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You'll find a grammar school boy from Wales will be hard to impress - and having lived through many years of Welsh rugby misadventures my upper lip is stiff enough to avoid ptsd.

 

:sheep:  True, true, just ask this little fella. His upper lip has never been stiffer...being of Welsh stock, my father can attest to the inhumane treatment meted out on the rugger fields of yesteryear, never mind Verdun...try Llanddewi-Brefi on a Saturday afternoon, circa 1951. I, on the other hand, played in a home-counties junior league team in the seventies when steel-helmets, a bronze-shield and Vickers Light Machine Gun weren't pre-requisites of playing at home, against the local opposition........a lot more civilized with only a modicum of blood-letting.

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1 hour ago, Valkyrie said:

Loving this thread and General Melchett too.

Thanks Valkyrie, The part for the flywheel arrived yesterday, courtesy of a watchmaker friend. I made a start on the two ratchet wheels today and should be able to post the initial results of my labours sometime tomorrow. Waiting for stuff to set tonight and too done in after a day working on the 1/1 scale Harbour Patrol launch. I am however, cautiously optimistic that my plan for replicating the drive train will work.

 

Martian 👽

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OK, here are the pictures I promised yesterday. The fly wheel is only dry fitted in place so it looks a bit wonky. It will be one of the last interior parts to be glued into place. I still have to clean up the groove in the ratchet wheel but that shouldn't take very long. I have to have a look in my ship bits and pieces to see if I have some suitably fine anchor chain as this type of chain was used to connect the two ratchet wheels. I have various sizes so I don't think that is going to be an issue.

 

Now the hull is opened up again you are able to get a better view of the pumps for the ballast tanks. Another thing that we don't know what they looked like are the seacocks. Seacocks aren't the most complicated piece of kit on a boat so if all else fails, I will go down to the launch, get some pictures of the ones on there and base the model's ones on them; not the plastic covered handles though.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Martian 👽

 

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33 minutes ago, dnl42 said:

Nice work!

 

Hm, with that brass going back aft, will there be operating features? 

Thanks @dnl42

 

Good question. A lot of the features do actually work at the moment, especially the steering gear at the stern, unfortunately, I realised that things could be made to work after I had irrevocably glued the shelf on the forward ballast tank into place. At the moment the cranks turn, which will be helpful when it comes to paint the interior. I will try and retain this feature when I come to button up the hull but I suspect that the chain will just slip on the ratchet wheels. We can but try however. A lot of the brass work is there for strength and also to see just how far I can push the Albion Alloys' products. I am learning a lot on this front which should prove very useful on future projects as, should this build turn out alright, I shall be doing more cutaway projects.

 

Martian 👽

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Thanks Rob.

 

The interior of the sub was mostly white, the rudder mechanism can be dismantled and the crank turns so that is just a matter of turning it so I can get at all of it. The pumps should be OK as I think I can get at all of them. I didn't want to glue them in place but it proved impossible to dry fit them and for them to stay put for photography. I have also developed a technique of sliding strips of paper behind awkward parts to act as a sort of mobile mask. I will be using this method on the long shaft of the rudder mechanism that runs under the crew's bench. Just slide the paper behind the shaft, paint a bit, slide the paper along a bit paint a bit more and so on until the job is finished. Its one of the issues one has to deal with from time to time if one is doing a build that one wants to demonstrate all the steps in order to show people how things can be done. Sometimes the photographic imperative drives the build sequence. I have found that doing a build thread can sometimes take up as much time as doing the actual modelling. Having said that it does make one develop new ways of working, which is never a bad thing.

 

Martian 👽

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thought I ought to put up a post on this just to show that between sessions on trying to refit the Harbour Patrol launch while still afloat, something of a nightmare but getting a lift out at one of the boatyards around here is virtually impossible at the moment, I have been plodding away at this build. I have actually been doing quite a lot as I find this project very difficult to put down for any length of time. This is most likely because I love learning new things and this build is providing that in spades.

