Landlubber Mike

Hi Mike,
 
Basically the formula for painting to resemble boxwood is a 50/50 mix of Raw Sienna and Yellow Ochre as a base coat.  You then go in with light washes of Raw Sienna mixed with a touch of white for your low lights and Yellow Ochre mixed with a touch of white for your highlights.  Use several washes to give the piece dimension.  Then apply Minwax Golden Oak - allow to get tacky for about 30 minutes then brush off.  Repeat if necessary - stole this one from Chuck.
Chris

Thank you all for the comments and the likes. 
 
I'm on a "practice retirement" week this week (or vacation/holiday, as you will) and getting quite a bit done.  Mostly though, what's getting done is work around the house.   But that'll change. 
 
On the mask.. I do use it, even thought I hate it.  I use it when cutting and sanding any wood, not just ebony.  Ok... admission time.. except when I'm working outside.    For now, I think I'm sticking with the ebony.   I'm using up my stock of Madagascar and have ordered a "small" stash of gaboon from Woodworker's Source.  Couldn't resist, they had a great price.
 
Ferit,
Thanks for the suggestions on woods.  I've used the wood-database site a lot as well as certain suppliers sites.  Blackwood is a tougher wood than ebony.  I fiddled with a sample and found it eats saw blades like popcorn.
 
Chris & Mike,
Yeah.. laminating is an issue.  I'm headed to Lowe's later this week.  Might try some TiteBond as I've not located a local source for slow-cure epoxy.  I have some Fieblings and some MinWax Ebony Stain, but I know from experience that I'm better off doing this stuff 'off-ship".  Both look equally well, in my opinion.
 
Back to the shipyard...

Mike,
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
I will be blackening the metal using Birchwood-Casey Brass Black which will be applied neat using a cotton bud. I have used this on soldered locomotive frames which produced good results. I think if there is too much solder about it can produce a brown tinge.
 
I am currently working on making scale nuts (1mm square with an embossed centre) to try to improve the framework on the stove. Not sure how that will turn out. It is certainly making me go cross eyed.  

Hi Mark,
 
The planking is looking really good.  As far as Ebony - I attempted using it on my Confederacy's wales using laminations.  I had no success with it.  You may want to ask Rusty how he did it.
 
I used Fiebings Leather Dye on the swiss pear and it worked really well.  I think i applied 3 or 4 coats to the finished wales (i made sure to apply Tamiya tape and not flood the tape edges with dye) buffing between coats.  And then top coated it with Watcos Danish Oil.  
 
You need to be extremely careful dying on the model - this stuff does bleed easily - but with some advance planning you should be OK.
Chris

Looks like update time... 
 
The port side (or as it's called around the shipyard:  The Wall Side, has it's first area planked.. namely the area between the main wales and the chain or sheer wale.  Not sure what to call it really... since only the main mast channel sits on it.   Planked, and then final shaped the gunports.  A bit (for me) of weirdness as I was doing this and sent me scrambling back to the research department.  Seems the gunports are NOT square.  The sides are straight with respect to the frames but the sills follow the deck.  So.. some look really "extreme" to my eye but they match the Hahn plans, the NMM plans, a couple of shots I received via PM of the original French plans from when the ship was first built in 1755.  Footnote... I'm building her as she was in 1778 after a major rebuild/repair but not "as captured".  I don't like the roundhouses on the poop/quarterdeck as Hahn built her.
 
I've also started adding the wales.  Notably the chain/sheer wale first.  This took a bit of figuring out due to the nature of the mailns.  I was going to use the walnut that came with the timbering set but didn't like the look against the swiss pear planking. I wanted the look of ebony for contrast.   Tried staining the walnut and then sanding it.... which created a different set of issues since the wales are blended into the lower hull planking..  sanding killed the stain and after testing, I realized I couldn't restain without ruining any planking and the stem.       So....back to the drawing board.  Finally concluded... it has to be ebony.  
 
I've played with my homemade bender and think I can overcome the biggest problem and that's bending the stuff using the thickness of the wales I need.  We'll see... I may be laminating.   On the plus side, I've got enough ebony lying around to do this but not enough to finish the build (rails, trim, etc.) so I found a supplier who's shipping me some at a reasonable price.
 
Anyway.. here's photos... still needs to be hit with the 600 grit and then finished but I'll hold on that for awhile.
 


 
I know, I have talked people out of using ebony because it's just nasty stuff.  I really am not fond of it.  But if someone knows of a different solution (no paint--please) let me know.

If the Admiral ain't happy, nobody's HAPPY!  After 50+ years of being married to the same woman this advice is from well earned experience:
 
  (1) If the Admiral ain't happy, nobody's happy, (2) Flowers work and if you add dinner at a new and good resteraunt, it works even better, and (3) Never-Ever refer to the reason for your new purchase as "because she bought a new .......".

