Paddleducks
Other Marine Models => Live steam => Topic started by: Bunkerbarge on October 13, 2007, 06:00:38 AM
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For those of you who have already seen this on other forums, I apologise but there may be some amongst you who will find it interesting.
The Ben Ain Build
One: Planning and Preparation
As with a lot of projects this one actually started off quite by accident. I was having a look through a Model Boat magazine one day when I saw an advert for a Mountfleet Models Kit. I didn’t even know at that time that Mountfleet were so close to me so I gave them a ring and Frank Hinchcliffe kindly invited me around to have a look at what he had to offer. At the time he was using a local shop as a storage place for his prototype models and he allowed me to browse the contents of the shop while he stood by and answered any questions I had. I was amazed at the collection of models which I had never really paid much attention to in the past and didn’t even realise that such kits of ships existed. I left with a bunch of leaflets of all his models and took them home to study. I made my mind up that for my first ship build a kit was the best way to start as I had limited time for building and I didn’t want to start as a beginner by trying to make a hull from scratch. A fibre-glass hull sounded ideal with white metal fittings, all the wood and accessories you may require a set of plans and an instruction book.
I laid out all Franks leaflets on the floor and eventually narrowed it down to the Osprey or the Ben Ain, both of which appealed to me as a subject and were about the right size I wanted to build. The Ben Ain won the day as she was built at Manchester Dry Docks and could have been plying her wares across the Irish Sea at the time my Father was sailing out of the Manchester Ship Canal as a Second Mate with Manchester Liners. This gave me a strong bond with the ship which I always find helps with a model, especially one which was going to take such a long time to build and enthusiasm may falter along the way.
I drove back over to see Frank, purchased the kit and took it home with a grin on my face. As is always a good idea I did a complete inventory of the contents and read the instruction booklet a few times. I had to then start planning the basics of the kit and one idea that was developing in my mind was the fact that I wanted a steam coaster model to be powered by steam. Not only did I not have a clue about building such a kit but I didn’t have much of a clue about model steam plants either so I was certainly in for a steep learning curve.
One of the first things was to think of how I wanted the steam plant to work as this has a direct impact on the internal layout. I knew that I wanted a boiler feed tank so that I could pump up the boiler with feed as it was consumed so that meant I had to include a feed tank in the construction. As I wanted to balance the weight of the boiler and engine at the aft end and I wanted as much space available as possible I decided to make the feed tank in the bow. Another convenience of having the tank here is that it can easily be connected to the accommodation vent cowls for filling and venting the tank, making the arrangement as user friendly as possible on the side of the pond. The tank was made of polystyrene sheet, or Plasticard, which should give suitable water resistance and was easy to work with and I included internal frames to reduce the free surface effect of the water. I also decided that to resist the effects of the steam plant and help to keep the inside of the hull clean I would paint it with a cream paint finish which serves the purpose of being easy to wipe clean. I used a radiator paint to resist any heat effects of the boiler and put a total of three coats on to smooth out the fibre glass internal finish. After the initial bath trials I estimated that about 30-35 lbs of ballast was going to be needed so I manufactured two steel plates, 16cm x 16 cm x 8mm thick, drilled through with a large number of 8mm holes to allow resin to flow through, and laid them in the bottom of the hull. This area was dammed with the three wooden bearers, that were to take the brass mounting plate in the main hold, and completely encased in resin so that the brass base plate had something to screw to when it came time to fit.
My vision of the finished boat was that it would look weathered and as realistic as possible from the outside but when it is opened up this will contrast with the insides, which was to be the gleaming pristine polished brass and copper steam plant. That was the theory anyway. To help with this effect the outside of the hull had rivet detail added on the plate work, which would add tremendously to the eventual weathered effect of the hull I was going to attempt. I tried to emulate the correct rivet arrangement as used on real coasters of the time and used thick gel superglue to create the rivets. Riveting the hull took me most of my spare time for a week with regular rests to regain the feeling in my hands and I decided to follow the original plate details already moulded into the hull with a realistic period double row riveted pattern.
One thing I also decided very early on was that the ply wood overlays did not give the most realistic of effects with the grain being visible across all the planks so all decks, hatch boards and bridge woodwork were going to be made from individual planking. This proved to be very time consuming when compared to using the overlays but the effect is well worth the effort. I planked the deck using lime strip wood and finishing off with a mixture of weatherproof PVA glue mixed with black powder paint. The resultant mix was rubbed into all the caulking and sanded down to give the overall deck finish. The deck was then coated with three coats of satin yacht varnish and rubbed down between coats. The foredeck being the first planked deck I had ever made leaves a lot to be desired in many ways but I still think it is an improvement on the printed ply overlay.
I actually started off the construction with a pretty basic mistake, based mainly on a lack of experience, when I fitted the kits plain bushed stern tube as per the instructions. A subsequent conversation with a number of people in the business made me realise just how much better a proper stern tube fitted with sealed roller bearings would be so, before I got too far down the line, I drilled out the old tube and fitted the new one in it’s place. I was lucky that it didn’t cause any major problems to do this and I learned very early on to plan better!!
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Two: Designing the Steam Plant
The next step in the project was to decide just how the main components of the steam plant and it’s auxiliaries were going to be located and secured in the hull and how the model may have to be modified or redesigned to accommodate them.
The individual components were placed in the hull in numerous arrangements until I decided on the final design with the separator tank on one side and the gas tank on the other side in the main hold. The propulsion assembly is a John Hemmens unit and came complete with the optional base plate. Unfortunately the base was too wide to get the plant into the hull and it quickly became apparent that the boiler needed to be as far astern as I could arrange. The best solution was to make a new brass base plate, which had a step in it, and put the engine at a higher level than the boiler. This was so that the boiler could be located as low as possible for centre of gravity considerations, and yet positioned the engine at the correct shaft height. Of course it must be borne in mind right from the start that the boiler and engine must be removable after the model is finished so this also dictated the configuration of the components and the size of the base plate made for the boiler and engine. I also fitted a new stern tube with proper ball bearings on the recommendation of John Hemmens and purchased a double universal joint for the shaft to ensure that any misalignment was taken care of.
What was also obvious was that no matter how far astern I was going to be able to get the boiler I was not going to get the boiler flue to line up with the models funnel. The angled funnel makes me smile every time I think of it. I was walking around one of the scrap metal stores on my ship one day toying with ideas when I knew I needed to look into the possibilities of what I could do with the funnel. I had brought the brass ring from the boiler top with me so I had an internal diameter. I came across a piece of old refrigeration system copper pipe, which fit but it had been used as a paint stirrer however I thought it would be good enough to have a play with.
I designed the cuts I thought I would need to generate the offset I wanted whilst maintaining matching surface areas for silver soldering and a resultant vertical funnel with a 1 cm offset. I cleaned up the pipe, cut it, silver soldered it and polished up the final piece. At the end of that trip I took it home to see how it would do and was absolutely amazed to find that my 'test' piece fit perfectly as regards amount of offset and the height of the offset.
I also noticed that the offset gave me the perfect opportunity to fit the exhaust pipe from the separator which I particularly wanted to run up the inside of the funnel rather than outside as is more normal. The engine exhaust then comes out of the funnel which looks a lot more realistic and the exhaust from the separator is heated by the exhaust from the boiler which helps to prevent it condensing and spraying dirty water on the model. So I took the funnel back to the ship the next time and made the exhaust pipe and fitted it inside the funnel. These will both need cutting to length when the model funnel is finally fitted. So the funnel evolved from a scrap test piece of copper pipe that had been used to stir paint!!
All that huge space that I started off with very soon became eaten up with the components of the plant and a great deal of thought and care went into where they were going to be placed from an access, stability and trim point of view. The port side tank is the exhaust separator and was sized to give about half of a full boiler capacity. This would be the normal amount of water that I will want to use before filling the boiler again so filling the boiler and emptying the separator can take place at the same time. On the other side of the boat is the gas tank. One of the biggest problems that modellers seem to find with steam boats is the fact that the gas tank cools down considerably when the gas is being used. This can get to the point where the gas pressure drops so much due to the reduced temperature that the burner suffers and the boiler does not generate enough steam to power the engine. I wanted to avoid this so a couple of ideas that I developed as the bits went into the hull included using a gas pressure regulating valve on the tank, warming the tank from the nearby separator tank through a copper strap or heat sink, and using a Cheddar Models gas control system to maximise the gas supply to control the boiler pressure. More about this as it goes in later.
I also decided to use a brass base plate to mount all the hardware in the main hatch. This gave additional ballast and a suitable base to drill and tap to fit all the gear in with stainless machine screws. Also the finished feed tank with sight glass and outlet valve was fitted into the bow and the arrangement for the pump, gas valve and servo, batteries and switches was finalised.
The next stage of the construction was to fit the major parts of the steam plant to the base and then work out the details of the rest of the installation. The boiler and engine assembly was fixed to its own removable brass base and this was tested through the hole in the Quarterdeck many times to ensure that this going to be removable. Pipe connections and fittings were arranged to allow easy access to disconnect and remove the unit which ended up possible although not exactly easy. The base is held down by brass machine screws that are set in resin in the bottom of the boat and I made a weir across the hull to try to contain any water leaking from the engine and the stern tube which could then be easily removed when the boat comes in for a fill.
The alternatives with the feed water system was to use an engine driven pump with either a controlled or a manual three way valve that can fill the boiler or return to the feed tank or a manual pump connected up to the boiler. As I was apprehensive about sapping power from the engine I went for the manual pump option so I will have to bring the boat along side to fill the boiler. This isn’t a bad thing as I will have to bring it in anyway to empty the separator tank and I am hoping for a duration between fills of about 25-30 minutes, which should prove to be convenient enough.
Also worthy of note is that the construction of the kit would have allowed me access to the internals through the forward hatch and the aft accommodation block only. This would have been quite restrictive to operate and considerably more difficult to remove items when the model is finished. To greatly help this I followed the advice of John Hemmens and I am making the entire bridge section removable as well. This makes for considerably more thought as regards the construction of the bridge and its locating means but will be well worth it in the long run.
Any steam plant seems to have one or two inherent challenges, the most irritating seems to be the fact that the gas in the on board tank cools as it evaporates to the point where it cools the tank itself. This has the knock-on effect of slowing down the evaporation rate of the gas and hence the flame in the boiler reduces. This affects steam production and the whole thing slows to a halt. The cooling of the gas tank is directly proportional to the rate of gas use so the obvious starting point is control that use. For this I purchased a Cheddar gas control valve, which controls the release of gas to the burner depending on boiler pressure. This means that if the engine is not being used much the burner shuts down to a pilot flame and conserves gas.
Another main factor in this effect is when the boiler is brought up to pressure in the first place. This obviously requires the burner to be on full for a considerable amount of time so when the boat is first put in the water the gas tank is already cooling down. To get past this I have made a valve arrangement on the gas tank, which enables the initial pressure raising to be done with an external tank. When the boiler is up to pressure and the gas control valve is operational then I change over to using the on board tank prior to putting the boat in the water so the on board tank hasn’t started to cool.
A final modification that I decided would be worthwhile was to transfer heat from the separator tank to the gas tank. I made a copper strap with a saddle piece which sits neatly between the two tanks. The outside surfaces are insulated maximising the transfer of heat from the hot separator to the cooler gas tank. I hope that this will warm the gas tank enough to ensure excess pressure, which will then be controlled by a Cheddar pressure regulating valve. As soon as the plant is in operation the separator becomes quite warm so there is a good supply of excess heat. This also has the added advantage of cooling the separator tank which should also help to condense the exhaust.
The final points to note are the separate batteries for the radio gear and the Cheddar Gas Control Valve as interference could be an issue with the valve and the servos for the ruder and engine control. Consequently I have a battery for the gas valve and lighting and a battery for the receiver and control servos.
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Hi PD's & a very good looking steam kit Bunkerbarge... but one or two points I have collected :hammer on the way
a) having the gaz tank on the stdb side will dictate that you will lose approx 100 gms of stdb side weight in approx 30 minutes, where as you will make up only say 30gms or ml of oily water on the port side
b) not sure if anyone has mentioned but the gaz tank MUST be removed for each fill or the result is that more dense gaz will lay in the bilge area & :boom
c) with your Chedder gaz regulator & gaz control valve I suspect you may get some 45 minutes run time
So even thou she is not a paddler :nah keep us posted as many :gather enjoy the steam story :beer
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Thanks for the reply decoy. In answer to your points:
1) The model will displace 15 kg when completed so the loss of 100 gms on the stbd side and the addition of 30 gms on the port side will have little affect on the trim or stability of the model. The feed tank in the bow holds about 500 gms of water and the differrence between full and empty is negligible on the trim.
2) The gas tank is filled while inside the model from an external connection.
3) I am working on a 30 minute cycle. That gives me the opportunity to empty the condenser, top up the boiler from the feed tank and top up the gas tank.
Sea trials soon to follow.
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Hi PD's.....Bunkerbarge....I would be VERY interested in understanding your planned gaz filling :crash scenario
Is your Cheddar gaz control valve [regulator] boiler pressure piloted? - I have a French ANTON gaz regulator and am in the same situation as you found space wise - in Decoys gaz compartment [FWD hold]... I have the gaz tank, the regulator & steam/water pilot isolation valve , a gaz isolation valve [remote from the tank], a 10 Bar 1" gaz gauge & a 3 Bar 3/4" gauge & space is at a premium :rant with the removal of the tank for a refil
Your John Hemmens gas tank is very similar to my ACS supplied unit, however Sandy from ACS explained to me on PD's some years back the function of the additional lines to your de-oiler being that you can blow down your lubricator to the seperator [de-oiler] with a little residual steam pressure
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Three: Initial Trials
I decided that before I started in earnest on the model itself the next stage was to get the hull on the water and see how it performed.
I set up a temporary servo for the rudder and the engine controller, lashed them to the back end of the hull and set about getting the plant ready for its first dip in the water. The test tank (bath) proved stability and trim were all set and test runs on the bench with the boiler and engine seemed to indicate that the plant was going to work OK. The things I didn’t know, of course, was how it would perform as regards endurance and reliability when pushing over two stone through the water with the hydrodynamics of a breeze block!
The first part of the process was to conduct tests on the plant outside the hull with all the elements in use. The initial idea was to complete the technical aspect of the model before continuing however what I didn’t realise was how much the steam plant was going to develop as the ideas generated. Although the bench tests indicated that the plant was going to work it was going to be a completely different situation with the boat in the middle of the pond and actually using steam to drive it.
A calm day was required as the decks were not fitted at this stage so it was with a certain degree of trepidation that I raised steam on the side of the pond until the Cheddar gas valve started to work then after a radio check and a test run I placed it in the water. What a moment to stop and reflect. All that time and effort concentrated within a fibre glass hull and sat very precariously on the water. I pushed the throttle very slowly forward and she inched ahead for the first time.
