Building a ships-wheel in scale 1:500

By Artem Popov

Primary detail of steering gear of a ship is ships-wheel . Building the ship-wheel in scale 1:300 - 1:400 represents some troubles. There are two ways to create a ships-wheel.
For one, you need to bits of copper wire and one copper ring 2-3 mm diameter. To made the wire rings are very simple. Take a pivot and turn the wire around pivot.

 

After, you cut along it and now you have many little rings.

 

For spokes of the wheel you need 8 bits of wire 3.5 mm length. Before combining the details together, you can paint these bits of wire to a color like a color of wood. It is simple to heat the wire. The copper will change one's color from gold to black during heating. Thin coat of lacquer will protect the color safely. Now you have one ring, 6 little pieces of wire ( little longer than half diameter of ring), one piece of wire (little longer than a full diameter of ring). Pieces of ships-wheel link together on top of steering gear. It is place that ships-wheel must be fixed. It could be steering box or one of pieces of the steering machine, etc .
There is one trouble. How keep these fine details on a table during creating? Really, it is impossible to press they. One simply tool will help us. It is a bar with Scotch tape above (a side with glue to wood). The side with glue may be from above, too. (If a tape you use has a high quality, it is possible this way is better.) You can drop some white glue on Scotch tape and to glue a base of steering gear. Now you have ability to combine the details together. After drying,to push the ships wheel with knife and the wheel is bouncing off the bar safely. This method very useful for combining some details, for example: the stairs, the guns, the boats, etc.
 Second way of creating of ships wheel is more difficult, but it is more interesting. How do you think, could be made a wheel (with diameter 3 millimetres or less), from wood? It is possible. First, to make a little ring from wood. For such work you need a thin sheet of wood (0.2 - 0.5 millimetre the thickness). An apple wood is very well for building. You can try to use other wood. It is very important to cut a thin "threads" exactly along a fibre of wood. Now you can do like the wire rings - take a pivot and turn the "threads" around pivot. But there is difference. Before turning , you need to wet the wood with hot water during 10-15 minutes. It is necessary to keep the pivot and wood's rings with stripe of paper. After drying, you cut along it and now you have many little rings of wood. Further, you can do like the wire wheel again. There is one difference only. You can put the wood's spokes inside the wheel and to add 8 bits of wood as handles.
This way of building the ships wheel gives ability to make the wheel in scale 1:500 and even more - 1:700 !

Table of contents:

• Ships in bottles. How to put a ship into a bottle?
• Method 1. Traditional.
• Method 2. Straws
• Method 3. Without a joint
• Method 4. A Joke?
• Method 5. Great potential
• Instruments
• Handy hints and tips for boat model makers
• Incredible Corks
• Unusual ship models in bottles.
• Stands, drawing and bottles