Landlubber Mike

So I used the lathe and fine sandpaper to smooth the canon.  The final polishing is done with handfuls of wood shavings pressed against the turning barrel to use "wood to polish wood".  The technique works really well.  I then had to decide how to blacken my maple cannon.  Three choices: Paint, stain or dye.  In the end, I chose Solar-Lux Jet Black wood dye made by Behlen.  It's alcohol based, dries quickly, penetrates into the wood fibers, doesn't raise the grain and won't obscure the detail on the reinforcing rings and the cascabel.  It turned out well.
 
Obviously I'll need to protect the dyed cannon.  When we blacken brass cannons chemically, the resulting gun has a bit of a sheen to it.  The cannons were cast, so would have been flat black in color.  The "sheen" doesn't look bad in my opinion, though.  So what do you think?  Flat/matte poly, or semi-gloss/satin poly for a little sheen?

Thanks for the likes, guys!
 
I drilled the holes for the trunnion and bore.  The trunnion hole was a little out of square so I had to use a rattail file to square up the hole and a glue a slightly larger diameter trunnion in place.  I used wood filler to fill the irregularities in the trunnion hole.  Dying is next

Blokzijl is a ni ce, but very small town, and the wieden are a beautifulll area (lots of water and reed). The ship you get when you rent a punter in Blokzijl is this one:
a relatively small inland sailing ship.
in Giethoorn they use the same type, but without mast (as these need to fit under the bridges that connect the houses to the main street. Also with much lower boards, as they don't sail in open water, but are propelled using a long stick,pushed aginst the bottom of the canal.
 
 
as you see, lots of tourists overthere, mostly japanese and american. Not nice, too crowded, too commercial......
 
jan

Because the Byrnes saw lacks a splitter or riving knife, binding and kickback is always a possibility when ripping using a zero kerf blade, something these blades are not designed to do. The procedure described by Jeff Hayes whereby the fence is set at a slight angle is one way to minimise binding. Another technique that I have used for many years is to use an auxiliary fence. This is simply a short length of aluminium angle held against the Byrnes fence using two spring clamps. The end of the aluminium is set just short of the back edge of the saw blade as shown in the following image.


This arrangement seems to work well for most straight grained timbers. Binding will still occur in difficult timber such as ebony and boxwood (Buxus). In these cases, I simply insert a wedge to relieve the pressure.

There is one other use for the auxiliary fence. If you require a number of small identical pieces to be cut from stock, simply move the fence so that it sits short of the leading edge of the saw blade. The stock is then held against the mitre attachment and slid forward into the saw. The cut pieces (mostly) accumulate beside the spinning blade.


I hope this information is of some use.

Dave

If GBP100 decrease by 50%, (i.e. $50), it will need to increase by 100$ (i.e. $50) to get back to same price.  Prices in the EU by law must include VAT, which is different to the US and possibly other places where any associated taxes are added afterwards to quoted prices
 
Using a simplistic example, assume a site quoted cost of GBP120 including VAT (GBP100 cost plus GBP20 VAT@20%), you need to reduce the quoted price of GBP 120 by 16.67% (i.e. ~GBP20 given rounding) to get the price excluding VAT of GBP 100.
 
 

The engine is now completely finished and sitting on its wooden rails: 

Note that the kit offers much longer rails than what I am using for display purposes. The engine is sitting in front of some of my O scale brass locomotives. As far as running, I was able to get a few inches of movement but I am reluctant to increase the number of rotation to rewind the rubber bands (even though they recommend up to 25) and I believe it would take some serious rework of the gears and flywheel located in the boiler to get a longer duration of thrust.  Here are a few more pictures of that very nice and well engineered model: 




I hope you enjoyed this BLOG and will perhaps try your skills at one of these Ukrainian kits. I certainly enjoyed putting it together and it has been a nice challenge.
 
Yves

Kevin, love your log.  Very nice work!
 
Just out of curiosity - in the picture you posted above, for the octagonal section of the yards, did you use planking strips?  Looks really great!

Kevin, love your log.  Very nice work!
 
