Island formation

A little more progress on the island project...

More pizza box card cut to size and shape filled in the sides. From what I can see, at one time the upper level of Heligoland Island was reached by just one hairpin road running up the eastern cliff. I added an approximation to this. I glued dried tea leaves to the surface to give a rough key for the spackle to adhere to.

A mix of spackle/filler and tissue paper came next. It gives a rough surface to represent the cliff faces. Once this is complete I'll do the top.

Casting call

So, the silicone molds work after a fashion. I'm now able to turn out a number of vessels quite quickly. The castings are rough but I can work with them, cleaning up the rough areas, adding the main armament and building fire control towers and masts. Here's a photo of the results so far.

To the left is a trio of Apollo class protected/light cruisers, to the right a trio of Majestic class battleships. The Cressy class armoured cruiser mold... failed. I won't show the resulting cast - it's too hideous for sensitive souls to look upon, but I can cannibalise the bows part of it to make a sinking ship. I'll repair the master model, take a new mold from it, and see how it goes. I'd like to have at least four of these ships. The prototypes had interesting and all too frequently tragic careers.

My aim is to produce eight to twelve battleships for the Royal Navy, which will make two or three divisions of four ships each. There were nine Majestic class ships, but I think I'll make eight and the rest will be another class. I may stick at four Apollo class cruisers since these were dispersed all over the world and seldom operated together in great numbers.

The German navy built three five-ship classes of battleships - the Braunschweig, Kaiser Frederich III and the Wittelsbach classes, so I have a choice of making ten or fifteen battleships total. Fifteen ships might be a better match up for the two sides in a fleet action, since for some reason the pre-Dreadnought German navy stuck to guns of around 24cm calibre when other navies were increasing the size of their main armament to 12" or greater.

I'm still debating a campaign set up. The German navy wasn't large or powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy of this era head-on, but a guerre de course campaign is a good prospect. Much like the Bismarck, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau of a later era the German navy faces the challenge of breaking out of the North Sea so it can launch attacks on Britain's huge mercantile fleet. The Royal Navy, of course, aims to stop them doing just that...

A qualified success

So, the mold came out okay after a fashion. It needed some tidying up and patching because the silicone is getting rather old. At this stage it's thickening and doesn't flow too easily into crevices. The master model also broke apart on extraction, but I expected it to happen and if necessary I can repair it.

Still and all, I got a result.

Majestic master model in the mold.

The shattered wreckage of the master model lies beyond a pristine (?) new mold.

It doesn't look like much, but believe me it's a good result. Once the patching has dried overnight I'll clean it up a bit more then try pouring some resin.

Making a battleship mold

The long Labor Day weekend gave me the chance to work on the next step of the nascent fleet -  creating a silicone mold. The Majestic master model is the first - and so far the only one - to go through the process. A technical hitch in the shape of a broken glue gun prevented me from doing the others.

Still, here's what I have so far...

To start with I coated the master model in diluted PVA to seal the wood and close off any tiny gaps and cracks between the layers. Since PVA this thin is near colourless when it dries, I put a drop of paint in it to show where I'd covered or missed bits.

Silicone caulking is viscous stuff, especially as it gets older. I advise using disposable gloves when handling it as it will stick to everything that isn't wet. Water will stop the setting process so keep the work area free of anything wet while working with the stuff, and wait until any paint/glue/whatever is dried on the master model before using the silicone.

Once dried, I glued the model to a rectangle of foam core. The sides and ends are cut out to enclose the model with about a quarter inch to spare all round.

To make sure all the undercuts and overhangs are filled I worked the silicone into them using a coffee stirrer. It's kind of like applying fondant or icing to a cake.

I then assembled the coffer around it using a hot glue gun. Quick and easy.

Majestic nestling within its box, awaiting the rest of the silicone. A host of destroyers lurk in the background.

Not long after I took this photo the brand-new glue gun decided to break under the moderate strain imposed by doing its job, so it's back to the store with it. The good part about the process is fresh silicone will happily stick to itself even when the first layer is dry, so I can pick up where I left off without problems.

War Wagon

Some time ago I made an N-scale armoured traction engine, similar to those used by the British army in the 2nd Boer War, for my Very British Civil War forces. The intention was (and is) to add wagons of various types for it to pull. So far I had a troop carrier wagon, but I wanted something with a bit of firepower. Hence the construction of a 3" mortar carrier.

"Leviathan" rumbles off, mortar wagon in tow, for a deadly date with the beastly BUF.

The sides of the wagon are made from sections of grooved plastic card. It's meant to represent planking but in this scale it works just fine for extemporised armour formed from lengths of railway track. The wheels are resin castings taken from the Hirst Arts small pipes mold. The 3" mortar itself is a length of plastic-covered wire and plastic card. I'm thinking of scratch-building a couple of crew for the mortar, but we'll see how my eyes hold up!

