flying_dutchman2

Great work, Piet, especially your bow waves. The water looks very realistic. Something I need to learn how to do this as well. Marcus

Patrick, Sleek boat, excellent work. Marcus

Will be catching a plane to Ireland in a few hours and then off to the Netherlands for my mothers 90th birthday and be back after memorial day to work on the axle and finishing up the hood. (2nd picture is sideways, sorry) Marcus

The deck framing looks really good, Kees. It is starting to come together. Marcus

Lattice is completed. Oak veneer cut to form will be used to cover the cap. Then a 2mm layer of tile glue and then gray paint. Marcus

In between vacations I did work a bit on the cap. Instructions indicate that once all the pieces are glued together to weave metal wire to the outside of the frames. Then take cloth and cover it completely with glue and drape over the wire, covering the wire completely. After it has dried smear the paste over it. I am guessing that with this method one does not get the curves of the cap. I am doing this differently. I've added some more vertical frames and once dry, glue planks horizontal over the frames creating a lattice. Then use pieces of veneer (which I have so much of) and cover the lattice. The sides will have a nice ball like curve. Marcus

I plan to do that as well as hobby lobby and do an online search. Marcus

It does and building the hood is not that difficult. Marcus

Jan, I will check out the fibers available on the market. I have not gone through all my options yet Marcus

Piet mentioned using coconut, but what I remember is that it is rather curvy. The material you can order is nice and straight. Either brick and mortar stores or online shops should have this. So i will check in the US first. Worked on the cap today, dry fitted most of the pieces. Marcus

Thanks Mark, I'll keep that glue in mind. Piet, coconut husk is too curvy My wife thought of something else, we have a bamboo fence used for one year and stored in a box. It has weathered to gray. It is a thin fence. Couple of layers of that and that could do the trick. She mentioned that we go to Michael's and Hobby Lobby and see what else there is. Raffia is something to look in as wekl. I haven't ripped out the fake thatch layer yet. I couldn't get myself to do that until I am sure there is no other way. Adding layers of the thin bamboo on top of the paste makes the whole thing look much fuller as well. I never knew this part would take so much trail and error to come up with something. Uncharted waters.😁 Marcus

This afternoon I am taking off the thick paste roofs, remove the nails and sand the nail holes. I got sheets of poplar that are 3mm and 4mm thick by 10" wide by 36" long (scrap wood from one of the guys at the Woodworker club). This will be for re-roofing. Last weekend I tried out various ways to imitate thatch and the broom bristle idea has to be rethought. With the waterproof glue it is a mess as the bristles keep moving. With CA it works beter but this would get expensive fast. I did the paste again but now the layer is 2mm thick and it is best to use a water moist 3" wide paint brush for strokes to imitate the thatch. No cracking when dried and looks good. Also painted a part of it and looks great. Won't do much this month as this weekend I have a wedding in Denver and from the 19th to the 28th I will be doing a castle tour both Irelands and the last weekend to Holland for my mother's 90th birthday. Marcus

Backer, Link worked and looks cool. Marcus

Carl, Makes a lot of sense. This is going to take a long time and will be very repetitive. (just like planking a ship). Will try on a piece of scrap wood first. Marcus

'Tree barkish', that is a good one I checked to see if redoing is an option and it is. I have enough wood to redo everything but first I am going to to tear the sides off (the thatch part) and clean the bottom and top plate, and the styles. I want to save the foundation walls and the walls with the windows and doors. This area is not glued to the thatch area as the instructions tell you to keep it open for circulation. I took some bristles from an old black plastic bristle broom, i had in the greenhouse. Cut off 7cm in length. Spread them out so the bristles are side by side. Glued them on a piece of wood. Did the same to the next bunch of bristles and glued them above the first set. Overlapping 3.5cm. Looks pretty good. Question: How long should the bristles be? How much shall I overlap? Bristles can't be too short because when you overlap them they won't lay flat. Plastic holds better for outdoors as well and I can still paint it grayish. Would be ideal to put all of the bristles in long pieces of tape or cloth in strips and then wrap and glue it on the sides. Marcus

Carl, Glue the bristles on the paste? I am not taking the paste off. I am evening it out and it works, slow process. I will take bristles and glue on some wood, see what it looks like. I do like your idea. Should have done this instead of the paste. Definitely going to do that on my next mill (Yes, there is going to be another one). Marcus

Yes, I could do that, but that is a whole different ball game. There is a learning curve for that process. You can purchase thatch in bundles. Not cheap and available in Holland. Getting it that exact on a structure would take me several mills. Marcus

Good observation, druxey. Unfortunately, there is still some cracking. 😞 So I took drastic measures. Got a hand saw with course teeth and started scrapping from top to bottom. As I said before, this paste is hard as stone, so it's a lot of work. The cracks are evening out and the teeth are creating ridges. Next mill I am building will not have this tile glue. I have to seriously research this until I find something better. Marcus

