Rustyj

Hi Glenn,
 
I just caught up with your log before heading off to work. It was a pleasant way to start the day.
As far as knocking things loose it seemed that no matter what I left off or how much care I took I
was always knocking something off.  

I am so close to having blocks...the best available in stock on my website once again.  I hope you will agree that the wait was well worth it.   It shouldnt be long...
 
I am going on vacation in a week or so but hopefully once I get back I can slowly start listing them as available.   A much needed break down to the beach with my extended family.  About 16 of us crammed into a house on the beach.
 
Thanks for your patience in waiting for these...a small batch of each size initially but then more will follow pretty quickly I hope.
 
Some sample photos.
 

 

 

 
 

Half of the quarter deck
 
There is a saying, or if there isn’t there ought to be, the small seemingly simple stuff, is neither small nor simple.

I started work on the quarterdeck with the process of measuring and fitting the beams. Lots of char to remove on each (Lots Of Char To Remove should be the name of a rock band), then finding center, which the red center ruler is great at doing, then cutting the right size and the right angle for each to fit. Not complex but obviously accuracy is a must for them to fit properly in the clamps. I spent a lot of time long ago making sure the opposing clamps were both level and square, that paid dividends now as the alignment (distance, height, and square) of the beams was not a thing I had to be concerned about now, though I constantly checked nonetheless.

Then came the laborious process of taping then painting the beams with multiple coats of red.

While I don’t need them yet I went ahead and did the forecastle beams since I was having a scrape, measure paint kind of day(s).

The final “beam” rests against, and has to conform to the curve of the transom along with a matching board that eventually will terminate the deck boards. It was back to the iron bending station for me to get a match to my particular transom. There was a lot of test, try, fit, repeat for me to get it where I wanted it. With that done the next trick is to make sure it’s level with the beams both vertically and horizontally. I probably made it harder than it needed to be as this took me some time to get the precision required - so simple in concept, not so easy for me to achieve.

The transom beam is supplied as two laser cut boards glued together, I didn’t like seeing the glued seam on front once in place so I added a piece of moulding left from chapter 3. Hilariously in the photo it looks like the seam of two boards layered together, it actually has some relief, is boxwood, and I think is a better finish than just the layered boards (for something that largely won’t be seen once the deck is in place, but there’s a lot of that in this chapter).

A nice “iron bracket” is achieved with laser cut and weathered pieces, it makes for a nice finish along with some side trim to bring it all together. This will be largely concealed by planking, but I know it’s there and it looks nice so there’s that.

I took a bit of a diversion to assemble the three mast coats. They consist of three laser cut rings (two for mizzen) so to sand and shape each layer then assemble them together I ground dowels to fit the inner diameter, put that with each ring in turn on the lathe, removed char, shaped them, then glued the layers together using the same dowel.

Reversing the coat on the dowel then made for a good way to center up and align the coat to the partners.  Like the cannon trucks I don’t seem to get as much char removed as I’d like. But as Chuck points out that’s not easy to do with the end grain of the wood so it is what it is. His suggestion, and a good one too late for me, is not to add WOP as that accents the char even more, better to leave them natural. Of course I asked the question after I’d done exactly that. I think they generally look pretty good though.

As you can see I elected to paint beam 12 red on front and natural on back to match up with the bulwark. Not sure why, seemed like a good idea at at the time.

Next up was laying in the cabins and once again what is simple isn’t. All our models are different so each piece of the two walls have to be sanded and adjusted to fit both vertically and with it’s neighbor and a tight but not to tight fit below the beam, with the two walls consisting of seven pieces this took some time, especially match up to the bulwarks. The hinges and door knobs give it a nice look. Here I needed a little creativity. The layered door knobs are very tiny - the captain’s cabin doors used those. However more than a few disappeared somewhere in my workshop and I ran well short. My wife saved the day with a bottle full of tiny black beads I used on the forward wall I needed 28 gauge wire to fill the center, but with that and black paint I can’t tell the difference between the two walls.

With the first two cannon permanently installed the cabin areas are complete (still happy with my custom cabin floor). You might notice the quarter gallery roof rail has been knocked off. I’ve done this multiple times, so many that I’ve had to ask Chuck for replacement parts as I’ve used up all the spares. I was smart enough to leave off the rudder and port lids, I wish I’d also kept those galley roofs off to the side for a while as well. 

