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CharlieZardoz

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  1. CharlieZardoz
    Ha! That's a nice one! Well here it is now with two new spilled planks and while I think I did a fairly decent job with the cardstock to wood I am noticing the planks look slightly thicker when curved toward the bow before tapering inward. I don't recall cutting them thicker so I think it may be the natural effect of wood curving and wanting to straighen out. That said I realize that drop planks will be necessary to avoid crowding. Likewise the inclination of planks at the back means a few Steelers as well. But overall it looks decent er I think
  2. CharlieZardoz
    Thanks Mark. I am really liking the way its looking so far. Here you can see the curve up to where the transom pieces will be. Also using walnut shade wood filler I've been filling in any tiny spaces left between the planking. Thin it out with some water and you it does the trick. Next up is to finish the planks in the front. To make the spiled pieces I will use cardstock forst to make the shapes then transfer over on a veneer sheet.
  3. CharlieZardoz
    Added a few more.
  4. CharlieZardoz
    Here you can see the rough estimates of where I will have the planks end. I am using the rule of every 4th repeating via the diagram below. This makes an interval between planks of about 3/4" an inch or 4' maybe a bit small but thought doing every 3rd plank would not look as neat. The planks themselves as stated before are around 17' the lower planks are not cut since they will be covered in cooper however I did use pencil lines to get the overall planking pattern down so things look as they should. This is all very new for me so having the lower planks detailed like this means I can practice then potentially cover up my learning curve with copper plates
  5. CharlieZardoz
    Hi all. So here you see the next plank below the wale is done and the wood strip was cut into 3 pieces each about 3 and 1/16" or about 17' real life. The front piece was spiled from a wider plank to get some shape to the hard curve the back was tapered slightly to make room for the transom. From this point itll just be a matter of the planks meeting in the middle. The stern definitely needs steelers/drop planks. The front will need more tapered spiled planks. I may modify the shape of the existing planks a bit depending on how the next strips naturally bend. The wale ledge to the planking material might be ever so slightly steep but I wanted it very pronounced since many issues I've seen with this model is that the wale is not raised enough and blends in. Since this whole area will be painted black that contrast should be nice and pronounced.
  6. CharlieZardoz
    Hi. In this instance I am treating the wale as one piece. In reality it probably would have been more though in my mind I was picturing a ledge and once the holly strip is laid over it, any indication will be covered up. I will stagger the holly piece and the decking but good observation!
  7. CharlieZardoz
    Good morning all. So thought I should give an update for the week. I finally attached the wale and true keel. This was quite a challenge as the wale was a 1/16" by 5/32" strip of boxwood so learning how to curve the wood on this very sleek hull shape was a challenge. I opted not to spile since I wanted to maintain the sharp shape of the strip and also its such a small model (the front half of the wale is 3"). Anyways it worked with a bit of assistance as you can see in the pics. So what you see below at the bow is the keel minus the beak. That piece will be added later. The keel and wale will be painted black so thought it neat to leave the beak tip unpainted to add contrast. The reason why I chose boxwood for the wale over cherry is so it doesn't splinter but also thought that even if painted there may be a slightly different grain texture to make the wale stand out. The back of the wale curves slightly upward and gets thinner at the stern. Also the wale is in 4 parts. Front and back halves which join at the middle but also an upper strip which is 3/64 by 3/64" boxwood. This made a little ledge at the top of the wale where I can place the deadeye channels and also a holly strip to add a white molding. The above railings and bulwarks I will add after finishing the planking to avoid banging them around and getting damaged. The bow image where the two wales meet shows a bit of spacing where the wale meets the keel. Did the best I could but will use some wood putty to fix that since it will be painted anyway.
  8. CharlieZardoz
    Believe it or not I've actually recarved the handle piece to something more curved as so. I didn't care for the thin handle this looks more like the diecast handle does and probably more accurate (length still the same though). Haven't attached it yet so didn't post a picture here it is overlayed on top of the old one.
  9. CharlieZardoz
    Using a 3D printed program I made little teeny windows for the deckhouse. The left upper image you can see the inner frame is beveled/rounded. The upper right image you can see a ledge where I can place a small glass or plastic pane inside. I also finished planking the front of the house.
  10. CharlieZardoz
    That's good to know. I've studied the cheerful pump plan and basically made a variation from a few that I've seen (hms Badger, AL's Dallas and the pump provided for Sultana). Also I re-measured and realized made a mistake the pump handle is 18mm not 12 which is about 3.75' (was late must've been high off tung oil fumes ), since Cheerful is a larger ship than this cutter I think the size is fair to avoid crowding on the tiny 16' wide deck. Oh also planning on smoothing out that pump at the handle... just a bit
  11. CharlieZardoz
    Eh I popped it off and shrunk it down a bit about 1/8" an inch. Now it looks right to my eye. I love this hobby in that you don't like how something looks you can just fix it. For me it was a practical space issue this is a very small ship so now it's 12 mm or 2.5 feet. (see correction it's actually 18mm/3.75')
  12. CharlieZardoz
    Handle update. Thoughts? I'm feeling it's too long. :/
  13. CharlieZardoz
    Here is the pump on deck. I am wondering of the handle is correct I wanted a bit of contrast but perhaps the top should be flush? Also you can see the brass axle for the carronade carriage and the cleats added to the deckhouse.
