crazypoet

ooops - posted in wrong topic!

Gorgeous!

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

Thank you! Spiling planks is an interesting part of this build - it's the only way to develop and create the complex 3-D curve for each plank (bend and twist). It's a bit tedious, but the results are well worth it. It's also a bit of a meditation - you can't rush the process. The same skill will serve me well in future projects, both in wood and plastic, so it's worth the investment in time. On the home PE, I'll post the process as I step through it. The Micro-Mark kit provides all the essentials, with ferric chloride as the etchant. The things I have to provide are a good dark workspace (the photo-resist film is UV-sensitive), a few lighting fixtures and the artwork itself. Doing the artwork is my current challenge, as I have to transfer my thoughts from pencil drawings on graph paper into CAD images that I'll print onto transfer film. If I had a steadier hand, I could potentially draw directly on the film - but there is zero room for error with that approach! The parts I'm creating have to have a specific geometry to enable the whole linkage to function without either wobbling or binding. It will likely take at least two or three tries to get it right. I'll keep you all posted! :-)

No new pics on this, but I'm making some good progress on both the hull planking and the remaining parts of the steam plant. I've reached the point where I have to stain and finish the inside face of each plank before attaching it to the hull, as the inside is both quite visible and quite impossible to finish after the fact. What this means in practice is that each plank will take about two hours of active work spread over 2-3 days to measure, steam/bend/shape, finish and attach. And there are about 50 of them to go... I'm working them in matched pairs port/starboard, and working on the steam plant while the planks dry after steaming and shaping. I'm also learning more about CAD, as I need to custom-etch some engine parts to get the exact shapes I need. Always something new to learn with this project!

that wicker seat looks scratch-built?

Just...wow

I have a question on this - how do you deal with fumes/VOCs from airbrushing in this space? I ask because Mrs Poet has asthma, triggered by these among others. So when I need to paint, I have to move everything outside. I am interested in any solutions that y'all have to deal with those sorts of things

This is quite a challenge! I'm following with interest

So why am I not in the least surprised by this?

I LOVE THIS!!! Great way to say hello - welcome aboard!

I love watching you work, particularly as you do wholesale changes from the original kit limits. You're an inspiration!

While I'm working on the remaining engine hardware, I'm starting the rest of the Steam Plant - hot well and condenser. There were components that allowed for water/steam to be recycled through the system. Both of these were made of iron in the original. I've done the initial shaping and sealing of the wood kit components, in prep for the first coat of Alclad primer/filler. They both will have a variety of pipes, fittings and braces installed before they're done.

Welcome! I look forward to watching your progress on this. I've wondered about those kits - this is the first time I'll have seen one built

I just watched the new Star Wars yesterday - now I'm itching to do the "new" x-wing that Poe flies. This build is an inspiration - keep it up!

I love this build!!! Thanks for walking us through the whole process

Well. Ok. I did it. I finally had enough and pulled the trigger on a micro-mark home photo-etch kit. I realized that what I am going to need in terms of fittings for this and other kits will require better control in shape and fit than I can get with a Dremel and needle file - not to mention those times when I'll need multiples of a given part. I'll let y'all know when it arrives, along with how well it actually works... Meantime, I'm still designing the parts I'll need to properly finish this engine :-)

Thanks! This is going to be a long project. I'd hoped to have it done over the winter, but I suspect it will be well into Spring instead. At least it's not going to be boring... :-) I got the pumps and cam housing done today, so I can start the serious design work on the Stephenson link fittings. Cam Pump one Pump two These needed to be installed to give me an idea about what I need to work around for the next straps. Much head-scratching to follow...! ;-)

So... Starting the front of the engine. The first challenge is the feed pumps, which sit on either side of the crankshaft and which were driven by cams and rods connecting the pumps to the shaft. The pumps are white metal castings, which originally had too-bendable and out-of-scale posts on the end which one was supposed to simply rest against the crankshaft. Two issues came up with this - first, it just looked wrong. The cams and drive rods would have needed some protection from the elements, and so would have had some sort of enclosure and guides. Second, and more to a point of practicality from a building perspective, the lack of a cam housing would leave the Stepehson valve linkage unsupported insofar as spacing along the crank is concerned. So. My approach, after much head-scratching, was to cut the posts off the castings, and drill them to accept a short length of 1/16" brass tubing. The tube will serve to guide and connect a length of 1/32" brass rod to the pumps. At the crankshaft end of things, I scratch-built a cam housing to both anchor the connecting rods and provide support to the Stephenson eccentrics later. I used a bit of scrap wood, scale resin rivets and two more bits of 1/16" brass tube for this. To add a touch of interest, I also added a brad hex bolt to the bottom to represent a drain plug. Here are the pieces as they exist today. The pain is Tamiya NATO black, with a bit of colloidal graphite and Vallejo rust wash to tone things down. The caps on the pumps are Alclad titanium gold with a thin wash of Vallejo light rust. The next step is to connect things up, and use this as the starting point for the forward/reverse lever which was used to shift the Stephenson linkage. I need to design and fabricate that all from scratch, as there was no provision for it in the kit at all.

Ooops - I deleted the pic that I linked in that last post. I'll fix the post later, when I can get to a PC. In the meantime, I've got the back and top of the engine together. Baseplate, main bearings, crankshaft, frame, cylinder/valve box and flywheel. This took far longer than it should have, mainly because of my own ham-handed attempt to fix the alignment problem I mentioned above. So here are the components and steps... the various bits and pieces: Assembled baseplate, crank, piston rod, flywheel and main bearings: Frame pieces and completed assembly: I used brass hex bolts to connect the top plate and frame pieces, and to connect the frame to the baseplate. The kit provided hex styrene rod, which just didn't feel right. The cylinder/valve box: I added wood lagging around the cylinder, based on other examples of Clute engines from their 1873 catalog. I also decided to go with a black iron finish overall- again based on their catalog. The completed assembly: Next, I have to finish the front of the engine, along with the plumbing. This will include the Stephenson link for the valve, two feed pumps and a lever for setting the valve linkage. I'm heavily modifying all of these, as the kit approach left the Stephenson linkage completely unsupported and with no connecting levers for setting the valve timing. It also didn't have a good way to connect the feed pumps to the crankshaft - these would have been driven by cams on the crankshaft, and that was not well-represented in the kit pieces. Pulling this all together will take some time, as I have to design and fabricate several of the assemblies from scratch. Fun stuff!

Beautiful work on this!

Well, after a couple of holidays, waiting on parts and good weather for painting, I finally have an update. The engine in this model is supposed to turn over - the crankshaft drives the piston, valve timing link and Stephenson linkage. This means that alignment and clearance between parts *really* matters (as if it ever doesn't?) My first go ended up having issues. The crankshaft counterweights are laser-cut wood. As it happens, the laser beam begins to cut at a slight angle as one approaches the ends of the board stock. This is most pronounced in thicker wood. So. The counterweights each connect to a segment of the crankshaft and are joined through the piston rod. This assembly sits between the main bearings on the engine base plate, with not much in the way of clearance. Because of the slight angle to the laser cuts, the angle between the counterweights and crankshaft was not exactly square, and I didn't catch this until I'd joined them through the piston rod and main bearings. When I turned the crank, the counterweights would bind slightly at two points and flex/warp around the join between the wood counterweight and the metal crankshaft. Not a good thing, and my bad for not catching it sooner. I made this situation far worse when I tried a shortcut fix to trim them square. Nope - I ended up damaging both counterweights and one of the main bearings badly enough that they needed to be replaced. Model expo is good about this sort of thing, and shipped me out a sheet with replacements for the parts I'd trashed. i took a great deal more care in ensuring that everything was square and well-aligned this time! My Dremel was put into service as a mini lathe and I carefully trimmed the faces of the counterweights to make them exactly square to the holes for the crankshaft. Then much sanding, filling, priming and painting to make the new bits match the old. I'm happy with the results - the new engine core turns beautifully - I'll post a video after I put things together. In the meantime, here's the current state of the crank, counterweights, main bearings, piston rod and flywheel... Most of the assembly is wood, with a bit of brass rod, aluminum tubing and brass hex bolts. I'll assemble the rest of the engine core this week, and do a video of the whole thing turning over - it's kind of cool Back on track!

Quick update on this - I managed to damage (read: "thoroughly screw-up") one of the engine parts while test-fitting, and I'm building a replacement. I also had a loooong stretch of rainy weekends where I couldn't do any painting. But the engine is coming back together and the bones will be ready for their debut in a couple of weeks. Still scratching my head on the Stephenson Linkage for the valve timing, but I can't really start on that until the main frame and cylinder are in-place.

Nice!!!! What did you use for the canvas - it looks great!

I love this kit! Watching with interest and a touch of envy...