Cyclone-Class Destroyer 1902 by Valeriy V - scale 1:45 - Russian Imperial Navy

[Valeriy V]

47 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

Valeriy,

Aluminum torpedo boxes:  An interesting use for what was then a relatively new refined metal.  I don’t know about Europe but the first large scale Aluminum  reduction plant was only built in the USA in 1891; seven years after Charles Hall developed the basic process.  Was topside weight actually that much of a concern?

Roger

Yes, Roger! The problem of overload on these ships was big. Therefore, in every possible way they tried to lighten the structures.

[Valeriy V]

30 minutes ago, ERS Rich said:

Well, at least “observed” mundane shipboard tasks……😎

It is interesting that according to the staffing schedule, these ships only had 2 officers. It is possible that they are both shown in the photo. Although the midshipman could have been a guest.  

[Valeriy V]

17 minutes ago, amateur said:

Hi Valeriy,

what a beautiful work.

I have a question: your hatches show hinges on all dides, and  post #130 shows ‘unhinged’ hinges. Was it possible to choose the direction in which these hatches opened? And also: the parts between the hinges, are those to bolt down the hatches while at sea?

Jan

Hi Jan!
Yes, that’s exactly it, the hatches could open to 2 opposite sides. A bracket between the hinges to tighten the lid in stormy conditions. I'll install bolts there later to tighten it down.

[Valeriy V]

12 minutes ago, FlyingFish said:

You don't need that match any more - we believe you! Lovely soldering - and those parts are tiny!

Andy!

I'm already used to it and it will be difficult for me without it.   

[Dr PR]

Valeriy,

 

I seem to recall that after aluminum was discovered in 1825 the Czar of Russia had a helmet made of aluminum that contained almost all of the purified metal on Earth. Aluminum was valued at many times the cost of gold and the helmet was said to be one of the most valuable things on Earth!

 

At first small specimens cost about US$160 per pound, Then new techniques for separating the metal were discovered. In 1855 Aluminum cost US$90 per pound. Then in the late 1880s mass production of aluminum began and the cost dropped to US$2 per pound. Then the modern electrolytic separation method was developed in 1889 and the cost per pound dropped to US$0.20, and was cheap enough to use in ship building. The value went from the most valuable substance on Earth to a fraction of a dollar in a little over half a century. Now that is deflation!

Edited November 28, 2023 by Dr PR

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Dr PR said:

Then the modern electrolytic separation method was developed

 

Which required large quantities of cheap electricity, hence US production being centered in the Pacific Northwest where hydro power is king.

[wefalck]

In Europe it were Norway (NorskHydro) and Switzerland (Alusuisse) that had been the main initial producers, due to their hydropower capacities.

[Roger Pellett]

The point on top of the Washington Monument is a block of Aluminum, considered to be a semi-precious Metal when it was built.  The process of electrolytic refining was discovered and developed by Charles Hall in the 1880’s. He was a resident of Oberlin, Ohio and a student at Oberlin, College. He set up a lab in his parent’s woodshed using homemade wet cell batteries as a source of electricity. At the exact same time, a scientist in Europe discovered the same process.

 

Hall’s process was industrialized by forming a corporation in Pittsburgh, and a large scale production facility in nearby Kitkanning, PA.   Electricity was generated by newly developed Westinghouse steam turbines.  The Corporation became Alcoa.  Oberlin college’s large endowment is from donated Alcoa stock from Hall’s estate.

 

There are,  or at least used to be, several Aluminum plants on the West Virginia shore of the Ohio River downstream  from Pittsburgh.  Built there to take advantage of cheap electricity from coal fired mine mouth power plants.  

 

Roger.

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Roger Pellett

[druxey]

Fascinating history, gentlemen! Thank you for this.

[Dr PR]

I grew up in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and a few miles east of there is Bauxite, Arkansas. It is a very geologically interesting region with many different minerals in what was once the roots of an ancient mountain chain that has eroded flat by now. I have been told that for much of the early 1900s this was the only source of bauxite/aluminum in North America. We had three lakes and hydroelectric generating stations around Hot Springs to power the aluminum plants at Bauxite.

 

ALCOA and Reynolds both had aluminum mills there. When in high school I went to one of the plants for a meeting. It was about a mile square and extended many stories high. We drove into this machine for some distance and went to the meeting in a building embedded deep into the plant. It was quite an experience.

 

I think the bauxite has played out now, and only a series of huge craters remain, filled with water, with housing developments around them.

[gak1965]

20 hours ago, ccoyle said:

Which required large quantities of cheap electricity, hence US production being centered in the Pacific Northwest where hydro power is king.

And I seem to recall there is a large aluminum smelting operation in Iceland due to a combination of hydro and geothermal 

[Valeriy V]

The process of assembling a support for a torpedo tube.

[Mirabell61]

fantastic soldering Valeriy !

 

Nils

[KeithAug]

lovely

[NavyShooter]

Your brasswork and soldering is incredible. I love following your build progress!

[Valeriy V]

I continue the process of building a destroyer. The photo shows parts of the steering gear drive.

[Valeriy V]

And now I tried on their location on the hull of the destroyer.

[Rick310]

Incredible!

Rick

[wefalck]

Agreed, very well done!

 

Why was the chain on port doubled? I could imagine that it has to do with a mechanism to adjust the rudder midship and to tighten up the chain, but cannot work out its function ...

[Valeriy V]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

Why was the chain on port doubled? 

The steering wheel at the stern was a spare one, and the main one was in the wheelhouse, in the bow of the ship. This is where the steering rope goes along the side.

[wefalck]

👍🏻

[Dr PR]

Valeriy,

 

For give me if I have asked this question before, on one of your other builds. What soldering tools do you use? I think I have seen soldering irons of several sizes, but do you also use a resistance soldering station?

[FriedClams]

Fantastic work as always, Valeriy!

 

Gary

[Valeriy V]

10 hours ago, Dr PR said:

Valeriy,

 

For give me if I have asked this question before, on one of your other builds. What soldering tools do you use? I think I have seen soldering irons of several sizes, but do you also use a resistance soldering station?

Phil!
I use 30, 60, 80 and 100 watt soldering irons. I have a soldering station, but I rarely use it because I am not satisfied with the shape and quality of the heating element.

[Dr PR]

Valeriy,

 

Same here. The resistance soldering unit has carbon electrode tips that break if you blow on them hard, and the ends are very blunt. I have a 100 Watt soldering "gun" for large pieces, but I mostly used a small 42 Watt pencil tip iron. I have used it for everything from relatively large brass model parts to installing tiny flat-pack ICs with 0.5 mm lead spacing on circuit boards.

 

Speaking of soldering "irons," my father had a real soldering IRON! Actually, I think it was a large piece of copper, about 1 inch (25.4 mm) square cross section and at least 6 inches (152 mm) long, on the end of an iron rod with a wooden handle. He heated it with a torch or on our gas stove in the kitchen until it was glowing red hot. It was used to solder sheet metal for vent ducts and such. It dated from the 1930s or 1940s.

[rookie]

Valeriy

great to see you posting another project!

I missed this one completely…. For almost a year apparently 

 

fantastic metal work as usual

wonderful to watch

 

Colin

 

[Valeriy V]

Thank you all for your attention to my work!  

 

I added a few more details...

[Mirabell61]

good brass and soldering work Valeriy

 

Nils

[FlyingFish]

Very precise work Valeriy. It would be wonderful if, some day when you have time, you would write a tutorial on soldering and fabrication in metal. I'm sure it would be a best seller!

[Roger Pellett]

Great workmanship as usual Valeriy!