FriedClams

Our old cat Amelia who passed away four years ago could have cared less about the Tennessee. I never worried about her doing anything untoward. Now, our new cat Emma (Emilia), I wouldn't trust that knot headed cat for a second. She is NOT allowed in the shipyard.   

Rat lines are a good exercise in patients, I still have one mast to do on CS and I look forward to getting back to it but my furry friends are still way to interested in what I do. All yesterday, they sat within a couple of feet right next to me. Hate to think what they would do if a claw got hooked in any rigging. 

Thank you, mcb. The main and fore channel shrouds are the remaining ratlines. I'm kinda looking forward to that surprisingly enough.  

Thank you, Keith I've thought about corrective eye surgery but if the chances of complications are one in a zillion, guess who the unlucky winner would be?  

Day not be perfect but I tank yea for the kind words, Keith.     

Thank you, Brian. I feel duty bound to share warts and all with my MSW family. 

Thank you, Rick. You're correct, my earlier mistakes are mostly forgotten but these new ones bug the snot out of me. 

Thank you, brother Tom. I got the shaky hand syndrome also, another reason to sally forth. It's a real challenge to reach into the midst of the center rigging with a tiny drop of CA to fix a shroud knot. I almost get dizzy watching the end of the needle. 

Thanks, Mark. What bugs me the most is, it's a mistake I could easily have avoided.

Johnny, in the photos of the Tennessee the deadeyes are dead straight and of course I was/am trying to replicate that. Thank you for the reassurance.
 
"Good point, as I hadn't noticed the deadeye until it was pointed out and I looked again closely ('Just ordered new glasses because my prescription changed, but it will take 1 - 2 weeks to get them).  'Guess Keith and I share a couple traits, since on a Pennsylvania long rifle I made (and was showing to some new friends recently) - I kept pointing all the things I 'did wrong' (mostly small details).  A man with some expertise in antique firearms said to forget real or imagined 'faults' - he thought it was beautifully done ... as is Keith's U.S.S. Tennessee !"
 
 Thank you, Johnny.  

Looks good to me.  Like everyone else I would never have noticed the particular block, and then only after I had to hunt for it.
You are in good shape now, if I remember correctly, you have much of the ratlines done already. 
 
Thanks for showing your work,
mcb

Keith You are being too perfectionistic. They look excellent.
 
Have you had lens replacements?  They make you feel 30 years younger until you see yourself in a mirror.😬
 
 
 
 
 

nowt wrong wid them as we say up north in england 😜

Thanks for the Maggie update Keith! Continued thoughts and prayers going out while she recovers. 
 
From what I can see, everything is still on its way to being perfect. As with what Snug and Mark said, I doubt that any of the deadeyes would have been perfectly aligned and even zooming in on the picture you can barely tell the ropes are threaded through the same hole. I had took pretty hard to see it, and since that will be the wall side, we’ll just keep that minor error between you and those of us here on MSW. 😁
 
-Brian

Really nice Keith!!  Would never have noticed the deadeye if you hadn’t pointed it out!  I’ve come to realize that over time I don’t see the mistakes that I once thought were obvious.
Rick

Keith, you’re doing great. Keep plowing ahead! Eye sight is an issue, but how about shaky hands?

Good point, as I hadn't noticed the deadeye until it was pointed out and I looked again closely ('Just ordered new glasses because my prescription changed, but it will take 1 - 2 weeks to get them).  'Guess Keith and I share a couple traits, since on a Pennsylvania long rifle I made (and was showing to some new friends recently) - I kept pointing all the things I 'did wrong' (mostly small details).  A man with some expertise in antique firearms said to forget real or imagined 'faults' - he thought it was beautifully done ... as is Keith's U.S.S. Tennessee ! 

I'm with Snug Harbor Johnny on this.   Even the missed deadeye hole won't be noticed except by you and those of us following your log.   

Who says that the deadeyes have to be 'perfectly' aligned?  As they are tensioning devices, variations are bound to occur over time as shrouds get periodically adjusted.  Your ship looks just fine.

Thank you to all for the likes and for following along.
 
 Maggie update.....her progress has slowed these past two weeks due to an infection but hopefully once that clears she'll continue making strides in her recovery. Thank you again to each of you for your prayers and thoughts for her,
 
 I've been able to make some limited progress on the Tennessee's main shrouds. I look back with envy at those days when when I was able to devote eight hours plus at the worktable. I should have worked longer hours back then as now my eyesight for close work is diminishing. I've always been a bit of a perfectionist and so naturally my mindset when I first started working on the Tennessee was get it done as perfect as possible. Because the grains of sand drain ever faster my mindset now is, better quit messing about and get it done. It was never going to be perfect, I no longer have the luxury of tilting at windmills.     
 
