HMS Vulture 1776 by Dan Vadas - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - 16-gun Swan-class sloop from TFFM plans

[Padeen]

Amazing job Danny ! And you actually make it sound easy... oh dear! 

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Mark, Brian, Janos, Druxey and Adeline.

 

Brian, I'll write a tutorial when I learn how to silver solder properly .

 

Janos - Birchwood Casey Brass Black.

 

Druxey, thanks for the new info about Yellow Ochre". Must try that soon.

 

One problem I had was transferring the heat in the right direction due to the round surface, another was the thickness of the pipe compared to the smaller pieces. My Micro Torch was inadequate for the job of soldering the two pieces of pipe together, and I had to resort to my "big" torch (see below) :

 

 

 

I kinda figured the big fella would have made a brass puddle out of the slides and handles rather rapidly   .

 

  Danny

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Dan,

 

very nice progress. It's allways a pleasure to read in your log.

[WackoWolf]

Danny,

 

    I also will be waiting for the tutorial. Keep the pictures coming. Love the work that you have done on such a beautiful ship.

[Alex M]

Incredible work, Danny! very fine gratings, and the Galley Cowl looks terrific! WOW!

 

Alex

[artitec3]

Just dropped by to see the development. And then my jaw dropped to the floor. Darn!

What a fountain of knowledge and craftsmanship you are.

[rdsaplala]

Beautiful work on the gratings and cowl, Danny

[lister]

Excellent work as always danny !

 

D  ve

[rwiederrich]

I am enjoiying your build.......and fine work indeed.

 

I use my hand held micro torch and flux core silver solder to do all my soldering......you did a good job for sure.

 

What agent did you use for blackening/pickling?  I use gun blue on all my copper and brass and it blackens it up nicely and in short order.

 

Great log.

 

Rob

[dgbot]

Nice work Danny.  However if you take a look silver solder comes in different temps dependind on the job.  If you go to Sante Fe Jewelry Supply and check out there website you will find them.  A jeweler will now and then use 2 different solders on the same piece.  Both are good just a few dgrees diffrence in melting point.  I have done hard soldering as well and I have found that after you solder a joint the melting temp has risen so you can solder close or next to it with out too much trouble.

David B

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks again Christian, Joe, Alex, Raphael, Aldo, Brian, Dave, Rob and David for your kind comments and words of advice .

 

Rob, I use a silver solder paste - medium melting point. For the blackening I used Birchwood Casey Brass Black which I bought from a gun store - similar stuff to the one you use I guess, but it doesn't work on copper unfortunately. It blackens it, but the black rubs straight off again .

 

David, I was aware of the different melting point grades of the solder paste. I only have the one at the moment (medium), it's not cheap (about $25.00 per tube but it goes a LOOONG way ) and I have to import it from the US - as I don't have a lot more multiple joint soldering to do on this model I'm holding off on getting any other grades for a while.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Breast Beams

 

The aftermost beam on the Forecastle and foremost beam on the Quarterdeck are known as Breast Beams. These are shaped differently to the other beams in that they have a rabbet to accept the ends of the deck planking and a molded spurnwater on the top edge. There is also a decorative molding beneath the outer edge:

 

 

The beam was originally made from heavier stock in one piece to add strength to the edges of the decks. I chose to make them from three pieces - a "normal" beam, the rabbeted top and the molding. When all glued together there is no difference apparent as the joints are hidden.

 

To cut the molding I filed a scraper from a square ended Xacto blade :

 

 

 

 

To attach the moldings I used a High Strength PVA glue named Rapi-Bond which I found recently. This stuff sets almost as fast as thick CA, and has a lot more bond strength than the Fullers Maxbond I've used to date :

 

 

Some pics of the moldings being fitted :

 

 

 

 

 

  Danny

the fore

[Jim Lad]

Nicely done, Danny.

 

Just how fast does that Rapi-Bond set, and is it chemically stable?

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks John,

 

It sets enough in about a minute or so to no longer need clamping, even on these pieces which I didn't bother soaking first to follow the deck roundup - in fact for a few other flat things I did earlier I just held my fingers on the piece for a few seconds instead of using clamps at all .

 

It's just a fast-setting PVA, so I guess it's as chemically stable as the normal stuff.

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Thanks for that, Danny!

 

John

[rdsaplala]

Splendid work on the breast beam, Danny, that is one very clean rabbet there, Sir, excellent joinery!

[Dan Vadas]

Gee, thanks very much everyone .

 

I'm stunned, especially by the wishes from guys and gals I haven't had much (if any) contact with on my build log. I didn't realize there were so many following it.

 

EDIT - Sorry to all who posted Birthday Greetings, but I've deleted them (about 3 pages worth   ) to free up a bit of room on my build log. No disrespect intended to anyone, and thanks again for the wishes.

 

  Danny

[WackoWolf]

Almost all of us have been following since the very first post. I know I have, and I have learn a great deal because of this build. So don't think for one minute that we have not been watching and learning from you.

[stevepax]

Amazing work, it is inspirational.  Thanks for sharing it with us all

[the learner]

The stove and vent pipe has turned out nice, well done. Druxley thanks for the information on the soldering and Dan Birthdays are a thing of the past, at some point you just don't want to have any more.

[popeye the sailor]

if anyone doesn't learn something from you.......then they're missing out!   I find it very hard,  to look at a build,  and not come away some idea or another.   I watched you builds since the day I came here Dan........I am totally convinced that I will NEVER aspire to your level.

 

your THAT good!

[Redbeard]

What hasn't been said about this build?...Impressive!

 

Not only envious of all your toys but mostly of your talent. 

 

Thanks for your time and effort in sharing.

 

John

Edited September 27, 2013 by Redbeard

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks again Joe, Brian, mhegazi, Sonofagun, Steve, Guy, Popeye and John - it's nice to have this kind of support .

 

Hi all,

 

Not much progress to report on Vulture lately. I've been busy for the last couple of weeks - I reconstructed my Build Log of the "Norfolk Sloop" which was lost in the Great Crash (there's a link to it in my signature below for those of you who didn't see it first time around).

 

Only thing to report is the fitting of a half-door and light in the forecastle bulkhead. These are conjectural on my part, as there aren't any details of them on any of the NMM plans or in TFFM either.

 

I've made the light swing upward for ventilation alongside the galley stove. The lower part of the door swings away from the stove to allow the anchor hawse to pass through the bulkhead when being winched in or out.

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Nicely done, Danny.  Why did you make the light swing upwards instead of sideways?

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Nicely done, Danny.  Why did you make the light swing upwards instead of sideways?

 

John

 

Thanks John.

 

It wouldn't have swung toward the stove - too close for comfort. If it swung the other way it would interfere with the door alongside, so the only way I could see it swinging was upward. That way it could be left open for ventilation without getting in the way of anything else. The lower part of the door would only have needed to be open when the anchor was being raised or lowered.

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Fair enough!

 

John

[rdsaplala]

Excellent conjecture Danny, makes perfect sense, beautiful work on the light and half doors too

[texxn5]

Hi Dan, I have just now discovered you log. Somehow I guess I never found it when scanning the site. I am totally fascinated at your skills and abilities. Quite a project and I'll be following it closely.

[aitch]

Hi, Danny. I see you've been busy in my absence, building like there's no tomorrow! AND got yourself promoted to Staff, well done.

Speak soon

aitch

[Pygothian]

I am speechless. Your work is absolutely amazing!

 

The attention to detail is phenomenal.

 

 

I will be watching in awe as this build progresses and could only dream of learning a few basics from you.