The traction engine flag can be swapped-out for those of other factions. At the moment it's flying the standard of the Anglican League based in Thetford, home of the famous Burrell traction engine works and source of this vehicle and its conversion.

Hopefully I'll field this little beast and the shiny new wagon in the next game of my VBCW campaign - The Pursuit of the BUF.

VSF Walker - legs

I spent an annoying hour or so on this stormy day, wrestling with the legs for the VSF walker. Things that should have stayed glued didn't, resulting in my having to re-do them over. I added some strapping to the 'hips' to keep one particular bugbear - the side panels - in place, and a set of shields for the 'knees.' These are made of those caps that come with some types of milk carton, trimmed, sanded and drilled for lengths of plastic tubing.

I added a few rivets to the strapping using black 'Puffy paint.' Once everything's assembled I've a mind to spray the bloody lot with Rustoleum paint. At least the 'chicken feet' idea works...

Launching the Aerial Flyer

'Tis complete! The vessel left the slipway this afternoon and soared into her natural environment, the sky.

Last touches included the navigation lights on the deck house and mast, painting and varnishing the sides and lower hull, and painting the 57mm Rotary Cannon.

The crew are Riveresco naval personnel.

The navigation lights are pearl-type plastic beads glued to a short section of plastic tube then inked and varnished. A pin through the bead hole secures it to the flyer.

I decided against using any decals so I could keep the model generic enough to suit any owner/operator.

And the optional aerial torpedo configuration.

To round things off I made a flight stand. When I explained to my lovely lady wife what a Flyer is and where it's to be encountered, she pointed out that the base should be red to fit in with Martian terrain. I took up her suggestion and made one side of the flight base red, the other green for deployment to Earth or Venus. The red looks rather hotter in the photo than in real life, but I might give it a wash of terracotta to tone it down more.

So there we have it. It gives me a real feeling of accomplishment having completed this little model after three weeks or so of effort. As it happens I've been invited to display the Aerial Flyer at the upcoming Marcon Multiple Realities convention in Columbus, OH this weekend, so it'll be there in all its VSF glory.

My next project may well be a private exploration vessel or yacht - something along the lines of this...

Railings and Rotary Cannon

We have the first truly nice weekend weather this year, so we've been really busy with the garden. I still had time to make a few additions to the Aerial Flyer, though.

I stained the deck to lose the fresh-out-of-the-dockyard starkness, giving it a more weathered look instead. I might use a more dilute wash for the deckhouse, which looks far too white. The railings are also now in place. These are Riveresco stanchions which come pre-drilled. I would've preferred to have used brass rod for the rails themselves but didn't have enough for the purpose. Some dark blue thread did the job, though. 

Up front is the 57mm Rotary Cannon, which is more or less complete apart from some aiming gadgets. The underside of the hull is undercoated, and I will add navigation lights either side of the deckhouse and at the masthead. A flight stand is under way, and needs a lick o' paint to finish it. With luck and a following wind, I might even complete the Flyer tomorrow. Watch this space...

Aerial Flyer - On to the paintwork

A short bulletin on bit more progress made today...

All the main structural stuff is done. The bomb racks and ventilators are in place. The railings will come next, followed by the Nordenfelt guns and the 57mm Rotary Cannon. I've already begun painting the hull black. I made a flight stand for it this evening which helps the painting process. The liftwood/Corbamite panels underneath will be a bronze-brown colour.

Tale of the Tail Plane

Monday was one of those annoying days when nothing seemed to get done. Today was much better. I made some more progress on the Aerial Flyer, and the last major components are underway.

Here we see, in their various stages of completion and/or painting, the tailplane with gear box and drive shaft in place; the propeller (with the red boss, bottom); bomb racks (standing on edge, just above propeller); ventilators (to the left of the bomb racks); three-barrel 57mm Rotary Cannon (on the splint of wood to the right of the bomb racks).

The tailplane is basswood, cut and sanded to shape. I glued it in place with epoxy adhesive for speed and strength of bond, reinforcing where it joins to the fins by drilling holes and inserting two pins through each. The drive shaft and propeller boss are more resin Hirst Arts castings drilled to accept a length of brass tube to act as the prop shaft. The gearbox is a confection of plastic card and cardboard. Rivets were, of course, applied copiously...

I intend to wrap thin plastic card around the joints of the propeller blades to reinforce the join and hide the ugly brass tube connecting them to the boss. More rivets will be applied then it'll go into place. The ventilators and bomb racks will be glued in position once they're painted. Onward and upward!

Boiler, Funnel & Nordenfelt

No, it's not a team of legal eagles. Just an update on the Aerial Flyer...

