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Louie da fly

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Everything posted by Louie da fly

  1. Louie da fly
    Painting the hull below the waterline black to represent pitch. Two coats of enamel - more a charcoal than a pure black, which I think would look wrong. It'll take two days for the paint dry properly, then I'll start on the yellow for the wales, "tail" and other trim. Steven
  2. Louie da fly
    I'm nearly finished on the stern; in fact I've gone as far as I can until the bottom planking is done. Love these new clamps! (For Aussies, these are available at Officeworks very cheap, and have a very light grip so they don't warp anything. Oh, and they don't get stuck to the glue like my wooden miniature clothes pegs). Added the sternpost. I'm always a bit undecided how far to take things - do I make it the same as I would have when I was 17 and iggerant, or upgrade to my current state of iggerance? Usually I do a bit of each - for example, except for the sternpost the keel is in one piece, rather than made in bits like the originals. I've also cut out the arched hole for the tiller. Unfortunately you can see the balsa crosspiece of the frame behind it. So I added another crosspiece below it and cut a hole in the first one for the tiller. Still a bit of tidying to do. Here she is upside down. You can see the added balsa crossbeam and the original crossbeam with a central cut-out just behind and to the left of the number 3. And looking through the arch. The crossbeam of the aftermost frame has had the hole cut in it, but you can see through to the next frame's crossbeam behind it. Naturally that won't be visible unless you look very carefully with your eye up against the hole. Looking aft past the frames you can just see daylight through the cut-out in the crossbeam and the tiller arch. And added more planking and the bottom wale (which still needs to be trimmed to length). Next is to make the few cannons I'm putting on this model. I have yet to close up some more of the gunports I don't want open so I don't have to make too many cannons. Then I can close her up with bottom planking and upper deck. Steven
  3. Louie da fly
    Finally got some paint that is the colour I wanted to use for the dromon's hull - basically a red ochre, which would be the source of the tint in red paint at the time . I'm using enamel (Humbrol) because I've found that a tiny bit of PVA glue under acrylic paint seems to mess up the finish. This is the first coat. The trim will be yellow ochre, and the bottom will be black (the colour of pitch). Normally Byzantine ships are shown as black all over in contemporary pictures, but the Emperor's ship is shown as red with yellow trim. I haven't decided yet whether to paint the sternpost and "tail" yellow or red. Once the painting is all done, I can put the lower oars into place and then finish off the deck (I need it open for the time being so I can see where to glue the oars). And then I can put all the deck items in place that I've been holding off from, add the upper oarbenches and the side castles and the awning at the poop, insert the masts etc etc. Steven
  4. Louie da fly
    Of course! How could you think otherwise?😉 Not a bad idea, but I think it might be a little too stiff for the job - it could crumple rather than follow the shape I want. The Easter-egg foil seems to have just the right properties for the job - enough stiffness, but still flexible enough to get the shape right. Steven
  5. Louie da fly
    I like the perspex brackets 😉. Should keep everything nice and square. Looks like you've hit the ground running! Steven
  6. Louie da fly
    No, I hadn't thought of that, but they're fairly constrained by having to hold the oars so the blades will be at the same level as those of the lower bank. On the other hand, I'm thinking of making, say, 5 different figures for each side (10 in all) cast in resin from these two originals, and then give them different details of hair, beard, face etc and re-cast 5 of each so we end up with a bigger mix of people - not unlike the way the Entombed Warriors were made with mass-produced bodies and individual heads. I can paint the tunics and hair different colours (though dark hair will of course predominate) to add to the variety. Still thinking it through . . . Steven
  7. Louie da fly
    It's always worth following your builds, Dick. Such a wealth of research, and (very) convincing speculation on "how it must/may have been" when there's a gap in the available information. Steven
  8. Louie da fly
    Yes, Dick. I'm thinking of making them of thin foil (from Easter eggs) as I did with the big banner. They seem to have about the right modulus (I think that's the first time I've ever used that word outside the science classroom!) of stiffness and flexibility, but I'll find out when I try it. Steven
  9. Louie da fly