I was stuck on the companionway railing for some time. I carved the first post on the lathe from strip wood to a shape I liked then did three more (well five more). I had the idea of using rope initially, after getting it on I didn’t like it and decided to go back to the recommended wood (fake iron) railing.
 
After painting then treating with weathering powder the posts were pinned to the combing. Neither simple or easy is squaring up four posts on a curved combing then glue in three exact, and I mean exact measured rails squared and leveled.  A couple of little jigs (not shown) helped but those feisty little posts and rails were a major pain for me. The fact they’ll be covered with decking didn’t make it easier for my mental state.
  
Days, or maybe it was weeks and months, later I did get there. They are on and they are square. Mini-me says just don’t touch anything. 

With four more cannon permanently pinned to the deck I moved forward with painted beams supported by lodging and a couple of hanging knees. These required more char removal and more painting. The lodging knees are mostly an easy fit, the hanging knees require a good deal of fitting to conform to my bulwarks and around the deck clamps. For some reason the paint seemed to bleed through the hanging knees despite careful taping. I don’t seal the wood before painting perhaps I should have. Later these will all be fully covered with planking so I’ll enjoy these photos now. It is cool knowing they are there.

With that I’ve reached installing the previously made capstan along with more beams and knees then some major fun stuff near the waist. Again the port lids are temporarily installed, but now I have a quandary. If I permanently install them am I more or less likely to knock a cannon loose (see quarter galley roof rail) that won’’t be the least bit easy to fix. The easy answer is don’t knock anything loose, too bad I seem to be good at doing so.
 
Thanks for stopping by. Your likes and comments are always much appreciated.

Sixteen people in a beach house? You're going to need a vacation from your vacation!

Finally finished coppering. The darn rudder took 5 hrs to do.Got to at last turn it right side up again. Taking a hint from another member, notice the lazy susan turn table I got. Makes moving it a lot easier.

I’ve finished the frames excluding the bow and stern frames.  I want to determine how to all these frames together before I decide how to create the bow and stern.  Neither will be easy.  To be honest, so far, nothing has been easy.  But that’s what makes this whole project so interesting and fun.  I have some photos of the frames lined up and it’s obvious that I will need a lot of sanding sticks before I even start to think of planking.  Summer is almost over and I’ll be heading back to Brooklyn to continue working on the Pilot Boat Mary.  I’ll try to divide my time between both models.

Carronades
The 4 off carronades have been fully built and I am really pleased with how they look.

They also look nice when added to the cabin. As can be seen in the next photo there is a slight error with how I aligned the inner bulwark pattern (yellow arrow). As it will not be seen once the poop deck has been added I am not going to worry about it.

The captain is a little bit happier with his cabin. The table and chairs have been oil painted. I have no idea how long it takes for oil paint to fully dry. They were painted over 24 hours ago and they are still not dry. I will probably add a green baize to the table top before I add the maps and charts.

I am now going to be AWOL from the shipyard until a week on Saturday as my wife and I are travelling to Budapest tomorrow for another river trip as we enjoyed the one last month so much. This time down we cruise down the Blue Danube, visiting places such as Bratislava, Esztergom, Durnstein, Vienna and Salzburg. My wife loves the Sound of Music so she is really looking forward to visiting Salzburg. I am looking forward to visiting Durnstein whose castle imprisoned Richard the Lionheart in 1192 after he was shipwrecked on his return from the crusades.
 
 

Cheers Guys,
 
As it happens in the past week, I have received my printed pictorial build album.
 I have done one of these for all my builds, it is a shame not to use all those build photos and record those internal details lost from view.
 
A few pages to give a flavour.

9094

9095

9096

9097

9098

8926(3)
Once again, thanks for your support, much appreciated.
 
 
B.E.
05/11/2022
 
 
 

Post Sixty-three
Guns, guns, and more damned guns.
Busy days down at the Gunwharf with production in full swing.

1698

1707
1703
The guns were given a further coat of Vallejo black to ensure that none of the unwanted striations showed through.

