HMS Leopard by toms10 - FINISHED - 1:85 scale POF/POB

[toms10]

Did a little bit more.  Assembled the rudder to the hull.  I am going to try to build a small hobby lathe to make the wooden cannons.  It will give me a slight break and change of pace.  I will post some pics once I get it built.  My plan right now is to use a corded drill as the motor and chuck.  If it works for my purposes I will change out the drill for a motor and attach a drill chuck to it to make it a bit more "professional".  I use that term very loosely.

Here is a pic of the rudder attached.

Tom

[mtaylor]

Tom,

Ah.. but she's a fine looking ship, sir.  I raise a tankard in salute.  Ok.. it's coffee, but the idea and sentiment are valid. 

If you want to use brass, a drill or Dremel will work along with files.  I used that method on my Constellation as I didn't have a lathe at that point.

[toms10]

9 hours ago, mtaylor said:

Tom,

Ah.. but she's a fine looking ship, sir.  I raise a tankard in salute.  Ok.. it's coffee, but the idea and sentiment are valid. 

If you want to use brass, a drill or Dremel will work along with files.  I used that method on my Constellation as I didn't have a lathe at that point.

Thanks Mark for toasting my "pile of sticks".  I was originally going to make the cannons out of brass and then blacken them but thought more about it and decided to use wood and flat or satin black paint.  Not sure what the benefit of using brass is if it all ends up black anyway.  I did try to blacken the rudder hinges and nails with Casey but they came out pretty lousy.  Maybe the metal was not clean enough although it was freshly steel wooled and dipped in alcohol prior to putting them in the blackening solution.  In the end as you see in the picture they were painted flat black.  When the parts came out of the solution they were perfectly coated and looked good.  Then most of the oxide just wiped off when you touch the parts.  The color became very inconsistent.  On the other hand, the problem with paint is it comes off of the brass rather easily.  The paint will have no problem adhering to cannons made of wood.  I will make one and see how it looks.  If I don't like it at least I will have a DIY wood lathe to play with that cost me next to nothing.  Many people ask me about this hobby and I tell them that it's basically making little stick out of bigger ones.    Learning and trying things as I go...just keep telling myself that the journey is most of the fun.

Tom

[AON]

I will be very interested in how your wooden gun looks when done.

[mtaylor]

That's a good plan, Tom.  What wood will you use?    As for blackening... I think acetone is the preferred cleaner, followed by vinegar to give the metal some "tooth".  Been awhile for me on this but I'll be blackening my guns this week, so we'll see if that works.  I'll have to dig out my notes as I recall having that issue you did before I sorted it out.

[toms10]

Thanks everyone for all the likes.

Mark, as for the type of wood, I did make a test one on a lathe available where I work out of walnut and it actually came out pretty good for a first attempt.  I was using it as a template piece on one of my 24 pounder carriages to verify the gun port and deck height relationships.  That is when this wooden cannon idea clicked.  I plan on trying just ordinary hardwood dowel you can get at Home Depot or Walmart.  I think it is maple.  Oak would definitely be too grainy and pine would probably be too soft and stringy.  I guess I will just have to "play" a little once I finish building the lathe.  I am hoping that will be this weekend.

Tom

[mtaylor]

Those hardwood dowels don't seem to have much grain, do they?  I have several I'm planning on using for masts and yards.  I've had them for several years and they haven't warped yet.  I'm not sure what log it was, but I did see that someone is using wood for their guns.

[toms10]

Hi all,

Fell victim to corporate world decision making last Thursday.  "Due to restructuring" I lost my engineering job of 39 years along with many others.  Evidently the engineering department doesn't need a manager anymore.  Sounds like they just wanted to get rid of higher salaries and just get by with splitting up the work.  They got rid of the experienced and a token few younger to keep the lawyers happy.  Anyway, my ship modeling has come to an abrupt stop until I can get back on my feet with something else.  Brings new meaning to stress and anxiety so I don't want to mess with the boat now.  Just not the right frame of mind and there are now other priorities I must attend to.  Probably won't be posting much progress for a while but I will be checking in on everybody else.   Moderators, if this is inappropriate I apologize in advance and please remove it.  Sorry, just had to vent a bit with my modeling friends and let them know the shipyard is temporarily closed "due to restructuring"... my life.

