Moxis

Yes, ratlines is the second difficult task with which I have struggled many many times. Luckily this ship doesn`t have them. But this is how the railings look now. Still not quite perfect but much better than earlier. I won`t change them any more.

 
 

Some time has elapsed since the last update. However it has been busy time at the shipyard. Boat deck has been made by gluing 3 pcs 0,6 mm plywood together on a form. It was much easier and faster to make that the main deck of thin strips.
 
After that I was consentrating into railings. My first idea was to buy all the stanchions ready, because of the "balls", which are difficult to produce. However no suitable ones were found with correct dimensions, so nothing else remained than make them by myself. And after all about 80 pcs are needed, so they wouldn`t have been cheap as well.
 
But first I had to make the wooden handrails. They were produced after many trials and errors of 3 pcs 2x6 mm wooden strips which were glued together on a form. This was a bit difficult, because handrails are bending in two directions, and after removed from the form they start to straighten a bit, so the curvature of the form must be tighter that that of the ship`s deck. But as said, after three or four errors I finally was satisfied with the result. Not perfect yet, but I can live with that.
 
The stanchions were made of common 1,5 mm brass rod, and the wires attached to them out of 0,6 mm copper wire. Wires were soft soldered into stanchions, and "balls" were made of putty mixed of microballons and epoxy. And finally painted white.
 
 
 
Handrails glued together on a form. Difficult shape because bending in two directions.

 
 
 
Handrails in different stages of fabrication.

 
 
 
 
Stanchions of 1,5 mm brass and 0,6 mm wires soldered together and "balls" made of epoxy/microballons putty.

 
 
Railings test fitted before painting.

 
 And glued into ship. Not perfect but I can live with that.

 
 
 
 
Main deck railings ready.

 
Seen from front. Next the same thing for upper deck.

 
 
 
 

Finally also the cabin structures on upper deck are done. Although I love making models, but somehow I am completely exhausted to build these wall panels one after the other. 
The next thing is the boat deck. I am going to build that using only 2 sheets of 1 mm plywood which are then glued together on form giving "bulkheads", I hope that will be successful.
And then starting to make details, which is the work I love most.
 
 
Here once more the making of wall panels. First all windows and doors are marked on 1 mm plywood. After that the grooves within 3 mm division are made with a sharp hobby knife to emulate wooden wall.

 
 
 
And finally all windows are opened and panels & window frames are glued on....

 
 
...To build cabin constructions.

 
 
 
Mahogany stain is used to give some colour,

 
 
 
And the captain has also arrived on board to present his ship for honoured quests.....

 
 
 
Who expect already eagerly to get into the virgin voyage.

 
 
 
 

Next I had to think hard, what would be the best method to build both the upper and boat decks above cabin constructions. The challenge is not very tight curvature of the structures, but completely opposite. Crosswise the radius of the deck curvature is only about one metre and lengthwise it is bending about 4 cm on it`s whole length. So almost all materials could be used for this work. But how to keep the form unchanged and still have a light, stiff and thin deck without any form giving frames is a problem. Well, finally I decided to trust into the good old plank-on-bulkhead method and thought to use a jelly mixed of epoxy and milled glassfibres to strengthen it and make it stiffer.
 
 
"Bulkheads" made of thin wood. I decided to build the deck upside down, to be able to add epoxy/glass mixture on the underside of the deck.

 
 
 
Bulkheads were attached on the building platform and first 2x6 mm abachi planks were glued on them. Glue was applied only to the planks but not on bulkheads because the deck had to be removed from them when ready.

 
 
40 pcs planks were necessary to complete the structure.

 
 
Deck template cut of stiff paper was tried on the plank structure.

 
 
Epoxy/glassfibre jelly applied on the underside of the deck.

 
 
And finally when it was cured the deck was removed from the bulkheads, sanded on both sides and cut into the correct form. It was noted that lengthwise the deck keeps it`s form nicely, but crosswise a few curved frames underneath the deck are necessary to keep the curvature also in this direction.


 
 
 
 

Very nice planking indeed Michael. I see that you have developed very nice new methods of shaping the planks and clamping them in place during glue drying. Thumbs up!

Very nice planking indeed Michael. I see that you have developed very nice new methods of shaping the planks and clamping them in place during glue drying. Thumbs up!

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Small update for bridge equipment, a compass, telegraf and ship`s bell. All turned of Sikablock, airbrushed first with gloss black, and when dry, airbrushed with Alclad`s polished brass.
Compass and bell under construction. Pedestal for compass milled octagonal.

 
 
 
Components installed on the bridge. Dials for telegraf drawn with Corel Draw and printed on paper.


 

Next I was concentrating into bridge items. First the steering wheel & machinery, and it`s movement into rudder. Form of Steering wheel is quite complicated, so the best way to build it was to draw it with CAD and machine from 1 mm thick Sikablock material using cnc router and 0,6 mm dia milling cutter. After trial & error and one prototype here is a machined steering wheel:

 
 
 
Steering mechanism was again build using a pair of module 0,5 gears and parts made of styrene & sikablock. On the top is the upper rudder shaft with middle flange and bearings. Below that the parts for rudder mechanism.

 
 
Parts painted, weathered and waiting installation into ship:

 
 
 
Steering wheel and mechanism with a protective desk installed on the bridge:

 
Upper rudder shaft with bearings installed between main and upper decks. Movement of the steering wheel is transferred from steering mechanism using wires, rods and chains located underneath of upper deck. Chains are taken from a thin necklage and painted dark:

 
 
Next item on the bridge was a searchlight. This was made using common materials styrene and sikablock. Here waiting paint:

 
Painted and weathered:

 
 
And installed onto bridge:

 
 
 

Very nice planking indeed Michael. I see that you have developed very nice new methods of shaping the planks and clamping them in place during glue drying. Thumbs up!

This is my first attempt with carving. As I said earlier, my new project needs some simple carvings at the stern. After having read all tutorials available, I chose to use rotating tools for this work, because it feels easier for me than to use knives and chisels and the quality of carvings might be better, at least for me with no previous experience.
 
So the first thing was to obtain suitable wood for this work. Having read from different sources that boxwood would be the best choice, I started to look for that. Soon I found out that this kind of wood couldn`t be found anywhere in this country. So I ordered a lump of good looking boxwood fron the supplier in the UK.
 
Next I thought to start from the most difficult thing, the letters for ship`s name. These are very small, about 3,5 mm high, and preferable made with old type font. Laser cutting was first tried with fonts found in Corel Draw. They were scaled and sent to laser cutting company, but results were not at all acceptable. It was not possible to have these small letters not to be burnt by the laser, and removing the unevitable char from them would have been almost impossible. So next I turned into my dear old cnc router, and after some testing and changes the results were improving until acceptable. Letters are cut from 0,6 mm thick boxwood, letter height is 3,6 mm and they were cut with dia. 0,3 mm cutter. The font was found from the CADCAM program`s (Vector) font library.
 
A nice picture of red deer was found in Internet, scaled down with Corel Draw and printed on paper. This was glued on 2 mm boxwood and cut with a jeweler`s saw, and edges rounded with the rotary tool, using old dentist`s cutting bits.
The remaining parts were also cut of 2 mm boxwood and "machined" with rotary tool.
 
Finally all parts were glued into the stern of the model and stained with light walnut color.
 

 

This is my first attempt with carving. As I said earlier, my new project needs some simple carvings at the stern. After having read all tutorials available, I chose to use rotating tools for this work, because it feels easier for me than to use knives and chisels and the quality of carvings might be better, at least for me with no previous experience.
 
So the first thing was to obtain suitable wood for this work. Having read from different sources that boxwood would be the best choice, I started to look for that. Soon I found out that this kind of wood couldn`t be found anywhere in this country. So I ordered a lump of good looking boxwood fron the supplier in the UK.
 
Next I thought to start from the most difficult thing, the letters for ship`s name. These are very small, about 3,5 mm high, and preferable made with old type font. Laser cutting was first tried with fonts found in Corel Draw. They were scaled and sent to laser cutting company, but results were not at all acceptable. It was not possible to have these small letters not to be burnt by the laser, and removing the unevitable char from them would have been almost impossible. So next I turned into my dear old cnc router, and after some testing and changes the results were improving until acceptable. Letters are cut from 0,6 mm thick boxwood, letter height is 3,6 mm and they were cut with dia. 0,3 mm cutter. The font was found from the CADCAM program`s (Vector) font library.
 
A nice picture of red deer was found in Internet, scaled down with Corel Draw and printed on paper. This was glued on 2 mm boxwood and cut with a jeweler`s saw, and edges rounded with the rotary tool, using old dentist`s cutting bits.
The remaining parts were also cut of 2 mm boxwood and "machined" with rotary tool.
 
Finally all parts were glued into the stern of the model and stained with light walnut color.
 

 

Does anybody have experience about both, the Onshape and Fusion free version (for a retired hobbyist)? I am considering to download the program, but don't know which one to choose.

With my latest build S/S Maaninka I covered the hull with 0,05 mm thick aluminium plates. These were glued with long curing time epoxy made by Loctite. This gives you the possibility to fine tune the position of the plates, which contact cement doesn't. A messy work, but so far no disintegration has happened.

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Thank you Carl for your interest to my project, and all the "likes" as well. I am glad that people are reading my blog so that I am not writing this only for my own amusement. This gives me a lot of motivation to have the project finished, which seems to be more and more difficult when years go by.

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Thank you Carl for your interest to my project, and all the "likes" as well. I am glad that people are reading my blog so that I am not writing this only for my own amusement. This gives me a lot of motivation to have the project finished, which seems to be more and more difficult when years go by.

Thank you Carl for your interest to my project, and all the "likes" as well. I am glad that people are reading my blog so that I am not writing this only for my own amusement. This gives me a lot of motivation to have the project finished, which seems to be more and more difficult when years go by.

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.
 

 


 
 

Project has been a bit slow, due to nasty influenza, which I have had for a couple of weeks.
However some progress has been made, like self made ship`s name wet transfers on the bow, navigation lights, which are just mock-ups and not functional. Also the funnel between upper- and boat decks together with some steam pipes are made, and of course the flag with pole has been added to the stern.
Now I have to concentrate into details on the boat deck like funnel, masts and lifeboats with davits, and then we could call this project as ready.
Of course then starts the interesting part with functional tests like adding some ballast if necessary, and trimming of radio control equipment.