Strongbow type tug

[Paddlemex]

Last small detail added in the old year.

I don't know what this mesh is for, I can only guess it is to avoid birds or other flying objects getting into the funnel.

I my wife's jewelry tool box I found this wire bending jig and lots of pegs. I wound some thread around the pegs and applied some CA and then several coats of pore filler.
Only when I was about to remove the mesh I realized that there were pegs of different diameters and the mesh is quite irregular. I am gonna leave it for now, maybe I make a new one someday later (probably never  ).

Have a good twentytwenty everyone.

Jurgen

[kno3]

Nice work, any progress in the new year?

[Paddlemex]

Not much progress kno3, but I have not been completely idle. I was able to give the deck the long awaited for coat of satin clear and then mount the wheels again to the hull. Last Sunday she sailed again.
https://youtu.be/KDuw_Ib2YBo

I also made the tow-rope winch and the funnel has received its guy wires.

Jurgen

[kno3]

She looks good on the water,  keep up the good work.

[Paddlemex]

Thanks kno3.
Now working on the mast and beginning the handrails of the upper deck.

I'm also working on the the anchor winch and just realized that I completely forgot the passage for the hawse pipe. I'm afraid opening up that passage on the finished hull is gonna hurt.

And on the same subject: Somewhere in this forum I saw how someone made the hawse pipe exterior, that oval shaped rounded pipe end where the chain exists the hull. I remember that he made it from a piece of pipe (or wood??), then cut it half an re-glued it upside down, or something like that.
Anyone remember what thread that was in?

Jurgen

[kno3]

Can't help with that but I saw some ready made metal parts for the hole where the chain exits he hull. Look on ebay.

[Paddlemex]

I found the thread with the hawse pipe exit. It's in Geoff's Duke of Devonshire build on page 18. I re-read the whole build report, wow, tons of extraordinary build tricks there.
Here is how it's done. Actually I repeat the pics Geoff shows in his build.
- Take a dowel of appropriate size
- Drill a hole in it
- Cut a slice at 45°
- Cut the slice in half
- Turn one half over and glue to the other part
- Sand

I probably will make another one. This one is kind of too thick and a little piece broke off when cutting it in half. On the other hand I may just sand it down …

Also started the life boat and the wheel house windows received the "glass".

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

I have been playing around … conducting an investigation with LEDs. LEDs have the bad habit to emit light only to the fron/top of the unit, but very little light sideways. For the position lamps I need the LEDs to shine forwards, not upwards.
So I tried to remember what I (should have) learned in light refraction class. (Dark side of the moon comes to my mind, don't know why).
I flattened a LED 45° and the covered the inclined section with some aluminum foil. Looks promising.
The pictures actually do not give justice to the real result. The light is really quite powerful to the front.

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

I received a comment that the first and last picture attached in the last post were all black when clicking on them.
I didn´t reduce them because the were within the limits KB wise, but even when I tried myself to open them in the thread I didn't find the LED in that large black area.
Here again, somewhat reduced.
First pic is the standard LED seen from the side, second pic is the modified LED seen fron front.

[Spankbucket]

You might be better off with model railway signal bulbs?

They would be non-directional and much brighter...however they would be 12v and probably generate more heat.

[Paddlemex]

Actually the position lights I have come with bulbs. But bulbs eat 100mA each and LEDs settle for 4mA. For 10 lights that's 1A against 40mA.
I do also consider using PLCC LEDs, but the installation and isolation of the solder points in the brass light cover will be complicated.

Jurgen

[Spankbucket]

Yes, point taken...it is a trade off. Those 1A lights might need a separate power supply too if you were to use them?

[Paddlemex]

Since Corona has dramatically reduced social engagements (my wife is not happy) it gives me time to turn again to important stuff like the workshop.

I wasn't too happy with the flattened LED experiment, so I tried something else.
I turned to a PLCC-2 LED. Like all LEDs a current reducing resistor is necessary. In this case I used a 2K SMD resistor soldered directly to the LED. Then instead of normal wires I used enameled copper wire which I have in different colors for my N scale trains.
A small piece of heat shrink tube over the resistor covers the solder points.
Then the assembly is placed with a drop of glue in a piece of 4/3mm brass tube which fits perfectly in the 4mm opening of the light cover.

It works OK, but I made a mistake when calculating the resistor, the light could be brighter. I considered 4mA for the LED, but when checking the spec sheets it turns out that this kind of LED can take up to 10mA. So I will make another test with a 1K resistor.

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

But that's not all I did, I also worked on the life boat.
Unfortunately I messed up the interior with glue and the stain would not do its work over the glue. Will see how I can fix that.
I will still add some more planks on the floor.

Jurgen

[Eddy Matthews]

Since Corona has dramatically reduced social engagements (my wife is not happy) it gives me time to turn again to important stuff like the workshop.

Jurgen

Lucky you Jurgen! My partner dragged me to the local DIY shop to buy kitchen floor tiles today - Guess what I'll be doing for the next few days!!

Regards
Eddy