Jack12477

Hi Nigel, thanks for the compliments on the boat and bird. 
 
I've used Testor's ModelMaster series paints for years on my plastic models. It's an excellent paint; their other series (ones you see in the teeny tiny jars) is fair; but the ModelMaster series is excellent.  Of course, the best paints were the Floquil and PolyS paints but they've gone out of existence altho some hobby stores still have some in stock.  For my woodcarvings, I've pretty much stuck to water based acrylics which I've now applied to boats. I have not tried ModelMaster paints on wood yet but have no reason to think they would not work well on wood. Probably need a different primer for wood than the Gesso I've been using.
 
ModelMaster goes on well with a brush and is easily used (with their airbrush thinner) in an airbrush. Coverage is excellent with either method. I've used it in an airbrush to paint camouflage pattens with great results.
 
The bird's feathers were burned/carved into the wood first using a Colwood Cub woodburner with the "B" tip, then they were painted using acrylics. Takes as much patience as tying ratlines. I haven't tried the woodburner on wooden ships but it would probably work fine.

Spent a good part of the weekend masking the ship off for painting. Today I got a few tips from my artist son on the subtle fine points of blending paints to get the desire color.  We were trying to pick a blue to match the box art. The formula he came up with was 1 big puddle of Delta Dreamcoat Blue Jay, then add 3 brush tips of Liquitex Ultramarine Blue (close to Cobalt blue), mix with brush and apply.  (paint is water-based acrylic).
 
Now I can hear the collective "hmmmmmmmmm" , remember artists don't work in precise measurements . 
 
Anyway I was able to duplicate the color in 3 separate batches for 3 coats.  "Primed" the hull area to be painted first with artists Gesso (for those not familiar it's what artist coat their canvas with prior to painting), let it dry 24 hrs then lightly sanded, and painted.  Got a pretty close match to the color in the "picture book instructions".  So the interior bulkheads got 2 coats of paint (sand color) and the exterior got 3 coats of blue. Removed the masking tape and had to do a little touch up. The rub strakes also got 3 coats of blue before I install them on the model. Managed to keep the nice walnut strips clean of paint, they will get a coat (or two) of WOP.
 
Photos will follow in next post.
 
Oh, I had a visit from a little friend, came over from the woodcarving shop. Guess he wanted to know when I was going to give him a pair of eyes and legs

 
black-cap chickadee

Hi Pete
 
Come to the dark side.........
 

 
You know you want to
 
michael

Mark, thanks for all the useful information, this ( debonding) was something that I had no idea about
 
Best Regards,
Pete

Pete,
 
I use the same stuff.  90%.  Soak the joint and if it needs it, a paper towel soaked it in and then wrapped around the joint and covered in plastic wrap.  For small parts (like maybe something went awry on some deck furniture), I just toss the whole part into a small tub of it. 

Hi Mark, I will do that ( in regards to the 90% Alcohol ) it makes perfect sense, less water less warpage. what do you use for de-bonding ( ungluing joints ) you brought up some fantastic points. much appreciated 
 
Best Regards,
Pete

Pete,
 
Look for the 90% alcohol.  I know Target carries it in big bottles.  Less water will mean less warpage of parts.  And, it works exceptionally well for ungluing joints.

Hi Druxey, The rubbing Alcohol that I use is 70% Isopropyl Alcohol, It is the kind that can be purchased in a Grocery Store ( as a First aid antiseptic ) and it does contain water 
 
Hello Michael,  I am thinking that the same thing can be done at a larger scale, However, I would probably pre bend the Ribs and attach them to the frames ( after subtracting the thickness of the Ribs from the frames ) Kind of like how they do it on the full size versions, I have not tried this method on a Model. I do think on a larger Scale Model, that it would probably work out well   
 
Best Regards,
Pete

Tom,
 
Here is the long gun built up. I turned the axles and wheels out of brass for accuracy the front wheels are 1/4" diameter and the rear are 7/32" diameter. The quoin is at the rear most position and can be slid fore and aft to adjust the barrel in the opening. I am assuming that it is suppose to be centered.

