-Dallen

Just added another tool to the chest. Simplicity is best most times. Thanks for the tip.
 
Dupree

This may be old news, but I discovered large collection of figures in several scales on this website
 
http://www.taubmansonline.com 
 
With a little paint touchup it appears that nearly any period can be achieved.
 
Dupree

Just added another tool to the chest. Simplicity is best most times. Thanks for the tip.
 
Dupree

The most important thing is to do your homework. First of all make a rational decision as to how you want to use the mill. I say "want" because once you have one, you will expand your uses to things that you can't imagine yet. The worst thing that you can do is buy a machine today and wish you had something else tomorrow. All the brands listed so far will work for you, so it is a matter of what you want to spend. Mills generally don't work out of the crate. Tooling and accessories will run at least the cost of the machine and likely quite a bit more as you learn and do more projects. For example a 4in rotary table will easily match and exceed the cost of the mill. Personally I went with Little Machine Shop. The initial purchase was reasonable and they carry parts and accessories for anything you purchase there. I too am new to this group, but did a tremendous amount of research prior to purchases. Hope this helps some.
 
Dupree

The most important thing is to do your homework. First of all make a rational decision as to how you want to use the mill. I say "want" because once you have one, you will expand your uses to things that you can't imagine yet. The worst thing that you can do is buy a machine today and wish you had something else tomorrow. All the brands listed so far will work for you, so it is a matter of what you want to spend. Mills generally don't work out of the crate. Tooling and accessories will run at least the cost of the machine and likely quite a bit more as you learn and do more projects. For example a 4in rotary table will easily match and exceed the cost of the mill. Personally I went with Little Machine Shop. The initial purchase was reasonable and they carry parts and accessories for anything you purchase there. I too am new to this group, but did a tremendous amount of research prior to purchases. Hope this helps some.
 
Dupree

The most important thing is to do your homework. First of all make a rational decision as to how you want to use the mill. I say "want" because once you have one, you will expand your uses to things that you can't imagine yet. The worst thing that you can do is buy a machine today and wish you had something else tomorrow. All the brands listed so far will work for you, so it is a matter of what you want to spend. Mills generally don't work out of the crate. Tooling and accessories will run at least the cost of the machine and likely quite a bit more as you learn and do more projects. For example a 4in rotary table will easily match and exceed the cost of the mill. Personally I went with Little Machine Shop. The initial purchase was reasonable and they carry parts and accessories for anything you purchase there. I too am new to this group, but did a tremendous amount of research prior to purchases. Hope this helps some.
 
Dupree

Just added another tool to the chest. Simplicity is best most times. Thanks for the tip.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

Update.... Milled Keel assembly in 1:32 scale. Have included a photo to show the contrast in dimensions. I'm currently preparing the frames for layout and cutting. Quite an experience for me and this is only a cross section.
 
Dupree

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDr_j9pQ2q8
 

 
Paul

Thank You Gabe,
 You are absolutely right about the people and the resources on this site. I opened your build log and was impressed with your scale and progress. If I was able to have even a small part in rejuivinating your build, that pleases me very much. I have "followed" your log and looking forward to instruction and enjoyment.
 
Dupree 

Thank You Gabe,
 You are absolutely right about the people and the resources on this site. I opened your build log and was impressed with your scale and progress. If I was able to have even a small part in rejuivinating your build, that pleases me very much. I have "followed" your log and looking forward to instruction and enjoyment.
 
Dupree 

Thank You Gabe,
 You are absolutely right about the people and the resources on this site. I opened your build log and was impressed with your scale and progress. If I was able to have even a small part in rejuivinating your build, that pleases me very much. I have "followed" your log and looking forward to instruction and enjoyment.
 
Dupree 

It has been a bit slow going in the shipyard as of late.  Too many major soccer (futbol) tournaments that need to be watched!   I have been modelling my framework to give me a better understanding of how things will go together with this build.  Below are some snapshots.  Being my first scratch build there is a lot to learn and research... but everybody here at MSW already knows that.  I hope to put an order in for the deck and hull planking wood in the next week.  In the mean time I have some bulkheads to finish up.  I need to set up my build board and then the assembly process can begin.  Enough planning and layout work!  It is time to make sawdust!

Hey there, Jan.
Power tools, yes. Precision, not so much. I wreck a lot of wood before I get it right! Getting these planks to the correct size has been an exercise in frustration! Sand paper has been my most valuable tool!
 
