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cage mast question...again


sumterIII

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Some time ago I had asked about building a cage mast. I was looking for the post and saw that it had been removed or archived. I want to build a 1/350 mast using wire but unsure on the size of wire to use.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

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Here's a picture of some men standing in front of the base of a cage mast. It shows the size of the tubing used in its construction:

 

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h91000/h91202.jpg

 

It looks about 4 inches in diameter to me. That would be just short of .012" in 1/350th.

 

Here's an article that describes how to make one.

 

http://www.modelshipgallery.com/gallery/dio/Old_Navy/part-1-jl/jl-index.html

 

One thing, there were more pieces at the bottom than there were at the top. I think they reduced in number in two spots. For a model you can probably overlook that fact.

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The cage mast was constructed of 24 sets of concentric pipes beginning with a 2-1/2" diameter at the base tapering down to 1" diameter at the top (on a full-height mast; the fwd mast found on the Big 5 were the same from the top but only used 1" & 1-1/4" pipes, IIRC)

 

The outer circle made a 90* twist CW, while the inner made the same twist CCW. These were held together with iron bands at key levels. The height of each band varied from class to class, and the exact placement isn't needed in scale. Just measure it and get it close. Dave is correct, they reduce to 20 pairs about a third up, then to 18 pairs for the upper third.

 

 

To do this in 1/350 has proved nearly impossible, but I would suggest you ignore the reducing diameters and build the mast in the inside & outside cones separately up to the point of the minimum construction. Then join them together at the base and insert your iron bands as spreaders to achieve the proper hyperbolic shape. That is how I built one in 1/72 scale. I was incapable of repeating the task with good result in 1/196 a few years ago but your skills are different than mine - good luck!

 

I did a study on these while in college for my engineering degree. It was part of my advanced math coursework and I asked my prof how to do a flat projection of it. He graciously assigned it as my project for the course. After 8 weeks of studying and trying I went to him in frustration and told him there was simply no way I could figure out how to do it. He asked to see my work. After reviewing it, he then smugly told me I got an A because it was impossible and I had sufficiently proved the theory! Argh!!!!

 

Perhaps I should try again

Edited by jcorley
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Hey James, yes I remember you talking about the math problem, thanks for helping out again. I remembered the 24 sets but forgot the rest. Thanks Dave for the wire size, that's a big help!

I found a source on line for the wire if anyone wants to give it a go too.

http://www.ngineering.com/other_detail_stuff.htm

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well not good news on the mast build, the twist method did not work out very well at all. I changed the form or mold so you wrap the wire with a twist already built in and it worked on getting the shape...but then the .012 copper wire was so weak that it could not hold the top and mast without deforming. I guess I'll try steel wire next. The only problem is steel cannot be soldered. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

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Well not good news on the mast build, the twist method did not work out very well at all. I changed the form or mold so you wrap the wire with a twist already built in and it worked on getting the shape...but then the .012 copper wire was so weak that it could not hold the top and mast without deforming. I guess I'll try steel wire next. The only problem is steel cannot be soldered. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

 

K&S makes .016 (and .03) brass rod, should be a lot stronger than copper wire but harder to bend. And you can solder it.

 

Don

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  • 1 month later...

Update

I ordered a set of 24 brass rod .016 from Hobbylink. They came in yesterday and after checking the rod size with the Tom's Model works Early Battleship Cage Mast set found it was comparable in size. Shipping cost almost doubled the cost of the rod but found it in very good shape when it was opened. There are enough rods to complete 1 mast with extra for about half of another. If anyone orders for two mast make sure you get a total of 48 rods and save some money on shipping.

 

Based on price the Tom's set is less money with less work, but for a realistic mast brass rod is the way to go

.

Edited by sumterIII
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