michael mott
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Everything posted by michael mott
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Daniel, seriously insane! now that you know how to make the big blocks next to the cannons, what about the smaller ones? Michael
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I like this Idea Dafi, I will build myself one. Michael
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Eric, the final planks look very nice. I find It is extremely satisfying working with air dried wood. There is a richness to the wood because it has not been cooked. and it till has its natural oils in it. Michael -
Daniel, my you work fast. this will be a sweet little model I am looking forward to seeing how you do the rigging. Michael
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John, thanks, it is fun, and break up the tasks which gives my mind a variety of focus. Mark, absolutely, the small cutter works out to a scale 12 inches long LOA as a model in the big one. Harvey, thanks for your kind comment Druxey, thanks for the compliment and actually it is quite the opposite I find it easy to switch scales, I have been a "rubber gauger" all my life. (Sorry about the reference to railways) the top off cut looked promising for the proper rudder. Fretted out and ready for shaping, The rudder was a little tricky to hold and it took five minutes to find it after dropping it, I think it did a sycamore seed thing as it fell. When it was almost finished I snapped the shaft which was carved as an integral part of the rudder. I glued it with some ACC and since it is hidden inside the hole through the hull, and there will not be any sideways torquing pressure I will leave it. At the moment it is just a very light push fit and it does swivel from side to side. I was reading that Donald McNally actually planked the decks of all his ships with actual strips of planking. ...... I'm thinking about it. I Also shaped a new mast out of maple and tapered it to .010" at the masthead and .024" at the base, I am pleased enough with it now. Michael
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Bob Thanks for looking in on the tiny build. I have a whole new appreciation for Donald McNarry let me tell you. It took me an hour to make a new mast that is a scale 12 inches in diameter at the base. .024" it is bamboo I used a draw plate and a sanding stick but did most of the final sizing by scraping with a knife blade. It looks like the mast now needs a bit of tapering, it is definitely tricky working with these big splinters. The photo shows the mast to be smaller at the middle than the top I did not see that while working on it I will try some other woods for this small stuff. Here is mini sitting on the stem of the 1:8 and a shot in daylight with the thinner mast. I took out the 12 inch thick tiller handle. Michael
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Molasses, I love one of the opening lines in his book "Ship Models in Miniature" One of my favourite models of his is the HMS Royal Charles (c1666) an 80 gun 3 decker at a scale of 64 feet to the inch 64' to 1" the model is only 3 5/8 long Michael
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One of the dangers of not cutting the wood fairly early is the potential for the log to check often badly. I have found that by cutting the wood into fairly decent sized billets or planks depending on how big the log is is to sticker it and stack it in the open air but sheltered from the weather. even if it is a small log say 2 to 3 inches in diameter, Cutting it up into 12 to 18 inch lengths and then re sawing it into some planks, then using some Popsicle sticks as stickers, and hold the lot together with some bicycle inner-tube rubber bands will help the wood to dry more evenly. It is also good to put paraffin wax on the ends of the boards to slow down the rapid evaporation from the ends. I have dried Maple, Yew, Apple, cherry, Lilac(absolutely beautiful wood) Willow, Birch Poplar and Spruce. it is fun being able to harvest your own wood Michael
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I thought that a challenge to build a small model at 1:500 scale similar to the ships in bottles might make a satisfying change from working in 1:8 scale the hull is carved from a small piece of the English Boxwood I decided to use the larger part of the block as a holding jig so I carefully fretted out the profile and plan with a jewelers saw, by not completing the cuts I was able to hold it easily until the end. The hull blank was reatached to the cut along the deck line saw cut with a little acc glue. The beginning carving most of the actual carving was done with the #11 blade then some files. Some .024" holes were drilled for mounting to a board and a similar hole was drilled for the rudder. The first trial assembly to get an Idea of how it will look. I think that the mast is a bit big in diameter yet and the hull still needs a bit of fairing in a couple of spots. Three quarter from the bow Still a fair ways to go but I am satisfied with the progress this evening. The brass tiller is just a placeholder it is a bit on the big side. Next the bowsprit and topmast gaff and boom. Michael
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Great to see your build log back Stephan. Michael
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Remco, those blocks are looking quite superior, as far as the hole size it would be good to use one of the standard rod sizes that is about the same size as the rope strop diameter. I found it useful to drill the hole before doing any of the rounding and shaping I laid out the shape with some 45 degree elipse templates. Michael
