US Brig Niagara by xken - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1/64

[scott larkins]

Wow, you are moving right along.  Looking good.

[dgbot]

I just went through your log Ken what can I say but FANTASTIC!!! It is a must see for anyone doing this model.  You are doing a great job and your techniques are first rate.  I am learning alot jut by observing.  I am also a little envious as well.  Remember to have fun and enjoy yourself.

David B

[xken]

David, if it is not fun I would not do it. 

 

I got some work done despite it being mother's day and having fun with the grand kids and moms. Here are the fore and aft fife rails. I will add locating pins later once the masts are in position.

 

I then started the deck hatches by first rough shaving a strip at the correct angle with my small plane and then sanding to final angle. I am told that there are people who love aggravation and I am not one of them; so I cut 1/64" plywood to the various sizes of the hatches to glue the coaming to. The corners were cut at 45 degrees with an Xacto blade. On the backside I marked the centers for location pins into the deck.

They were then painted red and I discovered that stand off spacers were needed for the grating to be positioned correctly. I then added the spacer strips and they were hand painted red. Then the center areas of the plywood carrier were painted black. Then the grates were added.

 

The grates were built by using the laser cut strips which were cut slightly oversize to the needed hatch and then glued together. I would recommend gluing the grate strips to each other by using yellow glue and a tooth pick to add a drop of glue to each of the standing cuts and then add it to the smooth side of the next strip. If you want to be truly aggravated to no end try using CA. CA is great for some applications, but not for gluing grates together. However, once the yellow glue was set and prior to final sanding and sizing I did add CA to the perimeter of each grate for extra strength while sanding.

 

Here are views with the grates set in place using the locating pins and not glued in place just yet.

 

Next I will work on the smoke stack, cat heads and aft davits.

 

Ken

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2015 by xken

[GLakie]

Nice job on those gratings Ken! You're doing a marvelous job on her! 

 

Cheers

[xken]

Had a break in  building to get a honey-do done and installed an exhaust fan in a bathroom. I am sure that many of you know as well as I do that if momma ain't happy nobody is happy.

 

I worked back and forth on the rear davits and the forward cat-heads. Here are images of the rear davits; a close up and an overview. The sheave slots were first drilled with a .020" drill bit and then holes joined with cutting using a jewelers saw and carefully cleaned with a sharp Xacto blade.

 

 

The cat-heads were a little more complicated than the davits especially adding three sheave slots. The ends were also beveled with a sharp Xacto blade. Here is a better view of the slots that were drilled, sawed and trimmed with a sharp blade. Also the eye-bolts and rods were added per plans.

 

One issue I had was that the cat-heads and other parts this thick were not laser cut as a left and a right instead of being the same. The laser creates an angle that becomes more pronounced on thicker wood and if sanded square generates smaller parts. This is a common mistake by designers not familiar with laser cutting. 

Once the cat-heads were glued in place after cutting a slot in the chock rail the brass rod brace was cut and fitted with an extra length shown in the picture to add a square nut (not shown on plans).

The square nuts were made using a 1/32" strip that holes were drilled into and then hardened with CA before painting and cutting to size. Hex nuts were not invented until later at the end of the century.

Here is a close up showing the square nut in place and also note the beveled ends.

Here is an overall view of the cat-heads in place.

Here is an overall view of the brig to date. 

 

Ken

 

[GLakie]

Those davits and catheads look great fitted and mounted in place Ken. Really like those "working" sheaves! 

[gjdale]

Nice touch with the square nuts Ken.

[dgbot]

Nicely don Ken.

David B

[xken]

I was not satisfied with the smokestack casting in the kit so I decided to make my own. I made it out of brass which I am very familiar with. I started with a 1/8" brass tube cut to length, then turned a part having the cap a central stem to hold the cap to a turned insert fitting in the brass tube. A bottom ring was added as well as a locating tube to fit into the wood base.

 

These parts were soldered together and then the three brackets were added being held in place with a binding wire and soldered to the brass tube and the cap. Then the center locating stem was then sawed off using a jeweler's saw rotated three times between the brackets.

 

 

This shows it with the center stem cut away prior to painting and compared beside the kit casting.

 

 

Here it is painted and in place on the deck.

 

 

Ken

 

 

[GLakie]

That stack looks 500% better than the kit-supplied one Ken. Nice job!

 

Cheers

[lb0190]

Ken, you stole my idea on the stack :) but I doubt my effort will look as nice.

Your build looks great!

Edited May 15, 2015 by lb0190

[gjdale]

Neat job on the stack Ken.

[xken]

I moved on to the quarter boat davits and slides which required some fussy work forming the brass straps that hold them in place as well as making the slots in the ends of the davits to make them work. The slides were soaked in water and formed wet then held in a fixture to dry curved. The brass brackets were hand formed to each location since the top and bottom were two different depths.

I then realized that the channels had to be made first and glued in place before adding the slides. Also I made the channel keepers out of 1/16" square strips and painted them black. The slides have a stand-off below the channel to enable the keeper to be added once the chain-plates are in position in the little notches.

