capnharv2

Hi, it's been a long time since an update due to a very heavy load working away so little modeling time to be had.
Another set of eight frames and a spacer frame have been installed up to B Aft, if you look closely you will see the rough cut out in the A-Frames for the fixed double block, and below the hull you can see the block bodies that have been made out of boxwood to match the hull planking when it's done.
 
The frames are just roughly faired and sanded to 100 grit just like the rest of the hull until hull is closed in.
 
So 16 frames are left to go to fill the gap, hopefully it won't be as long until the next update.
 
ben

It feels exactly like that, Bob - a big white elephant.
 
Ed

small update :
 
made the lower bridge-deck railings, these guide the first class passengers alongside the structures of funnels 1 + 2  to the staircase that goes down to the promenade deck, so no one gets lost on the boats-level. There are no railing to the sea-side of the boats.
The etched copper railing is too "flimsy" on its own, so I spent a reinforcement rail at the bottom side and the obligatory brass handrail to strengthen the upper side.
 
Nils
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

Spent an hour or so on the Glory of the Seas today...here are some pics.
 
Rob

I've got the interior planking installed and painted. I'll give it a few more coats

Beautiful! I like how crisp and clean everything is!
 
Harvey

Yep. Makes sense to me. I'll be getting there someday. . .
 
Harvey

Now you tell me about the chopsitcks!!
 
Question-did you tie your ratlines fore to aft on both sides or fore to aft on the port side and aft to fore on the starboard side? For whatever reason, I've always tried to do fore to aft on both sides, and had a devil of a time on the starboard side (I'm right handed).
 
Thanks! It's been fun and educational following your build.
 
Harvey

Yep. Makes sense to me. I'll be getting there someday. . .
 
Harvey

Beautiful! I like how crisp and clean everything is!
 
Harvey

Beautiful! I like how crisp and clean everything is!
 
Harvey

Yep. Makes sense to me. I'll be getting there someday. . .
 
Harvey

Yep. Makes sense to me. I'll be getting there someday. . .
 
Harvey

Hello,
Yards : preparation : The stunsail brackets
 
As Ray quite rightly at page 15 mentions  (HMS Diana by Ray - FINISHED - Caldercraft/Jotika - A 38 gun Heavy Frigate, 1794) they are a bit oversized, indeed.
 
I decided to go for the "styrene"-option.
I used 0.25 mm thickness sheets. As the end of the yards are tapered, the strip that was to be bended and fixed with superglue around them, described a small curve.
The stunsail brackets are to be overpainted anyway.
The 3rd pic shows what was supplied with the kit
I also had to fore a 1mm hole at both extremeties of each concerned yard, no big deal.
 

So far for the good news show.
Here's a word of caution related to the position of the seats of ease in front of the gallion.
 
As the pics show and as consequence of a mistake of mine the, holes are covered.
So I filled them up, sanded with a high grid.
I'll see were to install on the gallion the seats of ease later on.
Sad but not critical.

Crowsfeet ? I love them
For the interested : the euphroe-blocks are made of styrene. Walnut was not an option
I fixed 2 small sheets of 0,5 mmm and one of 0.25 mm in the middle : thas was (more or less)  the suitable thickness.
A needle and a pin to obtain the best possible alignment to fore the 0.8 mm holes
The paint is from  the Acrylico Vallejo-brand and the 311 colortype is until now the closest to wood, at least in my opinion, some more filing before assembly and that was that.
Here's the pics (part I)

Here's part II
Last pic is dedicated to 1) MSW Staff : congrats regarding the software update and Ray : consulting his buildlog (HMS Diana fvinished +/- a year ago) made things more easier and comprehensable., Cheers Ray

BE, Pat, Joe, Michael, Nils, Wayne, JPAM  and the likes - thanks so much.
 
Ron - I'm hoping to make it, would love to see your fantastic Diana in person, my challenge is always football/soccer as I coach my sons team and that takes a big bite out of weekends at this time of year.  If I could just arrange a game in New London then I'd be set!
 
Small update, I've been missing making posts but I have a little to share and hope pictures make up for it.  Continuing to work on the more foundational aspects as I can.  Paint has been applied to the upper hull - I used Tamiya matt XF-18 medium blue.  I applied many layers of watered down paint and corrected larger imperfections, but left the slight imperfections from planking visible.  I'm no painter and have limited experience with modern acrylics!  Watering down the paint gives a nice smooth finish, but at the expense of surface uniformity - this should disappear completely once a clear sealer is applied so not concerned.  I found that using a brush the undiluted paint dries so quickly that brush mark are inevitable.  Lots of touchup to do which should be pretty easy, but I want to get a protective coat of poly onto the boxwood to reduce the risk of mishaps.
 
