hollowneck

Onward on sailmaking, and more granularity. Today's task: coloring the silkspan.

Sheets of "naked" silkspan. Clipped to a temporary clothesline in my garage. This material is highly translucent but it is also somewhat POROUS. I learned the hard way that coloring silkspan by placing it on a flat surface is NOT a good idea - and contrary to my earlier descriptions of this coloring step. Even using the lightest finger touch to the spray nozzle, sticky paint would randomly pool and cause the painted silkspan to stick to any underlayment if you didn't immediately lift the painted silkspan up and away from the surface: not good. In fact, this often results in a real hassle and there had to be a better way to color the material.

Yes, one COULD hand color (paint brush or airbrush) the acrylic color but the result would likely be the same with the paint causing the silkspan to randomly stick to whatever surface was beneath it. Also, it shouldn't take more than a hot minute to fully paint the two large sheets (on one side only) as I've shown here...

The paint for coloring the silkspan is Liquitex Unbleached Titanium; this acrylic paint is available in bottles and tubes but for prepping the large sheets of silkspan as previously described, the spray can is the way to go. I like the color: the only sails that appear snowy white are 21st century, contemporary synthetic ones you can purchase for your sailboat at Marine Outfitters.

Another lesson learned in my experimentation: after tossing away a nearly full can of the expensive paint ($11.00/can at Michael's and other artist supply vendors), I learned about the Liquitex spray can Cap Cleaner. The thick paint will clog the plastic nozzle unless you clear it immediately after using it. The solution: simply remove the spray can's nozzle and swap it over to the separate Cap Cleaner can, turn upside down and squirt a couple squirts. Bingo! the paint nozzle is now clear and ready to spritz again, another day.

One sheet of painted silkspan (enough for nearly all my Camilla's sails (fore and aft sides). In 92 degree heat, and after spray painting, the material was dry after about 3 milliseconds ( I exaggerate: it actually took about 30 seconds.) The small clamps at the bottom of the sheets are important: the silkspan will move around wildly with the slightest air movement. Unfortunately, this paint is also very odiferous (nasty smelling chemicals) and you don't want to spray it anywhere inside your shop unless you have an industrial grade paint booth.  And No, this isn't my bedroom's temporarily moved mattress - however, the whiteness of the mattress does show a decent contrast to the unbleached Titanium color of the silkspan - kind of looks like "dirty laundry," and a near perfect color (IMHO) for depicting slightly weathered 18th-century canvas sails.

I try to coat the silkspan with an even amount of spray, however there will inevitably be spots where the spray painting will overlap to create a lightly mottled look; to my eye this doesn’t matter. The effect of this can be seen in this photo. The slight tonal variations are acceptable to me and whenI hold a portion of the painted silkspan over my sail template and it doesn’t look as consistent as I’d like, I’ll just select a different portion of the material to mount to the paper.

The long sheet of painted silkspan hanging in my garage has been brought into my shop and placed on top of a sail template on my drafting light table. The painted silkspan is fully dried after a couple minutes. I’ve placed it on only half of the sail layout to show how dramatic the color change is with a very subtle “crème” hued coloration. The colored material will now be cut into appropriately-sized smaller sheets and mounted to both sides of each sail's layout paper. I'll indicate what adhesives in my next step in the next update where the sails get trimmed to size and various sail reinforcements are also affixed. The calipers?...I was double-checking some rope diameters that I'll use for the sail's bolt ropes and cringles.

Evidence that it really was 91 degrees (in the shade) in my garage when I did this sailmaking silkspan painting. Luckily, I had a glass of icy cold lemonade at the ready.  And, my neighbors are likely wondering what this is all about...

1 hour ago, Azzoun said:

Here's Hollowneck sail presentation on YouTube - did you see this? 

 

Yep, that's me demonstrating my sailmaking technique at a Northeast Ship Modeler's Conference workshop in 2019 ( I displayed my HMS Swan diorama at the same event). Thanks to AZZOUN, a colleague of mine from the PSMS Club for posting this video that's on my club's PSMS site; I'd forgotten about it!

