Making odds and ends....

[Stuart Badger]

Sorry Eddy - tomorrow, I have had a few unexpected 'tasks' to perform here!

Before I start however you may want to look here? ;  http://www.modellingtimbers.co.uk/15.html

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

That's a usefull source of bits Stuart, thanks....

They actually have exactly the size that I need!!

Having said that, I'm sure it would be useful to see how you would build them for future reference.... But obviously when you have time as you've sorted my problem already!

Eddy

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs

You should now be looking at the second post of how to make ladders/companion ways.

I have to tell you that there will be a delay until Sunday - due to muggins here making a complete dog's breakfast of my sums!

I am building two in tandem for the Connaught - but working from a 1/96th scale drawing and doubling the dimensions (yes, I know X2 IS difficult!) has resulted in a pair of ladders that Goliath would have trouble climbing - till Sunday then!

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

working from a 1/96th scale drawing and doubling the dimensions (yes, I know X2 IS difficult!) has resulted in a pair of ladders that Goliath would have trouble climbing - till Sunday then!

Stuart

 

It's good to know even the experts get it wrong occassionally!

I'm working from a set of 1:48 drawings for Sir William Wallace, so I have to multiply everything by 1.5 - So far (touch wood) I haven't made any mistakes, but I think that's more by good luck than good judgement!

Eddy

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs – here’s part two of how to make a ladder/companionway for your model.

First prepare a drawing on thick card as in the first picture Ladder 1. A is the height between decks, B is the space between the steps, C is the width of the steps and D is the horizontal distance between the foot of the ladder and the top. REMEMBER that dimension B is the VERTICAL distance between steps – NOT the distance apart the steps are on the front of the stringer.

Using the drawing cut 2 stringers EXACTLY the same size. Roughly cut the number of steps you need about 20% longer than dimension C and then roughly cut the number of ‘spacers’ (for the gap between the risers – these will be glued to the stringers) these need to be about twice the needed length. (ladder2) place some double sided tape where shown over the drawing.

Place the steps as shown in ladder 3 on the double sided tape making sure that they are all parallel to each other, when you are happy that they are all in line, carefully cut them to length, using the lines on the drawing as a guide. Be very careful, accurate and use a new blade. (ladder 4).

Now lay the spacers on the double sided tape – at the same angle as the stringer by lining up the first one with the extended line on the drawing. Make absolutely sure that they are parallel and that the angle of the spacers doesn’t change over the length of the line ( ladder 5)

Using the lines again as a guide cut the spacers to length making sure that your two cuts are absolutely parallel (ladder 6). You can now wax the steps if you wish (only the tops need to be waxed as you wont see the bottoms when assembled and you don’t want wax on any of the gluing surfaces). (ladder7)

Now we need to make a jig to assemble the ladder using a thick piece of card. We need to make a right and left hand stringer for the ladder. In picture ladder 7a I have drawn an assembly pattern for both stringers (bottom of the photo) A is again the vertical height , the dimensions D are the horizontal distance from the top of the ladder to the base as in the first picture (Ladder). At the top of the photo (another picture later) you need to draw a rectangle where E is the length of the long edge of the stringer and F is the length of one step and two stringers edge on as shown. When you have marked this rectangle out, cut it out making sure that your cuts are vertical and clean – this will form a ‘box’ to assemble the ladder.

Place double sided tape at the 3 corners of the drawn triangle and fix the stringers down as shown in ( ladder 8 ). Place the first two spacers on the bottom of the stringers using an off cut of the step material to check that they are in line. Don’t worry too much if they are slightly larger than the width of your stringers but it is essential that they are all the same distance apart. The next photo shows the second pair of spacers glued in place (ladder 9) by laying the off cut of step wood as shown in ladder 10 you can check that all the gaps for the steps remain parallel to the base line. Carry on gluing on the spacers until you have achieved something like ladder 11 the top spacers will need to be trimmed as shown.

