Javelin

Thought I'd elaborate a bit on all the wires involved in the anchor handling process. In below picture, No1, horizontal, is the "guy wire", used to manipulate the anchor boom (in and out). No2 is the stopper wire. When the guy wire breaks, the anchor boom swings out uncontrollably due to the weight of the anchor and an angled hinge on which it rests. The stopper wire prevents the boom from flying all the way forward and hitting the gantry or damaging other stuff. The stopper is hanging as a loop alongside the vessel when the boom is fully in (which I will make on my model as well, considering the diameter of that wire, I'll use Veevus for this one). No3 is the anchor hoisting wire, used to pull the anchor, it's veered out when the boom is swung in, to lay it in a curve backwards from the anchor. This avoids the cutter to catch the wire when swinging towards the anchor. When stepping forward, the vessel slowly drags the anchor hoisting wire with it, but due to the large curve, it prevents the wire to end up between the anchor and the cutter. No4 is the sidewire, which, in this picture just drops below the water next to the raised ladder, in this case it lays in a shallow curve that points towards the anchor, where it is connected to the shank. Thought I'd share a pic of the main "weapon" as well. This is one of the many cutter heads, it's still in pristine condition here, but after a couple of hours that paint goes missing of course. It has a double function, the teeth are used to cut the stone/rocks, while it's shape creates a suction/scooping effect that throws the soil backwards inside the cutter head. Inside that head is the suction of the pumps, so they take out the soil and pump it to wherever it needs to go. The teeth are sacrificial and get replaced depending on the wear. There are different types of heads, the one in the picture is for rocks, but there are also multi-purpose heads used for clay/sand etc. They can also be equipped with different types of teeth, ranging from the pickpoints you see in the picture, to narrow chisels or real flat blades for sand, this all depends on the soil that needs to be cut. Additionally the cutter heads have different amounts of blades, depending on the hardness of the soil, lower amounts of blades leave bigger openings and higher production rates, while harder soils require a higher amount of blades to break the stones in smaller pieces, sacrificing on production rates. Although this cutter is several meters in diameter, on the model I've only used a general shape in rusty colour. It's impossible to create an effect of teeth on this +/- 2mm cutter head. Kind of useless as well, since it's mostly hidden by the bottom of the diorama.

Hi @Glen McGuire, Sorry for the confusion, the wire you've pointed at is the side wire, for which I'm using the Veevus (large diameter ). The anchor hoisting wire is smaller in diameter, hence I'll use the Uni Caenis. It's not yet present in the pictures above, since it's somewhat loosely spread over the bottom during dredging. This is done to avoid pulling the anchor out during dredging. It's only collected and tensioned when the anchor needs to be pulled out and moved forward. It's the spread that requires the Caenis to be in a natural/realistic curve, and that's a problem for the time being. For now I'm thinking of spot gluing it with acrylic gel to the bottom at certain points along its path.

Time for another small update. Got more modelling time in the past 2 days than in the last 3 months or so... Something I truly underestimated came next... Although I had rigged that ladder wire, I still had to tighten it. I came to a point where I feared that I had to unrig it and tension each leg separately. The lines were so close to each other that it was nearly impossible to discern the loops. The rope also has a tendency to tangle, which meant that it was crossed on the "wheels" on the ladder and gantry. Luckily I did succeed in separating the loops, tightening them and gluing them on the lower "wheels" on the ladder without unrigging them. I basically looked for a the first fixed point, which was at the sheaves at the aft end of the gantry. I then inserted a 0.3mm copper wire piece and separated the loops from there. I inserted another between the second and third loop. I then tightened each loop, eventually ending with the free end at the aft side of the gantry. I needed to hold it close to the light in order to see it properly. I guess I should pour the epoxy as soon as possible, as I've noticed on previously glued ropes that they seem to lose tension. After the ladder wire, it was time for the side wires. The wires that pull the ship from port to starboard between the two big dredging anchors. The white (will be painted later on) sheaves are called the "tumbling sheaves", they are huge (34 ton each) sheaves that swivel up and down following the direction of the sidewires while the ship is going back and forth. Here you see the starboard sidewire dry fitted. The anchor is also just dry fitted and will eventually be glued in place with the sand-acrylic mixture show it embedded in the bottom. After the tumbling sheave, the sidewire runs up the ladder towards the massive winches in front of the accomodation. I've just wrapped it around the winch drum here without glue for the time being. I'll wait to glue them untill the second sidewire is fitted. @Glen McGuire, @O.B.one, I have to use the smaller Uni Caenis wire for the anchor hoisting wire, but it has a tendency to keep its natural curves/loops (in fact same for the Veevus I'm using for the sidewires), do you have any tricks to make these tiny wires keep a curve that you want instead of tangling around itself? I've been thinking of using CA glue, but it doesn't seem to get a hold on that Caenis thread. It does work for the Veevus. I assume I could glue it to the bottom at certain points to follow a wanted curve.

