dafi

Do not worry, I had worse than that to sort out :-) XXXDAn

Very nice project :-) XXXDAn

If things go wrong then do it at least consequently ... XXXDAn

You remember? New poopdeck? With the deck beams on the right place? For this I took the Heller kit piece as a basic part, as camber and sheer suited quite well. But me stupid cupid did not think that the amount of not precurved deck beams would flatten up the piece that much ... ... bolt straight. That was no good so it had to be changed. Made two templates on the side to support the forming. A wet cloth and a hot iron to soften up wood and plastic ... ... and pressed it in between two planks. As for the antiartic temperatures at the moment the whole thing was transferred into the fridge ... ... and great, the missing camber was really there :-) But also a negative curve in the sheer :-( Also the parquet suffered a bit :-( :-( :-( Tjo ... ... what does the dafi think at these moments?!? GREAT!!! The planking pattern had anyway some flaws and around the mast there were a lot of patched holes from misplaced eyebolts ... ... so got out a new deck, relocated the hole for the skylight in the already documented fashion and started scraping of the wood grains ... ... and the best anyway - as a result of the procedure, the old deck beams already had the right curve ... ... and some paint and the underneath was already done :-) :-) :-) XXXDAn

Thank you Kirby and Popeye :-) The clearing of the cast pieces went rather fast and easy, the slots only had to be drilled open for the ropes later on. Getting the rubber silicone out from the original parts after the first misdone form cast was much more tiring, as one cant simply drill or pull the material out as it proved to be too small. XXXDAn

Not too much time for tinkering, it is high season in the office :-) And then I had the ingenious idea to make castings of the bitts, as I somehow feel, that I could still use them on other situations ;-) So I took the green Pricosil and casted and sworn my a.. off as I tried for hours to get this highly slot-intruding rubbery mass out off the slots again... So lessons learned, text trial was with inlays of the firmer kneading silicone ... ... and it worked :-) Cleaning up a bit, some touches of paint and ready for the first family shots. That is already going the direction I had in mind :-) Cheers, Daniel

Through a hint by a german forums mate I found the following The 3 arms atop are operated by wires with a chain in the area of the pinion shaft. The arm on the bottom possibly is manipulated by hand and only indicates the orientation of the device. Question: How are the three arms operated? By a sliding pinion shaft? It looks like the 3 chains are on the same axis. Both bigger pictures come apparently from HMS Campertown, so the nation and timeframe would fit. HMS Campertown 1885 Wikipedia XXXDAn

I realised some "chimneys" on the 19th century Victory that by now I identy to be semaphores. I already found a nearer picture from aboard the Vic :-) If my interpretation is wright, it could be a x-formed stand with metal bars as bracings, a middle pole with the operating unit at chest level and the semaphores on top. I also think it could be a transportable unit for training purposes, to send messages from fo´castle to the poop. So that means: Time to have a closer look :-) Does anybody has further reference upon the maritime version of these instruments? Google mostly shows railroad versions. Cheers, Daniel

PS: @Kevin: Thank you for the link! XXXDAn

Thank you Kevin and Popeye! Finally some time for tinkering ... First shortened the first version of the mizzen topsail sheet bitts to 90 cm height ... ... and adapted to the fall of the mast. Then worked the fore brace bitts. Then carved new main top bowline and fore topsail sheet bitts and added the needed number of sheaves.   As I (still) follow McKay for the rigging, I opted for the fore topsail sheet bitts with a third sheave bolted to the side for the foretop sheets, fore sail clue lines and bowlines. As the maintop bowline bitts held only the fore yard sheer falls and the top sail bowlines, I omitted the third sheave - one sometimes is lazy , you know ;-) Here to compare with the kits parts. Surprisingly the basic measures are quite near the ones I choose - the kit is surely better that its reputation :-) Theonly thing are the details, still difficult to cast at the times the kit was developed .   Still the mizzen topsail sheet bitts with the partners to bolt it onto the deck beams.  XXXDAn

That is surprising for me too :-) And with the measures found above, the Heller bitts are quite in that range - this kit surprises me always as it is much better than its reputation. XXXDAn