    Nope. Almost certainly radiata pine - a pretty inferior timber also known as Monterey pine, originated in America but has become the most common building timber in Oz. Where do you live, Peter? In Ballarat, where I am, a lot of people have fruit trees. The people either side of us both have pear trees, and I've been able to get smallish branches from them when they trim the trees. I also follow the Council tree loppers around and have got hold of plane, ash, elm, oak and walnut (the last one was from the neighbour's tree which died - score!) You might be able to get in touch with commercial tree loppers and see if you can get pear wood from them. Only problem is that you'd then have to wait for it to season - about 12 months for each 25mm thickness. How much do you need? And in what sizes? Steven
  10. Louie da fly
    Beautiful work as always, Dick. The straight central section looks a little strange at first sight, but that's removable, for loading cargo, isn't it. Steven
  11. Louie da fly
    Not really - I've tried it but it never seems to give the precision and detail I want, and wood stays where you put it, unlike modelling clay. I've used it (well, plasticiene, actually) to work up a rough idea of what I want to do, but I find wood is better for the final model. And anyway, I like carving ☺️ Modelling wax is easier to carve than wood but less forgiving if you make a mistake. You can't add a bit of filler to cover it up. I've bought some sculpy but haven't got around to trying it. Steven
  12. Louie da fly
    Here is the oarsman with his arms broken off and his legs started to be shaped. Legs done, and ready to glue the arms back on. (Sorry about the photo quality.) I glued the arms on, and checked the new guy against the one I'd already done. Then it became obvious that the new guy's hands were higher up than the old one's, not because I'd glued them on too high but because I'd carved them that way. Time to get clever - I sawed off the arms at the shoulders and re-glued them to be as close as possible to a mirror image of the arms on the other oarsman. A lot of mucking around, but I think I've finally got it right - except that I now have to carve a new right hand - the arm fell on the floor when I sawed it off and the hand split off, never to be seen again . . . sigh. Steven
  13. Louie da fly
    That was always a concern, Pat. Certainly I had to ditch a lot more of the old structure than I'd wanted to (have a look at the first couple of posts in this build log). But I've managed to keep much of the original and I'm pretty happy with that. The hull above the waterline will mostly be original, as will the main deck and the forecastle, but the deck of the aftercastle will be new. It's a shame I lost the main hatch and the longboat - they were pretty cool. The bowsprit, fore and main masts and their spars and shrouds I still have, along with their original sails (which will have to be replaced but will serve as a pattern for the new ones). The mizzen and bonaventure mizzen have been lost along the way, along with their spars, sails and rigging, and will have to be re-done. I'm hoping that when it's all done it will be a nice snapshot of what I was capable of at 17, with the new stuff showing how much I've learned in the interim. Steven
  14. Louie da fly
    Very nice work, Christos. Those are fleurs de lis on the coat of arms?
  15. Louie da fly
    I've been carving the prototype for the upper oarsmen for the port side, so I can then cast 25 of them in resin. The starboard one was done some time ago, and I've applied to this one what I learnt from carving him and fitting him to the hull (see post of Aug 15 above), to make a "mirror image". Still in progress. I haven't done the legs properly yet, but coming along nicely. Here are the two oarsmen facing each other - the existing starboard oarsman is on the right. Rather difficult to carve, particularly getting the scalpel blade into the space between the arms and the head and chest to get rid of the "negative space" there. So difficult that I managed to snap off one of the arms while I was trying to do it. I was about to glue the arm back on, when I suddenly realised - problem solved! I now had room to get the scalpel blade in where it had been so difficult. So I left the arm off and carved the chest and head while I had the chance. Now the starboard oarsman is on the left. Here he is "in rough". I need to smooth him off a fair bit, but he has a face and the main features are in place. And then, while I was working on the legs, I broke off the other arm! But again, this posed an opportunity rather than a problem - I'd been a bit worried I'd carved the hands too far apart (the oar handle is pretty short). So now I have the chance, by slightly swivelling the arms when I glue them back on, to get the hands closer together. It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good (or as Mark Twain said, a clarinet is an ill wind that nobody blows good . . .*) More pics when I've progressed further. Steven *He'd obviously never heard the Mozart clarinet concerto played well . . . or Weber, for that matter.
