Germania Nova 1911 by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - replica of schooner Germania 1908

[BANYAN]

If you have a lot of room for improvement Keith, I am going to need an eternity to catch up   That is some very nice detailing.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

Hi Michael, thank you for your comments. I only ever part off on manual feed so doing it slowly was fairly easy. I find soft solder is remarkably strong for jobs of this type, it rarely seems to come apart during machining. I did however make sure the parting tool (which was only .025" wide) was very sharp.

 

Pat - I look at many models on this site with admiration, everyone seems to have something that they excel at.

 

And so to cutting the roof end mouldings. I checked the curvature against a set of radius templates that I downloaded from the web. The radius required turned out to be 22". I improvised a jig to cut this radius.

 

I started by cutting a piece of wood to be a snug fit in the end slot of the mill table.

 

 

Into this I inserted a steel peg.

 

 

A piece of MDF was then cut, one end with a hole to fit over the pivot pin and the other end with a "L" section cross piece onto which the mahogany stock was mounted. The distance between the pin and the centre of the cross piece was 22".

 

 

The mahogany was mounted with double sided tape and the curved beam was cut by progressively passing it backwards and forwards while feeding the end mill down. 

 

 

It didn't take long and the results were fine.

 

 

I used the previously made scraper to form the profile before glueing the ends to the roof.

 

 

 

The corners were then manually finished so the moulding shape wrapped around the corner. The cut out for the hatch was then removed and the hatch runners and side detail was then commenced.

 

 

The hatch planking was built on the roof to get the correct curvature. Sellotape was laid on the roof to facilitate this operation. 

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2020 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

Very clever radius cutting set up !

 

[michael mott]

A jury rigged giant rotary table! Clever.

 

Michael

[Kevin]

lol im not going to get that radius on my MF70 am i then, brilliant work

 

[KeithAug]

32 minutes ago, Kevin said:

im not going to get that radius on my MF70 am i

 

Hello Kevin. Thank you for the compliment. I guess you were jesting but I think you can do it on the MF70. Use 2x24" planks of MDF attach one to the table, hanging out over the end of the bed. Put the pivot at the off table end and then mount the top MDF plank on the pivot. Problem solving is such fun.

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, michael mott said:

A jury rigged giant rotary table! Clever.

 

Exactly so Michael.

 

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Very clever radius cutting set up !

Eberhard - Thank you, but its not something you are going to find very useful at your preferred build scale.

[wefalck]

It‘s the idea, not size that matters

[Retired guy]

My Dad long time ago said to me "try and learn something each day", well I just did, brilliant Keith 👍

[FriedClams]

You never disappoint Keith - in the creativity of the process, or in the beauty of the result.  Great stuff!

 

Gary  

[KeithAug]

Thank you Richard and Gary and thanks to everyone for the likes.

 

Well here we go again, shortly to be locked up for another month - good job we have a dog to get us out for woodland walks. 

 

The hatch was finished by creating a framed surround and then glueing it in place in the open position. I could have made it slide but the previous one (on Altair) quickly ceased up. It didn't therefore seem worthwhile.

 

 

 

The underside was then given a quick once over with wire wool before being masked and painted with 4 coats of white acrylic paint.

 

 

For no particular reason I then moved on to the "wings" on either side of the deckhouse.

 

 

 

The box structure are variously photographed with planked tops and with protected skylights. As previously I went with the skylight version.

 

Having made similar structures before I didn't need a very detailed sketch.

 

 

The port wing is longest at 2.9 inches wile the starboard structure is only 1.85" long. Both are .650" high by .710" wide.

 

As previous I started with oak cores.

 

 

 

These were clad with mahogany frames and panels.

 

 

 

The skylight frames were then made and glazed and brass strips were cut to take the protective bars.

 

 

The brass strips were drilled and mounted prior to installing the bars.

 

 

The bars were then installed.

 

 

 

Finally the planked section was made to cover the exposed section of the longer wing. I haven't glued the tops on yet - a job for tomorrow.

 

[Keith Black]

A steady progression of little beauties, Keith. Sweet work. 

[wefalck]

What else, but an eulogy would this deserve ...

[Jim Lad]

Still enjoying your delightful build immensely, Keith.

 

John

[Retired guy]

It has all blended in perfectly Keith well done 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[Guest]

Eu...................................................h...................................,             just plain beautiful !! 

[kees de mol]

I definitely understand why you build this ship. What a beauty! And your modelingskills are also very good.

[BANYAN]

Simply stunning work Keith, looks so realistic.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

Keith, Eberhard, John, Richard, Boris, Kees, Pat, thank you all for your kind comments.

 

Moving on, I next attempted the benches that sit over the life rafts. These benches disassemble and are variously shown in position or removed.

 

 

 

 

 

I will build the model with all 3 benches in place, I won't reproduce the cushions as the photographs only show these when the boat is at anchor or moored.

 

As usual I started with a sketch, scaled from the photographs. all 3 benches are of different lengths and I only needed to sketch the ends.

 

 

The only slightly complicated elements were the feet. These were profiled on the mill before being slit off.

 

 

All the other bits were cut out and the planked bench tops were made.

 

 

 

 

 

I glued the ends to joining planks using a couple of engineers blocks to keep things square.

