lmagna

Thanks Pat,
By the way, my name, Doug, is in my signature, like yours
 
I agree that  cost/benefit analysis is valid.  I don’t assign cost to the learning and the setup phases - is a personal choice but not fair to assume for others.   
 
In in terms of benefits I don’t know how I’d have milled the bracket without  CNC.  I suppose if it wasn’t an option I’d have settled for the soldered bracket and perhaps even practiced more to do a better job.  I was pretty pumped by my milled piece though - that’s worth something for me!

I also have the book and the only thing that makes me wonder is why Davis didn't just state the sizes in relation to the shot size rather than just giving the formula? I'm just being lazy i suppose.
 
You need to consider Wayne's information as well though. Sometimes, like in converting a merchant ship to carry guns the ship would be too small to have the ideal ports for the size of gun or number of guns that were intended. I suppose that could apply to warships as well.
 
Lou

Just a quick question as I got mixed answers from the place I'll be buying some copper rod to make kettles for my ship's stove.  When turning on a lathe or drilling/machining, should I use cutting oil?  Or not use anything?  I've done brass without oil, I've never done copper.

Nearly finished ...
 
Nice drawing table in the rear. Wouldn't it have been more sturdy when you'd cut those parts from one piece of wood?
It just occured to me ... can you still get inside the mill, to switch lightbulbs e.a.?                     Of course, the door  ...

a huge thanks for all the kind comments and the likes     I'm sure I missed a couple of things,  but I feel that I did succeed in trying to put some functionality into the model.   I had a good time finding out how things worked.........thanks to those who helped out with that.   it also helps to be in the company of so many like minded folks.   I learn something new every day   

That's a hughe improvement Mark. Turned out darn good

Thank you @Bob Legge, @oneslim, @mtaylor, @BenF89, @BANYAN, @Omega1234, @lmagna, @prutser, @KeithAug, and @Siggi52 for your 'likes'.
Thank you @BenF89 for your kind words.
____________________________________
Been exhausted lately and spent a lot of time sleeping like a dog (16 hours / day).
 
I had a somewhat unresolved plan for the side walls of the diorama. A good friend suggested a neutral grey would simply solve the problem. So I used the leftover grey I used for painting the bridge. This creates a neutral zone.
 

 
Last night, and today, I was toying with the idea of another small craft on the river, near the car-park ramp.
Was not sure how to go about making a metal dinghy. So it was an ad hoc construction.
Used scrap Masonite, dowels, paddle-pop stick, and a paper clip.
 

Slow progress with so many little pieces to bend then paint. I enlarged the deck plans on a photocopier so I could place all the pieces in order for painting and placement. Once I have added them all and hand painted a few bits I can start weathering. Lots of pieces to go. The Spruance is a little different then the kit when it comes to placement of certain things. 

A wise and elegant substitution for a fragile part that if broken latter in the build would have caused a lot of problems.  
 
Good solution.
 
Dan

Small update.  The pumps are done.  The pic shows the "old" one on the left and the new one on the right.   I've spent the last day or so blackening various brass bits... still more to go along with working on the rigging list.  The pumps are just about 5 foot tall as this seems to be the size.  I'm giving thought to having one rigged to show how they were operated.  For those not into French ships, here's a video of the ones on the  L'Hermione replica: 
 

Bent some wire over a .188 in piece of steel. I used a welding tip cleaner to file a small groove in the rail and then glued the wire in. So far so good.

Those are some nice looking stair Dennis. I know somebody who does stairs in Los Vegas, want a job???
Sam

Victory at Traffalgar: I've read several contemporary accounts that the inside of the bulwarks were painted yellow. Bellow decks being whitewashed.
I understand, once out of the dockyard, the cost of painting , or any other aspect of the ship's 'decoration' came out of the captains pocket. The more pigment, the dearer the paint. Of course, some officers weren't short of a bob or two, and as always, to some, Bling is paramount.
It makes sense to me at least, that timbers had a regular coat of linseed oil. Ships manifest included a considerable volume of the stuff. I think the tar was used on the rigging, tops and spars and probably on the wales. Sunlight, weather and repeated coatings would make this treated wood progressively darker over time.
Can't remember where I read this, but the colours of the ships boats were painted with virtual washes of muted earth colours. The hull below the waterline being tallowed, presumably looking yellowish white, not pure white. 
I've often wondered if each boat had its own colour, including oars, masts, thwarts etc. as an aid to identifying what goes where. Again, dedicated officers boats could be embellished with Bling also.
I think it would make sense that wood treatments would be more of a practical nature, with no consideration for future modellers desire to (understandably?) make there work ornamental, to some degree, to keep the wife happy!

A pic of the final version of my drilling template. I would draw a line across the deck at the butt joints, then center the 4 hole pattern on that over a butt joint at opposite ends of the deck and drill. Then i'd draw two lines through all the holes. To drill the remaining holes i'd center the holes in the pattern over these lines, then center the plank edge under the reference holes, hold down and drill. I tried tracing out lines and drilling free hand, but even after starting with a sharp point i found the template to be quicker and more consistent. 
I started toothpicking with bamboo. First area confirms i got exactly the effect i was going for. Very subtle but noticeable at the same time.
 

Last photos

more photo

Today i planking the deck at the bow area..
This area does require a bit of an extra attention since deck planks will be joggled into margin plank. The margin plank was glued first into place. Then edge plank was glued and deck plank started...
 

