coxswain

I'm at a bit of a loss as what to do next, so I commenced the rear aircraft deck. There is a lot of work to do on it and I keep breaking 0.3mm drill bits in an attempt to make the 60 stanchion holes as it does not like the steel etch.
 
Multiple rails to be added and turntables, and underside there are the carriers for the ships launches.

Continuing on withe the upper hull, I tried adding step ladders but not really happy with them so I will only do the one side.
 
There are about 250 deadlights where the portholes were covered later in the war. The kit just has them as blobs but as usual, there is an aftermarket for them.  About 2 days of painful work.

Well, back from holidays, a little bit of work on the old girl today.
 
You cannot do anything with the Pontos instructions without other reference material. Moving on to the boat hangars, two for the smaller boats and two for the launches. The back deck includes nice bollards, (the holes in the kit need drilling out to widen), rails and equipment for the winch. You can see from the AOTS is is very busy below decks. .
 
The etch is easy to use just somewhat tiny.
 
For some reason only known to Pontos they do nothing with the hatches or windlass's. I used North star hatches and a Chrysanthemum windlass. You can see from what is circled what is the kit and what is replaced.
 
Then to add some realism, I have added some perforated gussets to the small boat hangars. As I intend to park some boat in there not much will be visible.
 
The larger hangars for the ships large launches are a work in progress but a lot is visible via large doors. I will finish this bit up when I put the hull together. This is all scratch and nothing to do with the kit or the pontos set.

I reckon I have done enough on the hangars now as I intend to park about 3 aircraft in there and you wont see much. Ive ordered some perforated steel beams which I will need for the boat hangars which run on both sides of the hangar and alongside the main rear gun.
 
I can pretty much make this up as there are no references anywhere.

Moving on with the aircraft hangar, the etch is applied, with 1mm railings. Not much of this will be visible.

After the unnecessary frustration of lower hull, the aircraft and boat hangars have to be done next, the is no way around it any very little reference to it. Not much is visible and the back of the ship has a lot of photo etch details but the first step is the hangar doors which on the new tool have to be cut in half to show them open. The last photo shows what a bit of aftermarket rivet lines can do and how they compare to the old tool.
 
The flyhawk upgrade includes these doors buy Pontos does not. They should look ok after some paint.

The lower hull comes in two parts for some unknown reason and has a huge gap. I had to be careful in the use of putty to avoid losing the detail of the armor plates.
 
You can see the difference in detail between the old and the new tool kit.
 
One joined the use of a piece of wood to bracket the brass rods that will be used as stands and the addition of the shafts.

The new tool V the old tool and the comparative size for the Dreadnought.

OK, I'll make a start on my next build log.
 
The 1/350 Tamiya (new tool) Yamato with Pontos upgrade set and numerous other bits and pieces.
 
Those of you that have watched some of my other builds have obviously figured out I like the aftermarket stuff.
 
That being said the kit is enormous, compared to my last build.
 
I also got a cheap old took kit off ebay for painting practice when I get around to buying an airbrush.
 

 
 

Update - moving right along,I added some cat heads to the catheads . Then I added the staghorn cleats to the quarterdeck bulwarks. I am pretty sure the hull is now complete  except for the stern lanterns,which will be installed later .
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Hi Greg - I have taken a bit of a break due to catching a cold a couple of weeks ago & feeling lousy. I am much better now & should be up to speed soon. I have made a little progress on the bowsprit. The dowels were tapered & shaped according to the plans,then the top was cut from the supplied 1mm plywood & planked on both sides with a 1x3mm strip glued around the outside edge.The trestle trees & cross trees were then cut & shaped to fit & glued in place. The whole top assy. was then painted black. The chainplates were made by bending some .8mm brass wire around the deadeyes & soldered shut. The lower end was flattened in a vice & holes were drilled for nails. The design of the bowsprit is a little different than I have seen before - the top is offset to one side & the jibboom goes through the top rather than under it.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

After some trial and error, the rudder is complete. Shaping and drilling little brass pieces on a large wood lathe is a little less then ideal but do able with some patients and extra material. I also purchased a few gadgets to help hold those small annoying little parts during soldering.

 

Finally finished the gunwales and wash-boards.



 
Once the gunwales and wash-boards were done, I relieved that I forgot all about the transom kness. Cutting them in - in place took a little patience and a slice of pizza.

Thank you Carl!
 
A little brass work; presented its own set of problems but was a fun change of pace.
 




 

This isn't the best picture, but it shows two pieces of brass wired together to create the non-operational hinges.





Making the supports that go under the Thwarts.

So, it's been awhile since I've posted. I have been busy making many parts, but have been hesitant to post pictures until they are fully installed. I've also been a little hesitant to glue pieces down for fear that I'm forgetting something. With that said, tonight i installed the two stern swivel stocks and some of the locker bulkheads.