Initial things that were immediately apparent included just how remarkably powerful the Richmond engine is. The ship is capable of way above scale speed if required to get out of trouble but it was also noted that when up to full speed it took quite a distance to stop it again!! It also proved to be extremely manoeuvrable due to the substantial rudder, large prop and the very controllable engine. I was extremely pleased with the propulsion set up and just how controllable the whole thing was. The Cheddar gas valve worked superbly and was heard controlling the burner according to the demand of the engine.
Another thing that soon became obvious was the issue with the cooling of the gas tank. Even with raising steam on an external tank and using the Cheddar gas valve the tank still started to cool and affect steam raising capabilities. This was what led me to think of the heat exchanger and a Cheddar pressure regulating valve but more of that when it gets fitted.
I also noted that the engine tended to leak steam more than I was happy with so a bit of careful investigation was required there. The steam seemed to leak from the regulating valve faces and the oscillating cylinder faces so this would need some attention at a later date.
All in all I was very impressed with the steam plant and the handling of the model on the water. It is certainly as easy to manoeuvre as an electric model but does require a lot more attention to maintain this. I have had many discussions with many other modellers over the last couple of years regarding steam plant and the same issues seem to be the cause of most of the frustrations. I am certain that many modellers are put off by the fact that steam requires a lot more input and attention and I am convinced that a great number of steam engines have been confined to the back of the modelling cupboard as they have proved to be too much trouble.
So with the model working pretty much as I had wanted with just a couple of additions to make to the plant it was time to turn my attentions a bit more to the model itself.
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Hi PD's.....Bunkerbarge....I would be VERY interested in understanding your planned gaz filling :crash scenario
Is your Cheddar gaz control valve [regulator] boiler pressure piloted? - I have a French ANTON gaz regulator and am in the same situation as you found space wise - in Decoys gaz compartment [FWD hold]... I have the gaz tank, the regulator & steam/water pilot isolation valve , a gaz isolation valve [remote from the tank], a 10 Bar 1" gaz gauge & a 3 Bar 3/4" gauge & space is at a premium :rant with the removal of the tank for a refil
Your John Hemmens gas tank is very similar to my ACS supplied unit, however Sandy from ACS explained to me on PD's some years back the function of the additional lines to your de-oiler being that you can blow down your lubricator to the seperator [de-oiler] with a little residual steam pressure
In answer to your points:
1) It is not a planned gas filling scenario, I have been using the idea for a few outings now. In the gas outlet pipe from the tank I have fitted a "T" branch with an additional isolation valve. Connected to this valve is a clear plastic hose. This serves two purposes. The first is that when the boiler is being brought up to pressure initially rather than start to cool the on board gas tank I raise steam from an external bottle connected to the hose with the "T" branch valve open and the normal tank valve closed.
When steam is raised and the Cheddar valve has started to operate I shut the "T" branch valve and the external bottle valve and open the on board gas valve before reigniting the boiler.
The "T" branch also allows me to fill the on board gas tank, by connecting the external gas bottle, opening the "T" branch valve and the tank valve and closing another isolation valve on the burner I can raise the external gas bottle, invert it and watch the liquid gas drain into the on board tank. This seems to me to be a far safer and more convenient method of filling than the typical tank filling valve and bottle connection that seems to spray gas and liquid everywhere and you never know just what has gone into the tank.
2) The Cheddar gas control valve uses boiler temperature to control the gas valve which simply turns up full on demand or down to a pilot setting when the boiler is up to pressure.
3) John Hemmens was developing a new gas tank with an internal heating coil, to be connected to the exhaust steam but I haven't spoken to him for a few months so I don't know how this is developing.
4) My lubricator can be blown down with steam pressure into the condenser/seperator tank.
As Cheddar no longer manufacture the Gas control valve I would be interested to hear what your thoughts are on the Anton regulator. My next project will require some form of gas control valve so I am looking at the possibilites at the moment and the Anton one looks promising. Which one do you have as they seem to make a number of alternative arrangements?
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Hi PD's ...& your .jps :kewl of Ben Ain on the water so soon look great Bunkerbarge
I am a little lost :ohno in that my ACS gas tank has [like most others] a Schrader type tyre valve which requires mechanical force to open & to permit the gas entry....I do not understand how remote gas pressure can achieve this or to refill the onboard tank from an external supply :shhh
With respect to ANTON, yes they manufacture four versions of gas control valving [1=OK, 1+3= better, 1+2= good, 2+4=best] :?:
...I thought the French translations were confusing :rant but not as much as when I wrote & spoke with Fabrice but ended up with the V72 version
With my rate of build on PS Decoy it may be some 12 months before I understand how the V72 functions
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Derek, I am not filling it through the Schrader valve, read the explanation above again. I am filling it through the gas outlet valve.
I hate those Schrader valves and haven't come across one yet that reliably opens and allows you to fill the tank easily without spraying liquid and gas everywhere. I am filling mine through the gas discharge line that goes to the burner.
As for the speed of the build, don't be misled, those pictures are a couple of years old. The model is a bit more progressed from that as you will see when I upload the remaining posts over the next few days.
Thanks for the notes on the Anton valves.
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Four: The Main Deck Structure
After the internal arrangement was settled and all items fitted into the hold and the ideas for the construction of the removable bridge was finalised it was time to fit the first deck. The main deck was prepared as a unit with longitudinal and transverse stiffening and was test fit to the side battens already glued to the hull at the correct height. A clamping arrangement was made to hold the hull sides in along the deck and the deck was glued into place. Before any other items were placed onto the deck the plating detail was added by cutting up pieces of cartridge paper to a scale 6’ x 2’ then adding a flush rivet detail along the edges before sticking them on to the wooden deck.
The foc’s’le bulkhead was next which proved to be a bit of a challenge as the foc’s’le deck is at a slightly steeper angle than the main deck so the further forward parts of the bulkhead were actually slightly higher than the aft sections. I discovered that I was able to carefully thread the unit into position once completed, by flexing the deck, and so it was constructed to ensure that there were no gaps when fitted. I tried another riveting technique with this bulkhead as I wanted to match the kit supplied butt strap rivets. I fitted individual pin heads along the plate seams, which proved to be very effective, matched the butt straps perfectly but took forever. In the absence of actual drawings I tried to think about how the area would be constructed and scribed the plate lines accordingly. Almost certainly curved plates would be separate from straight plates and an appropriate plate size was considered as again about 6 ft by 2 ft. One of the doors was left open to give the area a bit of interest so the rear was boxed in to maintain the watertight integrity. After the forward ports and lighting was installed the bulkhead was glued into place against some transverse supports.
Next it was the bulwark stays that I wanted to modify. The kit suggests cutting triangles of ply but all the pictures and references I could come up with indicated either a flat bar or an angle iron to support the bulwarks. I went for a flat bar with angle iron attachment at the deck and the bulwark. The bar being made out of trimmed down deck planks and the angle iron made from plastic extrusion section. This looks very much more realistic and is quite typical of the construction methods used at the time.
The anchor windlass was made according to the instructions and was finished in a semi-gloss black with a light degree of weathering. One point of interest is that I wore away the paint on the winch warping ends to look the same as a real unit. This is where experience of real ships pays tremendous dividends, as I have been lucky enough to see first hand how things look with normal wear and tear and how they weather over the years. I did a similar thing with the bollards, which will be finished with a crewmember and some realistic ropes as a finishing touch.
The next big item to tackle on the main deck was the hatch cover. First the coaming was built around the insides of the opening and then the kit instructions were followed to make the box unit to fit over it. When it came time to fit the ply overlays however for the hatch boards I again decided to make mine out of strip wood and also use recessed hand holds which I had seen on a number of reference pictures. To achieve this I had to drill a hole in the boards at either end so I set up a jig on the tool post of my modelling lathe, put a new sharp wood drill into the chuck and went through the pile of boards, individually cutting a nice neat hole in either end of them. This hole will be blanked at the back to make it appear as though it is a recess in the plank and a metal bar will be glued across it for the handle. Once I had the basic box construction finished I moved on as the intention was to provide a cover for the hatch opening for further trials. My nerves were not up to another venture onto water with an open hull!! The cover will be eventually fitted with a small fan, taken from a PC, which will draw air through a ‘cargo’ of rock chippings and blow it through the hull to provide fresh air for the boiler burner and cooling for the internals. The workings for this, including the battery, will all be held completely inside the hatch cover.
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Hi PD's..... :sorry ..it is in fact the ANTON V71 gas regulator that I have..my statment above was incorrect :oops:
V68 = VANNE COUPE GAZ RADIO = 65,00
V69 = VANNE COUPE GAZ AUTOMATIQUE = 70,00
V70 = VANNE COUPE GAZ AUTONOME = 140,00
V71 = REGULATEUR SIMPLE MEMBRANE = 80,00
V72 = REGULATEUR DOUBLE MEMBRANE = 120,00
If you take the time to view the WEB :computer links from the ANTON site... you will find some steam launch engine sets with what appear to contain a V70 AND a V72 .......a bit beyond me :music
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:D :D :D
Hi PD's,
OK lets sort out a few errors......
Derek suggests: -
I am a little lost in that my ACS gas tank has [like most others] a Schrader type tyre valve which requires mechanical force to open & to permit the gas entry....I do not understand how remote gas pressure can achieve this or to refill the onboard tank from an external supply
The refill valve on my gas tank, and that of John Hemmens, does not utilise a Schraeder tyre valve, or anything remotely like one.
The valve used is a purpose made type, specifically for refillable gas tanks/lighters, and is made by RONSON.
It is unique in that it is bi-directional... i.e. self venting.
This type of valve is fitted in a recessed chamber on the top of the gas tank, the depth of which is specific to the particular vessel.. and is chosen so as to allow the free venting of excess gas (liquid) when the level reaches a pre-determined level.
This is very important, since a gas tank must never be filled totally with liquid gas, but rather some free gas space must be left to allow for expansion.
Providing the correct re-fill adaptor is used, and pressed firmly into/onto the refill valve then filling will be trouble free.
When liquid gas begins to exit, oround the extremities of the valve, then the tank is filled to the correct level.
This must be done with the gas control valve on the tank fully closed otherwise the liquid level can rise all the way to the top of the tank.
It should also be done with the gas tank removed from the model, otherwise the escaping (vented) liquid gas will form a gas layer in the bottom of the model hull... which could very easily ignite when the burner is next lit.... thus destroying your precious model.
Bunkerbarge: -
Firstly, welcome to the mad house, although I'm not sure you have chosen wisely... :hehe :music :nah :oops and secondly the BEN AIN is looking so very nice indeed.
I read, with interest, your proposed/chosen method of re-filling your gas tank and, whilst I agree it would work, the biggest problem I can foresee is.... YOU CAN VERY EASILY over fill the tank, since it cannot vent at the desired/correct level.
This can easily lead to liquid gas being allowed to reach your burner which, not being of the pre-heated type, can, and would flare up, possibly with dire results.
I would seriously recommend you re-consider this method, as I would hate for you to have a nasty accident.... losing a beutiful model would be bad enough... but a personal liquid gas burn injury,.... you do not want to even think about going there.
Anton gas valves.... as Derek has listed: -
Hi PD's..... ..it is in fact the ANTON V71 gas regulator that I have..my statment above was incorrect
V68 = VANNE COUPE GAZ RADIO = 65,00
V69 = VANNE COUPE GAZ AUTOMATIQUE = 70,00
V70 = VANNE COUPE GAZ AUTONOME = 140,00
V71 = REGULATEUR SIMPLE MEMBRANE = 80,00
V72 = REGULATEUR DOUBLE MEMBRANE = 120,00
The first of the above (V68) is an RC controlled gas regulator valve and can be used to replace (or in addition to (in-line with)) the valve fitted to the gas tank (or the disposable canister).
Usefull to some degree, but difficult to get feedback from a model out on the lake.... best used for complete shut down in the event you run out of water...especially if no gas regulator is fitted....
V69 and V70 are automatic gas shut off valves... these will completely shut off the gas to the burner when the pressure in the boiler drops below a pre-set level (adjustable) say 20psi, which would normally only occur if the water level in the boiler was depleted.
Both of these valves are NORMALLY CLOSED, at pressures below the pre-set level. In order to light your burner, with the boiler cold, or at low pressure after a large re-fill, then a by-pass arrangement must be employed to over-ride the valve whilst pressure is raised.
The V69 is the more simple version and would require an additional external bypass valve to be fitted, whilst the V70 is the more complex version which has a built in, lever operated, bypass arrangement.
The V71 and V72 are pressure controlled gas regulators, which, just like the Cheddar gas control valve, will automatically alter the burner level depending upon boiler pressure.
The control range is adjustable and will give full power to the burner at a low set point and will shut the burner down to a small flame level at the high set point.... the burner does not go out... unless you set the low flame level to low. :oops :thinking :sob
If fitting both types,(say a V69 followed by a V71) then the set levels need to be carefully chosen.... in that the low shut off pressure for the V69 must be chosen to be well below the low pressure point for the V71.
Ok chaps, I think that about covers it.
Keep happy.
Best regards.
Sandy. :D :vacat :computer :beer
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Firstly I would just like to say how much I appreciate your in depth detailed and knowledgeable reply.
I understand your concerns with filling the tank the way I describe but I sort of backed myself into a corner with my design. The gas tank is not removeable as it is screwed down to the brass base plate so I have no option other than to fill it in the boat. I went for this arrangement to enable the raising of steam with an external tank and the transfer of heat from the seperator to be designed and included in the knowledge that I would have to fill the tank in the model.
I understand the concept of the Hemmens tank but remain concerned that the valve discharges liquid when the tank is up to the required level so I decided I did not want to fill through this. My alternative also has dangers in so far as the tank could be completely filled with liquid and hence supply liquid to the burner and it could hydraulically lock causing overpressure problems. Currently to overcome this I make a point of discharging through the filling line, outside the model, until I am confident that only gas is being emitted but I have been thinking about modifications to the arrangement to improve it. One possibility is an additional valve on the tank and line to the hull, just cracked open while filling. When liquid is seen at the outlet I know it is time to stop filling and the level is where the valve is located and the excess will be vented outside the hull.
Possibilities and I know these are all to overcome the problems I have made for myself but I am hoping that an awareness of what is going on with the arrangement will keep it safe.
Thanks again, I appreciate you thoughts and input.
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For the past 20 or so years I have been using a gas container fixed in my launch. As the photo shows, I have a level gauge fitted so I can see how full it is. You will also see a pressure regulator. This drops the presure to around 10psi. On the fore deck you can see the samson post which is the on/off valve, and just visible ahead of that is a coil of "rope" that covers the filler valve. This is a screw on valve, and the only leakage is a very small puff when disconnecting.
Malcolm
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:D :D
Hi Pd's,
Bunkerbarge... Thank you for your appreciative response to my last post.
I was a little concerned that you may have taken some of the content the wrong way, which was not the intention.
As most PD's, who know me, are aware, I am not given to harsh criticism, other than, perhaps, in fun/banter, since in my mind it serves no useful purpose, but rather my intention is always toward awareness, safety and the safe use of such potentially dangerous materials.
If, in passing on my small amount of hard earned knowledge, it saves someone from making a potentially dangerous mistake, and perhaps prevent a nasty accident then I have at least helped in some small way.
