Continuing from the last post...
With the new "whipline" drum added to the upper unit, the other end of the boom needed some attention. Some lugs were added to the tip of the boom. These were turned from brass and fastened with silver bearing solder, which was also used as a filler arount the pieces, filed to shape to look like fabricated steel.
This boom tip extension, also refered to as a horse head (I didn't make that up, read it somewhere) was fabricated from brass sheet, barstock, and tubing, with aluminum sheaves. I did this just Friday, a cold day outdoors, and I have a cold. Nice way to spend a day and evening indoors.
In the back of a 1/25 F-350
Note how the 2 hooks are separated by a nice amount of space...
Another recent improvement was replacing the original plastic sheaves in the reeving with turned solid aluminum ones. The plastic ones were made from HO model train wheels thinned down and laminated together. It worked pretty well, but was a bit of a weak point.
That black one is an original, made before I acquired a lathe.
The live mast was changed to a more modern look, removing all the cross brace clutter and adding a simpler crossmember design. They are not soldered in, but are merely trapped in place loose. This allows the live mast to twist more freely, assisting in equalizing the pendants.
Old
New
I was hoping to have most of this work and some more done by this weekend, to take to a big model show in Portland Saturday, but I've been sick with a cold all week, just didn't have the energy to go anyway. But I'm happy to say things are progressing along on this project, both with new items being added, and other things being improved on. Dan