thibaultron

Part_021
 
This is a picture of the diorama with the LEDs on and an overhead light shining through the top window.
 

 
The final steps to finish the model are painting the raw edges of the case.
 
This picture shows some of the edges that need to be painted. I need two colors for this. The first is my blend for the masonry areas at the front. I decided to paint the outside edges the masonry color in the area the masonry was present. The other areas that needed painting were all the spots the “white” panels met. On the front plate I used pure white paint, but after looking at the finished model, I noticed that the panel color was an off-white color.
 

 
I had three different “white” shades in my Vallejo collection, So I painted swatches of each on a sprue area the parts had come from. The results are shown in the picture below.
 
The three areas I painted are marked by the red circles. At the top, labeled “I”, is “Ivory”. In the middle marked with what was supposed to be a “W”, is the standard white. At the bottom, marked ”OW”, is Vallejo's “Off White”. The Off White matched almost exactly.
 
PS, yes, I failed in writing clearly in small areas with a sharpie. Sue me! LOL!
 

 
The following few pictures show the finished paint job.
 

 

 

 
I only saw the bad spot in the above picture, while writing this section. I plan to leave it as is. The area is not visible from the front at normal viewing angles, and I don’t want to mix a whole batch of paint for this one spot
 

 
Another shot of the fully painted, and finished model from the front.
 

 
The rest of these pictures are more shots of the finish diorama.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
I will shortly be starting another thread on a ship themed Book Nook diorama, called “Sailing Memory”. It shows a room with various nautical “stuff” on the table and walls, several books that need to be made, and a large backlit fancy window with an ocean scene behind it. The kit is simpler than the previous two, but has some interesting new building challenges. So, stay tuned, if it sounds interesting.

Part_021
 
This is a picture of the diorama with the LEDs on and an overhead light shining through the top window.
 

 
The final steps to finish the model are painting the raw edges of the case.
 
This picture shows some of the edges that need to be painted. I need two colors for this. The first is my blend for the masonry areas at the front. I decided to paint the outside edges the masonry color in the area the masonry was present. The other areas that needed painting were all the spots the “white” panels met. On the front plate I used pure white paint, but after looking at the finished model, I noticed that the panel color was an off-white color.
 

 
I had three different “white” shades in my Vallejo collection, So I painted swatches of each on a sprue area the parts had come from. The results are shown in the picture below.
 
The three areas I painted are marked by the red circles. At the top, labeled “I”, is “Ivory”. In the middle marked with what was supposed to be a “W”, is the standard white. At the bottom, marked ”OW”, is Vallejo's “Off White”. The Off White matched almost exactly.
 
PS, yes, I failed in writing clearly in small areas with a sharpie. Sue me! LOL!
 

 
The following few pictures show the finished paint job.
 

 

 

 
I only saw the bad spot in the above picture, while writing this section. I plan to leave it as is. The area is not visible from the front at normal viewing angles, and I don’t want to mix a whole batch of paint for this one spot
 

 
Another shot of the fully painted, and finished model from the front.
 

 
The rest of these pictures are more shots of the finish diorama.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
I will shortly be starting another thread on a ship themed Book Nook diorama, called “Sailing Memory”. It shows a room with various nautical “stuff” on the table and walls, several books that need to be made, and a large backlit fancy window with an ocean scene behind it. The kit is simpler than the previous two, but has some interesting new building challenges. So, stay tuned, if it sounds interesting.

Part_020
 
The spine was glued and clamped on next. I dry fit the top to make sure that the case was square.

 

 
There is still a distinct lack of window for the top, but there are a few details that need to be finished first.
 

 

 
The first thing that needs to be worked on, is the joint between the two edges of the book store roof, where they meet at the front right corner. The two pieces were not level with each other. I applied a thick bead of glue, and held the pieces until the glue had set sufficiently. After the glue fully dried, I applied another bead to the underside. Because this area is on the outside of the case, I wanted to protect it from damage, if any impacts occurred. Though the bead does look like it is too large, when dried it shrinks considerably, and is transparent. This is also a small area.
 

