realworkingsailor

Post 89
Now for the tricky bit -Topmasts
The kit version Topmasts are simplified but will still take some careful work using 6mm dowel. There is tapering  and creating the flared hounds, and a clean rectangular head.
 
Accurately shaped topmasts are the most complicated masts to make because they have both square and octagonal lower sections, a tapering round mid-section, rising to flared hounds, and a rectangular head.
Additionally sheaves set at a diagonal angle are required in the heel.
 
I do happen to have a couple of topmasts I made earlier during the course of my Pegasus build.
These were made to Steel’s specifications, and again by luck closely match the kit sizes.

007
The Topmast drawn out and prepared for shaping on a ‘V’  cradle.
Square stock is used throughout, it is easier to round the section between the lower mast cap and the Topmast hounds, than create the non round sections from dowel.

028
The lower section showing the square and octagonal detail and the Top rope sheaves.

029
The head section detailing the hounds.

025
The completed Topmasts.

4744a

4739a
I had to adjust them slightly to fit Harpy, the critical area being the fit between the fid hole created by the crosstrees and trestletrees.
In reality the Topmast should slide up through this section using the Topropes.
 
The kit has the Topmasts at the same length for both Fore and Main. This follows the Steel table for a 200 ton Brig.

4740a
The masts I have used  are based on a 300 ton sloop where the Main Topmast  is slightly longer by around 12mm.
Harpy is a Brig sloop, and in my version I have gone more Sloop than Brig, based on the vessel weight.


4748a
As it happens the Fore Topmast matches the Kit plan drawings. The extension at the bottom is the block below the heel, which has the lower Toprope sheaves.
 
Onwards…
 
B.E.
16/06/2025

Here are the 6 lower frame locator parts glued to the former, 3 on each side. They are laser etched with the bulkhead locations at the top and the individual frame identifiers, very simple to figure out. I glued with a mixture of PVA and CRY.
 


 

Thank you! Pre-molded canopies are certainly convenient, but I don't think I've ever had one yet that didn't pose its own unique challenges, and this one was no different, so I'm happy with this result.
 
Next it was on to the ailerons, and naturally with this being a Halinski kit, each one had to consist of no less than thirteen separate parts. 😑 

 
In the end, though, I was completely dissatisfied with how the control horns turned out, so I ended up replacing them with much simplified scratch components, which knocked the parts count down to only twelve per side. As seems to be my habit, I also ended up with the gap between the wing and aileron being much more noticeable on one side than the other, which you can't really see from this angle. What can I say? And lastly for this session, I also added the brass 20 mm cannon barrels and their shrouds.

 
I believe the landing gear are next if I follow the numbered sequence.
 

Only a couple more jig pieces to be installed, these MDF parts sit on top of the previous jigs and give more support to the bulkhead extensions at the level of the upper gundeck, they get screwed into the lower jigs to keep them securely in place.
These MDF sections as you can see also contain all of the gunport framing parts.

More stern jig pieces installed, these two will hold the Counter Timbers in the correct places whilst framing is done.
Care must be taken as they are quite thin and fragile pieces and a very tight fit.
 

Post 88
Detailing the Bowsprit
I originally thought I would not include the Bowsprit Cap on this build because I knew what modifications would be required to address the kit simplification of this part.
On my build the cap would be fully exposed without the distraction of rigging.
Although still a tricky exercise it is easier to re-make the cap rather than fiddle with the kit part. The real thing is angled top and bottom to match the Bowsprit stive, and holes  cut at an angle to the cap which should be vertical to the waterline. The holes are slightly offset to port to accommodate a Jackstaff on the starbaord side.
The kit dimensions are 19.3mm(L)  8.1mm(B) 4mm(thickness)
I worked the replacement using Steel as a guide (300 ton sloop)
Procedure.
The new cap is cut from spare Pearwood fret. I used a length of 15mm wide strip of 3mm Pear.
The finished version worked out at 20mm(L) 9mm(B) 3mm(thick)

4702a
The holes are marked using the kit piece as a template.
 
The tricky part is deciding on the angle and holding the piece at that angle for drilling.

4701a
I used the mill for the purpose of drilling the initial holes that were then progressed using files, maintaining the angle.

4703a

4707a
I had to cut the rebate for the Bees with the Bowsprit in place, not ideal but fairly straightforward.

4729a
Here a trial fit of all components.
 
The Bees are provided with the slots for the Topmast stays but lack the Bee blocks that should sit beneath them. I added these using small lengths of 2 x 2.5 Pear strip.

4716a

4731a
The extra width of the cap allows for the Jack staff which is made from some 2mm dowel reduced to around 1.3mm ø.
Blackened, drilled out brass eyes support the staff.

4717a
A check is made to ensure that the cap is vertical before the glue sets.

