Uh Oh ! 

That's a bit chancy for me then . LOL.LOL.

Hi ;

 It was in reply to someone's comment . Anyway .You are in the same place I found myself once on a vehicle model , for a national known attorney working a case against that giant of giants General Motors !

 Little known tidbit . Used to be when a model was built both sides had a crack trying to break it ! If it didn't break  then the judge would allow it to be entered into graphic exhibits for the Jury to see . Kind of like Associative evidence .

 The model was 1/8th scale and built entirely of Brass , Stainless Steel , Fibreglass and Leather plus the tires . She helped win the case though .

Thanks Bish for the additional insight.  

Peter, you are doing some amazing work.  Very impressive, not only with the scratchbuilding, but the electronics side too.  Blowing my mind.

Both you and Bish are opening my mind to what kind of possibilities exist with this mode of self expression, and what is amazing to me is, within the context of a diorama, the model kit can take a back seat to what else is going on.  That is intriguing to me.  It is the reason the diorama is being made, but not necessarily the main focal point.  

Tanker - Builder

...You are in the same place I found myself once on a vehicle model , for a national known attorney working a case against that giant of giants General Motors !

 Little known tidbit . Used to be when a model was built both sides had a crack trying to break it ! If it didn't break  then the judge would allow it to be entered into graphic exhibits for the Jury to see . Kind of like Associative evidence .

 The model was 1/8th scale and built entirely of Brass , Stainless Steel , Fibreglass and Leather plus the tires . She helped win the case though .

That is a nice large model. Hope they paid you well for it.

mmthrax

...Both you and Bish are opening my mind to what kind of possibilities exist with this mode of self expression, and what is amazing to me is, within the context of a diorama, the model kit can take a back seat to what else is going on.  That is intriguing to me.  It is the reason the diorama is being made, but not necessarily the main focal point.  

That is a very interesting observation.

It reminds me of the forest - tree perspectives, where the models are the trees and the diorama is the forest. Without the trees, there is no forest. Without the forest their is no context for the trees.

Both motors (boat and span) will be logically controlled. That is, either a +voltage or 0 voltage inputs will determine a clockwise, conter-clockwise, or stop in rotation. While designing the motor controller circuit I discovered that the speed of rotation was still too high. The minimum diameter for the drive pulley is 1" or 3.1416" per rotation, making the span raise to the top of the towers in 4 seconds.

I decided to drop the supply voltage, to the span motor, as a means to slow it down.I used diodes in series to do this. Now the speed is halved (8 seconds) which is enough for impatient operators.

By adding a few more diodes, the speed drops drastically. This serves well for the later stage of lowering the bridge-span. The span gets lowered to about 80% of the way and automatically stops. The operator then has to use the "INCH" pushbutton to dock the span. This portion reqires a very slow action.

Also discovered that at switch-off the motor shaft drifts (unloaded). This means that any sensors used for stopping the motors need to be placed ahead of actual resting position, to allow for drift.

Designed and built a circuit board for the motors. The drive transistors have aluminium heatsinks, just in case they get too hot, but I doubt it.

Painted several 1/72 scale plastic figurines.

Hi ;

 That was the seed money for my three girls college tuition 

Excuse Me :

 Aren't those figures with the silver stripes for Star Trek ? No self respecting trekker would be caught dead without them ! . Very good Peter .

Tanker - Builder

...That was the seed money for my three girls college tuition 

Prudent use of money for family.

I am a Trekkie and I hate my hi-vis gear, though I am grateful for them when I have to wear it (part-time road traffic controller).

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There is the matter of the traversing boat. It has to go up and downstream without turning around and look as if it is reversing. My solution is to build a boat with two bow sections. Bought two cheap woodenboat kits from China to do the job.

The keels, decks, and cabin walls were cut in half and the bow sections got joined together. The planks were too stiff for planking without first heat-bending them into shape. A planking iron was too expensive. Discovered on the Internet a DIY planker by using a tea-candle and a tin can. It worked very well and quick too.

Used the cabin ceiling as the horizon and marked the bulkheads as to where I wanted the waterline to be. Then planked the waterline. Other planks were then laid in to fill the gap.

Then I used a hacksaw blade to fillet the boat, like a fish. On a sheet of sandpaper, in a circular fashion, I got the base all smooth and flat.

Hello!

I wanted to ask you before - can you give me the source of this boat? Looks nice and maybe I'd build it as is, without modifications (like I can do something like OOB, ha, ha)...

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel

... can you give me the source of this boat? ...

