wefalck

Reminds of the old joke: what is better than presence of mind in the case of an accident ... absence of the body. Sometimes guns can be more dangerous to the crew than to the enemy. Nice project btw ...

Too much work going on the last couple of weeks or so and not much time to look at the progress of colleagues ... the tracks have come out well, though I was wondering, like the other Keith, whether they really have been (wrought) iron and not bronze. We had a discussion on this forum a short while back about exactly that subject. I agree, that the photographs are not very conclusive. Personally, I would probably go over them with a soft pencil to give a kind of metallic look, but this depends on the intended style of the model.

The line-width in a (real) CAD system is zero. It is different, however, when we are talking about pixel-based drawing programs, where indeed a line (particularly if it does not run parallel with the axes of the system) can be several pixels wide. It would be bad practice to draw something on a CAD system, print it out and then take measurements from the print-out. Even in the old analogue days I would draw an item in 10:1 or 20:1 scale to reduce the effect of drawing inaccuracies and the problem of line-width. In the CAD-age the drawing itself is only something to orient yourself, the measurements are taken from the information stored within the system. Adding measurement bars in my CAD (EazyDraw) is a little bit awkward and makes the drawing rather 'busy', so I tend to make a print-out and note the relevant distances by hand. This then is the drawing from which I work on the lathe, the mill, or by hand. Lehmann is right in saying that proportions are what matters. That's why one should work 'outside-in' from the overall dimension, as I noted earlier. For many details there are handbooks (now also on the Internet) that give you typical dimensions. The human being hasn't changed that much over the past few thousand years or so, hence the 'handy' diameter of handles, rails etc. hasn't really changed, because hand-sizes haven't really changed. In fact ergonomics as such haven't really changed (though behaviour and use of people may have changed), so that modern dimensioning more or less gives you an indication. In most cases, for our kind of models the 'look' is what counts. If you are into working steam-engines and the likes, of course, exact dimensions to specifications are most important, otherwise the engine may not work. So, in our case we probably don't need measurements to 1/100 of milimetre ensuring the right kind of fit. Therefore, digital calipers are usually an overkill (though you can buy them from 15€ upward nowadays). I find them also too bulky most of the time and it is another item to maintain, i.e. making sure it has a working battery in it. My preferred caliper is a small vernier of only 15 cm length that can be easily used to control the work on the lathe or mill, but also on the bench. It has a 1/20 mm vernier, which is probably better then the working tolerances of most of us. You can estimate 1/60 mm easily, as thirds between two engraved lines can be guestimated. This, however, is better than the mechanical precision of the measurement, because of varying pressure you may apply on the part.

I noted something interesting on above picture: first I thought they didn't fit the floors/frames very well - but then I realised they left a gap between the floors/frames and the upper edge of the strakes so that no water collects in these corners and causes rotting ... Nice progresss !

Nice work on the sails !

Excellent ! I like the scenic setting ! I gather the boats sits on the ground between tides ? Or how is it otherwise hauled out ?

I have a natural science background and grew up in a natural science-househould. So, the natural thing for me was to make measured drawings, cut pieces according to the dimensions on the drawings and then assemble ... but often this did not work, perhaps due to poor manufacturing tolerances. I learned from watching craftsmen, who tend to cut pieces somewhat oversize and then fit them. Not the most efficient way in a production process, but very effective in an artisanal context - and shipmodel building is an artisanal process.

Paper drawings, as commonly used by shipmodelers, are not very accurate, so taking precise readings may not help you in the end, because errors of several measurements tend to end up. There are couple of strategies to overcome this: - always take measurements working from the largest outside dimensions, working inward and make sure that subsequent measurment add up to the total of the outside measurement first taken - redraw the parts in a 2D CAD or similar program from the readings taken from the paper copy; the result should look like the one on the paper and you can take the precise dimensions off the computer without having to worry about line thickness; you can add dimensions to your drawing as in a normal technical drawing, which is helpful for machining. - a variant of the above is to scan (parts of) the paper drawing and copy this image into your drawing program; in another layer you can trace the outlines of the part you want to make and correct dimensions so that all parts fit together; this is today my usual method. If I am working from paper drawings the old way, I am using an analog vernier caliper. I have very small one that is only 10 cm long and comes very handy for working on small parts.

