Dan Vadas

Continuing - the shock absorbers :

 
Next up is the reason I haven't updated lately - the 12 (plus 2 spares) bottom dual wheels. These have taken me 8 days to make, the equivalent of tying ratlines on a ship. I'm really glad to see the end of them at last . Here are four of the wheels in the various jigs I made to assist assembly :

 
I used two spacers and a piece of brass tubing to fit the inner wheel to the axle :

 
A finished wheel fitted to the suspension arm :




 
Danny

You are welcome, Mark. It is not a problem to make tiny details and ornaments from this clay although in my opinion the photo etched parts will look better and more professional.
 
Some current pics from the great cabin - furniture is almost finished:

 
 
Now I will make accessories and new panel with weapons.

At last I have painted the furniture using oil paints and also made a trunk according to items from that period.
 


More information about the trunks is here:
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=110763&p=2179361#p2178980
 
I am also working on the Yacht Corsair ii (plastic kit in a scale 1/130), which you can see alongside the Royal Katerine.
 
Best regards,
Doris

Dear friends,
thank you very much for your feedback. I am honored reading your praise and appreciate it a lot.
 
Oh yes, I would like to make my model based on real ships from that period. The weapons are shown for example here:
 

I am going to make new and more accurate replicas of weapons for the great cabin so there will be some changes during following days.
 
Hello Mark,
Yes, I made them for cannons on the yacht Royal Caroline and Sovereign of the Seas as well. I used my favourite modelling clay (Modurit), the result is not bad, though I believe that photo-etching parts are more precise and look realistic.  
On the Royal Katherine I am going to make these small emblems from modelling clay as well and hope, they will be much better than my previous. I will bring pics from the tutorial to you.
 
Here are some pics of my card cannons with clay emblems from the yacht Royal Caroline, scale 1/40: 
 

 
Hello Tom, 
I am flattered. Thank you. I'm sure, there is always opportunity for improvement and that is great motivation for us. I still try to learn a look for new ways, how to do things better. 
 
Exactly, I use these resistors to limit the current for the LEDs and dampen lighting.
 
 
 
tommay1953 + jct:  Thank you dear friends, I am pleased you like my work.
 
 
Best regards
 

Thanks Carl, and to all of the "likes".
 
Construction of the wings begins by placing the shaped ribs individually over the wing plan and cutting a variety of lengths and shapes. The photo below shows some of these ready for use:

Once all ribs are cut to size/shape, the wings are built up over the wing plan, in alphabetical order. Here is what this phase looks like:

Here is a photo of the wings at this stage, removed from the wing plan:
 
 
 
Two wing struts were then made, fitted with hardware and seized with thread – the plans call for them to be slightly different lengths:

Construction of the tail section begins with creating a curved “shaper” made up by laminating three pieces of 1/8” x 1/32” Cherry around a plywood former created from the supplied template. The “shaper” is then placed over the wing plan and trimmed to final size/shape:

Two of the remaining wing ribs are then glued and seized together such that they curve in three dimensions. Here are all of the tail pieces prior to final assembly:

Tail construction then proceeds with the shaper and two outer ribs glued together over the wing plan:

The two inner ribs are then notched on the underside and placed over the shaper. The blob of “yellow tack” is to provide some weight/balance so that the inner ribs set in the correct position:

The Tail Mounting Bracket is then made by first bending a piece of (very) stiff wire to shape and then adding a leather strap, which was first cut to shape and fitted with a “buckle” as well as two slits for the wire:

The Tail Mounting Bracket is then attached to the Tail Assembly:

Finally, some cable (thick thread) was added in accordance with the Wing Plan. Here is the final Tail Assembly:

The next step will be to cover both wings and tail assembly with mesh, followed by final assembly of all parts to the fuselage. The finish line approaches…

It's been a long time between drinks for this log! The usual "life got in the way" excuse applies - mainly work-related - but I have managed to re-commence work on this project in the last couple of weeks - spurred on by receipt of my Medway Longboat kit from Chuck!😉
 
The somewhat tedious process of shaping all of the spars was the next step. 
 
The two spars of shape ‘B’ were sanded square and set aside. Of the 30 spars of shape ‘A’, eight were sanded square and set aside. The remaining 22 were tapered square from two thirds of the way back to the end of each rib. After tapering square, these 22 along with two that were not tapered, were all shaped octagonal. I found the easiest way to do this was using a very small hand plane. All the spars were then given a finish coating of Shellac followed by furniture wax. Here are the resulting spars, although the photo does not really show the shaping terribly well.
 

 
It was then on to the main wing spar shafts. Although the kit provided some 3/16” dowel for these, I used some 1/4" square boxwood stock to make these. After cutting to length, I started by drilling the holes as indicated in the plans while the stock was still square. I then used an approximation of the 7/10/7 rule to draw some layout lines for shaping to octagonal, for which I again used a small hand plane. The spars were then chucked in a hand drill and sanded round to the final thickness of 3/16”. It sounds like a lot of work, but this progressed quite quickly in the end. One end of each main spar was then shaped with a ‘step’ to receive two parts similar to a gaff neck (the part is unnamed in the instructions). These parts, together with the shaped end of the spar shaft, form a housing for the next part called a ‘spring clamp’, into which a wing-tip spar (cut from the spar shape 'B') was inserted. Once all the shaping was complete, the spar shafts received the usual treatment of shellac/furniture wax. I forgot to take any progress photos of this stage. 
 
