thibaultron

Another disadvantaged lefty, also

Might I suggest some little laser cut ribs, to go inside the gun base, so you can bend the brass stock curves, smoothly? They could then be removed after the base is completed. Perhaps one set could be reused for the other bases.

You will find the topslide useful for many future projects.

Using a live center at the tailstock would help, as you could use less pressure holding that end of the rod. For repeatability, you could make a flat sheet pattern, put a pointer on the topslide, and mount the pattern to the bed. Then slowly run the dails holding the pionter against the pattern, as you cut the rod.

Buy some nylon screws, the epoxy may not glue to them. Otherwise, put in a screw from the top, epoxy the nuts and back the screws out as the epoxy starts to set. Run a tap down from the top once it is set. You may have to run a tap size drill down from the top, to clear out the keel, then a clearance drill, carefully, up from the bottom, following the hole from the tap drill.

Imaginative fix on the spine!

I'll be following your build! I have this kit on order, thought I may not build the full mast, due to the height.

Welcome to wooden ship modeling! You've made a great start.

I love the base! Great display!

Maury, run a tap through those nuts to make sure the threads are clean, while they are still assesable. Dont't ask.

One problem I can see with them, is it would be difficult to wear them, if you already are wearing glasses.

Part 001 I’m starting my build log of the CAF Models HMS Granado Cross-section in 1/48th scale (https://cafmodel.com/). This kit is a Plank On Frame with one side planked, and the other unplanked, to show all the frame/rib detail. CAF has a slightly different approach to the traditional (at least modern tradition) laser cut parts. Instead CAF CNC Mills the major components, allowing for better preshaping of the parts, for the modeler. Their site has more pictures of the completed model. The HMS Granado was a Bomb Vessel. Instead of a broadside of cannons, she was build with just a few defensive cannons and two large bore mortars set in wells on the deck. Regular cannon were setup for ship to ship engagements, and could not be elevated to any great degree. Thus ships of the line could not readily reduce a fortification, unless it was set at close to sea level, and even then they could mostly just attack the walls of the fort. The mortars on a bomb vessel however were designed to fire at high angles, allowing it to fire over the walls, into the interior of the fort itself. They were also of a much larger caliber than even a large broadside cannon. The mortar shells also had explosive charges to increase the damage. The bomb vessels were generally moored in place, out of the range of the fort, during action with anchor lines at the bow and stern. This allowed the ship to be turned to further zero in the targeting aim, and insured that once the range and target were attained, repeated fire would land in the same spot, rather than having to resight for every shot. The ship was defended from ships of the enemy fleet, by regular ships from her navy. To allow for a clearer field of fire the ships generally had two rather than the typical three masts, that a warship this size would carry. This model is of the larger of the two mortars, along with the cover for the well, used during sailing, to prevent water from filling the well from wave and rain. The cross-section includes the large deck support beams, and the racks the shot was stored on. Here is a photo showing a drawing of the completed model. The large box is fully packed with modeling goodies! One box contains all the hardware for the model, as well as hardware for the unique acrylic building frame. You build a box with supports for the frames and then assemble the model in this box, once all the individual frames have been assembled. The other box has all the acrylic pieces for the frame box. There is also a small sheet of photo-etched details. Included is a set of plans. These photos show the CNC milled wood parts. They are staying in the shrink wrap, and I will open them as needed during the construction. If you look closely you can see that some of the pieces have been milled on all sides to the correct shape. There will, of course, be more shaping on most of them, but a lot less than if you started with parts that were 2D laser cut on just two sides. Some of the flat parts are laser cut. The loop hanging down in this shot, is my camera strap, opps. The instruction book is a well detailed, illustrated step by step guide. It comes in a semi-bound clear binder. I proceeded to unbind it, by peeling off the cover, scraping the glue along the spine, and removing the staples. I’ll scan the whole book, so that I can print out each page, if any should get damaged during the build. I have more than once spilled glue or paint while building a model. I will also scan in the plans, for my own use only, so that I can print sections of the plans that you build various assemblies on top of. The frames, for example, are built on top of the plans.

CAF is, so far, the only legal (ie. non pirated kit manufacturer), based in China. I ordered two kits from them, and while it took a while, received both well packed and in good shape. Their kits are high quality.

That's like the Lowes "Craftsman Tools". They are not made by the same company that the Sears Craftsman tools were made by. Lowes bought the name and logo from Sears, but Stanley makes the tools. Sears still sells them, also, but reserved the right to continue to have their original manufacturer produce them, for I believe 10 years.

Curses!! Another hit to my wallet! Thanks for the reference, I ordered one from Amazon.

I used the information in the Hand Reef and Steer book to develop a rigging plan for my Maryland Terrapin Smack. Chappells plans do not give details of the masts, or rigging, though they do show the spars. Anyway this book cleared up some of the mast rigging details I needed.

Well my kit arrived, and my workbench is mostly cleaned off, so I had best start my build log. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, if my first Covid shot doesn't hit me too hard.

No I bought the saw for less than $100. Wish I could have had enough for the Barnes. I've added these on over the course of a couple years.

Part 009 Yesterday the new Miter Gauge I bought from the same person I purchased the backplate and rip fence from arrived. It is a well made all aluminum assembly with nice large angle markings on it. It fit well in the table slot, with only a little slop, much less than the factory one. It also has a larger miter assembly, with one side angled at 45 degrees. The gauge has a nice thick blade screwed onto the protractor, giving a good surface to hold your work piece to. The only down side I see to it is that the position marker on the slide is a dot, rather than a line, making it harder to set the correct angle. The locking screw is well made and provides a strong grip when tightened. I tried cutting some old ¾” X ¾” hard pine strips on it for a project. It did stall a couple times, when I tried to feed it through too quickly, but I was using a 100 tooth blade rather than a more suitable one. The finish on the cut ends was smooth. This size wood is at what I would consider the upper limit, in thickness, so I was happy with the performance.

Coming along nicely!

Looking at other pictures in the Library of Congress collection, the figurehead seams to have been added after 1895. The shield decoration seems to have been the original. Thne stern decoration that goes with the figurehead, looks like fun also.

The Olympia is berthed in Philadelphia, though admittedly, it would be a long walk, for you!

Several Stanley 101s, though not that exact design, for $30 to $50 on Ebay here in US.

A couple things to note about resin printers. The resins are generally toxic, so keep the printer away from children and animals. The resin print is brittle, so be careful handling it. The resin has a shelf life after opening it, so a large resin printer may be expensive to feed, if you are doing small volumes of prints. (OK, three things, but I can't count well).

Nice figurehead!