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.

Wooden mixer rack

I needed a rack that would mount my mixer on an angle as well as allow airflow under it for cooling.

This rack is made of 1/4 inch basswood and the cross member slats that support the mixer are rabbeted into the front and rear supports for extra strength.  A small  lip was added to the front edge to keep the mixer from sliding off.

Wooden Pool Triangles

This year for my brother's birthday I made him a cherry and maple pool triangle.  The three sides are made from a single blank of cherry with a swoosh of maple glued in as a laminate.  To see how this is done, see the wooden bookmark post on this site.  The three corners are equilateral triangles and rounded recesses are cut into each so that the balls touch each other and rack solidly (lesson learned from the Mark I version of these...).  The rack is finished with 7 coats of nitrocellulose lacquer and polished to a mirror finish just like on the perfect guitar finish found elsewhere in this blog.

Pinewood Derby Hershey Bar and Bus

Here are the pinewood derby cars that Zac and I made this year.

His is the Hershey Bar and mine is the Webelos School Bus.  He saw a Hershey bar car in an issue of Boy's Life magazine last year and he has been planning on building one all year.  The car is super easy to build because there is no paint, just some aluminum foil and a Hershey's wrapper.  Spray adhesive was used to secure the coverings and about 3 oz of weight had to be added to the car to make it 5 oz.

The Hershey Bar Car turned out to be really fast and won the Pinewood Derby.  I think that having all of the weight in the rear and having a low center of gravity helped make this happen.  My personal opinion is that the axles and wheels are most important part of getting the best speed possible.  Well polished and true axles with good graphite as a lubricant is a must.  Our pack does not allow increasing the wheel base but I am told this helps and running on three wheels helps reduce rolling resistance.

My car is the same as I usually make each time I am leading Webelos because it is the last year that the boys will be racing pinewood derby cars and I have the bus as a keepsake to remember them by.  The photos are from their yearbook and all of the details on the bus are printed on decal paper.  The bus is the opposite of the Hershey bar because it needs to be hollow to make it weigh 5 oz.