davec

Deadeyes & Chain Plates
On my Bluenose build I faked the chain plates by using black card stock strips.  This build, I’m upping my game a bit to the steel wire model option suggested in the instruction manual.  I decided not to go with the soldered 3-piece chain plate option.  I think these look pretty good.  There are 28 deadeyes/chain plates that need to be installed.  It gets a little tedious, but I got a good technique going.  I took the following pics to show the process I used.  The first step was to mark the position of the nails at the bottom of each chain plate.
 
I assembled three of them at a time since 8 of the channels require three deadeyes each.  Here are the parts required for each one.  I purchased the brass nails from Model Expo.  These worked well, except I had to cut them down when inserting along the open gun deck.  They would have come right thru the inboard bulwark!

 
I used round-nosed pliers to bend a loop in the wire and inserted a deadeye

 
The wire was twisted around the deadeye and the excess snipped off.  Make sure the single hole faces down

 
The assembled piece is slipped into the hole in the channel.  The challenge is to make the loop in the bottom end of wire in the precise spot where the mark is located.  A pilot hole is made at the spot and the nail inserted part way in.  The wire is tightened around the nail.  I apply a drop of thick CA glue and push the nail the rest of the way in.

 
Here are the completed deadeyes and chain plates on the port side for the main & mizzen masts

 
And here is the same side fore mast

 
Full view of the deadeyes and chain plates on the starboard side

 
Birds eye view of my Rattlesnake at the current stage of the build

 
I also completed the assembly of the two open gun port lids.  As promised, here are a couple of pics.  They have not been glued in permanently yet.  I will wait until the hull assembly steps are complete.  I also need to add a coat of wipe-on-poly on the yellow ochre section of the upper hull.  I’ve been waiting until all the wood parts are glued so I can still use PVA.

 
My next step is the Head Rails.  I am still trying to wrap my mind around how this is supposed to work!  I’m studying other build logs and making my plan of attack on this difficult looking task.
 
Thanks for looking in on my Rattlesnake!
Ed

Gun Port Lids
 
I made a decision way back when I was planking the hull that I was not going to cut out the gun ports on the quarterdeck or in the front of the bow.  A closed gun port lid would hide the fact that there was no cannon behind it.  I needed 10-gun port lids.  Two of them would be open for the 2nd pair from the stem.  I made the gun port lids using the wood sandwich technique I came across by “GTM of Copenhagen” on our site.  In hindsight, this probably was not necessary because after I painted the lids, the seams between the planks were not very visible.  This would work better on an unpainted model.  Maybe on a future model!
 
I made the closed lids 3/64” thick.  The open ones are 1/16” thick with the interior side painted red.   There are 2 lids per side at the bow and 3 each along the quarterdeck.  Total of 10 required.  I will air brush the outside of the lids with the same yellow ochre as the hull.
 
I ordered two packs of 10 Mantua Brass Gun Port Hinges from Model Expo (MAN37360).  These are 0.3 x 2 x 10 MM in size.  The pack come with 10 hinge/hasps, 10 short brass rod and 20 brass eyebolts.  The rod is supposed to go in the hole at the top of the hasp and the eyebolts go on either side to make a working hinge. I do not plan to make a working hinge, so I skipped the eyebolts for the rods.

 
Construction Steps
1.       Use a 1/16” x ½” piece of stripwood (#3624).  Use the mini-plane to shave this down to 3/8”

2.       Cut a long strip of cardboard stock with a 1/128” thickness to match the 3/8” width of the stripwood.  This is supposed to simulate caulking.  I used yellow because I wanted the lids to match the hull.  This worked so well, you can't even tell I put in all this effort!!
3.       Apply PVA glue alternating 5 layers of wood with 4 layers of card stock.  I ended up with a 3/8” square.  That’s not what I was expecting, but it will work! (I expected it to be less than 3/8” tall)


4.       Use the mini-chop saw to cut off 10 slices

5.       Air brush the lids yellow ochre to match the hull.  Hand brush two lids with same red as inside bulwarks

6.       Blacken the 20 brass hinges/hasps and rods.  The brass rods did not blacken very well.  I also did not like the look of a short rod in each pair of hinges on the lid.  I decided to use a steel wire brad type nail of 5/128” diameter for a perfect fit in the hole for the hinge.  I cut them to a length with wire cutters so they could span across the 2 hinges.  I thought this looked better and was easier to keep squared up on the lid.

