Jump to content
New Publication - Ship Modeler's Handbook - A new batch is on it's way. We will continue to take orders and fill them as soon as they come in. Thank you for your patience. ×

Chuck

Administrators
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    9,300

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Chuck

  1. Chuck
    Very inspiring. I still cant get over how small the model is and how much detail you are managing to put in there. Well done.
  2. Chuck
    The breech rope was made using a technique I saw on an actual contemporary model. The splice for the button of the Carronade was simulated. As mentioned I am using Syren .035 light brown rope. All of my .035 size rope is four strands. I dont think it would look as nice otherwise. Four stranded rope just make it work nicely. But essentially, the entire breech rope is made to length....3" long. (addendum) After consideration I think the breech line should be no longer than 3". It looks a bit long in the photo. The eyebolts and rings were slipped on before the end was finished off. You can see that in the photos. The eyebolts were 28 gauge wire while the split rings were 24 gauge. Then I used a sharp but wide awl to simulate the splice. It has to be large enough that the splice will fit over the button of the carronade or cannon. In the center of the breech rope I pushed the awl through so there were two strands on top and bottom. Hence the need for four stranded rope. Then I applied some watered down white glue and let it dry. Once dry the simulated splice stayed to shape. I have seen many real splices attempted and they just look to big and out of scale. I couldnt pull that off convincingly. Even though this is a cheat, I think it looks better because it stays smaller. I could have just gone with the usual wrapping once around the button of the carronade...but that is tough to do in my opinion. It wont stay in place and you must use glue so it wont come undone. This ends up pulling the finish off the barrel etc. In the end it just looks too sloppy for me. So I gave this a try. No glue is needed at all. It slips right on the button and wont come off. This allows you more control to set the other eyes into the brackets of the carriage and then place the whole thing on deck. Hope that makes sense. I also stiffened the line with the watered down white glue before starting. Let it dry. I just find it easier to work with when its a bit stiffer. At least with the breech rope anyway. I started with about a 5" long piece of rope. Chuck
  3. Chuck
    Nicely done...she is a fun hull to plank...much better than those huge frigates dont you think. Chuck
  4. Chuck
    Thank you!!! Here is a first crack at a breech rope. I am using my .035 light brown rope. I think it looks pretty good. This was just a first attempt to go through the motions and now I will detail how I did it. You can spend endless amounts of time tweaking how this rope falls so it looks natural. After a while one has to say it look good enough. Four more to go and then the tackles are next. Note to self.....paint the underside of that cleat. LOL Chuck
  5. Chuck
    You have been busy......less time on the golf course. That is looking just great Allan. Looking forward to seeing progress.
  6. Chuck
    Funny Allan....I am itching to see pictures of the Litchfield!!!! Lets see what you are working on bud. Move out of Jersey and I cant get any updates....
  7. Chuck
    Its an interesting discussion. Well, I think we have a winner. Here is the model with the trucks painted red. I do in fact like this much better than the bright trucks. Thanks Greg!!! I know its just a matter of personal tastes but I think I will pursue this approach from now on. I think its more pleasing and less distracting actually. Although I will leave the black trucks to someone else to experiment with. I see the bulwarks are very dusty...much touch up to do. I will wait until after a rig these which is what I think I will do next. It will be a nice break from building another five carriages.
  8. Chuck
    Thanks guys. I have actually switched to Grumbacher paints for this model. Just to try them out. They are from a tube and acrylic. I am using Mars Black and Crimson. Thats it.
  9. Chuck
    I actually think I am going with red.....what the heck....there is always the next model if I dont like it. But yes I dont like black either. But red might be OK. I have to try it at least once.... And at least everyone building her will see a few different styles and can choose better because I took the plunge. Most contemporary models have red trucks. Black and natural also but much less from what I have seen. But I agree with Greg, they may be too bright as is now. Chuck
  10. Chuck
    Cheerful rigging chart
  11. Chuck
    Thanks.... I have done the research.....I agree Greg. It is rather bright...more so in the photos than in real life. The truth is I have seen it done three ways...left bright and also painted red to match the carriages. I have also see black trucks. Th eSurly contemporary model has them left bright. But now that you mention it, lets see. I thought that might be too much red however? I imagine I could test one and if it doesnt look good I could replace the trucks. Its easy enough..... Also take a look at this one cutter model with ivory trucks. go figure!! I wont be doing it this way. Black trucks red trucks Any thoughts.
