Martin W

JSG -- Thanks for posting those photos from Pasi's build.  I do remember that I followed his log closely, and now wonder where he's gone.

As for the molding on the rails, I pretty much followed Bob's procedure and found that in some ways it was easier than the razor blade method -- you're right on when you say that cutting the razor is easy, but cutting it just exactly right is HARD.  I simply drew my lines on the piece of stock with a very fine pencil, then began cutting with the exacto, starting with a superficial cut, since those cross grains will tend to draw the blade off the mark.  And then I drew the blade over the cut again and again till I had enough of a groove that I could begin refining it by scraping the sides.  That's a technique I learned from Bill Short's carving practicum, and I found that it provides a good amount of control, as long as you go slowly and breathe regularly.

I'll be looking at those photos many times -- I wish I'd had your foresight to save them so I could have studied them while doing the rails & head.

Cheers,

Martin

If your aim is to show where the joints are, then I say let the beauty marks stay.  Planking is challenging enough that when you look at your finished model you'll be happy to remember that those are actual planks that you laid down individually.  AND there's always the touch of realism, that maybe an actual ship would have plenty of blemishes as all those starfish bumped up against her.

It looks good, and your photo of the gunports gives a nice sweeping view.

Cheers,

Martin

Ahoy, JPett -- Same goes for me!  Tell us you're off making sawdust with your Vanda Lay!

Martin

Hi Richard -- I took part in a thread about an x-y table for the Dremel workstation, hoping, like you, to get it done on the cheap.  For the most part I was discouraged from trying to set up the x-y for the Dremel, since that workstation isn't accurate.  One or two people, though, did find the proxxon x-y to work just fine with the Dremel.  JPett ended up getting a Vanda Lay setup that he uses with his Dremel and likes it -- you might go to the Vanda Lay Industries site and see what they have.

These are the decisions that will determine whether this becomes an expensive hobby, or a really expensive hobby.

Cheers,

Martin

Really, really nice, Bob.  And congratulations on getting the nod from the Admiral too.

For such a small build, you managed to work in lots of nice details to make her interesting to look at.

Best,

Martin

If the gunport lids gave you a headache, you'd better stock up on aspirin when you're working on the head.  Every single piece has to be cut individually (Bob makes it look very, very easy).  All the plans also show a seat of ease and a kind of hatch-work that I would still like to put in, but can't figure out how to accommodate the curve of the head rails.  Good luck!

Martin

That's a neat solution to the problem of those hinges.  I wish I'd seen what you've done a lot earlier.

Cheers,

Martin

Hey, I like your jig -- it's simple and effective.

And I agree about those hinges.  I used them and wish I hadn't.  On the model itself they strike me as being much, much too big. But they do have the big advantage of giving you a surface to attach to the frame of the port.  Still, I've knocked off 2 or 3 already as I've been moving around the ship to do the rigging.

Glad to see you're making progress --

Martin

Well, one step SLOWLY.  Masts & spars aren't that tricky really.  You can check out Blue Ensign's log on the Pegasus and get some good pointers for cutting down the masts & spars.  I've used that method and the "poor man's lathe" -- ie, setting the dowel in the chuck of an electric drill and tapering it with course sandpaper (wearing gloves).

I think I've been working on the rigging since December.  I've been working on the Ratt since January 2008.

Like I said, I'm slow.

Cheers,

Martin

JSG --That was a good strategy, and it seems to have worked.

I really like seeing the pictures of your build to date -- I can recognize lots of details (being a follower of the same practicum) and can take note of your superior skill. 

Great,

Martin

Nice, taut lines.  They look good, and add to the quality workmanship of the build.

Best,

Martin

JSG -- It's coming along there.  As for the chainplates of Britannia -- I'm using those for the deadeyes in the tops and found that I could snip the bottoms off easily and without breaking them.  I just used my usual burr cutter, then drilled a new hole.  So if they look too long for your eye, you can always keep that point in mind.

cheers,

Martin

Right -- on the MS plans those are listed as "iron rail stan" which I take to be stanchions.  They're what I saw on Sheet A of the Mamoli.  Unless you're looking at those 3 knob thingies on the iron knees.  It says "see Campbell Hull Plan," but I don't know what that would be.  I would think, though, that the iron knees would come down when the gang way was pulled down (for battle, as I understand from Chapelle), since, as you say, they'd be nasty things to bump into, and sort of hard to avoid.

