crazypoet

I look forward to any and all updates on this. I am particularly interested as I (someday!) hope to take on a similarly-scaled USS Arizona. I am learning tons through your willingness to share your own trials and tribulations... Thank you for all the in-the-trenches info about both the good and the bad of building such a huge project.

Here and watching! Loving every post and pic

I have an update to this! The good folk at Resin2Detail have the 3-bomblet parafrag cluster in 1:32 available at their store. It comes in packs of two for $6.99 per pack. I chatted with them this morning, and they are also looking to package the individual bomblets for use in dioramas and non-cluster loadings (such as the honeycomb load I posted above). I just ordered six of the cluster packs (12 clusters total) for my HK B-25 build. I'll post a review when they arrive. These folk are amazingly responsive - I posted a question on their FB page and had a response within *minutes*. Very cool to work with.

Good god this project is huge! I can easily see why it's taken quite some time, with breaks in-between. The additional work you've done in wood and brass to add detail and depth to the original kit work is beautifully done. Please keep posting as this develops - I very much look forward to the end result

I just looked at the WIP photos of this build (I should have done that first!). The barrel detail photos from your WIP show the barrel from different angles, and the difference in appearance is striking. It seems that it was indeed my own poor eyesight and the different camera angles that led to my comments yesterday. Your work is, as always, truly an inspiration

That is an impressive piece of ordinance, and your work on the chassis delivers a sense of the weight in all that metal. I have two comments, based entirely on my own ignorance, so by all means correct me if I am off-base. First, there's something about the barrel as a whole - it seems too light and thin-walled for the size of the projectile. This may be just the angle of the photo combined with my own ignorance. The second point is similar in that, to me, the bare-metal portion of the barrel looks more like new aluminum than used steel. I suspect that this is more a matter of lighting and focus than anything else, but it contributes to my feeling that barrel is somehow too lightweight for the shell it is intended to deliver. As always, your work is both meticulous and beautifully done - it's an interesting subject and the model is inspiring me to do some research and reading on the topic just to answer my own curiosity. Thanks for sharing all your work - you inspire me to try things I'd never have attempted otherwise

Beautifully done! And the Santa figure is a perfect touch of whimsy! You made me smile...

I've had a love affair with the Gotha since I first saw one in an old WWI flight sim. this is on my "someday" list - but only because I already have several years' worth of kits already waiting to be addressed in their turn. So instead of building my own, just now, I have the joy of following your build. I missed the early part of this build, but just spent a thoroughly enjoyable hour catching up. I love your approach - going well beyond the limits of an already-excellent kit with your own touches and add-ons. Please keep up the posts as things progress - it is a delight to be given a chance to watch over your shoulder

Those are some beautiful Spitfires! Without the dime for scale, I'd not have believed it

Thanks for putting this topic up, front and center! For me, most of 2016 was "lost" - almost no bench time between work schedule and some illness in the family. Even so, I did get some postable work done, and even had pics on my iPhone. I just didn't feel up to admitting how little I was doing... I did get some time starting in November, so I managed to get some work done and I'm finally caught up with my WIP reporting. The Picket Boat is into its third year (!!!) of construction, but the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel is getting much brighter. I love this site and the work I see here is an inspiration! My hope is someday to be half as good as the rest of you.

I got a bit more work done on the hull itself over the last few days. The cover boards are installed - these cover and support the ends of the structural frames - and I've just about finished the coaming strip around the outside of the decks and cover boards. As always, clamps, rubber bands and CA gel are a modeller's best friend! There remains interior trim, mast and supports and a rub rail to install on the hull. Then, final sanding, sealing and paint, Lastly, cleats and fittings, mounting the gun and spar torpedo and other oddments... and done! Maybe before the end of winter... hope springs eternal...

Happy New Year! So... the Engine... The engine for this boat was a single-cylinder high-torque, low speed plant produced by the Clute Brothers in New York. The type was fairly standard and similar engines are still produced today. The exact design and mechanical details are lost to history, but a close approximation can be made from other examples and period references. So the engine specs in the kit are close, so far as they go. There is one glaring omission for the kit plans and contents though - links and levers that control the forward/reverse valve timing via the Stephenson Links. The principles and means of action for the links are well-known, and the core components are part of the kit. The omitted parts are those that would have been used by the engineer to control and manipulate the links. Nada. Nothing. Not even a *mention* anywhere in the documentation. In principle, this would be a simple lever, connected to the engine frame and Stephenson linkage. The engineer would move it to different positions for both throttle and forward/reverse valve timing. The genius of the design is that the engine could be completely controlled through the use of this single lever - full forward though full reverse, with different combinations of speed and torque at each position. Cool. But how was that done for *this* engine, on *this* boat? That's what I had to research, design and build. The good news is that the engine geometry itself limits the possibilities. There are only so many places to put the thing, and only so many ways to tie it together. I had to choose between a direct push/pull rod and a lever with a connecting link. I chose the levered approach based on other examples and from the notion that it would give the engineer a bit of mechanical advantage in actual use. Ok, fine. Now, where to put it, and how to tie everything together? Here's where I left things in the last update on the topic: This is the front of the engine, where the Stephenson Link sits. It drives a pushrod through the bottom of the square gearbox above the crankshaft whose motion and timing controls the valves. The link itself consists of two arms driven by eccentric cams and linked to the pushrod. After tons of head-scratching, drawing and research I came up with the following bits and pieces to tie it all together The two identical arms at the top and the pushrod itself came with the kit. Everything else was scratchbuit. I played around with AutoCAD and a home PE kit, but my CAD skills weren't up to the challenge. I ended up using graph paper for design and scale, carbon paper to transfer the final designs onto brass stock, and a ton of cutting, filing, soldering, cursing, re-soldering, fitting, throwing things and yelling a lot to finally get things working. I suspect the original builders went through a not-dissimilar process, come to think of it... Here's how the pieces connect... And how they look after installation... So this completes the engine itself. The remaining work is the plumbing and connections - boiler, condenser, hot well, engine, pipes, propeller and propeller shaft. The boiler, engine, propeller, compndenser and hot well are all built, but won't be installed and connected until the rest of the boat is complete.

I've thought of that approach for a future project - would be quite the challenge! Lots of fun for interior detail, too! I would *love* someday to see these in 1/48... 1/32 is impractical for anything other than a museum setting, but I could find wall space for one in 1/48... or hung from the ceiling in my workshop... This is a magnificent beast of a bird

I was able to find a pair of kits I'd always wanted. One since I was a kid, the second an updated version in newer dress. The B-52, in 1/72 - two different versions. I plan to build one in Vietnam-era dress, from the Linebacker II campaign. The second will be updated for the '92 Gulf War. These give me something to look forward to, down the road. Unfortunately, aftermarket support for these is long absent - though I was able to get metal landing gear for them both. Sadly, such bits and pieces as were made for them seem to have disappeared even from eBay... that said, I have time to look, as it promises to be some time before I can do but look at these on the shelf. Even so, knowing they're there waiting makes me happy.

Finally an update - with some pictures, no less. For better or worse, 2016 was sort of a lost year, insofar as bench time is concerned. I've been lucky to get any bench time at all some weeks, and there's been more than a few months with none to speak of at all. That, plus the fact that hull planking is not the most exciting subject, made for not much postable progress... However... there's stuff beginning to come together... I did finally finish the engine - including fabricating parts for the Stephenson Linkage for which no plans existed - by referencing a Clute Brothers catalog from 1873 for style and engineering approaches. I also finished some bits of steam plumbing, rudder and tiller. Added into the mix as a bit of sanity-salve, I scratchbuilt a pair of ammo boxes and a toolbox. The ammo boxes aren't quite ready for their closeups but I'm rather pleased with the toolbox. Of course, now I'll have to research and make the tools... The hull planking is complete, including a bit of fussy work for the fantail. I'm in the process now of final sanding/filling the hull and adding in the remainder of the decking that must be complete before I can paint. Finally, I added a pair of compartments in the stern, as I imagine that no good boatbuilder would leave so much space unused. I framed-in and finished the compartment interiors and scratch built functioning hatches. I'll post engine pictures as a separate update, since they are sitting on my iPhone and need still to be uploaded. Here, however, are shots of the main hull, compartments and various oddments... Where I was, as of my last update... Hull pretty much complete... Stern Compartments Bow compartments open and closed And odd bits and pieces - rudder and toolbox Lastly, a teaser for the engine update to follow: so that's where we stand, just now... with a good bit of paint and detail work yet to complete, along with a number of finishing details. I am hopeful that 2017 will prove to be more fruitful in terms of time,

Hey all - it's been a while! This has been a bad year, time-wise, and whiles there's been progress, there's nothing that is really photo-worthy. I have a few more rows of planks, and I've made a ton of progress on the Stephanson Link for the engine valve, but neither is quite photo-ready. I do actually have all the parts and pieces done for the main body of the Stephanson Link, but I'm only *just* to the point where they are beginning to look like anything other than random bits of brass. So... I do expect that my next update will be the completed link and engine, at which time I'll update all the rest of the slow bits of progress that *have* happened...

Quick update, with pictures to follow later. I've not had near as much bench time as I'd like, but progress is actually happening. I have more of the hull planked, and the hot well and condenser are both nearly done. I ended up doing a bunch of extra work on both, to make them a bit more period and purpose appropriate. Once through these, it's back to the home PE and finishing the engine. Pics to follow!

Here's the one picture I've found so far: It's from the photo collection of the pilot of the AC I'm building, so there's a good chance that it's "my" bird in the photo

As I'm continuing my research for this, I came across a reference for "Honeycomb" racks for the 23# parafrag bomb, that allowed B-25s to carry up to 72 parafrags hanging vertically. It was a field mod for B-25s in the Southwest Pacific, based on a design first used in A-20s in 1943. It was a common loading for airfield attacks, but it's not described at any level of detail in any of the standard technical manuals from the era. I've only found a single photo of this load type - badly lit, just showing the noses of the bombs from an oblique angle looking up at the bay from the left/front of the AC - I'll copy and link it here when I have a chance later today. Has anyone seen any other info on these?

Urk. Well then. I guess it's the lathe, evergreen and brass then! I love a challenge... :/

It's still going to be a while before I start my B-25 strafer - which is a good thing, as I'm still digging up info and finding AM parts. It is in that spirit that I come before you all on blended knee and ask: "Does *anyone* make 1/32 scale Parafrag clusters for this beast???" I'm speaking specifically of these guys: If push comes to shove I'll find a way to scratch them (the Dremel-lathe comes to mind), but I'd much rather not... I'm going to need 6 clusters to finish this the way I'd like - bay open and loading in-progress. Have any of you seen or heard of these little beasties being available?

Odd - I was just asking myself that exact question! Can anyone (ahem) shed any light on the subject?

ooops - posted in wrong topic!

Gorgeous!

I loved watching this build in progress, and seeing it done is truly satisfying. Masterful work!