jud

One walking beam, so dependent on rudder, can't slow or reverse one paddle wheel as an aid to maneuvering. That observation does not help identifying her. jud

Off the coast of Cherbourg, France, the Confederate raider CSS Alabama loses a ship-to-ship duel with the USS Kearsarge and sinks to the floor of the Atlantic. 19 June 1864.

19 June 1960 wikipedia notes: On 19 July 1960, while making the transit between Seal Beach and San Diego for decommissioning, Ammen was struck by Collett. The collision killed 11 Ammen sailors and injured 20 others. She was initially towed into Long Beach and, later, from there to San Diego where she was decommissioned on 15 September 1960. Ammens name was struck from the Navy List on 1 October 1960, and she was sold to the National Metal and Steel Corporation on 20 April 1961 for scrapping.

Looks great. jud

Build her a bit larger and you will have a place to go when things get stormy in the house. Good Luck on the build. I must ask, what are you going to do with her when completed? jud

Have used diamond impregnated blocks shaped like sharping stones and even several shaped like a sharping steel with good results. Never have seen diamond impregnated files. Still use my stones, if you have some good ones keep them. jud

On metal use a good lubricant on the teeth. Machine oil. New to me, Thanks. Will give it a try. Have been using chalk on the teeth for easier cleaning, seems to help. Bet chalk and oil makes a mess, pre-cleaning is in order. jud

Those small needle nose pliers would be handy for adjusting things like hooks and clevis to get the proper shaps and turn-backs on hooks for mousing, after the initial forming. My experience with pliers is that I loose the use of one hand while the pliers are in my hand so use the vice often to hold items when using pliers. jud

Now why would you want your boom support on the rail while the boom is not in use? Keeping it on C/L keeps the ship and mast balanced with the end of the boom out of harms way from anything that may be alongside. Wouldn't need a heavy crutch as long as it's compressive strength would support the boom and furled sails without distortion. A simple block on deck would suffice to distribute any concentrated forces from the bottom of a small diameter crutch, forces similar to the contact forces per sq. in. at the end of a 98 lb. woman's stiletto heels. Side sway easily controlled by existing rigging. I will need some very good reasoning and engineering justification for an outboard boom crutch. jud

Weight and because of that weight and the deflection forces diminishing as you go out from the center allowed for reducing the weight without hurting function. Or could be like Grandad, he liked to stand on the sunny side of the barn out of the wind and whittle a tooth pick from a much bigger piece. jud

Should be a lot of places to get it done that are close to you. Almost any engineering or surveying office could do it, how about the engineering department of your local power company then there are all the government agencies getting into GIS Mapping that would have the ability. Heck, I would be happy to do it for you,' and even supply the paper, Mylar you would need to buy', max size up to "D" size. The offer stands only if you hand deliver the CD to me only as a favor. I bet you can find someone very close to you to do it. jud

Moving parts would add another dimension to your models. Moving parts that mimic the real thing by proper movements and reaction, always grabs my appreciation. Defect of mine, I like reality and the model parts capable of being used as intended with decks and spaces kept shipshape and not dangerously cluttered. Spend as much or more time on figuring out just how things work or should work as I do admiring the skill of the model maker. jud

Brownells is a good place to get ideas, options and the means to complete the method chosen. I have used the cold blue method, never the hot blue which used to require tanks and chemicals to get it done. Have two S & W K-22 Masterpiece revolvers, they were users, "actually acquired them to replace one that I let get away", much of the bluing was gone and after I had them rebuilt they needed protection. The gunsmith I was using sent them to someone in Idaho who put a kind of parkerised finish, black in color that has proven to be tough. Today there are many different methods and options to choose from to color metal, Brownells is a good place to start finding out what some of those options are. Looking there may encourage the use of aluminum in modeling because of the different treatments that can be used for different effects. One of the earlier finishes was just plain rusting in a controlled manner, they called it browning, was used on many muskets. jud

Side-wings? Perhaps an early type of protection from torpedoes for the engineering spaces. jud

