The Thomas Point Shoals lighthouse - BEST models- HO scale by Popeye

[popeye the sailor]

thank you Gary.......I'll be focusing more on this project since the B 17 is finished    glad you liked the other builds........the train was new territory.

[yvesvidal]

Beautiful Model Denis. I love these barnacles stuck to the piles....

 

Are you going to model some water and light waves, too?

 

Yves

[popeye the sailor]

hello Yves....thanks for look'in in and the kind comment.   I don't have any plan to mimic the water, but I do plan to add rocks around the pilings and some scenery green to represent seaweed growth.  I haven't done much due to the hectic prep for the holidays,  save for something I've had stuck in the back of my head for some time now........figured I'd let the beast out and breathe.  I hope to get back to doing something meaningful soon  

[popeye the sailor]

Hello Lawrence........and a belated happy holidays to you and your admiral as well!    I spent the day today taking down the tree and putting away the last bits of holiday cheer,  that the admiral hadn't done.  I also did a few odd jobs that I let go during the holidays.  I'll be getting back to the lighthouse soon.......as well as other projects that clutter my tables........yep........tables!  I'm usually not such a slouch,  but my moods are a bit variable of late.......the B 17 has really given me a run for my money.  I have two others on the roster.  wood envy has affected me as well......half done with the frame for another hull {news on that soon}.  so even though it looks like I've been off the radar,  I've been keeping myself busy.   top it off.......I got a new scroll saw!    the admiral wanted to hear how loud it was.......I've been runn'in the old one in the spare room.......it has a lot less noise.  for a test,  I tried to cut a circle freehand.........best darn circle I've ever been able to do!  the best thing is that it takes the 5 inch blades.......it'll save me a lot of time trying to find the 3 inch blades for the old one {I have the thicker ones...it's the thin ones that's a pain to find,  since Sears went out of business 'round here}.   thanks for look'in in........I hope to add more soon.

 

I hope every one had a great holiday season  

[popeye the sailor]

the old craftsman scroll saw was easy to change the blade.........there is a tab that you push down on to relieve the pressure.  it can be set in multiple positions.  I haven't tried to change the blade on the new one yet......gotta dull the first one out first      it does run quieter though....and a lot less vibration........the old one,  I could take it out for a walk!  I'll be putting it to good use soon  

[popeye the sailor]

time to start back on the light house.   I was going to put the two sections together for a shot,  but found that I didn't cement the walls to the upper part.  kind of a good thing,  'cuz the tabs weren't going into the bottom holes very well.  so I cemented the walls in place on the bottom section.  I'm still planning to trim down the center tube.......this way, all of the electrical parts can be inside the house {not sure where they are per the instructions}.  I bought a couple of red markers Jack.......I think this will remedy the dilemma of the tinted windows.

[Jack12477]

Denis, you are not that far from Portsmouth, which has a bunch of lighthouses you can tour, some by boat some by land. There is Isle of Shoals, Portsmouth Harbour, Whaleback, Boon Island, Cape Neddick, White Island, to name a few. I have visited these myself.  

 

Bookmark these 

 Maine open lighthouse day

Maine lighthouse museum.  

Edited January 16, 2020 by Jack12477

[popeye the sailor]

we've been wanting to trek up the coast line.......always seems to fizzle out when we get to Hampton.   I recall an invitation I got back when I was doing the Gundalow.  time being what they were,  I never made it out there.

 

been kinda bee-bopp'in around the projects today........spent some time with the light house.  I had the railing PE sitting on my desk,  along with the posts....tiny little wooden things.  now that the walls are cemented in place on the lower platform,  I felt it was time to get them in place,  before I lose them or something.   starting with the shortest segment,  to the right of the boat launch,  the end post was created and the post {only one} was added to the railing.  once it was assembled,  it was off to the paint booth to paint it black.  the second segment is a few sections longer...added three posts to it,  and it too was taken to the paint booth and painted black.

the first segment was dry by now and could be cemented into place.

the second segment will need the left side end post.  the third segment was made ready.......it needs five posts.

once these are painted and ready........I can put them in place.   got to run to the store..........Pffffffff!

 

[lmagna]

Boy! Those railings add a lot of pazzaz to the looks in short order, I want some 1:1 versions for the front porch of my house!

