Dan Vadas

John, you're forgiven - if I was building at 1:96 scale as well I'd have faked them too .
 
Thank you Brian, Aldo, Sjors, David, Pat and Grant .
 
Cathead Caps
 
I mentioned the Cathead Caps a couple of posts ago - here's how I made them, which is a bit different to the method described in TFFM.
 
First I cut the two pieces for the caps from English Box. I glued these two pieces to a block of scrap to make handling/turning/carving a lot easier. I turned the central boss into each piece :
 

 
Next I sanded the four edges to an angle to taper the "rays" and marked them out :
 

 
I carved out the sections between each ray with an Xacto and my favorite modified Chiselpoint :
 

 

 
Last jobs were to cut the cap off the "holder" with the table saw, glue the cap to the end of the cathead and sand the edges at the appropriate angles. The catheads are now glued into the ship. Note that the cap is slightly larger than the cathead. Please excuse the poor quality of this pic - I had four attempts at taking it and this was the best I could do (bad lighting at that angle) :
 

 
  Danny

Thanks Joe, Aldo and John.
 
I turned the 4.5mm x 0.8mm sheaves on the lathe.
 
To cut the slots for the sheaves into the catheads I first drilled a series of 0.9mm holes on the mill. The slots are drilled in a vertical plane, not at right angles to the arms of the catheads so they were set up to the same angles as on the ship :
 

 
After drilling the holes I used the mill to "join the dots". This needed a lot of careful passes for each slot - I went deeper in 0.5mm increments - to avoid breaking the drill. The results were pretty good :
 

 
The sheaves fitted up. A drop of CA holds the pins, and the sheaves move freely :
 

 
  Danny

Catheads Fitted
 
Both Catheads have now been fitted - only "dry" for the moment. I will cut the sheave holes and fit the sheaves off the ship before gluing them in. I also need to make the Cathead Caps, more about them shortly.
 
I surprised myself with how accurately they finished up - not even a fraction of a millimetre difference from the centre line or the baseboard :
 

 

 
The notch for beam #2, and the beam dry-fitted :
 

 

 
  Danny

Removing a Beam
 
Just a small "tutorial" on how I safely removed the beam. This method can be applied in quite a variety of situations - I did a similar thing when I snapped off the Knee of the Head a while ago (see HERE).
 
Step 1. I cut the beam in half so that I could work on each end independently.
 
Step 2. I drilled a series of holes close to the edge of the beam on both sides. This helps the Isopropyl Alcohol to penetrate into the glued joints more efficiently :
 

 

 
Step 3.  Using a narrowed Xacto chisel pointed blade I removed most of the material from the middle of the beam :
 

 

 
Step 4.  A #11 Xacto blade was used to cut along the glue joint. Plenty of Isopropyl was applied before and during this step to completely soften the glue. The pieces just about fall out by themselves with a minimum of cutting. The knife blade is used more as a lever than a cutting instrument :
 

 
The result after a bit of cleaning up with a blade. A final sanding can be done after about 1/2 an hour when the Isopropyl has completely dried out :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you John, Corkbottle and Randy.
 
Catheads
 
The Catheads are a piece of work to make and fit. I used some 12" (scale) thick Swiss Pear to shape the curvature beneath the deck into them:
 

 

 
A word of warning to others building one of these ships. DO NOT install Forecastle Beam #2 before fitting the Catheads - it's impossible to get the catheads underneath the beam when it has been glued in. I had to remove the beam, which meant totally destroying it. I will fit a new beam when all is completed :
 

 
A lot of careful marking, cutting and filing was needed to get the cathead through the bulwark. The first Lodging Knee also needs cutting/filing through on an angle :
 

 

 
The Cat Tail is notched beneath Beams 2 and 3 :
 

 

 
  Danny

And thanks go to Borge, Brian, Sjors, David, John and Aldo. Also all those that used the "Like" button - much appreciated.
 
 
It's not as difficult as it looks Aldo. Thin card templates to get the shape approximately right, and then a little finessing with a sanding stick and/or Xacto knife.
 
