kurtvd19

This book by MSW member Ken Foran has been worth every penny spent on it and I highly recommend it if you work with brass at all. This review was originally published in the NRG's Journal but with some recent discussion on Ken's build log I thought I would post it here. Model Building with Brass By Kennneth C. Foran Schiffer Publishing Ltd. 4880 Lower Valley Road Atglen, PA 19310 ISBN : 978-0-7643-8 Hardcover 8.5 x 11 inch format – 160 pages $34.99 List Price The subject of building models with brass is very well covered in this book with the emphasis on how to make parts from brass without being a machinist. The tools the author uses are probably already in the workshops of most intermediate to advanced modelers. The only power tool routinely referred to in the book is a drill press but modelers with fully equipped shops will certainly figure out how to use their power tools instead of the hand tools used in the book. Mr. Foran shows how the non-machinist modeler can make even very complex parts and assemblies from brass, using mostly hand tools, by thinking about the building process in a different manner than usually presented by model machinists. The process described in depth in this book is best described as building up a part rather than machining away material to make a part. Over 300 clear and sharp color photographs are used to illustrate the various techniques and operations explained in the book. The author explains how to use various brass shapes, tubes, bars, flat sheet and wire to make up parts by the additive process. The need to anneal brass before working with it is fully explained as are the problems encountered by not annealing the pieces. Soldering is extensively covered as would be expected. Also covered is how to prevent pieces being used for alignment during soldering operations to not be soldered to the parts being joined. I found this technique to be very helpful and one that I had not seen explained previously in my reading of various metal working articles and manuals. Cutting of pieces from flat stock as well as from bars, tubes and shapes with hand tools is thoroughly covered with many tips on using the jeweler’s saw and picking the proper blade for the job at hand. I had less than satisfactory results using a jeweler’s saw with brass before reading this book and broke many blades. I recently had occasion to need to cut several pieces of brass for an oval port hole assembly on a 1/12 scale model. Following the tips from this book my results were very good and I will be using my jeweler’s saw more often now. Cleaning brass before and after soldering and prior to plating or other finishing is covered thoroughly. Chemical blackening of parts and plating parts is thoroughly explained. This is a book that belongs in the library of every modeler who works with brass pieces regardless of the type of model being built. I originally wrote this review in late 2013. Since then this book has found a spot in my shop so it is easy to grab when I need to check out a detail on a point that I remember from my previous reading of the book. I can only reinforce my original recommendation that this book belongs in your shop if you ever work with brass.

Skipper The Chaperon is the only one that I would recommend as it's pretty accurate and the others are just vague ideas of what a riverboat was. A lot of research went into the development of the Chaperon kit and the kit builds to a very close copy of the actual boat. I have a lot of historic photos of the real boat to compare the kit against. There are plenty of historic photos of the boats you mentioned to compare to the photos of the kit - check them out and I think you will decide on the Chaperon. Kurt

Ken: I like the way you are proceeding - using the old CAD method to back up the newer CAD drawings. The word you are looking for referring to the raised bulkheads around the engine compartment is "coaming". Kurt

Ken: Yes, in the scratch built section. The big difference in building for yourself vs building for a customer is that time ='s $$. The more time you take the less you make. So, it is critical to establish the degree of detail the customer expects and how long that takes to accomplish, so that a reasonable profit is made. If the customer isn't paying for your time to build in extra details they need to be left out or you don't make any profit. This needs to be established up front. And then the build is started and the builder needs to fight the urge to add this or that detail like they would on their own model where time isn't a factor. This is a bit off topic for the Constitution build so I will contact you privately for more thoughts on this. Take care, Kurt

Ken: Please consider doing a build log on the Dirty Dozen. I think it might be very educational to the forum members to see what is involved with a museum commission, which is different than a model built for pleasure and the home (if it doesn't show don't build it - as one example). Kurt

Ron: I put mine on flush with the deck planks. Installed centered would trap rain water on the deck. Kurt

Mick: Very nice work. Love the stove! Very well done. May I use the photo of your burned finger for my presentation on shop safety? I have a section on fire and heat hazards and I don't have an illustration for a burn and this would do nicely. I can make it an anonymous finger or give you full credit in the presentation. I have photos of what a Byrnes saw can do but no burns. Keep up the good work - minus injuries. Kurt PS: Shipped plan set #80 yesterday - surprised there are not more builds.

