SJSoane
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Alan, Looking good! It is very satisfying indeed to see the backbone emerge from parts. Mark -
Now that I am having to remake my mould, I have a few thoughts about making it better: The first thing I notice is that the rubber flexes enough when putting plaster around it to allow the end of the barrel to come out a little oblong. Ed Tosti, you advised me, and I regret I didn't follow your advice, to use the 10:1 rubber RTV from MicroMark. Would it perhaps be less squishy than the 1:1 Rapid that I used, and therefore hold its shape a little better? And/or, perhaps I should leave the master inside the RTV mould when pouring the plaster around it. That would keep it from squishing. I also wonder about the pewter I bought locally. It has a downright nasty scum on the surface when it cools (see photo). Does anyone have a suggestion for an online supplier for reliable metal? Mark
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Hi druxey, I skimmed the dross each time, showing the shiny metal. But in the time it took me to put down a skimming tool and pick up the ladle and pour, oxidation was already forming again. The sludge is surprisingly sticky, like it was beginning to break down the surface of the rubber. Mark
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Hi everyone, Ah, a short-lived victory. I started casting more cannon today, and the further along I went, the worse the castings. They were starting to lose detail (see first photo). I looked more carefully, and a sticky brown sludge was building up on my mould (see the third picture, where I scraped some of it off). And then when I was trying to clean the mould, part of it ripped away at the muzzle face. So, time to make a new mould... I really wonder if the pewter metal I obtained at a local jewelry supply store was too hot for the rubber mould material. So, I either need to switch to stronger mould material, or find softer metal, perhaps at MicroMark. Or, switch to resin. The learning curve continues..... Before all of this emerged, I started the day building a successful jig (shown being set up in photo 2), to make a wooden collar with an inside diameter tapered to match the taper of the barrels, so I could chuck the cannon in the lathe for cleaning up the front face and drilling the bore. I cut the inside taper by putting the rotating table on the angle table, and then rotating the blank past a mill cutter inside the hole. It worked really well on a trial; I just have no cannon at this point to use it with! Mark
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Hi everyone, Well, I finally cast some pewter cannon. Or one, to be exact. It is finished with Jax Pewter Black which appears to work very well. I mechanically cleaned the barrel after casting, with a 3M spider abrader, and then a dip in jeweler's pickle, a rinse in water, and then Jax brushed on. I will live with it for a while; I think it might want some final finish to give it a tiny bit more sheen. It is dead flat black right now. A mean looking cast iron monster.... And thanks, David and Michael, for ideas about how to mount these with spacers. That will be my next challenge. Mark
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You can see my reconstruction of this partner at this site: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/196-hms-bellona-by-sjsoane-scale-164-1760-english-74-gun-as-designed/page-2 This is based on the drawing of the partners on my Admiralty prints of the gundeck for the Bellona. I believe the capstan would have been lifted up from above, the parts of the partners taken away, and then the capstan dropped down one deck. Presumably the partners from one deck above would then be fitted in this opening to make the two capstan operational on two decks. Mark
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Gaetan, the calibration of monitor to printer as you show it here is impressive. I have always had difficulties with this. Mark
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Perhaps early days for thinking about this, but I am beginning to wonder how I am going to attach the carriages to the deck, and the cannon to the carriages at a set angle. Since I am not planking the deck, I will need to put spacers under the wheels 4" thick to lift them to the correct height relative to the gunports. And how do I pin them down, rather than relying on glue alone? I can see, with the weight of the pewter cannon, how these might break free over time. Pins all the way through the wheels seems challenging. And how do I fasten the cannon down onto the quoins parallel to the deck? I could glue the cannon to the quoins with epoxy, but will this come loose over time without a pin? More construction details to ponder! Any thoughts? Mark
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Hi Mark, It is a few drops of TransTint Bright Red dye, mixed into General Finishes Gel Topcoat wipe on urethane. I got both at Rocklers Woodworking. Ed Tosti has warned that this may be transient and fade over time, but I decided that faded red would be better than way too intense red paint. I had to throw away my first riding bitts when I painted them and hated the look. Mark
