DSiemens

Great work Popeye as always.  I'm curious as to what nautical back ground your crew has.  Did they model for Jolly Rogers?  

That's about the only way I can see it working too John.
 
Thanks for the comment Grant .
 
I'm going back through Volume 2 to make sure I haven't forgotten anything - I skipped a few steps every now and then as I thought it easier or better to do some things "out of sequence".
 
I've made and fitted the Upper Capstan Pawls, which are the same as those for the Lower Capstan detailed earlier in the build.
 

 
  Danny

has anyone ever finished a model,  thinking that they could have done more to it?  has anyone ever put one aside,  knowing that there was something left to do?   that is the case here.   I have tried to make a decent set of bindings for these skis.....I guess it's not the  'cobbler's life'  for me 
 
so,  I'm going to go with another approach.........make a rack to store them in.   I made up the framework for the rack,  and did a test fit.

after a little sanding,  a center divider was put in.

this will be sanded some more........with fine tuning to follow 
 
 

wow.......I guess subject matter was poor back then.........and a gosspil song no less!   LOL!   the boys got a big kick out of it though....swear to god they were dancing on a tin roof!
 
 

 
 

I would have asked clara......but she was bitten in half by a great white..........so we use her for her clerical ablilities.   I wouldn't have hired her,  but she's Chester's half cousin........literally

I love to see restorations.  The process from point a to point b is fascinating.  This log is a great example.  Incredible work Dan.  I echo the thoughts to not be so harsh on the original builder.  While he was new to the craft he had the guts and persistence to get the Victory as far as he did.  I can't say I would have done the same.     

I do the same thing.........never take them off the sprues until you use them.   I do like to clean up my parts though,  if there is a lot of flash.
    for this,  I stick pins into them,  or hold them with clothes pins......you'll develope your own technique.   flats will be your friend,  as for sails,  it up to what you want to do.........if they look too shiny and white,  dull them down with some flat light gray......or you can mix equal parts of flat white and flat tan.  experiment with your hobby.......you'll be surprised with what you can come up with 

I then stained it a cherry color...and spreayed it with a satin varnish..

Hello and Happy New Year to all -
 
This past month has been full of grandkids and holidays that got in the way of what is the most important thing in life - ship modeling
 
I did manage to complete both sets of the masts, which are packed away until rigging time.  The fore
 

 
The mizzen
 

 
And the Bowsprit and jib boom
 

 
Meanwhile, I have been studying the rigging diagrams and reading Anderson and others.  The first question came when I realized that some of the lines, including the halyards, run from the mastheads to belaying points on deck at the base of the mast.  To do this they have to pass through the platform of the top.  Budriot's plans and the tops that I made from them have no openings aft of the masthead. 
 

 
I figured that I could solve this in one of two ways - I could simply drill some holes for the lead of the lines, or I could take apart the tops and remove some of the planking to make a larger opening, a much more complicated procedure.  I consulted with some knowledgable modelers including Rob Napier, and Bob Giles sent me some photographs of the tops of the St. George (1701) model at Annapolis. 
 

 
I also looked at the photographs of the model of Le Sans-Pareil (1757) in the Musee de la Marine.  All of them agreed that removing the planking was the only way to go.  So, with some anxiety, I pried off the trestletrees and crosstrees from under each of the tops.  Fortunately they came away with only one slight greenstick fracture that was easily repaired.  The cleats were shortened, then I used a razor saw to cut through the plank aft of the lubber hole.  The enlarged opening was cleaned up with a blade and sandpaper before the trestletrees and crosstrees were cleaned up and re-attached.  Here they are.  
 

 
Next, the gratings and coamings.  I have worked out a new way to do them which gives me better results in this larger scale.
 
Be well
 
Dan  

Absolutely agree with you on the pumps. Well, that's because of this.......
 
"Fifteenth and sixteenth century ship's pumps consisted of three main components: a pump shaft, a piston rod and valves......early suction pumps worked on the simple mechanical principle of drawing water up through a tube...... with a one way valve.
 
The pump shaft was fashioned from a a straight tree trunk ...or fashioning a tube of individual planks, like the staves of a barrel.....The base of the pump shaft in the bottom of the bilge was fitted with a foot valve made up of short baulk of bored wood fitted with a leather flapper valve on top........Water usually exited the pump tube through a hole in its side near the top above deck level.
 

