Glen McGuire

Since the last post, I added the bowsprit and split dolphin striker rigging.  Next was attaching the all the sails to the yards (with my attempt at doing a semi-furl for the lower sails on the main and fore masts like the painting in post #112).  And finally, I added all the braces and ran their lines thru the lowest hole in the bowsprit.  That should allow me to adjust the yards/sails to their final positions once I raise the masts inside the bottle. 

So the ship build is now complete!  WOOHOO!  But that also means the always nerve-wracking moment of truth is near.  I'll start work on the water inside the bottle next.  Then do a test smash.

What they said!!!

8 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

just trying to make your life easier.

I appreciate that!  And I appreciate all tips/suggestions/critiques/etc!  I may not use every one of them but they all make me think of different approaches or techniques and that helps me get better at this stuff!

3 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

 Glen, the Independence is looking great and those blocks are beautiful!

 

 A tip regarding parting the ratlines close to the shrouds. I use a diagonal wire cutter to snip thread and only use it for thread,  I have another pair for cutting wire. Because the the ratline ends are soaked in CA the cutter makes a nice clean cut and you can get real close to the shroud line. 

Thanks, Keith!  For cutting the ratlines, I do have a pair of those diagonal wire cutters which I used to use.  But I also read a while back about someone who was using cuticle trimmers for tiny, tight spaces.  I got a pair, tried them, and found they work even better on the super-thin fly tying thread.  They cut sharp and clean, even at the very tip, so they are easy to maneuver in the tiny spaces between the ratlines. 

I know my ratlines extend beyond the shrouds a hair, but that's my margin of error to make sure I don't screw up and snip the shrouds, which would lead to loud shouting/cursing/throwing things and probably a call from the neighbors!

1 hour ago, Ian_Grant said:

For a moment there I thought you were going to try to rig the guns on the ship....Haha...now that would be a real miracle...

OMG!  That is funny!  I'd hand carve a herd of .5mm penguins before I'd try to rig those deck cannons!!!

While impatiently waiting for the glue on the ratlines to dry, I went back to the cannon carriage and made a couple of single and double sheave blocks.  I'm trying to replicate the blocks in the first pic.

Spent the last few days making the channels, stringing the lower shrouds, and attaching the lower ratlines.  Also, if you get close enough to your computer screen and squint hard enough, you can see 2 middle stanchions I added to the hammock netting on each side.

8 hours ago, Keith Black said:

This is my first real attempt at building a model ship.

Seriously?  Wow.  I would have never imagined that.  Based on the quality of the build, I assumed you had been doing this for many, many years. 

I was impressed before, now I am in awe!! 

I think your simulated hull plates turned out very nice.  Love the creative method of achieving that look!

Nice soldering skills, Pat.  Love the jigs you've made to hold things in place, which is something I always struggle with.

Superb work, John!  Congratulations on a job very well done!

Here's my attempt at a new manufacturing technique for the sails.  I wanted to get something resembling the first pic below, which is a painting of the razee version of the Independence.  For the sails in my previous bottle builds, I cut the sails out of muslin and glued on thread for bolt ropes and panel seams (2nd pic).  For this build, I wanted a better look for the bolt ropes.  Also, instead of highlighting the panel seams, I wanted the reef bands to be more prominent like they are in the razee painting. 

Sooooo.  I dug out the seldom used sewing machine from the bottom of the closet to see if I could overcome my pathetic sewing skills and make some better looking sails.  I tried a bunch of different things and finally settled on regular thread and a very narrow zigzag stitch for the bolt ropes and a straight stitch with fly tying thread for the reef bands.  I did ok at sewing straight lines but, as you can see, I had some difficulties turning a smooth curve in such a tight space for the bottom of the square sails.  They did not come out perfect, but I like them better than the glue-on thing I was doing before.           

2 hours ago, gjdale said:

I think we all have those days, Glen - some of us more frequently than we would like!

 

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

 Having one of those myself today, Glen. I've got a tube of CA that no workie and has caused all sorts of problems. Have never had that happen before and it's the original blend, SG.

 

Thank you, Grant and Keith, for the commiseration!  Like the song says, some days are diamonds, some days are stones!  But I'd say any day working on a model is a pretty good day regardless!

Y'all ever have those days where you just keep screwing things up?  Stepping the masts and adding the yards should have been a relatively simple job.  But no, I kept fumbling and stumbling and bumbling.  First, I measured some of the yard lengths wrong and had to make new ones.  Ugh.  Then I put the main mast yards on the fore mast.  Ugh.  Then I mixed up the gaff and boom on the mizzen mast and had to pull them off and reattach.  Ugh.