[Jack12477]

Looking good, Denis. 

[popeye the sailor]

thanks Lou and Jack........I got the second section in place.  just need to touch it up and paint the end post.  should have more to show tomorrow     thanks also to those who looked in!

[popeye the sailor]

well I'm a day late.......had to feed the camera....   it gave me a chance to touch up the second section of railings and install the last section.   here is the second section......the boat winch will sit in between the posts.

I haven't done any of the rocky stuff........I wanted to get the roof on before I did it.    the last section is in place.

the next things I thought should go on,  were the out house and shed roofs.

the boat winch is assembled........it need paint    more soon!

[Jim Lad]

G'day Popeye.  A long time since I've popped in here to catch up on what you're doing.  It's really looking first class.

 

John

[popeye the sailor]

hello John.....always a pleasure to see you {post}    finally I'm making some progress on this project.........and getting wood envy to get back to the Progress too      I have been dabbling in wood a little her and there, every time the itch gets too great.....I'll get there eventually.  I finally created a hull frame for those misfit parts I got a while ago.  so......oh yes,  I ain'ts done wit me ships yet 

...a certain plastic ship build is starting to wake up........progress posted soon  

[CapnMac82]

Question:  Are you planning for some sort of interior partition (say, of card) to prevent it being see-through?

 

In looking at other pile lighthouses, some of those photos seem to be very see-through; others less-so.  Architectural fashion of the day was to enclose every room, "open concept' would be years later. 

 

Could go either way and not really affect the build at all.

 

And naturally, the build is the thing.

[Jack12477]

Denis,  my wife's Harbour Lights Seven Foot Knoll Maryland lighthouse model. (Excuse the dust it's been sitting on a shelf for years).

 

[lmagna]

Doesn't look as much like dust as it looks like snow Jack.

[mtaylor]

Nice work, Jack. Let's call it snow.  Trying to wash the stuff off might make more problems than it solves.

[Jack12477]

Mark, Lou, these are not kits. They are resin (????) cast and come exactly as you see.  They are Collectibles.  When we were restoring our local lighhouse we started collecting them. The company that made them, Harbour Lights, went out of business after the founder/designer passed away. 

Edited January 20, 2020 by Jack12477

[popeye the sailor]

a few spritz of compressed air would spruce 'er up nicely     I leave the collectible stuff up to the admiral....the only things I collect are Budweiser memorabilia and models.  the screw pile looks to be quite rugged,  unlike what I've assembled here.  so far,  I had to re-cement a couple of the cables........I chalked it up to poor design of the attachment points.   I backed off on an idea to put a compartment under the main deck.......I would have had to reconfigure how all the cables were run.  would have been a good place for the circuit board.

 

that had crossed my mind Capnmac....I had also planned to add a light or two inside.  the post you see in the center may be removed,  since I now plan to have the circuit board inside.........I can run the wires up through the center,  wire it in,  and then send it up into the beacon.  I've adjusted the flash interval {may tweak it to be a bit faster},  but the wires are not coded,  so I'll need to test it again to see the proper way to wire it up {it doesn't have any paper work to indicate this}.  once I get the lighting in place,  I can better get a sense of where to go with it.

 

[popeye the sailor]

did you feel the earth shake?   I had to go back quite a ways to find this log........   I was cleaning the main table,  where these projects were languishing...it was getting really dusty.   I even found Gibb's hair on there!  a while back.......you pick the month....any guess is a good guess,  I had bought a couple of red marker pens...Jack had mentioned that three of the panes of glass was red colored.   well.......I finally tried it out,  and it worked great   the pictures are a little blurry {my current light issue},  but there ya go............

 

 

 

perhaps I can get back to this one soon.......before another year slips away   

[Jim Lad]

Nice to see the lighthouse is still there, Popeye! 

 

John

[Jack12477]

Nice job Denis

[popeye the sailor]

it's still on my 'to do' list....  after I cleaned up the main table,  I put the rest of the parts together instead of the way I left them.  I also found my package of small shrink tubes,  rather than use those caps they supply.   hope to put more progress on it soon.......it is to the point that I can put the light in it   

[popeye the sailor]

as I built the base for the lighthouse.......I had this feeling.   it showed it's head today..........routing the wires up the center tube will be impossible,  due to the ID being too small.  back when I built it,  I should have gone all the way with the brass tube I added.

