GemmaJF

Ron, is the exhaust vent going to be permanently installed in a wall? If it will, put some screen in the vent to keep squirrels and other critters out of your building. Don't ask how I know this...

The blower arrived today! It was close to the drawing I had, but not exact. I'm redoing the drawings, then this weekend, I'll get it attached.

I found a manufacturer spec. sheet for the blower I bought, and have determined my initial design for mounting and venting it. Here is the drawing I made from it.
 

 
The blue washer I’ll explain later.
 
The inlet diameter of the blower is ~4.8”. I didn’t want to just have the mounting bolts sitting directly on the blower wall wood, I’d like to have a metal ring, to spread the weight, and keep the bolt heads from working down through the wood.
 
There is an inlet ring that has a funnel shape that comes down close to the blades. My initial thought was to simply use this inside the booth as the metal support, but then I realized that this makes a seal to prevent backflow.
 
Looking on the net, I found a 5” duct bulkhead like fitting. So I plan on having the flange of this as the metal support ring. I’ll trim the duct portion to fit so that it stops just short of the inlet ring.
 

 
Have been watching a video series where the guy did use the inlet ring inside the booth, and he had major blowback problems.
 
For the outlet plumbing, I’m going to use 6” duct. The blower outlet is about 3 1/4” X 4 1/4”, so this should give me a low restriction flow.
 
I’m not sure which of the two ways below, I’m going to use to adapt the outlet to the duct.
 
Fashion a round wood plug that bolts to the outlet. The duct will fit over, that then be secured with screws. Use a metal end cap, and cut out the center to match the outlet.  

 
I was leaning toward the wood plug, but the cap would be stronger, and not much, if any,  more effort to make.
 
I also found a 6” duct wall vent. Like a drier vent on steroids.
 

 
Back to the blower mount. The blower can’t just be bolted directly to the booth wall. The outlet flange would hit the wall. So it has to be held away from the wall. I plan to use a ¾” wooden flat donut, for the spacer. This will get the outlet flange just clear of the booth wall, and provide a good seal between them.
 
So the mount will consist of: The 5” bulkhead mount,(trimmed), the wall, the donut, and the inlet ring, where it is supposed to go. I was thinking of using all 8 of the available inlet ring screw holes, but just the four actually used by the manuf., should be enough. The other four are provided so that the blower can be rotated 45 deg., if needed from the holes in whatever equipment it attached to.
 
Here is a drawing of the blower mounted to the booth.
 

 
When the blower actually gets here, I’ll double check the measurements.

Today I worked on the filter frame and the sloped back piece.
 
When I was assembling the sides, the filter frame broke along one of the "plank" joints. To fix this and reinforce the other joints, I glued two glue strips on each side at the back of the frame. I also didn't notice when I was cutting it out that the siding lap joint was along one side. Rather than cut a new one, I cut a section of the matching lap off the other side of the ply. Unfortunately, it fell into several pieces! I went ahead and glued the large pieces to the frame. The red circle is the break. There was enough of them to supply a firm seat for the glue strip along that side. Here is a picture of all the parts clamped together.
 

 
Because the filter will be sitting against the front of the frame, I countersunk for the screw heads, before I installed it. I'll go back when I'm done and countersink the screws along the bottom, so that they don't damage the table surface.
 

 
I glued and screwed the frame into place. I drilled the pilot holes into the glue strips, after it was in place. This allowed me to fine tune the position.
 

 

 
I marked and trimmed the 45 degree angles at the top and bottom of the sloped back. I found that my cutting of the parts was not as symmetrical as I thought, but I got it all to fit.
 

 
The warp of the sides is causing the top tips to close in toward the inside. To get the correct measurements for the back I had to brace them apart. One of the glue strips for the blower well cap and a square came out to the right length for this brace.
 

 
I clamped one side down flat and screwed in that side of the back, then I flipped it over and did the same for the other side. With the holes ready for the gluing, I removed the screws, clamped the first side back down, applied glue and screwed it back together. The other side followed. Then I cleaned up all the glue that got squeezed onto the table top while I was installing the screws.
 

 

 
When marking up the back, I found that the blower housing cap, is 1/4" too short, to match the sides.
 

 

 
The blower wall is 3/4" thick, so I'm going to go with the present cap. I keep repeating to myself, "It's a spray booth, not a piece of cabinetry."
 
