thomaslambo

That now brings us to the “tribulations” section o’ this series of postings …
 
“Arr !! Indeed-eth it does !!” noted CaptainSteve, forlornly. For, twouldst seem-eth that, upon final inspection, one o’ the stern timbers were to be out of alignment.”

 
Further, and far worse, whereby Our Hero didst e’er so lightly attempt to correct this piece, tragedy were to strike … and it didst break-eth !!!

“And it be a corner timber, as well !! Thusly, I beseech-eth, o’ Ye o' the Horde,” he were to implore-eth. “Wouldst I be able to re-attach the piece ??”
 
As of this past even-tide, CaptainSteve hath re-glued the broken timber upright …
“But,” he sighed, most heavily, “I be left a-wondering, will this be structurally sound ??”
 
Given that it is a corner upright, couldst he drill-eth a hole, and mayhaps use a small piece of wire – a piece from a staple, mayhaps – as an anchor, to re-affix-eth the errant timber upright ??

There hath been troubles, triumphs and tribulation a-plenty in CaptainSteve’s modellin’ room o’er these past few weeks ...
 
Now, despite being greatly enthused and inspired as he was by works of magnificence such as those from Doris … and Siggi … and so many, many others, CaptainSteve doth wish-eth to note that he hath always intended fer the stern quarters interior detailin’ to be viewed at “galloping horse” speeds.
 
“Or faster, if possible !!”, he were to interject.  
 
“Forsooth,” he were to open with. “I didst maketh plans and all …”

 
For, verily, from whence Our Hero didst first plan to display some sort of furniture in the Great Cabin region, he didst intend-eth plan to utilise the veneers of Tasmanian Blackwood for the interior panelling…

 
“It be a beautiful wood, don’t it ??” he enquired of the horde.
 
The problem, and the part that he forgot to be mentioning, is that it also be an extremely close-grained hardwood, thusly making it most difficult to work with …
“But it also be a right PITA to work-eth with, and prone to much splinterin’ and shatterin’ !!”, Our Hero were to declare-eth.
 
“Whilst I were not to keep many pictures o’ me failings,” he stammered weakly, by way of explanation, “I didst try to simulate the panelling with me Proxxon mill.”

 
Eventually, CaptainSteve did constructeth a board-room table from a small piece of the Blackwood …

 
CaptainSteve explains: “In the instance o’ the first, I be a-planning on adding false doors at the back of Bulkhead R …”

 
“… as well-eth, there wouldst be doors leading to each o’ the side galleries.”

 
“In addition, I didst also paint-eth some wall-paintings …”
If truth be known, Our Hero didst merely build-eth a frame, some 3mm square, and didst glue-eth such to a postage stamp. All that remained was a quick trim.

“Arr !!” he were to mumble, sheepishly. “I be found out. I didst think-eth that, at a ‘galloping horse viewing distance’ mayhaps no-one wouldst notice.”

 
Here be pictures ….

 
“Ye may note,” CaptainSteve noted, “that the lounge be just a piece of doll-house furniture which I were to ha’ a-layin’ about the place.”

 
Our Hero intends to be a-leavin’ the doors sittin’ ajar …
“It be the better fer allowing me lighting to be visible through the side gallery windows.”

 
As a final touch, he didst make-eth up a pair of map scrolls …
“These, I be just sitting lazily upon me Blackwood Captain's table,” he explained.

 
“By the by … “, CaptainSteve were to cry-eth out !! “I didst modify the angle o’ me window frames e’er so slightly.”
 
Upon checking the pictures in AOTS more closely, Our Hero didst find-eth that the angles of the window frames are, more accurately: 3.50, 70 and 10.50. As such, new templates were cut from scrap card pieces.

“In truth,” he were to explain-eth, pointing to the above picture, “I didst decideth to go instead with angles of 40, 80 and 120.”
 
CaptainSteve be thinkin’ that these settings be more aesthetically pleasing …
 
What say-eth the Horde ??

Photos - part 2:  you can see the supplied less detailed part in photo three.  the drilled cradle shown is one of the 'rejected' parts (shown as the tree to the left in the collective photo).
 
   
 
   
 
The posts have been drilled to accept the spigots but I have yet to determine how high above the post the cradle was actually positioned.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Some progress....
0.5mm Walnut for the second planking.... Had a chat to Boyd last night, he did warn me that 0.5mm was getting pretty thin, especially after a bit of a san!!
Anyway, about 1/2 is done and I must think about Drop Planks at the Bow as things are going to start bunching up.
 
Used CA for each Plank at the Bow, Aliphatic Resin, (Sandable PVA), heated with my Plank Bender thingy.
The glue boils and sets in seconds. The only issue is that it "Erupts" and makes a bit of a mess on the Planks previously laid.
A bit of masking tape resolves this and 180 Grit paper sends the Dross packing!!
 
NZ Holiday Monday, Waitangi Day, so should be able to get more done....
 
Anyway, Photos....
 
 

Well I didn't want anyone to think I fell of the earth. These sails are taking quite some time to achieve, what I feel to be, satisfactory status.
 
So here's a couple of photos of the figure head for Nutz Pirate Ship. I used ebony both for color and it's a nice wood to carve. Pocket knife and dremel diamond grinding bits were used to make this mediocre representation of the human skull. Unlike other figure heads, this won't be attached to the bow, but sit atop the point of the bowsprit.
 

While waiting for paint to dry , I tried a bit of puddening to see how it would look
 
cheers
 
Pat
 

OK folks, repairs completed.  I decided to simply reslot the channel as the boat boom (when fitted later) will mask any obvious repair marks.
 
The following photos show most of the process.  I temporarily pinned the affected shroud to keep it clear and prevent any slackening of the ratlines etc.  I then removed the chain plate, slotted the channel capping in preparation for the repaired chain plate, cleaned up the fitting and resoldered the padeye ring to the chains, then refitted the assembly.  I used a scrap piece of wood to create the 'plug' in the channel capping then rerove a new lanyard and touched up with paint.  One of the benefits of painting is that it can hide these joints
 
What do you think?
 
Cheers
 
Pat
 
     
 
  

Some further progress on the nun (anchor) buoys, with one complete.  Not really happy with it, but at this scale 1:60) it is only15mm (core) so I can live with it - next one should be better.  That said, still a bit unhappy with the gap due one slightly too long sling leg. I also made one of the ring ropes to large in circumference and it sits a little low.
 
One small disaster today (photos in a couple of days) with one of the chain plates giving way. I need to remove the leading edge /cap of the channel, remove the deadeye lanyard, repair the solder joint and reassemble - one for Danny's boo-boo forum I think
 
Anyway here is the completed nun-buoy - I left the wood natural to simulate a cork core.
 
cheers
 
Pat
 
     

Time to add the railing to the cabintop...
 

 

I made the railings to measure in the model and then removed them for painting.
 

That just about does it for this part of the build. Now onto other deck structures....

Time to dress up the cabin roof with some planking and trim...
 

 

The advantage of a 50 year old kit and its wood become apparent when you're looking for some planks with a curve along their horizontal length! I needed them to follow the fore and aft contour along the sides of the cabin top.
 

 

Here the deck planking is being installed along with the "caulking".
 

The skylight needs glass and for this I use a floppy disk. And you thought they were obsolete!
 

I simply glue the disk onto the skylight roof. Easy-peasy!
 

Here it is finished.

Here's the assembly of the skylight and companionway...
 

The coamings of the cabin roof did not fit flush onto the aft deck so some modification was required. Here's how I did that..
 

Here you can see the gap between the deck and the coaming.
 

Then I laid a sheet of sandpaper on the deck and skidded the coaming fore and aft along the sandpaper to introduce the camber into the coaming assembly.
 

Now the coaming makes full contact with the deck.

Hi guys,
 
Thanks for looking in and the encouragement and ideas. It's much appreciated!
 
After lots of consideration on where to start, I decided to tackle the after cabin roof of all things. I thought I would make the deck planking the first job on the build. And then I was thinking about the camber the deck has and how the deck houses would be installed. With the absence of the deck planking I could assemble the various deck structures and sand the cambers into them. I will demonstrate later with a picture.
 
So, here goes....
 

I have decided to use as much of the material supplied with this 50 year old kit and build it much as Mr. Billing intended. The "pieces" are not laser cut but inked onto sheets of mahogany, which must be cut out manually. I have a modern day version of Billing's instructions for the current Cutty Sark kit which you can see in the photo. The instructions that came with the kit I have are minimal.
 

I prepped the various pieces for assembly. This entailed adding blocks of wood to the edges of the sides so that there would be more surface area to glue the pieces together. Also the cabin roof was a bit warped so I glued some "beams" on to straighten it out.
 

Here, the sides, front and rear coamings are added to the cabin roof, using high tech clothes pins. I have also purchased the clamps recently and they are awesome! My new favourite tool!

The next big step to tackle is the decks. This is an old Billing kit and the decks consist of sheets of mahogany with the planking inked onto them. Less than ideal to say the least. So I purchased a tube of cherry strips from Lee Valley which are 1/8" wide by 24" in length.  
 I decided to experiment with them to see how they would look on a scrap piece of mahogany and how best to apply them. Here are the results...
 

I first attached a plank that simulated the centre plank I will use as a guide on the actual false deck of the model. There are just pin nails holding it in place.
 

I buttted the first cherry strips against the reference plank, and then laid a black thread against them to simulate the caulking. Then repeat as necessary.
 

The experiment worked and I will use this method on the model.
 

I then applied three coats of satin varathane on half the planks to see if it improved the appearance of the wood. I liked the richer colour and it also brought out the grain a little.
 
Now, onto the real thing!
 
Peter

I tend to find the slight taper on the back of the fence is insufficient when I am cutting thin planks. I know that some recommend locking the front of the fence and then pushing over the rear to increase the clearance. I prefer not to strain the fence. What I use is a .020 thick 6 inch rule which I attach to the fence using double sided tape. The inner end of the rule is position 1/4 inch behind the front of the blade. It works a treat.

I have covered this elsewhere - but it also fit with this topic.
 
Self adjusting side pressure to push wood against fence. As an alternative to a feather board. It works very well and eliminates much of the resetting necessary with a conventional feather board.

Wow that Acrylic varnish sure dries fast
Rear wall now fitted in place in the hull

While waiting for the new gratings i made a start on the rear of the Cabin/Greenhouse
Looking at the picture in the instructions, i did not like the look of it as it's just bare plywood and the decoration strips look strange at the angles they were fitted

 
I decided to make mine a bit different. I used some of the supplied planking for the decks of the holds and planked the plywood background then laid the decoration strips over the planking square to the deck instead of the angled way in the instructions
As this part is hardly visible once the model is built i was not too precise with the joints

Once the matt varnish has dried i will fit it into the hull

Thanks Antony
                         Firstly good luck with your build when you make a start. Condition of some of the wood and the sad instructions apart it really is basically a good model
 Chucks stuff is good quality in fact i have just been looking at his miniature rope.
Good job the manufacturer AL is in Spain. If they were local i'd be getting them to replace it all free.
I'm going to ring John at Caldercraft in the morning and get some good quality gratings in the same size as the AL ones, these are really beyond rescue for my liking
 
Note the jagged misshaped edges of the cross section in the 1st picture these are not broken that's the way they come

 
In this picture you can see how the width of the cross sections vary greatly also they are not straight or the same height

 
 
 

Fitted both halves of the middle deck now, and double checked that the masts fit through both the middle deck and the forward and aft holds
 


 
Made up the gratings for the middle deck. I must say these are the worst gratings i have ever had to put together. They are made of totally inferior wood and the cutouts in them where they fit into each other are not spaced evenly or even cut to the same depth. These are going to have a lot of cleaning up, if they can't be i will have to replace them.
Normally i would just replace them straight away with Caldercraft ones, but i have already had to replace all the decking and the Walnut dowel for all 3 lower masts and the Bowsprit. I still might have to replace all the Walnut hull planking yet as some of it is warped. Really bad quality parts if you ask me and in the end replacing stuff could well double the cost of the kit
 

 
Right Rant over lol, on with some work
 
 
 
 
 

When i dry fitted the middle deck and ladders i noticed that the top rung of the ladder protruded above the deck height slightly. So i glued a small piece of spare planking to the underside of the middle deck to allow me to drop the ladder slightly so that the top rung is level with the deck.

 
Then i fitted the first half of the middle deck onto the cross beams

 
Fitted the ladders before fitting the other half of the middle deck as this made it a lot easier than doing it after fitting the other deck half as the instructions suggest
Having the extra thickness has allowed me to lower the ladder so now it fits flush with the deck and the top rung also hides the piece of planking i glued in there

 
 
 

update
 
Build log part 30
 
today I`m starting with the forecastle railing, 8mm high in scale 1:144.
Base for soldering on is a L-shape brass profile, the railing is from 0,3 mm thick photoetched copper, the soldering is done with the small gas tourch, electronic solder and paste-typ flux
 
The brass L-profile is gently bent to follow the rim of the deck planking
 
Nils
 

 
L-type profile
 
 

 
0,3 mm photoetched copper railing
 
 

 
Shaping / bending the L-profile
 
 

 
 

 
positioning for to solder, little bits of solder every 15 mm appart
 
 

 
carefuly handling the heat flow.....
 
 

 
soldering done, and primercoat applied
 
 

 
the aft side (forecastle) still needs to be dressed
 
 

  trust this shall be a sufficient way of fastening the railing  
 

 
 
 
   
 
 
 

Hi Harry,
 
Lucky you having 2 layers of planks...she's looking good 
 
It looks like you're doing a great job smoothing out the first layer.  
 
Just one thought, .5 mm thickness on the second layer doesn't give you much room for sanding. You might want to consider 1.0 mm, otherwise you better make it perfect my friend  

Hi Guys
 
I have posted this stuff on the Jim Byrnes model machines thread - i repeat her as it also fits in with this topic.
 
Shaft lock to make blade changing easier:-