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

[hamilton]

Hi Ian:

 

Many different kinds of accidents happen to models as and after we build them....but I can only imagine that "eaten by a snake" is rarely among the reasons for lost, damaged or decimated parts! Amazing work on the stove - thankfully it did not end up as reptile food!

hamilton

[ianmajor]

Hamilton,

 

Thanks for dropping in. I am doing battle with the boilers at the moment. I hope to have some progress on that in the next few days. I am starting to look at the   chain pumps - can I model them with the top off and the chains exposed?......that would be interesting. I am probably just putting off the opening up of the  waist area as long as possible.  

 

I was interested in your experiments with etched brass vegetation for ship's decoration. It got me thinking - Maplin's sell ferric chloride and resist paint for etching circuit boards. I might experiment with some for parts for the ship. Hum.......

[ianmajor]

So....next up on the stove are the tops of the boilers.

 

The tops of the boilers were made from two rectangles of 1mm thick N/S. One was 7.5 x 13.5mm the other was 9.5 x 13.5mm. The two rectangles were carefully positioned to give equal gaps around the sides but none at the back. A piece of 0.5mm scrap brass was used as a temporary spacer between them to maintain the correct gap as I soldered them up.

 

The lids were made from 0.5mm N/S cut and filed to shape with 0.4mm holes drilled for the handles. The lids were soldered in place and the 0.4mm holes redrilled through the lids and then through the main part of the top. It started well but the tip of one bit snapped off in one of the holes. I think the bit snatched as it was passing from one layer to the next. There was no way I could get the broken tip out. Fortunately there was sufficient hole for the 0.3mm handle to be soldered in place. This meant I had to solder the handles in from the front rather than behind - which means more cleaning up of excess solder after the job was done.

 

There are two items which I thick are the caps over the holes where the boilers were filled with water. These were simple turning jobs from 2mm diameter brass rod. A hole was drilled in each corner at the front of the boilers and these were soldered in.

 

The last item is a short length of 2mm brass tube which is where I will attach a still.

 

Photo 1 shows the top of the stove detailed as above before permanent attachment to the rest of the stove.

 

 

Photo 2 shows the underside of the top showing the thick plate that fits inside the sides of the stove.

 

 

Photo 3 shows the detailed stove top in place - though not permanently fixed in place just yet.

 

 

 

    

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow Ian, that's really incredible work!  A masterpiece!

 

Just out of curiosity, if you're using solder to join the pieces, will you be able to blacken the solder also?  I prefer the look of blackened metal over painted, but always wondered whether the solder could itself be blackened.

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

I will be blackening the metal using Birchwood-Casey Brass Black which will be applied neat using a cotton bud. I have used this on soldered locomotive frames which produced good results. I think if there is too much solder about it can produce a brown tinge.

 

I am currently working on making scale nuts (1mm square with an embossed centre) to try to improve the framework on the stove. Not sure how that will turn out. It is certainly making me go cross eyed.  

[Ferit]

Impressive Sir, is your mini metal scratch... This is a Build Log all on its own...

[mtaylor]

The stove is treat for the eyes, Ian. 

[ianmajor]

Ferit and Mark,

 

Thanks for the kind words. It is a shame my woodwork will never match my metal work since wood makes up the majority of the ship.  

 

Mark

 

I was in the middle of admiring your Licorne at the same time that you were inputting to this log. 

[dafi]

When is it hot enough to bring my pastry?

 

Great, Daniel

[ianmajor]

Daniel,

 

Soon - just bring enough pastry for me as well. 

 

This stove cries out for a set of your etched parts to make better detail.

[ianmajor]

Well before I continue with the stove I will start today's entry with some sad news. Our dog who has been with us for nearly 14 years is no more. He used to sit with me in the workshop. He would give me a worried look whenever I had a rant at myself for doing something wrong or stupid on the model. His look always calmed me down - which was a good thing.

 

I note from various logs that several other members have lost their dogs in the last few weeks including Mark who due to the resultant loss of concentration took a chunk out of his Ship's keel. In my case I was part way through making some parts for the stove. I abandoned these and restarted on fresh parts when the concentration returned. 

 

So I bit of a delay in proceedings but I am back on track now.

 

Tom the Dog.

 

[ianmajor]

Back to the stove......

 

Looking at the replica stove on the Victory it has large square bolt heads around the angle iron. Rex Boocock's plan suggests large square nuts with bolt thread showing in the middle. I decided to have go at simulating the nuts.

 

To start with I cut a strip of 0.1mm thickness brass just under 1mm wide. The photo below shows the tools I used to cut the strip. Brass this thickness can be cut with a sharp knife or scalpel. The strip produced had slightly raised edges which I corrected using some fine wet and dry paper (1500 grit). 

 

The resultant strip is under the long straight edgw in the photo.

 

 

Next I wanted to simulate the bolt thread. I have a riveting tool to do this but very small strip tends to flop around. So I soldered the strip to a frame made of scrap as in the next photo. The strip is held taught like the cat gut in a violin bow. I was able to impress a series of indentations at 1.5mm pitch. I also tinned the reverse of the strip at this stage ready for later assembly on to the stove.

