NMBROOK

Thanks Mobbsie, Augie and Ben.  Mobbsie - the overheating problem hasn't been solved as such, but I'm keeping an eye on it and if necessary will do my sanding in shorter bursts to avoid the problem.  I figure that the worst case is that I will need to get the motor rewound at some point.
 
Resumption of Play
Testing of Frame Bolts
Jeff’s drawings indicate large bolts/treenails either side of the chocks on the double frames.  The drawings in AOTS show a significant number of additional bolts on these frames. Having seen these additional bolts added on Spanien’s build log on MSB, I decided that I would also add these.  As far as I can tell from the scantling list in AOTS, these bolts would be one inch in diameter. At scale that translates to 0.53mm. Compromising between accuracy and aesthetics, I have chosen to use copper wire of 0.9mm diameter.  I stretched the wire to breaking point to work harden it as well as to straighten it, giving it a final diameter of 0.8mm.  I’ll call that the diameter of the bolt head, not the shaft!  
 
These were inserted into pre-drilled holes in the frames and secured with epoxy.  Once the glue had set, the frames were sanded to remove excess glue and set the bolt heads flush. My dilemma now is whether to leave these as bright copper, or to blacken them (which I think would be a more accurate representation of iron).  I tested this with my Test Frame D1/D2, leaving one side “natural” and the other blackened.  The good thing about using copper in lieu of brass is that copper can be blackened with Liver of Sulphur (LoS), which can be painted on in situ and the excess cleaned off with water, without staining the surrounding timber.  Here’s a few pics of the test pieces.
 
Here is an overall shot of the natural copper bolts:
 

 
And for comparison, an overall shot of the blackened bolts:
 

 
A close-up of the natural copper:
 

 
And a close-up of the blackened bolts:
    I’m leaning towards the blackened bolts, but am not yet decided.  Opinions welcome!  
Here’s a couple of shots of the test frame in the jig:
      All looks good to proceed, so it's back to making frames and fitting chocks - properly this time!  

Tool Time
 
So, while I waited for a couple of weeks to sort out with Carbatec the parts I needed, I continued with my non-ship project, which appears somehow to have leapt into this photo of my broken Scroll Saw Drive Link Assembly.  
 

 
It seems that General International  (makers of my Excalibur Scroll-saw), have changed the design.  Here’s why:
 

 
 
This is what the upper Drive Link Assembly looks like. The schematics in the background are the only form of instructions I had for working out how to take it out!  About two thirds of the distance from the left hand end is a bottle-screw arrangement.  This is where the 6mm (1/4”) bolt sheered.  Here’s a few close-ups:
 

 

 

 
It appears that this may have been a not unusual problem and General International have changed the design - the replacement part does away with the bottle screw arrangement entirely. It's function seems to be really redundant anyway, so why retain a design weakness? The new part is simply a continuous pair of parallel arms.  The hardest part was working out just how much of the saw I had to strip down to provide access to the securing points, and then work out how to actually get at them.  In the end it only took about 2 1/2 hours (and a bit of colourful language) from start of disassembly to completion of the job and a fully functioning scroll saw.  Happy Days!
 
While I was at it, I followed up on some advice from Jim Byrnes regarding some issues I’d been having with the Table Saw - turns out to have been an issue with the blade (I think).  I’d also had an issue with my Byrnes Disc Sander, and once again thanks to Jim’s advice I was able to rectify that problem too.  Still cautious about the overheating, but otherwise it seems to be fine.
 
All in all, a very successful day in the shop, even though no model building was achieved.  Should now be all systems go for next weekend.  

Thanks Mobbsie, Mark and Marc, and all of the "likes".  Continuing on:
 
First Frames - continued
 
The frames pieces were placed over the pattern pieces and clamped in place to a scrap piece of pine board while the pieces were glued on the butt joins.
 

