HMS Unicorn by ianmajor - Corel - Scale 1:75, 1748 to 1771

[ianmajor]

Hamilton,

 

Hum - now lets have a think about that........perhaps I need to have something hanging in front of the grate area to hide the fact that I cheated by using a single piece for its rear.

 

Actually putting a cosmetic fire in the grate would be straightforward - would need one hidden wire to supply DC power, return could be by the metal frame. 

 

Mike,

 

Thanks for the like. Perhaps when you come to do your Unicorn stove you will be able  to avoid the cock ups and errors that I have made.

 

Over the next few days I will be out of contact with the WWW as I wander around the Herefordshire countryside in the rain. So I will be going very quiet  until at least Saturday.

Edited September 16, 2013 by ianmajor

[Ferit]

Hi Ian,

I just caught up...

Sorry about your loss of the friend...

...

...

 

The mini scratch stove was nice, is nicer now and sure, will be the nicest...

Edited September 20, 2013 by ashiponthehorizon

[j21896]

Hi Ian,

 

I just found your build log, and I hope you're not tired of hearing this, but that stove is absolutely amazing! Simply beautiful.

 

Cheers,

Robert

 

 

[ianmajor]

Ferit,

 

Thanks for the sympathy.

 

It looks like you had a good holiday. Your photographs are fabulous.

 

I had a few days away. It rained a lot so I had plenty of time to think about the next steps on the stove. I am baby sitting grandchildren tomorrow so my thoughts will have to wait until Saturday for action.

 

 

 

Robert,

 

Thanks for looking in and your encouraging words.

 

Actually your  HMS Mars log has been on my "follow" list for some time. I have been looking closely at your lovely elm tree pumps since they will be on my construction list soon.

[ianmajor]

The next item that decided to tackle was the larger pulley for the rotisserie. The stove replica on the Victory shews it as having four spokes. So an interesting session with miller and lathe was called for.

 

The final pulley is 3mm outside diameter. The materials that I used were some 3mm diameter thin walled brass tube for the rim and for the spokes and hub some 5mm diameter rod would be machined. The axle was to be 0.7mm N/S rod.

 

I tried to photo these parts as I made them but my camera is not up to items this small. I should have waited until my son was available with his better camera - but I was impatient to crack on.

 

First I chucked a 10cm length of the brass rod in the lathe and end drilled it 0.7mm. The end of the rod was faced with the tool stopping just short of the 0.7mm hole to leave a raised boss. Then I turned its diameter down to 3mm dia for 6mm length. Then I turned down 3mm length of the end of the rod so that the tube just fitted.

 

Next I tranferred the rod (still in the lathe chuck) to the indexing unit on the lathe. I then milled along the rod from the end. Between each spoke I milled the rod twice to shape the leading edge of each spoke and then the trailing edge. After each pass I rotated the indexing unit 90 degrees. I did all the leading edges first then the four trailling edges after.

 

This left the end of the rod shaped like a cross with a bossed hole in the centre.

 

The following poor photo attempts to illustrate this.

 

 

I cut a 6mm length of brass tube which I soldered on to the milled cross being careful not to fill in the gaps between the spokes with blobs of solder. This butted up against the 3mm lip. I took the rod out of the chuck to do this to avoid getting flux on it. A quick rinse in dilute caustic solder to neutralize the flux then back in to the chuck on the lathe. 

 

I had marked a jaw and the rod so that in lining up the marks up when back in the chuck concentricity would be maintained.

 

I turned the end of the tube back until it was level with the raised boss. This produced some swarf around the spokes that needed clearing out.

 

I parted off the wheel giving a flange width of 0.5mm and finally soldered the pulley on the end of some 0.7mm rod.

 

The next photo shews the 3mm diameter pulley at this stage along with the raw materials from which it was produced.

 

Edited September 21, 2013 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

My son then took some photos which cruely shew up the rough edges. 

 

The first is the pulley face on. You should be able to see the square edges around the boss produced by the two milling passes to produce each face of the spokes.

 

 

The second shews the new pulley resting on the tray awaiting the support brackets (complete with stray bit of dog hair).

 

 

 

Next up is bracket production which will require a dedicated session with the mill. Should be interesting. 

[Ferit]

Hi Ian,

Do you think to leave the title as HMS Unicorn by ianmajor... Or to change it to The Stove of HMS Unicorn by ianmajor?... 

Very detailed, fantastic scratch work...

[ianmajor]

Ferit,

 

Good point. I am half expecting someone to point out that the Unicorn actually had the older brick built stove and that this type of stove is not suitable.              

[texxn5]

Nice machine work. I hope to get a lathe ande mill some day...

[ianmajor]

John,

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

A lathe is a good starting point since as well as turning it is possible to do some milling activities as well.

