GuntherMT

Further to my build i have enclosed a photo or two.

Got a bunch more rigging done this summer... hopefully this post isn't too picture heavy.
 
I decided I'm gonna redo the flags because I rushed to get them up and the edges are frayed from when I cut them.
 
Pictures are bigger if you click them.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deck is ready, third and final try!
The first deck, pictures in earlier posts, didn't look good because I wasn't careful enough. Gaps between the planks, joins with king plank not perfect etc.
 
The second deck was of walnut wood and looked awful because the wood came from different batches (no pictures) and I threw it away.
 
But now I'm happy - at last.
 
I coated it with sanding filler by the way. 

In the last picture I posted the hull was painted and looked ready. I wasn't happy with the result. There was a contour along the waterline, the golden line along the deck was too thick and the finish wasn't great. 
Now it's as good as it gets with me handling the brushes. 
I used a laser to mark the contour of the waterline at the aft. It looks weird but when viewed from the side it's perfect.
 
I'm building the a new deck that I will mount on top of the old one, with a 4mm mahogany King's plank in the middle. I built another deck out of walnut but the planks had so different colours that I threw it away.
 
The small houses are a bit tricky. First it's the frames that are joined at 45 degree angels. Get one plank slightly too long and it looks awful. Drill one hole slightly off center and it looks awful. I decided to manufacture the pieces in one batch so that they are identical (by drilling through 30 planks at once). Seems to have worked, will start over soon.
 
By the way, sorry for poor quality of the pictures.
 

Thanks Keith.
Eventually it will look nice with a red waterline and a thin gold line on black background. Right now it doesn't. Need to figure out how to achieve that ultra glossy finish. All clues are welcome.
 
Regarding the deck, also a bit disappointed. I do have quite a few gaps. Maybe I'll try out some filler?
 
It would also be good if I somehow managed to remove the two center planks and sand down to make room for four planks. The reason being that the joins are not so exact.

Got the black paint on. Red waterline is missing. Before I turn to that I decided to giver her another coat of black paint, just to be sure I did everything I could to have an as nice as possible surface. So I didn't sand in the basement in order not to have dust in the air. And after I painted her I put her in my kids' playing tent (they don't mind do they?) to protect from dust flying around. And I closed windows as well. If that doesn't do it...
 
By the way, I decided to ditch the deck as included in the kit, standard 4mm planks... Instead I bought 1x1 mm planks to create a deck that is closer to the true scale. I actually don't mind the gaps between the planks, they emphasize the contours (I keep telling myself).

Varnishing done. Now time to paint her black above waterline.

I tapered the top 8 planks, from deck line, at stern to get a nicer line. By using the bent planks I didn't have to use a single stealer.

Planking done - at last. Will be interesting to see what she comes out like after sanding.

Fore Mast Shrouds
The shrouds on the fore masts were made next, and the fore most shroud on either side is served right the way down to the dead eye I believe this was to strengthen it as it was liable to be chaffed by the sail,all the others were severed as shown in the rigging book about two thirds of the way down to the futtock stave,they ended up not all exactly the same length down,to achieve that I would still be doing them at Xmas. The dead eyes were added to the ends of the shrouds and rigged at this point.
 





 
 
 
 
 

Today I've created the top for aft companion using 1 mm thick tanganyika. The little windows were the hardest, but the wood held together, so my first go was successful one. 
 
Looks like I will have to mend it a bit to make it flush with the gratings.
 
 

 

 

Just finished the capstan adding two pawls and created gratings. 
 

Thanks, I know I would regret it so there was no other way than doing it again. Now the capstain. 
 
The kit has a bit simplified version so I created it to correspond to the TFFM plans. The reinforcing ring is made of copper sheet. 
 
 

 

 

Hear ye! Hear ye! News from the realm!!
 
Vivian´s Chinese Junk got new fittings and it´s main mast - read all here!
 
So, as I said, main mast is installed. Some tackles for the rigging are there too - with some small modifications since AL instructions told me to do it differently. Let us go for the pictures.

 

 
Cannons are there too. I was a little skeptical about cannons at first (since I want a ship from about 1420 - 30). Research helped me to decide keeping them - The first guns found in junks wrecks are dated between 1400 - 1420. Laws from 1530+ dictated trade ships could carry 4 mounted guns and an assortment of small guns, for example. As chinese ships were victims of Wako pirates long before, my ship should carry guns for protection from pirate attacks.
 

 
Fixed my anchor, too. I would prefer a different anchor, to be sincere - AL gave me a 2 armed anchor but most of the chinese junk depictions shows 4 armed anchors. As I didn´t find any works regarding the 15th century chinese anchors, I´ll stay with what I´ve got.
 

 

 
And, last but not less important, my battery box for the lighting (part of the switch, too, since to light the cabin one just have to turn the box to one side)
 

 

 

 
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Last picture shows where the box will be. Two copper stripes will be attached to the box botton. Two other stripes will be coming out from the hole fix - as I explained before, to turn on/off you only need to turn the box till it enchase with the copper stripes.
 

Well third time, no wait forth time, no that’s not right, it’s four and a half times is the charm. I made the seized component a third time but this time I reduced the diameter of the rope from 0.8mm to 0.4mm. Remember I initially stated I needed 0.6mm. With the added seizing and the very tight quarters it was to me placed in, I figured I could get away with it, plus the seizing itself added to the diameter of the line. I also tried to shorten the seizing required for the loops and heart.
 
Once more I went to place it on the bowsprit and amazingly it was still too long. This time I undid the seizing on one loop and shorten where the loop started. The loop was re-seized and low and behold it fit!

So I was not warned how long chain plates take to put on and learn how to do....Lol live and learn.

Hi.
its been a while since I last posted a update.. Sorry.
WOW thanks for ALL the likes
 
Here we are starting the painting of the hull.

much easer with Antony holding my hand

 
Painting  first blue done

 

 
Some of the deck fittings. Discarded the metal ones and made wood parts.

 
Side strips were painted then guled into place on the hull. much easer for me.

 
Masts are made and will be fitted next week.

 
Close up of the deck. I planked inside the Bulwarks as there was nothing in the instructions.

 
Thanks for looking in.
Regards Alex.

Hi.
Many thanks four likes and help.
 
I have glued the decks into place.

Not forgetting the holes for the Masts.
Then trimmed the excess decking off.

Antony made up some small doors to add onto this.

 
Next I added the bulkheads between the deck levels.


Antony was not happy to use the timber suppled with the kit so he made up the bulwarks with plywood.

We used brass nails to hold the bulwarks in place while the glue dries.

Antony says we can file the heads away later.
 
Thanks Alex S.

Alle Jahre wieder (Every year again), also known as "every decade the dafi manages to finish something" ...
 

 
... my small slice of in between meal is served  ...
 

 
... and lives ...
 

 
... while you can hear the chant "By the deep 17" ...
 

 
... the lieutenant and his midi are listening carefully ...
 

 
... and whisper it further with the speaking trumpet.
 
In the same time the crew ...
 

 
... with her own calm ...
 

 
... and sangfroid ...
 

 
... brings up a new rope.
 

 
And as the story was so great, here the whole picture :-)
 

 
Now only missing a new passe-partout and some good pictures,
 
cheers, enjoy and have fun, the dafi

So this afternoon and evening have been pretty productive (what happened to the last 6 hours anyway?  I seem to have forgotten dinner).
 
After I repaired the hole in the hull, the next thing on the agenda was planking the bulwarks and stern.  I found a new use for alligator clamps!
 

 

 

 

 
Then on to the guard rails, where I found a new use for battery clamps (and lots of rubber bands).
 

 

 
Then I cut these little boards for the insides of the bulwarks.  The instructions just call them 'rough timber', so I'm not really sure what the actual nautical terminology is for them.  They'll be supporting the inside of the deck railing.
 
I had to remeasure the spacing for these little guys and remark them 4 times before I got the spacing where I was happy with it relative to the plans, and the spacing to the future location of the knightheads.  Seems that 0.15 ~ 0.25 mm makes a fair bit of difference when it's multiplied by 14.  Glad I bought that digital caliper!
 

 

 
During all the work on the hull, I often forgot to place something soft under the ship while I was working on it, and the result of that is some damage to the poop deck planking that I need to pull off and replace now.
 
The gap between the bulwark and the planking is caused by my very early mistake on the stern block placement and shaping, but it should be covered by the trim and railing later.
 

 
Still unsure on what to do with the hull, but I've read a bit today about using sawdust and white glue as filler to match the wood, so I'm considering using an X-acto knife to try to cut out the putty that shows up so well, and use that method to re-fill the hull and see how it looks and whether I can then get away with leaving it natural.
 

 

 
Tomorrow I'll trim the 'rough timber' and start forming the deck railing after work.
 
Oddball question about the forum etiquette.  Is there a 'normal' number of pictures per post, and should I continue to use the forum attachment system, or host them off-site myself?
 
Thanks,
 

I too am on my first build and have always been impatient when getting on a project, but surprisingly have been a lot better now with the model. I find myself doing a lot of research and looking at other swift logs to see how others did it.  Still seems like I learn something everyday and the more I do the more I enjoy it.  I'm sure you have looked at a lot of logs too, but when stumped on something, just ask, there are a lot of great people on here that will help and usually respond  quickly. 
 
You're doing a great job on the Carmen

Hello Brian,
Beautiful little boat, I'm surprised there aren't more of these. It reminds me of a cross between the Swift and Scottish Maid.
 
For a first build your doing beautifully. Have you considered second planking her. It would cover your problems and give you the experience of plank narrowing and working with the thin second planking material. Although the thin second planking is actually sometimes harder to work with as edge sanding 0.8mm stock can be interesting at best.
 
Whatever you chose, I'm sure it will be right. You seem to have a knack for this and you mention several times about missing time while building. When you become so immersed that you look up and its 4 AM, and you think, "where did that last 4 hours go"...well lets just say I don't think Carmen is just a "to see if I like the hobby anymore build". For one with so little experience, your doing a beautiful job.
 
Oh and on finishes, I love tung oil...but that's me. I think I'll follow along as this looks to be an interesting build of an interesting vessel.