The cap will not be glued to the booth. I'm going to make it removable so I can work in that area, if I have to, in the future.
 
This is all the permanent assembly I can do right now, I've run out of screws and glue! The blower should be here by the end of the week, so I'll work on mounting it to the 3/4" ply wall.

2/17
 
After going over my drawings one last time, and finding a few errors, I started construction on my Spray Booth.
 

 
I've cut out all the plywood, and ripped a 1 X 6 into 3/4" strips. The strips are for the corners, to strengthen the joints.
 
Here is a picture of the sides, with the strips glued and nailed on. The ply is warped a little, so all the clamps are to hold the glue strips on solid, until the glue dries. I'll let them sit overnight, and do the rest tomorrow, when I the clamps are free.
 

 
The glue strips are sitting over at the left of the ramp. The rectangular arrangement of strips are for the filter mount and blower bulkheads. Most of the case is 3/8" ply (I would have preferred 1/2", but I had the 3/8"). The blower bulkhead is 3/4", as I felt the 3/8" was too thin for this. The notch on the larger end of the one side is a lap joint in the plywood. The ply is 3/8" exterior siding.

2/19
 
Today I glued the sides onto the bottom of my spray booth.
 
Before I start, for my mother should she ever read this. Yes, shop horrible mess, you raised me better, suitably ashamed. Sorry. :-)
 
I started out dry fitting them. The filter frame will not be glued in today, but it is being used as a jig to keep the sides square, and correctly oriented front to back. It is tight against it's glue strips which are already attached to the sides.
 

 
I disassembled the parts and marked the bottom of the sides for where the long strips mated to it. Then I drilled 1/16th pilot screws through the ply. The purple paint was put on by the lumberyard. The panels were damaged, so I got them for 70% off. The paint is how they indicate to the cashier that this is the case. The damage was to the lap joint notches, so didn't affect this use.
 

 
After putting the side and frame mount back in I installed the screws. Starting in the middle, due to warp in the plywood, I drilled the pilot holes through the glue strips and ran in the screws. Then, naturally I installed the other side.
 

 
I found that both sides bowed in, so I had to clamp the filter mount in firmly, and put a screw in to hold it in place.
 

 
I mistakenly installed the glue strips at the back of the booth to the side pieces, so I couldn't put screws in from the bottom, with everything screwed to the table. I used my two long clamps to hold those two joints tight to the bottom. Tomorrow, I'll remove it from the table, put in screws, and reattach it.
 

 
One side at the back was twisted in, so I clamped it from the side, another reason the two glue strips should have been attached to the bottom first.
 

 
The strips and ply come out to 1 1/8" thick, and my screws are 1 1/4" long. When I'm done, I'll go back with a motor tool and cut the ends flush.
 

 
 

2/16
 
After looking at a few spray booths, and plans, here is what I'm planning on building. The top has a cutout for a light, I'll put plexiglass in the opening. The top hinges up so I can have more access to the top of the model, or to clear masts, if needed.
 

 
The front lip will also be a plexi piece. I think I'll use plastic wrap as an inside cover to both clear parts. I can strip it off and replace it, when it gets coated.

No problem.  Moving this to better forum like the Framing area would probably get more eyes and ideas.
 
I'm still fussing in the shop so nothing to report.

Yes, apologies to Mark for late-night threadjacking.

I will be doing a demo at my local club as a follow up to the carving exercise we had.  I will also create a photo essay of sorts here on MSW.
 
I have already created the test mold for the live demo and made a few test copies....but will be making more molds of other elements.   I will demonstrate one method for making simple one part molds for these flat carvings as it is something that comes in handy for ship modeling.  Especially for things like gunport wreaths etc.
 
So look for the demo to commence in about a week.  I am just waiting on newer resin and rubber mold material to arrive in the mail.  It has a short shelf life. Using old rubber mold materials is also not good because it could ruin your master.  
 
I will be trying a few brands so I can talk about and review each of them.  I hope you will find this a useful addendum to the carving section as it is somewhat related.  I hope its OK with you folks that I post here in this area.
 
Below is the first mold....a master carving....and two cast copies.   Casting thin parts is problematic but its what we do as ship modelers so lets give it a go.
 

 
 
Chuck

The second aileron almost done. I need to solder a few details and then polish them a bit. Luckily Proxxon sells a polishing set... Amazing how one always need to buy something... Just one more thing or set, then I have everything. Until next building session.
 