Just out of curiosity - in the picture you posted above, for the octagonal section of the yards, did you use planking strips?  Looks really great!

Kevin, love your log.  Very nice work!
 
Just out of curiosity - in the picture you posted above, for the octagonal section of the yards, did you use planking strips?  Looks really great!

Kevin, love your log.  Very nice work!
 
Just out of curiosity - in the picture you posted above, for the octagonal section of the yards, did you use planking strips?  Looks really great!

good evening everyone
 
not much to show for the weekends work, still tidying up the front end lines and making sure they are going to the right place, all my points of reference differ,

the cathead was rigged and ancors made but for some reason i only have qty 2 and not 4, lol i dont think i can moan about it 7 years down the road

i dont quite know where the chain is fitted to on the hull near the flukes (when in the stowed position, so i am still experimenting 

I finally built La Couronne a home. Display case is made out of Honey Locust wood and Lexan in stead of glass. She will now make her way down to the basement where she can sit proudly next to Rattlesnake and await on Soleil Royal to join them. With this update, the log is 100% finished!

Well, here's yet another posting on this thread! I partitioned off a section of my garage, paneled and insulated the walls and cobbled together the workbenches from furniture and lumber that I had. A small window air conditioner and IR heater keep it comfortable year-round. Nearly all of the tools were acquired second-hand at yard sales, etc., with a few exceptions. On the workbench is a model of what started out to be the Mary Celeste, an old Steingraeber kit that I actually began building in 1975 or '76. Long story, that. Decided to finally finish her before the end of the year. The model aircraft are all that remain of kits that I built over the years. Lots of projects started, lots to finish, and more to begin!

Good evening everyone
 
i had intended to achieve more by this time (its not a race) but happy as all the yards are in place, the Mizzen ones are finished just awaiting the fittings if rigging bits, the main and fore are in different stages of completion
 

 

I so admire those who can create carvings, but my attempts on Pegasus  ended in abject failure. The figures are so small and I simply couldn’t get down to size using either wood or fimo.  By any stretch of imagination what resulted  hardly represented classical figures of Greek mythology.
I was saved by a Preiser set of 1:87 scale ‘Adam and Eve’ figures which I was able to convert into passable representations of Perseus(complete with Medusa’s head,) the Princess Andromeda, and  Athena and Poseidon, all associated with the Gorgon legend.
The decoration is of course all conjecture and even the decoration shown on the Admiralty plans is probably just artistic licence,  I doubt the Navy Board would sanction such expense for a humble sixth rate.
Still I look forward to admiring the work of those with more resolve than me.😊
 
B. E.
 
 
 

Thanks Bob.  Now that I have an actual brand name to search for, I should be able to find it.
 
Mike -- thanks for the nice words, though I 'm not convinced yet that jealousy is appropriate.  As for the carvings, those Medusas on Pegasus do look intimidating (ahem!), though their size might make carving the facial features more of a possibility than the smaller figures.  FFM's advice of starting out with a model in clay would really help to determine what's feasible.
 
And I'm not sure yet about the angle of the quarter pieces.  On NMM's Fly plans, they look to be facing fully aft.  I had sort of envisioned notching them onto the planking to give them stability.  Though that would violate the need to have a space between them and the bulwark.  I actually haven't started on anything yet (beyond tracing the figures from the plans and gluing them onto some stock), because I'm fiddling with the mullions of the windows.  But once I get a pair of clay models (very rough) done, I hope to be able to figure out the placement.  And, natch, I'll follow the usual best practice of going back to several Swan build logs.  I recall that BE resolved the issue with some Knight figures.  
 
Thanks for checking in.  And thanks to everyone who clicked the like button!
 
Martin

Now beginning the second planking with the walnut strips.  I have the strip at the top of the whale in place and now two strips along the keel on each side.  I find that there is a slight misalignment in height as the planks get laid next to each other.  Instead of waiting to sand this all out I cut a 3/4" wide strip off the end of a cabinet maker's card scraper and turned a burr on it.  This acts like a plane - used this to good effect on the deck planking as well.  The card scraper actually removes shavings - - not dust - - and you can quickly level out high spots.  This will in the end reduce the amount of sanding significantly.  See photos.  You can find how to turn a bur on a card scraper by Googling "sharpening a cabinet scraper" takes a bit of practice but once you can do it it is a very useful tool.
 