Cog, Backer and amateur, thanks for the links, suggestions and pictures. This gives me enough information on choosing a color. The 2 last pictures from amateur are great, besides the thatch it shows the back of the cap. My plans are line drawings and these show exactly what it looks like. Furthermore, in the second picture the walls are horizontal wood slats, I like that and to make the model look more interesting I am going to do something like that. This mill has the exact same colors as what is suggested for my model. Early this morning I filled in the cracks and added a thin layer of paste. Than with a regular paint brush I imitated the thatch, rinsing the brush after every 5-7 strokes in a pale of warm water. It did the trick. I like the looks of it. If I need to increase the stroke lines I can always do that when I paint the mill. Let it completely dry and slowly remove the hard paste from around the top windows. Will start painting the bottom walls. Been working on the cap as well (pictures soon). Marcus

Part 2 After a full day of drying the tile glue looks like, when clay soil has been baking in the sun for about 3 months with added ridges. It is also extremely hard. Some areas have cracks that are too obvious so these need to be filled in. Furthermore, a coarse wire brush makes no difference. Conclusion : fill in the cracks and add a thin layer here and there and try to imitate the thatch, again. My guess about the cracks is that the paste is put on while the mill stands up instead of laying down. Gravity pulled some areas apart. It is a nice learning experience. The tile glue that is recommended in the instructions which are in Dutch, is not the same as the tile glue I bought here in the US. From about 10 feet away, you can't really see the cracks. Question for the Dutch members. What color is the thatch? I know new thatch is straw colored and over time it becomes grayish. So what color shall I paint that area? Marcus

Started putting on the tile glue paste one side after another. Put on about 5-7mm and used a hard bristle brush going from down to up to imitate the thatch. It looked good after it was all done. Then over time once it starts to dry it all settled a bit flat, like frosting on a cake. It is still drying in the garage and I am assuming that tomorrow it has hardened completely. I will take a coarse wire brush and add more ridges to the sides. I did notice in one small area which is already dry the material is is hard and does not come off when scratching with a finger nail. Tomorrow part 2 Also painted the underside of 2 pieces dark blue. In Dutch it is called t'hemeltje (little heaven). Marcus

Found out yesterday that the neighbor no longer has the drill press. Did ask him who did and he said the man next door to him. So I may ask him. This coming Thursday is my woodworkers meeting and may just ask the person I am good friends with. He builds furniture in his spare time. He must have a drill press. Doing this part of the mill is in the future. Tomorrow I need to do some more painting and put the tile glue on to imitate the thatch. Marcus

Today was a sunny day to do some sanding outside and start building the cap. Sanded the mill and put together the framework of the cap. Also drilled the axle head, which is the piece where the vaines will be attached to. It ended up as a complete failure. I did it by hand but need a drill press. Tomorrow getting a six pack of beer and next week go to the neighbor across the street, with the 6 pack and ask if I can use his drill press. Marcus

Drafting table is from the mid 70's and is one very sturdy piece of furniture, I needed that when I was at the Rijks Middelbare Tuinbouw School in Utrecht (Royal Middle Horticulture School). I use the table for drawing (duuuh) and the clamp that tightens the table is so strong I can set heavy objects on it when it is in the horizontaal position. The pieces are glued with a wide strip of wood in the back and they bend better. I have so much extra wood, I decided to use some of that to keep the cost down. So far I have spent around $200.00. The marine plywood is expensive. The bottom plate has an opening the size of the top plate. When it is all done I will set it on top of several stone tiles. Marcus

The instructions say it gets painted, no brick. Glued the 4 small windows in the thatch areas (rietvelden). Laid the skeleton on the floor at an angle and glued and nailed the 8 thatch roofs on the skeleton. Put Titebond glue on both sides that come in contact with the frames. Put it on the frame and make sure that it is straight. Use clamps on one side and pre-drill pilot holes every 5cm in the thatch layer. Use small, long ribbed nails to attach it to the frame This is important. Start driving the nails from top to bottom. Left, right, left, right and so on. I made the mistake by doing one side first and then the other and the wood split in 2 places. Remedied that by pushing a square dowel under the crack and pasting it together. The dowel is nailed to the wall. Cracks I will cover with the tile glue. Let it dry overnight and then I will sand whatever needs it, fill cracks and see what needs to be fixed or added. Then prime the foundation walls and upper walls with 2 layers and also do the bottom plate (bodem plaat). Practice layering the tile glue on a piece of wood and imitate the thatch layer. Per instructions, the open areas between the bottom of the thatch layer and the top of the walls needs to be as is for aeration. I may glue or nail mosquito netting. I don't want any squatters occupying the mill. Working in this scale (1:15) sure is different compared to (1:48). Easier to cover up mistakes and no need to redo it. Marcus