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

[BANYAN]

Another masterclass in metal working, thanks Keith.  This model will be one that stands u to even the most 'macro' of examinations without fault.

 

Happy New Year.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[michael mott]

Nice work on the booms Keith, I note the clever use of the collet block to ensure the correct right angle orientations, I will file that away for future reference.

 

Glad you had a safe holiday season.

 

Michael 

[KeithAug]

thank you Steve, Keith, Pat and Micheal.

 

I decided to make the boom  track and runners next. I didn't have a lot of detail of the sliders and because of the number (circa 70) I decided to repeat what I did on my Altair build. The track was the rail from OO gauge model railway. The booms were slotted on the mill to take the base of the track and the track was glad in place with CA.

 

The runners were machined from a 1/8" x .5" brass bar. This was first drilled with 2 holes, the larger being 3/32" and the smaller bine 1/16"

 

 

A .040" slot was cut into the smaller hole using the table saw. I made a jig to hold the brass bar for the slotting operation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ends were then cut off on the centre line of the larger hole.

 

 

Then a 3/32 brass tube was soldered in the semi-circular hole.

 

Another small jig was made to aid accurate slicing off of the runners.

 

 

 

 

With that little exercise complete it was back to more mast and boom work. I think I am going to short circuit some of the detail and only focus on the major bits.

 

 

[KeithAug]

 

Some time ago a post prompted a degree of speculation about some electrical boxes at the base of the main and fore masts. The speculation prompted their inclusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[wefalck]

That's a really clever idea to solder a brass tube into a halfround groove in order to avoid having to shape the somewhat complicated outside profile. In my simple mind I would have attempted to do this with a half-round end-mill ...

[druxey]

Brilliant, as always!

[michael mott]

Wot he said!

 

Michael

[FlyingFish]

Masterful!

[Keith Black]

 Keith, absolutely top notch workmanship. I bet your former employer rued the day you retired. 

 

 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Keith Black

[Jim Lad]

I wish you'd start another model, Keith; I think I've run out of superlatives for this one! 

 

John

[Keith Black]

2 minutes ago, Jim Lad said:

I've run out of superlatives for this one! 

Amen!

[FriedClams]

Just catching up Keith - splendid work yet again.

 

Gary

[BANYAN]

Impressive!!!! - what else is left to say.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[KeithAug]

Thank you all for your kind comments.

 

22 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I bet your former employer rued the day you retired. 

 

I'm not sure they were very interested in my boat building skills Keith.

 

Today I did a bit of assembly - feels more like progress than many tasks.

 

I thought I would start with a photo of the main mast taken several weeks ago - just to give some idea of scale. I think I am going to need to start a negotiation with my better half on Germania's final display location.

 

 

The main mast cross trees started out little bare.

 

 

But soon acquired a pair of deck flood lights.

 

 

Then the various electronic appendages started to appear together with the ships horn.

 

 

I needed 6 aerials - made from wire and bar - a simple bit of turning.

 

 

 

A quick coat of paint and they were then glued into holes previously drilled in the cross trees. I also added the cables which support the top mast. I left the radar off for the time being.

 

 

I then move to the foremast - which was somewhat simpler.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by KeithAug

[Keith Black]

4 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I'm not sure they were very interested in my boat building skills Keith.

 

LOL!........ I'm pretty sure your machine skills and maybe more importantly your ability to see the 'how to' made you one of their more valuable employees.  

 

The mast are gorgeous, spot on replication. 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by Keith Black

[KeithAug]

13 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

LOL!........ I'm pretty sure your machine skills and maybe more importantly your ability to see the 'how to' made you one of their more valuable employees.  

 

 

Keith - I finished my machine training when I was 17 and although i worked in engineering roles throughout my career I was never required to cut metal again in anger throughout my working life. I only started machining again when I retired. It's amazing what you remember over the period of 43 years (between the age of 17 and 60). 

