Martin W

After the work and stress of the anchor casting, I needed a change, so I worked on the deadeye chain links.
 
First I made a test link, soldered it and bent it around one of the deadeyes--

 
This was then test fitted to the channel, where it looks like it hangs a little too long--

 
A shorter link was made, and test fit--

 
This looks about right.  Here is the comparison--

 
Twenty, plus an extra or two, were cut from wire stock-
 
 
Another test was made for the smaller topmast deadeyes, and 12 plus some spares were added to the pile-

 
These all needed to be bent into loops for silver soldering.   Each loop needs to close without a gap, which means filing the cut ends flat, since the wire cutter made an angled cut.  Also, there are two different sizes of wire for the two different sizes of deadeyes.  I began to worry about how to tell them apart easily (measurement with the digital caliper is always a fallback though), as they collected in the container top--

 
I laid each out with a dab of silver solder paste on the joint.  I haven't had a mass solder like this on the build!--


 
Surprisingly, the thinner wires darkened, while the others remained bright.  They were two different sources of brass wire, the thinner one soft, and the thicker semi-hard--

 
The heat from the soldering now makes them all soft, but at least the difference in coloring made them easy to tell apart!-

 
I'll have to repeat this a couple more times for the other chain links.  And then I'll get back to the other anchors.
 
Ron
 

Thanks, Tom, Joe, Ed, and Steve, and all who have looked, and liked.  It seems there are never ending things to learn in this hobby, which is one of the things I love about it.
 
Ed, the metal is a tin-bismuth alloy, that I bought from Micro-mark (I'm sure available elsewhere also).  It is lead-free, and has a 280 degree Fahrenheit melting point.    
 
 

Absolutely amazing persistence and dedication.  I now have my model and of coarse I will be studying your log and using it as my guide.  Once I get the frames started, I will begin my log.  What an inspiration!  

Totally agree with the others great job and an excellent tutorial (as always) dumb question what type of metal is used?
 
Best,
 
Ed

That came out great Ron.

Thanks Dowmer, and captain_hook!
 
As soon as I got my coffee this morning, I started setting up on the kitchen stove to cast the anchor.  I heated the mold at 175 F degrees in the oven, while I waited for the metal to melt in the crucible on the stovetop.  When it looked ready, I took the mold out of the oven, set it on the counter (with a sheet of shopping bag paper for protection) and poured--"Don't pour too slowly--be intentional!"--I was advised.  As I practically dumped the metal in, it quickly spilled out over the top.  No metal emerged from the two air holes though, so I was worried that the metal didn't fully fill the mold.  I waited a while until the spilled metal was just warm to the touch, and then I opened the mold--

 
Sorry for the blurry images.   I took these without a tripod, so depth of field was very shallow.   But success!!   It looks good--

 
Bringing it back upstairs to my workshop, I could give it a closer look--

 
I separated the air vents with wire cutters, and the pour head with a saw--

 
There was just a bit of a ridge where the two mold halves came together, but it looked like it would clean up fine.  After doing that, I drilled the hole for the iron stock, and the ring--

 
I fit a piece of brass rod through the hole.  This will need to be cut and tapered at both ends, and a ring soldered near the middle of the stock, to "stop" it in the shank--

 
After soldering the ring on (I used two rings of different wire diameter, thinking maybe I can file them to look like a single tapered ring), and tapering the brass with a file, I heated the rod to soften it where the stock needs to make a sharp bend--

 
Then I bent the stock, put it on the anchor, and made the forked end that Petrejus shows on his drawing.  Well, my version isn't quite as elegant as his.  But it makes the stock wider than the hole in the shank, so now the stock can't slide out in either direction.  Now, there should be a slot in the stock opposite "stopper" ring, for a forelock, to lock the stock in position.  I will omit that detail!  I added the ring at the end of the shank, and this anchor is basically done--

 
The advantage of the iron stock is that the anchor can be stowed more compactly--

 
And for scale--

 
This is the smallest of the four anchors.  I figured if I can get this one cast successfully, I should be able to do the others.  I'll make all three of the remaining molds, and cast them all at once.  Then blacken them all, together with the chain plate links.
 
Ron

Wow! I might try casting myself. Very nice results! Now I‘m curious about the final ones.

Nice Ron, glad it worked out..........I second the cocktail too 😀

During the past week I received my Sulphur-free clay, so I was ready to try again with my anchor casting mold.
 