Round off the front corners of the steps as in ladder 12 (I use a piece of 1200 grit wet and dry double sided to a small piece of thick card) Sand the faces of the stringers to clean them up. Ladder 13 shows all the components ready to assemble.

Attach double sided tape as shown to the edges of the rectangle that you cut in the jig so that the tape is on the edges of the cutout and then folded over onto the base of the card. (ladder 14).

Place the two stringers in the cutout as shown in ladder 15 – the double sided tape will hold them in place and the tape on the bottom of the card will hold the jig flat onto a smooth surface.

Carefully position the top and bottom steps by sliding them into the gaps between the spacers as in ladder 16 – do not glue at this stage. Check that every thing is square, if not adjust the position of the stringers in the jig.
When you have all the steps in place (ladder 17) carefully, using a scalpel peel the jig off of its base and turn the whole thing over. Now, using a cocktail stick and ultra thin super glue, fix the steps in place (ladder 18). Gluing only the back of the ladder will save any unsightly glue marks. Once the glue has set carefully remove the ladder from the jig.

With any luck you should have something like ladder 20.

If you have any comments or questions please ask!

All the best

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

Absolutely superb Stuart, well worth the slight wait!

I for one, cannot thank you enough for taking the time to do such a wonderful article - I'm sure it will be of great help to a LOT of people!

Regards
Eddy

[Stuart Badger]

Thank you Eddy - it's a pleasure. Sorry about the delay but living here has its challanges. You can be sitting down ready to create when the electrician you asked to call 3 weeks ago turns up. He of course expects coffee or a beer and a couple of hours putting the world to rights before he starts. You can't plan anything here so you have to grab your opportunities while you can!

For your info here is a picture of the lake - and my 8 X 4 metre test tank!

Stuart

[Eddy Matthews]

What a glorious setting, I'm envious Stuart!!

Mind you, I think you should build the workshop a little closer to the test tank - You wouldn't want to strain yourself moving a model 5 or 6 feet would you?

Eddy

[Stuart Badger]

Hi PDs

Can I first ask you to read this post CAREFULLY? - I don't want to ruffle any feathers and I am NOT whinging! - and I am certainly NOT fishing for compliments.

But the 'Making odds and ends' posts are designed to help every one with their modelling. So far only Eddy has asked for any items to be produced (apart from enquiries about tasks that I have been unable to do because of a lack of workshop and materials).

I am more than willing, in fact I enjoy it, to continue with the articles - BUT it's a little disappointing to have no response bar Eddy's to the last article.

Now it could be that the item chosen was not of enough interest to every one, or it could be the 'nobody likes a smartass' syndrome.

Let me know if there are any small items that you find difficult to source or don't know how to produce.

If there is nothing that you need - then I can go back to doing my own thing!

All the best

Stuart

[Talisman]

Hi Stuart,
i really enjoy reading your hints and tips and have learnt although i haven't responded -sorry.

I think people are maybe a little shy in admitting there ways/ opinions.I have asked for help on my thread and thought i would get many replies.
Its a real shame as there is loads we could learn from others. Its easy to be critical of others work but i would rather read about a bad job and learn from it than have nothing to read or learn from.

That said -  is there any tips or trick you'd recomend for windows?
I had to make / cut 50ish windows on my King George and went trough many rubbers and bits of wood until i produced a result that was reasonable work. then had to do the same for the otherside
Even some of my builders drawings have inaccuracy i.e. unequally spaking between windows etc
I like the way you calculated the rise between the treads on your stairway and wondered if perhaps you had a similar formula for window spacing.

I hope that make sense and lookforward to perhaps hearing your method. Keep up the good work..
Kim

Can't hang around chatting Suns out and I'm off to sail some boats this afternoon Yippee lucky me...Gone>>>>>

[Red_Hamish]

Hi Stuart,
i really enjoy reading your hints and tips and have learnt although i haven't responded -sorry.

