Jump to content
MORE HANDBOOKS ARE ON THEIR WAY! We will let you know when they get here. ×
Model Machines LLC – Byrnes Model Machines - machines to be back in production soon. ×

Hubac's Historian

NRG Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,278

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Hubac's Historian

  1. Hubac's Historian
    Thank you, Dan! Although knees can be difficult to rehab, it is good that you are doing this sooner, rather than later. In fact, once you have fully rehabbed, you will probably wonder why you waited so long. To be free of that sort of pain is transformational!
  2. Hubac's Historian
    Brilliant stuff, Matthias
  3. Hubac's Historian
    I’ve been plugging away on this f’ocsle breast rail and belfry, here and there, when I can. I made enough BONDO scroll ornaments so that I didn’t have any difficulty selecting for the best and most consistent examples: I coat them with a little thin CA, once they’re in place, just as a precaution - in case there were any micro fissures or fractures. The belfry came together sequentially. Turning the bell took a few attempts. I overheated the plastic, on the first try, and the bell winged-out on me. I made the cap rail from a couple of layers to give me a thickness of 3/64ths. It was necessary to fit a center section of caprail to the belfry assembly. The side sections will be mortised for the timberheads, and joined to the center section later. All-in-all, I’m really pleased with how it’s coming along: As always, thank you for taking time out to look-in at this build. More to come…
  4. Hubac's Historian
    Magnifique! Tres Belle!
  5. Hubac's Historian
    You have really made a lot of progress, here, Mark. Just beautiful work all around!
  6. Hubac's Historian
    Nicely faired hull, Bill!
  7. Hubac's Historian
    Well, I’m happy to report that the BONDO experiment was a success! I made a few fleur and shell casts to see how the material might release from the moulds. They released with even less effort than the Allumalite resin castings. As with the resin, small air pockets were an issue, but the crispness of detail was very satisfying, overall. For the squiggly scrolls, I decided to press a small amount of BONDO into the moulds with the pad of my finger, hoping to press out any air pockets. I then applied a thin backing layer so that I’d have something to hold onto, as I wasted away the ground. This time, perfect castings: Wasting was easy with the Dremel drum sanding attachment, followed by lap sanding across a sanding stick with finger pressure. Checking against a back-light, you can see where the ground is thicker or thinner, and you can adjust your finger pressure accordingly. You sand until you can just begin to see the castings releasing from the ground. I cleaned up a set to see what they looked like on a panel. I’m on the fence about this, at the moment: I also took some time to trim the panels so that they fit precisely within the parameters of the drawing. Because all 6 panels are produced from only two master drawings, they don’t all perfectly mirror to the other side of the drawing. A little fine-tuning was necessary: I made the yoke for the bell. The iron bands are simply black construction paper: I’ve also made the six breast-rail stanchions. I realized that the knees I patterned (left stanchion) were a little too heavy and out of scale, so I trimmed them back a bit (right): I guess I didn’t save the bell (90’s reference), so I’ll have to turn one from Screetch! RIP, Dustin Diamond
  8. Hubac's Historian
    Brows on the two dolphins above the penny look just right to my eye.
  9. Hubac's Historian
    Wow - I never realized just how out of alignment the beakhead is!
  10. Hubac's Historian
    Nicely done drawings, EJ. Now, though, I’m going to be a genuine PITA, once again. Why no deck camber? In smaller scales, this omission is less noticeable, but your model will be quite large and this will jump out at the viewer because - apart from the practical purpose of watershed, all elements of the ‘tween decks bulkheads will read very flat. These early 17th C. ships are all about the curves. For the sake of no-one will ever see it, I can see not worrying about the lower decks, but the visible decks are a different level of consideration, IMO. I mention these things because you are early in the build, and have time to consider them. It’s a big project, and I don’t mean to be annoying, but I want you to be happy with the results of your labor.
  11. Hubac's Historian
    Yeah, that’s what I was seeing in those early pictures. Sounds like you have it all well in-hand.
  12. Hubac's Historian
    Well, that’s just the thing - if you continue setting frames on this current base, and then lock them in with your battens, then whatever distortion all of that frame weight introduces to your keel will also be locked-in. I think you will be safer and far less aggravated, in the future, to start from a truly flat and solid base. This ship will be heavy.
  13. Hubac's Historian
    Over that span, EJ, I have some concern that your keel plinth and mounting board aren’t up to the long-term task of keeping your keel straight, as the hull takes shape.
  14. Hubac's Historian
    Really nice work on the chains, Marc.
  15. Hubac's Historian
    As they say - don’t allow the “perfect” to be the enemy of the really very good.
  16. Hubac's Historian
    I know just how crazily small all of this is, and your macros show every tiny detail. If there are flaws, I certainly can’t find them. It amazes me every time! What you do so particularly well, from a paint perspective, is scale wood-graining. The effect is so true to life.
  17. Hubac's Historian
    YUM - those port wreaths look awesome! And the washer/wedges look incredible.
  18. Hubac's Historian
    BONDO is just common auto-body filler. The vinyl paste is so fine that it fills-into small details really well. It’s very sticky stuff, though.
  19. Hubac's Historian
    I’ve spent the better part of the week fretting out these panels. They are pretty small, at 3/8” x 7/16”+: As such, I was having a lot of trouble NOT breaking off the ears of my fleurs. I set them aside, to glue them back-on once the fretting was done. Despite that precaution, I still managed to break one off again. I realized I would never be able to model the shells and fleurs unless they were secured to a backing, so I glued the .032 fretted panel to a .020 backer. In order to preserve some sense of lightness, I filed out the scalloped recesses around the perimeter. When I get to painting these, I will use flat black for the ground behind the fleurs and shells - a nod to theater carpentry. The fret-work will be red ocher, and the ornaments will be yellow ocher. I’m going to experiment with Bondo to see whether I can cast extras of the small squiggles that ornament all the corners of the frieze. These might be nice accents for the corners of each panel: I ran out of viable resin and don’t feel like buying more because it has a shelf-life, and I won’t use it enough to justify the cost. As long as the vinyl Bondo releases from the rubber moulds I made, we’re in business. We shall see.
  20. Hubac's Historian
    The effect is very good - stylized, but in a good way.
  21. Hubac's Historian
    Hey EJ - it’s great to see you back on the forums! I’m excited for the latest project, and I am here for it!
  22. Hubac's Historian
    Hi Bill - yes, I just recently became aware of this kit. I can see the appeal of open frames, but I don’t think the kit is at all representative of the ship, and I think it is way over-priced.
  23. Hubac's Historian
    Bravo, Eric! I really admire your willingness to keep revising and developing different processes to arrive at your desired results. Your method of applying the triangles to the mouth, as a means of guiding the buildup, is really an excellent idea. And, of course, the copper wire really does give the dolphin body a dynamic sense of 3D movement. I predict that your build following will really jump, once you begin assembling all of this work that you are so meticulously modifying and scratch-building. Patience and determination have carried you this far, and ultimately they are going to produce an entirely unique interpretation of the Heller kit. You have corrected a number of things like the wale sheer, gun placement and head structure that I did not previously think could be corrected. Hat’s off, my friend!
  24. Hubac's Historian
    Incredible work, Patrick!
  25. Hubac's Historian
    My plan for the poop deck is to make this kind if bridge gangway, over a cannon, and down to the QD: For the poop royal deck, I have not yet decided whether to do this kind of simplified Dutch bulkhead with simple treads attached to the bulkhead, directly, or to do another bridge gangway to a ladder between the 4-pounder guns: In other developments, the capstan mod is complete:

