BANYAN

Rob, at this scale it's the impression of scale rather than slavishly replicating every little detail that's more successful. As an artist, I love to look at paintings close up. I am constantly amazed at how images are created with simple brush strokes. In this case, less really is.... more.

Tapering of oar blades:
Image top left:  jig, made of holly to make it (hopefully ) robust enough for use with all 62 Thranite oar blades.  Top right: set up in machinists vice on Unimat with spacers cut to incline the top surface or the jig correctly for the taper to be cut. In hthis case it is set up for the short taper which means a 1.25mm difference over the 30mm length of the vice. (0.4mm difference for the long taper). Bottom left: Long taper being machined (both sides) Bottom right: Short taper being machined (both sides)
Finally 62 Tranite blades tapered (about 16 mins/blade...)

 
 

The second one (rock) for me also Glen.  You can always say the rock is from Japan   Seriously, I think the rock is more in keeping with a nautical theme.
 
cheers
 
Pat

The second one (rock) for me also Glen.  You can always say the rock is from Japan   Seriously, I think the rock is more in keeping with a nautical theme.
 
cheers
 
Pat

The second one (rock) for me also Glen.  You can always say the rock is from Japan   Seriously, I think the rock is more in keeping with a nautical theme.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Readying  for copper.  
 
Rob

Wow Rob, you really motoring (or should I say rollicking) along.  Looking great.
 
cheers
 
Pat

The last cabins.






 

Cabin companionway and binnacle
 
The layout of the access to the stern cabin is somewhat puzzling, even taking into consideration that accommodation in this kind of vessel was spartanic and cramped. There seems to be a skylight over the cabin that was most probably protected by a grille. However, it is just in the area over which the business end of tiller sweeps. The helmsman would have to pay attention, where he puts his feet. Rather close in front of it seems to be the companionway that leads down into the cabin. Unlike for the other deck openings no coamings are drawn. Normally, there would have been a movable binnacle behind the companionway, so that the helmsman has a good view. The binnacle at that time was constructed like a cabinet and would be lashed down to the deck. However, the space between the skylight and the companionway seems to be too narrow to accommodate this kind of cabinet.

Details of the stern arrangements, original drawing by Möller (1846)
 
By looking through contemporary paintings and drawings of similar vessels, I chanced upon a somewhat naïve watercolour of a local painter from Trondheim, that shows a combination of binnacle and companionway. It also opens in a somewhat unusual fashion, where a segment of the roof is hinged to flip backward – rather than the usual sliding cover. Not sure how this would behave in any kind of stronger wind. Not all the details and the perspective in the watercolour seem to be right, but overall, it looks credible.
 
The whole arrangement is actually quite similar to that of the original drawing, also with the skylight right under the tiller, which actually is worked quite casually with ropes by the gentleman with straw(?)-hat sitting on the port stern rail.
 
Anyway, I opted for this solution as it is unusual and solves the space problem. As a bonus I don’t need to worry about rendering the lashings of the binnacle.

The Norwegian jægt HAABET (1849). Source: Town archives of Trondheim - https://www.flickr.com/photos/trondheim_byarkiv/3539132719.
 
The companionway-binnacle combination was again built from laminations of laser-cut pieces. The main objective was to show the panelling. So, each side was built up from three layers, the outer ones simulating the frames with the cut-outs for the panels. The profiled coamings were simulated by adding two further layers.
 
 
 

 
The collection of parts for laser-cutting
 
Assembly of all those parts was a bit of fiddling and I prefer my usual method of assembling companionways etc. around a solid core milled from a piece of acrylic glass, but this obviously only works, when they are shown closed.
 
To be continued …

Mate, you've done a great job with her completion, especially the rigging.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Mate, you've done a great job with her completion, especially the rigging.
 
cheers
 
Pat

Mate, you've done a great job with her completion, especially the rigging.
 
cheers
 
Pat

With the starboard pin-rails permanently glued and pinned in place, I ground the outboard port-side hammock trays flush with the bulwark.  It didn't take much because I was more careful to set them that way when I glued them on; I basically beveled their edges to line up with the bulwarks' surface.

I cleaned up the dust and painted the outboard side of the starboard hammocks then turned the hull around on the bench.
The inboard side of the port hammocks were ground flush with the bulwark, cleaned up, and I painted the hammock trays and outboard side of the bulwarks black, and the inboard side of the bulwarks and waterways white.  The basswood trim pieces will come next.
  (I get the camera angles can get confusing, but I try to leave a landmark, like the ship's wheel, visible to help orient things.)
I glued the boat cradles temporarily to the main hatch with some PVA, but I bumped one and it flew off into oblivion.  I'd been working on a model for mizzen spider-band, so when I printed that, I tossed another set of boat cradles in with it.
 

Now that is one unusual and interesting display base Glen. Kudos mate, it looks great. I am sure those pesky penguins would also agree (that is if you have managed to keep them away from the Bundy supply ;))
 
cheers
 
Pat

Knowing how inventive you are, I was wondering what you might do for a base.  Never expected bonsai driftwood, but what a great choice, Glen.  Looking forward to seeing the final completed display. 
 
Gary 

Couldn't agree more than with Mark, she looks like a newly built model BUT retains all of her character.  Nice work John.
 
cheers

Pat

Now that is one unusual and interesting display base Glen. Kudos mate, it looks great. I am sure those pesky penguins would also agree (that is if you have managed to keep them away from the Bundy supply ;))
 
cheers
 
Pat

Great little model Keith, an excellent result for your efforts. 
 
cheers
 
pat

Upper rigging complete 

Great little model Keith, an excellent result for your efforts. 
 
cheers
 
pat

Great little model Keith, an excellent result for your efforts. 
 
cheers
 
pat

We keep fingers crossed then !

Now that is one unusual and interesting display base Glen. Kudos mate, it looks great. I am sure those pesky penguins would also agree (that is if you have managed to keep them away from the Bundy supply ;))
 
cheers
 
Pat

Now that is one unusual and interesting display base Glen. Kudos mate, it looks great. I am sure those pesky penguins would also agree (that is if you have managed to keep them away from the Bundy supply ;))
 
cheers
 
Pat

Working on the display base now.  In keeping with the Japanese theme, I wanted to have elements of Japanese culture in the display base.  I had this idea of mounting the bottle on a live bonsai tree, but @landlubber gave me a quick education on bonsai trees and let me know that they should be kept primarily outdoors rather than inside sitting on a shelf.  Obviously, that would not work.  I tried to come up with some other ideas, but I could not get rid of the bonsai idea. 
 
So I started googling around and found that bonsai driftwood is used somewhat commonly as a decoration in aquariums and terrariums.  I went on eBay and found this amazing piece that looked like it might be able to hold my bottle.  It reminded me of the banyan trees you see in Maui.  I bought the piece and it arrived a couple of days ago.

 
 
For the bottle to rest on top, I needed to carve out a cradle.  I used some flush-cutter snips and my battery Dremel-like tool to do the trick.  The wood was surprisingly hard.  When I first got the piece, I was almost afraid to handle it because it looked so fragile.  But it is quite durable.

 
 
 
Here's a side view of the cradle afterwards.

 
 
Even with the cradle, the bottle would still be resting on the ends of small shoots or little branches or whatever you want to call them.  I wasn't sure if that was enough to safely hold the bottle in place.  To secure the bottle on top, I wanted to have as much surface contact of the bottle as possible.  So I filled in the middle portion of the cradle with air-drying modeling clay.
   
 
 
 
Here's how it looks with the bottle in place (but not glued down yet).

 
 
The last piece of the puzzle is the actual base - what the bonsai piece will rest on.  TBD.