HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Conclusion

Here are the final photos of the completed model, I hope that you enjoyed following along with the steps of its construction.  This model received a Gold Award at the Midwest Model Ships and Boats Competition.

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 5

Brass Brackets were made for the gangway.  The brass was silver soldered and blackened as per the earlier blog on blackening brass

 Rope was made from flax thread and the guns, brackets and gun tackles were installed.

 Here is a close-up of one of the guns with its various rope-work.

 Here is the completed gangway with stairs

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 4

 The upper deck flooring members were installed just as they were on the lower deck.

 These are the cannons that were turned out of brass stock on a drill press, for more information please see the post on this blog that details how this was done.

 Holly planks were installed just as on the lower deck.

 The external hull was planked up on one side and left skeletal on the other so that you can better see the structural members

 Entry way steps were added to the tumblehome of the hull.

 Here are the cannon in their carriages

Lastly gratings were made for the hatchway and a frame placed around the stairway opening.

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 3

 This is what the hull looked like once all of the lower deck flooring was in place.

 Next I turned supports for the upper deck.  I did this by making a dead center for the drill press and bored a small hole in the bottom of the piece to be turned.  This hole accepted the small brad on the dead center to stabilize the bottom of the piece.

 Files were used to shape the supports.

 Holly was used as the decking.  Small strips of black construction paper were used to simulate the caulking used to make the joints water proof.

 Small holes were bored to simulate the treenails that would have been used to secure the deck to the flooring.  I planked half of the deck so that you can see the exposed frame work on half of the hull.

 The supports that we turned earlier were installed with the beams for the top level of decking.

How to Blacken Brass

I set up my materials in my spray booth which doubles as a "chemistry hood." 

 The brass was first run through a Hydrochloric Acid bath to clean off the oxidation.

 Next the brass was washed with clean water.

 
Then into the Acetone bath to remove any organics.

 
When removed from the acetone the brass gleamed like new even though this cannon was turned quite some time ago.

 Next "Blacken It" that was diluted 1:1 with water was used. The little flakes are tiny pieces that fall off of the brass and grow like crystals over the course of hours. The bath worked as well for these last pieces as it did for the first in spite of the flakes.

 The Blacken It was washed off with water and a final acetone bath was used to remove any residual water. The pieces were buffed with a paper towel. Here is what the assortment of blackened pieces looked like when finished.

Here is a close up of the cannon. The handle of the quoin was glued on so I'll paint it later. It shows a good "before and after" effect for the cannon.

Miniature Stratocaster Pinewood Derby Car

Here is the car that I built for last year's pinewood derby.

It is a miniature Stratocaster Guitar mounted on a chassis that is shaped like a guitar case.  I never raced the car because of fears of destruction as it ran down the track, but it sure looked good!  It is made with a basswood body and maple neck.  A photo of a stratocaster was downloaded from the Internet and scaled to the proper size on the computer before being printed out.  The printed copy was cut up into neck and body sections and pasted onto wood to allow for exact cutouts to be made.  I used grinders, files, sandpaper and other tools to shape the body and neck and then individual fret lines were incised into the finger board with an x-acto knife.  Some 0.25mm wire was glued into each of these fret slots to make actual metal frets and even finer wire was used for the strings of the guitar.  Some scrap sprue from plastic model kits was turned to make the knobs and sheet styrene was used for the finger guard.  Lastly, copper wire and brass tubing were used to make the cable and 1/4 inch jacks to finish out the project.  The body is painted with flaming red lacquer with clear coat over the top.  Here are a couple of other photos of the finished project.

How to make brass cannons without a metal lathe

Sadly the photos for this post were lost when the original Model Ship World forum went down.  You can still follow these directions and make fine cannon...

Start off with round stock of appropriate diameter and mark off the locations of the rings, steps and cascabell. Chuck up the stock and use the bed of the drill press as a guide for cutting slots of the appropriate depth with a file. Use a wrap of paper to protect the drill press bed from the file and check frequently with a calipers till the exact depth is reached.


Cut all of the blanks at one time and resist the temptation to finish a cannon off first. This will help ensure maximal uniformity between cannon.


Once all of the depth cuts are made, connect the cuts to form the appropriate inclines for the various steps. Leave the rings at full diameter.


With the rings at full diameter the cannon can be set into a "V-block" to drill out the trunnion holes as per the plans.


Finish off the rings, cascabell and muzzle of the cannon before making an almost complete parting cut with a razor saw while on the drill press. I did this because I didn't want to take any chances in messing up the muzzle.


Complete the cut off of the drill press and mark the center of the muzzle with an awl. Carefully drill the bore of the cannon paying strict attention to keeping the bore centered on the muzzle.


Here is the final product. It took about three to four hours to make these nine pounders (1:48 scale) by this method. These cannon will not be exact duplicates but turned out well. If you don't have a metal lathe but do have a drill press and some time, this technique can be used in a pinch.