davec

I started another project, the Model Shipways Grand Banks Dory.  There are many build logs with kit pictures, so I won’t include here.  I’m planning on replacing all the basswood anyways.
 
I usually have two projects (wooden ship and plastic airplane) going, but for a bunch of reasons, thought I should try doing two ship models at the same time.
 
Rationale:
·         I got a really good deal on it at a club auction
·         I’ve wanted to try one of David Antscherl’s kits
·         I think I have my jointer and bandsaw finally tuned right, and wanted to try milling some wood
·         I’ve found working with laser cut pieces on the longboat a little frustrating.  I’m sure I will get better at it with some more practice, but wanted to get a sense of the comparison between cutting the parts out myself vs cleaning char off laser cut pieces.
·         I want to build with boxwood and some contrasting wood, and wanted to see how well patterns made from scanned laser cut sheets would work.  This was particularly important on this model as the plans in the instruction book don’t include all the parts.
·         Main reason: I’m planning on starting a fully framed Echo, but want another project going so I don’t try working on Echo when tired or distracted.  This seemed a good opportunity to pilot building two ship models at the same time.  If it isn’t going to work for two fairly simple kits (longboat and Dory), I shouldn’t try it with Echo.
 
So far, so good.  I started with the stand as a test for the jointer and bandsaw.  The wood is a piece of pao ferro that I had on my shelf.  Very happy with both tools. The bandsaw got knocked out of alignment during the house move a few years ago, and is finally dialed back in.  The jointer was never fully adjusted and is finally working the way it should.
 
Scanning the basswood laser cut sheets has also worked well.  The burn marks are thin enough and in the right place to get good patterns.  For the first few pieces (hull bottom, stem, transom, stern knee) cutting the parts out has been very straightforward and taken less time than cleaning char.  For some parts like the longboat frames this would not be true. 
 
I’ve also been making some progress on the other two projects and will update the logs soon.

Hi All, Nic here from Leicester.
 
I understand this is a familiar story....Ive recently inherited a model ship built from scratch by my grandfather, at least half built. He never completed it after doing the majority of the hull it seems. No idea what to do with it but I am a keen amateur woodworker albeit not a modeller. I am considering taking up the hobby to complete this fine model he's started although if someone else fancied it that would be equally fine.
 
First of all I need to work out what ship it is. My googling has not yielded anything except clarity its not the Mary Rose to my mothers surprise. He was a member of the many Rose society so I think it was assumed to be that ship early on.  
 
Is anyone able to advise what ship it is or offer any suggestions/advice on what to do next with it! maybe tips how to start this interesting hobby.
 
Many thanks,
 
Nic
 

 
 
 
 

 

I started another project, the Model Shipways Grand Banks Dory.  There are many build logs with kit pictures, so I won’t include here.  I’m planning on replacing all the basswood anyways.
 
I usually have two projects (wooden ship and plastic airplane) going, but for a bunch of reasons, thought I should try doing two ship models at the same time.
 
Rationale:
·         I got a really good deal on it at a club auction
·         I’ve wanted to try one of David Antscherl’s kits
·         I think I have my jointer and bandsaw finally tuned right, and wanted to try milling some wood
·         I’ve found working with laser cut pieces on the longboat a little frustrating.  I’m sure I will get better at it with some more practice, but wanted to get a sense of the comparison between cutting the parts out myself vs cleaning char off laser cut pieces.
·         I want to build with boxwood and some contrasting wood, and wanted to see how well patterns made from scanned laser cut sheets would work.  This was particularly important on this model as the plans in the instruction book don’t include all the parts.
·         Main reason: I’m planning on starting a fully framed Echo, but want another project going so I don’t try working on Echo when tired or distracted.  This seemed a good opportunity to pilot building two ship models at the same time.  If it isn’t going to work for two fairly simple kits (longboat and Dory), I shouldn’t try it with Echo.
 
So far, so good.  I started with the stand as a test for the jointer and bandsaw.  The wood is a piece of pao ferro that I had on my shelf.  Very happy with both tools. The bandsaw got knocked out of alignment during the house move a few years ago, and is finally dialed back in.  The jointer was never fully adjusted and is finally working the way it should.
 
Scanning the basswood laser cut sheets has also worked well.  The burn marks are thin enough and in the right place to get good patterns.  For the first few pieces (hull bottom, stem, transom, stern knee) cutting the parts out has been very straightforward and taken less time than cleaning char.  For some parts like the longboat frames this would not be true. 
 
I’ve also been making some progress on the other two projects and will update the logs soon.

My doc and surgeons have said that basically.... keep going and don't stop is the best mental and emotional health thing we can do.  The body many times follows along.  

Thank you Brother! Well, it is off the beaten path, but welcome to the thread....
 
So far everything is going well, Doc is happy, Last scan showed no tumors and in 10 days I start another course of chemo... Prophylactic in nature to keep it from coming back since this type of cancer never goes away and could show up anywhere at any time... Year and a half in and I'm doing well they tell me, almost a third of the way to beating the average life expectancy of this... (5 years) God willing is all I can say....
 
