dafi

Hi all,
 
A little bit of an update to report.  Have spent the weekend making blocks (did I mention it's a long weekend here!) 
 
Last weekend, I concentrated on the 5/32" (3.97mm) size and made 568 of these (all single blocks).
 
I've been making my way down in size, so started with 1/8" (3.18mm) and decided to test out making double and triple blocks at this size as well.  In all, I made 284 singles, 60 doubles and 28 triples at this size. All went reasonably well.  So far, so good.
 
Then I went down to the next size: 3/32" (2.38mm) and started running into some problems.  First up, I had scored the stock blanks too deeply, so the side walls would shatter every time the mill passed through them.    So, nothing for it but to re-make the stock blanks. No big deal.  The next problem was that at this size, the overhang on the box jig just wasn't sufficient to hold them in place when the final parting cut was made with the mill, and there are now several hundred 3/32" blocks occupying the space-time continuum somewhere between the workbench and the garage floor.      After persisting with this for a while and getting only about a 10% yield (what was that definition of madness again?), I decided to try something different.  So, I adjusted the depth of cut on the mill so that it left the blocks attached after the final pass, by a paper thin amount.  This was enough to stop them disappearing into the never-never and I was able to easily break off the finished blocks from the stock. I ended up with 144 of these blocks. Here's how it looks:
 

 

 
I then went on to the smallest size blocks: 5/64 (1.98mm).  I take my hat off to Chuck (again)!  These made the 3/32" size look like child's play.  However, I persisted (employing the same method) and eventually managed  a reasonable yield.  I finished up with 160 of these little suckers. Fortunately, I don't need that many of these two smaller sizes! 
 
Here's a shot of the whole "family" so far:
 

 
From left to right they are: 1/4" (6.35mm); 3/16" (4.76mm); 5/32 (3.97mm); 1/8" (3.18mm) triple, double, single; 3/32" (2.38mm); and 5/64" (1.98mm)
 
And here's a shot of the smallest with the largest, just for comparison.
 

 
And finally, my stash to date.  
 

 
I gave away most of my initial run of the larger two sizes and will probably re-make these anyway as I'm not satisfied with the sheave hole placement on these.  I still need to make some doubles and maybe triples in the 5/32" size, and I need to make some singles and doubles in a 9/32" (7.14mm) size as well.
 
The good news is that I've got the techniques all weighed off now, so one or two more weekends of block-making and I should be ready to start attaching them to my ship! 

Okay - I lied!
 
Here's a couple of pics of this weekend's limited production run.  These are all 9/32" (7mm) blocks, single and double. These are the largest I've made to date.  I think I've got the sheave holes pretty much in the right place now.
 

 
And a couple of close ups. Some final finishing around the holes is all that's required to use these.
 

 

 
Hopefully more production next weekend - I'm getting into the groove now (pun intended).

Hello everyone, I've got a small update. Just finished the main wales and painted them black, now it is time for the little ones above.
 
Doing this I realized my previous mistake. The main wales are just thick planks, not another layer, which means that I could not follow the plan precisely, because then they would be overlapping the planks below. So, note to self, next time begin the second planking layer with main wales and follow their lines correctly. Now I had to choose the lesser evil - slightly wrong shape, but no overlapping, which would look just terrible in my opinion. 
 
It is also almost time to chose the colour for decorations' background. Ochre would create poor contrast, red is used in the interior, green is just ugly and blue is used too often. I'm thinking about plain white, is that possible (i.e. historically plausible)?
 
 

 
 

Cheers, ZyXuz.
 
 
Now I'm creating the main wales using simple anchor stock planking. Planks are 110 mm long with full width in the middle and half at both ends and they are shifted like the rest of the hull planks. The wales will be painted black, but their pattern should show anyway. 
 
 

 
 

 
 

Thank you all for your input! Very appreciated :-)
 
Next cleared up the breeching ropes on both sides ...
 

 
... especially the loop ...
 

 
... and also looked at both sides that the ropes won´t be stuck underneath the wheels.
 

 
Then checked the length ...
 

 
... and Jan was right, here comes Captain Hook ...
 

 
... and have him installed in all his glory.
 

 

 

 
XXXDAn

For some reason I like destructive people ...
 
;-)
 
XXXDAn

The next view is from the fore deck looking back across the opened up waist area. The area under the quarter deck is now very visible. However, once the chain pumps, main mast, gallows and steps are in place the view will be more restricted.
 
If I had put the companion way behind the capstan (as in the Lymm) then it would have been worth modeling the lower part of the capstan which would then have been on view.
 
One of the out of scale beams is on view, but this should be masked later by a scale beam which will go across the fore edge of the quarter deck.
 

 
Finally a view from the quarter deck looking forward with the stove's flue pocking up through the fore deck.
 

 
Time to settle down to some planking inside the bulwarks. Now that is going to be fiddly.

The Destruction Part 3.
 
I have finished chopping out bits from the waist area and have beveled all the edges to make them look tidier (and looking a lot less like three ply). I have also cut out the hole in the fore deck for the flue. I will work out some suitable sizes for the steam outlet hole and the hole for the grating above the hearth end of the stove. I need to be careful on this because the Unicorn has a beakhead bow so there is restricted room on the foredeck.
 