 

 

Then the strip was removed from the frame and the individual squares, each with an indentation in the centre, was cut using the scalpel to 1mm square (well almost) pieces. The small block of steel was used as a cutting surface. Trying to cut on the green mat would tend to crease the strip.

 

The squares produced are in the second container from the right.

 

 

 

In the top corners will be 4 lifting rings.Normally I would hold these in place by split pins soldered in to holes in the platework. In this case the holes required would have to go in to the corner joint which would probably snap the bit. So I milled up some small brackets in stead to be surface mounted.

 

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos at this stage.

 

The brackets I produced from 1mm thick N/S strip about 20mm wide. I drilled a row of 0.5mm holes at 1.5mm pitch along the end of the strip centred 0.8mm from the edge. Using a jewelers saw I cut slots between each of the holes to a depth of 2mm. Next I mounted the strip in the machine vice on the miller with the holes horizontal. I made sure the strip was in line with the table's X axis. I then milled the strip equaly on both sides down 1mm from the top edge reducing the thickness containg the holes to 0.3mm. Then at the same setting I replaced the millimg bit with a slitting disk and cut through the strip about 0.3mm below the milled section. As the slitting disk passed each of the previously sawed slots the corresponding "T" section bracket, complete with hole, pinged off. 

 

To save them getting lost I threaded thin wire through all the holes before using the slitting saw. So I ended up with a bracelet of tiny brackets.

 

The brackets were then soldered on to the end of a piece of 1mm scrap to allow final shaping.

Edited September 4, 2013 by ianmajor

[ianmajor]

At this point I decided a bit of light relief was required. So I turned to the flue. This will remain detachable until the stove is in its final place. Construction was straightforward since it only consists of four pieces soldered together in a square.

 

These parts were cut from 0.4mm N.S strip 13.7mm wide (the height of the flue). I cut a length of this strip long enough to make one side and an end piece. This was soldered on to the rest of the strip so that both sides and ends could be cut together. The sides were 5mm wide at the bottom and 4mm wide at the top. The ends were 4.5mm at the bottom and 3.5mm at the top. The ends go inside the sides.

 

I soldered an end to each side using a simple jig shewn in the photo below - two bits of wood, a modified hair clip  a thumb tack! 

 

 

The two halves of the flue were tacked together, then when I was happy that all was square I soldered up the joints completely.

 

 

After that relaxing session it was time to solder the cosmetic nuts and the lifting brackets in place. These were a bit tricky.I had to use small shaped bits of wood to hold them in place while I ran solder underneath them. They have a nasty habit of moving when you don't want them to.

 

The next photo shows the nuts in place on the rear and one side of the stove. I have another 5 to add to the other side. The brackets are in place on one side. I have also added the two small handles on the rear of the boilers.The flue is sat in its final place but not fixed.

 

The piece of metal in front of the stove is the bit of scrap with the other two brackets still attached. They have been shaped but I will leave them attached until it is time to fit them to the stove.

 

The next challenge is the rail that runs around the top of the oven. That requires some careful thought. Then it is on to the rotissary!   

 

[WackoWolf]

Now that is one beautiful stove. Excellent work. Keep the pictures coming.

[ianmajor]

Wacko,

 

Thanks for encouragement. Making a stove on this scale is certainly a good way to go cross eyed.

Edited September 4, 2013 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Ian,

 

Most importantly, I wanted to extend my condolences for the loss of your faithful companion Tom.

 

Your stove is magnificent.  Really top notch work.

 

Mike

[hamilton]

Hi Ian:

 

This is magnificent work! The level of detail you are working to is beyond believable! If I were to solder anything at this scale it would look an absolute mess, but I'm pretty sure you could pull some nice taters out of that stove if you could find any at scale - if not, I've sure you could cut them to scale!! 

hamilton

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

Thanks for the words of sympathy.

 

The stove is getting close to completion so I wont be able to put off modifying the the ship's waist for much longer!

 

Hamilton,

 

I am sure the work you do on Blandford at 1:100 suggests that you would have no difficulty in doing what I do on the stove. Besides I haven't finished the stove yet - plenty of time left for me to make a complete cod's of it!  

 

Good soldering tools are the thing. I was wondering whether I should add some notes on the tools and materials that I use.

 

Doing this level of detailed metalwork indicated to me that I needed to start wearing spectacles when I managed to burn the end of my nose on the iron!  These days I restrict myself to burning my fingers.  

 

BTW - I note from your Blandford log that you profess to not knowing the rules of rugby. Shame on you!     It was my favourite sport at school. There were a few old scores settled in those matches. It is said that football is a gentleman's game played by thugs and that rugby is a thug's game played by gentlemen.

[texxn5]

Wow, your's survived better than mine. Very nice, and how cool to be working on something for this long.....I can appreciate it as I jsut finished the Constitution after 44 years.

[ianmajor]

John,

 

Thanks for looking in. I am glad that I am not the only one who takes his time over things.  