As before, I made a cardboard box, formed the clay around the anchor, placed wire vents and formed a clay pour head--

 
Painted the mold release liquid over all the interior surfaces, mixed and poured the silicone mold material over it--

 
And when I peeled away the cardboard, it seemed I had a good first half of the mold.  At least better than my goopy first attempt!--

 
After building another box around the silicone half, placing the anchor and wire molds, another clay head cone, and another painting of the mold release liquid, I was ready for the second silicone pour--

 
And after peeling away the second cardboard box, I had this--

 
Which separated into the two halves of the mold, which I can only hope are okay--

 
I did some minor surgery with a knife on the silicone at the air vent location on the palm tips, to make sure there was airflow (tested by blowing into the central cone with the halves held together--I could feel air on my cheeks from the two vent lines), I talcum powdered the mold--

 
And taped it together (I can't find any rubber bands, which the directions show-I will have to buy some)--

 
It's ready for the metal pour, which will have to wait until tomorrow.  I've had my pre-dinner cocktail, and I'm done with serious work for today.
 
Ron 
 

Thanks Ed!
 
Martin, your worry made me double check my method.  I checked the masts again.  I think it works as long as the template is absolutely vertical and parallel with the mast, and your eye is perpendicular.   You can shift your view angle to left or right, and the alignment angle remains constant.
 
Ron 

Nice fix indeed.  I'd worry, though, about offsetting your template, since that could set you up for a parallax effect.
 
It's just me worrying.
 
Martin

Nice fix indeed.  I'd worry, though, about offsetting your template, since that could set you up for a parallax effect.
 
It's just me worrying.
 
Martin

I have started to construct the Main mast in accordance with the dimension given by Steel, but I am bedevilled by the warping of the Birch dowel I have.
I am pressing on with a trial mast to gauge how it might look, and to fine tune my approach to the construction.
The overall length has been cut to Steel’s dimension and tapered as directed.

The quarters are marked on a card to constantly check the taper. The Main Lower mast is too long to fit between the chuck and tail stock so I have to reverse it to complete the work.
With the taper done, the mast head is formed using a scalpel to square off and taper the head.

The Cheeks which on the revised plan are 20mm longer than on the kit plan are cut from some boxwood sheet, and the mast is squared off where they fit on the sides.

A first check to gauge the height from the partners

The white card gives a comparison with the kit height of the mast from the partners. Effectively with Steel’s measurements the difference is a mast head height equivalent.

There is definitely a warp in the dowel but I will progress the mast a little further by adding the cheeks and bibbs, and marking the woolding positions.
The search carries on for some warp free dowel.
In my seemingly endless quest to find some straight stuff I ordered Ramin dowel from Westbourne Model Centre, and glory be when it arrived it was true. Pale in colour, fine of grain, just what I required.
On the basis of why keep a dog and bark yourself I had used the time whilst waiting practising forming the square sections on dowel using my new milling machine .

 

 

Milling square profiles out of dowel worked a treat, far less hit and miss than doing it by hand as on my test piece.
With the dowel cut to length and tapered again by reference to the Quarters, the final part was to form a tapered flat on the sides to take the Cheeks.

Tamiya tape was used to mark the outline of the cheeks on the mast for flatting off.

The cheeks were cut from boxwood sheet and pva’d to the mast.

The top line of the hounds need to be cut horizontal, allowing for any rake of the mainmast and to keep the Main top level with the waterline.
There is only a very slight rake to the kit mainmast so adjustment is minimal.

The Bibs.
On the kit the Bibs are pre shaped walnut ply and in fact combine the upper part of the cheeks ie the Hounds and the bibs.
In reality the cheeks thickened out at the top to form the hounds which were then scored to take the bibs which are extensions to support the trestletrees.

I cut a simpler shape of combined bib/hounds out of boxwood sheet and scored and marked the pattern to indicate where the bibs attached.
These were then simply glued at the hounds top level.

Tamiya tape is used to check the positions of the wooldings with the mast in place. This is not far off the scale depth of the wooldings which at 12” is equal to 5mm.

The next stage will be to varnish the masts and begin what I suspect will be the long process of attaching the woolding hoops.
B.E.
 

