перевод
Chapter 25. Metalworking (galvanizing, soldering, blackening).
Rudder Hinges.
20.06.2026
As I mentioned earlier, I'll be making extended loops that extend onto the boards to strengthen the connection. The top loop will also wrap around the handlebars, and there will be another piece to hold the chain in place for an emergency turn if the main steering mechanism is damaged (the red version, not the blue one).
I've previously shown that I modeled these hinges in Blender 3D and 3D printed them. This is in the relevant section.
After
printing, I lightly sanded them with 400-grit sandpaper and matched
them to the wood. The final fit will be after copper plating.
The holes are more like marker holes, as after copper plating, they'll need to be drilled to the correct size for the bolts.
The
top hinge will be disassembled, as it's curved and impossible to
install without separating. However, the seam will be inside, deep and
invisible.
Then I connected all the holders into the wood and covered it all with Graphite Varnish.
The next day I put the first batch into a special copper plating machine for galvanization (I talk about this in detail here).
I'll describe all the details of the galvanic process and all the parameters in the dedicated thread, but here I'll show the results of the first batch.
The copper layer on the plastic is over 60 microns thick, up to 100, so it's more than enough to sand and polish the copper (I'll detail the failures in the Galvanic section). Two parts were damaged, but I've already repaired them (more on that later).
First, I cut the holder with wire cutters, then sanded it with a file, then went over the surface with 1000-grit sandpaper to smooth it out. Then I drilled the holes for the bolts and finally polished it (not too hard, just superficially) with 00 or 000-grit steel wool. Just to remove the sandpaper scratches. Don't polish too much (especially with 0000+ steel wool), as the blackening will adhere less well. I was quite happy with the result, but I felt I could do better and made two more sets. More on that later. For now, here's the result of my first attempt:
Tomorrow I'll try to post something on the Electroplating Tests thread, detailing what I did the first time and the second time... and it looks like I'm finally close to the ideal electroplating method... but I'm not sure... I'm still in the process.
19.07.2026
So, my galvanizing experiments have finally come to an end. In this article, I'll explain in detail how to copper-plat plastic (SLA, 3D printed), where and how to avoid mistakes, and how to make this process repeatable and, most importantly, effective. Let's get started.
I'll reiterate, this isn't a guide, and I can't guarantee you'll get it right the first time. I'll simply show you how I achieved the result, which is as close as possible to what I originally wanted. (Naturally, based on the trial and error I've made while building my experience.)
0.Safety!
1. Cathode. Details to be copper-plated.
These parts were modeled in Blender 3D. Incidentally, you can also use it to find the exact area of each part. This is necessary to set the correct current (amperes). This is important, as the result depends on it! Don't confuse volume and area; we need area!
See point 7 for the dimensions and shape of the wood with holders!
Since plastic doesn't conduct electricity, we need to create a conductive coating using graphite varnish. Apply three very thin layers. Then, use a brush to touch up the connection points between the part and the holders. This will speed up the bonding process between the graphite and the copper and prevent any gaps between the part and the holders.
3. Anode. Copper plates.
The anode area (copper plates on both sides!) should be twice the area of the parts with the holders. However, the copper ratio shouldn't be too high, no more than 2.5:1. It's best to make the plates narrow (2-3 cm) and they should be above the liquid level (but only the area in the solution is taken into account!) Before use, be sure to remove the oxide layer on the copper. This can be done with steel wool, sandpaper, or a drill attachment.
4. Filters. Non-woven material.
You need to sew covers from four layers. And be sure to wet them with water and wring them out before use. This material doesn't absorb water well and will stay dry for a long time in the bath.
5. Location and quantity.
6. Electronics. Power supplies and step-down control unit.
This converter connects the positive terminal (Plus) to the anode (copper plates). I connected it to a terminal inside the case.
I connected this contact to the motor's rotation axis. I also bought the motor on AliExpress. It's powered by a 3V power supply, which gives it 2 revolutions per minute. In the first versions, I used a bearing in the sliding contact area (a big mistake, as there were huge voltage surges due to uneven ball contact. Then I used a washer, which turned out to be zinc-coated, and when the steel bracket gnawed a groove in it, the contact also began to fail). So I replaced the washer with a copper one and lubricated the contact with sewing machine oil, and the voltage surges have been gone!
The photo shows the minimum acceptable values. However, it's better to either use a larger tank and liquid, or make the tree smaller. The recommended distance from the bottom is 4.5-5 cm (this is the most important, by the way). From the parts to the plates, 4-5 cm, and between rows and tiers, 2.5-3 cm. However, with these values, I end up with a very small tree and very few parts. I found the minimum value through trial and error. But it's still best to leave at least 4-4.5 cm from the bottom!
So... the tree of parts is installed, the copper plates are polished, washed, dried, and put on damp covers! The tank is washed with soap, dried, clean, and free of streaks and dust. Everything is ready; you just need to add the solution and set the correct voltage.
