FriedClams

Good to see the planks going on George.  I will enjoy following the "plankers" progress. 🙂
 

And it wasn't raining for a change Andy. Interesting you didn't take pictures of there bigger fish - it's always the way with fishermen! Beautiful work on the frames.

Thanks! Most of it would be taken up with my many experiences in how not to thatch.

Jacques, that came out so nice. I think that you have just written the book on thatching!👍

Thanks, Paul!
 
As it turns out, it actually wasn't very difficult to thatch the peak of the rancho. I was able to knock it out in a few sessions in a single day while recovering from a bout of pneumonia.
 
After considering my options, I decided to use the cloth strip as a base layer to provide a better gluing surface. I had noticed that my first attempt at a rancho has been shedding bits of thatching because the thatching was mostly just glued to itself, so hopefully gluing to a cloth backing will help. I began cutting lengths of straw and snapping them in half--not enough to separate them, but enough so they would easily take the peaked shape. I then began gluing them to the strip of cloth on top of the rancho.

 

 
I glued a bit at a time, occasionally pausing to hold down portions that had wanted to come up off the cloth. I tried clamping with coffee stir sticks but found in cumbersome and not very helpful, especially as the rancho isn't a smooth surface.
 

 
Finally I had the peak fully covered, and added some other pieces at the front and aft ends to cover the gap.

 

 
I was pleased with how it turned out, so I put the mast in place for some photos, then added a layer of matte varnish over the top to help keep the new thatching layer in place.

 
As mentioned in previous posts, it was common to use thin poles or rope to help hold down thatching layers, so I decided to add that. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of my process. Given how thin these needed to be, I used a bamboo coffee stir stick. I then cut it to size, rounded the edges, and tied and glued some string around each end. I considered using some of my nice new scale rope, but this use would be pretty wasteful as I would need a decent length for tying purposes but only a tiny length would end up on the model, so I just went with some tan thread. The poles couldn't really be glued in place because of the uneven surface of the thatching, so I tied them in place, dabbed the knots with glue, and then added a matte varnish to the poles which "glues" it at its irregular points of contact with the thatching.

 

 
With that, I think the Rancho is finally complete! At the end of the day, I'm happy with how it turned out. That said, it took long enough that I'm in no hurry to make another thatchef roof anytime soon.
 

 

Gary,  thank you for you kind words regarding Maggie and the Tennessee.
 
 I tried an Optivisor and didn't care for it. Today I ordered 6X glasses off Amazon, they were cheap. We'll see how those work out and if they don't, I won't hesitate to toss them in the bin. 

Wonderfully done Marc👍
 
Michael D.

Hi Marc - 
 
Really nice looking work, and thanks for taking us on the journey, potholes and all.
 
I had the same question as Kirill.  How did you aim your deadeye/chainplate units at the future masthead location?
 
Dan

Good day Marc,
That your idear for / how making long links - works very good!
And final results looks very nice!!!
However have some doubts regarding angles of each particular chain?
May be there is sence to make some kind of carton patern or any other kind of paterns with preliminary drawn lines at correct angles of each shroud- chain link, to find out correct angle position ? And than to install each chains at correct angles?
 

Thank you, Guys!  Yes, Cisco, I’ll go over the whole chain assembly with dilute black acrylic and that will even out the color and finish.  The sharpie is just a quick and convenient way to make the line dark, initially.  That’s good to know about the color fading, though.

Ps. I don’t use sharpies or any other kind of normal permanent marker pen, for that very reason (I use them all the time for plant pot labels and you’re right, they fade to grey within a year). I use Pentel acrylic art pens, I can’t say whether they have the same issue, only that none of the ‘pen-painted’ parts I’ve been handled this morning, at least some of which were painted a year or more back, have lost their blackness.
 
BTW, as I’m writing, I also bought a pack of spare ‘nibs’ for the pens, so I can trim one to a very fine point. They go feathery quite quickly but I just trim off the feathers. I’ve found black and gold pens are excellent. Other colours seem to be less opaque so I stick with paints for these.

