hamilton

Haven't had much time to spare recently.  Masts approaching completion, small strips of paper were used to simulate metal bands above the tops and also added some scratch jeer block strop cleats for bit more interest out of scrap.  Painted up it seems to be coming together and I'm pretty happy.  Rails and the eyebolts will be left off until later, but all holes have been drilled.  Few more deck details to put finishing touches to and glue, and then onto the shrouds and ratlines.
 

Continuing on with the aft coaming area--
 
Here the blackened brass rods are fit to the skylight sashes, and dry fit on the frame--
 

 
 
The skylight hinges are trimmed short.  You can see where I've cut a small mortice in the skylight for them to sit--
 

 
 
The binnacle is started from a solid block.  I've also epoxied "glass" (cut from the plastic address window of an envelope) on the underside of one skylight sash--
 

 
 
The center is cut out of the binnacle block.  I've glued the hinges onto the skylight sashes, and you can see the effect of the glass in the skylight--
 

 
 
A top is made for the binnacle, and holes are drilled in the center.  A larger size from the top (the width of the compass) and a smaller one all the way through, to push the compass back out from below during test fittings--
 

 
 
In this photo you can see two sections of brass tube soldered together.  Inner tube will form a seat to glue the compass face to.  For the compass, I smeared the corner of a piece of white card stock with some stain, so it wouldn't be so bright.   Then I epoxied some "glass" to it.   After not doing a very good job cutting a tiny circle (that's where that little cut out in the corner came from), I got the idea to file the end of a brass tube to make a punch--
 

 
 
The punch worked great, but I ended up making another from the next smaller tube, as this left a little gap between the brass tube and the compass face--a hint of a gimble assembly--
 

 
 
After much frustration and delay with the companionway doors (re-gluing hinges multiple times), everything is finally there.  Some is glued, some is just sitting (the binnacle).   There's no hardware (i.e. latches, knobs, etc.) on the companionway doors, or the binnacle doors.  I'm still deciding whether to add anything to those.  I have a hard time controlling epoxy smears, and my CA has all gone bad, so for now they'll stay as is--
 

 
The binnacle is pretty short.   It's that way to stay below the companionway top, which overhangs its sides about and inch and a half.  
 
 
I think the visibility through the "glass" is just about perfect--
 

 
 
A longer "context" shot.   The deck is looking a lot more finished!
 

 
 
Ron
 
 
 

Continuing with the aft features:
 
I can't believe it's taken me all day for this progress, but here's what I've done.  (I often suffer from a need make progress,   but I must say--I did feel a sense of relaxation doing a lot this work--simply because it took so long, and I had to forget about actually finishing anything!)_
 
After making the top pieces of the companionway, check to make sure the capstan bars (in this photo a trimmed toothpick) will clear the companionway in it's open configuration--
 

 
 
Cut the pieces for the skylight "sashes".   A large part of why this takes me so long, is that I don't have milled wood the right size.   All of these pieces are sanded down by hand from larger stock--
 

 
 
Drill holes for the brass or iron (haven't decided yet) bars in these pieces.  Easier to do them in double sections before cutting them to their individual pieces--
 

 
 
Cutting the doubled pieces apart and filing the ends--
 

 
 
These are then glued on to the skylight sashes--
 

 
 
A number of hinges are made, out of brass sheet and wire, and then blackened, for the companionway, and the skylight--
 

 
 
Here's where I'm at.   The upper part of the companionway is done.   The doors have hinges glued to them.  The skylight sashes need some "glass" and their hinges, and then I'll glue the sashes onto the frame, and put the rods in--
 

 

 
 
Ron

Here is a quick picture to show the first attempt on the forecastle deck with the weathering agent applied.
 
 
C.

No major milestones but time for an update.
 
Planking continues.  The mishap with the flying paint jar on the port side was eradicated by removing most of the planking on that side, including 2 of the simulated sheaves, and starting over:
 

 
The starboard side is at the same point.  All of the sweep port openings and gun deck gun ports are completed:
 

 
I'll be working my way up to the forecastle and QD with the planking.  Then a good sanding before I add the second layer of planking to the main and channel wales.
 
 
 
 

Slow progress with the internal planking I am afraid. It is very fiddly planking under the weather deck and around the cannon. It feels like I am doing ship in a bottle type activity - though this is more bottle in a ship.
 
I have used the mahogany strip left over from the outer deck planking which is not ideal since it tends to split very easily. I also decided to plank the bulkhead extensions that are now on view. They were shewing up as chunks of light coloured plywood amongst the cannon. These non prototypical pieces do not glare at me now they are covered in mahogany. The downside is that cladding them increases their size.
 
The next photo shews the before (above the red line) and after planking. The mahogany used had some very dark grain in it which unfortunately make some of the joints look as though they are gaping.
 

 
Viewed from the outside a gap can be seen between the inner and outer planking around the gun ports. So the next job will be to line the ports.
 

 
In parallel I have been producing a quarter deck rail using the pillars supplied in the kit for the now redundant rails on the old waist layout. The picture shews the partially complete rail resting in place. The rail will stand on 3mm cubes of walnut to raise it to its final height.
 
I haven't quite got the curvature of it right yet. The parts of the rail that point forward are alongside the steps down from the quarter deck on the real ship which won't exist on my model.
 
You may notice in this photo the one bulkhead had only been partially clad at that stage.
 

 
 
 
 
 
   

I have been pushing a head with my build and have finaly finished planking the lower deck, i have added a small edge strip against the forward bh, and a similar strip further back although these wont be seen they have helped to strengthen things abit, i have decided after cleaning the deck down, to leave it un-treated as it will not be seen to a great degree.
Here are the current pics...
 
 
C.