Here it is centered in the gunport opening on the gun deck.

I also had a brain fart and misspoke above; I only cut away 1/16" on the bulkheads not 3/32". The deck I will fit in place will be 3/32" thick so I think I am good for now on where I am headed.
 
I also will smooth more on the barrel and true up the opening. Hopefully I will get my order soon for the 30 long guns.
 

:D :D

Mark, the planking looks great. As far as using the steel wool, I would throw caution to the wind and do it. At worst, you can always put another coat of poly on and return it to this look. If you use the steel wool, use a soft cloth and buff after the steel wool. I've found that to leave a pleasant sheen to the finish.
 
Bob

Hi Mark 
At the risk of harming your personal safety, it wouldn't be wise to go against your Admiral's order. I reckon you'd be wise to obey!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks again for the "likes" and comments.
 
It actually looks better in person, IMO.  The pics have picked up quite a bit of glare.  I have some 1600 steel wool that I'm testing some scrap and may just kill some the shine.  We'll see....The Admiral says "leave it alone"... Do I dare? 

I agree on the wipe-on giving the planks a nice color contrast. Much better than the same color over-all. Nice work Mark! 

Thanks again for the "likes" and comments.
 
Half an update.. I guess that's what I'll call it.    I sanded, scraped, filled gaps and put on one coat of wipe on poly on the starboard side.  There's a couple of dings I'll just have to live with.  Had a weird reaction with the sanding dust and wipe on poly thought during gap filling.  Some of the gaps (most) went black. I'm not sure why.  Then again, the planking all looked one color until the poly went on.  I'm still happy with it as the color variations give it something other than solid wall of wood color.
 
Now focusing on the port side.  Here's pics of the starboard side.
 



 
And this last one is a "before" and "after" shot. 

 

super riveting Job Bob,
 
I know and experienced the paint coming off (fingernail test) in the beginning as well ,  and to overcome this, I clean the metal thorrowly and carefully with acetone on a cotton cloth first and then apply a resin based paint without any primer underneath. The criteria will be if you mask a tape over the cured paint, and it does`nt come off, when peeling the tape away, then you`ve got it....
 
very nice work
 
Nils

riveting and weld seams may not be prominent detail,  but it would be considered texture.  thinking back to the early plastic model,  rivets and seam lines weren't even tooled into the molds.    they were bland......wood modeling is no different really.   even if they were to get flattened down,  they would still be seen.   in wood modeling,  we try to add in these textures to give them realism.........expanding the medium out of the  'wooden ship'  box.   looking very good so far 

Thanks to all oh you for your good and encouraging words.  I need to paint the bulwarks but I'm afraid to paint too soon because I know the foil does not take pain well.
 
Bob

As I said before, the hull was welded but the bulwarks were riveted.  I was going to show some welded seams on the hull but realized that at this scale the welds would not be seen.  On the other hand, thanks to Nils (Mirabell61), I am showing the rivets. 
 
Bob
 
You can see here how the cleats and Bollards are mounted.
 

 
The rest show the riveting of the bulwarks.  They and the hull will be painted black which was standard during WWII.
 

 

 

 

Ed you continue to raise the bar... or in this case lower it through the deck. Exquisite work on the whole windlass.
 
My only thought about the method of manufacture is seeing the drill chuck used for milling. 
I know that safety has been mentioned in the past and that you are careful in this regard, if the chuck holding the mill is mechanically locked to the spindle I would have no concern, however if it is held with a taper as many are then milling puts sideways pressure on the chuck and I have seen one come off. Ask me how I know this.
 
Michael

I get all my acrylic paints in Michael's Craft stores, store brands like Delta Ceramacoat or Americana. Also use some Liquitex.  For a "primer" I use artist's Gesso - all are water based.  I've used them for years with my woodcarvings and am now using them on my boats. I apply them with an artist brush, Michael's brands. Have not tried them in an air brush as yet.

