usedtosail

So here is how the beams and carlings came out. I gave them a light sanding after gluing. I had rounded the bottom edges of the pieces before gluing. The top: And bottom: Now for the capstan base.

Thanks Jeff. I am lucky to have the room to devote to a shop but with two projects on going it is feeling a bit cramped. I finished the tenons on the other carlings and glued them up with the beams.

Thanks Toni and the likes. I cut the tenons on two of the carlings using the mill with an end mill bit, and fit them to the aft and middle beams. I will use this jig to hold them when I glue them to keep them square but this is how they look just set in place. I need to do a bit more fitting , especially the heights of the carlings. I am pretty happy so far.

Hi Jeff. Just found your build log and your Connie looks great so far. I did not use PolyAcrylic on mine but I did use diluted Gesso as a primer, which helped me visualize the areas of the hull that needed more sanding or filler, especially where the copper plates will go. It made a good base for the adhesive on the copper tape.

Welcome all. Thanks for following along. I hope I don't disappoint. From the 10" and 6" sheets I cut the strips for the beams and carlings on the Byrnes saw, which zipped through the pear with no problems. There are 2 more carlings not shown above. Here is my set up for controlling dust with these tools. I have a shop vac with an adapter to fit the thickness sander and the saw. These are plugged into a power strip which is plugged into a box I bought from Amazon that senses when one of these tools is drawing current and automatically turns on the vac, and turns it off a few seconds after the tool is turned off. It works very well for me as long as I remember to move the vac hose to the tool I am about to use. Now comes the part that has kept me up at night - cutting the mortises for the carlings. I experimented on some scrap first by cutting along the lines and using chisels to clean out the mortise, which worked OK but not great. I then tried using the mill and cleaning up the slot with chisels. This worked much better for me but still not perfect. So I put one of the beams into the vise and milled a slot, then used some better but smaller files to clean it up. I was pretty happy with the result so I continued on the other 3 mortises for 2 of the carlings. As I am writing this I realize I could have cut the two matching mortises at the same time by putting both beams in the vise together, but I did then one at a time. I did use the first beam to check the marks on the second beam before I cut them out of the second beam though. Here is a finished beam and one right out of the mill before clean up. And here is how they look cleaned up with the carling strips just fit in before I cut them to fit flush. Now to do the other set of mortises for the other 2 carlings.

1:16 scale so I am using the plans as printed

I have started a build log here: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29396-nrg-capstan-project-by-usedtosail-116/

So I am between ship models but we are having a pretty crappy Summer weatherwise so far so I decided to try my hand at scratch building the capstan model from the NRG plans and instructions by Tony Levine. I have the tools so I am going to try to build the Advanced version of the model but may drop back to the Intermediate version if I am having trouble. I downloaded the instructions and plans from the NRG site and printed it so I have it all in front of me as I go. I started the build by rough cutting sheets of pear wood from a billet I had in scale 10", 7.25", 6", and 5" thicknesses on my small band saw. I already had a 4" thick sheet. I had gone through the plans and found these to be the thicknesses needed for the majority of the parts. I do have some boxwood that I may use as a contrast but for now everything will be pear. I then ran the sheets through the course side of the thickness sander until I had the saw marks out and then through the fine side until I had the correct thicknesses. I imagine this is pretty basic stuff for you scratch builders but this is the first time I have started a scratch project. The next step will be cutting strips from these sheets for the beams and carlings.

Since I am between ship models and I am interested in scratch building in the future and the weather has been very rainy this Summer, I decided to try to build this capstan model. I have the tools so I am going to try the advanced version. I am in the process of getting the wood together. I can start a build log for this if people are interested.

Thank you Bill, zappto, KH, and Michael, and for the likes. I really appreciate the comments.

I love the detail you are adding to this build.

Thank you GrandpaPhil and Backer, and the likes. Here are some better pics of the completed model, with more in the gallery.

I added the rest of the flags, the lantern and stern rail decoration , then lashed the anchors to the rails. The model is now completed. Here are just a few teaser photos until I can take some good ones with a good background. I'll post those in the gallery. This is the tenth wooden ship model that I have made. This one had some firsts for me. It is the first 17th century ship I have built and it is the first to include crows feet and bowlines. This is the first model where I made all of the rope for the rigging myself, except for seizing line and the ratlines, which I used thread for. This is also the first time I have used polyester for the line. I have made some line for other models, but it was made from nylon thread which was much stiffer than this line and didn't hang as nicely. This is also the first model where I didn't use CA to fix the knots in the rigging. For this model I used Dullcote Lacquer to fix the knots, which took a little time to get used to. I found that I just needed to leave the rigging alone after applying the lacquer for about 24 hours to make sure it was really dry. Then it held as well as the CA. And this is the first square rigged model where I added full sails. I still need to make more realistic sails for a future model but I like how these came out. Once I make a case for the Half Moon I will be delivering it to my friend Dennis, who is retiring today, and his wife Mary. Not that I planned to finish it today but it will take a month or so to complete the case. I wish I could deliver it to them today. I will be building the Duchess of Kingston as my next model but won't start that until the case for the Half Moon is finished and the shop is cleaned out, probably late August or so. Thanks for watching and thanks for all the encouragement and comments.

Thanks Popeye. It is coming together now. While working on the braces I have also started adding the flags and flag poles. Here is the bow sprit flag pole with a small flag on it being glued to its support. The plans show it lashed to the support, which I will do when the glue dries. You can also see the sprit yard braces in this picture. I also tied the large VOC flag to the stern flag pole. I am just using short pieces of line to tie these flags to the poles, which may be a simplified version of how they really were attached.