4726a

4730a
Onwards…
 
B.E.
14/06/2025

Canopy is on.
 

I started installing the aft jig, this one is much more complex than the other two as it is the one that will align all of the stern framing.


 

Got the frames cut out and glued to the vacuformed canopy. Afterwards I noticed that there is a slight defect on the aft starboard side that didn't allow the lowest frame on that side to sit level. It remains to be seen how that will affect fitting the canopy to the fuselage later. I will let the glue fully cure before cutting the canopy free from its blank.

 
Since I invested in an upgraded cockpit interior, I'm leaning toward displaying this model with the canopy open.

Post 87
Lower mast rigging -  Part two
Fore and Main shrouds
I will be using dyed Syren 0.88mmm line for the purpose.

4653a
The line lengths are held under tension for a few hours before fitting to take any spring out of them.
The shrouds are put over the masthead in pairs starting on the sb side, then working alternate sides.
The shrouds are served  for the centre section around the masthead and  down to the futtocks.
The Foremost shroud is usually served overall to counter chafing from the  sails.

4679a
Once served I attend to the seizing on a dummy masthead and then slip over the  real thing. This is much easier than making up the full mast sets off model, and then doing the work with the masts in place.

4682a
The shroud is  re-dipped in the colouring solution.

4688a
When rigging I always work from aft forward so I begin with the Main mast. Fortunately there are an even set of shrouds so  on this mast I can avoid the complication of a splice.
Fore Mast
There are two sets of two and a single spliced shroud that I have fitted over the masthead first.

4684a
This foremost shroud, as with the Main shrouds, is served overall. The spliced section needs to be formed first as with the Pendent of tackles.
This is a lengthy piece of serving covering 650 mm overall, and as can be seen there is a degree of kink in the line  by reason of the serving.

4687a
I put this set under weights to even the line out.

4692a

4693a

4694a
The shroud sets are all made up; they will now be removed for final fettlin.’
 
I have been having second thoughts about the Pendents of tackles. I think the 6mm blocks (15”) look a little heavy, and the seizings a little bulky.
I have some of Chuck’s  new resin thimbles on order, so a replacement set will be made up.
 
B.E.
12/06/2025
 
 
 

 

Here is the midship jig installed.
 

 

All of the bulkheads and stiffners have been glued to the former and themselves, this thing is now rock solid and a very sturdy platform for everything thats to come.
 
I have begun installing all of the jigs that will support the upper parts until the model has been planked on the outside, these jigs are NOT to be glued to the model as they will be removed later for all the internal work, here you can see the forward one.



 
 

Jupiter is completed!
 
There doesn't seem to be a place in the Gallery for non-ship builds, so I have put my completion photos here.
 
This was a fun build.  A nice break from ships.
 
Regards,
David


 

Exhaust stubs added.

Finished the tender.  Now to do final touches and get it assembled on the baseboard.
 
Regards,
David

The main decals have been applied no flash(cam) this go round guys and when the wash hits it's going darker

Engine mounted. I wasn't happy with the placement of the machine guns. Since they're made of paper, removing them understandably made a hash of them, so I ended up replacing them with styrene rod.

 
And cowling on.

 
I can't believe I've only been working on the engine and cowl for thirteen days -- it feels like ages. The next task will be to sort out the exhaust stubs.

Post 86
Lower mast rigging -  Part 0ne
My approach to rigging.
The limited rigging I will apply to this build will be based on Steel tables for a vessel of 18 - 14 guns of  300 -250 tons.
The principle rigging will consist of:
Pendent of tackles –  7”circ – 15” Single block-  6mm
Lower Shrouds       - 7”circ – 0.88mm - (5mm Deadeyes)
Forestay                - 9½” – 1.19mm  -  13” Heart. (5mm)
Fore Preventer stay - 6”   -  0.75mm   - 10” heart  (4mm)
Mainstay                - 10”  - 1.26mm   - 15” Heart  (6mm)
Main Preventer Stay - 7”  -  0.88mm  -  10” Heart  (4mm)
The kit line dimensions are close to this using 1mm line for the shrouds, and 1.3mm line for the stays.
The kit indicates use of deadeyes for securing the stays but I have opted for hearts.
 
I begin with the Pendent of tackles, which are omitted from the kit rigging plan, but are an important feature of naval ship rigging. These go over the head before the shrouds are rigged.
I covered my approach to making the pendents in my Pegasus build log.  They are spliced over the mastheads, and I followed the method described in TFFM book Vol 1V.

4654a

4657a
Syren 0.88mm line is served overall with 0.1mm line, I used the kit provided line which is Gütermann Polyester.
 
Steel indicates use of a  single block attached to the pendent, but a  thimble would also be appropriate, an opportunity perhaps to try out one of Chuck’s new additions to his fittings, a 2mm option would be about right.

