Dubz

Hello there ... again?
It's been ... oh, maybe 35 years? Back then I called Merritt Edson a friend, mentor, critic, source and, on more than one occasion, a savior.
Recently, I started opening old boxes - lots of old boxes - and was greeted by the smell of wood and loads of everything ship modelling and nautical history from a lifetime ago. I was a goner. Now, there's a two-year-old great niece who doesn't yet know that there's a Grand Banks schooner with her name on it. Literally.The launch is, hopefully, the week after Christmas, if I can wipe my rust off fast enough.
By the way, I'm doing my old Model Shipways Benjamin W. Latham, 1/8 scale, waterline, with (hopefully) some custom details and scratch-built deck fittings and structures like the old days - again, if I can wipe my rust off.
You'll be hearing from me.
It's good to be back.
Regards,
Rick Menapace

The starboard engine is more or less completed: 

Each cylinder of the engine has a bore of 400 mm which is about 8 mm at the 1/48 scale. I happen to have aluminum tubes of that exact size, for their inner diameters. I have decided to represent the engine during its construction or rather during extensive repairs. The long threaded rods to hold the head and block around the sleeved cylinders, are made of brass rod. I did not have a 1 mm die (smallest I have is 2 mm), otherwise I would have tapped the extremities of each rod. I hope it does not look too bad....from a distance.


At this point, the second engine can be placed on its cradle: 

This makes for a cramped compartment, as is the prototype. It also allows a nice view on the Port engine with all its finished details.




Some funny views....


Soon, we will be closing the lid (installing the ceiling) on these engines.
 
Yves
 
 
 
 

Time for another update. It's been a while but I lost my MoJo a little bit for a while. A job change (unexpected) and a few minor health scares (hopefully minor) can do that to you. Luckily after being let go from the company I worked for I managed to get another full time job virtually within 2 weeks. Not bad for an old fart....(or maybe just lucky...lol).
So..., my MoJo rediscovered I picked up from where I left and managed to finish chapter 4.
Just a few photo's to show where I am at....
 

I have reached the stage that I do not like so there is not much to show. 
Before I can fix the position of the spreadsail yard I need to prepare 2 things. 
1. I need to do the top half of ratlines until I still can lower the yard. It will be lot more complicated with the yard fixed in position. (I hate doing ratlines!) 
2. I need to prepare topsail so I could secure all the rigging in the center of the deck by the mast (it would be also very dificult to get there once lower ratlines and "outside running rigging" is in place). And I'm also not a fan of this task
 
So the progress is very slow now. I have installed lower and upper Sheer battens and prepared few ratlines, that is all for now. 

Gasoline station , there are 8 of these spread around the catwalks 

Rigging is finished!🤯
 
Still need to do the rope coils on the belaying points, but i'm happy it's finished. 

Hi Rick, thank you for your comments.  To be honest I haven't yet looked  into shapeways web site, but I will definitely do.  The photo etched sheets supplied with the caldercraft kit are quite good,  I dont mind straying away from the supplied material, in fact I did not finish the bottom of the hull with the copper plates supplied with the kit.  I preferred to leave it with the wooden planks showing.  Obviously the planking entailed a lot more work to finish it nicely.  If I had to copper plate the bottom I could get away with any irregularitie as everything will be covered.   You asked me what I think about the now new applied colour on HMS Victory, well, it is being claimed that the aunthentic colour, pink hue, is the actual colour it was during the Battle of Trafalgar.  To be honest I see the new pinkish colour a bit odd for such a battle ship.  I prefer the previous colour it was painted in, which apparently is described as mustard orange or orange-brown.  I stuck to this colour, in 'admirality paints' it is the 'yellow ochre'.  I think the question is if either you want your model to look like the colours you were already used to see her in, which in my opinion looks better, or how authentic you want to be and paint it in the pinkish colour it is being claimed is the right one, which colour some people even desribed as hedious.
 
Now for an update for the work I managed to do on my model.
Fitted the side entry port steps.  As a guide for their alignment I use pieces of tape to avoid pencil marks on the painted surface.

