Gabek

Great looking, Bob!  This will look spectacular when you're done.
Clear skies and sharp tools,
Gabe

Pandora’s Box
 
What have I gotten myself into?!
I’m really second-guessing my decision to build the well and shot locker.  I’m sure I spent more time building this little thing than I spent on building my garden shed!  And, this decision to add the well has created a ripple of changes to the model from the original MSW plans.  Thank goodness I have Ainars Apalais’ build log for reference - such a beautiful and motivating model!  My final design was an amalgam of four sources: actual photos of period shot lockers from HMS Victory, HMS Trincomalee, plus drawings from AoTS: HMS Diana and AoTS: HMS Pandora.

 
After cutting some 1.80mm square stock from birch for the stanchions I prepared planks using 1/32” - 0.8mm baltic birch plywood. The planks in the well were beveled so they fit together better, so I filed/sanded bevels top and bottom edges.  I drew arrows on the planks so I wouldn't get the bevels the wrong way, but it didn't always work!  I began with the bulkhead that separated the well and shot locker.  As I progressed I came upon several inconsistencies in my model.  Of course there were minor flaws in the existing framing and planking of this model - but they became so obvious that it drove me nuts.  (Oh yeah, building at 1/96 is another decision I’m regretting!) 
 
In the incredible AoTS books I also found a couple of errors, the biggest one was that the access door to the well was too low for a ship with all its ballast. The ballast cants are almost never showneven though they are integral to the design of the ship.  Because I have included the ballast in this model I was forced to move the door up more than in the drawings. It still looks ok, in my opinion.  
 
Some photos of the process:



After unsuccessfully trying to hand cut some brass hinges for the shot locker scuttles and the access door I decided it was time to play with some of my toys.  First off, I thought I could print these using my resin printer again.  However, these hinges were so thin that the prints failed.  I'm sure that at 1:48 scale I would have succeeded, but not at 1:96.  So I turned to another toy I have: a Jinsoku Genmitsu 1620 laser cutter/engraver. I have been doing mostly engraving hobbies with this small, desktop laser but at 5.5 watts it has enough power to cut through thin wood and some other materials.  I have been dying to try this out for some time now.  I drew hinges using basic shapes in Lightburn, the control software I subscribe to for the laser.  This could have been done in any drawing program and free laser software like LaserGRBL, but Lightburn is much more useful for the engraving I do.  My first attempt was to simply engrave the hinges into the shot locker lid.  (Top left in the above montage).  With a practice piece I got a nice result which would have been fine - it would be inside a tiny model.  But, of course, I decided it wouldn't do.  I needed something three dimensional. 

And again, 1:96 scale came back to haunt me!  I started with the thinnest maple veneer I have. The laser cut very well and could even cut the bolt/nail holes in these tiny hinges.  But even the veneer looked way too thick once I placed them against the door and scuttles.  

 
So, I switched to the only wood product that could be thinner: paper.  Some blue poster board and a manila folder provided very cheap stock for me to play with.  A black felt pen turned them into “iron” and away I went cutting and playing.  

I experimented with folding and gluing the tiny bits of paper to resemble folded strap hinges.   Another hobby came into use as I raided my fly-tying gear for fine black wire to represent pins in the hinges!  By the way, don’t use CA glue if you try this - the paper became so hard that it snapped and cracked when I tried folding them.  Just use PVA. The veneer that I had cut earlier was too thick to represent iron hinges, but it was perfect for the wooden cleats inside the shot lockers to which the hinges are nailed/bolted. So, I glued those onto the underside of the shot locker scuttles. 

After some painting and varnishing of the well and parts I made some ring bolts using the same, fine fly-tying wire.  I found an insect pin that had a diameter close to the diagrams of the ring bolts and wrapped the wire around it.  I drilled small holes and pushed the twisted ends of the wires into place.  A tiny drop of CA on the inside should hold these in.  I placed the paper hinges in place just for these photos. 
 

I won’t install the well and all the associated bits until I do some more work to the hold.  Namely, barrels, shingle ballast, lanterns, block and tackle…
...What have I gotten myself into! 
 
Clear skies!
Gabe
 

A mad dash…
 
The last few weeks have been…busy.  We couldn't ignore our cottage so it beckoned us for several days (still did some modelling, but on another ship:  https://modelshipworld.com/topic/34723-hmcs-agassiz-by-gabek-hmv-card-model-1250/) Months ago we booked a trip to visit my parents in British Columbia…always a pleasure.  And on our return a devastating storm hit the park where our cottage is so we had to inspect damage (Nothing, incredibly…just some clean up.  Not so for many up there😢) These all added to my panic in finishing this model.  So, pardon me for a lengthy catch up post…
 
First off, I tightened up the running rigging, re-rove many lines to make a bit more sense, and created coils by soaking line in dilute PVA glue and forming them on sticks.  By this point the AL "plans" were completely ignored.
 


