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Keith Black

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Everything posted by Keith Black

  1. Keith Black
    Thank you to all for the kind comments and likes. I got one gun and gun carriage completed, the second one's fate didn't turn out as well. These are rather delicate little things and do not fair well when brute force is applied. I hate replowing the same ground especially when due to my own stupidity. I need to make a third and what I hope to be a final carriage and then on to the truck carriages. I'm semi pleased with this one, the barrel elevates even though these Dahlgren guns will be stationed in their stowed positions.
  2. Keith Black
    Thank you, Eberhard. Wood screws must have worked or they would have done something different. That's a testament as to how well the planking was laid down. Barrel weight of the 11 inch Dahlgren was almost 16,000 lbs plus the additional gun carriage and sliding carriage weight would have pushed the total weight to 20,000 lbs. Target practice was held every fortnight or at least once a month. Practice every two weeks would have required moving those beast out 24 times a year and with the journey back to station, would have meant traveling over those screws 48 times a year. I can't find anything regarding sweep inspection/maintenance in the 'Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy, 1866' but I'm sure there must have been some guide being that it was the Navy.
  3. Keith Black
    Pat, thank you. Must have been some very long screws to keep the sweeps from shifting under all that weight and movement. I wonder if they weren't through bolted, a slotted counter sunk head on the top side and a nut and washer on the bottom side?
  4. Keith Black
    When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk. - Tuco
  5. Keith Black
    Could have been a worker's family Sunday, bring the wife and the kids down and show off the ole man's work. From what you guys have said about McKay, it sounds like something he would have organized/allowed.
  6. Keith Black
    Hank, I had a hard time giving a thumbs up to your post because of CJ's passing. Even though she is no longer with you in body, I KNOW she will always be with you in spirit, we can never completely let them go. She was a lovey animal. Maybe you've already heard this old joke about the difference between cats and dogs..........The dog says, "they feed and water me, play with me, give me a warm dry place to sleep, they must be gods" The cat says "they feed and water me, play with me, give me a warm dry place to sleep, I must be God"
  7. Keith Black
    Olha, always a pleasure seeing a new posting from you. I could watch your videos for hours on end, such nice, neat work.
  8. Keith Black
    Thank you to all for the likes and wonderful comments. The support of the MSW community helps to keep me going in those wee hours when nothing goes right. I had a devil of a time making an acceptable carriage pattern, one that not only captured the essence of an actual carriage but also makable. I've dry fitted the barrels to the raw carriages for fit and form, I think I'm on the right track. Now to dismantle paint and add all the carriage components.
  9. Keith Black
    Uh huh. Mark, I'm thinking about changing her name from Emma to Stump Grinder. Pat, thank you so much. Gary, thank you. I forgot to add in the Dahlgren info that the gun crew totaled 25 men including the powder monkey. Emma says, thank you. Rob, Thank you for the kind words. Talos, thank you so much from dropping by and the nice comment. If it wasn't for you in those very early days this build may not have happened. Vladimir, thank you and yes, this era is fascinating with all the developing technologies of the time. Hank, thank you for stopping by and the compliment. Both Emma and I would enjoy seeing CJ, please post a photo.
  10. Keith Black
    Shipwright carpentry at it's best, absolutely stunning.
  11. Keith Black
    Hat's off to Bill Nyberg, excellent presentation. I'll follow his lead as best I can when I start rigging the Amelia.
  12. Keith Black
    If the first photo is rotated 180 degrees, it looks like a flower from the Trumpet Vine. Is that vestiges of green paint in the recesses or corrosion? If it is green paint it would have been a pretty piece, green in the recesses with the high points polished off. Interesting.
  13. Keith Black
    Her work is fantastic, a modeler with unbelievable skills. It never ceases to amaze me the number of world class modelers with build logs in MSW. It's a real testament to the quality of this website that NRG provides. Well worth becoming a supporting NRG member.
  14. Keith Black
    BB, I decided not to fill the cracks in the Amelia because of the difficulty of matching paint to hide the filler. Nice repair on the prow.
  15. Keith Black
    Gary, another amazing post. When I look at The Dragger I hear the cries of gulls and the voices of fisherman as they go about their task. I see gray low hung clouds and waves climbing the hull. I smell the sea and I think, perfect.
  16. Keith Black
    Clipper, I don't want to belabor the point but as you can see from the photo of the Tennessee the DS is 90 degrees to the waterline. I don't know if there is a correct way or if it was just a "go tighten her boys" and to heck with what angle it hung? I've seen photos of other ships (mainly US Navy) where the DS is at 90 to the waterline. Maybe a US Navy thing at the time? I was just curious, back to being a silent observer, thank you....
  17. Keith Black
    Question, somewhere I read that the dolphin striker was hung 90 degrees to the water line but more often times than not I see modelers hang the dolphin striker at 90 degrees to the bowsprit. Which is correct way or is there a correct way?
  18. Keith Black
    Shaping up nicely, well done.
  19. Keith Black
    I just discovered this build log, what an incredible gift to the viewer. I look forward to being able to sit down and journey through every post.
  20. Keith Black
    Rob, very well said.
  21. Keith Black
    What a sad commentary about the last years of such a talented individual. There should have been and should always be a safety net for the artist of whatever discipline that share our world.
  22. Keith Black
    Don't be afraid, walk toward the light.....
  23. Keith Black
    My hat's off to you, Eberhard. If I tried putting in the detail you have at this scale, I'd be a basket case. It's nothing short of absolutely amazing.
  24. Keith Black
    I thank each of you for the comments, the likes, and the support. Back in the saddle again....... I'm going to wait and make the sweeps for the Parrott 100 pound guns till I've completed the two Dahlgren XI guns then I can tackle making the sweeps for all four guns at the same. I've turned the barrels for the two Dahlgren XI guns, I added the barrel elements before parting. I still need to trim the trunnions to length one the carriages are made and fitted. The brass rings on the trunnions go on the outside of the carriages and represent what I think to be bearing housings? I've left them on the trunnions for now so as not to lose them. About the Dahlgren XI guns. Before being changed from a 11 inch smooth bore gun to a 8 inch riffled bore in 1875 the gun data from Wikipedia.....Barrel weight, 15,700 lbs; barrel length, 161 inches; shot weight, 166 lbs; shell weight, 133.5 lbs; charge weight 20 lbs; range, 3,650 yards at 15 degrees elevation. The Dahlgren XI guns were the only Dahlgren guns to be made with and without muzzle swell. The two onboard the Tennessee were made without muzzle swell. As a smooth bore gun the XI could pierce 4.5 inches of iron plate backed by 20 inches of solid oak. The following from https://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/1987-B57-The-Last-Smoothbores-The-Development-of-.pdf In 1875 the ordnance bureau issued a contract to a private firm to convert ten 11-inch Dahlgren guns into 8-inch rifles by inserting wrought-iron tubes, then machining in the lands and grooves. The cost was 2,700 dollars per gun. Neither these nor any of the other measures taken in the immediate postwar years resulted in ordnance comparable to the current generation of European rifles. Largely due to inadequate funding, the navy was unable to develop advanced ordnance technology. When Congress authorized new, modern, vessels in the 1880s, the navy purchased several of its first breech-loading steel rifles in Great Britain. Throughout that decade the United States Navy retained wooden vessels armed with Dahlgren guns, the remnants of a bygone era. I've been unable to locate data for the XI converted to a 8 inch riffled barrel. Here is the gun data for a 8 inch riffled Parrott gun for a ballpark reference, this from Wikipedia......Shell weight, 150 lbs; charge weight, 16 lbs; range, 8,000 yards at 35 degrees elevation.
  25. Keith Black
    What started out as just a small break from the tedium of 1:120 work turned into a sabbatical, life got in the way. Our dear old shipmate of 17 years, Amelia, started failing in July. I tried distracting myself with the purchase (and continued restoration) of an old decorative ship from the 20's (since named for Amelia) allowing for some mind numbing puttering. Up until Amelia's passing we'd shared our home with a cat/cats continuously for over 41 years. The house and our lives were empty so we brought onboard a new apprentice, Emma. She was 12 weeks old (now 14 weeks old) when she came up the gangway. She loves to fly from the galley to the forecastle then through the rigging to the stern castle. She hasn't a clue but seems eager to learn. Each day we grow to love her a little more, each day the pain grows dimmer. Photo of Emma in one of her more placid moments.

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