Clearly, from your last post, you are aware of the issues. :respect
I think you are on the right lines with your thinking, i.e. adding an extra valve and discharge pipe to vent off the escaping gas/liquid at the required level..... one possible way of doing this would be to replace the RONSON type filler valve with a standard, good quality, 90 degree stop valve, preferably one with gas grade o-ring spindle seals, and which had a short extension pipe fitted into the part screwed in to the tank.... the length of this could be adjusted to suit the desired level.... say 3/4 full.
I accept that this would require re-tapping the bush to 1/4" x 40tpi, which would then prevent the replacement of the original RONSON valve... but I would think that once fitted then any future use of the gas tank would use the new method anyway, so not really a problem.
The outlet of the valve could then have a suitable pipe fitted to vent outside the hull, which could be changed to suit different models.
The other alternative is, as you suggested, to fit an extra bush to the tank however, this would mean much more major surgery on the tank, which would also then need to be re-pressure tested and re-certified.
Malcolm.... what a lovely steam launch.... is it your own design.
A very elegant solution to the gas tank problem... and one which resolves all of the above issues. Presumably this is also one of your own designed units... would it be possible for you to post some additional details on the screw on filler valve you used, as I am sure there are many PD's that would find this useful.
Ok chaps, thats my lot for now.
Keep happy.
Best regards.
Sandy. :computer :coffee :coffee
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Sandy
I think it looks better in the photo than in real life. It is Vic Smeed's River Queen design. I have to admit to not building the hull - mine came off very second best in an argument with the up-and-over garage door! Cyril Spurrier had built two hulls took pity on me and gave me this one on condition that I fit a "scale lookihg" plant in it.
Moving on to the filling valve, it was made over 25 years ago, and it may take some time to find the drawing. In any case, I think a new thread may be in order - I can see this going well off Bunkerbarges original thread. How about "Malcolm's Steam Stuff". I'll get together some photos of some of the engines and other bits and pieced I've made over the years. here are a couple to be going on with.
Regards Malcolm
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Five: The Quarter Deck Structure
The Quarter Deck was only fitted at this stage to enable real experiments with the propulsion unit accessibility as well as provide the base for the bridge unit, which was what I really wanted to get to. Once these areas had been resolved the two biggest unknowns would be then completed and the task of finishing the actual model could continue.
The Quarter Deck was prepared as a unit with both longitudinal and transverse stiffening, the steering gear hatch was opened and the deck glued into place. A vertical bulkhead was fitted at the ends of the Main Deck and the Quarter deck and battens were glued in place to allow the fore and aft bulkheads a locating slot. This then formed the foundation for the bridge unit and provided the required amount of stiffening for the aft end of the model. My original intention was to have the opening in the Quarter Deck open at the fore end of the deck however this did not make the hull rigid enough. The compromise meant that I had to remove the safety valve and the pressure gauge from the boiler before being able to manoeuvre the propulsion plant in or out but I decided it was a compromise I could put up with for the sake of the rigidity of the hull.
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Six: The Wheelhouse Unit
Part One, The Foundation
The next big step was not just putting the wheelhouse together but designing a construction that could be removed to gain the best access to the steam plant. An electric motor would be relatively straightforward to fit, remove and tinker with but a steam plant really has to be lifted out as an entirety, with its base, for running on the bench, cleaning, fettling etc.
The two decks with their transverse beams gave me a basis for the wheelhouse assembly as I had a flat vertical bulkhead at the forward end and the aft end of the wheelhouse. My idea was to make a complete wheelhouse assembly that fitted over the boat and incorporated the upper portion of the hull where it rises to meet the flying bridge supports, the wheelhouse, flying bridge and accommodation housing.
I started of with holding two vertical bulkheads in the guides against the existing bulkheads and manufactured a spacer and a tab assembly that hooked over the top of the existing fixed short bulkheads. I then had the forward and aft bulkheads in place. These were then joined with longitudinal beams, with braces, to hold the two bulkheads together. I now had the basis of a removable assembly. This would slide vertically out of the boat as a, hopefully, rigid unit and when in the boat would all be held firmly in place by the bulkhead guides fitted to the ship.
Now I needed to build on this foundation. I added a few more stiffeners and then planked the bridge deck across the camber with 0.5 mm spacers cut from plasticard between each plank. When the planking was complete I mixed up my powder paint and PVA “Caulking†and spread it over the deck and well into the plank gaps. Next came the laborious task of rubbing it all down again to the bare wood, hopefully leaving a nicely caulked deck when it is done. When this was completed I decided to strengthen the underside a bit more by sealing it with a coat of resin, which when set gave me an assembly which did actually slide out of the guides and would seem to be quite strong when it is off the boat. The camber helps with this strength, as will the wheelhouse and flying bridge assembly when they are added.
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Part Two, The Wheelhouse
The next step of the process was to start to put the wheelhouse together. This was a sub assembly that I made on the bench and, as always, I just do not seem to be able to make the thing according to the instructions. Consequently mine has internal wainscoting, a shelf around the window frames, flag locker and chart table. It will also, of course, be fitted with a binnacle and telegraph and all the other detailed little bits and bobs that will bring it to life and were included in the kit.
Unfortunately the next process was actually to recover the original planked deck with another layer of planks. I did this as I was not happy with the finish of the original planks due to the fact I had laid them on a not very strong backing, not realizing that they would not sand down evenly to remove the caulking. Thankfully the additional decking over the top of the original which worked considerably better and I then had a nice deck surface to work with.
One of those strange coincidences that make up the character of a project such as this occurred next when I was very lucky to find a book at a book stand at Doncaster Model Show which was a history of the Ramsey Steamship Company, who operated the Ben Ain for a number of years and which contained three photo’s of the ship. These pictures helped me to design the arrangement of the bulwarks as fitted to the deck around the bridge and helped to clarify the arrangement of the area.
First though I needed to progress the bridge housing itself as this had to be taken to a stage whereby it could be fitted to the bridge deck. It is considerably easier to fit detail into the bridge before it is glued down so I worked on the flag locker, chart table and internal painting. The flags are actually real signal flags in paper, rolled up and inserted into the locker so the correct colours are actually visible in the correct holes. The inside was painted, the wood varnished and the window frames were fitted before shaping the top edge to follow the correct contour of the flying bridge deck to be fitted above.
One thing the pictures showed quite clearly was the way in which the bridge deck bulwarks lean in and how the bulwark capping rail meets it at either end. I fitted the bulwarks, cut from ply, and then added a forward bulwark stay and a centre bulwark stay before actually cutting away the ply rear bulkhead, which I had deliberately left full to provide the maximum strength up through the structure. This also ensured that the aft bulkhead was cut away to just the correct shape leaving the opening for the ladder to be added later. This bulkhead will be further cut away when the bridge is finally fitted to leave a perfectly shaped and strong support for the whole piece.
So having finally got the Bridge Deck into a condition that I was happy with then was the time to build on it. The first job was to make the component parts that the bridge contained so I set about putting together the telegraph, binnacle, wheel and steering gear and completed these as separate items. Working with such a mixture of media is always very interesting and trying to make one appear as another demands a bit of thought. The brass work of the binnacle top and the telegraph was created by painting with gold enamel then over painting with a thinned down coat of Tamiya acrylic Clear Smoke paint. This acted a bit like a wash in the detail but it also gave the surface a much more realistic ‘patina’ of brass rather than bright gold paint.
The wheel and the raised trellis deck was another challenge as these were cast white metal items but I wanted an old varnished mahogany look. To get this I painted them with matt light earth enamel before a coat of Ronseal stained varnish was applied. This allowed the earth undercoat to show through and give the surface the texture I was after.
When I actually stuck the bridge to the bridge deck the first job was to create an illusion of a staircase below the flag locker so to achieve this I made a small frame from scrap wood then cut some strip wood into ‘steps’ to fit across it. I painted the steps with a dark wash but painted the top step with one coat, the second step with two, etc…etc.. The steps then appeared darker as they were supposed to be lower although they were actually only glued into the frame at the same level. When the handrails were added from more scrap wood and electrical cable core and the flying bridge deck placed over the top of the bridge the effect that could be seen through the open doors was surprisingly effective. I also continued the wainscoting around the rear of the bridge and added a shelf to go over the steering gear to match up with the wainscoting around the rest of the bridge. I painted the bulkhead above the wainscot and added the two aft facing portholes after glazing on the inside.
Next was put all the bits into the bridge in the correct place and ensure that everything lined up correctly and worked from an operational point of view. These bridges were always very cramped but it still had to be possible for a figure to walk around the items and operate the controls.
When the components were installed I painted the deck with a coat of satin varnish then made up a wash from matt enamel paint. This was applied to the deck around the machinery, the machinery itself and the paintwork above the wainscot. Weathering with a model such as this is going to be very tricky as the real ships were usually in a very dirty and well worn state. If I actually modelled the real vessel accurately it would look a mess as a model so I have to be very careful not to overdo it. I finished off with a bit of dry brushing around the floor as a final touch but that is enough for inside the wheelhouse.
During this time I also installed the ports on the forward accommodation bulkhead, with a couple of lights behind the outside two, and I continued the work on the bridge bulwarks. Having been modified from the kit in so far as they have tumble home (lean inwards!) a few other bits have had to be modified to suit. I have also added butt straps on the inside face and added rivet details and profile to the outside face. Also at this point I fitted the forward bulwark unit which was made up of a sandwich of two thin ply pieces covering light frames pieces which were left extended so that they could be fitted into the deck, giving a degree of strength to the unit.
All through the entire process of making this part I have to bear in mind that the bridge assembly must remain removable to gain access to the steam plant without appearing so when assembled. The forward ports have had some detail painted behind them and further painting has been completed around the piece but my main concern is that when the bridge is fitted it does not look like it is a separate piece.
Finally a couple of bits of detail were added in the bridge to help to bring it to life and add that touch of realism. Firstly I did a bit more dry brushing around the deck in the areas that would not get cleaned and walked on i.e. around the fixtures and fittings, doors and steps etc. and then I also got some Irish Sea charts off the Internet and reduced them to a scale size before printing then off and fitting them around the chart table. These were painted with a matt varnish to 'fix' them and protect them from moisture.
The last finishing little touch was my favourite little addition and consisted of a couple of cups of tea. How could a ship run without tea? These were made from a piece of copper tube with two 0.6 mm holes hand drilled into them and a bit of telephone wire glued into them. I filled them with some watered down PVA and painted them gloss enamel with a dark brown inside. A dry brush of matt earth took the edge off the high gloss and I glued them to the shelf in front of the bridge window. I like little personalised touches like these that make the observer aware of the fact that you understand what is involved with running a ships bridge and it can help enormously to capture a bit of the atmosphere of the time.
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Sandy, the use of the original filling valve boss as a means off adding another level valve is an exellent idea. Many thanks for the suggestion. I might have a play around with silver soldering the threaded part of the existing valve to a 90 deg stop valve or some other method of getting it to fit but somehow or another I will use that boss to fit a level valve.
Many thanks again for the suggestion, very much appreciated!
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Thanks for your kind words David. I'm afraid I have to say though that you are indeed looking at one of my normal work benches where do my building, I have the luxury of a few.
One of the great interests I am having building this model is using many plastic model techniques that I have developed over the years to get the most realistic effects and finished I can achieve. I have more ideas than I know where to start with for the hull!!
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One of the great interests I am having building this model is using many plastic model techniques that I have developed over the years to get the most realistic effects and finished I can achieve. I have more ideas than I know where to start with for the hull!!
Perhaps you might consider doing a few articles on the techniques you use Bunkerbarge? I'm sure a lot of people would be interested as they can apply to almost any form of modelling....
No pressure, just a suggestion you may wish to think about?
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I'll put together a sample to see what you think. I have never actually done much like that but I am happy to describe some of the things I do.
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Thanks mate, we can all learn from one another - There's always someone who has another way of doing things, and that may just be a better way than we currently use.
I'd be happy if anyone else fancied contributing the odd article as well, it all helps when we eventually take on that once in a lifetime project, or even tackle our first ever model.
Always remember, the whole point of a club (or a group such as this) is to share information and to enjoy a similar interest.
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Part Three, The Ladders
The next thing to think about with the bridge construction was how I was going to deal with the ladders as supplied with the kit. They were supplied as cast white metal items which therefore had a few inherent problems.
Unfortunately being cast they were not a very crisp finish, the edges were not parallel or square and a lot of time was going to be required to file out the centres of the steps to make them look even presentable. Other concerns were that, being white metal, the bond to the bulkhead was not going to be the best, even with Araldite, and they were actually going to weigh a significant amount when all seven of them were fitted.
So, never having taken the easy path with any part of this model so far, I decided to make up my own and started to experiment with bits of wood, possible construction methods and a few sketches.
I started with my supply of 5mmx1mm strip lime which I had been using for planking the decks and decided that it was a suitable match for the components of the steps. I cut the side runners using my cutting board to get the ends at the correct angles and made up enough for all seven sets of steps.
Next I made up a spacer piece from a scrap of wood to ensure the sides remained parallel and the correct distance apart and held a pair against it with a spot of blue tack. This enabled the top ends to be glued to the bridge assembly bulkheads and ensure they remained in the correct attitude while the glue set and also allowed me to place the steps exactly where I wanted them with respect to the other deck fittings.
I then removed the spacer and fitted another wooden spacer, using the original white metal steps as a pattern, between the sides which was used to set the vertical step spacing.
Then it was a slow process of adding a step, letting the glue set, and moving the spacer up a step until they were all fitted. One large set of steps took an hour and a half to make this way which was probably not a lot more than it would have taken to dress up the original items but the result was a lot more crisp and neat. It also ensured that the bond to the bulkhead was extremely strong which, as the steps have to remain in place when the bridge assembly is removed, is very important. After all four sets of steps were fitted to the bridge assembly I removed the unit and confirmed that everything still came off and went back on again successfully.
I am very pleased with the way the steps have turned out and after a lot of messing around with jigs I think the build them in situ method has worked very well.
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Part Four, The Flying Bridge
The detail inside the bridge was finally completed and the painting around the bulwarks and sidings was finished. After a lot of experimenting I have stuck with two coats of a brown/orange mix which is more brown, but then finish off with a final coat of a similar mix but more orange. This way the brown below shows through slightly and allows differing tones to be achieved easily depending on how many coats of the orange are applied. I wanted to get this painting done before I put the flying bridge deck on as this restricts access to the areas of the bulwarks.
The steps were finished, glued in place and painted along with the rest of the assembly so it was time to add the flying bridge deck. Once again the kit provided a pre-printed ply sheet to fit here but I wanted to lay proper planking in line with the other decks I have fitted. Also because I have correctly given the bulwarks some ‘Tumble Home’ the supplied deck is not the correct size so it had to go.
First I cut out a piece of thin ply to the correct shape, cut a small notch in it for the navigation light cables along the rear edge and worked it slowly and carefully on the curved edge of my modelling bench to give it a suitable curve. This was then glued in place with some weights across the wheelhouse and side supports with liberal amounts of PVA. When that was set I trimmed it and sanded it to shape so it fitted perfectly then added the white metal front braces.
