Cathead

popeye, thanks for the complements. My heart did stop for about 5 seconds when I gave her the knock, but as there was no real damage I recovered quickly. Over the last few weeks I have come to the conclusion that doing rope coils is my least favourite bit of any build. I would even go as far as saying that I do not enjoy doing rope coils. There I have said it.
 
So no rope coils on this update. I have been making the last two sails and some bits and pieces associated with them.
 
First, the mainsail jib. This is what the rigging for the peak halyard looks like, it is the same as that for the foresail. I do not know why I did not make the required bits at the same time. Or maybe I did and have lost them.

So starting off with some wire, I cut off a small length of the sleeve and then filed a groove all the way round. I did this using a new needle file I have purchased. It is a 12cm Vallorbe knife edge cut 4. I cannot express in words how wonderful this simple thing is. It is a joy to use. I could go on.
 
I then used a craft knife to cut the ends off such that the grove was in the centre. The o/d of this sleeving is about 3mm.

I then used some small pliers to fashion some copper wire to form the correct shape around this, with the help of some drills as formers. Then a quick dab of solder to join the ends, being careful not to melt the sleeving. The copper wire I used was supplied in the kit, no idea what for. It is thicker than the strands of the wire I got the sleeving from.

This was then fitted to the middle of some rigging cord with loops formed at each end.

Two of these were required. I also fitted single blocks with hooks to each.
 
To stop these slipping along the jib there are some sticky out bits. Do not know what to call them. I had an idea and modified how I normally make these. I have a 1.5mm semi-circular gouge. Using this I made some cone shaped slots narrow at one end and 1.5mm across at the other, about 3mm long. I then got some cocktail sticks, sharpened the ends of them, then cut the ends off at the 1.5mm diameter point. I then glued these in the slots. The picture below shows the first one in place and one more ready to be glued. This worked very well and was easy to do.

This is it stained and assembled.

Another couple of pictures of the finished piece.


The sheets for the foresail and mainsail have the arrangement where there is a triple block on the end on the boom and a double block on the deck. Then there are two lines that come down from the triple block through these sheaves and then to cleats on the deck.

These are similar to the bits I had just made for the peak halyard and were made in the same way. The difference being these are slightly smaller. I started with some wire sleeving that was 2mm o/d. This time I made enough for both sails. At this point I had not rigged this line of the foresail.

They are not all quite the same but it is not noticeable on the model.
 
This shows the material cut out for the last 2 sails. I have drawn on seam lines but have not yet glued on reinforcement patches.

I will be glad when the sails are finished as I am getting RSI from sowing the bolt ropes on by hand. However my stitching is much neater now than when I started. Though the bolt rope on the mainsail is about 75cm (30 inches) long and each stich is about 2mm.
 
Glenn
 
 

Chris:
 
Fantastic detail work.  Looks similar to planking -- never ends!  
 
Regards,
David

continuing on with the very tedious louvre shutters for the starboard side windows.
  
they come on the fret as a dual piece that must first be cut in half. once cut the frames measure 40mm x 10mm
 
 

once cut and edges sanded I glue a tiny backing board to the frame. this board is 5mm x 0.3mm
 
 

pieces of very thin, 3mm x 0.3mm plank are then glued together in a step like fashion.
 

 
 
I use another backing board, slightly smaller than the area of the interior framework to glue these on. it makes them stronger and far easier to sand prior to fitting.
 

 

hopefully once all is glued, sanded and fitted, I end up with something like this to attach to the windows in the structure.
 

 
chris
 
 
 
 

Another factor is that you have to work with what is available.  Unless you make your own figures you have to go what is commercially available and those may not readily allow you to choose between 5feet and 5 feet 6 inches. One technique I have used is to sand off the figures feet (and maybe portion of the leg) to get the right height.  I then use a little sculpy or gesso to remake the feet.  ...a shorter dumpy guy.  Alternatively, cut the feet off, add a little length to the legs and re sculpy the feet. 

