Alessandro good morning, my ball bearings were for a static display model.
Cheers Colin.

Hi ColinH.

I think the choice you made was the best.
The ball bearing are practically perfect.
I had to opt for a lightweight material. 240 pellets on the deck would have raised my center of gravity too much, as you already know.

The coloring method is brilliant, you are a master.

A few years ago I required 200 x 3mm canon balls, I was struggling to find any, so I went to a local engineering suppliers and bought 1/2lb of 3mm ball bearings which I dipped in naval jelly rust killer which turned them dark blue, a bit like a dull gunmetal.
Cheers Colin.

Always very kind Doogle, thank you very much.

Very impressive Alessandro, you are indeed gifted with your creative skills 👌 👏

Hi Wolle, thank you very much.

Yes the balls were driving me crazy, I couldn't even catch them with my fingers. I chose a scale (1/60) that was a little too difficult for certain details.

Hallo Alessandro
What a job, you are crazy, I bow to you. Top👍👍👍

Good evening everyone.

I'm slowly progressing with building the cannons.
In the meantime I ran out of cannonball crates.
Painting the 3mm diameter balls was a pain.
To me they didn't seem to be 3 mm at all but at most 1.5, but instead I measured them with the caliper and they are exactly 3 mm.

In this regard I want to refer to a speech that Hermank made some time ago and with which I agreed but with some exceptions.
I tried to buy the 3mm balls in my local static model shop.
The boxwood ones from the "Amati" catalog were fine.
I should have taken 240 for a cost of around 16 euros, if I remember correctly.
I never succeeded despite having contacted them several times to tell them my need, the availability was always too limited to the usual two sachets of 10 pieces each.
After wasting time for more than three months in other stores, I bought 300 3 mm plastic balls for a total of 2 euros on Aliexpress.
Unfortunately, there is often little availability towards the customer.

Thanks Colin, yes some of the edges of the sheaves shattered. 🤕 Adding that step to the process

COLIN H
WHAT A GENIUS IDEA!!!!
thanks for the info and advise

When making miniature sheaves I put the wood into thin cyano for about 30 seconds then let it fully dry before working the wood, it stops it splitting and splintering as it hardens the fibres.
Cheers Colin.

You're welcome😁

FANTASTIC IDEA🤓

I have the stock strips ready to go.

CUT THEM AFTER GLUING, NOT BEFORE!

I did the sheaves with a similar idea, dowel in an electric drill. . . cut the groove. . . part it off. . . (with a HACKSAW!!) find centre. . . drill centre

thanks

Hi RossM

Here's an idea
Not to long ago I faced the same situation. I needed to make a bunch of small blocks. Same material, walnut, but larger scale. The method is still works for smaller scale. I essentially made them all up in one long strip, that made them easier to hold, glue and drill and round off Then I sliced them off one by one. I had to dig this leftover piece up, it makes double blocks, but you can make single or triples the same way.

To match the scale:

25 singles
6 doubles
1 triple

I tried the triple first, to see if it would work. These two are the only pulleys that passed, so far

Beautiful work. How many do you need of those?

Alessandro, thank you for your kind words. I asked about your gun carriage size so I could understand how tiny they actually are. These pulleys are the smallest part that I have. The walls of my pulleys are 2.65mm, the sides of your carriages, you say, are 1.5mm. The size of my sheaves is 9.21mm, your wheels are 5mm.

Masterful work that you do😊. I await your next report on the Dahlgren guns!

Ross, the two- and three-way pulleys you showed in the photo (which we call "bozzelli") are built to perfection.
In 1/60 scale I couldn't make them so detailed.
With 22 x 21 mm you can do it but you were exceptional they are beautiful to look at and, from what I understand, functional.

I agree with you. I did my first pulley blocks in pine, but they fell apart under testing. The final pulleys were walnut (juglans nigra) they held up to the testing 22mm x 21mm

Hi RossM.

The modeling shops here in Italy have strips, squares and rods available in: national walnut, Tanganyika walnut, linden, mahogany, balsa, cherry, maple, boxwood, dibetou and pear.

