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Cathead reacted to Mike Dowling in Oseberg by Mike Dowling - FINISHED - Amati- modified
Well, there's a good start. A nicely warped false keel to pay with. Because of the strange nature of the boat I don't think I can brace it at this stage to flatten it so my plan is to add the bulkheads and make sure they are square and then brace them when they are glued to correct the warp.
I have also drawn onto the false keel a rough guideline for the bottom strake and, where I can marks for subsequent strakes. I am hoping that it will help to keep things symmetrical later.
I notice the inclusion in the kit of a dragons head (brittania metal) but it would seem that the real Oseberg didn't have one. Interestingly there seems to be a laser cut piece of scroll as on the rear on the sheet so I may add that instead. Sadly in this kit there is none of the impressive scroll work that the Billing version has but I don't think my skills allow to put my own on.
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Cathead reacted to Mike Dowling in Oseberg by Mike Dowling - FINISHED - Amati- modified
Ahoy shipmates (and all that blarney!) I am back!!!
After a pause and change of model I have returned to the watery kind.
I got the Amati Oseberg on ebay at a reasonable price most of which was probably accounted for by the pretty box! The Viking boats required surprisingly little wood which is exactly what Amati provide. There are instructions dubiously translated into English, a good sheet of 1/1 plans, a little box of bits and pieces. Lots of small dowel to make oars with, a wee bit of deck planking veneer and some well cut laser pieces including the pre-shaped strakes, the false keel and bulkheads and that is about it. Would you believe you even have to add your own glue!!!
Anyway, I appreciate this is not an accurate representation of the real Oseberg and it is interesting to note that Amati now seem to sell exactly the same kit named the 'Drakkar'.
I don't intent to modify it very much but I can see that the plywood edges will need to be covered and the deck planking done completely differently from the destructions. I have looked up a couple of other builds to get me up to speed.
So here goes, a couple of pictures of the box and contents to start with and I just couldn't resist posting a couple of pictures of my interim model (with apologies to MSW).
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Cathead reacted to Blighty in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
Hey Mike, I was hoping you got to read this log and come aboard, just to let you know I open your log almost daily for info and guidance, thx for your efforts in starting it in the first place................ and complements on your Chaperon, I bet she looks great on display in your 'pride of place'.
Len
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Cathead reacted to Canute in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
A good hobby shop selling decal sheets most likely stocks the stuff. If you've built planes, trains or plastic ships and applied decals, it's in that area.
I've filled an opening of about 3/8 inch square. Much bigger and I'd use clear plastics or maybe microscope cover glass.
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Cathead reacted to Jim Lad in Francis Pritt by Jim Lad - FINISHED - Scale 1:48 - Australian Mission Ship
After several weeks away from the museum, I was finally able to get back there yesterday and get a bit more work done on the 'Pritt'.
I was able to get the anchor cable fitted (yes, her cable was common link chain - not stud link); lash the lifebuoys up in the mizzen rigging, and get quite a few of the iron bar ratlines rigged. The bars take a lot longer to rig than ordinary rope ratlines as they have to be lashed to each shroud - a time consuming task.
So now I only have to finish lashing on the ratlines- and clean them up and paint them and finish the sidelights and fit them, plus a bit of detail clean up work, and she's done!
I'm reckoning on another couple of visits to the museum - interruptions allowing - to finish her off.
John
An overall view of the 'Pritt' as she is at the moment
The port quarter showing lifebuoys lashed up in the rigging pearler style - I'm not sure how quickly they could actually get one of these over the side if someone was silly enough to go over the wall!
The mainmast showing metal bar ratlines as far as they've got. A lot of cleaning up still to do here.
The anchor and cable. It took me ages to get the chain to look as though it had just been dumped onto the deck.
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Cathead reacted to Blue Ensign in USF Confederacy by Augie & Moonbug - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64
Hi Bug I fitted the side tackles on my Pegasus with the guns in place, but I did fake it with tackles made of wire with a hook each end and frapped. I did this because I wanted an element of sag in the tackles which the wire allowed for.
I am thinking you could make these off the model and secure the hooks into the carriage and bulwark rings secured with a spot of ca.