 
Also painted the Cat Heads.  I will glue on the cast crowns at a later stage to avoid scratching them while doing other work.  The band is made from 0.25 x 1.00mm polystyrene strip.


 
Fitted and paintred the remaing brass rails on the hull sides. Did some retouching on the already fitted rails.  The paint chips so easily from on brass!!!  

 
Finished the blue trimmings on the edges of the head timbers.  I made them from strips of Polystyrene 0.25 x 1.0mm.  I cut them to the required lengths, paint them and when dry glue them in place.





 
Robert

Thanks, guys!!
 
FINALLY FINISHED!!! I rigged the guns and placed some equipment at each battle station to complete the model. I'll post a few more shots, including the model in it's case, tomorrow.

The exterior of the model is complete. I mounted all the deadeyes and chainplates and glued the retaining strips to hold them in place. The chainplates were nailed to the hull through pre-drilled holes and secured with a drop of CA. The chainplates were fixed to the channels in their notches with a little gel CA. The finished channels have a decorative groove cut in the outside edge, and knees to counter the upward stress the shrouds would put on the channels.
All that's left is to rig the cannons, and add some kegs, match tubs and tools to the two battles stations on the gun deck.

So I’ve scratch built from spares an arrestor gear station. I think it’s probably as much as is warranted given it’s not really visible with the naked eye. 

Javelin, the alignment sucked, required a lot of trimming and there are still some gaps. Meh, it’ll be fine. 
 
the next step is the catwalks. The kit has plastic ledges which I discovered today when I started the Pontos replacements need to be cut off. 
 
ive added a few reference photos here as they are an insanely detailed area which requires my imagination to detail up as there is nothing really showing this area in detail. 
 
this area has refueling hoses, firefighting equipment, Gun and storage, catapault controls  And arrest or cable controls etc etc. 
 
the Pontos detail here is amazing but the instructions are somewhat “expert” level to guess. I want to do most of these off model so I can prime them before placement and still work the hull without risk of breaking or worse, bending them off. 

A big motivation for the upcoming work on the crane:  The first Lift was succesful 💪
 
A little clip of the action can you see HERE
 

 

Hi all,
Thanks very much for your kind words Dirk, appreciated as always.
Today l tackled the Gunports, l wasn't much looking forward to this task as l knew the nature of the job would leave me with an aching neck, it did. Having said that, as with most repetitive tasks, they become easier as the job progresses. 

All that is required now is for me to paint the edges red and they will look great, although at the moment they are not so hot.

l shall paint the edges next and work on the rudder.
Best wishes as always, 
The Lazy Saint. 
 
Session.         Time.         Total.    
31.                   3 hrs.         110 hrs

Slate was propably used to cover a qgallery in those days. Here is an old shingle together with the Winnie.
The qgallery of HMS Surprise has a comparable construction. My daughter visited the ship in San Diego in 2017. Here is a picture.

HMS Victory and HMS Trincomalee have both Black roofs over the qgallery.

Thank the surgeons, I'm back in the ranks!

Video review our new  woodenkit "MOREL" - Yefim Nikonov`s "Secret Vessel"
Scale 1/36
art. MK0203  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Well, the engine has been installed in its cradle, similar to what these mechanics were doing on these historic pictures. I have tried to shorten the stand of some of the rockers, to give the overall engine a more realistic look. If all the rockers were in the same position (as implied by the Trumpeter kit), then the engine would have a hard time running. It is not perfect, but at least it is better than what the kit is proposing. Also, I have added the six hand valves on top of the engine. Again, these are present in the PE sheet, but the instructions are not mentioning them.

I added a small washer between the shaft and the bulkhead, to make it look more convincing: 

Still trying to focus my poor camera on these gauges: 

And finally, giving the engine some offset, like the prototype:. The rear of the engines are closer to each other than the front (shaft/output) side.

Now, to work on the ceiling and on the other engine. 
 
Katuna, I am still debating about that oily look... It is very tempting but also difficult to represent in a realistic way.
 
Yves
 

The video Ron posted of Ken's Intro to Airbrushing is something I recommend to all those new to airbrushing.  The most complete short seminar out there.
 
