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

[Jack12477]

Yes, my experience with ME is they don't accurately count the small parts - I've come up short a lot. Altho their customer service is really good about replacing missing/shorted parts.  AL on the other hand supplies too many small parts (so I usually have extra parts for the parts bin).

 

Ken your model is looking great, in fact 10,000 times better than the one I co-built with a friend a few years ago (it was his kit so he has the "finished" model)

 

Re: cannon - rig them off ship first with hooks, then install to ship and hook the lines to the rings, and snug them up. I did not use hooks when I did it and it was a living hell getting those lines rigged to the rings. Big fingers don't work to well in cramped quarters. As I recall MS' instructions were a little vague on how to rig the cannons and I made the mistake of not using hooks.

[kurtvd19]

Ken:

It's looking good. 

 

When you do up the gun tackles consider making a jig with the eye bolts on a vertical piece and the deck being attached to the vertical piece with the deck eye bolt in the right position and do the gun rigging separate from on the boat so nothing is in the way.

 

As to ME supplying what is on the kit parts list I have had very few issues over the years.  I can't remember the last time I was short a part or a bunch - as to the right number of pieces like eye bolts as Ken ran into I think that's the kit designer's fault - though it would be nice when this is brought to the attention of the kit mfg that they fix the problem for the next run.  I have seen ME and Bluejacket respond quite quickly to this type of input.  When this happens drop an email right to Marc Mosko at ME - he's on top of things like this.  So is Bluejacket - a call to Nic would straighten anything like this out there for sure.

 

Kurt

[xken]

Kurt,

Thanks for the heads up on the building fixture that is a great idea and I will use.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but I assume that the gun center line and the deck ring are in alignment and perpendicular to the hull opening (gun port); and the length of the line to the deck ring will shorten or adjust moving to the bow and stern?

 

As for the eye bolts here is my breakdown count not including the yards:

 

Transom tiller chain – 4

Deck on plank sheer – 14

Deck structures - 6

Gun port needs 7 x 22 – 154 (4 on hull wall; 2 on water board; 1 on deck with ring)

Bowsprit Cap – 4

Foremast – 8

Total – 190

 

So I suggested to ME to add a second pack of the 120 which should cover the yards as well.

[scott larkins]

Wow, coming along fast and with incredible skill.

[xken]

Just a quick update and tip on locating gun port holes on the inner hull walls. I made a fixture using a small piece of brass sheet with the hole locations in place relative to the bottom and sides of the gun ports. This sheet was glued to a piece of 1/8" thick wood stock sized to the width of the narrowest gun port. Keep in mind the side of the fixture is positioned against the side wall of the larger width gun ports. If I was perfect they would all be the same. I then glued holding handles to the inner and outer wood surfaces.

 

When using the fixture the outer handle is used to hold the fixture flush to the bottom and then to each side to locate the hole locations with a sharp pointed scribe.

 

Will be drilling and adding eye bolts with rings into holes per test location and then build a fixture to rig the cannons before adding them to the deck per Kurt's suggestion.

 

[GLakie]

Very nice jig you made there Ken! I was thinking something similar could be tooled up for any holes that need to be equidistant to each other---like pin-rails as well.

[Canute]

Well done, Ken. A great idea to make those rings look consistent.

[xken]

Used my jig and located all the eye bolts with the rings in the bulwark and deck. I then decided to start the two long guns which I am in the middle of building before I move onto the cannonades.

 

I was not satisfied with the quality of the wheels so I turned some out of brass and while I was at it I also turned the axles as well, which are two different sizes.

Here are pictures of the axles; I use the blue marker as a reference point to turn to while in the lathe. Square stock requires a 4 jaw chuck in the lathe.

 

I then turned the handles for the quoin; this is when the Sherllne lathe tolerances are great in doing this small stuff. I started with 1/16" dowel. The wedge has a hole drilled into it to receive the pin on the handle.

Here the quoin is setting on the gun bed.

I could not resist doing a test fit into the bow gunport.

