Greg Davis
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Everything posted by Greg Davis
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For the last couple of months I had spent a lot of time working on an Amati kit of a Xebec that I had started back in 2015 - I finished it today and got right back into this build. I've decided to work on the nacelles next. So I've just bent some wet wood around a few of the hoop formers that I had made for the nacelles. The wood strips are 15mm wide, so I hope to be able to cut off two 3mm hoops from each - one for each nacelle. This should help keep the nacelles the same size (as well as reduce the time needed to make the hoops). Two more forms to wrap up. Form #4 will not be a problem, it is the same size as #1; but #5 is going to be a challenge, this hoop will have an inner diameter of 0.25". Later, like for the main pontoon, I will build a jig for attaching stringers to the nacelle hoops.
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Done! Boat with oars in place, anchors stowed, and four falconets ready to fire. There are actually suppose to be six falconets, the other two go on the quarterdeck rail; however, there was a missing support bracket. So I decided to mount the four that aim outward. I've sent a parts request to Amati to see if they can send me a replacement The actual time spent on the kit was minimal considering that nine years have gone by since opening the box. Thank you to everyone that has taken a look at this build log and even more to those that have offered comments and support over the past months. Greg
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Yards are all in place and rigged! Just a few details left to attend to: mounting of the anchors, falconets, and the ship's boat.
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The bowsprit is totally rigged - just two lines so not a huge deal. More importantly, I've had success putting up the first set of shrouds on the foremast. It has been a learning experience! Installing and working with the toggle system feels strange after always working with deadeyes. I hope I get the hang of this soon as there are more than 50 toggles yet to install.
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The yards are now completed, the last steps were to add the rope bindings and then to varnish them. The bowsprit is attached to the hull as are the masts. Here I have tried to get an idea of what the ship may look like when completed. It is now time to get this vessel rigged!
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I made the pieces for the mizzen yard today, as well as the bowsprit. The six yard parts were soaked for about 45 min and have been formed into their respective curves. Currently they are drying over the provided template and being held in place by finishing nails (to big a job for pins). I expect that by tomorrow the wood will have dried and that I will be able to glue the three pairs of pieces together. Here is a picture of the yard pieces as they are this evening (as well as the bowsprit). P.S. the nails are driven into wood under the cork. This work is being done on a building board I had made for a different project where I could hold pieces by inserting pushpins into the cork.
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While I wait for primer on the exterior of the ship's boat to get really dry, I have started to work on the yards. At this point I have the pieces for the main and fore yards completed. Each yard is made from two 5mm dowels. The lower portion of the yard has a conical end and a pair of slots for rigging. This piece is not tapered, but does have one side flattened leaving the piece 4mm thick. I cut the flat by passing the dowel thru my Byrnes table saw. The end of the cut was then squared up with a chisel. The groves were also formed on the table saw by repeated passages and rotation of the dowel. Finally the tip was sanded to the desired conical shape. The upper part of the yard is tapered at the extreme end to 2.5mm and the rest of the piece has also been flattened to match the lower piece. The pieces will later be glued together along the flattened edges. Here the main mast components are set together along their flattened edges. They will be glued together over a curved pattern provided in the kit's set of plans. To be safe, I think it may be a good idea to soak the pieces and fasten them over the plans and let them dry to help form the shape before gluing them together - the dowels are pretty strong and I'm not sure how well they will keep their shape without a bit of coaxing. The mizzen yard will be constructed in a similar fashion using smaller diameter dowels.
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I've spent the last couple of days working on the ship's boat. The provided hull is metal and it has been challenging (for me) to get it painted similar to the wooden parts. It has gone thru quite a few color changes to get to the point that I was willing to start adding the wooden parts. It still looks painted, but is now in a state that I am not ashamed to put it on the ship! The paints are from some of the wood effect collections that Vallejo makes. I have yet to paint the exterior of the boat. I thought it best to wait until the interior was completed as I am having to handle the boat quite a bit at this point.
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Amongst other details, I've added a number of balusters - 6 on the quarterdeck to support falconets on the quarterdeck, and a pair to aid in anchor stowage. The raptor figurine has been added to the front - it is painted a blackish color to match the other decorations on the ship with the exception of the eyes that are now red. However, the most noticeable piece of work is that the three masts have been cut to their final heights and have been tapered. A few holes need to be drilled and a couple of accessories need to be added to the mast before they are affixed permanently and some rigging can be added. I should probably get the bowsprit made up soon. The last major piece of construction will be the three yards. They look to be a bit of a challenge. Each is made from two tapered dowels. The dowels also need to be flattened on one side to form a stronger joint where they overlap. Besides creating a longer yard, the overlapping joint will also be instrumental in maintaining the curved shape of each completed yard.
