Der Alte Rentner

Thank you Gregg, Bob and Mustafa. I had the exact same thoughts as Gregg and Bob this morning, and reached much the same conclusion as Mustafa. It's too late to move the upper part of the carriage. However, Since I haven't yet glued the front wheel pieces to the remaining 19 carriages, I could simply glue these further back under the carriage to get a smidge closer to the ports. Not enough to really matter, I think - and if one looked carefully, one would question why the they were placed there. Were I to do that, I may as well ditch the wheels altogether and glue a small rectangle to the bottom of the carriages in lieu of the wheels - saving time and effort in shaping those infernal cast parts - period! I'll experiment with that to see If I can get away with it. Another thought was to try to trim/carve the waterways back without destroying them or the planking butting up against them. (Danger, Danger, Will Robinson!) 🤔 No, I'm don't think I'm going to attempt that. Plan C - Maybe I can attempt to make some extension out of brass and affix them to the business end of the carronades? I think matching the color and "finish" of the rest of the carronade will be problematic. Plan D - Replace all the carronades with long gun barrels? Costly, and I'm sure I'll get an earful from the historical purists out there. Or I can go the way of Bob Hunt himself. Ignore it.. I took a much closer look at Chapter 11, page 42, of the practicum and realize that Bob himself attempted to conceal the issue in the way he photographed the carronades. Of course, he used the crappy materials from the kit, which did afford him the luxury of a couple extra millimeters, but even his carronades fall short of poking through the gunports. Here's a photo from Chapter 12 that I think clearly illustrates that Bob fell short, and didn't care(?). After I submit this post, I'm going back into the early pages of this build log and issue a caveat to others about the error in the Practicum that led to this dilemma. I knew then the waterways were not according to plan, but I didn't realize how big a difference it made until now.

Oh snap! Thanks to a mistake I acknowledged way back when when installing the waterways, my carronades do not fit well on the spa deck. The waterways are way too big and I can't get the carronade anywhere close enough to the gun ports to look good. Hell's bells, not even the longer parts that came with the kit will reach the gun ports. Sigh.. See last two photo in this set to see what I'm talking about.

Very impressive Jon. Do not take this the wrong way, but I'm pretty certain now that I will skip this entire process, if I strike out on acquiring manufactured versions of the canopies.

Wow! talk about a labor intensive process.. In the end, it all comes down to the results. And yours are spectacular.

As I mentioned on my post to your build log, I plan to follow in your footsteps for the long guns on The Spar deck. I did do a quick online search and found this sketch of the rigging that I foresee you, and subsequently me, employing for the long guns.

Once again Mustafa, beautiful work! I can hardly wait to see how you rig the long guns, given that the long guns do not have that ring at the cascable. I just decided to jettison the MS kit carronades and go with the set I got from Czechoslovakia. So, my plan will be to steal your rigging Technique. 😁

Some whittling was required to get the carronades to sit level in the carriages. The longer guns from the MS kit would not have required this modification, but I think my direction is decided. I'm going to stick with the brass carronades, and stain the carriages the same color as the hull planking. I just couldn't see going with black carronades and red carriages everyone is using on their MS builds. It's just not in keeping with the character of my vision for mine. Drat! The stain I purchased here isn't the same color or consistency as the gel stain I used on the hull. It was the only thing I could find at the local Ace Hardware, so, next steps will have to wait until I return to the shipyard next week. Oh well...

Progress. Slow going, but the assembly line is at least moving.

Nothing to be sorry about. I appreciate the effort. Thanks again

Thank you Gregg and Jon, Sadly, one tool I forgot to bring with me was my Vernier caliper. Measurements will have to wait. So, carronades will be a back burner issue until I return to the shipyard. In the mean time, I will likely go ahead and build the carriages. Keeping Mustafa's caveat in mind, I've convinced myself that I won't have a problem drilling holes for the eyebolts after the carriages are assembled. I tried hand drilling one today. That's not going to fly! I'm pretty sure I can setup the Proxxon mill to handle the holes later. All I need to do is construct another fixture or two. (famous last words?)🤔 I did bring one of the kit's carronades with me. Judging from the plans you two provided, I think these are too long. However, after doing some cleanup and painting it black, I might yet opt to use the MS parts. The rigging issue will thus be taken care of. Off to the pool.. Enjoy the winter up North!

Is it just me? Or are the eye bolts that came with my kit a lot smaller than they should be. Compare and contrast to a picture from the Hunt practicum. Also, because the diecast carronades that came with the kit are in such horrible shape, I purchased some replacements online. (Scroll back a few posts if you don't remember this..) These do not have the eye bolts attached at the cascabel that appears on the ones in the model shipways kit. Hipexec discussed this in his build somewhere on page 31. I can't say I like any of the three solutions broached in that discussion. I really don't want to have to file every single one of the model ship ways carronades, (which I didn't bring with me anyway). But I can't see me attempting to drill holes in the cascabels and inserting eye bolts to facilitate rigging. Sigh..

in the ultra close up, the workmanship is even more impressive. wow!

inspiring work, as always. I'd love to see some photos of the technique you use in rigging the carronades. I assume you do the seizing (right term?) before you glue the eyebolts in.

Thank you Jon, Here's the view from the side showing the wedges. They are there to pair with the hawse ports, that will be added later. While the ports are cut directly into the hull in the Hunt practicum, I've learned that there is some structure added to the hull between the cheek knees. I'm following several builders in adding that feature.

Slow going on vacation, but I finally managed to finish the scroll work. Not visible in these photos are the wedges that I added to the aft end of both of these trailboards.

sehr schön.

Jon, was it you who argued in favor of keeping lines randomly scattered around the deck to show the ship in a state of action? If so, there would be no canopies up during battle. That could be your ticket for skipping them altogether.. 😉

I searched the MSW site and found your initial dialog with Helmarsowick in 2023. I believe his supplier is located in Poland, which suggests the ordering process may be a bit of an issue. I wonder if anyone in the USA offers this product. But, if you do get the details on ordering the printed canopies, I'd likely follow suit and order them too. Thanks Jon

I may indeed go that route. I've seen that post here at MSW and will look it up. Thanks for the reminder.

I'm nowhere near my shipyard and won't be for a few weeks. Please ask again at the end of the month. For what it's worth, I eyeballed everything at the time. I'd have to put a ruler to the base to provide dimensions. Thanks

Very little in life is "straight forward". Seeing what I am here, I may well skip this detail. Could you please take a picture from a distance so I can see how things look from a typical viewer's perspective, instead of the electron microscope closeup? I admire your tenacity!

I was thinking the same thing this morning. Had I thought of it before I packed my bags, I would have done that using my drill press and a jig in the shipyard. Before I assemble the second carriage, I'll figure out an efficient path forward with the tools I have available here (Gulf Coast of Florida). In the meantime, I'll busy myself with shaping the scrollwork. Thanks you

I'm packing up my stuff for my hiatus. I've fabricated the quoins, cut 20 of the kit's belaying pins, built a jig to position the quoins on the carriages and invested in a supply of diamond coated jewelers files. While gone, I will construct the carronade carriages and fine tune the scrollwork. I also invested in a small tackle box to contain everything I might need while gone, cleaned up the shop, set the alarms and turned off the lights. The proxon mill comes in handy again to perfectly position the holes for the quoins. The straight chisel exacto knife does a fantastic job of cleaving those blocks into wedges. It helps that I used boxwood. The fixture or jig to affix the quoins to the carriage is pictured to the right of the carriage, and the quoin to its left. Fixture in place, quoin positioned. Finito. The shafts that came with the carronades from Czechoslovakia are too short. By the time I get home from the shipyard, a small supply of 1/16" brass rod will have arrived, which I'll pack up to take along with the rest, and cut to fit on vacation. I'll have to enlarge the holes with a 1/16" drill. And yes, Jon, I know these are not the correct carronades (at least according to the photos in the Hunt practicum). I'll bring the cast pieces along as well, but doubt seriously I'll try to salvage them.

Scrollwork cut out. Some fine tuning done, but more to go.

Revisiting the Shield artwork project, I shrunk the size of the shield and increased slightly the size of the hairline black border to give me some wiggle room with the scissors when cutting them out of the printed page. The black perimeter should be nothing more than a cutting guide. I won't know how well this turned out until I've cut the shields out and positioned them onto the wooden ovals. If you copy the .jpg image below, it is to the correct scale. Just paste it into image processing software like Photoshop or Paint to print it. I have no idea if the cdr or svg files will be of use to anyone, but they are included below. Bow Scrollwork - Shield plus 105.cdr Bow Scrollwork - Shield plus 105.svg