Zebulon B Vance by ESF - FINISHED - Dean's Marine - 1:96 - PLASTIC - RADIO

[lmagna]

Nice work and results for both your build and especially your wife.

Edited May 4, 2019 by lmagna

[cog]

Glad to hear the result of your wife's biopsy was a negative. It strengthens the spirit. I'll toast to her health later this afternoon.

 

So you needed more length on the railings and went for the double clutch ... It is a way to handle it. You could also have cut, and filed the ends of the railings at an angle, say 155 deg, at the stanchion, and slide both ends in the stanchion and fix them in it. Just another  option ... maybe next time ... you'll probably have to figure out what the best angle, and hence the largest, strongest and glueable surface is .

[Kevin]

so glad the test results came back negative

[lmagna]

Reading Carl's reply to your railing methods on using the double stanchions made me think of another possible method, assuming that you wanted to really punish yourself.

 

You could remove the vertical arms of the second stanchion and just use the remaining "washers" as a surface to glue against the stanchion that has already been positioned. That way only the ball section of the joining areas are double thickness.

 

I'll go back into my corner now! 

[ESF]

Just a short non-ship update.  My wife's suspected lung tumor turned out to be more like scar tissue, perhaps as a result of severe bronchitis a few months ago.  No surgery needed.  Our sincere thanks go out to all who expressed concern and offered support.

 

More ship news to come.

 

Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts.  MSW is truly a wonderful community in so many ways.

 

Steve

[mtaylor]

That is wonderful news, Steve.  

[lmagna]

Happy dance time Steve.

 

 

I was hoping that you would get good news on this!

Edited May 7, 2019 by lmagna

[cog]

Let's keep it that way.

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Lou, Carl, Kevin and Mark, thanks so much for your support and kind feedback.  We really did a happy dance when we got the news.  The video clip is just what I was feeling after being dumbstruck.

 

Carl, I’m not sure I have the skill to scarf the railing through that little stanchion hole.  I found that even the slightest burr on a railing end is enough to prevent it from going through and I wouldn’t be surprised if a layer of CA within the scarf would be enough to block passage.

 

Lou, I like the idea of railing plates but I’m finding that maintaining the full length end stanchion helps to keep the three railings in good alignment with each other and with the adjacent section.

 

Steve

 

Railings - the aft bridge joins the fray

I’ve worked my way through the starboard bridge deck railing fab, and around the aft bridge.  The jury is out on the railing extension on the starboard side of the aft stair and I’m wondering if I should snip it off.  The stanchion is close to the stair anyway, and the change in stanchion direction between the port and starboard sides of the stair makes the starboard extension feel awkward opposite the port extension which looks like it belongs there.  See below for a closer view.

And oh, by the way I drilled too many mounting holes (one near the stair and one at the outside corner of the bridge deck).  One stanchion per corner is plenty.  And I also forgot to drill stanchion holes across the aft end of the boat deck, wrapping around the columns at each end, which means pulling the whole bridge/top deck assembly to allow access.   If only I could magically relocate the extra holes I've drilled here and there to the boat deck...now that would be a happy dance on its own.

[lmagna]

3 hours ago, ESF said:

If only I could magically relocate the extra holes I've drilled here and there to the boat deck...now that would be a happy dance on its own.

You mean you don't have a hole mobilizer in your tool set? What kind of modeler are you?

[mtaylor]

Looking good, Steve.  Are you sure you want to risk all this detail work and put it in a lake?   I'd be seriously nervous myself.

[cog]

4 hours ago, ESF said:

I’m not sure I have the skill to scarf the railing through that little stanchion hole.  I found that even the slightest burr on a railing end is enough to prevent it from going through and I wouldn’t be surprised if a layer of CA within the scarf would be enough to block passage.

Whimp  

You can CA after you've made the scarf joint. Thin CA is pulled inbetween the parts

 

Suggestions:

Obsolete holes

If you need to fill the holes, take an oversized styrene solid rod, taper the end sanding it, glue it in, and cut it of level with the deck. gollup of paint ... done 

Missing holes

If you need to add stanchions where you can't reach, take off the bottom part of the stanchion (which goes into the deck) make and shape your railing, assertaining the cut off stanchions are in the spot where you can't drill, form the railing and have that part slightly lowered so when you mount the railing the stanchions are push up. You can than glue them to the deck ... 