This seems to apply to the industrial nations and the Nordic countries and N-America only. It also depends apparently strongly on the amount of manual labour and nutrition, hence on social class. The working classes seems to have been shorter at all times than the higher echelons of society. As the navies recruted themselves more likely from middle to lower echelons, they were likely to be shorter on average.
 
I am 1.80 m (5'9") and it was a rather interesting experience to walk the streets of say La Paz in Bolivia, where most people seem to be +/- 1.60 m (5'3") ...

I brought out the bismarck today to install  the foremast. 

then the main mast which is slightly off center. 

then I shaded the range finder. 

and installed it. 

Next is the signal lamp.  

also I want to take care of all this stuff before I get to the guns. It's been building up for a year. 

Good progress so far. You're certainly right that this kit is pretty fanciful, but it can produce a very attractive display piece nonetheless. The figures add good life.

You should be proud to display her. I particularly like how the sails came out.

You should be proud to display her. I particularly like how the sails came out.

You should be proud to display her. I particularly like how the sails came out.

Ouch... that would definitely hurt.  I hope you heal fast and have no lasting damage.
 

Here's one example of what I meant. Fitting one of the Yards :

 
BTW - I know the top yard is on the wrong side of the mast. I fixed that after this pic was taken .
 
  Danny

I  pretty much finished the main mast today. 
 There was only really two things to do. first was to put the crows nest on. 

then to just attach the two main pieces. 

and thats it. Now time for paint.  Why does the camera make the angles look off? Doesn't look that bad in person. 

Well folks, Mary is finished. I was surprised at the complexity of the rigging for a vessel with so few sails and it took me longer than expected. I added the remaining 'bling' and all the flags.
I have to say that I am rather pleased with th end result and I hope you like her too.

yepper folks!  it's true {head hang'in low}...........I'm a plank o holic.   lately,  everything I see,  I want to plank over it.  the second level deck is completely planked, trimmed,  and sanded around the edges.  I just need to lightly sand the surface,  go over it again lightly with the stain,  and give it the seal coat.   as seen in the earlier picture,  I came up with a different design for the deck.  I actually think I cut down on the odd cuts I'd would need to make,  to do per the instructions.   a bunch of planking was measured and cut to size.   I began to lay the planking aftward in the angle pattern.

as can be seen,  I already trimmed it around the edge,  to keep from nick'in it with a sleeve or anything that might pull it up.   I cut out the slots for the structure,  but I made a goof.....I cut out the one for the lower structure by mistake.  I filled it in with a piece of planking,  rather than pull the bad ones up.

the idea of going in the opposite direction towards the forward,  sounded like a good idea.   so,  when I got further towards the middle,  I drew a center lineand lines for the opposite angle.   I began the planking at the forward end.

I was running low on planking,  so I cut some more.

looking at the ends,  they are unique.  depending where they are to be placed,  the plank can be turned around to meet the angle needed.

I thought to even the center up,  so they will be equal when they reach the center line.  I worked inside the box,  as it started to take shape.

till finally,  I had a neat little box.  note that it's open slightly on both sides.   there is a reason.


so at this point,  I continued with the forward area,  working my way to the end.

I was cutting out the holes as I went along......still need to cut out the pole holes.  I'll do that later with a drill bit.  once finished,  and and a chance to dry,  the end was trimmed and sanded around the edges.

all that was left,  was the box.   it was planked a bit differently......the center butts will not be seen.   a center line plank was laid {a 3 mm plank},  and then both sides were filled in.   the right side is planked opposite the left side.  kind of gives it an optical look.



the only thing I haven't done,  is dry fit the structure on to see what can be seen along the sides.  my guess would be.....not much.   do me a favor though...... ..please don't stare into it for too long.  I'm not sure what effect it will have on humans   

Well said, Imagna, it's not about laziness but about efficiency. Yes, if you only need one calculation, it's quite easy to do the math. But at the scale of a full build, there's nothing wrong with setting up a more efficient way to do the work. Or should we all hand-cut every bit of railing rather than using a stopper to automate the cuts?
 

