wefalck

I found that some of the professional movers are not so professional. There may be a considerable difference between what their sales rep promises you (and charges) and what their workmen actually do. Their appreciation of your spiritual and monetary valuables may vary quite a bit and their sense of convenience may override their sense of care for your possessions. I had very good and very bad experiences - during my last move from the Netherlands to France almost every piece of furniture was somehow dented - in spite of the promised 'export wrapping'. I could tell you wild stories of how they handled my stuff. On another occassion, I went with foreman of the gang through all the special objects, including the glass-cases for my models, and discussed with him their special needs for wrapping and handling - the standard reply is "don't worry" (which usually makes me worry ...); later that morning I was able to prevent by a second the apprentice from loading a large glass-case (boxed-up and marked with 'upright' arrows) onto a sack-trolley and going down the stairs with it ... Therefore, I would also recommend to take a delivery-trip in a car. There are two things to consider, when transporting models in a car: a) to prevent the load from shifting around in the car, e.g. when breaking, and b ) to prevent the model from touching anything. I always secure models on a base-plate, so no loose stands. This base-plate then can be fastened to a board that is larger than the model by say a couple of centimetres on all sides. Around this board you can construct a light-weight box or crate from e.g. plywood (more expensive) or high-density fibre-board. The box should have a bottom as well, so that you can slide in and out the board on which the model is fastened down. Depending on the size of the model, you may need to provide some handles for carrying the crate. This is a safe, albeit perhaps somewhat expensive method. If you don't want to construct a crate, I would at least mount the model on the board as described above, because this allows you to attach fastening straps etc. for securing the model in the car. Keep in mind that a sailing-ship model is quite top-heavy, so it may break off its stand that is securely fastened, say to the back-seat, during a serious breaking manoeuvre.

Makes me itchy to begin with a project I have had in the back of mind for years, one of those steam gun-boats of the 1860s of the Prussian/German Navy ...

I took some pictures of the yards of HMS GANNET (1878) in Chatham and of the frigate DON FERNANDO II E GLÒRIA (1843) in Lisbon while being refitted. In the first case the jack-stay was threaded and a hexagonal nut was screwed on, while in the second case they simply electro-welded(!) it to one of the stanchions. The thread-and-nut would have been a technical possibility in mid-19th century, but the welding is clearly a 'preservation' short-cut. The spars, to my knowledge, in both cases are reconstructions, so we are not absolutely sure what the actual practice in these cases at the time would have been. I would rather think that a hole was drilled across the jack-stay and a split cotter-pin inserted, the end of which where bend around to prevent it from falling out. It doesn't need to take up a lot of force, but just to prevent the jack-stay from slipping out, when the ship is rolling. I also seem to have read somewhere that turc's head knots where set onto the jack-stay and then painted over. One could also drill a hole through the stanchions and the jack-stay for a cotter-pin, but this would be more work and weakens the stanchion.

The little tool for making block-straps gives me ideas ...

Just some thoughts on the future construction of a mast-/spar-lathe: - enclosed 12V DC motors of sufficient torque are becoming quite cheap (say 20 to 30 €) - watch out for scooter motors - electronic transformers with controllable voltage output of adequate Wattage can be had for 10 to 15 € - collet-chucks for ER11 or ER16 collets cost around 4 €, collets are as cheap as 1 € and clamp over a 1 mm range - use an extruded aluminium-profile or a strong wooden board as backbone; in the latter case a curtain-rail would serve to align spindle, tailstock and any steady. I gather for under 100 € you can build a lathe that suits your size requirements.

... but beware that, if the trigger works on an electronic speed-control (pulse width modulation) as well, the dimmer will not work or only erratically. I have such a dimmer fitted to my work-bench and plug into it all sorts of machines that do not have originally a speed-control. Works also as temperature control for soldering irons btw.

If your power-drill does not have a speed-control, you can hook it up to a plug-type dimmer, which can be bought quite cheaply. Make sure that the dimmer is rated sufficiently. I think most dimmers are rated at 300W. Wall-type dimmers can be obtained at much higher rating, but you would need to construct a box for it. It seems to be all a lot of effort for a make-shift tool, when you can buy a small wood-lathe (such as the PROXXON DB250), which is much more precise and versatile, for around 200€ new and perhaps less used.

