Micklen32
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Nice looking repair on the railings Adrieke Really improves the look Luckily the ones on the spirit actually looked fine when joined together as the cast finished half way along a gap both ends so the join showed a normal gap It was just disguising the joint Those corner decorations They drove me mad I think they took a few hours to get them right on their own For some reason some would just not hold with just a spot of CA and of course as soon as you put a bit more on there.............................. Congratulations on your promotion BTW Mick -
No I know just what you mean Adrieke The thing is I presume any laser cut parts are going to be some sort of ply :mellow: I think the ultimate method is to paint a deep matt brown As far as yours in concerned It is a pain when you break or have to take off a piece You never know if it is going back perfectly Certainly looking a nice job though I am going to really take my time with this tram and when I do my next ship I will try and get it as close to museum quality as I can with a kit build Keep it up Adrieke Mick
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Hey Adrieke I found the wife was holding out on me and hadn't shown me that particular style of clothes peg I have some now As to the stain I really don't know where to go next If you have a look at my tram blog you can see the results I got with soaking I have tried dabbing and rubbing like you, also painting on with a brush I will be interested to see what others say about the subject Mick
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Really like those little clips Adrieke You could get those into places the ones I use wouldn't go I use the ones you see more often with the black scissor like body and red grips Now I have a question Adrieke I hope you don't mind me asking it here but you have a lot following this and I should get a good response A lot of my current build is stained Now we all know that plywood is not the best to take stain Do you tend to stain anyway - Have you a foolproof way of staining - Do you give up and paint????????????? Today I tried soaking parts in stain but they still came out uneven Thanks for any responses Mick
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Ah yes Adrieke I had several joins like that in the Spirit as there was only one length of railing I couldn't really see a way out of it so I hid as much as I could and tried to cover the obvious ones with paint I also see from the close up that the stair handrails on yours are fitted into the deck The instruction in mine said to fix to the stairs themselves I wish I had seen that before as it looks 200% neater Keep up the good work Mick
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Not sure I can see what you mean Adrieke It all looks fine to me, but then I am not looking at it sitting next to you Couldn't keep my hands out of the Tram box I was gonna have a day or two rest But................ Mick
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I just started the production line for the carriages and guess what.. next in line "the lids", so i know for sure what i will be doing the next couple of months .. Life does really does get in the way of all the important things doesn't it Theo Mick
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Bye John Have a great time Mick
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Nice work Adrieke The stairs look a lot more regular than mine did I had a real job getting them to look the same Also I have only just noticed, must get some new glasses , that you have put wood pins in your planking Would you always put that on any ship planking??? I have to admit I didn't think about it with the Spirit Maybe that would have increased my build time by a week or so I would always put it on a sailing ship but as I said, never thought about it for the Spirit I do love your planking though Really nice job Mick
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This is it then The lifeboats are on The wife insisted they were ok Checked around and fitted the main stack support ropes and at that point it looked pretty much done So here it is in position I hope you think it looks good. The wife and I are quite happy What may be interesting to you is after I had finished this I put together the OcCre Portable Workshop I will put up the pics of the build here, if it is considered not right to have them here let me know It went together very easily and it seems very sturdy and I am well pleased with it Well that is about it for this build Let me know what you think and please follow the tram build on blogspot Mick
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Well this has been by far the most irritating part of the build by a long way I just could not get them looking as good as I wanted I tried a lighter red to make them stand out a bit more and they were a bit better but I still wasn't happy, however the widfe has told me to stop beating myself up and they were good enough I admit they actually look a bit better in the pic than I think they look IRL. However I have been told At one point I had to calm myself down so I made a start of the tram base I have started a blog where I will be posting the build and doing it precisely I have put the address in my signature but to repeat it, it is micklen-tram.blogspot.co.uk Please leave comments to let me know how it's looking I decided to do the base first so it's ready to put it on In the blog you can click on the pics for a full page view Mick
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Really coming along John I do sometimes wonder at the point they tell you to do certain things I suppose there must be some sort of reason for it but I know I did several things out of order as it were It's difficult enough doing the job without having to do it behind something that could go in at a later date Keep up the good work Mick
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Hi Adrieke Sorry to hear about the accident but the ship and lights are really looking good I am sure you will be able to do a good job on the repair Mick
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Well the first attempt at the lifebelts was a total failure I just could not get them looking right and as you know you don't get many chances So I had to put them in turps overnight and strip the first attempts off Today then I will take a lot of time and really try to get them looking good Cross your fingers for me Mick
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Thank you all I am very pleased with the work, I have learnt a lot What you must remember however is it may not have taken long in days but i have been working on it full time I think there are nearly 200 hours in this build I am not sure how that equates to other builds of this type The tram however is 1:24 so that will have to be treated very differently I will be doing a detailed blog of it Grant so you will be able to follow it if you wish and I will be staying on here as my next build will be a ship I was hoping to do the Bounty Launch but OcCre haven't got it ready yet It will be sometime this year but they don't know when I MAY have a go at the San Juan which is quite similar http://www.occre.com/index.php?option=com_productos&task=showProduct&idproducto=15 Anyway, must get back to painting the lifebelts I have put them in soak and painted the top of the railings red that needed it Mick
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The tram arrived yesterday and I had a quick look through and was amazed how many parts, especially laser cut wooden bits, there were I reckon there were as many if not more wooden bits than in the Spirit I reckon that this could take my some time The Spirit however is very nearing completion I had a day off yesterday after the scan and headed back to it this morning I first started fitting the stretchers and the railing uprights (Pins) It took me a little while to cut the pins down, drill the holes, and glue them in place Once that was done the railings themselves (Cotton) had to be fixed Once the cotton had been would all around each pin it had to be painted white This was quite tricky as the thread used was not twisted too much and not waxed at all so you had lots of tiny ends sticking out that you had to try and get to go down using the paint Then with the railings done, the stretchers finished and the flag raised little is left to do All that is left to do is to paint a few of the railing tops red, paint and fit the lifebelts and give most of the woodwork on the sides a good coat of varnish or six Wife is very very happy and has the space for it ready Mick
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Well the tram has arrived at Stansted so that should arrive tomorrow Got a CT scan tomorrow though so a bit pushed for time. MiL should be able to take it in I can't believe how a few hours work has changed the look of the ship so much I worked on both ends, the bow gangplanks and the paddle wheel First thing was the construct the gang planks and the struts Really getting on well with the sander BTW. Very easy to change if you want a different grade of paper and you don't throw the paper away, just refit it when you want it back Close up of the ring fittings that hold things together here You do have to be a little careful if you are opening the ring a little to join them as they are a little brittle Then a bit of a break from the complicated stuff as I finished off the engine room I glued the bucket in Now total disarray as I do the rope work I had forgotten how tricky it is threading the cotton through little holes It did all come together eventually though Whoops, left a tag of cotton on the starboard side Then I got to work on the other end and fitted the paddle wheel It is really starting to look like a paddle steamer now and I am well chuffed Mick
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The missing bits turned up today so I should be able to finish it now The main things I was missing were the strips so now I can do all the little odd bits that I couldn't before What I can't get over is the little extra they sent me I was amazed and well chuffed when that dropped out the package Today was mostly taken up with painting and finishing off some of the decorations The railings on the starboard side and the little frilly bits on the bar deck all the way round I also cut and painted the stretchers and the derrick masts which means I will soon be breaking out the cotton I could also finish off the roof of the wheelhouse with the strips received That included cutting the whistle in place, drilling a hole so the stove pipe could get through and fitting the edge decorations Also if you look at the top left of the pic you can see I also coloured the paddle blades, so a fairly productive day today With my computer table getting in such a mess I decided to invest in the OcCre Workshop Cabinet that comes with loads of places to put things, also ship supports and a soft place to work with delicates Then looking at that I started to think I have the tram on the way but then I was thinking of doing the Santisima Trinidad What I may do however is start with a much smaller model just to make it and then see how easy it is to maybe sell I am thinking of doing something that has a bit of history and that is the Bounty Launch I was thinking that with the story behind it, it may sell easier that others But then I have never tried to sell a ship before And thanks Adrieke It wasn't easy as my white paint is a little thick but I did my best Mick
