fnick

And we finally come to an end of this project. Discovery is now orbiting the giant Planet Jupiter








I hope you have enjoyed that project.
 
Yves
 

I got the last one in my local store at lunchtime! (and a crowbar set but I'm not planning to use that on my build.😆)

I got the last one in my local store at lunchtime! (and a crowbar set but I'm not planning to use that on my build.😆)

I got the last one in my local store at lunchtime! (and a crowbar set but I'm not planning to use that on my build.😆)

Heads up for anyone in the UK, Lidl have those back in from tomorrow! What a coincidence that I'll be working from home and will have time to pop out at lunchtime...😃
 
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/diy/parkside-disc-sander/p29561
 
Nick

Got one, thanks for the heads-up.
I arrived about 4 o'clock and there were two left on display. I asked if they had more to put out and was told they had already restocked the display once, had a few left.
Must be a lot of MSW addicts in the area.

Heads up for anyone in the UK, Lidl have those back in from tomorrow! What a coincidence that I'll be working from home and will have time to pop out at lunchtime...😃
 
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/diy/parkside-disc-sander/p29561
 
Nick

Thank you Nick!

Heads up for anyone in the UK, Lidl have those back in from tomorrow! What a coincidence that I'll be working from home and will have time to pop out at lunchtime...😃
 
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/diy/parkside-disc-sander/p29561
 
Nick

Beakhead bulkhead installed & second planking finished.  Lots of sanding to go yet,then the upper gun deck ports will be opened up & lined.   Pardon the dust - I haven`t cleaned anything up yet.  A little paint touch-up will be needed after sanding.  Plenty of planking strips were supplied - I probably have enough left to plank a small ship!
 

 

 

 
Mark

Well, this is what I have been working on, for the past few days. The cold weather has been slowing me as I can only paint outside (cans). The effort has been concentrated on the display for the Discovery vessel. I want to represent it orbiting around Jupiter as it completed its mission, after getting rid of the crew.
 
The frame is 48 inches by 18 inches (diorama) and is made of premium pine of 1.5 X 0.75 inch. I have used that kind of wood and know that it will hold very well in time, without any warping.

The frame is glued and re-enforced by metal corners. The "T" shaped pieces will be used to hold the vessel. 



Two 3 mm rods are taking care of holding the long Discovery in its cradle. In retrospect, 4 mm would have been better but I did not have the special nuts that went into the model. I will compensate the lack of rigidity with some brass tubing.


The rods are also electrical conductor for the lights.

The concept seems to work.... It is now time to paint... Primer first...

and then final paint: two coats of gloss black.

Now, the holders can be permanently mounted with 4 mm screws: 


In the meantime and while the weather was preventing me from painting the frame, I tried to approach Jupiter in two ways: Artistic painting and Pictures from NASA: 

The picture is of course more accurate but presents the drawback to show the seams of the paper sheets, when you place your nose on it. I could have asked FedEx to print it for me on glossy paper but that would cost more than $90 without any warranty that I would be happy with the result. I can always go back and do that later....
 
The painting is more beautiful with vibrant colors and is for the time being unfinished. I have used Liquitex Soft Body artistic acrylic paints diluted with a tiny amount of water and airbrushed on a foam board. The tormented Jupiter atmosphere is done with a regular brush. 
 
People who have seen both, told me they like the painting better..... So, this is what I will be using until I refine the painting with more details and a fine mist of white on top.
 
After mounting the vessel, this is what we are getting: 


Of course, that sky will require a few stars and a couple of moons to be more realistic.


It is relatively easy to swap the background, so I may try the picture solution, even though I like my painting a lot :-) - Crazy project, don't you think?
 
Yves
 
 
 
 
 

Spent a few hours this morning mucking about with turning tool form, working at making minute screws from hard brass which turns  better than the small brass plated pins that have heads that are forged and require some very careful cleaning up in order to create the fake screws. I eventually came up with the formula for the smallest screws they have a .5mm body with a 1mm head.
 

This afternoon assembled the top half of the port side paneling after finishing the forward cabinet door hinges, I glued on the rear vertical supports and boxed out the interiors of the two cabinets. I am still deciding haw to deal with the middle panel. yesterday I picked up some very nice tan material for the cushions.
 



The insides of the cabinets are recycled extremely fine grained old growth clear fir that came from the redwood garage door The frames around the redwood panes was old growth clear fir.
I put a coat of Tung oil on the maple it has a nice glow.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 

Another little update - the lower hull is now planked   Not perfect,but will be a good base for the coppering after some sanding.   Thinking ahead,I am wondering if I should put some gloss polyurethane on the lower hull - tape seems to stick better to a smooth,glossy surface (the copper tape supplied has a self adhesive backing).
 

 

 

 
Mark

Finished...on to the next project, stay tuned.
 

This is my last step before giving the model it's landing gear. Hallelujah ( I love finishing a model and the thrill of starting another).
Since the last time, I've added the afterburners and a handful of other small details, given it a thorough coat of clear gloss to seal the decals and tweaked a few panel lines. I'm at the point of diminishing returns so going to soon call it "finished".
 

 

Eberhard, Keith, Dirk, GL, Johann, and Mark. Thank you all for you feedback. I am happy that the work I am doing has helped, and given ideas to you all, the feeling is completely mutual I assure you. I have learned so much by participating in this fantastic forum there is so much knowledge held by the membership here that it would fill volumes of books (which it does) my own library is very modest at this point but it grows slowly. and this forum is a world class library in itself.
So finally thank you to the administrators and owners of this site for your great work that allows us to share this hobby safely, and a happy and prosperous New Year to you all.
 
Michael 

Steve , John, Druxey, Pat, Thanks for your kind words and thanks to those who added the likes. I am really enjoying getting back to the cutter. This evening I had a go at a miniature piano hinge.
First I annealed a couple of strips of .003" brass shim-stock, then folded it over a piece of .025" music wire in the grinding vice.

Next I trimmed it to width with an exacto knife.

Put it back into the vice tucking it down as far as it would go in order to file away the the alternate tabs I basically eyeballed the distance as the width of the needle file.

Folded the second strip and repeated the filing using the first one as a guide to get the spacing matched this was a little tedious with a lot of trial and error

 
The two halves fit together nicely eventually.

Then they were fitted to the boards this is before the holes were countersunk and the copper rivets slotted to make them look like copper screws, I was so focused on getting this finished that I forgot to take any pictures of the countersinks and slotted screws, I will make sure I do that on the second one.

Here the lid is fitted to the starboard side locker.
   
 

Once they were fitted with the "screws" I ran some CA glue along the joint between the brass and the wood on both sides of the hinge just to lock the pins in place. The hinge feels pretty solid and folds nicely so I am pleased with today's progress.
 
Michael

Hi everyone - happy new year!  Just a small update to end 2019 - second planking is well underway.  The first plank was laid along the position of the main wale as suggested in the instructions.  It doesn`t have to be perfect since the hull will be painted & coppered,but I still want to do a decent job for the practice if nothing else. I am using Chuck`s method to bend the planks using a curved form & heat - works pretty well.  Thanks for looking in!
 

 

 
 
Mark
 
 

Interesting, I have to try that too. there are many ways to do this. But i Think the gamechanger for me was when i bought my heatgun from Proxxon and started prebending the planks sideways. Everything fits so much better.
 

To fix the plank  i put CA on the first 10cm and press it down for just a few seconds until it sticks.  


Thereafter I use a toothpick or some pointy scrapwood with CA on top of it adding more on the plank and press it down. Repeat a few times and finally the whole plank is fixed. 
 

Next thing to do is the upper gunport linings.  I glued a number of "boxes" together to serve as gunport linings from the supplied strips.  The insides will be cut at an angle to fit against the inner bulwark & glued in place.  Then the openings in the bulwarks will be opened up - hopefully they won`t splinter too much. Then the outer part will be trimmed off flush with the planking.  Only the linings without lids will be actually glued in place for now - the others will be glued in place after the second planking in order to form the rabbet for the lids.
 

 
Mark

Hi Ulises
 
Lovely rigging. Good to see you back!
 
Nick

Hi Ulises
 
Lovely rigging. Good to see you back!
 
Nick

Hi all - first planking below the gunport strips is done.  No stealers or drop planks were needed,although a little filler was needed in a couple of low spots.  Only the starboard side is sanded so far - took me all day to get it sanded to my liking.  Need to rest my weary arm for a while before I tackle the other side.  It looks a little splotchy in the pictures due to a variation of color of the planks,but it IS smooth.    Happy holidays to everyone at MSW!
 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi Ulises
 
Lovely rigging. Good to see you back!
 
Nick