Schooner Germania (Nova) by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - 1908 / 2011

[Keith Black]

Keith, they look great. I appreciate your exacting standards. 

[Bedford]

I have a question for the professor.

 

I would have made the fairlead slots by drilling a hole at each end to allow swarf to fall out and then milled the stock in between. Is there a reason you opted for the drill and cut method that I'm missing?

[FlyingFish]

Gobsmackingly, nay pearl-clutchingly good work. Must get a mill, but then I'd have no excuse.

[vaddoc]

Fantastic Keith. More of a jewel than a model!

[KeithAug]

On 4/29/2021 at 5:57 AM, Bedford said:

Is there a reason you opted for the drill and cut method that I'm missing?

Hi Steve - sorry about the delayed answer - I have been busy outside and catching up with friends and family - the simple answer is I didn't have a small enough mill. 

I might have done the cut method anyway as making 4 would have required a long slender mill with the possibility of deflection and breakage.

[KeithAug]

Tom, I have always called them turnbuckles, all my sailing friends call them the same except for those who only sail for the gin and rum. They don't seem to have very much sailing terminology!!!!!!

 

Pat, Keith, FlyingFish, Vaddoc - thank you for the comments - I must find time to catch up with your builds.

[wefalck]

In these weird days one always worries a bit in our age group, when someone if out of sight for while ... good to hear that there were good reasons for keeping away from us old sods ... (well actually my wife sometimes tells me that I have the mental age of a 16 year old - I take it as a compliment).

 

Of course, we are keen to see the next instalment.

Edited May 26, 2021 by wefalck

[KeithAug]

19 hours ago, wefalck said:

(well actually my wife sometimes tells me that I have the mental age of a 16 year old - I take it as a compliment)

Its a woman thing, they all seem to think we never grow up........ now where did I leave my clockwork train set?

[wefalck]

Talking about women, did you actually get the bowsprit netting done or did I miss this ?

[KeithAug]

For the past week the weather has been typically British as global warming has taken a few weeks off. The upside is that I ventured into the workshop.

Mental note - I must keep a better record of where I am up to.

 

I decided to make a start on the tripod outriggers for the jib stays. These are a complicated little job consisting of small brackets and thin struts. They have to be pretty accurate as dicrepancies easily show in the run of the stays. I decided to include a degree of adjustment to ease setting.

 

A couple of pictures show what I am trying to make.

 

 

 

I did a bit of sketching to sort out how I was going to make the various bits. To achieve the adjustment I decided to form the struts out of thin wall tube with wire  rod sliding in the bore.The tube was .048" OD x .040" ID.

 

 

I started with a .093" tube that would ultimately form the "C" shaped outer end and drilled this with 2  .040" cross holes to take the outrigger rods.

 

 

Into this tube I soldered the .040" rods.

 

 

I then formed the eye to take the outer end of the upper strut and soldered this on to the tube between the two rods. (Awful soldering, must do better).

 

 

 

The brackets started life a piece of brass sheet .125" thick. This was drilled along one edge with  .093" hole to take a brass tube.

 

 

The hole was then cut along the drill centreline to from a half circular channel into which the tube was soldered.

 

 

This was then cut off to the required height of the bracket before inverting it and cutting a square channel along the base.

 

 

I then cut the tube down to the length of the channel and glued this into a slot in a piece of wood. The slot depth was equal to the height of the bracket.

 

 

I then did a series of accurate cross cuts of different depths to form the lugs and to separate off the brackets. The slots were cut on the table saw.

 

 

I needed 6 brackets so made 8 - I sometimes learn from my mistakes.

 

 

The brackets were glued to the hull. The reason for the base channel can be seen, as 4 of the brackets fit over the rubbing strip. `The other 2 brackets fit flush to the hull so here the the "wings" were removed. 

 

 

I also manufactured a number of eyebolts by the previously described method, together with other U shaped brackets on mounting spigots.

 

 

I also needed a couple of off-set brackets for attaching the ends of the stays to the hull. These were also soldered to mounting spigots.

 

 

 

 

Finally I had a kit of parts (excluding the strut tubes). By this stage I had cut off the  outer end tube to from the "C".

 

 

All well and good you might think, but that would be incorrect. The angle of the struts proved to be wrong and the end "C" tube didn't sit properly against the run of the stay.  They will have to be remade, but at least I will be able to correct the bad solder job.

 

Edited May 27, 2021 by KeithAug

[KeithAug]

24 minutes ago, wefalck said:

Talking about women, did you actually get the bowsprit netting done or did I miss this

 

Eberhard - She did good. It is finished awaiting mounting - I will take a picture and post it.