Unfortunately, milling operations with the dividing-head in the upright position leads to the accumulation of swarf between the spindle-head and the dust-sleeve made earlier. Swarf accumulation between spindel of dividing head and dust-sleeve It was also felt useful to have some kind of indication of the angular position of the spindle when using the indirect dividing gear, particularly for round-milling. In order to overcome both problems, a graduated dial was manufactured, that has a friction-fit to the spindle-head. It was made in the same way, as the dials described above and marked in 5° steps. With its round-knurled ring it can be zeroed. Because of its tight fit to the spindle and its shape, it sheds the swarf away from the spindle. Graduated sleeve on the spindle of the dividing head

Pat, the maritime heritage hasn't changed since the mid-1980s, but the way how it is being presented a lot, and not always for the better (re. the NMM). On the other hand new things opened, such as Chatham. There has been a major shift in the way all this financed, as since the last Thatcher-government public funding for museums has been cut back dramatically. This one reason, why a lot of places convert into theme-parks and tourist traps. Not sure that Bucklers Hard is now a real tourist trap. I believe there is not just the row houses of house to see, but they have now some workshops and the likes to visit. Also they have recreated a slip, I think, but haven't checked. You can take a train from London-St. Pancras to Chatham and from the station there runs a bus past the Dockyard. Otherwise it is about a 30 mins walk, but you may want to preserve your legs for the dockyard itself Make sure to get out at the second stop, in front of the large car-park, and not at the old Main Gate, because the ticket-office is there. Entrance fees are quite high, but allows you to come back any time over the next 12 months - a farce for overseas visitors. There is no photography in the 'Smithy', were the NMM models are now on display, but I gather in the age of smart-phones this is difficult to enforce. To water your mouth a bit: http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/chatham/chatham.html There are, of course, trains running down from London to Portsmouth, but the last two times I have been there, I had the car with me, so I don't remember, how one gets from the station to the Dock.

Good places to visit and a bit of diversion for senior officers around it as well Visited SS GREAT BRITAIN in the late 1980s, Bucklers Hard in 1994 or so, I think before it really became developed as a tourist attraction, and in more recent years (re-)visited Portsmouth and Chatham a couple of times. Both are easy to access from London, even if you don't have a car.

Beware that most of these figures may be actually in the so-called 54 mm scale, which is officially 1:32. The 1:35 scale started off, I believe, as a proprietary scale in the early 1970s(?) of the company Tamiya that specialised in military models originally. If you put a 1:35 and a 1:32 scale figure next to each other the difference is usually noticeable, but it depends on the manufacturer as well.

As the size of their feet would have been approximately the same as today, the physiological-technical challenge is the same. Any hole much bigger than about half the width(!) of a foot would not be safe to walk on (even considering that the ideas of safety where somewhat different in the 17th century). Then the battens have to be strong enough to support one or more men not just resting but perhaps jumping up and down on it. So, this frames to some extend the physical possibilities. It could also be a question of the location of the grating, i.e. whether if covers a space needed for working the sails or guns or ... or whether it is in a location with normally no traffic.

Looks like the right track, but holding the 'fixed steady' with a third hand seems to be a bit shaky option. Something more solid and unmoveable may be better ...

Not sure, what the second post means ... anyway, 1/3"=1' should be 1 divided by 3x12 or 1:36 scale. There are many military figurines in 1:35 scale that one may be able to modify for the purpose.

If the camber is worked into a false deck that rests on straight beams/bulkheads, one could plank it first and then insert it. Under certain circumstances this could have advantages, but in general it is better to fit bits and pieces in situ, results in a closer fit.

Varnishes and adhesives can be usually removed with acetone or white spirit, then polish with very fine (0000) steel-wool. Certain adhesives can be 'poisoned' by heavy metal ions, such as copper. Cu can, for instance, inhibit the polymerisation of cyanoacrylate adhesives, they just don't harden or not sufficiently. A solvent-base contact cement is a better choice, provided the solvent can diffuse out through the hull. It is also a good idea to provide some 'key' on the copper glueing-surface by rubbing it with steel-wool, e.g. 00. Flame-treating of copper leads to the formation of various types of copper oxides. These oxides can become detached from the metal with time, particularly, when the oxidation progresses through humidity. Glueing an oxidised copper-sheet results sooner or later in a failure of the bond. Remove all oxidation by rubbing with steel-wool and degrease with acetone.