Cheers,

Martin

I'm not sure where you see them.  I can't find them on the Mamoli plans -- Sheet A has supports for a handrail, but that's not what you're describing.  Nor can I see anything like them in Hahn's Photos of his Rattlesnake.

Though I think details help to make a build distinctively your own.  If you see something no one else does, put it in.

Cheers,

Martin

I think that netting might be where the rolled up hammocks go.  I too didn't put the temporary gangway in, seeing it also as "bear."  The midship area gets really crowded really fast, with the ship's boat and everything else in there, and the gangways I thought detracted from the handsome lines of the Ratt.  And I think you're also right, JSG, that after taking all that trouble with the gun carriages, why hide them?

cheers,

Martin

It's really coming along.  I had the same problem putting the hances in -- ie, my rails weren't all parallel, so I had to do a lot of sanding.

And how did you do the carving -- rotary tool or gouge or xacto?

Nice photos from above.

Cheers,

Martin

That edge piece looks integrated very nicely.  Good work.

And, hey, congratulations on getting those plans so cheaply!  I paid full price, and still bristle at the thought -- but I have made intensive use of them, so I think you'll appreciate having them, even if only to compare with the Mamoli & Hahn plans.

Cheers,

Martin

I hear you loud and clear.

Cheers,

Martin

JSG -- Here is a small section of the MS Plan that shows the 2 cleats. 

Actually, looking at it here, the 2 cleats appear to be on the 2 stanchions, and by implication on the innermost 4.  At the same time, though, there doesn't seem to be any rigging belayed to them.

I didn't see these till I got the plans, well into the rigging.  Since my rail is fragile, I'm leaving the cleats off, and if I suddenly find I need them I'll probably set them on the deck.

Cheers,

Martin

NB:  The Attached Thumbnail listed below is not missing: it is the above photo.  M

Nice work.  It's a bold decision to let the tenons show.  I argued with myself and decided in the end to follow Bob's route, but I think in hindsight that letting them show might give them more stability, since they'd be longer.

And one detail from the MS plans you might be interested to learn is that there are cleats on the 2 foremost, center stanchions.

Cheers,

Martin

Hi there -- I'll be interested to see how your experiment with wire for the stanchions works.  My rail, on which I followed Bob's instructions pretty closely, is probably one of the more fragile components of the build -- I've had to reset it so many times that I've lost track.

Cheers,

Martin

Thanks Russ, that does reflect my strategy -- one shroud on one side, the corresponding shroud on t'other.

And JPett, my Treenail affliction was chronic, in that it lasted a very, very long time.  My fingers still ache and I secretly suspect that one reason I had to get thicker glasses was those treenails.  Numerous times I said something, "the next build will have no treenails."  And they do stand out, but in the end I like 'em.

And thanks for seeing the nicer parts and ignoring the flaws!

Cheers,

Martin

That's right, Russ.  I'm doing the "gangs" of the mizzen, going from starboard to port with each shroud.

Cheers,

Martin

Actually, Russ, these are the Mizzen shrouds.  I thought it would be easiest to move forward, since I would like to put in crowsfeet, and I thought that going aftwards would mean having the forward masts in the way.

Martin

So, I  worked  out the matter of the Iron Horse, though haven't taken any photos, since it's pretty plain -- just a blackened thick wire, bent into shape and set behind the tiller with a double block seized by a thimble.

That was pretty much (I hope, I dream, I surely delude myself) the final item on the long checklist of little details that needed to be installed before starting to attach the standing rigging.  And so last night I took a deep breath and attached the first deadeyes.  On my one and only other build, these gave me endless headaches as I did them over and over and still couldn't get them to line up even close.  This time I used the handy jig -- the piece of wire inserted into the 2 deadeyes -- to set the distance.  And here's the consequence -- starboard then port:

Now, to my eye, the lanyards look a bit long.  Antscherl gives a length of 3 times the diameter of the deadeye, and that seems to be fairly standard.  But all 3 plans of the Rattlesnake show the lanyards to be just about this long.

I might also point out that on the starboard side, I ran the lanyard through the shroud above the top deadeye incorrectly from outside to in.  I realized my mistake when doing the corresponding port lanyard and went back and corrected it.

It's also worth mentioning that the lanyards (.02 mm Egyptian cotton) aren't nearly a white as they appear in the photos.

If anyone sees something I've done wrong, I'd appreciate hearing about it.  I've left off trimming the loose ends until I'm sure that I've actually got the procedure down.

Cheers,

Martin