Jump to content
MSW Spring Donation Drive

BANYAN

SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    5,573

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by BANYAN

  1. BANYAN
    Hi all, bit the bullet after some further experimenting and decided an improved version of what I was doing was the better solution. I made a jig (see photo) which has the spacer piece in the wake of the mandrel (end of 0.6mm drill bit) - this is exactly in line although the photo does not show it too well. The length of the 'blade' allows the legs of the strap to be folded back and roughly aligned with a broken drill bit (agin 0.6mm) used to get the bottom holes roughly in line. The important bit here as I suspected, was to put an initial bend on the centre of the strap for which I used a pair of wire bending pliers (smallest diameter). The drill bit needs to be long enough to provide a good grip on the protruding ends as I found that if I offered the assembled rough bend onto the vertical mandrel them applied pressure by pulling back from the mandrel it was easier to get a consistent bend. The other important part of the technique was to apply pressure to the full length of the straps as starting at the mandrel end resulted in kinking of the legs and overall bend. Bit tough on the fingertips but no blood donated to this part of the build (yet) Once I got on a role it only took 30 minutes to produce 40 of them. the result is not too bad and once filed (cleaned up) should look acceptable. Here is one rigmaiden lanyard I have assembled but not yet attached to the chain plate. Still some cleaning up to do, but to the eye they look pretty good - this is taken at macro range. Next job is to solder a small piece of plate in the throat of the bend above the upper holes which acts both as a spacer and as a preventer (to stop the untensioned lines/shackles for the shrouds sliding down between the straps. I also need to build a jig to hold the chain plate eye steady while I pein the end of a brass nail (cut to length) placed through the split eye of the chain plate and the larger hole in the end of the rigmaiden lanyard. cheers Pat
  2. BANYAN
    Thanks Vossie
  3. BANYAN
    Hi all, and many thanks for the feedback/suggestions; they are much appreciated. Mark - the straps are already photoetched with the holes. my attempts to drill holes at this size resulted in some very 'ugly' results Carl and Keith (A) - that is the method I am currently using, but overnight I also thought of trying this with the stub of a suitably sized drill bit. the greatest difficulty is getting the bend started nicely and consistently at the right point as any over pressured attempts see the legs bending at the inner most holes unfortunately. Keith (B) - mate, I am not quite sure I could achieve that at this scale The 'notches' would need to be cut only .4mm deep and very accurately placed as these straps are already pre-etched. That said, this is a great suggestion for the future as I would etch those notches as part of the process. Eberhard - I will also try this today (wood version as I don't have a dapping block) and see how it goes. Splitting the block correctly (accurately) will be the challenge I am also thinking of remaking the bending jig with a narrow hardwood wood base (to fit in a vise), then fit a (broken) drill bit of appropriate diameter into one end about the length of the folded strap back from the end. I will insert (upright) an offcut of flat brass plate the same thickness as the lower strap between the drill bit and the end (to maintain the correct separation. If I achieve this, and using the drill bit to align the lower holes of each leg, I may be able to get better (more consistent) results. I am finding that whichever method I use, the critical step is the initial bend point being 'on centre' - that is where I am having the real issues. cheers (and many thanks again) Pat
  4. BANYAN
    Beautiful work mate; the care and attention to detail and fitting is certainly paying dividends. cheers Pat
  5. BANYAN
    Can I get your Admiral to speak with mine Grant? cheers Pat
  6. BANYAN
    Great result Vossie - so, don't leave us hanging What was the easier way hold them (to stuff the octopus also!) :)? cheers Pat
  7. BANYAN
    Great adaption - thanks Keith. cheers Pat
  8. BANYAN
    Very nice - nice crisp work Pat cheers Pat
  9. BANYAN
    Thanks Keith; you are right it is probably an easy task and just FOMU from me I will give it a go soon. I have one more task to complete before taking a break (overseas holiday) soon and wish to try and finish these 'Rigmaiden' lanyards before I go. The problem I am currently having is bending the top strap through 90 degrees either side of centre (back on itself) such that the pre-etched holes all align and I retain a 'neat' loop at the top though which the wire rigging/shackles were attached. My efforts to date have been inconsistent as can be seen in the two photos of one strap I have tried to bend. I have tired bending the strap around a mandrel (pin in hardwood) then using a pin through the bottom two holes (one either leg) to keep the bottoms aligned, then pressing together with flat-nosed parallel pliers. I have also tried using another pin behind the mandrel to stop the strap moving away from the pin. The problem is that the two legs do not always come together exactly (out by .5mm - which is enough to stop the various pins I need to add from being inserted correctly. I have thought of trying to 'fix' one leg of the strap at a preset length such that the bend will always be at the centre point of the strap but the strap keeps slipping and it is difficult to bend the remaining length. Any ideas/suggestions most welcomed Please note none of these elements have been 'cleaned up' (filed etc) yet and the assembled strap is a crude prototype to show what I am trying to do. The chain plat as you can see has been slotted through the soldered eye. cheers Pat
