texxn5

Thanks everyone for visiting and your like votes, it's much appreciated.
 
Could not get far today.  I forgot that I had our monthly meeting of the colored pencil society chapter here in Palm Coast.
 
I managed to fabricate the two hinge bracket pairs for the AA gun bun lids and soldered them to the lids.  
 
I first had to make the hinge mounts from brass sheet.  These are the rings you'll see on the photos.  I still have to make brackets that hold the center hinge part, a small copper tube, that'll be soldered to the ring  This will eventually be cemented to the outside of the styrene bun that sticks above the deck. 
 
The lid hinge brackets will have hinge pin holes drilled in them for the hinge pins to complete the hinge assembly.
 
It's kinda difficult to describe the manufacturing method so I have made a few pictures that hopefully will show what I mean.
 
I also had rotate the aft crew hatch tube by close to 90 degrees so the lid opens against the snorkel exhaust pipe instead of the port side railing.  I should have consulted the drawings first 
 
Well, that is all for today.  But it's progress and that's a good thing
 

This shows the parts I made for today's project.  The ring that'll go around the styrene tube and that'll be the foundation for the stationary hinge part.  Then the two hinge brackets to be soldered to the top of the lid.  The lid I made a week or so ago.
 

I figured to temporarily cement the brackets to the lid with a dab of CA so I can tack-solder the brackets because I had no way to hold them to the lid.  Big mistake because solder would not hold at that spot.  Fortunately it was only a tiny spot and is not noticeable.
For the second one I first spot-tinned both parts and then hand held each bracket to tack it to the lid.  Now I could hold both brackets to the lid with clothes pins and a steel clamp for a heat sink.
 

This is the completed lid assembly.  I made the brackets extra long so I can play with the final size.
 

This the same lid assy from a different angle.
 

This is the completed second lid assy.
 

This shows the forward gun placement. Here I have temporarily put the base ring over the styrene tube and placed the lid on top to show how it'll look like.  The lower part of the hinge bracket has to be made yet.
 

This shows the aft gun placement with the lid and base hinge ring temporarily put in place.  You can also see the change I made with the crew hatch tube.  
 
Cheers, 
 
 

John,
 
Nice update. Your ship is really looking excellent. 
 
Michael

John, the bowsprit and chain work looks good! On my tugboat I used (may be more accurate to say I tried to use) blacken- it on the chains. It never did turn black and after repeated attempts it looked corroded, which was probably more realistic...

sorry to hear about your problems....that's where I've found my wire......at Hobby Lobby and Micheal's.  hope you can find the parts you need.   your off to a great start with the rigging........I wouldn't be much help to you with the chain plates.......I just painted mine flat black,  even the dead eyes.  Morgan's looking real good! 

Nice metal work bro.  Sorry to hear about your problem with MS but being a smart cooky you'll work your way out of it.
Pics look great!
 
Cheers, 

Well, so far today I ran one of two Bobstays to the Bowsprit.  It included making a copper bracket and soldering a ring to it and attaching to the stem, making up the chain and attaching to a deadeye, then attaching a deadeye to the bowsprit and rigging the lanyard for the deadeyes.......so I guess with that said I'm officially working on the rigging.....hopefully, more to follow later today.

That is a very intriguing jig.  I wonder where it was when I was planking....good lesson for next time....looks nice Augie, very uniform....

a couple more bow shots.

a couple more bow shots.

Well, so far today I ran one of two Bobstays to the Bowsprit.  It included making a copper bracket and soldering a ring to it and attaching to the stem, making up the chain and attaching to a deadeye, then attaching a deadeye to the bowsprit and rigging the lanyard for the deadeyes.......so I guess with that said I'm officially working on the rigging.....hopefully, more to follow later today.

a couple more bow shots.

Well, so far today I ran one of two Bobstays to the Bowsprit.  It included making a copper bracket and soldering a ring to it and attaching to the stem, making up the chain and attaching to a deadeye, then attaching a deadeye to the bowsprit and rigging the lanyard for the deadeyes.......so I guess with that said I'm officially working on the rigging.....hopefully, more to follow later today.

a couple more bow shots.

Well, so far today I ran one of two Bobstays to the Bowsprit.  It included making a copper bracket and soldering a ring to it and attaching to the stem, making up the chain and attaching to a deadeye, then attaching a deadeye to the bowsprit and rigging the lanyard for the deadeyes.......so I guess with that said I'm officially working on the rigging.....hopefully, more to follow later today.

An other trade to master, stone  masonry ... 
 
