Belco

Glenn,
 
Here's the finished diorama. I first spray painted the base with Floquil Engine Black and then a light spray of
Floquil Coach Green. When dry I stippled on one coat of Mod-Podge. Tried to mimic the look and color of a local
river.
 
John

I finally completed the paddle wheels to the point I can start tying the drive train to the engine.  This week I was able to get most of the pittman/crosshead assembly done.  Just the feedwater pump and reach rods to finish before moving onto the boilers.
 
 
U-joints for the reach rods.

 

 
Crosshead slides.

 
Testing the fit of the crosshead and end of the pittman.

 

 

 
Pittman ends freshly milled.

 
 
Straps soldered to pittman ends.

 
Finished pittman strap with bearing, wedge and keys before blackening.

 

 
 
After blackening with bolts added.

 
Flywheel end of pittman.

 
Crosshead end of pittman.

 

 

 

MILITARY SCALE FIGURES
 
A number of modellers here on MSW show remarkable skills when it comes to sculpting small details to be added to their ships. The following list is by no means exhaustive, but just a few of the amazing sculptors I have seen are:
- NM Brooks
- Sawdust Dave
- Piet
… or, indeed, anyone who has modelled the Wasa, Sovereign of the Seas or any other heavily-ornamented ship.
 
Not to take anything away from the fine work done by these gentlemen, but not everybody (me !!) possesses their level of sculpting talent.
 
For the rest of us, the following idea may prove useful. Seen here, RSchissler shows how he has taken a pack of plastic figurines and trimmed them to create his knechten figureheads. These figures can be purchased in a variety of scale sizes, so choosing a size to suit your own build is very easy.
 
With Randy’s permission, I have lifted these photos from his Golden Hind build log. His steps should be self-explanatory:
 

Although I recently constructed a micro-grinder and –sander (http://www.maritima-et-mechanika.org/tools/microgrinder/microgrinder.html), I found that some hand-sanding device would be desirable for very delicate operations. Sometimes just a few strokes would be sufficient and the process would be difficult to control with a motor-driven machine. A guided sanding block allows to achieve flat and square edges.
 

 
After some rummaging in my collected stocks I found a piece of aluminium rail with a T-slot at one end (I don't remember its original purpose), a piece of thick aluminium sheet, some square aluminium stock, and a well-seasoned piece of pinewood of just the right dimensions (5 cm x 8 cm x 2 cm).
 

 
Holes were marked out, drilled and countersunk for the pieces to be screwed down onto the wooden block. The four sides of the wooden block were squared off in the milling machine with the aluminium pieces in place. The wooden block then was carefully levelled in the machine-vise and a slot milled into the aluminium as a guide for the sanding block. Finally the surface was evened with some light cuts with a fly-cutter.
 

 
A mitre-guide was fashioned from a piece of flat steel. It can be mounted left or right and in different configurations.
 

 
The sanding block is fashioned from some 8 mm x 8 mm square aluminium stock. It has shallow recesses milled into both sides to allow for the thickness of the sanding paper. A knurled screw M3 serves as handle. to begin with a glued a strip of 600 grit wet-'n'-dry paper onto one side and a strip of plastic coated with abrasives as used by dentists for grinding and polishing teeth onto the other side.
 

Hi
 
You can find a lot of information  searching in Google Turtle Ship in Korean:
 
 
거북선
 
You need to use google translate.
 
Regards
 
Belco

Thank you Patrick and Ian!
Of course, to some extent I was joking, but I still wanted to check out some new ideas on this little project. ))
 
Next step - gunwale
 

 

 

 

Hi
 
You can find a lot of information  searching in Google Turtle Ship in Korean:
 
 
거북선
 
You need to use google translate.
 
Regards
 
Belco

March 16th, 2016
 
Hi all
a new update from the dockyard of the French brig “Colibri”.
It has been a busy period, with many tasks started at the same time to interrupt the challenging carving activity...that I absolutely hate!!
 
First task: Continuing preparation of carronades parts masters for pewter casting.
While my friend was still lathing the second carronade barrel, I have prepared the barrel supports masters: they are built with hard Yellowheart wood as I’ve been assured that the curing temperature of the silicon resin to be used for the mold will not destroy them. In contrary case, they will be re-carved in lead alloy before creating the mold.
The numbered sequence is self-explaining: I started from a milled batten and the pieces are singularly created by hand with a scroll saw, files and dental burrs loaded into my Proxxon rotary tool. They are 3 LH side parts and 3 symmetrical RH side parts. The measures of the completed pieces are 3x4x7 mm.
 

 
Next task: Completing the carved stern decorations.
The first picture shows a palm-tree leaf to be installed on the center-top of the transom. I carved it erroneously with light color Pearwood, with bas-relief method, and the re-carved from darker Pearwood using the high-relief method. The size is 8,5x5x1 mm.
 

