Rich_engr

Ken, I haven't gotten to the chainplates yet, but from what I've read, it's best to strop the lower deadeyes, then attach the chainplates to the hull/channels. Once masts are stepped and shrouds attached, then do the reeving on the deadeyes. As far as rusting, it might make a neat "weathered" look for the model, but depending on the look you're going for, you could just use blackened brass instead. (Check the paint & finishing section for some blackening topics. I also have a few pics in my build log that show the blackened brass breech plates for my carronades- I think the finish would come out similarly for the wire strops- mine came out sort of dark brown/black rust looking, which is ok by me.) But always do test pieces first, and before using the blacken-it, clean the brass really well & don't touch with your fingers. After blackening, wipe the excess soot off (nasty stuff) before handling and attaching to the model. Hope this helps & good luck!!! -Rich

Ahh... finally heard back from one company in the hunt- hopefully land an interview soon!! After searching for about 9hrs today, I managed to paint the last two guns and the remaining wheel castings. Maybe if I take a break I'll finish attaching the rings for the breechlines. Seizing & reeving will have to wait another day or two.... As we used to say in music (yes, I was a band geek... "this one time at bandcamp..."), "Poco-e-poco, meno moso" (My Italian is rusty since I haven't picked up an instrument in over ten years.) One thing to note: the quantity of eyebolts in the kit seems rather light- I might need to whip out some homemade ones (still have my drill bit & arrow nock for twisting eyebolts).

I know I'm probably getting waaay ahead of myself here (don't we all regarding this subject), but does anyone have any good suggestions for a 2nd kit to build? I'm working on MS Niagara, 1:64, which is an "intermediate" level... For my next build, I'm toying with these possibilities: Quick and easy sloop or something similar (MS Bluenose in 1:64 or maybe AVS, etc.) Another brig (Lexington, Swift, etc.) Way More advanced (Syren, MS Constitution, Amati's Fly, or Mamoli's Surprise) I'd like to kind of stick with 1:64 scale if possible, and wouldn't want to go too much smaller (Conny would be a challenge) (Personally, I've had my eyes on the Fly, Surprise, and Syren, and even the Bluenose. I feel the Constitution is out of my league right now.) Any thoughts on these, or others??

Larry, Thank you for your support. Yeah, the hunt is tiring and exhausting, but I do see it as an opportunity for something much, much better. As for the carronades, maybe I'll paint the missing two and tackle some tackle. It's nice to be able to see 18 of them at the same stage and ready to go- it's been a loooong trip with them, and hope to finish that stage soon and move onto deck hardware and structures.

Here's what I was able to do before bed last night (2 guns and most of the wheels still need paint):

The MS Niagara is my 1st ever wooden build- great kit and you'll definitely learn a LOT! If you can get it for $200 or less, jump on it. It's made for intermediate level builders, but there's a bunch you can pick up along the way to get you there if you take your time and read up on a few things here and there. Plus, you have lots of us here to help (I know I wouldn't have made anywhere near as good progress as I have without MSW and the folks offering their assistance). So go buy the kit, clear off your desk, and grab your tools. It'll be a fun yet challenging kit!!!! Check out the Niagara build logs to see what it's like.

Today I was able to attach the breech & side plates for the rest of the carronades (while waiting for computer to reboot since it's slooooow from job hunting 10+hrs a day). Now I just need to seize a few more pigtails & reeve the remaining sets of tackle. I'll try to get a pic or two of what I have done thus far.

Brian, Thank you for the support!!! Yeah, being forced into this position isn't what I had in mind, but I am staying positive and thankfully I do have the support of family and friends (and MSW'ers)! I've already been hitting the hunt pretty steadily, and got a new suit today so I'm ready if called! I've been mass-producing all of the gun hardware and tackle, so once all parts are ready, it'll be a gun-build-a-thon. After that, it's on to the deck hardware & structures. The build is a nice break and helps to keep the mind fresh in between searching and applying (plus keeps the creativity alive too, which is definitely needed).

Sarah, Thanks. The layoff was a shock (like getting sideswiped by a semi truck), but I'm positive about the hunt. As for my build, it gets the usual attention, but not as much as one would think I have time for, since my #1 priority is finding a new job. But I do take an hour or so here and there to do a few little things, which makes for slooooow progress...

Try Weathered Oak by Minwax- it comes out sort of greyish. Lightly wipe on, or let a bit sit in an area for a varied appearance.

Friday update: during by few breaks from the job hunt, I managed to form all of the breech and side plates and blacken all of the gun hardware. I just made a quick jig to hold the carriages and slides so I can drill the holes for the eyebolts in quick succession- takes only 5 mins! So now I have a full set of parts for 6 carronades, blocks & tackles included.

Ok- time for a little break from the job hunt... Basically what's going on with the build is I blackened all of the eyebolts and cut some wire for a ton of rings (guns, deck, blocks, etc.). I need to finish painting the guns and make the remaining breech plates, then blacken those. Also, I need to wipe the extra "soot" off the blackened brass parts since selenium and toxic metals aren't a part of my nutritional diet (as far as I know anyway...). Once I get 4 full sets of carronade components I'll place them on deck to verify the scale, look & feel (should make for a good photo op that shows some actual progress!).

Ok... first post of the layoff period... over the weekend I painted the guns instead of using the B-I. Also, I used the B-I for the brass eyebolts. I might work on some breech and side plates today, just to let my mind relax a little so I can work out a plan for this "transition" and new job search.