 Notice the loupe among the tools used for running the shrouds. I had to start using the loupe to check my work on the deadeye lashings as on one pair I ran the line through the same hole twice. I didn't catch this till after the deadeyes were glued in place and the shroud line attached. Once upon a time I would have redone it, now, I let er fly. I don't think anyone will ever notice and I really can't tell and I know which pair it is. But it nags at me, so be it. 
 
I went back through the log and I couldn't find where I explained the how and why I lash the deadeye pairs off ship. The reason being the deadeyes are too small and there just isn't the room. 
 
 The main's channel shrouds requires the measurement from one deadeye top the the other deadeye top to be 0.70 inches, same size as a US penny. To keep the size constant I've superglued the rotating adjust balls of the third hand to keep the distance fixed. That way I don't have to use a ruler to check each pair though I do spot check to make sure the adjustment is still set correctly. 

 
Starboard side. Try as hard as I might, I can't seem to get em perfect aligned. Oh well, more shadows in the wind.  

 
 Port side. The second pair in from the left is the pair where I ran the line through the same hole twice, top deadeye, top hole. I've always intended for the model to be viewed from the starboard side so it was pretty easy 'let it fly' rationalization.
 
 Nine more pair of deadeyes and shroud lines and I can set about with ratline weaving.
 
 Again, thank you to all.  

I wonder whether a piece of tempered glass, shattered, would provide granules of the scale size?

Gary, thank you for explaining your technique. Definitely going to give it a try. The results you’ve achieved are amazing.

Thanks to all for your comments, feedback and "likes".  It is so appreciated.
 
 
I do apply it to raw wood and yes it can get blotchy if I try to add too much color in one wash, especially on soft wood such as basswood.  Typically, I lay down one or two very diluted washes rather than one heavy wash and I don't mix the chalk/alcohol to a gain a paint-like solution.  It's mostly alcohol with a tad of chalk added in.  I dip my brush into clean alcohol and then pick up some of the powder that I scraped off the side of a chalk stick and brush it on.  If it's too much color, I wash on more clean alcohol to dilute and blend it.  When I'm doing a quantity of wood at once, I'll scrape the sides of the chalk directly on to the wood and then with a sopping 1/2" brush of straight alcohol, slop it all around.  But that is an on-bench process only - never on the model itself.  Play around with some scrap wood and you'll quickly see how easy, forgiving, controllable and versatile it is.  For deeper richer colors, the same process can be used with pigment powders but that is not as forgiving.  Thanks Paul.
 
 
Thanks for the tip on the ground glass.  I found a vendor that sells several grits in small quantities so I'm going to order some to take a look at it.  I'll report my findings.  I've only ever seen crushed/flaked ice used.  Thanks, Wefalck.
 
 
   
Jerome and Keith, thanks for your input and I agree - crushed ice and I think mostly flaked.  Especially today - what they used in 1943, not sure.
 
 
Good suggestion Jerome.  Thanks.  As mentioned above, I'll be looking at some ground glass and see how sparkly (or not) that is first.
 
@Keith Black  Thanks for the link on the snow/ice modeling, Keith.  I don't know if those products will work for me here, but I'll keep them in mind and add them into my info folder.  Night Shift is an amazing modeler!
 
@Paul Le Wol @Keith Black @Jim Lad @FlyingFish @TOM G @Glen McGuire  Thank you for your kind words on the work in progress. 
 
Stay well,  Gary

Thanks to all for your comments, feedback and "likes".  It is so appreciated.
 
 
I do apply it to raw wood and yes it can get blotchy if I try to add too much color in one wash, especially on soft wood such as basswood.  Typically, I lay down one or two very diluted washes rather than one heavy wash and I don't mix the chalk/alcohol to a gain a paint-like solution.  It's mostly alcohol with a tad of chalk added in.  I dip my brush into clean alcohol and then pick up some of the powder that I scraped off the side of a chalk stick and brush it on.  If it's too much color, I wash on more clean alcohol to dilute and blend it.  When I'm doing a quantity of wood at once, I'll scrape the sides of the chalk directly on to the wood and then with a sopping 1/2" brush of straight alcohol, slop it all around.  But that is an on-bench process only - never on the model itself.  Play around with some scrap wood and you'll quickly see how easy, forgiving, controllable and versatile it is.  For deeper richer colors, the same process can be used with pigment powders but that is not as forgiving.  Thanks Paul.
 
 
Thanks for the tip on the ground glass.  I found a vendor that sells several grits in small quantities so I'm going to order some to take a look at it.  I'll report my findings.  I've only ever seen crushed/flaked ice used.  Thanks, Wefalck.
 
