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

[michael mott]

This image from Vallejogallery shows an obvious change or repair. if you look at the shrouds you can see the new brighter wire.

 

I have been doing some further tests with the new brass wire.

 

 

the top and bottom cables are from the aft funnel the second cable from the bottom is as close as I have come yet to replicating the Bassett Lowke cables it is made from

a) 4 sets of 34 gauge non tarnishing brass colored wire

each set is 15 inches long twisted with 80 turns clockwise

c) the 4 sets are then combined and twisted with 50 turn anticlockwise 

 

 

The second cable from the top is made from 3 lengths of 28 gauge brass non tarnishing brass wire wound clockwise 80 turns and given a smear of brown Pebeo Vitrail stain for colored glass, I dipped the wire then immediately wiped it off once with a tissue it leaves an tinted aged look to the brass.

 

Michael

[jbshan]

Michael, suggest you label each trial cable so you can duplicate it later on.  I've got several small coils of rigging line labeled for number of strands of what initial size, just in case.  3 X 4 of .008  or # 5 linen, or whatever.

[druxey]

Would gentle heating of the wire 'tint' it?

[cog]

Druxey triggered a memory of something I read ... oil and heat might do the trick ...

[michael mott]

 

Would gentle heating of the wire 'tint' it?

Druxey that was a brilliant Idea.

 

I got up this morning and while waiting for the kettle to boil, I laid a length of assembled cable on the ceramic top of our kitchen stove set the burner to low and watched the heat cycle on and off as it does after about 5 cycles the wire did in fact turn a tint of a more aged look.

 

top-untreated

middle-heated

bottom-off the ship

 

 

The photograph shows the effect clearly, now it just becomes a matter of adjusting the timing.

 

Carl as noted above the heat works well and is a lot less messy than any form of dipping or coating.

 

Thank you very much gentlemen for your suggestions.

 

Michael

[druxey]

You are welcome. I remembered watching copper and brass turning color as I heated them.

[cog]

Looks the part Michael, and yes, less messy!!

[wefalck]

I have a hot-air soldering gun that I use for this purpose. One can set the desired temperature, which prevents the material from beaing overheated.

[michael mott]

 

I have a hot-air soldering gun that I use for this purpose. One can set the desired temperature,

Wefalck can you provide details of your tool, manufacturer etc?

 

Michael

[captainbob]

Michael, looks like you have a winner.  Well done.

 

Bob

[popeye the sailor]

it will even hold the 'twist' better .............definitely a super idea  

[Jim Lad]

A very cunning idea for that wire!  

 

John

[michael mott]

Thanks for all the positive comments and feedback.

 

I am now satisfied with the color and the lay of the wire to match the Bassett Lowke cables

 

This is the final lay up 

 

 

And how I achieved it first wind up the 4 sets of 3 in clockwise direction

 

 

next set the wound sets onto the hook

 

 

then wind up the set of 4 anti clockwise

 

 

 

These beginning lengths of 15 inches shrink down to 12 inches of usable cable for the funnels, after the ends are snipped off.

 

 

There are only 2 aft mast shrouds that need replacing, so I will need to make a couple of longer lengths for those.

 

Michael

 

[wefalck]

Michael, I fished it out of Chinese waters from the well-known bay. Not sure, who the manufacturer are. Here is an identical example:

 

 

These hot-air soldering stations are used for what is called SMD (Surface Mount Device) soldering of circuit boards. You can get them for around 60 USD/EUR and they have temperature range of 100°C to 450°C. Apart from soldering, of course, I use mine e.g. for blueing and tempering small steel parts and for producing oxidation colours on other metals, such as brass and copper.

Edited November 11, 2016 by wefalck

[michael mott]

Wefalck, thank you for this. I have not seen this type of tool before, I will definitely look into getting one.

 

Michael

[albert]

Great work.

[wefalck]

Michael, I originally bought it with the idea of 'contactless' soft-soldering, i.e. that one does not need to touch delicate items set-up for soldering, but now use it for all sorts of heating purposes. I even use it a full power to heat up bigger items for hard-soldering and hardening before going at them with my gas soldering-torch. Saves on gas and allows more even heating.

[druxey]

This sounds like a very versatile tool, Wefalck! At low setting, have you used it for bending wood?

[wefalck]

No, had no need (yet), but I think it would be good for such things as well. As the lowest temperature is 100°C it could be also used (judisciously) for heating plastics for bending. I also use it for loosening they stuck lids of paint tins, for heat-shrinking etc.

[michael mott]

I had a look at the paint on the funnels today in the natural daylight, following Druxey's suggestion of cutting through the top layer(s) of paint this is what I found.

 

 

 

So some history is revealed, this is a guess.

Working up from the lowest layer which seems closer to the top color.

 

a-bottom original

b-middle possible smoke discolored or an off coloured repair, I am open for other opinions on this.

c-top a last repair working to match the original.

 

The top color is pretty close to the original but the person doing the repair looks like they used the same brush that they painted the fence in the back yard with.

 

And yes to be fair, initially I used a rather heavy sanding stick.

 

Michael

Edited November 12, 2016 by michael mott

[druxey]

Opinion? Strip all the paint and repaint (with airbrush!) to match the original color. Keep photographic record of these archaeological stratae to go with your treatment report. Overpainting yet again is not a pretty option.

[Jim Lad]

Agree with Druxey, Michael.  You're going to have to strip the top layer off anyway to get a smooth surface, so you might as well go the whole hog.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

perhaps a paint stripper might be better than sanding.

[druxey]

The best possibility is acetone - ventilate well, please! Sanding is a bad idea as there are bands and rims on the funnel to deal with - lots of fine corners.

[wefalck]

Yes and no. There could be some wood-filler underneath that would go with the acetone/paint-stripper, then requiring a big puttying and sanding job. I would try to remove all metal-work and then sand to a smooth finish. You then can spray-paint directly on the remaining paint. If you intend to use a solvent-based paint, you should also test for compatibility before spray-painting on the old paint.

[Roger Pellett]

Would an air eraser be too aggressive?

 

Roger

[michael mott]

 

Strip all the paint and repaint (with airbrush!) to match the original color. Keep photographic record of these archaeological stratae to go with your treatment report. Overpainting yet again is not a pretty option.

Druxey this is the direction I was leaning in. I do have an airbrush, the funnel is entirely metal pretty much all brass.

 

I will after stripping give it a fine coat of Zinc Chromate primer before applying the colors. All of the stay eyes are through holes then bent on the inside so all of these will also be removed.

 

 

Would an air eraser be too aggressive?

Roger, I do not have an air eraser and do have acetone which on brass will work well enough and if it has difficulty with any of the paint I will use Lacquer thinner which I also have.

 

Thank you all for your suggestions and input, it really is helpful to hear your opinions and Ideas on this area.

 

Yesterday before we went into the city I glued up the boat deck.

 

 

 

 

After setting overnight I just removed the clamps to see the next milestone achieved.

 

 

An additional thank you to all who are visiting quietly it is encouraging to see the interest in this project.

 

Michael

[Mike Y]

This collective modelling brainstorm is a true joy to read! Thank you for sharing with that level of details!

[druxey]

The boat deck looks very good, Michael. Well restored!

[popeye the sailor]

looks great Michael!   the crack is virtually gone!   there are a couple small chunks missing.......how are you going to fill them?

 

this is such a huge undertaking........the interest in this alone is enormous!

Edited November 14, 2016 by popeye the sailor