Good work, now you have a repeatable method of blacking brass. I would expect that the muriatic acid bath followed by a good soak in a neutralizing agent would result in a surface to blacken without the need for an acetone bath. I have used that acid as a cleaner when re-soldering caterpillar radiators that had shaken loose after years of use. jud

Looking forward to those photos. If you cast brass, you probably have the heat to cast iron, maybe you could expand a bit on what you use for heat and where you get your flasks. What fuel do you use in you cupola? jud

Landing pad, a deck load and probably a tank deck, heavy derricks and bow doors probably hiding a ramp. The water moves around her like she is flat bottomed with shallow draft, so I would guess she is a type of ship built to do the same type of work as our LST's and can beach herself, retract herself after loading or unloading directly on a beach. jud

It's not those flat coils that bothers me, even knowing they are not the norm. It is the lack of deck space that they make so obvious, where do the seamen travel? No matter how neat the lines may be, they don't belong under foot. Those who like those coils, fine, those who think about working and getting around the ship will take note of the clutter, usually say nothing and still be able to admire the effort, time and skill it took to produce the model. jud

Was wanting to get the collision between the USS Ammen DD 527 and the USS Collet DD 730 on 19 June 1960 in the history list. Was aboard the Ammen, guess this tag on, will have to do. jud

When mixing herbicides, always add a surfactant to the mix to break the surface tension so the chemicals spread more evenly. Its basically just soap, so it sounds reasonable to me that adding a little soap to a adhesive and water blend would be good for penetration. jud

JSGerson, the method I described may not be the proper method, it is how I would have done it by expanding on your work. Ropes around square corners are hard on lines, ashore or afloat. Those using ropes will avoid any sharp edge, even if only placing a waded up rag at those points. I do use the Truckers Hitch occasionally when securing something on a truck or trying to pull something together but the knot I most often use was called a bowline when I learned it on the Ammen DD 527 in 1960 and is tied in the line without either end of the line involved. I tie it by laying the line across my left palm and going around the whole hand once, crossing the beginning of the first loop, around again and twist two loops once and pull the third through, forming a loop that will not slip or move up or down the line and is easy to remove, Its automatic and I probably use it a dozen times a year. jud

Like how you tied your boat down and yes I would have done it just a bit different. At the ring where you started I would have secured a single block with single blocks on each ring used for a tie down point. Then placed some round stock outboard of the ore locks large enough to guide the tie down line clear of the edge of the boat and made a device to do the same at the forward most crossing. I would have then started the weave at the starboard ring where you did with the line tied off securely and then ran the weave, again, as you did. When I got back with the other end of the line I would have ran it through the unused single block already secured to that tie down ring by running it through the block from the boat side, then have pulled the line tight across the boat, grab the taught line running down from the edge of the boat to the block you are using as a marker and put a Butterfly Knot or preferably a Truckers Hitch at that point. Run the bitter end coming from the outboard side of that last block up and through the loop in the knot you just tied, what you will have is a mechanical advantage as if you had put a block in the line there, pull the tie down line taught and tie off with a couple of half hitches. Come by a few hours later and snug it up again, repeat until the stretch is out of the line. Doing it this way it is easy to re tighten or cast off and if you find you need to move the knot, it is easy and quick to do. Could do the same without blocks, the rings would work alone but it would be better for the line and easier for it to run and balance the forces while tightening if you use the blocks. jud Let me add, Nice job on the Rattlesnake and on that small boat we just tied down for sea.

Don't think she made it that far if memory serves. Once was adrift in a LCVP in that triangle, good and bad seamanship involved. jud

I like and are awed by your efforts in making many of the deck fixtures and hatches workable, including the mines and their compartments you are now working on. You are taking your model way above the norm and your work is excellent. jud

All nice machines. Using printer parts sounds good to me. I have an old tractor type printer that I could get some good stuff out of, just never thought about it. Have saved 2 old blue print machines for their drive motors and speed controls. Probably some good bearings, shafts, gears and pulleys in them. jud