gjdale

The shrouds were installed next.  The starboard shroud is always placed first and are they are installed from fore to aft.  Because this ship has an odd number of shrouds, the first shroud is single; the rest are double.  The first shroud is served its entire length, protecting it from the lower sail.  The starboard and port first shrouds are secured to each other with a cut splice, just as was done with the pendant tackle. 


The remaining paired shrouds are served where they could be chafed: the center 20-25%, based on the ship being rigged.  I cut a two foot piece of line and marked the midpoint and 10% the length of the shroud on either side of the midpoint, in this case 1.2”.  This is the area that was served.  The doubled shrouds were secured with a throat seizing tight to the mast head.  The lower ends of the served portion of the shrouds should be level when they are installed.  This means that the throat seizing is not exactly in the middle of the served section, but offset enough to allow this to occur.  You can see this in the next picture.  The aft shroud seizing is slightly longer than the fore.

The shrouds were installed, alternating starboard and port, taking care to stack them neatly.  The topmast is temporarily installed in the following pictures.
 
The next step was to attach the upper deadeyes to the shrouds.  The distance between the upper and lower deadeyes is a constant.  The easiest way to ensure this is to make a spacer jig.  You will actually need ten, five for each side.  The picture shows two jigs.  The one on the left is made by soldering the two wires together.  The other one uses twisted wire.  The prongs go through the two inner deadeye holes.
 

I started by inserting the prongs through the upper holes of the lower deadeye and bent the wire around the back of the deadeye to prevent it from coming out.  Next, I wrapped the shroud around the upper deadeye and adjusted the shroud length so that the upper deadeye could be threaded onto the jig.  These shrouds are cable laid (left twist), so the short end of the shroud went on the aft side of the shroud.  If the shrouds were rope (right twist), the short end would be on the fore side.  I secured the shrouds to the deadeyes with alligator clips.  I find it important to leave the model alone for several hours at this point.  This allows the rope to stretch and helps prevent sagging in the future.

The upper deadeyes are secured with three seizings.  A cross seizing was placed where the shroud crossed over itself next to the deadeye.  I  marked the location of the cross seizing on both sides of the shroud and removed the deadeye.  If left in, the loop is too big.  After making the cross seizing, the deadeye was reinserted and the middle and end round seizings were added.  The drawing shows a round seizing. 

And the picture illustrates the relative location of the seizings, using white thread to make it easier for you to see.

Brown paint was used to represent the leather cap at the end of the shroud.

The shroud lanyards were installed next.  They are considered running rigging and are not tarred.  A knot was tied at the end of the lanyard and it was inserted through the back of the upper deadeye in the foremost hole.  After reeving it through the deadeye, excess line was kept for tying off.  Once they were done, the lanyards were gradually tightened, making sure the mast was straight.  Just like with the shrouds, I gave it a few hours to allow the line to stretch.  To tie off the lanyard, the rope was passed between the shroud and the deadeye (below left) and looped under the last line of the lanyard (below right).  The lanyard was wrapped around the shroud a few times and finished by inserting it under the last loop.

Continuing with the framing - I've now assembled, but not fully completed, the deadflat frame - it remains still to clean up the edges a little, trim down the portion of the chock that steps down from the first futtock to the toptimber, and add trunnels at the futtock joints. I will say that, though my joinery work leaves a lot to be desired (and indicates the need for more practice), I'm pretty pleased with the results. Of course, it's just one frame, so I have to be a bit reserved and wait to see how things shape up as keep going. 
 
I started working on the deadflat 1 frame today - making templates, cutting the components out on the scroll saw and doing some initial clean up of the parts. Once the glue has fully cured on the deadflat frame, I'll return to finish it up.
 
Quick question for anyone who might know - is it best to wait to start raising the frames until all are constructed? I can't think of any advantage or disadvantage in raising them one at a time or all at once, but I wanted to ask just in case I might be missing something.....
hamilton
 
 

Post One Hundred and Seventy-four
18’ cutter – fitting out.

4571
A shot of the gratings and footwalings which are laser cut. A much better option than the brass etch version.👍
These take a little fettling to get them to sit fully down involving bevelling the underside of the parts, and shaving down the frames as required.
 