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Congratulations!  That's really great news  
 
Kids are wonderful, but I found that when the second was added (in my case, having twins the second time around), I had almost no free time for a few months.  Enjoy your time with your baby - the Blandford will be there when you're ready

Hello all: Thanks for the kind notes!
 
Wolf - the rigging lines are only free of fluff now - later there will be a veritable winter wonderland of fluff polluting the lines. I don't build cases for my boats, because I'm an idiot. This opens them all to the wear and tear of any other household item. I read somewhere that using a small fan-shaped paint brush and running this along the lines can help - and this is what I normally do once a week on the models I keep around the house. I think that a can of compressed air might work too - especially on decks - as long as everything is good and secure!! However others on the forum might disagree - this might be a good question (if it hasn't been asked already) for general discussion.
 
In other news I've received a "commission" for a model boat from a friend of my wife's - it will be the Mamoli Yacht America - I'm just waiting for ME to ship it - I've been waiting for over 2 months!! This may pre-empt the Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamund build that has been commissioned by our close friends' 7-year old.....busy busy! The current build will go to our newborn - though he won't be in a position to even see it properly for quite some time. 
 
Bye for now
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Hello all: Thanks for the kind notes!
 
Wolf - the rigging lines are only free of fluff now - later there will be a veritable winter wonderland of fluff polluting the lines. I don't build cases for my boats, because I'm an idiot. This opens them all to the wear and tear of any other household item. I read somewhere that using a small fan-shaped paint brush and running this along the lines can help - and this is what I normally do once a week on the models I keep around the house. I think that a can of compressed air might work too - especially on decks - as long as everything is good and secure!! However others on the forum might disagree - this might be a good question (if it hasn't been asked already) for general discussion.
 
In other news I've received a "commission" for a model boat from a friend of my wife's - it will be the Mamoli Yacht America - I'm just waiting for ME to ship it - I've been waiting for over 2 months!! This may pre-empt the Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamund build that has been commissioned by our close friends' 7-year old.....busy busy! The current build will go to our newborn - though he won't be in a position to even see it properly for quite some time. 
 
Bye for now
hamilton

Congratulations on your family addition Hamilton, yep ships go on the back burner mate
 
Nice bit of rigging though.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Congratulations to both you and the Admiral.  Many happy memories of the day.

Congratulations Hamilton!
 
Your Blandford is looking amazing and your rigging is just superb!  How did you manage to get your rigging lines so free of fluff?  Good quality rope to start off with or some special trick?

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Hello all:
 
First of all, for Ferit I have the photo of the port side fore lower shrouds and ratlines (first photo below) - hope this is what you're looking for.
 
The night before last I shaped, finished and outfitted the spritsail yard, and this evening I installed and began rigging it. I had hoped to add the clews and sheets as well, but I only managed to add the sling, the halliard, the lifts and braces. I also added jibboom guys and guy falls (as noted in Lees), but ended up removing them because I felt they made the model look too cluttered. I'm now cursing the absence of a fairleader block on the bowsprit - which Goodwin features, but which I didn't feel confident in making - now I'm not satisfied with the chaos of lines at the bow, and yet don't feel up for dismantling all my work.......I will live with it, I suppose.
 
Anyway, I'll hopefully have a chance of finishing the spritsail yard rigging tomorrow - from there I'll start the spars from the mizzen mast forward.....Enjoy!
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Hello all:
 
First of all, for Ferit I have the photo of the port side fore lower shrouds and ratlines (first photo below) - hope this is what you're looking for.
 
The night before last I shaped, finished and outfitted the spritsail yard, and this evening I installed and began rigging it. I had hoped to add the clews and sheets as well, but I only managed to add the sling, the halliard, the lifts and braces. I also added jibboom guys and guy falls (as noted in Lees), but ended up removing them because I felt they made the model look too cluttered. I'm now cursing the absence of a fairleader block on the bowsprit - which Goodwin features, but which I didn't feel confident in making - now I'm not satisfied with the chaos of lines at the bow, and yet don't feel up for dismantling all my work.......I will live with it, I suppose.
 
Anyway, I'll hopefully have a chance of finishing the spritsail yard rigging tomorrow - from there I'll start the spars from the mizzen mast forward.....Enjoy!
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

Hello all:
 
First of all, for Ferit I have the photo of the port side fore lower shrouds and ratlines (first photo below) - hope this is what you're looking for.
 
The night before last I shaped, finished and outfitted the spritsail yard, and this evening I installed and began rigging it. I had hoped to add the clews and sheets as well, but I only managed to add the sling, the halliard, the lifts and braces. I also added jibboom guys and guy falls (as noted in Lees), but ended up removing them because I felt they made the model look too cluttered. I'm now cursing the absence of a fairleader block on the bowsprit - which Goodwin features, but which I didn't feel confident in making - now I'm not satisfied with the chaos of lines at the bow, and yet don't feel up for dismantling all my work.......I will live with it, I suppose.
 
Anyway, I'll hopefully have a chance of finishing the spritsail yard rigging tomorrow - from there I'll start the spars from the mizzen mast forward.....Enjoy!
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

Well there's only been modest progress on Blandford lately - things are gearing up at work and there is no longer the time I used to have for modelling. I expect that I'll be slowing down considerably, between work, baby and upcoming holidays.....bits and pieces here and there I suspect....we'll see how things go.
 
In the meantime, here are a few pictures - since last post I've attached and rigged the fore topgallant mast, added rigging for the fore staysail & jibsail and tied a whole bunch of ratlines (still the fore mast ratlines to go!!). Hope you're all having fun out there
hamilton
 

 

 

Congratulation Hamilton, to you and to your entire family...
Wish God makes him grow with his father and his mother... (an idiom from my country)