 
   
Jerome and Keith, thanks for your input and I agree - crushed ice and I think mostly flaked.  Especially today - what they used in 1943, not sure.
 
 
Good suggestion Jerome.  Thanks.  As mentioned above, I'll be looking at some ground glass and see how sparkly (or not) that is first.
 
@Keith Black  Thanks for the link on the snow/ice modeling, Keith.  I don't know if those products will work for me here, but I'll keep them in mind and add them into my info folder.  Night Shift is an amazing modeler!
 
@Paul Le Wol @Keith Black @Jim Lad @FlyingFish @TOM G @Glen McGuire  Thank you for your kind words on the work in progress. 
 
Stay well,  Gary

Greetings Fellow Modelers
 
Thanks to all for your fine comments, for the "likes" and to those watching quietly.
 
 
More Fish Hold Stuff
 
Continuing on with the fish hold, the next step was to build the back walls of the bunker partitioning.  In the drawing below, the hold is defined by the yellow cross-hatching and the back wall partitioning by the green lines.  The back walls are individual bunker partitions, but for this model I've simplified it as a single one-piece wall.  The blue dots are the vertical posts used to segment the hold into individual bunkers/pens.
 

 
 
To begin, I created a paper template of the area to be walled.
 

 
 
Planking was glued directly to the paper template.
 

 

 
 
Styrene channel was glued on at each post base location. The proper depth channel needed for this is not manufactured, but I found an “H” column that was close enough once modified.
 

 

 
 
The back wall pieces were then glued on.  A corner torn from a Post-it note makes a hands-free right-angle square.
 

 
 
At this point, I became aware of two errors that needed to be addressed.  First, the height of the perimeter partition walls, and the bulkhead end walls were too short.  This would allow a view through an open hatch to see above the walls.  It would be an extreme angle view to be certain, but a deck mock-up proved to me it was possible.  The second error is that the forward bulkhead end wall was placed 12 scale inches forward of where it should be. That's a problem because it interferes with the proper placement of the mast, which is unacceptable.  So, a second end wall was installed 12” aft of the first one.
 
In the image below the new (taller) end wall is on the right.  One would now expect that the two forward bunkers are 12” narrower than the other bunkers, but they are not.  The post spacing is correct from the aft bulkhead forward and only the forward wall was misplaced.  Indeed, I caught this error because the forward bunkers appeared to me a tad wider than the others.
 
Extra work caused by working carelessly.
 

 
 
Next, the four-sided posts for the bunker partitioning were made.  They are a five-piece styrene construction.
 

 
 
 
A construction jig is assembled. The styrene is modified “H” columns and strips from Evergreen.  Solvent cement keeps the posts from being inadvertently glued to the jig.
 

 
 
A channel is placed into the jig.
 

 
 
A flat strip is cemented on top of that. Two of these channel/flat piece assemblies are made for each post.
 

 
 
The center rectangular strip is added to one of the above assemblies.
 

 
 
Then both assemblies are cemented together.
 

 

 
 
The posts are glued onto the post bases.
 

 
 
One of the back walls is heightened, a channel extension is glued on, and a partition is installed.
 

 
 
The partitions are cut from blanks of edge-glued wood strips. A paper template of the partition is placed on the blank and the shape is cut free. They are stained with chalk and alcohol. I use alcohol to liquefy and apply the chalk because it penetrates the wood and evaporates off quickly leaving no time for the thin wood strips to warp.
 

 
 
I used “super thin” CA to glue these partitions in.  With the partition already in place, a drop of the CA at the top of the post races down the channel and glues most of the plank ends.  I have an extension tip on my bottle to help control the flow and I use the watery glue infrequently and cautiously.  I feel there should be a “skull and crossbones” on the bottle.  If you must use it, keep a can of fresh acetone at the ready.  A mishap will glue your fingers together instantly with the possibility of a trip to urgent care.  Am I exaggerating?  Not really.
 

 
 
The partitions are all in.  I'm considering partially filling a few of the bunkers with ice.  What do you folks think and what would make a convincing 1:48 ice?  It would have to be a non-soluble material.
 

 

 
 
I've installed 8 surface mount LEDs (one over each bunker) to light up the hold.  That seems like a lot, but they are small and their output will be adjustable.  Two wood strips holding four diodes each are assembled.  These LEDs are SMD 805 warm white and are attached to the strips with a clear (when dry) version of Gallery Glass.  For scale, the grid on the mat 1/2” (12.7mm)
 

 
 
Both strips attached over the bunkers.
 

 
 
Thanks for stopping by.
 
Be safe and stay well,
 
Gary