The kit sternsheets are combined with the aftermost thwart.
This is an arrangement I don’t like primarily because the grain of the thwart tends to run the wrong way and the set-up  makes it more difficult to  fit the vagaries of  individual hull constructions.

4577
I find it easier to cut away the thwart and make a replacement from spare fret. I have also filled in the open stern area to create an additional bench seat.

4570
At the bow I thought the area looked a little unfinished with  the remnants of the mdf construction block on view.
 
The kit plan (sheet eight) does show a small fore deck in this position but I can’t locate such a part with the 18’ cutter fittings.

4582
This benefits from facing up using spare fret, and the addition of a breasthook above it.
 
One other puzzlement with the 18’ cutter is the height the thwarts and sternsheets relative to the wash strakes.

4579
They are positioned as per the kit and instructions, but have very little freeboard. It is not a case of fitting them too high as the scale figures show a correct height between thwarts and footwaling.

4580
There is only 2mm between thwart top and wash strake top. This equates to 5” at scale.
Working up from the 1:48 scale drawings of an 18’ cutter in The Frigate Diana AotS book the difference should be around 11”
 

The new Vanguard resin cutter, what a beauty that looks, shows a much greater depth between the seating and wash strakes which looks more appropriate.

4583
Even so, visually the wooden version is a pretty little thing, and for most casual viewers this disparity won’t even register.

4588
I am fairly happy with the ‘clinker’ look but it does need a good clean-up.
 
 
B.E.
08/05/2024
 
 

steps.....
 






 

Continuation: Equipping the mizzen topgallant yard - Vergue de perruche
After the small mishap, as reported, I have now made a new mizzen topgallant yard and fully equipped it. This means that the topgallant yard chapter can be put to bed until it is installed on the model.
Here is a picture of the finished mizzen topgallant yard. 

And another picture with the tye.

 
The next picture shows different yards of the French corvette in size comparison. In the center you can see the mizzen topgallant yard. Above it is the mizzen royal yard and finally the middle section of the main yard is shown below.
 
The next step is to equip the royal yards with the necessary rigging elements. Then I'll finally have finished fitting out the yards.
To be continued ...
 

Although the t'gallant masts are a bit less complicated to craft in terms of shape, they are QUITE small in terms of diameter at this scale and very, very delicate. Once again, this is where I wish I had more boxwood with which to work.  I did however start out with square strips with these, as that technique is ultimately easier. 
 

 
  All of the fids are made from a brass strip shaped on my belt sander. I only drilled holes in the two larger fids, as the smaller ones are just too small to accommodate holes that no one is ever likely to see.
 

 
With all the masts (except the Jib boom) constructed, they are painted.  I am most likely going to change the paint scheme to match TFFM and have the most upper parts of the masts (including the caps) all black from the hounds on up.
 
 
 
 

That would be so nice but it probably would put the builder at risk of being abused.
 
Anyway....those gratings
 
You will basically get all of the laser cut parts in this chapter.  There are only four hatches with gratings.  They are not very large.   Here are all of the elements needed.  You will get two layers for the jig.   The two layers are glued together to form the jig.
 
You also get a right angle jig which is 3/64" thick.  The thickness is very important.
 
Lets get started.
 

Start with the coamings.   They are laser cut and 1/8" thick.
 
The fore and aft sides are already shaped with the round-up of the deck....or camber as usually described but is an inaccurate term.
 
Use the right angle jig to glue two sides together...dont worry about the laser char just yet.   Then glue the remaining two sides together using the same jig to make a nice right angle.
 

Glue the two right angles together to form the coaming.  Sand the sides clean which are left a bit longer as you can see in order to remove the char and leave a nice bright smooth surface.   Also sand the top sides to clean the char.  You can see the cleaned coaming below.
 
Then you can start working on the grating.  Again just like my other smaller scale grating kits.
 
Insert the laser cut grating strips in the slotted jig.  NO GLUE of course!!!   This is just for alignment.
 
Then start adding the cross battens.  These are glued in position.  They may be too tight as you want a press fit.  So just run the small strips 1/16" x 1/16" through your fingers with some fine sandpaper.  Not much.  Just enough so the battens fit into the slots. see below.  There are seven batten strips and seven laser cut grating strips for three of the hatches.  The fourth is made the same way but is much smaller on the fcastle.
 

When all the strips are glued in position,  remove the grating from the jig.  Snip off the edges as shown below.  Then sand all four edges clean.  Try and not distort the perfect square shape.  In the photo two sides have the ends snipped off.   The smaller hatchway will have fewer battens and more to snip away.  Also sand the top surface clean and smooth.  Once again try and maintain the proper shape with the round-up.  You will know when its all done when the char is cleaned from the laser cut grating strip squares.

The photo below shows the top of the grating and sides all clean and nice and smooth.  It makes a nice grating.  The holes are 1/16" or 2" on the real ship and perfectly in scale.

You should but dont have to sand the bottom side as well.   Here is a look.  The battens are clearly less thick than the grating strips and these are pretty close to actual construction methods.  Or at least the impression of it.
 

And almost done...you will see how nice and tight the grating fits in the coaming.   Dont over sand the edges and you should test the grating in the coaming as you sand the edges.   In fact, the coaming normally has ledges on the port and starboard sides inside the coaming.  These create a ledge that the grating sits on so it doesnt fall through.  You can add those if you like.  But in my case the gratings fit so snug that they were not required.  I simply glued the gratings into the coamings making sure the top of the coaming was flush with the grating.  I sanded it smooth with some 400 grit paper.

The four corners of the coaming are very sharp at this point.  You dont want that.  They should be rounded off.  But they are only rounded off down to the deck level.   That is when you take that same right angle jig and use it.
 
The jig is the same thickness as the planking.   So you can place the coaming into the corner and use a sharp #11 blade to slice away the corner.  Slice it down to the top of the jig only.   You can make a stop cut at the jig level before slicing off the corner.  Then just round off the corner.
 
 
Dont slice off too much.   Just a little bit to round off each corner.
 
To finish it off I drilled three holes with a #76 bit.  I used 20lb black fishing line to simulate the bolts on the top of the coamings.  Three on each side.   They cut flush with the top of the coamings with a sharp blade.
 
All done!!!
 
 
 

Thanks guys...There are a lot of things I could work on next but I am eager to get the decks planked.   So next up I will make all the coaming and gratings down the center line so I can plank around them.   Once that is done I will add the waterway and start on the fun bits.   It should come together rather quickly once I plank the decks.  A quick look at sheet 5 still being tweaked which has all of those details.   
 
 

Minor update on the deadflat frame. The chocks and cross chock are now cut out and I think my approach to doing this (at least provisionally) works ok. As noted above, I made a few billets of boxwood for the cross chocks and the chocks, since I felt that it would be very hard for me to make these if I was just trying to cut them out of the larger sheets along with the futtocks.
 
I position the template of the chock/cross chock at the end of the appropriate billets - in this case, they were all cut from 10" stock - with the angled side at 1 edge. I then use the disc sander to shave the angled portions down - not quite fully, so I can finish them off more carefully by hand with a sanding block. I then cut along the straight edge on the scroll saw to release them from the billet - I was worried that this would be really hard to achieve since the pieces are so small, but it actually proved not too difficult. Some light final finishing with sanding block and files and presto! I now only need to refine the futtocks and then get into the joinery....the kind of finnicky work that normally defeats my lazy and distracted nature, but that I'm determined to really get right! The final shot, below, shows the chocks loosely put together with the futtocks, and it shows I've got some ways still to go before I can finalise the assembly and raise the frame....but I'm enjoying this far more than I feared I might! Hopefully that feeling lasts!!
hamilton

Post One Hundred and Seventy-three
 
18’ cutter – Jolly Boat
 
I thought I would have another stab at clinker planking one of these bijou cutters to go with 'Indy'.
 
My original cutter which sits with Alert was of the older version replaced shortly after I had completed it.
This one is the current and revised version, which includes laser cut gratings and footwalings whereas the original had brass etch versions.
 
I will be using 3.4mm x 0.6mm Boxwood strip, and of necessity the planking starts at the keel and works up to the Wash strake.

4315
The Garboard is applied first using pva. This is shaped at the bow but is otherwise untapered.

4320
The second strake overlaps the Garboard by 1mm.
In proper practice there is a rebate or rabbet edge along the top of each plank to take the bottom edge of the plank above.
At scale and with 0.6mm board I can dispense with this nicety.
 
From the second plank above the Garboard I am adding a degree of taper both fore and aft. How much is down to eye and best guesstimate.
4528
As with all these projects clamping is an issue, more so as the planking rises.

4531
With three strakes added I move to the wash strake. This is fitted untapered into the bow slot.
 
Twice the stem part broke but repair was effected and once the wash strakes are in place the area is more stable.

4542
As the strakes are applied the taper increases fore and aft until the final strake fits flush with the lower edge of the wash strake.

4552

4550
Planking completed in its raw state, but the lapstrakes are clearly evident.

4565
I applied a 1mm square Ebony strip along the lower edge of the wash strake to represent the wale.
It looks broader than it is because top and face edges are not clearly defined on the photo.

4568

4569
There is a satisfaction to be had from completing the hull of this smallest of the boat range, but there is a fair bit of cleaning up required before the inboard fittings are put into place.
 
B.E.
 
06/05/2024

Hello,
it is done. At least the wheels are ready build. Next to build are the two supporters for the wheels.

A bit more progress on Echo. I took some time over the weekend and studied the framing tables supplied by Admiralty for the cross-section, sorted through wood, made copies of the frame patterns and started work on the deadflat frame. I also made the framing square jig, the pattern for which is also included with the other documentation for this build - it is suggested to use heavy card for this, but having an ample supply of 1/16" basswood strip, I decided to use that. 
 
For the deadflat frame, I first cut out templates of the individual frame elements, but realised that cutting and refining the chocks and cross chocks might be done more precisely and efficiently if I made billets for this purpose. The chocks and crosschocks are made from different thicknesses of boxwood depending on their location - 10.5", 10" and 8.25". The cross chocks for the forward frames are all 10". So I made 4 billets - 1 10.5" x 5/8" x 3 1/4", 1 10" x 5/8" x 3 1/4", 1 8.25" x 5/8" x 2 1/4" and for the cross chocks 10" x 1 3/4" x 2 1/2". I cut these billets over long for the number of chocks required so I could use the excess as a handle to refine the angled portions of the chocks on my disc sander. The straight edge will be cut using a chisel and refined by hand.
 
I have yet to refine the futtocks so the images below show them as I rough cut them on the bandsaw.
 
Enjoy and bye for now!
hamilton
 

Thank you Mike... It's appreciated....
 
Well another minor setback, my initial design doesn't work, everything that needs to be there won't fit.... and it's basic fitment, the detail HAS to be there and reworking the current design just didn't cut it, it was becoming even more convoluted a mess trying to fix the original so I decided to start fresh, take the best parts of the original and adjust to what needs to be as I go....
 
this is where I stopped adding detail and re-evaluated...

The Real deal...

That is from a 1911 Marmon Speedster The one below is the Marmon Wasp....

What was before....

And what is now with the added changes....

Yep the differences are subtle, but they make all the difference when fitting details where they need to be... And, like almost always, it is close to the finish when this issue pops up... But such is the life of a design draughtsman....
 
RE-starting the detail design part now.... {chuckle}
 
Onwards Brothers, onwards....

Well the move was completed after our new home was built on Oak Island.
The new model workshop/office is far smaller than my previous one at only 13x13 but I’m using shelving and other things to maximize space which is ongoing.
Winchelsea is now waiting for me to start Chapter 7 on the Quarter Deck hopefully in the next couple of weeks as soon as I find all the parts!

I have commisioned a second figure of Nelson using a new carver with more accurate facial features:
 
These are a work in progress with a little more tweaking required. The render showing Nelson on the plinth was the first. I asked, based on previous feedback, to have dowels on the bottom of the feet and holes to take the dowels in the plinth, if people want to display the figure either on the plinth, or on the deck directly.

Hello,
because today the summer ended we had here the last weeks and it rained again the whole day, I was busy at the yard. 
This is cutter No. 3 and I think now it works. The handles are a little too bulky, but when they are slimmer they would break. The spooks have a Ø of 1,6 mm!


