Byzantium by qwerty2008 - Scale 1:20 - RADIO - based on the Pride of Baltimore

[qwerty2008]

I took some pictures of the keel and boat. Note: the modifications to the plug to prevent oilcanning are only halfway complete in the picture, I have since finished the modifications.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I cast the smaller keel weight which weights approximately 6.5 pounds before cutting, I estimate that I will be removing abought half a pound when I cut it.

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I was wandering why my servos haven't arrived yet so I checked the tracking information and found that they arrived at my local post office where processed and sent out for delivery on Saturday but were never delivered and I didn't get a notice requesting me to pick it up at the post office. I will check the post office today, hopefully they have them there.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

The servos arrived today, apparently because I live so far from civilization it takes 4 days for the mail truck to get from the Adelanto post office to my mailbox . I looked up my TX/RX system and it has halved in price since I purchased it several years ago.

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I finally decided on a time period and profession for my Byzantium. It will be an American privateer circa. 1795-1812. I have made some temporary (paper) 15 star american flags as well as a wishbone style martingale boom.
   Abought the servos, I have been staring at the model with the deck off for hours at a time the past couple of days and know what I want to do but not the specifics like where the fairleads should come up trough the deck to line up with the pin rails and how to make a 3 inch arm for the rudder servo and how long the arms for the fore sail/jib sheets should be. I guess its safe to say that many more hours of staring at the model are needed.

Lextin

Edited September 11, 2014 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

I have mounted the square servo to the tray and figured out where to run the four trough deck fairleads for the square sails. I also made the arm for the rudder servo.

 

 

 

Lextin.

Edited September 13, 2014 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

I have made the fairleads for the squares and currently have the dry fitted so that I could test the sail rotation. I made two fairleads instead of the before mentioned four to prevent a possible problem below deck, the braces will now split above deck with the split disguised as a block.

 

 

 

Lextin.

Edited September 13, 2014 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

Since my last post I have epoxied the square fairleads in place and made the mount for the rudder servo, there is only one more servo to install and its the most complex one.
I was playing around with my radio and found out that the side to side sticks allow for more travel on the servos then the up and down sticks so I was able to coax another revolution out of my mainsail winch by linking it to the left side to side stick and no longer need the pulley that doubles the pull. Here is my new stick layout which makes best use of this quirk.

 

Lextin.

[dgbot]

Your photos did not take.

David 

[qwerty2008]

My bad, I was organizing my photo bucket and moved them to a new folder.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

That's an impressive amount of research and engineering going on.   I like it!!!!

[qwerty2008]

I have mounted the rudder servo and the foresail servo.

I will rewrought the main sail line (blue) trough some eyebolts (red) to keep it from interfering with the rudder servo.

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I decided that my original rudder was kinda ugly so I made a new one and this time out of wood. The rudder will have a clear plastic insert to make it larger but I still need to cut the groove that it will fit into. I was halfway though cutting the rudder when my bandsaw started making a ting.... ting.... ting.... ting sound so I stopped cutting and was trying to locate the problem when I heard a snap and felt something hit my shoulder, I instantly knew that I was in for a long session of hand sawing but I did get the rudder finished. Now the bandsaw is temporarily out of commission until I get a new blade.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

The armament of lack there of has been bugging me so I want to add a pivot gun amidships but cant seem to find any useful information around the interwebs so I am asking for help. I was think of a 18 pounder with a compact carriage that rotates around its center rather then one end would this be an unrealistic setup? also what are the dimensions of a 18 pounder barrel? also pics or drawings of a simaler gun would be helpful. Thank you.

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Lextin,

 

Back when I was building my Constellation, I searched using "pivot gun".   There's quite a bit of chaff but there still is some usefull stuff by drilling down.  I used the image search.

 

By the way, have look at Jerry Todd's Constellation build and especially his home page. He's done a lot of research and I think he's at the mock up stage if not the final stage of the guns.

[qwerty2008]

I did find what I needed and have turned a barrel. I wasn't thinking that it would be so big and am starting to question my decision to add it, I will make the carriage then decide if I want to keep it or possibly use a 12 pounder or a carronnade instead.
Here are some pictures showing the size compared to my 6 pounder.

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Lextin,

 

The proportions look right but they are big cannon.  Maybe not a big as some of the stuff in mid-1800's, but they were monsters.   I'd say the carronade would work better if you want to leave more deck space.

[qwerty2008]

I wasn't quite happy with the shape of the barrel so I put it back on the drillpress and turned it again but forgot to seal it with wax before I started painting it and ended up getting an interesting Damascus steel look that I hated to get rid of but had to . I also made the sides of the carriage, I cut the profile into a 3/4 inch thick piece of cherry then sliced it lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick pieces which was a hard task because the band saw is out of commission .

 

Lextin.

[dgbot]

That one in the top would have been perfect as far as I am concerned.

David B

[qwerty2008]

I have done a bit more work on the carriage and have decided to make notches in the axletrees that will fit over the rails which will be abought 6 inches long (10 feet in scale) and will rotate on center when all is said and done the barrel should sit at just abought the right height to shoot over the railing when leveled. I may remove the hammock cranes to allow for greater rotation of the gun.

 

Lextin.

[dgbot]

That would make a decent start of a good diorama.

David B

[DSiemens]

Very impressive cannons.  I agree I would have had a hard time getting rid of the Damascus steel too.     

[qwerty2008]

I made a SketchUp model of the carriage and am wanting to know if it is passable for a late 1700s pivot gun carriage? before I start to build it. I am also wondering how to make the circular track that it will ride on?.

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Lextin,

 

New avatar... cool, I think it looks like you.     I think you've got the carriage.  As for the track.. it was, by then, and iron rail laid into the decking.  I think I'd just simulated with construction paper.  I made mine from metal but they're a lot smaller than what you're doing.

[qwerty2008]

I made the slide and hit it with a few coats of paint which was a real pain as my can of oxide red was empty and the only other can of oxide red I had was a different brand and clogged so I pulled a nozzle of a different can that was clogged too so I unclogged it and then found that this new paint goes on thinner then the last so I needed more coats to get even coverage, and then after all the trouble I went trough to paint it, it now makes my 6 pounder look a little crummy .

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

Abought the circular track, am I correct in assuming that the top of the track needs to stay level and not curve with the deck?

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Yes.   It will be flush at the mid deck camber and rise up out toward the outboard edges.   Thus, flat track, cambered deck.... hmm...  I've seen pictures of some ships around the Civil War period that seem to have pretty flat decks and pivot guns.  

[captainbob]

Sorry I'm late to the party. 

 

Bob

[qwerty2008]

I did some more work on the keel then took some pictures of the model.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

Well I was at the hardware store today and picked up the springs for the sliding servo aswell as a variety of brass screws to keep on hand in case I need them later and to replace the steel ones holding the aluminium plate that the rudder hinges on.

 

 

 

 

 

Lextin.