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Lou, not even an air brush in this shipyard, let alone something as exotic as a hole mobilizer.  

 

Mark, this ship is going in the water.  If it made the trip from England without sinking a pond should be a walk in the park (he said out of complete ignorance).

 

Carl, thanks for the idea.  Do you think I need that much for a hole that’s not much bigger than 0.020?  I was thinking just a smear of body glazing putty.  My railing access is okay now that the upper decks are away on holiday.

 

Steve

 

Railings - bridge and top decks enjoying Mother’s Day

I swallowed hard and lifted the bridge/top deck assembly off to get access for the railing fab at the aft boat deck.  Turned out to be no big deal but I need to remember to be careful not to squash the wall railings during removal and replacement.  They are nice grab bars but don’t tolerate fat fingers.

The aft railing terminates at each side of the aft boat deck stair, terminates at the other ends with a short return near the davits and wraps around the aft bridge columns in between.  To get the location of the return I set all the boats in place to determine the available spacing between boats.  The other reason for knowing the spacing is to install the short railing sections between boats.  A photo of the short sections shows them about 8 feet wide but I had to reduce it to about 5 ft since the kit boats appear to be a bit long compared to the real.  I fabricated a couple of short sections and set them in place with a few davits to see how it will look.

Of course I managed to add to my stash of extra holes when I set the drilling template too far aft for one of the short sections.  By the time I’m finished I’ll probably have enough extra holes to do the next ship without any drilling.

[cog]

5 hours ago, ESF said:

Do you think I need that much for a hole that’s not much bigger than 0.020?

that is inches right ... so that would be 0.05mm, can't imagine you drilling at that size, haven't found any either, smallest I've got is 0.2mm. To be honest, if I were building a RC I would plug the holes, but that's me. You do what you think will work for you.

 

5 hours ago, ESF said:

By the time I’m finished I’ll probably have enough extra holes to do the next ship without any drilling.

Are those transferable!? 

 

Nice work on the walkers, converting to cruise ship?  

[lmagna]

18 hours ago, cog said:

Nice work on the walkers, converting to cruise ship?  

Possibly I could donate mine to the build when I am done with it! Good catch Carl, I didn't see the resemblance.

[cog]

4 hours ago, lmagna said:

I didn't see the resemblance.

That's because you are using one!!! (things right in front of you ...)

Edited May 13, 2019 by cog

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Carl and Lou, I hope you’re ready to race.

 

Steve

 

Railings - take your mark….

The “walker” railings are lined up and ready to run, so get yourself in position, preferably with two hands on the bars (I became quite familiar with a regular walker, crutches and a knee walker while I was recovering from foot and ankle surgery, including a less than graceful end-over-end trying to step off a curb).

The course is one lap around the shipyard, a short stop at the refrigerator and first one to enter the paint shop gets to fabricate all of them on the port side.

The eye in the sky awaits the chaos of the opening lap….

[mtaylor]

Looks to me like the that first two or three steps are going to whoppers....  "Over the side, lads!!!!"

[cog]

3 hours ago, ESF said:

The course is one lap around the shipyard, a short stop at the refrigerator and first one to enter the paint shop gets to fabricate all of them on the port side.

Lou, you've won!

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Mark, good catch.  I had a painful lesson in center of gravity when trying to navigate off a curb while using a knee walker, and it was only a 6 inch curb.

 

Lou, congrats on the win.  I should probably send you the walker railing template….

 

Steve

 

Railings - the saga continues

After the walker race finished I worked up the aft railings at the boat and main decks.  Then I plugged the upper decks back on for an overall look at progress, starting aft.

Next up will be the top deck perimeter railings.

 

 

[mtaylor]

Steve,

I have question... is the railing in pic below glued in place?   I looks to be askew.  Otherwise, all looks perfect.

