I am still learning how to use my MicroMark 7x14 mini-lathe and MicroMark milling machine. However, one of the things that has been causing me a lot of grief is how inaccurate the tail-stock on the mini-lathe is. Because I am a complete novice, and because the equipment is so expensive (at least for me). I have been very hesitant to modify it. However, the inaccuracy of the tail-stock was becoming a show stopper and had to be corrected.
This blog post briefly describes how to cut windows in a previously marked fiberglass hull. Cutting windows in a fiberglass hull, even a thick one like my Nassau hull, is far easier than making a wood hull from scratch. This is the first part of a series of articles I will write while building my German Dreadnaught Nassau.
The heart of Indiana / Neubauer style cannons is the ball-valve. This post describes how to make the body of one of these valves. In this post I describe how I made the ball-valve housings for the cannons of my SMS Nassau.
Most Big Guns R/C warships are built from fiberglass 'kit' hulls purchased from various vendors. Before these hulls can be used in a Big Guns ship the hull must have a series of windows cut in its side to all rounds to penetrate. This blog post descibes how to successfully mark your fiberglass hull so that you can bring it to your club's Technical Officer (TO) for review prior to cutting.
Most of the time a ship will take enough damage to need repair but not enough to deserve a complete reskinning. Here are some pictures to show you how easy it is to make small (and not so small) repairs to the skin without removing the entire skin.
This morning I did all the mill work for Nassau's cannon manifolds. The manifold is basically the bottom of the part of the cannon that rotates. It has two purposes (a) it redirects the CO2 to the barrels and (b) provides a way to adjust how the shot sits in the breach. This blog post will walk you through most of the process for making a manifold on a mini-mill and mini-lathe. These steps have been simplified from what someone might do who wanted everything as precise as possible. I am more interested in making parts quickly - this means minimizing setup and maximizing the number of parts that can be made each time a measurement is taken.