Landlubber Mike

I like doing ship models, but I've always thought this model would be a fun one to do.  Your work is absolutely fantastic John - definitely a good marketing piece for this kit!

The cooled down mold is now broken open.  The investment is fairly soft.  Lets have a look to see if everything cast out properly;
 

 
The mass is just pinched off, then it's best to sandblast the remaining material away.  The dust is quartz and dangerous, do not breathe in.  I have a suction cabinet;
 

 
Getting there;
 

 
Great!  No voids, no unwanted clumps of metal.  Let's get moving;
 

 
A high speed handpiece with lots of torque, and a mounted separating disc, cuts off the sprue leads to get the individual parts for finishing;

 
Here the parts finished and ready for further assembly;
 

 
The finished product upside down, and it looks pretty good;
 

 
This is meant to be an insight for casting metals using investment for high heat metals.  Not a thing for the regular modeler for sure.  Just with some preparation and a little practice and guidance, an ambitioned modeler could do the prep work and give the mold to a jeweler or dental type acquaintance.  This stuff happens a lot, no problems.
 
I hope Richard you don't mind me posting this sequence.
 
Michael
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I have a lot of experience in investment casting,  the end result is only as good as the mold you want to reproduce in metal.  So here the important part is preparing and making molds.
 
The molds made by xken above really look magnificent.
 
Instead of brass, I like Alpaka, or in the US it's called new German silver, a brass and copper mix.  A kilo costs around $50, which would make for a lot of cannons.
 
Here a 1/25 scale Diesel motor for a Peterbilt truck model I did 2 years ago.  The motor has a lot of individual cast parts, this pic shows the finished assembly.  The silver looking metal is cast nickel, the pale gold is German silver;
 

 
A ship with a deck full of metal cannons would have considerable weight!
 
The method used by Watson above, would be the way to go for a large number of objects.
 
 

If you wish to cast anything visit and explore this site. I have used their product 320 resin for pressure casting 1/16 engine parts. As with anything you need the correct materials and tools and most of all a good master. RTV silicone can pick up a fingerprint in a mold. Also printed master parts will have the stepped texture that will require finishing versus metal masters that will have a smooth finish.
https://www.smooth-on.com/tutorials/
 
 
The parts below were pressure pot cast with the 320 resin hand poured into silicone molds. The US penny will give you a sense of scale.

 

 

 
 

Each of the parts shown here were cast in RTV molds
Kurt
 
 

Bowsprit Progress.....
OK, here's my story....
Posted early this morning my plan to have a bowsprit before lights out this evening - right?
And you folks thought I meant a FINISHED bowsprit - right?
Actually, I must confess, that was the plan (sort of).
So we're on a roll, moving right along, and the phone rings just before noon.... The Admiral - "Don't you think you should come on in and start getting ready?"
I go "Ready for what dear?"
She goes - "Don't you remember, today is Jewel's birthday party." (her sister turned 80 today).
So there goes at least five hours shop time.... splash - right over the side.
 
Not a total loss, however.  Turning out the lights at this point feeling good about being able to make a full day of it tomorrow.
I would have had the martingale attached but ran into a problem just before shaping was done.... SNAP!  So I'm re doing it with maple.

 
Dave

Thanks for the great reference Jon.  The link to Allan Yedlinsky's stove would have been very helpful had I received in two days ago.  Clearly the stove I completed this morning (seen below) falls far short of the masterpiece in his tutorial.
I did manage to capture most of what I was able to make out from the images found on line.
Note that, after taking the first two shots, I saw that the handles on the three vents on top had been left off.... third pic is after they were fitted.

The gun deck overhead view.... beginning to fill up nicely huh?

The USS Gerald Ford was commissioned today.  The largest and most powerful US warship in our country's history.  I was curious to see a comparison of this modern war ship to the actual greatest war ship in our history.
1,500 feet compared to 240 feet..... would look something like this.
We've come a long way baby!

Lovin' this build Don, such an interesting subject, and so much well executed detail, a great display model. 
 
B.E.

Wow really great stuff there Don.  Are you using paints?  If so, mind me asking what kind/brand?

Don, this is turning into a real beauty.  Love the finish you put on the model - it really makes the wood come alive.

Gorgeous work, and I'm jealous of your outdoor surroundings!
 
How do you like the serving machine?  I've been thinking about getting one, even if to just strop blocks which was a painful endeavor on my Badger using "helping hands" and other gizmos.

I've completed the outer hull first planking to the edge of the wale.  Nothing too difficult, but I did use a little filler here and there to address any low spots.  The one thing to note is that the plans, as well as the actual ship, show the area between the plankshear and wale as seven rows of planks.  This comes out around 14mm of space to plank, or 2mm per plank.  The planks given in the kit don't seem to match that width, so what I did was end up using five wider planks and one narrower plank for that section.  Once I get to the second planking, I'll cut the ebony planks in the widths I need to get seven rows of fairly equal widths.
 
 

 
This ship is different than a lot of ship kits you see out there as there is no independent row or rows of planking for the wales - instead, the wale line is demarked by a thicker line of planks that extend at the wale line and lower.
 

I've been taking my time in trying to get the stern right, as I think the stern tends to make or break a lot of models.  You can see from these pictures how curvy the stern is, and how the planks tuck around the transom and up into the counter.
 


The European kits I've worked on tend to use stern extensions and a counter piece to frame this area.  This kit (and it looks like other kits in the Model Shipways line), require you to create a framing block with a number of curves into it.  The plans are good in this regard, but it still is a little complicated if you're a relative beginner like myself and are working through it the first time.  To help others that are building the kit, here are top and bottom pictures of my block:
 

Here is how my stern looks at the moment.  I think I've managed to capture the curves pretty nicely, and the wale will run into the middle of the name board as you can see on the plans and on the pictures of the actual ship.  I used filler to help get the lines right, but being able to sand down the first planking should help as well.  Thanks for looking in!
 

Hello all, first up Thanks for all your visits, likes and gracious comments. Trabakul now has a new home on the dining room table as rigging has started and there is less chance of her getting hurt and even a less of a chance of me using the table to entertain.

 
 Bowsprit was first, this the little fitting made to hold it in place
 


 
The little supports on either side and a strap with rings( I used eyebolts)
 


 
Chain installed
 



 

 
Lower shrouds completed
 

 
 Next up is the upper shrouds and then ratlines.
 Enjoy and Take care

Thanks Mike and Robert. Mike the paint I use is just cheap acrylic from Michael's "Craftsman" and "Americana" I water it down lots and put on several coats

Really nice work Ken.  Amazing you can work so quickly yet with pristine results.  Beautiful!

Wow really great stuff there Don.  Are you using paints?  If so, mind me asking what kind/brand?

Wow really great stuff there Don.  Are you using paints?  If so, mind me asking what kind/brand?

BE, I can't believe I've missed your log.  Really great work so far, and I know I'll enjoy watching where you take this one.
 
Your planking looks great as usual.  I'm not a big fan of MS' use of basswood for the keel and bulkheads, as I've said on my Morgan log.  It's an easy wood to use as the first planking if you're double planking, but the softness, fuzzies, etc.  make it not a great wood in my opinion for outer planking.  Good move on your part to go with boxwood.

Taking a break on the ship builds for an airplane. I have the mighty decision to build the Syren or something else as the next ship, and I think I want to watch others complete theirs before I embark on that voyage. This is the Sopwith Camel F.1 from 1917 kit from Model Airways.  I've always enjoyed aircraft, flying them (real ones and models) and building them (models), so this looked like an interesting and more accurate than regularly seen kit.  So, some images. They build starts with the engine, a rendition of the Clerget rotary. The kit parts are cast Britannia and also some brass. I used epoxy and CA for this portion.
 
 

Harley,
 
    Welcome to the entryport to the dark side.  It starts with substituting boxwood for basswood.  Next you are kitbashing and soon scratch building.  Sometime in the middle you will pop over to Jim Byrnes' place and get a miniature table saw so you can cut strips from sheets.
 

I am working on the Confederacy and was short of 1/16 x 5/32 strips for the wales. I was experiencing difficulty obtaining
the basswood replacements (another story). I have always wondered what was so special about using other than kit supplied
lumber. I was going to stick to the kit lumber and do my best. I happened to purchase some boxwood and pear from Crown just to
experiment. 
Well brother and sister low experience shipwrights it only took one strip of planking with boxwood to understand why many of the
more experienced builders use other than basswood. The boxwood was harder, kept sharp corners and was just a pleasure to work
with. Looks good as it came from the vendor.
I don't know how much of more expensive lumber I will use on Confederacy but I learned a valuable lesson.
Regards, Harley

Life kept me away from modelling for a long time. When determined to get back in, i decided to shelve this build for the time being. I had a very hard time getting into this kit from the get go. Quality and design of the kit, the small scale of it as well as my indifference to the ship itself made it more like work than pleasure. Found a deal i couldnt pass up on another kit ive had my eye on  which led me to set this aside for now. Will pick it up again some day.

@DSiemens with the suggestion of the build!  Wow - How did I not have these scissors before?  I had what I thought were ok scissors that came from a sewing kit - they aren't remotely comparable.  Thank you!
 
The build continues and I have begun rigging.  The spars are on.  The bowsprit assembly is done.  Really starting to come together, despite my continual attempts to destroy what I've already created.  I'm convinced that rigging is there to teach us just how clumsy our giant hands really are.  And, my thread seemingly has become self-aware - it certainly seems to go where it wants as if it had will anyway (and apparently it is none too happy with me).  But, beat it into submission, I will.
 
Lots of progress, but still a fair ways to go before it is done.