NMBROOK

Ok something in a way of an update.The infill has been faired although the final touches will be applied after fitting the false deck and bow/stern blocks.The deck stringers have been fitted.The two scrap pieces screwed down provide temporary clamping due to the sheer on these stringers.Next job is finishing the deck edge supports from amidships to bow and the bow/stern filler pieces.Not much more to add that the pics don't explain.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ok something in a way of an update.The infill has been faired although the final touches will be applied after fitting the false deck and bow/stern blocks.The deck stringers have been fitted.The two scrap pieces screwed down provide temporary clamping due to the sheer on these stringers.Next job is finishing the deck edge supports from amidships to bow and the bow/stern filler pieces.Not much more to add that the pics don't explain.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ok something in a way of an update.The infill has been faired although the final touches will be applied after fitting the false deck and bow/stern blocks.The deck stringers have been fitted.The two scrap pieces screwed down provide temporary clamping due to the sheer on these stringers.Next job is finishing the deck edge supports from amidships to bow and the bow/stern filler pieces.Not much more to add that the pics don't explain.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi Michael
 
Apologies for not being around much of late and missing your last update.Excellent work on the swivel guns,they look fabulous   I too would have suggested wire for the axles,at this scale a representation rather than exact replication is more than adequate.Tip for drilling the holes,drill a hole in a small wooden block for the axle to slide in,then drill a hole through the block to act as a guide for drilling the pin holes.This will make it easy to keep them central and stop the drill from wondering due to the curved surface of the axle
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Build log part 4
 
 
 

White part above waterline only primered
 

bulleyes fitted, hull "riveted", plated and painted
 

tackle brackets for fastening the aft mast stays, soldered to the railing stanchions (through deck below
 

above the rectangular wooden window Frame there shall be fitted Ornament decors later on
 
 

model for making the clay-mould for the ornaments (intend to use low meting Point metal for that)
 

 
 

stair to 2nd passenger deck, swan neck vents, and fastening bracket rail for Front mast stays
 

anchor crane and bowpost flagstock
 

Progress well under way
 
 
 
 
Build log part 5 to follow....
 
 
Nils

Build log part 3
 
 
 

the double sheaved boat brass blocks are selfmade, also the round Skylights from Wood rings and brass "spokes"
 

sorry the pic is not too good, but here the hull has been plated and the portholes drilled for the bulleyes
 

the wheel- / charthouse foof has become a rim around and drainpipes for rain in the aft corners
 

here and in the next pic the plating can be seen better
 
 
 
 

 

behind the railings the many Mahagoni sitting benches can be seen.
Drainpipes from the boat deck go down from the upper cabins Roof and in 90° angle out through scupper like openings in the low hight bulwarks
 

front deck hatch and brass made masts fitted, angle meets that of the funnel
 
 
 
 
Build log part 4 to follow...
 
Nils

Thanks Dee_Dee, all these great tips kinda makes me want to begin painting proper! anything to procrastinate the flippin Joggling eh ?
 
I know I know get Joggling !
 
Slán
 
Eamonn

Looking good Eamonn!   Nigel's info on painting is spot on!  The only thing I can add is very thin coats to avoid ridges.  
 
Dee Dee

Nigel, Brilliant ! I will do just as you suggested.  As always, thanks.
 
Michael

I agree Popeye, good idea,
 
the gun Lifting / changing Detail would be for an action-type Diorama. It could be inspiring for the diorama builders here on MSW.
 
Nils
 
wheels attached now, I think I should`nt put more to it...
 

Build log part 22
 
 
beginning with the guns....
 
 

this was thie first mock up model for checking dimensions, breech rope to be exchanged against natural hemp Color, dolphins on Barrel to be left away
 

staining the carriages
 

breechrope eyelet, other block tackle eyelets, caps on barrel Pivot pin, wheels still in the pipe...
 

 
 

 
 

here my jig for making the caps
 

use ordinary plumbers plyers for pressing the caps in shape
 
 
 
Nils

Thanks Nigel for your continuing interest and kind comments. My current intention is to do enough planking on the center line to mount the capstan, the wheel, the binnacle and any rigging attachments at the masts and enough other planking to mount guns on one side. We'll see how it turns out.
 
Bob

The plans I used were actually drawn years ago and were purchased from the NMM, so I didn't take the lines off the model myself. All you do get is hull lines (including bulkheads) - but for the new designs I did, there weren't enough bulkhead lines in the plans, so I had to add a few myself.
 