My wife spends a lot more than any or yours and I rarely buy anything for my self. Christmas before last I thought hey, what's up with this, so I bought everything that Jim Byrnes makes along with a Sherline mill and lathe. To heck with "do I need it". My wife doesn't "need" what she buys. I have the Rattlesnake kit along with the Syren which I am building now. These are my first builds so I'm no expert. My suggestion would be to skip the Rattlesnake and upgrade to the Syren. I would also spend the extra money to replace everything above the waterline with boxwood & cherry and the deck with holly from HobbyMill. Of the Jim Byrnes machines I would say the order of importance would be: table saw, thickness sander, disk sander. Of course after buying all that I thought that I would to fly to London and take a train to Portsmouth for a couple of days to see the Victory while my wife and daughter went to Hawaii. Although for 40 years she would never go anywhere besides Hawaii, she said that she would go along for me. Well, it turned into London, Portsmouth, Paris, Orient Express train to Venice, Rome  and back to London. Darn! She still out spent me! Oh well. We had the best time of our lives. In fact we're going again in 6 weeks. Adding Chatham but skipping Venice and Rome. I created a monster.

Max,
 
Put the checkbook down.  Make a cup/glass of your favorite beverage and sit back.  Now ask yourself this:  Where do I want go with this hobby?   If it's kits then power tools are a waste of money.  If it's scratch building, then kits are a waste of money. 
 
Then ask yourself:  Where am I in the shipbuilding learning curve? If you're doing more and more scratch work and bashing, what tools will most useful for that? 
 
It's a growth process, I think.  When you're ready for the big power tool, you'll know it and no one will convince you otherwise.    if you're more kit oriented, go for the kit and put the money away until you need that "next thing".. be it tools, kits, or wood.
 
Now I could tell you exactly what I'd buy, but it may not be what you'd want or need.   Kinda' evil, aren't I?

So....next up on the stove are the tops of the boilers.
 
The tops of the boilers were made from two rectangles of 1mm thick N/S. One was 7.5 x 13.5mm the other was 9.5 x 13.5mm. The two rectangles were carefully positioned to give equal gaps around the sides but none at the back. A piece of 0.5mm scrap brass was used as a temporary spacer between them to maintain the correct gap as I soldered them up.
 
The lids were made from 0.5mm N/S cut and filed to shape with 0.4mm holes drilled for the handles. The lids were soldered in place and the 0.4mm holes redrilled through the lids and then through the main part of the top. It started well but the tip of one bit snapped off in one of the holes. I think the bit snatched as it was passing from one layer to the next. There was no way I could get the broken tip out. Fortunately there was sufficient hole for the 0.3mm handle to be soldered in place. This meant I had to solder the handles in from the front rather than behind - which means more cleaning up of excess solder after the job was done.
 
There are two items which I thick are the caps over the holes where the boilers were filled with water. These were simple turning jobs from 2mm diameter brass rod. A hole was drilled in each corner at the front of the boilers and these were soldered in.
 
The last item is a short length of 2mm brass tube which is where I will attach a still.
 
Photo 1 shows the top of the stove detailed as above before permanent attachment to the rest of the stove.
 

 
Photo 2 shows the underside of the top showing the thick plate that fits inside the sides of the stove.
 

 
Photo 3 shows the detailed stove top in place - though not permanently fixed in place just yet.
 

 
 
    

WOW!!!

Hello Michael.
 
I found myself in the same Situation 2 years ago, searching for Input, plans, Pictures, etc. of the Pamir.
It was my aim to do a scratch build Version (not a kit) of this 4 mast barque in exact the Version in wich she foundered with a tragic loss in lives way back in 1957.
I have to date a complete model in scale 1:96, plank on Frames with resembled riveted metal plating, full rigging, full sails "braced to the shrouds". feel free to contact me, if you should be interested in  Pictures of the build
 
Nils
 




 
 

dooough!  thanks Mike for the correct terminology of the anchor ring treatment.......what I described....goes around the mast!  so many new words....I can't keep them straight!  LOL!   you got twins......and your still building!?   gee.....I have two boys {6yrs apart}...and I had to stop for a while.  build while you can.......when they get mobile.......game over man!
 
Frank........I made an error on the term for it..........listen to Mike.......puddening........I'm writing that down.......

I had started some build log in the former edition of this forum, and for a number of reasons I did not rewrite it in the new version.  Some of the reasons (excuses):
- A lot of work involved
- Not familiar with the new procedures to insert pics
- Long term inactivity on the project
- Moderate interest from other members…
 
I have now restarted the build and will re-post some of the previously sent pictures, if I manage to tackle the pictures insertion.  Anyway this is the model as it looks now. 

Any critical or better, constructive meaning is more than welcome, bearing in mind that not a lot can be changed to what is already done.
 
Question.  I want to give the ship a name.  For a number of reasons I will explain later, this will be “The Pole Star” or rather in Dutch “De Poolster”.  Problem is that Dutch spelling of the 17th century is not something I am familiar with, so the name could also have been written Poolsterre or stern or sterne.  Any idea from the Dutch colleagues?