The Lower Masts
The masts on Pegasus as per the plan are ok, but lack a bit of refinement and may be a tad heavy.
There are things that can be done to tweak them a little and give them a slightly better authenticity.
If you want to see what Swan masts should look like you need look no further than Remco’s fine build on MSW.
I hasten to add that I don’t think I will get anywhere close to his standard of artistry, but I hope to improve things over the basic kit arrangement.
I had intended to make the lower masts out of lime wood dowel but with the lengths involved the dowel seemed a bit flexible, and I wasn’t sure that it would remain straight and true.
I re-ordered some birch dowel, still ok for colour but a bit stronger.
In the meantime I will play with the lime wood to work out my strategy.
The ground rules according to Steel
The Main mast height is determined by adding the length of the lowerdeck and extreme breadth together, the half is the length of the main-mast.
The Foremast is 8/9th of the Main Mast height
The Mizen mast is ¾ of the Main mast height.
The head of the Main and Fore masts is calculated as 5 inches to every yard of the mast's length.
The head of the Mizen-mast, and Main and Fore topmasts, 4 inches to every yard of the length.

Steel gives in his tables the length of the masts and the diameters at the partners.

Dimensions for a Sloop of 300 tons.
Foremast Steel given length 56.0' scale equivalent @1:64 266.7mm Kit Plan 269.0mm
Main Mast Steel given length 63.0' scale equivalent @1:64 300.0mm Kit Plan 303.0mm
Mizzen Mast Steel given length 48.0' scale equivalent @1:64 228.6mm Kit Plan 252.0mm
 
Mastheads Kit Plan
Fore 7' 9" 36.9mm 39,0mm
Main 8' 9" 41.7mm 42.0mm
Mizen 5' 4" 25.4mm 29.0mm

For the kit model the mast height above the partners is the important dimension as the below decks length is not to scale.
The partners are taken at the Upper deck level
First job will be to draft out a modified mast plan and see how it looks in a mock up.
 
Re-drawing the lower masts.

The main mast
From Steel the mast height is given at 63’.0 with a dia of 18⅜” so I have an overall scale height of 300mm. The diameter scales to 7.3mm slightly less than the provided 8mm dowel.
I have decided to accept this slight discrepancy and stick with the 8mm ø dowel. The mast is divided into quarters from the partners using the ratios 60/61. 14/15. 6/7 . This effectively gives a taper from the partners at 8mm to 6.85mm at the stop of the hounds( bottom level of the masthead).
The masthead on the basis of 5” per yard of the masts length scales to
63 ÷ 3 x 5” = 8’ 9” at scale =42mm. This is marked on the plan.
The masthead is interesting because it is wider athwartships than in the fore aft direction.
The lower end of the head is the same as the 3rd quarter athwartships ie 6.85mm. The fore/aft width is ¾ of the partners dia = 6mm. at scale.
The Upper end of the head is 5/8th of the partners dia =5mm.

The hounds which effectively are the top part of the cheeks are given at 2/3 the length of the masthead equating to 28mm.

The Cheeks. According to Lees post 1773 cheeks came 2/3 way down between the hounds and the partners and were half the mast ø in width at the bottom end.
I have taken this to mean the distance between the partners and the Stop of the Hounds.

Checking with the cheek lengths on the kit plan they don’t seem to meet any of the criteria given by Lees
Front Fish. Lees mentions masts being made with a front fish from around 1773, the length is taken from the stop of the hounds to within a foot or two from the upper deck.
Fishes aren’t shown on the Atalanta model, and David Antscherl doesn’t include them in his tffm books. However I have seen them on contemporary models, some quite a while earlier than 1773.

The jury is still out on this one

The Wooldings , according to Lees smaller ships had an average of six on the mainmast, five on the foremast, and three on the Mizen.
The ffm indicates seven on the mainmast six on the Foremast and none on the Mizen.
I note that contemporary models show both examples, with the Swan models showing three on the Mizen.
I am inclined to go with six on the Main mast, five on the Foremast and I’m leaning towards three on the Mizen, but no need to make that decision just yet.
The wooldings were of 12” in depth = to 5mm at scale with hoops top and bottom of 0.6mm depth.
So with the plan drawn I can mock up a mast to the given dimensions and see how well it satisfies my eye.

Time to cut some wood.
B.E.
 

