gjdale

Rob,
 
When I built my Bomb Vessel cross section I used a technique called "painting with wood", where I used different spieces of wood instead of paint to achieve the same effect. Link to my build log in the signature block below if you're interested. I've described where I've used each timber spieces within the log.

Build Day 33-37. 
5 hours in 5 days.
114 hours into build in total.   I continued with deck varnishing while waiting for the GIT-ROT which I ordered from eBay to arrive for applying on hull (after testing, of course).   In these 5 days I put   - 2 layers of Z-poxy (diluted 50% with denatured alcohol), - 3 layers of Hempel gloss varnish (water resistant) and - 2 layers of spray gloss lacquer.   I used 240 grit and 500 grit sanding between the coats.    I think the deck is good enough now, although it could've been better, but I am not that experienced in surface finishing. There are some impurities which a pair of careful eyes will notice. However this is as good as it gets for me.          

I'm not dead yet!  I'm not making any progress on Bluenose at the moment, but she is still sitting next to me waiting for some attention.  In part I am doing my over-analyzing thing about how to do the sails, and freezing in place while that goes on.  I am also rekindling my life-long dream of doing astrophotography (if you think wooden ship modelling is a money sucker, try AP sometime) and am at a point there that requires a lot of energy to get better.
 
I still stop in to MSW on an almost daily basis and am keeping an eye on you all.  EdT's Young America continues to amaze, and I am enjoying watching Chuck build up Syren Ship Modelling, and many of the other activities here. When I get off the dime and decide to move forward with old Blue, I will start posting in the log again.
 
Bob

It's update time boys and girls !
 
Whilst waiting so long for paint and stuff I have not been idle - oh no!
 
I have been a busy boy preparing my sides ad making steps and now, at last I have been able to attach something to my hull which I seem to have been waiting for forever.
 
So essentially I think I have finished plan sheet one with a few modifications (thanks Kurt). I have covered some of the horrid ends of the walls with a wee bit of wood strip which up until now I haven't painted. I think it looks quite smart as is but, before I get carried away with more building, do you think I should paint them white or leave them ?
 
Anyway, some pictures for you and you were quite right Kurt, the lettering took some patience!.
 
 

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 172 – Stay Bullseyes/Eyebolts
 
There are six "heavy duty" eyebolts with shackled bullseyes that secure the two legs of the fore, main, and main topmast stays.  Those of the main mast are anchored in the deck and the forestay is secured to the knightheads.  I'm including these and all deck and hull eyebolts as part of the "pre-rigging" and intend to install all those connections before starting on the masts.  The process for making the bullseyes and fitting the iron shackles is very similar to that used on the channel deadeyes described earlier.  The process starts with the bullseyes.
 
There are two sizes of these bullseyes, 11" for the fore and main stays and 8" for the main topmast stay.
 
After turning a cherry cylinder the small bullseyes were shaped in the lathe and parted off first, followed by the larger size.  This allows them to be turned "overhanging" without end support and without deflection.  The first picture shows one of the 11" bullseyes being turned.
 

 
The edges were rounded with a file before the parting step shown in the photo.  The pieces were then filed/sanded to remove stubs from the parting.  They were then set up in chuck in the rotating table as described earlier for the deadeyes.  The rotating table is not really required for this, but it is easy to center with a dial indicator on the center hole.  I believe this was shown earlier.  The center holes in the bullseyes were then drilled as shown below.
 

 
I did this in the mill as described so the holes would be precisely centered.  Although lathe drilling can be very convenient, sometimes (at least in my aging Unimat) it is more likely to produce off center holes, especially on the smaller pieces.  In fact, for the small bullseyes I started the hole with a center drill before changing to the final small drill bit.  The larger bit shown on the 11" bullseye above was stiff enough to stay on center without that time consuming step.
 
The edges of the bores in all of the bullseyes were then rounded by twirling diamond bits by hand in a pin vise as shown below.
 

 
The bullseyes were then polished up and dyed with a non-fading walnut stain made from VanDyke crystals.  These will later be waxed. 
 
The next picture shows the first step in making the shackle.
 

 
The shackle bolts were silver- soldered to the ends of the shackle with the eyebolts slipped on but away from the solder.  These were then maneuvered over the bolt end of the shackle.  The six shackles with their eyebolts are shown below.
 

 
These were then slipped over the bullseyes, crimped and each whole assembly washed with liver of sulfur to blacken the copper.  The blackened assemblies are shown drying on a paper towel in the next picture.
 

 
The next picture shows two large bullseyes for the forestay bolted through the knightheads.  
 

 
These are often shown bolted into the tops of the knightheads, but this makes no sense to me because the strain could easily split open the top of the knighthead.  I bolted these through the aft side just below the top. (Engineering license.)
 
The connections for the main and main topmast stays are shown below.  Iron reinforcing plates were fitted at the base of these.
 

