BANYAN

Nice use of modern tech to achieve a great result .  A very fine model you are producing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Sorry all, my point appears to have not been well/clearly made.  If you want consistently accurate measurement, ANY measuring device needs to be accurate to within a 'certified' acceptable tolerance.  In many circumstances in our hobby it does not need super accuracy.  The point I was trying to make was that it is pointless measuring the accuracy of one device with another device unless the accuracy of the measuring device is known/proven.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Nice use of modern tech to achieve a great result .  A very fine model you are producing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Sorry all, my point appears to have not been well/clearly made.  If you want consistently accurate measurement, ANY measuring device needs to be accurate to within a 'certified' acceptable tolerance.  In many circumstances in our hobby it does not need super accuracy.  The point I was trying to make was that it is pointless measuring the accuracy of one device with another device unless the accuracy of the measuring device is known/proven.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Sorry all, my point appears to have not been well/clearly made.  If you want consistently accurate measurement, ANY measuring device needs to be accurate to within a 'certified' acceptable tolerance.  In many circumstances in our hobby it does not need super accuracy.  The point I was trying to make was that it is pointless measuring the accuracy of one device with another device unless the accuracy of the measuring device is known/proven.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Sorry all, my point appears to have not been well/clearly made.  If you want consistently accurate measurement, ANY measuring device needs to be accurate to within a 'certified' acceptable tolerance.  In many circumstances in our hobby it does not need super accuracy.  The point I was trying to make was that it is pointless measuring the accuracy of one device with another device unless the accuracy of the measuring device is known/proven.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Keith, they are really neat machines and easy to use. She had been wanting one for a few years so I finally broke down and got it for her. Good decision on my part. I never figured that I would find a use for it.
 
As for my tidy workspace, I try to make it a habit of clearing a small area when I take pictures and since they are such large files, I generally crop out some of the picture to get it to a size that will upload to MSW.
 
If you truly want to see what my work space looks like while I work, here you go.

 
Hopefully it doesn't scare you too much.
 
-Brian

Keith, I bought the Cricut a couple of Christmas' ago for me.... I mean her, and it was a great investment. I just learned how to use it a couple of weeks ago, but I see lots of projects coming in the near future now that I know that it has the capability to cut thin basswood. 😜
 
 
Mark, I love watching the History Channel, and here lately they have had a lot of American Civil War shows on. I watched one the other day on Ulysses S. Grant that was fantastic, as well as the one on Abraham Lincoln. The research is really helping with the build, I really wish I had started a lot earlier, there are several interior features that I would have changed, but I was anxious to get started. So far I feel that I have a somewhat true representation of the ship, but going forward, since the exterior is the most exposed, I really want to make sure that I get this part right.
 
As for the soldering the aluminum, that was a lesson learned. At first I was going to make the davits out of brass but I was having trouble finding 1/8" brass stock. Must have been a run on them, that is why I went with aluminum. I am getting to where I really like working with the styrene more and more though it just that the 1/8" styrene was a little too flimsy for the davits.
 
Don, Thank you for the kind words and my pleasure. As a kid I remember hating to have to research things. I got over that in college, and started to enjoy it. College was a long time ago and not a lot of research was done after that, except for the occasional look up of something of interest, but nothing too in depth. Then with my last build I really started to get into it. Then came this build. I had no idea what I was getting into, but I love it. Kids today have it a lot easier with the internet at their disposal, but it's almost too much information and not all of it is correct. Thanks to people like you, they have mentors that can guide them in the right direction and let them know what and how to look for the correct info.
 
Pat, Thank you for the kind words. When I first approached the Admiral about using her Cricut to make the window frames, she told me that was cheating and that there was nothing wrong with the way that I was doing them before. This was just her way of kindly telling me that she didn't want to show me how to use the machine for fear of me taking it over. But I explained to her that it wasn't really cheating, I mean the Cricut is basically a CNC machine and that is what the model kit companies use to make their kits. She finally caved and now I have my window frames and Cricut knowledge. Time to take over her machine.
 
-Brian

Another nice job Greg; looks good.
 
cheers
 
Pat

This will be a nice addition to your miniature fleet Greg.  We have the 'Castlemaine' nearby, so if you have questions just holler
 
cheers
 
Pat

Another nice job Greg; looks good.
 
cheers
 
Pat

But only if you know the callipers are accurate.  Many of these are not certified as accurate, so which is the more accurate?

For two years until a few months ago, it seemed like all I did was work at "the job" with no time or energy left for myself.  Well, one of those "Karens" came along and successfully relieved me of that burden, so now I have some time to do something for me (and a dozen other people wanting something done).  Anyway, one of those other people asked me to 3D print a plate for mounting a thermostat in an outlet box for them, and while I had resin in the vat, I figured to get back to printing some parts for Constellation.
 