The plans were 48th scale, and trust me, the model would be way too big for this scale. At 64th, I find it a perfect size, although perhaps a little too large for some modellers - the hull is a lot larger than say, the Vanguard kit and only smaller  than the 64th scale Victory (about the same depth/height, but obviously a little narrower and shorter, with Prince being 100 years older). I don't think the original Prince would have been substantially smaller than Royal William - but also you have to treat with caution the stated scales on older Italian kits - the original Amati Prince was stated as 78th scale, but my new designs have the length almost the same at 64th as the stated 78th scale original (although there's so much wrong with the original it shouldn't even be called Prince - hull shape and profiles are very different). I am sure the Italians used to use 'ballpark figures' for scales...

Hi Michael
 
Apologies for not being around much of late and missing your last update.Excellent work on the swivel guns,they look fabulous   I too would have suggested wire for the axles,at this scale a representation rather than exact replication is more than adequate.Tip for drilling the holes,drill a hole in a small wooden block for the axle to slide in,then drill a hole through the block to act as a guide for drilling the pin holes.This will make it easy to keep them central and stop the drill from wondering due to the curved surface of the axle
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

The drawings are not mine to fully publish. Amati own them as they paid me for the designs. It would be very unprofessional and reckless in the extreme to publish them without the permission of the owners - and there would be nothing to stop unscrupulous people copying them and then calling them their own.

I will ask Amati when I can 'slot' this one in (have got three developments on the go right now..) - it is frustrating for me, as it happens to be my all time favourite ship - I love the lines and curves, and it's not half as 'gaudy' as SOTS - and it has a great history. Just checked my design files - I re did them in 2011, to more or less the same designs as Victory and Bellona, with lower, middle and upper gun decks - and gun port positions that slot into the bulkheads, rather than the old and flawed ply gun port patterns.

Hi Nigel,
 
I actually used the lines taken directly off the original dockyard model - I think these are about as accurate as we're going to get for the Prince. I then used all of the Van De Velde drawings that exist for most of the outer detail and parts which conflicted slightly with the original model (which was probably made before the actual vessel was launched, by which time a few changes were probably made - like the small protruding gallery at the stern)
 
I re designed from the original about 10 years ago, and that is what the model above is based - but a couple of years ago, I re designed it again to take into account newer techniques I use now - I am just waiting for these new designs to be cut for me.
 

Never Rambling Mate, !
 
E

Hi Guys,
Kester..  nice to know eh ?   tis a decent book too !
 
Nigel.. have sourced the tape in Ireland and will see about picking up a couple of different widths.. nuttin too wide I suppose !
 
Brilliant tip there too Bud, I shall be availing of that ! as my current results are feathery to say the least, not really a big concern at the mo, as I'm only doing preliminary work.. but in a few weeks I'd be pulling the hair out trying to get a clean line!
 
Cheers
 
Eamonn

I've now completed the quarter deck framing at the aft end and finished it with Wipe-on Poly. This was done as a unit off the model as I had done with the forecastle deck. As with the forecastle, the beams, carlings and ledges are boxwood strip and the knees were cut from cherry sheet. Of course the beams had been fitted on the model and the spacing measured before the off model construction proceeded.. The photos show the deck framing in place, but it is not permanently installed yet. That won't happen until I attach lines for the main lower yard sheets to the bulwark cleats that will be impossible to reach once the decking is in place. I can't do that until I figure out the sizing for the rigging. That's a tedious job that I've started, but is a long way from done.
 
In the meanwhile, in my haphazard fashion, I'm going to move on to some work on the exterior hull for a bit.
 
Bob

Thanks Chris for the kind words! Do you mean to to make the painted sculptures and surfaces more gritty and aged like on a ship thats been in use for long? Or to make them look like on Vasa in the way she looks now? I guees you mean the first so I answer that I made sci fi models earlier and learned alot from looking at how ILM modelshop (the guys who made the studiomodels for the original Starwars films) did their paint jobs and weathering in the days before computer generated effects. They could make plastic cups look like huge engine part just with a really great paint job. So looking at their models like the x-wing or Slave 1 and think through how they did it is worth a lot in my opinion. You also learn lots from looking at youtube videos about weathering models; military vehicles and figures often have amazing paint jobs and there are lots of videos of how they do it.
 