The most common ones, however, are the first five.
Among these, walnut seemed to me to be the most compact.

Which wood do you suggest I use for this purpose?

Alessandro,
Do you find walnut easier to work with in such tiny pieces?

Thanks so much RossM.

The carriages are also made of walnut. Only in one did I also use linden but I didn't like the result and will only use it as a prototype for tests.

The diameter of the wheels is 5 mm.

ARTIST!

1) Are the gun carriages also walnut?
2) What is the diameter of the wheels?😮

Hi Wolle, thank you very much but I have been following your work and I really believe that you would do very well with this and many other works.

Thank you very much Doogle, yes this is a somewhat repetitive and boring job but it was worse when I was trying in vain to find the prototype with the right dimensions and proportions.
In fact I can't wait to build the lifeboats. I have already made the drawings and building hulls gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Hello Alessandro
I take off my hat and bow to you. First-class work. I couldn't do that, I don't have the patience.
👍👍👍

That's some achievement Alessandro, I don't know how you have the patience 👍. I know where to look too if and when I ever go down that route.
👍👍

Thank you so much Jumpugly for your appreciation.
After the wheels I will have to insert some very small brass elements, it will be difficult, maybe I will use a lens.
Actually I should also cover the wooden wheel with a metal rim. I don't know whether to make them in brass or plastic. In the first case it is difficult to solder to join the ends. In the second case I have to paint the piece of plastic to make it look real.

Hermank, I'm speechless because your compliments embarrass me.
I'm actually very very happy that you like how the work is turning out.
Some model makers like you, Jumpugly and others are getting used to me badly, you're spoiling me, ahahahahah because if I don't receive your compliments it's a bad sign for me, it means that something is wrong, ahahahahahahah.
Jokes aside, thanks again for your comment.

An awesome set of photos, of what would be an electron microscope type of job for me! 😂
They are coming along beautifully!👍

Alessandro spqr
when i see the pictures and don't feel insulted but you are not a modelboatbuilder........ YOU are a genius, a master technician im shure you would be able to contruct a little watch.
As mentionned already on many occasions amigo italiano i m speechless at the moment and my wife loves it.😁🤓🤓🤓

Greetings to all ship modelers on this forum.

After deciding on the proportions and discarding various prototypes of the gun carriage, I started building them a few weeks ago.

That's where I got to.

Seen in plan, the carriage is not rectangular but trapezoidal.

For the shape of the gun carriage (side view), since the design is quite complex (there are several curves and recesses) I could not directly use wood of the right thickness.

In fact, if you cut the lateral shape of the carriage directly on the 1.5 mm thick wood it breaks and flakes.

It is mandatory to reach a thickness of 1.5 mm in layers.

I decided to resort to a method that I have already used several times successfully.

I cut out the paper shape which I glued onto a very thin sheet of transparent plastic; on this I glued various strips with a thickness of 0.5 mm, two layers on one side and one layer on another.

The trick is not to glue them all together but first one, cut out and sand the edges then the second cut out and sand and so on, as you can see in the photos.

For the trapezoidal base of the carriage, since the cuts are easier, I directly cut the wood of the right thickness without having to resort to the gradual superposition of various layers.

Joining the three pieces with precision and only by eye was not easy.

I made 9 carriages, one reserve and one test.

Now I'm working on the wheels.
Without tools but only with a cutter, hacksaw and sandpaper it is very difficult to create precise, straight wheels of the same thickness from a walnut rod with a diameter of 5 mm.
I can't even hold it properly.
The wheel must then be pierced (without breaking it) to insert the axle which in turn must be pierced to insert the metal cotter pin.

The entire description can be found from the sequence of attached images.

P.S.
Now that I'm not posting archive images but work in progress you will be able to realize my real slowness, comparable to the drift speed of an electron moving in a conductor subjected to a difference in electric potential, ahahahahahahah.
Today I'm metaphorical.

Great R/C ships, great video. No losers in this battle.

Ahahahahah!

ah shoot😭 A joke?? I was filling out my firearms certificate application😉 The HMS Surprise is magnificent👍 Without the trees I couldn't tell it was scale 1/24

Hi RossM.