I'll keep plugging away at something, like the title says keeping my head in the game....

That’s me for now thanks, hope you give me some feedback on canopy, was going to pose some figures under here if it looks alright, just a bit indecisive just now as the open bridge looks nice with wood and no canopy. 🤛

Shall hold flag in position while Jaqueline takes a photo. 👍

Hi guys, there’s more to painting the rising sun flag than l thought, when you see where all the rays reach out to outer edges of flag it’s going to be a challenge to get this right. I looked carefully and tried to lightly mark this out with a sharp pencil, then picked a red that looked close to shade and painted it, like painting by numbers for youse old enough to remember this 😂 you also have to mind if you’re trying to simulate a drooping flag you have to turn your marking off square to the droop, all gets a bit tricky, then of course you have to do it opposite hand on other side 😵‍💫 Well since this was just an experiment. Painted one side then when dry tried forming flag on various diameters of bar or wire, seems to work reasonably well and the paint didn’t crack or flake off. Now got to try again and improve. Also made a canopy for above Bridge, made from thin foil from around the neck of Prosecco bottle, same as for flag, this is slightly heavier than tin foil from kitchen. Good excuse to keep stocked up with Prosecco 😏 Painted this white, asked Jaqueline what she thought, said it’s awful bright, so tried white grey with a touch of white added, think it’s a bit more subtle. This is just sitting on top not fixed, wondering if you think this works or not, opinions more than welcome as l have got to decide one way or other 🤛 Shall put some photos up now. 👍

Photos show scale of flag on staff and that the 1905 Mikasa had different hatches in turret roof the round ones seem to be the original ones that are on the 1902 build of ship, well that’s what l  think, maybe some day in future someone will do a book on her, strange there’s not one already.

This’ll be a laugh if it works, Decals of flags in kit not going to work for me, the Japanese ensign on the stern isn’t the rising sun and l checked with photos of Mikasa for scale and it’s to small, shall put a photo up, smaller flag is size of kit decal the larger one is my guess of size just with scaling against photos, probably not spot on but closer. Size l cut it at is 24mm x 18mm.  

 

 

 

As I'm new to the hobby, since December 23, I've been looking at lots of kits to build. I have started to gather a bit of a collection, planes, cars, tanks (Airfix had a great deal for a mystery bundle) and 2 wooden boats, which will keep me going for months. But I do love helicopters. This airfix Sea King has been getting lots of good reviews, there are some fantastic builds on you tube. I've bought the Big Ed accessories pack from Eduard to enhance it slightly. I've decided to go with the HU.5 version of the kit, mainly because I like the colours!

Good luck on your journey!!  

It is ages since I tried to do a build log on this forum so I thought it was about time I did! I have made loads of models since my last but not done logs on any of them. I love the look of the tall ships and I have recently finished the Occre version of the Amerigo Vespucci with full lighting and loads of changes to the kit instructions to make her more like the real vessel. I am going to try and light the Gorch Fock as well although I wonder sometimes why I set myself these challenges. I can already see from the instructions that I will have to make a few alterations to the kit but otherwise I hope to build her more or less out of the box this time without looking too carefully at the real vessel.
 
At first look the instructions are the usual Occre quality, the wood looks good and the fittings fine. I will change the navigation lights so that I can fit lights. I don't like the photo etched stanchions but changing them costs a lot as I know because I changed them on the AV so I will put up with them this time. The sails again are usual for Occre but to be honest they do look OK in the end. I made some for the AV as the kit didn't come with them but they didn't really come out better so I will stick with those provided. Let's see what else I find as I go along.
 
For those who want to know this is what is in the box!
 

Thank you very much, Yves.
I would be very happy to read your construction report on the Mikasa here.
 
Continue with additional small details.
The next picture shows why I add large parts like gun barrels as late as possible.
 

 
I would like to implement this device with which the anchor was lowered into the water.
 

 
To do this I first have to remove material from the fuselage.
 

 
Then all profiles are checked again and some are sanded down a little further
 

 
The torpedo tube opening also has a riveted ring.
 

 
On to preshading.
 

 
And then tape it off. I’m doing this relatively precisely, even though I’m only in the basic color.
Of course I could spray the red without masking it off, but then too many layers would overlap afterwards and the whole thing would be too thick for me.
 
  And now the antifouling paint is on the underwater hull.     The waterline is running great. Profiles attached at the correct height.     Here are the two recesses for the side with the double anchor.     I really like the structure I made from the styrene profiles.     And the preshading also comes into its own.     Now we continue with the details on the upper ship.

Thanks, Cisco and Theodosius, and all watching.
 
Here is how I tackled drilling 228 holes with a #78 drill (.016" or .40mm)--

 
Two pieces ended up being deemed unusable, so I now have the 34 hammock cranes that I need, plus two extra--

 
I broke two more drill bits (for a total of three).  Those carbide bits break if you breath hard on them.  Actually, after the initial careless one, the breakage on the other two seemed to be related to how many holes I had drilled already (they may have been getting dull?), and how flat the piece remained held in the wood through the drilling--sometimes the piece lifted up when withdrawing the drill, in spite of my care to hold it in place.
 