Now are only 17+ spooks left

What a difference some paint makes.   Bulwarks are painted however as usual, I will be applying many more thin coats over the next few weeks as I progress.   
 
Before and after...
 

 

Thank you John / Gary.
 
It is time to start what I anticipate to be a long planking job.
 
I am starting at the bulwark. I plan to plank the hull with mahogany planks of .062" thickness by nominally .220" wide. The plank widths will obviously vary to conform with the hull shape as progress is made. The bulwark will be made from a nominally 1" wide by  .032" thick birch ply which will be clad with .032" mahogany planks as per the attached sketch.

The bitch ply cannot follow the line of the bulwark exactly without shaping so it is being put on to sit slightly above the line of the capping rail. It will be cut back to the capping rail shape later in the build.
 
I started by glueing bits of scrap wood to the frames. These position / support the plywood during gluing. Each one cut back to  conform with the shape the plywood strip wants to take.

At this stage I also did the final sanding of the hull.

Then followed the slow process of fitting the plywood strakes. They were glued in position with a ample layer of PVA wood glue.
The strakes were held in place with plenty of notice board pins and elastic bands while the glue dried.

The plywood sheet wasn't long enough to extend the full length of the hull and the stern needed separate strips.


I didn't get one to the frames right and this was revealed "too late" by the application of the bulwark strakes. I will need to correct this before I plank the bulwarks. Stupidly having noticed the mistake I the repeated it on the other side. There is no fool like an old fool.

Applying the bulwark strake to the stern was quite challenging due to the extreme curvature.

Before attaching the ply to the stern I slotted it with a series of horizontal cuts.

With a bit of fiddling this enabled it to wrap around the stern.

A bit of sanding produced an acceptable shape for subsequent planking.

That all for now folks!
 

Latest Update: Blocking out the Transmission....
 
Left side...

Right side...

In the frame mounted to the Differential case... Left side upper and lower angles....

Now I'm ready to add the details....
 
Stay tuned my friends...
 
Onwards...

You have a very nice rear end there Egilman! (Can’t believe I just said that….) 

It is time to start rigging the mast.  Some lines are served with an additional layer of line wrapped around them to protect them wherever they would be at risk of damage from rubbing.  On this model, the pendant of tackles, the foremost shroud, the other shrouds above the catharpins and the jeer block strop are served.  Because this is a cross-section, the main and back stays will not be installed but they would also be served.  Standing rigging is protected from water damage with a tar-like compound.  This resulted in a dark brown appearance to the lines.  The running rigging was not protected and so was a natural hemp color.  On this model, the burton pendants and shrouds are standing rigging;  everything else is running rigging
 
Rope sizes are calculated from the diameter of the mast.  The kit contains a table with the dimensions for the various ropes, based on the diameter of the mast.  To measure the diameter of the line, I wrap it around a dowel twenty times, measure the width of the wrapping and divide by twenty.  This is much more accurate than  trying to measure an individual line. The first rope to go over the masthead is the pendant of tackles.  On the topmast, this line is referred to as the burton pendant.  This rope is completely served, and has a thimble on one end.  The other end is spliced to its opposite, resulting in the rope in the diagram below.  Where the red and blue lines meet are splices.  The pendants extend to approximately two feet below the hounds.  They were used with a tackle to raise and lower heavy weights.

To properly rig a model there is no substitute for the appearance of a served line.  I use 6-0 fly tying thread, which can be purchased at a sporting goods store or online.  I start by running thread, from left to right in this case, into the depression between the rope strands (worming), smoothing its surface (the yellow areas seen in the drawing below.  Then I serve the rope from right to left. 

I find it easier to serve short segments of rope, such as this, on the same piece of rope and then cut them apart.  I served the rope, leaving approximately six inches of serving thread for the splices (red circles).

Then I made a diagonal cut, following the lay of the rope ¼” away from the end of the serving.  The unserved line was held against the other line where the splice would go and I wrapped the two lines with the left-over serving thread “splicing” them together.  I continued the wrapping a few more twists to smooth out the transition and tied it off.  A tiny bit of dilute glue held everything together. The pendant was put over the mast head and onto the bolsters.  It was marked on each leg, two feet below the hounds and removed from the mast.  I used blackened 1/16” ID brass tubing for my thimbles.  The mark was placed on the side of the thimble and the pendant was wrapped around it.  For simplicity I used a simple seizing to secure the thimble and put it back on the mast.

 
 
 
 

Full Metal Beam Engine Steam Engine (RETROL)
EngineDIY
Catalogue # 33ED3487709
Available from EngineDIY for USD $299.99
 

 
A beam engine is a type of steam engine where a pivoted overhead beam is used to apply the force from a vertical piston to a vertical connecting rod. This configuration, with the engine directly driving a pump, was first used by Thomas Newcomen around 1705 to remove water from mines in Cornwall. The efficiency of the engines was improved by engineers including James Watt, who added a separate condenser; Jonathan Hornblower and Arthur Woolf, who compounded the cylinders; and William McNaught, who devised a method of compounding an existing engine. Beam engines were first used to pump water out of mines or into canals but could be used to pump water to supplement the flow for a waterwheel powering a mill. They also could be used to power steam ships.

 
The first steam-powered ships used variants of the rotative beam engine. These marine steam engines – known as side-lever, grasshopper, crosshead, or 'walking beam', among others – all varied from the original land-based machines by locating the beam or beams in different positions to take up less room on board ship.
 
The kit

This steam engine kit comes in quite an anonymous and thick gauge cardboard box with absolutely no label! The box itself is reasonably heavy too, weighing in at just under 2kg. Lifting that lid off immediately shows the colour printed instruction sheets which are sat on a sheet of foam which protects the two trays of parts underneath.

This kit contains 84 parts, inclusive of screws etc. All parts are sat in foam cutouts which provide excellent protection for the assemblies and parts. I say assemblies, because I see this as more of a semi-kit in that a number of elements are pre-built, and the idea is to assemble these to the individual parts, which are all then mounted on a metal base.


A number of the parts are in plastic sleeves. These are the ones made from stainless steel, and are for building the boiler's mounting chassis,  and also the fuel/igniter tray. 

Work starts on mounting a number of parts to a metal stand-off frame which will eventually mount to the main plinth. This includes the piston mount/condensation block, and the column for the cross beam. Hex keys are provided for the bolts, as well as a spanner with various sized jaws for various nuts etc.



This assembly can now be mounted to the main plinth. This is done via a series of brass stand-offs. I'll also now fit the two fly wheel mounts.

All screws are tightened up except for those holding the brackets. I decided to make sure I align the drive shaft through them before properly tightening up.

This is the cross beam, and one of the number of pre-built assemblies in this model. This is composted of cast and turned brass, plus stainless steel. You can see the piston plunger on the right of the image.

This is now fitted to the column using a small grub screw to secure. I ddi apply a little lubricating oil into the piston chamber first and then made sure the beam would move freely, pulling the piston up and down. A separate sheet of instructions gives tips on how to achieve this. If not done correctly, this is about the only area which will cause enough friction to stop the engine from running freely. I found I needed to do a little adjustment of the base of the beam. That's why you can see an adjustment hole underneath this, in the main plinth. The idea is that once the piston is raised, it will drop into the piston cylinder due to gravity.

This drive arm is now lubricated and slid into the base of the piston block, and the two bearings are interred into the outside of each of the brackets. Notice the larger end isn't yet engaged into anything and is sat on the bracket simply for the photo opportunity!


You could say this is one of the main events...the fly wheel. This beautifully machines piece of aluminium will now be fitted between the two bearings, via that drive shaft. Flats are machined onto this so the grub screws have a proper surface to fasten to. 


The opposite side of the drive arm is now engaged into the drive shaft and a grub screw used to tighten up to the machined flat on the shaft. 

The drive wheel can now also be secured to the drive shaft via a grub screw. A small collar is used to help space the components.


This is the beam link which will connect the beam to the flywheel drive shaft. The brass fastener has a reverse screw thread which secures into the drive arm.


This beautiful little assembly is the centrifugal regulator. The lowest bolt needs to be removed from the unit and reattached from the underside of the plinth, along with the smaller bolt you can see here. Pushing the small brass linkage downwards will force the two balanced wheels outwards. This is what will happen when pressure is pushed through the brass block that you can see midway down the assembly.