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Ed thanks for adding the picture with your hand it gives me a much better sense of the scale of the model you are working on. Michael
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Molasses, I am in awe of the scale of the work you are doing. working at large scales is a much more easy task. Working at your scale shows great skill. Donald McNarry's work is large by comparison and he would be smiling with his hat off looking at your work. Glad to see that you are pushing the limits, and that your build log is back. I am learning a great deal. Michael
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Hello Pasi, welcome back your model look really fine. Michael
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Russ, thanks. Mark, I take that as quite a compliment. John, I'm workin' on it give me some time Michael
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Another Rope Walk
michael mott replied to michael mott's topic in Rope Making/Ropewalks's Rope Materials and parts resources
Thanks Mark, I am getting the hang of it and making a couple of simple additions to the walk so that threading it up becomes more simple.. Some 18 strand rope 3 sets of 6. of the T41 COATS & CLARK 40 wt thread the rope is .408 in diameter or 13/32 in 1:8 scale. I cut up some Christmas wrapping tube to store the ropes on this way I can write on the edge what it is. the tube is 1 1/2 inches in diameter, toilet roll tubes would work too. the little notch allows the rope to stay put. Michael
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Hello Gigantesco, the model is looking good , My question relates to the scale of the model, Longridges' Model is to 1:48 which is 1/4 inch to the foot 1:64 would be 3/16ths to the foot. Is your model 1:66 a metric equivalent? Michael
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Dida, Carl thanks for your compliments. Germanus, thank you for your comments regarding the history of the block making. eventually I will get the different methods sorted out. When it comes to making an accurate model of a boat in a set time period, say 1600 or 1800 or 1900 then I hope to have the different methods and types clearly understood form my own building point of view. The reason for trying out the bearing sheave was twofold to see if I could do it. also because this will be a working model I want to reduce the friction. The next type of block will be one that has the metal strop on the outside. then I will try the type with the strop on the inside. I do have a billet of Lignum Vitea so I will also be experimenting with it. As regards the groove that you mention the sheave is larger in diameter than the wood at the bottom so there is no contact with the wood by the running rope. As the model will be representing a Classic Bristol Cutter that has been converted to be a pleasure craft and upgraded with the modern looking classic hardware, I can have some fun and play. besides Mini Me is not as strong as I am and he wanted the blocks to be easy on his hands Just made some 1/8th inch scale rope diameter is .0148" inch which is close enough to .015" Michael
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Another Rope Walk
michael mott replied to michael mott's topic in Rope Making/Ropewalks's Rope Materials and parts resources
thinking about the smaller diameter ropes and whether I could make them without too much trouble on my crude walk. I used some COATS & CLARK T41 40wt 100% polyester made in the USA Which I noticed was laid the opposite to the first embroidery thread that I used and I noticed this as I was winding and that the thread was unraveling so the first 15 minutes of winding needed to be reversed, I know I could have put in more thread, but I considered it my morning meditation. The results are promising. the rope is .015" and 7 feet long in 1/8th scale works out to s 1/8th inch in diameter in 1/16th scale works out to 1/4 inch in diameter in 1/32nd scale works out to 1/2 inch in diameter in 1/64th scale works out to 1 inch in diameter Michael
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Nice work on the carving Russ. Michael
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I like the way that you only copper-ed a section, when I saw the first picture of the copper going on I thought Oh No all that beautiful planking getting covered with copper. Michael
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Garward Beautiful rope work. could you explain how your rope walk works?. Michael
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John you mean like this. I also did a better job on the splicing after revisiting the eye slice that Remco did. Longridge talks about passing the rope through a flame of a spirit lamp to get rid of the fluff, it is amazing what the camera sees that i can't. I had fun with the 4 inch block it has a working sheave but I couldn't find my jar of miniature bearings so opted for a simple shaft through the brass. I will do a little more experimenting with the strops, once i get it all figured out I will be able to set up some jigs. Michael
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Karl, Bob, Druxey, Remco, John, and Mark, thanks for your kind words. the next step is much more difficult that I thought it would be. Making the loop of rope and then fitting it to the block. This is the second attempt not any where near that way I would like it to look. Any suggestions ? Michael
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