texxn5

Hey,
 
A big thanks to you all for the responses.
That gives me tons to think about.
What a great site!
 
Nick

The best place to buy it in Europe is amazon.de, never saw it cheaper.
It is a good sander, very quiet. But mine was with slightly curved table, I replaced it with a wooden one. However, Proxxon support is good, they will ship you another table if that problem will happen for you!

Hello Nick, I'm a member here and also a sponsor. I have an internet business that deals with Proxxon. The Proxxon TG 125 is a very versatle 5" (125mm) sander. You can check out the specs on my website. You would need the 220v model and it would not be cost effective to ship it from the states to the UK. There is a Proxxon distributor in Germany and I understand that the UK users have been happy with them. Perhaps one of the UK people here on the forum can tell you how to get a hold of them. My website so that you can check the specifications is:
 
http://www.proxxontoolsdiscount.com
 
Hope this helps, if you need a small high quality tool, you will be happy with this one.
John

Hello my friend, I am sorry I neglected following your log and got involved in my Morgan. I am finished now and can devote time to catching up with my friends. I am sorry to hear about Anja's loss...my deepest regrets. You Aggy is amazing and I would expect nothing else. Keep it up and someday retirement will be here. Just ask Piet...my other crazy Dutchman friend...lol to both of you. Take care my friend and give Anja a hug!
John

Hello Nick, I'm a member here and also a sponsor. I have an internet business that deals with Proxxon. The Proxxon TG 125 is a very versatle 5" (125mm) sander. You can check out the specs on my website. You would need the 220v model and it would not be cost effective to ship it from the states to the UK. There is a Proxxon distributor in Germany and I understand that the UK users have been happy with them. Perhaps one of the UK people here on the forum can tell you how to get a hold of them. My website so that you can check the specifications is:
 
http://www.proxxontoolsdiscount.com
 
Hope this helps, if you need a small high quality tool, you will be happy with this one.
John

I've added an engraved nameplate to finish things off. I represent the engraver, so anyone with custom needs let me know.

Hello Ken, I just discovered your build. I'm going to pull up a chair, and join the group. Very nicely done and I look forward to follow along.
John

Welcome aboard John, Ken and PAnderson, good to have you along on this voyage. I'll certainly need everyone's keen eyes to help me along the way.
 
PAnderson...no deck swabbing needed...that will actually be my job as I try to keep the dust down to manageable levels!
 
My thanks to all who hit the like button as well...very much appreciated!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hello Nigel, good to see you starting a new project. I'm grabbing a seat and following along. I look forward to seeing your progress....have fun, we'll be enjoying.
John

Hello Nick, I'm a member here and also a sponsor. I have an internet business that deals with Proxxon. The Proxxon TG 125 is a very versatle 5" (125mm) sander. You can check out the specs on my website. You would need the 220v model and it would not be cost effective to ship it from the states to the UK. There is a Proxxon distributor in Germany and I understand that the UK users have been happy with them. Perhaps one of the UK people here on the forum can tell you how to get a hold of them. My website so that you can check the specifications is:
 
http://www.proxxontoolsdiscount.com
 
Hope this helps, if you need a small high quality tool, you will be happy with this one.
John

Hello Ken, I just discovered your build. I'm going to pull up a chair, and join the group. Very nicely done and I look forward to follow along.
John

Hello Nick, I'm a member here and also a sponsor. I have an internet business that deals with Proxxon. The Proxxon TG 125 is a very versatle 5" (125mm) sander. You can check out the specs on my website. You would need the 220v model and it would not be cost effective to ship it from the states to the UK. There is a Proxxon distributor in Germany and I understand that the UK users have been happy with them. Perhaps one of the UK people here on the forum can tell you how to get a hold of them. My website so that you can check the specifications is:
 
http://www.proxxontoolsdiscount.com
 
Hope this helps, if you need a small high quality tool, you will be happy with this one.
John

Hi Nick.
 
I have had one for about 18 months. It has done a lot of work in that time. I have found it to be robust, accurate and very quiet. Changing disc pads is easy and quick. You should be happy with your purchase if you decide to get one.
 
Steve

You know I just thought about the Billet Head. Mine was very poorly cast and I really am not pleased with it. I'm not going to change it since I''m finished, but it could have been a lot better. I like your idea about carving it - you should have good results. It will be interesting to see your results.

You know I just thought about the Billet Head. Mine was very poorly cast and I really am not pleased with it. I'm not going to change it since I''m finished, but it could have been a lot better. I like your idea about carving it - you should have good results. It will be interesting to see your results.

Hi All,
 
Firstly, thank you Don and Nick for stopping by and of course to all for the likes.  Nick, looking forward to seeing the start of your build....please start soon! 
 
So, some progress as the bulkhead former has been assembled. Took a few days to remove a slight warp in the pieces by dampening them and weighting them down on a flat board. The rabbet strip was glued to the center of the former after shaping it follow the bow shape using some light heat.
 
While the former was being flattened, the stem was assembled.  It took some time to remove the angles formed on the cut faces by the laser cutter so they would fit together evenly. Shaping was slowly done using needle files and often checking both sides for fit by holding them together flat on a glass plate. The 3rd image shows the pieces in a test fit. 
 
