On pages 150 and 151 of his book, The Art of Ship Modeling, Bernard Frolich describes
in great detail his method of manufacturing forelocked bolt ends which he uses to detail the
exterior of his ship models. These forelocked bolt ends simulate the full scale method that was
used to secure the gun tackle and breeching eyebolts and ringbolts to the side of the ship. They add a great deal of visual interest to a ship model and as I was in the midst of reworking some unsatisfactory parts on my Lexington model, I decided to see if I could use Frolich’s method to manufacture these detail items and add them to the Lex.

Frolich’s method of making the forelocked bolt ends, which he describes in text and
drawings, consists essentially of making two tools (drilling jigs); one jig is used to drill the bolt ends and the other one to drill the rove or washer. What he does not describe but only alludes to is making the washer blanks. To do this you must make a punch and die tool to punch the washer blanks out of sheet brass. Frolich’s method of simulating the bolt ends is to use pieces of appropriately sized brass rod or wire which are drilled to accept a short piece of fine brass wire which simulates the forelock, washers which are punched from sheet brass and center drilled complete the bolt end. You could also use copper instead of brass if you desire.

I found after some initial frustrations that the forelocked bolt ends were relatively easy to
replicate in 1/48th scale and I believe that it would be feasible to manufacture these simulated bolt ends for a large vessel built in 1/96th scale. However, I did not use Frolich’s method for drilling the bolt ends as I found it to be beyond the limits of my patience. After making several drilling jigs and breaking numerous #80 drill bits with only one successfully drilled bolt end to show for my labors I conceded defeat and spent several days gloomily pondering how to get off dead center on this project. The problem was one of getting the drill started exactly on center. The brass wire was too small to center punch, the drilling jig required close tolerances and alignment and being made out of brass was subject to excessive wear in the drill guide hole which allowed the drill point to wander and break. The solution that I hit upon proved to be a straight forward, easy and reasonably speedy way of making the bolt ends. And I believe it resulted in a final product that is closer in appearance to the full size article.

The method that I settled on to manufacture the bolt end involves the use of a 0.010 inch metal
slitting saw set up on my Unimat mill drill head to slit a 0.010 inch slot about 0.090 inches deep in a piece of 1/32nd inch brass rod. Quite frankly after the #80 drill debacle I didn’t expect and better results out of this setup but to my surprise I found that it worked extremely well. I used 1/32nd brass rod to simulate a full scale 1 ½ inch diameter bolt, 0.010 inch brass for the washers and 0.010 inch brass for the forelock. At the bottom right is the drilling jig for the washers, it is made out of a scrap automotive vacuum line fitting and works very well. The key is to cut a recess into it which holds the washer blank securely when the top piece is screwed on and does not allow the washer to spin when drilling the hole in it. To the left of this jig is the die punch that I made to make the washer blanks. It is made out of mild steel rod and if the tolerances are kept close and the die and punch are carefully aligned it will quickly punch out as many perfect brass circles as you need. In the upper left are the three elements of the forelocked bold end and just to the left of them is a completed, blackened bolt end.

To assemble the bolt end, the slotted piece of brass rod is inserted into a piece of 1/8th inch
aluminum that has a 1/32nd inch hole drilled in it, the aluminum jig is then placed on a hard,
smooth surface. If the slotted piece of brass rod is cut to the right length, this will leave the end of the slot just about even with the surface of the piece of aluminum when the brass rod is fully
inserted in the hole. A drilled washer is placed over the brass rod and a suitable length of 0.010
inch thick by 0.020 to 0.030 inch wide brass, which simulates the forelock, is placed in the slot
and the ends of the slotted brass rod are gently squeezed together and then gently cut off to the proper length (in my bolt ends this was about 0.020 to 0.030 inches). The finished bolt is then cut so that it has about a 1/16th inch stub for insertion into the hole that is drilled at the
appropriate location through the side of the model. After de-greasing and blackening the bolt
ends are ready to install. I recommend making about 20% more pieces than you actually need for scrap allowance.

After overcoming the initial difficulties I found making these detail parts to be an enjoyable task
and the finished items look very convincing and add visual interest to what had been a fairly
boring broadside.