8. Solution. Ready-made liquid for bright copper plating (acidic).
9. Settings. Current (Amps).
This is perhaps the most important thing after the solution itself.
Calculating area and current.
To accurately determine the area of the parts, you can find this value when modeling in Blender, and be sure to add the area of all holders! If the parts weren't modeled, you need to calculate them as accurately as possible using AI.
You need 0.007 A per 1 cm². (The value 0.01 A/cm² is often quoted everywhere, but lower current means denser and stronger copper, longer process times, and less stress on the solution. That's why I derived this value for myself.)
In this case, with an area of 70 cm² (all parts and holders), I set the copper flow rate to 0.5 A/cm², and the copper coated parts up to 1 cm thick in 40 minutes and parts 1.5 cm long in 80 minutes. The copper layer continued to build up for about another 3 hours. The total copper plating time was exactly 4 hours.
It is not recommended to remove the parts from the solution. One-time, very brief inspections are permitted. The main thing is to prevent the solution from drying on the parts, otherwise oxidation will occur!
Also, don't partially remove the wood while the unit is running, otherwise the entire stress will fall only on the parts submerged in the liquid!
Copper grows stronger and faster on the lower tiers. Therefore, it's necessary to arrange parts of the same shape on the same holder (vertically), and as the layer increases on the lower tiers, you can cut off the lower parts, leaving the upper ones to continue to be coated with copper.
This is a crucial step, as the subsequent results will depend on it.
As you can see, the 4-layer filters worked and prevented the bathtub from becoming dirty. The filter plates should be removed from the solution very slowly and carefully.
The copper plates should be washed with soap and a brush and dried. The oxide film should only be removed before next use, not before storage!
The
next day, drain the top three-quarters of the liquid using the suction
method, without tilting or moving the container! This can be done with a
large syringe or tube. Then, pour the remainder into a jar for 3-4 days
and leave it there without moving it. During this time, the sediment
will settle further, and you need to suck out the top four-fifths of the
solution again with a syringe or tube, without moving the jar. Dispose
of anything that remains at the bottom.
This sediment will
contain the spent organic matter of the brightener and, more
importantly, large copper particles (copper dust). When this dust gets
on the part, it creates an uneven surface, making the copper rough and
brittle. No home filters can stop such small particles, so it's easier
to let them settle and discard them.
And here's the result immediately
after copper plating. This is before any finishing, grinding, and
polishing. In the first photo, this is the very bottom tier (it’s a test
tier, but it will also turn out great).
This copper is extremely durable, easy to process, and can be drawn perfectly. Most importantly, using galvanic processing, you can create metal parts of any complexity and in any quantity with a high degree of repeatability!
20.07.2026
Rudder. (First hull).
When I started the project, I thought the focus would be on the second hull, and the first (since it's from a kit) would serve as a base for the second. But as I worked, I realized the kit hull was turning out quite well (frames, deck parts, it's a shame I didn't completely redesign the keel, including the stem, initially).
So, while making new rudder hinges (using electroplating), I realized I couldn't use the kit hinges on the first hull. In terms of appearance and authenticity, it's a world of difference. So I decided to completely redesign the rudder and sternpost (again, I really regret that I can't redesign the entire keel, but I'm using the existing one).
This is still an intermediate stage (photo for clarity), and now how I reworked it. The method is simple: I simply copied the old parts as if for a conduit, milling the new part to their dimensions.
I have already made a similar kit for the second case, so I will not repeat the rest of the processes.
14.08.2026
Blackening.
I did a lot of blackening tests, and I liked this option the most, specifically to see how wrought iron looks (I'll show you how it looks with cast iron when I make guns).So, I don't recommend dipping metal (copper or brass) in pure BB, as it's difficult to control the result, and a completely black color isn't suitable for conveying the tone of wrought iron. The color should be a very dark graphite gray, not black. Firstly, it's authentic, and secondly, in photographs and in real life, black will lack detail and the image will look flat and poor.
To achieve this color, I do the following:
First exposure: 17-18 minutes in a diluted BB solution with water in a 1:6 ratio. This is the first base coat. During the process, you need to stir the parts in the solution and remove air bubbles from the holes. I recommend doing this with a brush to avoid damaging the blackening layer.
Next, rinse under running water and let dry naturally. Then, remove any remaining residue with a cloth and a dry brush.
Then I do a second exposure for 8-9 minutes in a BB solution diluted in water in a ratio of 1:3.
By the way, diluting also significantly saves BB, which is also a plus.
I wear gloves when handling everything from galvanizing to fixing. Care must be taken with the surface, as any contact with a hard object will scratch the blackening.
The final result is a very dark gray (graphite) color. Naturally, in real life, iron near water rusts, but! On ships, all metal (especially underwater metal) was coated with protective agents. These were based on various materials, but their purpose was to prevent water and air from interacting with the pure metal. This made the metal darker in spots and more shiny. This slight sheen will be added by coating the entire surface with Bitumen. But that will come later, for now, here's the intermediate result before installation:
Unfortunately, the photos don't convey the true color (I'll try to do so against a wood background). But in real life, this color is absolutely similar to wrought iron.
All the irregularities are visible only at maximum magnification and are practically invisible in wide shots, which is true to life at this scale. Let me remind you that this is wrought iron, not to mention cast iron, but even that wasn't smooth and even. It was already that way right out of the forge, and you can imagine what happened to it over the course of its life.
Let me remind you that all of these parts were modeled and 3D printed, then copper-plated and blackened. I can't even imagine how long it would have taken to make them using conventional methods.
P.S. A very important note! I used regular water for dilution. I wore gloves to avoid contaminating the surface with grease, so I didn't degrease the metal with alcohol! And the blackening was done on metal that wasn't too heavily oxidized. That means not much time had passed since the final polishing. All the factors I listed can change the result, including their combination.
Let me explain again why I don't use pure BB. Blackening happens very quickly and uncontrollably. If air bubbles or debris get on the metal, areas may not be blackened and will be visible. And additional blackening can blacken the part too much, leaving it solid black. In real life and in photographs, too much black is unreadable and looks like a single black spot. If you want to show relief and detail, you should use a very dark graphite color instead of black. This is my opinion, but you may feel differently, and that's okay.
P.S.2. For my second experiment, I tried degreasing the copper steering wheel hinges in alcohol before blackening them, and then diluted the BB with distilled water. I'm not sure what exactly caused this effect, whether it was just one or both, but with the same dilutions and two exposures, I got a different color. It had a blue tint and was lighter. I then performed another exposure at a 1:3 ratio with regular water (not distilled like the first two times) and ended up with absolutely the same shade and color as the first kit with two exposures. It's unclear whether the distilled water or the degreasing with alcohol caused this error. But I did notice that the copper darkened slightly when dipped in alcohol (very slightly, but still), so here's my experiment...
16.08.2026
Imitation bolts.
So what is a bolt? Firstly, it's not a thread and nut, but a rod of forged steel or copper, riveted on one end in a forge to form a saucer-shaped head, not a mushroom-shaped one. Then there are two options.
First, if the length is very long (a stem or sternpost assembly), the bolt was driven into several elements (not all the way through), and because it was driven at different angles, the bolts fused the elements together.
And the second option is that the rod was driven from the outside, without heating, into a hole smaller than the bolt (so that the bolt would work across its entire length, not just at its ends). Then, the head was pressed against a kind of anvil on the outside, and a washer was inserted into the inside, and the rod was cold-riveted so that the metal would flow onto the washer, thus preventing it from falling off.
Both ends were treated against corrosion. Sometimes the bolt was recessed and covered with a wooden plug, but more often, a small indentation was simply made on the outside so the head was flush with the surface and did not interfere with the movement of the bolt through the water.
The dimensions were naturally standard for each rank and size of ship. On a small cutter, the bolts were naturally an order of magnitude smaller than on, say, a frigate. If we recalculate to scale, we have specific dimensions, but we also have to consider the model's visibility. Sometimes we have to reduce or increase certain parameters to avoid overloading an element or, conversely, to make it more visible. Therefore, I made the bolts almost flush with the wood, almost flat, and slightly smaller, 0.5 mm, like the nails (dowels). I chose brass because my copper bolts are copper, and I wanted to make the forged ones a different color. I didn't like the plain blackened ones, so I left the pure brass. After many months, it oxidizes and becomes very dark, somewhat mimicking the appearance of corroded metal. But that's my choice; I'm simply explaining my reasons.
Also, the bolts were usually not positioned precisely in the center of the part. They were typically placed alternately on either side for increased rigidity and to prevent the wood from splitting along the drill line.
To give the wire a slight roundness, I cut the wire off not right at the end, but at a small tip, then sand it lightly and press the remaining part with something hard. If I don't want to scratch the wood during this process, I lay down some masking tape and sand over it to avoid damaging the wood. After pressing the wire, I remove the tape.
Over time, brass will tarnish significantly, and I really like this color, as opposed to black spots (like after blackening). But that's a matter of taste.
On the other hand, I make the hinge bolts black, which is natural, since the hinges themselves are black. The head here also can't be hidden, so I create it by rolling it with a knife, just like I did with the copper bolts in the clinker paneling.
Then I cut them to the required length after blackening and install them in the holes that I drilled through the loop in the wood.
My top hinge is made in two pieces because it wraps around the back of the steering wheel. I first glue the hinge to the wooden part, then drill one hole in each piece and insert one bolt, then drill the second, and so on, to avoid any distortions or misalignments.