Patrick, thanks for the reassurance. I thought something was weird with it- so I'll revert back to painting the guns, but keep the B-I for the brass parts. Definitely helps! I'm not going to try to rewrite the laws of chem just to get the guns done. lol In other news, probably won't get much progress today since I'm booked with eye and dentist appointments.... so much for a personal day off of work~~

Ok... now that I've finished stropping and have a few sets of tackle ready, I'm trying my hand with the Blacken-It for the gun hardware, with poopy results thus far. So far, I think the stuff likes the plain brass more than the brittania metal for the guns (although all produce some soot, but at least the brass is blackening). Here's my process: Clean all parts in acetone for about 30mins or so. Rinse/soak in filtered water (this may be a problem, since I'm not sure if my filter on the fridge removes all metallic impurities). Pat dry Dip like metals (ie, Britannia metal guns in a batch, or brass in a batch- no mixing metals) in various solutions of Blacken-It. Solutions: I've tried a 1:1 of B-I (Blacken-it) and filtered fridge water (produced a slight greying of the Britannia guns), and pure B-I (dusty-black on Britannia metal or a sooty-black on the brass). I let the parts sit in the solution for anywhere from 5-30mins, just to maximize reaction time, while gently shaking to ensure that all surfaces get exposed. This picture shows the Britannia metal guns, the left one with the 1:1 ratio of B-I and water, the gun on the right is with pure B-I (bottom guns have only been cleaned). These show the pure brass parts (eyebolts and breech straps, side plates). These were left in the pure B-I solution for about 30mins:

Ok. Finished stropping the SB's for the guns, and seized & reeved the tackle for 2 whole guns. Now time for some pizza for dinner. and a beer~

Yep, that's about right... of course, since this is my first build, I am basically estimating the time for each step (masting, rigging, deck fixtures, guns, etc.). Some things tend to go a lot faster than I expected, while others take a good bit longer. One thing I am noticing is that as I gain experience, I can recover a lot more quickly and don't have to spend as much time re-tracing my steps if I don't work on her for a while. Also, I'm not constantly referring to the plans as my safety net- I can basically see how it's supposed to go, then refer to the plans for a specific location/reference point. Plus, I only have a few hours in the evenings and some on the weekends to work on it. Keel was laid in April 2009 or so, and there's been over a year where I didn't work on her at all, but if my momentum keeps up I should be able to pull that "2 years from now" in a bit. Nonetheless, I'm trying to do it right and incorporate as much fine detail as I feel comfortable with at this time- pushing my limits but knowing when to stop. As an update: The other night I stropped all of the DB's for the guns, and last night I stropped around 70 of the SB's (some need reworked since the wires broke). Next up: Finish the remaining 20 or so SB's and then seize the "pigtails" of the tackle lines to the SB's, followed by reeving the tackle. Then I gotta cut and drill the remaining breech plates and finish the rest of the carriges, as well as blacken the guns and eyebolts.

Here's an idea as to my process/order of events for the build- this is a Gantt chart I made up during lunch one time (apologize for the bad scanned copy). MS2240 Sched.pdf Although I'm not necessarily keeping to the milestones and dates, it helps me stay somewhat organized and focused on one aspect at a time.

John- check out my Niagara build log, page 2 or 3 for how to rig a caronnade. For attaching the strop to the block, I show a simple process for this. Once stropped, the tackle line is passed thru a small hole in the end of the strop (really just a gap big enough for the line to fit). This line is then seized to the block, then reeved thru the blocks. Although my guns have double blocks attached to the bulwarks and a single on the gun, the process should be very similar. I hope this helps! -Rich

Welcome back to the club Ken! We look forward to seeing your build! Sucks about the damage, but one good thing of starting a new one is that you have an opportunity to do it even better than before!

Lol! Patrick, that's funny!! Yeah, I tend to look for efficient ways when doing things (my ocd engineer in me). My management team must know yours, but we are working to improve the situation here (Gemba anyone?). I doubt it was my grilled cheese- most likely was adrenaline/focus (which one would think a few cold ones would have relaxed me after mowing...) Glad you like the blocks- I really hope when all is said and done, they still look ok scale-wise. We shall see. Over the weekend I'd like to have about 4 guns rigged so I can place them on deck to check the scale.

This evening I was able to strop 90 double blocks (and this was after moving the front lawn and making grilled cheeses for dinner). Tomorrow will be stropping the single blocks!!!

Here's how I strop the blocks: 1. Basic components here are the 5/32 double blocks (DB's) and some 1 in long pieces of 0.020 in wire (from Michaels). 2. I stick two drill bits the size of the reeve holes into a block to hold the DB's steady when I form the wire around them. In this case I can stack up to 7 blocks at a time. 3. With the wire formed around the block, I then use some small pliers and twist the end (maybe 1-2 turns, keeping it tight around the block) to form the "knot" at the top, while leaving one end longer (this end will be used to form the hook). 4. Next, I use a #60 drill bit (size may vary depending on the size of hook) to bend the wire around to form the head/top of the hook. 5. Finally, use a pair of nippers to slightly bend up the end and cut the excess off, leaving a nicely formed hook at the top.

Yeah, I know about the weather/seasons up there- I grew up in Pittsburgh. . Last time I mowed was Feb here (temps have been ALL over the place, 29 the other night, 70 today, 82 on Monday- it's a crapshoot right now!). The guns are gonna be fun, but I probably need to do a few then make some deck stuff just to keep it interesting and not so single-tracked. So far the guns and the deck have been the most fun (planking the hull for me was like having a sprinter try to run a double marathon!). Definitely looking forward to trying my hand at the rigging- guns are good mini-practice right now.

Not much to report for this evening, other than sanded down the remaining 50 DB's for the guns, tumbled them in my homemade block tumbler, and on the line drying with stain. The next few evenings will be stropping... or moving the lawn (depending on the weather). This weekend I hope to face the Blacken-it and get the guns & all metal parts done.