Using the Siraya Tech Build "Smoky Black" resin I used on the pivot gun a few posts back, I tried printing the boat howitzer again, only this time with the wheels and carriage separate, and the gun on the sled.
It came out nicely except it was scaled to about 1:76 for some reason.  I re-scaled it to 1:36 and tried again and it came out perfectly.
(I think clicking on the pic will let you see it full size)
 
 
Next I went for one of the anchors, which came out perfectly, so I pressed my luck and printed a second one with the same result.
 
 
The two anchors and the boat howitzer, all in 1:36 scale.

 
I need two more anchors, but I had to print some steering wheels for someone else.  After that, I opted to go for the pivot gun again.  It didn't come out perfectly, but I can fix what went wrong and use this print, just like before.  I may give it one more shot after rearranging the supports where the little failures took place, and if that works, print a pair and maybe make static models of these?
 
Second printing of the pivot gun here being zapped with UV light to cure the resin completely.

 
My friend that I printed the wheels for needs a sampson-post windlass for the same schooner model as well, so I'm in the 3D modeling software making one from scratch cause I couldn't find any models on line.  After that I'll come back and print the other two anchors and reprint the stanchions, fairleads, bullseyes, block shells, and other stuff for Constellation in this better resin.

Very nicely executed, you make this look all too easy Keith; but we know the amount of work and thought you have put into these.
 
cheers
 
Pa

Nice use of modern tech to achieve a great result .  A very fine model you are producing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Very nicely executed, you make this look all too easy Keith; but we know the amount of work and thought you have put into these.
 
cheers
 
Pa

Nice use of modern tech to achieve a great result .  A very fine model you are producing.
 
cheers
 
Pat

I continued with the life rings as per the photo.
 

 
It isn't very obvious from the photo but the life rings sit in wire baskets. The leather pouch holds the line and this is tied off to the rail.
 
I started making the basket from .025" wire. I made two formers from scraps of wood and used these to bend the the "hoops" which retain the life ring.
 

 
The free ends of the hoops were connected by micro-bore tubing.
 

 
I then slotted a piece of plywood to create a soldering jig and I bent the wire which joins the hoops. The hoops and joining wire were then soldered together.
 

 
I then tested to life rings in the baskets.
 

 
The baskets were then lashed to the guard rails using black cotton.
 

 

 
The pouch is quite small so I cheated and formed it round a piece of scrap wood cut to size. Sail tape (painted brown) to simulate leather was then stuck to the former with 3 lines added to give 6 ends. 4 lines attach the pouch to the guard rails and the other two attach to the life ring and the rail.
 

 

 
I painted the life rings and added the reflective strips and the grab ropes.
 

 
The rings were then pushed into the baskets and the life line was tied off.
 

 

 

 
I think I am going to make a start on the launch next. 
 

 
 

Hello again everyone,
 
I am back with a brief update. The past few weeks have been spent building and then rebuilding due to finding out more details on the high-res picture that I discovered.
 
Starting off, I built up the forward skylight. I constructed the basic frames from 1/16" basswood strips.

 

 
Then I installed some mesh underneath, which I assumed would provide some protection from drunk crew members falling through when the hatch windows were open. Actually was thinking that it was to somewhat protect the crew on the Gun Deck from flying shrapnel during battles.

 
Once I had the basic frames built up, I painted it up and made the window hatches. These were made from .040 square styrene strips backed by clear plastic. This was definitely a tedious process, cutting all the tiny pieces and sanding them to fit just perfectly.

 
Once they were completed, they were then temp installed in place.

 
Once the forward skylight was done, I moved on to the center skylight. Again with the tedium, I measured out and started building the 16 windows that make up the central skylight, This area was used a ventilation for the boiler area below. The funnels on the Hurricane deck could be directed into the wind to force cooler air down below and these skylight hatches could be opened to allow the hot air from the boiler to vent out. 19th century air conditioning. 

 

 
 

 
One down 15 more to go. 

 
Needless to say, building up all these windows got old really fast. So, I put my little pea brain to work trying to come up with a better, more efficient way to do this. While I pondered a solution, I happened by the Admirals craft room where she was hard at work making stencils for T-shirt on her Cricut. Then it hit me! I wonder...
 
So I inquired with the Admiral as to what types of material could that Cricut cut? Here response was, "pretty much anything you need". Well that really got the wheels to turning, and it just so happened that I had some white 0.020 styrene sheets laying around that I thought would work perfectly for the window frames. So I got a crash course in the Cricut canvass, which is a simplified CAD program and went to work. I measured out the the widow widths and entered everything into the program and away she went. 

 
The end result was perfect window frames. All built in the program and cut in less time that it took for me to put together one the other way.

 

 
So I took the frames and sandwiched a piece of clear styrene between two of them and started making up the windows.

 
It was at about this time that another idea hit me. I was going to have to paint the tops of these windows black to match the rest of the deck and not stand out like a sore thumb. So I commenced to painting the first one and found out real quick that this was going to take way too much work and not come out like I wanted them to. So it was on to Amazon for some black .020 styrene and back to the Cricut.

 
This made thing so much easier.

