Cross Section Case

The model for which this case has been built has been detailed in other posts on this blog.  My concern over the years has been keeping dust off of this model.  The case that I built is made of mahogany with an amber shellac finish.  The plexiglas panels are 1/8 inch thick and sit in channels cut into the framing supports.  The cabriole feet set the case up a bit and add some elegance to the design.  Soft felt padding was added to protect surface that the case sits upon from damage.

How to make rope

This is a machine that can be used to make rope for models and a larger version can be used to make full scale rope.  It is called a "rope walk" and works on the principle that if you take three strands and wind them up individually in one direction, they will then release their tension by winding around each other in the opposite direction and the two forces will cancel each other out and the result is stable rope.  This is what the machine that I use looks like.  Turning the crank on the machine on the left causes all three strands to be spun at the same time.

Here is the machine in action.  The three strands are attached to the machines and are spun by the machine on the right.  A wooden egg with three grooves cut in it serves a the bobbin and holds the strand apart as they spun.  Once the proper amount of tension is built up, the machine on the left is turned in the opposite direction and the result is shown below..

Here you can see the finished rope used in a model.  It looks very realistic in scale and can be made to whatever diameter is needed.  By putting multiple "ropes" on the machine, larger hawsers and cables can be made for anchors and such.

Pinewood Derby 1966 AC Cobra

Here are a couple of photos of a 66 AC Cobra that I made for a pinewood derby a few years ago.  I no longer have the car since I gave it away to a Cobra fan.  The paint job is candy apple red over a white base with several layers of clear coat lacquer sprayed over it and buffed out.

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 2

 Once the frames were complete and held together by the hull timbers, the hull was removed from the building jig and the floor members were installed.  The curved pieces are knees and added stability around areas where the masts went through the ship and were connected to the keel.  A large number of precision joints were needed to hold all of these floor members together.  This is how they were done.

 

 First a rabbet was cut into the piece to be fitted and this was then cut to length and a square was used to make sure that everything laid true.  Lines were scribed to show where the corresponding relief joint needed to be cut.

 An X-Acto knife was used to score the joint.

 A fine chisel was used to cut the joint.

 And the joint was cleaned up.

This is what the finished product looked like.  Now repeat this many times till finished!

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 6

Next the hull on the completed side was coppered to the waterline.  This was used on ships to prevent fouling and preserve the hull.

 Thin strips of self-adhesive copper were trimmed to size and a miniature T-square was made from brass.

 A ponce wheel simulated the nail heads for the strips.

 The T-square allowed perfectly straight scores that indicated the ends of the individual copper plates.

 The ponce wheel simulated the final rows of nails.

Each completed strip was then placed on the hull for a convincing result.

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.

HMS Triton Frigate Cross Section Build Log - Part 1

 This is a log of the building of a 1:48 scale cross section of the British Frigate Triton from 1771.  The highlights of this model's construction will be outlined in this series of posts.  The plans for this model were originally posted on the ModelShipWorld forum.  The model is made of cherry, holly, brass and sheet copper.

 The first step was to build an assembly jig so that the individual frames of the hull can be precisely aligned.

 The frames are made up from individual timbers, just like the full sized ship.  These members form two layers (double frame) that together make for a very strong structure.  This is a photo of the cut out members of one frame.

 This is what the frame looked like when glued together.

Here is the completed frame along with the keel section and false keel. The keel has indexing pegs on its upper surface to make for a stronger joint with the frames.  The little white dots on the frame are treenails (pronounced "trunnels")  They are little wooden pegs that hold the members of the keel together.

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.