tmj

Something like this, only with partially framed windows, a door, and the beginnings of a roof.

Admiralty/Navy-Board style! 😏

Back to making treenails again and already starting to get bored. To break up the monotony, I decided to make a short video of just how long it takes to turn a 1/16" square piece of Basswood into a .042" diameter round trunnel. Pardon the ugly mug in the background. The makeup artist called in sick, I couldn't find any Standin's interested in making trunnels... and Ribbit is nowhere to be found! The dry soap that I'm using to lube my trunnel material is a leftover puck from my long passed antique 'straight razor' restoration and shaving days. I had to give up the straight razors when I decided to try out as a guitarist for ZZ-Top. I should be ready for my interview and stage test after a couple more years of growth! 😉 As you can see, via my video... this is not hard at all. It's actually quite easy once you get the feel for it. You're also not limited as to what types of wood you can use because you are not statically 'pulling' the wood through the drawplate. More delicate woods can also be used as trunnels, you'll just need to slow it down a bit, not force things, and let the drawplate and drill motor/Dremel do the cutting for you at a speed that the wood can safely handle. "Feed and Speed" is the key! The Basswood material I am drawing into trunnels is the length of an average toothpick. Hopefully you can see how many holes that I am skipping in my drawplate to go from .0625" square down to .042" round. I'm only going through 4 holes where if you were to 'pull' something through the drawplate you would probably need to go through a progression of 10 holes to get down to that diameter! Next time you need trunnels, give this a try. "Your fingers will thank you!"

I forgot to mention, in case anyone is interested... ... the trunnels that I'm making out of 1/16" square stock don't always center up well in my 3 jaw Dremel chuck, but that's okay. The material can wobble quite a bit at first, due to not being centered in the chuck, but quickly finds it 'own' center after going through the first hole in the drawplate. After that first hole, just take it easy, keep the material somewhat centered over the next drawplate hole and make sure you rub some dry soap on the material between each hole. I have to stop the Dremel between holes, after adding soap, just to line it up with the next hole due to massive wobble. Once lined up with the next hole, with just enough pressure on the trunnel to 'keep it in' the next hole I turn my Dremel on again and run the stock through. It takes a bit of getting used to but works like a charm once you get the feel of it. You can see just how far off center some of my trunnel material has been when chucked up, via the below image of some partially used trunnel nubs. One more tip. Cut your stock to about the length of a toothpick. Any longer than that and things start to get a bit squirrely, super wobbly and just plain hard to deal with.

Keith, I remember you were looking for a good red color. What about stain? I ran across this and though about you while shopping today. You could adjust the color by mixing other stains until you find what you like...???

Yes, I am, with the Dremel running at its slowest speed. It's much easier on the fingers, and with the Dremel running I also don't have to go through every hole in the drawplate. I can safely run the material through every 'third' hole.

I personally think that Uncle Sam could currently use A LOT of good suggestions regarding the current state/value of our money, 'PERIOD'!

Still trunnelling and nothing new to share. I'm at about the 50-yard line right now. I wish I had more time for making trunnels and installing them, but I don't. I'm just doing the best I can via the time that I have available. Installing the trunnels is fast. It's making those darned things that take up a lot of time. The NRG should launch a "Trunnel Savings and Loan" where 'investors' build up a reserve of various needed trunnel materials... and people like me can become a member and borrow readymade trunnelling materials, when desired, then pay that material back via monthly installments of the same trunnel material(s) borrowed, 'trunnel interest included', in order to keep the trunnel stock reserve afloat and growing! Maybe even offer 'Trunnel Stock' where shares can be purchased at 'X' amount of material inches per share of stock and dividends paid out in free future trunnel materials. 😏 Mind you... I haven't thought this out thoroughly. I just came up with this brilliant idea after drinking a pint of 4.7% ABV Pale Ale. Let me toss another pint or few down my neck and I'll 'surely have the perfect plan' concocted!

Captain Rue now has one leg to stand on, but that leg is still missing a foot. Just like Johnny Cash... I'm building him 'one piece at a time'! 😏

This is a very worthy thing that you are doing! I look forward to watching your progress, as it's made, while you move forward and work towards finally fulfilling the memorable desires of Carson and his family! I've reserved a front row seat and intend to stay for the entire show! "God's speed to you and best wishes to all!"

I'm pretty sure that I've watched all of his mini-sculpting videos, some of them multiple times. Very helpful indeed, however. He also makes it look way too easy!

No trunnels today. I took a break from that. I gave Captain Rue a leg, a stocking and a 'garter' (I guess that's what you call that thing at the bottom of his britches...?). Not to worry. He won't be Pidgeon toed after he gets his shoes. ... Now, I need to get started on a 'Pot-Roast' for Sunday supper.

Captain Rue finally has a pair of britches. He can now safely go out in public! I'll be adding more tiny wrinkles and realistic details to his pants after I finish sculpting his lower legs/stockings and baking the lower leg's clay.