Next I made a frame to go around the edge which will give depth to the final deck and provide a facia for the edging of deck. This was made from grooved strip wood which proved extremely difficult to bend and consequently I ended up doing it three times! Unfortunately when the front piece was glued in place it relaxed slightly so it does not now conform exactly to the same curve of the bridge deck. I tried to correct this when I fitted the flying bridge sidings but I suspect I am going to have to live with it. Visually it will not be noticeable when I fit the front siding as the top edge will be the correct curvature so it will only be the deck itself which is slightly out.
After the frame had set it was time to do a bit more planking. I have modified my planking procedure now. Instead of using tabs of plasticard to space the planks I used strips of plastic moulding in the shape of angle iron which was 0.5mm thick. This spaced the planks more effectively and was easier to work with so a piece of that across the ends and two to use along the edges proved to be very useful.
The next step was to caulk the deck and I used a slightly modified method this time whereby I didn’t spread my glue mix all over the deck before sanding it down but I simply syringed it along the plank joints. This is strangely enough exactly the same way real teak decks are caulked so it must have something going for it. After the glue had set hard it was a lot easier to sand down to the wood level and after touching up a couple of air holes I had a neatly caulked deck again.
The next step involved making the flying bridge bulwarks which are supposed to be constructed of ply and then covered with a stained printed overlay. Once again I was not very impressed with the idea of an overlay so I glued the ply core to the deck first then I commenced the very time consuming task of planking the bulwarks myself with 5mm x 1mm pear stripwood. I cut the wood to length, 25mm, then carefully sanded a chamfer on each edge of the plank. This chamfer is necessary to allow the planks to appear quite distinctly separate and will allow a wash to flow into it when I eventually get around to weathering the model. I used 5 x 1 metre lengths of stripwood cut into 25mm pieces so you get the idea of where the time went. I also fitted a skirting around the bottom edge and a double thickness capping rail along the top edge. The skirting proved to be particularly tricky when it was fitted across the camber as the curve is quite significant and the plank required wetting to try to get it to conform. To help with this I cut the 5mm strip down to 4mm, which conveniently gave me a pile of 1mm strips to be used for the decorative beading! After the vertical planking had all been completed I then had the task of levelling it all and ensuring the front and back were both of the same curvature and they were level. To help with this I made a tool by glueing a piece of sandpaper to a piece of an old wooden yard stick and then proceeded to very carefully sand the tops of the bulwarks down to the required level. This actually worked very well and left me with a nice flat top to glue the capping to relatively easily.
The other main part of this work has been the fitting of the navigational lights and how I was going to get power to them. I had already run some fine cable up through a box at the back of the wheelhouse which was then run into a channel along the back of the flying bridge, held in place first by the vertical planking and then finally by the skirting. The cables then had to be joined to the lamps so I had to decide how best to go about that. I bought some brass lamps of Ebay for the Navigation lights as I wasn’t too keen on the white metal quartered lamps supplied with the kit. I painted them up with primer then a coat of copper paint before a top coat of red or green. This allowed me to scrape a bit of red and green away and reveal the copper below which I then gave a dry brush with a Verdi Gris colour before a wash with a brown. The lamps were installed into the boards and the cables run through a hole in the deck before looping back up through another hole on the other side of the bulwark. This then gave me the two ends of the cables together and I then constructed a planked door which you will actually find in this situation on a lot of vessels which is there to enable easy access to the Navigation lamps for maintenance or, in those days, for lighting and extinguishing. I employed a little bit of poetic licence here and instead of just having an access door I incorporated the door into a raised box which then gave me somewhere convenient to make the electrical connections to the lamps, neatly and completely concealed.
Moving that bit further the decorative strip was glued around the top outside edge of the bulwarks maintaining a consistent distance from the capping rail and then the flying bridge details could be worked on. The binnacle was made in just the same way as the one inside the bridge and finished with a gold paint with an overcoat of Tamiya Clear acrylic “Smoke†to give it an aged patina and the wheel and telegraph were both painted up, assembled and fitted to the flying bridge. The steps up to the flying bridge were fitted in exactly the same way as the ones were made from the main deck to the bridge deck but in the case with these care had to be taken to ensure that they accommodated the camber of the two decks. Another detail item to be reworked was the life belts to be hung on the bridge bulwarks. The white metal ones were good enough but I was concerned again about unnecessary weight and I thought that I could do better anyway. I turned a piece of dowel down to 20mm and then ran a 12mm drill down the centre of it. I parted off 4mm pieces which gave me nice wooden rings that then had to be smoothed over to give an even and flattened ring shape. These were then whipped with fine cord to make the rope work and the grab handles which gave a much more realistic appearance as well as being considerably lighter than the originals. I then made wooden brackets for them all before finally mounting them on the bulwarks and giving then a couple of coats of satin yacht varnish. The life rings were painted with Humbrol matt enamels and the rope was protected with a coat of matt clear varnish.
Further painting around the bridge unit and the fitting of final detailed items such as hand rails, mushroom vents, canvas dodger stanchions and the mast crutch finally completed the bridge unit. The supplied white metal canvas dodger stanchions proved to be a bit on the soft side so they were replaced with brass items and painted white before fitting to the capping rail. All that remained for the bridge unit at this stage was the fitting of one or two figures and some final careful weathering but this will mostly be done when the entire model is completed and the weathering finish will be applied throughout at the same time.
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Seven: Steam Plant Modifications
The actual progress of the Ben Ain Model took a bit of a breather next as attentions were turned towards completing two significant modifications to the steam plant. The first of which was to move the boiler back a little bit more and the second being the fitting of a gas regulating valve.
After numerous fitting trials with the newly completed bridge unit and the fiberglass rear accommodation section in place it was becoming apparent that the boiler needed to be about 5mm further back to get the flue central in the funnel. One option was to simply put the funnel central to the flue but as the top of the fiberglass unit was marked with plate detail one of the areas was clearly defined as the section that the funnel should be centralized in so to a trained eye it may look slightly out. I decided that I could move the boiler back the required distance by remaking the steam supply pipe to the engine and have an arrangement whereby the pipe did not enter the engine horizontally but entered via a 90 degree elbow. This entailed making up an elbow from two fittings silver soldered together to fit the control valve threads and fitting it to a complete new steam supply pipe, complete with “T†piece for the blowing through line.
With the new pipe in place the boiler could be moved back the required 5mm and further measurements indicated that the boiler flue would now be considerably more centralized in the funnel.
The next modification was the fitting of a gas regulating valve on the gas tank. One of the main reasons for having the gas tank and the separator tank in the same area was to be able to transfer heat from the hot separator tank to the cold gas tank, thereby attempting to alleviate the issues of the gas tank over cooling under heavy use. The first part of this set up entailed the manufacture of a copper heat transfer bridge which was actually made from a cut up piece of 2†diameter copper pipe and a copper electrical connecting strap from a heavy electrical plant switchboard. The unit was then lagged with refrigerant plant insulation to ensure the heat is directed through the strap and thereby deposit the heat into the gas tank. By doing this and supplying heat to the tank it is then important to ensure that the supplied gas pressure remains constant hence the fitting of a Cheddar manufacture pressure regulating valve. This should then smooth out any supply pressure fluctuations and keep the burner flame consistent. The valve was simply fitted into the line from the gas tank to the Cheddar Electronic Gas Valve.
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Eight: The Quarterdeck Detail
With the steam plant modifications completed it was time to return to the model and progress the area of the raised quarter deck. This was still bare ply and needed to go through the same entire process that had been completed on the main deck. The first job, was to sand down the P 38 filler in the bulwark faces to cover the fiberglass texture and give a nice smooth finish for the detail to be glued to. Next was to cover the deck with the heavy cartridge paper supplied with the kit after first cutting it into similar sized plates as the main deck and marking out the edges with flush rivets. When the glue was dry the edges around the deck openings were trimmed to fit.
The white metal butt straps were fitted next by simply gluing to the bulwarks and trimming back after the glue was set to the top of the bulwark with a pair of electrical side cutters. The kit supplied aluminium tube was fitted with suitable lengths of chain at either end, the ends bent to fit the curve of the deck and the tubes glued to the deck and bulwarks. Bulwark stays were made up exactly as they had been for the main deck and fitted in place followed by the pieces of plastic moulding angle iron at the foot and the top.
The next job was to work on the aft mooring winch unit which was designed to be a removable unit to give access to the rudder stock. The kit suggested a single transverse beam with the wooden slats glued to it cantilever style but I had doubts as to the strength of this arrangement. Consequently two transverse beams were used with the deck slats glued across the top of them both giving a much more rigid arrangement. The box section to fit the deck opening was made from ply scrap and a hatch cover was glued to the top of that with another piece of detailed cartridge paper glued to that. The white metal winch was assembled as per the instructions after treating the capstan to a quick spin in the lathe to dress it up into a perfect cylindrical shape and the whole unit sprayed with a grey primer before a couple of coats of semi gloss Tamiya Acrylic. The deck woodwork was varnished with two coats of satin yacht varnish after the ends were dressed up to be perfectly square to each other. A coat of the deck red paint was applied to the structure and a couple of pieces of the plastic moulding angle iron was added to the rear to neaten up the fit to the bulwarks. Cut outs in the forward main beam were added for the steering chain to pass through and a detail touch was to put a flange over the entrance made from a spare white metal porthole cut in two.
Other items completed at this time were the locating of the chain wheels and the securing of the chains in position taking care that the chains looked as though they run around the forward pulleys when in fact the removable wheelhouse is quite a separate piece.
Once I was happy with the fit of the mooring winch assembly it was time to address the capping rails. The tops of the bulwarks, bulwark stays, plastic angle iron and butt straps were all dressed up level with a large sanding flat surface and the curved capping rail was marked out from the hull by pencil and cut out of 0.8mm ply. This was glued to the bulwark top and the top of the stays.
The longitudinal sections were cut from 5mm x 1mm planking and the forward upturns made from a piece of aluminium tube cut to size and glued to the forward end over the bridge bulkhead guides. The capping rails were then all dressed up by sanding the tops and the edges and blending the different pieces where they joined. Finally the semi circular plastic extrusion was fitted to the outside edge of the capping rail after putting a sharp 90 degree bend at the forward end to match the curve of the aluminium tube.
Also at this point the mooring ports were fitted by first gluing the ring on the inside of the bulwark, drilling a hole through the hull then opening it out to almost meet the edge of the ring. The second ring was then glued on the outside before finally dressing up the inside surface with round files and emery cloth to smooth out the inside and outside ring with the bulwark. The internal grids of the wash ports were also fitted by dressing up and simply gluing to the inside face of the bulwarks.
The next job was to attend to the deck detail items with the bollards requiring the most work. The bollards supplied with the kit did not appear to match either the kit supplied plan or the other plans and drawing I had of the ship so I set about modifying them to the arrangement as shown in the picture. Two strips of 8mm wide wood, one 1mm thick and the other 2mm thick, were glued together and then rounded off to make the base riser. The while metal base was dressed up and the wooden riser glued to it. Next the base was drilled through to accept the pins on the cylinders and they were then glued to the risers, once again after a quick spin in the lathe to true them up. Finally more pieces of the 8mm x 1mm were drilled through with a 6mm drill, cut across the hole and then trimmed to size to make the gusset plates which were then glued in between the cylinders. A bit of a lengthy performance but the resulting bollards are considerably more true to the plan and after a coat of primer and a coat of Tamiya satin black look the part.
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Phenomenal craftsmanship. This will be (and is even during the build) a beautiful model which I am in doubt that you are proud of. Keep us posted with your progress Bunkerbarge we all love to see the fantastic detail that you inexhaustible patience brings.
cheers
jim
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Hi PD's & welcome back "bukerbarge"....as you know...many here love steam.....but from your IMG006...I am a little stumped ??? :squareone
I see an input isolation valve>>>>to the lower section of a component>>>>>then the outlet of this to another isolation block with a form of metering >>>>>& with servo control
I am sure many PD's will be enlightened......regards
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Many thanks for the kind words gents. The build has taken four years so far and I guess another two or three will be required to complete it. Not easy fitting in such a project with everything else you have to do during a seemingly short leave!
Anyway as for the valves, the first valve in line from the tank, apart from the isolation valve, is a pressure regulating valve. The heat I am going to transfer from the seperator will hopefully increase the pressure of the gas tank or at least slow down the rate the pressure falls due to the cooling effect of the evaporating gas. The regulating valve is supposed to smooth out any fluctuations in the gas pressure from the tank and ensure a regular pressure to the burner.
The second valve is a Cheddar Electronic Gas Valve and is operated by the pressure in the boiler which, via the servo, turns the gas from a full flame setting to a pilot flame setting. The set point of the controller should then maintain the boiler at a reasonably steady pressure without wasting any gas.
Basically the first valve is controlling the gas pressure in the gas tank and the second one is controlling the steam presure in the boiler.
I have sailed the boat with the second valve in line but the gas pressure regulating valve and the heat bridge has not yet been tried out.
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Nine: The Stand
At this point in the construction the model was destined for display at a model engineering exhibition so it was decided that a more appropriate stand would be required to display it at its best. The stand used so far in the construction was simply made from the profiles supplied with the plan to produce two upright supports made from sections of teak plank. These were cut to shape, spaced with suitable dowels and attached to risers to give a slightly more appealing design as well as lifting the model a little bit higher off the base board.
The base was simply a piece of laminated pine board, varnished, with a block of teak fitted for the name plate. Felt pads were added to the tops of the profiles to protect the hull and a brass name plate was added to the teak block. This proved to be a suitable stand for working on the model and would later form the basis of a carrying box but it was not the best for display purposes.
It is often the case with model boats that the stand is not given the attention it deserves. It is the means of displaying your model to it’s best so it should enhance the model, look professional and present the model at it’s best. One of the most impressive methods of presenting a model ship, and precisely why it is used in museums the world over, is to place the model on pillars. This allows the model to be elevated to a level that allows easy views of the entire hull and presents it as an object free of it’s base. There are many ways of interpreting the pillar design but one of the most widely used and one of the most attractive is to use brass pillars on a polished wooden base.
The first piece to obtain was a suitable piece of teak to form the base. This was procured from a ships wood store, and even then required laminating to produce a piece of the required size, and was cut to size and thickness before a router was run along the edges of the base to finish it off. This base was then given three coats of a polyurethane varnish, rubbing down between coats to give an extremely durable and waterproof finish.
Next the attentions were turned to the pillars and the best method of design. The idea was to come up with a simple yet elegant design that could be easily produced on a model making lathe. The final configuration was generated from 25mm round bar stock, taken down to two smaller diameters with a tool profiled to give a similar radius at either end of the cuts. In this way a single tool could be used for the entire process, generating a simple pillar that complemented the complexity of the finished model.
