thibaultron

Part 002
 
The first part in the construction is building the floor/base of the diorama. The back of the floor is raised with three steps up to that level. Two blocks are glued to the underside of the rear of the raised floor, making sure the back edges of the parts are even with each other, as well as with the sides.
 

 
The steps, like the rear blocks have two pieces that are glued with the back ends even with each other. There are, however, no locating marks on the underside of the raised floor to guide attaching the step block to the floor. I used my calipers to measure the depth of the step on the block, locked it and used then used the caliper to set the depth of the step block to the floor section. I measured radially at both ends and the middle. I also made sure the edges matched the floor.
 

 

 
To make sure the floor fit properly in the case, I temporarily assembled the book cover pieces, and set the floor in.
 

 
After taking the floor section back out, the next step in the instructions shows the carpet from the detail paper sheet being installed. The problem is the carpet is all one piece, and the instructions show it flowing continuously down the steps, which are curved! Simple for a real oriental rug, which will stretch somewhat, but a bit harder with a sheet of paper!
 

 
I could not figure out how to do this, so decided to glue the carpet down on the raised section, then trim it off even with the curved edge. Mistake, I then realized that fitting the remaining sections down one piece at a time would be a nightmare!
 
 

 
Luckily the carpet was printed on the sheet as two pieces, and the other matching section was intact. I scanned that piece in, and doubled it to create a new complete rug piece. I was totally unable to completely color match to the old piece, but I came close enough to remove the old section, and will use the print to replace the whole thing.
 
To print the carpet, I’m using a laser printer, as my inkjet one died. This presents a couple of problems. The first is that my printer has a maximum print resolution of 300X300 DPI, some of the detail will be lost. Not that the printing on the detail sheet was photo quality anyway, but it is still better than what my 20-year-old laser can do. For this use, and at a typical viewing distance, it will be “Good Enough”, though. The second problem is the toner on the paper has a semigloss finish, not flat like a real rug, and also flat like the other parts on the paper sheet. I lightly brushed on some Vallejo matt varnish, and that killed the shine.
 

 
The problem still remained, of how to get the continuous piece to mold to the steps! I let the project sit a couple days, and then a light bulb went off in my head! I cut the plywood sheet the parts had come from, and there were two nice forming blocks that matched the step curves.
 
I tried it on the remaining piece of the original rug, and it pressed the carpet down nicely!
 
I started at the top step, clamped the thinner curved section down, then clamped the thicker one below it, also pressing the piece in.
 

 
I then moved the two formers down, the thinner one to hold the paper in place where it had already been formed, and the thicker on to form the bottom step.
 

 
I wanted to make sure the carpet piece would fit all the way the length of the lower floor, and it did. The picture below shows the finished test piece. There is a little bit of excess “rug” at the corners of the curves, but it is not as noticeable as raw paper edges would be.
 

 
I don’t want to use regular paper stock for the carpet, but I’m out of the acid-free stock I had. I’ve ordered three more acid-free reams, and will wait for that to come in, before printing the final carpet piece. I was just going to order one ream, but one was ~$19, and three were ~$29, both with free shipping, so I ordered the three-ream bundle. That is more than I’m ever likely to use, for modeling, but at least I’ll never need to order any more.
 
The next steps are to build the back wall with the cabinet, and fancy window.
 

 
Here are the three wood pieces, for that assembly.
 

 
First you glue the translucent backgrounds to the back of the cabinet front, and window unit. I set the glue toward the outside edges, so no glue would mar the soon to be backlighted areas.
 

 

 
The picture below shows the cabinet front with some light coming through.
 

 
Next, I dry fit the parts, to see what it will look like. For now, I am leaving them this way. When final assembly starts, and I can make sure everything lines up correctly, I’ll glue them in place.
 
This pictures how the back wall as it will look like in the finished scene. There are details to glue to the top of the cabinet, but you get the idea.
 

 

I just came across a picture of the cheap kit I mentioned in Part 001. The sad thing is, that it was only a little cheaper, but only showed a picture of a completed model of the one I'm building now! So a Chinese rip-off of a Chinese kit!
 
Notice the white LED module, which had no way to hook up a battery, and the solid amber rubber "thing", that I have no idea what it is for! There were no instructions.
 

Oh
Here is the decking with the “scrolls” as they appear on the plans. 
I guess this is broadside reinforcement?

Swivel gun brackets balanced. Copper not “brass blacked” yet. 
pretty close to original, close as I could solder anyway. 
Only took about 6 hours for both. 🤣

As I said above, just the process of making a cable out of several ropes would have resulted in the opposite twist.
 
I answered my own question in that regard. 
 
I suppose the choice of one over the other, would be size..

Hi Gregory
I have no idea if this was a traditional thing or there was some "scientific" reasoning behind this.   Lees mentions cable laid versus shroud laid rope regarding shrouds but gives no information as to why cable laid was sometimes used.  If they are indeed interchangeable, I would guess there is little, if any, effect.  Hopefully some member will have some historical information.
Allan

With some thought, because a cable would have been laid up from ropes, it would have had the opposite twist of the ropes.

Any idea how the lay of the rope affects the use/handling of the rope?

Ugh. 
Now I have to make my own switch hitting serving machine. 

Hadn’t considered it, but if you want some for the Rattlesnake, I’ll make them. Send me dimensions and what kind of wood you want. 
I have: oak, honey colored pine, walnut, spruce, and balsa. 
Mortgage is paid, don’t  need money. 🙂
 
Btw, does anyone know what size a pulley block for a 1776 cannon was in actuality??

FWIW, confirming Greg's observation, all the breech rope in the drawings in Caruana's The History of English Sea Ordnance are right hand twist rather than cable laid.
Allan
 

Since you have a laser, have you considered making pieces like these:

... and laying battens in the slots?
 