 
Once these had dried, the chocks were fitted into place and after the glue had dried the chocks were first trimmed close using the scroll saw, and then finished on the oscillating spindle sander.  The final step was to put the whole frame through the thickness sander for a couple of light passes to clean them up and bring them down to the finished size of 1//4” thick.
    On first glance these look okay, but on closer inspection you can see that the joints around the chocks are not very good.          As is my way, I pondered on this for a day or two, and then went back to my references (yeah, the ones I should have consulted in the first place!  ).  In reading both Antscherl (The Fully Framed Model - Vol 1) and Tosti (Naiad Frigate - Vol 1), I discovered that while both used slightly different methods for making and installing the chocks, the one thing they had in common was that the chocks were fitted to one side of the futtock scarph first, and then the second side (from the other futtock) was fitted.  It seems pretty obvious in hindsight, but I guess that’s why it’s called hindsight……. Yep, nothing for it but to re-do the frames (again)!   Chocks  
A little more pondering, and I believe I have come up with a mix of methods that should work for me.  The first step was to “standardise” the chocks.  A quick check through the drawings/patterns revealed that all frames have two sizes of chocks, and these sizes are consistent through all of the frames.  The larger chocks have a base of 12mm and the smaller 8mm.  I measured the angle at the apex of the chocks and it too is consistent at 18 degrees either side of the centreline.  As I now had the necessary details for mass production, it was time to well, mass produce…………..
 
I first cut a series of ‘stock’ pieces (12mm and 8mm wide) from a 3” wide sheet of 1/4” pear, cutting across the grain so that in the finished chocks, the grain would run along the length of the chock.  I then set the angle on the mitre gauge of the Byrnes disc sander to 18 degrees.  As this angle is not one of the pre-set angles available, I used a digital protractor to set the angle and locked it in.
 
Each side of the end of the stock piece was sanded on this angle, forming an apex along the centreline.  I tried to be very precise by marking lines various, but in the end discovered that the Mk 1 eyeball, calibrated with the aid of the Optivisor, gave just as accurate results.
 

 

 
The chock was then sliced off on the Byrnes table saw, and the process repeated until I had a pile of lotsa chocks.  Here’s what 136 chocks in two sizes looks like:
 

 
I then went on to re-cut the frame pieces, and that is when a major set-back occurred. Just as I was cutting the last two pieces on the scroll saw, what appeared at first to be a simple blade breakage was subsequently discovered to be the sheering of a 6mm bolt in the Drive Link Assembly.       After a half hour on the phone with a very helpful service guy from Carbatec, I’m still not sure of the way ahead.  He is going to call me back on Monday to let me know if they can get me the replacement parts to repair the machine.  It’s not going to be an easy job either, but the Carbatec guy told me I was going to need to “man up” and strip the machine down to do the job myself! (my wife laughed uproariously at this suggestion - go figure…………  ).
 
It looks like progress will be halted indefinitely while I get this sorted      , although I may use my original frames for some further ‘test-bed’ work.  Currently thinking through the issue of whether or not to show additional fastenings (bolts) in the double frames (as per AOTS) or stick with the simplified representation shown in the plans.  Currently leaning towards adding the extras - some nice examples of this on MSB by both Spanien and Migue. The questions is, what size would be appropriate for these bolts? (grateful for any input here)  I'm thinking of using copper wire as it has the advantage of being able to be blackened in situ using Liver of Sulphur, as has been demonstrated many times by EdT. I have some wire that is 1/32" thick (about 0.8mm), which at 1:48 scale equates to an actual diameter of 1 1/2", so I may give this a go on the "test bed" to see how it looks.

Thanks for the good words and all the likes folks.
 

First Frames
There are 5 double frames and 12 single frames in this cross section. I decided to start with the foremost frame, which is the double frame D1/D2. Figured this would be a good place to get techniques/methodology sorted out.
 
All frames will be made from 1/4" thick Swiss Pear. The stock is very slightly over-size for thickness. In making the first frames, I chose to leave the stock thickness "as-is" until the frame assembly is complete, and then reduce by passing the completed frames through the thickness sander. I may live to regret that decision, but we'll see how it goes!

Prior to cutting these out on the scroll saw, the timber stock was covered with low-tack painters’ tape, and the templates printed on sticky label paper and stuck on top of the tape. This is a tip I picked up from a scroll saw forum - it makes removal of the pattern very easy and there is no sticky residue to clean up afterwards. I have to say, having now tried this method, that it works a treat!



In laying out the pattern pieces, care was taken to ensure that the grain ran along the length of each piece (as far as possible).



