Hubac's Historian

Well, the 6th grade CYO basketball season has drawn to a close and our team succeeded beyond my wildest dreams:  we went 13-1, and captured the Manhattan division title.  Our second and final loss came in a division matchup with the Bronx winners.  We played a gritty first half, and kept it close, but made mistakes in the second half.  We were simply overmatched.  Nonetheless, it was a wonderful and extremely rewarding season.  The Knicks, on the other hand, continue to surprise, so my attentions remain somewhat divided.
 
That being said, I am lately looking to focus more on model building.  I’ve completed all of the fore, main and mizzen channel deadeye strops.  Although Andre Kudin’s particular method is definitely more efficient with less clean-up - he solders the lower strop loop at a neatly cut joint - I stuck with the R.C. Anderson overlap method I had been using because the strops were coming out uniformly, nicely shaped, and strong.  I will change my approach for the deadeye strops in the tops.

Next in order to be made are the chain preventer plates.  One of the key differences between what I had first tried, when making the chain preventer plates, and what Andre does is that Andre bends each plate from an individual length of wire, rather than try to economize on material by wrapping a longer length of wire, many turns, around an appropriately sized former.
 
When you do the latter, for one thing - you may succeed in crimping the continuous loop neatly around the former, but it is nigh impossible, after parting the links to get the links off the former without pulling them all out of shape.
 
The other issue with parting the links in this way is that you end up with one neat flush end and a pinched end, which leads to a weaker solder joint.
 
What I am after are uniformly straight chain links, free of odd kinks, and sloppy joints.  To that end I set up a simple bending jig like the one I see in Andre’s videos.  Following is a series of screen captures from his YouTube videos.  This particular video is either #13 or #16, in the series, if I remember correctly:






And following along, I first pre-bend short lengths of wire around a drill mandrel:

I’ve placed a shallow spacer beneath the link area, so that the ends will be slightly raised and easier to crimp with my parallel pliers:

I crimp snug around the upper pin, then use my pliers to pull each end snugly around the lower pin.  I then crimp around the lower pin:

I can then remove the link, and flush-cut each side of the link.  A little tweezer/finger manipulation creates a nicely closed link:

Silver solder paste has proven to be really great as I can control its application with the tip of an Exacto.  A touch to the iron, and I have nicely soldered joints that only require a little cleanup:

Now, Andre puts the soldered loops back over the two-pin jig and uses his round-nose pliers to crimp eyes at each end.  I found, though, that the joints with this 28 gauge wire simply failed when I tried this:

Alternatively, I found that I could place each link end over the lower pin, hold the outer end with a tweezer, and use my round nose plier to crimp around the single pin.  This worked beautifully:

Now, It’s a simple matter of doing that over and again about 60X.
 
It is, of course tedious, but satisfying to achieve the result I am after.
 
More to follow!
 
Best,
 
Marc

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

As far as I can see, Heller based their guns on the famous Croisic gun.  Heller did a fairly remarkable job of copying all of the decorative emblems and motifs, and proportionally they look pretty close to me.
 
The Croisic gun is a middle battery 24-pounder from SR’s original 1670 middle battery armament.  It was recovered from Cherbourg and eventually became part of the second battery armament of SR4, 1748, which was ultimately scuttled.  The gun was subsequently recovered from that wreck, mid 20th C.
 
My main deck guns are actually the kit’s middle battery guns - the 24 pounders.  I bumped all of the gun calibers up a deck, in order to give a more appropriate sense of visual weight to the artillery.

For more reading on the Croisic gun and detailed images of its decoration, see here:
 
https://fortifications-neuf-brisach.blogspot.com/2021/01/lexceptionnel-canon-de-24-du-soleil.html?m=1
 
 

I have considered Daniel’s chains, T_C.  Unfortunately, I don’t think their length will cover the span that I need to reach the middle band of wales.  It’s okay, though, making my own is a worthwhile learning experience.
 
So far, I’ve made the 5MM, fore and main deadeye strops.  I just completed the 3.5MM backstay deadeye strops.