 
The following were the leaves decorations for the roofs of the stern (fake) side-galleries. For this very delicate and thin detail I used the FIMO© as previously described, and the following are the resuts:
 


 
The color shade, slightly yellowish, is not exactly the same as for the other wood decorations but I think it is acceptable.
Also better visible are the small Acanthus leaves carvings at the corner of the gallery and transom moldings.
And finally a shot of the almost completed stern decorations:
 

 
Still missing are the decorations for the parts below the galleries windows (I don’t know the name for this).
I wanted to try again with the FIMO©, so drew a curl with a fan of Acanthus leaves curved upward and rearward and tried  to reproduce it with this material. The result was not completely satisfactory, because after cooking in the oven the material still remains a bit soft (a bit harder than a pen eraser, but still too soft) and I could not get an acceptable smooth finish.
So decided to try again with wood carving: below is shown the results comparison (consider that total thickness of the carved Pearwood is 1mm in the thicker areas). Obviously my final choice was for wood, and the following picture shows the completed stern-galleries.
 


 
Next task: Completing the catheads.
As described earlier, I rebuilt them from a single piece of Cherywood, ‘L’ shaped and beveled to match the bulwark internal surface and the waterway and to protrude outboard with an angle slightly more than 90 degrees (toward poop) w.r.t. the bulwark itself.
Then cut two slots for the anchor tackle pulleys, and added a cleat on the forward side of the beam to house a third pulley, whose scope is still a mystery to me.
I’ve ordered several 5mm diameter brass pulleys from RB-Model-Fittings at The Model Dockyard on-line shop.
 

 
A knee is supporting the cathead outboard, and then the last details can be then added: a ‘V’ shaped groove on the horizontal beam head, an iron band, two ring-bolts and an internal cleat.
I added a filling piece of scrap wood in lieu of the third pulley, hold in position by a brass nail, to protect the thin cleat wall from possible breakage.
 

 
Next task: Building the bow rails joining the catheads to the knee-of-the-head.
There are two rails whose shapes can be deduce from the Ancre plans with several geometric projections. I started with the main one: decided to build it in two layers of multiple pieces, in order to keep the wood grain as much as possible along the curved arch direction. The pieces are staggered by half their length, using the sketches shown here below.
 

 
Here are the two rails’ pieces assembled, with the rail ready for finishing: the upper in the picture is the LH side rail, showing its internal side
 

 
And here are the two rails completed, with two scraped grooves as decorations on the outboard face.  Another carved decoration is scheduled on the aft end and will be built later.
The small block piece on the inside end of the lower rail is intended to fix this end against the bulwark.
The drawing on the background explains the projection method I used to find the correct shape of the rails from the 3-view plans.
 

 
To install the rails, a cut-out must be created in the cathead's knee face. The following pictures show the modified knee and the port rail temporarily fit for installation checks.
 



 
The rails are supported from below by a series of four head-timbers that lay above the cheeks and against the head-of-the-knee. The rough shape of these pieces is included in the plans, but they must be adapted with lot of dry-fit tests and modification to get the correct shape. A squared 'U' groove is scraped in the external face and my intention is to paint matt-black the bottom of this groove.
 


 
The bolsters are also visible after their definitive installation. Quoting and in total agreement with Dan Vadas's buildlog "...Their function is to prevent the Hawse Cable from chafing on the upper cheek and planking around the holes.... Making one of these was enough of a mission - it took me 3,5 hours to shape..."
 
The bow has been partially painted with a first coat of black, to avoid the need of reaching hidden areas after all the headwork is completed.
The next picture shows the first head-timbers couple definitely fitted and the building of the trapeze piece joining the two main rails to the tip of the head-of-the-knee.
 

 
I used the detailed step-by-step description posted by Dan Vadas for his HMS Vulture as a tutorial, but decided to reverse the sequence by installing firstly the head-timbers and then the beams joining the rails in athwart direction. This will be shown in a next post.
The last picture of today shows the second couple of head-timbers installed below the rails.
 

 
That’s all for today.
 
Cheers
FAM

Hi Belco.
Yea there are lots of information on Google.
But not much with enough details to make a model.
Even the replicas are so different and constructed in all sorts of ways.
I have a bunch of friends in Korea that have assisted me in my search.
 
I have done some drawings using Illustrater that look like the one in the Korean war museum.
 
Started to cut the timbers for the base. Bow and Stern.
The planking will require some sort of frame to hold the empty hull in shape help with the planking. Have done some drawings for this temporary frame.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Regards Antony.

Bamboo BBQ strips  again
 
 
Same dia as Dremell caliper
 
Spokes for steering wheel
 
 

 

 
Fine tunning has to be applied, but you get an idea
 
 

As promised.

Bamboo BBQ strips

Very strong, rounded, and, the most important, same diameter as rotary tools for Dremell, so ...

