Build log · Phase 12, Upper deck guns

Carronades: trucks and a working elevating screw

3 December 2023 · How-to · Problem and fix

Started on the carronades. For the trucks the kit has a little white metal thing, but real trucks they are not. My first attempt is on the left of the photo, the white metal kit part on the right. The trucks are made from two hollow brass tubes slid into one another, with an axle made from a solid 1 mm brass rod. The trucks have a diameter of 2.4 mm. The whole thing still has to be blackened, but for a first go it is quite all right.

Left the slide with the new brass trucks, right the white metal kit part
Left the slide with the new brass trucks, right the white metal kit part

The elevating screw

A week later I also replaced the thread for the elevating screw. For that I used 1.2 mm bolts. I rounded off the hexagonal head and drilled a 0.6 mm hole through it, with a pin through it serving as the handle. At the bottom I also drilled a small hole and fixed a piece of pin in it, so the screw can turn on that.

The nice thing is that white metal is so soft: by carefully turning the bolt into a slightly undersized hole (1 mm), you cut the thread yourself. As a result everything now works as it should and the elevating screw really turns. This is getting to be quite fun.

The elevating screw made from a 1.2 mm bolt, with the rounded head and a pin as its handle
The elevating screw made from a 1.2 mm bolt, with the rounded head and a pin as its handle
The eight carronades, each with its own elevating screw, still in bare white metal
The eight carronades, each with its own elevating screw, still in bare white metal