Knocklouder

Bob M.

Welcome aboard. Vanguard Models are really fun to build Lots of help here at MSW/NRG , Look at the logs for the Sherbourne, there is loads of information on it. Good luck on your journey. !!! Bob M.

I could not look at the copper any more the way it looked. They put something on to cover it up. I used Brasso to clean it off. Once that was done the hull was spotted, lots of open seems that were green , Dang I am going to have to paint it. So I ca all the lose plates then brushed on a coat of Testor copper paint. Well I have to touch up the white latter but over all I like it. So while the paint drys over night it's back on the chain gang. lol. 😆. Thanks for the likes , and all your help. Knocklouder.

Good luck on your journey with this kit. It looks like it is full of blocks and deadeyes, and all the rest of the trinkets.Two ships wheels? I enjoyed your last build, pulling up a chair a will follow along. Best of luck. Knocklouder

Look at all those numbers wow, I could never do that. Great work it looks like it supposed to.

Today I have decided to clean the copper. I needed to blackin some more chain, @Gabek requmended Photo-etch AK and it works great. He is a man of many talents and Amazing with his printing figures, I am glad I have met him. Just a bit of buttering him up cause I am fixing to ask him to make and French captain figure. 😉 I cleaned them with Lacquer thinner soak them 5 minutes dryed them off waited 10 minutes then soaked them again for 5 minutes. Looks pretty good but I will spray high heat barbaq flat black , that makes them nice to my eye. I am awaiting plans for the LA Astrolabe aka LA Coquille Corvette , that a freind of mine said were better. He used it for his and its looking good. The best part is it has what blocks and what lines info that will be of great value. Boy look at me doing research lol . MSW/NRG has trained me well, let's see what I can do on this Astrolabe 1822. Thanks so much for take the time for me, and for forgiving me for all my typos and mistakes along the way. I look forward to making more mistakes and learning more. Thanks Knocklouder. Back to , The chain gang I go , lol 😆 🤣 Good bye 'Y"ll'

Hi, when I am making a post and leave than come back the text is still there but any pictures are not. Please don't ask what settings I use lol. Bob M.

Awesome work, it looks fantastic and that's all I have to stay about that. Lol Knocklouder.

Well now that I have calmed down and did some research on this ship, I believe I am in for the time of my life once again. When I started this it was incredibly difficult to understand. I really almost gave up and started my Pegasus, looking at @Moonbug 's log didn't help matters , that is some ship he's got going , fantastic stuff to watch. Thanks for posting that valuable information, and pictures lol. Donkey said we better wait till PFCGP to get back , He can't understand the plans either. We really had to work to get it into shape , but I think we have it. It looks like the shrouds might still be a problem, but I think it should be OK. I install all the chains on the starboard side and will make up the chains for the side as well. But we won't nail them on until Pile gets back. We need confirmation from the inspector. A different set of plans for the Astrolabe are on the way, they are from a French museum when I get them I will tell you about them .ok keep modeling till you drop lol 😆 Knocklouder. PS Thinking of cleaning the copper or should I leave it.????

You diffinly have that party curise atmosphere looking good.. Bob M.

Very nice work. Bob M

Looking very good, the paint job is fantastic, very nicely done.. I have glued pieces of planking to the jaws of the alligator clips, works good, I have to replace one every once in awhile , but I got lots of broken planks lol.. I even filed the jaws on one four hemostats that I have. Your boat is looking fantastic my friend. Very nice. Bob M.

I am back in the saddle again. Great tune. I had to fix the channels and repaint them. There was way to many holes in some and not enough on others. The plans are of no help. I have got a couple of pictures of some idea for the chains. This is what I will do. Now that I got that all straight out we can continue. I will make up the chain nail them to the bottom whaler, done deal. Then on to the platforms, more questions there about the number of holes for the crowsfeet lines. We diffinly got the wind on our backs now full steam ahead. Thank you all. Knocklouder.

Those are fantastic, realistic right down to the eyeball. Wow. What paint did you use if you don't mind me asking? Bob M.

Great work my friend, did you find were to tie your lose end, I look at some of mine. They are tied to a eyehook on the channel , another to the hand rail, also one to a cleat on inside side rail . Not much help I am afraid 😕. Bob M.