Nice work on the hooked-scarfs Ed!  You're a true craftsman! 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 39 – Stern Fancy Rail
 
The so-called “fancy rail” capped the tops of the bulwarks along the main rail, but at the forecastle and poop decks it also served to seal off and make watertight the top of the framing at the side.  Although the curved margin plank below covered the tops of the timbers in these areas, this was not likely a caulked, waterproof joint.  For this reason, the fancy rails at the forecastle and poop needed to be wide enough to overlap the outboard planks and also the inside margin plank by enough to permit good caulked joints.  I wrestled with this because published sections through the bulwarks at the main deck generally show capping rails too narrow to meet the needs described above where they are at deck level.  To resolve this, I decided to make the fancy rail wider at the end decks and step it down at the breast beams to a narrower width along the main deck bulwarks.  A long story, but one that builders of the model should find useful.
 
The work on the fancy rail started at the stern.  The process for making the curved, hook-scarphed pieces was used on the margin plank below and on all similar pieces at both ends.  Since I took a lot of pictures of the method on this rail, and since there are a number of these pieces to make, I decided to show the process that I use for this in some detail. Although it is covered in depth in the book for the framed model, this description may be of help to builders of this smaller version.   In the first picture the first piece has been cut and pinned on the starboard quarter.  
 

 
Pin holes were pre-drilled for a sliding fit with the pins.  The joint of the two stern sections will be on the centerline – staggered from the joints on the margin plank below.  On this model all the pieces were cut from ¾” stock.  I used this as a maximum thickness on this version so modelers could cut members to size with a good 4” circular saw and not need major tools like full size band(or circular) saw and thickness sander(or planer) that would be necessary if starting with the thicker stock that is needed for many pieces on the framed model.  In this case the stock was readily available ¾” maple cut to a thickness of 3½” (just over 1/32”).  It will be painted.
 
In the next picture the scarph joints have been formed at the ends and the piece re-pinned in place.
 

 
The piece extends about 3” outside of the outboard planking and covers about one-half of the margin plank.  The piece was initially formed by the process shown below for the second piece on the port side.
 

 
The ¾” width of maple strip was first marked to the shape of the stern from below as shown.  The piece is being test fit in the next picture after cutting the outer curve.
 

 
In the next picture end of this piece is being marked from the joint of the piece below.
 

 
The full width of the piece was then marked out using a compass set to the width of the plank with an extended leg held to the outer curve.  It was then carefully cut and shaped to this line.  Care is needed because of the weak cross grain at the ends.  I believe in an earlier post I pasted similar pieces to a scrap piece to protect the ends on a similar piece for cutting.  The next picture shows the piece slipped under the first piece, fit into place and being drilled for locating pins.
 

 
Once pinned the joint on the new piece can be marked out using a very sharp pencil as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The joint was then cut on the second piece and fitted to the first as shown below. 
 

 
This picture was taken during the cutting and fitting process.  Note that the joint has not yet been cut at the forward end of this piece.  I will not describe cutting these joints since the method appears in a number of my other posts and is fully described in the book – and in the Naiad books.
 
In the next part the side rails along the poop will be fitted and all these rails rounded off, painted and installed.
 
 
Ed

She looks awesome Bob, and it's a pleasure to behold. 

I've now done the channels and chainplates. The channels were made to fit between the two hull moldings, shaped on the bottom and one side of each, and slots filed for the chainplates. After adding some eyebolts, they were pinned and glued to the hull. The chainplates were made from brass strip, shaped with files, and holes drilled for pins. They were then blackened. The deadeyes were strapped with black wire and the chainplates were bent around them before mounting them with pins into holes drilled in the hull. The smaller chainplates were made the same way, making sure that hooks (Chuck's acrylic hooks) would fit into their loops.
 
I am now finishing up the remaining outer hull details.
 
Bob