Bomb Vessel Granado 1742 by gjdale - FINISHED - 1/48 - Cross-Section

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

Some nice stuff there mate, Mortar Caps look really good.

 

Nice work on the gun carriage sides, I'm looking forward to seeing the completed guns.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[augie]

First  rate work on the caps.  Those carraiges look super as well  ----- are you leaving them natural finish ??

[riverboat]

That is some real serious work Grant........ beautifully done!!!

 

Frank

[mtaylor]

Lovely work, Grant.  The mortar looks great.

[gjdale]

Thanks guys.

 

Augie - the timber on the gun carriages will be left natural (other than a coat of wipe-on poly, which will darken it a little), in keeping with the rest of the build philosophy of "painting with timber".

[augie]

Deservedly so, mate !!!!!

[Mirabell61]

beautiful work Grant,

 

Nils

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

It'll be your birthday when you open this so for a second time mate Happy Birthday and Have A Great Day.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[GLakie]

Happy Birthday Grant. Not sure when, but whenever it gets here.  

[gjdale]

Thanks Mobbsie and George - yes, it is today. Hopefully an update to the log this weekend!

[mtaylor]

Have a great birthday, Grant.  (I hope I didn't miss it).. 

[gjdale]

Thanks Mark

[Dan Vadas]

Happy Birthday mate, hope to see an update shortly.

 

  Danny

[gjdale]

Thanks Danny - update tomorrow (I hope).

[Canute]

A belated Happy Birthday wish, Grant.

[gjdale]

Thank you Ken, and not belated at all.

[gjdale]

Thank you Lawrence

[gjdale]

Thank you  Crackers, and again to everyone else for the Birthday wishes.  It seems that another month has flown by without an update on the build log. It had been my intention to wait until I'd finished the gun carriages before posting another update, but decided I'd show where I'm up to as it is going to be another couple of weeks before I get some more serious bench time in (life just keeps getting in the way!).  Anyway, here is a small update to bring everything up to date.

 

4lb Gun Carriages (continued)

 

The remaining components of the gun carriages were made up using measurements and templates as necessary from the drawings.  The axles were made from square and rectangular stock, with the ends turned cyclindrical on the lathe.  Here are most of the parts prior to assembly (although some of these required a ‘do-over’ later on):

 

 

The sides of the gun carriages are not parallel when assembled and this caused a slight modification to be made by opening the angle of the axle slots in the carriage sides. The next problem to solve was how to hold the pieces in place during assembly while the glue dried.  The solution was a fairly simply jig mad from some scrap plywood. A plan view of the carriage was place on the plywood, and two dados were cut to accept the front and rear axles. A section was cut off the end and then sanded to a wedge shape to match the angle between the sides.  A couple of scrap blocks were glued in place to act as stops for the wedge to press up against:

 

 

The axles were then placed in the jig, the wedge placed over them and pushed up hard against the stop blocks, and the sides were then attached:

 

 

Once the glue had dried, the carriage was removed from the jig and prepared for final assembly.  The following picture shows the remaining components, which include a copper bar that will pass through the centre of each side and will support the front end of the Stool bed (lower right in the picture – showing it has been dadoed for both the copper bar and the rear bolster). Also shown is the transom, which will be placed between the sides over the front axle (it will subsequently be drilled for a second copper bar). The transoms all required a do-over to ensure a snug fit in each carriage. Finally, the trucks (wheels), which were turned from some ebony stock.

 

 

The Quoins were then made from some scrap boxwood, with handles from bamboo drawn through the Byrnes drawplate.  The Quoins are used to adjust the elevation of the gun barrel and so would be free to move, but I have elected to glue them in place.  I also drilled each of the axles and inserted a pin made from some more bamboo drawn through an even smaller hole in the Byrnes drawplate.

 

 

Not shown in the photos, I have since added the copper bar through the transom above the front axle (the empty hole can be seen in the photos).