They say when you get bucked off a horse best to get back on and hold on lol. Well, I am back to this stage, eventually I will get this right. Remember I have a hard time with words& numbers. What I thought would work won't, I would not like the way the shrouds were looking. I have to fix the channels to many holes I am just going to replace it.and wait for it....start over lol. I have found 9 different pictures of this ship so far, on the computer. I find myself dreaming about how I would like it to look like, and in the back off my head what would the Captain want. I am trying to read his logs but can you belive it his grammar is worse than mine. Lol 😆 This journey that I started over 3 and half years ago is incredible. I am hooked lol. Rodney's work is amazing so far just little things, but between the two of us we are going to make a beautiful ship. Lol the First Mate was not impressed about the idea of me wanting to change the build in book case into a display case. I said why do we have all these books , instead of boxing my models why not box the books. Lol 😆 I have sent word out to PFCGP that I could use his help. No reply yet lol. This is going to be fun the rigging is intense. But at least it doesn't have parallels, the French tried them on , I write the name of in latter. Thanks so much for following along I couldn't have gotten this far with out you all . Thanks. Knocklouder.

Good luck on your journey !! Bob M.

Very nice paint work. Awesome. And your copper is amazing as well. Bob M.

@WGibson welcome aboard 😀, Thus is a fun model to put together, the Instructions are a bit wanting I guess. So if I can help you with anything I will try. The boat is finished, but I have a niece who comes over on Wednesday afternoon and every other weekend. So today we were putting figures on and got a few messages from @Gabek she asked who is that lol. She heard the ping lol.I told her it was my friend that made me the Mark Twain figure. Lol.next question was who is Mark Twian lol. We have been working on the King of the Mississippi when she comes over. Today is a great day to do this, it got my mined off the Astrolabe lol. The niece and I are decision-making for the boat, who go's were and what animals we are going to put on, plus a Farris wheel and the river. She wants to make the river next week. She got a little ruff with the long horns and we need to fix his horn and she broke the maintenance man hammer. So we decide to quit for today. one thing we will do is make these maintenance workers look like they are replacing the broken cam shaft.These will be the dock workers. I told the niece that @hollowneck has a video on how to make water. We will watch it on Wednesday and see if we can get started. Ok fun and games. Good bye from both of us. Uncle Bob and the niece. 🧝‍♂️

Yes haa, the last piece of the puzzle has been solved. I am so excited now. Rodney had a couple of check marks on the plan and a check mark in the manual, they were the same color, so from there I could figure out the rest .. I have this horse barge whipped, just got to put it together. I am finding so much wrong with the plans, wow, but I got it. Now I just have to do it. These are my calculations for the sizes, I still need the colors for the ropes but I know the sizes, just color preference, my choice lol. I had posted a question this morning, but just found the answer lol. So I deleted the post. So now rig the cannons, attach the masts, chain plates and start the rigging. Ezay peesy lol. This is going to be great practice for rigging, some cannons may have to be stowed because of the cannons lids been in the wrong place. All good though lol. Ok on my way , may the fun never end. Lol Bob M.

ÇMore progress on the Astrolabe, the decision about the chain plates has been made, and some assembly has been done. I am letting things dry but the chains are made up. Let's go paint the cannons. I had to put one on for a peek, which lead to another. Soon I had a boat load. They need to be rigged, and no instructions. But I got pictures. . Well waiting for the paint to dry let's look at the platforms. This is the first I look at them in the manual, I have no idea how Rodney got to this point. He has put 7 mm Deadeyes on instead of 5 mm eazy fix now I have to drill some holes for the crowsfeet lines. It's-30 out in the shed so I brought it to the shipyard, it will be a great addition to the tools. I am ok with the shrouds positions, I am letting the chains dry really well before tacking them on. I have all the cannons to rig, so they should be cured when I return to them. But I have to let the cannons dry over night as well. To the platforms it is. The build will be a great time, I reliesed that I have no direction on a lot of things and get to make it they way I want, not the plans, which gives me two ways to do it. Wrong and wronger. The kit is fantastic, great wood lots of add on. Not bad for a barge. But again the instructions need work. Again my apologies for letting my frustration lose, 🫤 I can only claim insanity, I tryed to do it my way not what I have been taught by MSW/NRG. So I gave myself a slap and said gitty up.. Thanks my freinds, may the fun never stop. Bob M.

