HM Brig Badger by captain_hook - Scale 1/48 - Modified from Caldercraft plans

[captain_hook]

After a longer break I have resumed the build. Next thing is to build front and rear axis of the cannons. I used a rather complicated and time-consuming method but it gave good results in the end. First I determined the diameter of the central axis the wheels will be attached on later, it is about 1,5 mm. So I cut a 1/16 square boxwood stripe segment (rather large for better handling) and glued two .5 mm thick segments on either side that will form the basic shape of the axis - 9 mm for the front axis and 9.8 mm for the rear one.
 

 

The parts are then cleaned and the length is reduced. 
 

 

With a needle file (triangular shape) a tiny groove is made just along the outside of the center pieces. This is to use the drawplate later without getting stuck. 
 

 

Then the axis are rounded up, just a little sanding for the basic shape. I made myself a sanding stick with sandpaper (120 and 240 on the opposing side) attached by double-adhesive tape close to the sides.

 

 

At last a selfmade drawplate from scrap is used to give the axis the round shape.

 

 

Just sand a little and then use each step on the drawplate to finalize the shape. The groove will enable to use the drawplate close to the center pieces without getting stuck.
 

 

Some final cleaning and you‘re done. Complicated but give nice results.
 

 

Now only the side covers are missing. After that I can finally build up all guns. 
 

 

 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2021 by captain_hook

[captain_hook]

Thank you all for the likes, The side covers have a complex shape and lot of holes for eyebolts and other stuff. I first made a template for both sides with Corel Draw and printed it on adhesive paper. The template was then glued onto a 1/16 inch boxwood sheet. 
 

 

Then I carefully pinned all template marks for holes with a prick and drilled the holes with a small hand drill. The sides were then cut out with a bandsaw and a disc sander was used to sand the pieces to shape. At last the final shape was done with needle files. 
 

 

I try to finalize a test cannon by the end of the week but there are still some parts missing. But here is a sneak preview ..

 

 

Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas

 

[captain_hook]

I have finished a prototype 4-pounder gun today - my first scratch-build carriage. It is not very accurate yet (I misaligned the etched line at first time so my gun has two lines and the just applied WOP give it a quite dirty look) but the goal was to prove the correct dimensions of the gun / the height of the gunports and to try some new techniques that will be used when all the guns are build later. The final carriages will be painted red but I decided to leave this one natural.

 

 

 

The chain for securing the iron bands is still missing and it will be added for the final design. If any company had sold 4-pounder gun carriages in quarter scale it would have saved me a lot of work. But I understand what scratch building is about. At least I have done all parts for the carriages, so building them won’t hopefully take too much time.

 

The good thing is that the test-gun fits the gunport - the barrel almost centers it.  

 

 

 

Now I can continue to work on the hull. Stay tuned and save.

 

Andreas 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2021 by captain_hook

[Edwardkenway]

Excellent work on the gun carriage, it looks superb 🙂

[barkeater]

Your carriage came out nice.