Four pillars would be used, two along the keel and two across the midships section so stock brass was prepared for the machining. When all four pillars were turned, drilled and tapped to M8 in the base and parted off the top faces were machined to give exactly the correct heights to support the model evenly. The final machining process was to mill a slot across the top face of the two pillars that were to hold the keel of a suitable height and depth to locate the keel. Once the machining was completed all four pillars were sent away to a local metal finishers to be polished to a high degree.
On their return the base was marked out for the four positions and drilled, then counter bored to clear the heads of the M8 screws, before fitting the pillars in place and lining up the slots in the centre line pillars.
A final finishing touch to protect the hull detail from the pillar was to cut to size pieces of balsa wood, glue them to the tops of the pillars and paint them black with some enamel paint. This provides a degree of cushion for the weight of the model and protects the surface of the hull from abrasion and scratches.
Finally the name plate was stolen from the building stand and fitted to the display stand to finish it off.
The materials and techniques used in the stand are available to the majority of model makers with a reasonably equipped workshop however if such equipment is not available then alternatives can be sourced for the various components. The most important considerations are to make a stand, within your available resources, that will present the model at it’s best and look as good as you can make it.
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Ten: Quarterdeck Superstructure
Before progress could be made with the Ben Ain a significant decision had to be made, namely do I use the supplied fibre glass moulding for the quarterdeck superstructure or scratch build a unit.
The first part of the operation was to fit the coamings to the deck opening in exactly the same way as was done with the main hatch opening. Vertical 25mm coamings were fitted and glued to the internal opening beams, ensuring that they remained vertical during the drying process and webs were added at the corners to ensure rigidity of the structure to resist the forces involved with fitting and removing the superstructure.
The supplied moulding had a few issues that required addressing, such as the vertical sides were not straight and vertical so required pulling in with an internal frame, the lower edge was not square to the deck so it had to be dressed up to fit, the forward bulkhead was square to the top so it did not match the angle at the back of the bridge unit made with the deck, the top was flat and not cambered and the moulded detail was not as crisp as I would have preferred with the door openings and plate joints being square to the top rather than vertical as they should be. Combined with this the unit was also a bit on the heavy side so I decided to have a bit of a play around with some plywood to see how difficult it would be to manufacture a unit from scratch.
The unit looks to be a simple enough shape but the ends should be vertical when sat on the slightly angled quarterdeck. This means that the forward and aft bulkheads should also be slightly angled and all the plate detail and door openings should also be vertical when the unit is fitted. I started by making two side plates from the original moulding and marked out the openings. The forward edge was angled to butt up to the bridge unit and the aft edge was angled similarly. Two pieces of 10mm x 10mm stock wood were fitted at the aft edge with 5mm x 5mm supports glued to them to keep them square with the ply bulkhead as the aft edges are curved so will have to be carved from the solid wood. The width of the unit was determined from the moulding and the difference measured from the deck opening determined that the ply bulkheads needed to be 5mm from the coaming so an internal frame of 5mm stock was used to space the sides.
Once the dimensions were settled all the openings were cut from the sides and pieces were made for the forward and aft bulkheads, with a suitably curved top, and the box unit was glued together on the model. The separation of the side bulkheads was set by fitting transverse beams to support the boat decking as well as additional internal frame work and these were used to support half bulkheads with curved top edges which would give the support and curvature for the cambered top deck.
At this point the ply top was cut to shape and the correct position of the funnel opening was determined and cut out with a hole saw and sanded to suit the supplied plastic pipe for the funnel. Once the fit of the top was finalised the top deck was glued down and held to the curved formers until the glue had completely set. When set the unit was finally removed from the model and the quality of the fit to the model determined. From this point on there was no question that the unit was going to be a success and would produce a lighter and more accurate item than the original fibre glass moulding. Internal bracing and stiffeners were added to ensure rigidity and a weir was build around the internal funnel opening from 5mm x 5mm stock wood. The aft corners were rounded off to a 5mm radius by using a sanding block made from sandpaper glued to a piece of board. This enables an even radius along the whole length of the corner and makes for blending the radius to the flat bulkheads a lot easier.
The plastic tube of the funnel was cleaned up and roughened with emery cloth before inserting into the tight fit of the hole in the deck. Once the position was matched to the boiler flue the unit was removed and Isopon resin was poured into the weir to ensure a rigid joint and location with the plastic tube.
The funnel was progressed with the addition of the white metal fittings included with the kit with the position of the fittings being determined from the plan. The ships whistle, cast in white metal, would have to be painted to resemble brass so this was scratch built from bits of scrap brass tube glued together to give a neater unit.
The next structural item to be made was the engine room skylight which was built up from the kit parts with the openings being held open with stays and the white metal fastenings being replaced by M2 screws, nuts and washers to give a much crisper level of detail for the items. The location on the top deck was determined and an opening was cut into the deck to allow through ventilation from the boiler space below when the model is steaming. The internal surfaces were painted with a coat of primer then radiator enamel before gluing the unit to the top of the superstructure.
The bunker opening at the forward end of the superstructure was built up next similarly to the kit instructions with the difference that the transverse beams were laminated from planks, which enabled them to be formed to match the curvature of the camber. The bunker opening frame was glued in place with internal supports for the hatch boards also added. Once this was in place a semi circular plastic moulding was added around the top edge, finishing the deck edge off and following the curved aft corners and the camber of the aft bulkhead.
The final significant part of the unit was to fit the last piece of planked deck on the aft port quarter of the top deck and this was made up in exactly the same way as the other decks had been constructed from 5mm x 1mm planks of lime, spaced with 0.5mm plasticard pieces and the caulking made from white PVA mixed with black powder paint. The final surface was sanded down to reveal the planking below and the deck given three coats of polyurethane varnish.
With the planked deck finished the structure of the unit was considered as complete and the detailed fitting out of the unit could be commenced.
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I'm not sure if there's really a lot I can say, except that the model is really progressing nicely, and is obviously the work of a real craftsman - Well done Bunkerbarge!
I'm glad to see you've started to post more progress reports, and I'm thoroughly enjoying reading about the build and browsing through the photographs...
Best wishes
Eddy
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Thanks for the kind words Eddy. Unfortunately I only get chance to work on the model when I am at home on leave and it has to wait for the three months when I am away at work. Consequently it is a bit of a slow progress but I do try to get a bit of time on it when I am at home.
Now I'm back at work until September so the next update won't be until at least November. Still I have to put petrol in the tank somehow!
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Eleven: Quarterdeck Superstructure Detailing
Once the main structure of the quarter deck accommodation unit was completed it was time to start work on the detailed fitting out of the unit. I wanted to add riveted detail to match in with the rest of the model as well as emulate the original fibre glass unit as well as add scribed panel lines to follow the plate detail.
The first step was an overall two coats of grey primer to show up the imperfections and cover up the building markings so that scribing could be done that bit more clearly. The primer was sprayed inside and out after first masking off the boat platform support beams and the wooden decking and protecting the inside of the machinery space skylight. A gentle rub down with fine grade wet and dry was done between coats and it was decided that the remaining grain of the wood still visible would be suitably covered with the three coats of matt enamel to be painted on. Once the primer had dried the panel lines were all scribed on the surface using a small flexible steel rule and the back of a Stanley knife blade. Care was taken to ensure that the vertical panel lines on the bulkheads were actually vertical when the unit was in place on the angled deck and therefore lined up with the edges of the door openings.
Next was to add the detail to the sides of the structure such as the doors and handrails. The doors were cut from thin ply and dressed up before being fitted with the white metal fittings such as hinges and handles supplied in the kit. A number were deliberately left open to allow viewing of the insides of the model when in operation as well as to assist in the ventilation of the machinery space when under way. The handrails were also the kit supplied white metal supports with the supplied plastic coated fine rod for the handrail itself. The fittings were all glued in place with araldite after first carefully marking out and drilling the bulkheads to suit.
Once the doors and handrails were in place the first coat of enamel was brushed on, once again with a small flat brush to generate some surface texture as well as to ensure that all the little nooks and crannies were covered. This gave another opportunity to see how the scribed panel lines were looking as well as to determine whether the wood grain was going to be completely covered with the final two coats of enamel. Once the first coat had dried completely it was time to get out the cyano gel and add the rivet detail to the panel edges. Care was taken to try to keep the beads small, regular and consistent, not always easy when your hand is getting quite weary. Once that was done around the bulkheads and the top deck the next coat of brown enamel was brushed on before finally going over with the orange top coat of enamel. The wood grain had now all completely been covered and the surface could pass off as plated steel.
The rivet detail added to the steel work was suitable for the accommodation structure but would have been far too cumbersome and out of scale if added to the funnel, which would almost certainly be fabricated from a thin gauge sheet steel. I tried to find relevant pictures of the structure of a period funnel in vain so made the decision that the sheets would almost certainly be held together with some form of straps to support the riveted edges and the only decision was then to estimate a size, spacing and whether to consider a single or double row. I eventually settled on a single row, fitted to a strap so made up some lengths of suitable strapping from the paper stock supplied in the kit for the steel decking. The edge of the paper was trimmed before scoring along it with a ponce or pounce wheel after offsetting the steel rule by approximately half a millimetre and then finally cutting the strap off by an offset of another half millimetre. This gave a one millimetre wide strap with a row of rivets along the centre line. These straps were then cut to length and glued onto the funnel structure, with the rivets proud, with cyano after estimating a likely plate configuration. This would at least add some detail to the funnel surface and give an opportunity for some weathering to be added to highlight the detail at a later stage.
Although the inside of the structure had been sprayed with two coats of primer no other paint had been applied since then mainly because I wanted to complete the electrical installation before any further painting. I used some circular plastic bulkhead fittings off the shelf, removed the supplied 3v lamps and replaced them with 12v grain of wheat lamps. It is my intention to use 12v lamps throughout the model and supply them with a 7.2v pack. This gives a reasonable period glow, as I am assuming from the age of the vessel that most, if not all, lighting would be from oil lamps, as well as ensuring as long a life as possible for the lamps themselves. The wiring again was made up from old telephone cable, twisted together, and arranged in two circuits. I want to switch the accommodation and navigation lights separately so the internal lights were wired up in parallel and the stern light was given a separate supply. All the wires were held in place before being completely covered over with araldite to ensure a resistance to heat and moisture effects. The exact arrangement for getting the power into the circuit has not been decided at this point but I want to devise an arrangement whereby some form of contact is made when the housing is dropped in place on the model. I very much want to avoid having to connect and disconnect cables from screwed connectors to remove the housing from the model, which always seems to be a clumsy operation and prone to damaging parts of the model. The stern lamp was a purchased brass item, which was a lot more clearly defined than the white metal piece supplied in the kit, which was painted up to look like copper and a clear lens made from thin acetate sheet fitted.
Also at this time the ring bolts were fitted around the structure, which were to eventually take the mast and funnel shrouds. I intend making these from picture hanging wire so I will want to have a small amount of tension in them so the ring bolts have to at least be secure and capable of taking this tension. The supplied white metal ones were replaced with items made from thin brass wire, glued into the surfaces of the superstructure and the funnel ring. They were glued with araldite giving a very strong bond and a blob was added inside the structure to secure the ends of the ring bolts. The large ring bolts for tying down the lifeboats were also added but the kit supplied white metal ones were used here as they are not going to be required to have any strength.
The next job was to start working on the boat platforms and here once again the vertical supports for the ends of the beams were supplied as white metal castings. These were quite heavy and would take quite a bit of dressing up to fit the ends of the beams as well as being a bit exposed when the structure is removed for access to the model. Because of this I wanted a really strong bond between the supports and the beam ends so I decided to scratch build them from wood. The outside flat vertical faces were cut from coffee stirrers with the ends being trimmed to size and angle to suit the sloping deck. The ribs on the inside were cut from 1mm x 1mm stock and glued to the back before gluing the supports in place on the beam ends, after trimming them to length, taking care that they remained in the correct position as the glue dried. When they were secure I made some knees from stock strip wood after making a circular cutter out of a piece of stainless steel tube. Tapping this with a hammer onto the strip wood gave a very neat and consistent curved edge to the knee so these were then trimmed to size before gluing them to either side of the vertical supports at the beam ends. The white metal profile pieces from the kit were finally added to the base of the supports with a spot of araldite. The two davit supports were also constructed from wood for the same reasons as the vertical supports with these being fabricated from more coffee stirrers and short sections of cut brass tube of such a size as to allow the main tube to slide through it. These were all glued together with araldite onto the kit supplied bulwark saddle pieces and attached to the superstructure with wood glue.
As I particularly did not want paint to mark the platform planking I measured out the plank spacing and then painted up the platform supports and the davit supports leaving gaps for the platform planking to be glued to the support surface. When the paint was dried the planks were added and the ends dressed up before varnishing the planks with two coats of satin and one coat of matt polyurethane varnish. The next job in this area was the addition of the boat supports which were made from coffee stirrers and strip wood planks after carefully cutting the boat hull profile out of the vertical piece. These I particularly wanted to show as being fitted to the platforms with bolts so I trimmed down some brass M2 screws, cut off the cheese heads and fitted nuts and washers to either side. These then made a particularly effective looking bolted fastening for the boat supports and will look particularly effective when finally weathered.
The next job on the boat platforms was to put the davits together and decisions as to the arrangements had to be made next. The kit did not include any falls which would have almost certainly consisted of a couple of double blocks with boats such as were fitted to the Ben Ain so the possibilities of making them had to be thought about. I had in my spares box a very old packet of wooden double blocks for use with sailing ship rigging which looked about the right size for 1/35th scale double sheeves. The fact that they did not actually contain sheeves did not really matter because when they were rigged with suitable diameter rope this fact would not be visible. The first stage was to add the dead eye so a piece of thin wire was wound round a former to create a loop before winding around the wooden block and then twisting the tails together on the other side. A blob of araldite was then applied to first one side and then, when set, to the other to create a rounded block shape. The twisted tails were snipped off and the end dressed up on a piece of fine sandpaper before drilling a hole to accept the swivel hook, made from domestic copper cable core. Another blob or araldite was added to the end and the swivel hook inserted through the blob and into the drilled hole. This gave a nice rounded block with a dead eye in one end and a swivel hook in the other, perfect to make up a block and tackle set of falls. The blocks were painted black and rigged with a suitable diameter cord, which was left with an appropriate length of tail. The tail was coiled and bound and given a twist around the fall ropes to keep the whole thing neat and as you might expect to see it in a stowed position on a ships boat.
The ends of the davits were also modified to remove the original castings which enabled the addition of an eyelet to take the falls. The ends were prepared and dressed up straight before a copper tube with a hole drilled through it was araldited to the end. The davit was then also drilled through the end and an eyelet added, which was actually a brass handrail support from a larger model. This was held on the top with a suitable brass nut which also located the tab fitted to allow the slewing ropes to be attached. When the davits were completed they were painted up with the three coats of matt enamel before fitting the falls and placing them in the support brackets.
