texxn5

Like that stove Augie, cool feature....looks like you're into brick laying too....lol

As luck would have it, did manage to find some time to work on deck fittings over Christmas.  So, at about 800 hours into the build here's where we are:
 
THE CAPSTAN
 
Supplied as a laser cut sheet, this reminds me why I don't scratchbuild:
 

 
I'm leaving it with the natural finish to show off the pins made of 28 gauge wire.  The ring on top was photoetched.  She's just pinned on deck for now.  Still need to make some pawls.
 

 
And that brings us to THE STOVE.  Also supplied as (many) laser cut and photoetched parts:
 

 
The basic structure was assembled and brass strip cut for the corners and feet:
 

 
 
 
Lids with copper wire handles and more venting added (along with access doors)
 

 
 
Photoetched parts painted and brass tubes added to simulate stove vents:
 

 
Finally, the rotisserie was added!
 

 
Here it is just placed on my fine Italian brick hearth from fore/aft.  The vent stack will be permanently added once we fit the upper deck beams:
 

 

 
Lastly, just an overall look:
 

 
Sorry to be so long-winded but I thought a walk through the stove construction might interest some.  It was all given a coat of flat acrylic as a final touch.  
 
Much of this will be obscured as the upper deck beams and partial deck go in.  But I know it's there.  And, I have to fess up ---- this was a LOT of fun.
 
Hope to have some deck bulkheads and deck beams in place by New Years.  If I'm not back before then, Best of the New Year to all here on MSW!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Finished up today!
 
Added the flag:
 

 
I had stained the base previously, and painted the nameplate.  So, I used 5-minute epoxy to glue the nameplate to the base and to glue the model to the base.
 

 
Finally, added the bell:
 

 
Here's a nice full on shot.  I'll add it to my case after a day or so after all the glue dries and post one final shot in the case.
 

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update.  Much progress has been made, in the absence of timely updates.
 
First, the rigging has been completed:
 

 

 

 
I also added the final bits of decoration - the railing for the stairs and the cannon covers.  I waited until the end for these so as to not knock them about during the rigging steps.
 

 

 
Finally, I added rope coils to all the belaying pins.  I'm not 100% happy with them, but here they are:
 

 
Almost done with the model.  I just need to add the flag with its rope, mount to the base and hang the ships bell.
 
Should be done later today.  More pics to follow.
 
Andy

Very Nice Patrick, looks like you might have figured it out. Like the new toy, enjoy it, they work great...wish I coulda' sold it to ya'...lol Merry Christmas and a very Properous New Year...

Thanks for the likes and encouragement! It really helps. There are pictures tonight! Woohooooo!!!!
 
I took a picture of an early Christmas gift. The Proxxon table circular saw will be incredibly useful in getting those perfectly cut pieces of wood (ie. planking)
 
The other pictures are of the three stern timbers I have mounted so far. They may not look like much but I'm incredibly proud of designing my own pieces and fitting them onto my ship like they were perfectly cut puzzle pieces. My measurements are lining up well and things are falling (snugly) into place.
 
Tonight's post is brought to you by Led Zeppelin and Kenny Loggins.

Glad you found a copy,and hope it helps with what you have in mind to do. There should be three fold out drawings in the back of the book. The last is a cutaway showing the arrangement of what you want to show. There is also a drawing of a rigging profile that shows a forward shelter deck,and four square stern windows.That is the configuration Ihave settled on. It represents the 1892~~1908 period,according to a note on the drawing.Ihave also been dabbling with the whaleboats.I ll post my experience with that when I learn a little more.

Thanks much John - pictures are a great help!
Didn't know about the book Gary- I immediately ordered a used copy through Amazon.
I realize it probably won't make much difference especially with the beams blocking much of the view and the fact that only a part of the skylight is exposed at all, but I'm inclined to try just for the fun of it. The advantage of the approach is that the view can be artifically "lit" so that it shows up better. We'll see. Certainly I'll have to make certain I'm using brass rods to the proper scale. I agree that the skylight will be a heck of a fiddly project all by itself.
The part of the model I'm dreading are the 5 whale boats that have their interiors exposed. After building the MS New Bedford Whaleboat the concept of duplicating them in a tiny scale is daunting. But I suspect I'm a long way from facing that so I'll just ignore it for now.
I really like playing with 3d models and have made very detailed models of the Hunley submarine including the interior and all the workings and a large collection of Civil War Medical equipment (a whole other hobby).

P.S.,looking at John s pictures of the skylight,if I can come up with a skylight clear enough to actually see through,I might try to indicate th beam structure in white.That skylight may call for a bottle or two of Bombay to recover from it.

Turning out to be a very clean build.  Nice work and the white stripe looks fine.
 
Scott

A bit more time to work the last week than I expected, so I finished laying the deck planking. Still a few raised edges to sand but basically done.
I'm not into treenailing, so I simulated on each plank before gluing by drilling small holes and filling them with slightly contrasting wood filler. I'll not be staining the deck - probably just a matt clear finish.
Now I'm consulting the plans and will be adding features that affect the hull and the inner bulwarks before beginning on the deck structures.

