jim_smits

Haven't thought about where it will live but purely because we are hoping to move house in the next three weeks. Will be able to find a decent spot after that!

As promised.

Just to tease you all, the next set of parts arrived last night!

I've now been able to add Saturn to the build and as per the real thing it looks awesome. It has also highlighted just how large this build is going to be with another four arms still to go. With that in mind a new set of wider 'feet' were provided to keep the orrery upright. In addition, all the brass grub screws have now been upgraded to steel to avoid any stripping issues when adjusting the arms.

I'll follow up with images tonight / tomorrow morning.

Hi Omega

I was just thinking last night that I'll make sure I make a video and upload it for you all!

Hope you enjoy the updates.

Jim

As promised here is the addition of Jupiter to the build. Nice big planet!

Same routine as before, built the sandwich of gears and the support arm and threaded onto the main shaft and tightened the grub screw to attach.

Well the one advantage of having a delayed set of issues is that the next set seems to turn up really quickly!

I'll update tonight with Jupiter section of the build. I have also ordered and received some steel grub screws to replace the brass ones. Should be more tolerant of adjustments without stripping.

Hello!

You've been away almost as much as I have! My build is on hold as the workshop / conservatory is full of packing boxes. Hoping to buy a house in the next month.

Hope to see you build progressing soon!

Jim

Very cool... I like it. Ceres? Are there other dwarf planets or moons also in this?

Yes it will include Pluto and Eris. They will move really slowly....!

Finally added the planet support arm and Ceres. Next step will be Jupiter!

Construction of the gear support arm.

Not a huge amount to describe as alluded to before as the builds will be very similar for the next few sets of issues.

Built the gear sandwich and mounting support for the planet arm.

Hi all,

Slight delay on the Orrery build; my debit card expired and I so I had to pay Eaglemoss over the phone. They weren't exactly prompt in sending out my magazines.

Anyway, I've finally received this months batch and parts.

Finally the Mars support arm is inserted into the gear sandwich and fixed in place with a grub screw. The finishing touch is to add the moons Phobos and Diemos and Mars itself.

All the brass parts are really starting to add up and the Orrery is starting to get pretty weighty!

The second past of the assembly is a gear support arm which transfers power back to the main gear sandwiches. The build will be repeating these two sets of builds for the next few months until all the planets are in place.

Hello all,

Slightly enforced break unfortunately as Eaglemoss couldn't source issue 12 and sent 13,14 & 15. This meant that I couldn't proceed with the build until this week when I finally got issue 12.

Anyway, on with the build!

The first set of parts can be assembled to create a gear sandwich that will form part of the power chain and also provide the mounting point for the Mars arm.

The two arms are threaded on the main shaft. The lower gear arm is then attached firmly using a grub screw.

Once this is place the earth/moon system can be added. A spindle is threaded into a small gear wheel and inserted into the earth support arm.

Three planets now, and the rotating moon looks the business!

The earth support arm is threaded onto the main shaft but it is free turning and must be supported by a second gear arm.

The gear arm is put together with two plastic spindle halves which are used to attach a pair of gear wheels with a screw.

The next set of magazines have arrive along with the orrery parts.

This group of parts will form the Earth / Moon arm. The plastic spindle is inserted into the earth support arm, and a pair of gar wheels are attached, a smaller 47 tooth gear wheel and a much larger 92 tooth gear wheel, using three screws each.

I also attached with rope. Definitely a situation where caldicraft could have improved their plans and shown the blocks to be attached to the masts on the mast plans not just the rigging plans. Had to do it in situ with all the shrouds in place. Not easy.

The last set of parts contains the gearing for the Earth/Moon system and the Venus arm and planet.

I've shown the construction of the Earth gear arm on its own but in reality it is constructed around the large engraved gear. It was just hard to image and show what was being put together.

Once this was complete, the gears constructed in my earlier post were slid onto the main support by followed by the large gear wheel and its attached earth gear arm. This was then attached to the support post with a grub screw.

Final part was to attach the Venus support arm with a grub screw and insert Venus into the holder.

The mechanism is starting to come together now and nicely shows the differences in orbital speed between Mercury and Venus.

Before anyone asks; no it doesn't take into account the precession of Mercury's orbit due to relativity...

The next pack contains another very nicely engraved brass part.

This is a large gear that will provide the ability to rotate the Earth/moon system so that the moon orbits the earth once a 'month'. It is also engraved with two historical planetary positions - the millennium and star of Bethlehem.

As with the other engraved part I have used some black boot polish to pick out the engraved markings to nice effect.

Onto the next section of parts.

This is primarily construction the gear wheels that also mount the Venus arm.

This comprises a brass ring, two gear wheels and a plastic hub. The hub is mounted in the  brass ring and fixed with a grub screw. The gear wheels are then mounted into the hub with three screws each.

The assembled part is put aside and will be slid onto the main bar when the next pieces are complete.

Augie - fair enough! I'm still right though

Landlocked - it's £6.99 a week so around £350 overall

bhermann - if you're interested it published by Eaglemoss I think

Brian - not sure if it was the same kit you made but this is made from solid and plated brass and looks excellent so far

Not wishing to enflame but I agree with the downgrade. Pluto is one of dozens in that same area and isn't even the biggest.....

The kit actually includes Ceres between Mars and Jupiter and Pluto and Eris out on the edge. Although it looks as though Pluto does not cross inside Neptunes orbit.