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

[qwerty2008]

I made the foresail.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I have gotten tired of making sails so I decided to do a little work on the spars. I first made the mast cheeks supporting the trestle trees then I put some color on the fore mast, I also finished (somewhat) the topmast(s) and the fore gaff. I feel that this little bit of work has made the model look dramatically more complete.

This is a mockup of an idea I have for the battery hatch cover.

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

Edited February 5, 2015 by qwerty2008

[mcpwilk]

"Well then here's for you in Australia. "

 

Why the Kiwi flag, not the Aussie one?!

 

Mike

[Omega1234]

Hi Lextin

 

I can see why you were getting tired of making the sails, because all your hard work has definitely paid off. They look absolutely brilliant!

 

I'm looking forward to launch day.

 

All the best!

 

Patrick

[qwerty2008]

Mike: I used the New Zealand flag because Omega didn't catch the mistake on my US flag so I gave him one he would be able to spot the mistake on.

 

 

 

Lextin.

Edited February 6, 2015 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

I have done some work on the bowsprit. Now it is actually tapered and the cap is now perpendicular to the waterline instead of the bowsprit.

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I finished the jib boom.



My cat interrupted my pictures to eat a string that just happened to be attached to my model.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I got the gammoning made, I used a technique that I found on another forum to allow the bowsprit to be removed. I have also started on a new spritsail yard, in the picture the yard is really long due to me not being sure about how long to make it. I will cut the yard shorter later after staring at it for a great long time to figure out how long to make it.
I am running into a bit of a problem which is that if I keep up at this rate I will soon run out of spars and be forced into making sails again . The figurehead was put in place for these pictures as I actually forgot about it for awhile and it needed some screen time.

 

Lextin.

Edited February 7, 2015 by qwerty2008

[mtaylor]

That is a great idea on the bowsprit.   What keeps it in place while sailing?

[qwerty2008]

Mark: Are you asking what keeps the gammoning in place or the bowsprit? if the gammoning instead of making it vertical I made it take the shortest route between the stem and the bowsprit so it doesn't realy want to move and the bowsprit doesn't realty need the gammoning as it is securely stepped into the first deck beam and passes trough the knightheads and the opening in the bow which are both tight fits but the gammoning still applies quite a bit of down force on the bowsprit.

 

 

Today I made both the hatches aswell as the gangway. I have been thinking about forgoing the spritsail yard in favor of two separate spreaders.










I got a new can of red paint but they didn't have the same shade so I went a little brighter (it looks pink but that's just my camera being weird) and think that I like it a little bit more than the old color and will be repainting the rest of the fittings and the inside of the wales the new red latter.

 

Lextin.

Edited February 8, 2015 by qwerty2008

[qwerty2008]

I made the thingamajigs that will hold the spreaders for the guy pendants in place.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

Don't worry I an not taking another of my patented modeling hiatuses, I have just been kinda busy the past few days. I have however made a new barrel for the six pounder cannons and made a mold from it but am not quite happy with how it turned out. This time the mold conforms perfectly to the master but is really fragile and not suitible to cast the ten resin barrels from so I will make a new one the same way but with thicker walls this time to make it stronger. Lastly I have made the template for the main sail so hopefully I will get to making that soon.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I made the new mold and it came out much better then the last one and infinitely better then the first one. It took me three tries to get the new barrel right but in the end it was worth it. Here are the photos, the small yellow one next to the barrel is the new one, the red one is the second one and the white is the first. I have also included pics of the sail template and the guy spreaders.

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I have started on the mainsail but took a break to work on the main pinrail and belfry I also decided to replace the barrel on the 18 pounder with one that I think is much nicer, who liked the old one anyways.

Here is a paper mockup I made for the belfry and the ships mascot, a small seal which I still haven't named and am looking for suggestions.

The new barrel  .

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I started on the belfry and promptly got distracted by another component, the mast hoops and found an alternate method of making them. Instead of using hoops I am thinking of making a loop and parrel setup that would allow me to detach the sails with the use of a lobster clasp on one end of the loop.

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Unfortunately, that new gun won't work as it's inert.  But I like the idea. Is the ship's seal:  The Great Seal of Byzantium?    

 

Ok.. I'll get me coat.  It's the one with "1001 Clever Things to Say on a Monday" in the pocket.