Tom

[md1400cs]

Tom,

 

So sorry to read this. Please take care and of course good luck in the short and long term.

 

Sincerely.

[mtaylor]

Tom,

Take care of you and yours first! We and the ship can wait.   This is terrible news. The sad part is, I hear similar things over and over from friends.  I'll keep you in my thoughts and something better than where you were will turn up.  

[AON]

Been there twice Tom.

 

In 2007 lost my job in a place I had given 29 1/2 years. There was a lot of talent let go in three waves.  I was lucky to quickly find another job but then came the crash of 2008.

 

I told myself business is business and they are in it to make money not keep me employed.  Loyalty is a one way street.

 

You have to keep trying, as miserable and cheated as you feel right now, it will get better.  It wasn't you, and although this feels like a tidal wave this is just a ripple.

 

Take care and climb back on the saddle.

[prutser]

Hello Tom. Very bad news loosing your job. Take care. Regards ,Richard

[toms10]

Thanks everyone for the support.  I will get through this and will be making saw dust again in time.

Tom

[Bluto 1790]

Hello Tom, 

 

I've been absent from the forum for some weeks and have just now caught up with your recent posts. The news was not what I was expecting when I came here. I'm very sorry to hear your news.

Although I'm now retired, during my working life I was twice the victim of  "restructuring" and I feel for you in the present circumstances. I only hope that it won't be long before you can find some suitable employment.

This may now seem a little trivial, but I'll just say that your recent work on Leopard has been outstanding and hope that you'll get the feel for returning to it once you've got your other life's priorities sorted.

Best regards,

Jim.

 

 

[toms10]

Hello everyone,

I am back on my feet again with a new job.  I have started up work again in the shipyard.  I made the 24 pounder cannons on my home-made lathe.  Basically just mounted a $15 drill from Harbor Freight to a board, made some dovetail guides and a matching tailstock.  Filed down some hardwood dowels from Walmart  into the shape I was looking for and had a cannon barrel.  These pics are my first attempts so hopefully my skill set will improve.  Couldn't justify spending $500+ on a mini lathe for what I want to do with it.  This seems like it will work out... at least for now.  The 54 cannons I will need will end up costing me about $5 plus $15 for the drill.

 

Glad to have life starting to get back to "normal".

 

Tom

[mtaylor]

That's great news on the job, Tom.  The guns are looking the part.  

[Bluto 1790]

I'm really pleased to hear you're back in employment. That's a very stressful situation.

 

Great job on the cannon barrels.  I've had my cannon barrels for some time now but it didn't occur to me at the time to turn them out of wood - - - instead I bought mine from a model suppliers shop! 

Like you, I don't have a "proper" lathe.  Some years ago I bought what I would call a jig and it's very much like the one you have built.  By the way, very inventive with yours!

Here's the one I use, and so far it has been perfectly adequate for the little amount of turning that I do >>>

and here's a closer view of the 'business end' >>>

 

[toms10]

Hi Jim,

I love your lathe. As you said, it is fine for the amount of turning that we do.  I plan on putting a small electrical box with an outlet and on/off switch on mine so I can plug the drill into it directly and just use the switch to turn it on and off.  Right now I have the drill plugged into the wall and turn the threaded rod to push down on the trigger to get the right speed. To shut the drill off I have to unscrew the rod to release the trigger.  Kind of a pain.  With the switch I can adjust the speed with the threaded rod and just leave it there.

Tom

[toms10]

Just a small update.  I haven't work in the shipyard for several weeks now... just too much other stuff going on.   But I did want to share an idea I had.  I was having quite a difficult time getting these little brass pieces clean enough to blacken properly.  They are too small to hold and rub with steel wool or anything else.  I tried soaking in vinegar, nail polish remover and various other cleaners.  The parts would get coated in a black powder but not do much with regard to actually blackening the metal.  The powder would just rub off and leave me with a splotchy mess on the part.  I then tried using flux paste that you would use for soldering copper pipes.  I dipped the part in the paste while holding the edges with an old pair of junk tweezers then quickly burned off the flux with a small torch... about 5 seconds.  I then just tossed the part into the blackening solution (Birchwood Casey).  After repeating this 30 times (once per item) I let them soak for about another 5 minutes I took them out.  The results were very good.  The parts looked like blackened iron.  This is probably old news to some but thought I would just share.

Tom

[Landlocked123]

Actually, I never heard of it but think it’s a great idea for a quick acid etch.  I usually use Sparex but need 30+ minutes for a good pickle.  Thanks.

 

Best, 

John

[Bluto 1790]

Hi Tom,

I've been using cellulose thinner to clean the brass ~ and copper parts before blackening.  So far it has proved very successful.

I pour enough of the thinners into a small container, throw the metal parts in and give them a quick stir with the tweezers and use the tweezers to fish them out again onto some clean kitchen paper roll . . . and what's left of the thinners (which is about 95% of the amount initially poured) just gets poured back into the thinners tin for the next time!  (I don't use the thinners to thin cellulose paint - just use it for cleaning.)

 . . . and it makes a good job of cleaning the tips of the tweezers!

Above, I mentioned copper parts as I've found that the "Metal Blackening for Brass" chemical that I use is equally effective on copper as well as on brass.

 

[md1400cs]

Has anyone tried using rubbing alcohol? I was going to try that next. Have not so far

[toms10]

13 hours ago, md1400cs said:

Has anyone tried using rubbing alcohol? I was going to try that next. Have not so far

MD1400CS,

I have tried nail polish remover and rubbing alcohol without much success.  Earlier on this thread Mark mentioned using acetone which I have not tried yet.

 

Jim, I am going to try some cellulose thinner.  Just dipping the parts in a solution is a whole lot easier that the flux paste method with one part at a time, especially if you are doing a lot of homemade brass hooks and eyes.

Tom

Edited May 10, 2018 by toms10
additional response

[Bluto 1790]

4 hours ago, toms10 said:

 

Jim, I am going to try some cellulose thinner.  Just dipping the parts in a solution is a whole lot easier that the flux paste method with one part at a time, especially if you are doing a lot of homemade brass hooks and eyes.

Tom

Yes Tom ~ it's really easy and quick. 

I bought a pack of 100 tiny copper eyelets and popped the whole pack in the thinners, swished them round and in less than a minute the thinners was back in the tin.  It probably took more time to dab the eyelets dry with a piece of kitchen paper!

[toms10]

I finally got around to finishing up the on/off switch on my homemade lathe.  Attached are some pics and a video.  As I mentioned earlier, total cost was $15 for the drill from Harbor Freight and a $7 on/off outlet switch.

 

 

Tom

[Louie da fly]

That lathe is brilliant, Tom! I've been agonising over the cost of modellers' lathes and I think your solution is just what I need myself.

 

Steven

 

PS: Great news over getting new employment with a relatively short gap in between.

 

PPS: The cannon barrels look very good. They're about an inch and a half long, right? 

[toms10]

Thanks Louie,

Yeah, I can't see spending all that money on a purchased lathe with all the bells when simplicity and basics will more than do. I guess all that design and manufacturing engineering college stuff is finally paying off!    The cannon barrels are 24 pounders at 1:85 scale.  The pic below is a prototype assembly.  After painting with a satin black acrylic paint you can still see the wood fiber if you look close.  This barrel was only done with a fine file and minimal sanding.  I am sure that with more care sanding with a 320 grit they will come out much smoother.  These cannons are first attempt and will be on the main gun deck. They will only be seen through the breakaways in the upper deck and side of the hull so the finish will suffice.

Tom

[Bluto 1790]

Hi Tom,

 

Great work on that lathe.  Sliding dovetail for different lengths of workpiece . . . and I particularly like your hi-tech, super-sophisticated  variable speed control!

If it works, it works! . . . so why any need for expensive machinery when sometimes basic is best.

[mtaylor]

Very ingenious, Tom.  Looks good and since it works well..that makes it great.     Try some sealer on the guns..might help with the grain problem. I ran into that recently on a none ship project.

[Jparsley]

Hello Tom   It’s been awhile  but have to say your ship is absolutely brilliant  great job on all the fine work    I may not be modeling but I try to keep looking at a few projects