 

The first issue I hit and one that I had not seen coming, is that the interior framing as indicated by Mikro-Mir, does not match that as moulded on the outside of the hull. Cue much swearing and gnashing of Martin fangs. I got round this problem by letting in a couple of thick sections of plastic card and reducing the size of two of the openings in the hull. Next I added the framing down the port side of the hull and drilled holes where the rivets would have held the hull plates in place.

 

For a breather, I did some soldering and made a connecting piece for the two snorkel pipes. I still have to make the bellows for this system. It seems that the system did not work very well in practice, but as it was a distinctive feature of the boat, I felt it was worth putting a bit if effort here.

 

🎵 How many more £$%*&*$* rivets to go?

       I need to be sedated,

       Don't answer that, I don't want to Know,

       I've been crispinated, 🎵

 

(apologies to the Ramones but not to @Ex-FAAWAFU)

 

I knew from some of @Pappy 's comments that a degree of crispination was going to be needed on the model and had assumed that I could use rivet decals for this process. Wrong! The decals I have are nowhere big enough for those on the Hunley. Most likely because they were flattened out as much as possible to cut down on drag. I also noticed that the kit rivets were not always evenly spaced and that with the new patches let into the hull, I was going to have to replace the lot to get a uniform look. I agree with Pappy that replacing rivets can be therapeutic but not having to punch out hundreds of them. What I really need is the loan of some of those little goblins that @general melchett keeps down this battle y-fronts. That way I could order up the requisite number of rivets before I went to bed and when I woke up in the morning, they would be ready for me. Then all I would have to do would be to return said goblins to the General's pants, pop his ostrich feather back in to keep them there and I could crispinate the model to Crisp's content. In reality, I am going to have to do the riveting in small batches or I will go stark staring bonkers. I will try and keep updates down to matters other than crispination as I am convinced that the only person who will find this a riveting experience :coat:is Crisp himself or maybe including @Navy Bird as he sees more and more swathes of white styrene covering the model.

 

You want some more pictures? Oh go on then and thanks for looking.

 

Martian 👽

 

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This is looking fantastic, @Martian, it must be great to have the use of sets of tentacles to reach in to such an awkward area, far better than the double digits that we earthlings are reduced to.

 

The general consensus among your faithful followers down under, at least, in my bit of it, is you're stark staring bonkers to tackle this build, although you have our complete attention and admiration.

 

Carry on the excellent work, the end result will be stunning !

Rog

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Gidday Martian, your build is fantastic and a credit to you. And to your patience. Even in small batches all those rivets would send me stark staring bonkers. Plus your posts are very educational. I didn't know that Martians had fangs, I thought it was the Moravians.

Keep up the good work. Regards, Jeff.

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1 hour ago, roginoz said:

This is looking fantastic, @Martian, it must be great to have the use of sets of tentacles to reach in to such an awkward area,

Thanks Rog. Just one question though, when you mention "such an awkward area" do you mean the model or  General Melchett's  battle pants??

58 minutes ago, ArnoldAmbrose said:

Gidday Martian, your build is fantastic and a credit to you. And to your patience. Even in small batches all those rivets would send me stark staring bonkers. Plus your posts are very educational. I didn't know that Martians had fangs, I thought it was the Moravians.

Keep up the good work. Regards, Jeff.

Cheers Arnold. I think when you mention patience, you mean patience spelt bloody minded and of course,I had the advantage that I was barking mad before I started the project! Wibble!

 

Martian 👽

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When you say rivets, are you referring to the lines of dinner plates stuck around the hull, presumably in preparation for a Greek wedding?

 

If you're planning on removing anything from the General's battle y-fronts you are far braver/more stupid than we thought!

 

Ian

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9 hours ago, Brandy said:

When you say rivets, are you referring to the lines of dinner plates stuck around the hull, presumably in preparation for a Greek wedding?

 

If you're planning on removing anything from the General's battle y-fronts you are far braver/more stupid than we thought!

 

Ian

That's the ones! They do pretty much match the scale size of the real ones but as I say, they were hammered as flat as it was possible to get them. Most of the submarine was very well thought out, right up to the point that some plonker decided to have open topped ballast tanks. As to removing things from the General's battle y-fronts, I was rather hoping that somebody, such as yourself for instance, might covet the chance to do it for me? You would of course, be rewarded with the high honour of putting the little goblins back again.

 

Generous of Mars 👽

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If I give the honest answer to that offer I'll be banned for life!

Sorry dear Martian, I'm unable to assist in your quest. (I'm pretty sure there's no holy grail there!)

 

Ian

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When you say rivets, are you referring to the lines of dinner plates stuck around the hull, presumably in preparation for a Greek wedding?

 

My thoughts exactly...I spent 20 minutes looking for rivets while sitting in the imperial throne room, before realising, with rising horror, just what I was actually staring at. 

 

Quote

As to removing things from the General's battle y-fronts, I was rather hoping that somebody, such as yourself for instance, might covert the chance to do it for me? You would of course, be rewarded with the high honour of putting the little goblins back again.

 You leave my goblins out of it, even the memsahib could not conjure up the necessary cojoners to attempt that, full NBC suit or not.

 

 

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1 hour ago, general melchett said:

 

My thoughts exactly...I spent 20 minutes looking for rivets while sitting in the imperial throne room, before realising, with rising horror, just what I was actually staring at. 

 

 You leave my goblins out of it, even the memsahib could not conjure up the necessary cojoners to attempt that, full NBC suit or not.

 

 

If you had spent some time looking at the pictures, rather than looking at the spots on your bottom and confusing them for rivets, you might have reached enlightenment much sooner. Mind you, I think we would all be interested in seeing what Lady Melchett looks like in full NBC gear!

 

 

2 hours ago, Brandy said:

If I give the honest answer to that offer I'll be banned for life!

Sorry dear Martian, I'm unable to assist in your quest. (I'm pretty sure there's no holy grail there!)

 

Ian

Ungrateful wretch! We're not sending you to get the Holy Grail, just a few goblins and we would be giving you an extra large feather to secure them back in place. Imagine the glory! (Or was that gory?)

 

Martian 👽

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6 minutes ago, Brandy said:

I WAS imagining - that was the problem!

I shall not sleep for weeks!

 

Ian

Never mind, I frequently can't sleep. You can console yourself that, in the darkest hours of the night, you will at least have the Martian for company. Feeling better? 

 

Empathetic of Mars 👽

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Brilliant modelling. Bloody brilliant. BTW - I hate rivets, but yours have that alluring quality. I may be converted. Into what I don't know, but converted nonetheless.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Well, I am sad to report that @Brandy seems to have let the side down big time. I left an order for two thousand rivets from @general melchett's goblins before I went to bed last night and what did I wake up to? Nothing, zilch, bugger all; not a single tiny disc of styrene in sight! Not even a signed photograph of Lady Melchett in full NBC gear and tiara! Very disappointing!

 

Fortunately, I am made of sterner stuff than the average Earthling, so I girded my loins (Now there's a disgusting word!) and started knocking out more discs of plastic to replicate the rivets. I found that the best way to tackle this potential mojo sapping task is to firstly accept that it is not going to be done in five minutes and then punch out thirty or so rivets. Having, very carefully, set these in place on the model, stop. Stop and walk away from the model for a while, while your concentration levels recover. Go back and repeat the process, when and only when you feel up to it. You need to be very focused when applying the rivets in order to stop them looking ragged.

 

I am stopping short of the seams of the hull halves and will finish off the rivets in these areas when they have been joined and cleaned up. Mimicking real life somewhat, I shall give the rivets a good sanding, the rivets on the real submarine being filed back having been bashed as flat as possible when they were red hot. I will then brush any sanding dust clear and paint on a coat of Tamiya Extra Thin (Quick Setting) to clean everything off.

 

Anyhow, here is what she looks like as of this evening. Beer and curry time methinks.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Martian 👽

 

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Martian I'd have to say the Hunley is looking pretty good. Although with all the rivets, it reminds me of a Pearlie getting ready to belt out Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious at any moment. So I guess that is a word that exemplifies this build,

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