Restoration of Bassett Lowke "Albertic" by michael mott - FINISHED - Scale 1:100

[WackoWolf]

I got one a while back, the difference is it doesn't have the hot gun with it.

[captainbob]

I must have missed something. What is the advantage of the hot air over the iron?

 

Bob 

[KeithAug]

Thank you for the info Michael - Ill do a bit of reading up.

[wefalck]

Captainbob, with a hot-air stream, you don't need to touch the bits to be soldered and won't upset their positioning.

 

There are electrical units and also gas ones. The gas ones usually come also with conventional soldering tips that are heated by the hot air. I like the electrical units, because one doesn't mess around with gas and they can be regulated from about 50°C to 400°C, making them also useful for other purposes than soldering.

[captainbob]

Thank you for the info. But that means, the air stream most be very slow or, it would blow away the part you want to solder.

 

Bob

[michael mott]

1 minute ago, captainbob said:

But that means, the air stream most be very slow or, it would blow away the part you want to solder.

 

Clearly this can be a problem Bob and it did blow the solder off the frame twice before I realized that I had not dialed back the air flow.

Also with my third hand I can take all the time I need to set the parts up ready to solder and they do not move and being able to place just a tiny flake of solder where I need it make the soldering easy because only when the metal is at the right temp does the solder flow.

And of course all this relates to soft soldering not hard soldering.

 

The advantage as Wefalck pointed out is that you don't have to touch the parts. The set up I have has three different sized nozzles and with the adjustable airflow it is extremely controllable with both airflow and temperature setting mine goes from 100c to 480c.

 

I have also found that like using a gas torch heating the work from the opposite side to where the solder is placed works very well as soon as the metal flows I swing away the air. I really like this tool.

 

Michael 

[kees de mol]

Impressed by your patience restauring this ship and all the tools you make yourself.

[Elmer Cornish]

great  project  ! looking  good,

[mtaylor]

I went back to the beginning and then up to where you are  now, Michael.  Just "Wow"......   You've made a lot of progress.

[BANYAN]

Nice job Michael, looks like there was never any damage at all.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[rwiederrich]

Skillful repair Michael....

 

Rob 

[M.R.Field]

Michael, just came to this thread.  Lovely stuff and you do have some fascinating tools.

 

It is not widely known that the "great" Basset-Lowke never made a model in their colourful life. They bought companies to do stuff for them. The main two that did their ships were Shipmodels Ltd. and E.W.Twining, the better work being done by the latter.  They even had a company in Norfolk who made their well thought of electric motors for them. I have one, as I collect old electric motors and it growls like a good 'un, or in Norfolk parlance, "Bugger thas a rum 'un"

 

I once met the ex workshop foreman of the company (they did have some machines doing auto carving of toy boat hulls). He confirmed that most of the time he had little to do and at one point in their later, sadder life the company was run by a woman and he seriously offered her 50p for the name and she actually appeared to consider it!

 

Just a little background for you.

 

Martin

[Chasseur]

Just catching up! Nice machine work on your part.

 

Let's see Nils is the Brass Meister so I guess you are the Machine Meister

LOL

[ikkypaul]

Michael, Whew! I am bit blown away at this project.  Your courage in taking on this one I much admire.  Go well.  It will be lovely to watch progress and see the final restoration. Paul

[michael mott]

Paul, thanks for the kind words. As soon as I am set up in my new shop I will be able to get back to working on the ship restoration. I will be moving it shortly from my present workshop to the new one. I hope to be back working on it by the end of September.

 

Michael

[wefalck]

How is your new workshop coming on ? Any more progress on the ALBERIC ?

[amateur]

I saw you were buying tools, so I hoped and rushed......

 

Jan

[michael mott]

I will be getting back to the ship by the end of this week.

 

Michael

 

 

[SJSoane]

Hi Michael,

 

I missed this project during my retiring and moving hiatus. Nice work, and beautiful jigs and tools that you are so good at creating. I look forward to seeing the next steps after a shop move!

