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Author Topic: Joffre build  (Read 34583 times)

oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #75 on: October 09, 2013, 09:47:37 pm »

With the basic wheel house constructed I stained the outside and inside with a dark maple stain as that's what i had on hand. I didn't bother detailing the interior although could have been done too. I'm going to use brass pin heads to emulate the brass door knobs.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #76 on: November 08, 2013, 01:47:55 am »

 The wheels of progress some times slowly grind. However, back at the Joffre again.
I noticed, on a photo of the prototype, the side panels of the boiler house and bunker show some degree of rivet detail. I wanted to attempt to simulate this detail if possible. Remember these components are built from wood. It can be difficult, in this scale, to do a respectable lay over of rivet detail. Maintaining a conistancy of size is the most difficult part.
 In order to overcome this conundrum I fell back to an old model railroading trick of using a pounce wheel to impress rivets into styrene sheet. My wife, fortunately, had a pounce wheel she was willing to contribute to the cause. I decided to just cover the coal bunker sides since that was the most obvious part of the deck house to have rivets. I cut out some .010" styrene sheet to the correct size to cover the area desired. On the back of the sheet I penciled in, with a ruler, the lines I wished to "rivet".
  I placed the piece to be "riveted" on some scrap wood, to provide a soft back to the styrene to allow the pounce wheel to work. The ruler was used to guide the pounce wheel down the pencil lines. Some degree of pressure must be applied to the pounce wheel to get the impression to work.
  When the work was turned over a reasonable impression of rivet detail was attained.
  In order to apply the styrene to the bunker sides I used water based contact cement. I use this type of contact cement quite often for this application. It doesn't distort the plastic and the aroma is to a minimum. Follow the directions and apply the styrene sides to the bunker.
  The work was then primered. I think the result is acceptable for what it is. It probably won't be to a rivet counter standard, but it'll certainly be acceptable on the water and to most of the viewing public.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #77 on: November 08, 2013, 01:49:31 am »

Continuing.......
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Tug Hercules Fireman

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #78 on: December 20, 2014, 11:46:42 pm »

Did the Joffre get completed?

Tug Hercules
Fireman Rick
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Tug Hercules
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #79 on: December 21, 2014, 12:10:50 am »

Did the Joffre get completed?

Tug Hercules
Fireman Rick

 Its just about done. I stopped working on it last winter so I could get some work done on a live steam loco I'm building. I got back at the Joffre  a couple of months ago and its coming along. I'll post some more pictures tonight. thanks for shaking me up about it.

John
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Tug Hercules Fireman

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #80 on: December 21, 2014, 12:12:52 am »

John,

It is a great model and a great build.

I was hoping I didn't miss the completion of it.

I have one of the shelf. I just need to get started at it.

Tug Hercules
Fireman Rick
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #81 on: December 21, 2014, 12:50:15 am »

To those following this build log, the Joffre build has continued, but I've been rather remiss in keeping up to date on the build in writing. I'm going to try and play alittle catch up here, for those interested.  On the over all photo of the bow of the Joffre, you'll notice I've installed the decks on both the wheel house deck, and the upper open steering deck. Beware. There is an avenue for a mistake here, which i made and didn't realize it until it was too late.
  You can see the grey decking material, on the deck above the wheel house, is on a lower plywood piece cut from the premarked wood supplied in the kit. I cut the plywood to size as per the markings done by the manufacturer, I then primed it and painted it white. I then placed the decking material on top of the painted plywood and installed the handrails. In actual fact, most of the (white in the picture) should be removed and the handrail posts should be installed directly through the gray decking and not through the white plywood. If you do what I've done, you end up with an over hang over the wheel house which doens't look nearly right when compared to the photo of the prototype. I don't know why the plywood underlay was marked to such an excessive dimension, but it was . y the time I realized it it was too late and I would have had to remove and redo all the upper handrails. Something I wasn't keen on doing.


John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #82 on: December 21, 2014, 01:03:18 am »

 The deck fittings, previously made, where painted and weathered to give amore interesting model. I'm not one who likes a pristine model, I prefer it to be in a well kept, but used condition.
I used enamel paints to paint the deck fittings, then when dry, I used a very waytered down acrylic paint, apllied with a brush, to give me th edark "greassy" weathering to the fittings. This a applied as a wash over the fittings and allowed the dark brown and black to accumulate where it will. It seems to give a more natural effect to the weathering.


John
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morley bill 1

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #83 on: December 21, 2014, 10:30:25 am »

great looking model built one for a friend when it first came out ....bill....
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #84 on: December 21, 2014, 12:13:50 pm »

great looking model built one for a friend when it first came out ....bill....

