Blue Ensign

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

Hi Nigel, here's a few pics of my old Norske Love, she's been uncased for many years, and has to have a periodic dusting, but I'm still very fond of the old girl as she marks my first foray into wooden kit building
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Hope you find them of use
 
 
B.E.

I will be interested to see what you make of Norske Love Nigel. I built this model back in the early 1980's and it still resides in my office.
 
It needs some serious modification to the head works, and replacement of many of the fittings, something I have no doubt you are well up to.
 
One thing that really puzzled me about the kit was that for a ship of around 1760 it was supplied with round tops more appropriate to a vessel of the 17th century.
 
I made many mods to my version although I would hope today that I could improve on my 1980's effort.
 
I have some pics of the model including details, I'll post them up later.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Hello Louis if I may offer a comment, you seem to be moving very quickly on your build, and you may find it beneficial to step back and familiarise yourself with the basics of hull planking. It is better to treat the first planking as a dress rehearsal for the second layer and time spent getting it right pays dividends in terms of much greater satisfaction.
 
I don't know if you've seen it but here's a link to the main MSW site and pdf downloads including simple hull planking.
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php
 
I know I found it of great benefit when I returned to  wooden kits after many years away from the hobby.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Hello Louis if I may offer a comment, you seem to be moving very quickly on your build, and you may find it beneficial to step back and familiarise yourself with the basics of hull planking. It is better to treat the first planking as a dress rehearsal for the second layer and time spent getting it right pays dividends in terms of much greater satisfaction.
 
I don't know if you've seen it but here's a link to the main MSW site and pdf downloads including simple hull planking.
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php
 
I know I found it of great benefit when I returned to  wooden kits after many years away from the hobby.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Blimey Ian what a labour of love to produce that chain. I'd have lost the will to live after about 20 links
 
Looks excellent on the stern with the spectacle plate, well done
 
B.E.

I thought you might be interested in how I make the split pins. It is very easy.
 
I don't twist the legs together for a variety of reasons.
 
If you are not careful when doing the twisting one leg remains straight and the other twists around it making a very insecure loop. The act of twisting the wire fatigues it and if the legs are over twisted to get a nice tight eye the wire will fracture between the eye and the legs. This may not show up until after the eye is in use.
 
To make homemade split pins all you need is a die, some fine pliers, cutters and an old drill bit with the required diameter of the split pins eye.
 
The die is a scrap piece of metal, in my case a 1mm thick piece of NS. Somewhere near the centre drill a hole which is twice the diameter of the wire that you are going to use - the wire will pass twice through this hole. On one side lightly counter sink the hole.
 

 
Clamp the die in a vice. Pass the wire through the hole from the non countersunk side. Bend the end of the wire in to a loop then pass the end of the wire back through the hole in the die. Put the drill bit in the loop of wire. If the wire is on a reel there is no need to cut it off at this stage.
 
(Poor photo replaced).
 

 
Grab hold of the two wires on the non countersunk side and pull firmly. To avoid crossing and fracturing the wire keep the drill bit horizontal and the gap between the jaws of the pliers vertical.
 

 
If you have pulled firmly enough the wire will have closed around the drill bit. You can help this by pressing the loop towards the hole with a piece of wood.
 
Trim the legs to length. For a split pin cut the legs a different length. This will make the legs easier to feed in to the hole in the model. With the pliers gently close the legs up parallel to each other.
 
If you want a hook hold one leg only on the non countersunk side of the die, waggle it side to side, then pull it sharply to one side to break it off as in the picture.
 

 
The result one split pin (slightly larger than the ones used on the chain) and one hook. Each took about 30 seconds to make.
 

 
 
   

I have completed the length of chain required. In the end I produced one with about 240 links. In fact once I got me eye in it didn't take long - about 15 minutes to create 30 links and then about 15 seconds each to add a link to the chain. Need the jewelers lens to do this.
 
Nenad, I suggest you rope in your local knitting circle if you want to produce large quantities of chain this size.
 
I also produced a few homemade split pins with 0.6mm eyes and a few slightly larger round links to hook the chain to the spectacle plate. 
 
All these items were then blackened.
 

 
They were all then fitted in place. I put a baton across the stern in which to mount the split pins. I looked at various models and actual ships to try to decide where to position it. The incorrect stern shape and lack of stern post required somewhat of a compromise. The outer ends of the chain are just hanging for now.
 
 
 
 

Wonderful Nils.

Build log part 45
 
 
 
The rigging of the anchor cables
 
 
 

slowly but steady Pegasus is coming on
 

guns are now all completely rigged
 

 
 

 
 

The anchors will be mounted much later, but the cables are placed already
 
 

Capstan with 4 rounds to the Messenger cable
 

the QD is going to cover the most of it, but view is partialy given from through the outcut in QD
I`m going to fit Support rollers (bracket with Horizontal and vertical rollers) for the Messenger, just behind those pillars to avoid rubbing to the wood
 

port anchor cable is tied and secured to the bit, whilst the starbord cable is temporary tied to the Messenger, as a waist-decklength is hauled in, then the tie is shifted to the front again for the next haul
All the ropes are indicating a busy deck...., I wonder already how that may look after the rigging later on...
 