The final touch at this point was to paint up the funnel so a mix of matt red and earth was made to take the harsh edge off the red paint and tone it down to a slightly more realistic shade. The two coats were deliberately put on sparingly so the over painted black below it showed through slightly, which will provide a far more realistic base for the final weathering. The white of the Maltese Cross was also toned down with a few spots of matt earth to prevent it looking quite so stark. The vent pipe and the whistle were then glued to the front of the funnel and given a coat of tamiya clear smoke to also better prepare them for final weathering. This also gives a much more realistic patina for the brass whistle and acts rather like a wash in the way that it holds in the shadows and recessed detail.
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Bunkerbarge, you may be away from home for months at a time, and only work on the model periodically - But my word, when you post a build update you certainly go to town!! ;)
With every little detail covered in-depth it will be a great resource for ideas and techniques that will appeal to many for other builds. So thankyou for taking the time to explain everything so fully.
It's really starting to take shape, and you should be proud of your achievements...
Regards
Eddy
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Thanks for the feedback Eddy, very much appreciated. Next installment sometime next year!!
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Twelve: More Engineering
Once again as the model progressed it became apparent that more aspects of the engineering required attention. The first concern was that the safety valve was still located at the front of the boiler and, although I was prepared to remove this along with the pressure gauge before removing or replacing the boiler in the model my concern was where the steam would escape should the valve ever lift. Consequently I wanted to move the safety valve back towards the funnel where it could then be easily arranged to vent into the funnel space. The problem was again a lack of available spare fittings on the boiler and I particularly did not want to move the main steam stop valve off the boss it was screwed into.
After considering many possible combination units of a home made valve assembly incorporating the safety valve I came up with the very simple idea of making a connecting piece that would mount both the existing main stop valve and the safety valve. The mounting was to consist of a female to female connector with a screwed conical fitting silver soldered into it. I drilled the side of the connector to suit the cone of the screwed fitting which would locate the piece as well as give additional strength to the joint. The screwed fitting was arranged at such an attitude as to give the required angle to the main stop valve when it was fitted and the connection was silver soldered to give a neat and strong joint. This fitting now screws into the available boss on the boiler via a threaded connection and the safety valve simply screws into the available top of the fitting. The main stop valve connects to the screwed fitting and the steam outlet pipe reconnected to the valve.
The other significant modification was the filling arrangement for the on board gas tank. I have always had a particular dislike for the ‘Ronson’ type filling valves, be they fitted to a cigarette lighter or a model gas tank. When you think about it all you are doing is inverting the purchased gas canister to allow liquid to flow then using the fitting on the canister you are opening the Ronson valve to allow the liquid to flow into the on board tank. The problem is if liquid is to flow into the tank then the displaced gas must be allowed to escape somehow. Because this does not happen the liquid is constantly spitting and blowing out as gas is trying to escape through the open valve at the same time as the liquid is flowing in. I have already modified the filling arrangement for the tank by filling through a clear hose into another valve and it quickly became obvious that the liquid would not flow very easily as the displaced gas could not escape.
To resolve this the Ronson valve was removed, at which point I noticed with surprise that the valve was not fitted with a dip tube, and the boss was drilled and tapped to accept a 5/16th x 32 tpi standard 90 degree globe valve to which a dip tube had been fitted. The idea of this valve is three fold, firstly it allows gas to escape at a controlled rate while liquid is flowing into the tank, secondly when liquid is seen spitting out of the valve you then know that the tank is full of liquid and finally the dip tube guarantees a liquid level and hence a gas space in the tank, thereby ensuring that the tank is never completely full of liquid and hence liable to being hydraulically locked.
I tried out the new valve with my camping gas canister, filling through the valve that had been used in the past with the new valve very slightly cracked open. I was surprised at just how much more quickly the liquid was seen to flow through the clear hose so obviously allowing the liquid to displace the gas worked well. After a few minutes liquid was seen spitting from the valve so at that point I knew that liquid was at the level of the dip tube so I stopped filling. Simple, effective, considerably safer and a lot quicker than using the Ronson valve so I was very pleased with the modification. The valve will be plumbed into an overboard pipe to ensure that a build up of gas inside the hull does not occur, making the arrangement considerably safer than the original.
The final modification was the fitting of a new speed regulating valve on the engine. The existing valve with the aluminium body has been attended to on a number of occasions and, although improvements have been noted it still seems to insist on leaking from the valve face. Modifications such as fitting a brass running face had limited success but one came loose and one became blocked with the araldite used to fit it!! The only real solution was to manufacture a brass bodied valve and a good friend, who happens to be a superb model engineer, helped out by making a beautiful perfect copy of the aluminium body in brass. This was fitted to the engine and run on the bench before putting back in the model and proved to be a huge improvement on the original arrangement. The valve still leaks slightly in the neutral position but it is significantly better and when the plant is removed again a bit more attention should improve it even more.
With the new modifications in place it was time to give the plant another couple of runs in the model to get a bit more of a feel for how the plant is operating. The boiler was filled from the feed tank, the separator tank emptied, the lubricator filled and the gas tank filled with the new arrangement. The boiler was taken up to pressure, the gas regulating valve turned on and the engine run, using the normal servo’s and control system. This was actually the first opportunity to observe the effect of the heat shunt, fitted to the separator and the gas tank to offset the effects of the gas cooling, and it surprisingly worked very well. After the engine had been running for approximately 10-15 minutes the pressure in the gas tank was noted as rising from 25 psi initially to 50 psi with no discernable affect on the burner performance so the heat shunt was obviously doing it’s job, as is the pressure regulating valve fitted to control the varying tank pressure. The only remaining concern from a technical point of view is the tendency for the steam exhaust to spit water out of the top of the funnel. This is obviously as a result of the fact that the separator tank is actually further away from the engine outlet than the ideal bit it is hoped that when the pipe work is completely lagged that this will improve significantly.
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Richard,
I don't think you will ever eradicate leakage completely in the neutral position on that type of valve, as the valve is acting like a pressure relief valve. So unless you tighten up to overcome the steam pressure in the line it will still weep slightly.
It is a catch 22 situation, have it leaking slightly in neutral and retain a nice smooth action, or tighten it up to stop the leak and have a difficult to move control valve.
It is for that very reason I have tried not to use that type of control valve, and wherever possible now, I go for a fully enclosed spool valve, which cures the problem completely.
a good friend, who happens to be a superb model engineer, helped out by making a beautiful perfect copy of the aluminium body in brass
Is it someone I know? :picknose :shhh
John
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I was worried that if I told them the engineer in question would be inundated with a continuous stream of requests for similar jobs!!
I know what you mean about the leaking at neutral. As soon as you operate the valve the pressure on the face is relieved as it goes to the engine so not surprisingly you get the leaking at neutral. I've not yet given it the toothpaste treatment, that's for when it comes out next time, which I hope will help but I'm not expecting it to stop completely. It is a lot better niow though so I'm still very happy with the improvement. I have also brought the pressure set point down on the gas regulating valve so it works between 35-40 psi and that helped as well.
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Thirteen: Lighting Installation
One part of any such project that seems to progress in the background alongside everything else yet remains a separate and independent item is the electrical installation and in particular the lighting.
I decided right from the start that I wanted to incorporate a lighting system but did not pay a great deal of attention as to how I wanted to arrange this when I first started building. The one decision that I did make however was what type of lamps to use. I could have gone for the simple and reliable path of LED’s but for a 1920’s coaster which would almost certainly be using oil lamps I thought the bright blue light from an LED would not be an appropriate light. The best way to achieve the type of light I was after was to use 12v incandescent lamps but use a lower voltage across them. This would have the advantage of producing a dimmer light, more in keeping with the model’s age, and it would also hugely increase the life of the lamps. This was to be particularly significant as I was going to seal the lamps in for the life of the model. This being mainly driven by the fact that a number of lights were to be in locations that access could not possibly be achieved after the model was completed.
Initial experiments tended to indicate that a six volt pack would produce the required degree of illumination so a simple four “AA” pack battery holder would be perfect for the job. The lamps seemed to be suitably bright enough so I started to install the initial lamps in the hull as the building progressed.
I have always believed in completely encasing wiring for lamps such as this in a resin to protect the wiring for the life of the model and the lamps were arranged to be located in a reflective housing to protect them and to enable the best from the lamp. I therefore started to install lamps in the hull inside paint pot lids and ran the cables back to a central location for connecting at a later date. Lamps were fitted behind the ports in the fo’c’sle, behind the ports in the mid ship hull and were incorporated into the bridge unit and the aft accommodation unit.
The lamps in the aft accommodation were a bulkhead lamp fitting with the 3v lamps removed and 12v lamps fitted instead to give a similar level of illumination. Other lights fitted during the build included the red and green bridge navigation lamps, which were turned brass items with a thin acetate sheet fitted over the opening after the insides had been painted. The lamp itself was painted up to resemble painted copper with some of the paint chipped and a degree of weathering added before putting another 12v lamp inside after feeding the cables up through the back of the bridge housing.
Once the aft accommodation lamps had been fitted the whole concept of how I wanted to operate the lights had to be addressed and decided before taking the model any further. I was particularly after a level of realism in the use of the lights so consequently I wanted separate circuits for separate uses. I decided on one circuit for all navigation lights so the two bridge navigation lamps, the aft anchor lamp and the forward mast lamp were to be connected together. All accommodation lighting was to be common and independently switched so that the ship could be alongside without navigation lights but with accommodation lights and finally the light on the bridge had to be independent. Bridge lights are very rarely lit except when in port so I particularly did not want the bridge light to be lit when the ship was underway. This therefore gave me three circuits, more than enough for such a simple old steamer!
The next decision was whether I wanted the circuits to be operated via the transmitter or manually. Part of this decision was based on the fact that using a Dx6i meant that I would be switching lighting circuits with a proportional channel, which didn’t seem right, as well as requiring either servo’s and switches or electronic relay’s to operate the circuits. All more complexity and weight in the model. Consequently I opted for the circuits to be operated manually from switches located in the main hatch. Obviously you don’t then have the convenience of switching circuits on and off when the model is under way but I thought that was a price I was prepared to pay for the sake of keeping the internals that bit simpler. I think I have enough complexity in the steam plant without going down the same path with the lighting circuits as well!
It was also at this point when I decided to use rechargeable batteries for the lights so fitted four “AA” rechargeable batteries in the holder. Then I noticed that the lamps were now getting too dim for credibility and then realised of course that four rechargeable “AA”s only gives 4.8 volts. Time for a rethink. The solution was to go for a 7.2 pack, which I tried but thought that the lights were too bright so eventually removed a cell and settled on a 6V 5 cell rechargeable pack. This was partly dictated by the fact that the lighting battery is also supplying the gas control valve and 7.2 v proved to be two much and the servo did not operate smoothly so consequently the 6v pack seemed to be the best compromise all round. A charging connection was also fitted to enable a normal Tamiya type charger to be used to charge up the battery pack with all items remaining in place in the model.
Having decided on the circuits and power the final main decision was how to get the power to the removable items such as the bridge and the aft accommodation units. I have always particularly disliked the idea of trying to disconnect wires from connecting blocks to enable parts of a model to be removed and have recently tried the method of plugging cables into a socket located within the model but for this I really wanted the complete convenience of being able to remove and replace the parts of the model without having to become involved in the lighting at all. The only way I could see this happening was by using a plug and socket connector unit with one being permanently mounted in the removable unit and the other being mounted in the model. I eventually obtained some very neat little six pin plug and socket units and set about how I was going to mount them in the model. I only used the centre four pins as I only needed two circuits to be completed so the connectors were wired up and mounted in holders ready to fit. First the unit was fitted in the removable aft accommodation section and, when set, the plug was assembled.
Then the accommodation was placed on the model and the other side of the plug glued to a mounting inside the aft coaming. It actually proved to work very successfully with the circuit being made when the accommodation is dropped in place which can also be removed without worrying about any of the lighting circuits. The two circuits were then tested and the accommodation lights and the aft anchor light worked fine from the two switches in the main hatch.
All that remains is to fit exactly the same plug and socket unit below the bridge for the two circuits in that piece!
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By the way the absolutely beautiful brass control valve was made by our very own Bogstandard. If you ever get stuck with an engineering issue drop him a PM, you'll be surprised at just what he can make!
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Well PD's ....now the news is out....YES it's coals to Newcastle... :whistle.....many little shiny brass bits for my PS Decoy build :hammer are also from CREWE engineering [Bandit, Vinnie & Bogs] then posted 1/2 the way around the world.............
Could ask not for better quality & tolerancing.........& we have a few laughs via PM's......frankly the costing $$$$$$ even with the air parcel post & insurance is similar to what I would pay in OZ
Thanks John...... :coffee....................Derek
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Chapter Fourteen: The Flue
Having made the modifications to the steam plant in Chapter 12 it was time to make the most of them and finally get the flue sorted out.
The whole idea of moving the safety valve closer to the funnel was to enable me to vent the safety valve up through the funnel rather than have it lifting and venting inside the model, which could have made a bit of a mess inside, so now it was time to make the arrangement to allow this. My idea had always been to make a pipe from a cover that went over the safety valve and pipe it into the boiler flue so I set about having a good root through all the copper pipe fittings in B&Q to see what I could use. I was very pleasantly surprised to come across a copper fitting that was a 45 degree bend with a flared end that sat very nicely over the safety valve body. I didn’t want to actually attach it to the valve but simply have the new pipe sat over it, which would enable me to gain access to the valve reasonably simply by removing the flue from the boiler. Then I sourced a piece of copper pipe that slid nicely into the other end of the fitting from the scrap bin at work and I had the bits to start with.
The first thing I wanted to do was to secure the steam exhaust pipe running up the centre of the flue to prevent it from rattling around while I worked on the new pipe so I looked through my metal bits and bobs and came up with an old brass capstan arrangement. I drilled out the centre boss and then cut the main flue tube to length to suit the model funnel and cut notches around the circumference to match the arms of the capstan. The pieces were then assembled around the steam exhaust pipe with a plastic metal putty material to hold the whole assembly in place until it set. I had a play around with soldering the parts but it proved to be extremely difficult with the high number of pieces to be secured simultaneously as well as the significant difference in component size making for difficult heat transfer issues. The plastic metal putty method is certainly not quite as strong as solder but for an item such as this which is not taking any load it is perfectly adequate and enables complex assembly’s such as this to be put together easily. Once the putty had set the protruding ends were trimmed and the excess putty filed down to give a neat arrangement for holding the steam exhaust pipe centrally while having a minimum of effect on the flue cross sectional area.
Then it was time to fit the flue to the boiler in the model and mark out where the new safety valve vent was to fit. I wanted a smooth path for the safety valve outlet to minimise the possibility of a back pressure effect so it was important to have the pipe entering the flue at a shallow angle and ensure the steam did not vent back into the boiler furnace space. The copper fitting was held loosely in place on the valve, the pipe length determined and the entry point into the main flue was determined. The flue was then removed again and the penetration into the flue was started with a drilled hole. This was then opened out with a tapered reamer, which has the advantage of cutting on the edge so it could be held at the appropriate angle, and a suitable elliptical penetration was generated to fit the vent pipe. The vent was cut at a matching angle and to length before the pieces were assembled loosely again on the model to see how it all fit. Once again the challenge here was to ensure that the pieces were perfectly aligned so it really required securing while in place on the model so the plastic metal putty method was used to hold the bits together. Spacers were inserted around the various parts to ensure perfect alignment before placing small amounts of the putty around the joints to effectively ‘tack’ them in place. Once again there is no loading on the pieces, the pipe simply sits over the safety valve so I’m reasonably confident that the plastic metal putty will be up to the job. If it falls apart one day I’ll let you know. The assembly was removed again and the joints were completely sealed up with the putty to ensure a degree of strength.
