Kingfisher 1770 1:48 POF

dockattner said:
Continuing with the chain pumps...

The pump is operated by a crank system (or at least that's the way I understand it to work). To that end I needed to fabricate that system along with some posts at the fore and aft ends of the cranks to control their rotation.

The easiest thing to do would be to simply bend some brass rod - but I need to continue developing my metal working skills, and this seemed like a nice opportunity.

First, I wanted to create some square corners to receive the bars of the cranks (stick with me here - it will all make sense by the end...):

Square tubing cut at 45 degrees:

View attachment 468637

Soldered corners:

View attachment 468638

Cleaned up and cutting the corners to length:

View attachment 468639

The short vertical segments:

View attachment 468640

And now the horizontal segments (just dry fit at this point):

View attachment 468641

My first attempt at burnishing/blackening these brass bits was a failure. So, I cleaned them up much more carefully, managed to lose one of the parts (well, the entire sub-construction on the right side of the above photo) when it was flung away to that place where socks go, spent a long hour searching, and a longer hour making the replacement part....

The second attempt at burnishing/blackening was much more successful.

View attachment 468644

Notice the new posts at the far left and far right (above photo) providing rotational points for the cranking system...

View attachment 468643

View attachment 468642

View attachment 468645

View attachment 468646

I then removed all of these parts from the model. I'll keep them safe until closer to the end of the build.

And it was at this very moment that I looked at the place where the cistern was sitting and wondered where all the water was going to drain to. Scuppers! I forgot the &^%$%^&* (translation: %!@#$(*&^%) scuppers...
Click to expand...
Dear Paul,

With an open deck like this you don't need scuppers, only a very good bilge pump :cool:
IMG_1029.JPG
 
Last edited:
dockattner said:
Continuing with the chain pumps...

The pump is operated by a crank system (or at least that's the way I understand it to work). To that end I needed to fabricate that system along with some posts at the fore and aft ends of the cranks to control their rotation.

The easiest thing to do would be to simply bend some brass rod - but I need to continue developing my metal working skills, and this seemed like a nice opportunity.

First, I wanted to create some square corners to receive the bars of the cranks (stick with me here - it will all make sense by the end...):

Square tubing cut at 45 degrees:

View attachment 468637

Soldered corners:

View attachment 468638

Cleaned up and cutting the corners to length:

View attachment 468639

The short vertical segments:

View attachment 468640

And now the horizontal segments (just dry fit at this point):

View attachment 468641

My first attempt at burnishing/blackening these brass bits was a failure. So, I cleaned them up much more carefully, managed to lose one of the parts (well, the entire sub-construction on the right side of the above photo) when it was flung away to that place where socks go, spent a long hour searching, and a longer hour making the replacement part....

The second attempt at burnishing/blackening was much more successful.

View attachment 468644

Notice the new posts at the far left and far right (above photo) providing rotational points for the cranking system...

View attachment 468643

View attachment 468642

View attachment 468645

View attachment 468646

I then removed all of these parts from the model. I'll keep them safe until closer to the end of the build.

And it was at this very moment that I looked at the place where the cistern was sitting and wondered where all the water was going to drain to. Scuppers! I forgot the &^%$%^&* (translation: %!@#$(*&^%) scuppers...
Click to expand...
Absolutely brilliant work
Congrats Paul
 
Jeez, I’m two weeks and six pages behind again. This morning I decided it’s time to clutter your “Alerts” notification download list with admiring icons :D.

As I scroll page by page your work really is a wonder to behold. It’s all so impressive Paul.
 
Daniel20 said:
Aside from all your awesome detail work I found your Brass Black tutorial very informative. I had all but stopped using the stuff because of the powdering effect then it all just comes off splotchy. Thanks for the lesson.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Daniel. The magic happens with the generous dilution. If the part blackens in less than 45-60 seconds or so your solution is too strong.

RogerD said:
Jeez, I’m two weeks and six pages behind again. This morning I decided it’s time to clutter your “Alerts” notification download list with admiring icons :D.

As I scroll page by page your work really is a wonder to behold. It’s all so impressive Paul.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Roger. I noticed you needed to take a break for lunch and come back well-nourished...
 
Hello Friends,

As we close out the extended holiday weekend here in the US I'll make one final post. I'm sure you're all rather sick of me at this point, but I post 'live' and if I forget to do it then it never happens.

My first challenge was to remedy my embarrassing oversight of failing to include scuppers. All things being equal I would have done this long ago with easier access and improved sightlines. In fact, if I had even spent the briefest of moments thinking about scuppers, I would have included pilot holes while the hull was still open. As it turned out I needed to run a drill at an angle through two finished surfaces - sketchy in the best of circumstances...

Anyway, with some careful planning, I was able to include the four midship scuppers. I won't be able to add the one in association with the manger at the bow of the ship - or at least I'm unwilling to drill blind into that area (and drilling from the inboard side is no longer physically possible).

IMG_1035.JPG

IMG_1039.JPG

IMG_1041.JPG

IMG_1044.JPG

IMG_1045.JPG

IMG_1049.JPG

And finally, the brake pump. First, I needed to make another octagonal tube:

IMG_1053.JPG

and drill a hole in the top of it...

IMG_1055.JPG

There is a metal band around the top of the tube, but the walls are not parallel at that point. My solution was to create a small cutback for the band.

IMG_1062.JPG

Next, I added the pumping part made from scraps of boxwood:

IMG_1072.JPG

IMG_1069.JPG

IMG_1070.JPG

It goes somewhere around here on the ship:

IMG_1065.JPG

Oh, and I added a dale for the chain pump and cistern. It runs to a scupper :).

IMG_1064.JPG

Thanks for stopping by one last time. I'll give you a break from me for a bit now.
 
Last edited:
dockattner said:
Hello Michael.

I'll start with my 'best practices' for burnishing and then explain my recent challenges. Here is a copy of an email I sent to another forum member when he asked me for my approach...

Here are some best practices to try:

1. I always pre-clean the parts. If you can sand them with very, very fine sandpaper then do that. There are also some polishing brushes you can use in a rotary tool. But sometimes the parts are too small for that sort of treatment so the best you can do is clean them in some sort of chemical. I tend to avoid caustic stuff so I pre-clean most everything in household (white) vinegar. It is a mild organic acid so I leave the parts in the vinegar at least 30 minutes - sometimes 60 minutes.

2. Rinse off in water.

3. The problem with Brass Black is it is very aggressive (of course that's why everyone likes it - it blackens/burnishes extremely well). But its aggressive nature is also its downfall and you see this all the time on the forum. If you use the Brass Black full-strength (and without properly cleaning the parts) a thick dust-like compound builds up on the surface that just flakes off. No joy. No blackening.

The solution is to dilute the Brass Black with water. I would start with 1:10 (or even 1:20) and adjust from there. If you dilute enough the blackening will take quite a long time. Well, 60 seconds rather than instantaneous. The longer it takes the better the result. You want the brass to be blackened (it's actually more of a gun-metal type finish that looks very authentic at scale) without getting the dusty surface.

4. Anyway, once it is blackened, remove the piece and rinse it off in water and allow it to air dry on a paper towel. I use a Q Tip or similar to wipe off the part (it will still get a faint dust on it). Upon inspection the part is usually fine to use. But if you want it darker then just return it to the diluted solution for a second round.

It is surprising to me that I can re-use the same diluted solution over and over again - like 10 times or more. That doesn't make sense as I would have thought whatever is in the Brass Black that causes the blackening reaction would be used up but apparently that takes a rather long time. I keep the diluted solution in a small glass covered jar and use it until it doesn't work anymore.

So, that's how I normally go about burnishing metals. But I had gotten lazy. Over the past month I had burnished a few bits made of copper and copper blackens very easily. If you think dark thoughts about copper next to a closed bottle of Brass Black it turns dark. Blackening copper makes you think you don't really need to follow the 'best practices.'

When it came time to blacken the brass cranking mechanism for the chain pumps, I cleaned the metal with a file and then some time in the vinegar - but I had failed to REALLY clean the brass so it turned out blotchy. I had to go back with a brush in a rotary tool and that provides a much cleaner surface. Success.

Here is my metal cleaning toolbox:

View attachment 468945

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Good morning Paul,
very nice and detailed description. I agree with you on all points, what I do after the whole process is to treat it with machine oil. The reason for this is to close the open pores in the metal so that no oxidation occurs and the metal, or later humidity, continues to work on the metal and the weakened surface can continue to work. The problem with metals in general that have been chemically treated is damage to the surface structure and this promotes oxidation, which can be counteracted and preserved with a little oil.

I wish you a wonderful birthday, celebrate with your family and friends and enjoy the day. Birthday-Cake Bottle
 
dockattner said:
Hello Friends,

As we close out the extended holiday weekend here in the US I'll make one final post. I'm sure you're all rather sick of me at this point, but I post 'live' and if I forget to do it then it never happens.

My first challenge was to remedy my embarrassing oversight of failing to include scuppers. All things being equal I would have done this long ago with easier access and improved sightlines. In fact, if I had even spent the briefest of moments thinking about scuppers, I would have included pilot holes while the hull was still open. As it turned out I needed to run a drill at an angle through two finished surfaces - sketchy in the best of circumstances...

Anyway, with some careful planning, I was able to include the four midship scuppers. I won't be able to add the one in association with the manger at the bow of the ship - or at least I'm unwilling to drill blind into that area (and drilling from the inboard side is no longer physically possible).

View attachment 469039

View attachment 469040

View attachment 469041

View attachment 469042

View attachment 469043

View attachment 469044

And finally, the brake pump. First, I needed to make another octagonal tube:

View attachment 469045

and drill a hole in the top of it...

View attachment 469046

There is a metal band around the top of the tube, but the walls are not parallel at that point. My solution was to create a small cutback for the band.

View attachment 469047

Next, I added the pumping part made from scraps of boxwood:

View attachment 469052

View attachment 469050

View attachment 469051

It goes somewhere around here on the ship:

View attachment 469049

Oh, and I added a dale for the chain pump and cistern. It runs to a scupper :).

View attachment 469048

Thanks for stopping by one last time. I'll give you a break from me for a bit now.
Click to expand...
Nice scratch build detailed parts, Paul.
Also from. My side a Happy Birthday. Enjoy the day and the upcoming weekend.
Regards, Peter
 
Paul,
Me thinks you like Boxwood. In any case it seems to love you. Marvelous detail work.
I guess I missed the announcement however, a very Happy Birthday. Enjoy your day and many more to come.
Go easy on the wine. Wouldn't want it to influence your construction :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top