ScottRC

I started making the mast steps, hoop, pintles, and pinrails for the masts on my 3D printer.

I am learning that once you go with wood, its hard to ever use plastic again.

Kevin, Your mast bands, hoops and cheek blocks are outstanding. I need to fabricate all new mast details on my Thermopylae rebuild, and have thought of 3D printing these details except my printer is FDM, so the detail tolerance is limited.

Dry test fitting of the parts I have shaped so far. The Dolphin Stryker needed some cleaning up and re-drilling and fits right up to my fabricated parts.

Started building a new bowsprit. Its too long for the lathe so I resorted to the old power drill technique. I think I am getting the hang of it.

First test fit of the main seems to be going well. Cross tree fit is good and a little more trimming on the top for the mast caps for a perfect fit. Full photo of the dry fitting of the masts. I am quite pleased at how well the natural color of the walnut will match the pre-painted plastic parts that I am not replacing.

First test fit of the mizzen, so far, so good. A little more filing and the mast cap should fit right on.

Worked on the lower masts this weekend and also the new bowsprit. I had to order some stock brass rod and wire and also ordered a couple of packages of brass rings for the banding and comings. Both the new lower main and mizzen have been cut and are now being fitted out.

Nice brasswork.

Are your models of the Essex from kits? I am a big fan of the Essex and so far have only been able to obtain the old 5/64 scale Model Shipways kit which is pretty much a block of wood to start a scratch project with. I too end up in need of small blocks and deadeyes.

I am hoping to be able to salvage the deadeye assemblies. We will see. The majority have a lot of glue mixed with cotton thread in them.

The walnut dowels I ordered came in. I plan to use these for a new lower main and mizzen, and will build a new bowsprit. I haven't used the lathe in many moons and look forward to making new parts with it. The bowsprit was a complete mess and needs replaced. The Dolphin Striker however can be re-used.

Got the mizzen and main masts taken off and stripped. The main was pretty brittle and the plastic crumbled under the least amount of pressure. Both the lower main and lower mizzen were warped extremely bad and it looks heat related from either exposure to direct sunlight, or too much glue. Anyway, I am slowing removing all the old rigging and trying what I can to save the deadeyes.

I'm impressed you did all the modeling in Blender alone, I use it for animation and rendering but have not had the patience to 3D model in it. You are very talented with your skills, both modeling and in 3D printing.

Rob, Congratulations on a fine representation. Your rigging skills and attention to scale are impressive. I hope a museum will take you up on your offer, it will make a fine historical display and others should enjoy it. I hope someday to make it back up to the Bremerton area and hopefully will get to see it in person. Scott

Thank you Ian. I have the Underhill book, I guess I better start using it.

Ah Daniel, those guns are soo authentic. The most frustrating, un-enjoyable part of the Revell Constitution build for me was trying to get the two piece barrels to align, then all the filing, filling, and sanding to make them look somewhat presentable. That was some years ago. Now onto your gun deck build. That looks like a fun project that would look good presented next to the fully built ship. As always, your attention to detail and scale is superb. Scott

Wow Bill and Ian, your woodworking skills are very impressive. Bill, thank you for detailing how you built your case. I have been interested, well, actually ordered by the Admiralty and our four cats, to build a case for my Constitution or else its safety cannot be no longer guaranteed in my house. I have pretty much the same setup in my shop as yours, just lacking some experience with cabinet joinery. What were the size of Optix sheets did you get? This was a very good build log. Scott

I need some help with selecting rigging thread and block sizes. I have been shopping around and its confusing to the types of rope and diameter that would be the most efficient for this model and my skillset. So many choices. I have never used wooden blocks before and there are several styles and wood types. I have been reading the tutorials here on tying up the blocks and I think this is a good exercise for me to try my hand at. My plan is to rig the ship as in port, without sails. I am at a loss on selecting a good rope for the standing and running rig. For the standing rig, the current measures about .010" or .25mm. It looks thick. What would be an appropriate diameter for the running rig? About how much should I order for a 1/96 scale clipper, without sails, since the rope is sold in either a few feet or by a few yards. Would single block sizes be 3mm? I haven't yet decided if I am keeping the current plastic deadeye set up, or try making new ones along with chain plates. I have been going over the many threads here and there is a lot of techniques to look at. Deadeyes look to measure at 4mm. Scott

Still cleaning away, taking inventory, and working on a plan. Its taking a lot of time getting decades of dirt and dust out of all the corners and seeing how much rework will need to be done.

Rob, I have always been fascinated with clipper ships and have been a seasoned lurker of your build logs and use of both plastic and wood, and I am very impressed with your rigging and your detail of scale, so expect to hear from me with questions. I also will PM you in the future to take you up on your generous offer. I did the mast re-enforcements with steel rods on my Constitution and it worked very well.

Thank you for your suggestions. I do need to get into the nooks and crannies with cotton swabs and get all the dirt out. I do not plan to to any repainting, but do want to re-mast and re-rig the model. My mother requested that I do it for she never liked rigging, especially trying ratlines.

This build log is a restoration of a model built by my mother. This model was what inspired me to pursue a lifelong hobby of model making and a fascination with tall ships and sailing. My mother is 87 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's last summer and the past year was spent cleaning out her house and getting her affairs in order. Of the items I was entrusted with is her collection of model ships she had built back in the early 1970's. My mother was a professional artist who ran a commercial art studio and taught both fine art and life drawing. In 1975, she was commissioned to paint a series of nautical themed placards for some publication, I cannot remember what, and she started to build plastic model ships to use as reference. The first one was the Revell Thermopylae because she loved the color combinations she could use on it. The kit is not painted to represent the actual ship, but painted in a way to experiment with patina and color depth in 3D instead of on canvas. She got about as far as installing all the standing rigging before she got intimidated and frustrated with forming and tying the ratlines and moved onto a model she enjoyed building and finishing, the Revell Spanish Galleon. So for the past forty-six years, this model sat on top of a china cabinet, collecting dust, and taunting, no begging me to someday finish her. So, after moving it 2000 miles across country from her home to mine, in which the bowsprit got broken, and most of yards had fallen off, I now have it here in my studio and after washing off four decades of accumulated dust, have what I think a diamond in the rough, or a test of my sanity. A few things I will need help with and will need to consider. 1. How far do I want to go with restoring the masts? The main and mizzen lower masts are warped, from what looks like exposer to direct sunlight. Would I try to reform them, or do something I have been dying to do and try and make my own from scratch? 2. Paint restoration - This model was painted mostly with oils and I do not have access to the original paints, so I must be careful not to create any blemished I cannot touch up. 3. Originality - I am a stickler with detail and originality, so I must stay focused on restoring the model and accept many of the building defects that are in it. 4. Time - I have many other projects and things in my life going on, so I expect either this to be a fast moving project, or one that could take years. 5. I have four cats, one is still a kitten and one a teenager who is a shop cat in training. So rigging may be an adventure. Here she is after just coming home, The busted bowsprit. This is nothing new to me, I've busted the bowsprit off of both my Constitution and Alabama, so I'm quite good at repairing them. Stern end with the warped Mizzen mast. Midships and after a bath. The model is extremely well built, and the paint finish is protected with a varnish, so I put the whole model in the tub, sprayed it down with Windex, and sprayed her off. Lots and lots of dirt came off. Full view I put the bowsprit back in place. LOL The Bireme I built back when I was in High school and gave it to her for Christmas. It needed a little work from some damage during the move. And her beloved Spanish Galleon, with a lot of Artistic Licensing. I would love to here suggestions on how I should go about planning. I am a little overwhelmed at were to start. I guess systematically removing the spars and rigging. I do have the original box, all the parts, and instructions along with copious notes she took while she was building this model. Scott

Squadron had a strong brand loyalty, so Chris may be able to make it work if he can bring it back to the level it once had before the investment firm bought it. Or, to stem off your analogy, it could be an "American Motors" type of investment and never again will take hold in the market.

Glad to see you back, I also took about a five year hiatus from working on my Connie. Your deck should look really good when your done with it. The hull turned out really good.