Weathering wood like the hull is quite hard and more unforgiving as you can't simply redo the paintjob like you can on plastics. A good tip is to have pictures of what you are trying to achieve with the paint job and think through what stages are needed. I find pictures of replicas like Batavia or Gotheborg to be great and I also look a lot at paintings by the artist Vroom. I sometimes take pics of a building or a train that looks interesting. Other models can also be good for this, and you can ask the builder how he did the paintjob. If you like my work then look at Franks HMAT supply and Nigels Royal Caroline both with really great paintjobs. I think we use different techniques so read their logs aswell. I think my main tip is not to try and make it perfect, the odd and quirky stuff often gives character, so I try and add stuff like that. Perfect is boring, drama is good.
 
About weathering a model of Vasa. Paintjobs usually comes down to artistic preference, what look you like and that's what you should do. But sometimes I hear the argument that a Vasa model should not be weathered and this is how I see it:
  
She was built outside during a period of two years. Two years is a long time for wood to stop looking all fresh cut. I had new cut wood starting to turn grey by laying in the sun and rain in one summer.
 
Vasa was tarred giving her a look far from a unpainted and unweathered model. I can definitely appreciate a natural looking model as it can be a nice look in it self, but it’s not the way the real ships looked.
 
Here is a picture of Gotheborg when she was launched. And she had been inside a building during the whole build.
 


 
It's easy to imagine she would have looked even more gritty if she'd been built and tarred outside.
 
A surface outside goes dirty quite quickly at least where I live. Dust and pollen will cover it and rain will make dirt runnings. Sun will blend colors,
 
Some weathering is in my opinion necessary if you want the model to look realistic and have a sense of scale. Washes is also a great way to blend the colors.
 
Finally a pic from the Vasa film. I share the way they imagined she would have looked in this scene:
 

 
Sorry for the long post, but I find this topic interesting.
 
 
/Matti
 
 

Hi Eamonn
Yes Tamiya tape is a must,only thing that comes as close is signwriters masking tape,although this is a little more tacky and may dislodge some paint on removal.For the ultimate,looks like it has been 'put on with a laser' result,Apply the tape and then one coat along the edge of the colour the tape is sat on ,then apply the colour you are actually painting.Using this and Tamiya tape will give a perfect result.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi Mates,
 
Still working, very slowly, on the carriages. This post is in the form of a question. Would any of you kind soles have a "perfect" idea on how I might replicate the axle stops so that the wheels won't fall off?
 
The small pieces that I am using for the axle supports that attach vertically to the carriage are a bit too wide to be added to the axles as keys. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
I do know that most, who are kind enough to drop-in do so silently, but any ideas that have worked for you would be a treat.
 
I will also post this in the general section.
 
 
Michael

Hi Mates,
 
I took a detour from the carriages to install four swivel guns at the stern. According to Landström these would have eventually been mounted.
 
Needed to deepen the shallow openings a bit more, easy enough.
 
Then prepared the guns by modifying the mounting pins using small brass nails. I flattened the round heads as well. You will note that I made small wood mounting bits, but it turns out that, what do they say? "You can't put a square peg into a round hole". They did not fit.
 
Luckily the guns were easy to insert and "mount" in a believable fashion without the use of wooden bits.
 
Next, I used an aluminum tube to make the four small decorative rings. I used that material because of its softness, and the rings were to be painted in any case.
 
Fairly simple used a rod cutter for an initial deep groove, then on to the sander to thin the tip. Lastly back to the cutter for a couple of delicate turns, a bit of detailing and then paint. 
 
---------------------
 
OK back to the carriages. As always thanks for dropping by.
 
Regards,
 
Michael

Little Update.. (had a wee system glitch which put this update into Ollie's Log, I was over there a few mins earlier and Internet Explorer seems to have had a wobbly..  Weird Happenings eh .. so if you see a deleted post in your log Ollie it was this !)
 
Got the Waterline drawn and what a total Faf that was, made me want to get on with Joggling it was that bad ! brought the Black down to it, just to get a feel for things and I'm happy with the result.. though less happy with my Masking Tape, as despite much rubbing and pressing the paint insists on going under it to give a feathery edge ! I have even put a light coat of Clear matt (lightly sanded) over the whole lower hull of the boat in anticipation to give a smoother surface for the tape.. no avail, I have heard it mentioned that some folks run a blade along the waterline to 'cut' a barrier that will stop paint bleed ! else I'll pick up some better tape, Tamiya Tape seems to be used a lot on MSW)
 
BTW You can just make out the Patented Deck Planking Template in place, looks snazzy, I wonder if I can just give it a wood colour.. hmmmmm
 
Bye For Now
 
Eamonn