 
Location of these required some consideration (and again some license was exercised).  The larger mainstay eyebolts are anchored through the deck beam.  The position was plotted using a dummy lower mast and a full sized line to check for interferences with the bitts, the cabin roof, the foremast, and the anchor chain openings. The smaller main topmast stay eyebolts are likewise anchored on the deck and not to a cross member between the bitts as is often shown.  I omitted this member on both fore and main masts because rigging for the double topsail rig greatly increases congestion of ropes in this area, especially in front of the mast.  The location shown seemed logical, and as with the larger stay, will avoid interferences – I hope. 
 
 
Ed

Good afternoon, John and many thanks for the wonderful photo of the Bluenose. I'm sorry that I didn't get to visit the Waterfron Restaurant when we were in Halifax a couple of summers ago.  OMG, it looks like I have a lot of sail work to do one of these days.  This picture really illustrates how much sail area this ship had..
 
Many thanks for your kind words regarding the build and I am pleased to submit a few more pictures as to where the build stands today.
 
Have a very nice evening and please visit again.
Best,
Jerry

I finished all the trunnions and blackened the swivel guns.  Next comes the supports, which shouldn't be too tough.  I'm still procrastinating on the chainplates.  The catheads are done, but not installed.  I'm getting closer to the end!

Hello all! In an effort to improve my log, I will start to explain how I build different things more. I built the pintles and gudgeons by bending a brass strip to the correct shape. Since I don't know how to solder, I used ca to attach the wire for the hinge system. I glued the parts to the hull and rudder with medium consistency ca. I used acrylic paint, but still had to do touch up work to make up for where it peeled of. The top set of hinges is slightly crooked, but there is nothing I can do now . Oh well, first model. I will be taking a break from the main build to make the launching ways. This will be the permanent base. It should be good that I do this now, as school has started, and I have less time for building. I'm glad I am doing this now because she has gotten a bit knocked about, and I don't want to lose any more copper plates ! Here are the pictures!


This is where I get to the fun part . Until next time!

Hello Popeye,
Olive Oil has had an open kit sitting on her desk since early spring; it's not the Santa Maria but it is the La Nina by Artesania Latina.  I learned a long time ago to say nothing that will make her feel pressured so I've been waiting to see if and when sh'd begin the build.  About a week ago she slipped into the office (where we both work) and started messing around with her kit.  As agreed upon, I said nothing until she asked me to check to see if she was missing some parts.  I found the parts and said nothing else waiting to see what would progress.  I was busy working on Bluenose so about 30 minutes later I realized she left the office and I didn't see her for about another hour or so when I went into another room to watch TV. Honestly, to this day not another word has been said about her build.  I have a feeling though, that she's getting closer to working on her kit but I'm not saying a thing.  Things have been peaceful around here for a long time and I'd like to keep it that way, if you know what I mean.  LOL
 
Now to the Bluenose...
 
I've made some more progress.  The deck furniture is beginning to grow.  It's tedious work due to its minute size but we all now that we wouldn't be following this hobby  (participating in it) if we didn't have patience.  That's always the first statement I hear when someone is looking at my finished models..."I would never have the patience to do what you do."
 
So it's one deck piece at a time and that's where I'm at.  Here are some additional photos to bring my progress up to date.
 
Take care,
Best,
Jerry

Paint job looks great Jerry.

Well done Kevin, and I see from the photos that you have the domestic testing facility ready for sea trials too!

Well done Kevin, and I see from the photos that you have the domestic testing facility ready for sea trials too!

Here is a photo of the blackened yokes.  The yokes themselves were silver soldered using Fire Mountain medium flow silver solder paste.  For cleanup I used a fine bristled brass brush chucked into my drill press.  It buffed up the heat discolored brass and the silver solder nicely.  15 minutes in acetone, rinse, then 15 minutes in muriatic (HCl) acid and rinse.  The blackening was Jax Pewter Black which I painted on with a small brush. 2 coats and no flaking off or crusting.  The process worked very neatly.

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 171 – Rigging Cleats 2
 
There are ten larger 12" cleats.  These will be used to belay the sheets and tacks for the lower sails on each mast.  They could have been made by the method used on the 9" cleats described in the last part, but the larger size and the lower required number suggested a fabricated approach.  One of the shaped cleats is shown in the next picture with the remaining unfinished silver-soldered fabrications.
 

 
After soldering, each cleat was shaped by filing as shown in the next pictures.
 

 
The hand vise shown above was helpful but most of the work was done with the piece in the vise as shown below.
 

 
In this picture the single bolt is being filed to size.  Nine of the required ten are shown below.
 

 
The tenth sailed off to parts unknown while being buffed with the rotary tool, so another had to be made.  Murphy's rule corollary:  If you fail to make spares, they will later be required.
 
The next picture shows two of these installed.
 