About us

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

SSL Secured

Your security is important for us so this Website is SSL-Secured

NRG Mailing Address

Nautical Research Guild
237 South Lincoln Street
Westmont IL, 60559-1917

Model Ship World ® and the MSW logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,929,264 & No. 6,929,274, registered Dec. 20, 2022)

Helpful Links

About the NRG

If you enjoy building ship models that are historically accurate as well as beautiful, then The Nautical Research Guild (NRG) is just right for you.

The Guild is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to “Advance Ship Modeling Through Research”. We provide support to our members in their efforts to raise the quality of their model ships.

The Nautical Research Guild has published our world-renowned quarterly magazine, The Nautical Research Journal, since 1955. The pages of the Journal are full of articles by accomplished ship modelers who show you how they create those exquisite details on their models, and by maritime historians who show you the correct details to build. The Journal is available in both print and digital editions. Go to the NRG web site (www.thenrg.org) to download a complimentary digital copy of the Journal. The NRG also publishes plan sets, books and compilations of back issues of the Journal and the former Ships in Scale and Model Ship Builder magazines.

Our Emblem ®

Modelshipworld - Advancing Ship Modeling through Research

Nautical Research Guild ® and the NRG logo are Registered Trademarks, and belong to the Nautical Research Guild (United States Patent and Trademark Office: No. 6,999,236 & No. 6,999,237, registered March 14, 2023)

×
×
  • Create New...