 

 
Putting in the hinges.

 
In place on the deck.

 
Before getting them fully installed I propped some of them open with prop-rods. Since I was not able to dig up any information on this area of the boat, I followed the HSR plans for this part as I did for the forward skylight.

 
These windows worked out so well, I continued on with the hatches over the paddlewheel cranks. Same methods as before, I sandwiched a clear piece of styrene between a black and white frame and mounted them in place.

 
First one tested for fit. Since I assumed that these would have been opened manually, none of the pictures show any rigging going to them otherwise, I installed a handle on each one to help open it for ventilation. 

 
Port side all installed, hinges added and a little weathering to see how it looks.

 
It was at this point when I found the high-res picture of the Cairo and things slowed to a crawl. The Admiral and I were watching a Civil War documentary on the History Channel and they just so happened to have a segment on Iron Clad Gunboats. Well they also had the photograph of the Cairo on there and as they were showing it, I noticed a few details that I had not seen before. I hit the pause button, slow rewind and forward staring at the picture. There were details that I had not seen in the many version of this picture that I had downloaded from the internet. So I figured that there had to be a better version than the ones I had out there, so to the Web I went. Now I know that I said that I found the picture, but I really have to give the credit to the Admiral, she is actually the one that found the high-res version that I have been using lately. So when I mean things slowed to a crawl, the literally did. I spent endless hours staring at the new photo pouring over details I was not able to see before. One of those details was the forward skylight, I had totally gotten it wrong, and so did the HSR.
 
From the below screen shot you can see the skylight is made up of only two panels on each side and not three. The port forward hatch looks to be fully open while the starboard and both aft hatches are only partially open.  You can just make out the frame lines on the port aft hatch that show that they had long narrow panes in them and not a divided lite style like the HSR plans. So I decided to go about rebuilding my first version.

 
I started with a frame much like version 1. Borrowed the Admirals Cricut once more to make the window frames.

 
And constructed version 2. I have to say that a lot of work went into version 1, but I like version 2 much better.

 
Next up was a newly discovered feature that I have been discussing at length with Johnhoward over on the St. Louis build. I mentioned this feature in an earlier post (#462) of what looks to be a deck access hatch from the Hurricane Deck to the Gun Deck below. Well I decided to go ahead and build these up, since it would make sense that there would be some sort of access the lower deck to aid in resupply, as well as add a easier way for the crew to scramble below deck during battles. I am still in the research phase of this part, but I wanted to see how they looked and if it made sense to have these.
 
The side walls have been cut out.

 
Structure complete, minus the hatch window.

 
Hatches in their proposed location.

 
Hatch window constructed the same as the others on the skylights.

 
I am going to hold off on painting these until I can uncover more info on their actual existence. Seems like they would be, according to the picture, but we'll see.
 
Last up was the construction of the davits and anchors.
The anchors were pretty much straight forward. I purchased a couple of 38mm Corel anchors from Model Expo a while back and figured they would work perfectly for the scale of this build. They were standard, wooden stock anchors that I converted to iron stock ones, more like what was aboard these Iron Clads.
 
Some of the mold seams have been filed away and the iron stock was made from brass wire and beads.

 
The shackles I made out of brass wire as well, just hammered flat on the ends and bent to shape.

 
The finished anchors, minus paint.

 
Finally the davits were constructed. These were made from 1/8" aluminum rod. I started by drilling a pilot hole in one end of the rod to receive the eyebolt to form the ring for the blocks.

 
I then tapered the end to almost a point by chucking the rod in my drill and using a fine file to the desired taper.

 
Then I made up a jig to get all eight davits a consistent radius on their bend.

 

 

 
Next up was the support brackets. I started off making these out of 1/16" aluminum tube for the supports and 1/8" ID tubing for the collars. I made up another jig to keep the angles consistent and then after several failed attempts to solder the support rods to the collars, I finally gave up.

 
Version 2 of these, I decided to go with styrene rod and tubing. This method worked so much better and with a dab of CA I was well on my way with a solid joint between the collars and supports.

 
All eight completed davits, ready for paint.

 
Now it is on to getting the anchors and davits painted up. I still have more research to do on the access hatches and I will start working on the hammock nets. Hopefully I will have those completed by next update.
 
As always, thank you all for stopping by and liking my work as well as all the kind comments and input.
 
-Brian
 

Very nice work Keith, that rigging is top-notch. 
 
cheers
 
Pat

Another nice job Greg; looks good.
 
cheers
 
Pat

For the “lug nuts” on the wheels, I used brass nails that are 3/8” long with a 3/32” diameter head, which I ground down to a flatter surface.  They are supposed to sit flush in the wheel, but I do not have a flat base counter-sinker.  So I used an end mill router bit to countersink each of the 80 holes.  

Love your logic WRT house chores - wish I had of thought of that    Look forward to following this build also.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Another nice job Greg; looks good.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Another nice job Greg; looks good.
 
cheers
 
Pat