[Keith Black]

 Keith, that's amazing. Because of your lathe work I thought that you were in and out of a shop your whole working career. I knew you were in engineering as well but I thought is was part and parcel. Kinda goofy me thinking that now that I stop and think about it.  

[Valeriy V]

Keith, the build looks great!

It is with pleasure that I continue to observe the excellent work. 

[victory78]

very nice metalwork, Keith

[shipmodel]

Keith - 

 

I double all the compliments and accolades.  

Top of the tree for imagination and execution.

 

As for the final resting place of the model, it certainly deserves to be in a museum.

I hope there is one which would value her.

 

Bravo !

 

Dan

[druxey]

Your latest photographs made me smile. Just beautiful work, Keith.

[michael mott]

Kieth it is such a joy to see such fine work. The Mahogany and Brass, well I am assuming it is Mahogany from the texture and colour, Seem to embody a level of craftsmanship that transports one back to a gentler time.

 

Michael

[FlyingFish]

14 hours ago, KeithAug said:

I think I am going to need to start a negotiation with my better half on Germania's final display location

'..You're gonna need a bigger house!'

[KeithAug]

8 hours ago, FlyingFish said:

You're gonna need a bigger house!'

  Fortunately not quite on the scale of TEV Wahine.🙂

[KeithAug]

On 1/17/2022 at 5:37 AM, michael mott said:

I am assuming it is Mahogany

 Yes Micheal. I am still working my ay through a 1930's mahogany dining table, picked up for a song at the local auctioneers. "Brown" furniture is really out of fashion here and much of it ends up in the skip. Cutting up a quality table seems a crime but at least I rescued it from oblivion. Old mahogany is vastly better than the modern stuff.

 

Thank you to everyone for your continuing support and comments.

Edited January 18, 2022 by KeithAug

[KeithAug]

A bit of sorting out loose ends before getting back to the masts and spars.

 

The screw and the rudder have been sat in my bits box for over 2 years and now seemed to be an appropriate time to fit them.

 

The bore for the screw had been pre drilled and it was a simple case of insertion and gluing in place. Holes for the hinge mounting spigots had also been predrilled and these were inserted and glued in position.

 

 

The rudder shaft was a piece of 1/16" brass rod. Fortunately, by either luck or judgement, it slid into place without interfering with the screw. As can be seen the shaft locates in the 4 hinges and a hole in the hull and keel. Satisfyingly the alignment was spot on.

 

 

To mount the rudder the shaft needed to be in 2 pieces ( a gap being required at the screw cut out).

 

 

The upper shaft had to be inserted through the lower part of the rudder.

 

 

Some time back one of you pointed out that I had omitted the cross brace below the on deck dining table. Quite a serious omission as its main use is to brace the crew who are sitting and drinking gin while close hauled. I had looked at retrofitting it some time ago but getting it located and glued in place had proved somewhat fiddly, so I left it for later. Today was "later".

After some head scratching i decided to fix the brace to the end of a piece of scrap wood with double sided tape. The correct height been set with a couple of shims.

 

 

With this set up the brace was moved into position and glued with CA.

 

 

Once the glue was dry the scrap wood was eased away breaking the double sided tape bond. The crew can now drink their gin in comfort in the knowledge that they are no longer rudderless.

 

[wefalck]

Good to see that the crew will not slip under the table - at least not from the heeling of the boat ...

[Valeriy V]

Keith , is the rudder blade on a real yacht made of wood or metal with a wood top?

 

Very neat and clean work! 

[KeithAug]

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

Good to see that the crew will not slip under the table

 

One has to get the priorities right.

 

1 hour ago, Valeriy V said:

is the rudder blade on a real yacht made of wood or metal

 

Valeriy, Germania has a steel hull and rudder. the original Germania was built for the German steel and armaments magnate Krupp. Early on in my build log a lot of discussion took place on whether to paint the entire hull or leave the wood finish. In the end I couldn't live with painting over the mahogany and compromised on the wood finish.

[Valeriy V]

Thanks Keith.

So I missed this conversation.   Undoubtedly, mahogany looks much more attractive on the hull of the yacht.