 

Here is an overview of both sides. The chain-plate keeper can be seen on the deck on the port side.

 

 

Next I will make the forward channels.

 

Ken 

[kurtvd19]

Great job Ken.  Brass stack is real nice - your comfort zone for sure.

Kurt

[xken]

I finished the forward channels and moved on to the two boarding ladders. Again another surprise with the plan sheet details for the ladder and the assembly instructions not matching. I checked internet images for the direction to follow. The assembly instructions suggested building an assembly fixture which after reviewing I decided that I could make them faster off hand. 

First I cut all the sides and then the steps. I drew the spaced ladder steps on two of the sides at the required angle for reference when adding each step.  I laid the side with the foot against a small steel block and both aligned 90 degrees on the building mat grid. I then carefully glued each step using the pencil lines for reference with CA and checking them for 90 degrees to the side.

 

Here are the two with all the steps glued in place.

 

 

Here is a test fit in location on the deck indexing below the main rail and angled foot resting on the deck.

 

Once checked in place they were painted red.

 

 

In checking pictures of the actual replica ship I noticed a third ladder on the rear port side to access the rear yawl. This ladder is not shown on the plans; my question is should it be added? Or was it common practice to have ladders to access the rear yawl for this class of ship?

 

I also built up the anchors and even wrapped the jump ring with thread per the plans. The plans call for the wood portion to be bright. Here are my anchors.

 

 

In the same section of reference photos of the replica I also saw a picture showing the wood portion painted. See attached. Again, what was the correct way to finish these parts? I am new to ship building and in previous scratch builds I always used real subjects for reference on details. Here is the picture of the replica ship anchor and I am sure that they probably did it correctly. Comments welcome on this one. Also here is a picture showing the 24 foot long oars in storage rack. This detail is not even shown anywhere on the plans or assembly instructions. They only show the yawl oars stowed on the rear port side wall. Am I just being too picky on details; but a storage rack for 24' oars is a big detail to be overlooked or not even mentioned. Comments welcome on this one as well.

 

Now to sort out where to start next.

 

Ken

 

 

[scott larkins]

Wow, looking good, cruising right along.

[HIPEXEC]

Great work!

[dgbot]

Fantastic workmanship Ken, are you using an airbrush or by hand?

David B

[xken]

David, mostly just Krylon rattle cans. Over the years I have had good luck with Krylon even though I had a couple of airbrushes it is more convenient to just step outside the studio and give these parts a squirt; especially with a basic color palette to work with. 

The hardest color to come up with and it is not available locally was the Buff and I found  a Tamiya Light Sand (TS-46) which I am happy with.

 

Ken

[HIPEXEC]

Ken,

Where did you get your Air Medal?

Rich Hippner

[xken]

Rich, I flew with HMM-164 and HMM-362 Marine helicopter squadrons in Vietnam '67 - "68. I was awarded a single mission AM with combat V and six strike/flights during my 13 month tour there. I was one of those crazy Canadians that came down in 1965 and was nearly trampled to death at the border by American draft dodgers heading north and enlisted for three years in the Marines to get the G.I. Bill to go to college. I graduated the Cleveland Institute of Art with a B.F.A in Industrial Design.

Semper Fi to those who fly!

Ken

[HIPEXEC]

Ken,

I flew with HMM-261 in 1966 and got 15 Air Medals (Oy!). My wife wants to visit Viet Nam but I won't go because I think the bullets that missed me might still be flying around and finally get me. I flew for TWA after and ran a business and finally retired in 2005.

It's good to meet you.

Rich

[xken]

Rich, a small world; I was assigned to HMM-261 at New River in 1966 out of "A" school when 261 rotated out of Vietnam and became a training squadron for CH-46"s. Major Nelson was the C.O.

I was a structural mechanic and machine gunner. Are you familiar with www.popasmoke.com ?

Semper Fi!

Ken

[HIPEXEC]

I'm a charter member of Pop A Smoke. We're 261's next reunion with them in Jacksonville FL. God bless our door gunners!!!

[HIPEXEC]

I think Vince Guinee took over HMM-261 at New River after Nelson. Vince flew with us in 1966.

[xken]

Rich, when I left Major Nelson was still in command; then he became X.O. of HMM-164 in Vietnam. He was the pilot on the mission I was awarded the single AM  rescuing a Green Beret team out of Ashau Valley which was a 20 minute hoist extraction under constant enemy fire.

 

Ken

[Jimz66]

GENTLEMEN all I can say is THANK YOU for your service...., due to health I was unable to serve. I always wanted to but was unable too. Thank you all. 

[bigcreekdad]

Wow.....Thank all of you for your service. The best of the best.

[HIPEXEC]

I did not like flying in the Ashau Valley!!! I got hit there on my very first mission.

Rich

[HIPEXEC]

I put my crew chief in for the Navy Cross when he left the helicopter firing his M-60 from the hip while dragging back the wounded team leader after he went down in the LZ during an extraction. There was so much fire it looked like it was raining in that rice paddy.

Rich

Edited May 22, 2015 by Hipexec