Now I need to trim them, file the ends, and hope that I can thread a line through the tiny holes.  Hopefully I won't have to experiment on "punching" the holes a bit bigger.  Oh, and soldering pins on the bottoms.
 
All for now,
Ron 
 
 

I should look more left and rigt, to find such gems like this one! 🙂 

i really like your simple jigs Ron.  you read about my struggles with my gudgeons; i am excited to see how you tackle drilling that many holes

Skipping around some, I decided to tackle the hammock cranes.  Although they will probably make getting to the belaying rails more difficult, on the other hand, I think they will be more difficult to install after the shrouds are on.
 
I'm aiming for something like what is on the Niagara replica--

 
Only more like Glen Greico's model of the Brig Jefferson, without the wood rail at the top--

 
I'm going to make it a little easier on myself and do three ropes vs. four.
 
Here are some attempts at figuring out the size, and exactly how to make them--

 
The first three are some 20 gauge square brass wire, bent, and pounded a little flatter.  The first two are too big, and the third, which I tested drilling holes on, is actually a bit too small, though too thick.  I was able, though, to figure out how to make a tight radius in the bends.  The third is 22 gauge square wire, annealed, pounded just a bit flatter, and with some smaller test holes drilled.  It's close to the right size, both overall dimensions and gauge of the wire, and I think this method will work, though it leaves no room for error on the hole spacing.  I drilled one hole too far off center, and I also broke a drill bit.  I'll have to be more careful, or I will be buying more bits to finish them.
 
I figured out how many hammock cranes I will need (17 per side) and cut thirty-eight (four extra) pieces of brass--

 
These were annealed (heated to red hot) with a soldering torch.   I also routed a groove in a piece of scrap wood as a guide to make sure they are bent to a consistent shape, and as well to hold the piece for drilling the holes (which hopefully will help with the bit breakage)--

 
The ends of the wire that extend beyond the block will be trimmed off--

 
I put a piece of tape at the spot that was the right width for bending the wire--

 
And the bends were given a light tap to make the radius tighter--

 
Then after some straightening and checking the squareness of the shape, the wire was pounded just a little flatter, mostly just to give me a few thousandths of an inch more width to try and center the drill on--

 
 
The holes will be drilled next.  Hopefully that will be successful and I won't have to abandon this method.   After the holes are drilled I'll solder a short pin to the bottom of each one to epoxy them onto the rail.  At that point I may also adjust the angle of the legs to follow the bulwark angle--

 
All for now,
Ron
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks Håkan and bigcreekdad!
 
I was sure my main top wouldn't have enough room on the aft side to have the trymast come up through it the way it is supposed to do.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was enough room, just barely.  I filed a hole in the middle of the aft end for the trymast.  (I also spy a deadeye that didn't get completely blackened).  The top looks pretty dusty!--

 
The seat for the trymast is just about done.  I may do some further shaping.  Here it is pinned temporarily to the main mast--

 
And fitting the top in place--


 
There is supposed to be a fid through the trymast into the trestle trees, and possibly a spacer block between the trymast and the mast just under the trestle trees.  I'm not sure I'm going to elect to show those.
 


 
All for now,
Ron  
 
 
 

I am not into aircraft, but seeing those engine kits, I have been tempted for a long time to put one into a model of those speedboats that were popular in the 1920 and that used marinised surplus aircraft engines.
 
Building a model of the smallest Dornier flying boats, a LIBELLE, has also been on my temptation list. They used inter alia Siemens Halske sh4 and sh5 engines as well as British radial engines.

No worries Egilman, nothing against some detours once in a while, which widens the horizon. Nice kits by the way, love the Albatros.
 
Cheers Rob

I haven´t build any Lukgraph kits, but thought about buying one or two. The Friedrichshafen caught my eye, when it came out. You can buy them from Hanants in the UK, they are well stocked with Lukgraph kits.
Their kits are a mix of resin cast for fuselage and wings, 3D print for engines, weapons, etc. and PE and they cover a great range of not often seen subjects.

The only Lukgraph bit, I ever built was the Oberursel engine for my Fokker D.VIII. It was a 3D printed gem, relatively easy to build and fitted without modifications under the Aviattic cowling and would have fitted even into the MikroMir cowling.
 

 

 

 
If you want to see, how they build up, Mike `Sandbagger´Norris is actually building a Lukgraph Halberstadt over on LargeScaleModeler. He is a very gifted WWI builder and you can learn a lot from his well documented builds, which he also offers as PDF download, when finished.
 
1:32nd scale Halberstadt D.II - LSM 1/35 and Larger Work In Progress - Large Scale Modeller
 
Cheers Rob
 
 

Yep, and subjects no one else has... I added some pics of the albatross to the previous posting, sorry for the de-rail Rob.... (probably should have done it in a PN)
 
My apologies...

Thanks for that link EG. They have some great looking model, don't they?