  16. Louie da fly
    I decided I couldn't live with the off-square stern sneering at me, so I took everything off below the transom and started again. To overcome the problem with the wales on port and starboard sides not lining up, I carved the curves in the port side below the transom so they did. I had to re-align some of the port side wales a bit, too, but it felt good to do it. Her are the pics: I put in new wales on the transom, all parallel to the gunwale and the lowest wale. That gave me a starting point. I had to re-cut two of the lowest line of arched gunports, as they'd followed the (off-square) line of the wale below them. And here I have started planking below the transom. The two cut-out curves of the port side at the stern have been adjusted to line up with those of the starboard side: And the first panel of planking below the transom complete. Here it is from the port side. The lighter-coloured wood is the new stuff. Though I was originally going to colour it the same as the original wood I've decided instead to keep it as it is, to show the new work compared with the old. Steven
  17. Louie da fly
    Bill, if you want your ship to look like she's been at sea for a long time without opportunity for repair or painting, go for it! I remember when I read "Two Years Before The Mast" they kept the crew busy with maintenance of the ship every day during the voyage, but when they were going to their home port they repainted, repaired and made the ship look brand spanking new so they could show off when they got home. It was a point of pride. But they didn't paint her until then. Anything that was worn probably wasn't fixed till then either, unless it affected the efficient handling of the ship. Maintenance of hull, masts, spars, cordage and sails would have been done as a matter of course, but "priddying up" seems not to have been done as a routine, so a ship after a few months at sea would probably have looked a bit dull and scruffy. I suppose it would also depend on the captain, but any expense unnecessary to the running of the ship is likely to have taken a back seat. Steven
  18. Louie da fly
    What can I say? I love carracks. Steven
  19. Louie da fly
    Finished with the "filling piece" on the port side. And added the planking across the stern. Unfortunately the port and starboard sides don't quite line up, so I've had to taper the planks to gradually change the angle of the planking and get it right at the different parts of the stern (and bodge it a bit, such as lining up the upper surface of a wale on one side with the lower surface of the one on the other side). It's a legacy of my 17 year-old self, plus the changes I had to make to incorporate the existing superstructure into the new hull shape. But once it's cut to shape and sanded smooth you have to look pretty carefully to see it. Steven
  20. Louie da fly
    Thanks everyone for the likes and comments. Messis, that's a cat food container . . . Here's the starboard stringer nearing completion - I had to make it thinner at the end to cope with the extreme curve at the tail. And here's the port stringer attached at the forecastle And further along the hull And here's the scarph joint And the curve at the stern for both stringers Steven
  21. Louie da fly
    I agree, Dick. In fact I think I'll be using your inspiration (i.e. pinching your idea!) for the position and form of the lower halyard blocks for my own dromon. The PDF on the gréement (rigging) of a carrack I found particularly interesting. I hadn't looked at this PDF before and I had no idea they'd recovered so many rigging elements or done all this reconstruction stuff on how they were arranged. Fascinating. Steven
  22. Louie da fly
    Dick, I'm sending you a message and attaching a couple of PDFs from the wreck reports - one on rigging and one with the sep de drisse (which is made of three parts, the lowest of which is emplanted on the keel like on a mast step). Trouble is, there's so much information in these reports I've never taken the time to look all the way through them. But in one of these attachments I've just come across a diagram from our old friend Michael of Rhodes being used as source for the calcet. Steven
  23. Louie da fly
    Yes, I'm using an on-line French maritime dictionary that could certainly be described as vieux . . . Very useful, but perhaps out of date in some circumstances. Steven
  24. Louie da fly
    Funny, when I translated it, it came out as "hoisting boats". There is a word "manutention" in the text which can mean either victualling or handling (that would probably be the "barrels of wine"), but embarcation turns out to mean ships boats. (Who knew?) Steven
  25. Louie da fly
    I've been meaning to look up double pulley A 167 from the Lomellina - here it is: "Discovered next to calcet A 162, under the two wheels A 66, double pulley A 167 was found without sheaves, with a cord passing through one of the end holes. It measures 65.6 cm long with a width of 17.2 cm and a thickness of 9.2 cm, and has two sheave-holes, 19.2 and 20.4 com high and 3.6 cm wide. The presence of a hole at each end signifies that it is part of a two-fold tackle, taking two double pulleys; this tackle system is not normally encountered in the rigging of a ship, except for the mainyard lift. It develops a very great force and could have been used to lift heavy weights (this type of tackle was also used for hoisting the boats.) In any case, the absence of sheaves, as in the sep* and the calcet, could indicate that they had been temporarily unrigged." *The sep de drisse is the fixed block in the main deck which takes the main halyard. Steven

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