gjdale

Could be Keith, but I don’t understand how or why as yet.

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

It's  been a while since my last update but work has progressed, albeit very slowly. 
 

I changed my mind (again) about removing the excess ABS, mainly because it would have been impossible to hold the internal stringer/gunwhale(?) in place with it sill there. So I went ahead and removed the excess ABS, and then positioned the stringer/gunwhale and the internal (fake) ribs. I also drilled out the hole for the propellor shaft and cut the access hole for the rudder support strip that extends from the keel. I decided to replace the kit-provided stuffing tube and propellor shaft with some after-market parts from Float-a-Boat in Melbourne (following the lead of Wayne (@a49kid)). At the same time, I ordered some universal joints and a brass propellor to replace the kit-provided plastic one. Unfortunately, with the additional thickness added by planking the entire hull, a propellor of the same size (40mm) will not fit. I’m still deciding as to the exact size that I will use, but it will be either 35mm or, more likely, 30mm.
 
The picture below shows the internal ribs in place along with the stuffing tube and propellor shaft temporarily positioned. I may well need to adjust the length of the stuffing tube/propellor shaft once I’ve got the steam plant sorted.
 

 
Before proceeding further with the hull, I needed to sort out the steam plant and its positioning/securing in the hull. That meant doing a trial run of the plant. I bought this plant from Miniature Steam Models (MSM) over 18 months ago and had not done any final assembly and testing to date. It comes almost fully assembled, requiring only the attachment of the steam line (from boiler to engine) and the gas line from gas tank to boiler. Unfortunately, for some reason the steam line was a few mm too short to be connected. This was very surprising as MSM have a very good reputation for quality. 
 
Anyway, I enlisted the assistance of a fellow Canberra modeler who is something of a guru on all things steam engines. He advised cutting the existing pipe and inserting a short joining section to make up the length required. He also very kindly machined up the required part and silver soldered it in place for me. The result can be seen in the picture below, highlighted by the red circle. We did a short test that proved the join was secure and together we are now conducting some “set-to-work” trials.
 

 
There are still a few other issues to deal with before proceeding with the hull, but I hope to resolve those in the next few days.

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

Grant, what a kaleidoscope of issues. It sounds like the boiler flame is being robbed of oxygen?

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

Well, it’s been an interesting and frustrating week working on setting the steam plant to work. Additional issues I have encountered to date (but have successfully resolved with the assistance of my “guru”) are:
 
The upper flange on the boiler sight glass tube had not been soldered correctly, leaving a small hole in the joint through which a large quantity of steam escaped. This was resolved by carefully re-fluxing the joint and allowing the existing solder to close the gap. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The flange joint between the engine side of the displacement lubricator had not been soldered correctly and again, a large quantity of steam escaped through this fault. This was resolved in a similar way to the boiler sight glass tube flange described above. Successful after test run with no further leakage through this joint.
 
The mating surfaces between the flat rotating valve (forward/reverse) on top of the engine and the engine body were not machined particularly well (they were quite rough) and a significant steam leakage resulted. This was addressed by carefully polishing both faces to facilitate a smoother action. When running, the engine now appears to be quite smooth in its operation, with very little steam escaping though this interface.
 
I am somewhat surprised that the boiler was able to pass testing given the fault described at the first point above, and indeed that the other faults were not picked up through a quality control process. Nevertheless, I have managed to resolve all of the manufacturing faults thus far. 
 
There is one further issue that has me flummoxed at the moment and that is to do with the gas burner. The issue is this. Although all set-up routines have been followed, including calibration of the burner flame, once the boiler gets to operating pressure and the engine starts running, very shortly thereafter the boiler flame goes out although there is still plenty of gas in the tank. The flame can be relit, but initially burns at the top of the stack and only goes back to the burner when the gas is turned down a little. It then burns correctly for a few seconds and goes out again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
 
My initial thought after re-reading all of the material on manufacturer’s website, was that perhaps the gas being used was of insufficient quality and was then clogging up the jets in the burner. Yesterday, I purchased some so-called premium quality Butane. The blurb on the can alleges that it has been purified 11 times and claims to burn hotter and longer than cheaper products. Its gas mix content is stated to be 60% butane, 36% isobutane, and 2% propane. Alas, on testing the same problem returned.
 