 
My very much improvised "base" used for soldering. I have an "extra hand set" but the crocodile clips does not hold the parts perpendicular to each other and it is difficult to get everything straight. This method, although not very pleasing to the eye, worked great.
 

 
Soldering the wire to the end of the aileron the extra hand set worked great. Some extra crocodile clips used as heat sinks.
 

 
Almost done, some detailing needs to be soldered on and then polishing!
 
I have also continued to work on the top wing. I´ve added a few braces. Hopefully the parts from Model Expo will arrive in a week or so and then I can finish the wing. Next step will be to add the ailerons to the top wing.

Gemma, I agree with Pat that foam is questionable if you intend the model to have any longevity, they don't generally age well and some kind of bad thing will happen when they do so inside a ship model.
 
Pat, no you can't cut wood of any kind with any hot wire cutter I'm aware of, they're designed to melt their way through with little resistance, I foresee fire extinguishers in the future of anyone who tries cutting balsa.
 
I think the only reasonable way to do it is the same way the kit is done, with additional bulkheads laser-cut out of material of similar thickness. As nice as a fully continuous surface to work against is, it's not necessary, the requirement is to make the gaps narrow enough to really fair the hull lines with enough bulkheads that the planks can follow a correct curve the whole way, and to provide enough support so planks don't sag under sanding between bulkheads.
 
It surprises me that no one has taken a run at making basic 3d hull models of most of the major kits using the kit bulkhead shapes in the correct locations, there is more than one possible aftermarket application of a library like that.
 
In this case once you have the skinned model you can slice it anywhere you want and there's the profile of a bulkhead in that location. All you need to do is add enough extra to allow the fairing sanding and there's the final bulkhead that would need to be cut. Very easy to produce versions that use 2, 3, 4 or more new bulkheads between the existing ones. Only other factor is checking the keel/keel plate part to see what kind of fit you need for the new bulkheads.

GemmaJF, i would be concerned with foam as after a while it starts to break down.  I used balsa, which I sealed with a diluted PVA - would this cut with the CNC hot wire cutter noting its composition?  Then again, I do not know the longevity of balsa either
 
It might also be better to move this as a separate line of discussion rather than clog-up Mark's build log if there is much discussion on it?
 
cheers
 
Pat

Great idea Mark.
 
One I was thinking of after watching everyone spend time using filler blocks to fill in overlarge gaps between bulkheads for planking was whether someone with a laser rig and reasonable CAD skills could create filler kits for popular retail kits. For example you could do two tweened bulkheads that get added between each kit bulkhead, at that point no gap would be big enough to cause a problem. Or simpler, but less elegant, would be bread and butter pieces that you stack and then slide in between bulkheads that are cut to fit specific bulkhead locations.
 
I think those would be quite doable and I at least would pay some money for something like that to cut out an annoying step by using laser-cut pieces that would solve the problem not just for the bow and stern but provide pieces for midships as well, I would use them.

If they're not available I have no issue making something like that for myself. I was more thinking it's a niche market that someone with a laser could make a little money in Create required files for top 10-15 kits, offer for sale, run them off on demand.

This is more of a supplies item than tools, but I just ordered these last night from Amazon. They look to be just the right size for small ship parts, come with labels, and a pack of 50 are $10 which seems a pretty good deal.
 

First used mine to do a super-detailed cockpit on a 1/32 FW-190A-8 back in like 1991. They work very well, just has limited sizes. If you look on Otto Frei there are  punch sets with a wider range of sizes, but they're also pretty expensive.

Well let's try to be concise:
 
