Broad Ambition - The Model

[grendel]

It was at this point my attention turned to the mast lights, as of this moment I hadnt considered them, cue a quick hunt through my photo library of Broad Ambition images to find a photo, en route I did find a detail for mounting the side nav lights, so that was useful.

So one mast head light with all round visibility, and one nav light with what looks like 180 degree visibility, I will need to make these. next problem, running the wiring up the mast- oh how I wish I had considered this while making it, nevermind, all I need is a 5" long 1.5mm drill, easy--- No, I have small drills, and I have long drills, a 4mm drill around 200mm long cannot drill a straight hole - it wanders.

I do have a 1.2mm drill 3" long, - ok so I drill from both ends, holding the very end of the drill bit, well I tried that, I did make it 45mm before the drill bit started emerging from the front of the mast, but the drill bit was curling up by this depth. (the longer drill was too thick to actually go up inside the mast

Nothing for it, I was going to have to slot the front of the mast for the wires

this was done in the mill using a 1.5mm end mill, I only needed to get to where the drill rose to the surface at the top, while I was at it I bored the cross hole down to the drill hole so I could get the wiring to that light.

then it was a case of threading a draw wire through (using one of the leads that broke off a lED the other day as the draw wire.

Once the light fittings are made, the wires will be all heat shrunk in a bundle down the mast, and through the deck, where they will have a connector fitted to the ends.

what about the slot down the front of the mast I hear you ask, wont that be unsightly and detract from the model.

Well no, with considerable foresight, when I spotted some marquetry sets a few years back at a boot fair, I had bought them, now its just a case of finding a piece of veneer in roughly the right colours, then gluing it to the front of the mast to cover the slot and varnishing it to match the rest of the mast.

my next task, two light fittings to make, for that we will needthe lathe and  some aluminium, then I will need to make a slot in the top for the perspex lens of the 180 degree light, and turn the base of some perspex for the masthead light, to make the dome.

[CeePee1952]

"then it was a case of threading a draw wire through (using one of the leads that broke off a lED the other day as the draw wire".

Hope it doesn't go Boom! 

Chris

[Ray]

Speaking as someone who has zero skills with tools or models I'm on the verge of having to say Wow again! 👍

[grendel]

I went ahead and did some lathe work, one of the two fittings turned out as expected and i am happy with it, the other wasnt up to scratch and will be remade, I ran out of daylight for lathe work.

so next up will be make the second lamp unit, and then fit to the mast and it will be wiring time again

[grendel]

Well it seems I will need to get the macro rings out for my cameras again, just to get some decent pictures, these things are so small

[Bikertov]

16 minutes ago, grendel said:

Well it seems I will need to get the macro rings out for my cameras again, just to get some decent pictures, these things are so small

Ah - so you left out the collection of Swan Morton scalpel handles and blades form the Workshop thread !

You should also take some pictures of the whole boat, so we can see the current progress. 

[BroadAmbition]

what about the slot down the front of the mast I hear you ask, wont that be unsightly and detract from the model.

The full size version has a cover down the front of the mast that is screwed on, behind it there are slots for the masthead and fwd steaming light cables.

Seems like you have it bang on to scale between between them once again 

Griff

 

[grendel]

continuing work on the mast ighting, first I needed to make the new light fitting, I chucked up a piece of aluminium in the lathe, turned a section down to 8mm dia so I could hold it in a collet chuck, then turned it to shape.

then it was time to mill out the slot for the glass (perspex)

this was then done.

so I filed the perspex to size to fit in the slot, and glued into the fitting.

then the perspex was trimmed to shape

 

after this the wiring was reinserted into the mast

the lengths were then adjusted to their final position

then came time to heat shrink the cables and set them into the groove

after this it was time to temporarily wire the lamps to the power supply and see how they looked.

[grendel]

the good thing is I found a camera that has a super macro setting, which seems to be working well for these pictures.

[Smoggy]

Looking good Mr. G.

[grendel]

aargh, now I know why I was dubious about the wiring, today I just had 4 wires to feed through a hole and connect to thicker cable, 2 1/2 hours later and I have done 2. if the wires dont attach first time then its almost impossible to get them to join, they also melt (the very fine ones) and get shorter, the 2 shortest wires now only have about 1/4" of wire left to work with before they disappear into heat shrink tubing. at 200 degrees the soldering iron is too cold and not melting the solder, at 300 degrees its too hot and melting the insulation.

attempt abandoned for another day.

now i no longer have the original tinned ends, how to I strip insulation from wire no thicker than a hair.

[Smoggy]

Probably too short now but a small croc clip could act as a heatsink on the insulation.

[ZimbiIV]

Have tried a single strand of domestic 13amp cable or maybe 5amp, and use the heat shrink tubing for insulation?

Have done this up to 6 volt levels but I could get away with 2 layers of heat shrink.

paul

[grendel]

LOL the thick stuff I am soldering to is still thinner than that, the thick stuff is 0.5mm dia, with a 1mm sheathm the thin stuff is like a single strand of my thick stuff, and thats what is pre wired to the LED's, so thats what I have to work with, the LED's are less than 1mm in size so resoldering onto those is not possible either. the thin stuff just slides through a crocodile clip as even one with tight mesh has bigger gaps than the wire thickness, that and I only have about 1mm of tinned end, so I put a clip on the insulation, I cant get the soldering iron close enough.

[Ray]

My credentials as a modelling ignoramus are well established so please accept the following link as submitted on the very long odds it may be useful 🙂

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281675944709?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338827328&toolid=10029&customid=281675944709_1

[grendel]

ok pictures from todays work, 

first we have the cover boards attached to the front of the mast

then we drilled a hole for the wires, and refitted the mast into its bracket

this left me with about 2" inside on the long wires and 1" on the short set, note how I have heatshrunk the wires bigger than the hole size so they cant accidentally get pulled through, allowance has been made to raise and lower the mast.

then we compare the wire with 1mm dia solder

yes if i get it right I can hold it in a crocodile clip

lastly lets compare the wires with a hair, unfortunately this had to come from my beard, as there are already few enough on top, the insulation is double the thickness of the conductor inside

[grendel]

5 minutes ago, Ray said:

My credentials as a modelling ignoramus are well established so please accept the following link as submitted on the very long odds it may be useful 🙂

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281675944709?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338827328&toolid=10029&customid=281675944709_1

it might be, but i have to get it on the wires and join them still

[grendel]

aha, fortune is smilng on me, I have just found my little 12W pcb soldering iron for delicate work, I will give that a try tomorrow, it has a much finer tip than the other.

[grendel]

i would twist the wires together first - if I could, but they are too small to consider trying to hold to do that.

this is why this has held me up for so long, these are the issues I could forsee happening, I just got lucky on my first few tries

[JanetAnne]

Fibre optic for BA mk2?

[JanetAnne]

1 hour ago, Ray said:

My credentials as a modelling ignoramus are well established so please accept the following link as submitted on the very long odds it may be useful 🙂

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281675944709?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338827328&toolid=10029&customid=281675944709_1

Nice find Ray. I have just ordered a tube for the toolbox. It just may well get me out of trouble one day

[BroadAmbition]

An electrician showed me a trick only a couple of weeks ago where soldering wires is concerned and the issues of the sheath melting, he simply wrapped the outer sheath in masking tape, then removed it afterwards - Somehow it worked before my very lookouts, just how it worked I have no idea but it did

Griff

[FairTmiddlin]

Grendel old trick but it works.

The croc clips if they wont grip the material, slip two pieces of plastic tubing or even shrink wrap over the jaws. Makes good flat jaws that will grip anything.

[grendel]

Griff, I dont think I can get masking tape on that its just too thin, FairTmiddlin, I dont have the length left for crocodile clips on the thin wire

[grendel]

Well, with the smaller soldering Iron I was much more able to control the heat and after 2 attempts the lights are soldered, then the joints heavily reinforced with layers of heat shrink, the wires have been cable tied to the inside of the roof and I am pleased to announcethey now work, just for giggles I hooked the 3 circuits under the roof together, so now the lights are connected to the solar panel directly, this was then tested with both the work lamp and a torch with pleasing results, so in essence I have the battery charging circuit and roof lights on the rear cabin roof all working, just the rear navigation light left for that roof now