Fernando E

Thanks a lot guys! 
 
Adding the gun tackles. Supricingly after you got the rythm it goes quite well! 
 

All guns in place with breeching ropes secured for sail. I think it looks interesting and different. Gun tackles will follow. 

I attached the bulkhead hooks to the hull by gluing them and adding a couple of nails. I also made the other hooks on the hull that are used to pull the boats up on the beach. I tried using the supplied brass round stock for these but I could not get the bend to look right. I had some aluminum round stock that was about the same diameter so I used that instead. It bent much better and blackened nicely. I attached these with four nails each after milling the flats and drilling the holes on the mill.I cleaned up the two anchor pieces and am in the process of painting them black. I also started working on the bow sprit. I started by milling two flats on the end of a dowel, then milling a matching slot in another short piece of dowel. I rounded the end of that piece and flattened the bottom to sit flat on the deck. I then switched the mill to the lathe and tapered the bow sprit with a tenon on the thin end to attach the block.

I am in the process of making the blocks for the bow sprit and mast. The bow sprit block has a single sheave and the mast block has two sheaves. I started with rectangular pieces for each of them and first milled the slots for the sheaves.

I then turned the pieces 90 degrees and drilled the holes for the sheave axes. I put the mill back into the lathe configuration and used the cutting tool to round the corners off, then a file and sandpaper  to round the outside end. For the inside end I used the angle of the cutting tool to roughly cut the taper, then I removed the piece from the chuck, cut the block off the blank and finished rounding the end by hand. I squared up the ends of the slots with a small square file.

I am sure there are a lot of you guys that can make these with hand tools but I am very happy to have a mill/lathe to make them. I still need to paint these blocks, add the sheaves, and make the tip of the bow sprit to complete it.

Second attempt with the gun rigging. I fixed the breeching rope according to the bellow picture

Peta.....your work is brilliant. I am really enjoying following your work.
 
Cheers....... Fernando🍻
 

Thanks E.J. Here they are completed with the hoops painted black, then ends dark green, and the corks added. I painted the hoops freehand which probably shows. I did pick the best side of each barrel to put the cork, so that will be the side that shows.

I have also made the bulkhead hooks as the plans call them, which to me are chain plates of a sort. They have a strap with a loop at the top that is attached to the hull and a bracket that fits over the loop. The shroud is then hooked to the bracket when the mast is rigged. I made the hooks for this too. The instructions say to use a nail to hold the bracket to the strap, but I found some very small screws and nuts that were the perfect fit, so I used them. There has been a discussion lately on MSW on a better blackening technique than I have been using which I really wanted to try. I bought some Sparex pickling powder which I mixed up last night and first soaked the metal parts in it, then rinsed in a baking soda solution, then acetone, then the blackening solution. I have to say these came out so much better than anything I have blackened in the past - the coating is very even looking and much more durable. It takes quite a bit longer but to me it is definitely worth it.

Today I started to install these on the hull. I placed the dowel for the mast in the mast hole and tied a string near the top where the shrouds would start from. I used the string to mark the locations and angles of the bulkhead hooks on the outside of the hull. I then removed the trim in these locations on the starboard side using an X-Acto saw and knife and a square file. I then placed the hooks in the gaps and marked their lengths and the locations of the holes for the nails, and drilled the holes using the mill. I am going to touch up the green paint on the trim before installing the hooks. It was pretty scary having to cut the trim at this stage but I took my time and started with small cuts.

Here are the starboard hooks after all that. The blackening is a little scratched up but so much less than if I had used my usual blackening. I am even more sold on the Sparex method now.

Full army...... It is scary big! 

Jig for breeching rope and ready gun for first "Sharp fit" 

Gun on the deck with first tackle


 

tender Harriet (1843) 
National Maritime Museum

While waiting a supply for gun tackles I'm working on other details. Today anchor. Again I used brass tape Iron belts. It is Just temporary fited to the deck nothing is glued. 
 

Testing time....... I have created test battle station to work on the artillery rigging. I have chosen this picture as a reference and will do the tackles like this. 

This is my interpretation in the scale. The breeching rope is easy. For tackles I use 2x 2mm single blocks with hook strap. The brass eyelets will be replaced by nicer ones on the ship. I run the rope several times through the eyes for tackle hooks and secure in the middle of the tackle. This partialy hides the blocks which is good and I think this is not very common on the models. I like it lot. What do you think? 
 
 
 
 

I started working on the barrels. These needed to be scored to simulate the slats, so I used the rotary table from the mill to hold the barrels as I scored the top, then turned it 20 degrees and scoring again.

After I stained them this is what they look like. I now need to paint the bands black and the ends dark green.

More progress on a rainy day. Tying the ratlines is always a lengthy chore but while researching how others did it, I came across a simple jig to get the spacing even and parallel. A couple of wooden strips of the desired spacing and lined with some fine grade sandpaper could be clamped each side of the shrouds and provide a reference for each row of ratlines which can be tied to the shrouds and then gently pushed down against the jig and fixed in place with thin PVA after removing the jig. Only tool used were fine tweezers.
I added a couple of 3mm dowels to make the jig easier to locate and clamp in place. The BIG bonus I found was that considerable force can be exerted on the shrouds while tightening the clove-hitches and end knots - it made the job a cinch 😎 I used 220 grade paper but may change to 800 as the coarser paper may scuff the shrouds if not careful.
I still haven't perfected the method yet but I did about a dozen ratlines on the main mast in about 30 minutes!
If I find the reference for the idea, I'll mention here. Someone on MSW I think. Thank you 😃
 
Pat
 
 

Bowsprit shrouds
 

Some progress on the smaller deck items. I finished painting the stove and added blackened wire pieces for the grate. I added the pawls to the capstan, which are hard to see since everything is black. I also built the bucket as shown on the plans. The kit provided two disks that you attach to a strip of wood, then use thin planks around the disks. The plans show to use a mixture of rectangular and triangular planks, but I used some geometry to calculate the widths of the planks at the top and bottom of the bucket, then cut tapered planks to those dimensions.  As per the plans, I waxed the top disk and just glued the planks to the bottom disk and each other. I sanded the planks and removed the top disk, which came out easily and will be used as a cover. I gave them a coat of oak stain and will add some wipe on poly when they dry.

I also added the bowsprit support to the bow. This is just a piece of wood that goes around the hole for the bowsprit. I first made a template from some manila folder material. Since this area of the bow is curved, I thought I was going to have to carve this piece from a thicker piece of stock, but thanks to a tip from Popeye in an earlier post, I just cut this piece from a 1/16" basswood sheet with the grain running vertically, so the piece was very easy to bend around the bow. Thanks Popeye for the great tip!

Its our 32nd wedding anniversary today so no more work in the shop today. Off to a new restaurant tonight that sounds very good. Have a nice weekend all.

Second attempt with bobstay turned out much better. 

The rudder tillers from thin ropes look also much better! 

And the whole ship 

Thanks Popeye and EJ. I like adding those little extras if they come out well.
 
I made the ladder for the inside the wheelhouse and glued it in after painting the area inside black. I will have the wheelhouse cover open slightly so this area will be visible.

 
I finished adding the locking straps and bars to the other hatch and finally finished the wheelhouse. There was a lot of painting so it took a while. I also added the eight cleats to the deck. These are a bit more narrow now then they were when I took the picture in the last post, which are closer to the plans.  You might notice a round plug in the deck. There are actually six of them. I learned the hard way that when working on a boat that looks very similar at both ends, make sure the boat and the plans are oriented the same way before drilling holes!

I am currently working on the capstan and the cooking grill.

Few more details. Bulwark rails, Block on the horse. 

Rudder pendants

beautiful planking and treenailing job,
a great looking model
 
Nils

Thanks Nils but the treenails are not my job. It is pre-cut by laser from manufacturer 👍

Bowsprit is now secured in place so I was able to do some testing rigging. I decided to make my own ropes. I rig the jib tack and jib tack guy. I have to say that I'm happy how that turned out. 
I have also experimented little bit with the pictures and the setup of taking the picture. So hopefuly There are more details visible. Still it is camera from my mobile phone so no miracles there. 

I have received threads for AVOS. Gutermann MARA 220 fo thinner ropes. Those are thread for industrial use so this is the smallest spool you can get 5000m. So it is my lifetime supply but I will use quite lot also for finishing Royal Caroline. So now is time to figure out the gun rigging.......

Lovely looking paint job Tom.
 
Cheers........Fernando   

Continue with almost invisible details. I have added Iron pins to rudder hinges and simulate iron belts on boat davits using coper tape. 

I decided to finaly glue the coamings to the deck. Some holes in the deck were slightly larger then the coming and There was visible space between deck and the coaming. I have used the pieces of the scrap deck wood to fill those holes. 
 