Spare Topmasts
These were also done earlier in the build as they rest upon the Gallows and Foc'sle rail of the ship.
The topmasts are the most complicated masts to make because tapering rounds, square, and octagonal sections are involved.
Two spare topmasts are required to fit on the gallows so making these seems a good place to start. I will be using 6mm square stock to make the masts, and then round off and taper for the main length of the mast.
Steel’s ratios
Main Topmast = 3/5th of lower mast
Fore Topmast = 8/9th of Main Topmast
Mizen Topmast = 5/7 th of main Topmast

Steel’s given dimensions
Fore 33’ 4” (158.75mm at scale) Kit plan = 178mm
Main 37’ 6” (178.59mm at scale) Kit plan = 192mm
Mizen 26’ 9” (127.39mm at scale) Kit plan = 124mm*

*Plus pole mast 51mm.

Looking at the kit mast plans two things strike my eye immediately.
Firstly there is no block below the heeling, and between the heeling and the Lower mast cap the profile of the topmast is shown as square but of a narrower section than either the heeling or the round section above it. The heeling is built up using spare strip to turn the round into a square.
In terms of the various ratios of one part of a mast to another the kit dimensions are at variance with the Steel data:-
The Block = 1/7th the length of the Lower Masthead
The Heeling = Twice the length of the Block.
The Hounds = 4/5th the length of the Head.
The Head = 1/10th of the Mast Length
The first action is to redraw the masts to take into account the shape differences, and then transfer the dimensions to the square stock.

A ‘V’ jig is very necessary for mast making.
I think it is easier to make topmasts using square stock, rather than try to square off dowel or build it up to represent the square and octagonal sections.

The lines are transferred to the square strip and the mast is then formed using scalpel and chisel blades to form the octagon shapes.

Fitted in the lathe the round tapering part of the mast is formed.

The non round areas are clear of the chuck and protected where the round starts.
 
At this point I introduce my second new toy...
 

I know absolutely nothing about Milling and Milling machines but youtube and a little book with the catchy title of The Milling Machine got me started sufficiently to cut the toprope sheaves in the masts.

Cutting the toprope sheaves in the block using a 1mm straight bit.

The completed masts in the raw.

Sheaves cut for finishing.

Head of masts with the hounds shaped.

 

Completed spare Topmasts.

I have not made masts to this level of detail before and making the spare topmasts has allowed me to work out the best approach to take.
Not sure these two are good enough for the actual masts, but practice makes perfect and eventually I may even replace these spares on the gallows as my skill level hopefully improves.
A word on the timber.
I am using Lime wood, I like this because it is virtually grain free, carves very easily, and being of a whitish colour allows for a colour finish of choice. The main downside of Lime is that it is fairly soft and can be more difficult to get a sharp edge on say octagonal profiles.
I did look at Beech as an alternative; a little harder, a reasonable colour, but too grainy for the scale involved.
I don’t like mahogany because of the dark colour which doesn’t appeal and would require painting rather than varnishing to get a paler colour I seek. I will use mahogany for the yards as they are blackened.
I quite like and have used Birch dowels previously for lower masts but it is not supplied in sufficient square section sizes to make topmasts.
In place on the Gallows

 

Just to see the effect, a boat I made for Pickle but did not use.
B.E.
 

I was able to file the main mast partner piece to allow a greater rake, however, the mast step did not allow the heel tenon to slide forward enough.
 
Happy that I hadn't glued it in place, I was able to retrieve the mast step from inside the hull--

 
And I extended the tenon slot forward.  I also had to shorten the dimension of the mast tenon to allow even more forward play--

 
There is a deck stanchion that the mast step butts up against, which constrained the mast step, and even the heel of the mast.  You can see where I also had to file a bit of the heel flat, so it didn't project forward of the edge of the mast step--

 
This done, I could reinsert the step (where I think it will remain unglued)--

 
And check the rake.  Pretty close--

 
I used a different technique to sight the rake against the template, in which I put the template parallel to the mast but a bit offset.  This way I had room on the deck to put the bottom edge flat.  I think this is more accurate than what I was doing before in trying to hold the template right on the mast, and then having to angle the template around obstructions, or on top of deck hatches.  I rechecked the fore mast using this technique and found I had to increase the rake a little bit.  Fortunately there was enough play in the mast step to easily allow the adjustment--

 

 
Ron 
 

After cutting new channels to accommodate the topgallant backstays, here they are test fit to the hull.  On the foremast, the last channel, which accommodates the topmast backstays and topgallant backstays, is narrower.  I saw this detail on Glenn Greico's Jefferson model.  I was less sure what to do on the second channel for the mainmast, which has a foremast shroud, the topmast backstays, and the topgallant backstays.  In the end, I decided to notch it back, rather than taper it, reasoning that that way, the chainplate links for the topmast backstay deadeyes would be more consistent, and the deadeyes themselves would be straight in a row, parallel to the rail.   Perhaps a wrong guess there, but Glenn's photos didn't show a similar situation! 
 