 
 
Nils

Here are photos of the model right way up.
 

 

 

 
I have just finished  the straps for the rudder.  Rather than use the kits parts, as suggested in the instructions, I used cartridge paper, though I wonder whether it has been a really good idea. I decided not to use as many 'rivets' to save drilling more holes than a swiss cheese as the potential for damage is high.  I filled the holes with copper wire from some spare eyelets (a tiny bit of gel CA at the bottom) , then snipped off the wire almost flush with the surface of the rudder. The wire standing proud of the surface together with a tiny bit of gel CA which came to the surface 'made' the rivets.  It worked moderately well.  Here they are before painting.
 

 
This shows the eyelets before my snipper got at them.
 

 
 
Their painting is now complete - photos awaiting the paint to dry. The copper Humbrol paint is quite hard to work with.  It needs to be constantly stirred, tends to be gluggy when applied, and the brush needs to be cleaned often.  Moreover the finish is very bright and does not  match well the rest of the copper.  I am hoping that the brightness will be toned down when I spray a couple of coats of the Tamiya PS 55 flat.
 
Incidentally the PS 55 is fairly easy to damage and I would probably not use it again in this application.

Happy Birthday Mark, if it's a modelling day may you achieve a warm feeling of satisfaction from your efforts
 
B.E.

Welcome to the 'Swan' club Mike, looking forward to seeing her develop.
 
B.E.

I like that photo Michael, impressive stuff
 
B.E.

Just a few small steps today.  Still have to recut the gun ports, sand and smooth the deck and bulwarks.
 

Well there are no close-ups of the deck, but in the following shots you can see the blotchiness....Not happy with it, but I'm not exactly sure what can be done, and I know it will be covered up will all kinds of detritus to distract the eye....onwards, then, armed for the future with the insight not to do this again!
 
In other news, I've spent a couple of days just focusing on fairing the hull and working out the installation of the long single-piece bulwarks. It's quite tricky to install these, but they were not nearly as finicky as the ones I installed on the Pinky. In the end, I think they went on well - I took quite a bit of time to get the symmetry right...
 
Anyway, here are the photos - hope you're all doing well
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

Moving on. I installed the first pinrail. I cut it to size and drilled the holes, but when I went to glue it on.....I couldn't do it. It would be crooked or at the wrong elevation, etc. After pondering it for a while, I got the bright idea to make a removable support that would allow me to keep the rail parallel and straight and at the same height all the way around. It think it's going to work.

Update time...
 
I needed a break from cutting out frames having done about half of them so far.    So.... installed the first three frames,  added spacers for strength and position, and cut the bridle port.   The keel is just set into position as are the upper and lower sills for the port to help in squaring everything up.
 
The bridle port is build up on the frame sides and the upper and lower sills rest on the "build up" with the middle frame being cut out for the port.  Thankfully, it's the only one like this.  The rest are cut into the frames.   There's a conumdrum on the plans.  The cut-away with the ports outlined is more "square" where as the framing plan shows the fore end of this port higher on the hull.  I went with the framing plan.  I hope I picked correctly.

Minor milestone... Half of the 42 full frames have been installed.  Spacers have been glued into place and gunports are rought cut.  Final position with sills will be done after the first pass at fairing before the half frames are installed.   I'm finding minor tolerance build up issues but nothing that's a show stopper.  Anyway, here's piccy's....
 

Hello Louis if I may offer a comment, you seem to be moving very quickly on your build, and you may find it beneficial to step back and familiarise yourself with the basics of hull planking. It is better to treat the first planking as a dress rehearsal for the second layer and time spent getting it right pays dividends in terms of much greater satisfaction.
 
I don't know if you've seen it but here's a link to the main MSW site and pdf downloads including simple hull planking.
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php
 
I know I found it of great benefit when I returned to  wooden kits after many years away from the hobby.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Hello Louis if I may offer a comment, you seem to be moving very quickly on your build, and you may find it beneficial to step back and familiarise yourself with the basics of hull planking. It is better to treat the first planking as a dress rehearsal for the second layer and time spent getting it right pays dividends in terms of much greater satisfaction.
 
I don't know if you've seen it but here's a link to the main MSW site and pdf downloads including simple hull planking.
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php
 
I know I found it of great benefit when I returned to  wooden kits after many years away from the hobby.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 
 

Hello Louis if I may offer a comment, you seem to be moving very quickly on your build, and you may find it beneficial to step back and familiarise yourself with the basics of hull planking. It is better to treat the first planking as a dress rehearsal for the second layer and time spent getting it right pays dividends in terms of much greater satisfaction.
 
I don't know if you've seen it but here's a link to the main MSW site and pdf downloads including simple hull planking.
 
http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-framing-and-planking-articles.php
 
I know I found it of great benefit when I returned to  wooden kits after many years away from the hobby.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 
 
 

A very unique build Nils, love the fascinating insights to life between decks, great imagination and ingenuity.
 
B.E.

You mean this sort of thing Nils
 
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/flexible-snake-scope-camera-n41gw
 
B.E.