Great looking hull. Sad to see that damage, but if you'd copper it, it'd be hidden after all. The colours of the wood are quite handsome, so she'd look good without the copper as well...

Again little was done over the past weeks, but at least we're making some progress. I believe this was a mistake in my sequence. I screwed myself by putting that anchorboom and barge loading pipes on portside, since I can't flip it on that side anymore for the work on the bottom of the vessel. I kept the propulsion for last, due to fears of its fragility, but I believe it would probably have survived some handling, while now, it was more difficult to install it... On the surgery table, she received her two "propellors", luckily for me they are mounted in tunnels, and 2 rudders. Propellor shafts are also mounted, centred in the tunnels. She does have a very large behind, resulting in short pieces of shaft sticking out of the hull. And I also gave her the anchor fenders and boarding platform on the side of the hull. The ladder wire, which determines the dredging depth is rigged, but not tightened. I'm using Veevus fly fishing thread for these as they are the largest diameter wires on the vessel, 85mm wires. Same for the wires going to the anchors. For anything with a smaller diameter I will use the Caenis thread. Due to a rather difficult rigging of this ladder wire, I glued it/fixed it, in the center sheaves and will then pull the thread on each side of the gantry tight. When tight I will probably try to glue it at each contact point on the upper and lower sheaves to keep it tight during the epoxy pour. The last free ends will then be glue to deck or a structure on the deck. (the original one passes in a pipe to two giant winches below deck).

Very sharp work. One minor detail, the side light on Starboard is green, while port side light is red. I see you painted SB red...

That's because a lot of members, like me, only become a member after your build/posts were made and discover it later on. Sometimes I put a like, sometimes not. It's mostly when I "follow" something that I really like it. Your build I've been following as one of the first builds since I'm a member. Great job so far!

Considering the great work on the rest of the hull, I'm happy to see that you're upgrading those galleries. Will definately be an improvement.

Great job so far. Do the details reflect the plans from Smithsonian or are those plans more obscure and open to interpretation?

I just discovered your log and with me, probably more readers. Due to visiting from my phone, I'm prone to go to the topics I follow as well as the ones mentioned in kit and scratch as the most recently updated. (that's how I ended up in this topic as well). Unfortunately it also means I'm missing a lot of topics as they disappear from most recently updated as soon as someone posts in another topic, if you have "bad luck", someone posts 1 minute after you and your topic update is missed by many. That said, it's a great build so far, I love the memorial detail as it's something that might be discovered a 100 years from now and someone will be puzzled (or know the story behind it). I can't imagine getting up to your level at some point. No matter what you decide, I do hope to see her finished at some point.

She's a very gorgeous ship. Your model does her justice. She'll look awesome with some colour as well.

Great result. Glossy acrylic gel is indeed difficult to work with. Very sticky and doesn't really flow. You can dilute it with water to make it flow, but does lose its glossy finish then... Your solution definately does wonders. Your coloring of the bottom really gives a great and realistic effect.

I'd say the upper tier is voluminous, not like the model shown above. If it were flat, with a balcony around, the maker of the drawings shouldn't/wouldn't have put a shadow zone on the forward part of the top tier. The shadow should have stopped at the balcony in that case. Of course he could have made a mistake as well. I believe the line distortion may also be a sign of the voluminous dome.

After a lot of hesitation on the real order of installation I've decided to push ahead on anything underwater. The plan is then to pour it in the resin and install the remaining parts when the hull is firmly sitting in the epoxy. Same for the multicat. Still strugling to get a convincing floating line. Although a pretty big line, it's still tiny at this scale. I've first installed the spuds and the clamps on the spuds. I'm also working on the propulsion (you can see one shroud already in this picture). I've opted to do this at the end of this process since the propulsion (like on the real thing) is vulnerable, and I was afraid to break it off during manipulation later on. With those spuds and anchors booms in place, it's a real pain to handle it. I can only lay it flat on its starboard side, since nothing's sticking out there, but I can't sit her up straight nor put her on her portside...