From my memory: Yes, I was going to comment, that on the first Venice bird's eye view the Arsenale is discernible on the right and can be recognised by the galley building and storage sheds that face the Canale di Arsenale. The merchant port, Il Bacino, is in the centre and stretches from the Doge's Palace to the canal that leads up to the Arsenale. The stretches of embankment in between are named by the nations who had their warehouses behind, say the Riva degli Schiavoni refers to slavonic traders from further south in the Adriatic. The Arsenale still is military territory and cannot normally be visited. For some years a waterbus line ran through it, but caused too much damage to the historical slipways and was discontinued. The boat collection of the Naval Museum is in an annex building just in front of the entrance of the Arsenale. For 18th century paintings of Venice check out Canaletto, he painted dozens of very detailed ones. The French Government commissioned in the middle of the 18th century a series of very large canvasses of French arsenals and naval ports. They were on display in the Naval Museum in Paris. The painter's name escapes me right now. May be it was one of the Vernets. There have been several NEPTUNIA articles on naval ports, their history and organisation in recent years. Also in NEPTUNIA there was a two part article on the Turkish naval port in Istanbul, I think last year or the year before. From my bibliographic reference list: COAD, J.G. (1989): The Royal Dockyards 1690-1850. Architecture and Engineering Works of the Sailing Navy.- Studies in Naval History No. 1: XXVI+2+ 399 pp., Aldershot (Scolar Press). DEGGIM, C. (2005): Hafenleben in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit.- Schriften des Deutschen Schiffahrtsmuseum, 62: 416 p., Hamburg (Convent Verlag). DICKER, G. (1969): A Short History of the Devonport Royal Dockyard.- 69 p., ? (?). MACDOUGALL, P. (1989): Royal Dockyards.-Shire Album 231: 32 p., Aylesbury (Shire Publications Ltd.). Nevell, M., George, D. [Eds.] (2017): Recapturing the Past of Salford Quays. The Industrial Archaeology of the Manchester and Salford Docks.- University of Salford Archaeological Monographs, 5: 140 p., Salford (University of Salford). Peters, D.J. (2009): The Use of Brickwork for Dry-Docks in Germany.- in: 400 Years Anniversary Symposium on Historic Dockyards in Japan and the Netherlands, 28-29 November 2009, Tokyo: 51-56. RITCHIE-NOAKES, N. (1987): Old Docks.- Shire Album 199, 32 p., Aylesbury, Bucks. (Shire Publications). WILLIAMS, . (1984): Docks and Ports 1: Southampton.- 96 p.

"It was used in nuclear reprocessing plants, buried deep inside highly radioactive equipment behind 6 feet of concrete, not to be seen again for a thousand years." ... not so sure, at some stage Sellafield and Dounreay will need to be decommissioned and dismantled ... I have been working for the past 34 years on safe disposal options.

Looks excellent ! How did you score the stones in the MDF, with a router ?

And UV-curing acrylics ...

The beauty department has a lot of interesting stuff and typically cheaper than the modellers' stuff - it's a mass market. These blocks are also sold for woodworkers etc. Got some in 150 grit quite a while ago - ebay etc. is your friend. Unless yours are soft, I would rather call them foam sanding blocks. Mine are rather hard and the shape is stable, allowing to sand flat surfaces.

I can see that the back edge of the sanding disc is relieved, but I don't understand what it is used for. Perhaps you can hold a workpiece against the disc to illustrate the purpose ? Of course, superbly engineered, as always !

You won't need a rope-walk as such, but of course, you can do it on it. Unlike threads, each wire does not need to be twisted in itself, just the wires need to twisted together. So two hooks are sufficient, one of them spinning. Some years ago I constructed a rope-walk (according to the proposal of Frölich, with two spinning heads) from an old bakelite optical bench that I inherited from my father. It does not allow to adjust the tension steadily, so it turned out not to be so suitable for making twisted wire. I think I will now use the lathe and devise something to exert a steady pull on the hand-lever tailtstock. I only need short lengths of wire-rope, so it should be ok. Just ordered some of the 0.007 mm silver wire as I will need soon some light wire rope in 1:160 to stay the funnel and the signal mast on my current project. Should arrive here sometime in December. Let's see how that goes.

These phone repair guys have lots of interesting stuff. There is also silver wire at 0.007 mm diameter. When trying to make my own 'wire rope', I found it quite difficult to twist up more than two wires, because it is difficult to to get equal tension on all the strands and when you pull to tension them, these thin wires easily snap.

