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Mark Pearse
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I've now finished the display stand. I've got a deadline to try & finish the last details of the model, if any of the Sydney forum members are interested there's an evening at our sailing club, talks by Bill Gale, Sean Langman & myself - & the model will be there - Wednesday 5th June. It's on the Ranger yachts generally & Cliff Gale's legacy of designs. Send me a message & I'll send more information. John, I did consider keeping the bark on the base timber, but a section of bark was missing & I was more confident of the result with it removed. Keith, yes, I was just using the timber as a stand to show off the brass on (while looking for a chisel to open the tin of paint). The timber base was finished with 2 coats of clear polyurethane rubbed on with a rag, then rubbed with 000 steel wool dipped in beeswax/gum turpentine furniture polish, then rubbed with a cloth. This shows how the brass tubes were filled with epoxy glue & drilled for the fixings - this technique was firstly to save cost (tube is 1/5th cost of a solid), & I don't have the equipment to drill out or thread the end of a solid. The brass flats were bend & shaped by hand. Unsurprisingly the keel support was a bit too flexible, so I soldered an inner flat bar. The dremel was able to give enough heat for this job. The brass was cleaned up & patinated to a dark brown, to tone it down visually, & was lined with some leather, then screwed together. The brass rods were glued into the timber & the timber will get some pads underneath, probably some unfinished cork. The holes in the timber weren't done by eye, my brother has a bench drill so I used that.
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The jib cars are now done, I don't know what the conventional wisdom is on jibs blocks ,but I think they should be 'stand up' blocks so I pilfered the springs from two ball point pens. The blocks themselves are a little large, but they are feasibly large, if that makes sense. The block was attached to the U bolt on the car, & then the spring is wound on, first one was difficult ... then next less so, etc. And sitting loosely on the track:
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Hi Steven Regarding the flag issue, I can't help wondering if they showed the flag to emphasise the outcome of the negotiations... I suspect our way of registering history as shown in period images is more influenced by more contemporary media, & we are more rigorous about the chronology. Also, the faces of the negotiating parties are beautifully rendered.
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Hi Vaddoc you could still have the deadeyes as well as wire shrouds, if that's what you're considering - a large thimble or matching deadeye at the lower end of the wire, but others will know more about traditional rigging. It's practical to have wire shrouds tied off to the chainplates with rope, & having a tabernacle suggests that the owner needs to raise/lower the mast, & with rope tails it'd be by hand rather than needing tools, so a bit simpler. Rope isn't likely as shrouds for this boat.... but you seem to be enjoying the fantasy of this build, so there's no real reason you have to do it by the book.
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Hi Keith, Eberhard it does seem odd, but I bet they were going to put it at the deck line but it looked better higher up. Elongates the hull, maybe a better proportion between the topsides above & below the strip....
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HI Vaddoc well done, the hinges are very nice. If you are concerned about the rudder blade size, I don't think that it looks too big.
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Thank you everyone, the heartfelt responses are great & I'll be sure to show my daughter the interest in our project. The drawing was from www.architecturalprints.com.au & we scaled photocopies to suit. I don't have progress photos but the method was old-school: cardboard backing with the photocopies on top & covered in plastic film, the sides of the tower were cut & then pinned to the board, & glued with PVA - the brownish Titebond is a good colour match. I will attached some daylight photos below, they will show also the wiring, the lights & the details more clearly. One note is that the wiring is done so that a DC transformer plugs from a wall plug to the socket on the side; & the wall plug (power point) is hard wired so the tower can be turned on from a usual household wall light switch if you leave the tower's toggle switch on. Lou, we agreed it should sit on a corner table in the Living Room, it's safer in the corner & the light effects are nice. John, it could be fun for her to make a nautical model, but honestly I'm struggling to keep up with the things she makes....recently it's functioning lolly dispensers from cardboard, a log-cabin house from scrolled paper, & a copy of her favourite going-out shoe in cardboard & string.... I'm the one that's looking very short of ideas...a boat. Steven, it's a vey interesting object to look at as you sip something relaxing - the balance between visual stability of the wide base & the stretched length of the top part is very interesting. A milestone in engineering, prefabrication & structural aesthetics. the brass work was interesting work - discussing how to make it: low voltage plug, toggle switch set back in a strip at the base:: wiring layout, resolved with assistance from small scale lights; working this out was new & the decisions were shared; hot-melt glue was handy & fast the paper-scroll log cabin, no technical assistance from dad in this case:
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It's been a while, but I've been considering the mounting base & also picking away at the jib sheet cars. I bought an angle cut piece of Camphor a few years ago, it was cheap & it just seemed to work ... maybe. Anyway, the family like the idea so I'll probably do it. The supports will be very simple, I like the traditional thin round rods with simple supports. Below shows the timber, with a 10mm diameter piece of brass tube. 9mm looks better but I don't have a 9mm drill bit. The small cradles for the hull will be from bent brass, & they will be screwed to the tubes - the tubes will be filled with epoxy & then drilled for the screws. No doubt drilling into solid would be better, but I don't have the kit for that, & this will be strong enough. The bark is quite nice, but because it's partly gone, I'll probably chip it all off.