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Another huge source of comfort is to read in Rob Napier's book, The Legacy of a Ship Model: Examining HMS Princess Royal", how the 18th century model makers made mistakes, sometimes small and sometimes very big! Realizing that took a lot of pressure off, no longer looking for perfection that even the masters could not achieve. Mark
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Michael, all the best for you and your wife. Family matters most of all. Mark
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Siggi, A fast build, just three years! And looking very good. It is good to know that the capstan bars are stored between the beams. I like your rack for storing them. Mark
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Hi Michael, thanks for the thoughts on holding it on pins. With paint it might work, but with stain I have to put a cloth on every surface and wipe it off. It is challenging. In the end, I had to mask each piece, and hold it while staining, then wiping. Tedious, but here are the first results. Ironwork still to come,, and I look forward to seeing the darkened pewter for cannon rather than the resin and brass seen here. Mark
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Ed, exceptionally instructive techniques, as we have come to look forward to whenever you post... Mark
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Thanks, bizibilder, I will try that on the gun carriages for the upper deck. I managed to cast a plaster holder for my gun mould as recommended in David Antscherl's Fully Framed Model vol. II. I now see the wisdom of that approach, after having my first pour spill out of the mould when the rubber bands burst. After the plaster dries, time to try melting some metal again. I also built a little jig for assembling the gun carriages. I haven't decided yet if I will stain each piece and then assemble, or assemble and then stain. Masking each part for separate staining in tedious, and I have no place to hold each piece when staining it all over, without putting my fingers in the fresh stain. But it is also difficult to get the stain into each nook and cranny when it is already assembled. I already tried it the first way, and I'll try it the second way tomorrow, and see what happens. Mark
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Gaetan, Your cherry copy is spectacular! You are clearly a gifted artist. Mark
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Ed, I just noticed (which shows how inattentive I am) the white on the bulwarks. I am facing the prospect of white later on in my build. Do you have any advice after trying this? Is this a paint or a stain? Mark
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Wonderful animation! Mark
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Ed, You have this down to a fine art. You move so efficiently and with exquisite craftsmanship. Wonderful to watch. Mark
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Hi Siggi, I am following your studies of the cabins with great interest. I wish I had more information that could help. Is it possible that the cabins were simply canvas that could be rolled up out of the way, rather than solid frames? Mark
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Remco, exquisite craftsmanship, as usual! Mark
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Amazing, Michael. I would never have believed someone could hand build a spark plug that small, until I saw it in your video. Remarkable! Mark
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Hi Michael, Very interesting idea, breaking it down into parts. You are right; the wheel covers the joint and so no one would be the wiser. Here is a cross section of the carriage; you can see that there is a slight offset from the cylinder and the rectangular piece behind. At 3/16" scale, it is not very much. I had to use a #40 twist drill bit for the wheels, and so it would be the same for drilling into the rectangles for added dowels. This is a dumb question, but are there brad point drills that small? Otherwise, I don't know how I would control the tolerances on this without accidentally breaking through one side or the other of the rectangular part. Machining is a fascinating process. You learn new things on every setup! Best wishes, Mark
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Here are all of the main wooden parts for 28 guns for the gundeck, 32 pound behemoths. I still need to make the stools and quoins, and drill a few more ancillary holes for attaching metal parts. And then there are the metal parts. But it is nice to have the main carriage wooden parts all ready to go. Thank you Stephen for your nice comment. A work long in progress! Druxey, very clever idea using round stock with a square hole. That would control both location on axis and depth. Next time I have to make this many pieces, I will try that. I have 46 more guns to go after finishing the guns for the gundeck.... I got the pewter melted at last, only to have my mould split apart during the pour. So back to more work on the mould.... Mark
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Bizibilder, those are both very clever ideas. So in the first one, do you close up the brass tube all the way to the shape of the rectangle? Or is it enough that it gets to an oblong shape? Mark
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