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Thanks Sjors Mick
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Hi Theo I know with the much smaller scale ships I built that getting the planking lining up right was one of the most difficult jobs Yours looks pretty good though and as Sjors says should sand down a treat Can I just ask, as someone who hasn't had any input with earlier builds, what is stealer technique??? Keep it going Mick
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I am finding getting the white metal railings to look as good as I want very difficult I think if I had kit such as a vertical grinder and stuff like that I would be able to get a much better finish I have to admit I find it very difficult to get perfect square edges to fit together to be hidden by paint Oh well, as long as the wife is really happy And she is Ok, so I have been finishing off both the wooden and metal railings on the port side Only having hand tools does make like a lot more difficult now I had to prune my decent bits of mechanical kit viciously when we moved into a flat some time ago I have a lot of painting left to do and I am dreading painting these decorations as I can see the cut outs filling with paint easily I gave those a coat or two of primer and while coats were drying I cut the paddles for the big wheel The paddles still need some work getting them smoothed out and coloured I then spent some time on the starboard side with wood railings and the pre formed metal ones You look at it and think it is nearly finished, but there is a fair bit to do yet Mick
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Well I got the glue bottles They aren't as good as they used to be but they will do for now So great, I can do a bit of construction and take a break from painting Still got a fair bit to do to the wheelhouse but I cannot totally finish it until the strips arrive But here is the wheel in place and the window cills fitted The roof is removable and as the stove chimney comes through it I cant glue it until it is planked Next I finished off the main stacks I had to make the brass rings myself from brass wire and I have to say I found that very difficult to get them looking anything like. I much prefer the idea the King uses of having pre made rings Next I started work on the wood that holds things together and the white railings Also strengthening bars were fitted to the wheel struts. The engine was put in as well along with the first lengths of railings with the wooden rail on top Some of the railings and the wood fixed to it has to be removable to make it easier to view inside Here it is in place Chains are used to stop people falling overboard in between the railings The close up shows a couple of barrels standing at the back. These should be round the other side according to the instructions. But as no-one will see that side much I stuck them there Next job is turn her round and do all that stuff on the starboard side Mick
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Looking really good Adrieke Again I do tend to compare to the Spirit It is amazing how different instructions do put the build in different order Or are you not really following the instructions I love the herringbone decking and the wall planking Very nicely done Mick
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The smokestacks are very similar to the Spirit with the red and gold top with the fin thingeys The Spirit though has a brass crown thingey on top instead of painted It has the same brass rings although I had to make mine whereas yours appear pre made I think I will have to have the joins on the starboard side as it is the port that is the viewing side Good building to you Mick
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Still waiting for the glue bottles so a little bit held back and as I have a lot of delicate gluing to do I am holding off However there is always something to do isn't there Oh look...................................Painting!!!!!!!!!!! The white especially seems to take a lot of coats to get a good finish even when primed and too many coats get too thick so a lot of care has to be taken Hopefully the rails in the second photo will be good enough The large bits in that photo are the engine bits and the red bits the decoration on the wheelhouse Roll on those bottles so I can get gluing Oh BTW a little money came my way today so instead of being silly with it I have sent off for the OcCre London Tram that my wife really fancies I am also getting the display base as it looks so nice I have looked at a build and it's not as easy as it looks so that should keep me going for a bit I can't even pack up because third coat seems to take ages to dry
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