HMCSS Victoria 1855 by Banyan - 1:72

[Keith Black]

 I hate gutters. When we had the roof replaced on our house 11 years ago I told the roofers to take down the gutters and throw them in the skip. I just wish I could come up with a good way of keeping water from pouring down our necks when entering the front and back porch doors. 

[mtaylor]

21 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 I hate gutters. When we had the roof replaced on our house 11 years ago I told the roofers to take down the gutters and throw them in the skip. I just wish I could come up with a good way of keeping water from pouring down our necks when entering the front and back porch doors. 

The way I've seen this done in the past is to run a 2X4 or even angle iron or aluminum about 4 feet long and nail and caulk it to the roof so the doorway is in the middle of it.    The water then runs off the ends away from the door.   But, if the rain is heavy enough to overflow the "block", all bets are off.

[druxey]

Wrigols are the answer!

[Keith Black]

 

1 hour ago, mtaylor said:

The way I've seen this done in the past is to run a 2X4 or even angle iron or aluminum about 4 feet long and nail and caulk it to the roof so the doorway is in the middle of it. 

Mark, I've thought of something along those lines but it would create a ice dam in the winter.

 

1 hour ago, druxey said:

Wrigols are the answer!

 David, I've thought about trying to attach something to the fascia board. I wonder if I could get Siggi to come over for a Michigan summer vacation? 

[druxey]

And add an electrical heating wire for winter!

[Joe100]

There are models, and then there are models. This is the latter. Whoa. 

[BANYAN]

Thanks Joe, appreciate your kind comment.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[MartyB]

Hi Pat, I've been spending some time catching up on your Victoria build as well as studying your Endeavour build.  As you know, I have been away from my Endeavour for quite a few years now but having recommenced a couple of months ago I have been happily making progress.  That is, until I saw what outstanding work you have been doing.  I now feel very inadequate 🙄  I think I'll just slink back down to my workshop and stay there.

 

Marty

[rwiederrich]

8 hours ago, MartyB said:

I have been happily making progress

I suggest you you return to happiness and let your build bring you joy.  There is so little these days that brings happiness.

 

Do you have a build log, so we can enjoy what you have accomplished?

 

Rob

[BANYAN]

Hi Marty, thanks for looking in and your kind comments.  Having seen your work, I would not be overly concerned, it is very much up to 'scratch'. 

Hopefully, I will be able to make some progress shortly - I have started cleaning the workshop in preparation of making a restart in a few days.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

On 3/18/2022 at 11:54 PM, BANYAN said:

I have started cleaning the workshop in preparation of making a restart in a few days.

 

Excellent Pat. Not sure how it is possible to clean a workshop in a few days. Certainly mine would be more of a project.

[Keith Black]

 Pat, this is excellent news! 

[BANYAN]

More of a 'dust' than a clean Keith  

 

Hopefully a (re)start on the masts this Wednesday - depends on whether the grandkids wear me out too much

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

Good to see the strike is over, Pat! 

 

John

[BANYAN]

Well, I have finally got myself back into the workshop and started on some of the smaller fittings to be used in rigging the ship.  The first are the fittings for the lower studdingsail/swing booms for which I need to make the ferule with gooseneck, and the spider bands.  Noting the boom diameter is only a few millimetres in diameter, these are quite small.

 

For the ferule I decided PE was the way to go, so drew up the basic stock parts.  After experimenting I found I could not consistently 'round' a non-circular piece to form the concave end, so ended up going with a circular bit.  I formed the concave shape by using a PE bending jig I have that has dimples inset for this purpose, then pressing the shape using a burnishing tool.   I could not use tube for the bands as the diameters differ so I soldered a thin strip.  The following are a couple of photos showing the end result of my first attempt where the alignment leaves a bit to desire, but overall, when viewed at eye distance, they look OK - not so great close up s they have not been cleaned up yet (the ruler is in mm).  I will use some wire inserted in the end (through the preformed hole) as the start of the gooseneck.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

[BANYAN]

Next up are the spiderbands which require lugs to be soldered to some small thin walled tubing.  I made up a jig which I think is self explanatory.  I used aluminium as the solder will not stick.  The jig allows me to keep the lugs square to the tube even though in the photo they don't look it (optical illusion).  These lugs have yet to be drilled, shaped and cleaned up, then I will use a razor saw to part of 1.5mm wide band with the lugs attached.  The real tricky part will come when I have to try and impart a very shallow taper to the ID of the tube; hopefully the solder (silver soldered) will hold.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

[Tony Hunt]

They look really good Pat. So fiddly at that size!

 

Great to see you back in production, too. 🙂

[Louie da fly]

Beautiful work, Pat. I'm gobsmacked by how tiny this stuff is.

 

Steven

[wefalck]

These 'dapping' or 'doming' tools', as the jewellery makers call them, blocks with depression come very handy for such metal-shaping tasks - the  result looks very promising.

 

For the spider bands, I wonder, whether it would be a proposition to etch the lugs so that the two parts cross in the middle (with half) notches and set them into the sawn notches in the pipe. After hard-soldering, the interior part could be cut/drilled out. Such an arrangement would align the lugs without the need of a jig probably.

 

I was about to ask, whether any progress has been made her - good to see that work continues.

[Keith Black]

Good to see activity in the shipwright's shop once again, Pat. I've missed your Victoria updates. 

[rwiederrich]

Fantastic job....lots of tooling and gigs to git-er done.😊

 

I don't mean to side track, but I did this once and this is how I did it.