The spring clamps were shaped from 1/4” x 3/32” Cherry stock and fitted to the spar shaft housings using a dab of glue and three ‘seizings’. Here is a photo of the completed main spar shafts, with wing-tip spars inserted.
 

 
and a close-up of the spring-clamp arrangement... 
 

 
All of the shaped spars, together with the main spar shafts, will now be used to construct the wings.

Hi All,
Thanks for the nice comments guys, I’ve got to say been really enjoying getting some modelling done after being away from it for a while.
This is the last progress update as head off again tomorrow.  Still working on all the bits and pieces needed for the stern decks installation.
These are a couple of simple trunking, which I suspect are lifts for the smaller deck gun ammo and a couple of what I assume are ready ammo boxes.

 
 
This is the lower mast section, which also have a couple of pulleys attached to them.  There is some photo etch pulley wheels to replace the paper part.  I also punched out some styrene spacer disks as the paper part 51d kept delaminating.
I also cheated and used 4 sections of 1mm brass rod to replace the swivels 51b & 51c as again the strips delaminated trying to bend them into cylinders.  The paper used in this kit does not like small tight bends.

 
 
It was easier and quicker to chemically blacken the photo etch instead of painting.

 
 
Finished lower mast section.  The supplied mast part has such extra width I found it easier to just overlap and glue it as the lap join will virtually be invisible once installed on the deck with the other decks above.  In fact this whole section of mast will virtually be hidden.

 
 
Three sets of ladders one of which isn’t finished as still the handrails to do.  I decided to go with the paper ones again.  I didn’t punch the side holes out as when I tried in the past the whole section fell apart but decided to leave white to provide some relief. Likewise I didn’t paint the front of the tread.  I might go back and paint all black...will see.  I had to make the 0.2mm handrails from the templates and fixed them to the inside of the stringers instead of the outside as find they line up better with the deck handrails in this position.

 
I reckon one more session would see me in a position to install the upper 2 stern decks. Oh well, next time.
 
Cheers
Slog

Firstly I must state that I am finding this model extremely difficult and it has required some rework however I have, at last, made some 'significant' progress.
 
So what has been achieved, well I have fitted the first layer of decks and I have completed the lower level skin.
 
I must say I found the skinning to be the greatest challenge so far - how they expect you to align and abut two skins on 1.5mm of bulkheads and decks manufactured in card I do not know.
 
Luckily I thought ahead and 'thickened' the bulkheads and decks with balsa - I know this is against the 'rules of card modelling' but it suited me at the time - the same effect could have been achieved in card but it would have been more difficult to sand.
 
When gluing I switched halfway through from PVA to UHU multi purpose glue as I found I needed greater grab, however this is because I had got the basics incorrect!
 
I was gluing each skin in one go which leads to 'glue disasters' and dents as you try and hold the skin all together with your hands as you wrap it around the hull until grab is achieved.  
 
However whilst work was in progress I received some great advice from Slog who recommended that each skin should be fitted in stages working from one side to the other.
 
Glue at the deck the top (or the bottom as the ship is upside down whilst you glue it!) , set along the glue line with a plastic spatula or such, let it dry and then move upwards slowly to the keel, then around and up again around to the opposite deck, always gluing gradually. This produced far better results as I didn't need to handle the whole skin just the part I was gluing.
 
By the way I also adopted the edge colouring methods in water colours (refer the video I posted in the painting section) and this makes a massive difference to the visuals on abutting skins removing the white edges of the card.
 
Anyway after some rework the results, other than the glue marks which being UHU cannot be cleaned off, are, I  believe, passable given this is my first ever card model.
 
I will replace some individual skins I am not entirely happy with and there will be some tidy up especially for those skins that end at the keel rather than  wrap around and also for the few times I didn't get 'true' abutment between skins - maybe some GSI Creos Mr Surfacer and then paint.
 
However I will leave it for you to decide from the photographs.
 
By the way I will edit this log later to change all the photographs to landscape (apologies just noticed how visually wrong this all looks)







 

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

I go one better - I Scan and Save every sheet of parts as soon as I get the kit. That way I can not only find the odd part which I've already cut out (now what DID it look like?? ) but if something doesn't work properly I can print out a new page (or just the part itself) and re-make it.
 
Danny

Better kits, like Halinski, DO take the paper thickness into consideration .
 
Danny

Note the icon next to the part. This means you roll the piece as tightly as possible, starting from "zero" to the required diameter. This would be almost impossible with anything thicker than 0.25mm paper. You may need to re-print the part on thinner paper.
 