Following Chuck's instructions, I then stained all the pieces before gluing. I already had some Minmax Golden Pecan stain so tried a test piece after a light sanding to clean up the basswood surface. After 2 coats, with each left 15 mins before removing the excess, the basswood was a nice warm red/gold color. I hope you like it!  The last two pictures show the stem after staining and glueing along with my reference piece.  I plan to use this reference through the build to try and keep the color consistent.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Hi All,
 
Welcome to the start of my build log of the USF Confederacy from Model Ship Shipways as designed by Chuck Passaro.
 
Her full history has been summarized in Chuck’s fabulously detailed instructions which can be downloaded from the Model Shipways site.  Suffice it to say here that the Confederacy was an unlucky ship, surviving some actions, hurricanes and collisions before being captured by HMS Roebuck and Orpheus in April 1781 and taken into the British Navy as HMS Confederate.  However, while only 2 years old, inspections showed a great deal of rot, probably due to the use of green timber during her construction. She was then broken up, but her lines were at least preserved by the British Admirality. Below is a Revolutionary painting of the Confederacy from the Navy Art Gallery at the Washington Navy Yard. 
 

 
My impressions of the kit are very favorable. The kit arrived very well packaged with all items present. I’ve already mentioned the great instructions, but the plan sheets are also extremely clear. All the wooden parts are laser cut and the etched brass and cast metal parts are nicely detailed. I am perhaps fortunate as all the more fragile parts are intact, like the figurehead and ships wheels. Images of kit contents and parts are below. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
The Confederacy’s rigging plan has not survived, but I do plan to fully rig her following the plans by Crothers. The exception are the belaying points as Chuck has kindly warned me the Crothers belaying plan is incorrect. So, following his advice, I will be working out the belaying points using other contempory frigates as a guide.
 

 
This will be a long build and all advice and help will be most appreciated. I will certainly be referencing all the other great Confederacy build logs to help me along the way so my thanks in advance here! 
 
My dream for this build is to try and bring the Navy Art Gallery painting to life! I hope you find some time to stop by and enjoy this voyage with me!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

You know I just thought about the Billet Head. Mine was very poorly cast and I really am not pleased with it. I'm not going to change it since I''m finished, but it could have been a lot better. I like your idea about carving it - you should have good results. It will be interesting to see your results.

Hi Mike, she's off to a great start. To answer your question, seems like I just measured the height of the rail from the plankshear for the stanchions, and then the same for the Knight heads. The Profile drawing on Sheet 2 shows a scale drawing and you can take that measurement right off the plans. It should be right on the mark. The stanchions were a little on the long side so that they would move up or down to match up with the rail. The Knight head as well as a couple of stanchions are cut into the filler blocks and then trimmed. Hope this helps, you can probably see this in my pictures.

Hi Mike, she's off to a great start. To answer your question, seems like I just measured the height of the rail from the plankshear for the stanchions, and then the same for the Knight heads. The Profile drawing on Sheet 2 shows a scale drawing and you can take that measurement right off the plans. It should be right on the mark. The stanchions were a little on the long side so that they would move up or down to match up with the rail. The Knight head as well as a couple of stanchions are cut into the filler blocks and then trimmed. Hope this helps, you can probably see this in my pictures.

I love your attention to detail! This build is going to be fun to watch develope !

Thanks John, I really appreciate it!  I've been studying your build log and website log quite a bit, it's been very helpful, thank you!  I'm excited to finally start on this gorgeous ship.  Hopefully mine comes out half as nice as yours
 
Actually, quick question for you - on the knight heads and stanchions, how did you know how tall to make them?  The plans aren't particularly clear, but maybe I need more coffee.

Billet Head
 
The Morgan has a billet head at the end of the stem.  It's a pretty intricately carved piece - here is a picture of it:  
 

 
 
The Mystic Seaport blog on the Morgan restoration also has a nice post on the billet head in case you are interested:
 
http://www.mysticseaport.org/news/2013/the-billet-head/
 
 
The kit adds a cast billet head part, as you can see here.  It's got a little stub that fits into a notch into the kit stem:
 

 
 
It's not really that bad, but I think some of the details can be improved on  So, I think I'm going to try and carve the billet head.  I didn't add a notch into the stem at this time, as I think a better course would be to pin it to the stem so that the joint lines are much cleaner.
 
An observation - from the picture above, it looks like the shape of the Morgan's current stem is a bit different from the kit's stem.  I forget the time period the kit is from, but it looks like the shape is clearly different.  Also, you can barely make out the seam lines on the pieces making up the stem.  Rather than attempt to build a stem from various parts, I think I'll lightly scribe lines on the stem to represent those joint lines.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Hello my friend, I am sorry I neglected following your log and got involved in my Morgan. I am finished now and can devote time to catching up with my friends. I am sorry to hear about Anja's loss...my deepest regrets. You Aggy is amazing and I would expect nothing else. Keep it up and someday retirement will be here. Just ask Piet...my other crazy Dutchman friend...lol to both of you. Take care my friend and give Anja a hug!
John

Hello my friend, I am sorry I neglected following your log and got involved in my Morgan. I am finished now and can devote time to catching up with my friends. I am sorry to hear about Anja's loss...my deepest regrets. You Aggy is amazing and I would expect nothing else. Keep it up and someday retirement will be here. Just ask Piet...my other crazy Dutchman friend...lol to both of you. Take care my friend and give Anja a hug!
John