I saw the picture and I think most of the blood drained from my head before I could read your second picture comment. Hey, you got old people in the audience, be careful with them pictures, buddy. Very nice work us usual, Paul.

Thank you to Pat, Rob, Mark, and Paul for the complements and kind words and thank you to all for the likes. I want to take this opportunity to thank Gary (FriedClams) for the tip he mentioned in his build log on using pencil on black paint to create the illusion of forged iron. I tried it this morning on the 60 LB Parrott rifle that I'm working on and I like the results a lot, in some respects. It works fantastic on a smooth flat surface. I try to be extra careful when applying CA, I take a Q-tip and try to absorb as much of the excess CA as possible. In some spots on the carriage I was unable to get as much of the excess CA removed as usual. Had I know what the pencil effect wold look like I wouldn't have wasted my time with the Q-tip. The excess once dried, painted, and highlighted with a pencil creates wavy shadow lines just like you'ed expect to see on on a real forged piece or, even a cast iron piece. I once worked in a open pour casting foundry and cast iron can come out with less than a smooth surface. Where this didn't work for me was on the riffle barrel because of the wood grain, the graphite highlighted the heck out of the grain in the wood and makes it look anything but smooth. I think it's going to be pretty easy to reverse the process because I was using a Q-tip (I love Q-tips) to blend the graphite and a lot of the graphite was removed doing that. I need to take all the graphite off the barrel with Qa -tip soaked in water or repaint which is not a big deal either way. Thank you again for the tip, Gary. It is differently something I will play with in the future. Update on the riffle and carriage. I'm not adding any addition bits to the carriage till after the trucked sliding rail carriage is completed. I would love to make this a functioning piece, both pivoting and the rifle and carriage's ability to slide back and forth on the tracks. Sounds kinda like a receipt for disaster, I just need to get into the building process and see how it goes. Probably the best bet is to CA everything in place and forget it, that would sure be the easiest route. Regarding the last picture. 60 LB Parrott rifle version 1.0 is on the left and my version, 2.0, is on the right. Version 1.0 was original to the model when it came into my stewardship.

That is NOT a happy camper. I can almost hear him thinking "daddy, better let me outta here cause you're not going to like what happens when I do get out"

She turned out great looking, Paul. You should be proud of how she turned out, it's a joy looking through the pictures and seeing your work.

Beautiful work as always, Paul. Sorry you ran into the problem, do the cats have any suggestions on how to proceed?

Pat, the wheels came out great, not sure how you managed to paint them being that small. I would have had half the carriage painted as well. The engine order telegraph looks top notch, I wish mine had come out half as nice as your's did. Great stuff as always.

I've started with the forecastle pivoting 60 LB Parrott rifle. In one way it's the easiest because I only need to make one and it's the hardest because it's the smallest. 60 LB Parrott statistics: Bore, 5.3 inches. Barrel length, 111 inches (9.25 FT.) Barrel weight, 5,430 LB. Shell, 50 or 60 LB. Charge weight, 6 LB. Maximum range, 7,400 yards at 30 degrees. Flight time, 30 seconds. Crew size, 14. This from Wikipedia. I wasn't able to find anything on effective range Turned the barrel with drill and started the carriage. More carriage pieces need to be added, that's why the insides have been left unpainted. The elevation control rod's length will be shortened to the correct length when the carriage is completed. The barrel length is .925 inches. I am going to try and add a sight and percussion pin, we'll see how that goes. I'll probably work on the slide carriage while still working on the gun to give my eyes a rest.

Thank you, Mark. I plan on having it framed and when the Tennessee is cased, hang it on the wall and as near to the case as practical.

I couldn't agree more!

That's a quandary to be sure. In some models, because of the lovely wood working techniques involved it would be a bloody shame to paint. Personally I like paint as I think it makes a model look more realistic and paint will hide a multitude of sins which is the case with my build.

Every now and then I'll search "USS Tennessee" on eBay and today up came a winner. There was a listing was for a original page from the December 4th, 1880 issue of Harper's Weekly about the Tennessee. I'm now the proud new caretaker and I'm stoked because it's a little piece of history that could easily have not survived. I think being able to add this along side the Tennessee (when completed) will add that much more interest to the model.

Nope, Eddie does. Thank you Gary for the compliment.

I'm sorry for the lapse in my manners, somewhere, Mum is scolding me. Thank you Mark, Pat, and now Keith for the complements and comments and thank you to all for the likes.