[mtaylor]

Ian,

 

My apologies.  I'm just catching up and am saddened by the loss of your furry shop steward. 

 

The stove is an incredible bit of modeling.  Wow!!!!!!

[hamilton]

This just keeps getting more and more impressive!! Ian your work is a real inspiration

hamilton

[ianmajor]

Mark,

 

Thanks for your kind words. It is seeing the great work by others on this forum, including your Licorne, that encourages me to try harder with my efforts. I am a very average modeler so hopefully this log will allow others to see that a reasonably detailed brass stove can be produced fairly easily.

 

Thanks also for the sympathy. There is no one to moderate me in the workshop now when I rage at myself for doing stupid things - I fear I am now causing the paint to blister on the woodwork. 

 

Hamilton,

 

Thanks as ever for your kind words. Sorry I haven't got the taters and pheasant sorted out (yet?) but I am working on a kettle so at least we could have a nice English cup of tea.  

 

I look forward to seeing your "Crows feet" (no I am not trying to be offensive ) on your Blandford. Now that is a challenge at 1:100 scale.  Some of your latest photos flag up how small the detail is in that scale. Very impressive.

 

The rotisserie brackets for the stove are partially completed. The hooks on the front are done. Actually when I look at the detail on the stove, then look at the rest of the Unicorn I fear the I am breaking the model makers cardinal rule by not having a consistent level of detail throughout the model. Still - once it is installed under the fore deck probably nobody will see it!  Not to worry - it has been great fun to make.          

Edited September 23, 2013 by ianmajor

[Ferit]

You could almost cook some mini meats onboard after the stove would be done... 

[ianmajor]

Ferit,

 

For you - anything!    

[ianmajor]

Time to do the rotisserie brackets.

 

Examination of the plans and the pictures indicate that the brackets are actually "L" shaped when viewed from above. So I decided to replicate this. The advantage is that part of the brackets going down the side of the stove will be quite thin and the front of the brackets will be wider. This gives a nice thickness of material from which to make the hooks on which the rotisserie shaft sits.

 

So I started by cutting a 9mm wide strip of 1mm thick N/S. I cut this in two and soldered the two parts together so that I could cut the elevation shape of the two parts in one go.

 

A filed one long side so that it was straight, then filed one end square - this would be the top corner of the brackets. I put the work piece in the mill vice with the trued end horizontal. Then using a 1.5mm bit I cut 2mm deep slots at 2mm intervals. This left a set of five fingers 2mm long by 0.5mm wide. I then milled the left side of each of these fingers down to 0.2mm wide. In retrospect it would have been better to reduce them to 0.1mm but I chickened out. The next photo shews the machined part still in the mill vice.

 

 

 

I then transferred the workpiece to the bench vice and gently tweeked the fingers over. This is where their being 0.1mm would have made life easier - I could have got a better curve to them. I decided against anealing since I didn't want the two parts to move or seperate - I also didn't want to risk burning the little fingers with the blow torch.

 

My tweeking left a couple of fingers slightly higher then the others so I place a thick piece of brass across the ends of all the fingers and gave it a gentle top with a small hammer. This brought them all in to line. The next photo shews the result.

 

 

Next I marked out the piece to the final elevation shape and cut it out.

 

[ianmajor]

The two parts were now seperated and soldered, facing each other, on a piece of scrap brass. This was clamped on to the mill and each part was milled in to their final "L" cross section. 

 

 

I cut a 3mm wide strip of 0.1mm thick brass. Parts made from this were soldered on to the front and back of each bracket to represent the clamps that hold them to the stove. One of the brackets was fixed in place. The other was then held in place with a modified clothes peg. The lower pulley and its spindle were temporarily put in place and the second bracket adjusted so that the shaft and the grate bars were parallel.

 

 

Once all was parallel I soldered on the second bracket.

[ianmajor]

A couple of photos showing the brackets in place with the two pulleys temporarily fitted - the lifting rings need to be finished before permanently fixing these.

 

 

 

After looking at the above photos I decided the horizontal part of the brackets looked a bit fat. So I checked their measurements. They should be 1mm deep - I have somehow managed to miss the fact that I made them 1.25mm deep. 0.25mm doesn't sound much, but on this item it is a 25% error.   Sadly they are well soldered in place so it would be difficult to change them now.

 

Note to self - check your measurements more carefully as you work in future.  

 

   

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow Ian, this is incredible work.  Please tell me that this will be visible on your build  If not, it deserves it's own special display case!

[ZyXuz]

Ian,

this is one most detail model stove ever made!! you shd take part in World Genius Record!!!

brilliant work!!

[Ferit]

Hi Ian,

Sure there is no limit about your details... 

Are you thinking about some traces of some grease burnt on some parts?!... 

[Blue Ensign]

That is amazing work Ian, if I could  produce a stove like that, (in my dreams) I'm not sure I could bear to hide it away. I think I would have to display it outside of the model, and fit a less detailed version on the ship.