Below are the rough strops before filing away excess solder.  Above are the cleaned-up strops.  I have adopted a method described by R.C. Anderson, where the join overlaps and is concealed beneath the channels.  I’m reasonably satisfied with these.  Now that I have a new pair of nippers, I will get busy making the other links, although I still need to make 4MM deadeye strops for the mizzen chains.
 
I wanted to do something more familiar and fun, so I’ve started re-locating the trunnions for the main deck battery.  To the left is the stock trunnion location, and you can see that the cascabel overhangs the carriage end to an excessive degree.  To the right, I’ve shifted the barrel forward to where it should be:

This process begins by shaving away the existing trunnions, and making a simple marking gauge to locate the new trunnion position:

I use an awl to make a starting depression for the drill, otherwise the bit will just skate across the rounded surface.  First, I chuck the bit in a pin vise to get a better bite on both locations.  Then, I can chuck the bit in the Dremmel and drill though one side at a time:

A short length of .035 styrene rod is fed through the barrel, and a spot of liquid plastic cement, on the underside of each join, secures it.  On my marking gauge, I inscribed a line indicating the projection of the trunnions from the barrel side.  A pencil mark on the overlong trunnions gives me a reference to nip to.  I clean the ends with a file, and voila:


Corrected trunnions!
 
Ultimately, I will add either paper or foil cap squares to the visible, detailed guns.
 
Thanks for stopping by and looking in at This Old Project!

I tend to agree with druxey but your latest attempt looks solid Marc. I used thread to strop my dead eyes on the Vasa, I used thinned down PVA with paint and while still wet I rolled it out on a flat surface with a metal straight edge but a paint stick would work just as well, this seems to hold the fibers in check and the end result looks good.
 
Michael D.

Late to the party; the soldering should be on the straight part of the loop, not the end. Failure rate should be much lower.

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I can’t escape the fact that I continue to fail at this chain-making exercise.  As the old maxim goes, though, every failure is one step closer to success.
 
I’ve now thrown away two whole batches of chain preventer plates.  While I was quite right to follow Andre Kudin’s example, for the process of their manufacture, I eventually discovered that that process is not entirely transferable from 1:48 to 1:96 scale.
 
After forming his basic links, Andre solders them closed at one end, and then places the closed link back onto the two pins so that he can crimp an eye on each end with his round pliers.
 
Well, the 28 gauge brass wire I’m using does not provide enough surface area for a strong enough bond to survive the crimping.  My success to failure ratio was pretty poor:

So, my lesson from that exercise was that I needed to do the crimping before soldering one end closed:

These soldered loops will be the lowest end of the chains, bolted into the wales.  That way, I could induce a series of bends into the upper half of each preventer plate, so that they could overlay the next small link:

Above I’m just using another preventer plate to check that the bends I’m making are sufficient.
 
So, I spent a good chunk of time cleaning up the solder and inducing bends into the remainder of the preventer plates.  The solder joint will be re-enforced with the CA glue that fixes the pin-bolt in place:

With that out of the way, I could make a new, slightly closer-spaced pin jig for the next small link, which is only crimped on one end, where it seats beneath the preventer plate.
 
Now that I have a process that I know will work, and now that I’ve had all of this practice, these next links should go fairly quickly:


I have a lot of these to make, solder and bend - about 70 to ensure I can use the best.  This has all been a colossal PITA, but it was really important to me that all of this look very clean and uniformly shaped.  In the process, I have acquired some very valuable metal skills that will only enhance this and future projects.
 
That said, I am going to experiment with using black nylon thread of an appropriate diameter to connect the deadeye strop loops to the small links.  This would essentially be a variation on the way that the stock kit represents these links, but I will do individual chain loops that draw tight with some form of slip-knot that I can pull up and hide behind the deadeye strop.
 
Andre had a great method for producing these variances, but it is all just that much more tedious in the smaller scale.
 
The advantages of doing this are several.  So long as there is not a jarring difference in appearance between the black thread and the blackened metal, it will save me tremendous amounts of time.  It also simplifies the difficulty of accurately measuring and keeping track of a series of increasingly longer links as the shroud angle increases from fore to aft.  Lastly, it greatly simplifies the placement of the deadeyes because I can add the retaining strip, in advance, and it also makes it much easier to locate and properly secure the bottom two links.  Hopefully, that will work out.  
 
