December 8th 2019

This month's meeting was held at Lee Valley Tools in Niagara Falls, and the theme was General Marine Modelling.

Alan brought his scratch build of HMS Bellerophon back to show that he had completed the installation of the forward cant frames.  Next he will be installing the spacer chocks between the frames to stiffen it up, then pinning the heel of each frame to the keel to lock them in place prior to fairing (sanding) the inboard and outboard sides of both the aft and forward cant frames.

Alan also discussed with members how to properly position the pedestals prior to his drilling holes through the keel for four 6-32 threaded rods.  David and Ray suggested he use his existing 3D model, add the masts, bowsprit and jib boom and then it was simply a question of what looked best taking into account the overall length.  So Alan did this when he got home and the results are posted above.

David A. brought Greg H.'s model of HMS Speedwell back to show his progress with David's carvings on the bow, stern quarters and transom of Greg's ship as can be seen in the slide show above.

Bob R. brought in his model of the Danish frigate Jylland (1860 - 1908) that he has been working on.  He had replaced some of the decking and was unhappy with the two tones due to old and new pieces but members encouraged him to just wait as it will all turn to one shade in time.

He had also showed us progress with deck coamings, grating, and doors.  He has also made a jig in readiness to fabricate ladders.  These are displayed in the slide show above.

​John brought in his Iroda Solderpro 50K soldering pen kit to show the group.  It is fueled with Butane, having a power range of 30W - 70W heating capacity.  It is a nice small, easily handled, pen.

John also showed us a sheet of his photo etching parts for his König Class Battleship.  He will be giving a demo on photo etching in April.

John also brought in a variety of bottled epoxy resins used to effectively recreate realistic looking water and mud puddles so we could see what kind of items are available to modellers.

Dave R. demonstrated the use of a ticking stick, a device used by ship builders to reproduce shapes.  the best way to appreciate the simplicity and accuracy of this item is to watch this YouTube video....  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd2LY857oTY

Dave intends to use this for inlaid pieces in the amazing musical instruments he makes.