What I don’t understand is why the burner seems to work correctly initially, but after a few minutes develops this fault.
 
I have written to the supplier/manufacturer but am yet to hear back from them (and may not – they have been problematic with communications in the past).
 
In the meantime, after lengthy discussion of alternatives with the guru, I decided to make a modification to how the engine sits in the hull. Basically, this involves removing some of the frames from under where the engine sits and inserting a hardwood plate, epoxied into the bottom of the hull to hold the engine assembly. This will get the engine a lot lower in the hull and greatly reduce the height difference/angle to the prop shaft. Here is a picture after the preliminary surgery on the frames.
 

 
My guru also found among his odds and ends a very nice universal joint that comes out of the model car world. It is a lot less bulky than the standard universals and should work a treat in the AQ. He has also made for me a flywheel to go on the end of the engine shaft - he says this is essential to smooth the operation of the engine. I know nothing of these matters, so defer to his expertise here.
 
I am also going to change the rudder support (skeg) and will instead use a piece of brass bar for this purpose. I will epoxy a small wooden block in the base of the hull on the inside, and will then be able to screw the brass skeg into that. This will make the skeg level with the base of the keel and in doing so, will overcome my propellor clearance issue so that I can still use the 40mm prop.
 
The other issue I’m now working on is to address the poor fit of the upper deck. As I’m going to plank over this, the provided deck will be the substrate for my planking. I made up a cardboard template for the required shape by tracing around the inverted hull to help with the process. The pencil line inside the outer  edge of the template shows where the existing deck lies – it’s only out a small amount, but enough to cause headaches.
 

 
I then cut the deck substrate down the centreline and placed the two halves so that they just covered the outer edge of the template and marked their positiong relative to the centreline of the template. This showed an overall gap of 10mm (or 5mm per side).
 

 
It was then a fairly simple matter to add some filler pieces to achieve the correct shape. The picture below shows that I needed to make a T-shaped piece to fit at the bow to close the gap previously cut for the stem post. I will now need to re-shape the bow and re-cut that slot. The picture below shows the filler pieces in place but not yet glued. They have since been glued in place awaiting final trimming. 
 

 
More to follow once I have news on the steam plant and/or further surgery modifications have been completed.
 

Short update Brothers, Very Short...
 
Since I used the old wheels and just modified their position, I went ahead and added a detail that I forgot when I did them before...
 
The Speedo Gear mounted to the right Wheel...
 

Seems like a minor thing, but it's a detail that is readily viewable and no other model out there has this detail to my knowledge....
 
Now on the her rear end.... {chuckle} 
 
Onwards!!!

Just a small update...
 
I was eager to get started with the planking of the bulwarks.   There is no trick for this.  Its just a grind of cutting and shaping planks to fit between the ports.   Its a slow process and you must be very neat and keep the cuts around the ports straight etc.
 
The planking is all 3/64" thick.   Just as I did with the Winnie, the two strakes below the the ports (the spirketting) were added first.  The spirketting is normally thicker than the planks above it and stands proud.  I have always accomplished this by planking the spirketting in two layers.  It still amazes me how few kit mfgs even show this feature.  You dont have to do it this way if you dont want to.  You could just use 1/16" or even 5/64" thick planking and do it one layer.   Its up to you.  I will add the second layer of spirketting once the entire side has been planked.  I will use a .025" thick second layer.  
 