 

I have got all the cosmetic bolts and the lifting ring brackets in place. I am working on the rail that runs around the boilers. This is proving a little tricky. I have made a jig to bend the rail to (hopefully) the right shape. Then the tricky part is fixing it in place so that it is in the right position and does not affect anything already in place. I am trying various ways of holding the rail in place whilst I solder it. When that has been achieved I will put some photos up. Up to this point the stove has been very robust. The items that will be fitted from now will be rather delicate.  

[hamilton]

Hamilton,

 

I am sure the work you do on Blandford at 1:100 suggests that you would have no difficulty in doing what I do on the stove. Besides I haven't finished the stove yet - plenty of time left for me to make a complete cod's of it!

 

Good soldering tools are the thing. I was wondering whether I should add some notes on the tools and materials that I use.

 

 

BTW - I note from your Blandford log that you profess to not knowing the rules of rugby. Shame on you!     It was my favourite sport at school. There were a few old scores settled in those matches. It is said that football is a gentleman's game played by thugs and that rugby is a thug's game played by gentlemen.

 

Hi Ian:

 

I dedicated a bit of time this summer to learning the rules of cricket, since my son (4 years old) saw a bit of a match on tv and was completely captivated. We discovered that there are a few local leagues here and a really nice little pitch down in Stanley park here in Vancouver - not an arena, but just in an open field surrounded by huge cedar trees and with a great view of the mountains and the city. Many a Sunday picnic surrounded by the very few people around here who have an interest in the game!

 

As for ruggers......sorry! I'm a basketball man....also uncharacteristic for a Canadian.....

 

And I think it would be very valuable adding some notes on your soldering tools. To date I've been able to avoid soldering, but when I was building my Glad Tidings, I felt I could have done a much better job of the metal work if I'd had a decent scale soldering tutorial.....

 

Anyway, keep up the great work! Maybe if you haven't already, you should try a whaling ship - modelling the try works on a C.W. Morgan would be a great exercise in your skilled hands. Bye for now

hamilton

[ianmajor]

Hamilton,

 

Now cricket is a game that has some interesting rules.............

 

I will pull together some words on my soldering related tools after I complete the rotisserie.

[ianmajor]

Progress on the stove...

 

The rail around the top of the boilers needs to be shaped and fitted carefully. There are several straight edges on the boiler which lie parallel to the rail, so if it is out of shape or wrongly fitted it will look awful.

 

To get the correct shape I milled a jig out of plywood. The rail was made from 0.5mm brass wire. The next photo shews the jig with the shaped rail - the wire curves down over the end of the jig to make the curved front ends.

 

 

The rail needs two supporting knobs at the rear of the boilers. For these I made two split pins out of 0.3mm N/S wire. To shape them I folded them around a 0.5mm drill bit, passed the two wire ends through a piece of scrap N/S. I pulled the ends with a pair of pliers to tighten the wire around the bit. To finish the knobs off I soldered the two ends of the wire together. The knobs were then threaded on to the rail and soldered in place. The rail was then offered up to the boilers and the knobs cut to length and bent to fit.

 

The next photo shews the method that I used to clamp the rail in position so that it could be soldered in place. There is a feeler gauge between the rail and the boiler back . This keeps the rail at the correct distance from and parallel to the boiler rear (horizontal alignment). I also used a small piece of 1mm thick N/S to check the gap all around between the boiler top edge (vertical alignment).

 

 

The knobs should have been fitted in to the corners of the rail but I couldn't get a decent anchor point for them so I compromised by moving them inwards. Having completed fitting the rail I realised that if I had left off the top nuts I could actually have fitted the knobs in the corners.

 

At this stage I added the centre legs. These are 1mm x 0.4mm strip.

[ianmajor]

Three photos shewing the rail and centre legs in place.

 

 

 

[ianmajor]

Now on to the rotisserie.

 

I made the top (smaller) pulley from a slice cut off some thick walled brass tubing. In this case the tubing has a 2.3mm outside diameter with a 0.7mm diameter bore. I have various sizes of this type of tube which is useful for making small pulleys and sheaves. Actually I used the lathe to part off the pulley to 0.3mm thickness, plus I included a 0.2mm thickness boss. I soldered the pulley on to a length of 0.7mm diameter N/S rod which fits in to a hole drilled in the stove's hood.

 

In the following photo this pulley and rod are temporarily fitted. The thick walled tube is lying alongside the stove.

 

 

Well - progress will stop on the stove for a week. I am heading off to deepest Herefordshire with my wife looking at houses - a retirement move. 

[petervisser]

Hi Ian,

 

I was just catching up with your build log after a long summer hiatus. Stunning work on your Brodie stove! If the rest of your model receives the same amount of attention, you will end up with a truly amazing model. All the best with the rest of your build!

 

Peter

[ianmajor]

Hello Peter,

 

I wish my woodwork was as good as my metalwork.  

[jastrząb]

Your stove is OUTSTANDING!!! No more words to say...

Cheers,

Paweł

[ianmajor]

Pawel,

 

Thanks for looking in and for your kind words.

[hamilton]

Taters for the oven and a pheasant for the rotisserie, please - at 1:75 scale, obviously....you can make them out of metal if you prefer! Shouldn't be a problem, right?

hamilton