Congratulations, it looks Amazing. Bob M.

Well all the tracing of the shrouds and ratlines. For Nothing, garbage, worthless 🙃. It seems that the measurement in the manual don't line up with the instructions All my tracing for Nothing lol. So Donkey and I looked at each other and said,....... money for the Surprise, lol. It seems that I can't make any headway. Oh well I think I worked it out.. we continue. Patching the holes, repainted the white and black strips and let it dry. I moved on to the deadeyes. What a mess? I can't really figure out what he got going here. Some peices are soderd some have chain links and a small pile of copper strops. I think. The plans shows nothing. The manual says build them this way but if I do they are way to long. At this point I was about to say, 50 cents for the jar, but this is what modeling is all about. Let's model on. Rodney has lots of fitting and things ,two different plies of belaying pins , rings, pins of all kinds and chains. I tryed a few ideas out, nothing really looked right. As much as I tryed the chain plates were hard to get at least some accuracy to them. Then it hit me, if the manufacturer doesn't care about detail neither will I. Chain plates, so I made them out of chain. This is what I came up with.It may not be right, but it gets the deadeyes on and I still the lower masts to drill the crowfeet lines and start the shrouds. I had to figure out what size of deadeyes and where they go. 7 mm and 5mm are needed for the lower masts. I figure out what's need for the upper later.bI have lots to do before then 🤔. I might even get some rat lines in lol. This is what I am going to do for the chain plates, chain. Lol. The plan is to attach the deadeye to the chain , position it and nail it on to the whaler with some big headed nails. It will do. I was beginning to think that I might have taken on to much, I could not understand most of the instruction and all the parts are in containers and I have no idea what they are. Lol. The First Mate could tell I was getting anxious about things , she can tell it was getting to me. She came down to the ship yard and I told her what I really need is better pictures of what I was attempting to do. Some computer lessons were needed.well what do you know we found some pictures and now I got it. The build will go ahead, it just won't be like the plans or the instructions lol. This is what I will do, the chains will be placed in the right place then Nailed to the whaler. Done deal. I like it, once they are on and the shrouds tied on , it will do. And once the yards and rigging is done the chains will be a distant memory lol. Thanks for put up with my frustration, but I think it will be smooth sailing from here on. We got plans and pictures and the will. Talk soon my friend's Bob M.

I need an assistant. He he is, 😂 Donkey. I think he is the perfect A .. to be my Assistant lol. I reach a point in Rodney's notes, oh my. Apparently mistakes have been made. He followed the instructions, the plan is different from the instructions. We need 8 gun ports we only got 7. The way the plan tell you to put the deadeyes the cannons will blow the shrouds off. I think it was at this point that he stoped, there is a lot of torn pages in his book , and references to a web site that I have to go to latter. I found some notes it possible that he started this model in 2014 / 5, hard to say. But in his notes the guy he was following abandon the plan at this point as well and build it his way. And it looks good. Mine will be different but it will work. Now I just got to put it all together. At least I don't have to stop, I be rigging and adding to my Surprise jar in no time. Lol Donkey let's me know what he thinks of the plans and instructions 😉. I would hate to spend this kind of money on a model to have such bad information wow. But where the is a will there is a way I guess. We are goingto leave the lids alone, shifting the lines slightly to avoid the gun ports we will be fine. So now I going to fix the white, then attach the chains for the deadeyes. The instructions says to attach the chains to the upper whaler. Rodney has them in between the whalers mine will be at the bottom whaler like the plan says lol. Ok, with that roller-coaster day I am very glad I have a plan and going forward 😀. MSW/NRG will have its first Astrolabe 1812 log marked finished, just a matter of time. But the instructions are so bad you may not see another lol. Good night my friends, I hear mooing comeing from the hold. Lol 😆 🤣 Bob M.

Looks like the main railing is lower on the top and at the bottom what ever that is in front of the boat blocks the veiw of railing. Making it look all one peice. Maybe. .Bob M.