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Bill97

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  1. Bill97
    Ian I think I discovered my issue. But I will sand a good length of wire to see if it makes a difference. The tube is a product called Solder-It. It is a simple solder paste you apply to the joint and then apply heat. When it works it makes almost an immediate soldered joint that is strong. I was using my soldering iron as the heat source. The iron tip pulled the solder around uneven causing a weak joint. I ultimately tried applying the solder paste to the joint and then touching it to a candle flame. There was then the desired instant sizzle and smooth solder joint. I applied pressure to the joint and it seems solid. Isn I read that same information in Anderson’s book. And I must admit I was completely confused. What is the difference between chains and chain plates? I am (was) planning to make chains just like the Victory. It seems as if other builders have done it that way.
  2. Bill97
    I am about ready to have what I used to accuse my kids of having when they were little. A full fledged “hissy fit”! I am working on two different areas that will be united in the future. One area is preparing and painting the masts sections. The other is making my chain plates. I am using 22ga copper wire to make my chain links. The upper one around the deadeye, the middle link, and the bottom link that is bolted to the hull. For some reason that I can not figure out (something I must be doing wrong) my solder is not holding the joint in the link. I have tried using Solder-It and when that was unsuccessful I tried solid solder. I have joint tight together. Apply the side solder using my soldering iron. Then when it cools I test the joint and it easily separates. Can not figure out what I am doing wrong.
  3. Bill97
    Thank you Marc.
  4. Bill97
    You know Marc I am thinking I would be considered more of a cabinet maker than a woodworker, if there is a significant difference. My dad was a cabinet maker at a company that made kitchen cabinetry and so on. Learned a lot of joinery techniques from him. This is a recent cabinet I built to store a lot of stuff in the “ship yard”, and my Victory cabinet.
  5. Bill97
    Oh my goodness Marc. That is pretty cool. As I think I may have mentioned before I have a long background in woodworking as well. Similar to our shipbuilding skills, your pieces outshine mine. Almost everything I have made over the years has been furniture pieces as gifts for others. Everything from grandfather style clocks, commerative hope chest, cabinets, etc. All the woodworking you see in this photo I made for our living room. That is why I thought I might enjoy trying a wood ship after I complete my SR.
  6. Bill97
    Good morning Marc. Let’s just say it out loud, No getting around it. You are an incredible artist my friend! Have you ever attempted carving something in wood?
  7. Bill97
    Ok I have the bow all stripped, reguilded, and paint touched up. Much more pleased with the gold leaf now. Just one layer of leaf and top coat allows so much ch more details to show.
  8. Bill97
    Ok guys I mentioned the other day that I was either crazy, bold, or both! I am now thinking it is both! Looking way ahead to a time, maybe a year or so from now, that I am finishing up building my SR. I have contemplated trying a wooden model ship. Have not made one before but I do have a lot of experience with wood working. So I have done some research and decided on the he one I would someday purchase. I wanted one that was large enough scale to allow for plenty of detail. I wanted one that is made of several different woods that would be beautiful to look at, and I wanted one with a moderate to high difficulty level. After building the two Heller ships I find I really enjoy a high level of difficulty. With that as my criteria I made my decision and stored it away in my memory bank for a someday purchase. Still very enthusiastic about my SR and want nothing to distract from it. Well as luck would have it I saw that model for sale at an excellent price. Figuring that there was nothing wrong with having it in my stash for some day, I jumped on the sale. So here it is my next project some day in the future when I finish my SR. The OcCre Endeavor!
  9. Bill97
    Henry my topmast are pretty strong now with the wood dial glued inside. I am studying the topgallants to determine how to make my own. I saw in your early build posts that you filled the unneeded recessed area at the top of the lower masts (intended for the shroud tops) with thin Evergreen strips. I am going to do that as well before painting.
  10. Bill97
    Ian I like your recommendation. Based on what you said we are only talking about 3/8”? if it is not going to cause a construction problem I believe I will just live with them as they are. However I do believe I will remake the topgallant sections. I used appropriate diameter metal rods for the topgallant masts on my HMS Victory. I did run into an issue where a hole was needed in the topgallant to rig a particular line. I could not drill into the small metal rod so just had to tie the line around the rod at the appropriate place. A wood topgallant will be no thicker than a standard toothpick but if I am careful I should not break it off. As we all know that is a big IF. 😊
  11. Bill97
    Of course, you are absolutely right Ian. The middle section is the top mast and the top is the topgallant! I learned so much Ian from you while you walked me through my HMS Victory build using Longridge as my student text book 😊. I just don’t seem to keep all the nautical terminology stored in my memory long after using it. Unfortunately before I got these last few text I completed my reinforcement of the lower and topmast for the three mast. Dials put in with ca glue and halves then glued together with my regular plastic cement. They will not come apart. What, if anything, should I do now? Is the issue of the topmast being to long more a visual issue for the learned nautical person, or is it an issue that will cause me construction problems? If it just does not look right but causes no problems I am not going to mess with it now. If it is going to cause me construction problems I will need to do something. I need to do some research to see how much to long they are and if i can fix them. With the ends molded in a special way to accommodate the further mast construction I am not sure how you would cut any of that off. Marc I had the same about using wood or metal to rebuild the topgallants. I guess you would just cut cut away the thin plastic mast pieces from the molded block pieces (again nautical terms) and drill and replace with wood or metal?