On another note, the Rigging Line I ordered from Chuck a bit over a week ago arrived today - WOW, great stuff. I thought the line I'd used on my guns was reasonably good, but it's not even in the same ball-park .
 
This is Chuck's (three-strand) 0.2mm line for the Tackles compared to 2-strand Guterman thread :
 

 
And 0.63mm for the Breeching :
 

 

 
Needless to say, the guns will be re-rigged.
 
  Danny

She will be fully rigged Kevin.
 
Danny

Forecastle and Quarterdeck Carlings
 
There are only a few Carlings on both the Forecastle and Quarterdeck, unlike the lower decks. These mainly support such things as Steam Gratings on the Forecastle and the upper Capstan Step, a Companion and a few Scuttles on the Quarterdeck.
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Tony, Brian, Toni, Grant and Alistair.
 
Brian, the stain was spirit based Wattyl. I've thinned it down even more on the rest of the breech ropes (about 60% turps). The first one can go right down the back under the quarterdeck.
 
Hi Alistair, good to see you back again. Enjoy the ride .
 
Here's a couple of pics of a completed gun. I'm going to show them all as "run out" except for Number 3 which will be at full recoil with a train tackle :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

That looks a bit better I think. Thinned down Baltic Pine wood stain applied with a brush :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Side Tackles
 
The Side Tackles were used to run out the guns. Each side has two single 6" blocks which have a hook stropped to them. One block also has a becket to take the end of the line, which is eye-spliced to it.
 
I've made up one of these tackles so far to see how it looks, and also to give me the method for doing all sixteen of them. In the pics below you can see the attachments to the carriage and spirketting - the line will be tidied up when the guns are installed permanently :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Breech Rigging continued
 
Once I had worked out the length of the Breeching on the first gun I made a jig to get them all the same. The pics are self-explanatory on the method I used. The piece that the gun sits on is a nice tight fit inside the carriage to support it up away from the base - this gives me room to wrap the seizing around quite comfortably. The wires used to hold the two rings were spaced apart for length from the ones on the first gun :
 

 

 

 

 
All eight guns with their Breeching :
 

 
  Danny

Breech Rigging
 
The Breeching is a 4" rope on a 6-pounder. As with all ropes and lines it was measured by it's circumference. The diameter is about 1.25", which is 0.66mm in 1:48 scale. The line I'm using is 0.7mm - as close as I can get.
 
The first thing I had to do was work out exactly how long the Breeching should be. TFFM specifies three times the length of the barrel, but I wasn't sure whether that was the whole rope including the half-hitches and seizing around the ring in the hull and the loop around the cascabel or the overall length without any twists and turns.
 
I've made up an overlength piece which has already been tied and seized around one of the rings. I figured the best one to try out the length on was the port with the most obstructions behind it - any further back and the pumps would be in serious trouble .
 
I used a piece of double-sided tape to temporarily fix the gun to the deck, fitted the eyebolt on the ring into it's hole and looped the rope around the cascabel. This now gives me the measurement I need - I'll undo all but the seizing and make all 8 breechings the same length :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Robbyn and Mark.
 
Hardware
 
The final details of the guns are the various items of hardware - the five Loops for the Training Tackles, the eight Bracket and Transom Bolts, and the two Breeching Ring/eyebolt assemblies.
 
The breeching rings and eyebolts were the most difficult parts to make, as they are joined together but silver-soldered independently so they actually work. :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Quoin
 
Between the Bed and Barrel is a wedge-shaped piece called the quoin. It's function is to change the elevation of the barrel. This was accomplished with the aid of crowbars, and the quoin was either pulled backward to elevate the barrel or pushed forward to depress it.
 
I made the quoins from English Box for a bit of contrast. The handle at the aft end is a cut-off and lightly blackened brass belaying pin :
 

 
Here are some progress pics of one of the guns so far. All that's left to do is make 56 eyebolts and 16 breeching rings, and fit another 64 bolts   :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Trucks
 
I gave a bit of thought on the easiest way to make the Trucks (wheels) without resorting to using dowel - the grain would run the wrong way, although at this scale it would be difficult to pick the difference.
 
