DSiemens

Sad day!! I guess it's ultimately a good decision.  I know you wouldn't have been able to live with this one had you continued.  The second one will be all the better for it.  We're routing for you Mark.  

Sad day!! I guess it's ultimately a good decision.  I know you wouldn't have been able to live with this one had you continued.  The second one will be all the better for it.  We're routing for you Mark.  

Wow very straight and  clean work. 

Sad day!! I guess it's ultimately a good decision.  I know you wouldn't have been able to live with this one had you continued.  The second one will be all the better for it.  We're routing for you Mark.  

Working on the stern decorations. Again the Chinese brush went in use for the mermaids and some veneer for the rouse and the dolphins. I don't know but to me the mermaids look somewhat playboy models.

You welcome.
 
Here the planks are removed and a framing of the gunwales is installed. Began construction of the rails. It is tricky task and in order to be build strong because there are belay pin planks attached to them and in the same time good looking I use  toothpicks and coffee stirrers again. I think it is visible how it is done.

That's a very good answer and your right it should make for an interesting discussion.  I agree Columbus was a man of his time and followed the view points of his society and it's hard to blame him for that.  Who knows but some things we see as normal today won't be viewed as evil in 400 years or so.  Your class should be very interesting.  Good luck.   

Popeye you should start a poetry thread in the shore leave area I enjoy your poems.  

Inserting the main deck. The cargo hatches are cut out and the coamings are inserted too. The coamings are made out from coffee stirrers. The gratings are from split broomsticks. I mean not the handle of the broom but the working part .After that they are clad in ply strips to imitate timbers and cover whatever uneven edges occurred. 
 
Then follow the framing for the upper sides and forecastle in which is included the big winch character for this type of vessels. It is actually supporting the aftermost deck beam on the forecastle. Three planks are glued very slightly to the hatchcoamings in order to serve as midshipframes. They will be removed afterwards. For the sides I use a cardboard templet which I draw pressing piece of cardboard to the side. If the ship is wright one is good enough for the both sides. After that I cut the sides out from mahogany ply using the templet. To bend them I dip them in rubbing alcohol.

Thanks, Vic.  Nicely stated, not understated at all.  Thanks too for the likes.
   
This week I got some work done on the hull despite the snow. 
 

 
The wooden plates of the upper hull have been cut and bent to the required shapes.  The portion from the stern to the end of the waist is fairly flat, with a consistent 13 degree tumblehome.  It was cut, fitted to the rabbet cut into the solid lower hull, and screwed in place.  Temporary support blocks were fitted to the inside face which also support the dummy quarterdeck that you can see in the photos. The transom piece has been cut and temporarily fitted in place as well. 
 
The bow section is much more complex.   In place of the open bow deck with a flat beakhead bulkhead, the ship had a closed bow.   At the waist it has the 13 degree tumblehome, but at the cathead it actually has an outward flare as if it were still open.  Then when it comes around to the stem it is vertical.  To accommodate these requirements, the foredeck corners are bumped out, making it less rounded and the deck overhangs the lower hull.
 
I derived the shape of the quarterdeck from the plans and cut a dummy deck.  This was mounted at the correct height on a sturdy block and screwed into the solid lower hull on the centerline.  Rough patterns were cut from cardstock and transferred to ¼” basswood, which was cut oversize at the top.  Multiple dados 3/16” deep were cut across the pieces, closer together at the tight bend at the corner.  The pieces were wet for an hour in a bucket of water, then forced into shape in the hull rabbet and against the dummy foredeck.  They were screwed in place and the top line marked out above the foredeck.  The pieces were removed and trimmed, then reinstalled and left to dry. 
 
This is where you see it in the photos, with a dummy stem piece in place.  Although I have never used this method of both kerf and wet bending together in a model hull, it seems to be working out pretty well.
 



 
Meanwhile, I continued with some of the deck pieces that will be needed.  Here is the bench that sits on the quarterdeck for the captain’s convenience.  I’ve never seen this before, but Budriot has it on the plans.  If anyone has seen such a fitting, I would be very interested.
 
Here are his drawings.
 

 
And here is how the completed bench looks, with some of the components.  The primary wood is birch, with cherry veneer for the accent work and arms.
 

 
The arms were built up of four layers of veneer stacked vertically.  The outer layers of the horizontal pieces for the arm are sandwiched around two vertical pieces for the post.  On the right is the arm piece shaped oversize to the desired curve.  On the left it has been trimmed to shape.
 

 
Here is the first one completed from another angle.
 

 
And here are the finished pair with my scale figures for comparison.
 

 
I also set up for the four ladders which will connect the gun deck at the waist with the gangways between the quarterdeck and foredeck.  They have only four treads but are wider at the base than at the top.
 
As you can see in the photo, my ladder technique is to make a long box from which separate ladders can be parted off individually.  Two matching rectangular pieces for the stringers have dados cut across the grain.  A web of veneer sheet woods are fit into these slots for the treads.  The grain runs across from stringer to stringer.
 

 
Sorry, this enlargement did not come out too well, but you can see how the dados are cut halfway through the stringer material.
 

 
The ladder block was set up so everything was square or, rather, symmetrical until the glue hardened.  A ladder was parted off on the band saw at the calculated angle, cleaned up, and finished.  This angle might not be right, so I only made one to test.  Whatever the ultimate angle, the rest of the block should be enough for at least the four needed for the first model. 
 

 
I will need a pair of longer ladders from the quarterdeck up to the poop deck on top of the captain’s cabin, and a wider one from the quarterdeck companionway down to the gun deck.  They will be made in much the same way.
 
The companionway itself will be next.
 
Be well
 
Dan
 

Inserting the sides on the gun deck the guns and sea trail again to see if the draft is changed.