  12. Chuck
    The next step was to add the carriage bed and on top of that add the quoin. I didnt add the quoin handle yet because I always break those. So they will be the last bits to be completed. In that same photo you will also see the metal work is completed. The brackets (sides) were actually made in two pieces and held together with long bolts through both top to bottom. Even though these are one piece the two bolts visible were simulated. I used 28 gauge wire. After inserting them into the holes I cut them so they stood proud of the surface. There are the eyebolts on the aft side for the tackle. These were made from 28 gauge wire as well. On the sides of each bracket there is also a bolt through to the transom. For this I used 24 gauge black wire. Finally one more eyebolt was added to the side for the tackle. I will not add the eyebolt and ring for the breech rope yet because its easier to do that while rigging the breech rope. But I did drill the holes for them. That is an absolute must. Finally some images of the cannon placed on each carriage. The trunnion cap was just made with some heavy paper painted to match th emetal. Then I added a small length of 28 gauge wire to simulate the hinge for the trunnion cap. I wont be adding any chains or other small details. I dont think they look very good at this scale unless they are done perfectly. Rather than try and become a "kitchen sink" modeler, I prefer to simplify and concentrate on neatness and execution. I know I wouldnt do it justice. Now to begin the other five carronades for the other side....YIKES
  13. Chuck
    Very nice...smooth run for the planking to come.
  14. Chuck
    Yes and since they will be covered it doesnt make sense to mess with them. Chuck
  15. Chuck
    To begin making the carriages, I first removed the laser char from the mini-kit pieces. Even just making the four remaining carriages for the port side takes considerable time. I used a sanding stick and there are many pieces. In addition, the outside ends of the axles were rounding off and all of the pieces were painted red ahead of time. Finally I decided to make a small jig to make assembly easier. You can see it in the photos and its simple to make. Step one was placing the axles into the jig. Then the two pieces ....the transom was added atop the front axle and another strip was added across the rear axle. Note how the front axle is shorter than the rear axle. Step two was when I added the sides (brackets) to the carriage while they were in the jig. The carriage was removed and a length of 24 gauge black wire was pushed through the holes in the sides of the bracket. The carriage bed will sit on top of this eventually. The wire is snipped off so each end stands a little proud of the surface. To finish of step two the wheels (trucks) were put into position. Now to finish these four carriages off....the next steps will be shown soon. Chuck
  16. Chuck
    Take a look at the plans of cutters in the nMM collection online. There are many that show the horse but not on the top of the bulwarks. It was primarily on deck forward of the mast and sometimes curved. The Duke William (1763) I believe shows this very well. Click the link http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/86177.html and the Endeavour (1763) http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/86283.html Also look at models of yachts like the Yacht Chatham......I believe that model shows the horse. Its quite high off the deck in that instance.
  17. Chuck
    First thing you need to do is wash the guns thoroughly and get any oils or residue off of them. Then you really should prime them first. Then apply paint. I didnt prime these but I am also very careful not to handle them too much at all. But the paint sometimes does come off but not as much as I have seen in the past. I have also taken very fine steel wool and cleaned them before painting. It makes the paint adhere better. But rinse them off afterwards. I didnt do that either this time but if handled gently its not a problem.
  18. Chuck
    Thanks guys Greg, that is a great place to start. First the guns were airbrushed black using Badger Airbrush paint. But just going with straight black is not good enough. The guns and other metalwork needs to be different in appearance / texture than the wood elements painted black. If for nothing else but to add some more interest. Straight black is to harsh and leaves a lot to be desired. You can go with a warm hue or a cool hue. I decided on the warmer. I then brushed on very sparingly some weathering powder. The goal here isnt to make it look like a rusty heap. Its just to change the surface appearance. As quickly as it was applied with a soft brush it was buffed off almost entirely with the same soft brush. It changes the color only slightly BUT it does also change