a small number of large ones. This seems to be due to the limitations of manufacturing technology - they were made of relatively small pieces of wrought ir on, hammered out to remove the slag and them hammer welded in a forge to join them all together.  The dotted lines in the diagram below (one of the anchors recovered from the 11th century Serce Limani wreck) denote the welds.
 

Unfortunately, as the archaeological report on the anchors (by Frederick. H. van Doorninck Jr, illustrations by Sheila D. Matthews - see https://books.google.com.au/books?id=E6ZJ-05aC-sC&pg=PA237&lpg=PA237&dq=serce+limani+anchors&source=bl&ots=2cbB35RuzX&sig=ACfU3U1pE9YyddqSStaB-VdSDSQfXvc_nw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgq9yX_vfmAhWlyDgGHbYRCbsQ6AEwDHoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=serce limani anchors&f=false )  states,

The Serce Limani ship had nine anchors on board, of which six were spares stacked together in two piles on the deck. The ship had cast at least three anchors but was probably wrecked when one of them (probably the first to be cast) broke under the strain.
 
All the Serce Limani anchors were of the same type, with minor variations due to their being made individually by blacksmiths. This was a common anchor shape at the time, so I'm using them as a model for the dromon's anchors. I've made five of them - I don't have space for more on the ship. As it is, some will be stored under the forecastle. The best of them will be mounted at the bow.
 
   
I got jewellery chain for a couple of bucks from a hippy shop (with some trashy pendant attached, which I chucked away - but the chain itself is brilliant!)
 
Steven

Working on the paint of the propulsion block and on the exhaust of the thrusters. All the pods are painted German Grey as a sub-layer in preparation for the white veil. By the way, if you do not have an airbrush, please don't buy this kit. Impossible to paint otherwise. 

First veil has been applied. There are significant gaps between the exhaust bulkheads and the enclosure and I am using some white glue to fill up the tiny cracks. It is quite surprising to find issues, as this kit is very well put together. Some tests of the thrusters: 

The egress ports will be painted black.
 
In the middle of space, far from Earth....

Yves 
 

I just finished the 20 some Pods that are attached on the rear spine. Now, some paint, a white wash and that part of the vessel should be finished.

Yves

Floater net baskets added 

The arrestor cables on the flight deck. The upgrade made these mandatory really, I’ve been told they stayed deployed the entire time and were heavily greased up. 

And done, with the SC-2 Radar, back to the hull now. 
 
not the kit provided radar set, this is why PE is really unbeatable 

@Dowmer

Thanks for the nice comment.
The surface treatment of the wood I use this
Product: LINK
In Germany it is called "Ballenmattierung" because is applied it with a lint-free Cloth.
 
When using glue, the material always matters.
For wood, I usually use white glue (German product: Ponal) and for gluing eyebolts, for example, I use cyanoacrylate.

The resulting cannon barrel dimensions failed, so repetition of work ..
 


 
Old cannon barrels will be converted to small guns aboard ..
 


I wish everyone success in 2020!! Ondras
 

Hello dear friends,
in the meantime I have installed the first rope ladder on the bulwark of my model.
I made customized drills for the holes, because it has very tight conditions on the model.

 

Funnel, what the kit provides 
 
then what it is supposed to look like in 1943
 
and the metalwork begins plus some extra pipes 

I finally got around to going to the hardware store and got a length or Merbu cut to length. A couple of layers of oil and she’s good to go. I intend on cutting the pedestals down by half then I can all all the completed catwalks which are strewn on the deck. 
 
I spend the entire day doing half of the funnel, the island superstructure is a whole model in itself it’s so intricate. 

It seems my supplier may not have put my order in for my #6-32 stainless steel helicoil thread inserts as they are not in and they have no record of the order being placed just before the holiday shut down.  So possibly they might be in by early next week?
 
I took another shot at making the rudder and although it looks much better, I believe the third time will be the charm (practise makes perfect).  I decided to drill a hole to create the relief radius in the upper rear ornate shaping.  I should have possibly chosen a smaller diameter drill.
 
I was quite impressed with my first attempt at tabling (stepped cut and fitting of the two main pieces) and my second attempt was that much better.  The backing and sole plates were glued on prior to sanding down the tapered width this time.  This seemed to work better.
 
I cut the chatter groove in the backing plate without any real direction or description.  Where does it start and stop?  What is the width and depth?  With what I know about fluid dynamics, and realising the plates are 6 inches thick, I assumed 3 inch depth and 1/3rd the width would seem realistic.  I did not get it cut as straight and clean as I had hoped to, but the practise and process is tried.  I will practise on a piece of scrap to get a clean crisp cut for next time.
 
The two square holes at the head for the main and spare tillers were drilled out and the corners were filed to shape.  I decided to use one size though the piece where as in reality it was 12 inches square forward and tapered smaller to a square hole 1/3rd the width and height of the width of the rudder at that location.  My next and final attempt will be properly sized even though no one will likely see it.
 
While shaping the taper at the pintle cutout side corners I slipped and took a little extra off in one spot that no one will likely see ... but I know it is there and it bugs me.
 
So I will do it once again.  I've got the process figured out and the practise in. 

There's only 1840 rivets in these two assemblies. There are a LOT more in the boilers, cab, coal bunker etc  . Around 4,000 in the whole loco.
 
Thanks for the insights Cap'n Mac and Ken  .
 
I've discovered a new way to roll long pipes. I usually use a long piece of tubing to do the whole pipe in one go, but the tubing I have isn't the right inside diameter (missed out by about 0.3mm  ). So I cut a short piece of the slightly undersize brass tube, cut a slot in it lengthwise to open it up and cleaned it up with a fine diamond-coated file. Then I used a long piece of tubing to support the inside and used the outer one like a clamp to squeeze the card tube together while I glued about 15mm in one go. Once it dried sufficiently I slid the tubing along and repeated the process - it took about 10 minutes to do a 100mm pipe and it turned out perfectly  :


The ends of some pipes had bends in them :


Also flanges :

The water piping down the left side of the loco - the right side doesn't have any, instead there is a "balance pipe" between the two tanks that keep the left side one full :

I'm guessing this is the water pump ? It needs a little re-aligning which I can do when all the glue has dried :


Danny

pulling up a chair, as it is very possible I have missed al the fun in the past.

Hello, Michael,
first of all thank you for your interest and the positive comment.
I open the rope with the same tool, a kind of 
hollow spike. I made that from a cannula and usually use it for splicing LINK.

pulling up a chair, as it is very possible I have missed al the fun in the past.

pulling up a chair, as it is very possible I have missed al the fun in the past.

I was thinking the same.  Yu want them out of the way when not in use, but easy to reach.

Hello, 
after a little longer research, I will now show you how I make the rope ladders for my model.


Before I install these rope ladders on the model, I do a test on my model section, as can be seen in the following pictures.


 

Moving along with the completion of the propulsion block. Lots of parts, but the fitting is exceptional. This kit is very well engineered.

 

This is the anchor which will be used to hold the model from the rear and to feed the negative side of 12 VDC. It is a 3 mm special nut. I will try to show a picture of the part, later on.

Yves

Installation of samson´s posts and fore bulkheads.

Just showing the making of the toggles connecting shroud to pendant block.
 

a small round file is quite effective at making these

Dick

I was thinking the same.  Yu want them out of the way when not in use, but easy to reach.