  14. CharlieZardoz
    Here is the video link from my instagram
  15. CharlieZardoz
    Hi everyone. A quick update. Decided to make a bilge pump since the ones available to buy are either too big or cast metal. I enjoy making tiny things that work. It's about 3/4" and all made from scratch. I glued wood strips to make the octogon shape and the nozzle at the bottom is a 1mm crimp bead. The black strips are electrical tape. The hinges are wire and can move the handle up and down.
  16. CharlieZardoz
    Thank you Steven! Yes the 30 ton cutter was only 48.6! That's smaller than even the Sultana and was effectively a pilot boat. I do plan on adding some swivels on the aft portion but yeah one gun pretty much. While I can't say for sure what the real Active actually looked like she did have one gun and was 38 tons. It seems that most of the other cutters were built on the 50 and 70 ton lines very few were this small (if any). The reports from Irving King Coast guard cutters book states that at the time Captain of the Active was in desperate need of additional ships to help combat piracy and a one gun pilot boat was hardly up to the task. By 1824 many more of the larger ships were added to the squadron and shortly after the Morris class took over and the issue was largely delt with.
  17. CharlieZardoz
    So today oI stained the deckhouse with Tung oil. Here's a few picks of the deck with everything on it. With the UV glowlights above looks like a party boat
  18. CharlieZardoz
    Thank you Patrick. I'm hoping the model is reasonably accurate but also from an artist's perspective I followed the techniques which got me to where it looks good. So here we are today I constructed more of the hatch and added the margin planks. Now have to do the other side.
  19. CharlieZardoz
    Hi everyone. Thank you again for the great feedback. Update as of March its been too cold to head to the laser cutter and finish the last bits of the carronade so in the meantime been working on the Stackhouse. Here you see I've finished the sides started planking the top so this will be my first time planking w decking material. The little plugs are done using toothpicks dipped in a mix of oak stain and natural. They are a tad dark in the pics bit initially I made them much darker so still managing to get the mix right. I like having them somewhat pronounced but then I plan on applying some weathering to the deck in time. Also note the edge plank has a margin. Im considering making thr skylight open from the sides not sure if this was historical or if I am embellishing but so far it looks neat. Next is the rear hatch which I am in the process of constructing. Stay tuned and let me know what you all think
  20. CharlieZardoz
    Good morning everyone. Here's a quick update I managed to finish the carronade and also painted the pivot ring. It still needs the wood treenails but you can get an idea how nice it looks and fits to the carriage wheels. The carronade was blackened rather than painted which maintains that metallic look. Also I've started working on the cabin/deckhouse planking the in sides and working months top bits. Overall very pleased
  21. CharlieZardoz
    Thank you very much! You can see some progress was made I made the second wheel set and then used the jax blackening solution diluted which worked perfectly. Next step is to assemble the whole thing the carriage and carronade are almost done stay tuned!
  22. CharlieZardoz
    Greetings Mr Wells! I agree with you regarding the overuse of the Doughty design, while I see it as a typical example of revenue cutters at the time, what my impression is that the design is only a snapshot of some of what was built at that time. First off all the ships of the Northern waters like Alert had very different dimensions and likely not even based off the design at all. The southern ships as well had variations and as the years progressed up to the 1820's I expect most of those cutters if not built with full bulwarks (with cannon ports) had them added and modified accordingly. My assumption is that later ships like Vigilant probably had full bulwarks and resembled a cross between the 80 ton cutter and the Morris/Taney class that succeeded them. This makes doing the actual history a bit tricky and it is my intention to build the 3 Doughty cutters based off the plans and have each be representative of a ship and variation of a design at that time using my own inferences based on what ive read. I know that Active was not likely to have been a Doughty cutter however since I know of no other ships at that time with a tonnage so low and also because the ship had an interesting history I decided to name the model I'm making the Active under the assumption that the Doughty design is representative of how she "may" have looked. There is an error in Chapelle's books where he refers to Active as Alert which is why I think all those kits use the Alert for the 30 ton cutter, it should have been the Active. So the other two Ill name Monroe and Vigilant to coincide with that passage that Irving wrote where the Active sailed with the two ships in 1824 on the way to her retirement. This will be a mural with all 3 lined up and while my approach isn't "good history" it's more like Hollywood history which I'm going into this with full disclosure. So with that said I am happy to listen to any advice you have regarding how I could make these designs appeal to me as a model maker but also offer a sense of realism regarding the service these ships actually fulfilled. Ie ruling out what wasn't possible vs what may have been possible as the history of these ships seems extremely sparse. So for example the color scheme is something I'd love some help with I'm assuming black, tallow and wood were the primary colors by 1818-1825?
  23. CharlieZardoz
    Hi everyone, so been working on the wheel and this is pretty much what I came up with. I took a bent square brass tube 1/6" and filed the ends down and added the crimp bead wheels. It feels really well and was pretty easy to make. The wheels actually do spin.
  24. CharlieZardoz
    And here we have the completes pivot ring fresh from shapeways. Looks just as it needs to look I am very pleased. I am always excited when faced with a puzzle how the end result turns out out gives me confidence in my abilities in my work. Now regarding attaching the wheels in a manner not too technically crazy...
  25. CharlieZardoz
    So here is the final pivot wheel which will be arriving from stairways in a few different materials by early Feburary. Next I made new wheels they are crimp beads 2mm by 1mm wide with silver 1x1mm beads shoved inside. So much smaller than before now just thinking of an axle to put them on.... hmm

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