Once the structure of the flue was completed it was time to lag the assembly and the most effective way of doing this was to wrap the components with string to give a neat and tidy covering, especially around the joint, before finishing off with a wrap of sticky backed foil tape. The final unit looks surprisingly realistic but more importantly I now have a flue that combines the boiler exhaust, the steam exhaust and the safety valve vent into a single pipe.
Interestingly the final thing to mention here is the fact that although I go on and on about pre-planning I fell foul of my own lack of it. I always thought that there was plenty of room inside the aft superstructure unit to accommodate the safety valve vent but I’d seriously got it wrong. The new vent pipe interfered significantly with the superstructure and I was incredibly lucky to be able to remove material from the inside of the unit without it being visible externally. Talk about a huge sigh of relief.
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....Weathering with a model such as this is going to be very tricky as the real ships were usually in a very dirty and well worn state. If I actually modelled the real vessel accurately it would look a mess....
It's looking fantastic, I have to admit I liked this model since first reading a review in one of the mags - then seeing one at the Model Engineer all those years ago...
I'm sometimes tempted to really weather a model in the way I've often seen done by model rail and model car hobbyists but I'm worried that (a) I might ruin it and (b) it'd look too derelict to be a working vessel...
This is the sort of thing - http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/Ayatollah2/Scratchin/Hearse1.jpg
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Hi PD's....I have mentioned on another WEBSITE...that the insulation to the chimney/funnel not only look great but just above the boiler top.. :coffee..150 degrees C needs to be contained & I am sure this will do the trick :hammer ..well done BB........Derek
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I'll let you know how the tests go, fingers crossed!
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Chapter Fifteen- The Boats
Part One
This section of the Ben Ain build was actually published as an independent article on building a clinker built boat in Model Boats Magazine in May 2009 and can still be purchased as a back issue from customer.services@myhobbystore.com
The Idea
Occasionally a challenge comes your way in your modeling that makes you stop and think, “Do I go for the easy option or do I embark on a whole new area of modeling and see what I can do to improve the final model?” I think as modelers we are always looking for new challenges and new skills to develop and so invariably enjoy coming across such opportunities during our projects. The actual original inspiration for this came from the boats that Bryan Young made for his General Havelock model and made me realize that I could do something a bit more individual.
Hence the decision not to use the supplied fibre-glass mouldings for the ships boats on my current steam coaster but to have a go at a scratch built clinker construction ships boat.
The idea was sound enough but as I had never put together anything “plank-on-frame” in my life I was, yet again, in for a very steep learning curve. The enthusiasm was initiated when I noticed a very nicely put together model at the Harrogate Engineering Show in May 2008 of a clinker built rowing boat and after a chat with the owner I took a few pictures and he very kindly produced the next day a set of rather old plans. The first obvious thing was that the proportions were different to those of the ships boat I wanted to make so after a lot of thinking and head scratching I decided to scale the plans to a different amount longitudinally than across the body plan. First of all I scaled the longitudinal section to 84% of the original then I scaled the body plan to 68% of the original giving me the correct proportions and external dimensions of the model boat I wanted to produce. I then had to complete the body plan by hand sketching the sections taller to compensate for the slightly higher longitudinal section but when finished it all appeared to work together as a useable plan.
My original idea for materials was to use veneer sheeting for the planking and so I started the project with cutting some veneer into thin strips and trying to bend it. The initial problems with cutting evenly dimensioned strips were assisted by use of a jig but I did find quite regularly that the blade would follow the grain and produce slightly varying widths of plank. The final direction though was decided when I tried to bend the veneer. No matter how long I kept it in hot water it still had a tendency to splinter at the edges and so I scrapped the idea of veneer and moved on to pre cut strips. I went for 5mm x 1mm pear planks, which proved to be easy enough to cut, bent well without splintering and was about the right colour I was after for the finished model which was going to be varnished internally and painted externally, as per most ships lifeboats and dinghies of the period of my steamer. I also decided on beech 4mm x 2mm strip wood for the keel, which did not require bending and which was strong and close grained to give the structure a bit of strength when the knees were laminated into it.
The Planking Jig
The first thing I did was to put together the keel along with it’s stern post, stem post, internal knees and the transom. The keel and posts were made from the longitudinal plan from 4mm x 2mm beech, which has a nice colour and is relatively strong with fine close grain for just this purpose. All the ends were rounded off according to the plan and a transom was made up from the body plan profiles of 5mm x 1mm pear planks, which will also be used for the planking, and glued in place across the stern post. The keel was necessary to get the planking jig set up correctly and helped ensure that the jig was going to be workable.
Next I prepared a wooden base with a centre line and glued beams of 5mm x 5mm lime at the relevant locations of the stations taken from the longitudinal section on my scaled plan. These would eventually locate the station profiles, cut from the body plan. Then I put together a main spine for the jig which I laminated from 0.030 thou plus 0.060 thou plasticard. This gave me a thickness of 0.090 thou, or 2.25mm, a perfect clearance for the 2mm beech keel. The main spine was cut to clear the station beams and shaped to fit the keel before adding a number of plates to locate the keel and posts correctly on the main spine. This is when it started to get a bit tricky and monotonous but well worth taking time and care to get this bit right. The scaled body plan was copied and each station profile was cut out, giving a paper template, which was then transferred to more of the 0.030 thou plasticard sheet. These station profiles were then carefully cut out and glued in identical pairs to either side to the beams on the base, ensuring that the tops were in line along the centre of the keel and they all followed the correct lines along the boat sides.
When this was all completed I finally had a planking jig with a keel and posts located in it and the serious job of planking the model could begin.
Planking
Being clinker construction the planking had to start at the keel so I started to work out a plan of action and to get it clear in my mind how the planks were going to be arranged. As I was using 5mm x 1mm pear planks I decided on an overlap of 1mm so the planks were going to be 4mm spaced around the midship section, which would require the widest planks. I then marked out the spacing on the profile edge with a black pen and worked out that I would need ten planks around the longest profile. This then had to equate to the length of the other profiles so I measured the forward and aft ones and divided the length, allowing for a suitable small amount of sheer at the top plank, into ten. This then gave me the width of the planks at either end at 4mm so my planks were going to taper from 5mm across the centre three profiles, then taper down to 4mm at the transom and the stem post. It all sounded good so time to start cutting some wood.
I marked out the keel strake plank, cut it to the appropriate taper and soaked it in hot water for ten minutes. I was then able to play it in my fingers to tease it into a reasonable shape as it cooled and dried, giving me a plank that actually sat on the jig reasonably close to the correct shape. The ends were going to have to be held in place when glued as they could not be bent sufficiently to fit but I was happy with the majority of the fit. It was at this point that my lack of experience showed itself when I came to glue down the first plank. I glued it only at the centre, allowed it to dry and then glued it further along it’s length when I realized that using 0.030 thou plasticard for the profiles did not enable me to hold the plank to them and ensure they remained in shape as the glue dried. I specifically used this material because it was easy to cut and shape and the wood glue would not adhere to it but the downside was that I could not use pins to hold the planks to the profiles while the glue set. My only option was to use a combination of masking tape and elastic bands to hold the planks down, which proved to be very tricky and meant that the planks had to be glued down in stages, making the process quite long winded. Still we live and learn and using wooden profiles would have been a lot more difficult to make.
Another part of the process to tackle as the plank was in the process of being fitted was the ends. At the transom the planks needed to be recessed into the edge of the transom to prevent ugly gaps being visible so before gluing the end down a sharp scalpel was used to cut a small tapered notch into the edge. This enabled the plank end to sit down correctly and the next plank will be able to sit on top of it without a gap showing. The fit at the stem post also proved to be a challenge and whilst trimming the ends to match the profile of the post was easy enough dealing with the overlap of the planks was not quite so straightforward. At this point in the construction I decided to leave the ends trimmed to suit the centre line of the post and see how the planks looked when they were all fitted.
From this point on it was simply a case of laying down individual planks, cut to the same tapers and using the same process of gluing at the centre edge then, when set, gluing down the tapered ends. It soon became apparent that the planks would develop a mind of their own when it came to lying flat so I soon realized that the 1mm overlap of each plank would have to be adjusted to suit the progression. The biggest challenge came at the change from the bottom to the sides where the plank running along the corner wanted to lie in an entirely different position to where I wanted it. It was also obvious that I was going to have to adjust the lay of the planks as they went up the sides to ensure that the final top plank laid at just the correct angle to give the shear I wanted from the transom to the bow. This is probably what makes a clinker built hull a good choice for a first timer to plank on frame construction as the lay of the planks can be adjusted slightly as they are fitted, unlike planks that are butted together which have to be a perfect fit. I also realized that the ten planks originally estimated was going to end up being eleven planks but the great beauty of a model of this nature is that no-one can say what is right or wrong. Eventually the planking was completed and the time came to remove the hull from the planking frame. It was actually quite a moment to see the inside of the hull for the first time and realize that it looked quite realistic.
Ribs
I had mistakenly assumed that the planking was going to be the time consuming part of this project but as I turned my attentions to the internal ribbing it soon became obvious that this was not going to be exactly easy either. The first challenge was what to make the ribs out of and my original experiments with bending cut up planks were not very successful. I also tried veneer again but that unfortunately was even less successful and it simply splintered when I tried to bend it as it had done in my initial experiments. Eventually I achieved a degree of success by cutting 1mm strips from the edge of the 5mm x 1mm pear planks, soaking them in hot water for 10 minutes and bending them around a former for consistency. This proved to be a lot more effective then bending them in my fingers and I simply had to hold the strips on the former until they cooled and partly dried out. Every now and then one would break or splinter but I achieved a reasonable success rate so I decided to use these 1mm x 1mm strips for the ribs. Applying the ribs was also tricky and time consuming and the best method I eventually came up with was to lay the curved rib in the hull with a suitable excess protruding above the hull and hold it in place in the middle with a piece of sticky tape. I could then place a few spots of glue along it to hold it to the internal planking and the excess could be used to help adjust the position until it was in just the right place. I did the ribs in pairs and started at the centre one and placed them simply by eye, ensuring that the pairs were perpendicular to the keel and evenly spaced from the previous rib. Starting in the centre ensured that any inaccuracies as I went along were minimized by travelling only half the length of the hull so I was able to eventually get the required number of ribs glued in place and I snipped the protruding ends off with a pair of fine electrical side cutters.
Once all the ribs were in place the next part was to fit the four longitudinal stringers, two either side, to locate the thwarts to called the thwart stringers and the two along the top referred to as the gunwale stringers. These were simply located in place with some low tack masking tape and spots of glue placed on the points where they rested on the ribs. When the glue was set the masking tape was removed and the remaining locating points were also glued. These stringers were also made from the 1mm x 1mm strips I had cut from the pear planks so all the internal structure was made of exactly the same wood.
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Part Two
Floor
The structure of the bottom boarding had to vary slightly from the original plan due to the fact that I had scaled the plan differently along it’s length and across the beam but my thoughts were that as long as I followed a similar structure and design to the plan it should look authentic when completed. I started by laying five transverse floors across the hull at the height I wanted the bottom boards to sit, ensuring that they remained level and used some more of the 5mm x 1mm planking rather than the scale equivalent which should really have been more 1mm x 1mm. This was for no other reason than I wanted a bit of strength here and the floors were hardly visible anyway below the bottom boards.
Then it was simply a case of cutting the bottom boards from more 5mm x 1mm pear, starting at the keel and working out and allowing for a realistic clearance around the edges. I put a joint across the model below the second thwart to make finishing the taper at the aft end that bit easier and cut neat clearances around where the keel knees penetrated the boards. I applied a couple of coats of satin polyurethane varnish to the internal surfaces of the internal planks up to the bottom board level as well as varnishing the relevant surfaces of the bottom boards before gluing them down to the floors. I then varnished the top surfaces of the bottom boards as well as the internal planking just above the board level to ensure that everything was perfectly sealed and protected up to that level.
Thwarts
The thwarts were not surprisingly made up of laminated 5mm x 1mm pear planks glued edge to edge in just the same way as I made the transom and so made up planks of 10mm x 1mm for those thwarts that required it. The thwarts were cut to shape and length with the two aft thwarts and the longitudinal seats made in situ to ensure a perfect fit at all the joints. When all the thwarts were finished they were glued in place across the thwart stringers after cutting the aft thwart to neatly fit around the stern post.
Knees and Rowlocks
At this point the main structure of the boat was finished but the little detail bits that seem to be just as time consuming as all the other work still remained. The plan called for a number of additional knees to be fitted to the thwarts and other parts of the structure and how to make these was something I needed to experiment with. I started by drilling holes into pieces of the 5mm x 1mm pear planks but couldn’t get it to cut cleanly enough so eventually I tried 5mm x 1mm lime and had more success with that. I drilled a hole of 4mm diameter through the centre of the plank then cut it across the diagonal before cutting the plank to suit at either end. This gave me a very good basis for the thwart knees so I made 12 of these, two as spares which I did need, and then dressed them up with fine grade wet and dry rolled into a small tube to round them to shape. These formed the thwart knees and were simply glued to the relevant thwarts and the side planking according to the plan.
The other knees located at either ends of the gunwale and across the thwart corners were made up individually from the pear planking and simply carefully carved and filed to shape before gluing in place. This all sounds a bit on the easy side now that I am describing it after the event but there were a number of failures before I got it right ad probably as well that I work in the garage out of earshot of anyone else! There is nothing more fiddly than sanding bits of wood only a couple of millimeters big.
The other remaining pieces of detail were the rowlocks and was one thing that I deviated from the plan for. The plan had very traditional thole pin type rowlocks but I had some white metal rowlocks included with the original steamer kit so I decided to use those as I decided that they were suitably period for the model. These could of course be simply scratch built from copper wire or wooden thole pins used, as was the case with the example I saw at Harrogate, but I cut and drilled six small blocks of the 4mm x 2mm beech, rounded them off and glued them to the top surface of the sanded down surface of the top plank, rib ends and gunwale stringer. I simply glued the rowlocks into these blocks and left them as a white metal finish, which will eventually be varnished over.
Painting
Much as it pained me to do so all the references I could find of ships of this period were fitted with boats that were painted white, be they either the lifeboats or the dinghies. Consequently for the model to remain authentic I had no alternative other than to paint the outside of the hull white and hide all that lovely woodwork. I masked off the top plank on the outside and around the internal surfaces and sprayed two light coats of acrylic car body grey primer. I wasn’t too bothered about the quality of the surface finish as I knew these boats were well used and the paint finish reflected this so the grey was only as a sealer and an indicator for the white. I then sprayed two light coats of white primer, trying not to over do it and spoil the available grain texture but once again getting an even matt coverage. Finally I brush painted white matt enamel over the primer. I particularly want to have all the finishes on this model to be brushed to reflect the way in which paint was applied at the time and using a small flat brush with a thick enamel paint allowed additional surface textures to be generated which will be enhanced by weathering at a later stage in the model.