Thanks Bill. It does make a nice product when done. There are a ton of casting to do on it though.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #85 on: December 22, 2014, 07:00:42 pm »

The railings are cetainly phinicky peices to deal with. The cast handrail posts need cleaning to begin with. It appears as though the molds on many of my castings were slightly offset, one side from the other. This resulted in the holes in the balls on the posts becoming plugged for the most part. I had to file the posts to shape (be careful, they will bend very easily) and drilling the holes out to clear with  a 0.032 " drill. Mounting holes were then drilled into the deck to take the spigot on the bottom of the posts.
 Using the handrail wire provided, use the holes you have drilled into the deck to act as a template for bending the wire. Don't try and bend the whole length at once. but do it in managable sections. When you have two rail formed, thread the appropriate number of posts onto the two wires. Make sure there is some wire over hang at each end of the string. Install the posts into the holes you've made. Now continue on with the next string on either side of those you have just installed. When all the strings are made and installed, use ACC (cyano) on the bottom of each post to secure the handrail posts to the deck. Where the ends of the handrails meet the neighbour next to it, trim both sides so the ends meet happily together. Then using a hot fine soldering iron, qquickly solder the ends of the rails together where they meet the neighbour. If carefully done, the railings should look as one piece all the way around the enclosure. (see photo above for complete railing)

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #86 on: December 22, 2014, 07:58:45 pm »

With the handrails and posts installed, its a good time to make and install the wood rail caps, both for the rails at the wheel house level and along the bulwarks around the perimeter of the vessel. The kit comes with a pine that is grooved in the back side to fit over the bulwarks. However, the bulwarks curve and here in lies the conundrum. You can make a steam bosx to bend the pine rail cap (messy), soak the rail cap in hot water for as long as necessary to allow it to bend freely, then clamp it in the desired position until dries, or you can do, as I did, make entirely new caps to measure and shape.
 I feel this gives a far better looking cap with less fuss muss, and eliminates the tacky plywood pit on the stern cap.
I used bass wood to make my caps because it was on hand. You could use any soft wood equally well. Cut the strip of wood down to th ethcikness of the finished rail cap. Set it down on top of the bulwark, or railing, and using a pencil, mark a line on the underside of the wood follwing the bulwark as a guide. Turn the wood over to reveal your pencil line. Draw two other lines, one on either side of the guide line you just made. These are your cut lines to cut out the rail cap from your wood. When you have cut the cap out, use a fine cut off wheel in a Dremel type tool, and cut a slot along the center line of the rail cap (the guide line you originally made). be careful not to go all the way through the rail cap. This slot is what the bulwark is going to fit into when you are finished here.
  With the slot cut, test fit the cap on the bulwark. Adjust as necessary. the bulwark should fit into the slot you have just routed out. When you are happy with the fit. mix up some 5 or 15 minute epoxy and drizzle same into the slot in the wood. Place the wood over the bulwark ensuring the bulwark fits into the slot again and place a small weight on top of the cap  until the epoxy sets. Since you won't be able get the entire cap made out of one peice of wood, you can go a ahead and make the next peice while the first is setting up.
 Finish sand the wood rail cap and give it a rounded top to soften its edges a bit.
When finished, I used a furniture stain to colour my caps.
 For the hand rail posts, do the same up to the slot. Instead, place the cap against the posts and transfer the location of the tops of the posts to the cap. Drill through the cap at the post locations with a 0.032" drill . Offer uou the cap to the posts and ensure each post upper pin fis into the holes you just drilled. If they do, Cyano the cap to the posts and stain after sanding.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #87 on: December 22, 2014, 08:09:33 pm »

The engine room cover is to be made from balsa wood provided. This is a pretty straight forward operation. When the assembly is done, sand the upper edges of the wooden block to give a curved shape to the top of the cover.
As I've done before, I covered the outside of the cover with body icing. When this was set I sanded it until it appeared smooth enough. On mine, the odd "dent" would be in keeping withs its work a day lifestyle. Spray with a coat of high fill primer (sandable primer). Mark out where the engine room lights are to go. I drilled the holes with a brad point bit. It saved a lot of teearing of the balsa wood block and generally made a cleaner hole. Sand and clean up the holes as necessary. Install the window castings with Cyano. Apply another quick coat of primer, then paint in your desired finish colour. Job done.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #88 on: December 25, 2014, 03:56:37 pm »

Finished getting the smoke stack painted today. I cyanoed the cast metal rings onto the smoke stack along with teh whistle mounting bracket. When set, i washed the stack in soap and water and went over it with a cloth dampened in a paint prep degreaser. I first sprayed the stack with a primer, last night, then air brushed the yellow ( a mix of yellow, white and a touch of brown) from the Master paints line. When the yellow was dry, I masked off for the black and sprayed it with Master paints black.
The vessel is close to finished. i have to fasten down the towing bows, steering quadrant grate, life boats and supports and rigging.
These shots will give an idea what its like in its finished state.

John
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Tug-Kenny RIP

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #89 on: December 25, 2014, 08:40:16 pm »


Very smart.    :-))     I like the finish.