  12. Bill97
    Marc the topmast are molded in one solid piece and not particularly strong. I can only reinforce the lower section and the middle section of the masts since those sections come in two parts and I can add the wood dial between the halves. What did you guys do to reinforce the topmasts?
  13. Bill97
    In the meantime, while the paint dries and I get the desire to do some more gold leafing, I am spending some time reinforcing mast sections and yards that come in two halves. I am turning various size wood dials to fit inside the two halves before gluing them together. This should give some much need strength when rigging force is applied.
  14. Bill97
    Figurehead stripped of gold leaf and all the area around the figurehead where the paint was damaged has been cleaned up and repainted. Now to attempt to do a nicer job of the gold leaf. I think I had to much build under the leaf causing the features to be obscured. Just going to do one layer of sizing and one layer of leaf.
  15. Bill97
    Marc I have been intending to ask you how your dad is doing? Hopefully OK.
  16. Bill97
    Henry I see on one of your early comments where you reference a mast coat. Did you make them? If so, how? I like the nice touch.
  17. Bill97
    As always Marc beautiful work. Did you ever expect Denver to win the first championship?
  18. Bill97
    Ok figurehead stripped, sanded, and putty applied where necessary. Let it set up and prepare for repainting. Then see if I can do a better job with gold leaf. Going to set it aside now and start building the lower mast sections. Yes Ian I do recall the Hotspur!
  19. Bill97
    Good morning/afternoon Kevin. So great to hear from you. I regularly pop over to your build watching for new stuff you are doing. Of course guys I will see if I was ultimately bold or crazy for stripping down my figure head. I think I should be able to get stripped and the area around it cleaned up and repainted. Then I will try gold leafing it again. Still not sure if the small difference in top coat color from the stern is a big issue. Definitely a hard NO on completing stripping one end or the other.
  20. Bill97
    Either call me crazy or pat me on the back for bold move. After looking at your gold leaf Henry, and a couple others, I realized I list a lot of detail in my gold leafing. I suspect I had to thick of undercoat, sizing, and insufficient burnishing. I went bold and decide to strip the figure head. The rest I will try to live with.
  21. Bill97
    Henry what do you think of my topcoat issue? Leave it alone or try to fix it?
  22. Bill97
    Ok gentlemen I think my bow is finished. Looking at a couple of my photos zoomed in I see I have a bit of loose tiny pieces of gold leaf to remove but other than that I think it is alright. There is one thing I noticed that I am not sure is a serious issue but want to get your opinion. Things comes under the Kentucky proverb “don’t change horses in the middle of a race.” I top coated the gold leaf on the bow with a different product than I top coated the stern. One is Vallejo Gloss Varnish and the other is Testors Glosscote. I liked working with the Vallejo product better not realizing that the finished product would dry with a slightly different hue. The Testors dries with a little more old gold appearance. The Vallejo dries almost crystal clear. Look at the side view and see if you think it is noticeable enough to try to fix. Especially once all the rigging and sails are in place. If necessary I could dry brush some Testors over the Vallejo on the bow to sort of age it a bit.
  23. Bill97
    Excellent information gentlemen (some of which I understood 😊). I will pass your comments on to him. Hopefully they are helpful. If he has an additional question or two about the subject I hope you don’t mind me asking. And Javelin, thanks for your comment. Very much appreciated.
  24. Bill97
    Have a question my friends. It is a bit off the topic of my build so maybe I should make it a new MSW topic question. My son-in-law is a high school math teacher. He teaches those upper level math courses like trigonometry and calculus, which thankfully I never took and know nothing about. Geometry was my niche. Several times while looking at and talking about my ships he has contemplated out loud how these crews of the past must have used trigonometry (probably was not called that in the 1700 hundreds) to plot there course across the vast seas they sailed? His thought is to use these real world examples as teaching tools.
  25. Bill97
    Back home from the beach. Long drive yesterday. Wife and I decided to punch through and do it in one day. At our age with creeky old bodies we usually like to plan to stop driving after about 6 hours. Yesterday we were anxious to get home so acted like young kids and pushed all the way through the 11 hours. Great vacation with two of my incredible grandsons. Peeked in the “shipyard” when we got back. All is well. Too late and too tired last night to risk doing anything on it. However, the lovely wife needs to be out most of the day today so guess where I will be? Woo Hoo! Back to my SR. Going to focus on finishing up a lot of the cosmetic work around the bow.

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