The waist rail has been applied on one side and the side steps added.  I left gaps for the fenders, after having already cut these roughly to shape - using boxwood of course adds the number of pieces that need to be fabricated to keep consistent.  I wont attach these until later.  Steps were made using 2x2mm boxwood strip and a different profile scraper to the side molding and then cut length and shaping the ends.  These hopefully give more of an impression of the fine molding as keeping that to scale was just too much for me.  The upper and lower 2 steps are not glued yet.  I think they pass the scale test with the assistance of Able Seaman Lewis.


I've also made up the anchor lining bolsters, not identified in the kit plans but approximated from AOTS and TFFM.


And the usual 'all over' shot of where things stand..

 
 
 

Being right handed I did fore to aft on starboard and aft to fore on the port and I should mention that the clove hitches were up and outboard on the shrouds so that the lines lay on top of the shrouds. I hope this makes sense.

Now you tell me about the chopsitcks!!
 
Question-did you tie your ratlines fore to aft on both sides or fore to aft on the port side and aft to fore on the starboard side? For whatever reason, I've always tried to do fore to aft on both sides, and had a devil of a time on the starboard side (I'm right handed).
 
Thanks! It's been fun and educational following your build.
 
Harvey

Michael, thanks! I just finished up the lower ratlines for all three masts after tying nearly 2,000 clove hitches with #50 black thread. I now have tying clove hitches down pat in any direction.
 
Just a few observations I have made: working black thread on black shrouds requires keen eyesight and great depth perception working at times with a pair of tweezers in each hand. If you have trouble with chopsticks don't even start. I found that wetting the thread before tying really helped to reduce the spring effect and sizing in the thread as well as friction when tying knots. File the ends of the tweezers down to a point and file the ends square; then file the inside gripping surfaces flat so they match each other when squeezed. Test by picking a thread off a flat surface. Do this before even starting. Tie the extended lines first and once all the knots on one row are tied glue each knot and ends of thread to be cut off with watered down white glue. Watering down allows the mix to penetrate the tiny thread and bond to the shrouds. When seizing the clove hitch to the shroud tighten slowly and the final pull to the right to set the knot in the right location and then hold the shroud with the tweezers at the knot and tighten to the left. (opposite if you are left handed) As you are tightening the knot pay attention to the lines above and below to avoid over tightening and causing them to sag. Work from the bottom (dead eyes) to the top (fighting top) when adding lines; this allows the excess ends to hang down out of the way of the next one to be tied. Cut off excess lines after the knots once the glue has set with the tip of sharp scissors cutting only the line. Once at the shroud seizing near the top the use of magnification will really help.
 
Once completed and all glue set if you have any sections that are not pleasing or have sag cut them away and add a new section making sure the clove hitches straddle the existing knots, this will align the new section with the existing lines. OK sorry more than just a few observations.
 
Here are the results of it all.
 

 

 

Now to add so more mast details before moving on.
 
 

Tom, yes I am loving my lathe setup for serving the ropes. Once you get the feel for doing it it works very well and fast. I was serving 3 inches for the single lines with blocks and 5 inches for the doubles. 
I have moved onto the ratlines and am using black thread and tying clove hitches at each junction. The foremast lower sections have 295 knots per side. I used my CAD program to draw a guide with 3/16" parallel lines which I printed on card stock cut to size to use on both sides. I aligned the lower guidelines with the sheer poles and clipped to the deadeyes to hold in position and trimmed the top to be tight with the bottom side of the fighting top. I also highlighted in orange every fifth line that was extended per instructions and I tied those first to hold the shrouds in place and then filled in between. I am using a very water downed white glue at each knot once a line is in place and allow to dry before trimming off the ends.
 
Here is a PDF file for others to borrow for their own use on builds.
 
Ratlines.pdf
 

 

 

Now onto the main mast. 
 
 

I had a couple hours today to work on the Great Republic and so I finished the masts...Here are some pics.

Update :
 
ladders to the midships platform, railings to the lower bridge, and supports for the upper bridge (railings still require some straight bending, wooden handrails and paint)
the structures in the light tower areas require some filler material before final painting....
 
Nils
 

several stairways attached
 

 
 

boats winch in foreground, the whole boatsdeck is crowded with "detail structures", I`m quite pleased that all could find its place in accordance with the actual ship
 

supports for upper bridge, railings for lower bridge, light tower areas require some filler and repainting. Left some fingertips in the pic for scaling
 

 
 

all fragile parts, I do`nt think its so wise to choose that small scale again 
 

those upper railing wires hardly withstand touching, structure here filler is needed
 
 
 

Another photo