Your laser cut gratings do look good as they are.  Nice square holes.  Some lasers don't do that very well at these small sizes.
 

Good looking rope! Keep in mind that your model rope is cable laid (left twist) vs the actual cannon depicted which has right hand laid rope. Just a technical point but one that's fun to know because on every ship you now visit you'll be looking for the lay of the rope!

Bought some line from that guy “Ropes of Scale” in Toronto. 
Awesome stuff. Looks even better in person. 

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

Does the protection take into account the containers falling off the ship when it impacts the barriers?

Part 001
 
The next Book Nook type diorama I’m building is “Sailing Memory”. I figured a ship themed diorama would more fit with this forum. It is the least complex kit so far, but it does throw some “Curve Balls”, so follow along.
 
This first part will show the contents of the kit. Construction will start in Part 002.
 
The first thing to note, is that except for the book cover parts, none of the plywood sheets are printed on the back, like the other two kits were. For the most part, this is not a problem, but it does present problems for the chair and table, so far. Both are printed in a mahogany wood grained color, which was hard to match. As I like to paint the lasered edges, this was a problem, especially the chair which has raw wood on the inside of the arms. Also, this model has many more colors than the previous kits, and trying to come close to the right colors on the exposed ply edges, has been a challenge!
 
One thing of importance on this kit, about a year and a half ago I bought what I thought was this kit, for far less than the price of the other vendors. That was a huge mistake, and I should have known better! What I got was this kit, but with all the “details” printed on the insides of the covers, no 3D detailing at all, and the printing was fuzzy to boot! If you are getting this kit, find a vendor that shows the 3D detail up close, not just a shot of a completed kit!
 
I have already progressed in the construction, and while I took pictures as I went, there may be some gaps in this thread. I missed taking some pictures along the way. Normally I write the sections as I go, but life threw me some challenges the last few weeks, and I’m just now getting to the writeups.
 
Here are the contents of the kit.
 
This is the picture from the cover of the instructions of the completed kit. The box is just plain white cardboard, so no picture of that.
 

 
The next two pictures are the outsides of the book covers/shell. I’ll show the printed insides when construction gets to that point. (Mostly because I forgot to take those photos when I was shooting these, and had already started construction, when I noticed their lack.)
 

 

 
The next few pictures are of the remaining plywood sheets. Matching colors for all those edges will be fun, not! You can see the woodgrain detail printed on the sheets.
 


 
This sheet has the back wall of the diorama, with the fancy window.
 


 
This sheet has the cabinet front that the white translucent sheet glues to, in the lower right corner.
 

 
The accessory bag has the LED assembly, and a sheet of glossy clear squares, that I think are to put over the small books in the model, after you build them. I probably will not use these, as I think the flat finish on the printed covers looks better.
 

 
Here are the contents of the bag. The LED assembly, a ceiling fixture, A small sanding stick, and the folded sheet with the glossy squares. Another reason I don’t think I’ll use the squares, is that when I opened it to see what it was a couple of the squares stuck to my fingers, and were ruined.
 

 
This is the printed paper sheet with several details. There are pictures for some picture frames, maps to be glued on, the book covers that will be glued to wooden book blanks, and a carpet for the floor (much more on the carpet later).
 

 
Lastly this is a translucent sheet with two pieces to be glued on. The colored seascape is glued behind the ornate window at the back of the display, and the white blank goes behind the front of the cabinet that sits against the back wall.  This is similar to the Japanese style with paper “window” covering, like the old-style houses.
 
When the model is finished both of these will be backlit, for a nice effect. This may be a little incorrect for the cabinet, but it will still look good.
 

 
I have jury duty next week so there will a gap in the writing of the thread.

I altered the carriage for the 30# Parrott to fit the 20# gun since I have no data at all what a pivot carriage for the 20# would look like.  So, that's that one done.

Moving on, I poked at the XI inch Dahlgren on the iron carriage based mostly on a drawing for a sci-fi story on the Deviant Art site.

I don't know their source, as most photos I can find are late 1880s, 1890s and the technology had changed some from the 1870s.  The carriage looks the same, but there's springs and things the 1870 guns didn't have.
It's not done, but it's getting there...

This gun's for my list of Constellation's guns, and was mounted on the gun-deck opposite a 100# Parrott on a wooden pivot carriage - each with a their gun-port widened to 10 feet.

Making the 60# Parrott pivot got me thinking about the gun at Cumberland's other end, a 10 inch shell-gun.  I found a drawing by Dahlgren himself, dated July 1850, with a proposed armament for frigates to mount 6 10 inch shell guns on pivot on the spar deck (the 11 inch hadn't come out yet) and 26 9 inch shell-guns on the gun-deck.
The Navy went with two pivots, one fore and one aft, and a mix of 8 inch shell-guns and 32# shot guns on the gun-deck.
The 10 inch gun in Dahlgren's drawing is on a Traversing Pivot Gun Carriage and Slide as shown in a diagram in a Navy manual.

I then used the Traversing carriage diagram to make the carriage, and took the slide from my 10" shell-gun pivot, and adjusted it to Dahlgrens drawing which was shorter, but it's the same in all other details.   Spencer Tucker in his Arming the Fleet says the carriage was the same as that for for the Columbiads (the Traversing Carriage shown), but widened to accommodate the larger Dahlgren gun body.
The compressor was different, and a bit fiddly, there's a lever that works it instead of the screw these carriages had later.  There's a pin that hold that level connected to the carriage by a chain, and whether it was a good idea or not, I gave it a chain - we'll see how that prints.

 
Now go to my Constellation build log to see the can of worms this opened up...