Strongbow type tug

[derekwarner_decoy]

All very scale like & tidy Jurgen 

...will look s little more used when the Gypsie and Chain Drums are blackend or rusted up a little........Brass Black patina is available for Brass [frame or chain].....must be a fluid aluminium?

Derek

[Paddlemex]

Thanks Derek,

Patina/weathering is planned for the winch. I still have not decided if I use the chemical stuff (which am I sure it is available somewhere, but I don't know where) or the classic way using paint, sponge, dirt wash and dry brushing. 

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

Made the handrails for the bridge. The captain wasn't amused to find out the the temporary ladder was removed while he was upstairs.
I will install the ladder this week.

Nothing has been done regarding the weathering of the winch, but I test fitted the anchor chain. Looks good.

Jurgen
 

[derekwarner_decoy]

Jurgen

This studded brass anchor chain looks good.........are the individual links fully welded/fused?

If so, could you please confirm?

Wire size
outer length of oval link
outer width or height of the oval link
Who supplies this [name & WEB link] and a cost per metre 

Derek

[Paddlemex]

Hi Derek,

The studded chain is from Krick Modellbau, item 65403. I purchased it some time ago, but a quick check in the net tells me that Krick apparently doesn't carry this item anymore.
The studs are somehow soldered/welded/fused, I don't know the exact process, but they're not just glued.
Dimensions are 5.3 x 3.1 x 0.8mm, but there are (were?) other dimensions.

It seems that Elde Modellbau and Aeronaut also carry studded chains, but I don't have my catalogues at hand right now. Will check for you when I can.
Price should be around 15 to 20 euros/meter.

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

Derek: Here is what I could find:
Aeronaut item 5627/28. Same dimensions as mentioned above.
The smallest chain from Elde is slightly bigger
https://elde-modellbau.com/epages/bd40fd5d-0ba8-443f-857a-537621b491ae.sf/en_GB/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2Fbd40fd5d-0ba8-443f-857a-537621b491ae%2FCategories%2Fdb2f40f24260bc41db48d82d5e7abf1d%2F89b5b54051e589a0a0b7dd472cbbe660

Jurgen

[Hankwilliams]

Hi Jurgen,

this anchor chain and winch are very close to the original, but what´s a little bit disturbing is the glittering brass color. This parts in original shows a rusty brown-black coloring. It`s possible to attain this with brown and black spray color or with chemical coloring matter. Otherwise your boat shows a museum quality - it`s as well as for example the models in Glasgow Transport Museum.

Thomas

[Paddlemex]

No worries Thomas. The glitter and shine will not stay this way. The winch will be weathered with paint. For the chain I'm still looking for the required chemicals. Now I found a hint to look in stores for jewelry making tools.

Jurgen
 

[Paddlemex]

The winch now looks used, but in the picture the weathering looks exaggerated. It must be an effect of the camera because the real thing looks quite realistic.

The captain was aboard to check the installation of the ladder. He also brought some friends, but they were not interested in the technical stuff and decided to take some pictures.

Regarding the chain I have tried all blackening methods I could find in the internet, from covering in grease and torching it to submerging overnight in vinegar. No effect at all.
I still have to try the chemical alternative, but so far I have not found a local source for that product.

Jurgen

[Paddlemex]

I began to work on the towing rails (is that correct?) and after converting to scrap several pieces of 6mm brass tube I decided that I need a tube bender. I started a Google research for DIY pipe bender and surprisingly fast I found a picture where someone had converted a small machine vise into a bender.
So that looked easy and fast to realize, but:
1.- the jaws of my vise resulted to be hardened (well, most are  ). No way to drill and tap here.
2.- removing the jaws and drill and tap the cast iron parts would not permit to obtain any reasonable radius because even completely screwed-in the jaw bases would stay too much apart.

So I made new jaws from soft steel and drill/tapped them. Made the rollers from aluminum. Nice side job from the ship building.
It works very well. So far I only have brass tubes as bearings and it is a bit hard to push/pull the tube when pressure is applied. That's why the is a small chuck fastened the end of the workpiece. The chuck serves as an handle.
If I need to make more parts in this device I will add ball bearings. I may also add a crank arm to the middle roller.

