Chuck

Its going to be a while. You are too quick for me. How about the gunport lids….did you make those yet? I am making steady progress now so hopefully soon enough. But you will run through Chapter 9 and be ready for ten really quickly too.

Wait until you plank the counter and then fair the hull back there into the counter planking so it will be smooth. The line is fine and what you really need to do is sand and fair that filler against the bulkhead former.

It looks fine actually. It is more of a gentle curve on that line that follows the curve of the bottom of the lower counter. This is east enough to draw on those filler pieces so you can plank correctly and once you actually plank the lower counter with the laser cut parts that curve will become very evident. The laser cut counter olanking will create the actual curved shape. Its absolutely fine as I see it and its good to see you working on her again.

How is your Winnie progressing? Any progress?

Beautiful progress. That is one cleanly built model. Nice work.

Yupp….even though 95% of the parts are laser cut in this kit. It is impossible to match the curvature at the bow for everyones model. Everyones model will vary slightly and even from the port to starboard sides on the same model based on how I see evryone fairing the bow area. So its best to just cut your own. its not that hard and this way everyone wont toss and waste all that wood when the laser cut pieces dont fit….you have my templates which is basically spoon feeding the shape I would have laser cut. If you test the template on your model and it doesnt fit correctly then the laser cut Versions would just be trash. Its why the model looks like it does and not the typical kit like pieces that dont fit. Its only one of the very few pieces you have to cut on your own.

Here is a quick update. The margin planks on the qdeck and fcastle have been added. The first planks to add are those along the breast beams at the waist. I used a 3/16" x 3/64" strip for this. The overhang edge on both were rounded off. There is only a slight overhang on the breast beams with these plans which should leave you with a nice rabbet on the other side for your deck planking which we will start shortly. The rabbet was about 1/16" wide on the other side. Fcastle margin planks shown below. Then the templates can be used as a starting point for the actual margin planks. Just like you did for the gundeck below at the bow. Use the template as a guide and starting point to make your margin planks. I cut them from a 3/64" thick sheet. Then I added the waterway along the bulwarks just as we did on the gun deck. I 3/64 x 364 strip was used and one corner was rounded off down its length to create a quarter round profile. Same as for the gun deck....you dont have to create scarph joins if you dont want to. They are tricky. You can simply butt them together if you want to simplify this. Then the same was repeated on the qdeck. Start with the breast beam plank.....then the waterways can be cut from a 3/64" sheet......and then make the waterway from a 3/64 x 3/64 strip. Do you guys have any questions???? I thinking I will start on the outside areas of planking before I do the coamings. Just to break up the planking process a bit. Again .....you guys have the templates for lining off. All the deck planks are provided for you on the templates for the fcastle and qdeck. It should go easier than the gun deck. I will have that done soon and another update.

Looks great so far....Welcome to the group.

Thats not a little update. They take a long time to make neatly. They look great. Chuck

Very Good....Looks like you will be a very busy modeler. I am looking forward to seeing both models progress.

It all looks very good. The guns look great rigged. The hinges are neat and tidy. Chuck

Looking good Bob...

Lovely work....

CAF is OK but ZHL is not. I have deleted the video because it had all kinds of ZHL advertising. It should not have been posted. Tom stopped making this model for a while. There were issues with the design and bulkheads not fitting properly, etc. Again I suggest you contact Tom for details directly. But it looks like he is offering it again so I can assume he has fixed all of the issues with the design. Chuck

Looks great Mike...Cant wait to see it all painted and weathered. Chuck

You can find better quality milled lumber just about anywhere else. I think The Lumberyard used a chainsaw to mill its strops and sheets...LOL. You wont be disappointed with Modeler's Sawmill. Chuck

Thank you

I love my sheerline. I made my old style blocks by hand using it. I was able to make twice as many blocks per hour and sometimes more by hand. But that meant I had to sit in front of a machine to make 2000 blocks. For you….just making them for one model would be a walk in the park and I would also make them hand if that was all I had to make. I agree with you that is the way to go for a guy just making blocks for their own models.

Yes that is it exactly. The issue with the bits are the quality. Even buying expensive bits they are not centered or not sharp. Yes the tricky part is zeroing it out and getting everything all lined up. Its tricky. Whats even trickier is the fact that no two cnc machines are alike. There are slight variations between my two machines and no amount of calibration will sync them up. So each machine needs different files slightly tweaked to help line everything up. If you are off by the tiniest fraction you screw up hours of work. The jigs need to be perfect. The machines need to be perfectly “homed” with each bit change and flip. It takes practice…especially on those tiny 2mm blocks. Ball nose bits dont work on blocks this tiny. They break instantly and blocks fly across the shop. For these tiny blocks the best bit is by far a “V” engraving bit with a 10 degree angle. Remember we are only talking about wood that is 1mm thick and you are only milling through half of it with each pass. Engraving bits are great for them. But even expensive “V” bits are crappy. I have to trash half of them before I find one that works. Nothing worse and more destructive than an off-center dull engraving bit. Even the so called expensive bits are junk. So I now buy them 30 at a time and throw away half of them. Many have the tips broken right out of the box new. I test them all in the spindle and if they wobble I toss them. Larger blocks and parts are different. Those need roughing passes to remove the bulk of material before using the smaller bits.

Thanks Justin….there were so many failures you didnt see. I know my way around a laser pretty well and can push it to its limits. But it isnt ideal for many applications. The cnc machine I admit I am still clueless about. I managed to fumble through it and take what I know from laser production and just apply it to coming up with production approach on the cnc. The cnc machine is not a very expensive version. Its a simple 3018 like so many of you guys have as well. I have two now and they cost about $450 each. A far cry from the $5000 a decent laser costs. you can do some really good stuff with these entry level cnc machines. The learning curve should take 6 months to a year but i have figured out how to make decent blocks in just 3 weeks. its all about the correct bit/endmill and speed and depth of cut rates. A ton of trial and error really and a willingness to screw up and waste wood…time…and broken bits. I am sure I can refine it as I learn more. A look at a failed experiment….Notice how slow it is. I can make the absolute perfect rigging block but it would take 4 hours to make 42 blocks. Using the laser and the cnc and simplifying it….I can make the ones you see in that photo at a rate of 100 blocks per hour or so depending on the size. Multiple passes….changing bits with each pass and flipping the board to repeat on the other side. Its actually fun learning….and failing too. IMG_0344.MOV

I have been combining both types of mfg and these 2mm blocks have the sheaves laser cut and then the blocks are cnc milled to shape after the fact. This gives you the precision for small detail as well as the clean milling on even the smallest parts. I just took these pics with my phone so they are a bad pics but I found if you use bot CNC and a laser it produces the best result in a fraction of the time.... These are just 2mm long if you can believe it. They were really hard to make and it took many failed experiments to get to these. And here is a shot of some larger single blocks along with those tiny ones using the same exact process. These are some pretty tiny examples. I am refining the process as I gain more experience as well. The issue with just a laser is all the char which is very problematic. This gives you the best of both worlds and really cuts down on the cnc time which takes forever. CNC is very very slow. .

She is a beauty....its looking fantastic. The color of the wood against the red and black really looks great.

Looks great Rusty. It was so good to see your Winnie in person yesterday. It looks even better up close. Glad to see you back at it. Chuck

The kit log forums for the appropriate period would be best. looking forward to the log.

Looking good Jim.