NAZGÛL

Hey all! Small update. I added the clamps holding the bowsprit ropes. I blended them to match the other wood, so they aren't very obvious. I also made the mainstay collar, trying to get it like the real one at the museum. Paintwise its washes and trying to get everything to blend and look balanced. I'm glad I repainted the lower area of the beakhead.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
/Matti
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Great suggestion Nigel, I'll keep that in mind when testing the white glue mix!
 
Cheers!
 
/Matti

Hi mate
The 'ladders' are invariably tied in with the next set of lower deadeyes,so these would need fitting first.
When fitting the ratlines it is best to try and not create any twisting in the thread,this causes the 'worm' appearance and makes it harder to get the thread to sag.As Mark says dilute PVA painted on helps you to control the thread.My suggestion would be to cut some strips of Plasticard a couple of mm narrower than the distance between the shrouds.Place a fold in the middle and hang these on the ratlines after applying dilute PVA.The weight of these strips should induce the desired sag and hold it whilst the glue dries off.The dilute PVA should not stick to the plasticard.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Matti,
 
On the ratlines, what I've used is a 50-50 mix of water and white glue brushed on.  I find CA turns the line white but the white glue doesn't.  As always, test before proceeding.

Ratlines are a judgment endeavour and you will know when they are too tight, too loose, and just right...just trial and error.  A little sag is what i try to incorporate with a slight (very little)  touch of cyano working the "droop" with a toothpick until hardened off. After some practice its a method which works for me..........
 
\jp

Cheers mate! Actually I'm enjoying the rigging so far. After all that shaping of the deadeyes and metal parts it feels so quick to just color the ropes and put them on and thats it. I'm sure ratlines will be different as there are so many though.
 
Two questions:
 
When is the best time to make the "ladders" (A) up to the tops? I would guess after the ratlines are on.
 
Is it possible to get the curved sag the real ratlines get ( B )? I'm afraid lose ratlines would curve unrealistically and look wormy (if that's a word haha) as a thin thread has little weight.
 

 
/Matti

Many thanks Keith for the kind words! This is the most fun I had with modelbuilding, so many different stuff going on, yet the pace is slow so it's very relaxing. I did consider making it based onhow she looks today, but I'm to interested in the 17th century to do that. Half the fun is looking at reference trying to decide how to paint the sculptures.
 
I'm starting to get a list of things I would do different next build but I try to take the misstakes as lessons learned. It's like the collars, the first I did for the the mizzen is more slobby compaired to the other two as I learned how to during the build. Same with the first shrouds compaired to the later ones.But on the other hand I can follow the progression when looking at them.
 
 
/Matti

All I can say Matti is this...
if you sunk yours to the bottom of the ocean for aging purposes and turned the lights down low, one would think they were the same. Gil in his Vicky log has pictures like this of is it real or model and so many times you can't tell.
 
Your problem is - the not being at the bottom for centuries aging effect. Now that would be a model, built as she sits today.
 
At every step you prove, there is more to Matti then just a great paint detailer.
 
BTW that 2nd to last picture of the starboard bow shot is AMAZING.
the last one could have used showing a bit more side.
As she grows your having to step back in order to get her all in one shot
 
You must be very proud, you deserve it....and to think, a first wooden build  

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Stunning work mate I think you will have no problems with the ratlines other than the fact it is so time consuming.You started the rigging with much trepidation but your abilities are shining through
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Hey again!
 
I'm finally done with the channels and its details. Also did the collar holding on to the bowsprit.
 
First a pic I took at the museum.
 

 
And how mine turned out:
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Time to start planning those ratlines now...
 
 
/Matti

Thanks to everyone who dropped in since my last post and the encouragement through your 'likes'!
 
 
I am jumping around a bit while I try to build most of my deck fittings and I am almost working on all the fittings at once.  It will probably go faster if I focus on one thing at a time.
 
 
I finished the pumps.  There are one or two things I will do differently in the future, but I feel the end result is still better than the kit's metal pumps.

 
 

 
The tiller included in the kit is also made of metal.  I finished my scratch built version from some Chen Chen Rose wood.  It turns really nicely.

 


 
I am working on the top rail for the stern gallery.  The kit's version is plywood that you have to cover with veneer.  It actually worked pretty well, but I messed it up by staining it too dark.  So I decided to make a new rail.  It is always tricky to make more than one piece of something where all the pieces must be exact copies of one another.  I usually do it by sticking masking tape on the one side of the wood from which the item must be cut.  I then glue the taped sides together and let it dry completely.  I then cut and shape the piece and when I am done I simply separate the individual pieces by cutting through the masking tape.  That way you end up with pieces that are all perfectly similar.

 
 


 
Top rail in progress:

 
 

 
I have spent hours on the gun carriages.  I threw away more prototypes than I can remember.  I ended up using Chuck's plans that are available on this website.  I know it's not representative of carriages in the 16th century, but neither are a lot of things in the SF kit.  At least they look good!
 
Making the sides - I attach the rings first while it is still easy to hold and work with the side piece:

 

 
I created a jig to glue the carriage sides to the axles - to ensure that all the carriages will ultimately be symmetrical:

 
Adding the transom to the front axle

 
Next, the wheels and the wire on which the carriage bed will rest

 
Finally I added the carriage bed and the cannon.  One down, 9 to go!
 



 

I'm busy scratch building all of my deck fittings.  Most of the things I have to make 2 or 3 times over before I'm happy with the result - but I'm learning as I go along and it will certainly be easier going forward.
 
Deck ladders - still dry fitted
 

 
Pumps - still work in progress
 

 
My second attempt at making the sides of the gun carriages for the canons.

Work went slow the last number of months.
 
I finished the sides of the main gratings with some off-cut planking strips.  I first sanded the planks to same height as the gratings.
 

 
I did not follow the instructions for the cat davits precisely.  I did not like the idea of tying the rope that is used to hoist the anchors to an eyebolt on the deck, so I replaced that eyebolt with a cleat that I filed from some scrap wood.  The other eyebolt was blackened and varnished first.
 

 
The plywood roof of the helmsman’s cabin needed some pre bending.  I traced the curves of the fore and aft walls onto some scrap wood, made a ‘negative’ cut out and used it as I jig to clamp and shape the roof.
 


 
I sanded all the sides, but the joints between the walls and the roof wasn’t perfect.  I covered all the walls with wood filler and sanded all the sides again to get a perfect finish.
 

 
Finally, I lined all the sides with the mahogany laminate strips.   I first cut the lining strips into thinner strips that had variation in their width.  It makes the 'planks' look more natural to me.
 

 
The admiral bought me some presents with my credit card.  I’m looking forward to practising my lathe work before I start with the masts and yards.
 

 
My San Fran as she lays in the dock now.

Amazing how one can get side-tracked during a build.  After completing the first cannon I wanted to measure the length of breeching rope needed.  This made me wonder if any of the bulwark-end eye-bolts will interfere with the pin racks.  While fiddling with the position of the pin racks I started wondering if all the running rigging will actually run clear of my tops – since I planned to scratch build mine.  So instead of just cutting a piece of rope I ended up making the whole fore mast, top and caps.
 
Making the top

 

 

 

 
I took more than one attempt to finish the first cap.  Lesson learnt – first drill all the holes and then shape the cap.  Else, keep some Band-Aids ready.

 
Fore mast with everything dry-fitted.  I can see that one would need to be very careful that nothing ends up crooked when you glue it all together.
 

 

 

 
I finished some more deck fittings and the stern gallery some time ago.

What I like most about this site is the encouragement you get from fellow modellers.  It really carries one though the day when you have been crawling on the floor for 5 hours to find that part that dropped or you have to remake a part for the umpteenth time because you measured it wrong - AGAIN.
 
Vivian, you have probably seen Caroline's (Vulcanbomber) SF build log.  I think her cannons are true to the period.  They are beautiful indeed. 
 
Augie, thanks for all the nice comments and encouragement. Much appreciated. 
 
Keith, there is no need to scrape the masking tape off since you don't glue the masking tape to your wood.  You stick the masking tape on the wood and glue the masked sides together with PVA.  Just make sure you wipe off any excess glue so that you don't accidentally glue your pieces of wood together  (...yep, I've done that before...)
 
Below are photos of the steps of my boarding ladders.  I wanted to round the edges and to get carbon copies of one another, I lined the side of each step with masking tape, glued all 12 steps together, shaped the sides, separated the steps with a blade and simply pulled the tape right off.  (and then probably spent 5 hours looking for one piece on the floor...  )
 
Taped steps

Steps all glued together and shaped

 
Randy, good to hear from you again.  Thanks for taking the time to show us your completed SF.  It is a magnificent build - something you can be truly proud of.
 
Thanks Lawrence.  It's true what you say.  It's hard enough finding the time to do some actually building, let alone reading all the wonderful build logs on this site and keeping your own one semi up to date.  I cheat by following your logs on my phone whenever I have a spare moment, but it limits the commenting that I can do and that irks me.
 
 
 
 

Thanks to you all! And my son is very proud of it - he has told me often.
 
Regarding the sails - I had made a mixture of diluted glue with some yellow ocre paint and some Citadel Agrax Earthshade, which made a mixture looking a bit oldish (they hadn't bleach in that time). It gave a nice colour, but disadvantage was that the sail became quite stiff.
 
This then made it rather difficult for me to make furled sails, but I did manage in the end. 
 
I think it gives a more authentic look to the model.

So, I took some pictures from my latest efforts. Masts are rigged and waiting for sails. Main mast is a little bit too tensioned, as you can see. I don´t know if with sail on it will bring it to it´s rightful position or if I should release some tension before installing the sail - my fear is to let it go and have loose ropes on my model. Would be great to have some opinions in that.
 

 

 

 

 
There are some few additions beyond sails, as the eyes on front rails and the painting on stern (I´ll make it as the kit´s decal don´t fit in my ship).

No worries about the colors, I know how weird the tones can get with lighting.
 
/Matti

Thanks mate! The photos don't really do the colours justice I just wanted some pics of this stage as the next update will be too far along otherwise.
 
Favourite,mmm,probably not because each are different in their own way.The one that has drawn me in the most is probably Royal William,but I am deliberately holding back as I want the others to move along at a faster pace
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel