Princess Elizabeth build...

[mjt60a]

...the 'thick' lines on the diagram are scored quite deeply in the styrene so it will break (later), the thin ones are scribed lightly with a pin. 'Pilot' holes of 1mm are drilled to start with but will be opened out when I see if they're in the right places.... the separate pieces should be able to be snapped off of the strip and will need some filing to get the final shape. Once all are done I'll see if I need to re-make any before cutting the floats out and gluing them on 

[PeeWee]

Looking good there and not too much waste on the material.  i like the Meccano idea.  out of intrest where do you get your polystyrene from?

[mjt60a]

 I get styrene sheet, ply and metal tube/rod from 4D modelshop - http://www.modelshop.co.uk/ (London) or Lawrence Matthews - http://www.laurencemathews.co.uk/index.php?RNZ=749804 (Southend) but only because they're convenient for me to go there, I expect many art suppliers would have it...
...I've now made all those 'bits' and glued them onto the brass tube...when the araldite has set fully (tomorrow) I'll find out if it's possible to cut the tube leaving a 'bearing' in each of them without generating enough heat to unstick them  Thought I'd try the 'Expo' drill with a cut off disc, might work if I cut a little at a time and allow it to cool.....

[mjt60a]

I notice on looking at the website (Lawrence Matthews) no longer have styrene sheet, didn't have as good a range when I looked there last so maybe they stopped supplying it. Then again, they have ships fittings and I don't see those advertised on the page either.....

[Stuart Badger]

It's really nice to see someone coming up with solutions for consistant repititious parts.
Very nice!

all the best

stuart

[mjt60a]

It seems to be working, I've cut a few of them without problems and assembled one to try on the wheel.... now I just have to cut out the others and start on the floats (they could maybe use a bit of cleaning up before assembly and painting, I got glue everywhere... ). I've also cut a length of brass tube the same as the bit in the wheel so as to get the correct spacing between the ends without having to build them on the wheel....

[mjt60a]

by the way, the bit on the end where the feathering rod will attach is a 10BA screw with a short length of brass tube and a nut on it, it will be removed before painting. I have brass tube that fits closely over this and am thinking of soldering bits of it onto the ends of brass rod (2mm? I think) to make the feathering rods...but that's a little way off yet

[mjt60a]

I've successfully cut out and files down all those 'things' and started sticking them on the floats... this just might work - if I can make the rods good enough...

[mjt60a]

Over the weekend I assembled all the floats, cut out the 'pins' to hold them on the wheels and made the part where the feathering rod attaches. To do the latter I drilled a hole in a piece of scrap styrene (same thickness as used for the rest of the wheel) to take a 10BA screw and fitted a short length (3mm) of brass tube on it secured with a 10BA nut, then cut the screw just in front of the nut and filed the end a bit. There are 12 of these.

[mjt60a]

Now to the pins. The 10BA screws were about an inch long so I now have 12 three-quarter-inch-long pieces of 10BA threaded brass and found that by filing just a little on the end they will fit inside the pins (actually brass tube) so I intend to solder one in each of the pins so it can be secured with a 10BA nut. Which just leaves how to keep the other end in place...
...I discovered that the 'tacks' in carpet gripper rod would be ideal and could be soldered or epoxied into the tube to give a kind of long coach bolt but... as there's no way of using a lock washer the nut will have to be secured with thread-lock or araldite and if I have to remove it at some time, I won't be able to stop the pin revolving in the bearings as there'll be nothing to get hold of.
so I may as well solder a piece of threaded rod in both ends and buy another pack of 10BA nuts, at least one of them would then unscrew if needed...

[mjt60a]

I've assembled one of the pins to see how difficult/easy it would be. One of the nuts was in place at the time so is now soldered on, the other is removeable. The effect is of a long 10BA bolt - what I wanted in the first place - but relatively inexpensive to make    ...all I need now is to make another 11 of them...
Also painted the floats, bearings are covered with 'blu-tack' to keep the paint out,  and fitted the brass pieces in one to see how it looks...

[Talisman]

Mick your 'bolts' look really good.
I'd be interested to hear how you went about the soldering looks neat.
Regards,
Kim

[mjt60a]

What I did was....
Filed the end few threads down a bit so the piece of the 10BA screw would fit into the brass tube.
Took the piece of brass tube and put a little plumbers soldering flux into the ends with a toothpick.
Hammered a piece of plumbers solder flat (as it's very thick to start with) and cut into thin strips, put one in each end of the tube then put the filed down screws in.
Light the cooker and hold the brass tube over the flames with pliers until a little bit of silver shows where the threaded piece meets the brass tube.
On one of the ends I put the nut on first and screwed it up to the brass tube, that wasn't necessary really but does no harm as only one has to be removeable, the solder has fixed it firmly in place!
After soldering I put the nut on the other end and cut both 'excess' lengths of threaded brass off close to the nut using a cut-off disc in a mini drill. They are long enough to use again.
Finally, filed the ends flat as the cut-off disc tends to leave a little sharp point sticking out that was the last bit of brass holding it together, you know what I mean...
 

[mjt60a]

I have now assembled all the floats and just have to make the rest of those long bolts but I need another pack of 10BA nuts which I can get from the shop on saturday. Also seem to have 'mislaid' one of the brass tubes and have no more tube to make another (probably the one I took to the shop last time to get the same size and either put it down somewhere or dropped it on the way home) so I'll get that too, possibly a few extra lengths as I have an idea how to make stanchions out of it....
For my next trick (other than those bolts) I suppose I'll have to figure out how I'm going to make the 'star-centre' and master rods, then the rest of the feathering rods - I already have an idea about that 

[Talisman]

What I did was....
Light the cooker and hold the brass tube over the flames with pliers until a little bit of silver shows where the threaded piece meets the brass tube.

Excellent Mick thanks for sharing...

My wife went nuts when i used the cooker to solder my wheels but it is a great way of getting constant heat.
Regards,
Kim