Rolling a piece from a "zero" diameter is also nearly impossible, but the method I found works really well for any parts that are 8-10mm longer or less (see below). I ground the end of the eye off a large needle, leaving a kind of 2-pronged fork. The needle is fitted into a thin-type Xacto knife holder. The paper is inserted into the eye, with about 1.5mm hanging out. Next begin by rolling the holder for two turns until it holds the paper tightly. Apply a thin bead of PVA for 20-30mm to the paper and continue rolling. Apply PVA to the rest of the paper and roll until the piece is done. Remove the part and gently squeeze it round if needed (it will be more oval shaped at first).
 
It takes a bit of practise but I can make a rolled cylinder in about 1 minute, depending on the finished diameter.
 
Note : longer pieces can be done using this method, but it's more difficult. Find the needle with the longest eye you can get to make the tool. My needle has a finished eye (after grinding) of only 3mm, but there are no doubt larger needles out there.
 
To get a better idea of what I'm talking about click THIS LINK to see the post in my HMS Hood build where I show how I do it.
 
Danny

Dear friends, 
first I would like to thank you all for your wishes and I also wish you a successful and healthy New Year 2019, many modelling and personal achievements.
 

 
BTW, here is also a card model ( scratch build)  of my Nissan😎:
 

 
We bought this car nearly 8 years old and it was damaged and neglected. It has been repaired and serves us reliably for nearly 20 years. I believe, it will run for many next years.
 
 
Oh yes, these ITC models come probably from the 60s of the last century. Exceptionally they will appear at auction or ebay, but it is not easy to find new/undamaged or complete kit for a good price. I've made some improvements and added various accessories to achieve better results. Some of them are available in our country: https://www.hismodel.com/ 
Now I am working on another kit of the Yacht Corsair ii and gonna to make complete rigging with sails.
 
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=114818&p=2177922#p2176328
 
Best regards
 
 
 

Happy New Year to you all on MSW

 
Kind regards

Hello dear friends,
I am honored reading your praise and kind words. Thank you all very much also for your support and "likes",  are much appreciated.
Hello Mark, 
exactly, it's also my target to add something special to my models and make them more impressive. I am pleased, you like it.
 
 
Hello Piet, 
You are welcome, I feel happy I can share my work here and bring inspiration to other people.
 
Dear Patrick,
I'm rather a technical type of person, I also like "playing" with real cars -  also do some easier repairs or renovation and make various LED lighting on them. Fast cars are also my favourite hobby.
My 27 years old Nissan Primera (I love this car and have renovated it completely):

 
Previous look of the engine bay:

Current look:

More pics:
http://www.mazdaclub.cz/vozidlo/mazda-ne-mazda-9004
 
Life has taught me a lot, I grew up without my father and there was no guy in the family. So I had to make plenty of "male" work.  Now it is useful to have such abilities.....😃
 
I also wish you a successful New Year 2019 and good luck, health and satisfaction.
 
 
*************************************************************
 
 
I have started to make furniture, meanwhile it is without final painting. It is made mostly from modeling clay and card covered with foils. The chair is assembeld from 28 parts. Soon I will bring more. Just enjoy.
 

 
Here you can find plenty of useful information about real furniture and interior equipment from that period:
 
https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=177&t=110763&start=750#p2174897
 
Best regards,
Doris
 
 
 

Hello Rob and Mark,

Thank you very much. I'm flattered and do appreciate your kind words.  The lighting is one of my most favourite supplements in ship models and brings opportunity to see everything in the interior. I like sitting in our living room and watching illuminated ship models as if I were in the night port.
 
I use gold paint from automotive spray. I have already mentioned this earlier in my log. This is product I use:

 
 
I enjoy watching how the model looks more and more like the real Royal Katherine on Vale's painting, and it's even more impressive with the illumination. The jump into "the unknown", which I started to implement in spring of 2017, despite considerable uncertainty, is beginning to change in reality.
Here are some current pics also for your enjoyment:
 
Kind regards
 
 

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

Gee I hope not . Good to see you back Slog, and excellent work as usual.
 
re: the 0.2mm wire - where did you get it? I bought the last 2 packs of it that BNA Model World had (way back about 2 years ago) and they have never re-stocked it. I can't seem to find any on the interweb .
 
EDIT - never mind, I just checked BNA again and they now have heaps .
 
Danny

Gee I hope not . Good to see you back Slog, and excellent work as usual.
 
re: the 0.2mm wire - where did you get it? I bought the last 2 packs of it that BNA Model World had (way back about 2 years ago) and they have never re-stocked it. I can't seem to find any on the interweb .
 
EDIT - never mind, I just checked BNA again and they now have heaps .
 
Danny

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

Gee I hope not . Good to see you back Slog, and excellent work as usual.
 
re: the 0.2mm wire - where did you get it? I bought the last 2 packs of it that BNA Model World had (way back about 2 years ago) and they have never re-stocked it. I can't seem to find any on the interweb .
 
EDIT - never mind, I just checked BNA again and they now have heaps .
 
Danny

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny

Because you can . When you start fitting all the small pieces to the decks around them you'll be glad you can move the barrels out of the way .
 
Danny