A good day to be dockside as we're being inundated with a late season snowstorm. View out the front porch windows. As things currently stand. I'm about to enter the next phase, deck guns. I've looked forward to this part of the build for what seems to be a very long time.

I don't think they would have trusted wooden trucks/wheels to bare the weight and survive the stress of firing a 2,800 pound gun? I'm pretty sure the carriage trucks for the 100 pound breech loading Parrott rifle (10,266 pounds) were iron. I think the width of the individual truck would be key in keeping the decking from being destroyed. Wouldn't metal against wood cause less friction than wood against wood? The main weight of the gun is at the rear of the carriage where there are no trucks.

Whatever it is, it's beautiful! A coat of poly, put a frame around it, and hang it on the wall. One could look at that for hours and not tire of it.

Sorry, I'm way late to this party, just discovered this gem today. Steve, your workmanship is gorgeous and the lines of Miss Caroline are beautiful. Back when I still had my physical capabilities I rowed at least once almost every week. Rowing is a lot like life, the view is always where you've been (the past) the future is somewhere up ahead on a course you hopefully have correctly plotted. A mirror (your's is as beautiful a row boat mirror as I've ever seen) is like trying to see into the future. Take a second, hold one oar out of the water and get a half circle view of where you think you're headed. Of course if you continue with one oar up you'll wind up going in circles, another one of life's moments we all find ourselves doing from time to time. Steve, thank you for the memories, God bless your journey.......Keith

Nice binnacle!

Gary, Rob, and Keith thank you for the compliments and thank you to all those for the likes. Stack chain work completed. At the rear of the ladders leading to the flying bridge and attached to the aft stack platform are the flying bridge support columns. Ladders and columns attached to the stack platform allow for sliding into place and out as a unit allowing for further deck work as required. Starboard view showing ladder and support column. Forward view underneath flying bridge detail and ole Bob's backside. Views of companionways in place (see previous post)

Mark, thank you for the compliment and thank you to everyone for the likes. I finally finished the companionways. In this H and H photo, the companionway opening is to starboard, no foot wipe roller. This is the same companionway viewed at the closed end showing the canvas cover rolled up. This is the adjoining companionway opening to port with a foot wipe roller. The companionways were only wide enough for oneway traffic. Because the port side opening has a foot wipe, this makes me believe this companionway was intended for going down and the one that opened to starboard (no foot wipe) was for coming up. My attempt at foot wipe roller and rolled up canvas cover. All the companionways had birdcage covers. Replicating these is beyond my abilities and it's best they be left off than offer up a poor representation. A lot is happening in a very small space. Running the wire for the double stanchions was the most difficult. It's 24 GA and (in hindsight 26 would have made my life much easier) is home run from stanchion opening to stanchion opening. I glued in the front six stanchions and left the two end stanchions loose. I pulled both top and bottom wires completely through all eight stanchions with the two ends left dangling. As I pulled both railing wires taught, the two end stanchions pulled toward the rear of companionway. Once they were within striking distance of their peg holes I then tilted them into position as I pulled the railing wire through the other six stanchions. It would have been nice to have had four hands but I was working in a two finger space. The sense of depth in .1 inches of height still trips my head.

I bet if you look on eBay you can find the acrylic paint you're looking for. eBay sellers seem to be a lot more flexible in these times than large online companies. Oh, don't use real fine steel wool, you want some scratching of the surface for the poly to adhere to.

Keith, nice work. About painting aluminum. I found that if I steel wool the piece, wipe it clean with paint thinner and then apply a coat of wipe on poly, paint will adhere easier with no streaking. I use acrylic craft paint so if you're using a different type paint your results may not be the same as mine. Hope this helps.....KB

Very nice Paul, you need to name this gal the "Rapido"

Keith, thank you for the kind words. I couldn't agree more. The transitional period from sail to steam, wood hull to iron then steel, smooth bore guns to rifled, and battle tactics that no longer relied on the wind was a rush of change. Naval ships around the world became almost unrecognizable to the old salts who had apprenticed aboard square-riggers only 35 years earlier. What sails they carried would disappear on the horizon forever. I considered that but I couldn't find anything about extinguishers for the time period and none in that sophisticated of a form till much later. That are smiling a lot that's for sure. Yes, I've displayed them fully extended because I think they look really cool that way plus I'll not be doing sails. When the ship was under full sail they would have been fully retracted because the steam engines would have been silent, no sense in burning the sheets.