[michael mott]

Hi Keith doing a bit of catching up myself. As much as I enjoy the pictures of the amazing brass-work, I also like the drawings and the way you sort out how to make these tiny pieces on paper with a pencil.

 

Michael 

[druxey]

Nice sketches as well as metalwork!

[BANYAN]

Ditto Druxey's comment; those sketches are just as impressive as you building skills.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Keith

 

I think your metalwork is getting even better, this batch is beautifully delicate.

 

PS I know them as whisker stays.

[FriedClams]

Nice update Keith and I'll be watching for further progress.  Good to hear you've been reconnecting with family and friends after the year long dumpster fire of 2020.  I hope we can all get back to something that feels like normal this year.  

 

Gary  

[KeithAug]

Well that was a long summer shipyard shut down. I sort of got distracted into reconnecting with family and friends and that together with a backlog of outdoor tasks kept me out of the workshop. While summer continues to hang on the days are starting to feel a bit autumnal and the winter building season has therefore opened.

 

I recommenced by sorting out the jib stay outriggers. I cut a card triangle to the plan shape of the outrigger and marked up the hull position using a laser level.

 

 

 

I transferred the outrigger shape to paper and used this to size the struts and get the angle correct.

 

 

The soldering job was a bit better than the last effort.

 

 

I glued the outrigger mounting brackets to the hull in the previously marked positions.

 

 

To get the outriggers mounted horizontally I made an end support from a piece of dowel.

I then sized the top arm of the tripod to maintain the correct angle of the outrigger.

 

 

 

The bracket which holds the aft end of the jib stay to the hull was then mounted.

 

 

Small pins were then turned to fasten the outriggers to the hull. To test the run of the stays I fixed a temporary line.

 

 

The net job was the dolphin striker. The stem was taper turned from .093" brass rod and this in turn was soldered to a short length of tube to take the lower jib stay. The upper end loop was bent from wire and inserted into an dial hole drilled in the stem.

 

 

 

The hoop was then attached to the hull mounted bracket (installed 2 years ago). How time flies.

 

 

I now need to catch up on all your progress during my absence.

[wefalck]

That looks all like rather complicated pieces of hardware - I hate these parts that stick out at oblique angles that can only be determined on the object itself - difficult enough in full-size and a challenge on a model. Well done !

[Keith Black]

 Keith, a warm welcome back. Your summer hiatus sure didn't affect your workmanship, as beautiful and well thought out as always. 

[FlyingFish]

Good to see the progress Keith. Always impressive, and the brass-work so neat; very inspiring!

[mtaylor]

Great to see you back and in the shop, Keith.  Looking super nice.

[BANYAN]

It's great to have you back Keith; missed your regular updates.  As Eberhard has said, your mastery of these technically challenging pieces is a delight to follow.  She is looking great!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

Reconnecting with people is a great thing to be doing, Keith, but from our point of view it's wonderful to see an update on your beautiful 'baby'.

 

John

[druxey]

Welcome back, Keith! Glad you had a good summer. Nice new detail work.

[Bedford]

Pleased to have you back Keith, I am still modelling vicariously through the likes of you and Hopefully Michael will be back in the shipyard soon. No idea when I'll find a place to set up again.

[Dr PR]

Kieth,

 

Your work, and the photos you post, are a modeler's eye candy! Beautiful research, design and implementation! One of these years I hope to achieve a similar level of perfection.

Edited September 23, 2021 by Dr PR

[KeithAug]

Thank you all for your comments and welcome, its good to be back among friends.

 

It would have been sensible in my last post to include the drawing - in this case taken directly from the small scale plans. Having something to work from makes getting the angles correct much easier.

 

 

 

I moved on to finishing turnbuckles as i need 3 for the bowsprit stays. Earlier (page 51) I had made the turnbuckles without completing the "U" shaped end.

 

 

I made the ends out of wire - each piece cut accurately to length using a jig.

 

 

The "U" shaped end was bent up by eye but i needed a jig to assist when soldering the "U" to the stem.

 

 

 

The "U" end holds the boss around which the stay passes, these were machined from plastic rod.

 

 

Followed by assembly.

 

 

Unfortunately this wasn't the end of the exercise. I installed one and broke it when tensioning the stay. The solder joint between the "U" and the stem failed so I am going to have to rethink this connection.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by KeithAug

[wefalck]

Was it only soft-soldered ? I gather the wooden jig would go up in flames, if you tried silver-soldering ...

[BANYAN]

A great method for making these Keith.  They look great.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Jim Lad]

beautiful bottlescrews, Keith.

 

John