I used Titebond to put the top of the whale and garboard strakes in - but cannot figure out how to effectively clamp the strips in between.  So have moved to CA - - no problems yet - only slightly glued my fingers to the planks.  Even though this will all be covered by the copper plates - I want to learn how to plank without pin holes for future projects.
 
Pink spots are sanded down Bondo auto body filler which I used to level out low spots.
 
Planing down second plank - note shavingsCard Scraper

Oh, and congratulations on your upcoming retirement.  That's fantastic, I'm jealous  
 

Hi Martin, your stern is really coming along nicely.  Great job!  I'm planning to carve the items as well.  The PE pieces are fantastic, but I think carvings not only provide more of an accurate 3D representation, but also add a lot more charm and character to the build (at least they are for your Fly - we'll see what happens when I get to carvings on my Pegasus).
 
The quarter pieces are what scare me.  Do you know if those face outwards at a 45 degree angle?  I haven't exactly figured out how to set them along the stern.  All I know is that the hanging quarter pieces is the one glaring error of the Amati kits.  That being said, I like the quarter pieces and other stern details for the Fly a lot better than those of the Pegasus - going to be hard to carve a beheaded Medusa.  The NMM plans are a little incomplete too when it comes to the pilaster ornamentation.  I might have to borrow from the Fly plans to fill out the rest of the ornamentation. 
 

 
 

Greetings to all.
My name is Tomek. For some time I have been working on my next card sail ship the British cutter HMS "Fly". I build my models only from paper and cardboard without painting (of course masts and rigging are made of wood and thread). I will honestly admit that "Fly" is my 20 cardboard model of a sailing ship so it looks much better than my first models from 15 years ago.
The "step by step" how I design and build card sailing ships...
1. Frames made of 1mm card. The model is really small (about 16 cm long)
2. The first layer to strengthen and stabilize the hull 
3. The second layer made of 0,5 mm card. The glue is applied only in places where the edges of the frame are located . Thanks to this the hull gets soft curves without visible "cow's ribs" ... 
4. Attaching the third final layer on a well-prepared hull is a pleasure. 
5. The deck equipment and artillery
 
6. The current stage - the mast and the bowsprit with standing rigging
 
Regards
Tomek

Work on the stern continues.  I carved the King, and a pair of Dogfish to go in between the royal couple:
 

The King's face came out a bit better, while the Queen's royal visage is still a bit of a blur.  I tried numerous versions of a Kraken to go between, but they all failed disastrously.  From reading the section on the carvings in FFM more closely, I learned that what I had been calling Putti are actually The Four Winds -- so their puffy cheeks are not cherubic but inflated.  At any rate, they would have been just as difficult as the Kraken.
 
After these three figures, I decided to take a break and work on the pilasters around the windows.  I have a small amount of holly, and wanted to get some more, but the one supplier (not Syren) charges a flat shipping rate of $10, so that even a modest order becomes more expensive that this modeller would like.  So I made do.
 

I fashioned a scraper to cut the grooves.  I then tried several techniques for fashioning capitols & pediments, but they all ended up looking too thick.  Out of necessity, then, I've decided to forego those details.
 
One problem here is that the 2 outermost pilasters on either side can't cover up the edge of the planking.  I'm considering two options for this:  either use a thin piece of boxwood, or hope that the quarter piece offers enough covering.  My guess is that I'll do both (cover with boxwood and hope).
 
In order to begin figuring out how the quarter piece will fit, I've had to attach the tafferal.  I put it back into its curved mold for a few days, and then before it had a chance to spring back, I pinned and glued it into place:
 

 
And then I added the Royal Couple:
 
 

 
The port cove needs to be extended under the King's foot, and the part under the Queen's foot needs a bit of trim.  But this essentially it.  -- I could never find anything to simulate glass for the windows.
 