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My daughter & I finished our co-build, a timber scale model of the Eiffel Tower. I'm not sure what scale it is, but it's about 550mm tall, the base & solid details are Kauri Pine, the structure is from pre-cut American Walnut 2x1 & 1x1mm strips, & the stage levels are 2mm plywood. The top is soldered brass, & the lighting is LED. Our daughter has long been fascinated with this wonderful structure, & because she has always preferred to make something than to play with it I proposed we make something challenging together. It's taken more than 2 years & has been fun, difficult & a great experience all round. A special note is on the the LED lights, which are especially nice & it's worth noting that they came from https://www.smallscalelights.co.uk , the ever helpful Jennifer Smith patiently helped us to resolve a wiring layout & sent the very nice & appropriate small spots. See how the shadowing on the walls is, that's just from these tiny spots. The spotlights are mounted on timber bases, similar to a timber cotton thread spool. The shadowing on the wall is fantastic, & we kept on a table in the corner so that the lighting looks good & it won't get bumped.
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That structure forward of the engine looks like some sort of tank, possibly it's a fuel tank & breather pipe but it's doesn't seem to be a great location for a breather pipe as a following sea would surely reach them. I'm guessing a grey water waste outlet from a holding tank....bath, shower & sink waters fall to a low holding tank & are then pumped out from there.
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Hi Steven, if you're concerned that a stop mechanism might not have been developed at that point in time, I don't think it's a technical problem not to have one. You use the windlass to take up the line & then tie off to a stout fixing point, the windlass is not used for holding load under anchor. Boats with heavy anchors usually have a way to manoeuvre the anchor on board once they are close, simply because it's easier (& less damage) than dragging the anchor up against the hull - such as a rope tackle & hook led from the mast.
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Hi Keith I'd also guess the extra holes are bilge pumps, it wouldn't be unusual to have more than one outlet as connecting the outlet hoses from multiple pumps into one hose is commonly done - but has risks & lowers the pump efficiency. Option could be some sort of stern well that's in the deck....?
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Hi Vaddoc the details are coming together very nicely. They are setting off the hull shape well.
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the hull really looks lovely Keith. At this point in the process, what are you using to sand back between coats?
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thanks Frank, my question was more what they do with the lazyjack lines once the jib is hoisted & they are sailing. But I should have looked back at the photos - the very first photo in this log & you can see them with the jib up. It looks that the spectacle iron (a good name!) is part lowered & the lines just hang there. I've never seen this before, very interesting.
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Hi Frank, that's an interesting system. Do you know what they do with the lazy jack lines once they've hoisted the jib & are underway?
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Hello Helmut that must have been a difficult decision to rebuild, but looking good now. "Long" is no exaggeration, that's a very slim hull form. I have a couple of questions on the boats: what they were used for; & what is the hull the length - it appears to be around 11m from the drawing...? thanks Mark
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Hi Dick I hadn't seen this build till now - that's beautiful work & a fascinating subject for a model. Was the 14C period a time when Venice was a regional sea power? Mark
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- nave tonda
- round ship
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Hi Keith lot's of lively discussions, very interesting. At the risk of adding another duck to the swamp, on the paint/varnish question I've noticed that a darker colour changes the apparent proportion of a hull. A longer elegant hull painted black will look shorter & slightly boxier. I don't know if this still applies at scale. all the best from from the galleries,
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Hi Steven, I seem to recall that you said that these craft used the sails downwind & not upwind...? If that is what they did, I'd assume the lateen yard will lie more often across the hull than in line. Is the main issue then: which calcet direction gives the best lead for the halyard? Perhaps a mock-up might help resolve this. On the question of the support & balance of the yard & sails, if the issue is controlling the yard angle when hoisting or lowering, then I would be pretty sure you can control the angle of the yard by the sail itself, a hefty person or ten holding the right part of the sail & they would have quite good control of the yard as it raises or lowers. Under sail there would be control lines to adjust the angle - in the sepia coloured photo you included there appears to be two ropes tied to the yard, one forward of the mast & one aft. The forward one is tight & the aft one is loose, it looks like they are being used to control or support the yard angle when sailing... such a long & slender spar too. I hope these comments help,
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sorry - I said planks when I meant ribs
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