Here's the direct link to the video made by Azzoun: https://www.philadelphiashipmodelsociety.com/presentations/

Unfortunately, more recent archived NRG Journal articles aren't available on the NRG's site at this time; the issue archives stop at Volume #60 (2015). Earlier issues are available to purchase on both CD's and USB flashdrives. Also, on the NRG site, under the "Resources" Menu Tab, the sub-menu "Articles & How-To's" has various helpful references for ship modelers but nothing specific on sailmaking. My NRG Journal articles for both sailmaking (as well as making diorama water) could be posted in this section, but at the moment they are in suspended animation. Perhaps this NRG section will be updated in the future.

4 hours ago, Thukydides said:

Thanks for the detailed explanation @hollowneck. I was not aware you had done an article, I may take a look at it. Looking forward to seeing this all come together.

You are welcome. I intend to cover all the same steps I outlined in my NRJ article here. In fact, I’ll have some other additional details to share since the entire process is quite involved and I couldn’t cover everything in an article that’s limited to “X” words (and “N” pics).

As I explain the steps I’ll show the materials so others that want realistic sails on their model can make them too. Nothing too exotic involved, nothing costly. Thanks for looking-in.

15 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

but beginners may find it more daunting.

B.E., your Herculean (and sometimes Sisyphean) efforts with these...  little boats ...are to be applauded. 👏

As you may recall, I checked-out on attempting to make any of these small boats and went for scratching a "custom," Chris' 3D-printed, clinker boat. You, my MSW friend, are also a master of understatement.

20 hours ago, Thukydides said:

It's looking really good. Is there a reason why you use normal paper for the middle of your sail sandwich? Or is it just that it doesn't matter what you use for the middle layer and it is cheap and at hand?

Thank you, much appreciated.

When I first attempted to make silkspan sails I ran into problems trying to only use silkspan. Firstly, silkspan's .0015 thickness is very fragile and trying to draw reference and cloth lines easily ripped holes in the material. The lines are mandatory to indicate the cloth panels. Secondly, if I managed to get the cloth lines drawn on TWO layers (two required to give the sail some "heft" so that it would convincingly hang from its spar) it still wasn't enough to do the job and the silkspan just appeared "limp", unconvincing. Experimenting with various mediums to stiffen the material only caused more fabrication problems. I was over-thinking the silkspan problem when a good solution was readily at-hand.

You are partially correct: yes, simple white bond copier paper solved all of the handling issues and is inexpensive - and if only one piece is used (.003 thk), it's semi-transparent - important to portraying a sail, particularly large ones. I will state that my sails are principally made of cheap paper. Silkspan adds critical TEXTURE as well as convincing COLOR. The base bond paper is really a drafted template for fabricating the complete sail. All these factors are crucial to my particular approach. The paper is quite tough, particularly after it's been laminated with the silkspan; holes can be punched (robands) without tear-out. Leech and foot lines (which hide .28 gauge annealed wire in a tabling edge paper fold-over) become substantial and permit an erzatz bolt rope to be positioned on the edges. Even clue cringles can be better created with a base material that won't easily rip apart owing to the laminated paper.

This was long-winded, I know. However, your question really required a quite detailed answer because it isn't immediately obvious why one needs to have three layers with my approach to sailmaking. As an NRG member you may have ready reference to an article I authored in the NRJ 63-4 issue (2018)* about this technique I'm describing here. There are some step-by-step graphics in the article.

Please stay tuned. The next stage will be prepping the silkspan and applying it over the base paper layouts and then applying the liners and tablings with the same material, but in a slightly different "canvas" color.. .After this step comes "wiring" and sealing up the sail's edges and then adding reef points.

*HMS Swan; Part 2: Making realistic "Set" sails for the HMS Swan Diorama.

3 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Looks like a great day out for ship modellers, Ron, love your Swan in her seascape setting.

 

 

B.E.

 

 

 

Thanks, B.E. When talking to members of the public about the model-in-process it helped to point to the Swan. It was a good day, but tré HOT. A steady, cooling breeze wafted across the wide Delaware and kept things manageable aboard the steel monster. Next year I'm lobbying for the event to move to September for our club. We had more modellers than public attendees (another reason to shift the event), but that was fine since it still drew many builders who were present with a myriad of well-crafted vessels.

