Cathead

I'm self-employed; there's no such thing as sick leave. Enjoy it while you got it! Nice work on the guns.

Installed decorative keel "tabs", that was easy:

 
Drilled the rudder hole (this was too scary to give to Daria), but she filed that hole to shape:


 
And she made an "eye"

 
Previously I was filing all tabs for her (they are oversized in the kit), but now she is doing it herself. Though I am keeping an eye on a file angle, this is quite tricky for her, so far. But improving slowly. This is also the only photo in this update done by me

 
Stem and stern dry fitted. Note the ebony piece, fantastic quality!
And she is proud of the composition of this photo  Will go pretty far on Instagram!
Quote from the author: "I wanted to make a fun photo for you , to have a photo with more colours. Other photos have very few colours - brown, black, that's it. This one has more!"
 

 
 

Thank you for the likes and the comments.
 
Meanwhile back in the shipyard, the guns are all installed and have their breeching ropes.  I put in temporarily two markers for the ends of the quarter and fore decks to check for tolerances and to think things through more on the rigging of the mainmast.  So far, so good.  There should be about 12 or 16 eyebolts with blocks for rigging behind the mainmast but that's not going to happen so I'll have to move those lines up to the quarterdeck.   Next up is making and installing the cannon traversing tackle which will be fun but also a pain as the parts are so tiny.   I'm using 5/16 inch Chuck Blocks for these.  I thought about using the 1/8" blocks but they're too tiny for these guns.  Oh well.. maybe for the 4 pounders topside and also for some of the rigging.
 
Here's the photos...
 

Another quick update. Posts and rails in place lower port side. Rails need another coat of white.
 
Cheers
 
Chris.
 







 

Hey Dave, the nails are actually false nails. What I did was first cut the blades to length. Then got a heap of old bent planking nails from previous builds and cut them down to about 1mm in length. Next I carefully lined up the blades on the wheels and marked where the nails would go. Then I drilled a tiny (very tiny in fact) hole and just tapped the cut-down nails into the blades. When they were all in, I gave the blades a few coats of matt clear, which further helps stick the nails into the blade, then line up the finished blades on the wheel and just glue them on. The nails therefore don't actually penetrate the spokes at all. They are only there for looks. I like the way they turned out, but it was pretty fiddley to do.
 
Cheers
Chris.
 

another quick update. a dry fitting of the paddle. still needs some excess glue taken care of and a coat or two of matt clear to finish. the actual red color doesn't look anywhere as bright irl.
 
chris

Scharnhorst issue 38
 

 
Closing up the second hull section. Nothing much to say about this really.

Sorry to hear about the broken finger ... you shouldn't have given the finger, though  
 
You could try the simple things - are you  a right hander (as we say)? little things like prepping for the next part of your build ... or get ready for that next build ... read yourself in etc.
Hope your finger heals quickly

So I  broke my finger. So I haven't been able to do much lately.   It's ironic that now have all this time off of work yet can't really work on the model with a broken finger. 

i managed to get all the PE on the big gun turrets. Now to drill out all of those blast bags I guess. 

With regards to the last few planks where clamps will no longer reach the bulkheads: this is where the old advice to ensure that each plank is pre-bent to fit really comes into play. I'm no pro, but what has worked very well for me on multiple models is to soak the given plank and hold it in place with my fingers while using a hair-dryer to quickly "set" its shape. This may take several rounds, but the dryer works quickly enough that clamps aren't really necessary. Once the plank is bent to its shape, any final shaping can be done, then it can be set in place with glue and held in with fingers. Even basic wood glue will set within a couple minutes under finger pressure, meaning you don't really need clamps if you've done the work ahead of time to ensure that the plank isn't trying to spring out of its slot.
 
You can also try laying a loose piece of wood across the plank and fitting a rubber band or other strap around the hull to hold that loose piece down as a sort of "floating clamp". A thicker block can help if the band is held away from the hull by the keel or other protrusion. And the thicker it is, the more pressure is on the plank as the band stretches around it.

With regards to the last few planks where clamps will no longer reach the bulkheads: this is where the old advice to ensure that each plank is pre-bent to fit really comes into play. I'm no pro, but what has worked very well for me on multiple models is to soak the given plank and hold it in place with my fingers while using a hair-dryer to quickly "set" its shape. This may take several rounds, but the dryer works quickly enough that clamps aren't really necessary. Once the plank is bent to its shape, any final shaping can be done, then it can be set in place with glue and held in with fingers. Even basic wood glue will set within a couple minutes under finger pressure, meaning you don't really need clamps if you've done the work ahead of time to ensure that the plank isn't trying to spring out of its slot.
 
You can also try laying a loose piece of wood across the plank and fitting a rubber band or other strap around the hull to hold that loose piece down as a sort of "floating clamp". A thicker block can help if the band is held away from the hull by the keel or other protrusion. And the thicker it is, the more pressure is on the plank as the band stretches around it.

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

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')

Handle update. Thoughts? I'm feeling it's too long. :/

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. 

Here is the video link from my instagram

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.

Scharnhorst issue 37

Time for an intermission. We get to take a break from the planking marathon to fit a first batch of photo etch to the forward upper deck structures.

Thanks for the comment Popeye, also thanks for the likes and anyone for just looking in.
 