Hey Daniel,
 
   Great questions. First - as a PR guy by trade I'll make sure that I let the kids know that most of what I say regarding those issues is subjective and my opinion based on what limited "actual' documentation exists. 
   That said - I go with somewhere in between. As much as that sounds like a copout, there are a couple of things that we do know for sure - ONE - he WAS a brave discover. Just the amount of faith and bravery that it took to make that (and any) kind of journey on the relatively rudimentary ships of the time was amazing. That will surely come across when they get an opportunity to see the build and understand the amount of people that were crammed on board as well as what it took to sail her. 
    TWO - there was at least on some level treatment toward the natives that is (particularly now) considered inappropriate and perhaps even inhuman. There are a couple of factors here - the most significant being the overall philosophies / viewpoints of the time. There really was pretty widespread discrimination based on one's race / culture / standing etc. But right or wrong, it was NORMAL for the time.  There are thousands of examples throughout history of behaviors, whether by individuals or cultures, that were perfectly normal but now considered completely jacked.
     THREE - history is skewed.  And often dramatically. When you go back 500-600 years, the only perspective you have is one generated by the very small minority that could read and write. Those accounts were almost always skewed by, among other things, ego and self promotion. So who's to say what really happened? 
 
Either way, it should indeed prompt an interesting discussion. All I hope to get out of it is an increased interest in history, as well as (hopefully) a willingness to look at events with an open mind while gaining enough information to formulate their own viewpoints.
 
- Bug

That's a very good answer and your right it should make for an interesting discussion.  I agree Columbus was a man of his time and followed the view points of his society and it's hard to blame him for that.  Who knows but some things we see as normal today won't be viewed as evil in 400 years or so.  Your class should be very interesting.  Good luck.   

Created a jig for the shrouds.  This keeps every thing in place while I glue on the ratlines.  In order for this ship to fit in the bottle I have to add the masts after the hull is in.  The shrouds will have to be glued to the side of the hull after they are in.  That means the ratlines will be what provides the proper spread of the shrouds.  
 

 
My rigging box has turned out to be pretty versatile.  

Well I'm off to the rigging yard.  I guess in this case the rigging box.  I put on the last platform.  No cross trees this time.  She's just to small.  Maybe on my next model.  I started on the topgallant shrouds.   
 

 
 

 

 
I'll see if I can't trim the edges of the rat lines a little more.  I'm thinking some small nail clippers might do it.  

Thanks Augie.  I wasn't sure I would do the bowsprit this was but it didn't seem right with out it.  I really thought hard on this because of how much force the bowsprit may take going in the bottle and holding up the masts.  I got it on and it seemed pretty firm so here's hopping.  
 
 
Dan that is very helpful.  At this scale I may just add some color print it real small and glue it on the back.  I did the same on my Mercury.  
 

A few updates.  I have the platforms on.  Upon further looks at the plans I should include a platform on the mizzen mast as well.  I also moved the main mast aft.  It didn't look right being so close to the forward mast so I repositioned it.  I then put a hatch cover over the hole for the original mast.  Except for the stern I'm ready for yard arms.  I still need to figure out what windows or designs to put on the back (transom?).  I think that's the right word.  
 

 

 

Thank you all for your comments.  I did some research on the paint and with some help from a couple guru's on this forum and in the club I found my answer to the color scheme.  I also think it fits the Queen Anne's Revenge rather well.  She took a much darker turn.
 

 

 

 
Ships in this day in age generally came in three colors.  Ocher, red and black.  Usually a mixture of the three.  The colors came from different things mixed in the paint.  Black was created from ash.  Red from oxidization or essentially rust.   I'm not sure about ocher I'd have to ask again.  A very common theme for the day was a black ship with an ocher stripe a long the gun ports and red on the inside of the bulwarks.  This seemed to fit so I went with it.  
 
The masts are in place but I plan on cutting them down and stepping them.  Still more to do.    

More updates.  The upper decks are in.  
 

 

 

 
I will add four more guns on poop deck and then move forward with the masts and chain plates.  Also if any one has any ideas on colors to paint her that would be very helpful.  I'm really not sure what I want to do.  
 
 

I guess that is the advantage to small scale I keep eight on a single shelf.     
 
I have a question.  Since your going to be teaching about Columbus to class what are your thoughts of some of the negative views about Columbus that have circulated in the past few years?  It's been confusing to me since when I grew up Columbus was the brave discoverer of the new world now he's made out to be an enslaving tyrant.  What are your thoughts on that and if it were to come up in the class how would you address it?      

Great result Mark. See, I just knew that you'd come up with an inspirational solution!
 
Gaps? What gaps? I see nothing! (To quote SGT Schulz......if you remember that show......)

yes.......it's true Bob.......I only had that one thing to do.   she's back on the shelf now    thanks for the good word!
 
getting carried away is what caused me to build the two in the first place........but I'd do it again in a heartbeat   thanks for the good word Bug!
 
thanks Daniel...I'm glad you enjoyed it    speaking of my other builds........I'd better get hopping on'em.   thanks for the good word!

Well done Popeye she's great!  I wouldn't say the ski's are a cop-out just creative ingenuity.  This was a fun build to watch.  I look forward to you other builds.   

In this pictures is shown installing the boards and fenders. The fenders actually cover the gaps between the strips of ply. Also I draw the lines on the sides representing the timbers and nails. After varnishing they are barely visible but on this scale is good enough.

I AM DONE !! SHE IS COMPLETED AND LOOKS PRETTY GOOD TO ME. I still have to post the rest of the belay diagrams on this log. I will try and get my hands on a good camera and take a bunch of various photos to post on the completed ship gallery. I am a little sad since she has occupied my every day for over 2 years.
 
Woo Woo !!