 

Great stuff

 

B.E.

[ucho]

this is fantastic   no words

[dafi]

Wonderful work! Thanks for showing the steps!!!

Love it :-)

 

Daniel

[WackoWolf]

Dam, that is Beautiful, love the detail. Keep the pictures coming.

[ianmajor]

Gosh guys - you are embarrassing me with your kind words. 

 

Mike, 

 

Well......it will be going under the fore deck, and if I add the panneling behind it that should be there............!

 

How is your lovely Badger doing? Are the girls letting to get in to the shipyard yet?

 

ZyXuz,

 

Your Racehorse puts my efforts in to the shade, and when you start your Unicorn I think I will hide mine. 

 

Ferit,

 

I haven't got any burnt grease on it, plenty of finger grease though, will that do? 

 

BE,

 

I am sure you could make a stove similar if not better than mine if you set your mind to it - going on your other work, such as Pegasus, that is. I keep refering back to your Pegasus log when working on my deck furniture. I will be consulting it even more frequently when I go up in to the masting and rigging.

 

I am starting to look at the chain pumps. I like the idea of having one with the cover off - so I have given thought on how to make the chain and wheel. That should probably send me finally around the bend!        

 

Ucho,

 

Thank you for your kind words. When I meet up with friends in MSW who come from the countries that were once Yugoslavia, it takes me back to the two years that I worked there. Our group were in such diverse places as Zadar, Zenica and Bor (and several others) - happy days. 

 

Daniel,

 

Thanks for looking in. Happy to show the steps. If I had three hands and a better camera I would show more! I am still looking at the fat brackets. I am about to go in to the workshop to try to produce some thinner ones. This may all end up in tears. 

 

Meanwhile Daniel, how about a nice etched brass kit for one of these stoves from you? It would go a treat.   

 

Hello Wacko,

 

I will try to keep the pictures coming - hopefully some better quality ones.   

Edited September 24, 2013 by ianmajor

[dafi]

Meanwhile Daniel, how about a nice etched brass kit for one of these stoves from you? It would go a treat.   

 

Never say no, but we would miss such gems like yours if etch would be available :-)

 

XXDAn

 

PS: Handles are available in all sizes in the train department. but with the usual flaw - they are flat ...

Edited September 24, 2013 by dafi

[j21896]

With that level of craftsmanship Ian, that stove really does need to be seen!  I am taking great comfort in the fact that the flue I made actually looks a lot like yours -- of course there is nothing below it on my build   

 

Cheers,

Robert

Edited September 24, 2013 by j21896

[ianmajor]

Never say no, but we would miss such gems like yours if etch would be available :-)

 

XXDAn

 

PS: Handles are available in all sizes in the train department. but with the usual flaw - they are flat ...

 

Dafi,

 

I could produce better results with etched components. As you say one of the problems with etched parts is they can be rather 2 dimensional. Also my experience of etched brass kits over the last 25 years is that they use only one or perhaps a few thicknesses of material (for very practical production reasons). So the best results are produced by a combination of etched and scratch built parts. Where the etched parts would star would be around the doors and strip work containing bolt detail on a stove.

 

 

Robert,

 

Perhaps our flues could wave to each other as they pass in the night! 

 

Actually the way this stove has a grip on me I suspect it has an evil spirit like the Picture of Dorian Gray. So, as with the picture, perhaps it is best if it does lurk in a dark corner somewhere.        

Edited September 24, 2013 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Well - the fat brackets started to bug me. So I decide to make a couple of slimmer replacements. ("Oh no - he is at it again" as my wife and daughter would say)

 

Rather than saw the parts out with piercing saw followed by filing (as previous) I used the milling machine throughout.

 

To enable the parts to be clamped to the miller's table I cut two pieces of 1mm thick N/S slightly longer than the finished items. I also cut another piece about three times as long. The three pieces were soldered together as a stack with their ends lined up. I made these pieces 10mm wide to give machining room. The long piece is sacrificial and is there to support the other parts as the are machined plus give extra length for clamping.

 

The stack was clamped to the milling table as close to square with the table as possible. The edges start off quite rough so I usually run my permanent marker along the edges so that when I file or mill I can tell when the hollows have completely gone. The next photo shows the three pieces clamped in place and the end marked ready for milling. (The side has already been done).

 

 

 

The first pass of the file/milling bit takes off the the high parts along with their colouring leaving the depressed areas still marked. In the next photo the red arrow indicates the coloured mark left after a milling pass due to a depressed area.

 

 

 

I then milled one side and one end square. Without moving the work piece I coated the top side with blue then marked the outline of the bracket. The next photo shows the markings, all made with the Jennys. The "fingers" will be milled from the nearest end of the work piece.