I don't know about the US, but over here in Europe powering boats began with semi-diesel IC engines on the commercial side, while amateurs put petrol engines into boats already at the turn of the century. The semi-diesels were hefty chunks of cast iron. The Danish were pioneers at that, followed quickly by the Dutch and the Germans. These semi-diesels would eat anything from rancid butter (there was often a fuel pre-heater on top of the cylinder-head to reduce its viscosity) to petrol. They had a glow-bulb (similar to aircraft model IC engines) that had to be heated with a blow-torch before the engine could be started. Similar engines were used as agricultural power-plants and tractors. They ran at relatively low speed (perhaps as low as 100 rpm empty), but had a high torque - torque is also a function of cylinder displacement and mass inertia in the system. Even at that low speed you would probably need at least a 1:20 to 1:40 ratio in the worm-drive.

Display Case The project has progressed to a point, where soon major parts will be painted and then will have to be protected from dust during the further building process. Hence, I constructed a Plexiglas display case. From another project some 40 years ago I had lots of 2 mm sheets of Plexiglas left over that I now put to good use. Ideally, the sheets would be cut to size on a table saw, but I do not have one big enough. However, Plexiglas up to 3 mm thick can be scored and then snapped. A procedure recommended by the manufacturer, if you don’t have a suitable saw. I put a sharp-edged angle-iron along the edge of the work-bench, laid the Plexiglas with the marked-out cutting line exactly over the edge and a heavy steel-ruler exactly (minus half of the thickness of the cutter) over the line and clamped the assembly firmly down. The sheet is then scored a few times with a box cutter, followed by a cutter with a hooked blade until a groove 0.5 to 1 mm deep is made. Finally, you grab firmly with both hands (the faint-hearted may use leather gloves) the part sticking out, take a deep breath and with one decided jerk you break it off. The result is a clean, straight cut with only a little kerf that needs little cleaning up. Arrangement for snapping Plexiglas sheet in a similar case In theory, the kerf is desirable. When professional make such Plexiglas cases, they mill on such a kerf to provide room for the cement. The kerf should face inward. The cement used was Acrifix 192, one of the proprietary cements for real Plexiglas. It is essentially, liquid, uncured Plexiglas and will have the same refractive index once cured so that joints are invisible, when executed professionally. I know the theory (as I have a full version of the manufacturer’s handbook), but my practice is far from perfect. I found that the very old Acrifix 192 I was using has a very short open time and curing begins as soon as a light quantum hits it. Unlike for other formulations, curing is set off by visible light and not only by UV light. It is also very runny and it is easy to smear it over places, where you don’t want it to go, basically fusing into any Plexiglas it hits. So I used it rather sparingly to be on the safe side. The less than perfect joints don’t matter too much, as the corners will be covered, according to my house-style, in L-shaped brass edges. Still have to mail-order them in Germany, as I have not found a affordable source yet for milled (not drawn !) L-shaped brass here in France. The edges will also add to the strenght of the assembly. There will be also wooden, polished plinth. The base is a piece of 16 mm fibre-board that I happened to have lying around. The Plexiglas case will be secured to it with two screws eventually. The case will be completed at a later stage, as for the moment only its function as dust-cover is important. Plexiglas case in its raw state To be continued ...

Would have loved to have one, when I was a boy

No matter how comprehensive your thoughts and planning were, you will always find out that something doesn't work in reality. So I would always expect to be differences between 'as designed' and 'as built', although modern 3D-modelling, where you not only can model static features, but can model the functionality can eliminate some of these problems. Not sure this is being used by this kind of naval architects, but in designing industrial facilities, they can model much of the functionalities, before the first concrete is poured or the first metal cut.

So you are using them for both, workholding on the machines, e.g. milling machines, as working by hand ?

Interesting power transmission. I have not seen a worm-wheel drive for a paddle-wheel before. I gather it makes sense, when you have a rather fast IC engine and adds torque at low speed for a small engine.

As they say: what is underneath nobody cares about I gather this is the first layer to give the shape ? For a second layer in areas that will not be coppered a more prototype style of planking might be advisable. Also in cardboard modelling it makes sense to fill the space betwen bulkhead to ease fairing and planking. It is advisable to use a material somewhat softer than that used for the bulkhead, so that the sanding does not tough them. Personally, I would have used (because I have it) a foam called Rohacell, which is essentially foamed Plexiglas. There are other types of hard foames on the market that could be used. This prevents the planks from being pushed in or sagging. You will have a very stiff base for planking that way.

Well engineered parts, as usual and certainly a lot more precise than the cheap engraver's clamps they flog onto modellers these days. For what kind of work do you envisage to use them ? I am asking this, because I have one of those cheapo ones, but have not found yet a real use for them in my workshop practice (I gather for carving/engraving flat and irregular objects they would come handy, but I have no need for that).

Thanks for the the link to the 1-2-3 blocks. I wasn't aware, that they come in such small sizes and metric and at a quite reasonable price. Have to get some of those ...