 

[cog]

Mark, also known as "Eagle Eye" ... I spotted it too, eagle eye confirmed it, it seems you need to do some "re-bending" Steve. Although it is rather late in the railing season. You might want to use a square piece of wood to set the location of the twists and turns in the horizontal, so you can easily avoid those "hanging" railings. Should have thought of it before, but my age is slowing me down (love the age excuse it can be used on everything)

 

Cheers

[lmagna]

My walker won because it was the only one with wheels, (At least on the front). I never made it past the refrigerator though!

 

I know what you mean about curbs Steve. I'm doing them pretty well now but the first one was almost a disaster! They are a lot harder than they look. I almost got killed by by the floor in a restaurant yesterday. I took my wife and family out for a combo Mothers Day and Anniversary dinner. The floor on the restaurant started out with a kind of flagstone floor where the wheels would roll fine until they hit a crack and came to a sudden stop, making the walker want to tip forward unexpectedly and without warning. Then it switched to a hardwood floor that was so slick the walker would go sideways as easily as it would go forward! It was a big restaurant and I was glad when I was able to sit! 

 

By the way Steve, your refrigerator is empty.

 

I think the docking wing railings look OK. If you look at them in the other pictures looking from overhead they look perfectly straight. Well maybe not. I looked at all the pictures again and it could be that the starboard side is a little off. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by lmagna

[cog]

 

1 hour ago, lmagna said:

Well maybe not. I looked at all the pictures again and it could be that the starboard side is a little off. 

Maybe you were falling Lou ...

[ESF]

To all, thanks for your likes and for stopping by.

 

The good news is that none of railings are glued in yet.  I've had them in and out a few times during fitting and a few of them need the glue to maintain plumb.  The spot Mark pointed out is a particularly challenging location because one of the three rails has a slightly different corner bend than the other two which pushes out the top corner, even though all three were bent as a group.  Also there is some excessive sheer in the build, right around the circled area, which is compounding the challenge as the railing changes direction from on-sheer to off-sheer.  I think gluing will take the curse out of most of it but it certainly has been a learning process - I figure I've made it to junior high school so far.

 

Steve

[cog]

I'd sooner say you've made it to apprentice

[mtaylor]

Beyond apprentice, Carl. At least journeyman and probably more like master.

[ESF]

To those who gave likes, thank you and thanks for stopping by.

 

Lou, sorry about the restaurant floor.  Those walkers are nasty on uneven and broken up surfaces.  Knee walkers are not much better, especially on salted winter parking lots which are plentiful around here.

 

Mark, thank you for the offer of an upgrade.  I was prepared to lobby Carl for Apprentice 2, but I’d gladly accept journeyman.  You folks are the masters and I've got a lot to learn from all of you.

 

Carl, would you grudgingly allow at least Apprentice 2 (I’m fearful of the feedback if I floated journeyman)?

 

Steve

 

Railings - apprentice 2 (pending)

 

A closer look at the railing in Mark’s circle showed it was more cockeyed than I thought, and the error was through no fault of sheer or any other apprentice excuse.  So I pulled the section apart.  When I re-bent it and set it plumb I discovered that the railing ends at the joining stanchion were way long.  I pried the joining stanchion off, cleaned up the ends, put on a new stanchion and trimmed the longies off.  The result is below.  The joining stanchions are not perfect because one end wants to sit proud of its mounting height when unglued.  CA should fix it when I do the final installation.

Still not sure about the railing extensions at the stairs.  They seem more trouble than they are worth.

[cog]

Steve, it has to be taken under consideration by the builders guild, and skipping grades is only done very rarely. Nowing the type of men, the journeyman is out of your grasp anyway, the leap is by far to steep, besides that last  redo killed any chance on that one, even apprenticeship may be a no go because of that. You would be back sweeping floors ... with or without (sweep?)walker

Edited May 17, 2019 by cog

[ESF]

Carl,

 

If sweeping is the measure I'm up there with the most experienced.  I loaded trucks at night for a college summer job and one "opportunity" during a slow shift was sweeping the entire indoor loading dock, about 10,000 square feet worth.  In another summer job I swept, stripped, scrubbed, waxed and polished all three floors of a junior high school, including corridors, stairs, classrooms and a 500 seat auditorium; aargh, aargh, aargh (nod to Tim Taylor the Toolman).

 

Respectfully submitted, 

Apprentice 1