Having said this...some notes are in order.   The top of the spirketting is lined up perfectly flush with the bottom of the gun ports and sweep ports.   This is great if you happened to get lucky and they all line up perfectly.   I dont care who is making the model, this is pretty impossible to do.   Even the most skilled builders will need to tweak the bottom sills of each port so they line up perfectly with the top edge of spirketting.  This will become very apparent after you run your planking strip down the inboard bulwarks.   I was very lucky in that most of the ports only needed some minor tweaking.   Some were just a hair too high.  Less than 1/64".   So I used a sharp chisel to  make the ports sits flush along the top of the spirketting.  you can see that in the photo below.  The ports will need a lot of paint touch up which was expected.  Whatever you do,  do not notch out your spirketting to accommodate a port.  Try and keep the top edge of the spirketting a nice continuous run without notching it.  Should one of your ports sit too low...I recommend instead that you add a sliver of wood on top of the port sill to raise it up in line with the spirketting.
 
I hope that makes sense.
 
See below...notice how I did not use any pencil to simulate the seams between each strake.   In fact, just the opposite.   I am painting the bulwarks red so this allowed me to take a small shortcut.  You may want to consider it as well.  I dont want any seams to show at all.  In fact I didnt even have to use two individual strakes for the spirketting.   If you look towards the fcastle bulwark planking you can see the area I havent planked yet.  I used one wide strip of 3/64" thick cedar instead of using two narrower strakes as is typical.  I believe it was around 1/2" wide.  Probably slightly wider on the aft portion.   
 
Then because we know the sweep ports are 3/16" high,  a 3/16" strip was used next and cut between the ports and sweeps.   I was careful to be very neat with these cuts.
 
Finally the remaining planking above the sweep ports would normally consist of two more strakes.   Because I am painting the bulwarks, I once again used ONE wider strip of 3/64" thick cedar so I could quickly fill in those areas in one pass.  It should paint up very nicely.  This reduced the number of neatly cut ends to all those strakes between the ports.   There are fewer seams to keep neat as well.   The photo almost looks like a solid hull because there are few seams showing between strakes.  
 
Now if you are NOT going to paint the bulwarks red....this means you will have to use individual narrow strakes.  It will take many more cuts and trial fittings...repeat and repeat again.  That is your choice.  I will take more pics after the second layer of spirketting is added and after the bulwarks are painted red.  The bow area will be planked with narrower strakes just as they should be.  It will be easier to bend those.   But once the bulwarks are painted red nobody will be able to tell how many strakes you actually used.   So you must make a decision ...to paint or not to paint.  Essentially you can plank what's remaining of the bulwarks with just three rows cedar strips.   The wood package comes with your typical 3/16", 7/32", 1/4" and 9/32" wide planking strips that are narrow, so you will need to buy some 3/64" sheets should you want to plank your bulwarks like I have done here.  Then you can cut some 1/2" wide strips instead.   But only if you will be painting the bulwarks red.
 
 
 
 

It's always a pretty big step when you knock off the lower ratlines. Just a couple of additional notes - the first six lines on the top and bottom of both the main and fore shrouds skip the foremost and aftmost shrouds. Otherwise the process is the same as the mizzen - skipping every few lines to prevent the shrouds from squeezing together or skewing.  I used a long ruler to make sure  my graph paper was positioned properly to the match the lines of the ship and the other ratlines. 
 
 
 
  I also wanted to note here that it is quite important (especially at this scale) to let the diluted PVA dry completely before you try and trim the edges otherwise the knots will unravel and you'll have to redo some lines. After the end knots dry, I use a brand new blade on my scalpel, hold the end of the rope as tightly as I can with my smallest tweezers, then gently cut the rope as close to the knot as possible with a slow back and forth sawing motion using only the weight of the scalpel. Trying to "slice" the rope does not work here and results in pulling and fraying.
 

 
This is also one of those places where it really does make a difference when you use higher quality lines - another benefit of making my own.  The polyester fibers do have a tendency to slip a tiny bit, so going through and adjusting the clove hitches across each ratline is paramount to maintaining some semblance of evenness throughout the rigging. I have some a bit more slack than others, but overall I'm pleased with the end result. As we all know - this is one of those times when patience really does pay off.
 
  
 
 
 
For those who are curious - a total of 784 clove hitches including the ratlines across the futtock shrouds. 
 

A quick update, as I have not had much time to work on this model, due to multiple side activities.
 
I completed the chimney for the oven. All parts are made of copper tubes and aluminum tubes, soldered and glued together. The shape is inspired from the Anatomy of the Ship book.
 

 

 
On the deck:
 

 

 

 
Hmmm... after seeing these pictures, I think I need to paint it darker....
Yves

The swivel gun mounts:
 







 

Post One hundred and Seventy-one
Album photo's
I have at last got around to taking the completion photo’s which will form part of the Photo build record book that I’m currently putting together.

4395
4361A

4392

4364

4365

4391

4390

4396

4369

4405

4395

2161A

2145a

4397

2162a

2164a

4380

4379

4388

4494a
I am currently faffing around with a clinker built 18’ cutter, and ‘Indy’ is yet to be enclosed in her case, so the story has not quite ended.
 
Then there’s the 26’ Launch, still on my mind.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.
 

Very short update,
 
I went ahead and added the front wheels and tires, there really isn't any improvement I can make on what was designed before so I when ahead and used those....
 
Here is the result...


There is one thing I did do, I added the camber to the wheels that the original car had... This was a simple matter of tilting the wheels outwards at the top.... The state of automobile steering engineering was almost complete at the time the Wasp was built Proportional Steering, Toe, and Camber had been figured out, the only thing left was Castor.... It would be the early 30's before castoring was understood and universally applied... Until then, steering took actual effort on the part of the driver and needed constant monitoring, one moments distraction and you would find yourself heading in a different direction than you intended...
 
Camber....

Combined with Toe-In and Proportional Steering, Camber allowed the centrifugal sideways force of turning to be applied to downward force as the car turned when the wheels turned, the sideway lean of the inside wheel would become greater in the direction of the turn and less on the wheel outside of the turn... This had the effect of the inside tire pulling the car into the turn against centrifugal force while the outer tire holds the line of the turn.... (this is why in a high speed car making a turn has the outside tire blow out, the car makes an immediate turn in the direction of the blowout, the outer tire is no longer there to hold the line of the turn)
 
Simple applied geometry is all steering is... And Camber was the final part to steering being an advantage in holding the road...
 
I guess I'll head to the rear of the car, I need her to be on all four wheels now.....
 
Onwards...

And another update....
 
Phew that was intense....

You will probably recognize the speedo mounting post, this is the Steering Arm that slips over the right steering knuckle and bolts to the hex portion of the Speedo post....
 
Below is the Right Steering Knuckle with this part in place....

A very ingenious bit of design there....
 
Was a bear to draw though.... {chuckle}  It's probably not exact, but close.... Very close....
 
And this belongs to the Steering group along with the Left Steering Knuckle and Center link....

And of course it mounts to the front Axel's Spindle carriers....

Glad that one is done.... 
And finally the overall look...

Well more detail take more time... (and I get more practice)
 
This one was a brain burner.... I'm sure someone more experienced in Solidworks would have done it easier, cleaner and faster... But for now, I'm calling it done...
 
Onwards...
Probably ready for Front Wheels and Tires....
 

It's  been a while since my last update but work has progressed, albeit very slowly. 
 

I changed my mind (again) about removing the excess ABS, mainly because it would have been impossible to hold the internal stringer/gunwhale(?) in place with it sill there. So I went ahead and removed the excess ABS, and then positioned the stringer/gunwhale and the internal (fake) ribs. I also drilled out the hole for the propellor shaft and cut the access hole for the rudder support strip that extends from the keel. I decided to replace the kit-provided stuffing tube and propellor shaft with some after-market parts from Float-a-Boat in Melbourne (following the lead of Wayne (@a49kid)). At the same time, I ordered some universal joints and a brass propellor to replace the kit-provided plastic one. Unfortunately, with the additional thickness added by planking the entire hull, a propellor of the same size (40mm) will not fit. I’m still deciding as to the exact size that I will use, but it will be either 35mm or, more likely, 30mm.
 
The picture below shows the internal ribs in place along with the stuffing tube and propellor shaft temporarily positioned. I may well need to adjust the length of the stuffing tube/propellor shaft once I’ve got the steam plant sorted.
 

 
Before proceeding further with the hull, I needed to sort out the steam plant and its positioning/securing in the hull. That meant doing a trial run of the plant. I bought this plant from Miniature Steam Models (MSM) over 18 months ago and had not done any final assembly and testing to date. It comes almost fully assembled, requiring only the attachment of the steam line (from boiler to engine) and the gas line from gas tank to boiler. Unfortunately, for some reason the steam line was a few mm too short to be connected. This was very surprising as MSM have a very good reputation for quality. 
 
Anyway, I enlisted the assistance of a fellow Canberra modeler who is something of a guru on all things steam engines. He advised cutting the existing pipe and inserting a short joining section to make up the length required. He also very kindly machined up the required part and silver soldered it in place for me. The result can be seen in the picture below, highlighted by the red circle. We did a short test that proved the join was secure and together we are now conducting some “set-to-work” trials.
 

 
There are still a few other issues to deal with before proceeding with the hull, but I hope to resolve those in the next few days.

It was so great to see everyone at the New London show yesterday.  There were some fantastic models on display.  I hope everyone has a safe trip back to their workshops.
 
And talking about a safe journey back to the workshop.  Many of you may recall that 4 and maybe even 5 years ago, Someone swiped my mini-me off the Winnie model under construction at the show.  
 
I am happy to report that after several years as hostage…and with no ransom paid,  someone anonymously released mini-me and placed him in the depths of the speedwell model at this years show.  I was happy to find him below deck upon my return to the shop.  No harm was apparent on “mini-me” and he is in good health.  Thank you goes out to person for having a change of heart and I am sure that both of you will sleep a bit  more soundly this evening!!   Since I have lost 30 pounds this year so far...mini-me will now undertake the same dietary and exercise regime that I am now unfortunately tolerating.
 
You cant make this stuff up!!!
 

That is possibly your best yet Glen, although you set such a high standard it’s a difficult call. Love the lone penguin too - just the right touch.

I can’t believe I missed the start of yet another of your magnificent SIB projects Glen. Just got caught up and all I can say is WOW! Love what you’ve done so far and looking forward to the insertion of penguins. 🤣

Here is the main event! The model is actually quite large and weighty, and we haven't finished yet. The ejector rods and sleeves are now to be fitted. This is done one cylinder at a time, and needs to the rocker arms to be lifted to allow the ejector rods to sit.


 
The base is now fitted, and a spacer mounted between the base and engine. Once fitted, the battery charger port, switch and motor cables are threaded into the base. The cables are then plugged into a control board, along with a battery pack. The circuit is then screwed into the base and a cover fitted to hide it all. The kit also includes a USB charging cable too (not shown).


COMPLETE!

And here is a video I made of my review build.
 
 
 
The instruction manual is clearly illustrated and the average builder should find zero difficulty in following each stage.




Conclusion
I didn't know what to expect before seeing this kit in the flesh, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I'd had a hankering for building something like this for a while, but I suspect the mixed reviews I'd seen were from cheap copies. This kit very much surpasses my expectations in presentation, quality, and also the final result. This model took me about 5hrs to complete, but that's also because I was setting up photos of each stage. I think it's fair to say that the manufacturer expectation of about 3hrs is reasonably accurate. The instructions are very easy to follow and should present no problems, even to a beginner who has no sort of modelling or engineering experience. All parts fit perfectly together with no issue. The only things I would criticise are the hex keys which are a little soft and round off easily, making tightening the screws hard. Also, there is no lube in this kit any longer, so you will need to source your own. In all, a fantastic kit.
 
My sincere thanks to EngineDIY for sending out this kit for review on Model Ship World. Whilst not marine-related, I'm more than sure you'd really enjoy this one. To buy direct, click the link in the header of this topic.
 
 

 

Now it's time to build magazines and all sorts of decks and beams. For that phase an accurate depth gauge is essential, so I've let my brain overthink yet another tool 
 
The requirements are:
1) Soft plastic or wood to avoid scratching the model
2) Nice looking and pleasure to use, that tool would be in active service for at least a decade.
3) Ideally it should have a thumbwheel or a knob for fine adjustment. 
 
I have a cheap plastic vernier calliper that satisfies the first requirement, but it does not have an knob / thumbwheel.

Could not find any plastic callipers with a knob, unfortunately. The plastic ones are already rare enough, let alone with a wheel adjuster.
 
Then I spotted a Lego set with a container loader ("reach stacker", to be more precise) that has a worm gear and tried to make an abomination out of it. It is surprisingly challenging to build a compact functional tool out of random lego parts, a whole puzzle of its own. Respect to people who do it on a regular basis!

It kind of works, but the play and precision is not good enough for my needs. 
So I gave up on the wheel adjuster requirement and went back to the simple "calliper on a gantry" setup.
It was a nice warmup to recover some skills that I've lost over years of inactivity.
 

This time I even got help from my little helper! She enjoyed cranking the mill  

 
The resulting design has two parts - sliding gantry (no t-tracks, it is stable enough on its own) and a "calliper holder" that slides sideways on the gantry to allow the gantry keep contact with both sides of the baseboard.
The bottom edge of the caliper is trimmed to a flatter profile to avoid hitting the keelson. Both ends of the calliper can be used for a markup to allow for a comfortable pencil positioning.
The setup relies on three clamps to fix everything in position. These plastic clamps are a bit of an eyesore, maybe I will sidetrack again to build a nicer ones  


 
 

Knee of the head Mk. II.  I messed up the first one when I was sanding the backside to fit the stem.  I learned my lesson and made up a sanding block with the same profile of the stem to sand back the second version.  This time I used brown artists pigment mixed into the Titebond glue.  The lines are hardly visible, but show up nicely when the wood is damp.  I will stick to that approach for the rest of the build. The stem, keel, and knee of the head are just on the bench for show and not glued up yet.
 
Adam
 
 

I took a break from ratlines this morning to work on some shroud cleats that I'll need soon.  My inspiration for how to do these came from a variation of Dan Vadas.  I started with a 4m thick by 10mm wide strip of this random (not sure what it is) hardwood that came from an extra cheeseboard the Admiral got rid of. 
 
 
 
First, I added a slightly thicker (just under 2mm wide) blade on the table saw to notch the sides deeply and the top shallow. The top is shaped with a round sanding tool then a round needle file. 
 
 
 
Varying degrees of VERY light sanding is down to create some shape to the grooves before I switch back to my thinnest table saw blade to cut over 30 cleats at 2mm thick each.  If you're going to follow a similar method - make at least a handful more than you need as quite a few don't survive the process; particularly at this scale.
 
 
 
After the they're cut, the individual cleats are then subject to even more delicate sanding to round out the edges.  More are lost to this process as well regardless of how gently I apply 600 - 1000 grit sand paper. Each survivor is then dipped into water based wipe on poly to provide a modicum of strength for later rigging then left to dry.  
 
 
 
Here's a final product seized to the main foremost shroud to see how it looks.  I mounted it by sticking it in place with the barest touch to CA before seizing it with .10mm line. 
 

 
  I ended up with 28 or so workable cleats, which should be a couple more than I need.  I actually had a pretty difficult time determining exactly how many I'd need. After scouring the FFM images I have, as well as some Swan logs here, I finally came up with a total of 26 - though it appears not all of them are rigged when all is said and done.  Here's my list (applies to both port and starboard sides):
 
Mizzen, Main, and Fore tops  - the first two aft shrouds (12 total). Lower Mizzen - the foremost shroud (2). Lower Fore - the foremost three shrouds (6 total). Lower Main - the first two foremost shrouds and the fourth shroud (6 total).  If someone (maybe one of the Swan experts @dvm27, @Blue Ensign, or @chris watton?) has a solid reference on how many shroud cleats are used and where they're used - I'd appreciate it greatly.