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

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

The living room decorating is nearly complete so I have now got more modeling time and more space to do large modeling work. 

 

In the meantime I have been working on a ship's stove which is well on the way to completion. I am afraid I am a coward when it comes to publishing progress on my sub projects. I admire the guys who show progress. I don't have the nerve - if the work goes well I show the completed sub-project - if it doesn't go well I put on my best innocent looking face and pretend it didn't happen.   

 

Once the stove is finished the surgery will begin.

 

Going back to the whole ship - I am trying to determine how the running rigging was tied off. The kit (and the Petersson book which relates to a late 18th c ship) show it being tied off at pins on rails. From the contemporary models with open bulwarks (which is how I intend to go) the running rigging appears to be tied off on the bulwark top rail. This will affect the deck furniture so I need to decide on that fairly soon. The answer probably lies in Lee's book. I need to lay my hands on a copy.    

Edited June 29, 2013 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

We're all friends here - show us the progress if you'd like  Congrats on wrapping up the living room - I've had many similar orders from the Admiral in recent years that have interrupted my build

 

Good question on the tie-offs.  I don't have as much knowledge to rigging yet, as I'm just finishing the standing rigging on the Badger.  I did get the Lees book too (a used copy off of Abebooks like I mentioned on the other thread for a relatively low amount).  It's a fairly detailed tome of information if I remember correctly but seemed like it would be very useful.

[ianmajor]

Um...OK.....here goes...  

 

Before opening up the waist area of the ship I decided to construct a ship's stove. This was for various reasons. I wanted to have something to put in to the newly created hole as soon as possible, plus the flue of the stove requires a hole cut in the foredeck. I will cut this at the same time as the main modification but need the stove to confirm its position.

 

I was not sure what type of stove the Unicorn would have had at this time. During this period there was a change from brick hearths to iron stoves. The Admiralty were apparently keen on the new iron stoves since they put less strain on the ship's frame, particularly on smaller vessels. The well known Brodie stove was granted a patent on 3rd April 1781 - some 33 years after the Unicorn was built. However all the opinion I have seen takes the view that the patent was for a design that had been around for some time albeit with (ill defined) modifications. See for example http://www.uwf.edu/fpan/mardigras/artifacts/brodie/ which includes a nice line drawing of a stove (drawing from NMM collection).

 

So I opted for the iron stove.

 

My design was based on a combination of Rex Boocock's plans at 

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/furniture/stove.PDF with (as usual) input from Chuck's Winchelsea.

 

As a matter of interest the detail of the patent request can be seen at

http://www.uwf.edu/fpan/mardigras/artifacts/brodie/documents/brodie_patent_transcription.pdf .

 

If you skip to page 2 and start at the last 4 lines you will find a description of the stove's design.

 

This states (amongst other things) that:

- its plates were bolted together for ease of replacement in case of damage by shot
- that it had a "ventilator for carrying off foul air in a funnell..about six inches in diameter, (which) is fixed under the slope which conveys the fire round the boilers. The said funnell goes through the ship, or where the sick people are kept."
- that the "funnell of the ships hearth ....is made with one, two , or more flys, with a worm wheels or pinions, and may be used for pumping of water, or extracting foul air, as well as turning the spit."

 

English spelling and grammar was formally defined in the 19th century so the text in these old documents can look odd to our latter day eyes.

 

So on to construction....

Edited June 30, 2013 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Most of the material for the model is nickel silver. I used 0.4mm sheet for the platework and 0.25mm sheet for detail, plus 0.5mm and 0.75mm diameter N/S wire.

 

The photo shows the 0.4mm sheet ready for marking out. I have stopped using engineer's blue to coat the metal. Instead I use a permanent marker pen to give the blue area shown on the N/S sheet in the photo. I did virtually all the marking out with the Jennys (odd leg calipers) which are sat on the sheet in the

photo.

 

Photo 1)

 

 

On this model the ends go between the sides so it is important that all the pieces that go across the stove are the same width. So first I cut a strip of N/S to that width and long enough to make all the parts.

 

First step was to make sure the edge of the sheet N/S was straight. I put the big file (broad face up) horizontally in the vice. Then I drew the edge of the sheet held vertically along the file until the edge was straight. You can check this by drawing the marker pen along the edge then do the filing. If all the blue is filed off then the edge is good. If blue patches are left behind then there are dips in the edge.

 

Next I set the Jennys to the width of the oven (less the thickness of the sides) then running the non pointed leg along the edge of the sheet I scribed a line parallel to the edge. Using a piercing saw with a 4/0 blade I cut out the strip for the cross pieces, tidying the cut edge to size with the big file.

 

Next using the engineer's square and file I made one end of the strip square. The Jennys were set to the height of the first piece. They were then drawn along the squared end. This part was cut off, tidied, the strip re-squared, then the next part was marked off .... and so on.

 

I used a similar approach to produce two side pieces, but in this case the width of the strip was the same as the height of the sides. Both sides were cut equal lengths but slightly long at this stage.

 

The two sides were soldered together one on top of the other. A third piece with a rectangular hole in one corner was solder over the side pieces with a 1mm overlap at the bottom and slightly greater overlap on the "grate" edge (see Photo 2). This latter part will become the middle spacer of the grill.

 

The overlapping parts were then drilled 0.5mm to take the grate bars.

 

Photo 2)

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

The excess on the top piece was cut off and the side pieces were filed to the correct length. This resulted in two side pieces and one small "L" shaped piece still solder together.

 

Photo 3)

 

 

The parts were then separated.

 

Photo 4)

 

 

You may notice that the photos of the parts are posed on my wooden peg and that I have cut little slots in to it. These cuts are actually deliberate. I use them to cut very small parts and also the stop the blade wandering from side to side when starting a cut on the edge of some sheet.

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

I find it easier to attach some detail whilst the parts are flat. In this case I added the small doors on to the sides.

 

I made all the doors from 0.25mm sheet N/S. They were all the same width so again I produced a strip of N/S to this width then cut the individual doors from it. The hinges and latches were made from 0.5mm N/N wire. These I attached to each door before separating it from the strip - it made it a lot easier to hold. I then ran a smooth file over the hinges and latch to make them flat.

 

The completed doors were then soldered to the sides. The hinge/latch detail is a bit crude and cries out for etched brass overlays.

 

Photo 5 shows (from left to right) The three parts to make the boiler end, the two sides with the middle spacer, the hearth end which includes the rear of the hood. 

 

Photo 5)

 

 

Time to start soldering. Because no parts will come under any strain I am happily using soft solder. I have soft solders that melt just above 100 degrees C up to 230 degrees C for which my iron has plenty of grunt. I use liquid (acid) fluxes. I also have silver solders and a variety of blow torches for the heavy jobs.

 

I soldered the cross pieces to one side. Purists say that you should fix one end to one side, fix the other end to the other side then bring the two assemblies together - but hey ho.

 

Photo 6)

 

 

Photo 7)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Next up was to solder the other side in place and create the hood.

 

The rear of the hood was already in place but pointed backwards at too great an angle. So using the piercing saw I cut a grove along its rear face immediately above the sides. This allowed me to bend it cleanly upwards to the right angle.

 

The front of the hood was cut from the strip used to make the cross pieces above.

 

From the rear of the hood I measured the height for the hood side pieces, produced strip to this size and cut off two over length pieces. The hood sides were then soldered to the hood rear and the hood front soldered between them. This left the hood sides overlapping the front. It was simple job to file them back to the correct size.

 

Photo 8)

 

 

Next came the grate. I threaded 5 lengths of 0.5mm and 2 lengths of 0.75mm N/S rod though the stove sides - not forgetting the middle spacer. The rods were soldered in place on the outside of both sides. The middle spacer was then carefully positioned centrally and squarely. This part only needed flux applied, no extra solder, before the iron was touched on it. The solder still on its surface from the earlier stage flowed in to all the joints - leaving firmly in place and tidy. Photo 9 shows it before I trimmed the excess rod off.

 

Photo 9)

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Before the boiler top is fixed on I can still access the inside of the stove. So I have made 2 cocks which will be soldered in place from the inside of the end plates.