Plausibility check for the main bitts: if the diameter is about 35 cm, the sheave is about the same height. Adding approx. 10 cm above and below makes 55 cm, fits druxey´s dimensions (or in better english: ... the dimensions given by druxey :-) I found the remark, that the lower edge of the cross bit ia about at the half height, also fits the 110 cm druxey gives. The mizzen differs by the cross piece being above the middle, that can be a side effect of the partners being needed, thus pushing the sheaves upwards. Also makes sense. Coming back to Schrade, he gives a total height of 117 cm for the main and 90 for the mizzen, so near enough for my personal use. I also appears that the fore bitts are a tiny bit thinner but heigher compared to the main bitts. But still I wonder about the dimensions of Steel given by Goodwin. If ever anybody traces the source and can explain WHAT they exactly mean, it would be greatly appreciated! XXXDAn

Thank you druxey. This means in metric system: Usually the height of the crosspiece above the deck (plank) was in the order of 19" to 20" = 51 cm (mizen) 21" = 54 cm (main) to the underside. The height of the bitt pins above deck: 2' 11" = 89 cm (mizen), 3' 7" =110 cm (main). Still all the given dimensions vary quite a bit ... XXXDAn

Personal opinion: if one manages to do the overhand knot at a certain scale then the clove hitch is also possible without further complications. Just a small litte training and it works as well as the other one. XXXDAn

... just wanted to work a bit on the bitts ... At one point I just realised, that the cross pieces were underneath the knees of my sailors - somewhat short it appears. So do your own ones dear dafi and take the chance to add the needed number of sheaves by doing so. So I took McKays measures but the result appeared a bit high. So I did the mistake to start investigating ... New modern sources like Schrade give 1,2 meters height for the total height above the deck whereas McKay indivcats 1,4 meters. Then looked at Goodwins Construction und Fitting summing up Steels measurements - and I was totally lost ... More to be found here Thinking things through: Some bits about the bitts So here is the situation, before I send my dear Proxon Micromiller into a prematurely holliday. Mizzen and main bitts were done, the crosspieces for the fores and the pre-cuts for the bitts themselves. And already somethings in red to be adapted: Slimming down the crosspieces a bit, easy-bisy :-) The bitts of mizzen and main have to be shortened a bit. Also to be done by some clean cuts on the circular saw. Just how much, THAT is the question?!? And then I am sure in strongly believing that the fore bitts will be an easy game too :-) XXXDAn

It started as usual quite innocent: I was putting one of my little man beside the jeer and topsail bitts and realised, the lower edge of the cross piece was visibly underneath the knee. So started making new ones to better dimensions using McKay, also incorporating the right number of sheaves into it, but when ready, they looked a tad too high. So I deliberately took the hazard and started researching deeper. Schrade was one of the only ones giving clear dimensions. From McKay I measured a height of 1,4 meters, whereas Schrade mentioned 1,2 meters. So I looked further and here trouble started. Next was Goodwin Construction and Fitting. His dimensions for the fore bits still were understandable on first sight, but the main Bitts were possibly quite messed up. Fore bitts: Squared diameter 1`1,5" = 34 cm Kopf über Deck (Höhe) 4´6" = 137 cm Cross piece height 8" = 20 cm depth 9,5" = 24 cm sore for the cross piece (?) 1 5/8" 0 = 4 cm Even though some dimensions are missing it looked plausible at this point and in the dimensions Schrade and McKay give. And now the main bitts: A = diameter1 `2" = 35,5 cm B = The height that the pin bitt is set above the deck (total height?) 2`9" = 84 cm ?!?!? C = scoring for the cross piece 1,75" = 4,5 cm E = Cheeks (for side blocks?) 4" = 10 cm F = sheaves 1` = 30 cm G = breadth of the cross piece 10,5" = 27 cm And now Goodwin apparently messed up, missing the letter "H". Red is the original assignment as per his book, green is a corrected version, that would make sense. J = Depth of cross piece 1`10" = 33 cm K = Height of cross piece above the floor (lower edge?) 2" = 5 cm L = scoring for the cross piece 2`2" = 66 cm The corrected version reads like that: [gruen]J = breadth of the cross piece 7,5" = 19 cm K = Height of cross piece above the floor (lower edge?) 1`10" = 33 cm L = sore for the cross piece 2" = 5 cm[/gruen] Looked in steel but could not find the fitting informations to confirm. Does anybody know the location? And know the even bigger question: What do the measures mean? I was told, for these heights ther is not tha upper surface of the deck beam to be considered but the lower one :-0 And know that leaves me completely confused ... ... help ... ... au secour ... ... ... I only wanna know how heigh the bits are in tota above the deck and at what height is the cross piece ... ... Hilfe ... XXXDAn XXXDAn

And what´s a thimble without a rope ?!? Took off the inner edges to give the typical rounding on the inside ... ... hooked them up to put them into the blackening soup and to get them out without having to search ... ... ok, first trial was not the wanted result as smartened ropes can´t be sliced ... ... so to be smart no smartening but a splice, inserted the thimble and closed the loop ... ... smartened the ends off and lashed it down ... ... and went happy about the result :-) XXXDAn

Thank you Maurice :-) As on another place, there is the "war of the thimbles" raging, here is my input for special small ones. A brass tube of 1mm outside and 0,5 mm inside is secured with a core of high-grade steel wire ... ... and placed upon a hard acrylic surface and a cutter blade is use to roll in a groove ... ... then the blade is placed further in and with pressing rolling the thimble is cut off. Then the core is used as handle to sand off the edges ... ... and ready is the thimble of 1 mm outside, 0,5 mm inside and 0,5 mm thickness with 0,5 mm hight with groove. Production is quite easy and if necessary also possible with reduced hight - then without the groove :-) Cheers, Daniel

Dear Alexandru, most wonderful work as usual, thank you for sharing!!! Only the blocks underneath the tops surprise me, the look like the ones one can buy and do not have the typical more roundish appearance. XXXDAn

"... would never thought how to make a locker like that." ... neither did I ;-) Thank you Popeye! XXXDAn

I still owe you one ... ... how the partners of the flag staff were build? No, something else ... ... a piece of sheet, left a rectangular acrylic, then some stripes of Evergreen to keep even distances ... ... and yes, that is the mysterious picture of before, and then opening the gaps with the side cutter ... ... and lengthened ... ... but why? As the first try to do the compartments of the flag lockers went completely wrong :-( That is why some much more crisp workout made the difference ... ... then the side parts ... ... the small yellow tape giving the angle ... ... and a nice before and after shot :-) So, that is where we are ... Cheers, DAniel

Thank you Mark and Frank! So the plastic asparagus is already history :-) Naturally with the proper pommel at its end with 2 pairs of integrated and working* sheaves and halyard. And as everything in life should be grounded on a solid base, I overworked the Heller parts**... ... and placed everything in situ. As alway standing on one leg is not good, I added the two flag lockers and covered them. And now I am trying to find out about the sizes of the signal flags. Left 12 x 14 feet as found in Atkin´s "Trafalgar companion" and approx 3 x 4 feet the size mostly found in NMM. More here: #4 XXXDAn *not **YES really you read right: Heller parts!

Congratulations and thank you for sharing your voyage with us! It was always a great pleasure, XXXDAn

So after I had no time to continue on the mystery part, here some addendums to the poop skylight. Even captains and admirals needed some privacy. That is why the skylight was fitted with sliding blinds in between the deck beams to give seclusion ... ... and for enlightenment. But then I remembered the partitions of the cabins. That meant for the sliders to pass over the bulkheads, so I got this sorted. And once on the run, the two small cabins beside the wheel were added too. And two more remarks: The flag pole - a very subtle hint to skip the plastic spars and to make wooden replacements. And I was asked to also show the Heller original parts - here they are :-) One more nice enlightenment I had too. Heller positions 4 eyebolts around the mizzen mast: one left, one right, one fore and one aft. i first had them and already moved the fore and aft half a planck thickness to the side to not sit on the seam. Then I realised the Vic in P. has 3 bolts in a row on each side. Doing the beams underneath the poop deck I realised why, the rings are sitting on the small carling beside the mast and can be fixed much better that way. XXXDAn

Have a talk with Tarjack, he is a specialist :-) http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/1749-hmy-royal-caroline-1749-by-tarjack-made-from-bone-m-1-50/?hl=%2Bcaroline+%2Btarjack XXXDAn