7.       Use CA glue to attach the steel brad in the hinges to simulate a working hinge.  Allow a bit to overhang on the outside of each hinge.  Here are the parts ready to assemble.  Then a completed lid.

8.       Glue the hinges to the lids using CA.  The completed set of gun port lids

9.     I took 10 eyebolts from the kit to use for the rope that pulls the lid open.  Blackened them.
10.   Drill a pilot hole for the eyebolts on the lower edge of each lid.  Glue them in place
11.   I used Weldbond to glue the lids to the hull.  I had to gently bend a few of them so they formed to the curve of the hull.
12.   Tie a length of thread to the eyebolt
13.   Drill a hole above the lid to pass the thread through the hull for raising the gunport lids.  Use a drop of glue to hold these in place
 
And finally here are the completed gun port lids!

 
I am not going to attach the open gun port lids until I am done with the hull.  I’ve read several build logs where these got knocked off with the handling of the ship.  Hopefully the closed lids will be safe!
 
Now that I have the gun port lids in place, my next step is to install the deadeyes into the channels and nail the chainplates underneath them into the hull.
 
Thanks,
Ed

Channels
 
My first build, the Bluenose fishing schooner, did not have channels.  The deadeyes were attached through an overhang on the railing to chainplates on the hull.  So, this is new to me.  It seems to me that the installation of the Channels and the Gunport Lids need to be done together.  The channels are positioned in between the gunports.  The chainplates have to be positioned so they do not interfere with the gunports.
 
The first step was to carefully measure and mark the positions for every channel and gunport lid.  I used a cutout copy of the hull plan to locate these positions.  I also marked the angle the shrouds take through the channels by using the nail point positions at the bottom end of the chainplates.
 
There are 6 channels on each side.  Gaps are inserted wherever there are gunports.  The one exception is the aftmost gunport where the lid is directly under the channel for the mizzen mast.  All the channels are attached directly under the molding strip.  Using the plan blueprint, the molding strip covers about 3/64” of the channel and the plans call for 1/8” beyond that.  So, I used 3/16” x 1/16” stripwood from the hull plank supply.
 
All Channels cut and sanded.  I separated them by starboard & port in bottle caps.  I also numbered them by position

 
I decided I needed to add a 0.032” brass rod pin in the center of each channel.  I’m concerned about the small gluing area relative to the size of the channels and the stress of the shrouds.  A hole was drilled into the back edge of each channel with a pin vise.  I used the technique of inserting a very short test rod into the hole in the channel.  This rod is sharpened to a point to mark the exact spot to drill the hole in the hull.  This technique worked well for me.
 
The holes for the chain plates should be made before attaching the channels to the hull.  I read JSGerson’s build log.  His instructions (Hahn build) called for a trim board to be attached over the edge of the channel to cover slots made for the chain plates.  This cover board has a fancy edge like the molding strip.
 
I simply drilled holes with a 3/64” bit about 1/32” in from the edge of the channel.  I used the blueprints to line up the fore-aft position of the holes.  Then I used my Artesenia shaper to put a fancy groove in the edge of each channel.  The channels are painted with black acrylic paint before gluing them to the hull using PVA on the wood and CA on the brass rods.
 
Here is the groove cut in the channel with the Artesenia shaper

 
Channels on the starboard side for the fore mast are dry fit before painting

 
All channels after painting and ready for gluing.  Note the brass rods inserted on the hull side edge.

 
The same completed channels after gluing to the hull

 
I won’t nail in the deadeyes & chainplates until after installing the gunport lids.  This will ensure that the spacing is correct.  I’ll post more on this step later.  I'm working on the gunport lids right now.
 