Cheers

ken
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irishcarguy

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #90 on: December 26, 2014, 04:00:13 am »

It is a great build John, you are a master craftsman. PM me your phone # & I will chat with you , cheers, Mick. 
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #91 on: December 26, 2014, 04:12:38 am »

Thanks Mick. you may be interested in seeing how that King project is coming.
http://www.kawarthasteam.com/412792183

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #92 on: December 26, 2014, 09:18:33 pm »

I made up the deck supports today. i found a discrepancy in the instructions on this one. The instruction sheet in materials, calls for item #5: 0.8 mm steel rod. This works out to about .032" which is pretty small and wouldn't look at all correct as a deck support. I found, in the kit's box, some copper plated steel rod about .064" diameter. i used this instead for the supports. I have the feeling this is what was supposed to be used.
 i drilled .062" holes into the upper and middle deck as per the drawings, and pressed the supports into the deck wood. I roced it down until the support touched the deck below then Cyanoed the rod into place. When all is done, the will get a coat of white paint to match the railings.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #93 on: December 30, 2014, 03:24:49 am »

I made an addition to the boiler room that I should have done in the early build stages. I should have done this part of the build early on in the construction sequence rather than at the near finish stage. However, it got done with minimum hassel. The instructions call for using the provided 1/8" pine square sections. Make holes at the correct locations (see the drawings) in the upper portion of the boiler room and pass the pine sections trhough from side to side. Not a bad idea, but I had this fear of the sections getting damaged over time with the deck house removal for internal service of the vessel, so I made mine from steel and brass.
  The steel is coat hanger wire, easily obtainable and soft enough to work with. Cut the wire to length as per the drawings. Drill four 1/8" holes in four postitions near the top of the boiler room (here again, see the drawings for location). Pass the wire through the holes from side to side and glue in place. Ensure you have equal over hang from side to side. I used epoxy to fasten mine. I then cut out square section brass to the same cross section dimension as the provided pine square section. The length of each of these peices of square brass matches the over hanging peice of wire. Wet the wire with epoxy and slide the square section brass over the wire. Set aside until hard.
 Use the wood provided for the decking. Castings provided are for the supports under the square section . These supports go down to the gunnals and are removable with the deck house assembly.
 Another thing I did at this point that i should have done earlier was drill a hole through the boiler room below the stack. This provides me the opportunity to put in a smoke unit at a later date without having to damage the stack to drill the hole later. I found the best wway to do it at this point was to use a step drill. Although designed for sheet steel, it worked very well on  the plywood of the deck house.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #94 on: December 30, 2014, 03:15:16 pm »

 I next installed the steering quadrant grating. The grating comes as very nice casting that needs a little clean up. The instructions are thin on how tto go about mounting this to the stern of the vessel. The criteria for the mounting was that it had to be removable for access to the steering post, I also had to leave enough clearance for thesteering post as mine sits somewhat higher than would be normal.
 I needed about 3/8" between the bottom of the grating and surface of the deck in order to clear the steering post. To do this I cut out a piece of scrap 3/8" plywood to an arc that fit the inside of the stern bulwarks. Whne the wood fit, I painted it blac to hide it in the shadows beneath the grate. I then glued it onto the deck under the stern bulwarks. The grating fits nicely on top of the wood arc and nestle under the stern bulwarks. Painting the inside of the hull around the steering post will further enhance the final image.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #95 on: December 31, 2014, 12:01:08 am »

 Continuing with the grate over the steering quadrant. There is nothing to lock the grate in place once you have installed the spacer as a bove. The grate must be removable for service of the steering post. to accomplish this, and fill in the space below the grate, I bent up a piece of brass ( about 0.032") so that it has a 1/8" lip on one side. I made it a depth of 1/2" on the other side. I epoxied this to the bottom forward side of the grate. Now when  the grate is installed, the longer side of the brass drops below deck level and prvents the grate from sliding forward out of its home. The grate can be lifted straight up for intended removal.
 I haven't painted before I took the pictures, but I'm going to paint it black. This will hide the piece and provide "shadow" under the grate.

John
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oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #96 on: December 31, 2014, 12:08:13 am »

As the vessel is nearing completion, I felt it was a good time to prepare the crew. The kit comes with a captain, deck hand, a cabin boy and a dog. I painted these as appropriate. Since I'm partial to Border Collies, I painted the dog to look like my Bess.

John
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Mark T

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #97 on: December 31, 2014, 05:35:49 pm »

Now that is simply amazing  :-)

oldiron

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #98 on: December 31, 2014, 06:07:07 pm »

Now that is simply amazing  :-)

Thanks very much Mark.

John
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derekwarner

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Re: Joffre build
« Reply #99 on: December 31, 2014, 11:23:38 pm »

Congratulations 'youngfella' ....a beautifully detailed build :-)) ....[but you are only a few more days of wisdom over me] {-) ...... Derek
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