Sailmaking for HMS Camilla begins. The balance of her rigging (clues, tacks,braces) is purposefully in abeyance until her sails are ready to be mounted.

Camilla will carry nine (9) "set" sails. By "set" I mean they will be shown as working sails, shaped to show the effect of the ship's movement across the water.

My sailmaking process begins with pencil layouts for each sail drawn on #20 lb. white photocopy paper - bog standard - at .003 thick. To the bond paper layout shown here I'll affix two (2) "skins" (layers) of .0015 silkspan later in the process. Using this technique, the combined thickness of the sail layers is approximately .005-006. This resulting thickness permits a good approximation of a sail's scale thickness (at 1:64) and makes for a manageable component that can be readily affixed to the ship's spars. Other detail elements are marked on this layout for tabling/linings, bolt ropes, cringles, etc. The sail will be shaped on both leeches and at the foot later in the process after bolt ropes, reef points and cringles have been created/attached.

I've layed out the full outline of the Main Topsail (in it's familiar trapezoidal shape); an additional 4mm outer reference line has been added to the outline at both leeches and at the foot (more on this later too). Sundry reference pencil marks for the addition of linings, reef point reinforcements, cringles and bunt positions, etc. have also been added.

The layout paper is lying on a thin LED light tablet that is large enough to accommodate the layout for the majority of my model's sails. The light on the table is dimmable which is a nice feature. The diagonal, parchment-toned piece is a leftover scrap of colored silkspan from a previous model to check its transparency against the pencil lines that make up the sail (fabric "cloths"); these lines need to be consistent and visible on both sides of the sail. The cloths indicated here are roughly 8mm and this equates to about 24" wide (at full size). NOTE: the cloth lines are drawn on BOTH SIDES of the bond paper since the bond paper will be "sandwiched" between two layers of colored silkspan. I continue with using metric measurements in this stage of my build.

I use an HB lead pencil (mechanical as shown) and attempt to draw the cloth lines as evenly and consistently as possible.

In this close-up, the cloth lines are visible through a layer of colored silkspan and reasonably consistent. It's easy to get these lines either too dark - or too faint. The placement of the mast cloth liner is indicated at the top of the layout as is the upper reef point tabling (on the side). This sail will have eleven (11) robands. These are the lines that will "bend" (mount) the sail to the yard when it's completed; the spar mounting points are shown with dots along the top of the sail layout. When the sail is completed, the last thing I do to prep it for mounting is to use a pointed (and very sharp) awl to poke tiny holes through the finished sail edge and then thread precut ropes into the roband holes. In practice there would be roughly twice the number but I feel my reduced count works fine.

After all the sails have been drafted on this white bond paper, I proceed with prepping and coloring large sheets of silkspan that will be subsequently cut to adequate sizes for lamination to the bond paper layouts. Drafting all the sails will take a couple days of work and is quite exacting, and thus- some eye fatigue results.

My mostly-rigged, in-progress HMS Camilla on display this past weekend at an event hosted by my model ship club, the Philadelphia Ship Model Society. The one day model ship display event (ModelCon 2022) was held on the fantail of the Battleship New Jersey (BB 62), a historic heritage venue on the Delaware River at Camden, New Jersey.

To demonstrate how I'll present HMS Camilla when she's completed, I brought an earlier model of HMS Swan, a model I built in 2018.

Syren Ship Model's Chuck Passaro's superb Admiralty-styled Navy Board model of HMS Winchelsea -1764 was also on board the Battleship for the event. The Ship Model Society of New Jersey also participated in the one day show for the public as did the Hampton Roads, VA and Washington, D.C. clubs. Many MSW members are building this excellent scratch project and build logs abound!

The  view from dockside at the Battleship New Jersey. It's HUGE. The club sign is 8' long. There were over 100 models of all types on display, everything from many excellent steel navy models, a handful of period sailing vessels as well as a bunch of R/C models - including an R/C submarine.