 

I found copper tube the right size....put it on the spar, marked and cut out all the *NON* banding material with a cut off disk....then soldered a simple THIN solder plug to the end...which was then burnished out..Kinda like with the rounding tool and burnishing tool you have.  Place the soldered end into the correct rounding toll...then place you burnished down inside the now cut tube and simply press in the rounded end.  Solder is very soft and pliable.  Finish off with a bit of filing.

 

Once done..paint black and mount.  Mind you, I didn't do them this small...but the idea is sound.

 

I'm so glad you are back in the yard maken it happen....what a joy.

 

Rob

[Glen McGuire]

Nice soldering skills, Pat.  Love the jigs you've made to hold things in place, which is something I always struggle with.

[mtaylor]

That all great news and work, Pat.   I'm glad you got back into the shop.

[BANYAN]

Thanks for all the comments, likes and support/encouragement folks, much appreciated.

 

Some good ideas presented/offered which may cause me to revisit my technique.  The use of the crossed pieces inserted into slots sounds promising, thanks Eberhard.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Louie da fly]

Pat, I've just been reading a book called The Last Confederate Ship at Sea by Paul Williams (McFarland and Company, Inc, Jefferson, North Carolina 2015, though the author seems to be Australian) about the exploits of the C.S.S. Shenandoah, a commerce raider in the American Civil War which in 1865 captured several northern ships (including whalers) burnt some and "ransomed" others, and was the last active Confederate warship in the war - in fact she kept on with her activities for several months unaware that the war had ended (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Shenandoah )

 

There was a scandal attached to her - it appears that the Shenandoah's captain carried on an affair with the wife of the captain of the last ship she captured before she docked in Melbourne, in what was then the British colony of Victoria (Australia) for repairs (her propeller mounting was badly damaged, and she was drawn up out of the water onto a "patent slip" to allow the propeller to be got at).

 

(There's a local connection for me - the good citizens of Ballarat threw a "Buccaneer's Ball" in Craig's hotel (the top hotel in town, which later had Mark Twain as a guest) for the Shenandoah's officers.)

 

There was also controversy over her status as a Confederate naval vessel (the U.S. consul claimed she was a pirate) and attempts to recruit crew in Melbourne, in violation of Britain's neutrality, and the captain refused to allow the police to search the ship for recruits reported to be hidden on board.

 

Anyhow, after all that preamble, the police inspectors at Melbourne and Williamstown (where she was on the slip) were instructed to "proceed with the whole of the police force at your disposal to the patent slip and prevent, at all costs, the launch of said ship."

 

And the book goes on - "The Elder gun raft, with her 68-pounder was moved into position near the slip entrance. Her Majesty's Colonial Sloop Victoria a twin-screw vessel of 580 tons, with three guns, was instructed to raise steam and stand off shore. This vessel was not naval, but was classified as an armed dispatch vessel, manned by the water police. She had already been in one hostile situation with an American ship, the General Nowell, which had departed with writs for debts nailed to her mast. The Victoria steamed in pursuit, fired a shot across her bows, and escorted her back to Hobson's Bay.

 

I'm assuming this must be the same HMCSS Victoria as you are building, though it seems the description differs from the model - particularly the number of guns (and the whole bit about the water police seems a little strange).

 

Anyway, I thought you might like this extra bit of information (assuming it is the same Victoria). 

 

Steven

Edited May 4, 2022 by Louie da fly

[BANYAN]

Thanks for looking in and the info Steven; appreciated.

 

Yep, the one and the same vessel.  In her early years Victoria was attached to the Water Police with her Captain dual ranked as a Commander (Victorian Navy) and as a Police Superintendent, the rest of the crew were similarly dual rated based on their ranks.

 

I was aware of the Shenandoah and the antics surrounding her visit.  There is an excellent display and artefacts held by 'SeaWorks' in Williamstown, (some in the the "Pirates Bar'), if you are ever down give me a hoy and we could go visit.   Also of interest, Churchill Island (near Phillip Island in Westernport Bay) has a couple of cannon on display in the grounds which they proport are from the Shenandoah.

 

Attached is a piccy of the model of (Capt. Douglas) Elders Gun Raft 'The Elder' for anyone interested.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

 

 

[KeithAug]

Pat

 

An interesting bit of brass work. It just goes to show there are may ways to skin a cat. The PE looks quite crisp to me, did you do the etching or did you contract it out?

 

 

[BANYAN]

Hi Keith, thanks for looking in.  WRT the PE, I have an arrangement with a local railroad modeller whereby I do the rough artwork in CAD and export as it as a cdr file, he imports it, adjusts the items for best layout to maximise the stock, then etches the pieces for me.  Works out at a reasonable cost and I don't have to learn yet another skill   

 

I have had to change tack a bit on the spiderbands as I was not having success drilling holes in the 'ears' - the heat generated was causing the soldered joint to let go even though I was using silver solder.  I have reverted to soldering homemade eyes into predrilled holes in the band.  I am still pursuing a solution to keep the drill generating too much heat when drilling the soldered ears; I need to find a was to locally cool and probably go much slower with the drilling.  I have heard of a product called 'cool blue' either a gel or paste, which I might try.  The earlier method will work for larger (greater than 3mm OD) bands so I have not given up on it.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

15 hours ago, BANYAN said:

I am still pursuing a solution to keep the drill generating too much heat when drilling the soldered ears;

Pat - I am probably being daft but couldn't you drill the holes before soldering?

[wefalck]

If parts heat up to the point of melting a silver-solder joint (+600 °C ...), that sounds, as if the drill-bit is dull ...