On the fourth voyage, Columbus was forced to stand for Jamaica, "especially since the ships were so eaten by shipworms, that day and night we never stopped pumping water with the three pumps. If one broke down, kettles were substituted for the job while it was being fixed. Despite these efforts, the caravels could not be kept afloat and at God's mercy, we beached in Jamaica."
 
 
Extracts from "Vanguard of Empire - Ships of Exploration in the Age of Columbus"  Roger C. Smith. Oxford University Press. A fantastic resource for information on the architecture and building of ships of this period.
 
 
Bug, your detail looks very authentic, makes me want to go back and redo mine! 
 

The handle of the pump is created from two strips of 2mm x 2mm square walnut sanded and etched out. They are based in 3mm x 3mm square walnut strips sanded to fit the side of the pump.

 

   

 

The pieces all put together initially and then stained.

 



 

The pump mechanism and the strips around the pump are made from a scrap brass dowel and scrap brass flattened pieces.  I flatten the end of the brass dowel out by putting it between the flat areas of a pair of pliers and striking it with a hammer.

 

   

 

All of the strips, the handle, and the pump mechanism are attached using a touch of glue, and then firmly attached using pins with the heads sanded down. Finally the pumps are re-stained, and the brass pieces are given a layer of patina.

Here is today's ......limited....progress.  Not much but once again it is progress.  My time in the shipyard has been torn between life and yard.....Strange, we went from 17 F day before yesterday, and last afternoon I was grilling on the deck.  Today in the 60's....go figure.....So anyways, here are pictures of what got done today.  A little more work on the masts, and I got the anchors hung.  These anchors will be changed soon.  When I bought my kit, the one thing the guy did was to glue and paint the anchors, and glue and paint the cauldrons for the Tryworks.  No idea why....so, I have ordered more anchors from MS, however they are out of stock.  So I went ahead and hung them off and all I will need to do is undo 1 brass ring to replace them.  I want to have the anchor in Brittania, and the anchor stocks in wood.  So once recieved I'll be changing these out......

and a bowshot of the anchors

Time for a small update.
 
The treenailing of the upper hull is completed.  I used the 'drill and fill' method using a #74 bit and wood filler that I dyed with acrylic paint to the color I liked.  It's not as aggressive a pattern as specified on the plans but it suits me.  Once that was done, another coat of diluted Minwax Golden Oak stain was applied and everything given 2 coats of WOP followed by an application of brush on Testor's Flat Acrylic.
 

 

 
Now it's time to finish the painting on the upper hull.  Everything from approx. 2 strakes above the gun ports up to the rail will be black.  Wish I had a scale roller  .  Probably take about 8 coats.
 
Be back soon.
 
 

Very impressive!  She is every thing a prestigious flag ship should be.    

As tight of a fit as the wheel was this is just that much more.  She'll look great either way though I think.  The only other option is removable shrouds but that is a problem all on it's own.  Probably best to keep on your current coarse of action.  
 
Running out of space in the bottle neck reminds me of a line from How to Train your Dragon paraphrased its,  "We're SiB builders it's an occupational hazard."  Some times it doesn't matter how much you measure something just sticks out to far.   

John I actually run into that a lot as well.  When fitting ships for bottles I really have to pay attention size.  It's hard because most bottles are long and narrow and ships are at least as tall or taller then they are long.  Especially the square rigged ships.  I have to find shorter bottles or add more things into the bottle like scenes or more ships.  A good general rule is as mentioned ships are as long as they are tall.  

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.  
 

Thanks very much Daniel, I appreciate it!

I guess they didn't call them tall ships for nothing.  Great work as always.

Well, it has been a slow day in the shipyard today so far.  I worked on different parts of the masts today, mainly for getting the feel of what I'm doing and what I need to do.  Couldn't really get into it today for some reason, so it's mostly piddly stuff.  I cut the pieces for the foremast and worked on them.  Squaring them and tapering them, and building crosstrees.  I put them back on the ship for reference and to visualize how it's going to look.  One thing is for sure...the masts are going to be tall.  Added a few more tools to the Tryworks area.....scrapers, copper dippers, and hand hooks.......right side of front of Tryworks on the brick step....don't show up well in pictures....tomorrow more work on the mainmast and the bowsprit......so here are some random pictures for you know who....

a couple of more

some general over views of the deck

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.