Hi Patrick, good to see you back. You might refer to Jay, (modeler12) I think his log is complete and he really built an outstanding model of Conny. He really documented his work thoroughly. Also, Henry (popeye2sea) is a former crew member as well as member of the 1812 Marine Association, and gives VIP tours of Conny. He knows that ship inside and out and is a great source of info. Hope this helps.
John

Augie and Popeye, thanks for looking in guys. It's been a while so I'm chomping at the bit to get some real work accomplished.
 
By the way, everything I have looked at online is showing deck planking without a margin plank and nibbing. I think I'm going to go with what I'm seeing and figure in a little artistic license as there isn't any 100% record of these details I'm sweating over.

Nigel and John, thanks for looking in after such a long break. Here are a couple of photographs of work I completed today. The starboard timberheads and knightheads. This area isn't complete yet though. I also got most of the starboard gundeck waterway shaped and put in place. I had to tear apart the stern framing I had installed up to this point as the more I compared it to pictures the more it didn't look right. Back to the drawing board on that area.

Hi Patrick, good to see you back. You might refer to Jay, (modeler12) I think his log is complete and he really built an outstanding model of Conny. He really documented his work thoroughly. Also, Henry (popeye2sea) is a former crew member as well as member of the 1812 Marine Association, and gives VIP tours of Conny. He knows that ship inside and out and is a great source of info. Hope this helps.
John

Looking good Bruce. I thought about furled sails, in fact it could still be an option, just not sure I can make them look real enough. Keep up the good work.

When I finish the deck I'm going to add everything that installs on /drills through / or protrudes from the hull before I start on the deck structures. So much work to do.
I think, when I get that far, that I'm going to go with furled sails using silkspan.

Very nice looking build Bruce,
 
nows the turn for Fitting out......
Are you going to rig the sails later ?
 
Nils

Begun the deck.
Built the deck structure coamings and base for the skylight and decked around them. Removeable so I can stain them and build the deck structures on them and put them in place later.

Hello guys & gals, I wanted to pass along some information to those interested. As most of you know, Alexey Domanoff is a very good friend to MSW and many of us that are on this site. Alexey has just notified me of the release of a new product - his Prosak Ropewalk v3.0 a very innovative solution for making quality scale ropes. It is featured in the "Tools & Resources" page on my charleswmorganmodel.com website. This is an upgraded version from v2.0.
 
Link: http://www.charleswmorganmodel.com/tools--resources.html
 
Looks like a fun tool, I am going to try and get one of these to finish the Morgan with.
 
John

Next is Deadeyes and Chainplates. Starting with the starboard Foremast working my way to the Main and Mizzen both port and starboard. I think now is a good time to install all of them since, #1 It needs to be done, and #2 they'll be available when needed without having to interupt the flow of things. I use brass wire, proper deadeys and solder and blacken the brass. Once the chain plate is blackend insert th ends into the pre drilled holes in the channels, wrap the brass around the nails in the kit, drill the hole and glue in place. Should look something like this.

Hi Larry. Looking good and now you have a production line. Yeah that MF 70 mill package is nice. We all strive for that one. Sorry you couldn't take advantage of the sale maybe later.
John

Thanks John. That milling machine combo you had on sale sure looked nice. Right now I'm working on getting my first ham radio. Modeling tools are a close second. I sure wish that one day my list of money to burn was as long as my want list...  
 
All of the above parts have been primer coated.

Glad it worked Larry. You can do the same finish technique on lots of things, brass, steel, copper, plastics, acrylics, and so on.

Between family holiday visits and such, I manged to get a little time in the shop (aka garage). I think I now have the needed detail items on the hull exterior. I added the ladder rungs, sheaves and the stern staff block as well as blocks for the stern boat gripes. I also tried to simulate how the gun port eyebolts were held in place with nuts showing on the exterior hull. I assumed the nuts were square and ~2” which at scale is 0.031. I found some square PVC sock at that size and just needed to make @80 of them close to the same thickness. I made a simple jig to slice off pieces that could be glued in place. Once they were on the hull, they looked too thick but the glue held on well enough to allow sanding. I still need to clean some residual material hanging from them so they look square.
 
I think I'm ready to prime and paint the hull, but I thought I had better check the gunport height with an assembled carronade to make sure I do not need to sand them higher before I paint.
 
I started to work on one carronade and then realized the amount of work involved so I decided I might as well form an assembly line and work on all of them at the same time. I attempted to sand off the mold split lines from each cast piece. I also noticed a yellowish coating which I polished off with a wire brush on my rotary tool. One of the pictures shows one carronade polished next to one that is not polished.The wood sled parts needed the normal sanding to get rid of the laser burn and attach points. Next I'll airbrush Model Expo primer on the white metal parts and wood sled parts followed by light sanding as needed. If everything looks good at that point, it's time to spray color followed by Model Expo clear satin which I hope is tough enough to provide protection from scratches.  You can see I used toothpicks lightly glued to the parts awaiting the airbrush. I was shorted one carronade but it's my fault for not doing a bag count much earlier in the build. Model Expo is great about replacing missing or broken parts.