I have an early 20th century textbook on ship's joinery and according to this, the gratings are laid out on a 50 mm (2") pattern, meaning that the full battens are 50 mm x 50 mm cross-section at 50 mm intervalls - giving 50 mm x 50 mm holes. The half-battens are 25 mm x 50 mm and fit into appropriate notches of the full battens. Much bigger holes than this would be difficult to walk on, particularly with bare feet.

What scale is the model ? - I am not familiar with the kit. If the scale is 1/96 or smaller, I would not go for a planked deck perhaps, as it can look quite overscale. Remember that the planks would have to be less than 2 mm wide. Getting this cleanly done is a bit of a challenge. I would rather draw on the pattern with a pencil, give individual planks a slight wash with very dilute acrylic paint (burnt umber or black) to create a bit of variety, then seal the wood, rub it down lightly and finally draw the plank pattern with ink. Mahagony is definitely a no-go for deck-planking, unless you are building a yacht. Usually some sort of pine was used on the prototype. So a light, but hard wood would be good for this. Deck-openings, whether for hatches, or smaller items, such as bollards etc. are usually 'framed'. You don't want to run the end-grain of the deck-planks against hatch-coamings, because this would be difficult to get water-tight. On both, the prototype and the model, you would begin with laying-out these 'frames' that should have nicely mitred corners. You can then butt your planking nicely against to these. Available length of planks is also a consideration. It rarely exceeded 10 m and would be typically around 6 m to 8 m. So, if you have a space between openings of less than 10 m, you can have one continuous plank. Otherwise would would have to split it into two or more lengths. Think also about notching the planks into the waterways, particularly at the bow.

Professionals seem to prefer in general cutting tools with a defined single edge over multi-edge tools with poorly defined cutting edges (aka abrasives) - but their use requires manual skills, which is why many of us prefer abrasives. I gather it is important to accelerate/decelerate the spindle quickly through any resonance points of the turned item to prevent whipping actions getting out of hand. Also, too much friction from the steadies would tear the part apart during changes in speed.

This day wasn't lost ... learned something: I didn't know about these French 'tremblers' as a specific woodworking challenge. The 'string'-steadies to keep whipping movements under control are particularly interesting and something to remember ! Thanks for bringing this to our attention !

The key-point for working on long parts in a lathe (either 'proper' or makeshift with e.g. a power-drill) is to have a fixed steady. The fixed steadies on metal lathes aren't really suitable, as their bearing would cut into wood. You can use, however, a style of steady that has gone out of fashion these days. Take a piece of plywood or MDF, think about a way of clamping it upright to your lathe bed (or work-table, if you use a make-shift arrangement) and drill a hole into it a centre-height. The diameter of the hole should be larger than the diameter of the parts you wan to turn. No you make two pieces of MDF or even hard card-board with V-notches and two paralle notches in them. These V-notches have to be placed exactly at centreline. With two screws and washers you can fix these 'jaws' over each other at the upright steady so that they jam the piece being turned (without realling jamming it). Sorry, I don't have a picture to illustrate this.

Interesting, didn't see this kind of fuse before. The ones use over here in Europe during that period were hollow wooden cones that screwed into the shells. The cone was perforated at intervals and a fuse like you see today on fireworks was reefed through one of the holes and led to the outside. The lower the hole one used, the longer the fuse would burn. It was ignited by the charge of the gun/mortar.

Preiser HO figures are the best on the market I think. As noted, they are nominally 1/87 scale, but the difference in height to 1/96 scale is wiith the variation of human height. Preiser also does various unpainted sets that are a good starting point for some 'surgery', i.e. conversions. Here is an example for what I did with some mid to late 20th century figures: http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/maritime/models/botter/botter.html#Creating_the_Staffage

Work on the ventilators continued. The ventilators for the officers' mess, which included also a Venturi-suction ventilator, where produced in the same way, but are a lot smaller with the head only 2.9 mm high and the shaft having a diameter of 1.3 mm. Milling one of the ventilators for the officers’ mess All ventilators would be taken down, when the 'battle ready' alarm would be given. To this end they are mounted on sockets that would be closed with a lid or plug. This socket was turned from Plexiglas and will be glued onto the deck. It will be painted black together with the deck, while the white ventilator with black interiors will be put into place at the final assembly of the model. Ventilators for the officers’ mess To be continued soon ...

Looks like a good, solid tool the clamp !