The quarter pieces pose a new challenge, as they're round carvings rather than relief.  The NMM plans show a lad with a dogfish going between his legs and another sitting atop his curly head:
 

The upper dogfish extends up to the Queen's knee (or the King's over on the port side).  The lower quarter piece appears to have a stylized Kraken (much better than anything I designed or carved) eating some polyps:
 

 
And there's another really good Kraken on the side decoration:
 

 
For now, my plan of action is to set up the trumpeting lad & dogfish as a relief carving that I'll round off in the back after completing all the frontal detail.
 
On a side note, I'll mention that after talking with Mrs W at great length, I've decided this will be my last year in pre-retirement.  None of my colleagues knows yet, but they still seem to have conspired to give me more work than ever.  Between now and May, my shoulders will be bowed and  the bags under my eyes like pineapples.  
 
Cheers,
 
Martin
   

finished playing with the anchors, its far tro early for them and will just create more snags as i continue withe the rigging

Fore mast yards and Stun Yards

i love rigging, it takes me into another time (NOT LIKE DR WHO), i think its because it all goes together like a fine tuned engine, its nice to think that line does this and that one gets tied off there because blah blah blah

one dowl 8mm thick and two at 3mm gives me what is reqired for the lower yard on the foremast
used my lathe as a sanding tool and had a great few hours





that completes the basics but to be primed and painted then set up with accessories before being fixed to the build, however i always pin my spars in the relevant position, makes my life so much easier

It may bear noting that Alaska yellow cedar is one of those wood species that is known by many different non-scientific names. Thus, sourcing is outside of its range may be made more difficult if you don't ask for it by the right name. First off, it's not a cedar at all, but rather a cypress. It's known as Nootka cypress, yellow cypress, Alaska cypress, Pacific Coast cedar, Nootka cedar, yellow cedar, Alaska cedar, and Alaska yellow cedar. If you are googling for it, you might try some of its other commercial names, although it is most popularly called Alaska yellow cedar.
 
Unfortunately, AYC is becoming harder to source for a variety of reasons. 1) Most of it that's commercially logged is sold locally in the Pacific Northwest, where it is still readily available. 2) It's often found in areas which are difficult (i.e. expensive) to access for logging operations. 3) It's dying off throughout much of its range due to climate change and is being considered for classification as endangered. 4) Asian demand for AYC for fine woodwork sends a lot of it off as export. 5) AYC plantation forestry has only just begun to be studied and it more of a challenge than commercial cultivation of other lumber species. 6) AYC is very slow-growing, with a lifespan of well over a thousand years.
 
It is the winter snowpack that insulates the shallow and fine root systems of AYC trees from freezing. With the snow pack becoming thinner each year, the tree roots are more exposed to cold snaps which freeze their fine root systems close to the surface and kill the trees. Photos of large stands of dead AYC would make you cry, but the good news is that the dead timber is as good for lumber as the fresh for at least 90 years, and perhaps more even. Again, AYC's growing terrain makes commercial harvesting less attractive than more accessible lumber species.
 

 
The good news is that while it is considered somewhat rare outside of its natural range, there is plenty of it available in the Pacific Northwest lumberyards. The bad news is that it will cost to ship it elsewhere. I've worked with AYC planking and decking wooden boats and I'm sad to say the offcuts went into the yard dumpster or home for the fireplace. (It's also one of the best fire woods known.) I wish I'd taken more of it for my own "lumberyard" than I did when I had the chance. 
 

 
http://patlbr.com/cedar/
 
 
 

I got some AYC from Chuck and I am using it on a new model and I love the stuff.  In my case the model is of a 1890 era canal boat primarily made of White Oak for which I am using Birch - dead ringer at 1/2" = 1' To White Oak.  There is also a lot of Yellow Pine used on the boat and the AYC looks perfect in place of Yellow Pine on this model.
I was very impressed with the ease of using the AYC as it cuts great on either my Preac or Bynes saws and finishes nicely.  I bought a couple of sheets from Chuck and after actually using a bit of it ordered a bunch more - it will be stocked in my shop going forward.
And as usual Chuck delivered it quickly and well packeaged.
Kurt

Mike look at Syren web site!!!!
Joe