 

I have made some cocks from 3mm diameter brass rod, these were end drilled 0.5mm, then turned to the profile in the photo. They were also cross drilled to take wire handles. However I am not happy with these. Looking at photos of the replica stove on Victory the spouts should be longer and tapered. The left hand cock in the photo has also got an off centre hole. So I will replace these.

 

Photo 10)

 

 

I will soon be fixing legs on the stove. These will be made long so that they can fit in to holes in the brick base. I need to complete the brick base first so that I can determine how long the feet need to be. That is the current job in hand.

 

Time to go back to the work bench.       

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow Ian, very nice work!  Authentic too - I know folks build these out of wood or paper then paint with metallic paint, but this is absolutely fantastic.

[ianmajor]

Thanks Mike,

 

I am better with metal than wood. When I was in the first year of secondary school we had woodwork lessons. My woodwork teacher was married to my Father's cousin. ("There's distinction" as my Welsh friends would say). In one lesson my teacher said in a loud voice that "No one so bad at woodwork could possibly be a relative of his wife". From year 2 on I did Latin instead. I wasn't very good at that either!  Maths, Physics and Chemistry were my thing.   

[mtaylor]

Beautiful metalwork, Ian.  What you're posting is a tutorial unto itself.   Thanks!

[ZyXuz]

awesome metal work at such scale! 

and thanks for sharing the way to make it!

[ianmajor]

Mark, Janos and ZyXuz,

 

Thanks for your kind words. I think metal work of this sort is quite easy, especially when assembled with soft solder and an iron (OK as long as you are not trying to make something stressed like a live steam boiler). I find getting good results in wood much more challenging. Glues and paints - well they are just a black art to me!     

[Dida]

Beautiful build, Ian. It is nice to see so much details.

[ianmajor]

Hrvoje,

 

Thank you for your kind words. Having seen your build, to have a compliment about my detail is praise in deed.

 

You may be interested in the fact that my Unicorn's keel was laid whilst I lived in Belgrade but all the hull planking was done whilst I lived in Zagreb - which of course is in Croatia. My Unicorn is well travelled!

Edited July 2, 2013 by ianmajor

[hamilton]

Incredible! Such fine detail - it'll be a great addition to the model!

hamilton

[Ferit]

Hello Ian,

Metal scratch work!... So detailed and clean!...

I take off my hat...

[ianmajor]

Hamilton and Kutlu thank you for your kind words - and a "like" from BE as well. I am flattered and slightly embarrassed because my modeling efforts will never produce the great results that you guys do.

 

Once the stove is complete it will be installed under the fore deck where it will be well hidden. Oh well - it is a fun little sub project to do.

[ianmajor]

Some progress on the Brodie stove.

 

Photo 1 shows the completed base. The brick pattern was produced using an old "Linka" set. The set consists of rubber molds and a powder similar to plaster  of Paris. Top right in the picture is a white block of brick produced in a mold. I needed two of these to make the base. Where they joined left some small holes which will be covered by the drip tray when everything is finished. I painted the brick block over all dark grey. When this was dry I dry brushed the bricks with red bauxite colour. If this is done carefully it leaves the "mortar" between the bricks a grey colour.

 

The base was completed with a walnut surround attached with PVA glue.

 

A quicky was the drip tray which appears in the bottom left of the picture. I was feeling lazy so I used a piece of brass channel (top left). This was the right width but slightly too deep. The ends were over size pieces of 0.4mm brass. I soldered these on the ends then filed them down to size. Finally I filed the whole tray down to the correct height.

 

The down side of using channel is that it has rounded edges - some careful filing can disguise this. 

 

Photo 1

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

I was not happy with the hood front so I took it and the left side off. The next photo shows the replacement side in place. I cut it the right height, plus the rear edge was cut to the correct size, but the front was left over long for now. This was fitted. The replacement hood front is lying in front of the stove.

 

 

I actually had difficulty fitting the new front so I produced a new one with a large tab on the top. When soldering it in place I gripped it using locking tweezers on the tab which allowed the part to be pulled in to position.

 

The tab and the excess on the left side was filed off.