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-50-DIY-Sailing-Scale-Boat-Ship-Assembly-Model-Wooden-Kits-Decoration-Toy-Gift-/263266689515

Made port and starboard nav light hoods.

The kit had winches but no winch drum or crank. So I made my own. Adding a figurine to the boat. Having him sit on a box.

Adding and altering bits here and there.

Added some wood putty and sanded the hull smooth for painting . Made eyelets for rigging.

Well how about that ;

That's a cutie .Do you have a Makers name .

Oh My ;

 Can you say very nice Job there . All ship-shape and Bristol fashinoed . T.B. Like those lights , nice touch !

Thanks T.B. for your response.

Tanker - Builder

...Do you have a Makers name .

 

There was a bingle on the BINGAL.

The boat will fit snugly onto an aluminium base plate, which is attached to an aluminium vane that goes through the 3 mm slot of the table top.

The vane itself is 2 mm. It has to have imbedded four electrical connections for controlling the boat's navigational lights. To do this I used a 1.5 mm pcb. The track side of the pcb will be 0.5 mm within the vane. So it won't get rubbed along the tabletop slot.

To be continued after I get certain ordered parts.

In the meantime, I started working on some figurines (next post).

Totally digging this.  Ace work sir. 

Peter, you're a man of many talents! Great job on the woodwork, metalwork, electronics, figures, everything! 

Oh Boy ;

 I do like your sense of humor Peter .That part of the project is looking good .I even like the name .Something different for a change .

Thank you mmthrax, Gamera, and T.B. for your supportive kind words.

_________________________________________________________

The left side of the diorama is mostly vast empty space (river water). It needs some attraction. So I created a bit of drama with traffic approaching the traffic lights. In this case it will be the police farce force that is in trouble. Their car broke down.

Chopped up some figures to rearrange their posture. Added a 3 mm blue LED to a car and glued a printed highway patrol ID into the bonnet. Added a driver, and included a tall police officer to halt approaching traffic from behind.

This guy, somewhere along the riverbank, seems to have caught a fish.

Had lots of fun building these guys.

So much for the figurines.

________________________

Decided to add another boat to the sparce left side of the diorama. This boat will be made from the leftover parts from the previous two kits. A boat made from two stern sections. But it only needs one stern. The other end will get slightly shortened (wider) for an added bow section later on in the construction.

Have been wondering what type of boat to make. At first I wanted to make a crane boat. Then certain things presented itself and now it will be a buoy tender. This diorama will replace another diorama; a model showing a portion of the Richmond River, here in Ballina. But its main display is the various types of buoys and navigational signs. It is an educational display built by two previous museum volunteers, Clem and Peter. Out of respect for their service, I am naming this buoy tender the CLEM-PETER.

Really enjoy this thread!  Whipping out the RC servos.  No holds barred!

This thread reminds me of my freshman year physics teacher: you can be someone who uses things, or understands things.

Peter ;

 Stop , Stop ! Gees , your inventiveness is giving me joyous headaches . Good take there on the " Clem-Peter " .Would  "Peter Clem " sound more normal though .T.B.

keavdog

Really enjoy this thread!  Whipping out the RC servos.  No holds barred!

This thread reminds me of my freshman year physics teacher: you can be someone who uses things, or understands things.

Thanks keavdog for compliment. 

Yep, we always do what we can, even if we never done it before. In this case, it is the bridge console which dictates what has to be done.

Tanker - Builder

Peter ;

 Stop , Stop ! Gees , your inventiveness is giving me joyous headaches . Good take there on the " Clem-Peter " .Would  "Peter Clem " sound more normal though .T.B.

(wish they had a laughing Emoticon).

Well, T.B. you will just have to suffer , because there is still a lot more to come.

Good question on the Peter-Clem. I think either way does not sound too good. It is better than using any of their surnames. I placed Clem first, because he was the main builder of the buoy _ signage diorama, and the museum's president at the time.

Took a while to research and decide on the deck layout. I needed maximum room for carrying buoys. A double storey cabin at the bow section looked the best.

Adding the roof looked daunting at first. Decided to use a block of wood, screwed at each end, to hold the roof in place. Then it was easy to shape each window frame and glue it in place. Only super glued the frames to the ceiling, so I can take the block out later on.

Glued aluminium foil to ceiling. This stops all the super-glue getting soaked up into the Masonite and having no bondage to the wooden frames. Plus, the foil will reflect the LED light within the cabin, giving some more luminosity.

The three wires are for cabin and mast LED lights. Decided not to include live spotlights on the roof.