An affordable alternate to the height adjustable bench is an adjustable drafting chair. I have one for my shop and I can sit low or high depending on what I am working on. When I was doing a lot of restoration work I got a cantilever type of hospital bed table - it looks like a squared off "C": from the side and the top is height adjustable. With the drafting chair and the hospital table I could sit at a comfortable height for any job especially rigging. Working on the deadeyes the chair could be lowered and the table raised. Working on the tops, the table could be lowered and the chair raised. Put the work at a comfortable height. I now use it for airbrushing as shown in the photo attached (in case the description of the table wasn't clear. Kurt

If you get a dust collector unit that hands from the ceiling you will also need another fan to set up a rotation of air in the room. I have a unit and was not happy with the dust it was missing and did some research (read several articles on dust control in woodworking magazines) and found that for optimum effectiveness there needs to be a circulation of air in the room. The recommendation is to have the other fan blowing opposite the hanging unit on the other side of the room. Doesn't need to be a big fan just need to get the air on the other side of the room moving. After setting up the other fan the effectiveness of the unit increased noticeably. Kurt

This works with brass and copper wire too. Kit's provide wire in a looped roll - impossible to use in that form. I don't know if I have ever felt the stretch but by exerting a steady pull the wire stays straight when it's pulled tight enough. If it's not straight - pull again with a bit more force. Kurt

Welcome. Thank you for your support. Kurt

Are you stropping the blades periodically as you work? As soon as the blade is the least bit less than razor sharp strop it and the edge is back. Stropping reduces the frequency of resharpening. Kurt

Chris: Check out the rope Chuck sells at Syren Ship Model - so much better than the stuff from the kit. Kurt

99.9% of dowels supplied in kits are great for use in the garden to hold up small plants. The 0.1% are the straight ones. Best to use square stock and make it round using small planes - also easier to do the flat areas when you start with flat stock. Best way to avoid ever having the mast warp is to glue up 4 pieces into square stock and work from there. First step in making it round is to knock off the 4 corners making it 8 sided - leave the 8 sided part alone at the proper area and round off the rest of the mast. Just my opinion and Dennis Miller and I might both be wrong... Kurt

Mike: It has really turned out nice. A very good model. The term for the planky, boarding rampy sort of thing is landing stage. And you did a good job on it too - wasn't that fun to rig into place? Kurt

Mike: I like your boats. Nice job on the planking. You took it beyond what I did with the ones from mt build. Kurt

Mike: Yeah, the fire buckets sit in a rack with a hole in the top board to hold the buckets upright. Sometimes they hung buckets from brackets or stands. The photo of my model of the Bluejacket kit of the tugboat Lackawanna shows fire buckets in the rack at the base of the stack. Sorry, being a retired FD Chief I assumed everybody just knew this. Kurt

Mike: The planks of the wheel are called Bucket Boards. I don't know if that term was used in the kit instructions or not but it's common usage. When you mentioned a bucket for water, one thing I meant to add to the model and never got around to it was a couple of racks of fire buckets carried on the roof of the boat to stop fires started by sparks from the stacks. I don't remember if these were included in the kit or not. They might have been included in the kit and I didn't use them because they most likely had flat bottoms as the kit pieces usually have - fire buckets had round bottoms - and were painted red. The round bottoms were to make them useless for anything else so the crew would know they were where they were supposed to be and not being used to swab decks or something. Kurt

Chris: Use the piece of wood that surrounds the laser cut keel piece as the "scrap" it is the same thickness and is big enough to allow practice. Did you know that BB rode a Gold Wing to (at least some) of the Harley events he covered for the magazine? Ran into him at both a Harley meet and at the Newport RI Yacht Show (when he covered it for Attitudes and Latitudes) and stopped at our tent. Kurt

Mike: Looking Good! I like the dark buckets - good contrast.

The only thing that's going to change is the scale of the cut-offs that you will be saving. It's amazing how many will wind up being used someplace on some model. Will be watching. Thanks, Kurt

I anybody wants to get some of the discontinued Dockyard Micro Chisels I saw a bunch at a wood show this past weekend from a shop in Bettendorph, IA. I bought a bunch of rotary carving bits from them at very reasonable prices. They had the Dockyard tools on display and they are still shown on their web site. http://www.thewoodcraftshop.com There is also a nice dedicated strop for sharpening these tools with all of the curves and angles. Kurt

Mike: It's looking great. The pilothouse work is right on! Kurt

The only thing magical about that tool is it's ability to steal money year after year from unsuspecting modelers. Kurt

OC Test the same combination off the model. The Rustoleum problem was tested with many different paints over it with the same results - the color coats failed to cure/dry - enamels, and acrylics. Maybe they have changed again - that's the problem, they seem to change quite often with poor results. They may have solved the problem, but too late for me to ever try them again. And I can assure you somebody is reading this thread and saying we are nuts that they have never had a problem - and they probably didn't have one - yet. If it tests OK on similar materials in the same layering sequence then it's OK - but test off the model first. Kurt