I have been making steady progress since my last update. To start with I have completed the last 2 sails (mainsail and gaff topsail) and their associated boom and gaff. My hands are much relived that there is no more sowing and the ache/RSI is easing off. The last session was a bit of a nightmare, but I gritted my teeth and got it over with.

I then lashed the mainsail to these and fitted this to the model. The goose neck was slotted into the fittings already attached to the mainmast, after which a ring was soldered in place to prevent it moving vertically. The boom was then slotted onto the pin protruding from the gooseneck. This is a fairly stiff fitting and I have not glued it so the boom can rotate a bit into the correct position. I then rigged the gaff throat and peak halyards and hoisted the mainsail.

While making this I was able to correct some problems I had had with the foresail. The main one being the foresail was too far from the foremast.

Looking at this, slightly fuzzy, picture, it is possible to see that the sail is close enough for the mast rings (resting on top of the gooseneck) to reach it, which was not the case for the foresail and I had to cut the rings off and use a line for the whole length of the sail.

I should have the gaff topsail on today, then I have a lot of lines to belay and rope coils to attach (ugh).
 
Glenn
 

This is a snapshot of what folks feel is the best or worst kit.  It is based on their experiences.  I would be inclined to say it is very fair.   Folks shouldnt read into it so much.  We ask folks what they like based on their experience and what they dont like.  They are voting honestly and that data collected is very good and very useful for others wanting to get an idea of what one of these MFGs are like.  
 
Some people want to over complicate things like this poll ..... it is ....what it is.  And very useful.  Certainly the kits built more will have higher numbers....but that doesnt mean the data is incorrect.  If fewer people have built a brand of kit and all of the polling indicates that it was a good experience then that data is worth knowing.   If a company has a high percentage of unfavorable votes, no matter how much market share they have,   I think that is very good to know.   Dont over think it.
 
If you have a differing opinion based on your experience then vote......the numbers either way are a very honest and accurate depiction.
 
Remember...you shouldnt look at this poll as a way to judge a winner like its a horse race.   You should look at this poll as an indication of what people think about the one brand they voted on.   If you only have access to AL kits from brick and mortar stores and think they are awful then let us know.  If you think they are wonderful.....let us know.   The reason why a company like AL has such high negatives is based on that personal experience.  It will certainly help someone who wants to build something better without worrying about being disappointed after buying a kit with no review or polling.  With the internet, all brands are available anywhere....it may cost more but a poll like this may give someone a reason to pay a bit more for one if they have great polling vs. bad polling.  

Thanks for the likes, the comments and the following along on this adventure.
 
The first 12 guns are installed on the port side with their breeching ropes.  The traversing tackle is waiting for some Chuck Blocks.  I've drilled the holes and installed the eyebolts for the when the traversing tackle needs to be moved to pull the guns in manually along.  Also installed were the eyebolts for securing the ship's boats.  Holes have been drilled for more eyebolts for the mainmast running rigging.  Those are also on hold until the blocks arrive as I'm not about to try to rig blocks to the eyebolts in place.  The breeching has been seized to the eyebolts but instead of the two seizings shown in various references, I only did one.   My eyes have begun crossing... and I have the starboard side to do yet.
 
There's a couple of guns not quite in perfect alignment with the rest but I can live with that.
 
I'm holding off on the deck furniture until all the guns are installed and all the gun tackle is installed.  I'm not going to go through the "oops, broke something" any more if I can avoid it.  For those keeping score... three carriages were broken in the pursuit of installing them and re-made from the extra parts I made.  Fragile little things they are.
 
Anyway, enough of my blathering on, here's the pictures.
 




 

The NRG has archived our back issues of the Nautical Research Journal on CD discs available for purchase.  We have done this since about 2002 when we did a 2 CD set for the NRG years 1-40.  We have followed up with 2 additional CD's covering the next 10 years 41-50 and the years 51-60.  Due to changing technology we now have had to make this information available on USB flash drives because so many computers do not have CD/DVD drives anymore.
 
When the next digital revolution makes flash drives obsolete we must be sure to transfer the back issue data to the "new" media in a timely manner - but as long as it's done in a timely manner after the "new" system is introduced there should be no problem.. It's when the organization says "there's plenty of time to do this" and puts it off until it is too late that there are issues.  I got stuck trying to archive old 1" reel to reel video tapes onto VHS - it never happened and when I retired there were still reels of old fire investigation recordings sitting on a shelf.  Open cases require the evidence to be kept virtually forever - but it's a catch 22 when there is no way to retrieve it.
 
Kurt

some more updates. stuck the next deck on using the tried and true flattening method



more work on the main passenger staircase leading up to the new deck and also began lower posts and rails. also began planking the next level cabins.
 




cheers
 
chris
 

This has been so neat to follow. Wish it wasn't such a long flight to come see her! Fantastic work on a really interesting prototype; I learned a lot from following this log and appreciate your work and writing.

I'm glad you had a good experience. To elaborate, mine has been poor-quality wood, vague and poorly-translated instructions, drawings that are not consistently to scale, illustrations that are grainy and poorly reproduced (such that you have a hard time following individual lines on rigging diagrams, for example), terrible metal castings, and cheap blocks. I would have done far better to buy just the plans and scratchbuild given how much work I've put into correcting the kit's flaws.