Some photos. The first two are before and after the destruction phase as comparison.
 
Waist as was........
 

 
Waist is it now is.............
 

 
The four holes in the deck were ones that I made a long time ago for the Coral version of the rigging and are now redundant. I will have to fill them up. 

some pictures

Good evening everyone
 
The kit is ordered, the Deluxe PE kits is not available in the UK at present, should be another couple of weeks
The Victory is safe and secure for a while, and will be finished
The Workroom has had a bit of a make over as well, i put a window in at the weekend, at last i have some natural light in there and a different carpet as the one i had, it was impossible to find anything when dropped onto it, 
 
research 
 
http://www.ipmsstockholm.se/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2250&start=30
http://www.kbismarck.com/models/
 
http://3dhistory.de/wordpress/3d-models/dkm-bismarck/bismarck-high-res
 
http://www.shipmodels.info/mws_forum/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=144178
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/shipmodels/shipmodels_menu.html
https://www.facebook.com/BismaarckModell148Scale/photos_stream
http://www.bismarck-class.dk/shipmodels/shipmodels_menu.html

You have inspired me to continue with my build of the Victory ( Mamol  1:90)  I have started and stopped work on this project since 1985.
So now I will get to work again.

The Destruction Part 2.
 
I have now started to open up the waist area. Thus far I have cut the sides away. I followed the planking line so that there is at least 2 plank widths down the side of the waist area. I am tidying this part up before I attack the rear of the waist area. The deck consists of 3 ply with planking on top. Where the edge of the deck is exposed I am beveling the edge so that there is only the edge of the planking plus one ply on show.
 
I then tried the stove under the fore deck again. I took a small amount off the the top of the stub on which the flue will ultimately be fixed. The stove and riding bitt structure then went under the fore deck OK - well the condenser had to come off first. 
 
The first photo shews this test fitting (along with the woodworking detritus - needs a good clean). The edge of the fore deck to the left of the stove has been beveled - to the right the full 3 ply is still awaiting treatment. The fore deck is a bit warped (has been for some time). I will be fitting a cosmetic beam along the rear edge of the fore deck which will hopefully remove the warping.
 

 
Thus far I am still happy to open out the waist. I like the way the guns on the main gun deck are now on show and they will look much better when they are finished. I will have to put some planking in front of the cannon, and the exposed edges of the bulkhead extension, which expose the edge of the plywood from which they are made, will get a vertical plank as cover. I will probably have to put lining around the gun ports.
 
The next photo is a more general shot of the area.
 

 
Now for the twiddly bit of destruction around the rear of the waist area. 

In "The Seaman's Vade Mecum" by William Mountaine, published in 1756, there is no mention of unhooking the tackles in his list of words of command in the section on the 'exercise of the great guns'.  The only mention of the tackles is in his notes on the positioning of the tackles for the lee and windward guns, and I quote,
"If you exercise the lee guns, and it blows fresh, you must keep one tackle hooked to the ring-bolt on the deck, near the coaming, and the other tackle hooked to the ring, in the train of the carriage.  But if you exercise the windward guns, keep both tackles hooked to the ship's side, and the train of the carriage."
 
I think I'm with Spyglass on this one - are there any factual contemporary sources that mention the guns 'kicking' when they got hot?
 
John

The gun tackle probably would have been cast off after running out the gun. Like you suggested, the recoil would destroy anything heavier than the breach rope. Most modelers do capture this detail, in that they try to have the gun tackles hooked onto the truck, rather than seized.
 
The more I think about it, the more I feel that the whole idea of hot guns "jumping" more than cool ones is simply Georgian literary hype. Hollywood is not the first to go about exaggerating for dramatic effect.
 
Andy

In guns the heat is produced in the bore and chamber, it radiates outward rapidly, ever see the paint on a large weapon burn because of that heat or a small arms barrel burn the oil, the heat generated does not remain where it was created?  Don't think that the bores of muzzle loading cannons get smaller with heating, there is enough time for any heat to radiate out between shots, which would allow for a  constant temperature in the whole gun tube. The slow firing rates of muzzle loading guns allows for some cooling time between each shot and the wet swab will add some cooling water, a side benefit of drowning burning embers. I would not be surprised to find that the heat those old cannons had to deal with, would be considered cool  in modern rapid fire guns. Nor do I believe that those guns were allowed to jump around under normal use, recoil was a factor,  provisions were made to control the effects of that.
   I don't know how the gun tackle was handled, was it thrown off or allowed to run with recoil acting a brake. Were it allowed to run, any slack in those tackles would tend to destroy that tackle when the gun was fired and if the slack was controlled and the tackle allowed to run, there would be a bitter end whipping around. Need to find some gun drill instructions written at the time to answer that. Perhaps someone here has read some gun drill instructions that could shed some light about what was done with the tackle when the gun was actually fired.
jud

And if anyone has any doubts... put a large heavy-ish weight at the end of a moderately long rope, shock load it (ie go from slack to fully taught as fast as you can) and watch the craziness happen.