Have you thought of a ship in a bottle? That's all hand tools. I tried one and I'm sure that I will be building more of them!
 
Regards,
Gabe

Well, it's been a while since my last entry...but I haven't been entirely inactive. My progress has been slow primarily because I was working out some problems with making dimension lumber on my little Microlux saw. Try as I might, I just couldn't rip some maple into 1.5 thick strips. At first, the strip would start off fine but after a few centimetres it would wander out and get wider. I played with the fence and stopped the wandering, but then the pieces were coming out tapered from top to bottom. I guessed that the blade was slewing out so I opened the saw and tightened things up. No luck.
 
I finally realized that the fence was still the culprit and ended up clamping a chunk of wood to the table as a more reliable fence and I was off to the races.


 
After ripping a bunch of 1.5 mm thick pieces, I marked the frames for the deck clamps. This is where having a framing jig would have been nice. Even though the frames were clamped together while I wasn't working on the model, the spaces between them were not even when set up to install the lower deck clamps. So, I used spacers. Looked like a mess...but it worked.
 

 

 
I tapered the top edge of the deck clamps for a better fit for the deck beams when that time comes and glued them in.
 
 

Well, I finally got some time to work on the Triton. Even though its been a while I have been thinking non-stop about this little model and I have been making some wild plans for her. One thing that I felt I needed to change were the keel, keelson and false keel. The dark contrast between the birch frames and the chechen was not what I wanted...not terribly realistic. So, I fabricated new pieces from birch. With the keel piece in place I used an exacto knife to mark the top of the rabet, and used an even larger straight gouge, finely honed, to cut the notch out.
 

 
I cut the keel, etc., longer than needed so I could clamp the ends down. I saw this on another Triton build where the builder had screwed down the ends and thought it was an excellent method. However, I should have realized that I don't have screws small enough to do this at my scale. I ended up clamping them down with some planking screw clamps. I glued down a print of the frame plan to a work board to help with lining up the frames when the time came.
 
I spent quite a bit of time shaping the notches for the keelson and keel to get a tight fit. I kept the frames clamped together to help line things up and to help support the wood to prevent breaking another frame.
 

 
After I had the keelson fitted I made use of a couple of miniature machinist clamps to make sure the keel and keelson lined up properly.
 

 
When time finally came to glue the frames in place I oringinally wanted to use carpenter's glue so I could adjust and fiddle. However, when I was dry-fitting and rehearsing the work I realized that it was going to be a nightmare to clamp and hold these small frames in place. So, I decided to go with cyano gel...should give me a few seconds to play but only need to be held in place for a short time.
 
I thought that starting at the middle would be best so I picked frame 1 and, wouldn't you know it, as I was working out how to align the frame I forgot how delicate these were and I snapped it right in the middle. Let's just say that I dug deep into my lexicon of swear words. Clamped together, these frames had been sturdy and a few months away from this model made me careless.
 
I grabbed some brush-on CA and managed to fit the parts back together rather easily. I put it aside and decided to push on with frame O first.
 
When the time finally came to glue down the frame things went fairly smoothly. A small machinists square helped.
 
The first frame glued in...and the wounded Frame 1 lying off to the side
 
 

 
I continued to frame C in fairly quick succession. I had cut many spacers of the correct width to help me with this and future stages and they proved invaluable. By the time I got to this point Frame 1 had had enough curing time so I just kept on going. I think the entire gluing stage may have taken 20 minutes. Thank you CA!
 
 


 

 
I had to do a bit more filing to fit the keelson to my liking, but eventually it was glued up as well.
 

Welcome aboard, Dupree!
This is a great project that really pushes your skill and knowledge. The people here are a fantastic resource, super encouraging and a good shoulder to cry on when the time comes! Looking forward to watching your build. (And, I think you just kick-started me to get back on track with mine!).
Regards,
Gabe

I decided that I would make this my initial build. This build will introduce me to most aspects of model building. I will be using Walnut as my primary lumber as a large walnut tree was blown over on my property last summer and it seems to resaw nicely. I also have a nice supply of Maple and Swiss Pear.  I am considering upscaling to 1:32 and is likely. I have been like a sponge absorbing everything I can on this forum and have built quite a resource library. Looking forward to the hands on now. I handle critiques well, so all are welcome.
 
Dupree

I'll just make one post to cover it all. Superb quality and craftsmanship. An inspiration to all us novices and veterans alike. Certainly sets a goal for me. WELL DONE!

another photos