1705

1725
Chris  was thoughtful enough to include a spare carriage set, and a number of spare wheels and other bits  to cater for any mishaps.
Just as well, in my case a couple of wheels did ping off into the ether during over enthusiastic de-charring, never to be seen again.

1728
At last, all but two guns more or less finished.
The casting of two of the guns failed, and replacements are hopefully en-route from the Foundry.
 
Still some tidying up to do, before a trial fit aboard Indy.
 
B.E.
16/08/2023
 
 

Post Sixty-two
Looking at the Guns -part two
The barrels
The Main armament consists of 24 pounder long guns, 9½ ft Armstrong pattern versions, reproduced in resin which is the way to go in my opinion. Saves all that brass blackening and includes details such as the touch vent and monogram.

1654
24 pounder Indy gun in the raw.
The barrels contain the monogram which can be seen to be there, but difficult to see in detail, except for the cartouche which surrounds it.
This surprised me a little as the monogram on the much smaller 9 pounder guns (Sphinx) seemed much better defined, and to my eye look better without a cartouche. Was there ever a cartouche?

5849
Nine pounder Sphinx guns.
 
A small issue maybe for the 24 pounder guns on Indy where this detail will be mostly hidden from close view, but the two 12 pounder Foc’sle guns will be fully on show.
 
There is an alternative should I be motivated to use it.
Syren produce delightful little George 111 fibre board monograms in two sizes.
 

1719
Here is one attached to a damaged 24 pounder, I do prefer the look, but I’ve spent enough time on the guns, and I’ll live with the 24 pounders as is. I will use the alternative Syren monogram detail for the two fully visible 12 pounders.
 
Finishing the barrels

5934(2)
With the Sphinx guns (above) I simply washed, dried, and sprayed with fixative before treatment with weathering powders, I used Revell rust, dark brown, and deep black.
 
Buffed up and the gun was good to go.
 

1659
Not sure that will work with the Indy guns, using this treatment the finish is not satisfactory, and I am concerned about the visible  striations  running along the barrel.
 
Plan B

1675
The gun is gently cleaned up using 600 grade paper between the reinforcing rings, and painted with Vallejo Black, much improved I think.

1677

1680

1683

1684
So paint and weathering powder it is.
 
B.E.
14/08/2023
 

Thats where we will eventually be.  The Admiral has me down there on weekends looking at potential new houses.  With a little luck we will find a place where I can drop a few lines in the water in the early morning….and haul up some fresh crabs for lunch.  
 
its the Beach or bay in my future.

I always love getting to see Chucks work in person. As it really allows you to see how precise it truly is.
Just a bit envious though.  

Cabin Screens
Using the spray mount adhesive the three cabin screen parts were glued together without any curling. With the quarter gallery inner bulwarks clamped in place the basic cabin screens were test fitted along with the two pear deck sections which sit either side of the middle screen.
 
Everything seems to fit together. In the first photo I did place the forward most screen the wrong way round.

The forward screen has now been turned around.

The quarter gallery bulwark test fit.

The second cabin area with deck parts test fitted.

More work is required to complete the screen assemblies such as adding window frames, Columns, painting, etc. The quarter gallery bulwarks also needs to be painted. I have received some oil paints today so the quarter gallery furniture (table and chairs) can be painted.

Not sure enjoyment is the right word Glenn, but there is a satisfaction to be had  from a nicely completed set of guns.
A bit of overkill with Indy where there are 40 of the beggars to assemble, of which 28 are long guns. There is a lot of work in doing the guns properly - char cleaning, assembly, painting, blackening and adding ironwork,  weathering the barrels, rectifying flaws, ........
 
How would it look without guns I wonder😉
 
I'm starting with the long guns, and hope to basic assemble four or five per day.
 
Five already done, Twenty-one to go.🙄
 
onwards...
 
B.E.
 
 

I recently completed the first 24 guns for Winchelsea. So fun to make one. By the 24th, in batches of 8, maybe less fun. Enjoy your gun factory works😊

Post Sixty-one
Looking at the guns - Part One
 
The carriages are laser cut from 2mm pear and are nicely detailed, incorporating the bracket lines.
 Part of the design includes a tab at the front end to slot into a mortise in the deck to hold the carriage in place. (The guns are added later)
The system should go a long way towards preventing the rattle of loose guns rolling around the lower decks in places they can’t be retrieved.
The drawback of this system is that cap squares are of necessity omitted as the guns are fed thro’ the ports to be glued into place.
Not much of a loss where the decks are to be closed in, and better than loose cannon.

