Papa

The detail is amazing. You have a steady hand and a sharp eye.  This model just blows me away.

The detail is amazing. You have a steady hand and a sharp eye.  This model just blows me away.

It's strange how this website orders photographs. Attached are a few pics of my ship after final planking and treenails. Now I'm ready to paint the bulwarks and get the deck started.
 
Think I over sanded near the bow caprail where the volutes will go...oh well. Will adjust.

A quick update. I have finished mounting all permanent fixtures to the deck forward of the foremast. Before I progress further I want to make the fore mast and check its fit.

The bottlescrews arrived so I have progressed with rigging the bowsprit. It was a lot of effort to make those chains look tight. Either they hung down or if I removed 1 link they did not reach. Eventually I had to stretch the fitting at the bottom of the martingale.

But I did not get very far. The rest of the rigging on the bowsprit needs to simulate steel cable. This is a problem I have been pondering for some time along with the rest of the rigging which uses rope made from synthetic fibres and is white in colour.
 
I have been trying different materials. I tried some 7 strand 0.4mm steel cable, unfortunately this would not bend tightly enough to look correct at each end though it was fabulous in between. I did find a cable made out of copper finished to look like steel (sold for AFV towing cables), but it was sold in only short lengths and the total cost was prohibitive. That leaves using light grey rigging cord to simulate steel cable. So finishing rigging the bowsprit will have to wait until I make some. I had already decided that I would need to make white rigging cord for the synthetic rope. I need to make a ropewalk.
 
The other problem here is fixing the Bobstay. The Instructions show a length of brass rod with one end attached to the bottlescrew on the bowsprit next to the martingale and the other end fixed to the cutwater with a bent chain plate. They give no clues on how this might actually be achieved. Especially attaching the brass wire to the bottlescrew.
 
If we look at the real thing: we see that the end of the bottlescrew is forked and the bobstay ends in such a way that it can be attached with a bolt. I should be able to replicate something like that. In the cutwater there is a triangular bracket which probably works in the same way. I think I can make one of these from a bit of 4mm brass I have from the old type radar system included in the kit, which was mounted on the deck and is replaced by a mast mounted system in the period I am building. So I will give that a go.

That should keep me busy some time.
 
Glenn
 
 
 

Eric, thanks for the comment. It defiantly makes a change to make a model of something that you can get photographs of.
 
It’s been some time since I was able to do an update. I have been busy with other things this month. As I have been unable to spend much time in the workshop I have been able to study the rigging plans, work out what needs to be done there and count how many blocks I need to make: 133. Though I think I might find a few more along the way. I have also drawn individual rigging plans for each sail.
 
I had decided to make my own blocks some time ago, as I am not happy with the plastic ones supplied (pictures curtesy of CMB website). They only supply 1 size and no triples at all.

I cannot find any commercial ones that do not have slots down the sides for a strap. Examples of the types of block I need are shown below. Incidentally I also need white rigging cord. I will probably end up ignoring the fact that some of the rigging is wire and some is chain.

I am using boxwood to make the blocks. I bought a 3” branch many years ago and still have a small quantity left. The first job was to cut some small billets of different thicknesses for different sized blocks with either 1, 2 or 3 sheaves. In total I need
·        small single                                47 ·        small double                                1 ·        medium single                           46 ·        medium double                          12 ·        medium triple                              3 ·        large single                                 2 ·        large double                                2 ·        large triple                                  2 ·        others                                       18 Small are about 2.5mm, medium about 4mm and large 5mm.

Then I made a jig for drilling. It looks a bit Heath Robinsonish but it works. It makes it easy to drill the holes in the right place and at the right angle.

The billets fit into the slots and once pushed home a hole is drilled. I use a pin vice as the jig is only wood and if I use a power drill I find it opens up the hole quite quickly. I then shape the block and do anything else required while the block is on the end of the billet. I am adding a small strap to one end, which can just been seen below on the bottom billet. Some require a hook instead.