Thanks for looking in!
Ed

I feel like I've been steadily working on the models but have little to show for it.  I did manage to add additional panel lines and rivet the two models.  I need to touch things up in a few places with primer, but the rivets look pretty cool.  We will see how much of them shows up after painting and weathering.
 

 
 
I also managed to build up the two Vector engines, though still need to add control rods.  I'll post pics when they are done, but they are looking very nice as per usual from Vector.  I have a couple of Opel Blitz trucks that are resin - took me hours to separate and clean up the parts, and now I can finally start building them.  I'm hoping they look ok when done, as I'd rather not have to go out and buy a Tamiya Opel Blitz kit.  
 
Other than that, I'm working on landing gear bays at the moment.  There's really not too much more I need to do build wise on these, with the exception of the open engines and needing to figure out how to make the Vector engines work with the Verlinden set and the Hasegawa kit.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Thanks everyone for the comments and thumbs ups.  The woodwork is just artists oils.  I've used Rob's tip about the photoetch before (great tip) but on this one most of the openings were easy to thread through except one that was so tight that the belt needed trimming.  Belts are installed and I've finished as far as the end of step 2.  There is some rigging, which will be completely invisible once the fuselage is buttoned up (as will most of the other detail).  I've been careful scraping paint and test fitting, and the fuselage seems to close up without a lot of tension.  I have some business travel coming up, but am hoping that after 8 weeks of slow progress on the cockpit that it will start to look like an airplane in a few weeks.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments and thumbs ups.  The woodwork is just artists oils.  I've used Rob's tip about the photoetch before (great tip) but on this one most of the openings were easy to thread through except one that was so tight that the belt needed trimming.  Belts are installed and I've finished as far as the end of step 2.  There is some rigging, which will be completely invisible once the fuselage is buttoned up (as will most of the other detail).  I've been careful scraping paint and test fitting, and the fuselage seems to close up without a lot of tension.  I have some business travel coming up, but am hoping that after 8 weeks of slow progress on the cockpit that it will start to look like an airplane in a few weeks.

 

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

looks great!  I can never get my brushing to look that good.

I did some work on the engine.  Biggest step forward for me was coming up with a way that works for me to wire the engine.  I had previously used EZ line, which I used on the distributor.  I have found this really hard to work with - it is so thin and soft that my fine forceps don't grasp it, and it takes a while for superglue to dry on it, so usually I made a mess.  I ordered some .2 mm lead wire and used it between the spark plugs and the pipe the wires run through.  It worked great.  I did not show the other side, which was my first attempt and where the wires are too long, the bends too sharp, and there is some visible glue.  This side I got the length right and bends that look realistic.  I found the wire much easier to work with than EZ line and I think looks a lot better.  The manifold hides a lot of the wires, but the first and third are pretty easy to see.  The engine will mostly be covered by the cowl panels, but this was a good learning experience and a path forward for my next plane with a more visible engine.

 
Anyone planning on building the D scheme (Mike) or any of the other variants with the D.IIIa engine should be aware that there is an error in the instructions that is not in the errata on the WNW website.  The kit contains parts for Mercedes D.III and D.IIIa engines.  The main difference between the variants is the right side of the cylinders.  The D.III engine uses parts E2 and E16.  The D.IIIa engine uses parts E25 and E16.  Unfortunately, the instructions for the D.IIIa has a picture of E25, but it is labeled E2.  I did not catch until long after the wrong part was glued in place.  Not an issue as I plan to build with the cowl covers in place, but it would be a problem if I wanted to leave the engine uncovered.
 

Hi photo Anson.

Hi friends, photo Anson.

I've assembled as far as the end of step 1 and put together the HGW seatbelts. Four belts without any of the tiny photoetch parts shooting across the workshop, which is a victory for me.  

I did some work on the engine.  Biggest step forward for me was coming up with a way that works for me to wire the engine.  I had previously used EZ line, which I used on the distributor.  I have found this really hard to work with - it is so thin and soft that my fine forceps don't grasp it, and it takes a while for superglue to dry on it, so usually I made a mess.  I ordered some .2 mm lead wire and used it between the spark plugs and the pipe the wires run through.  It worked great.  I did not show the other side, which was my first attempt and where the wires are too long, the bends too sharp, and there is some visible glue.  This side I got the length right and bends that look realistic.  I found the wire much easier to work with than EZ line and I think looks a lot better.  The manifold hides a lot of the wires, but the first and third are pretty easy to see.  The engine will mostly be covered by the cowl panels, but this was a good learning experience and a path forward for my next plane with a more visible engine.

 
Anyone planning on building the D scheme (Mike) or any of the other variants with the D.IIIa engine should be aware that there is an error in the instructions that is not in the errata on the WNW website.  The kit contains parts for Mercedes D.III and D.IIIa engines.  The main difference between the variants is the right side of the cylinders.  The D.III engine uses parts E2 and E16.  The D.IIIa engine uses parts E25 and E16.  Unfortunately, the instructions for the D.IIIa has a picture of E25, but it is labeled E2.  I did not catch until long after the wrong part was glued in place.  Not an issue as I plan to build with the cowl covers in place, but it would be a problem if I wanted to leave the engine uncovered.
 

Other than a single 1/48 Eduard kit I haven't built anything WW1 other than WNW, so I can't really comment on "best."  I will say they are amazing in terms of their research, detail, and engineering.  They were a little bit on the expensive side, but they occupy me for 3-4 months each, so worth the cost.  Copper State Models has gotten a great reputation as an alternate with the same quality.  I have one of their Nieuport's on the shelf and am looking forward to finding out how good they are.

Thanks for the thoughts about Roden.  Not sure my pile of wingnuts kits will ever be finished, but if I ever work through them, I will try one.  My dad's stash had a lot of Roden models, but keeping the wingnuts ones alone gave me as many WW1 planes as I will have time to build. I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.  Looks like your model is coming along great!!

Further work has been undertaken with the wing transom. Firstly, two holes were drilled in the wing transom so that it could be pinned to the sternpost and held in a fixed position whilst I worked out where the ends of the piece needed to be. The wing transom was also held square and level with some set up blocks and then the correct positions of the end points were marked on it by measuring against some squares on the plan. 
 

The ends of the wing transom were then cut to length and shaped correctly. the next step was yo cut the notched in the top of the wing transom where the counter timbers sit. I firstly tried to do this with the mill but I struggled to find a good way to hold the piece securely in the correct orientation and rather than risk messing it up at this stage I decided it was easier to mark out the notches with chisels and remove the required depth of wood that way. The four notched for the counter timbers and the other notches either end of the wing transom were made in this way.

Here is the wing transom in place. It has not yet been fixed to the sternpost as I want to get a little further ahead with the making of the fashion pieces first as they slot into the sides of the sternpost and I feel it will be easier to make those joints without the wing transom in situ.

So far I have thicknesses a section of wood from which the two fashion pieces are to be made. The outlines of these were then traced and roughly cut out with the scroll saw. Shaping these will be the next stage of work.

I have been working on the wing transom for the past couple of weeks. This is a complex shaped piece that is 15" deep fore to aft and 10" in height. However, the ends of the piece are set 4.5" below the centre point and so I started off with a blank piece 18"  square and slightly longer than the transom in length. The fore face of the transom is also slightly lower than the aft side and neither of them are perpendicular to the keel and and so it was firstly necessary to shape my rectangular bank into a sort of parallelogram shape (there is probably a better geometric term for this but it is a long time since my schooldays 😃). I shaped the angle on the top and bottom faces of the piece with the disk sander which left me with the image below.

The line on the end face shown above represents where the top edge of end of the wing transom will be once a convex curve is sanded into the top face.
 
Sanding the convex curve on the top face and a matching concave curve on the bottom face of the wing transom provided to be a tricky exercise. I initially attempted to do this with the spindle sander holding the piece freehand and whilst this worked for the convex face I made a mess of shaping the concave face as I simply couldn't maintain the same angle across the whole of the piece. I spent some time wondering how to achieve this before I realised that the answer lay in the helpful build log by @Stuntflyer. In his log Mike showed that he fixed the wing transom to a block before sanding this curve - when I first read this many months ago I simply presumed that this was to make holding the thin piece of wood easier but then a lightbulb went on and I realised that by gluing the wing transom to the block so that the face of the piece was vertical, it was then possible to sand a straight and consistency face as either a convex or concave curve.

Using a second blank for another attempt (I had made four blanks when cutting the 18" square pieces as I knew I wouldn't get it right first time!) I again sanded in the angle on the top and bottom faces and then glued the piece to a small waste block with PVA so that I could sand in the convex curve on the top of the wing transom. After shaping the convex curve on top of the piece I wet the glue joint to dissolve the PVA, flipped the wing transom around and re-glued it so that I could then sand the concave curve into the bottom face. 
 
I then needed to thin the fore and aft thickness of the wing transom by 3'' and set the angle of those two faces. This was done on the disk sander and brought me to this stage below.

I think the next step will be to temporarily drill and pin the wing transom to the sternpost so that I can establish that it is square and level. I can then determine where the outer ends of the wing transom need to be so that it can be cut to length. 
 

Only a small amount of progress since the last update but I have reached a mini milestone and wanted to document that. 
 
Work continued with the positioning and drilling of the pedestal bolts through the keel. I spent a while working out where the best positions seemed to be and decided on two locations the same distance ahead of the sternpost and aft of the stem. These worked out to be at the fore end of the aft deadwood and on the first part of the rising wood. I initially drilled a 1.2mm pilot hole in each location with the drill press and then moved up to a larger 3mm hole. I have some 3mm threaded rod which I am going to use as the bolts to hold the keel to the building board. With the keel clamped in place on the building board I was then able to mark out where the 3mm holes were placed so that I could then drill through these straight through the building board.

I needed to fit some 3mm nuts in the aft deadwood and the rising wood but before starting on that I firstly ground down the opposite sides of the nuts a little to make them slimmer so that they didn't sit too close to the edge of the keel. To make cutting these recesses for the nuts a little easier I drilled out a 4mm wide area just slightly deeper than the nut thickness, and then I used the chisels to cut out the remainder of the hexagonal shape of the nuts. I then cut my 3mm threaded rod to length and inserted these through the keel and building board. The tops of the rods are held in place with the recessed nuts in the deadwood and the rising wood whilst underneath the board I have attached some wingnuts to clamp the keel tightly to the board.


I still have to epoxy the recessed nuts in place at some point in the near future but this doesn't necessarily need to be done just yet.
 
The reason why this is a mini milestone for me is that I have now reached the point in the build where David's book starts to document the build. The first picture in The Haying Hoy shows David's backbone of the ship in place and bolted to the building board and after six and half months I have now reached that point. There are 365 build step photos in the book so I still have a fair way to go.....  but at least i have made it to photo 1 ! 😀

Hi Everyone. Thanks to all for your Comments and Likes. They are appreciated very much. The masts have been painted and the cleats attached. They are friction fitted into place and I don’t think that they will need to be glued.
 

 
Once they were stepped I thought it would be a good time to mount the model on to the base. The base is a piece of 1/4” x 2 1/2” oak that was bought from Home Depot’s “ Hobby Department “. It was painted with Liquitex Basic Ivory Black. The stand offs are 1/16” brass rod covered with 3/32” brass tube cut to the appropriate length and then 1/8” aluminum tube was slid over that to give it a heavier look. I liked the look of the aluminum more than the brass for this boat. Don’t know if it’s a big concern but I did apply NoAlox between the brass and aluminum to prevent any possible reaction.
 

 
 

 
The horse for the main sheet is made from 3/64” steel rod and the stops for the traveller ring are made from #22 ( think) steel wire that has the black coating burned off. I like it because it doesn’t need painting.
 

 


 
Now comes the slow process of converting the blocks that I have to internally stropped. Hope to see you soon.

Thank you all very much!
 
The model is primed black:

And a faux-metallic engine and engine bay, with a dashboard that won’t be visible, lol.
It looks a lot better in person.