Arsenal modeling is a discipline of naval modeling, the oldest and most demanding.   This activity consists of replicating to scale down the design and construction of old ships. This reproduction must be as faithful as possible in the making of the parts which constitute the framework, the arrangements of the decks, the equipment and the decoration of the original ship. The construction of the masts, the rigging and the sails are not imperative, it is a question of personal preferences.   In France this activity was practiced in the arsenals of the king since the XVIIth century, Jean Boudriot "awakened" this practice in the Seventies and the name has remained and is still used today.   The different parts must be perfectly conform to the original parts, their assembly also. Bolts, nails and treenails should be reproduced as far as possible. If a keel has four parts, these four parts must be represented and assembled as true with scarph, bold et nails.   No facility, modern materials or artifacts of manufacture are allowed in the traditional arsenal modeling unlike some models makers who make superb models but out of established conventions (absence of framework, sculpture in series (even metal), artillery in resin , etc.). For the enthusiasts who are often very cultured on the subject, these models are not part of the true model of arsenal.   The arsenal models are based on monographs or personal studies which are the representation of the real ships, they are not plans of model. These books are the result of advanced knowledge of the naval architecture in general and the ship concerned in particular (era, builder, place of construction, peculiarities, etc.). It is often a long-term process that requires a great deal of research.   Many regard it as a noble activity, close to art by the skill he asks.   GD   I do not know if the automatic translation will reflect the meaning of my talking...

Google translator quite well translated it into Polish.
 
 
Pawel

I got an answer from Model Expo yesterday! They will send the parts I asked for! Good news. I have started to solder the second aileron, will post some pictures tomorrow. As soon as I get the parts from Model expo I can finish the middle and top wing. Then I´m "back on track" with building things in the correct order I don´t know why but I really like to do things in the correct order.

No not exactly.  The plank is first bent edgewise as shown and then bent the other way as needed.  The one plank on the video if I remember correctly was lower on the hull and didnt require any bending the other way.  It was so slight that I didnt need to.   But in almost all cases the plank is pre shaped so that it immediately sits against the bulkhead edges.   Thats why you dont have to clamp them.  The CA dries so quick that its an immediate bond.  Its only when folks dont pre-shape that some sort of clamp is required.
 
I glue two bulkheads at a time and work my way across the hull in scale lengths.   Yes there is sanding butnot that much.   If the planks fit well than not much sanding is required.
 
Just like this plank below.....the plank is always bent edge-wise first and then the other way so its completely pre-shaped to fit so no extra bending is needed.  In this case below I pre-spiled the plank with a laser cutter edge-wise, but if I was using a plain strip like in the video....it would have been bent to look just like this before gluing.
 

 
Here is some more detail
 
Here is a straight plank as if I were going to place it on the hull.  It could be at the bow or at the stern.   Most beginners would try to force this into place and the top edge of the plank would lift off the hull and not sit flush against the bulkheads.  Some fight with it using pins and clamps and it gets messy.   Holding it without bending like shown reveals the gap .  Note the widest point of that gap.
 

 
Mark this location as the center of the gradual curve you will need.
 
 
In the next picture,  after bending,    you can see how nice it fits and how it is flush against the bulkheads.  No forcing needed.  Its a perfect fit.    Note the dot I marked on the plank for the apex of the curve or the widest part of the gap..You could use the compass method or the tape method to find the exact curve,  but I prefer to eyeball it like this.   Visually its easy to see the curve after a little practice.   I always over bend slightly.
 

 
Now all I have to do is bevel the edge that meets the plank already on the hull for a tight fit (just knock off the edge as in the video) and darken the seem as I did in the video with pencil and glue it on.  You can see that in this rare instance not much bending other than edge-bending was needed because it was low on the hull.

I've seen quite a few posts referencing that these exist and apparently some are having a hard time to find them.   I hope Chuck doesn't mind but I'm putting the links here.   
 

So here it is.  The final pictures of my Mare Nostrum.  I finished tonight.  However, there is one addition I want to make but the part hasn't come in yet so I won't close off the build quite yet.  But for the most part, it's finished. It's not as detailed as it should have been but to me it's a good model.  There were some discrepancies between the plans and the picture on the box.  But I did what I thought was correct.  The bench is now empty, waiting for the next build.
 

Continuing the final details.  I started some rigging. I know it's not "proper" but it is as per the instructions. 
 

 
I did a little more sanding to the plinth and added a second coat of varnish
 
I had a small accident and knocked the model over.  Because of that one of the frames broke off.  Not a big deal, just re-glued it.
 

 

 
I'm hoping to have this finished this weekend.
 
I spent a half hour re-jigging my work area in anticipation of the Bluenose.  Hopefully I will start the build log very soon.
 
Although the Mare Nostrum has given me a lot of grief, and although I have seen a lot of much better examples in other build logs, I'm still happy and proud what I have done with this little kit.  I will display this proudly.

Look also for stained glass supplies. They use copper tape for wrapping glass pieces before soldering them together.