garyshipwright

Hi Steve. Just wanted to let you know you have built one outstanding model and is gorgeous one. Thank you for sharing it with us. Gary

I made my quarter deck counter beam (twice) and installed it (once).
Working on my short clamps to install the aft portion of the upper deck clamps so I can then make and install that deck counter beam.
Meanwhile I have been slowly adding frame timbers to my small boat....

and I modelled, 3D printed and painted a nameplate for the model.
It is in 3 parts. The main piece with image, a bevelled stand for it, and a ribbon.

After cleaning the pieces up (scraping away stringers and sanding) I shaped the figure by chiselling away the corners, sanding again, cutting in the mane and tail hair, and I added raised details with well placed drops of Weldbond on the wings to give more definition.
 
Then I added the javelin and it's head. They are made of bamboo and lift away from the base plate to give more interest. The head is glued to the shaft. These parts were too small for my filament printer. I used a PLA/Wood mix filament.

I chose the transom painting scheme for the main part with the lettering in gold. The ribbon in cherry red with white lettering.
Bellerophon himself is the only part unpainted but his helmet is gold with a white plume and his cloak red.
Now if I decide to take the model to either of the two local events to show this summer I have a nameplate.

Hi Stevinne. It really depends on what scale you working on. Am sure if you give that bit of infomation a few of us could let you know what size you may need. Gary

Hi Stevinne. It really depends on what scale you working on. Am sure if you give that bit of infomation a few of us could let you know what size you may need. Gary

Hi Stevinne. It really depends on what scale you working on. Am sure if you give that bit of infomation a few of us could let you know what size you may need. Gary

Hi Stevinne. It really depends on what scale you working on. Am sure if you give that bit of infomation a few of us could let you know what size you may need. Gary

Well good folks I couldn't find a finish that Iiked so I used the one I put on Alfred. I have been using a mixture of bee wax and thinner, brings out the wood nicely and will add a nice golden color to the planking and not change the color of the wood. Once it's dry I take a rag and wipe it down, and use a bit of steel wool that will bring out a nice sheen to her. Gary

Well good folks I couldn't find a finish that Iiked so I used the one I put on Alfred. I have been using a mixture of bee wax and thinner, brings out the wood nicely and will add a nice golden color to the planking and not change the color of the wood. Once it's dry I take a rag and wipe it down, and use a bit of steel wool that will bring out a nice sheen to her. Gary

Well good folk's if any one is interested do believe that I have finished chapter one and taking a good look at chapter 2 which should be very interesting. Hope you like the photo's of her as she stand's.  Didn't post to much of the gun ports and other item's with all the ones already being shown in the other member's build log's. Hope she up to you good folks very high level in your build's. She has been a joy so far in her build. Gary

Well I got got a little bit done with  all the bulkheads cut out and dry fitted.  Have now started installing them with some hide glue which gives me a little time to adjust them once installed. The hide glue is a little slower in drying so you have just a bit more time.  I know most have seen hundred of this  so I will keep marching on. Gary

When all blocks were cut out they were aligned upside down on a flat surface covered with wax paper and glued together. Shaping was done with sanding blocks to match the frame lines. I traced the outline that would be the top of the boat on a scrap piece of maple, cut that with the band saw and glued the boat hull plug to that. I then discovered that by saving the cut off sections I could use those as clamps during the framing process.
 
Next, the keel clamps. The whole hull construction is 1/8" wide thin strips of Basswood. The keel was laminated to the proper thickness, When dry both sides were carefully block sanded. On the upper side where the keel meets the hull wood 1/8" spacer blocks attached.
 
The plug was sprayed with a couple of coats of clear lacquer then waxed so nothing would stick.
 
Assembly was pretty straight forward. I centered the keel and taped it down fore and aft. Starting from the center thin strips, extra long were soaked in water for about 30 seconds. I did some pre-forming around a 1" wood dowel. I inserted the piece between the keel spacers with a small drop of glue and with smaller dowels rolled pressed to the hull and keel then attached the ends on both sides with a couple dabs of glue. Taped it in place with some blue tape, fit up the outer clamps, added another 1/8" spacer on each side of the frame. Repeated same until complete. Planking was done in the usual manner. Cutting hull loose along the sheer line established by the upper strake was pretty easy with a sharp No.11 Xacto blade.
 
More sanding, primer, painting was next. I mixed a warm white with a touch of yellow and deck tan for the hull. Pure white is too bright for a scale model. As in a painting white should be reserved for that super white sparkle reflected by the Sun.

Thanks for your interests and "Likes" everyone.
 
Some more shots from 5-22.

Here is a short update on my Cheerful as a very enjoyable build comes towards its conclusion. I have some touching up and tidying up to do and the boom crutches. Otherwise its just the rigging which is well underway. These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago. 





These are where I am now.
 


No matter what I do I canot persuade the deadeyes to face front. I'm hoping I can force them to shape up with the sheer pole.  

 
 

In the picture below you can see there is a mistake. The bottom ring on the mast to which the block for the throat halyard is attached should not be attachedflush to the mast as the four above it are. It should stick out a bit to clear the trees and ropework. Its shown on the plans. I either missed it or did not appreciate the significance. But I can live with it.

The real difficulty I have found with the rigging is in seizing blocks when I can't hold the block in a third hands device eg when the block has to be seized to the mast or a line. I guess its a matter of practice and experience but I need to work on it. 
 
Ratlines today.
 
Otherwise all is well.
 
Fred
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello guys and the Hog has left the building for a new home. Gary

Hi all,
 
Few more steps forward.
 

 




That's all for a moment,
to be continued.

HI ☺️
18 pound guns:
 

Cheers Dave E.
Not wanting to put it off any longer, I sat down with some brass strip and a flat file. The following results may not be perfect, but for a first attempt, well..... blackened makes them look a tad better
 

Need to make some small eyebolts and split rings now.
New skills being learnt, as I would have gone off the peg and purchased them before this build.
To everyone looking in, commenting and giving the thumbs up, many thanks.
Cheers 
 
 
 

Hi
Another member suggested I post this here. Like you - presumably - bright copper on hull plates doesn't sit well to my eyes. But there is a way to age copper very quickly - in three days - if you have the nerve to do so. I offer this technique at your own risk. When I used it on my model of HMS Fly I had no idea if it might destroy all of my work to date. I tested it on some spare copper plates before embarking on the main experiment but it still felt risky.
 
Very bright copper plating when the install is complete. By itself it might take a year or two to tarnish. Why wait?



My wife who is an architect used to work on high end resorts in Bali. Many had copper roofs but the developers hated the shine. Solution? Paint them with horse urine (whose job that was I have no idea). The copper tarnishes very quickly. I don't own a horse and even if I did I wouldn't want to collect its pee but...I make urine too so decided it was worth a try. Not a pleasant smelling chemical although it's a smell that I'm kind of used to until I flush.

To ensure it didn't soak into the upper boxwood woodwork, or anything else., at first I did a very intense job of masking (I don't have a picture of that) but I found out that I didn't need it and it actually wicked my pee up into the woodwork which caused a panic. So I took off the masking. Then I brushed my urine onto the copper plates with fingers crossed. The reaction is very fast, in some areas it was almost instant. Some verdigris happened and then some spots of bright copper remained. You can wipe back the verdigris and the bright copper bits turned out to be CA glue residue which is easy to scrape off. Early applications. It tends to bead (first photo) and I just carefully spread it ot with a brush.

Verdigris kicking in on first application. You can also see the little bright spots where glue is covering the copper.

Second application. the copper is turning brown but more bright spots appear. Get rid of the glue.
 
Applications continued - two per day which suited my bladder. Between coats I wiped it off with water before applying my urine. Still some bright spots to work on...

I was unsure if my urine would keep eating at the copper so I wiped all of it off with water and then sealed the copper with Testors Dullcote. End result after three days. Variable with some verdigris but I like the look. Eight years later it still looks the same.
 
Port:

Starboard:

 
Good luck if you want to try. It worked for me but no guarantees.
 
Cheers,
Alistair

So those numbers above have been refined again by cross referencing back and forwards from the half breadth and station plans... I got to the stage where I wanted to see how things fitted together, and particularly the deck levels and openings on the decks, and where the masts land compared to the stations, etc... 
 
So here is a 1:192 styrene half hull in construction. It's only got half its stations in so far, but it's starting to give an idea of how the whole might look.
 

 

 

I finally made my first foray into miniature carving. I started with the lion heads on the outboard ends of the cat beams. 7.85 mm or 5/8 inch square, so tiny enough to keep me focused!
 
I used my Russian chisels for the first time. They are as wonderful as everyone says. Super sharp, well balanced, controllable cuts.
 
I glued 3000 grit paper to a hardwood block for sharpening. I have been able to sharpen freehand with success, using the fore and middle fingers to hold the chisel at the right angle to the block, and the fore finger to press slightly down on the cutting edge. It brings back the super sharp edge in only a few strokes. And it does have to be touched up regularly, like every 8-10 cuts. I haven't had to do the gouges yet. That looks more challenging, especially the .5 mm one.

 
 
At first, I took chisels out and put them on my desk when switching to another chisel. I quickly found out that this does not work. First, they were all to easily starting to roll towards the front edge of my bench when I wasn't looking. Second, the cutting edges are so tiny that I would have to pick up each on on my bench to look very carefully to find the right one. I decided it was a better idea to keep them in their box whenever not in use. To facilitate finding them, I made a small chart and double sided taped it to the back of the box. Now it is very easy to find a chisel right away, and put it back safely between uses.
 

I held these in my GRS vise. Its ability to pivot really helps get at the wood from the right direction. Since this vise mounts on the edge of the bench, I pulled out my sliding platform beneath the bench (that usually holds my cutting board), and built a small platform to sit on top the platform and around the wood block to be cut. This gives me something to rest my hands on as I try to control these very fine cuts.
 

Gosh, a three dimensional figurehead doesn't look so scary after this!😏
 
 

Planked the floor  in the hold, now to began construction of the storerooms that fill in that part of the hold,and still need laders down to light room and powder magazine,but first I'll probably need to put in some more deck beams of the orlop deck so I can tell which ones cut thru the walls of the storage rooms.

Looking good Ron. Believe it or not some of us our still learning. It still takes me a couple of tries to get it to the point that I like it. Keep up the good work. Will be watching your build. Gary

Glenn you are so right. It does take a lot of patience that's for sure. Once you have it finish it's nice to sat back and enjoy your work. Gary

Well good folks I couldn't find a finish that Iiked so I used the one I put on Alfred. I have been using a mixture of bee wax and thinner, brings out the wood nicely and will add a nice golden color to the planking and not change the color of the wood. Once it's dry I take a rag and wipe it down, and use a bit of steel wool that will bring out a nice sheen to her. Gary

Hi Steve. Just wanted to let you know you have built one outstanding model and is gorgeous one. Thank you for sharing it with us. Gary