 
The stairway extension at the lowered left corner, are the next parts to install. A picture of the instructions for this is shown below.
 

 
This shows the assembled wall and railing.
 

 
This picture is of the corner bracket/lowest step, installed.
 

 
I then glued the wall to the brace.
 

 

 
After the glue dried, I added a bead of glue to the inside of the joints.
 
I had still not found the acetate glazing piece for the top window. I was just going to leave the top dry fit, and leave it like that, until some point in the future, when I found the piece. I spotted a perfect piece of acetate, lying around my shop though! Back in the big bad COVID days, they made a lot of disposable face shields, unfortunately non were available in my area. However, afterwards, one of my pharmacies had a few spare ones they gave me, for use in my shop. Well, there was one open and sitting in a corner! After checking it was the right thickness for the holding slots in the case. So, I used it to fabricate a new window.
 
Being a disposable shield, it was packaged flat, with a foam forehead cushion glued along the top, and an elastic band to hold it to your head. After the elastic and foam cushion were cut away, the sheet laid flat.
 
The instructions showed an overhead view of the placement of the window, so I had a guide as to the correct shape.
 

 
I traced the opening onto a sheet of paper.
 

 
Then after measuring the various tab locations, etc. I drew a new pattern using my CAD program. Below is a picture of the finished pattern. The innermost lines are the opening outline. The two ears lock into slots in the side plates, and the tab at the bottom fits in a slot in the front piece that sits just below the edge of the front plate. This slot is hidden from the front by the roof overhang. The side ears were left overlong so I had handles to maneuver the window, without leaving fingerprints.
 

 
I taped the pattern to the face shield, and cut it out. Though hard to see, naturally as it is clear, this is a picture of the finished part.
 

 
After a little trimming in the area of the ears, it fit into place, one problem of measuring a metric model with an imperial ruler. Again, still hard to see.
 

 
I put glue along several areas of the top of the side, back, and front plates, and using the ears to hold the window in place installed the top. I also put a few small drops of glue at the window to top joints. I don’t want it to shift in the future.
 

 
After the glue dried overnight, I trimmed the exposed parts of the ears off, with a new blade.
 
The construction on the diorama is finished, but there are still some painting details that need to be done. These and pictures of the finished model will be shown in the final part.

Part_019
 
This picture shows the upper LED wires in the slot, after the Canopy Glue dried.
 

 
I installed batteries and tested the LEDs, before continuing.
 

 
I still can’t find the acetate glazing sheet, so I fabricated a new window for the bookstore window, using plastic from a tool package. I wish I had thought of the plastic I used later for the window in the top cover, but I had already glued in and trapped this window. My fear is that the cheap plastic used in the tool cover will yellow over time. Oh well, time will tell.
 

 
First, I glued the acetate to the back of the front cover, like in a real building. This looked good, but caused problems later, as will be detailed below. I used scrap wood to wedge it in place until the glue dried.
 

 
While waiting on the window glue, I installed the rear diorama mirror.
 

 
After removing the protective film from the “glass” side of the mirror, I slid it into place, and glued it.
 

 
Here you can barely see the effect of the mirror. If you look behind the railroad cross arms, you can see the reflection, making it look like there is another one on the other side of the tram. It also looks like there are more buildings going down the street. There is also a reflection that looks like there is another tram behind the first one. This would be weird, but the second one is mostly hidden by the tree branch, and the second tram would be hidden if the diorama was above eye level, anyway.
 

 
This is a picture of the mirror, from the side.
 

 
The next day, I took this photo of the first installation of the window.
 

 
These are pictures of the right-hand cover. I don’t know if I showed a picture of the corner brackets, they are shown for this wall in the second picture.
 

 

 
I damaged the lower tab on the left cover when I installed it. I used three rounds of building up layers of Canopy Glue, to fill it in.
 