For RC naval models that fire salvos and simulate naval battles I recommend you see this youtuber here:
formerparatruper

I have been subscribed to his channel for a long time.
His models and videos are spectacular.

For the rest, from the authorizations to the Prefecture to the shooting with 9x19 parabellum [known as caliber 9 Luger in North America] it's all a joke.

so a 3.81mm ball bearing would be a 9 inch cannon ball, @1/60?

Thanks LewZ. I figured if I just thought about it, somebody had to be doing it already!

Thanks Lewz for the info on the color of the cannon.

There are competition RC warships that use pellets. The ships are typically made of balsa wood.

As for the US Civil War canons, those that I have seen were painted black (bare cast iron will rust). They typically have a semi gloss look but because of the rough texture due to the casting process as well as exposure the tend to look a little dull.

Also note that the gun carriages varied some, even for the same gun.

I used to have a four inch (barrel inside diameter) mortar. Used it for reenactment battles.

Lew
Florida ⛱️, USA

Hahahaha RossM, they use the 9mm parabellum.

Ok Alessandro, tell me, What size cannonball will sink an R C boat😋?

(does this sound like there could be a competition coming? WW R C??)

A separate R C unit for the gunners on board? 8, 12, 24 channels

Hi RossM.

For the design of the cannons, not having measurements, I went by eye.
I am very pleased with your positive opinion because, apart from the knurled surface, I wasn't sure if I had correctly approached the shape of that type of cannon.

Thank you very much.

P.S. You only need a license if you make them out of brass and they exceed a certain weight. If you build them in plastic and do not exceed eight units, a written communication to the Prefecture is sufficient.
In case of violation the RC model is not seized but sunk on the spot.

Thanks Jumpugly. I can't get criticism from you even if I pay for it, ahahahahahah!

Jokes aside, you are a positive person who always brings me joy; I will follow your advice on coloring cannonballs.

I saw with the Lumba Lumba that you paint very well, in fact you are an ace.

The only thing I didn't understand "to eggshell finish"; what do you mean exactly?

It's not a job that excites me very much. Varnishing and painting is the job I like least in modeling and which I don't know how to do well at all.
Since I was a boy, I drew freehand well, according to others very well, but I never painted. All my drawings were in black and white, light and dark with Indian ink.

I'm waiting to see if anyone knows what color the naval guns of that period were made of.

Honestly, between mail order RX and catalytic converter prices… My day got off on the wrong foot.

Ho ho ho!😂

😎

Made my Day with that one Ross!!!!!!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tell me, do you need a licence from the Italian government to manufacture weapons? 😉 Another work of art😊

These look amazing Alessandro! You don't need Shapeways. 😉
18th and 19th Century cannonballs were painted black to prevent rust. Linseed oil was used in "industrial" paints so I would definitely go with a satin to eggshell finish, but not gloss.

Hello to all naval modellers.

In the first images you can see the various designs of the cannons.

I tried various shapes and sizes in relation to a 1.80 meter tall man in 1/60 scale.

I also designed and reported several possible carriages.

In the end I decided to use those from the column highlighted with a yellow oval.

In the latest images you can see the creations of the cannons with 3D printing.
The quality is poor, the knurls are visible and all too evident (unfortunately the surface is not smooth and I will have to sand it before painting it).
I had made prototypes of different sizes also thinking about the larger calibers to be placed amidships or in fighters (I don't know what the right definition is, I mean the bow position capable of shooting also from the front) but then I gave up on them.
Now I will use the ones you see in the last photo, in particular eight of those twelve smaller ones that are all the same.
They seemed to me to be the closest in shape, size and proportion to the photo of Dalghren posing in front of his cannon.

Logically I won't leave the color of the plastic but I will look for a suitable paint.

Ah! By the way, I still need to color all the cannonballs. A torment, 240 balls of 3 mm in diameter.

Do you think the cannons were black? Or a dark metal?

In your opinion, is it better to use an opaque (matt) or shiny (glossy) color for the cannons?

If you answered the first questions, tell me what color cannonballs are best for.