Schooner Altair by KeithAug - Scale 1:32 - 1931 - Finished

[Nirvana]

Keith

You are an inspiration of making small and intricate details.

Now I wish I had a lathe and mill to do the same.

[KeithAug]

Rob / Per,

 

Thank you for your supportive comments. 

 

Per,

 

I struggled for many years without a mill or lathe. Many NRG builders seem to do wonderful work without either. I am however pleased that I made the investment. 

 

 

[robnbill]

Extremely cool metal work. I had never seen shock absorbers on sail lines before.

[KeithAug]

Bill

 

The plans refer to it as a spring horse, which is technically a better description.

 

I don't have a very good photo of it - the one below is the best I could get (obscured by the crews foot ware). It does however show up well in a Vimeo video.

 

It seems these devices were not that uncommon on yachts of this vintage. Here is a better image from a yacht built in 1936, in this case the springs are replaced by what appear to be rubber bushes.

 

In neither case does the device allow much movement save for that allowed by the compression of the springs or bushes. I referred to it as a shock absorber to give an explanation as to what I thought its function was. The only real function seems to be to limit the shock load when jibing.  

[Jim Lad]

I think 'shock absorber' is a very good practical description, Keith.

 

John

[KeithAug]

Today I spent a frustrating few hours trying to remember the form of the mast location feature I had cut into keel. For the life of me I couldn't remember. I resorted to peering down the 1/2 inch mast holes cut in the deck, this approach was destined to fail. I then tried to use a skewer to feel the shape, another stupid idea that didn't work. I gave up, had a cup of tea and switched on the computer. Coincidentally it opened on page 1 of my build log and there staring me in the face was the answer. I felt like a complete idiot!!!!!

 

With this vital piece of information I set about milling U shaped slots in the end of two sapele dowels I had purchase for the main and fore masts. Altair's masts are circular and parallel except for the top 1/5. so very little shaping is required.

 

I used the mill because I wanted the slot to be accurately centred so that the masts would be vertical about the centre line and have the correct rake fore and aft.

 

Some time later the masts had been stepped.

 

I use the spirit level to make sure the hull was level and then used precision eyeballing to align the masts with the edge of a window frame. I installed the widow frame some years ago so I knew it was plumb. The rake was checked against a different window frame - spot on at 3/4 inch rake top to bottom.

 I couldn't resist getting a feel for what she would look like so I temporarily put the deckhouses etc in place.

I now have a lot of metal work to do to kit out the masts.

[herask]

beautiful!!

[shipmodel]

Love the way it is coming together.  Those deck houses are beautiful.

 

Dan

 

[dvm27]

"Precision eyeballing" - would be an oxymoron for me but pretty spot-on for your build. That's a gorgeous model.

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Looking very nice Keith

Regards Richard

[michael mott]

Keith the overall look of the model is very nice. the time you are spending on the details is apparent in these last few pictures. I also like the view outside your shop window, it looks like a very nice location.

 

Michael

[Jim Lad]

Love the photos of the entire model - she looks absolutely stunning.

 

John

[Bedford]

Keith when it comes to stumbling upon the info you desperately need you are no Robinson Caruso!

With my big RC schooner build I planned it for ages and kept files on the computer knowing I'd need to refer back to them and when the time came I was completely stumped until I went back through the computer for inspiration and there in front of my eyes was the very info I needed, stored safely with forethought and promptly forgotten!

 

This has to be one of the most beautiful builds I've ever seen!

[KeithAug]

Herask, Dan, Greg, Richard.

 

Thank you for visiting and leaving such supportive comment. Thank you to everyone else who has "liked" my work.

 

Michael.

 

Its rural West Sussex in spring, the sun is shining, its a balmy 17 degrees and everything is turning green. I assume you are still in the depths of winter? Very soon the village green will be pressed into cricket duties and the two pubs will be serving refreshments to the supporters on their deck chairs. It is quite idilic.

 

Bedford.

 

You flatter me. I spend my time looking at other build logs and feeling I have a long way to go to match some of the expertise on display. I console myself with "the harder I try the better I get".

 

 

[rwiederrich]

Oh man Keith...she is outstanding...just gorgeous.

 

Rob

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Hello Keith, this project has been a delight to see, beautiful subject choice meticulously built and explained. Each installment is like a mini master class and I have enjoyed them immensely.

I have not done any lathe work for a long time and would like to learn to use a milling machine(I don't own one yet), but I understand most of what you are doing thanks to your precise commentary.

A boat like this is a very tempting build, but perhaps a slightly smaller scale if I were to undertake one. Haven't made any firm decisions yet on what to do.

The last set of photos just stunning.

Kindest Regards Richard

[KeithAug]

Richard

 

Thank you. I quite like yachts - the lines are elegant and the planking has less severe curves than many vessels, hence its easier to produce a reasonable result. I am a little surprised the more builders don't build yachts before moving on to something more challenging. I did a years machine training when I stared my apprenticeship and then did no more for 44 years. Many retirees seem to start using machine tools when they retire and quickly become proficient - helped by many good you tube videos. As you have used lathe I don't think you would find learning milling would be a problem. 

 

Today I started on the mast fittings. I think this will be a topic for some time.

 

Altair has a waterproof boot between the bottom of the mast and the deck. This covers the reinforcing ring at deck level. The shape of the reinforcing ring gives some definition to the canvas of the boot. I thought It would be worth making a reasonable job of the reinforcing ring because the shape was interesting enough to provide a different machining challenge.

 

I turned the basic profile of the 2 reinforcing rings on the lathe before cutting 8 slots on the mill (with a .160" end mill) to represent webs. (The turned profiles are one behind the other on the brass bar in the photo below.) Drilling out the bore was the final operation before parting off. The bar is .750" diameter and the bore is .500'. The height is .375".

In the photo below I am milling the slots in the second ring - the bar is held in a chuck mounted on a rotary table. 

 

I have included a few shots of the first ring in position on the fore mast.

Here is the second ring on the main mast.I made a start on the fore mast lower spider - when complete it will have a couple of winches attached plus some other detail.

 

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Hello Keith, very nice job on the mast boot.

I am fairly certain that my next new build will be a yacht, but I have a model that has, thus far,  taken over fourteen years to almost complete.

Cheers Richard

[KeithAug]

Hi Richard - I took over 20 years to complete one model. So you have 6 years left.

 

I have been doing more work on the mast fittings. I am well on with the upper and lower spiders for both masts. I have been simulating flange details by soldering on webs.

 

I still have to make the mast bracket part of the gooseneck. I didn't have the right size of milling cutter but I now have one on order.

The plans continue to pose issues - the main mast gooseneck bracket is shown with the flanges horizontal and I can verify this from photos. The equivalent fore mast bracket is show vertical which seems illogical and unfortunately I can't find a photo of this detail.

 

The fore sail boom crutch (above) is also nothing like the real thing and its things like this that causes me to lose confidence in the plans.

 

I think I am going to ignore the plan and make both horizontal. (Any views welcome)

 

The mast hoops on Altair (15 per mast) are made of wood - but covered in leather.

At scale size the hoops are .750" diameter and about .075' wide. I had a look at coiled paper and coiled wood shaving methods of making the hoops but given the finish is leather going down these routes seemed a bit irrelevant. Looking at the photos it struck me that the finish was quite close to what you get from tarnished copper. About 3 years ago I made a steam engine for a paddle steamer that never made it to production. Some of the parts were made form copper and comparing the engine with the photos gave me confidence to go down the copper hoop route as to my eye the colour match was almost spot on. I will just have to wait 3 years to get the correct effect. 

The first of the photos in this post shows one hoop in place - I later threw this one away but I'll cover this in a later post.

 

[KeithAug]

I seem to be in an unexciting phase of the build but time passes quickly. Between the build and sorting out the garden I seem to have little spare time on my hands.

 

I knocked out the rest of the mast hoops. The plans show the following detail with the hoops having a hook for attachment of the sail.

 

I found a thick wall brass tube of the correct size and parted off the rings - 34 including 4 spares (not all shown in the photo). 

I started to drill the rings and solder on an eye. The mill was set up for a production run - the rare earth magnet on the vice jaws providing the end stop for positioning of successive rings.

It was at about his stage I started to wonder why the eye was required so I started to surf the web and after some searching I came across the following (not so good) photo which seem to show the hoops lashed directly to the sail - no eye!!!!!!

 

 

So the hoops were made with no eye. My fingers got very hot during polishing on the buffing wheel.

 

I am reminded what a horrible metal copper is to machine. Its soft and pushes away from the cutter and then snatches at it. Fine drills are grabbed and break. A material best avoided unless needs must.

 

 

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Hello Keith, Great choice on using copper for the mast rings, as it dulls it will gain a suitable patina. Lovely work , she is looking very pretty.

Cheers Richard

[Tecko]

Amazing and beautiful work Keith.

You certainly have the tools, knowledge, and skills.

I have learnt, from this thread, nothing is impossible. What seems impossible is only not yet understood.

 

Thanks for sharing this thread.

[shipmodel]

Hi Keith - 

 

Nice metalwork, as always, on the mast hoops.  To get that aged look to the copper, without waiting, try heating them in a dry frying pan.  They can take on a range of colors, from dull red/brown to almost black.  This technique has been used on the protective copper plates for the hull, with good results.  I believe that there is a discussion of this, and other copper darkening methods, in "Ship Modeler's Shop Notes, volume 1" published by the NRG.  I also seem to recall others doing the same chemically, but with various fluids, including urine !!

 

Hope one of them works for you.

 

Dan

 

 

[Bedford]

Magnet stop on the machine vice, another one for the memory banks!

[KeithAug]

Richard / Tecko, thanks for the feedback.

 

Dan, Thanks for the tip. We have an induction hob which does not like experimentation. Fortunately the oven has no such restrictions and has an inbuilt (very hot) cleaning cycle. I'll have a go when its next due a clean.

 

Bedford - the trouble is I am getting to the age where I forget what I have learned. I hope your memory banks are better than mine.

 

To continue:-

 

Altair has various masts, spars, booms and yards. All of which require numerous drilling and machining tasks. In the past I have improvised various solutions for accurately positioning, clamping, and repositioning them on the mill table. Rather than improvise for each item I though i'd spend a couple of days making a jig to take a range of diameter, and also deal with tapers. I wanted the jig to be quick to set up, hold the item firmly and ensure accuracy of position / machining. Also I wanted to clamping to be kind to the item and leave no marks.

 

 

The result is pictured below. Rather than explain the build here I thought I'd do a piece in Workshop equipment.

 

 

[KeithAug]

Im slowly working my way through the masts.

 

I needed to turn down the dowels for the upper main and foremasts. I had to break out the travelling steady as the masts are .300" diameter by circa a foot long. Much too flexible to be turned without the steady. The steady sees the light of day about once every 5 years. 

I needed  various collars - nothing too exciting here.

 

I spent a long tome thinking about how I was going to make the rather complex collar that joined the upper and lower masts. Its complex because it has a number of appendages and also takes the mountings for the yards. The drawings don't make it easy to interpret.

I started by turning the collar - the widest on the mast.

 

I then scratched my head for a long time trying to work out how I was going to make the anchor points for the strops at the the upper ends of the shrouds. These were made more difficult because they wrap round the top of the yards. In the end I think I worked out the best way of doing this - although as yet it is only half complete. Here is the progress thus far. 

I should explain I need one for each mast - hence 2. The .056 wire through them will be cut and will insert into the yards.

 

 

 

[michael mott]

On 4/9/2017 at 3:30 PM, KeithAug said:

I am reminded what a horrible metal copper is to machine. Its soft and pushes away from the cutter and then snatches at it. Fine drills are grabbed and break. A material best avoided unless needs must.

 

Keith, what about brass then copper plate it? in the future obviously because you have made these already.

And the mast base is a gem.

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

Hello Michael - good to see you back. I tend to get a good tongue lashing from my wife when I try to push recovery along too quickly. She is always right of course. Take it easy.

 

Yes good point about copper plating. My scrap box accumulates unused copper and I occasionally get seduced into using it when I think the machining is less complicated. I then regret it and for a while the memory prevents repetition. What I really need is a metals exchange. 

[Guest Riccardo1966]

Hello Keith, Not easy to see much from the plans, I imagine it may be difficult to find an actual photo of the part.

That said, it does look accurate to the plans.

Regards Richard

[Seventynet]

Keith I just have to say that your work is absolutely stunning and an inspiration to me. Wow!

 

Ian