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Louie da fly

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Everything posted by Louie da fly

  1. Louie da fly
    I've been working on the xylokastra. The first photo shows them with the decking added. Here is the framing for the parapets/battlements to protect the marines in battle. First the framing members were cut to shape and all the identical ones glued together - the long ones are the horizontals, the short ones are the verticals. Then grooves cut into them where the mortises were to go for halving joints. Using isopropyl alcohol the glue was dissolved and the members separated. More framing members, including the ones for the sides and top of the parapets. The frames assembled and ready to put in place. Steven
  2. Louie da fly
    Beautiful work, Javier. I take my hat off to you, sir. Steven
  3. Louie da fly
    Hard to be sure. I was only told about one wreck, and by someone not versed in things maritime, so I was only looking for one. But if I remember correctly, there was only one group of remains visible, so it's likely the Ferret remains were buried. The wreck is on a narrow bit of beach at the bottom of this enormous cliff. There's a timber walkway/stairway down to the beach now, but it would have been murder getting up the cliff in the day. It's now all part of a National Park, very popular with fishermen, and you can stay (if you can afford it) in the renovated cottages used by the gypsum miners. Worth a visit, but pretty bloody stark and rugged. It's all limestone just under the sand and scrubland on top. I think I saw a tree there . . .😉 Steven
  4. Louie da fly
    I was there a couple of years ago and saw and walked around what was left of the Ethel. A very inhospitable coast. Never thought I'd see it on this forum. Steven
  5. Louie da fly
    Very true, Patrick. It's happened to me too. Unfortunately I can't get plastic clothespegs this small, so I have to go with wooden ones. Steven
  6. Louie da fly
    I've cut away the stern section of the balsa keel so I can replace it with the new walnut one, which you can see below the ship, along with the new stempost in walnut. I'm leaving part of the balsa keel in place where there are already existing frames which aren't to change, and cut it back level with the bottoms of the existing frames so that only the new walnut keel will show. I've shaved the old stempost down to allow a "slot" for the new exposed walnut one to fit into. Here's the new stempost and keel dry fitted. The keel is still a bit too thick and needs to be thinned down before gluing can take place. You might be able to see a small gap between the stempost and the forrard end of the keel. I've since fixed that using a bit of trimming and juggling back and forth. And here is the new stempost from forrard (still dry fitted). There was a lot of trial and error getting the new pieces to fit smoothly, but it all worked out in the end. Steven
  7. Louie da fly
    Adding decking and ladders to the xylokastra. The uprights of the ladders double as supports for the beam carrying the rear of the deck. (The rungs are made from toothpicks). Steven
  8. Louie da fly
    Wonderful work, Radek. It's a pleasure to follow this build. Steven
  9. Louie da fly
    And here is the next step in the making of the xylokastra. Supporting columns for the arcades shaped from bamboo skewer, using an electric drill as a lathe Capitals made for the columns Capitals attached to the columns and then attached to the arcade Here's one of the xylokastra with all the columns in place. Butt joints throughout - mainly because I couldn't think of a sufficiently precise way of fixing everything at right angles and in the proper place. I tried drilling short holes in the lower side of the capitals to act as mortices to take tenons at the tops of the columns, but I just couldn't do it precisely enough, and had to throw them away and start again. However, the PVA glue of the butt joints is slightly flexible, so I can adjust the angles of the columns until everything is square. And here are the two xylokastra with all columns in place. Next is to make their "wooden walls" and add the raised decking for marines to stand on. Steven
  10. Louie da fly
    Yes, my wife thought it was hilarious, too. Steven
  11. Louie da fly
    Sometimes when I'm working away at the dromon build, I look over at the Great Harry looking all forgotten and neglected and have a bout of conscience. So I've done a bit more in the last couple of days. I'd always intended to replace the balsa keel with something a bit more decent, so here are a few photos of what I've been doing. The keel re-made in walnut (from the dead tree next door, kindly donated by the neighbour) Despite the look of the photo, there isn't really a great gouge out of the keel. It's just a weird reflection from the timber. I made it out of a single piece of wood, as I'm trying to replicate my state of knowledge and skill when I originally built the model at the age of 17. I have introduced a few changes in the light of my current (hopefully more advanced) understanding, but not too many. And making up a cardboard template for the stempost. Quite a lot of failed attempts but finally got the shape right. PS: Druxey, in case you didn't see it in the dromon build, I've discovered isoproanol is MUCH better than metho for dissolving PVA. Ah well, another theory down the drain. Steven
  12. Louie da fly
    Wonderful work, Javier - particularly at such a small scale. Your builds are always a pleasure to watch. Steven
  13. Louie da fly
    Thanks, Dick. That makes a lot of sense. Steven
  14. Louie da fly
    Some photos I omitted to include in the last post but one, showing the procedure used in making the arches for the awning over the poop. The first photos show one set of blanks glued together and cut roughly to shape, plus a set formed into half-arches And the half-arches separated ready for fine shaping. The last photo (same as in post #561 above) shows the half-arches dry fitted to make full arches. Steven
  15. Louie da fly
    Yeah, I got mine from Woolies. On the other hand, I've found I can re-use it time and again, so by the time it's all used up it should have justified the 5 bucks outlay. Pat, there's a sign up in the local Men's shed - "My only fear is that when I die, my wife will sell all my tools for what I told her I paid for them . . ." Steven
  16. Louie da fly
    When we visited her in 2009 and were shown around below decks the guide asked not to take photos. It didn't stop one tour member with a huge expensive camera taking photos of everything in sight . . . So officially it's frowned upon, but perhaps if you wrote to them first and explained what you wanted and why, you might get a sympathetic hearing. Also photos taken from "outside" (presumably what you mostly want) might be more acceptable. Steven
  17. Louie da fly
    Nice work, Götz. Steven
  18. Louie da fly
    It's hard to believe this is made of card. What an impressive model! Steven
  19. Louie da fly
    I haven't posted for quite a while. Been doing fiddly stuff, which is now to a point worth posting. I've made the arches for the stern awning over the poop. Following advice by usedtosail I glued thin layers of wood together, shaped them and then separated them with isopropyl alcohol. Druxey, this stuff is MUCH better than metho for dissolving PVA (unfortunately 😠 - 75ml cost something over 5 bucks; metho is about $1.50 for a litre. There's no justice in the world). I used planetree wood for these and the arcades, as I'd used it for the framing and keel as in the original vessels; next time I make something this delicate I'll be using pearwood - planewood's grain is just too coarse and caused me lots of trouble with splitting and breakage. Using filler made from PVA and sawdust, I've filled the gaps in the arcades. and filed them smooth. One of the corner arches split as I was working on it and had to be repaired. It was then cut and sanded to shape (sorry - no photo of completed arch). The arcades were bevelled and smoothed off. The suspended decks for the xylocastra (wooden castles) have been made; and joined to the arcades. When it's finished it should look something like this: I've also been working on the new shorter foremast; using an electric drill as a lathe helps but isn't completely satisfactory - too much wobble at the unsecured end. But cleaning up with a series of files of different roughness has got it to shape. (The photo was staged - I'd need three hands to take a photo of it in motion.) That's all for now. Steven
  20. Louie da fly
    Thanks for the info, Dick. Is there any particular advantage to leaving stem and sternpost till after the bow and stern framing is done and faired? Steven
  21. Louie da fly
    Interesting way to go, Dick, doing the main framing and then adding stem and sternposts. Was there a particular reason for this? BTW, are you using nails for fixing? I take it they're just temporary - what are you replacing them with? Steven PS: Nice precise work.
  22. Louie da fly
    JPZ66 - did anything happen with those oarsmen you were planning to make? Steven
  23. Louie da fly
    Looking good, Dick. It's coming together well. Steven
  24. Louie da fly
    Even earlier, the galleys of Charles of Anjou (c. 1280) were 130' long and 14'7" in beam (8.86:1). It seems that the raised prow would need to be shaped so that it would form a bridge to the enemy ship, rather than an obstacle, as those of the two pictures above would be. You might think of having your galley row away and back to you, as in the RC bireme at After all it is a galley, which is makes it different and unusual. Steven
  25. Louie da fly
    Looking very good, Pat. I love the hammocks. Referring to an earlier post of mine, here are the original sails from the Great Harry - drafting linen 40 years on . . . a rather unfortunate brownish tint and some unexplained holes - silverfish? - mice? ? On the other hand, part of that may be the conditions they had to endure. I certainly wasn't looking after them. Steven

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