 

 

The first plank was installed in the middle of the deck and other followed on one side. I was thinking to go one plank from both end of the first and continue with that pace but for some reason i simply forgot and get my self completing one half of the deck...
 

 
Then plank joggling exercise started..
 

 


It will be very interesting to match the same joggling pattern on other side...
 
During this process a piece of keel at the bow area simply snapped. I got the piece and will be trying to glue it back on. Worst case scenario i will replace most of the keel that is located in the bow area.. Will see how repair goes..
 
Then i glued windows to transome..
 
That is all for today...
 
Happy modeling..
 
 
 
 

Been getting some work in. Not much progress, but up to about 1000 holes. Admiral was giving me some fresh orders while i was drilling, and i accidentally made a 4 pattern where there should have been a two pattern (after this pic was taken). Oops. Going to leave it as is and hope i can cover it with a cannon or something. As subtle as the nails will be i doubt it will be noticed by anyone but me. Tried lining off and freehanding the holes, but i find my brass strip templates to be quicker and more accurate. I drill two four patterns at butt joints on far ends of the deck then line through the holes. Then just center the lines under the holes of my template. Problem is the holes wear larger as i drill and i need to keep making new templates. Got some thicker brass to use hoping it will be more durable. If i can drill through it that is.
 

catching up on my deck progress. 
The Jig I made for cutting consistent planks using scrap wood and an old vinyl floor sample.


 

I used black acrylic paint on one side and one end for caulking.

My simulated trenails before I decided to sand them out and start over.

 
 
 

Looking great mate,   love what you are doing with those stairs, mine are difficult enough just being straight.
 
OC.

I looked up other logs for this model,  and I came up with several others.   each one had their take on the stairs......not the fun part of the model.  I decided to take a different approach,  which as I'm proceeding,  might not have been a wise choice.  I had assembled one already with the post,  and it came out uneven.....part of what prompted me to try making straight stair flights.   taking them back out,  the posts were removed and cleaned up,  later to be cemented on the model,  to insure that they would be straight,


the one that I removed the post from was sanded around the outer spiral,  and I added another step to the top,  seeing that the spiral itself wasn't achieving the 90 degrees it required to make the span the the second level.

I noted that it wasn't a straight ascension either....I'll have to work on it.   as for the other flight of stairs,  I had to take it apart,  which ended up badly for the parts..........everything from splintered cuts to the uneven.   they will need to be sanded and corrected,  in order to salvage them.  instead of making new pieces, they were sanded down in thickness,  and cemented on a small piece of 1/32 flat stock to make up for it.   it was compared to one I did earlier to check the thickness.


the end result is that I now have a left and a right flight of stairs.   the next task will be to get them to fit.

I haven't done them yet,  but another thing that I find odd are the hinges for the doors on the first level.   the way they are shaped,  suggests that they need to be bent around a brass rod,  to create the hinge pin eyelet.   but in doing this,  it creates a double thick hinge....not good in my opinion.   when I create them,  I will post a picture or two to show you what I mean.

Believe it or not I've actually recarved the handle piece to something more curved as so. I didn't care for the thin handle this looks more like the diecast handle does and probably more accurate (length still the same though). Haven't attached it yet so didn't post a picture here it is overlayed on top of the old one.

Using a 3D printed program I made little teeny windows for the deckhouse. The left upper image you can see the inner frame is beveled/rounded. The upper right image you can see a ledge where I can place a small glass or plastic pane inside. I also finished planking the front of the house.

Good morning all. So thought I should give an update for the week. I finally attached the wale and true keel. This was quite a challenge as the wale was a 1/16" by 5/32" strip of boxwood so learning how to curve the wood on this very sleek hull shape was a challenge. I opted not to spile since I wanted to maintain the sharp shape of the strip and also its such a small model (the front half of the wale is 3"). Anyways it worked with a bit of assistance as you can see in the pics.
 
So what you see below at the bow is the keel minus the beak. That piece will be added later. The keel and wale will be painted black so thought it neat to leave the beak tip unpainted to add contrast. The reason why I chose boxwood for the wale over cherry is so it doesn't splinter but also thought that even if painted there may be a slightly different grain texture to make the wale stand out. The back of the wale curves slightly upward and gets thinner at the stern. Also the wale is in 4 parts. Front and back halves which join at the middle but also an upper strip which is 3/64 by 3/64" boxwood. This made a little ledge at the top of the wale where I can place the deadeye channels and also a holly strip to add a white molding. The above railings and bulwarks I will add after finishing the planking to avoid banging them around and getting damaged.
 
The bow image where the two wales meet shows a bit of spacing where the wale meets the keel. Did the best I could but will use some wood putty to fix that since it will be painted anyway. 

Hi shipman
I suppose that if there was time, changing out sails was always certainly an option and in battles like Trafalgar where closing was carefully planed and not really much of rush, it could have happened on a number of ships while waiting their turn to close with the enemy who was not really trying to avoid the engagement. But it seems like an awful lot of work when there were so many other things to do while closing for battle. If it was a along chase like it seems so many smaller engagements were, then there is also the fact that while changing sails you would loose the extra speed, not good whether you were the chaser or the chasee! 
 
As for the tops being a busy place to be during a battle it seems that may be an understatement. Between people shooting back and forth with muskets and small cannons loaded with grape or whatever, and cannon shot trying to take out rigging it is a wonder that anyone was willing to go up there at all.
 
Lou