 

Mark

[michael mott]

Well thanks to all for your patience, I am now able to get back to work on the restoration, I have set up a slightly different work are for the ship.

 

Now I have a 6" strip alongside the model which will allow for some modest clutter, but the goal is to keep things tidy. The brackets that come with the angle lamps are a bit flimsy so I attached a couple of maple blocks one at each end to facilitate optional lighting.

 

 

My first task to get my head back into it is to work on the lines for the lifeboat falls, I cannot tell if these were a commercial product, or whether they were made for Basset Louwke

 

 

 

The top line is tree strands of Ne 50 Guttemann cotton the bottom is the goal,  so a trip to the fabric store today netted some more threads to experiment with matching the original lines.

 

 

 

I had an old oak office drawer which seemed a perfect fit for holding the misc thread and rope making stuff so it was attached to the top of a small rolling bookcase.

 

 

Tomorrow I will see how close I can match the fall lines. I will also work on the chips in some of the lifeboats, these are mostly pretty small so will fill with the thick White primer paint well. It is working on the other areas so I am confident that it will on these too.

 

Michael

Edited December 13, 2017 by michael mott

[KeithAug]

Oh goody, more entertainment. I have been missing this.

[EdT]

Looks really impressive, Micheal.  I look forward to your renewed posts.  Good luck with keeping things tidy, something I fail utterly at - relying on a weekly cleanup.  Mounting those lamps is a pain, especially because you always want them someplace else.  I have taken to drilling a hole in the bench, but your use of maple blocks is better.

 

Ed

[druxey]

Ah! I see you were able to move Albertic safely to your new home. Looking forward to your progress reports, Michael.

[popeye the sailor]

good to see your back up and running Michael........I look forward in seeing more   

[Jim Lad]

I'm really pleased to see that work has resumed on this beautiful restoration, Michael.

 

John

[BANYAN]

Good to see you back in your new shop Michael, and that all your models appear to have made it safely in the transfer.  I have missed this project so looking forward to more of your posts.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[michael mott]

Keith, Ed, Druxey, Dennis, John, and Pat, thanks for the kind comments and encouragement.

Like most things tasks can be more challenging than they first appear. A simple off white small line this one is being stubborn.

 

After a number of different threads this one is close but not quite right yet

 

 

The problem with this thread is that it is just a little too small with the regulation 3 strands and a bit too white.

 

I spun it up with the rope machine free hanging with a small weight.

 

 

It spun for quite a while before the thimble? (I cannot remember its name) started to move, but then moved pretty quickly.

 

 

I opted for the short length for a couple of reasons first it was faster to set up the threads and secondly I only need short pieces.

 

 

I went to the fishing store this evening and will be trying some new tests with the much finer line but using 3 pairs to create a 6 strand line to see if this brings up the diameter, the other option is to use 4 strands of the S978, I will drop it into some weak tea to see what effect that has on the color.

 

Michael

 

 

[druxey]

It's called a top, not a thimble, Michael. Can you modify the shade of the line with dilute watercolor? Tea will eventually rot fiber.

Edited December 14, 2017 by druxey

[michael mott]

Druxey thanks for the clarification on the top.

After a lot of tries with the various threads I am leaning towards the off white Guttermann C Ne 50 the colour match is close enough I think I just need to deal with the fuzz that was not apparent until I looked at the close up picture.  so no work with coloring at least for this area, I take notice of the issue with the tea though Druxey, so thanks for that.

 

Here is the first attempt, I have a whole new appreciation for all you folk who rig a three master. I don't know how you do it!

The line on the left is the Guttermann

 

 

The top line is original the falls are mine

 

 

Michael

[KeithAug]

Michael - not sure about the tea idea. Have you thought about Macallan 25 year malt. Much the same colour as tea but with greater preservative qualities. A  further advantage is everything looks fuzzy after a while so the line fuzz wouldn't stand out.