Since I had scrapped several pieces of brass tube I only had material for one towing rail left and I made the second from aluminum. Couldn't make 2 from alu because there was just this piece left.
The alu is 1/4", but I don't think anyone will note the 0.4mm difference.

Jurgen

[derekwarner_decoy]

What do they say?...'Mother is the sole of invention'  ......you probably would end up with a more uniform bend here that with a hand held tube bender

Naturally the advantage with brass is that this can be soft or silver soldered.......if using the K&S brass tube, it is hard-drawn so should be annealed well before & part way during the bend ...just to save flattening & the crinkling

55 years ago, I commenced an apprenticeship [Fitting & Machining] with Australias largest Non Ferrous tube & wire  producer........[bees wax lathered onto the tube rollers will help with ensuring a smooth transition on the outer radius of such bends]

Derek

[Paddlemex]

..'Mother is the sole of invention' 

Mmmh. I remember the mention of necessity in that saying … but maybe it's different on the other side of the world. 

The towing rails are painted and installed. Can you tell which one is 6mm and which 1/4"?

The brass was not K&S and was not that hard. I learned that K&S is hard-drawn when I ran out of 4mm brass rod and purchased some 5/32" K&S rod to finish the second paddle wheel. I had made lots of M2 threads in those previous parts and on the last 2 pieces from K&S I broke 3 drills and one tap. Only later I realized that it was hard brass. 

The vertical rail supports are soft soldered to the brass rail and given the much stronger wall thickness of the aluminum rail they fit tightly without any further action. Anyway I applied a small drop of CA.

Have also wired the lights on the mast. It was much more difficult to thread the thin wires into the mast than I had expected. Took quite some time and    but finally all 6 wires were extracted unharmed.
I don't seem to convince my cellphone camera to focus on a light when it's dark. It gets blurry, but the lights are clearly distinguishable on the real thing. The last picture is with flash.

Jurgen

[derekwarner_decoy]

Yes...the real phrase is I believe ...."Necessity is the Mother of Invention" ...I just changed it around a little 

No, I cannot distinguish the 0.4mm difference between the towing rails

The clutter on the quarted deck adds to the reality ...all very good 

Derek

[Paddlemex]

Big advance, at least for me. The foredeck bow area is declared done. Most clutter removed, Derek, but I may add some again.
Many small parts I had been making are finally installed.
Also the chain is aged, but I can not tell what I have done because I tried so many concoctions that I can't tell what finally worked.
Vinegar + salt, baking soda solution, vinegar vapors overnight and a 'Silver & Copper Patina' my wife had among her jewelry miracle liquids. None of the above worked by itself, but when I tried the Patina after one (or maybe several) of the above (who knows in which order) the chain darkened.
So I take the result and ask no questions.

On all of the Strongbow pictures I have seen on the net both anchors are fixed to the the deck. I don't know if that is as it was handled on the full size tugs, but I find that is not practical, since when you want to drop an anchor you had to unbolt and hoist it over the railing before dropping it.
So on my tug the starboard anchor is pulled up through the chain passage, ready to be dropped any time and the portside anchor is fixed on the deck as an replacement.
If anyone knows better please let me know. I can move the starboard anchor on deck anytime.
Some rust stains still to be added at the outlet of the chain passage.

Also rigged the mast and added the pipes for overpressure and steam whistle to the funnel.

Jurgen

[derekwarner_decoy]

All looking good Jurgen.......

Whatever the chain weathering is, it appears excellent....and the patina over the windlass housing frame and drums makes it appear as well used

Did the Crew lift the Port anchor up on the Davit, the shackle it down to the deck?....& whats  Old Blind-eyes looking at? 

Is that a spare anchor chain in the Stdb side deck box?

When will we see her on the water?

Derek 

oh.....I don't think they painted any braking or emergency stop foot buttons RED in earlier years