The Trucks are 4" thick, the Hind Trucks are 10.5" in diameter and the Fore Trucks are 12" diameter. On larger guns they were made from four pieces of timber with the grain running crosswise to each other and bolted together, but a 6-pounder's trucks were made from one solid piece.
 
I started off by cutting a strip of timber a little wider than the required diameter. I set up a simple stopper jig on my mill vice by CA'ing a couple of pieces of scrap to the top and drilling the 2mm centre hole. Then I cut the piece off square on the table saw.
 

 
To hold the piece into the lathe for turning the outside diameter I used a spare mandrel from my Dremel accessories. The screw was only 1.7mm, so I turned up a small brass sleeve to give a snug fit to the hole. When tightened it held the piece of timber beautifully.
 

 

 

 
I found it difficult to remove the truck from the mandrel, so I drilled a slightly smaller hole than the truck in a piece of scrap. By placing the piece over the hole I could easily remove it by pushing it into the hole :
 

 
There was a burr on one side of each piece after turning it, so to hold the rather awkward round piece without damaging it while sanding I drilled another hole in my piece of scrap which was slightly larger than the diameter of the truck and a bit less than it's thickness. The piece protrudes slightly from this hole, and a couple of wipes with a sanding stick soon removes the burr :
 

 

 

 
A view of the progress so far. The carriage sits on top of a 5 cent piece :
 

 
  Danny

Thanks Mark, Kevin, Aldo and Druxey.
 
Carriage Assembly Jig
 
I've made up a jig to assemble the carriages, I can do four at a time.
 

 
The one in the foreground is completed (for now), three are glued together in the jig, and one is being set up :
 

 
  Danny

Grant, Sherry, David, Brian, Juergen and Charlie - thanks very much for the kind comments .
 
 
Usually over a quiet smoke and a glass of Glenfiddich (of which I have one glass remaining   ).
 
 
I certainly don't envy you the task Sherry   .
 
Welcome to Model Ship World Charlie. From the poem in your Signature I'm guessing you may be building the "Norfolk Sloop"?? Here's your old mate Trim :
 

 
  Danny
 
 

Thank you Mark, overdale, Grant, John, Duff and Richard.
 
Entry Steps to the Waist
 
There are two sets of Entry Steps attached to the fixed gangways, one either side. These have "Winding" treads to transition from the curve in the gangways - quite tricky things to get right as the angles for the slots in the fore stiles are different to the aft ones.
 
I cut the fore slots at 30 degrees, and the aft ones at 27.5 degrees. This gave the required "twist" in the steps.
 
The pics will tell the story of how I made them :
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks Druxey, actually it was quite easy. The hardest parts were shaping the molding around the end return and the small notch above the rudder hinge. Cutting the bevel only took one go (I must be getting better at doing things like that "by eye" ).
 
Quarter Badge Stools and Munions
 
This looked like being quite a challenge, but thanks to the instructions and tips in TFFM they haven't been too difficult so far (I haven't got to the Carving part yet though   ). I'm only fitting a Badge to the Port side.
 
The first pieces to be made, which the success of the rest depend on, are the Upper and Lower Stools. These took some careful measuring and marking out to get the right angles. In fact, I had a failure with the lower stool - I didn't have enough angle from the vertical (12 degrees) the first time I glued it in and had to get the Isopropyl out and have a second go. No biggie .
 
I took the shape of the stools straight from the drawing in TFFM and cut two identical pieces. These need slightly different bevels on their inboard edges to keep the stools horizontal athwartships. Here is one stool ready for gluing in, the molding on the edge has already been scraped in :
 

 
To assist in gluing them to the correct angle I used masking tape :
 

 
The upper stool is quite a bit trickier to make than the lower one. It consists of three parts with a "bell" shaped piece in the middle. To make the centre piece I first cut out the lower portion from some thick stock, sanded the outer face to conform with the lower stool, then scraped the molding, and finally sanded the outer portion to shape on the disc sander :
 

 

 

 
The joints are cut at a 45 degree angle. I glued the three pieces together before bevelling the assembly :
 

 
To ensure both stools were perfectly parallel I used a piece of scrap with two bevels sanded into it as a spacer. The 2nd pic shows the spacer in use, but was only my 1st attempt before I realised I'd got the angle wrong :
 

 

 
Take two, after I got the angles right :
 

 
Last step to this stage, I've fitted the four Munions - more tricky angles, all done on the disc sander. The rough bit of cutting into the Sheer Strake above the bell will be covered by the Upper Finishing later on :
 

 
  Danny

Preparing Tuck Molding and Waist Rails
 
The Tuck Molding covers the join between the Lower Counter and the Hull Planking that meets it. I'm only fitting the Port side. The outer end of the molding needed shaping to return to the Wales. The inner face needed bevelling to match the angle of the Counter  :
 

 

 

 
The same molding scraper was used for both the tuck molding and the Waist Rail. There is a slight difference in the actual molding, but it wasn't enough to warrant making a new scraper (which is quite a job - I'm using the same scraper for most of my moldings, the difference can't really be seen by eye).
 
I've prepared a couple of strips of Waist Raiing, which won't be fitted until after the Quarter Badges are installed. The one on the left has it's molding scraped in ready for final trimming to width :
 

 
The Scraper :
 

 

 
  Danny

But wait John .... there's more .
 
Lower Finishing
 
The Lower Finishing is done in three sections - upper and lower sections divided by the Lower Finishing Rail.
 
I first made the upper piece, which is sanded inward on it's lower edge by about 25 degrees. I then cut the molding in.Then I made the rail and glued it to the bottom of the upper piece :
 

 
The lower piece was a bit harder to make, as I incorporated the Drop (the fancy round bit at the bottom). I carved a representation of three "leaves" into the drop :
 

 
The last bit was easy - glue the two assemblies to the bottom of the Quarter Badge :
 

 

 
Some carving still needs to be done to both upper and lower finishing pieces. This should be fairly easy with all parts fitted to the hull (I hope   ).
 
  Danny

But wait John .... there's more .
 
Lower Finishing
 
The Lower Finishing is done in three sections - upper and lower sections divided by the Lower Finishing Rail.
 
I first made the upper piece, which is sanded inward on it's lower edge by about 25 degrees. I then cut the molding in.Then I made the rail and glued it to the bottom of the upper piece :
 

 
The lower piece was a bit harder to make, as I incorporated the Drop (the fancy round bit at the bottom). I carved a representation of three "leaves" into the drop :
 

 
The last bit was easy - glue the two assemblies to the bottom of the Quarter Badge :
 

 

 
Some carving still needs to be done to both upper and lower finishing pieces. This should be fairly easy with all parts fitted to the hull (I hope   ).
 
  Danny

Thank you Greg - no, the case made it to the bedroom but I DID turn on the workshop lights on my way past .
 
 
Garry ..... is that you ? Thanks Steve .
 
Thank you too John.
 
Upper Finishing
 
Work continues on the Quarter Badge. Here is the Upper Finishing under construction. I made it from English Box. The first step was to cut out the lower portion to fit around the bell :
 

 
Then I finessed the inner face to fit tight against the hull planking :
 

 
The outer face was sanded down to fit the curvature of the upper stool :
 

 
Then the upper section was cut on the scroll saw :
 

 
Finally it was rounded off. The flat section on the top will support a carving of a Crown, and the whole piece will be textured :
 

 

 
  Danny

Preparing Tuck Molding and Waist Rails
 
The Tuck Molding covers the join between the Lower Counter and the Hull Planking that meets it. I'm only fitting the Port side. The outer end of the molding needed shaping to return to the Wales. The inner face needed bevelling to match the angle of the Counter  :
 

 

 

 
The same molding scraper was used for both the tuck molding and the Waist Rail. There is a slight difference in the actual molding, but it wasn't enough to warrant making a new scraper (which is quite a job - I'm using the same scraper for most of my moldings, the difference can't really be seen by eye).
 
I've prepared a couple of strips of Waist Raiing, which won't be fitted until after the Quarter Badges are installed. The one on the left has it's molding scraped in ready for final trimming to width :
 

 
The Scraper :
 

 

 
  Danny