 

it made me wish I had a drill bit that would go the entire length,  although in order to locate the circuit board inside the house,  I would have to cut some of the tube off after it passed through the floor.  the tube was cut off flush with the floor as a first step.   I do have drill bits,  that if I drill from the floor and from the base,  I should be able to hone out the length between the floor and the base.   I had to go through a couple different sizes,  but I was able to hone the tube out enough to rune the wires up the tube.    the wires running from the circuit board are smaller,  but the wires from the transformer itself are are a bit larger,  and those are the ones that need to be threaded through the tube......they are the reason why I made the groove from the tube,  to the outer edge of the base.  I'll have more on this later.......I'm toying with it as we speak    the admiral wants to go out....got to get Gibbs some food.  I hold little hope for anything else...... 

[lmagna]

If the tube is too small to hide the two wires inside then solder a wire on the outside top and bottom and run the other internally. that way the tube becomes one of the wires as it passes through the model framework. Another method could be to use self adhesive copper ribbon like they use in doll houses and glue it to the outside of the tube and then paint over it.

Edited February 5, 2021 by lmagna

[thibaultron]

but I was able to hone the tube out enough to rune the wires up the tube. 

 

Yes, a little magic always helps!😀

 

Sounds like one of the steps in Project Development. "Then a miracle occurs."

[popeye the sailor]

it isn't set up like that.........the brass tube only covers the plastic tube and doesn't enter the floor or base.  nice thought though     it's basically a support for when the deck was put on for the center.   it took a little bit of do'in,  but the ID of the plastic tube is now much larger.....large enough to pass the wires through.  the wires, when I knew I had enough sticking out inside,  it was twisted and flattened to fit in the groove.  it was then covered with duct tape.

I'll add another small piece to the edge later.  

it kind of gives you a sense of how thick the wires are.......the rest of the wires for this are much smaller

the transformer is small......the size of a charging unit........I've got some of the older ones.....they are much larger  {don't know why I still hang on to them........oh yea.......'cuz I'm a pack rat!}

so the circuit board was connected to the wires.......soldered......and then shrink wrapped

 

now that the plastic tube is gone,  I need to fit a holder in the roof for the light.......a smaller brass tube did the trick here

this brass tube would have been large enough for the transformer wires.  you can see how much room these wires have.  for excess sake,  these wires were shortened so they wouldn't bee seen in the windows.  I did have to drill the hole in the light steeple a tiny bit larger and left enough so the light is level with the glass.  I was going to paint the tube that stuck out,  but I got stupid and glued the glass dome on it.  I haven't glued the roof on......if I had thought of it....I could have soldered plugs on the ends,  in the event  that I need to open it up.......I still can really.  I haven't glued the roof on.

I tried to take a video with the camera......but it's poor quality.......shaky and blurry in part of it.  I'll try to get a good one so you can see the light working.       for now,  here are a couple to suffice  

 

 

yes Lou......the Krabbenkutter is still on the table......still need to add the boom vangs {I have part of them rigged.....does that count?}  the U.S.S. Arizona is still on the table too.......these are my next projects to finish.   got to get this table cleared......

[popeye the sailor]

you got that right Ron........I regret not following my hunches     instructions are like the internet.......it's always right.........isn't it?!?!?!?     but what the hey........it all came out right in the end.  more to come.........thanks for look'in in   

[popeye the sailor]

made a little more progress on the light house.  the two smoke stacks were painted and cemented into place,  as well as the light steeple roof and dome top { what else to call it..}.

 

 

there is a dingy......small boat that is cradled off the side.  I was looking at how it is rigged in place and didn't like it.  I decided to drill three holes in the boat for eye bolts......one at the bow and two at the stern.

taking some of the thin wire,  I made up some eye bolts........I may make some smaller.

thinking of really thin rope or truss cables......whatever for...I have just the thing....from an armature that came from the guts of a clock.  the one in the living room stopped working and I bought the new mech for it { a kit}.   we've had the clock since we were married....sentimental 'ole fool that I am  

I got carried away with two other projects,  bit I managed to paint the wind director.

more to add soon