 
When I went to install the right cover, I found that the bookstore window glassing interfered with the joint. I carefully pried it away from the wall, using a steel ruler. I first tried trimming it narrower, and reinstalling it. There was no room on the right side of the window opening left to glue that edge down. The inside surface of the right cover fits flush with the inner edge of the window opening! I retrimmed it to fit over the inner book wall, which does have a lip on the right, as per the instructions and glued it to that wall. Once again, scrap wood was used to wedge it in place. I cleaned the canopy glue off the glazing using isopropyl alcohol, before gluing it in the second time.
 

 
As I did on the left cover, I glued the front edge of the right cover to the right side of the front cover first, and clamped it. Notice that the cover is angled, slightly, away from the rest of the assembly, to clear the other mounting tabs.
 

 
Once that had dried, I dry fitted (not glued) the rear/book spine cover in place, and clamped the back edge of the right cover to it. I then made sure all the connecting tabs between the base and right cover were inserted, and ran a bead of glue along that joint.
 

 

 
 

Touche'.  ⛄🙂

I will share your post with some of our NRG members in Maine.  Maybe you will get a bite.

But then again, imagine wintering on the coast of Maine.    

Can the applicant do this job at home on ZOOM?

Long drive from OKI

I ordered from the website two weeks ago and the order was promptly dispatched. But the order was for accessories/sanding paper. With regards to the actual hard goods I believe the family is still working on a plan to maintain the business but this will take awhile.

Hi folks, does anyone know if Donna has returned to the business yet?  I have tried contacting her several times (two different email addresses) but have not heard anything back.  Grieving can take a while to come to grips with, and I fully understand if she has decided not to return yet - simply asking.  I do not wish to pester her with emails until she is comfortable.
 
cheers
 
Pat

A few years ago I heard about Byrnes machines. (In Spain they are not common) I bought several and they seemed to be of exceptional quality. I received cordial attention from Donna. Donna: From Spain I send you my sincere condolences. Carlos

Very Sad News.  My sincere condolences to Jim's wife Donna and the family.  Although I never had the pleasure to meet Jim personally, I know he was one of the stalwarts in our ship modeling community.  He will be missed but not forgotten.

Perhaps of interest: https://www.bermuda.com/the-bermuda-rig/
Features quite an old engraving and some early description.  The photo atop shows a schooner with two jib-headed sprit sails.

Again I could be wrong, but looking at the "distance" to the other ships in the foreground she must be a huge one.

Thanks, I saw those small and early ones.
 
What I am looking for are any depictions of very tall, modern-looking, schooners with gaffless triangular sails that can be with any confidence dated between 1750 and 1840.

This painting is by Adam Willaerts dating from 1607:
 

 
Almost front and centre is a small schooner with what could be considered a proto-Bermuda rig. Note that these are not lateen sails (lack of a vertical mast). 
 
Andy

It could just be a naive/simplified rendering of a Barbados Schooner, as described by Morris in his "The Fore and Aft Rig in America."  Without any context (date, location, surrounding details), the image could well be interpreted as having any number of rigs, e.g., gunter, lateen, jib-headed sprit, etc.   

For me Marquardt's The global Schooner is a must have book for working on schooners. It is a "Lees" for fore and aft rigged vessels.It has some history, but much of the book is about howfore and aft craft were built and rigged, and the appendices have a lot of tables of historical data.

Great models!

Part_019
 
This picture shows the upper LED wires in the slot, after the Canopy Glue dried.
 

 
I installed batteries and tested the LEDs, before continuing.
 

 
I still can’t find the acetate glazing sheet, so I fabricated a new window for the bookstore window, using plastic from a tool package. I wish I had thought of the plastic I used later for the window in the top cover, but I had already glued in and trapped this window. My fear is that the cheap plastic used in the tool cover will yellow over time. Oh well, time will tell.
 

 
First, I glued the acetate to the back of the front cover, like in a real building. This looked good, but caused problems later, as will be detailed below. I used scrap wood to wedge it in place until the glue dried.
 

 
While waiting on the window glue, I installed the rear diorama mirror.
 

 
After removing the protective film from the “glass” side of the mirror, I slid it into place, and glued it.
 

