Various questions on making guns

[starlight]

Hello all,

 

I am currently building the guns for my kit-bashed Amati HMS Fly build. I ditched the guns that were provided and purchased turned brass barrels and laser cut carriage parts from Syren. In the process I have come up with a number of small (and probably dumb) questions that I'm hoping people can answer.

 

1. The resource I am referencing for brass blackening is @dvm27's excellent thread: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/21710-blackening-revisited/. One thing I noticed is that the gun barrels and trunnions are blackened separately before being assembled. Is it better to do it like this? Wouldn't this require the mating surfaces to be stripped back to bare brass before gluing/soldering?
2. Is there a good method for attaching the monogram and touch hole without leaving glue residue? I presume that this needs to be done after the barrels are blackened.
3. Will Wipe-On Poly work as a protective clear-coat for blackened brass?
4. Probably a matter of personal preference, but do you glue the back of the barrel to the quoin?
5. What are everyone's preferred methods of mounting the carriages to the deck?

 

Here's my build log, if anyone is curious: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/25783-hms-fly-by-starlight-victory-models-164/

 

 

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

 

-starlight

[Keith Black]

20 minutes ago, starlight said:

Will Wipe-On Poly work as a protective clear-coat for blackened brass?

 Yes it will, so will varnish. I use poly, some folks despise poly and prefer varnish. 

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, starlight said:

1. The resource I am referencing for brass blackening is @dvm27's excellent thread: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/21710-blackening-revisited/. One thing I noticed is that the gun barrels and trunnions are blackened separately before being assembled. Is it better to do it like this? Wouldn't this require the mating surfaces to be stripped back to bare brass before gluing/soldering?
2. Is there a good method for attaching the monogram and touch hole without leaving glue residue? I presume that this needs to be done after the barrels are blackened.
3. Will Wipe-On Poly work as a protective clear-coat for blackened brass?
4. Probably a matter of personal preference, but do you glue the back of the barrel to the quoin?
5. What are everyone's preferred methods of mounting the carriages to the deck?

I'll give it my best shot in order....

 

`1),  I've never had a problem not stripping off the blackening using CA.   Once mounted, there's no tension or stress and thus, no need to solder.

 

2)  Not sure myself as I haven't done any of those... yet.  

 

3) It should. Flat clear coat of anytype should work.  I've used flat varnish from Vallejo.

 

4) Yes, a spot of CA.  

 

5)  Depends.  Usually just a spot of glue on each wheel does it.  Some do put a toothpick or maybe some thin brass rod through the carriage into a hole in the deck.   Again, secure with either CA or epoxy.

[allanyed]

If you want to go with brass, Greg's tutorial is excellent!

 

In the past few years there have been great strides in at least one alternative.  If you prepare or otherwise acquire STL format drawings of cannon barrels, they can be made in black resin in perfect replications to the drawings with  trunnions and monogram included.  I sent the drawings to one printer and received excellent quality barrels for about $0.6 each, including postage.  If your model is older, (17th century) the trunnions are tapered so 3D printing takes care of this as part of the printing process the same as if they were cylindrical.   Assuming these are for your Fly, these would probably be Armstrong cannon which were later replaced with Blomefiled pattern guns.  Lots of ways these days to skin the proverbial cat.

Allan

 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

On my Pegasus build I secured the trunnions thro the brass barrels before blackening. I use a spot of ca.

Once blackened any ca overspill is clearly shown. This was scraped off and the blackening process repeated until satisfactory.

I also used a spot of ca to secure the monograms and vent, again clean up was required using a fine point scalpel blade before re- blackening.

If you’re using brush applied varnish a light touch is required to avoid marking the blackening.

I have never glued the barrels to the quoins, why would you.

With Pegasus and the guns fully rigged I pinned the guns to the deck, the most secure approach.

This is easier if the carriages can be temporarily positioned before the barrels are fitted, and the pin holes pre-drilled.

This is the arrangement I used.

With my current build the guns are simply secured using pva, but the built- in capping squares which means the barrels have to be fitted during the carriage assembly, makes the pinning approach more difficult.

 

B.E.

[starlight]

Thank you to everyone for your instructive comments. Like many things in this hobby, there are clearly multiple ways to do things. Still, I was worried about making some novice mistake (especially as I have no spares of the gun parts).

 

I am feeling much more reassured now and will be able to progress with my build.

 

-starlight

[wefalck]

I personally would soft-solder the trunnions into the barrels. Just pre-tin the trunnions a bit in the middle, sand down (if needed) to fit the them into the hole into which some flux has been dropped and heat up the barrel. Make sure to remove any excess solder that is visible, as it may impair the blackening process. The soldering will survive the wire-brushing, pickling and degreasing before the blackening better than CA.

 

Blackening must be protected with either lineseed oil (not recommended due to the long drying time) or a varnish. As the barrels would have been normally painted in black oil-paint, I would use a satin varnish. You can use this varnish also to cement on the pre-blackend coat-of-arms etc.

 

There are reputedly some blackening agents that also work on soldering tins. If you have one of those, you might also lightly solder on the coat-of-arms, assuming that it is a part photo-etched from brass.