A small length of silicone tube is used to link the centrifugal regulator to the condensate box/piston chamber.

Lastly, for this section, a silicone drive belt is applied between the centrifugal regulator and the fly wheel.

The boiler sits atop a stainless housing which doubles as the heat box for the boiler. The first side is fitted, via two brass shafts which also help reinforce the assembly, as well as create mounting points for the boiler securing straps.



The box is now complete, with the scalloped side towards the top, and the square cutout as shown. The latter is to accommodate the fuel tray.

This really is a very nice piece of engineering, mostly from machined brass. I remember the boilers from the Mamod steam engines, and I can vouch that there are flimsier than this, and that had soldered joints. This is a far superior unit. 

The boiler is now fitted and secured. The protruding outlet pipe is connected to the centrifugal regulator via a length of silicone tubing.

The steam engine itself is now complete.




These parts assemble to create the fuel tray. This contains a tray into which the fuel (methylated spirits, IDA etc) will be poured. The 'wick' units which create a chamber from where the fuel vapours emit, are then plugged into the tray and then the cap is fitted. This creates a shield which closes off the fuel chamber from the outside world. 




The underside of the piston block has that condensation pipe. This little tray will sit underneath that whilst in operation. 

Instructions
These are quite sparse in text, with quite a lot of Chinese present, but the illustrations themselves are enough to easily build this steam engine. 





 
With the engine complete, we can now give it a test. First, the safety valve needs to be unscrewed and then water added. I do this with a syringe. First you need to open the valve at the front of the boiler, or the water will just leak from the injection point, as you add it. I found that about 60ml of water was enough for this. I also added about 10ml to 12ml of methylated spirits to the fuel tray and then lit the burner. The boiler took just a few minutes to come to pressure. The flywheel began to rotate slowly, so I gave it a gentle push and off it went!


 
 
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
Firstly, I have to say that this is a delightful little steam engine that is both easy to understand and build. This took me a little over 90 minutes to build, inclusive of taking the unedited photos. The quality of parts really is excellent, which is what you need when you are dabbling with a miniature boiler unit and the pressures within. The overall feel of the kit and the finished model is one of quality. All I would suggest is adding a little lube in areas such as the piston and gearing in the centrifugal regulator etc. When you compare the beautiful finished model here, compared with the current Mamod models which are pre-built and cost over a £100 more than this, then I consider this to be excellent value for money. It will also make a wonderful cabinet display piece too, which is exactly where mine will be heading. 
 
My sincere thanks to EngineDIY for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. To buy direct, click the link in the header of this topic.
 
 
 

Hello,
the first results.  I think, tomorrow I have to make the cutter new. But it is an interesting material and cuts better then wood. 

Many of you are curious about this photo.   Its floating around the forums without an explanation.  I brought my Medway Longboat to the New London show last week where it was photographed..   You may not be able to see it right away but yes I changed this Medway English longboat to be an American boat.   This model was used in the movie that I worked on last year which I talked about a while back.   I changed the flag and the nameplate on the model.  They wanted it to be American and have the Character's Name on the model.  They were going to slowly pan across it for the movie and wanted Ed Harris' character name very visible etc.
 
To my Surprise after spending a bunch time with him trying to teach him how to fake being a ship modeler,   Ed Harris signed the model.  But of course not the base....Black sharpie right across the hull.   No fixing that!!!  So rather than put the model back to its original English origin and remove the nameplates, I decided to just leave it as is.  It will make for a nice conversation piece.   The movie is supposed to come out in July I believe....It was about 10 degrees out the day he signed it.  The workshop was set up in the garage of the set.  I have no idea how they acted as if it wasnt freezing all the time.  I suppose that is why he is considered such a great actor.
 
Starring Ed Harris, Dustan Hoffman, Bill Murray, Gabrielle Union, Jenifer Coolidge, Pete Davidson and a bunch of others you would certainly know.   We shall see how the movie turned out!!!   At least I have a memento for the wonderful experience.
 

Congratulations on another outstanding SIB Glen. The thought you put into your presentation/stands takes your builds to another level altogether. I’m sure the recipient of this one will be absolutely delighted.