 

To finish the hood body I added a plate on top which has a slight overhang to represent the flange between the hood and the flue (to be constructed). When the stove is installed the main part of the stove will be go in through the waist area. The flue will have to be installed separately down through the foredeck. To help align the flue I have fitted a small length of brass rod on top of the hood.

 

I also decided to model the hood in the open position. The hinges were short lengths of 1mm x 0.7mm strip. They were soldered to the lid part first, bent to shape then the whole unit was soldered to the hood front.

 

The various plans and pictures show the lid either being held up by a latch or a length of small link chain. A reasonable representation of small link chain can be made using two pieces of fine wire twisted together. The more it is twisted the smaller is the simulated link size. I used some core wires from instrument wire. I took a length bent it in two then trapped the cut ends in the vice. I put a small drill bit through the loop end. Then using the bit as a wrench carefully twisted the wire. This makes the two wires wrap around each other. If you grab the end with pliers and twist, one part of the wire tends to remain straight whilst the other wraps around it. This latter approach does not give the desired effect.    

 

 

In hind sight, soldering these hood parts together would have been easier if I had left the fire grills off until after this point. This would have allowed it all to be soldered from underneath.

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Moving to the rear of the stove I made up two new cocks. These were turned in the lathe:

 

 

The turnings were cross drilled and fitted with 0.3mm wire handles. These cocks were then fitted to the stove.

 

 

Next up are the stove legs. I have 1mm angle brass milled ready for this. I am experimenting with embossing them with cosmetic rivets to see if they are worthwhile.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

In the meantime I thought you might be interested in another valuable tool for modelers.

 

 

Yes it is a bottle opener which was forged for me by my youngest son James. You may notice that it has a sort of wood grain effect. This because it is made from a latter day form of Damascus steel. If you were to try to cut it with a hacksaw you would mark the surface then the hacksaw blade would lose its teeth.

 

I believe the original Damascus steel came from India and was used for the finest swords and gave the blades the beautiful patterns that showed as they were turned in sunlight. 18th century officers probably had swords with blades made with this type of steel which had the strength of tool steel and the flexibility of mild steel. Apparently its production ceased about the time this Unicorn was built and the knowledge on how to produce it was lost. Some blacksmiths around the world are trying to rediscover/reinvent the original method.

 

In the meantime the latterday method is to take alternating pieces of tool steel and mild steel and fire weld them together. The resultant billet is then hammered thinner then folded over. The folded parts are fire welded together, hammered thin, folded and so on. This is done about 200 times - the more times the finer the "grain".

 

The photo shows my son (complete with watcher) firewelding a billet of Damascus steel having just folded it over. My bottle opener was one of the items forged from this billet.

 

 

As you probably guess, if I have any metal work queries, my son is the person from whom I seek advice.

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[mtaylor]

Impressive stove work, Ian.  Looking great.   And thanks for showing us the bottle opener.  That's one that will never break. 

[ianmajor]

Mark,

 

Thanks again for your encouragement. It is most appreciated.

 

I keep looking at the door hinges. They look very crude to my eyes. I think rather than using 0.5mm wire I would have been better using 0.3mm.

 

Better still would be to to use photo etched brass over lays which I could have fixed in place using my Resistance Soldering Unit. Hopefully others can learn from the errors.

 

I have replaced the 3rd photo in post 51. If you look at the top left corner of the main side panel you will see it tapers in. This was as a result of trying to file the original side of the hood to the correct shape. This is why I replaced the hood side. The tapered corner will be hidden by the angle that will be fitted on the leading edge - so it was not a complete disaster.

Edited July 16, 2013 by ianmajor

[mtaylor]

They may look crude to your eyes, but the good from here.   I doubt, though, that since the stove is mostly hidden below decks anyone will take you to task for your hinges.

 

Years ago, I worked with a gentleman who made swords and knives and was trying to get the 'Damascus' steel part right.  Beautiful work he did, but he kept saying that they were never right because he didn't forge enough.  Apparently the more it's heated in a coal/coke furnace and more it's hammered, the better the blade.    He once spent 3 weeks hammering a sword and the grain was practically invisible. I used to think he was a bit crazy.. then I started ship modeling... ahem..