 

Danny Vadas was kind enough to give me two gun barrels left over from his Vulture build, that seem to be pretty much spot-on for scale. These are the ones he imported from Russia, and come complete with the monogram.  Thanks Danny! They still need a little cleaning up and blackening, but are shown here for effect.  I’m still going to have a crack at turning a couple of barrels from ebony and if these work out, I will use two guns on the ship, and two as part of the display base. 

 

 

 

I have since given the carriages a coat of Wipe-on Poly, but have yet to manufacture the required eye-bolts, ring-bolts and cap squares.  Soon……….

[Dan Vadas]

Very nice Grant. Did I give you the Cap Squares as well, I don't remember? If not I'll send you a couple of sets (providing I have enough left for my Vulture Cross-section ).

 

I hope you are going to file off the flash and drill the bore?

 

  Danny

[gjdale]

Thanks Danny,

 

No, you didn't send me the capsquares - but would be most grateful if you can spare some. Yes, will be filing off the flash and drilling the bore - these were just placed for the photo and to check size.

[WackoWolf]

Excellent work. 

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

Excellent work on the carriages mate, they look really smart. I do however have a few reservations regarding the cannons, there is some good detail on them and they will look the part but I think the trunions a little short for the carriage. Perhaps I'm being a bit too picky.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[rafine]

Beautiful work on the carriages Grant.

 

Bob

[GLakie]

Nice job on the carriages Grant. 

[Canute]

Very work on the gun carriages, Grant. Worth a bookmark!

[gjdale]

Well, another month has passed since my last update - where does the time go?  It seems that work, life, family, and Christmas have all taken priority for the last several weeks, but I have at last managed to find some time to make a little more progress.

 

4-lb Guns

 

After fitting out the gun carriages with the requisite ring-bolts and eye-bolts, I decided it was time to have a go at turning the gun barrels.  I had been putting this off as I had never attempted to turn a tapered gun barrel before and I only had sufficient ebony of the correct size to have one go – it was get it right first time, or think about other alternatives.

 

I spent some time studying the drawings, taking measurements, and reviewing any instructions I could find for turning gun barrels on the lathe, as well as reviewing the instructions for using the compound slide on the lathe to cut tapers.

 

I was so focused on each step in the process, that I forgot to take any “in progress” shots.  You’ll just have to take my word for it that all went according to plan, and in the end turned out to be somewhat easier than I’d feared. The only “oops” I had was when I tried to get a bit too clever with forming the button on the end of the cascobel, and it parted off by itself.  To fix this, I drilled a hole in the base of the gun, along the axis of the gun, to receive some 3/32” brass rod.  I rounded the end of the rod by filing and sanding, and then blackened it and epoxied it in place. I’m pretty happy with the way this “fix” turned out too, as it is quite difficult to tell the difference between the “good” one and the “fixed” one now.

 

Here’s a picture of the two turned guns. To ensure that the trunnion was correctly placed below the centreline of the gun, I drilled the hole for this in the square stock before I started turning.  The trunnions themselves are 3/32” brass rod, chemically blackened with Jax Pewter Black.

 

 

Here is a comparison shot with one of the brass guns that Danny gave me (these are the ones he imported from Russia).  While I took all my measurements from Jeff’s drawings, you can see that the overall size and shape is pretty close.

 

 

Finally, here is a couple of shots of the guns placed on their carriages.  I still need to make the cap squares to go over the trunnions, and that will complete this section.

 

 

 

Hopefully, it won't be another month before the next update!

 

 

[mobbsie]

Hi Grant,

 

Those guns are gob-smackingly good my friend.

 

They both look superb on their carriage and will look even better when all the ironwork is in place.

 

If you turned those barrels out on a wood lathe using hand tools then your in the wrong job mate.

 

I can't wait for the end of January to see your next update

[gjdale]

Thanks Mobbsie. I used the Sherline lathe for this job, not the wood lathe.

[mobbsie]

Thanks for that mate, answers one question, the other is:-

 

When I turned my guns I had a small split in the wood and it exploded on me, how on earth did you turn your guns with a damn great hole in them ?

 

We can discuss the merits of the Sherline next time we chat mate.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[Canute]

Nice 4 pound guns you've cranked out. I am in awe of your "painting with wood."