The pieces were cut roughly to shape on the scroll saw, leaving about 3mm all round, and then the final shape was achieved using the Byrnes disc sander for the outside curves, and the oscillating spindle sander for the inside curves.

When it came to cutting the scarf joints and keel notches, I experimented with a couple of different methods, including hand saw and chisel, band saw, and using the mill with an end cutter. In the end, I decided that I was over-thinking it, and simply cut these as accurately as I could with the scroll saw, and then cleaned up with a (very sharp) chisel and file where necessary (which to be honest, wasn’t much).
 
The chocks were deliberately left over-size to provide a “handle” for cutting and shaping the “business” end. The bulk of the handle will be cut off prior to assembly and the remainder cleaned up on the spindle sander after assembly.

Here are the completed frame pieces cut out and ready for assembly:



Glue-up awaits, but if I've missed something important here, now's the time to tell me!

One further addition to the building jig before moving on.  I added some keel retaining strips and stuck on copies of the frame position indicators for good measure.
    The Keel Assembly   The keel assembly is comprised of four components: Keel, False Keel (Upper), False Keel (Lower) and Hog.  The False Keel (Lower) is made from 1/16” thick Ebony, while the remaining pieces are all Swiss Pear. All components are 1/4” thick.
 
The Hog needs to be cut with a series of steps and notches.  Both side and top views are provided in the drawings, so I printed these onto sticky label paper to use as templates and then cut the profile using a 1/4” end mill cutter in my Sherline Mill.  This was the perfect size for the width of the notches.  I was quite pleased with the results.
 

 
And here are the four pieces ready for assembly:
 

 
After assembling the four components, I ran them through the thickness sander with a very light pass just to ensure everything was nice and even.
 

 
The next job was to cut the rabbet, and this is where I ran into the first major hitch.    
 
The rabbet is straight, parallel to the keel for about 2/3 of it’s length, where it changes angle slightly and sweeps up moving aft. I cut the rabbet by hand using a very nice V-chisel.  The first cut was a very, very light one and the wood peeled off beautifully.  Unfortunately, this may have lulled me into a false sense of security, as I may have been a little over-zealous in the end. From this angle it doesn’t look too bad.
 

 
I might have accepted this ‘as is’, until I looked closely at the second side……
You can see here that I managed to induce quite a wave into the angle part.     
 

 
It’s back to chisel school for me I’m afraid!   
 
I thought about this for a while and then decided to try a different approach.  Enter the “Secret Weapon” 
 

 
This is 90º V-Groove Router bit with a 1/4” shaft. It fits nicely into a collet on the Sherline Mill.
 
Here is the set-up I used on the mill.
 

 
And here is the result:
 

 
I’m much happier with this!   
 
The keel assembly was trimmed to length and is now ready for use.  Next up, we start playing with frames.  Oh goodie - more toys to use!       
 
 
 

Hello,
here I show more details for the construction of chaloupe.
The last three images reveal the current build status.
 
I hope you like it.  

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Hello,
this positive feedback is a great pleasure again and again.
Thank you very much.
Today I'll show you a few small steps forward to build the sloop.

Particularly, I would point to the wooden supports for the swivel guns.
For landing missions the sloop could carry 4 swivel guns.

 
...to be continued

A few more photos of the figurehead

Hi All,
 
The head rails were painted and I started to paint the figure head, anyone who has this kit will know that the figure head is fairly bulky and only comes in two parts compared to the Caldercraft one which I think comes in about six pieces.
 
I gave both pieces a coat of metal primer and then started to paint in the colours following photos of the figurehead on the actual ship   

Work also continued on the head rails the next two were added on each side, these fitted into notches in the beak deck support timbers. Please note they were undercoated with metal primer before they were fitted.

Hi All,
 
The guns were then positioned and glued into place. They were then rigged using 2mm single blocks for the side tackle and a 2mm single and a 3mm double, trimmed down, for the train tackle. The breech ropes were also shaped and spot glued to the deck.
 
The rope coils were then added

Attaching metal parts, rudders and draught marks on the hull.

Pintles are fastened to the rudder.

Preparation of metal parts.

Mate that looks Epic !!
 