First, I fix all the loops on the steering wheel, since they have strict places for this...
By the way, the color here is exactly like in real life: not black, but a very dark gray, and the bolts are clearly visible, not blending into one black spot.
23.08.2026
The rudder hinges are secured, now let's move on to the sternpost hinges. The logic is as follows. I started by securing the top two to make drilling holes easier. Then I glued the sternpost in place, and after polishing, I finished nailing it.
I will make the handle-lever when I work on the deck, but at this point the steering mechanism is completely ready.
Next, all of this needs to be done on the first hull of the ship.
27.08.2026
Bolts Imitation (1st Hull)
Initially, I didn't dare make the bolts on the frames out of metal, instead simulating them with round halos due to their number and so they wouldn't distract from the wood. However, on the keel, I didn't really like this look, so I tried it on a test piece and decided to replace the bolts with brass wire.
To avoid damaging the already oiled wood, I first covered it with masking tape and then drilled and polished it. To ensure the wire was polished properly on the end, I cut it off, leaving a little bit sticking out, then polished it, and then pressed the rest of it in until it was flush with the wood.
In the end it turned out like this.
I liked the fact that brass oxidizes over time. Especially when you rub it with greasy hands, it doesn't shine, but it also doesn't look like black spots like after blackening... but something in between, not flashy but still noticeable.
Shaped plank.
Its construction is no different from what I previously showed on the second hull.
Rudder Hinges (1st case)
The fixing was the same as in the 2nd hull. I'll show a couple of differences in the photo:
Rudder blade (1st and 2nd hulls).
Since I replaced the sternpost, I will also replace the metal bracket (in the shape of an hourglass) and it will be thinner, because I covered the extra space.
29.08.2026
Horseshoe and Fish plates.
Like the steering wheel hinges, I also modeled these parts in a 3D program, then printed them on a 3D printer, copper-plated them, and blackened them. Yes, in theory, this could have been done with a sheet of copper or brass and a regular file, but I was too lazy to do that much work, and it was important to me that everything looked identical. The printer allowed me to print parts 0.2 mm thick, and after copper-plating and polishing, they were no thicker than 0.3 mm. The exception was the horseshoe on the first hull. Since the keel already had a groove for the horseshoe that came with it, I simply copper-plated it and installed it in that groove.
Originally, these parts were recessed into the wood and flush-mounted, but that's difficult to achieve without a CNC milling machine, so I made them overlays, and I like the look as is.
The question remains about the material. Before the days when underbody parts weren't copper-plated, all the brackets (plates) were made of forged iron and connected with through bolts that held them in place. But after the ship's bottom was covered with copper sheets, everyone noticed one thing: the wrought iron next to the copper was disintegrating within months, and the wood around it was rotting. It was later discovered that a galvanic process occurred in the salt water, and iron ions were transferred to the copper, causing the iron to disintegrate. So, all the joints between the copper and iron were insulated, but this didn't really help. Only later did they begin replacing the iron bolts and plates with copper ones.
So here's the question... I'm making a model that originally didn't have a copper bottom, and it was only updated a year later. They replaced the cannons with 5-piece ones and covered the bottom with copper sheets... And it's unclear whether they replaced the plates with copper ones or not. Goodwin indicates in the anatomy that these parts are made of copper, but given the numerous errors in the anatomy, I can't blindly trust this, but still...
In short, I haven't decided what to do yet. I'm not planning on covering the bottom with copper sheets; I've only simulated the waterline with a different pear-colored finish (this simply shows that the wood darkened more underwater). But I want to install 6-pound cannons on the model, which date back to 1778, so there's a mismatch between the copper bottom and the cannons...
In short, I haven't decided yet, but I have a backup plan. I could, of course, leave the brackets (plates) as I did in black... But I could carefully polish the top layer of blackening with 0000 steel wool, and underneath will be heavily oxidized copper (at least that's the color it will be). I want to make some samples and see how it all looks in real life, not just in words... but for now, here's the result in black:
30.08.2026
It's been a while since I've spoiled you with useless statistics. 😆
Don't ask me why I calculate this, but it's not difficult for me and I find it interesting, so let's begin...
As of today, since the project's launch on March 10, 2025 (almost a year and a half ago), I've been creating two models in parallel for exactly 350 days. And considering that I spent at least 5-6 hours on my hobby during each of those 350 days, that's at least 2,000 hours of work. And I haven't included the days I spent calculating rigging and other organizational work.
Not counting all the elements placed on the deck: gratings, ladders, bits, and other things that I haven't yet added to the statistics, here's the current count:
1st hull:
~1,217 parts,
+800 wooden nails,
+200 copper clinker planking bolts.
2nd hull:
~686 parts,
+2,328 wooden nails,
+1,914 copper clinker planking bolts.
Well, you'll have to live with that information now. 😆
Next...