Marc - it has been my experience that sharpies fade to a clear grey color in about 2 years (we use them in our medicine logs at work all the time).  i think you said you painted over and if so not as issue.  beautiful build

What a brilliant idea with the marker. I thought I was the only one who had trouble blackening brass. And here's such a great idea! Thank you. It's a great morning today, a chance to look at beautiful work and a beautiful ship. And to see some great advice. It's a great day!

I think that's come out very well indeed Marc. Your opening line about the coated wire resonated, I think I found the same on my CS cathead levers, the blacking just rubbed off,  and I resorted to using a black acrylic marker pen. I like that it adds more or less zero 'paint' thickness, but the downside is that it has a sheen to it, though this can be made matt with lacquer. 

Excellent result, Marc!

So, I had a small pocket of time to snug and snip the fore, port channel. I was able to finesse that first knot up a little higher. Really - and considering that they do tighten up just enough more under slight tension - I am very pleased with this experiment. Black touch-up paint to follow:


I am at least confident that these long links would not look better as wire. I may have over-calculated the angle of the two furthest aft preventer plates, but I was just following what the test line told me to do. Also, technically, the preventer plate links should span to the lower wale, but the first batch I made just looked over-long. I can live with this compromise. It is still a vast improvement over the stock kit. The important thing is that the chains no longer interfere with the port lids.

There are three backstay deadeyes that I have yet to prepare, but I will get to them in the next few rounds of deadeye prep.

This business of learning to make the chains continued to confound me as I discovered yet another mistake in my process.
 
For anyone who may also be new to this aspect of the hobby - BEWARE: jewelry wire (brass/copper) is coated with an anti-oxidation layer.  Brass black will not take without first stripping the coating (acetone bath, 99% purity - available at the pharmacy), and then roughing the wire surface with ScotchBrite.  I failed to do either of these things.  For your own sake, just buy untreated, soft copper wire.
 
My first dipping in JAX brass black almost didn’t take at all.  Whatever oxidation there was, was very spotty and wiped away easily.  After thoroughly rinsing the parts in acetone, my second JAX bath did much more to blacken the parts, but the depth of oxidation was highly irregular, there were still lots of completely bright brass patches, throughout, and the oxidation that was present still rubbed off too easily.
 
What to do, now?  I quickly decided that I absolutely was not going to re-make all of these fittings, as I had at least bent them into nicely uniform parts.  The only reasonable solution, IMO, was to spray-prime the lot black:
 

After inserting the deadeyes, and any necessary touch-up, the deadeye strops looked like this:

Quite satisfactory, I think.  On the inside, bottom edge of each deadeye, I placed a drop of CA, in order to fix the orientation of the deadeye.
 
I needed to make a run of split-rings, both for the gun out-haul tackles, and for between where the chains attach to the middle wales.
 
For these, I really like how tight a twist I get with galvanized steel wire.  Given that I was going to paint these, as well, it didn’t seem quite so important what the material was, but how it behaved.


I found it quite easy to close the eyes with my parallel pliers, a decent set of which are essential for this work (Thanks Druxey!), and I sealed the rings with a spot of common, brush-able CRAZY GLUE.
 
The eyes on deck:


In preparation for the deadeyes, I made ready the channels.  Because I found it necessary to shift a handful of deadeyes, so that the chains do not interfere with the gunport lids, I found it necessary to widen a number of the channel slots.  I then drilled for short sections of .030 styrene rod, so that I could favor one side of the slot:


Next I made capping strips for the outside edges of the channels, and simulated the nailing with shallow slices of triangular styrene rod.  I used the same “heat flashing” technique to dome over the heads:

With my masts in-place and a guide-string, I penciled-in the preventer plate locations.
 
The important thing, I think, was that the join of the preventer plates and the small loop-links be in a consistent plane, along the upper middle wale - just slightly higher than mid-wale.
 