Eamonn

And finally part three
 
Using a dremel ball end cutter 1.2mm diameter the grooves were machined between the lines previously marked in several light passes,the total depth being 1.5mm.The fixture was then moved parallel to the table to mill the vertical grooves in the doors.
 
After a light sand the corners were 'squared' using the tip of a scalpel blade and job done.
 
Now to make the ebony panels these sit into so they can be fitted on the model
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Just some pics without all the clamps and things trimmed to shape so it makes a little more sense The upper level of the transom will be inline with the projecting balcony
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I have finally fitted the remaining glazing bars in the lower stern windows(yes another five to go above these and numerous ones on the deck bulkheads )
 
The three on the right are complete,the two on the left have had the bars sanded flat and awaiting another coat of matt poly.
 
I have now moved on to fitting the balcony floor.Three copper pins were bonded into the edge of the floor and correspond to holes drilled in the transom.The softwood former underneath is temporary,it is purely there to hold the correct camber as I had a small amount of springback when the floor was released from it's jig.The floor has been epoxied to the transom and lower edge of the planking.The protuding sides will be trimmed and sanded flush when the epoxy has cured.This will also release the softwood former which is held with blobs of epoxy at each end.
 
I am looking forward to the next stage,I had a lightbulb moment this week.I have worked out how to produce decorative paneling in boxwood with an ebony architrave detail.It is based on DrMike's technique for creating these panels,but with my own twist.All will be revealed in due course
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

The stern chaser ports have now been lined with Ebony and I have also lined the hole for the tiller arm.The linings on this hole need to be flush with the stern counter,so I figured it easier to assemble a simple Ebony box.This will be trimmed and sanded flush with the counter after being left for a couple of days to ensure the glue is fully hard.Apologies for the pics,not easy to pick the details out when everything is black
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you very much indeed B.E.,Michael and Nick
 
sadly B.E.,we currently live in a most unpicturesque part of Yorkshire,I hope to be within 'spitting' distance of the 'white horse' if we ever get moved,so that should change
 
I think one of my biggest influences in the choice of woodtones Nick,is Dr Mike's Rivoli,I am simply in awe of this model and his use of colour
 

 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Part two
 
Standing the mdf on edge and using some scrap strip as a spacer,the first boxwood stop was glued to the MDF(this ensures it is parallel to the edge).The rest of the fixture was then assembled,the pics are self explanatory,but note the doors are only glued with tiny spots of epoxy at the corners,the boxwood is thoroughly glued to the MDF.
Next the fixture is set on the mill table,the sander guide is used to set the angle so that the grooves running across the doors can be milled.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

And finally part three
 
Using a dremel ball end cutter 1.2mm diameter the grooves were machined between the lines previously marked in several light passes,the total depth being 1.5mm.The fixture was then moved parallel to the table to mill the vertical grooves in the doors.
 
After a light sand the corners were 'squared' using the tip of a scalpel blade and job done.
 
Now to make the ebony panels these sit into so they can be fitted on the model
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks for the kind words Robb... support is much appreciated!
 
As for progress, this weekend I managed to finish the cabin windows. The cast windows were very small and western looking so I had a go at scratch building my own.  
 
First step was to make some frames out ~2mm square walnut strip. Window design was added from cut down 1x5mm walnut strips glued into the frame so only the 1mm edge was visible. Once the glue was completely dry, I filed down the 1mm strips down until they were about 0.7mm in width to lighten up the look of the window. 
 
An outer frame was made from 1mm thick walnut and glued so it formed a recess when viewed from the back. Glass microscope cover slips (~0.2mm thick) were scored using the tip of a diamond needle file to make a window pane to fit into this recess. A flat diamond file actually worked quite well to file the cut panes to fine tune the fit. Finally, some card was painted matt black and glued into the recess to gently hold the glass in place before the windows were finally glued onto the cabin.
 
Overall I am pretty pleased with the way these turned out!  Hopefully the nice reflections from the glass panes show up in the attached photos.
 
Images below and thanks for reading!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Demonborger,
At this moment I am little more inclined to Santisima trinida as it seems to be little less complicated than De Zeven Provincien. But it is sure that I will net to start design next kit not until start of next year so everythink could changed .
Daniel

Hi All,
 
A quick update, the breech ropes were fitted to the cannons and the eyebolts tied to them these were then glued to the walls