Fittings
As they say “The Devil’s in the detail” and if I was making this model as a stand alone item in it’s own right I could well have called it a day at this point. I did however want to use it as part of the much larger steamer model and, as such, it had to fit into to atmosphere I want to create for this model. Consequently I wanted to add a few bits that would bring the model to life and give it the real appearance of a used piece of equipment.
Cover: There has been much debate over the years as regards the use of boat covers on ships of this type of period which has led me to believe that a lot of it was up to the captain or crew of the individual vessels. There is good reason to believe that covers were supplied but regularly left off for such reasons as allowing the wood to expand in wet conditions thereby keeping the caulking tight or simply because crews did not have the time or the inclination to fit the covers. I decided that obviously I wanted the internal detail of the dinghy model to be visible but assuming a cover would be supplied then it could well be found inside the boat itself. I therefore set about making a cover of approximately the right size and shape to fit the top of the boat out of metal foil tape with the gum removed by acetate thinners. When I had the shape I folded the metal foil as I assumed it would be folded off the boat and then shaped it to fit over one of the thwarts. The cover was then sprayed with acrylic grey primer before being painted up with matt green modeling enamel, which included some shading of the highlights and the shadows to give it a bit of realism. The cover was then glued to one of the thwarts.
Anchor: Almost certainly boats such as this would be fitted with a simple grappling anchor and so I made one up from domestic cable core, bent to shape, super glued together and fitted with a short length of chain from the bit box. This was then fitted with a suitable length of scale rope, looped over the lifting eye on the stem post and to the end of the chain. After a coat of matt metallic paint this passes as a suitably realistic anchor typical of the period and which would be quite likely to be found in the bottom of such a boat.
Oars: The most significant item of internal detail was the oars. Almost certainly stored in the boat itself and probably lashed to the thwarts or possibly on the bottom boards. I needed six oars if they were to look credible so I set about experimenting with some possibilities. I eventually found some small bamboo skewers in the kitchen, well they weren’t doing anything useful there, and cut a notch in a piece of the good old 5mm x 1mm pear to match the taper. These were glued together and, when set, the paddle was carved to resemble the correct shape and then sanded to blend it in with the skewer. I cut them to a suitable length and cut a handle in the end with a needle file in the lathe before giving them all two coats of varnish. The finishing touch was using small pieces of brown heat shrink to resemble the leather protective shrouds found on such oars to prevent erosion of the shaft where it sits in the rowlock. The oars were then bundled together and lashed to the thwarts on either side of the boat.
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Part Three
Once the fist boat had been manufactured it was a slightly easier process to decide on how to tackle the other boat. The first boat is a transom sterned dinghy but the boat on the starboard side is a ships lifeboat so it is a double ended design.
I decided that the jig I used for the first boat could be adapted to use again by making the transom end of the jig reflect the bow end and so I simply removed some of the station profiles, made a few more of the same shape as the bow ones and added them to the jig. Not only was I now deviating from the original plan as regards length and width but I had now copied and pasted two bow sections together. I was really out on my own now.
Once the jig was made the process was exactly the same as it had been for the first boat with a keel built up to give a stern post and a stem post and the keel laid in the jig. The model was then planked in exactly the same way as the first boat was and then fitted out with ribs before I actually got my hands on a superb Harold Underhill plan of a ships lifeboat, which I then referred to for the fitting out. A floor was fitted of a similar design to the Underhill plan and typical lifeboat accessories such as stores bins and water bowsers were placed in the bottom. The thwarts and their associated knees were all glued into the hull and a set of sails and a mast with all the relevant rigging was made from bamboo skewers and folded up and painted tin foil. These were arranged inside the boat to enable all the detail to be visible and lockers and floor grids were fitted at either end of the boat. A rudder was made up from scrap and hung on two pintles made from bent wire and a tiller was made and fitted, again built up from a bamboo skewer.
Outside the hull the original model footholds were glued to the base of the hull and grab ropes were fitted to small eyelets which were glued into small holes drilled into the top strake. Once again a cover was made up from tin foil, with stitching runs printed on from a pounce wheel, before folding it up, spraying it with primer and finally painting it a typical green canvas colour.
That was basically the two boats required for the Ben Ain. A bit of careful weathering would be the only remaining thing to do before fitting them to the boat platforms and a figure or two added to make it look a bit more realistic and justify having both boat covers folded up. Instead of the two boats taking a couple of days to assemble from the fibre glass kit parts and some wood planking inside they ended up taking more like eight months from start to finish.
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Wow, very good work!
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Hi PD's.....& some brilliant detail modeling there BB :no1b....what do you say? :squareone ....a smaller model or two within a larger model?.....Derek
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Chapter Sixteen- Detailing the Quarterdeck Superstructure.
Part One
With the two boat models completed it was then simply a case of assembling the pieces and adding some more pieces of detail.
Water Tank
The first thing was to have a good look at the original owner’s plans for the ship and decide on just how the water tank should look. I only had a side elevation and a plan but it still looked to me, based on the chamfered ends, like the tank would be cylindrical rather than square so I measured the diameter from the plan, scaled it to the model and set about looking for something of the correct diameter. Strangely enough a broom handle in the garage seemed perfect so it mysteriously lost about two inches from it’s length one evening and I put the piece in the lathe to face it up and chamfer the ends as per the plan. There was not a great deal else obvious from the plan however so the rest was basically assumed by me. I decided that it would almost certainly be a steel tank with a means of filling and a gooseneck vent. The filling line was capped with a hexagonal cap, a brass compression fitting from the steam bit box, and the vent was made up from the ever useful domestic copper cable core. The tank I decided would be resting on two wooden battons on the deck and held down by two straps, bolted through the ends and the battons into the deck. The battons were a couple of pieces of 4mm x 2mm beech, the straps were made from two strips of litho-plate, bent and drilled on the ends to match the battons and the bolts were four small diameter brass screws set into holes drilled in the deck. I also detailed the ends of the tank with what I would assume to be joints with the end caps by gluing two strips of 1mm litho-plate around the circumference, which I’d previously run a pounce wheel along to give a rivet detail effect. The pieces, apart from the battons. were primed and then painted before assembling on the wooden deck with the brass screws.
Aft Mast
Next to be made was the aft mast. I hadn’t made a mast for the model yet so the best method was yet to be determined for their construction which combined ease, accuracy and, preferably, as little mess as possible. I eventually decided to buy a small 12v powered lathe, which is actually produced for the purpose of making masts and spars, which had the distinct advantage of being able to be held in a workmate and taken outside. I found that the 12v motor was far too fast with the first piece of wood being ejected across the garden so I eventually rigged up an old ‘Bob’s Board’ speed controller and used a 7.2 v Tamiya battery pack. This worked a treat and gave me a bit of control over the process. I marked up the dowel at the various diameters with a pencil and slowly reduced the diameter with rough sandpaper to the required taper. This was then finished to a smooth surface with fine sandpaper ensuring the various white metal fittings fit at the correct points along its length. The fittings were then painted up and glued in place, the mast treated to a couple of coats or matt varnish before gluing it to a hole in the deck with epoxy.
Standing Rigging
The next significant bit of detailing was the rigging and I started this with the wire shrouds for the aft mast and the funnel. I wanted the wires to look realistic and the most significant aspect of this was always going to be able to maintain tension. There really is nothing worst then loose standing rigging so I started to experiment with a few arrangements. Eventually I decided the best was to emulate reality and use a bottle screw to tension the wires. These are now quite readily available in a lot of suitable model sizes so I purchased a number of 12mm long ones with shackles of a suitable diameter joined together to the pad eyes with rings made from broken up old chain. I tried a number of alternative possibilities for the wires to get a realistic look and eventually decided on the multistrand copper core of servo cables. These looked just like steel cables of the correct diameter after a bit of increased twisting in the battery drill. When they were looped and run through a short section of heat shrink to look like a thimble they looked pleasingly realistic. The shrouds were all assembled with the wires cut to suit the extended bottle screws and the bottle screws carefully adjusted to tension the wires. When they were all installed the wires were painted with a metallic grey enamel and the thimbles, bottle screws and shackles were painted with a grey enamel as they would almost certainly be of an aged galvanized finish.
Ventilators
The ventilators as supplied with the kit were white metal castings and not completely hollow, the instructions indicating that they were to be glued to the top face of a couple of lengths of dowel. As I wanted to take advantage of every means possible of getting air in and out of the hull to keep things cool and the boiler supplied with oxygen I particularly wanted the ventilators to be operational so a few modifications were required. First I set the white metal cowls up in the milling machine and skimmed the bases perfectly flat before gently pushing the end mill down the bore of the cowling to open it out and make it completely hollow. This I managed to achieve without breaking through the thin white metal so I was quite relieved about that. Next I looked high and low for a piece of hollow pipe to suit the outside diameter of the cowl and eventually settled on a piece of gas pipe, designed to supply gas fires, at the local hardware superstore, This was cut to length and a brass insert was made to connect the pipe and the cowl together. These pieces were then simply epoxied together and holes drilled in the sides to accommodate the handles, which were also epoxied. Then I decided to simulate a bit of plate detail so I cut thin strips of cartridge paper, ran the pounce wheel along them and glued them in appropriate places around the pipe to look like a plate joint. A coat of grey primer followed by red enamel inside the cowl and the satin black mix I used for the funnel and the hull on the rest of the ventilator. The ventilators were then epoxied into the deck of the accommodation and supported underneath by a good build up of the glue.
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Part Two
Weathering
Although putting the boats onto the model was to be the next step it was obvious that the painting of the main assembly should be completed before the boats were put in place, which would make painting so much more difficult. I therefore decided that the time had come to complete the painting and the weathering of the structure. The weathering was to be very simple to start with as I could always add to it later but the main effects of washes and dry brushing needed doing before the boats were attached. I started with a very dark brown wash all over to make the steel plates grubby and enhance the rivets. The top deck was done selectively two or three times as this area would be heavily dirtied with soot fallouts from the funnel. The wooden deck was scrubbed with a wire brush to roughen up the surface before adding selectively more wash to try to get the area looking more realistic. Wash was added more and more to such points as around the bases of the fittings and around the funnel. The boats were also given a single light coat of wash to enhance the detail and subdue the very bright white paint of the hulls. After the dark brown wash was dried another wash was used, again selectively, of a much lighter brown rust colour. This was added a lot more around the funnel and ventilators as well as such fittings that would rust like the bollards and staining around the water tank and around the screws and hinges of the engine room skylights. Once this wash had dried I was quite pleased with the effect and so decided to stop at that point. More could be added at a later date if it was thought necessary. The next step was the dry brushing and I simply used the top coat colour of matt enamel orange to very lightly go over the steel work, fixtures and rivets to very gently enhance the effects. The difference is hardly noticeable but the raised detail and edges did stand out just that bit more. Next it was a bit of scuffed paint effect which was done with a lead pencil on the surfaces where paint would likely to be worn away. This was the tops of the ladder rungs, the tops of the handrails and the door handles. This was fixed with a matt varnish, dry brushed over the top afterwards. Finally a soot effect was airbrushed around the top of the funnel and the aft mast, so typical of vessels such as this. This was more of a concern that most of the weathering as I have seen pictures of vessels like this one which look almost completely black around the aft end so trying to copy that would end up looking a mess. I wanted the effect to be noticeable but not to the point of dominating the model so I brought it down enough to effect the red band on the funnel and just the top of the aft mast.
Attaching the Boats
Then it was time to finally add the boats. After thinking for some time as to how I could go about attaching the boats without any glue being visible I finally decided to, yet again, simply rely on what is done in reality and I tied them down to the deck pad eyes and the ring bolts. They were secure enough and the ends of the ropes were spotted with cyano to prevent them from ever coming adrift and the boats seemed surprisingly secure. The ropes for slewing the davits were then added and tied down to the deck pad eyes with the ends being looped at the davit heads and secures again with short pieces of heat shrink to look like thimbles. A spot of cyano glue was added just before the heat shrink was warmed up.
Coal Bunker
I’ve noticed in just about every example of this model that I’ve seen elsewhere that the modeler leaves a few planks of wood open on the bunker to show the coal inside. Consequently I wanted to do something a bit different, particularly as the forward bunker was only ever open to fill it so would be very rarely seen open at any other time. I was going to work on the assumption that the vessel had bunkered recently and the covers were being replaced so the boards were all fitted and the ring bolts added before submitting it to the washes and wire brush effects. Then I made a cover from foil tape. This tape comes in a roll and is glued and is used extensively in the air conditioning business but it’s big advantage is that it is just that bit thicker than the foil you get for kitchen use but not as thick as litho-plate, which could not be shaped as easily. The only trouble is that you have to remove the glue first which requires a good rub with a paper towel soaked in a suitable solvent. I use Hammerite thinners, which is about the only stuff that moves it. I then cut it to size, run the pounce wheel over the back where seams would be likely and carefully fold it into shape. This particular one has been folded to look like it is being laid out ready to open up over the bunker. The cover is then carefully removed from the model and attached to a stick of wood with a spot of blu tac where it receives a couple of coats of grey primer and a base coat of green matt enamel. The cover was then glued in place on the model and the highlights and shadows enhanced with lightened and darkened samples of the base colour to give the cover the required degree of life. A rope loosely draped over the cover and coiled up was glued to the cover and a figure will be added later who will be positioned as though fitting the cover.
Running Rigging
The final part f the detailing of this piece was the adding of the falls to the davits. These started off as purchased double blocks which actually have a wooden block with two brass rotating pulleys fitted. I drilled the blocks, four of them on both sides and four of them on just the one side and fitted hooks and eyes made from bent wire to suit the running rigging. The blocks were then painted up with matt grey enamel used for the pulleys and two coats of stained varnish used on the wood. A coat of dark wash toned things down and a spot of rust coloured wash around the hooks and eyes completed the effect. The blocks were then fitted with ropes to the eyes, looped and secured with heat shrink, before rigging the blocks in place on the davits. The ends were drawn back through the guide pulley on the davit arm and secured around the cleat fitted to the davit. The excess was then coiled up and bound before securing with a spot of cyano and placing inside the boats where they would normally be stored. To finish off the boats a couple of lifelines added to the starboard lifeboat slewing rope completed the rigging.
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Part Three
The final touches were the addition of port glasses, which were cut from acetate sheeting on the top of a Christmas cracker box and glued inside the posts with spots of PVA adhesive, and steps made from the steam pipe covers supplied with the kit and glued on the door thresholds.
I may well add further detail as time goes by such as some clutter and ropes etc. This area of these type of ships seemed to be used as a general store for all sorts of gear so a few bits and pieces will not look out of place and a couple of figures will really add some life to it.