Then I saw off the completed block and it’s on to the next. I should get about 20 from each strip.
 
I have made 20 so far of various sizes. I am improving; getting faster and they are becoming more symmetric. The most difficult and time consuming part is fixing on the small half strap with CA adhesive.
 
They are not exactly like the real thing but I do not see how I could make the strap internal at this small size. As a final step some then require an eye-pin in the free end; so they can become half of a tackle.
 
The thing about this is that even though I have little time at the present and will not have much time until the end of the month, it is possible to sneak off for 1/2 hour occasionally and make a few blocks. Hopefully by the time I get back into the workshop on a more regular basis I will have got most of the blocks I need.
 
Head decoration
 
Another task I have completed is the head decoration. I had a go at carving this earlier from a single block, without any success. This time I built it up from 3 pieces and am fairly happy with the result.

Note, I have also stained the bowsprit, which was something I realised I had forgotten about before mounting all the metalwork.
 
My next main task is to start permanently mounting all the deck furniture I have made. This will be possible as I will be able to mount the required blocks on the deck at the same time, which would otherwise be very difficult if I had to work around all the other stuff.
 
Glenn
 

A quick update to show I have not been idle since my last post.
Forward deckhouse
I have finished the forward deckhouse. This involved replacing the supplied ladder, leading to the roof, with one of my own manufacture. The picture below shows, from the left, the supplied ladder material, the one I made with some leftover 2mm * 0.5mm material supplied in the kit and the former I used to make this.
The steps for making the ladder were.
·        The rungs were all cut to 6.5mm length then inserted in the slits in the former, which were just made with a saw of the right thickness of cut. The former is about 1mm thinner than the length of the rungs, which therefore jut out slightly on each side.
·        This was then turned upside down and positioned on a flat surface and the rungs were all pushed down so they were flush with the surface.
·        The former was then turned on its side and pushed down so one end of each rung was flush with the former. The other ends are now clear of the former and a side piece can be glued in place without gluing anything to the former. This is done by turning it over so the rungs are again on a flat surface which is used to align the side piece.
·        Once this is set the first side piece is pushed in so that it is flush with the former and the other ends jut out. The second side piece is then glued in place.

And here it is in place along with a view of the real thing.

I have just spotted the ships name and the inclinometer there. Maybe I am not quite finished yet. I will have to see if I can print something out for the name and make something for the inclinometer. Still, here are a couple of pictures of it so far.

Overview
The following two views show how I am getting on overall. The Hull is almost finished I have the rudder to make and a few other bits and pieces. This view makes me feel I am making some progress.

As for the deck furniture starting from the bow I need to finish the following, as shown in the picture below.
·        The chain winch.
·        4 storage boxes. Two of these go along the starboard side with the life rafts, one goes between the grand skylight and the companionway hood and the last by the machine hatch. I have started two of these which can be seen without their tops.
·        The companionway hood.
·        The machine hatch. Not sure if I am translating this correctly from the French. It might mean the engine hatch. It's directly in front of the main deckhouse
·        The main deckhouse.
·        The ships boat and davits.
And I thought I was getting close to finishing this stage and could start on the masts.
This picture shows all the deck furniture on a sketch of the deck. This is to scale and it is traced from the main plans and shows the positions of all the rings fitted to the deck to take blocks. I will fix this to the deck and drill through to get everything in the correct place. most of them cannot be seen in this picture, there are 24 blocks of 7 different types attached to the deck.

I could possibly include the bowsprit in this list as that will need to be in place to finish the deck.
Glenn
 

Coppering the hull.
It has been some time since my last update as I have started coppering the hull. Something I have not done before and felt I could not put off any longer. I first read all I could find on MSW on the subject. Unfortunately most of this did not relate to what to do with a 1m role of 100mm wide copper strip which is 0.05mm thick (2 thou). My guides for this are the plans from Musées de la Marine and the picture below.

From this I decided that the copper plates on the model should be 35mm x 8mm. Working on my principal of using as much material as supplied in the kit as possible I started cutting the supplied sheet into the required plates. Once I had a few to work with I started trying out different patterns of indentations to represent the tacks that these are held on with. I finally settled on doing each plate by hand using the end of a sharp needle file to make each indentation at a spacing of about 1mm. I would put these along two sides and overlap the plates. Also these would be glued in place using CA adhesive.
 
It has occurred to me that as this ship was launched in 1932 and has been re-coppered fairly recently, the copper plates may not be attached in the same way as on a warship 200 years ago. However lacking any information on this I have proceeded in the assumption that they are still nailed in place.
 
This picture shows. In more detail, some of the plates prepared for the top band with rows of indentations on 3 sides. Below that is a cleat I am making. This goes on the bulwark stanchions, see later.

The next picture shows the stages of assembly, starting with a roll of copper strip, then cutting off 35mm lengths which are then cut into 8mm slices. These then have the nails embossed and are then stuck to the hull. All the tools I am using for this are also shown.

 
The first problem was plating around the propeller aperture which required many small plates cut specially to shape. This took a long time and I was not very happy with the way it looked close up. But from a distance, at least it covered everything. I did not think I would achieve much by pulling it all off and starting again. It might have been better to leave this to later when I have had some more practice, but as I am overlapping the planks it is where I have to start.
 
It was then fairly straight forward doing most of the rest of the plating on the first side. Though difficult not to get CA glue over everything, especially my fingers. I lost the line onece or twice but it is not too obvious. The main problem was I had to finish with a 2mm wide row before putting on the top band. My original plan had not included this. My overlap must have been a bit more than planned. There are 10 rows beneath this, so that is only 0.2mm extra overlap for each row.
 
For the second side I thought I would try a different method of gluing. At this point I have just started and am using some double sided tape I have. This is very sticky and holds very well. It seems ideal for the majority of panels that are flat, but does not work well with any that need to be bent, for instance those at the bow and along the keel. I am still using CA adhesive there. The problem is that using the double sided tape there is no movement possible. Each plate needs to be in the right place first time. I find in places like the bow and the keel I need some movement available to get the plate exactly where I want it.
 
As altogether there are about 400 plates, ignoring those around the propeller aperture, I am occasionally taking time out of the plating to do a few small jobs. I have added most of the points where rigging is attached to the poop deck.

 
I have installed the chain plates, this picture shows those for the main mast. I spent a long time deliberating where these went and eventually decided they must be fitted to the inside of the bulwarks. The first 3 hidden by stanchions.

Then I made these cleats, which are used to secure the sheets from the fore sails. Their positioning can be seen on the following picture of the real ship. Those supplied in the kit are small plastic things that look nothing like this. I will probably end up using some of the ones supplied, but not here when it is easy to make replacements.

 
I will post another update when I have finished the coppering.
Glenn
 

A brief update as I have finished my first sub assembly; the rear cabin. The following pictures are taken on 5mm graph paper.

 
The pictures of this in my last post convinced me that it did not look to bad, so I went back to it and completed it. The most difficult part was doing those slotted rails, even with the jig I made (see below). The dark ones are walnut and the light one is lime. These are difficult in the walnut as the small pips keep falling off. It is much easier and quicker to make these in lime. If this continues I may end up making all further strips in lime and staining them where required.
 
After failing to satisfactorily make these previously, this time a first built a jig. This has a slot for the wood strip and a profile for the wood to be removed. It then has a small notch which acts as a marker for the amount to move the strip on before cutting out the next notch. After cutting the first few notches I realised I needed something to stop the wood lifting as I cut the bottom. Hence the two pieces glued on top. I also found this made it much more difficult to push the strips through and hence there was less risk of them moving while making each notch.
 

 
It's now time to get back to the hull and finish that.
 
Glenn

Since my last post I have received the plans I ordered. They are of very high quality and come with an 8 page booklet about the ship and how to build a model. Unfortunately it is in French so very difficult for me to understand.
 
Deck fittings
 
First a few pictures of the aft cabin, which I now know contains the radio room, the wheel house and the ‘Armoire à Pavillons’. Not sure about this last one, possibly the flag locker.
 

 
This is not finished and none of this is glued in place, but there is not too much work left. The reason I stopped was that I was not sure about the brass fittings I was making to represent the door finger plate and air vents. Under a x10 eyeglass they do not look very good, but I am happy with how they look in this photograph so I will continue. I believe the Dusek model has photo etched parts (long sigh).
That pedestal in front of the wheel is the compass. The box in front of that is the ‘Panneau de cambuse’. I guess that means it’s a storage box.
Next a review of the deck fittings at the bow. I do not have a single picture that shows the real ship, just a bunch of them that all show parts. So I will just show the following pictures of the model. Again none of this is glued in place yet.

 
First nearest the bow, each side of the bowsprite are the chain stoppers, then comes the electric chain winch. All these were scratch built. I have made some brass plates, one end of which wraps round the brass rod on top of the chain stoppers and the other end has a slot for the chain. When in position these actually work and prevent the chain running out, while still allowing it to be pulled in. However I have taken them off because I keep playing with them and bending them.

 
On the chain winch, I used what was meant to be a dark metal paint to paint the chain wheels (or whatever they should be called) however they came out looking awful. They were turned from dowel using a drill and files. I will repaint these too look better and paint the rest white. Then a power cable is required which runs from the skylight behind to that box on the side of the electric motor.

 
After this is a skylight, the forward companionway hood and another skylight. The two skylights are as per the kit except that the dark plastic covers have been replaced by new ones made from walnut. The companion way hood is again made from scratch in an attempt to make it look like it does in the pictures. This one is a slightly smaller one than the main one as shown in the next picture.
That is about how far I have now got. I am currently making the ‘Grand clare-voie milieu du poste élèves’. I do not know what that translates as but it is a large skylight just aft of the fore cabin. Shown here in this picture of the Belle-Poule.

 
I have made the lower part which is just a box and am now making the ‘windows’, of which there are two each side which can be opened independently. As I cannot make working hinges at this scale, mine will remain closed and hence I have made them as one piece each side. I am currently fitting the protective bars. These are from 0.45mm brass rod and are spaced about 1.35mm between centres. Once glued I will trim them to length.
I then have to glaze them. I can use some plastic sheet I have, but I am not sure if I should try some of those thin glass plates used for making slides; of which I have a lot. Or is this asking for trouble as it will break sometime in the future. They are 0.1mm thick.

 
The difficult part here is making the strips with holes spaced to take the brass rod. I only have my Dremel drill press. I make the strips using a jig as shown below:

 
Everything is clean and firmly tightened. Also with a 0.5mm drill bit, it is mounted with only a short amount showing. Then a right angle piece of wood is clamped to the drill stand and the piece of wood to be drilled is stuck to a carrier with double sided tape. This is positioned such that the first hole to be drilled is in place when the carrier is in the corner. Then the drill is switched on and the first hole drilled, then a piece of wood is inserted between the carrier and the side of the right angle frame and the carrier pressed firmly up to it. Then the next hole is drilled. This process is then repeated until all required holes have been drilled. Taking care to drill each hole in the same way every time. Only once all holes have been drilled is the drill switched off.
To drill a second row I then remove all pieces from the end and add a piece of the required thickness at the front. Then repeat the above process. When they are this small and close, like this, I find about 2 in every 3 are useable.
 
Glenn

The Hull
The following pictures show the hull as it is at present. I have added the stanchions and capping rail. The stanchions were not supplied in the kit and are from 3x3mm lime. The positioning came from the instructions for the Dursk kit. I have also added the wale, again this differs from the instructions in the kit, though it does conform to the supplied drawings.