the surface texture making it noticeably different than other black painted parts. I use this technique on all of the "metal" parts on the model even if they arent made from metal. It works quite well. For the guns it really makes the reinforcing rings stand out as well as the other details. But remember you have to buff it off. Now I am not using these weathering powders for anything else....I have no intention of making the model look weathered. In most cases where I see folks weathering .....it is over done and everything looks like a junk ship rusting out. Its just too much. But if used sparingly it can be very effective. Just my opinion of course. I use the MicraMark weathering powders and the set contains a small jar of Rusty brown and if you are going cooler you could use Grimy Gray or even a dark blue. All of the guns are completed with this technique below and waiting to be mounted on their carriages. I store them like this until needed. Now to build those carriages!!! The same technique was used on the chainplates. You can see how the powder makes the Black noticeably different than the painted wales. Before the application it looked exactly the same. Now its different but very subtle. The key is NOT to over do it and get carried away.
  19. Chuck
    Drillbitsunlimited.com And home depot or Lowes for MinWax wipe-On Poly satin finish Chuck
  20. Chuck
    The carriages on the contemporary model in the Rogers collection is very similar except for the super tiny trucks. I pretty much used the plan I showed which is a really good fit and more traditional. But there are many many variations. I would love to see someone have a go at the more wacky concepts used on revenue cutters. There are plenty.
  21. Chuck
    Most of the revenue cutters had them this wayafter 1800 or even a weirder looking carriage. This was the most normal.. Here is a plan detail of ZAZ6992 which actually says its for carronades on revenue cutters circa 1812. Its a little weird but its one of those things that make it interesting. This is from the NMM collection.
  22. Chuck
    Yes I did...and a simple sanding stick. I started with a square stick of boxwood 3/64" x 3/64". It actually goes pretty quick once you get into it. Chuck
  23. Chuck
    Thank you very much I decided to make one carronade with all of the details. This way I could find out what is in store for me. Now I can more comfortably finish up the remaining 11 guns. I will describe how with a step-by-step once I get started. But for now..here is what the completed gun looks like. I also finished making the belaying pins. They were made from boxwood. I dislike the brass belaying pins available because they are just the wrong proportions. With only about 16 pins needed I decided to make my own. If you are a heavy handed rigger....someone who likes to pull theit rigging lines super tight like a guitar string then you should probably stick to the brass. Otherwise give this a try. I just chucked up a thin boxwood strip in my dremel and went to work. The same method was used to make the quoin handle for the carriages. Image is below. Chuck
  24. Chuck
    Looks great Bob... One Note however. The 5 hole deadeye should be the other way around. ...but that has long since been corrected. It was mistakenly flipped at some point on my plan and I never noticed. I am referring to the deadeye itself......the holes are correctly aligned but the grooves in the deadeyes should go the other way around.....just letting everyone know. But either way it looks fantastic. Well done. Chuck
  25. Chuck
    That is looking really sharp. Well done John. Chuck

About us

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

SSL Secured

Your security is important for us so this Website is SSL-Secured

NRG Mailing Address

Nautical Research Guild
237 South Lincoln Street
Westmont IL, 60559-1917

Model Ship World ® and the MSW logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,929,264 & No. 6,929,274, registered Dec. 20, 2022)

Helpful Links

About the NRG

If you enjoy building ship models that are historically accurate as well as beautiful, then The Nautical Research Guild (NRG) is just right for you.

The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships.

The Nautical Research Guild has published our world-renowned quarterly magazine, The Nautical Research Journal, since 1955. The pages of the Journal are full of articles by accomplished ship modelers who show you how they create those exquisite details on their models, and by maritime historians who show you the correct details to build. The Journal is available in both print and digital editions. Go to the NRG web site (www.thenrg.org) to download a complimentary digital copy of the Journal. The NRG also publishes plan sets, books and compilations of back issues of the Journal and the former Ships in Scale and Model Ship Builder magazines.

Our Emblem ®

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

Nautical Research Guild ® and the NRG logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,999,236 & No. 6,999,237, registered March 14, 2023)

×
×
  • Create New...