One of my favorite models at the August 6 Saturday Show, the party boat "AQUAHOLIC." In addition to the fisherman at the stern (and the bathing beauties), Miami Vice's two 80's stars can be seen hanging out on the upper deck. These two dudes are keeping a sharp eye out for the Bad Guys who want to party on this boat too.

1 hour ago, glbarlow said:

CD?  Those are still around? 😂🤣🤣 Stream it on Spotify. 
 

Seriously though, your rigging looks great. The details are excellent, nice work!

Thanks,Glenn, you’re too kind! 
Yep, those shiny, plastics thinggies from the turn of the last century…I LOVE them. When in my shop I load five of ‘em into my 5-disc player from a huge library and I’m set for 5 + hours with my rapidly accessed, hand-selected “playlist.” The bigger reason for CD’s is that Most streaming sources are mediocre quality, including Spotify. I avoid all streaming if possible since the audio quality from CD’s is considerably better ( I am a musician and retired from a pro audio career and am fortunate to have a recording studio playback system in my shop). That’s my CD story and I’m sticking to it -🎸🎶 💿 = 🥰

3 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

She’s looking excellent Ron, very nice detailing of Capt. Pennypincher, he looks a dead ringer for Russell Crowe, did he transfer from Surprise.😉

 

B.E.

Thanks B.E. Pennypincher does look a lot like Jack Aubrey. My CD of the Master & Commander soundtrack was in the background when I was painting this tiny gentleman. Subliminal? Probably not.🥴

3 hours ago, BenD said:

Wonderful job so far mate, Even the Captain looks impressed!

Thanks, Ben. Capt. P. IS impressed. He especially likes the first-rate rigging rope...

HMS Camilla's Captain Pennypincher finally showed up at quayside to see if everything is shipshape. He's getting anxious to go prize hunting...

A few photos of rigging progress. The clews & tacks (and a couple braces) will be rigged after sails have been mounted to her yards. Otherwise, all standing and most of her running rigging has been completed.

I like to place figures on many of my models: Camilla will have only one, seen here.

Captain Pennypincher is anxious to get into the Channel to see some action: "I can't wait to see what her new-fangled 12-pounder carronades will do."

Pennypincher will walk his fancy shoes on the deck after I remove the superb little figure's 3D printed base.

I'm hoping to add silver paint to his shoe buckles after the base is removed. However, I'm a little nervous that my 0000 brush isn't small enough to do this job.

Soiled stockings...clean cravat, impeccable waistcoat.

This 3D printed resin figure from Chris is approximately 28mm tall and very accurately scaled for 1:64.

Pennypincher is from a hyphenated surname, aristocratic family and stands quite tall at about 6'1"...

"Where'd my crew go?"

"Did they mutiny?!"

"That's not fair play!...however, I alone will now get to keep all the prize money for myself!"

"My disloyal crew?  I say, 'bugger-off you sodden tars, you should have trusted your Captain.'"

Sails await.

A good 2-3 weeks lie ahead to accomplish this final part of my ship build. My rigging still allows reasonable access for bending her sails. Running the sail management lines is always a challenge since these are literally the last ropes and there just isn't any other way to run these lines earlier in the build. Many of the sail lines will be belayed to spots that will require a special set of long rigging tools that can reach into the tight spots.

9 hours ago, chris watton said:

1 hour ago, glbarlow said:

 

 

MSW is not free to run. I’d encourage everyone to click on the donations tab on the upper right of the home page a periodically make a contribution to keep the site we all love up and running with the latest technology.  
 

Thank you admins!

👍 

36 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

I am more than happy  to rely on James, for all things MSW computer, and many things modelling.

Here, here. A shout out for James. Bravo! B.E.

9 hours ago, James H said:

A higher latency is really not what we want. We've had higher latency before, and it just frustrates folk.

Yep. I, for one, would not like higher latency; "tech talk" for the "go slows." No, Thanks.

One of the reasons (IMHO) that MSW is so popular is that it is extremely fast - partly owing to a minimum of ads (and rollover nonsense). The small banner ads from our sponsors take only a miniscule amount of data. The ability of members to post large graphics files (build logs, gallery, etc.) is key; the email server on the forum is nice icing on our tasty cake.

Going without our FREE forum for such a short period of time is a good reminder of its value.

11 hours ago, Nautikale said:

Hello everyone!

A Warm Welcome from a MSW modeler in Pennsylvania. You've found the best place on the internet for support and expertise on ship model making.

14 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

These last three shots  show the Hammock Cranes temporarily in place to help me decide if I want to fit them

I suggest keeping the cranes but adding the safety ropes will be necessary, otherwise they may look peculiar and draw attention away from other impressive aspects of your model. You may want to consider mounting only one boat (Pinnace) should you retain the cranes. My entirely unsolicited recommendation. Whatever the final decision, I'm certain you'll decide on a complementary outcome.

I'll be interested to see how you choose to present your beautiful model.

26 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

Out of simple curiosity, is there another way to notify the MSW membership of an outage outside of Facebook?

I’m sure there are more than a few members (myself included) that want nothing to do with that site.

 

Can another method be setup? (“Sign up here to receive email notifications”?). Rather than pestering the hard working admins with countless messages asking the same question.
 

Andy

The NRG (our forum’s parent) notified their members when MSW went down.

5 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

A convenient point with the twelve month anniversary of the build start coming up.

 

I have worked on Sphinx  pretty much daily over this time, and it is a testament to Chris’s  design that a model of this detail and appearance can be produced in such a relatively short time.

Congratulations, B.E. Your model is a reference for everyone who decides to follow and build Vanguard's excellent kit: superbly executed details and creative solutions await future modelers, in abundance.

I'll hit my one year Sphinx (HMS Camilla) build anniversary this September. Time does seem to fly when you're having fun...

My copy arrived today, July 26. … a Day of Re-Connection: first, our forum was restored then an agent of the U.S. Government delivered my missing  Journal. Life is good.
 

4 hours ago, James H said:

Not similar in the slightest, thankfully. 2013 was a hardware failure. This problem isn't even related to our server, but a service which our host is provided with via a 3rd party, affecting some server cabinets. 

 

No data is involved.

 

As an aside, MSW has backups on separate drives to the one we primarily use. We were supposed to have had that in 2013, but our host failed to set it up. 

Phew! This is the stuff of nightmares, for everyone on the forum. I can’t imagine what a few terabytes of lost data would mean to our community. ‘Bravo” to the crew who sorted this out over the past 24. 

“You don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone.” - Joni Mitchell/Big Yellow Taxi, Ladies of the Canyon, 1974

10 hours ago, nzreg said:

Amazing work 👌

Thank you. You may be living at the “bottom of the world” but your beautifully executed Winchelsea is at the top of the planet! Superb work.

6 hours ago, druxey said:

Two interesting items you've shown, Ron: that 'Quad hand' looks very helpful; and the dusting powders, which also look very effective. Thanks for bringing these to our attention.

Thanks, druxey. My Quadhands has made several previous appearances. It is worth the investment. I can’t think of a more useful shop item for rigging with the exception of my needle pointed tweezers and embroidery scissors.
 

I’ve used detail powders on scale figures in my last diorama as an experiment ( to enhance facial details in the painted metal sculpts). As I studied Camilla’s flat-looking MDF anchors, I recalled the technique applied to the kit’s cannon by the kit’s prototype builder. I did need to purchase a dedicated ‘set’ of powders for this job. Doing so turned out to be quite fortuitous since this material also enhanced other “metal” details as I experimented. I sincerely hope some of my approaches for materials (and tools) can help others in MSW world.

Just came across your Diana build. You've achieved some very tasty upgrading and impressive work. The coppering is especially nice.

Diana was my second model and her beautiful lines elicit strong, positive responses from onlookers. Can't wait to see how you rig her!

A milestone approaches...yard rigging is nearly completed.

Populating the yards is painstaking and sometimes very tedious. The QuadHands station makes this task so much easier. The flexible arms hold the workpieces securely and as you tie-on the various components (lots of them) you can easily bend the arms to effectively rotate the work toward or away from you: very handy. Having two sets of arms is quite a luxury too (the QuadHands come in various arm/base configurations). The multiple tentacles allowed me to maintain spacing consistency by visualizing a completed yard while working on its sibling.