At the front I have cut off the ply stem and headpiece and replaced them with one from solid wood. Not sure what, it came from the scrap box. I have also replaced all the head timbers, which were supplied as 3mm ply, which fell apart as I tried to cut it to size or reduce it to the required thickness. These are all made with some lime that I had in stock. This also shows the wale a bit better. The pencil line is where the hull coppering extends to. I will neaten up the bottom of the stem before doing the coppering. That bit of lime on the front of the headpiece was my first attempt to carve the decoration there. I took off to much trying to carve the concave profile. I will remove it all and then try again.

A view from the rear. I have cut off the bit of wood that would have held the rudder. It was getting in the way when trying to sand the hull. It will be easy to replace and the whole thing will be covered in copperplates.

This shows a close up of the bows. In these last two pictures it is possible to see the deck planking. I am very unhappy with this and not sure whether just to do it again on top. I used the wood supplied in the kit, which was of very poor quality. It was very thin and impossible to get a clean edge. Trying to darken the edges in any way did not work, so I first tried gluing strips of black paper between the planks, which is how the raised stern in planked. But again the thickness/thinness of the wood made this very difficult.
For the rest of the planking I glued black cotton between the planks. This was much easier to do, but the thinness of the planking meant that in places the cotton was so near the top that it was damaged when finishing. Also I had calculated that there was only just enough material supplied to do the planking if I omitted areas that would not be seen.

Recently I had been working on the hull, but have stopped while I wait for the plans I have now ordered. I have gone back to making the various deck houses, winches and companion hoods. I will move onto these in my next instalment.
​Glenn

Don't think that is necessary, the cradle is foam-core poster board so not likely to injure me.  But, point taken, the edges might get in the way.  I will see how it goes as i progress.  Not sure what to do for a permanent mount if she ever gets finished.

i made a quick cradle for the Helgoland and started the deck furnishings.

Don't think that is necessary, the cradle is foam-core poster board so not likely to injure me.  But, point taken, the edges might get in the way.  I will see how it goes as i progress.  Not sure what to do for a permanent mount if she ever gets finished.

i made a quick cradle for the Helgoland and started the deck furnishings.

Neat workspaces are a sign of a disturbed mind.
 

Now that I have nearly finished the hull I have learned some valuable lessons.
1. Use white glue VERY sparingly.
2. Keep your workspace spotless so that you don't lay a critical part on some wet paint
3. Thicken the bulkheads or add lots of longitudinal bracing so that all of the hull plates lie smoothly.
4. Trim the seam-hiding strips so that the additional armor plates do not overlap and leave an ugly bump.
5. Write part numbers on the back before cutting out.
I can't wait to see what I learn as I attempt the deck furnishings.

Don't think that is necessary, the cradle is foam-core poster board so not likely to injure me.  But, point taken, the edges might get in the way.  I will see how it goes as i progress.  Not sure what to do for a permanent mount if she ever gets finished.

i made a quick cradle for the Helgoland and started the deck furnishings.

i made a quick cradle for the Helgoland and started the deck furnishings.

Neat workspaces are a sign of a disturbed mind.
 

Now that I have nearly finished the hull I have learned some valuable lessons.
1. Use white glue VERY sparingly.
2. Keep your workspace spotless so that you don't lay a critical part on some wet paint
3. Thicken the bulkheads or add lots of longitudinal bracing so that all of the hull plates lie smoothly.
4. Trim the seam-hiding strips so that the additional armor plates do not overlap and leave an ugly bump.
5. Write part numbers on the back before cutting out.
I can't wait to see what I learn as I attempt the deck furnishings.

Neat workspaces are a sign of a disturbed mind.
 

I did a log on the Chaperon by Model Shipways and I am doing a paper model now--Helgoland

Attaching the bulwark strips. Looks like I need to get some touch-up paints.

Attaching the bulwark strips. Looks like I need to get some touch-up paints.