Here they are test fit--

 
Next I made card templates to set the mast rake angles.  The bottom edge goes on deck, or at least parallel to it if there are hatches in the way.  The left edge is the rake of the mast--

 
My foremast was right on, so I attached a string at the height of the platform--

 
Then I marked the location and angle of the preventer plates on the wale--


When I got to the narrower channel with the topmast deadeyes, I realized I couldn't mark the chainplate links.  Those angles need to come from the crosstrees of the topmast!   So more mast building needs to happen, or at least something rigged up to the correct location to run a string.
 
I then checked the rake of the mainmast, and was surprised to see how far off it was.  I double checked the template, because it seems like a big difference--

 
I'll need to work on the mast partner piece, as it's a snug fit to the present angle of the mast with not that much play.   I may be able to file it to work, if not I'll need a new one of those.
 
Ron
 
 

I added the moldings that sit along the upper edge of the QGalleries. I left about 1/32" of the top of each window showing below the molding. The molding is straight across the top, so the roof should fit nicely on top. I still need to cut out the aft end of the moldings to make room for the figures.

Mike

Just a quick update to my previous post. The bollards above the bottom molding will be painted black. To make things easier, I painted the area underneath the fancy molding before adding it. Looks like a bit of touch up is needed on the wales. Never noticed it until I saw the photo.

Mike

After my mishap with the anchor casting mold, work continues on the channels.  I ordered some casting mold clay from Micro-mark on Apr 11th, but the order has not been filled yet, so I assume the coronavirus restrictions have that on hold.
 
 I measured the various channel pieces needed, and cut them out--

 
Holes drilled and wire inserted to make pins for temporary and permanent holding--

 
Holes were marked and drilled on the hull--

 
And the channels temporarily installed for marking the deadeye chainplates--

 
The second (aft) piece ended up a little too far aft, so it needs to be repositioned a bit.
 
At this point I became aware of a discrepancy between Chapelle's hull and sail plans.  I had been making my channels as shown on his hull plan, which is better drawn and more detailed.   For some unknown reason I took a look at the sail plan.
 
Here is a closeup of the hull plan, showing the mainmast channels (ignore the pencil circles from when I was working out the locations of the deck scuppers)--

 
He shows the main shroud deadeyes, and the topmast backstay deadeyes, but something is missing, that I might have noticed had I rigged a ship before.  
 
Here is the same view of the sail plan--

 
He locates the topgallant backstays on longer channels.  Same thing with the foremast.  So these two sections of channel (four counting the port side) that I have cut need to be remade.  (I just noticed on this drawing he omitted a main shroud set of chainplate links!)
 
Ron 
 

hooks for blocks made from eyebolts, blackened and bent into shape....need lots of them on this model.....probably to big for scale but i'm happy with them.....as you can see corels blocks are not accurately drilled but when the rigging is attached it is not noticeable.

I am using corels supplied rope and caldercrafts black rope....I will as usual get the colours wrong, I will end up mixing the fixed with the running as usual......the blackrope is not too bad just got to work it slightly to get rid of all the fuzz, and it doesn't take to pva as well as the corel but I think all will be well 

well the rigging is now well and truly underway.

Work continues on the QGalleries with both sides at the same state. The windows were not glued in. Doing so now, along with the clear acetate behind them, would only create a dust issue later on. Better to wait.

 
I also managed to scrape the fancy hull moldings. The tape on the hull represents the location for the top edge of the bottom molding. That's the one that runs through the gun ports. I established its position by measuring down a set distance from the shear at the waste. From there I tried to run the tape with a smooth run the entire length of the hull while taking additional measurements. The tape gives a nice edge for setting the molding into position. Once a length of molding was in place I removed the tape from that section.

Mike
 
 

Here are the tools I used for shaping the scraper. .

https://www.gesswein.com/p-3534-ultra-thin-cut-off-discs-78.aspx

http://umm-usa.com/onlinestore/index.php?cPath=21_28

https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/accessories/409-15-16-cutting-wheels-36-pack
 
Mike