Smart solution for that support. I understand why you wouldn't want that claw to take any weight and your reasoning on the balance sounds solid. We understand....😂

Another small update. I've more or less finished the cutter ladder. The central shaft that connects the cutter to its motors as well as the pipeline from the underwater pump to the rest of the vessel was added. The small upstanding parts are guiding rollers for the side wires that run from the deck of the ship all the way to the anchors. They need to keep the wires clear as the ladder can move up and down and you don't want those wires under tension to touch anything. I'm somewhat stuck as to the next steps now. I figure I'll glue the ladder in place on the ship and connect the rigging between the ladder and the gantry (that moves the ladder up and down). First however I'll have to install the auxiliary spud and clamps. I've also started the multicat/workboat. This one is called Auxilia (named after the Roman Auxiliary army in which Spartacus might have served in his time). She is quite big for a multicat and especially ordered to work with Spartacus as other multicats aren't powerful enough to handle the large anchors etc. She has that regular roll in the front and a typical box shape. She has 3 propellors and a bow thruster in a protruding structure in front. Equipped with two heavy winches as well as two 60t cranes to handle stores, cutters and anchors. She'll likely be placed in following position, to fill up the space in the back. Not sure if the styrene will float on the epoxy and whether I'll need to hold it down during curing or hold it up to keep it from sinking. The blue covered surfaces around are the panels I built to pour the epoxy. They'll be temporary and I could have made them from regular styrene, but I wanted them transparent so I can monitor the epoxy during the pour. They're slightly oversized to avoid the epoxy spilling over the sides, yet not too high to give me more freedom to move around during the pour.

Love the way you finished the edges of the base as well as the overall level of this display

Chances are small that you'll find someone for following reasons: - Most sailors are from Asian countries, generally not represented here - shipwrecks, apart for obscure ferries in distant countries, really aren't frequent nowadays - if shipwrecks do occur, they are generally due to structural failures causings ships to sink in a matter of minutes, taking the whole crew with them (lots of bulk carriers, Stellar Daisy style) You don't really see many ships sinking due to collisions nowadays. With large fires, ships do get abandonned, but most of the time in an organised way with external help, not really using the lifeboats. I did encounter 1 shipwreck survivor (capsized dredging vessel, multiple casualties) in my 15-year sailing carreer, but that's about it. That said, it never hurts to post it here and I do wish him good luck with the search and PhD.

So Mark, you're Sphinx is finished... Time to continue work on this gem maybe?

Hi Johny, the flags don't mean anything, the triangular ones are pendants, they signify numbers and double/triple etc of the letter before or after them. considering they are alternated with normal signal flags shows there is no meaning. It is also normal to have the flags in this order, which is meaningless in any language to avoid offending anyone during a port visit.

I also made a small payment. More of a test to see how this works.

Brilliant work Glen, fantastic display of perseverance. With my limited bottle experience I can already imagine what you went through. And this build went really fast, you overtook my build in no time and with such great results. I also love the way she fills the bottle, not too large, not too little.

Small steps forward. Started rigging the anchor booms. They're held by a large pendant wire at the top and 2 smaller auxiliary wires. Don't forget that the anchor booms are over 40m (120ft) long and the anchor weight itself is 60t (+ force to pull it out of the ground and additional optional ballast weight). I had tiny 0.3mm holes drilled in the gantry to pass the wires through and similar (but not all the way through) holes in the anchor booms to attach the wires. In the original design I was hoping this would allow me to hinge the boom in to pass the bottle neck and then pull it outwards once inside the bottle. Not entirely sure this was going to work. In any case I have glued the anchor boom in a fixed position on the model now. Will make life easier later on. I've also continued on the base with that 2nd layer. Looking at it now, it does look overscaled, I am planning to cover this with a layer of gel to avoid air bubbles in the epoxy later on. Due to the overscaled look of this sand, I believe I would simply paint sea bottoms in any future 1/2000 scale builds, perhaps with an acrylic base to create more texture. I have also added some different shades of green, although I'm not entirely sure anything would grow at such a depth. It does give a contrast with the original sea bottom and the cut parts in the end. As you can see, she also received the barge loading T-pipes. Considering the top view now, I might adjust the lay-out with the floating line going to PS of the dredger and the multicat approaching on the SB side to balance the whole display a bit.

Great solution for getting those halves together, will keep that one in mind for later. Applying that acrylic after the ship is in, will be terribly difficult with that mast and those oars in place. On the other hand it would be difficult to insert and assemble the hull while the gel is still wet... Perhaps apply the gel in the back of the bottle and a bit on the sides leaving a large spot open in the centre for the ship? Then let it dry, insert the ship and add acrylic around it? Just thinking out loud. Didn't apply acrylic to my Sea Installer because of the difficulty to go around objects and smearing it on the vessel. I'll be happy to see your solution.

I was just wondering though, you poured the resin, but didn't put the ship in? Does that mean you'll pour another layer or will you insert it with acrylic gel on top of the epoxy due to its limited draft?