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A little more progress on the deck. Cannon carriages are in place, the companionway is done (doors face aft), quarterdeck rail is attached (the pillars are pinned and glued), and cleats have been added. At this point I am thinking the model will be fairly minimalistic and that I will not be rigging the carriages - but that might change down the road! A bit more work to do and it will be time to work on the masting and rigging.
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The rudder is attached and the mast blanks fit correctly. Planning to work on the deck furniture / details before shaping the masts and preparing for rigging the vessel.
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Thank you for the supportive comments! I had not really thought about the fact that there could be some 'abusive nature' when it comes to requesting spare / replacement parts. This also got me thinking about the time commitment that Ages of Sail employees need to use while filling the request. So maybe the cost of an envelope and stamp is asking too much, but perhaps a middle ground could be worked toward - especially for people that don't seem to be offenders of the system. Quite frankly, I would never of placed the AoS order if Amati would have had a response system indicating that they could/would send the part! Greg
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The capping rails went in without too much difficulty. The rails for the quarter deck were a bit short, so I created small extensions from scrap wood. Not an issue for me, just cut up a bit of wood to the correct size on my Byrnes saw ... I can see how this would be a bigger concern for a person that hadn't been making a few models and/or had limited tools. Next I went to work on the quarterdeck rail ornamentation. This was something I really wasn't looking forward to, but I think it came out nice. I went with a dark motif unlike the bright yellow shown in the instruction manual. I tried to use blackening solution on these ornaments, but surprisingly it did nothing in terms of color change. So I mixed some flat black and gun metal paint together and got a nice look, very much like wrought-iron. The stern decoration has also been painted this color and it blends into the blue background quite well. I also have attached the head rails. The rudder may come next.
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A couple days ago, I got the gunport wreaths that I had paid for. Blackened and attached the missing one to the hull and glued on the two additional lines of the half-round wales to the port side. Oar ports came next - 9 to a side. It took a lot longer than I expected to open all of these ports with a file. Once that was completed, a few rigging related holes were drilled thru the hull. Finally I painted the inside edges of the gunports and oar ports to match the inner bulwalk color. I believe that installation of the capping rail will come next.
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I'm waiting for the more expensive wreaths from Ages of Sail to fill in the missing wreath. For some unknown reason, I am resistant to opening the package of 14 wreaths that Amati sent me! In the meantime, I've attached 6 wreaths to the port side and started to work on the deck furniture. I've removed a good deal of laser residue and fabricated the cross-beams to this substantial structure that surrounds the main mast: It looks like I need to do a little more shaping before gluing these pieces together. There are also 4 cleats that attached to the sides before it is done. I wish I knew if the structure actually has a name or if it is simply a significant structure for belaying lines to. Either way, it will be an impressive addition to the deck.
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All of the cross braces are in place. A nose cone has been shaped as well - I may try to make this a little more pointed later. It's now a little later. After looking more at the above picture, I really started to feel the nose was too blunt. So with a sanding stick back in my hand, I've tried to make the transition more smooth. I'm good with this (for now)!
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Today I finished adding the metal fasteners. I decided to use 22 gauge copper for them. I also started adding the cross braces; they are being made from 0.015" piano wire.
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Today I received a package from Amati containing not 1 but a full set of 14 gunport wreaths - a big thanks to them! I just wish that I they had sent a note that the parts were going to be sent. Sunday night I had broke down and ordered a several wreaths from Ages of Sail; the bill came to over $15 and the product has already been shipped so no going back on that order. Now I will have enough to build another copy of the boat!
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Thanks for checking this out and I hope you have a good result with your 14bis! I did intentionally fly it into the corner. Because of its triangular shape it 'fits' better this way. Everyone that sees it then gets 'educated' about what is front and what is back on this bird.
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My e-mail to Amati has gone unanswered; however, I have found that Ages of Sail has the part in stock. One of these pieces costs $0.58 - but they want a minimum of $13.45 to send it to me from California. Sort of crazy for a part that go in an envelope with a single stamp!
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Today I cut out the alignment dowel and the hoop forms. Removing the solid disks required making three or four radial cuts from the dowel hole to the hoop. Once the cuts were made, I cut remove each sector of the disc in turn. I think that there were only two disks that easily came out whole. So here is where the project is now: Next will be to add some metal fasteners thru the stringers and into the hoops. The wire cross braces will then follow. Holes have been drilled for these details already.
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I've attached all four stringers to the pontoon hoops and released the whole structure from the jig. Before I remove the solid discs inside the hoops I plan to drill holes for 'bolts' that connect the stringers and hoop, as well as for the support cross-wires. I suspect the cross-wires are actually bicycle spokes so that they could be tensioned.
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This is so helpful! Yes, there is suspension for both hydrofoils. I sometimes have an orientation problem on how they work and need to remind myself that it is the top brackets that are connected to the hydrofoil support post, and this is what moves to stretch the bungie cord suspension.
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