This is the completed main topgallant yard. With the exception of the fiddle blocks for the lifts, all the remaining blocks are 3.0 mm. The loops for the strirrups are about 0.5mm and were made off this jig on my smaller, simple ThirdHand jig before lashing to the yard. I've added the small black rubber "boots" to the alligator clips so they don't mar the paint job on the yard (the clip "booties" come with the QuadHand). On the previous photo the alligators were grasping the iron rings mounted the yard's wood so no need for the rubber alligator boots.

My trusty 0.79 mm thumbdrill just won't go away (not that I want it to). Here, a 3.0 mm stropped block gets its hole properly opened up so rope can more easily pass through when subsequently running the lines. It pays to do this with every block, regardless of size. It's very frustrating to be running a line and have a block be - well, blocked. It's not easy to open tiny holes on some blocks that are in very difficult to reach spots. Behind the block and drill is its topgallant yard.

Some builders can work with 2.0 mm blocks. I find them nearly impossible to prep well. In this kit (scale= 1/64), the smallest blocks are 3.0 mm and they are extensive in the rigging set-ups.

After staring at my two anchors made from MDF and pear, I decided to try and enhance the look of the anchor. I noted this technique in the Sphinx manual by Jim Hatch wherein he uses a metallic weathering powder for adding realism to the model's cannon. Here you see a small brush with some metallic weathering powder that's been applied to the edges (mainly) of the anchor. I believe this is an improvement to the previous flat black color; previously, to my eyes, it just wasn't a very convincing anchor.

After taking this photo I also added the weathering powder to the anchor's four stock bands as these are also made from iron.

And here's what I've used to add this realistic treatment to the anchor (and other items- see next photos):  Tamiya Weathering Master. Of the metallic colors indicated in this particular set (there are other color sets), I've  chosen the light gun metal. The "Titanium" was too bright for a proper light reflectance from iron. These weathering materials are used extensively by our brethren in the plastic model (and train layout) world.

Two tips are better than one. The tapered cotton tip (also from Tamiya) worked a little better in some tight spots...like...

...Here.

I also used this same weathering powder on the cannon muzzles, the chain linkages as well as bolt heads, even on the tips of all the stanchions and hammock cranes. The result is very subtle in most cases and as it should be. It is very easy to over do this kind of embellishment. The powder itself is somewhat viscous, almost "wet" feeling when applying and adheres nicely. The compound has an extraordinarily fine texture: one is hard-pressed to see any granules of shiny, metallic bits.

A view with all of Camilla's yards nearly completed.

A starboard progress view; a rigging milestone has been reached. Next up: some finessing of the footropes, finishing-off the crane netting to port and then onward to yard jeers, tyes and halliards.

A view showing the effects of the light gun metal weathering compound on various "metal" parts of the ship: cannon cascabel, rear breeches, chain pump iron bars, deck bolts/rings, even the cannon balls. The dale pumps were also touched-up; unfortunately, in this shot you can't see the effect, but it makes the delicate P/E mechanisms look considerably more realistic. I've applied a tiny touch to all the tips of the stanchions and hammock crane irons. The King's monogram on the eight midship cannon have also been lightly "dusted" which adds a little more visibility to this fun detail (cannon monograms by Syren, not included in the kit).

Have you seen this "probe" lens, Gaetan?

A new pro photo tool for macro shots (24mm) and it's configuration could produce some very interesting photos of models - interiors as well as exterior.

f14, built-in LED lights at front lens. About a 3/4" dia to the  tube. Manual focus. Pretty decent glass.

It's $1,600 USD, but It can also be rented.

Venus Optics Laowa 24mm f/14 2X Macro Probe Lens with Canon EF Mount

30 minutes ago, druxey said:

Nice progress. Ron.

Thank you, druxey. Your encouragement is much appreciated!

Crossjack/Mizzen mast rigging completed

The mizzen mast's crossjack yard carries no sail. The crossbracing is shown here.

A closeup of the crossjack yard details. The shaped octagonal center of this yard will clearly be visible since this yard is near fully-rigged.

.