Following a tip from fellow SR enthusiast Eric Wiberg, I purchased the following dome-headed rivets:
 
https://www.eugenetoyandhobby.com/products/plastic-rivets-round-head?_pos=3&_sid=320937e14&_ss=r
 
My idea was to use these with plastic cement to secure the preventer and loop links.
 
After drilling the top preventer plate/loop-link hole, I secure the position of the preventer plate with a common sewing pin in the top hole, and then swing a short mechanical pencil arc for the bottom hole location.
 
There are very slight differences between preventer plate links, so you do have to drill specific links for a given location.  It is very fiddly to fix the plates with these tiny styrene pins, but it can be managed from the bottom up with plenty of patience and a sewing pin to guide mating eyes into alignment.
 
Now, my hope for some time and results redemption depended upon whether or not I could make appropriate diameter thread look like the long connecting links.
 
Among my stash, was some really nice line that Dan Pariser very generously donated to my cause.  Although light in color, I found I could “paint” lengths of line with two passes of a black sharpie, which also gave the line some stiffness when dry.  I found that a single bow-knot gave me the ability to introduce tension to these links:
 
Obviously, it is important to ensure that the loop links and deadeye strops are in the correct orientation to each other.
 
The proof of concept on this first link gave me sufficient confidence that this idea will produce a nice result.  It is only important that one wait to stiffen the knot with CA until after you have pulled the knot up close behind the deadeye strop loop.  On this first one, I glued before doing so, and the knot is less perfectly concealed than the others will be:

This picture above was before pulling the knot up.  Eventually, when the lower deadeyes are lashed to their corresponding upper deadeyes, these chain links will pull fully taught with just the slightest tension.
 
Here is where things stand as of now:

I quickly learned it is wise to cover the gun ports, so that you are not continually losing links into the hull.  After pinning the links in place, I brushed over the link assembly with thin CA, to give it a little extra holding power.  I then left it to dry overnight.
 
Next, I will draw all remaining loops taught, and then the whole of it will receive a thinned acrylic black wash to homogenize the assembly and touch-up any bright spots.
 
There are, of course, many better ways to go about all of this.  For me, for now - I’ll take this all as a learning experience and move-on with it.
 
Thank you all for looking-in!
 
Best,
 
Marc
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Good to have you looking in, Kurt!  I always value your input and encouragement.
 
 
I ordered some ground glass online in 3 different grits that I'm guessing will be close to a correct scale.  They sell it in small sample size quantities, so it was inexpensive and I don't end up with a pile of it left over.  I've seen railroad modelers fix things like a pile of coal with just a PVA/water solution that seems to hold together quite well, so I think I'll give that a try first.  But yes, a resin or epoxy may end up being the way to go.  Once the glass is delivered, I'll post what the stuff looks like and how it sizes up.  Thank you, Andy. 
 
Gary     

Always a pleasure catching up - such nice work!
 
Gary

Peerless is looking good, Eric. And a very interesting discussion on the pusher bars/tow knees.  Great shots of the Missouri and I especially like the second photo with the crescent moon. 
 
Gary 

Always a pleasure catching up - such nice work!
 
Gary

Quite intense work fitting those frames, Andy.  I can see how leaving a little more meat on the bone could be advantageous.  Handsome fish - looks like a good time!
 
Gary

Always a pleasure catching up - such nice work!
 
Gary

Peerless is looking good, Eric. And a very interesting discussion on the pusher bars/tow knees.  Great shots of the Missouri and I especially like the second photo with the crescent moon. 
 
Gary 

Nice updates, Keith!  Good to hear Maggie is progressing even if at a slower pace.
 
I agree with all the above comments - would never have noticed a thing wrong if you hadn’t pointed it out. Looks perfect to me, but I understand how some things can just bug you when it’s your own project.  We modeler’s are our own worst critics.  
 
Have you ever considered Optivisors?  I have their plastic lens model that I simply couldn’t do without. I understand the glass lens models are even better.
 
Gary