4669a

4666a

4674a
I used 6mm single blocks, mainly as I had them to hand.

4665a
At this time period the pendents extend a little below the Hounds.
 
 
B.E.
08/06/2025

Last bulkhead to be installed is for just forward of #1, it is for the beakhead support, it also has two verticals for the bow and it locks bulkheads 1/2/3 together for more stiffening.
There should be a 1/16-1/32” gap between it and bulkhead #1.
With all these parts now installed, the entire structure is very very stiff with almost zero movement anywhere and is now ready to start having glue applied to it, kudos to JJ for his design and laser cutting to make this as solid as it is.
 


 

So the foremost bulkhead #1 requires that these two upright bow supports be glued into place before it is installed, making sure to make them perpendicular.
Also the stiffners between aft bulkheads 24 & 25 need to be installed to tighten that section up.






 
 

I have the camo on the plane was not totally satisfied with what Tamiya called out for l.Sand but that is what I did the 109 in in the background.I think once I get to the point of weathering it will go darker some and blend in well enough

The saga continues -- probably would have been easier to just build the card engine! First we had to carefully remove the original engine mount and rebuild it to the desired thickness.

 
Next we wired the cylinders. I only added half of the spark plug wires -- I'm just hinting at their existence, not replicating them in all of their glorious detail.

 
After all, little of them will actually be visible.

 
Fuselage guns added.

 
And lastly, the oil cooler intake is added -- this will help position the cowling.

 
I think I'm more or less ready to mount the engine now, but I need all my wits about me when I attempt the job.

All of the bulkheads were removed from their sheets and dropped into position on the former, no adjustments were needed to any of them to make them fit!
No glue has been used so far and you can see the longitudinal stiffeners being installed - fore sections first and then the aft ones, after these clipped into place with a little persuasion the entire structure has really begun to get more solid.
More bulkhead and stiffner work to come before glue goes anywhere near it.
 





 
 
 

My next project is the Eduard 1/48 F4F.  I wanted to try some of their 3D printed parts, so went a little overboard and got most of the add-ons for the early F3F.  I’m not including a lot of pictures of kit contents as there are professionally done photos on the eduard website.  I will include some along the way showing the incredible detail in the printed parts and their comparison to the merely superb detail in the kit parts.

 I really like the prewar yellow wing paint schemes and wanted to build option A.

The kit comes with parts for both an F4F-3 and F4F-4.  I bought the double kit with two thoughts:
 
1-     Most of the parts are the same.  If I was struggling with the modifications for the 3d printed parts, I could use the extra parts to make sure I had was able to finish one model.
2-     If I got past the big part modifications without problem, I could build both models.  This would give me a chance to compare using the printed parts with building the kit out of the box (which in this case includes photo etch).
 
The biggest modification to use the printed engine is to cut off the firewall from the kit parts and get the 3d printed firewall to fit in its place.

I’ve included pictures of the new firewall and the unmodified fuselage.


I cut off part of the old firewall with a razor saw, used a sanding drum on a rotary tool to remove much of the rest of it, then used sandpaper glued to a board to remove the rest really slowly, being careful to sand parallel to the panel line that I was aiming for.  It came out OK, so I think I am OK for two models. 

The second one will be Lt Cdr John Thach’s plane as it was marked at Midway – seems appropriate as this is the anniversary of the battle.

I’ve been incredibly impressed at the detail in the printed parts.  I’ve just started on the two cockpits and will post pictures of them side by side as work continues.

Post 85
A short post about Long Guns
Harpy has two Bow chaser six pounders which I have been thinking about how to display.
These are the last two items to be  fixed to the deck, ideally done before the masting and shroud rigging begins.
I had thoughts of lashing the Long guns inboard, parallel to the ports, but I couldn’t quite decide  on the lashing approach, so I took the soft option and positioned them run-out.

4638a
The breeching rope is 3 x the gun bore length, using 4” circ line – 0.50mm dia at scale. I actually used Syren 0.63mm ø line.
I will only be attaching the Breechings, as I did with the Carronades.
For those in mind to attach the side tackles:-              
Tackles 1½” circ line - 0.20mm ø  at scale
Rigging blocks single  5/6” size -2mm-2.5mm at scale.

4641a
I find it useful to use small sections of tubing to secure the breeching line for addition of the seizings.

4649a
I used Morope 0.1mm  Polyester line for seizing, it is the finest 0.1mm diameter line I have found.

4647a
Quite fiddly to seize the breechings on the model, a better job can be done using an off-model jig.
The downside is that it can also be fiddly fitting the bulwark ringbolts with other deck fittings in place, and the guns may have to be fitted at an earlier stage of the build.

4650a
Onwards….
 
 
B.E.
07/06/2025