1687
My first job is to make a simple jig to hold the parts that make up the carriages which consist of four separate pieces for the main structure.

1688

1689
A jig speeds up assembly, and there are a lot to assemble.
There is the usual issue of square axles fitting round holes on the trucks. The merest pass with a sanding stick is required to knock the corners off the axles to allow fitment of the trucks. It is a fine line between fit and the square peg in a round hole image.

1691
It is impossible to get a proper fit to the truck with undersized square axles, as the above photo shows.
Ideally the axles should be slightly over size to allow for accurate rounding. I suppose they could be shimmed, but that’s a lot of extra work.
On a practical note, this deficiency will not stand out once the guns are fitted.
 
The trucks are a miniature delight complete with engraved bolt holes and section joints. There is enough room on the axles for the addition of truck keys for über detailers.
 
As with previous kits I am not generally keen on the supplied eyebolts that represent the hoops on the carriages sides that take the tackle hooks, but with this chunky 24 pdr carriage, they don’t look too bad.
 
I did feel it necessary to modify the one fitting to a ring bolt to take the breeching rope.

1697
In this shot the yet to be blackened ringbolt has replaced one of the supplied eyebolts.
 
The sharp eyed may also notice the handle added to the Quoin.
This is simply a short length of wire with a blob of pva on the end.
 
I won’t be using the peg and slot system for gun securing as access to all decks will be available on my build.
The tab did prove useful to hold the carriages during painting, and scored each side it snaps cleanly away when finished.
 
In part two I will be looking at the Resin gun barrels.
 
B.E.
10/08/2023

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! 😜  
 
If ever I bought from another manufacturer, cough, 😱 it would be for an unusual ship like a mortar/bomb vessel.  Partly why I leapt at the Trial when it came out, just something different to the usual suspects we see built. If you can make these “oddballs” commercially viable all power to you Chris, I like seeing them being developed. 

I always love getting to see Chucks work in person. As it really allows you to see how precise it truly is.
Just a bit envious though.  

I always love getting to see Chucks work in person. As it really allows you to see how precise it truly is.
Just a bit envious though.  

I always love getting to see Chucks work in person. As it really allows you to see how precise it truly is.
Just a bit envious though.  

I always love getting to see Chucks work in person. As it really allows you to see how precise it truly is.
Just a bit envious though.  

I have been progressing with a small/medium kit before plunging into another long term development.
 
All designs/laser cut files are done, including three PE sheets, and now I am working on drawings. Once all drawings are complete, I shall start building the model for the manual, and may do a build log.
 
This is the gun brig Adder, of the Acute Class of 1797. My two main sources state it is a 14 gun brig, 12 x 18 pounder carronades and 2 x 24 pounders in the bow - but they may have been 12 gun brigs, as the only way to get the extra two carronades in position is to fill the stern chaser ports.

I had the opportunity to visit Chuck last week. Photographs are always nice to look at, but being there is always better. At least when it comes to Chuck's Speedwell. He is using an advanced coloring technique to better mimic that of the contemporary model. The model has a subtle look to it where all the parts look proportional to one another and finely done. For example, the moulding that runs through the quarter badge is only 1/32' deep and the badges themselves are quite thin. I think it looks great!
 
Mike

Bollard timbers
More progress with the completion of the bollard timbers. I scratched these with the ongoing feeling that they might not work out for one reason or another. I did have to pull one along with the P1 filler piece, but luckily the glue hadn't set. What I found was that as meaty as these are at 9/32" that the wood would still develop a slight curl when using PVA. There was no good way to clamp pieces together. Generally I like to have some time to maneuver which the PVA allows for. In the end I went with slow cure CA.
 
The paper template seen in the photo was stiffened with card stock. I flipped it back over the cant frames when I faired the curve of the top timbers, as seen from above. I can't stress enough how important it is to use it. It really does take the guesswork out of getting each side of the hull symmetrical.
 
There is always more fairing to do though I think I'm close.

Mike

That looks fantastic Mike. So clean and precise!