The full details are on page 4 of my log.
Cheers,
B.E.
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Cathead reacted to Moonbug in USF Confederacy by Augie & Moonbug - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64
I also decided to revisit the idea of gun tackles. I've always felt that the guns looked a little barren. But my problem was, I wanted to be able to tackled any of the guns that I could see - that meant some delicate rigging to say the least.
Initially, I started to put together enough blocks and rig to do the side gun tackles of each of the 26 guns that I could see.
But then, I soon realized, that trying to attach the side gun tackles to the cannon themselves and then the bulwarks was virtually impossible this far into the build. If the side rigging was going to be done, it needed to be done when the cannons were much more accessible. Drat.
So instead, I settled on just rigging the train tackle for each visible gun. While still challenging to get the visible main deck cannons rigged, it wasn't impossible. I still feel it's a little odd to have the train tackle and not the side gun tackles, but at least it gives the cannons a little bit of trimming.
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Cathead reacted to Mike Dowling in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
I would like to know about this stuff too.
By the way Blighty, have only just found your build log but will follow along with interest. You are taking a very different approach from the way I did my Chaperon which is fascinating to compare. Keep having fun!
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Cathead reacted to Canute in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
If the window panes are small, MicroScale Krystal Kleer. It's a liquid you run around the inside of your window. Put some on a toothpick, slide the pick around the window edges, slowly remove the toothpick and the liquid should fill the space. Practice before you do it on Chaperon.
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Cathead got a reaction from Elijah in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
I'm not sure about Chaperon, but a lot of boats had a water pump system behind the boiler (sometimes called the "doctor"). I guess if the plans don't show it, it maybe wasn't there, but there's not a lot of room between the boiler and that bulkhead for any kind of access. Although from a functional point of view, you can't push such a bulkhead any further aft without cutting off lateral access to the rest of the area, which is maybe why it wasn't there. Since you're customizing this build anyway, I'd say it falls under builder discretion.
Kurt, how did Chaperon draw its boiler water? I don't know as much about these later boats. Was a different system in use by this time that didn't require a steam feed pump behind the boiler?
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Cathead got a reaction from Elijah in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
PM Kurt to ask about the interior walls: he's the real Chaperon expert around here. Personally I'd say white is a good bet, possibly unpainted.
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
Ooh, yeah, oil pastels are NOT a good idea. Sorry, it didn't even occur to me to warn you about that!
I've also used a finger to apply pastel dust; something in the skin oil seems to do a good job of helping the powder stick to wood.
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
As another method, I'm quite fond of using cotton swabs (Q-tips) for applying gentle color using pastels. Rubbing the swab's head on the pastel and then gently on the model gives a really nice gentle wash of color. It won't necessarily create thin streaks, but it's great for applying tone in a variety of settings.
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
Blighty, I suspect some of your spring-back is happening because you've reached the point where the planks start bending in several dimensions at once. The first few just wrap around a nice vertical curve, but as you go down they increasingly need to bend inward toward the keel, and that's the part that popped off; it's trying to maintain that nice, flat curve but the frames are sinking away beneath it. You may want to start tapering the planks more, or adding some horizontal bending to help them form that nice 3D curve.
You might consider using some form of planking clamps instead of pins; I've never liked the way pins make the wood split, especially on curves where the wood is already under stress. I like the "modified binder clip" approach, which I discussed with a few photos in a build log here. I certainly didn't come up with this idea and wish I could credit whomever did, because it works really well and is easier on the wood.
Apologies if you know all this; I don't mean to talk down to you. I'm an amateur too and appreciated all the help others have offered me as I've learned various skills in this fascinating hobby, and have an instinctive desire to want to return the favor. Please feel free to tell me to lay off!
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
You're welcome. I thought I had a comparable photo in my own collection from my last visit there, so the delay related to me hunting through photo archives, but none of mine showed that detail as clearly as the F&WS photo, so I used the latter instead.
As a big fan of weathering models, I'm enjoying the approach you're taking and want to see how it all comes together.
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
Here's an example of a mudline, from the large-scale model at the Steamboat Bertrand museum near Omaha, Nebraska. The image is from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, which runs the museum. Good progress on Chaperon!