Initially, my "go big or go home" way of thinking was pushing me towards a big beautiful 3 decker with an extensive built log to go with it. Fortunately, while living in this dream world I realized I didn't want to be one of those guys that starts a build and never finishes it. So instead of cutting teeth on a ship, I decide that building a boat was a more appropriate place to start. With that said, I decided on Chaloupe Armee En Guerre 1834 otherwise known as a Longboat Built For War. I purchased the plans from Ancre. They are well done and are accompanied by a 40 page method of construction booklet.
Here I am, many months in to the build and I have decided it's time to create the build log. I Initially decided to wait on the build log until I was sure I was capable of finishing. Over the next few days I will post pictures etc..until I am caught up.
 
Thanks to all for creating a great site to hangout in.
 
 

 
 

 
 

Shaping the mold was my first challenge. Getting it right proved to be a daunting task. The picture below shows where I got a little carried away and had to add some filler to bring it back to where it needed to be.
 



At this point I should say that I'm using Cherry to build this boat. I was able to bend the frame members by soaking them in alcohol (Gin) for a couple of minutes. For the most part, it was a pretty straight forward process. Attention to grain direction was important to getting a splinter free bend.


For bends that needed a little extra help, I made this make shift bending iron.
FYI, these photos seem to be a little compressed, I will try to work on that.

To answer you Rob, he would need to be wealthy indeed, and I have met a lot of wealthy clients with the car models, they paid for my bread and butter for 40 years, classic cars are one things and Windjammers another. Consider that last year I completed a 1/15th scale Alfa Monza, a sister (full size) car to the original I used for the model sold last year for $11,990,000.00.  While those trying to save the Falls of Clyde from a watery grave after surviving for 138 years and being unique in the world today, can hardly scratch together, so far, $150,000, of the 1.5 million needed to save her.
The 1/96th scale Falls of Clyde  - all three models of the series, just the first two here so far - I am making for my own entertainment, but when finished, and I need the room for the next project, will be donated to the Clyde Maritime Trust for display in the 3 masted Barque Glenlee, now fully restored, on the Clyde in Scotland.  If we can get the Falls of Clyde back to her birth place on the Clyde, I live in hope - then the models and tools will be located in her.  So one way or another, there WILL be a Falls of Clyde back on the Clyde for the public to see what a fantastic family of ships were once created there.

Fig- 60 The first 20 Frames in place, complete with Pillars, Ladder, Keel and Stringers and some Plating, which we will cover a little later in the proceedings.  
As may be imagined, having got to this stage - half way -  I was very keen to see if I was on the right track with creating this model centre section, so added some Plating right up to and including a short section of the  Bulwarks, stays and all -  and it looked to me to be OK, I was on the right road.  However, because I had started in the centre and so from now on had to work both fore and aft by adding another ten Frames to each end, most of this Plating became more of a problem than an asset, and was later removed, as we shall see, and refitted in longer lengths.  We learn as we proceed.
 
You may note also that the main hatch is also present on both the Main Deck and Tween-Deck.  This was also removed and remade, and will be covered later, together with the reasons why - a cautionary tale.

Fig- 59 Here we have the SRHM, set up for single rivet heads, two side by side for the top of the Pillar, and two - one on each side of the flange/collar that forms the base of the Pillar. 
On the model Pillar, a small brass plate is silver soldered to one end of a nickel silver rod, filed to shape, bent to accomodate the bulb iron of the beam and provided with two rivet heads, after which it is tined with a little soft solder, ready to be attached to the beam.
Short Pillars for the Main Deck to the Tween- Deck, and longer ones between the Tween-Deck and the Keel, note Jock the riveter, alway useful to have him around to remind one of the scale. 

The next build.
 
Before to begin the construction  with wood, I want to have all the necessary information I need for the complete build.
 
-I do not want to have to do extensive research
-I do not want to draw plans
-I do not want to begin in 5 years
 
My prefered activity is to build and I want to concentrate on this particular aspect.
 
V4.0       for the forth time
74           I will build a 74 guns
1/24      I will use the biggest scale I can manage. For this one 1/24 is 8 feet long. This is
                about the maximum I can easily manipulate. I would have love to build even at
                a bigger scale like 1/12 but I do not have all the plans I need.
 
Jean Boudriot offers me everything I need. All the required information  is available in 5 books, not 4 but yes 5. I am a lazy person for this time, I will not draw the frames; JC Lemineur did and I will use it.
 
So, I have all what I need to begin :
-all the paper I need (the fifth book is in the mail)
-all the tools I bought tools for the last 30 years
-all the wood I need, at least for the frames.
 
I did build  1 version of the 74 with exotic woods. If I add the price of all the exotic woods used, you would not believe how much expensive it can be in these quantities.
 
Traditionnally, in Europe, they use pear wood  for the frames and boxwood for the carvings.
In my country, here in Quebec, there are no places to buy these woods and anyway it is too expensive for what I want to do.
 
Here in Quebec, one of the most stable wood we have is cherry wood. In addition the properties 
are similar to pear wood except for the grain; cherry has pear has not. For sanding both are identical. As a bonus, at least for my taste, I love the smell of this wood when cutting or sanding.