 
While I liked the shape of the sails I didn't like how the foot of the main sail, in particular, rested against the mast and main shrouds.  I first thought of using wire as a tack line to hold the sail off the mast. But right beside me on my bench was my 3D resin printer and the curing station…so I thought I'd try something:  I soaked some lines in clear UV resin, brushed off excess, then hanged them with weighted ends in the curing tank to see if I get a solid tack rope to push the sails where I wanted.  And it sort of worked.  I anticipated that the stiffness in the lines would make knot-tying nearly impossible so I made loops in the ends using a beading needle before soaking, which then cured into a solid ring through which I could tie them to the clews. 


IMG_7455.mov  

Longer pieces sagged, unfortunately.  I thought of a second coat of UV resin but then I was ok with the results.  The wind just dropped a little and the tacks went slack…that's my story. 
 
After gluing on all the coiled ropes I then turned to the remaining objects that needed painting.  By this time I was literally exhausted with this model and all the hours of sitting were killing my back…so I have to admit I was impatient and cranky.  I should have taken more photos.
 
Painting the anchor stock went ok but I refused to just leave the anchors hooked on the gunwales like AL depicts. I quickly checked a few resources and found a rig in AotS Blandford  that looked easy and doable.  At this point an 18th century anchor rigging on this 15th century ship could hardly look out of place! Unfortunately, I somehow misinterpreted the drawing and somehow ended up with this nonsense:

 
I hated the lantern.  It was chunky and not elegant at all.  I added some brass wire and painted the interior "baffles" silver, with an overcoat that was a blend from yellow to orange.  Over brushing brass acrylic on black primer of the housing turned out ok for me.  To simulate glass I used Micro-GLAZE.  Results were…meh. 
 
I showed you Higref and Thonk in an earlier post…these are a couple of heroic characters that have meaning to my son and daughter-in-law.  I created them in HeroForge - an online 3D character builder - and then printed the files to scale on my 3D resin printer.  Painting figures is another hobby so this was enjoyable.  The little splash of colour and scale they bring to the model is very pleasing to me.  I posed them looking outward and forward…on their journey of discovery!

 
I added only one of the kit-supplied flags…
 
…and I was finished!


Started on the case today. 
 
Clear skies and sharp tools!
- Gabe
 
 

Well, all the masts are stepped and the standing rigging is all done.  All the spars have been shaped.  
 
I'm thinking that I should rig the sails on the yards before hoisting them.  Any thoughts?
 



 
Clear skies and sharp tools!  
- Gabe

 
Dear Artesania Latina,
Your rigging plan leaves me scratching my head…did caravels actually run the shrouds on the mizzen and foremast to single blocks on cleats in the rail? Would eyebolts on a cleat be strong enough to hold up a mizzen mast with a lateen sail?  A single stay going from foremast to the top of the bowsprit makes it look like it is rigged like a crane, not a mast.
Perplexed,
Gabe

I just ran though your log again, you are doing great my friend. That ship of yours's looking really good.    

Mounting her, (to a base), get your minds out of the gutter.
 
Now it was time to get the ship mounted on its permanent base from its temporary construction mount.  I was terrified to drill the mounting holes for the screws through the keel and into the interior of the ship.  I measured and measured and planned and planned how to do this critical step. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I searched for the best possible screws to do the job since I thought the ones that came with the kit were too long.  The kit supplied a beautiful piece of wood for the stand, already routed on the edges.  It just needed a little sanding, some stain and good gloss varnish.  The brass mounts were terribly tarnished after being in the box for almost 50 years, so I gave them to a neighbor to clean up with his Brass-o since he was so interested in the model.  He brought them back shiny as new a couple of days later, thanks Rob, so I never touched them with my bare fingers and gloss varnished them as soon as I could.  Next onto drilling holes in the stand for the mounting screws.  I measured two points along the centerline of the stand equidistant from the ends of the stand and at points on the ship that broke the keel into thirds. 
 

 

 

 
 
 
After searching for better replacements for the kit screws, I went with the originals but had to cut off a little from the end of each so they wouldn’t go into the interior of the ship but stop in the keel.  I had to find a shorter screw to hold the brass stands in place while the ship sat in them so I could use them as a drilling guide to drill into the keel from below.  I countersank the holes on the bottom of the stand where I’d tested the stains so the screw head would be flush with the base. 

 

 

 

 
 
 
Once it appeared level side to side, I clamped the ship to the base and flipped it on its side.  I them removed the temporary shorter screw and drilled the final sized hole into the keel through the base and brass stands, holding my breath all the way in.  I only had a mm or so of clearance on each side of the keel. 

 

 

 
.
 

 
 
Having gone well, I screwed the permanent screws in and done.  So glad to be done with that, it was stressful but I managed and it looks great. 
 
Thanks for reading! More to come when I get not lazy enough to write about it.  Model on!
 
 

Nice work, Scotty.