 
Here you can barely see the effect of the mirror. If you look behind the railroad cross arms, you can see the reflection, making it look like there is another one on the other side of the tram. It also looks like there are more buildings going down the street. There is also a reflection that looks like there is another tram behind the first one. This would be weird, but the second one is mostly hidden by the tree branch, and the second tram would be hidden if the diorama was above eye level, anyway.
 

 
This is a picture of the mirror, from the side.
 

 
The next day, I took this photo of the first installation of the window.
 

 
These are pictures of the right-hand cover. I don’t know if I showed a picture of the corner brackets, they are shown for this wall in the second picture.
 

 

 
I damaged the lower tab on the left cover when I installed it. I used three rounds of building up layers of Canopy Glue, to fill it in.
 

 
When I went to install the right cover, I found that the bookstore window glassing interfered with the joint. I carefully pried it away from the wall, using a steel ruler. I first tried trimming it narrower, and reinstalling it. There was no room on the right side of the window opening left to glue that edge down. The inside surface of the right cover fits flush with the inner edge of the window opening! I retrimmed it to fit over the inner book wall, which does have a lip on the right, as per the instructions and glued it to that wall. Once again, scrap wood was used to wedge it in place. I cleaned the canopy glue off the glazing using isopropyl alcohol, before gluing it in the second time.
 

 
As I did on the left cover, I glued the front edge of the right cover to the right side of the front cover first, and clamped it. Notice that the cover is angled, slightly, away from the rest of the assembly, to clear the other mounting tabs.
 

 
Once that had dried, I dry fitted (not glued) the rear/book spine cover in place, and clamped the back edge of the right cover to it. I then made sure all the connecting tabs between the base and right cover were inserted, and ran a bead of glue along that joint.
 

 

 
 

Helping out another modeler with 3D printed guns for his 1:96 scale model of the Harriett Lane I started researching and 3D modeling the guns he would need.  In the mean time, I got the idea to make a sampler of one of every gun Constellation ever carried from 1855 to 2024.  Those I would print in the model's 1:36 scale and mount on a plank or something to put on display with the ship when I took her to events.
Chuck's wanted his model of the Lane to carry the armament she was captured with at Galveston in 1864; which according to Phillip Tucker who was on the ship, and who was published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly in 1918. as saying:

A four-inch rifled Parrot is a 30# Parrott on a pivot carriage; two eight-inch Dahlgren Columbiads folks interpret as being 9 inch Dahlgrens on Marsilly carriages, though there was such a thing as an 8 inch Columbiad, even 8 inch shell-guns.
The 24# howitzers seemed pretty straight forward, though I interpret "ship carriages" to mean boat-sleds in their case.
Someone made a nice graphic of how they thought this armament may have been organized on on the Lane.  My question though, was why they show a 10 inch Dahlgren pivot, when Tucker said it was a 9 inch gun.
I found a photo of a 9 inch Dahlgren on a pivot mount on board the Miami (often IDed as the Mendota) that showed it existed and that the 9 inch had it's own carriage, and not just a scaled down XI inch carriage.
The Lane's armament was thrown over-board when the ship went aground at Pamlico Sound in August of '61 and she was repaired and rearmed back at Hampton Roads.
The 10 inch Dahlgren wasn't as common a gun as the IX's or XI's and those in existence were already on the frigates and razeed sloops, except for one taken off Cumberland at Boston and replaced with a 60# Parrott.  Leaning toward Tucker's statement, I started the 3D model of the IX gun tube, and while trying to discern the pivot carriage from the Miami photo, went ahead making the tube and the Marsilly carriage.  Of all the Naval guns of the American Civil War, the IX Dahlgren on a Marsilly carriage, and the XI Dahlgren on it's designed for it pivot carriage, are the easiest to find data and images for.

The IX was modeled in just a couple of hours.  I'm doing these as static models, so I'm not concerned with wheels turning, or guns elevating.  I printed 4 of the guns, 2 for the Lane with 2 spares, in 1:96.  In the 1870's, Constellation was a training ship and armed with 8 of these guns, so I printed one at 1:36 for my intended display.