To Dave's question about cleaning between coats (sorry I didn't see your text message till just a few minutes ago) there is no need when using acrylics to wait between coats on something like a hull.  By the time one paints the port side with a second coat the starboard side is ready for it's second coat.  There is a tendency for paint to dry on the tip of the airbrush with any paint but with acrylics it collects quicker and heavier.  It's always best to preemptively flick the dried paint off the tip than to wait till you see it affecting the paint application.  Experience will help to know how long this takes with the paint, pressure and atmospheric conditions.  But as long as the airbrush isn't set down for other than short periods there shouldn't be any need to clean it between coats of paint.
If stopping for lunch, clean it to the point there is no residual paint showing on a clean paper towel.  At the end of the day always do a thorough cleaning.
 
Take care,
Kurt

Jeer bitts and pumps.

Here's another view of that area. Grant Walker gave me a CD of hi-res photos of the model. Note the crazy lime green color of the interior. I also note the molding ends are beautifully shaped to reflect the profile. I wonder if they were left short intentionally or an upper carving might have been lost?
 
I've seen contemporary models with the blue frieze, slate gray shingles, white fluted columns and red windows (matching the port linings). It's a striking combination! So many choices...

Just one note as while working on the friezes I have several photos of Minerva out for inspiration.  Its one of the reason I have decided to go with a lighter toned frieze.  The Cedar is light and anything darker would be too much.   But I wanted to point out a few things.  
 
Note the unpainted roof shingles of the quarter galleries....
 
Note the painted interior of the qgalleries...I dont like that its a weird color.  
 
But I will be making a second roof as a test with the top painted the same blue as the frieze while leaving the shingles natural.    There are plenty of choices out there and looking at the way contemporary builders did this is great for inspiration.  The Minerva model in the Naval Academy is  much more refined and built with more expertise than the Winnie contemporary model.  The Winnie model is a bit crude in its details by comparison.  So examining both makes for good study!!  
 
Also note how you can see that the contemporary builder painted his frieze on paper and glued it on the model.  There is a bit of lifting in one of the images I posted.
 

 
 

The rope colour depends on period and region - plus the treatment and grime as mentioned above.
 
Hemp was the main raw material until cotton was introduced from the US. Hemp has a pale yellow to beige colour, while cotton is more whitish.
 
Stockholm (pine) tar leads to a darkish brown colour, while coal tar makes the ropes black. With age and weathering, both tars become more greyish.
 
If you work on an 'artisanal' style model, you may want to have only two colours, for tarred and for untarred rope. When you want depict a real life ship, you may want to use several slightly different colours to represent different makes and ages of the ropework.

Hi all,
Another painting day today and, l am glad to say, an enjoyable break from the building tasks. All in all l am pleased with my efforts.

I also fitted and painted the Bitts and Belfry. 

Also painted the grating's and the skylight over the great cabin.



I am pleased l fitted the Supporting pillars for the Skid Beams, they would have collapsed under the weight of all those boats. 🤣
Best wishes as always, 
The Lazy Saint. 
 
Session.      Time.         Total. 
30.                3 hrs.         107 hrs.  

Hi all,
I have been so busy the last two weeks that I haven't had time to look at the Victory let alone work on her. I was so pleased to do a session today and hope to be able to spend more time in the Den again, although with Christmas on the horizon l expect l will be in demand with the Grandchildren (at least l hope so) 
I started the session by fitting the Supporting pillars for the Skid Beams and l have to admit that they were so fiddly l thought (only for  a moment) l would leave them out. The old saying "practice makes perfect" proved to be true as by the time I got to the last pair l was an expert. 🤣

Once they were fitted and secure l thought l would turn my attention to the life boats, barge and launch. They proved to be great fun to build and, l think, have turned out great. 
They were well presented and l was very pleased with the laser cutting.


This is the first up, the little Launch, a joy to build. The smallest was a challenge but no less enjoyable. 
Number two.

Number three. 

I still have three to do but that is a job for another session. 

Here they are in their positions, but not yet fitted of course.


l hope to apply a little paint during my next session which always brings them to life, l think.
Best wishes as always, 
The Lazy Saint. 
 
Session.          Time.             Total.   
28.                    4 hrs.             102 hrs