Before

After

September 18, 2019
 
 
Last Touches to the Hull
 
 
 
This build log entry covers the remaining items to be attached to the hull / deck.  Before I start, however, I wanted to mention two things that were useful during the last build, but I forgot to mention.
 
 
To hold down things being glued to the deck, I created 3 sandbags, which had sand double bagged in plastic zippered bags.  They were very useful in applying pressure to the deck fixtures while the glue was drying.
 

 
Also, I decided to update the wood inventory to compare what I had left to build with the material on hand.  This was important in deciding what piece of wood to use when it was not specified in the model instructions.  This proved doubly useful for this segment of the build.
 
 

This part of the build covers the steps, shroud supports, lifeboats and cannons.  In some ways this was one of the most difficult sections, as there was little information on the construction of the lifeboats and cannons, and I felt the sparse mounting of the cannons was inadequate.
 
 
The wood inventory told me that but I didn’t have enough 2x3mm wood available to use that, so I used 2x4mm wood, which I have plenty since I had purchased an additional meter of it earlier.  I think the steps turned out well with that material.
 
 

When installing the shroud supports, I decided to add a 2x4mm beveled brace (since I knew I had enough) under the shroud supports to provide additional support to them.  It seems likely that would be helpful when rigging the shrouds later on.
 
 

There were no instructions regarding the assembly of the lifeboats, so I had to improvise based on the diagrams and pictures available. 
 
 

Since the wood inventory told me that I did not have enough wood from the kit to provide the keels, railings or inner railings, I decided to acquire some wood that was just about the right width from a well-known, but unnamed coffee shop.  With a little sanding, they were the perfect width for those additions to the lifeboat hulls. 
 
 

Since the aft lifeboat was 75% the size of the main lifeboat, I made the keel, inner railings, aft bench and bow bench 25% smaller on the aft lifeboat, but I left the other bench sizes the same on both.  I installed the keel, railing and inner railing, then stained the railing and inside of the lifeboats.
 
 

The benches were made from maple lath and glued to the inner railing.  For the bow and aft benches, I made a tape template from the inside of the railing, and I used that for the first cut of the bench, then shaped as needed. 
 
 

After installing the benches, I shellacked the railings and interior and painted the outside of the hull to finish the lifeboats.
 

 
 
In the kit, the cannons were shown on the deck with nothing holding them in place and no instructions about their assembly. 
 
 

I thought that looked too simplistic, so I decided to add side tackles and a breech rope to each cannon.  I purchased the smallest blocks available from Modeler’s Central and used tan sewing thread for rope.  [Kudos to Modeler’s Central – four of the blocks were misdrilled and they sent me replacements free of charge!].  I also added an elevation block to each carriage.  It was shown in the diagram, but not mentioned in the instructions. 


I also drilled a hole on each side of the cannon carriage towards the rear to mount the side tackle block.  I positioned the cannon carriages on the deck, which was covered In tape.  I marked the position of the wheels, then cut out the tape and sanded the exposed deck so that the glue would adhere.  I then glued the carriages to the deck.
 
 


I stropped the blocks with #34 gauge black annealed wire (a suggestion from MSS).  I used an alligator clip to hold the block while attaching the strop. 

I then attached the breech ropes and side tackles to a set of half ring with a straight end.  After building each side (for 4 cannons), I inserted the straight ends into holes drilled into the deck.
 
 

I then installed the side tackles and breech rope securing the side tackle block to the cannon carriage.  That was followed by installation of the cannon with the holding brackets followed by attachment of the breech rope.  I completed the cannon installation by winding the appropriate amount to rope to run out the cannon next to each side tackle.  There were created by winding them on two-sided tape, then applying shellac to hold them together.  I then lifted them off the tape and installed them on the deck overlaying the end of the side tackle rope.  [This technique was suggested by barkeater in the Rigging Forum].
 
 


After the cannon were installed, I attached the main lifeboat amidships.
 
 

 
Finally, I marked the waterline on the hull.  After fooling around with a pencil and bracket, I realized I could use a laser level, sitting on my toolbox.  As long at the hull and laser level are both level, it makes it very easy to draw an even line across the contours of the hull.
 
 


Build time to date – 374.5 hrs: 54.75 hrs for the work in this build log entry.
 
 
Next: Masts and yards
 
 
MSS - Model Shipbuilding Simplified by Frank Mastini