  10. BANYAN
    Thanks for sharing this technique GL; very useful and they look great. cheers Pat
  11. BANYAN
    Very nice job on the portholes Keith; they came out very 'smooth' with not a sign of chipping I could see. cheers Pat
  12. BANYAN
    Good to see you making sawdust (and boats :)) again Mark. A good outcome with the laser cut spiled planks; not easy to do with such small items but everything learned on this can be applied to the others. cheers Pat
  13. BANYAN
    Hi Eberhard, some very sage advice as usual - many thanks. The idea of using the toolpost is one I had not thought of; I will stow that suggestion away for future use My mill head does rotate through 90 but I have never tried it with the fear I would need to realign things all over when reverting to the vertical. Call it FOMU (Fear Of Mucking Up) if you like When I did think of that option though, I was wondering how to mount the vise and keep the work at the right level (low enough) - and finding a slitting blade with a suitable diameter that would still clear the cross-slide. cheers Pat
  14. BANYAN
    I can't provide any advice on the drilling as I do not have that level of experience in this area. You have far more experience and you are receiving some great advice from some talented and more experienced (than me) modellers - but I am learning a lot from this discussion. Thank you all. That said, I must declare that I like Dan's idea. Mate, I will stand in the trenches shoulder-to-shoulder with you in defence, should you decide to paint . As you can see from my models, I prefer to paint them as I try to recreate the look and feel of the 'real ship' as she may have looked (and this is my opinion only - everyone has their own ) . I say 'may have looked' as I am a long way off perfecting the 'scale colour' as it is called by more artistically experienced modellers - that is scale the colour tones etc to suit the model scale. There is enough wood remaining in the deck furniture to satisfy my 'love of natural wood' - but each to their own ideas on that. cheers Pat (standing by to receive any incoming )
  15. BANYAN
    I have been pondering on what to call the rig also Druxey and had been leaning towards 'Steamer rig' as that is the type of vessel (both paddle and screw driven) it seems be exclusively fitted to. I do like the use of 'transitional' also and perhaps I will add that. I am working on a document at the moment (Word) that collated the research I have done to date and I will make it available via PM (for anyone one interested) or, via this thread, in the very near future for those whom may be interested to comment upon etc. At this point, the research is purely to provide the reasoning for the shaping and structure of the masts, and the rigging/sail plans (and eventually a belaying plan) as I have enough information to draw the masts now I think. I know it is a single stick upper mast (combining the top, topgallant and royal masts) to which I will apply the 'rules of thumb' proposed by Kipping and Fincham with a slight adaption to the head of the royal based on a comment by one of these authors. Once drawn in isolation I will overlay it to onto the lithographs and photograph of the ship and adjust to best fit. Hopefully I will be quite close. The next exercise is to determine the spar furniture and here I will run with the proposals of the same authors for the fittings specific to a steamer and adapted for merchant rather than RN (service) ships. Many thanks for your continued interest and suggestions; it is very much appreciated. cheers Pat
  16. BANYAN
    I hope things improve very soon for you Rob. I can empathise with what you are going through and it isn't any fun at all. Get yourself well first mate; GR can wait (unless you leave that door Druxey found open ) cheers Pat
  17. BANYAN
    Hi Ed and thanks for your feedback. I had tried inverting it, but I would need to redrill the existing, or get a new, Z-Axis bar to mount the tool to. But even then unfortunately the y-axis table will still strike against the base It was never designed to work in this configuration unfortunately. If I used it more often I would consider doing some modifications but I really only use it for template making and the like now (in a more basic set-up) as I use the Sherline for all my milling etc. I would have used the Sherline if I had a way to turn the work through 90 degrees as I have a slitting saw for that. cheers Pat
  18. BANYAN
    Thanks mate. That is a very similar colour used by the RAN fore while and I also need to do some non-slip (Devron) walk areas on my little 'lugger' so will watch with interest. cheers Pat
  19. BANYAN
    That serving on your lines for the buoy look great - very nice job. The serving is very tight and even. cheers Pat
  20. BANYAN
    Looks a good solid base of colour Greg. What is the actual colour (and Brand) f paint you used for the decks? cheers Pat
  21. BANYAN
    Nice progress Pat, the 'inserted' port lids look good. cheers Pat
  22. BANYAN
    Great job on the bowsprit/jibboom Alan; they look very well proportioned. cheers Pat
  23. BANYAN
    Very nice job on the telegraph and planking Keith. The bulwarks appear to be 'stiff/rigid' enough to be usable, and hold their shape in the photos, probably difficult to know until you remove her from the building frame? cheers Pat
  24. BANYAN
    Hi folks, thanks for the interest in my little project. I am still in the learning stages and I am sure some of you more talented/experienced folks could suggest some improvements. Carl; that contraption is a modified "Vanda-lay Industries' milling tool. See http://vanda-layindustries.com/ Keith; thanks the jig works well, I just wish I could have got the cross-table closer to the work (shortened the extension of the holder). p.s. the reason the work is further away is that I had to flip the positioning of the dremel to the back of the tool rather than the front to get the blade rotation (approach to the workpiece) in the right direction so that it minimised the risk of bending/breaking the straps on contact (and there was not enough travel in the y-axis to have it at the front anyway ). Rob; it took a while to sort out the concept, but it was a bit of fun (and frustration) thinking it through. Michael; See link above re Vanda-lay Industry Tools. This was one of my first 'adventures' into tooling and worked fine for a while. However, as I mentioned earlier, I find the tool (as a milling machine - ACRA mill +) much to unstable (too much play in the Y-table especially). However, it is a great tool for other purposes. I asked for a modified plate (L shaped) adapter by which to fix the dremel holders to allow more positioning flexibility and he was happy to produce it for me. I use this with the dremel saw arbor / attachment for many tasks where I prefer to spin the cutter/grinder in a fixed position and offer up the work (making templates and the like especially) It is basically a part from the http://vanda-layindustries.com/html/hold-it_plus_jr_.html which is adapted to fit on the cross-arm of the Z-axis (see here http://vanda-layindustries.com/html/mill_accessories.html ) which I then asked for modified fixing plate rather than straight one that was being offered. I am not quite sure where I picked up the drill arbor/attachment; if I recall I will get back to you. I have no affiliation with the company, merely answering the queries cheers Pat
  25. BANYAN
    Hi folks. Not much progress to report as I research the masts and rigging plan. In the meantime I am starting to assemble the 'Rigmaiden Lanyards' which were used in-lieu of deadeys and lanyards. See my earlier post here: I have had most of the brass strap parts photoetched after drawing them up to scale. However, I have had to solder a small ID thin walled tube to the ends of each of the chain plate straps to represent the eye. these were cut off flush to either side after being soldered. The Contract called for "Lang's Eye Plates" so I am assuming this different (to the usual chain plates) arrangement is what is meant but I am open to suggestions To help cut the slot in the eye to accept the bottom part of the Rigmaiden Lanyard, I milled a slot into the end of some brass square stock then made a sleeve to slide up and down to hold the 'plates'. the sleeve weas needed to stop the strap bending as they were half-etched at a few point to facilitate consistent and sharper bending points. This jig was then held in a vise which had been mounted into my Vandalay Milling table adapted to hold my Dremel in the horizontal. For this job, the table was 'adequate' but I would not recommend it for any precision work (simply to much play once the y-axis cross table is added. I think the photos show the principle. I had to use a longer extension of the jig to approach the saw blade due to the very small blade diameter and not being able to get the table to close the distance (obstructed) cheers Pat

About us

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

SSL Secured

Your security is important for us so this Website is SSL-Secured

NRG Mailing Address

Nautical Research Guild
237 South Lincoln Street
Westmont IL, 60559-1917

Model Ship World ® and the MSW logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,929,264 & No. 6,929,274, registered Dec. 20, 2022)

Helpful Links

About the NRG

If you enjoy building ship models that are historically accurate as well as beautiful, then The Nautical Research Guild (NRG) is just right for you.

The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships.

The Nautical Research Guild has published our world-renowned quarterly magazine, The Nautical Research Journal, since 1955. The pages of the Journal are full of articles by accomplished ship modelers who show you how they create those exquisite details on their models, and by maritime historians who show you the correct details to build. The Journal is available in both print and digital editions. Go to the NRG web site (www.thenrg.org) to download a complimentary digital copy of the Journal. The NRG also publishes plan sets, books and compilations of back issues of the Journal and the former Ships in Scale and Model Ship Builder magazines.

Our Emblem ®

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

Nautical Research Guild ® and the NRG logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,999,236 & No. 6,999,237, registered March 14, 2023)

×
×
  • Create New...