AnobiumPunctatum

The mesh filter was incorrect: I redid the filter obtaining a brass rod

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These days I proceeded to finish outside of the model: I have given two coats of sealer and, after finely sanded, two coats of paint opaque transparent finish. All spray with airbrush.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a while since I've been able to get to the museum, so no work has been done on the Pritt for a few weeks.  In spite of the museum being top heavy with kids yesterday because of the school holidays, I still managed to get quite a bit done.  The deck has now been completely treenailed and rough sanded down.  Next step will be to make the capping rail, then bring her home for a couple of coats of clear finish before starting on the detail work.
 
John
 
The fore end rough sanded
 


 
Looking a bit more civilised


 
 

... and they are every Cent worth.

... and they are every Cent worth.

... and they are every Cent worth.

The transoms can not be derived directly from my reconstruction of the body plan.In the half breath plan of the orioginal drawing the form of each timber is indeed located, but does not fit properly on the corrected design. Before starting for the next step I have taken these lines and adjust them so that they match up with my design and also with the position of transoms in Sheer plan.
Subsequently the transoms were transferred to 3mm plywood, sawn and glued on the control model. I 've filles the gaps as usual with poplar plywood. After sanding the area looks like in the following pictures:
 

 

 

 
 

Thanks Johann, druxey, Mike and Nils for your nice comments and all others for the Likes
 
Next I've installed all bulkheads until frame 20 and the filling pieces.
 

 
Then my favourite pastime - sanding
 

 

Then I've started sanding the hull. I've used 60 grid until 120 grid sandpaper for the process. After around one week - I can only work on my model in the evening or at the weekends- I've finished the front half of my control model.
I am very happy with the result
 

 

 

 
To check the curves I use 1mm thick stripes of maple. The found differences are very small. So I think that my reconstruction will work for the checked range.
 

 

 

 

 

With the build of my control model I started at the end of March.

The edges of all frames I've colored black. This will be later a great help by sandig the hull.
The glued surface of the cant frames is very small, so I've glued first plywood stripes on the center board.
To get the correct alignment the colored 5' marks on the frames and the center board are a great help.
 

First half of frame 0
 
Six frames have been installed.
 

 
At this time I've started to glue the filling pieces of polar plywood between the frames. I've used a chess board pattern to avoid the distortion of the frames.


 
Until the mid of April I've installed all frames and filling pieces from the center to the stem on the stem.
The next two pictures show the result of the work. It's looking very horrible
 

 

To check the lines I started to build a half model. For the frames I use 3mm birch plywood, it's for a model in 1/32 perhaps a little small, but I've had a bigger batch at home. All space between the frames I fill with poplar plywood. It's easy to shape but stable enough for the purpose.
I glue the drawngs with rubber cement on the ply woord


 
With a sharp knife I mark every 5' line. The picture shows frame 0:
 

 
All bulkheades and the center are cutted out. The hull has a length of around 1m, which is not as big compared with the new 1/200 model kits of the WWII battle ships.
 

 

The Swan Class Sloop and I have as some of you know a longer history. Two years ago I started my build log for the build in 1/48. A few month later I had to stop the build because I got some problems with my eyes. At the beginning of this year I started again. I decided to change the scale of my build to 1/32.
I hope that some of you are intersted in my build and like to follow my log.

So let's start again
 

Thanks Johann, druxey, Mike and Nils for your nice comments and all others for the Likes
 
Next I've installed all bulkheads until frame 20 and the filling pieces.
 

 
Then my favourite pastime - sanding
 

 

Time to make a start, nothing too taxing to begin with, so I’ve decided to plank some of the lower decks.

 

I think it’s a case of what looks right for the model and decided that a length of 100mm is a good size to work with, laid out in a four butt shift pattern (I think that’s what you call it).

 

 

First job is to mark where the planks will butt together, and just for interest I do this by lining up two strips of graph paper along the deck and marking every 20mm across. Keeps everything nicely at 90 degrees to the centre line. 

 



 



 

 

With regard to the caulking, I like to keep decks fairly subtle, so I simply run a medium pencil along the edges.  The full length planks I cut in small batches, and with my Unimat and a jig I made to square the ends, sanding them to length checking with my ‘high tech’ measuring device. The sanding jig also has a 45 degree fence for mitre joints, I’ve included a photo so you can get the idea if interested.

 



 



 



 

I lay the planks starting at the centreline and work outwards, the joints being a mirror pattern. Not sure if that’s how the Elizabethan shipwrights did it but it looks alright (to me anyway) when finished.

 

 

Once the planks are laid I scrape them flat with an old Stanley blade and then seal with several coats of Shellac Sanding Sealer.  I apply this with a cloth, much the way as in French Polishing, the idea being to squeeze the sealer between any small gaps and uneven surfaces. I allow 30 minutes between coats and sand lightly using progressively finer grades of wet and dry, every second coat, until I get an nice smooth, even finish.  I then finish off with 2 to 3 coats of thinned matt varnish.

 



 

 

 

Now we come to the first of my own personal criticisms, and it is my own personal preference and in no way a criticism of the kit.  The etched brass gratings provided….. I really don’t like them. I think I know why they went for brass rather than the traditional wooden ones (scale thickness when displayed open) but the holes aren’t square, and they don’t look right (to me anyway, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and all that). The design certainly simplifies the deck hatches, the frames being one piece laser cut so as to fit above the deck openings leaving a lip for the gratings to sit in, but call me old fashioned, I like to see the hatches properly lined when open.  It’s not a big deal, it just means there will need to be a little doctoring when I come to the upper decks. (Sorry Chris)

 



 



 

So now I’ve broken the ice its time to turn my attention to the keel and frames.

 

 

Hi Jan, it is
 
My first job is to identify the parts and remove them from their sheets to test fit.  The plans make this simple and checking them against the drawings the parts are very accurate.  I’ve dry fit all the bulkheads and deck sections from the MDF  sheets, again no problems at all.  The frames fit easily but with enough play to allow for plenty of glue, and with the decks fitted the hull is very much self aligning. 
 

 
Looking at the general alignment from bow to stern the lines look pretty good so I don't anticipate any great problems profiling the frames ready for planking.  Another consideration will be to take into account the plank thickness at the stern, the false keel is 4mm thick and the stern post is 5mm, so I’ll lose some thickness by tapering the stern.  The actual bow, keel and stern post are fitted after first planking and the fit of the bulkheads create enough of a rabbet.
 

 

 
It is my intention to follow the steps laid out in the manual as much as possible (it took me years to realise that when manufacturers provide instructions they generally have a good idea of what they are talking about) so my next step will be to plank the lower deck and rough profile the bulkheads before I start glueing.  
 
 
 

Happy birthday, Doris.

Work has reared its ugly head again and left me very little free time for modeling.  I finally was able to devote a few hours to Atalanta over the weekend.  Moving aft, the next items to fabricate are the main topsail sheet bitts (mtsb), the gallows cross-piece and the main jeer bitts (mjb).  None of these items will be permanently installed until later to prevent inadvertent damage and to facilitate installation of the pumps and axletree.  
 
The mtsb consists of two bitt pins, the bitt cross-piece and the gallows cross piece.  The pins are secured to the upper and lower deck beams with bolts and there is a score for the upper deck beam on the fore face of the pin.  There are also scores in the fore face for the insertion of the cross-piece. This is also bolted to the bitt pins.  Finally, there is a sheave in the pin just below the cross piece, along with a cheek block.  The top of the pin has a decorative panel as seen on the plans.  These were made by adding vertical and horizontal strips of wood to each side of the bitt and then tapering them to give the appearance of a beveled panel.  A pin was placed in the top of the bitt to secure the gallows cross-piece.  You will notice that the lower ends of the bitt pins for both the mtsb and the mjb are different port and starboard.  This is because the port side is fully planked and the starboard side is left open.  I did not want to damage the lower deck planking during their installation.
 

 

 
In TFFM, David gives three examples of typical gallows cross-pieces.  I selected the one with the ogee edge as anything fancier is beyond my carving capabilities.  At this point the piece looked too plain and I recalled how nice Remco's looked so I decided to try and give it a decorative edge effect. Using French curves, I first drew in the shape of the carving with pencil.  I knew some of the lead would end up in the depth of the cut and make it stand out better.  Next, I used the tip of a dull #11 scalpel blade (also with the French curves) to start outlining the carving.  Once there was sufficient depth, I switched to the tip of a triangular file to widen and deepen the cut.  All of the edges are chamfered.  Finish was applied to the gallows cross-piece but not to the bitt pins and it was pinned in place.  The bitts will be given a finish after they are permanently installed.
 

 

 

 

 
The mjb is similar in construction to the mtsb with a few exceptions.  First, the cross-piece attaches on the aft face of the bitt pin, not the fore as in the mtsb.  Secondly, the top mortises into the lower side of a quarter deck beam.  I made a card template of a quarter deck beam to set the exact height of the pin.  Finally, on Atalanta, the pin narrows above the cross-piece.  
 

 

 

 

 

There has been very little time lately for modeling but I was able to build the forecastle bulkhead.  In keeping with the rest of the model, I only made the port side and mid-portion of the bulkhead.  I made this up with a center core of basswood sheet.  Costello was then applied to both sides of the basswood to represent the bullkhead and doors.  The edges of the center panels are sanded down to simulate a floating panel.  At this magnification, I must admit that some of the edges look a little rough but when you look at it installed, it really looks ship-shape.  The hinges are brass photoetch from Admiralty Models.  The window is glazed with acetate.  I will not install this until the forecastle beams are permanently glued into place.  Once installed, I will add the edge piece that intersects with the hull and the deck cant into which the bulkhead inserts.
 

 

If not from battle damage, certainly from high seas and storm conditions!

Ivan is an amazing talent, Karl. I often wonder about the wisdom of having such elaborately carved figureheads adorning ships of war (not Royal barges and the like - those I understand). With the high cost of the carvings and undoubtable high cost of replacement why would they be placed on naval vessels? If I were an enemy gunner I'd take personal pride in knocking it off. I seem to recall however, that the actual number of vessels that ever saw battle was quite low so perhaps damage to them was rather rare.

This is the current stand of my reconstruction. As you see on the pictures I've need some putty after sanding. This has two reasons.
I've sanded to much on frame 20 The lines for the transoms have some smaller mistakes. During the last month I've redrwan the transoms. Also I've corrected a small mistake of the maximum breath in this area. In the moment I add the counter timbers to my drawing and complete the half model to check the revised design.

The transoms can not be derived directly from my reconstruction of the body plan.In the half breath plan of the orioginal drawing the form of each timber is indeed located, but does not fit properly on the corrected design. Before starting for the next step I have taken these lines and adjust them so that they match up with my design and also with the position of transoms in Sheer plan.
Subsequently the transoms were transferred to 3mm plywood, sawn and glued on the control model. I 've filles the gaps as usual with poplar plywood. After sanding the area looks like in the following pictures:
 

 

 

 
 

Afterwards, you can plank this half-hull, and it will certainly be a very decorative piece on the wall of your workshop
 
Jan

You've managed that tricky area at the transoms well, Christian!

So managed to get a couple of hours in the workshop on the holiday weekend, working on the framing at the stern, I have tried to keep the sizing and spacing of the timbers as close to the layout shown on the Cygnet DOF plan but with the positioning of the port from the Pegasus plan.
 
ben