 

The cast gun barrel needed quite a bit of cleaning up before priming. Now back to finishing up the long guns.

 

 

 

 

[dgbot]

Great metalwork  well done.

David B

[xken]

Finished up the two long guns for now, they will be rigged with the rest. One gun barrel casting was very good and the second left a great deal to be desired and was slightly out of register; but salvageable for this build.

 

I used a small drill bit as a mandrel to form the trunnion bands using the soft brass strip supplied in the kit. A small screwdriver blade was used to press the brass strip tight against the bit and steel plate. Each side was slightly drilled to simulate a bolt head. 

Prior to painting the eye bolt locations were drilled including the rear axles. The axle ends were also drilled to receive the wheel retaining pins. To fit the wheels on the axle shafts the paint was scraped off to allow the wheels to turn. The pins were formed by hitting the end of a .020" rod flat and then cutting and trimming the head and length.

This shows the parts fitted to both guns prior to painting.

Here is the finished painted port gun in place. 

Here are both guns in place on the deck. I glued the quoins in place so they would not get lost and the wheels do turn. 

These guns will be rigged per the plans instructions when I do the cannonades.

Next, onto the cannonades and set up a mini production line.

 

 

[GLakie]

Cannon and carriages look great Ken. Love that quoin-handle

[kurtvd19]

Ken:

Very nice job on the gun carriages.

Kurt

[jct]

Beautiful workmanship...almost a shame to cover it with paint!

J 

[xken]

A quick update on the carronade setup; I studied the plans more after sanding and painting the carriage parts and realized that the eye bolt strap below the quoin needed to be recessed so using the part carrier from the laser cut I made a holding and marking fixture for the recessing of the straps and locating the holes on the side for the eye bolts.

Here is my set up for doing them.

The location of the side holes, inserted into the fixture, then raised by the hole and sides marked with the point of a small scribe. Then points centered and drilled.

 

Here is the first test carronade minus the quoin which the handles will be turned on the lathe per the long gun ones. The locating pin is 1/16" brass rod and for now I have not included the metal plate that traps the pin. Thinking on how to make them easier; would have been great to have had these photo etched as part of the kit along with the ship's name.

 

Here it is set in place next to the long gun on the deck. 

 

Now onto producing the rest now that I have an idea of what needs to be done. My goof was to sand and paint the carriage parts first. Next time I will cut the recesses before painting.

[GLakie]

Outstanding detail on those guns Ken. Thanks for sharing. 

[GuntherMT]

Using the parts 'sprue' as a jig is a fantastic idea.  Going to tuck that one away!

 

Looking great Ken, thanks for sharing.

[xken]

Taking a break from building the carronades and thought I would share this beading wire that I use for making the eye bolts. I is anodized black copper wire that eliminates the need for painting them. It is available at craft stores like Michael's in the jewelry area.  

 

 

I make them by holding a drill bit reversed in the handle with the shank showing. This way any size can be formed; here I am making them 1/32" I.D. The kit did not provide enough and they would have had to be painted black anyway. Just another way to save a little time and aggravation.

 

 

The carriages are all complete and now to clean the bases and barrels.

 

 

[scott larkins]

I bow at your skills.

[xken]

Scott you can have these skills as well, no real secret just experience over time and learning from others which is what I am doing since this is my first ship build.

 

Here is a "gaggle" of carronades now waiting for their quoins. 

 

Now here is a sequence of how I made the test quoin using the 4 jaw chuck in my Sherline lathe turning down 1/8" square basswood.

First I turned a shaft down to 1/16" diameter x 3/16".

Since I am using Basswood which is very soft I shaped the handle rear with a flat needle file.

I then turned the inside curve with a tapered half round needle file then sanded with a 1/8" sanding stick.

Once sanded I reset the stock in the jaw and marked it at 3/8" and cut it off using a small saw.

Next I cut off the two side using a #11 Xacto blade as square as I could and then sanded square at the handle end.

Here is a test fit in the carronade.

This shows it primed and painted.

Now to make 17 more.

 

[GuntherMT]

Making the quoin and handle as a single piece is a fantastic idea!

[dgbot]

Thinking outside the box I like it. I would not have thought of making them in that manner.

Well Done on your carronades.

David B

Edited June 25, 2015 by dgbot

[GLakie]

Those sure are some beautiful carronades Ken. Lovely work and great use of your lathe. 

[xken]

While assembling the carronades I also designed and built a rigging fixture for both the carronades and long guns per Kurt's suggestion. Thanks again Kurt for the suggestion. This will at least hold them in place on a center line as they are rigged. I also added an adjustable deck ring for the various lengths bow to stern. The bulwark rings are fixed to hold them in place while fussing with the lines. I made the indexing platform removable for future gun builds in different scales so just a new platform needs to be made.

This shows the rigging fixture as built.

Here is the long gun indexed in place.

Here is the carronade in place.

 

Once I get into assembly I may need to glue this fixture to a carrier piece that can be clamped into the pan a vise to change angles for ease of assembly; time will tell. Keep in mind I am still new at ship building.

Now I have to fabricate hooks before I can start rigging the guns. For those who have been through this process already any advice or suggestions are welcome.

 

 

[Jack12477]

Ken, post pictures of how you use this jig.  It's very interesting and cleverly built.

[GLakie]

Really handy jig idea, and one I will employ on my build.  Out of 52 guns, 30 - 36 of them will need rigging, and a jig like this will certainly help! 

[kurtvd19]

Ken:

You took the suggestion a bit further than I had anticipated with the adjustments for doing the carronades too.  Great job on it.  The extra time and effort will certainly pay off when you are able to use it for other models, something I hadn't envisioned.  Beats making anew one for each model.

Take care,

Kurt

[UpstateNY]

Hi Ken,

 

Just lovely work on those cannons and carronades.  The final finish on the barrels looks flawless...very impressive.

 

Perhaps I missed it an earlier post, but can you describe your technique for cleaning, priming and then painting your barrels and other metal work?

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[xken]

Nigel,

I did not take pictures of the process; but will try and describe the steps I took. First I started with a good sharp set of needle files; made in USA. Find a local machine shop supplier; remember ancient proverb"You get what you pay for." I used a round, a square, half -round and a flat needle files.

 

First I drilled the barrel bore to round it.

 

I started with the tip of the round file and cleaned the half round shape at the front of the barrel. I also used the round tip to clean the rope loop at the rear.

 

I then used the square file to sharpen the edges of the bands using the light refection as a guide.

 

I then used the half round to crisp up the detail around the rope loop.

 

Then the flat file was used to smooth up the barrel areas between the bands. Then these areas were sanded with a 1/4" wide sanding stick (Alpha Abrasives) to finish up the surfaces. 

 

Then barrels were primed and painted red (Krylon Banner Red) then sprayed with Clear Satin Finish.

 

Mostly just time and patience. 

 

Right now I have just figured out the best way to make the 6 tackle blocks needed for each gun using the black 26 gauge copper wire. Critical is the gluing the wire to the block after each bend to get a crisp bend. 

Once wrapped with wire the hole was drilled out due to being filled with glue.

Then the hook was carefully formed and added to the block.

 

Here are the forming steps I used.

 

Here is the test fit of the block to the long gun. Again it appears that not enough blocks included in the kit; 120 on materials list versus the 104 in the bag.

 

[UpstateNY]

Hi Ken

 

Thank you for the detailed explanation. Much appreciated.

 

Blocks and jig look great, but sorry to hear about the block shortage. 

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[GuntherMT]

Here is the test fit of the block to the long gun. Again it appears that not enough blocks included in the kit; 120 on materials list versus the 104 in the bag.

Tackle block 02.jpg

 

Out of curiosity, why two hooks?  Looks like you formed the hook out of the black wire, but then have it hooked into another brass hook to the carriage.