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EJ_L

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Everything posted by EJ_L

  1. EJ_L
    Attaching blocks to yards. I plan on trying my hand at sewing sails this weekend. We shall see how that goes.
  2. EJ_L
    A very beautiful build indeed! A ship to display with pride.
  3. EJ_L
    Completed the standing rigging this past week and the masts are now topped out at full height. With that work complete I have moved on to working the yards and sails. Made templates for all of the sails on graph paper to test for size and fit. Now I will transfer them to cloth and begin sewing. I am also going to add the details to the yards themselves as well as blocks and such to prepare them for the sails. I am leaning towards a combination of set and furled sails but we will see.
  4. EJ_L
    Thanks Tom and thank you to all those who have hit the like button. Honestly, I do a lot of eye balling alignment on the masts. Any side-to-side lean can be easily seen by viewing the masts in line from forward to aft and vice versa, for more exacting, I will use a straight edge and make sure that it touches all three masts as it passes them. A simple square will usually take care of ensuring plumb as well. In looking at alignment of the masts fore and aft (viewed from the side) this gets trickier. Most ships have a rake to their mast of 1-5 degrees (the masts leaned aft so that when the sails were full, they would not pull the masts past 90 degrees vertical). This adds a challenge as a simple square is no longer usable. I will typically fashion a miter gauge out of card stock that is cut to the degree I want my masts set at. I make them for each ship and each mast so that they will fit the build. With deck furniture, gratings etc. it can be hard to get a normal tool in place or to get a true reading off the deck. I will cut the card to fit around and over any deck items and once I have a flush fit, I can draw the angle I want the mast to slope at and cut the card to alignment. After using this to set the lower mast, the upper masts can be aligned using a straight edge. I recommend doing as much of this as possible early on before too much of the deck furniture is in place. Use alignment marks on the deck and masts to help make repositioning easier. To me, the harder part comes in when adding the rigging lines as they can pull masts out of alignment as tension is applied. Work them as evenly as possible, forward and aft, port and starboard and always monitor the opposite side of the one you are working on. I've had to redo plenty of shrouds when I spin the model around and see a mast pulled far to one side.
  5. EJ_L
    A lot of work for this update. All of the topmast shrouds are complete with ratlines strung and backstays set. Next up up will be work on the topmast caps and then setting the topgallant masts as well as topping out the mizzen with its flagstaff.
  6. EJ_L
    Wow... I'm at a loss for words...
  7. EJ_L
    That motto banner is incredible! I like what you are planning on doing with the rudder head as well. Some great details to start off the stern decorations.
  8. EJ_L
    I think I will echo what Druxey and Mark have said in that I don't think you are posting too much. If they were not subject related postings I could understand, but the researched information and detailed experimentation's along with detail construction notes is making this one of the most informative build logs on the site for people creating any vessel of this era or just for good tips on build practices. I say keep it up!
  9. EJ_L
    Sorry for the delay in responding and updates, I’ve kept meaning to get on here and then would get distracted. Thank you all for the likes and comments. As always, they are welcome and encouraging. As for her size, she is approximately 42 inches long, and when topped out she will be 36 and inches tall with a width at the longest yard of 18 inches. This truly is a massive model that I have yet to decide where her final berth will be... A problem I will hopefully have to tackle in 2020. This update brings topmast work. Fore stays are in place on fore main and mizzen with shrouds done on fore and main, mizzen shrouds underway and ratlines to follow.
  10. EJ_L
    I feel your pain as I have a bad case of Ulcerative Colitis that I go through severe flare ups with. I hope it gets back under control and you home soon and that that home remains safe.
  11. EJ_L
    As always, thank you all for the likes, comments and following along. This past week was another big milestone in the build. Not only did I finish the lower mast rigging, the build itself rolled over 3 years and 1,900 hours! This has been a long journey and I know some of you have been with me on it since the beginning. I still have a lot to do, but the end is drawing ever closer. Baring some unforeseen interruption, I'm thinking I might just get her finished in 2020. Well, the weather mostly held, bit windier than I would have liked but sunny and beautiful otherwise, so I was able to get some outside pictures of her. Enjoy! Time for me to get back to making topmast stays.
  12. EJ_L
    Good to have you back and that you are healing up. I hope your hand use continues to improve so you can get back to all the things you love to do.
  13. EJ_L
    A neutral color wood filler or even drywall mud compound will work if you are going to stain the hull. On fine joints, nearly any filler material will work as long as it is something designed to be painted or stained. The nice thing with wood fillers is that if you know the stain color you are going to use, you can usually find a filler that will match.
  14. EJ_L
    Thank you all for the kind words and all the likes. I’ve completed another stage with the installation of the mizzen mast, top, topmast, shrouds and ratlines. With that, all three mast now stand proud and I can work on the topmast rigging and prep for topgallants. Im hoping to get home from work early enough one evening this week to take some pictures of the entire model as she sits now in natural light. If I can’t get home in time then Saturday looks clear so far. Would like to see her in better lighting than my model room.
  15. EJ_L
    Main mast has shrouds, ratlines top and top mast in place. Time to work on the mizzen mast. Fortunately, it is smaller and hopefully will go a bit faster than the fore and main mast did.
  16. EJ_L
    Glad to hear you are safe for the time being. Still terrible to see this is happening. My thoughts with you and all those over there.
  17. EJ_L
    It’s been slow going but it is still going. Lower main mast shrouds and ratlines are complete. Working on attaching the deadeyes to the main top as well as the other blocks then I can set the top mast. The cold temperatures have been setting in so staying inside and working on the ship is becoming more and more the thing to do.
  18. EJ_L
    I'm so used to seeing wood planks that when you said you were planking, it took me a second to stop looking for wood and see the white plastic plank. I rather enjoy planking myself.It can become monotonous, especially on these larger vessels, but it is also what gives them their shape and seeing that turn out is very rewarding.
  19. EJ_L
    Your sail work is indeed fantastic. Detailed and clean. I constantly learn more every time you update the build.
  20. EJ_L
    I can't say definitively on the black stuff, but most oil base materials would indeed have at least some shiny sheen to them. Even the tar on the ropes and the caulking used would likely have some shininess to it. I think this would vary some depending upon factors of how fresh the application is as well as moisture. The tar used in the rigging would dull faster due to more direct sunlight exposure as well as the effects of the salt air. The black stuff used on the hull would likely maintain a shiny sheen longer due to the water keeping it moist. I think that you will be fine with what you have been doing and am wondering if the camera isn't causing more of a shine than what is really there?
  21. EJ_L
    Be glad to cover those costs. The research you have been doing will help out in vast ways not only S.R. builders but any ship model of the period. PM me if when it happens. In the meanwhile, I will continue to sit here learning and enjoying the show!
  22. EJ_L
    Truly incredible. It is a rare thing to see this much framing work done on a plastic build as usually (and I or one am guilty of it) the builder simply slaps the two hull halves together and closes the seams with putty as needed. The customization work takes place with the guns, deck furniture and rigging. The hull is accepted as is and other than the paint job, there is nothing unique about it. What you are doing in changing the entire structure of a molded plastic hull is such a rarity that it is a unique joy to watch as well as inspiring. If you ever get around to publishing that book or even if you simply compile your notes and images from this log and wish to sell them, let me know as that would be something worth buying.
  23. EJ_L
    Great job indeed. She turned out extremely lovely and will be a great display piece.
  24. EJ_L
    Great find indeed! I knew they were creating 3D images of the Vasa for research and preservation but I did not know they were available to view or where to do so. That information will be invaluable for any builders of this great ship. Thank you for sharing the link!
  25. EJ_L
    Your tops are turning out very nice. Well done on the modifications to the kits version.

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