Thukydides

5 hours ago, Nipper said:

Are the bands around the buoys there to simulate the wicker frame, of which they were sometimes made?

 

Nipper

To be honest I am not sure and couldn't find any good answers on this. Lees depicts the buoy with these bands in his illustration and Goodwin does the same in his Alert book. Steel calls them buoy hoops on p167.

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BUOY-HOOPS are the wooden hoops that confine the buoy; and the wreaths of rope that go round the buoy, to which the straps are fastened.

So you may very well be right, I didn't find many other models depicting them and so almost didn't include them.

One thing I forgot to mention in my post which confused me is that steel says the buoy hoops (the ropes in this case) were wormed and served in merchant service, but not in the RN. This seemed a bit odd to me as I would have thought it would be the other way round. Does anyone know why this might have been. It seems odd to serve the slings, but not the hoops.

Log #87: The Anchor Buoys

I have not posted an update in a while as I have been slowed down by a combination of general busyness at work and my current project on the model being very fiddly. As you will shortly see I think I somewhat achieved the look I was aiming for, but certainly there is room for improvement.

I decided to add anchor buoys to the model and so started by shaping some with wood using some spare dowel on my drill.

For reference all the dimensions I got from p192 of Steel (https://maritime.org/doc/steel/part6.php).

In retrospect I think I should have tapered the ends a bit more. Next up was to add some wooden bands. I couldn’t get any clear answers on what the function of these were, but both Goodwin and Lees depict the buoys with them and Steel mentions them on p167 so I decided I would at least attempt to depict them. I used the black paper from the kits cut into thin strips glued with wood glue.

I then painted and dry brushed them.

Next came the most tedious part of the process, making the slings. These were very fiddly parts to make. Given their small size and the fact that they all need to be the same size, even very minor error resulted in noticeable differences. I needed to make 8 of these, but I probably made at least 12 in total. They were served along their whole length (as per Steel) using fly tying thread.

The eye splices etc were made using my previously described method. Once they were all done I took a pair of them and served with my 0.2mm rope around the end to make a double loop with 4 “tails”.

These were then fixed in place using super glue and the buoy hoop (confusingly the same name is used for the wooden rings and the rope that goes round the middle of the buoy) was run through the eyes.

And here is the result. I would do a few things differently if I was doing them again, but good enough for this model.

Finally I spliced a 0.5mm rope into one end for the buoy rope and a 0.35mm rope into the other end for the lanyard. The buoy rope was attached to the anchor as per the description in Goodwin (though it matches what is in Lees). The lashing is done with 0.2mm rope. The length of each rope is long enough to allow a reasonable coil to be attached to the shrouds. I only have one of the anchors done, but the second will have to wait till next time.

Thank you to everyone for all the encouragement.

The garboard looks really good. Well done.

54 minutes ago, JFMJr said:

2 hours ago, Thukydides said:

 

That's what I did.. Built all masts &  spars Prior to installing. Actually just finished attaching all completed masts and bowsprit to ship. It's time for some rope!

Just in case I wasn’t clear, I was referring to the rope on the spars (eg rig all the blocks and lines to the spars before putting them on the model). Good luck, the only way to really learn how to rig a model is to try it and figure out what works for you and to make the inevitable mistakes you can learn from for next time :). All the thought you are putting in now will pay dividends later. Just always be looking ahead and thinking about access.

Fantastic!

2 hours ago, JFMJr said:

That definitely seems to be their consensus... The manufacturer says otherwise but I agree with all you guys.. Thanks for the help

One thing to keep in mind is it is much easier to work off model than on. So as much as possible do what you can off model (e.g. rig the whole spar before attaching it to the model). It can be a bit of a drag as you don’t see the immediate progress, but it is much easier to deal with tiny ropes and blocks on a desk than dangling from a model where one wrong move will destroy weeks of progress.

16 minutes ago, Keith Black said:

Obviously I need to try something other than Minwax products, I'm open to suggestions. 

Vallejo matt varnish or ultramatt. I believe they also have spray cans of it. If using an airbrush I use 1 part vallejo satin to 3 parts ultra matt. I find that mix gives a nice matt finish with just a hint of satin so it doesn’t wash out.

In general for small figures like this I would recommend using miniature painting products or high quality artist acrylics. They are a bit more pricy, but they will flow better and the pigment size is smaller so you will get a smoother more consistent finish.

One thing you can do for the skin is to use a flesh shaded wash to bring out the details. I like citadel’s reikland fleshade, but any similar wash will do. If you really want to go the extra mile you can then go back in with a lighter skin tone and pick out the raised details such as the cheekbones and tips of the nose.

With regard to the porous problem, if you just spray them with a miniature painting primer (vallejo, citadel, army painter, etc… all have readily available spray cans), alternatively if you have an airbrush just spray the primer on yourself. I have never had a problem with that not sealing things properly.

Good job.

Congrats and great job.

It looks great, well done.

1 minute ago, Isaiah said:

On the block chart above, what measuring system does it use? Is this in a certain scale or is it life size? 

It is real life, this is a table from the 1700s for an actual ship.

Block sizes are the length of the block and rope sizes are the circumference of the rope. In both cases the size is in inches.

You could just make one. It shouldn't be too hard to do something like that in GIMP. And you could make it as high resolution as you liked.

Alternatively you could easily paint it by hand.

There is nothing quite like the Himalayas. And it is impossible to understand how awe inspiringly big they are until you have been in them. I find even pictures don't fully capture it. Looks like you had a great time.

Not an expert by any means, but here would be my interpretation:

• I would guess a quarter  may be referring to a thin single block. According to steel a quarter block (also called thick and thin) was a double block with one sheave thicker than the other. So maybe in this case it is just the thin part.
• The pins for the blocks were made of wood so an iron pinned one had an iron pin instead of a wooden one.
• Coaking was the process layering the inside of the sheave with a cylindrical piece of metal into which the pin would be placed. I would guess this was to increase the strength of the block or perhaps to make is spin easier.

https://maritime.org/doc/steel/part5.php

14 hours ago, Desertanimal said:

So far I’ve built the model shipways dory and I’m currently painting the sailing pram. I’ve only used the model shipways paint with mediocre brushes. 
The pram paint job is way better than the dory. I attribute that to prep. Good sanding, filling etc. 

What would be the next step up, short of an airbrush? Good brushes is handled, I’m more thinking of paint. Does this paint work better thinned? Is it simply not the best quality? What is? 
Is an airbrush simply the best way to go? 
I obviously wouldn’t have brush marks any more. Is that what I’m striving for or do the brush marks lend a sense of scale?

(I’ve picked through the pinned tips post and will continue reading it.)

 Thanks for your input!

 Chris

 

 eta. I also don’t really have a lot of comparison information. You don’t see many paint close ups on beginner build logs… 

Good reference books on finishing?

So this is a pretty complicated question. It sort of depends what you are looking to achieve. However here are a few things that might help you:

1. As others have suggested there are lots of youtube videos aimed at all skill levels. I would suggest searching for "intro to miniature painting" or something similar.
2. Airbrushing is its own thing, with its own set of challenges and skills to learn. You can get smooth transition with no brush strokes with a brush. They are just different tools and mostly airbrushing allows you to save a bit of time if you are trying to do a whole bunch of stuff at once, but there is a significant investment both in money and time to learn how to use them properly.
3. I did a presentations at MSON and MSWWNY talking about how painting can be used to enhance ship models earlier this year, if you are interested send me a PM and I can send you a copy of it. It is aimed at trying to broadly introduce painting to those not so familiar with it.
4. If you are interested in the detailed application of painting to ships there are a lot of logs (particularly in the modern section of the build logs) where people are painting plastic ships. Alternatively if you want to see some up close pictures of painting applied to an 18th century vessel, I cover a bunch of my work and painting philosophy in my Alert log.

Those gratings look really good Alan.

That is interesting that the orloop gratings were level with the beams. That would imply with planking added they would be essentially indents in the deck. Do you know what this was?

As @druxey said read the article. Between that and the videos from Chuck previously linked in the thread they should answer all of your questions.

If you need some further discussion of how to fit the garboard plank (the bottom most plank) I discuss my thought process in my alert log from the perspective of a first time builder (log# 12). I also in previous logs show how I line off the alert hull which is a very similar shape to sherbourne.

Great job Bob, a lovely build.

Welcome to MSW.

You have picked a nice kit and it looks like things are proceeding smoothly so far. Cutters are fun builds.

Enjoy.

Good to see you back at it. Do you have any shots of the whole ship you can share to see the overall progress?

The planking is looking good.

Welcome to msw. I also came from the plastic modeling world.

I would encourage you to open a build log so you can document your progress and others can encourage/assist you along the way.

Log #86: The Cat Falls & Topgallant Backstays

I continue to pick away at a bunch of outstanding lines and small projects on the model. I tend to work on whatever inspires me in the moment from my list of potential tasks.

First up on this list were the topgallant backstays. Now it is not clear to me if these actually would have been fitted on alert and in some logs people have decided to omit them. Steel does include them in the list of ropes, but that is a bit later, but they don’t appear on the hawk and this is another case of Goodwin’s commentary not matching his drawings.

In the end I decided to include them as this is the arrangement both the kit plans and Goodwin depict and I have already somewhat committed to following them up to this point. Also I feel the top of the model looks somewhat “naked” if the topgallant stays are not included.

Steel calls for 2 in rope which equates to 0.32mm diameter at our scale. I used 0.35mm rope seized with fly tying thread. The kit depicts these stays simply tied on to the channels. Goodwin is not clear on how they are attached. I decided that I would treat them in a similar manner to the running backstays, just hook them onto the channels.

I also decided that I would start work on the cat falls. Steel calls for 12in double block which equats to 4.8mm at our scale. I decided to use a 5mm block. To make the blocks I scratch built the hooks using the brass pins from the kit and the iron strapping was done with the black paper in the kit.

I then painted all the iron in a similar manner to how I painted the ironwork on the anchor.

The rope is stated to be 3in cir, 0.38mm at our scale. However, I decided to round up to 0.45mm for the rope. I felt the 0.35mm rope looked a bit small compared to the 5mm block and I wanted to differentiate these slightly larger ropes from the other smaller ones near them.

I have not decided quite yet where to tie off the cat falls so for the moment I have it wrapped around one of the posts for the swivel guns.

And here is the current state of affairs (taken before I attached the cat falls).

The links work fine for me too except for the 4th one. I would suggest that you probably need to change that one.

Looking good. Good to see you back at it. 

Great job! She is a beauty.

23 minutes ago, wvdhee said:

It doesn't matter if the build takes 2 weeks more

Particularly given you flew through this build :). I am getting close to the 3 year mark on Alert.

16 minutes ago, brunnels said:

I'm using Syren rope which he describes as a cotton polyester blend.

PVA should work just fine then.