I'm about to begin Tamiya's Fletcher kit and I would like to try my hand at making a brass mast. So a few questions for those who have done it before:

1. What is the easiest way to replicate the taper of the kit part (2.0mm at the base, 1.1mm at the tip)? Would it work to chuck a length of brass rod in my drill and use sand paper or a file to grind it down?
2. How do you address the spars (if that's the term)? Is CA generally strong enough or do you find that soldering is required?
3. How do you step the mast, especially in cases like the Fletcher's where it rests at an angle? Do you scratch some sort of collar, run the brass rod all the way down to the hull bottom, or what?

Thanks for any help.

Bill,
Here is part of a post from my build log on the USS Olympia (page 3) showing how I did her masts; I apologize for the length, but it may answer some of your questions:

... I built the masts up in telescoping sections. The lower portions were replaced with K & S #1268 3/32 inch X .014 inch (23.8mm X .355mm) brass tube, followed by K & S #1251 1/16 inch X .014 inch (1.57mm X .355mm) tube and finally Detail Associates #2509 .33 inch brass wire for the upper portions. These tubes fit neatly into each other to taper the masts from base to top. The completed masts were then glued together and placed in sleeves (which won’t be visible on the final model) made from sections of K & S #127 1/8 inch X .014 inch (3.18mm X .355mm) brass tube. These sleeves, which will determine how the masts will ultimately sit, were set into holes cut through the plastic deck and lightly secured in place with plastic cement. Temporarily setting the masts into the sleeves while the cement was still uncured, I adjusted them, checking constantly against plans and making sure the masts were set at the correct angles while also being laterally perpendicular to the deck and parallel to each other.

When all seemed well, I slipped the masts from the mounting sleeves. After allowing the plastic cement holding them to the decks to dry, I fixed the sleeves permanently in place with JB Weld two-part epoxy. Now I could be sure the final masts would be secured at the correct angles when they go back in place later on.


Next, I made the yardarms and gaffs using Detail Associates #2508 .028 inch brass wire following the kit parts for the dimensions. Attaching the spars will be no problem as they fix to the masts at junctions between widths of tube and can be securely super glued at the steps. As for the gaffs, they mount at angles so just gluing them to the masts would likely not have been sufficiently strong; I drilled small holes in the masts to accommodate them so they can be super glued in place to assure a firm bond. Along with the spars, I’ll fix them to the masts after the searchlight platforms and fighting tops are in place.

https://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/forums/183169&ord=&page=3

best,
Tim

Hi Bill,

Just had the same task with my corvette.

1. Put it in a drill and sand or file it off is not that easy. The mast will bend away and you cannot apply any force. Even in a lathe where it is supported on both ends it is difficult because the brass profiles are very soft.

2.Telescoping with very thin walled brass-pipes is one way.
I had thick-walled brass pipes and inserted a wire with the exact inside diameter (both had the same0 and quickglued it.
When you make the step under a radar platform or a console for position lamps, you will not be able to see it and its quite sturdy


3. if you have a strong quickglue you probably do not need to soldier (I don't do it)

4. For smaller scales I doubt the scale thickness of the masts in many cases. You can probably make it slightly thinner.
5. I step my masts either directly in the deck below the upper deck (the bridgedeck in your case). Quickglue, no collar in my case.
However it depends on your way of rigging. My rig (black hair) is functioning, means it supports the mast really. If you use stretches sprue you must be careful that the mast is very rigid.

Generally I would never uses the plastic masts again. They always bend after a time. Give it a try, its not that difficult and there are many ways of doing it

Best regards from Shanghai

I too have abandoned using the plastic kit masts, Bill, as they never seem quite round enough for me, and when rigged lack the strength of brass and bend under the weight of rigging.

I agree with both Tim and Tom's telescoping methods which work great, but can get a little pricey, so I've been looking for ways to turn up my own masts.

For the spars, I use brass wire loaded into a drill or dremel, then, use a block of wood to apply pressure, and gently 'sand' it down on some 240 paper.

For the masts themselves I recently tried using brass stock and had a friend turn them down on his lathe to the dimensions I specified. I did this becasue i didn't want to commit to purchasing a lathe without knowing if it would work.

Here's the brass stock next to the original plastic masts and some plastic tube replicas I had been building and the resulting turned masts:



Here are the masts built up with the turned spars:



Looks far better than the kit parts. Solder the joints on the bigger diameter stuff. 2 part epoxy works well on the smaller diameters.

Having been more than happy with the result I found this on ebay, and thought i'd give it a try:



Whichever way you chose to build your masts Bill, remember, it's all for the fun!

Do the real masts have any taper, or are they made from stepped straight sections of pipe? Or does it depend on the ship?

Depends on the ship.

Olympia's masts are both stepped and tapered.

Cheers

Thanks for all the input, guys.

Tim - The sleeve is a good idea and that's probably what I will do. Did you put something across the bottom of the sleeve to prevent the mast from slipping down too far? Also, how did you drill the mounting holes for the gaffs? That's a mighty small (not to mention round) target.

Tom - You confirmed my concerns with trying to file or sand down a length of brass rod to achieve a taper. There isn't much that I can see about the Fletcher's mast that will enable me to hide a couple steps by maybe that's the price I'll need to pay to get a stronger mast.

Russell - Your masts look great. The white stock showing what you were building looks like it was coming out as neat as the finished brass your friend turned for you.

Bill, I just mounted the sleeve in a hole through the deck and let the mast slide through it to rest on the inside of the hull. When I mounted the mast in its final position I secured it to the inner hull with a small drop of epoxy at the tip. That way there was no need to get any glue on the sleeve itself (sometimes masts get damaged and this arrangement makes removal of a damaged mast easier).
As for the holes in the brass masts to mount the gaffs, I first scored little notches into the mounting points on the masts with the angled edge of a small file. Then I carefully drilled out the holes by hand with a pinvise using the notches to help keep the tiny drill bit from wandering off the hard surface. Kind of a pain really, but the holes made the angled gaff attachments MUCH more durable.



Also, you can taper stepped brass masts. I did this (also on the Olympia) by filling in the steps with JB Weld epoxy and later sanding them smooth. In this case it was not actuallty masts but the small cranes for handling the ship’s anchors, but the process would be the same.
I started by bending two spare brass 5 in/40cal gun barrels to the angle of the cranes. Then I filled in the steps with JB Weld epoxy, later sanding them down to form the smoothed, tapered cranes.

I just looked at my Fletcher

Either make it a bit thinner and do not taper or use wood.
I have some kind of barbecue sticks here which I use sometimes.
Easy to sand and still strong.
I would not taper at all. its a very simple mast.
Btw you could hide the taper behind the antenna consoles

Greetings from Shanghai