 

 

 

Finally the tops were glued in place.

 

 

I now need to make the life rafts but that will be another day.

 

 

[wefalck]

To be honest, I find theses life-rafts an eyesore and so out of style ... destroys  the esthetic beauty of the rest ... 

[allanyed]

Love the use of engineering blocks to keep things square.   I don't recall seeing these before so I did some searching on line as they appear to be very useful.   I found too many choices to make a quick decision as they are certainly not inexpensive.   Any recommendations or suggestions based on your experience would be most welcome.

Thanks

Allan

[bruce d]

48 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Love the use of engineering blocks to keep things square. 

You may be able to get engineers parallels that suit your needs. For use as shown, there are quite a few things in a metalworkers workshop that have parallels sides such as slip gauges. and, perhaps most useful of all, square lathe tools like this:

 

Sacrilege perhaps, but I cut 'em down to one inch or less lengths to suit the gap. They come in different sizes.

 

The model is looking really good.

[wefalck]

These kinds of engineering squares or V-blocks come in various nominal (imperial) sizes, e.g. 1", 2", 3" inch edge length, and normally in matching pairs (meaning two of them have been ground together in a jig). The price depends on the 'class', i.e. the guaranteed flatness and parallelism. For our normal workshop needs the lowest class will do. I got two sets, that were made in India, I believe.

 

I wouldn't use slip gauges for this kind of setting up task, as their functioning depends on the perfection of the surface and on light film of grease that should not be removed to prevent corrosion.

 

I have been using round or square lathe tools for the purpose. Another option are Woodruff-keys that are available in many different cross-sections and lengths and are ground to close tolerance to fit into milled slots. They are mass product and not very expensive. I have a whole collection of them to be used in my small 1" machine vice.

[KeithAug]

17 hours ago, wefalck said:

I find theses life-rafts an eyesore and so out of style

Eberhard, I have to agree and even worse without the benches in place. At least they will add a bit of diversity to the build process.

 

5 hours ago, allanyed said:

Love the use of engineering blocks to keep things square.

Allan, I tend to buy things like this second hand from a local dealer. V blocks are handy but 1,2,3 blocks are probably more useful for this application (and a bit cheaper). see - https://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalogue/Workholding/Vee-Blocks-Angle-Plates/Stevensons-Metric-Blocks.

However if I hadn't had the V blocks handy I would have used lego or duplo blocks as they are accurate and cheap. 

[wefalck]

Thanks for the the link to the 1-2-3 blocks. I wasn't aware, that they come in such small sizes and metric and at a quite reasonable price. Have to get some of those ...

[allanyed]

Thanks for all the tips Keith.   Great information!!  Now that the grandkids have outgrown them, time to get some of those Legos back!

Allan

[KeithAug]

I have made a start on the life rafts - 4 in total.

 

I had a fairly decent photo to work from.

 

 

The cradle in which they sit isn't very well defined but as it won't be very visible when installed under the benches I don't think this is too much of a problem.

 

I did a rough sketch of the life raft and cradle. The rafts are 0.5" diameter by 1.1" long.

 

 

Most of my wood stock is recycled from one source or another so its suitability is generally a bit problematic. I chose a piece of dowel and turned the life rafts, including the strap grooves. The wood turned very nicely producing crisp edges on the grooves. Once turned the rafts were parted off turned round and finished. The left over wood was placed in my good tiber pile.

 

 

 

I then needed to accurately cut them in half to reproduce the opening flange.  I drilled a hole in the end of a piece of scrap wood to form a holding jig. I then pressed the raft into this before cutting down the centreline on the table saw.

 

 

 

I used a TCT blade with a .055" kerf as this was right for the .055" thick flange. I kept the halves in matched pairs although this wasn't really necessary.

 

 

I then machined and sanded a block from which to form the flange.

 

 

I then slit off .055" wide flanges before starting assembly.

 

 

I then diverted on to the cradles (fabricated from brass).

 

The circular segments of the cradle started life as a tube which was turned down to give the required wall thickness .020". The turning was done over a wooden spigot . I also bent up a bit of sheet to form the cradle base.

 

 

The two parts were then soldered together.

 

 

2  parallel rows of .025" diameter holes were then drilled to take eyes for the raft retaining straps.

 

 

Then the straps were parted off (.080") wide using a .020" wide parting tool. I made 10 although I only needed 8.

 

 

 

A segment was then cut out with the jewellers saw to form the opening. You can just about see the scribed cut line in the next photo.

 

 

 

I made a crude jig to hold the parts for soldering on the connecting straps.

 

 

Slots in the aluminium guarantee the correct spacing and the steel bar and elastic bands provide the clamping. The connecting straps are .015" thick and .080' wide. The eyes for attaching the straps were also soldered on at this stage.

 

 

The cradles were then cleaned ready for painting.

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2020 by KeithAug

[Bedford]

Always a lesson here Keith, beautifully done as usual.

[G.L.]

Again and an example of beautiful precision work!

[allanyed]

Keith,

 

I read your latest post several times as there are quite few lessons in there.  You really do  have a great gift for finding reasonable solutions for what seem like daunting problems for the rest of us.  

 

Allan