I cancelled the stones I had ordered and got a rubber mold from dioramadebris.co.uk instead , now I can cast my own bricks in the color I want. First I made a big batch with slightly different colors (plaster & pigment)
 

 
Then I had to find a way to make the mortar. At first I glued the sones with thin paper sheet in-between to get an even spacing. I had planned to use sculpey to make the mortar but this doesn't stick to plaster :-( 
So I had to find an other solution, from the DYI shop I got a pack with powder mixed with water this is used to fill holes in walls, as this dries in just under 1 hour it looked good, but this didn't stick to the plaster too :-( 
 

 
So I mixed it with titebond and pigment and this was a working formula. The surplus removed just before it dries and with a wet brush I softened the flushing. 
 

 

 

 

 
At this point the chimney needs to be made, I'll make this from brick and not steel like my original plan. In the two holes two big cooking pans are fitted. The square hole's on the sides will get a metal hinged doors. Opposite to the hearth I'll make a pantry with different kitchen utensils. I must say it's really time consuming to make but this is really a lot of fun to do. The admiral is complaining she didn't see me all weekend :-D 
 
Remco

Hi John,
 
For future reference, if you decide to go with copper for anything, here is a link to purchase liver of sulphur from Amazon:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Liver-Sulfur-Gel--4oz-SOL-610-04/dp/B0058ECZ56/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375359424&sr=8-5&keywords=liver+of+sulfur+gel
 
It works great highly diluted with water.
 
Cheers,
Robert

Thanks John. With it being my first planking, I'm OK with how it turned out. I'm anxious to get started onthe deck planking but it will be a week or two before I get started on that.
 
I just finished coating the inside of the hull with two part epoxy. It added some weight to the ship and hopefully some strength.

In response to several inquiries about the 'spiling jig', here's what we're talking about:
 

 
In the photo, the jig itself (and perhaps we should call it an 'edge bending jig') are the pieces I have painted black (3).  They have been glued securely to an old 1" thick cutting board.  This jig is supplied with the kit and the curvature determined by Chuck.
 
The  3 planks in the jig are 1/8 x 1/16".  Each had been tapered along the last 4" (1/64" at the tip), soaked and then placed in the jig to dry.  I put a brick on top to hold them down tight as they want to twist a bit.  The jig is the same thickness as the planks.
 
Below the jig are 3 edge bent, tapered planks all dried and ready to go.  These are naturally all for the bow and shall go below the wales some 5 or so planks below it.  For the upper planks we used the regular bending jig pictured back early in this log.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that this degree of edge bending was possible and reproducible.  It's basswood, by the way.
 
I'm currently preparing planks and lining out the hull.  Should start planking in a few days.  The slight delay is being caused by looking for a replacement cutting board (Admiral's orders) !!!
 
 

Thanks John!
 
The last two planks went on much quicker than anticipated. Next is an epoxy coat on the inside of the planks. I know it's not really needed, but since it's single planked, I feel more at ease sanding on the hull with the epoxy adding some strength to the assembly. After sanding, I'll start working on some of the details I left for later, yes... putting odds and ends off have finally caught up with me. Gun,sweep ports need sanded to final deminsion, end planks need to be made and installed on gun/sweep ports and after that I believe it's time to do some painting.

John - something else to consider, wire that I used on my chainplates already had a 'black' coating, not quite sure what the name of it is.  I picked it up at a local craft store (Michaels) and it worked a treat and was easy to paint afterwards.

Hi John,
 
I'd agree with the others re blackening brass in situ. Apart from pre-cleaning/degreasing, you will also need to be able to thoroughly rinse the parts afterwards to halt the chemical process. If you were to use copper wire instead, you could blacken in place using Liver of Sulfur, which is much easier to clean up afterwards and won't affect any surrounding wood. Not sure if copper wire would be strong enough for your purpose though. Paint might be your best option here.

Hi John,
 
I agree with Augie - you can't really paint in place.  What I've done though is use a cotton swab to keep constant contact on brass that was already fitted to the model.  I've had mixed results with that, so right now, for minor touch-ups, I just add a little black paint.
 
Good luck!

John - I've never tried to blacken brass with Blacken-it by 'painting in place'.  It takes some time to soak in the bath.  Also, you want to get it nice and degreased first (I usually soak in acetone) before it sees the Blacken it.  I'd either wait or, alternatively, get hold of some black annealed wire over at a place like Ace hardware.  Comes in a variety of gauges usually in about a 30 foot coil.

I hope not Sjors!!! I would like to be completely finished by Easter this year. That will depend on how crazy work gets in the next few months, and how many other little "surprises" I find as I complete the rigging.

Nice work, Sjors.  You appear to be going as fast as Mobbsie so that means ratlines by Christmas, 2014? 
 
Sorry Robbyn, out of Pepsi....  Jack neat?