At least it would a resurgent of German ships. I think they have been lacking a presence for the last few years.
Once the Tennessee has been completed then when it is warmer I will cut the Graf Spee for the next ship.
The parts from Battlers have FINALLY reached Canada customs. I guess it truly was snail mail. Now hopefully I will have them by end of the week so I can start construction.
Actually the rudder arrived on Friday.Thanks captain.Question for you. How do you mount your shafts into the hull?
Well first get the rudder in position and secure it temporaily. Have your prop shaft in the stuffing tube and mount your props. If you have your motors on motor mounts or gear mounts you should use them to aid in positioning the shafts. GenerallY I like to have the prop as close to the rudder as possible but allow enough clearance between teh prop hub or prop blade and the rudder so that I can remove the prop to swap out or if the rudder is bent from hitting an obstruction you don't have it jam your prop. Using a flat stick as a guide I plae it cross the keel centerline. The hull is upside down at this point. I run the stuffing tube through and have it resting on the stick (JIG). The stick should be secured and level with the hull. Eye ball it in position then make adjustments and mark your fine tuned points. Tape in place and use the installed tube/shaft as a guide for the next shaft. The 2nd one will go on easier and quicker as you will already have the precise measurements. Once you have them secured turn the hull right side up and place your motors with mounts in position and line it up as perfect it as possible. Now if it is gears with no universals attached then it has to be exact. If your using universals attached to the gear shaft depending on the universal you can be offcenter a little as long as the coupling rotates with no binding or resistance as it turns the prop shaft inside the stuffing tube. Should be a minimum of wobble on the coupling and dogbone or athe universal. Graupner U-Joints have a sphere for a dogbone. Once your happy with the alignment mark it off and you can tack your props in place using CA and then resing them in position later. Leave the resin to the last in case you need to make further adjustments. The shafts should converge a little towards the rudder. Leave at least 1/8 space between blade tips and min 1/8 between the rudder and Blade tips. If your going to use struts mark them on the hull first and line them up with teh stuffting tubes. Make adjustments tack then when satisfied seal with resin or CA. This will keep the tubes strong and secure and keep the tubes from moving when the prop shaft is rotating. When you do line up your stuffing tube allow for thrust bearings(collars) on the end of the stuffing box and have the prop shaft go through it. There should be 1/16th clearance between the bearing and the end of the stuffing tube to reduce resistance and friction. Don't forget your thrust bearing on the other end of the stuffing tube, same rule applies. Your prop should not sit below the rudder. Try to keep it centered or level with the rudder's larger area. Picture the thrust that will be created and the rudder when turned should catch most of the wash from the prop to deflect and turn the ship. I had to get New Glasses. 700.00 cost. 2 pairs, one of them Terminator style Sunglassses. Yeah and their Bi-focal. Oh well least I will be able to see the details closeup and gauge my shots better.
Parts have arrived. I will be picking them up tomorrow. The question will be will I be stuck with duty. Free trade my @ss.
Most likely you would. Free trade only works with corporate and big business. It was not designed for small merchants and the common citizen.
It seems to be hit or miss. Sometimes i get dinged and sometimes I do not. It makes no sense to me but tomorrow starts marking out where the shafts go.
The parts have been picked up and as a bonus no duty. It is a completely random thing. So I have checked the parts and so Thursday construction begins. I do need to pick up some collars for the shafts. Otherwise i am ready to start construction.
Excellent bb26. I got to bring Bismarck to my buddy's so we can get a motor mount face plate installed on the old mount.
The first step will be to temporarily mount the rudder. I think some tape should keep it in place. second is to make flat spots on the shafts for set screws. I might do that when I get home from work tonight. No sense wasting time
I will make sure that is done. The rudder hole had already been drilled. So it is more of a question of algning the shafts with the pre-cut shaft holes
Paul I already had shafts in place as temps so you should be able to do the same with yours. The stuffing tubes I used were thick and custom made. The interior of the tube was just large enough to house the prop shaft. If your going to make yours I can get measurement of my custom stuffing boxes and get you the measurement. You can make yours or get custome ones made. The custom ones have a grease nipple so it's easier to fill the tubes with grease from the top of the tube instead of the end of th e tube