Finally decided I had to do stop for a while and do something different.  Something real simple - like put the button on the end of my cannon barrel (bottle).  I found a cabinet pull at Home Depot for $3 that sort of resembles a cannon button.  An old work boot was the perfect jig to hold bottle while the epoxy set. 

After that small victory, I was able to regroup and finish the masts, yards, and stays.  Sails are up next.  I'm going to try and do something different with them, so we will see how that turns out.

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

I keep following you SIB builders I'm gonna do something I'll probably regret. 

I'm thinking a smaller version of your Tennessee in a Tennessee whiskey bottle!  That should be next on your list, Keith!  

Thanks, Grant.  But what I'm really excited about is the new listing under your "Current Builds".  Heading over there now!!! 

WOOHOO!!!  I've been anxiously waiting on this build for months!  Can't wait to follow along and see how you how you put this thing together. 

Looks like you are off to a great start.  I like the way you used the brass pins for alignment.

Brilliant work, John!  Love the creativity for the mast hinges and the laminate spars.  I just finished up a much cruder version of the Aurora in a bottle.  The Antarctic exploration vessels from the heroic age are fascinating ships with incredible stories!  

Masts completed and upper shrouds and ratlines added.  Pictures show the basic process.  I use standard Gutterman thread for the shrouds.  The ratlines are 72D 8/0 fly tying thread glued to the shrouds with Aleene's fabric glue and clipped close with cuticle trimmers. 

6 hours ago, Keith Black said:

A quick update.....I have all the mizzen channel deadeyes stropped and a starboard side mizzen channel shroud in place.

As my son and all the millenials say, "picture or it didn't happen!"  😄

Moving off the deck now!  The next small challenge was the dolphin striker.  The sail plan drawing of the 1814 Independence shows it being split like the Constitution.  I like to build as much of the ship as possible out of wood, but for the split dolphin striker, I just could not put any little pieces of wood together that looked good and had any sturdiness.  So I soldered a couple of small pieces of wire.   Don't tell anyone I cheated!

Next up are the masts.  With each of these builds, I'm trying to improve on the last build by adding a little more detail and/or improve a component where I can.  I figure that's the fastest way to get better at this stuff.  So for the masts, I decided to try a first for me and make them 3-piece.  The overlapping sections add precious height to the overall structure when they are laid over, so I notched the ends where each section meets the one above it.  I am determined NOT to have to rework things to fit the ship inside the bottle when it's time.  I'm also trying a mass production of the mast tops. 

The micro mesh that @Keith Black suggested arrived this weekend so it was time to decide on the fate of the hammock netting.  I really wanted the netting to work because I thought it made for a unique look.  I took the micro mesh and cut a small section out and gave it a very light dusting of black spray paint, then cut it into a couple of tiny strips.  Despite being stainless steel, it cut quite easily with small scissors.  I really like the way it turned out - way better than the mesh stuff I used earlier.  

So huge thanks to @Roger Pellett for pointing out that my original netting was far out of scale and to Keith for finding that micro mesh on eBay!  I never thought of ship modeling as a team sport, but I'm beginning to think it is!

Thank you, Grant!

On to the deck fittings.  Since I have no deck plans for the Independence, I'm making it Constitution-ish.  Based on what I've seen in Constitution build logs, the spar deck is not near as busy as the decks of my previous Aurora and Morgan builds (not counting the cannons anyway).  So besides the cannons, I'm outfitting the Independence with 3 vent pipes, a double captains wheel, a capstan, 4 gratings (with cannon balls of course), and 2 ship boats.

And I immediately ran into problems.  First, the barrels on my spar deck cannons did not stick out of the gun ports quite as far as the barrels on the middle and lower gun decks.  Those stick out about 1/32", so we're only talking 1/64".  But it was noticeable to me.  Ugh.  So I scrapped 14 of the cannons on the display side and rebuilt them with barrels of the proper length. 

The 2nd problem was my gratings.  This is the first time I've tried to actually make something resembling gratings at this scale.  I spent a lot of time building 4 of them using the same mesh that I'd used for the hammock netting, gluing it over a small black square for depth.  To my surprise, I thought they came out looking pretty good.  Unfortunately, I failed to consider how much of the deck would be taken up by the the cannon carriages.  As a result, the gratings were way too big.  Ugh again.  So I scrapped them and made smaller ones.   

For the capstan, I used one of those tiny little beads and stuck it on the end of a toothpick.

I know the cannon balls should be black.  But then they just get lost and are not even really visible.  So I'm using a bit of artistic license here because I want them to stand out just a bit.   

Glad to have you on board, Todd!  You're gonna enjoy the ride!