Thanks guys... ok... the short-timer's calendar is running.  Day's like the last two make me realize that I'm getting too old for this work stuff.  We have heavy forest fires going on down here in Southern Oregon.  About 40,000 acres burned since the 26th of July and valley that Medford is in is filling with smoke.  Which causes problems on the air conditioning at work.  Which, even though I'm in IT, I have to monitor the switch rooms and temperatures, etc.  Long story short, one  of the units had some..er... issues.  Filled one switch room and my "lab" with heavy smoke.   Which has created other problems.  Hopefully, everything has been fixed and I can go back to being a run of the mill cubicle convict tomorrow. 
 
Hmm... I'm babbling aren't I, when I could be trimming gunports. 

A real problem in having a model kit in such an odd scale, 5/32", is that you will have a hard time finding replacement twelve and six-pounder cannon in 1:76 scale if the kit guns are done poorly, which apparently they are. Had MS designed the Essex kit in the more common 1:64 scale, the same scale as Portia Takakjian's classic Essex plans and booklet, then you could use a commercial set of 1:64 Essex cannon already available.

If you're going to all the trouble of scratch building a model, then why not take the extra step of building a contemporary sloop of war other than the recently, much modeled Siren? You could use her same plans and the instructions as a guide toward building, say, the 18 gun brig USS Argus, a sloop with a tremendous history. Her plans, redrawn by Howard Chapelle for his 'History of the American sailing Navy' are available for little more than the cost of the copying. Argus would require no more material than the Siren.
 
There are many flushed deck American ship and brig rigged sloops of war, built in 1813 of only slightly larger dimensions, that rarely ever see the modelers bench: Wasp I, Hornet, Wasp II, Peacock, Frolick, Erie, Ontario, and the Argus II. Their draughts are also available from the Smithsonian. Then there are the similarly sized British Cruiser Class sloops that they fought: HMS Frolick, HMS Peacock, HMS Pelican, HMS Reindeer, HMS Avon, HMS (later USS) Epervier and the HMS Pelican. How about the mighty little 450 ton 20-gun, flushed-decked ship sloop HMS Levant, that fought the USS Constitution? And there are so many more beautiful and larger American sloops build after the war ... All these sloops deserve to be built.
 
Don't limit yourself. If you're going to spent many months, if not years, of your life scratch building a ship, why not make her unique and special?

Boy... am I ever slow.  Life, work, and getting things set up to retire have all taken their toll. 
 
One of the first things I had to do was make a new zero tolerance insert for the table saw.  The old plastic one finally gave up the ghost.  So... after some fiddling with metal and plastic, I grabbed some scrap wood and had at it.

 
Then it was back to cutting planks and planking. I have only one side and small part of that done.  From the wale line up to the channel wale on the port side.  Needs to have the channel wale added and then sand like crazy and finish opening and tidying up the gunports. 
 

Great!  I'm a few months from starting my Unicorn, but it will be nice to work on this build alongside yours and Ian's

Hey Mike,
Thanks!
And actually, I just did :D :D
 

 
I won it by around £50 cheaper, and that's a lot in Ringgit Malaysia (currency)
It's gonna be a busy year~~~~ 

Very nice job - congratulations!  Hope you win the Unicorn

Thanks Mike - actually the deck elements were finished with two coats of Watcos Danish Oil - which doesn't involve as much buffing as the Tung Oil which goes on thick.  I used Watcos for most of the smaller assemblies (cannon carriages, binnacles, pin racks, deck beams, etc).  Not sure if that made a difference or its just the lighting of the iPhone camera.

OK, so I've set it up and have some comments, etc.:
 
1) It was missing one of the two chuck keys, so I've written the U.S. distrib. (Prox-Tech, Hickory, NC) for a replacement. Not a major problem, just an inconvenience.
 
2) I do like the fact that you can use stock that is longer than the lathe is designed for since the headstock is tubular and the stock will just stick out the left end of the machine.
 
3) I'm not too keen on the assortment of collets - I could not find one that worked with 5/16" dia. stock.
 
4) Tool rest - cast aluminum or pot metal - will need to have a s/s (stainless steel) surface added (as I did on my Turncrafter Pro Mini-lathe rest) - the surface is not that hard and already tends to hang the chisel up as you move it along. I'm thinking of asking my machinist/modeler associate Ken fix up a new tool rest constructed out of brass/stainless.
 
Overall the lathe seems to run ok, has plenty of power - it's the incidentals that are rather irksome.
 
I did complete the Spencer mast for my Anchor Hoy the other night and am now working on the bowsprite on my Turncrafter Pro Mini Lathe since the length was more than the Proxxon could handle. I could have done one end and then the other, but this works out ok.
 
I did purchase the 5 chisel set, but it is still in transit, so I'm using sandpaper and one of my regular size small chisels until they arrive.
 
Alexandru - the 3 and 4 chucks - give me a bit more info on them if you can. I may purchase one of them, as well.

The only barrel that might be on deck would be a water barrel: a butt. That's where gossip occurred (think the office water-cooler!); hence the origin of the expression 'scuttle-butt'.

I don't know who said that Ian, but it sounds to me like saying I will not drive my car because I may have an accident 

Unbelievable!!! Arrived almost overnight - of course, I'll have to wait until I'm back at the workshop on Sun. to open the box.
 
The Admiral has set strict regulations governing modeling tools & supplies - she states that the beatings will continue until compliance is 100%