I think people are maybe a little shy in admitting there ways/ opinions.I have asked for help on my thread and thought i would get many replies.
Its a real shame as there is loads we could learn from others. Its easy to be critical of others work but i would rather read about a bad job and learn from it than have nothing to read or learn from.

That said -  is there any tips or trick you'd recomend for windows?
I had to make / cut 50ish windows on my King George and went trough many rubbers and bits of wood until i produced a result that was reasonable work. then had to do the same for the otherside
Even some of my builders drawings have inaccuracy i.e. unequally spaking between windows etc
I like the way you calculated the rise between the treads on your stairway and wondered if perhaps you had a similar formula for window spacing.

I hope that make sense and lookforward to perhaps hearing your method. Keep up the good work..
Kim

Can't hang around chatting Suns out and I'm off to sail some boats this afternoon Yippee lucky me...Gone>>>>>

Hello all, Stuart I've got to agree with Talisman. Kim has hit the nail on the head. It is often read and appreciated but not often responded to. Shyness is a common complaint that is misunderstod at times even on forums where we know" our fellow contributors. Another element  that all forums suffer from is in the summer months here tend to find a significant drop off in the number of posts either to reply or as new topics.
Keep up the good works and we are all envious of the close proximity of the test tank to your new workshops.

cheers

Jim

[Stuart Badger]

Thank you Talisman & Jim

I guess I was a little peeved as doing one of these articles can be very easy or (as in the last case) very frustrating! (entirely due to outside factors and NOT the task itself). Any way do ask if there's anything you need me to do - otherwise I shall just have to imitate a whale in the test tank!

Talisman - I presume you mean the Clyde steamer King George? Which I have to say has FAR too many windows for me! But here goes.  If you are not going to use the method I mentioned in a previous post (where you make a section of the hull from perspex at the building stage and the use the paint to produce the frames) then here is the way I would do it.

Take a tracing or draw the layout of the windows on to a strip of tracing or greaseproof paper and extend the base or top edge of the windows as shown in the drawing (assuming all the windows are in a line).

Measure the height of this line on the plan from the keel of the ship. Then make yourself a height guage using an old centre from a paper kitchen towel roll or loo roll and a pencil as shown. (the height of the pencil point from the bottom of the roll is the same as the height of your window line from the keel of the model. Dimension A)

Support the model on a flat surface and use the height guage to draw a line on the side of the hull. Then affix your drawing to the hull with double sided tape  using the line on the tracing and the line on the hull to position things.

You can then drill out the corners of the windows (X) , cut them out and use a small square file to finish the openings.

Hope this helps

Stuart

[Harold H. Duncan]

Hi Stuart,
I for one read all your posts and look forward to each solution you offer. I'm learning much, but as my paddle steamer (1:48th electric) is on hold pending more research, and you have just covered the one question (stairs) which I had in mind at the moment, have not responded with questions. So don't get discouraged, as I'm sure there are a lot of members out there learning heaps from your methodology.
keep up the good work, much appreciated

kiwi

[Eddy Matthews]

Stuart,

I tend to go through phases when I wonder if we should continue with Paddleducks - I't s a hell of a lot of work, and sometimes when it's particularly quiet you have to ask yourself "why the heck do I bother"?

But then we'll have a little blitz of messages and photos posted for a week or so, and you realise there are people out there that appreciate it!

It's much the same with your posts on odds and ends - They are appreciated by a lot more people than you may think. Just because they don't always respond doesn't mean they are being ignored or aren't useful. I know you weren't fishing for compliments, but I can understand why you might feel that your spending a lot of time for nothing..... Rest assured that these little odds and ends will help someone at some point in the future, so they are more than worthwhile!

It's my intention to setup a "How To" database and put all of these articles into one seperate area so they are easy to find, and are there for all, even the members who haven't yet joined our little group!

All I can say is "Keep up the great work"!

Regards
Eddy

[Stuart Badger]

Thank you Eddy, I'm touched. (but then you probably knew that already!)

Stuart