KeithAug

7 hours ago, BANYAN said:

at a low setting it melts either 145degree or 179 degree silver solder quite well. 

Pat, makes it a lot more understandable now.

Also PCB bits are very sharp and while being fragile are relatively cheap. Might be worth a try.

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

that sounds, as if the drill-bit is dull .

Eberhard, I also had that thought but I also thought that at that temperature the brass would be starting to glow. My experience is that it is very difficult to silver solder very thin brass as the flame is apt to melt the brass. Perhaps Pat could help us with more detail on his soldering process and soldering material.

Valeriy - beautiful detail.

15 hours ago, BANYAN said:

I am still pursuing a solution to keep the drill generating too much heat when drilling the soldered ears;

Pat - I am probably being daft but couldn't you drill the holes before soldering?

Phil

Every time I look at this build I am struck by the quality and detail of the plans. Given the era of the vessel I think the plans are remarkable.

The clinker planking is nicely done. I always think it is quite difficult to pull this off successfully. Good work.

Pat

An interesting bit of brass work. It just goes to show there are may ways to skin a cat. The PE looks quite crisp to me, did you do the etching or did you contract it out?

Dear Keith

I was just catching up but your devastating news has set me aback. I think your loss is something that few of us could contemplate and my heart goes out to you and your family. Any words that I can offer are probably of small comfort but at this time it is worth remembering that our departed loved ones do live on in our memories and hearts. Good be with you my friend.

With greatest sympathy.

Keith

You have done quite a lot in two years. Some of us are quite a lot slower!!!! She is looking wonderful and like you I thought the illuminated bow shot was real cool.

It is absolutely fabulous Gary, a proper little treasure. I am jealous.

The plating is very impressive - did you say earlier that you had checked that water would not get behind it and delaminate it?

I have to say that I found your rust bucket to be a charming choice of vessel. I wish you luck with your first scratch build.

The hull frames are looking very good. You have not lost your touch. One frame a day seems like a good target allowing plenty of time to admire your own handy work, and of course spot and correct any anomalies. I'm glad you are starting to feel better, I hope things accelerate from here. It is still a bit damp over here😐.

Planking sound like a nightmare. Good luck.

As impressive as ever.

8 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Wow! That finish looks fantastic!

Thank you Chris. It is a bit too shiny at the moment so I plan to knock it back a little with fine wire wool. 

On 4/21/2022 at 10:49 PM, michael mott said:

I am trying to follow the real planking as best as I can, so it is a little bit slower going.

It seems to be going very well Michael. I am assuming from your comment that finish to the hull is going to leave the planking runs visible?

Thank you Druxey, Andy, Tom, Mark Michael and Pat.

I have had a few days away and inevitably outside jobs and getting the garden in shape is taking much of my time. However I did get some time in the shipyard over the weekend.

With the cap rails in place I moved on to the fore deck planking.

The small aft deck pieces were also installed. I also started to make the spray rails here the first is pinned in place prior to gluing.

On the rear face of the fore deck is a bit of trim with fillet radii where it joins the cap rails. I cut the fillet pieces first.

And then inserted the trim and fillet radii.

The spray boards also have a fillet piece where the cross board joins the side boards. I made the fillet as a tube before cutting out the necessary fillet pieces.

I then installed all the spray boards.

I also made an angled facia for mounting the wheel.

I then sanded the upper profile of the spray board and tried the wheel again.

I then made the lift out access board at the stern.

I then diverted my attention to the various deck fittings etc. I started with the hand rails for the swimming step. I made a small jig to aid the process of making these.

A while later I had most of the fittings done.

I then spent some time on sanding and finishing before attaching the various fittings.

I have yet to install the swimming step.

Thank you Ken and Pat for your comments. Thanks to everyone for the likes.

I had a bit of fun making the boats wheel.

I sized the wheel at .44" outside diameter with a .16" hub (15.8" OD at full size)

I started with .5" brass rod which I reduced in diameter to .44". The bore was then drilled out to .375" leaving an annulus .032" thick.  6 equi-spaced .027" dia holes were then drilled round the annulus. The hub was drilled with 6 more holes and then parted off from a .160" dia rod.

5 stainless steel pins were then inserted to support the hub (one through pin and 4 further pins) these were glued in place with CA.

The pins were then cut off prior to the .5" rod being re mounted in the lathe chuck.

The pins were then machined flush and hub bore was re drilled and a shaft inserted.

The edges of the annulus were then rounded before the wheel was parted off. The wheel was then flipped round and held by the shaft for the reverse of the annulus to be carefully profiled.

A fun little job😀

Thank you to all of you who have left recent comments and suggestions and thanks to everyone who has visited and liked my work. 

I will pick up some of the suggestions in a later post.

I have been doing a bit more work on the launch.

I installed the aft well deck floor and then made card templates of the aft seating. The templates were used to shape the seats and then these were glued in place with PVA glue.

I then moved on to making the cap rails. these could have been cut from solid but I thought it would look better if they were laminated.

To get the correct shape I taped a card to the top of the hull and then marked out  the shape using the hull as a template.

Before mounting the cap rails I decided to install the throttle lever together with the fuel gauge and rev counter.. These were mounted in the location vacated by the boats wheel.

Each cap rail was laminated from 3 strips of mahogany, formed to shape over the template and held in place with pins until the PVA glue dried.  The rails in the next photo are being checked for shape prior to gluing.

Once satisfied with the shape I sanded the surfaces of the rails and then glued them in place using "Starbucks stick clamps" and elastic bands. Starbucks sticks are of variable quality - note the fracture. 

Once the first rail was dry the second was glued in place.

Both rails are now in place so I will move on to the ships wheel next.

5 hours ago, wefalck said:

it seems to have been very common (still) in the 1860s and 70s to have the steering and commanding position(s) rather exposed.

Eberhard - thank you for the explanation, it must have been quite stressful waiting for the gun to discharge. Also thank you for the link, I wasn't aware of this ships existence. 

Lovely model work as usual.

2 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Make a tool box and put it beside the engine compartment

I like that idea.

An impressive piece of lumberjacking😁

5 hours ago, wefalck said:

The engine-box would be a hot-seat (in spite of the water-cooling) on a warm day. I suppose you will leave the cover open for the final display?

Eberhard / Tom - I think I will insulate the underside of the cover. I may leave the cover loose and do the big reveal it when showing people around.

On 4/26/2022 at 11:03 AM, wefalck said:

In this case you will also need a water-pump ...

Eberhard - yes it is water cooled - the water pump is hidden behind the flywheel and the distributor is buried beneath the exhaust manifold. I forgot the oil filter though. 😁

Gary / Keith - thank you.

Having finished the engine and its base I started to build the engine box in the hull - firstly installing the central bulkhead bench seats.

The forward well deck was installed and the  engine box was then built with the engine temporarily put in place.

The engine was hidden by the box cover which provided a bit of additional seating.

The frames on the actual launch are quite widely spaced and this was repeated on the model launch. The frames were made from mahogany which was steamed, bent to shape and then glued in position.

The seating in the front well was then installed.

The aft well deck was then installed.