Thanks, Bob. Though, actually, compared to building every single full-hull frame from scratch for Bertrand, this has been a relative breeze. I do agree that having the real thing for comparison is both exciting and daunting. I'm slightly dreading the machinery for that very reason, as (a) machinery is not really my strong point and (b) having the real machinery on display in a museum makes the standard for accuracy awfully high. There are some interesting questions there that I'll get to once the deck is planked.

Scharnhorst issue 35

 
Finishing up planking of the middle section of the hull, we learn how to cut strips to size so they will fit in gaps. Afterwards all the nails are pulled and the planked section is given a once over with sandpaper to smooth it.
 
We've reached the 25% landmark in the build, so it's time to have another look at the whole thing put together so far.

Let me preface this update with a statement: I have been the worst at updating and taking photos as I go along on this build...
 
So I've gotten a lot done, but have not been documenting well. The deck furniture was all completed along the way and has now been installed. The carronades are now rigged to completion as well. I have even gotten the lower masts and bowsprit built and installed. Again, I've been terrible with the updates...
 
I really like how the binnacle came out. I found a compass rose online, shrunk it down and printed it out. The rest of it is built from boxwood sheet and strip. I also built the companionway from boxwood. 
 
As I had mentioned earlier, the deck layout is from the Gannet plans, and thus it varies from what the kit shows. 

Thanks Druxey, I needed that laugh today. 

Geez. A lot of cannon shot passed through those frames. It must have been a very hot action! Your battery of cannon returned fire, I hope. They look good.

Carl pretty much covered it in his link. 
 
Early on during the navel arms race that followed the building of the Dreadnought, or the "All big gun ship" just after the turn of the century, Admiral Fisher of the British navy envisioned a vessel that carried the big guns of a battleship with the speed of a Cruiser, the idea being that a ship like that could out gun anything that it couldn't out run. His original intention appeared to be something like a later day USS Constitution in concept, never intended to fight in a line of battle along side of the more heavily armored big guys, or at least not at the front of the battle line like at Jutland. Admiral Jellicoe placed his faster but more fragile Battlecruisers at the front of the battle line and his almost as fast and more heavily gunned and armored new battleships at the rear of the formation. This exposed the more lightly armored Battlecruisers to take heavier damage than they should have while the more heavily armed battleships at the rear of the formation remained unengaged  for much of the battle. Of course the concept of Battlecruisers was not only copied by the other side but in the case of the Germans even improved on in some respects. For example the SMS Seydlitz took over 20 heavy caliber hits from British ships including one direct hit on a turret from a 13.5" British shell and was also hit by a torpedo. The ship had taken similar damage in a prior battle with the British fleet and survived. Most people say that the reason for the better survivability of the German ships was a better damage control design and much smaller compartmentalization of their ships allowed by the fact that their crews did not live on board when near shore facilities.
 
The only time that Battle cruisers were used in their intended role was in the battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. The last Battle Cruisers to see actual ship-to-ship combat were the German Pocket Battleships of WWII, and the last Battlecruisers built were the Alaska, Guam, and Hawaii for the US navy in WWII.

The whole thing pretty much eventually evolved into the fast battleship of which the Bismark was one. The last fast Battleships were the HMS Vanguard and the Missouri class of WWII.
 
I need to quit high jacking your build with history stuff. Now get back to work!!!! 
 
Lou

If you hadn't said anything, we wouldn't have known they were upside down.   I, for one, don't know how anyone can work with those parts at that scale.  To me it's amazing.

It was  so hard to try to get this piece level and straight.  And to try to hold it like that while I glued it. 

but I got it done. 

 Then it was time for the railings. And of course I put them on upside down.