[ianmajor]

A bit more progress on the stove.

 

I tried embossing the 1mm angle to represent bolt heads but this distorted the angle so that was a non starter. I could have milled some more 1mm angle but made it thicker then use ferric chloride to etch the bolt heads but decided against it this time. The 1mm x 0.3 strip embossed OK but there was no point doing the strip and not the angle. So they are without simulated bolt heads at the moment.

 

I cut four lengths of the 1mm brass angle to represent the corner legs and soldered them on. I made them over long by about 3mm so that they could be "planted" in to holes in the base. In between the angle I soldered on the 1mm x 0.3mm strip as per the plans.

 

The next photo shews these items in place. I have drilled four holes in the brick base and the legs are temporarily fitted in to these. The legs in the middle of each side will be fitted nearer to the end of construction since they will be quite delicate.

 

 

Also shewn in the picture is one of a pair of pan/kettle supports (the other is out of sight) which supported utensils over the fire.

 

They are very fiddly to hold so to make these I soldered some lengths of 1mm strip either side of a piece of scrap brass.

 

 

These parts are mirror images of each other so they can filed together as a pair - the other one is on the back of the scrap brass. 

 

 

Having filed them to shape I heated up the scrap tapped it on the bench and off came two ready tinned parts. No extra solder was needed to fix them to the stove - they just needed folding to shape.

 

Again these were items that would have been more easily fitted prior to the grate rails.

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

I have started work on the boiler tops. Thus far I have made the top to the actual stove body on which the boiler detail will be added. This consists of a thick piece of N/S that fits between the stove sides, end and back of the grate. To this I have soldered a piece of 0.3mm N/S sheet that overlaps the sides and ends. This gives a solid base to the boiler detail without having thick edges on show.

 

The stove top is not permanently fixed in place yet. I will have this part on the bench to make detailing easier then fix it in place one the detail is complete.

 

The next photo shews the top of the stove temporarily in place.

 

 

 

I share my workshop with my youngest son's pet snake. It was time to clean it out. Periodically I photograph it to record its growth which I duly did this time. I was intending to photo it around my wrist but it took an interest in my workbench and made a lunge for it.

 

 

This was nearly the end of the stove!   

Edited March 18, 2014 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

Before getting in to the boiler detail I have been trying to decide whether stoves at this time would or could have been fitted with a condenser. The plans that I am using shew a short open pipe on the top of the boiler where the condenser would be fitted. If there was no condenser I can not believe that the boiler would have been left with an opening that would spew steam around the crew under the foredeck. Thus far I can't find reference to condensers being used before about 1770. Some of the condensers were free standing and did not use the stove. So I am scratching my head on that one for now. Any one got any thoughts?

 

Whilst researching this I stumbled across an interesting discussion on ship's ventilation at http://forum.sailingnavies.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=579&sid=f26fa2ac9e9093de8f7d256519a09b46. 

 

Now the understanding that I got from reading up on the Brodie Stove was that pipework from it could carry heat to the rest of the ship to dry it. From this discussion it would appear I had the wrong end of the stick. The pipework connected to the stove was used to draw damp/foul air away by convection. This air came out in to the stove flue - the effect of the flue being to drive the air out. Oh well I am still learning. 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Ian,

Great looking stove.  For bolts... cheat.  I've seen people use drops of paint or CA (then painted) to simulate them.

 

As for the snake... yikes!!!!  We do have a thread around someplace about pets in the shipyard and havoc occasionally occurring.

[ianmajor]

Mark,

 

I have considered using dots of some form of glue but I intend to chemically blacken the stove rather than paint it. I am not sure how the glue would respond to this. Could always do an experiment. The stove was bolted rather than riveted together (for ease of repair in case of damage in action). Looking at the photos of the replica stove on the Victory they were large square headed bolts so I am going experiment with small cubes of metal.

 

In the mean time I am putting this off whilst I do the boiler detail. I have made the 2 boiler tops but they look too narrow so I think a rework is needed.

Edited July 29, 2013 by ianmajor