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
If you're going to weather her that heavily, you might consider adding a "mud stripe" such that the bottom 1/2-2/3 of the hull are consistently stained darker, to mimic the effects of river water. It would be a more realistic look than random weathered spots.Just a thought, you can certainly decide what looks best to you!
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Cathead got a reaction from Nirvana in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
I tend to like models with a used feel; I think it helps trick the eye into perceiving the model as more realistic. Sometimes an "accurately" crisp and clean model can look too shiny to the eye even if it's right, whereas a slightly over-weathered model can end up looking right even if it isn't right. And as Ken says, do it the way you'll want to look at it!
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Cathead reacted to Jack12477 in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
According to the packaging Sculpey (I spelled it wrong above) is baked in oven. Can't remember the brand name I used prior to Sculpey but it did not need to be baked; just air dried. I have not used Playdough so can't comment on that one. You could also use blocks of balsa wood covered in fabric. I think if you wander around a Michaels or Hobby Lobby (or the Canadian equivalent) you should be able to find a suitable clay at a cheap price - maybe an artist supply store (as in Fine Art artist) altho they tend to be pricey (at least down here they are).
Another source would be fabric (as in sewing) remnants cut into narrow strips then folded over many times, tied into bundles with Chuck's scale rope and glued with the 50-50 mixture.
Another technique I use, mostly in my woodcarving pieces, is to collect dead twig size branches that fall off your trees in your yard. The can be split into quarters so they look like split fire wood and stacked. Most of the ones I use are about the diameter of my pinky finger. Leave the bark on them. A sharp stiff Xacto blade will split them easily.
Glad I could help.
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Cathead reacted to Jack12477 in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
You can simulate bags of grain or bales of cotton using a modelers clay, such as Sculptey brand, shape it by hand to the size and shape desired, then wrap it in tissue, such as Kleenex brand, or gauze, such as Band-Aid brand. Use a 50-50 mixture of white glue and water with 1-2 drops of dish detergent (again "wet" water) to set the tissue/gauze in place. The tissue will give a finer weave while the gauze will give it a more coarse weave similar to burlap. Once set it can be brush or spray painted and weather to get the appearance desired. A trip to your local pharmacy will get you a good supply at a reasonably cheap price. For this purpose I'd use the "no-name" brands.
I used this technique to make simulated folded tarps, sacks and other "bundles" for my 1:35 scale armor vehicles.
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Cathead got a reaction from mtaylor in Benjamin W Latham by mattsayers148 - Model Shipways 2109 - 1:48
You're a sick, sick man, and we love you for it. Working bilge pumps. I quit.
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Cathead got a reaction from mtaylor in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
I'm not sure about Chaperon, but a lot of boats had a water pump system behind the boiler (sometimes called the "doctor"). I guess if the plans don't show it, it maybe wasn't there, but there's not a lot of room between the boiler and that bulkhead for any kind of access. Although from a functional point of view, you can't push such a bulkhead any further aft without cutting off lateral access to the rest of the area, which is maybe why it wasn't there. Since you're customizing this build anyway, I'd say it falls under builder discretion.
Kurt, how did Chaperon draw its boiler water? I don't know as much about these later boats. Was a different system in use by this time that didn't require a steam feed pump behind the boiler?
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Cathead got a reaction from mtaylor in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
PM Kurt to ask about the interior walls: he's the real Chaperon expert around here. Personally I'd say white is a good bet, possibly unpainted.
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Cathead got a reaction from Elijah in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
Ooh, yeah, oil pastels are NOT a good idea. Sorry, it didn't even occur to me to warn you about that!
I've also used a finger to apply pastel dust; something in the skin oil seems to do a good job of helping the powder stick to wood.
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Cathead got a reaction from Elijah in Chaperon by Blighty - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Weathered and aged - My first build log
As another method, I'm quite fond of using cotton swabs (Q-tips) for applying gentle color using pastels. Rubbing the swab's head on the pastel and then gently on the model gives a really nice gentle wash of color. It won't necessarily create thin streaks, but it's great for applying tone in a variety of settings.