 
Cleats on the rail like the one shown are for the tacks.  Those on the deck will belay the sheets that pass through the bulwark sheaves like the one under the pin rail in the picture.  The next picture shows one of these cleats mounted on each of the catheads.
 

 
These will belay the fore course tacks.  The eight small cleats for the jib sheets may also be seen on the breast beam in this picture.
 
 
Ed

380 hours in and feeling really good!
 
As you will see in the photos below, I have completed the fairing of the hull in 80grit paper and an orbital sander.  I then used a box knife blade to scrape the surface clean.  You will note the use of the templates to ensure that I was on target.  I decided to replace a few of the frames that were not up to my liking.  This was very risky and actually caused me a bit of angst as I was tearing them out...
 
Since last week, I also completed the stern filler pieces, these are dadoed into the stern transom.  I am happy with the results.
 
I marked the bottom of the lower sills and then ran masking tape to ensure they were in a nice sweep along the sides.  I then placed temporary cross spauls where the ports were to see that everything lined up on the ship.  I was pleased with the results.
 
One thing that I missed was the top timbers.  I should have made them long and then cut them down.  As it is, there area a group of 6 frames along the dead flat that are too short!  I will likely pull those frames out and redo them.
 
The time to have made some of the rework was at the time I initially installed the pieces.  Now it will take longer and I run the risk of damaging things.  This being said, I feel confident that I can make these repairs and have them look good.
 

Well, sir, I concur with you.  It also appears my fore topsail sheet crosspiece may be too small.  I guess I have my project for next weekend.  Thank you for pointing this out.

Well done Kevin, and I see from the photos that you have the domestic testing facility ready for sea trials too!

Thanks for the nice words and likes! That really helps to find more modelling time
 
Finally got the micro-drill working, so now the clamp installation goes faster.
After marking the treenail locations with the pencil, they are accentuated with the scriber (I know, bad use for the scriber):

 
That is required to avoid the drill wobble, it is not very balanced (chinese crap):

 
And then install the boxwood treenails - these ones are not just for looks, they are injected at least few millimiters into the frames and glued, hope that will make a strong bond between frames and deck clamps, to avoid the hull cracking and twisting during the dry winter months. 

Hi friends,
thanks for the kind comments and likes.
New pictures of the 74 gun-ship.
Karl
 
 
​T e i l  10
 

Good evening everyone
 
more progress, on a bit of a roll at present, all the ratlines are now completed,as well as all of the backstays, but was not happy with some of the upper stays so at present they are being re-done, newt week, I am hoping to make another flying Jib

I've now completed the detailing of the midship interior bulwarks. This involved the following: adding the door to the quarterdeck bulkhead; drilling mounting holes for the bulwark eyebolts and ringbolts and adding the eyebolts; drilling the interior holes for the scuppers; adding the various cleats and kevels.
 
The quarterdeck bulkhead door was made from thin card, painted red to match the bulkhead, with hinges from the kit PE set and knobs made from brass pins.
 
The scupper holes were drilled at locations corresponding to those on the exterior, but not connected. Like the exterior holes, they were painted graphite with a toothpick.
 
The kevels were made from boxwood strip and painted red. the cleats are the kit castings, also painted red.
 
Now, it's time to move forward and do work on the bow portion of the ship.
 
Bob

And done.Messy at first;
 
Then, they are supposed to be slung below but at they are under tension, they need to be tight, and as the whole assemby is very fragile, it's somewhat nerve racking.

Seriously, I did go a little cross eyed. It took me three hours to do the first failure, absolute mess, but it's done and slung, bugger me it worked! Photos to come after the youngest gets off the computer.

There is a special room in hell for the designers of the aerials on the dreadnought. The kit comes with spreaders, and I see most people try and use stretched sprue or thin metal wire, but trying to be consistent I used the ezyline. The first attempt came out like this.

 
A little more thought and going cross-eyed because of the scale, I came up with this.
 
And hopefully I can end up with this.
 
I just have to attach them under tension now. Then I can finally ad some more rigging, and back to making progress.

The next decision was how much planking to show on the forecastle.  I decided on sufficient planking to support the fore jeer bitts, leaving the rest of the deck unplanked.  The planks run the entire length of the forecastle deck, tapering slightly stern to bow.
 

 
The fore jeer bitts are bolted onto the deck.  The location varied among the different Swannies.  On Atalanta, the crosspiece is on the fore side of the standards and there is only a 9" gap between it and the foremast.  On Fly, the crosspiece is on the aft side of the standard.  On Vulture, Dan Vadas states there are no standard because of the width of the hatches.  The standards are bored for a 7" diameter sheave.  There is also a cheek block with another 7" sheave, similar to the fore topsail sheet.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Since the next step is adding the eyebolts at the foot of the foremast, I decided to apply the wood finish to the forecastle structure and fore jeer bitts.  It is amazing what a difference that makes.