[qwerty2008]

@ MTaylor: Nope not inert but a live .50 cal tracer, a friend found a bunch of them in a field, to bad I don't have the gun that fires them.

 

 

 

 

 

I have completed the main structure of the belfry and the pinrails associated with it, I still need to finish the details and paint. The bell is a tad small (approx 10 scale inches)so I will make a new one sometime later on down the road.

 

 

Lextin.

Edited February 17, 2015 by qwerty2008

[mtaylor]

I think you're right on the .50 being a tracer... been too many years since played (read as: used) one.   Air crews could make their own belts up so I used 1 ball, 1 tracer, 1 armor piercing, 1 incendiary, 1 armor piercing incendiary.  Figured when we went hot into an LZ, we never knew what we'd run up against.....

 

Depending on the date stamp on the bottom of the cartridge, you might want to be cautious on handling it. 

 

I love your belfry.

[qwerty2008]

I did some digging and found its not a tracer but a Heavy ball here's a quote from the site I found

"This cartridge with a solid yellow tip is a "Heavy Ball" produced in the

Dominican Republic for "Light Armor Piercing"  Most of the cartridges available
have a head stamp that read: 50 (on the top) and 59(on the bottom).
Minor spots on the cases, and clips on the yellow paint."

the picture I based my tracer assumption off of was mislabeled so now I feel dumb for taking the first information I found and not cross checking.

there is no date just the above mentioned 50(top) 59(bottom) headstamp.

 

 

 

Lextin.

[mtaylor]

Oh...  I wasn't sure of the color as things change but Dominican Republic is a different breed all together.   It's probably just an armor piercing then as I don't recall the .50 having a "light armor piercing" round.   But again.. time and distance...  It's hell getting older.

 

59 is the date stamp then... 

[qwerty2008]

I painted the belfry and made a bell from wax to use as a plug for making a mold. I made two bells but one came out better than the other so I will be using the worse one to test a mold making method before using the good one.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

Just to make sure I don't work in any particular order I decided to make the cannon carriage sides today.

I have also made the test mold for the bell and the casting came out really nice except the lead didn't fill the mold properly and left an air pocket also the core was slightly off center so registration bumps and vents will be a must for the real one.

In other news, between the different groups I asked for seal names on I am considering either Clara or Rose, both can be identified with the name of the vessel as their both character from Doctor Who and I named the Byzantium after a ship from Doctor Who.
The Insert plate for my Band saw broke so I made a new one out of wood, this new one has a much smaller clearance making it easier to cut small parts.

Lextin.

Edited February 19, 2015 by qwerty2008

[mtaylor]

A good idea on the insert.  The plastic ones are crap anyway and for small parts... pffffft!!!   Seeing the way you made the carriage sides brings a smile to my face...  That's probably the best way to make them.

[qwerty2008]

Thanks Mark: I have since made the axles and transoms but have yet to sand and assemble them. I have also made a tool for rounding the ends of the axles to accept the wheels.

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

This morning I have been working  on the carriages and have assembled three.  The axles and transoms were made the same way as the sides. I am slowly refining the process and should have it down by the time I make the last one.

 

Lextin.

[Omega1234]

HinLextin

 

Nice tutorial on how to make the carriages.

 

Thanks

 

Patrick

[dgbot]

Nice try on your bell.  What kind of wax did you use and where did you buy it from.  I would probably make one from wood but that wood make a mess.

David B

[qwerty2008]

David: I made the bell from paraffin wax which I had cast into a cylinder then turned with the drill press. Paraffin wax can be found at any grocery store in the canning section or you could just melt down a candle. I know that there are better waxes for casting but this is what I had so I made it work. I did try wood but I was unable to get a metallic appearance as I seem to have forgot how to polish wood, I may try again with cherry because I don't have much confidence that the lead casting will work.

 

 

 

 

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I decided to go with a wood bell after all, my first bell was made from poplar and was very "fuzzy" giving it a very non-metallic appearance, this new bell is made from cherry and came out with a very shiny surface (kinda hard to tell in the pictures) that when painted gold looks like bronze for some reason.

 

Lextin.

[qwerty2008]

I have made the main hatch and the new skylight.

 

Lextin.