In my drawing software, using the photo as a reference; I scaled the tube in the photo to the length of the actual IX tube and traced the carriage to get the right proportions, since I didn't have a measured drawing like I did the for Constellation's 10 inch shell-gun pivot.  The slide is that from the XI Dahlgren carriage.
Once modeled, I printed one off for the Lane.  This one wasn't on my list of Constellation guns, so I didn't need to print one in 1:36.

The Lane, still needed the 24# howitzer, which I had usable data for; and a 30# Parrott pivot.  Constellation, during the Civil War got a 30# Parrott forward, and a 20# Parrott aft, to replace the 10 inch pivots that were removed in 1859.  I managed to find drawings online for the 20 and 30 from the Navy's Bureau of Ordnance that made sure I had the tubes accurate.

Years ago I visited the Constellation and met with the folks running the "restoration."  One of the things they showed me was a drawing of a 30# Parrott on a pivot carriage.  I was modeling Constellation as she was in 1856, so didn't figure I needed plans for a gun she got in 1862; but I took some photos of the drawing anyway.  Now it turns out I did need them, and just had to find those photos.  Once found, it turns out I had good data for the carriage itself, but not much for the slide.

In the mean time, I got started on the 24 pounders.  Using the gun tube from the boat-howitzer, I scaled it to the size of the 24# version, and scaled my reference image to that to get the proportions right.

Then I printed 4 of them in 1:96 for the Lane.

When the 3D model of the 30# Parrott was done, I printed it in 1:96; and since Constellation had one, in 1:36.

One the guns for the Lane were all printed, I boxed them up and mailed them off.  I cranked out two guns that made up Constellation's original broadside; the 8 inch shell gun, and the 32# gun and printed them in 1:36 scale.  I now had 4 of 11 types of gun Constellation had, printed.

While posting the STL for all these guns on Thingiverse, I got a request for something a bit off the track.

Great models!

When 3D printing became available to me, I went to work on creating 3D models of the parts I'd need for my models (all linked in my signature below).
Even before 3D printing was "a thing" I started a model in Anim8or* of Constellation's pivot guns.  Just a basic model at first, but when I actually got a 3D printer, details were added to the model.
I had built the basic model in wood with the intention of learning photo-etch to detail them.  3D printing negated that entirely.
The guns were modeled to a plans for the 10 inch shell-gun pivots for Mississippi that were acquired from the National Archives in College Park Maryland.
(click the pic to see full-size)...
 
It took a couple of tries, but I managed to get a pair of pivot guns that if not perfect prints, were usable, and with more and better detail than I could have managed by hand.

The next gun needed for Constellation was the boat-howitzer for her launch.  Working mainly from the images in Boat Armament in the US Navy 1856, and any drawings and photos I could find online, I based my model on an existing boat-gun located in Fairfax Virginia with iron wheels.

Despite the spindly looking nature of the gun's field carriage, it was actually quite a fun model to make; lots of circles.

Once printed, and painted, it took it's place in Constellation's launch.

Much later I felt the wooden wheeled version was probably more appropriate for Constellation in 1856, so I added a set of wood wheels to the model howitzer.

Since I didn't model Constellation's gundeck, I didn't need to make the 16 8 inch shell-guns and 4 32# guns that would require.
I did model a 6# gun in 1:20 scale for Pride of Baltimore, and started on 18# Blomefields and 32# carronades for Macedonian.
 
But that's getting off-topic...
 
* Anim8or is free 3D modeling software that I used back at the turn-of-the-century to make 3D models for a WWI flight sim/game.
I use it today because I'm used to it after two+ decades, though either it or I aren't capable of doing some of things I want/need to do.
I can't recommend it to complete novices, but It's still available at anim8or.com.

Thanks, I checked those books. Unfortunately, there is no indication for similar ships, again, before mid-19th century. Every example before features at least a small gaff above, or the sail is actually divided to two.