This looks like an Armstrong Frederick pattern  (circa 1760-1794) which came about when George was made king.  There was also the Blomefield pattern which is quite different but also in the George III era as it was introduced in the early 1790's and replaced the Armstrong Fredericks.  
Allan
 
 
 

Those look really good , everyone will be sending you 20 lbs of Potatoes  for sure lol

Final (?) product. 
1:64 6-pounder Royal Navy Cannon - George III era
 

I printed these at 0.03mm resolution in Anycubic ABS+.  If anyone wants the .cbddlp file created for these prints (with supports) just send me a message. 
 
If anyone chooses to print these out I would appreciate a photo!
 
I hope this helps,
Gabe
6-pounder cannon_.stl

Hello everyone, 
In response to people who have warned that there might be a split in the .stl where I created the complicated curved bodies I checked the meshes in Fusion 360 and I do believe that they are stitched correctly:

Thanks for your input, folks.  I will be posting the .stl for this file shortly.
Clear skies and sharp tools!
- Gabe

Final (?) product. 
1:64 6-pounder Royal Navy Cannon - George III era
 

I printed these at 0.03mm resolution in Anycubic ABS+.  If anyone wants the .cbddlp file created for these prints (with supports) just send me a message. 
 
If anyone chooses to print these out I would appreciate a photo!
 
I hope this helps,
Gabe
6-pounder cannon_.stl

Hello everyone, 
In response to people who have warned that there might be a split in the .stl where I created the complicated curved bodies I checked the meshes in Fusion 360 and I do believe that they are stitched correctly:

Thanks for your input, folks.  I will be posting the .stl for this file shortly.
Clear skies and sharp tools!
- Gabe

Final (?) product. 
1:64 6-pounder Royal Navy Cannon - George III era
 

I printed these at 0.03mm resolution in Anycubic ABS+.  If anyone wants the .cbddlp file created for these prints (with supports) just send me a message. 
 
If anyone chooses to print these out I would appreciate a photo!
 
I hope this helps,
Gabe
6-pounder cannon_.stl

Nice work Bob, over my head though:-)  It’s great to know you’re still ticking properly:-)

Good to hear you are okay!

For another treatise on coppering the hull of a Swan class model check Ohla's YouTube vide:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD26-IABJvc&list=PL2yU7nOqNxV_yrgdgu5zFnqVRu-RQlMKJ&index=7&ab_channel=OlhaBatchvarov
She's done a beautiful job.

Nice work on that helicopter, Bob!  And your priorities are in good order - kiddos first!!  Keep that ticker in good order too!
 
If he ever changes his mind, the longhorns here will welcome him to the herd.

Sorry about the delay,  a trip to the ER for my ticker , I am ok just to high reading of blood pressure, very high lol Plus the Grandson wanted this doneSo now the second planking is finished  🙌.  I did pretty good  this time.  I ended up having to put a stealers on the Bow and stern but it's  planked.
 

Because I did the Sea of Galilee boat the planks on that kit came pre tapered, I thought  that I would do the same so,
I tapered 10 planks and after the first three planks were on. Then started at the keel and work up. It worked out well  except for the stealers but they are under the copper. 
 
 


Now its on to the coppering.  @Keith Black I value your opinion very much, but I like shinny things lol I have no intention of using @aliluke method for his copper  lol sorry.  The shinnier the better  for me . I even intend on keeping it shiny  by polishing it yearly  lol. If it turns out well , if not I will scrape it all off and paint it white. So I am off to learn how to copper, I used my third hand and at the 60 mm mark  I drew the water line, I will tape it before I start. But I don't know when I get to that so I will leave it off till I start.
  I can't thank everyone enough for all their help , but here is another  thankyou. 
  Later my friends 😚
PS  captain Marvin  says he staying lol

Thanks, Phil.  I do use Chitubox on occasion so I'll make a point of checking for these errors.
Regards,
Gabe

Thanks!  I had spotted that earlier and they were placed on the end like you recommend on this version. 
Regards,
Gabe

Thanks, Phil.  I do use Chitubox on occasion so I'll make a point of checking for these errors.
Regards,
Gabe

Thanks!  I had spotted that earlier and they were placed on the end like you recommend on this version. 
Regards,
Gabe

I have seen this problem with Chitubox. With a single surface (like an "O") with a hole in it the hole is often filled in. But if I cut it into two "C" shaped surfaces fitted together to enclose the hole there isn't a problem. The gap between the two surfaces is zero thickness so it doesn't appear in the printed part.
 
Since this seems to be a problem with different CAD programs and different slicers I suspect it is a problem in the STL file format, or at least the description telling how to create the STL object.

I'm sorry, Lieste - I don't quite follow you. 
The lines on the cascabel and the muzzle appear to be artefacts of the drawing (Fusion 360), not seams in the model.  I'm printing in resin at 0.03mm resolution and have yet to see the line and there isn't any kind of infill.  
 
In the slicer (Lychee), here's what the model looks like: