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JGoff

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Everything posted by JGoff

  1. JGoff
    Looking forward to your build!
  2. JGoff
    Thanks Dan! Of course, you are outpacing me, so I may be looking to you in the next few weeks.
  3. JGoff
    Thanks! Yeah I am considering rigging gun tackles. I did purchase the 2mm blocks from Syren just in case I decided to go down that rabbit hole. Just so you appreciate the size of a 2mm block and threading the rope through is a patient endeavor. I’m using .25mm from Ropes of Scale.
  4. JGoff
    Life has been busy with many different responsibilities, so my time in the shipyard has not been as much as I would like. But I have finally painted and assembled all the cannons, which are the purchased 3lbrs from Vanguard. I will rig them with breech rope before gluing them to the deck. Next up I am working on the channels, and the strops for the deadeyes defeated me. After fighting with them for a while and splitting several in multiple places, I thought I might could do them with the 24 gauge wire that I had purchased. Making several attempts at that, consistency in size proved challenging so I made a little jig using one of the kit supplied strops, nails and a block of wood. The one at the top is with the kit supplied strop and below is with the 24 gauge wire. It still takes a little fiddling but the jig will offer some consistency and more dignified speech. Any thoughts on the use of the wire as a substitute? What do people generally use if they are making their own parts? Thanks for the input and dropping by!
  5. JGoff
    I love the detail on the companionway. You (and Dan) are really elevating this build, and I look forward to what’s next.
  6. JGoff
    Your work is absolutely stunning. It has been a joy to follow along, and I will look forward to your next ship!
  7. JGoff
    Wow! Congratulations on completing your build. This is truly outstanding work.
  8. JGoff
    I’ll pull up a chair and hang around if you don’t mind. I have been appreciating the fact that you have dove right in to the work. The first layer of planking is looking good, and I’ll be interested to see how the pear turns out for your decking. What motivated you to choose pear?
  9. JGoff
    Indeed! And you are absolutely right. It has been a little journey of sorts and not quite knowing the path I’ll take to the final destination. At least for my first build this has been my process. Perhaps for my next build, I’ll do some planning, but this one is all about just figuring it out and trying to stretch my skills. Every time I sit at my workbench it is a new task to work through one piece at a time. I appreciate you stopping by and for your kind comments, Roger.
  10. JGoff
    Thanks for the likes guys! A quick Sunday afternoon update as I have finally gotten around to spending the time to engage the blackening process. I followed the article “Blackening Revisited” and I’ll summarize the process here: 1. Pickle in sparex for 15 mins 2. remove with copper tongs and place items into baking soda solution water to rinse. 3. Place items into acetone for 10+ mins using gloves from this point forward. 4. Place in blackening solution with hot water at a 1:7 ratio agitating gently to expose all surfaces for 3-4 mins 5. Dry for 10-15 mins and polish with dremel. After following this, I decided to give the parts another bath into a fresh blackening solution mix for 10 mins and this seemed to do the trick. And in case I decide to make my own eyebolts and such, this just arrived: Getting this project done now frees me up to finish the rudder and canons. Till next time!
  11. JGoff
    Thank you, Andrew!
  12. JGoff
    After much thought, I did decide to mark the waterline and paint below. I’m not entirely pleased with the result so I will have to back and sand and add some wood filler. The lines of the planking are quite visible. Seems like most painted hulls I have seen are smooth. Are there any thoughts on this? From a distance it looks decent but zoom in and all the little faults are visible. To mark the waterline, I used the waterline marker that can be purchased at Vanguard. First I measured from the plan sheets the bow and stern using a caliper and made the appropriate marks. Then I clamped the keel in the vise, made the necessary adjustments and marked the line. It was somewhat difficult to mark without the cutter tilting, so I had a little assistance from the admiral to make it work. On to the guns. At the moment, I am sanding the gun carriage wheels, but the carriages and guns have been partially painted, as I painted the carriages prior to removing them from the sheet. They are quite fiddly so as I have noted from others, a jig would be helpful for assembly. And finally, with the cannon barrels, I painted those matte black, brushed with gunmetal weathering powder and used hairspray to seal (it is what I had on hand). Here you can see the difference that the weathering powder made. Thanks for dropping by and for the comments and likes.
  13. JGoff
    After purchasing a vise from the local hardware store, I decided to give the fret saw another go. I found that I needed to adjust a few things from the laser file for the bowsprit support, so instead of doing that I just used the fret saw to cut new pieces. While it is still challenging to get a perfectly straight cut, sandpaper came to the rescue. I used files to create the grooves and the beveling, and for the peg that will be inserted into the bowsprit, I used a 2mm drill bit and clamped the pieces into the vise to help with making sure I didn’t split the wood. Here is the difference:
  14. JGoff
    Slow progress this past week, but I have built out the companionway and crossbeam/mast bits. For the companionway, I took some inspiration from HM Trial. I used my #11 blade and cut out the various pieces from a 1/16” sheet of cherry. I thought it would make it more interesting to scribe wood planks and doors, etched with a pencil to make it more pronounced. I feel like it it might be too pronounced? After a few coats of WOP, I do think this as an overall improvement and am content to leave these natural. Here are the results alongside the original pieces. I’ve dry fitted a few of the pieces to see how it all goes together. Thanks everyone for the likes and comments. I appreciate you stopping by.
  15. JGoff
    Nicely done!
  16. JGoff
    Absolutely stunning! And you took some really nice shots. Perhaps my favorite was the photo of the bow from the perspective of your two figures. Really compelling, and you can appreciate the just how immense these ships were.
  17. JGoff
    I ordered 1/8" cherry sheet from Modeller's Sawmill so that I could begin scratch building the deck furnishings, and it came in at 3.47 mm thick. With a little sanding, I'll get it closer to 3mm. Joe was also kind of enough to include a sample of both Boxwood and Alaskan Yellow Cedar, of which I have planned use for my next build. My goal is to rebuild the deck furnishings as they are in the kit but with a wood that is not going to disintegrate on me. However, as I got to measuring and attempting to cut out the pieces, I found that using the x-acto blade to slice through 3.47 mm wood sheet was not going to be very efficient. Each cut has to be perfectly perpendicular or else there will be angular cut, which in my case, was exactly what happened. My answer was going to be in a fret saw. Not very expensive, but a vice would be helpful for stability, which I do not have...yet. So what the heck, let's just give it a whirl and see how I do! That also proved difficult on a first try...similar issues, and I thought that perhaps I could make it work, but will need to cut wide and get the final shaping with sanding. After taking a night to mull it over, the Admiral suggested the use of the laser printer, which we have and it would at least provide for precise cutting. Mind you, I've never used the laser printer...that is the Admiral's domain. The program used to produce the shapes are pretty straightforward, though to do more "shaping" of the pieces seems to require a bit more skill on my part; nevertheless, after measuring out the basic shapes for the cathead, swivel gun posts, bowsprit support, crossbeam, mast bits, and pawl post, I designed those for the laser printer programming and made the first attempt with a piece of acrylic to make sure the cuts would have the precision I needed. That worked well here are the results with the cherry along with the previous pieces, acrylic and my drawings/measurements [with caliper]. Obviously, I'll need to get the x-acto blade out to do some carving and shaping as these are very much unfinished, and I still have to determine how best to make the bowsprit support side frames and windlass. I am starting to take a look at the rigging plan using Lennarth Petersson, and if I use that as my guide, there will need to be some modification or reconstruction of the windlass. Also, ordered the sample pack from Ropes of Scale to help my future purchase from them for the rigging, particular to see the difference in the colors available.
  18. JGoff
    Congratulations on the completion of your build!
  19. JGoff
    Thank you, Glenn, and I appreciate the advice.
  20. JGoff
    Thanks Thukydides! We shall see where the journey leads! Much to figure out and see what plans or logs I can utilize for scratching some of these parts.
  21. JGoff
    Thank you for the compliment. I have not really considered leaving the hull natural, but I may now give it a think.
  22. JGoff
    I took some time to try and figure out how to do make the slots on the cathead. With a 3mm wide piece of kit supplied walnut, it was difficult to properly set my drill bit without splitting the wood. I had the idea then to create a shallow channel with the dremel on a low setting which worked beautifully on a scrap piece of walnut. I tried a few different times until I was able to have satisfactory results which you can see here. I then set to the task of working on the actual cat heads and the first went well, but on the second one…not so much. The wood practically disintegrated. As a result, I find myself at a crossroads. My goal with this ship, in part, was to work out of the box while making a few improvements. I wanted to get a basic handle on some of the fundamentals, planking and rigging. Since moving on to the deck furniture, I lost a post for the piece that is placed at the foot of the mast, so I had to make another one. That turned out ok. For the bowsprit support, I did some general shaping of the ends and lowered the support to accommodate the bowsprit. And for the most part, I’ve been happy to attempt to modify a few pieces. In this build process, my thoughts have gradually shifted into making a few more improvements. I’m considering taking the plunge and ordering the new blocks from Chuck and line from Ropes of Scale. I ordered some 3lber cannons from Chris Watton, as well. At this point I’m wondering if maybe I should order some wood sheets, maybe boxwood or cherry, and just scratch build the deck furniture, including the windlass. I’m not sure yet how I’ll proceed, but it may be good to go ahead and order some wood. While I wait I can start working on the cannons to keep the project moving. Thanks all for dropping by. The likes are appreciated.
  23. JGoff
    Congratulations on the completion of your build! Your log is a great gift to the community, and I will look forward to your next one!
  24. JGoff
    Thank you for taking the time to check out my log, Dr. Per, and I appreciate the kind words. That’s a beautiful little build you have and good to see that the brass rods provide good stability!
  25. JGoff
    I was able to get the stern fascia worked out after sanding as much as would comfort would allow and am pleased with the result. The sanding did result in a slight more upright stern fascia than what angle of the counter frames seemed to suggest. No fuss in adding the main and upper wale, and I have added two coats of WOP to the basswood. The first coat I did with an old t-shirt, and it caught some red paint on the gunport causing it to smear a little. I used my handy xacto #11 to scrape it out, lightly sanded and added the second coat. I’m debating on whether or not to paint all white below the main wale or just below the waterline as the plans call for. Finally, I have started fiddling with deck fittings, and as noted on other logs, the bowsprit support is situated too high, so I have taken it down a notch. I need to plug the hole for the peg and drill another one. Before I mount anything, I am working out how to mount to the base and have purchased some 2mm brass rod. I may post more on that later. A little more fiddling to do with the deck fittings but my next significant effort will be to start blackening the brass parts. There are an abundant of posts and discussions on this, but have settled on attempting this method from Greg (Hebert - I think): As always, thanks for dropping by.

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