The boiler is in place. I intend to put a guard rail or some kind of surround encompassing the cylinder. From a realistic point of view you don't want someone to fall on a red-hot boiler if the Flyer makes a sharp maneuver! The funnel is stepped. This is made from a section of plastic tube cut with one end at an angle to rake it aft. The deck house roof is now glued on and the whole undercoated. The colour scheme follows that of Queen Victoria's navy. I've yet to paint the window surrounds brass, but the rivets are in place. I also shortened the mast by about an inch and a half as it was too long. I'm debating whether to paint the rivets around the deck house shell brass or leave them be.

A side-trip to the project was the construction of a pair of 3-barrel Nordenfelt guns. These are simplified versions slotted in position on either sponson as an option to the aerial torpedo tubes. I noticed the tall jar in the Hirst Arts inn accessories mold bore a strong resemblance to the solid brass pintel mounts used aboard Victorian warships - so I cast a trio in resin and that's what these became.

I drilled holes in the top of each jar to accept a short length of brass tube which I glued into place with epoxy adhesive. Once set, the jars are turned upside down. The guns are lengths of plastic [ section trough and rod. I figure since the vessel will be working in three dimensions some means of elevating/depressing the barrels would be necessary, so I mounted the whole on a spherical bead to represent a kind of ball mounting. A cut pin glued into the hole acts as control for the training mechanism.The photo below shows something of this, along with the signal flag locker in the deck house.

The bow gun is something of a problem. The two Riveresco guns I was thinking of using have large gun shields as part of the model, and they're way too large for the bow position. The helmsman wouldn't be able to see past it! I decided instead to scratch-build something like a Hotchkiss 57mm rotary cannon.

I think this is a sufficiently big enough sod-off type weapon for an Aerial Flyer...

Next up will be the tail plane, the last piece of major construction, followed by the propeller, propeller shaft and gearbox, and the boiler surround in whatever shape I decide. After that, it's down to painting in earnest.

Resin d'être

On with the Aerial Flyer project and the reason for the resin pun-foolery.

Significant progress to report! The deck house is more or less complete and the mast's ready for stepping. Two Riveresco portholes can be seen in the after part of the deck house. I'll put some kind of glazing in them before gluing the roof in place. I've first got to paint the inside area where it can be seen through the doorways. I'll also glue some thin card over most of the fore part of the deck house structure to represent light armor plating. It gives a better surface for the '3D' paint to grip to when it comes to riveting.

I used the Hirst Arts Small Pipe mold #321 and the Inn Accessories mold #59 to cast some component pieces from resin. These are aerial torpedo tubes, boiler caps, bomb racks, drive shaft and ventilators. The photos show the rough layout of what will go where. The model is sitting on a plastic bag to protect the underside.

I embedded short lengths of aluminum tubing in the middle of the long pipes while the resin set so they would be firmly fixed. These go into the tubes drilled in the deck earlier. These are an optional fitting; the sponsons can also be used for Gatling or Nordenfelt guns when I get around to making them.

The bomb racks are the bottle racks from the Inn Accessories mold. When I first saw the component I did think it looked rather like something off a World War One airplane. I'll site these on the edge of the deck either side of the boiler as shown, probably with some kind of control mechanism. This will allow the Flyer to drop lumps of explosive nastiness in its wake without interfering with the propeller, or the racks suffering any back-blast damage from the torpedo launchers.

The ventilators are the elbow bends from the pipe mold. I was going to use the Riveresco type but I think these look more appropriate to Victorian SF. A small pipe cap atop the deck house serves to ventilate the commander's cabin. The little shield on the glacis plate is from the inn mold. I'm going to take a leaf from the modern Royal Navy's book and paint a ship's crest on it. The inn mold also has a nice little two-sided piece that can be either a chest of drawers or a cupboard. I'm thinking of taking a resin cast of it for use as a signal flag or arms locker for inside the deck house.

From previous experience I find it's best to leave cast resin for a while before attempting to paint it as it allows volatile elements to evaporate from the surface. Otherwise the paint tends not to stick. Once I've glued the boiler casing to the caps with epoxy glue, I'll give all the resin pieces a good going over with spray undercoat.

Onward and upward!

Deck the Hull

A little more progress on the Aerial Flyer...

I used a spot of hot glue under each plank to hold them in place whilst the Aleen's tacky glue dried. The weather is cool and damp today, which seems to be slowing the drying time. Some of the wood is also warping a bit. I'll leave the whole thing to dry with a weight on it overnight then set about it with sandpaper to even it off. Only the sponsons remain to be done. The tail-plane will be next.

Upper Deck - Ready and Waiting

I made a little more progress on the Aerial Flyer today, after a bout of gardening and shopping before the rain came in.

The underside got a dose of Pledge polish by way of varnish to seal the cardboard. I did toy with the idea of painting it but decided in the end it might get scuffed-up during the upper deck building process. With all that part of the vessel finished, I turned my attention to the top deck.

First up will be decking. I found a pack of craft sticks for 75c in our local Goodwill store yesterday, which will be handy for the job. Before this I planned to use basswood, but it's a soft wood and I want something more durable for a surface which will have figures placed upon it. I'll score planking into the individual sticks before gluing them in place. Once this is done the deck-house, boiler and gearbox will follow. I'll install a few portholes in the deck-house too.

Speaking of which, some time ago I bought a consignment of the excellent ship fittings produced by Tin Soldier. These include railing posts, searchlights, portholes and classic-pattern ventilators, some of which will go on the top deck. An even longer time ago I bought some naval artillery from the sadly now-defunct London War Room. A nice big gun of some kind will go on the fore-deck. I used the Nordenfelt and Hotchkiss rotary cannon on another project, but I think I can scratch-build others if necessary. An idea for aerial torpedo tubes as an alternate weapon system is also lurking in the shadowy corners of my mind.  

I might crack on with a bit more work on this today, starting with the deck planks. Details and photos to follow another day.

Aerial Flyer - Lower hull construction 3

Some more progress...

The strut from the deck house to the tail plane is now plated, the forepeak is in place, and I've begun to apply the trim to conceal the joins in the deck house plates. As I mentioned before the Humbrol polystyrene adhesive gives off nasty fumes, so I'm limited in how much time I have to work on this before the yodeling wombats try to run me over in their muscle cars. I've got to get a fan or something to disperse the glue fumes...

Aerial Flyer - lower hull construction 2

Further progress on the Flyer underside today. The tail plane mounting is more or less done, and the strut connecting it to the ventral deck house is halfway there.

It took a bit of work with basswood, the hot glue gun and a healthy dose of Aileen's Tacky glue to get the tail plane solid enough to work. I'm going to cover the main face of the strut with plastic card 'plank' panels to represent the liftwood/corbamite bars. Once this is done more plastic card will be used to laminate the underside, and I'll add trimming to the deck house to cover and reinforce the seams before I turn my attention to the top deck.

Ventral housing under way

A little more progress on the Aerial Flyer today...

I cut the main hull out of half-inch foam core. Decking and such will come later, but for now it's mainly to provide a reference point for the deck house and ventral housing.

The latter is now under way. I used the templates to cut sections of "planked" plastic card, as shown in the lower part of the photo. The planks will represent the bars of liftwood/Corbamite metal that gives the vessel its lift.

The ventral housing is now more or less done. I miscalculated one segment of the whole - the stern area - so I'll cut another one tomorrow. The seams will have strips of thin plastic card over them, dotted with rivets for that VSF look. I'm packing up for today, though. I'd forgotten how stinky the Humbrol polystyrene adhesive is!

Aerial flyer templates done

We've had a few days of high wind in this neck of the woods which caused some damage. Thankfully the winds dropped overnight, leaving us with a nice sunny day and a chance to make a few repairs and get some seeds in the ground. Once all that was done by this afternoon, I made a bit more progress with the Aerial Flyer project by cutting the templates for the deck house.

This is the last batch of templates required, and the last time I'll go cross-eyed and sprain (my non-mathematical) brain working out the angles for this vessel. Matters weren't helped by the protractor I bought to replace one lost during our house move. The thing is marked with increments of 10 and 5 degrees, yet not single degrees of arc! I bought the thing without checking, because of course I assumed a b#%%!y protractor would be normal, with all degrees marked out, a fallacy I held on to until I got it out to use!

Anyway...

The deck house will be tall and wide enough on the top platform to take one figure, and I'll place ladders up both sides for access. Next up will be to use the templates to cut out the construction materials. At the moment I'm thinking of using half-inch foam core for the body of the vessel, with basswood for the main decking. The difficult angles of the ventral area and deck house will need basswood and/or plastic card, possibly on a foam core... er, core.

Aerial flyer update

Some more progress toward building the aerial flyer. I wasn't happy with the first batch of templates I cut out for the under-deck housing so I did another set which looks better. Next up was the main deck template...

 

...which comes in at three and three quarter inches wide by twelve and a half inches overall length from bow platform to tail-plane. I got an idea for aerial rocket tubes/torpedo launchers as an alternative to the side mounted gun platforms. I'm going to jigger the design and see what works after I've made templates for the deckhouse.

Math and I are Not Friends...

...but I have made a start on cutting templates for the 1/64 scale Space:1889 aerial flyer. My Google-fu is weak today; I couldn't find any detailed plans or templates online so resorted to using the Mk 1 Eyeball on the design in the book and this plan...

The lower section looked the most complicated part to work out, so, on the principle that it'll get easier from there on I started with that.

The templates are cut from cereal packet card, and I've taped them together temporarily to check the alignment. There might be a bit of adjustment to do. The next step will be to make templates for the main deck and deck house before cutting the components from basswood and foamcore. I have some ideas for deck fixtures and fittings but more of those later.