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Blackpool Northern model boat show 2007.
Winner of the "naval section". AND
Winner of the "Best in show Mountfleet model kit"
I wanted to incorporate my model engineering with the remote control interest, so far I have bought and built a model boat which is in kit form from Sir Lancelot which is 56 inches long with a 10 inch beam and approx 40 lbs displacement,
12 bags containing around 800 white metal fittings, all to be trimmed, cleaned, and painted before fitting.
first job is to fit the propeller and rudder, to buy a scale 4 bladed prop would be pretty expensive so into the workshop I whent to make one, turnes out it work's very well
propshaft outer all glued in place and all water tight
the "standard" bought plastic coupling between the motor and propshaft seem pretty flimsey for a boat this size and also the added problem that this boat is fitted with a 24 volt motor so a heavy duty bronze coupling was made with hardened steel drive pins.
simply dividing the face for the drive pins on the BS 0 dividing head
next jobs are to fit the main and fore decks and bullwark supports, this deck was plated on the original ship so heavy artists paper which was supplied with the kit was cut into matching squares and glued to the main deck.
plentyfull supply of super glue !!
"meet the crew"
the Sir Lancelot was entered and judged in the northern model boat show at Blackpool on the 20th and 21st of October 2007, she won the naval ships catagory and also won the best in show mountfleet kit trophy. she will be shown at the local charity shows around east yorkshire in 2009. please go onto the hull model boat group website to see the show photos and 2009 show venue dates. it would be nice to see you there.
Blackpool 2007
Winner of the Doncaster Northern model boat show 2008
NAVAL SECTION
Winner of the South Shields North East Model Boat Show 2009
ive never been really interested in anything to do with steam engines, loco's or steam ships, i got a mammod donkey boiler when i was about 10 years old and i remember firing it up, and i also remember it been taken off me when i made several little fires in the back garden with the methylated spirits and a box of matches,,meths and matches are a kids dream!! well,short lived dream, i never did get to find out were that little engine went to, so 30 odd years later i was reading the amature lathe book by mr sparey and in one of his paragraphs i think it was on crankshaft turning he mentions that all model engineers will maybe one day want to build an engine for their model, that fella was never wrong!!
so anyway i got "the engine building buzz" started this little engine build mainly to see if my machining skills are upto the required standard for building an engine that actually works!
heres the simple plan of a steam engine where im getting the general layout and design from, ive just beef'd the design up a little by using heavier steels and by adding small linkages and silver soldering the joints
i didnt want to make the engine as simple as the plan, my machinery is upto turning out better results than this, i needed to prove to myself that i was upto the challenge of a working steam engine that looks the part, im only using this plan for reference, the model is horizontally mounted and is not ment to be of vintage or modern design, i decided on a piston of 3/4 inch diameter with a 1 inch stroke, the steam valve piston has a 1/2 inch diam with a 3/4 inch stroke.
the base is 350mm x 200mm x 3mm steel plate, the crank webs are made from gun metal, cylinders and pistons are bronze, conn rods are m/s, the swing head base and flywheel/crank posts are aluminium, a good mixture of metals to work with,
the flywheel is off an old sewing machine, i didnt have any suitable cast stock for the flywheel, because this engine is only a tester for me im not willing to saw chunks off my good metal stock just for a dead weight. this will do nicely
(i hope!)
its nearly finished, just the steam pipes to be fitted and soldered up, and then needs the crankshaft and valve gear lining up, i think its going to be a little trial and error in the valve timing, (thats the long shaft connected from the crankshaft to the front valve cylinder)
model steam boiler
(construction and pressure testing)
this model boiler build is in no way to be refered to as a reference or a plan for building any sort of pressure vessel/ boiler, this build project is for for my own use. i would strongly advise you, unless you are of competence, not to build such a pressure vessle/boiler but to buy one from an authorised dealer/outlet/shop who can supply a safety/pressure test certificate with each individual appliance/boiler purchased.
i will not be held responsible for your or anyone elses unfortunate accidents/disfigurement/death. please also see my "introduction page" on this website.
these pressure vessels/boilers/appliances must not be seen or purchased as "TOYS" for children, serious burns/disfigurement or even a fatal result can apply each time these appliances are "fired up" if in the wrong hands, this is due to high, sometimes super heated steam pressures and high temprature burning fuels when used without caution, these pressure vessels/boilers and related fuels with the sources of ignition should only be used under supervision by an adult.
now thats out the way lets get to the build
to be honest i was going to buy a fully working boiler at the cost of around £150+/- a few quid, but then for me where is the fun in that!, during my working career i was a weldor/fabricator (certificated) and had on many of occasions had to weld sealed units, to this end i feel confident enough and decided to fabricate my own model steam boiler.
i have to say this because a steam boiler is a pressure vessel under working conditions and is as lethal as an explosive device! no kidding! a boiler cannot safely just be thrown together, if you feel that your not upto the standard that it takes to do a boiler build then please dont do it! buy one! if you are looking to buy a second hand boiler physically look and inspect all the joints for cracks, inspect to a high standard for any signs of abuse, leave well alone a boiler that you are not happy with i.e (bloated out of shape, a bloated boiler 'WILL' fail one day!) no matter what bargain price you are paying for it, and please do a hydraulic pressure test on the newly purchased second hand boiler. bent/cracked pipes can be and should be replaced "before you fire the boiler up" with the correct material's, by a competant person. there should always be a "safety steam release valve" fitted to the boiler's main body.
the boiler in its "first stages" of fabrication, the parts are made to a good fit but not too tight as the silver solder has to be allowed to flow in between the joints.
because i had no experience with building a boiler i searched the net and found this author and his book to be the best possible authority on this subject, and found a source for the book, i had two alternatives, either ebay under "steam", or amazon books at:-
i decided to order the book from amazon books and it turned out to be the right decision as i payed through paypal and received the book 2 days later,(second hand £9.00)
the next stage of the build was to source some seamless copper pipe for the main body of the boiler and some copper sheet for end plates, i got these items from my local "none ferrous metals dealer", forget going to your local steel stockholder, the main body is 4mm thick x 60mm wide x 200mm long and the end plates are the same thickness at 4mm, the 5 copper water pipes under the boiler are approx 8mm od x 6mm id x approx 170mm long.
as already mentioned, the parts are made to fit on an individual basis, i will be silver soldering the boiler parts when all the individual parts are fully made by using an oxy-acet welding set for the heat source.
i got this boiler design from the boiler making book by Mr Harris, it is an old but very simple design and is supposed to be a pretty efficiant boiler (apparently). i dont know why but it reminds me of a hedgehog, the idea of the pipes on the underside of the boiler are of thinner material to the main shell and dont contain as much water volume so as to heat the water more efficiantly, they transfere the heated water to the inside of the vessel by means that they are sloped towards the rear of the boiler and this will create a circulation of the water. this type of boiler is heated by ignited methylated spirits in a "meths tray" which is placed directly under the pipes.
this is typical of me, i started to build the bigger boiler even though this little boiler isnt finished yet! i do like to have a few jobs on the go at once, heres some piccies of the new boiler
the boiler is made from sheet copper jointed with a coppersmiths butt joint, the rivets are just to hold the boiler plate together whilst brazing, i have decided to copper braize the boiler together and not silver solder it.
made from 16 guage copper sheet and rolled into a cylinder, the end plates were made by first measuring and cutting out the exact circumference (+20mm for the inside flanges) of the inner of the main body, then started to form the end plates by annealing the sheet (heated to cherry red then pickled in sulphuric acid around 20 or so times as i worked it) then formed on a mahogany jig, this mahogany jig was turned on the lathe to give the semi spherical shape to the end plates. boiler size is 3 1/8" x 12"
the boiler manhole flange and tops were homemade made from 1/8" thick copper plate and easily bent to the boiler's round profile by annealing, the steam exhaust pipe is tapped directly into the smokebox funnel and looks great when under steam i need to make a steam seperator yet, it has been fired up and runs very smooth getting upto speeds of between 1500-1800rpm @ 40psi(i have no accurate way of measuring the speed but its at least twice the speed of my lathe @750rpm), im fitting a dynamo unit to power some lighting, and fitting a hard wood floor, plenty of little gadgets to be made yet with a fully equiped miniture metal workshop complete with line shafts, lathe, milling machine, bandsaw, ect, which will be powered by this engine. note the stairway on the right side of the boiler all i had as scale chain was a 18ct gold chain borrowed out of karens jewelry box,shhh!
Edgar.T.Westbury's Warrior MK II Vertical Twin Compound Engine
This is an ongoing steam engine project that I started last year but has been put aside for a while till I start the TID Tug build, I will be re starting the engine build again in the near future so keep watching for progress on this fantastic little engine.
this engine build is made from stock material and not from a kit, the plans are from the uk model engineering magazine and can easily be made with a small myford size lathe.
the base of the engine is made from a scrap cast iron pillar drill stand, (the bit on the bottom), the crankshaft was turned from a single solid piece of mild steel, it has 2 throws at 45 degrees, the eccentrics were turned seperatly, it has split oilite bronze bearings for the crankshaft to run on.
At this stage the two cylinders were opened out to 3/4 inch diam(as per the plans), but I am able to turn this engine into a compound engine by reducing one cylinder with a bronze sleeve to around 5/16ths diameter
Heres a picture of what the Edgar.T.Westbury's warrior MKII engine looks like, (this is a different version but basically the same when completed,) there is a boiler feed water pump to be made also which is driven directly from the rear of the crankshaft.
This steam engine when complete will power the T.I.D Class Tug it will produce around 1/3rd of a horsepower, plenty powerfull enough to push a 6 foot long model boat.
________________________________
March 2009
I have for the last 14 months been building a Model of a North Sea Trawler from scratch,which was worked on constantly every day and night with just a few days rest, she was finally finished on the night of the 25th of march 2009 just in time for the prestigious North East Model Boat Show at South Shields on the 28 march 2009,
Here she is with the Winners Trophy for Best In Show Boat and also Winner of the Fishing Boats Section
Now the build is over I am able to spend a little more time doing this internet stuff and posting on here so keep an eye out in the near future for some build project photo's of the kingston peridot with scratch build items which might be of interest to you scale model boat builders.
Also starting a T.I.D Class Tug build end of April 2009.
