COPPERING a Hull - method + jigs - small tutorial

[Uwek]

The jigs and method I used for the coppering of the HMS Triton section model in scale 1:48.

First trials were with this roller I made with an older (i Think Proxxon) saw blade of a circular saw.
....much more teeth, than the usual rollers, usable for smaller scales



another jig I made, but were not happy with the result is this one



So finally I went to Bernhard Froelich´s way he showed in his book

first of all you need a stamp rectangular shape and install small nails in the pattern you need, cutted heads and flatten the cut as much as possible, so that the nails are not making holes in the copper. These are the "fathers" of the jig
On the top is the jig used with the Triton of this building log, on the left side every time as an example the copper plate as a result. On this Triton the copper tin was a little bit too thick, in the meantime I am using thinner copper with better results, one example I will show you later



Now we come to the "mother". You have to produce a block with a notch in the size of your standard copper plates, in this notch a stiff and hard rubber block has to be installed and fixed.



from the copper sheets you have to cut with a sharp knife or tin scissor the copper plates in the size you need


Put one copper plate into the jig, means on top of the rubber, into the mother


on top the father with the nails in direction of the copper


put this into your plain vice.....the pressure you have to check and make some trails......with mor preassure the nail pattern is getting more intensive


and the result, put the nailed copper plate out of the jig


And here you can see the plates used at a HMS Triton section model

 

[Pathfinder65]

Hi Uwe,

Do you know what was used as a base layer on the hull of regular wooden ships before the copper plates were attached. I would think that there would electrolysis problems between the iron bolts holding the planks and the copper plates if there was no buffer between them.

 

[Uwek]

Hi Uwe,

Do you know what was used as a base layer on the hull of regular wooden ships before the copper plates were attached. I would think that there would electrolysis problems between the iron bolts holding the planks and the copper plates if there was no buffer between them.

You are correct.......

Take a look here in detail:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_sheathing

In 1769 another attempt was made at coppering a ship's hull, this time on a new ship that had been constructed using bolts made from a copper alloy. The results were far more favourable this time, but still the problems with the bolting remained.
........
By the time the war ended in 1783, problems with the hull bolting were once more becoming apparent.[citation needed] Finally, a suitable alloy for the hull bolts was found, that of copper and zinc. At great cost, the Admiralty decided in 1786 to go ahead with the re-bolting of every ship in the navy, thus finally eliminating the bolt corrosion problem.

 

[Uwek]

Unfortunately the attached pdf is in german, but you can translate it evtl. into english....a very good explanation about the historical and technical background of the copper sheating as well a very good tutorial how this modeler made his sheating on his model.....take a look

 

[Pathfinder65]

Hi Uwe,

Great wiki article. I learned something new. Thank you.

 

[Pathfinder65]

Unfortunately the attached pdf is in german, but you can translate it evtl. into english....a very good explanation about the historical and technical background of the copper sheating as well a very good tutorial how this modeler made his sheating on his model.....take a look

That is very interesting. I didn’t know that depending on hull position different weight copper plates were used.

 

[dj56]

i like these words Uwe .....Diese manchmal eintönige Arbeit kann einen Modellbauer wochenlang beschäftigen - sie kann ihm dafür aber auch jahrzehntelang eine wahre Freude sein.