The Ben Ain Build

[malcolmbeak]

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

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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!

[Bunkerbarge]

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!!

[Eddy Matthews]

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?

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Eddy Matthews]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Bunkerbarge]

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.

[Red_Hamish]

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

[derekwarner_decoy]

Hi PD's & welcome back "bukerbarge"....as you know...many here love steam.....but from your IMG006...I am a little stumped

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