As promised here is the addition of Jupiter to the build. Nice big planet!
 
Same routine as before, built the sandwich of gears and the support arm and threaded onto the main shaft and tightened the grub screw to attach.

I have covered this elsewhere - but it also fit with this topic.
 
Self adjusting side pressure to push wood against fence. As an alternative to a feather board. It works very well and eliminates much of the resetting necessary with a conventional feather board.

I find that the plank tends to ride up at the back when I am cutting thin planks for hull planking. It can be avoided but I decided to make sure by adding a device to hold down the back of the plank. It adjusts easily for height and horizontal position.

One of my recent work. British Lion.
Unfortunately, this work at this stage and over. To finish before the end of it will be gone. It so happened that I met with the customer and showed him how things were going with the lion. And the customer has not yet decided to take the unfinished threads. He liked the state of incompleteness. And he asked to cut another lion before the end. But there's more to come. I hope I can with the time and show a complete lion.
 
Hopefully interpreter translated understandable.
 

Yes it is! I use some stuff in a spray can that artists use to protect their pencil or pastel works from smearing. Since I got this in Mexico I don't think it will make any sense to tell you brand or where I bought it. Look for it in artists or hobby shops.
 
I extend the mesh over a piece of wax paper, spray it heavy with the stuff, place the acetate over it and then a heavy book or similar object to press evenly. (Pressing between 2 sheets of glass would be ideal)
 
A couple of sheets will serve you for a life time.
 
Hope this helps.

Hi Captain Steve
 
I use a similar method with a bit of a 'twist' so to speak. I have taken two different diameter brass nails and cut off the heads. I filed one side of the top of each nail flat so that I could drill a 0.8mm hole through each. The nails were then whipped into dowel handles. Using two different diameter nails allowed for different sided rings and hooks. Rings are produced in the same manner as you demonstrated except that I start by placing the brass wire in the hole before wrapping it around the nail. This allows more 'grip' and produces a 'tighter' ring. Hooks are made similarly. I place one end of the brass wire in the hole, bend to shape then cut the wire, reverse it and bend again. I usually then place them in my fly tying vice and silver solder before blackening with Birchwood Casey Brass Black.
 

 
Cheers
Steve

After a somewhat bumpy ride towards the end o’ 2015, CaptainSteve be a-makin’ it his New Year’s Resolution to be steerin’ Kit-Basher’s back on her original tack. Thusly and therewithforth, I doth be planning on scouring the Build logs and a-pesterin’ some o’ you to share your fine ideas to repurpose-eth everyday items.
 
As such, the following was used with the permission of MSW member, Cobr@ ...
 
There is a way you can make good rings with brass wire.
First take something round which is the same diameter as the ring you want to make, a screwdriver for instance. Then wrap the wire around it in a spiral keeping it as tight as possible.

 
Once done, slide the spiral off the object you chose to wrap the wire round and cut it in the place i have highlighted in the second picture, you can cut off as many as you need all the same size and perfectly round. Note in the pictures the spiral was not tight as it was only to be used for reference purposes.

 
And here's a shot from Cobr@'s HMAV Bounty build, showing the above rings used to make door-knockers ...

... the brass rings can be chemically blackened and/or painted.
 
O’course, as ye well know, all may feel free to post their own ideas …

Planes of Santa Maria, there are as many as authors. At that time in Spain no plans were made, and were built according to the intuition of the "master of ax."
I put two images, one from the Museu Maritim de Barcelona a plan prepared at the beginning of the last century and a plan of an Italian author.
 


I hope you will be helpful.
 
 
Regards
 
 
Belco

Finally the Mars support arm is inserted into the gear sandwich and fixed in place with a grub screw. The finishing touch is to add the moons Phobos and Diemos and Mars itself.
 
All the brass parts are really starting to add up and the Orrery is starting to get pretty weighty!

Want a cheap keel clamp ??
 
Here's one which I picked up just the other evening. It's designed for my soon-to-be-rebooted USS Constitution build. It was put together by a professional carpenter friend free of charge ... all I paid for was the packet of bolts.
 
Here's a couple of pics ..

 
Essentially, the back rail is fixed to the base-board. The front rail is free and joins to the back one using two (soon to be four) bolts.

 
All up, it's 100cm (about 39.5 inches) long. As mentioned, I'd like to drill two extra holes thru closer to the centre, so that it will end up using four bolts to clamp shut on the keel.
 
Here it is with my current build, the Bounty Launch, clamped into position ...

I was just able to finish the steam wipers and the throttle housing before the holiday break.  I played around a little with the lighting and exposure time and think the photos turned out a little better.  I think the secret is as little light as possible when photographing brass.
 

some more progress with engine compartment cover and deck

Ik discovered another way to use the tool. Very happy with it.