I was starting to have a lot of problems with 'breakage' while running my trunnel materials through the draw plate. I'm sure that it was due to me just getting in a hurry when I should have been taking my time. I started rubbing dry soap onto the material after going through each hole in the drawplate and that worked wonders! I still needed to slow down a bit, but there is much less breakage now. I'll be glad when I'm through with 'this' session of making trunnels to attach the bottom planking to the flooring timbers. I find installing the trunnels to be fun and relaxing. It's making the trunnels that I don't care too much for. Using different types of wood for the trunnels seen on the bottom and the trunnels seen from the top of the flooring timbers, for visual effect, has doubled the number of required trunnels that would normally be needed. That's okay. The results will be worth it in the end. Captain Rue finally put his pants on and came out to help. I mixed Black and 'Ultramarine Blue' Sculpey polymer clay together to get the proper color for the pants. About 75% Blue and 25% Black. Before baking, the mixture looked a bit too Blue... but 'after' baking the end color shifted towards the Black end of the spectrum and now looks just about right to me. I'll add more subtle wrinkles and realism to his pants after I get the lower legs/stockings sculpted and baked. I can't do all of the clay work at one time. It's too delicate. I need to do one thing and then bake the clay before doing anything else to prevent damaging surrounding soft clay(s). Back to making more trunnels again!...

I'm definitely interested in this stuff too! Eagerly awaiting your results, Keith!

Not a lot to report. Still switching between trunnels and working on Captain Rue. Cpt Rue is coming along much faster than the trunnels. I only have 'ONE' of 'him' to deal with! Captain Rue is now ready for some clothes. All of the remaining anatomical irregularities, of his basic form, at this stage, will be fixed once he is fully dressed. The basic form that you currently see is made of epoxy putty and is hard as a rock. His clothes will be made from very thin colored polymer clay (no painting) and sculpted over this form to present a more realistic looking body form with fewer discrepancies. I'll be starting with his britches. This will set the size of his thighs. I'll then add/sculpt his white stockings to properly match the size of his thighs. Then comes the ankles and shoes to properly match the size of the legs... followed by his vest and jacket. Once his body is fully clothed, I'll then have a good reference as to how large his finished head/face and his hands should be. His hat will be the last thing I make. Never doing anything like this before, I'm really surprised at how well this is coming along, and how easy it actually is. Fingers are crossed that the rest of Captain Rue goes as well as it has been going so far...

Upper torso is almost ready for some clothes. Still need to work on all the other body parts. Captain Rue is not only going to be tall but also well fed!

Still adding trunnels. I'll be doing this for a while... still have a long way to go. My trunnels are a very tight fit into the hole. After making the trunnels I have to taper the ends of the trunnels with sandpaper, dip them in glue and then 'force' the trunnel into the hole taking care to not break the long length of material, which still happens. Once I have all of my trunnel material shoved into holes, I cut the trunnels with flush cut wire cutters and repeat the process until all of my trunnels are once again plugging holes. I don't have to wait for the glue to dry before cutting the trunnels. They are in their holes so tight there is no chance of them falling out with uncured glue. It's a slow and tedious process. I work on trunnels until I'm tired of them, then go find something else to do. Speaking of such. Captain Rue now needs some more attention!.....

"Perfect!" Thanks Keith! I like the grappling hook too! 🙂

Thanks. I've actually impressed myself, however. It's only going to become more challenging from this point forward. My fingers are crossed! If you are interested in how I made the armature out of one piece of wire, hop over to my Gunboat Philadelphia build log. I linked a YouTube video of how this is done. Your figures are quite small compared to mine (3" tall). "That is extremely impressive!" How tall are they? It might be difficult for you to construct one-wire armatures that small, but maybe not if you use wire 1/2 the diameter that you used on the figures in the photo. Have a look at the video link in my build log (last page of the log). That one-wire method will either work for you, or it won't. You'll have to be the judge of 'that'.

Okay, I'm off to the races. I'm going to try to sculp Continental Captain Benjamin Rue, 1776 in 1:24 scale. He will be posed with his arms behind his back in the 'Parade Rest' position. I don't know how tall he was in real life, so I'm taking artistic license and making him 6' tall. This is my wire armature. I used 1mm diameter aluminum wire. No glue, no soldering, no twisted joints... this entire armature was made from 1 single length of uninterrupted wire! The base layer of material added to the wire armature is a 50/50 combination of 'Green-Stuff' and Milliput putties. I mixed the different putties as directed, then mixed them together. I roughed up the wire armature for better adhesion, but that didn't work too well. It was still a bit of a hassle to get that first layer of putty to stick, but patience prevailed. After letting the putty cure over night, I started to bulk things up just a bit, still using the 50/50 Green-Stuff and Milliput. It's now curing again. To be continued...

Added some more clay. Back to trunnels again...

Base layer has been applied to the wire armature. Captain Rue now needs to cure over night before I can start bulking up the base layer and start adding shape. I don't know how tall Captain Rue was in real life, but his clay counterpart will represent a 6' tall man at 1:24 scale. Now it's back to the ol' trunnels. 🫤

Is he wearing stockings, or bare legged? What do his shoes look like? There 'ARE' some important details missing that a mirror will never show...

Meet Captain Benjamin Rue. Pardon his wiry appearance. He was conducting important military business, at the pub, into the wee hours of the morning. As he slowly 'gets himself together', he will be popping in, on occasion, to check on the progress of this gondola build while also seeking worthy crewmen to man the vessel once completed.