This is a fascinating topic! I'm wondering, if the breach ropes were stretched, would that have also meant that the guns's would have similarly kicked in the next action (starting with cold barrel again)?
 
It sort of raises another question, assuming that the breach ropes 'stretched' then wouldn't their structural integrity fail as well. How often would breach ropes have been replaced, and how would that have been done at sea (apart from very carefully)?

A lot of rope will stretch naturally under load. That is not a sign of imminent failure. Even natural fiber ropes do have some elasticity and will regain some of their shape when the load is removed. I'm sure breech rope renewal was fairly frequent, and it would not have been that hard. Run out the gun and lash the tackles, replace breech rope and retract the gun.
 
Andy

Andy - I think you are close. But the question still remains. Why does it jump more when hot?

I don't think you're as likely to get a squib on a smooth bore, muzzle loading canon, they are more likely on breech loading rifled guns with prepared charges.
 
Not saying they're impossible, just much less likely
 
In a muzzle loader,  if the gun crew failed to notice the logged ball in the bore initially... as soon as the sponge and worm where sent down the barrel, someone would surely notice something was amiss. And even if they didn't, another loaded charge would sit in front of the lodged shot and might fail to ignite altogether.
 
As for your other two forums.... I can't access the first one and the other... nicht sprechen... sorry...
 
Andy

... I finally found some material to represent the lead roofs of several parts of the ship: 
 
Aluminiumfoil TF2 from Hasegawa ...
 

 
... glued and cut ...
 

 
... and with some layers of a transparent mixture of plack ink, white paint, cleaning solvent and water ...
 

 
... it looks quite charming. Even though the original is extremely matt light grey it looks rather comprehensive on the model as the silver slightly shines through :-)
 
Here are the round house tops, the netting is not the original of course  ;-)
 

 
As the region I come from is Swabia, so we are known to be are excessively stingy - some claim, that we are Scots, banned because to be even tooooo stingy for them - and also me beeing too impatient to wait for out of stock deliveries?
So I help myself ...
 

 
... know what is coming????
 

 
Now should be getting clearer ...
 

 
... yes, it is the 2 mm blocks ...
 

 
... the ones with the ring :-)
 

 
Looks less tattered in real life, I hate that macro ;-)
 
All the best, Daniel

Thank you Colin and Christian :-)
 
 
Next I finished the starboard main- and fore chainplates.   So I finished all of them, huuuuurrrrrrraaaaaaayyyyyyy!!!!       And here it comes the side entrance. I wondered already for a while, why I did not refix the old one (see first picture post #3 http://mediaharmonists.de/bilder/640-victory-porticus.jpg). First tried better painting. Better but not yet there.      Until I realised: Canopy 2 mm shorter and decreasing the thickness from 2 mm to down to 1,5 mm.        Heureka :-) The lead cover of the canopy´s top will still come as soon as I am happy with whitch material to use.   And something really mindblowing to end this post: the patented original Ikea-soldering-iron-holder :-)     Lieber Gruß, Daniel

Oh I forgot to tell you about the opened window :-)
 
Did you already spot him?
 
Who???
 
Sir Archibald of course, who would have made a mess with the air in the mess if his comrades would´t have asked him to enhace air quality inside the ship by opening the window :-)
 

 
So into the cabin, putting the coat onto the hook and sit down and hang loose ...
 

 
... and there he is sitting on his lower end at the lower and of the ship and enjoys life and being - and especially the thought, that he does not have to sit on the seats of ease at the head :-)
 

 
Him looking a little bit strained is due to the dignity and the sincerity of his task - and due to the fact that while being painted ...
 
... ouch, have a look and feel with him:
 

 
Ok, we let him now concentrate onto his task, even though I have the feeling that he will be sitting there for a while ...
 

 
Three cheers for Sir Archibald, 
 
sincerily yours, Daniel

It was a funny last months working and it was surprising. Here are the results of all the work: So close to each other the normal peoples eyes and yet far beyond!
 
To see and feel the differences I did some small montages. Just try to find out by yourselves, what is the old and what is the new:
 

 

 

 

 

 
And here the story was really beginning to take off,  to speak in the words of Buzz Lightyear: To HMS Victory and beyond!
 
Greetings Daniel

One feature on my list of major changes are the decks: That I am not a fan any more of the wood structures I mentioned already, didn´t I ? 
 
;-)
 
Consequentely this applied for the deck planking too - off course!
 
The idea is to replace the visible decks by real wood: Painted wood in plastic, visible woob in real wood. Tests were carried out to find the suitable technic and hre are the results:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
So I can easily show the 3- and 4-but-shift system for the planking including the waterway, whitch will be a great addition to the detailing :-)
 
I think, the two materials work great together and give a nice feeling to the ensemble :-) Looking already forewards for the first visible deck.
 
This addition of materials would also apply to the masts and spars, whitch by the way will replace the too flexible plastic parts of the top rigging
 
Be warned: There are a lot of questions upon the deck planking coming up :-)