Well, I keep saying that I’m going to get back in the swing of the project, and then I get sucked into coaching another basketball team - now my son’s Spring rec team.  Meanwhile, the Rangers and Knicks are just too compelling to ignore this post-season.  At least for now, I can see the end of the tunnel for these chains, which is tremendously motivating, and then I can return to the more immediately gratifying work of outfitting and arming the main deck.
 
Thank you all for taking the time to look back in on This Old Build.  More to come!
 

I assembled half of the ship's hull.

Good day Michael,
What a microscopic parts!!! :))) Looks very readable + work of imagination and I could say in this scale You made it pretty,pretty good!
One of the option , if I may to suggest, these guns gears could be ommited at all as they often performed ommited on classic museum models of thus period...where scematic gun cariages( even w/o wheels) shown  only... there will be some kind of "hermetic " message for those  of us who are  involved in this business :)))...
but from other side -  when all shown, it is demonstration of your  highest modelling skills, if You want to show them in modern style! - as all gears settl ed 
All the best ! 
Kirill

Shifting gears a bit I decided to do a mockup of the canon/ tackles and breech rope, at this scale I simply knotted up the ends and painted to simulate the blocks, looks convincing enough to my eyes for this retina stressing exercise. These close-up shots are great for spotting where touch ups are needed. Thanks for looking.
 
Michael D.

In the meantime, i continued with the fore castle basis.
 
This time I checked in time whether any problems will arise with the schrouds.

So yes, my cardboard structure was much too wide at the top. Error corrected just in time.

The base starts at an angle of 45° following the (few) remains of the fore castle. And then with a curve upwards. As always too high or too long, shortening later is easier than lengthening.

Applying the second was a little more challenging.

Additional temporary supports were then installed. And i continued with finishing the waist. 

Gluing done on starboard side, now on to port side. Sanding is for later.

Since I'm starting the fore castle earlier than planned, I haven't looked at this properly yet.
According to what I have read briefly, it should look like it is drawn on the cover of the MR book.
2 light cannons and all the are rest swivels, or hail shot pieces 

Thank you, Kirill. The sprit topmast for the most part is complete minus the necessary blocks etc, I'm quite happy with the result, up next my focus will be set the bowsprit in permanently but first I need to decide if I want to use sheaves secured to the gammoning or pin rails and a range..... looking at both Payne's and Van De Velde plates suggest pinrails as the lines run directly inboard of the beakhead so that's what I'll probably go with.
 
Michael D.
 

This looks awesome, Eric!

Well... that went pretty well.... need to do a little bit of trimming and use some Tamiya putty, but the middle wales sweep up 2mm more now where they meet the QG leading edge.
 
It took 45 minutes to grind and scrape away the middle wales aft of the nearest scarf joints.
 
 

 
Then it was a simple matter to attach the new middle wales and sweep them up a bit. I will NOT do a darn thing with the upper wales. The QG hides most of where the "missing" upward sweep would be, and I am thinking the height of the bulwarks above them will also camouflage the "missing" 3mm of upward sweep the the lower and middle wales now have at the very aft end of the ship... and that the upper wales will not have.
 

This all looks great Eric.  I like your aft increase in wale sheer.  I’m debating whether it makes sense to have a corresponding increase in the middle band of wales, as the sheer would have run parallel.  The upper main wales - at the juncture of the upper bulwarks are pretty fixed, although one could add to to top edge of the upper most wale and feather it back.  It mY not really be worth all of that extra effort, though.

Thanks for the reference, Eric!  This is all shaping up very nicely.

Eric, can you please remind me where you purchased these rivets from?  They look like the ideal fastener for my chain preventer plate links.

I thought it might interest you to take a look at the brilliant Andre Kudin’s video series for his Fleuron, 1729.  In this installment he is making the lid lanyard grommets.  His process for doing this on a wooden model isn’t as important as what the finished grommet looks like.  Granted, there is a good 50+ years between Fleuron and SR, but there is some insight to be gleaned.
 
You can turn on English subtitles in his videos to understand what he is saying.  Andre is an extremely resourceful modeler, and his Fleuron is a true gem of the craft: