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Caferacer

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Everything posted by Caferacer

  1. Caferacer
    I'm trying to foresee what rings or other rigging features are needed on the deck or rails before adding the furniture. I just know once a place a piece of furniture I'll need to drill a hole somewhere nearby, and it'll be blocked. So to that end I started the gammon strap, This is a good time to do it as well because I haven't finished the bow where it meets the bowsprit so fitting the gammon, especially before painting the bowsprit will save rework or damage. Once I got the first one where I liked it, I made a mirror version, wiring them together to even them up with a file and ensure the holes were drilled properly.
  2. Caferacer
    On this build, I have discovered just how much bend you can put into wood, with proper prep and some patience. I honestly figured "I'll give it a shot" and dang it worked great. I added the boom buffer early, because I wanted to be sure it fit under the plate, and I painted most of it in advance. While some seams might show, I think adding these strips later, was easier than over sizing the top plate/monkey board, and getting the profile uniform and even.
  3. Caferacer
    Working on several aspects at once in a way. Finishing the top rail details, and adding the chainplates. I'm also picking away at the hull painting.
  4. Caferacer
    As an aside, here is how I have used Sculpey in the past; for the cheeks on the bow of the Sultana and the decorative windows. The cast pieces didn't look great nor did they fit against the hull properly, so I used Sculpey to fit them and bring some detail.
  5. Caferacer
    Thanks for the kind words!
  6. Caferacer
    Garage season is over, and 100+ plus degrees here in Arizona, so back to inside activities! Since last update I have added the top rail and the monkey board. I used Sculpey to to make the curved section where the monkey board meets the top rail. I've used this material before and it's a great solution to hard to form parts, or where tiny details are needed. I used it a lot on the Sultana.
  7. Caferacer
    Same here, they just seem so elegant, I'd love to dig into all the complex rigging of a British Man of War, but then there are all those tiny gun doors! lol Thanks for the comment
  8. Caferacer
    Thanks Joe! Your log really helped, there is no way the deck would have come out so well without the tip of adding the sub-deck, and removing the timbers from the frames. Now only if I had remembered there were two false timbers between each frame section.. Your rigging on the Latham is amazing, and the build has been inspiring.. The final chainplate "bolts" are a little out of scale, of course now that the are painted I see this, but I have plenty of material I can remove to improve it. I mean there's no hurry, time enough to get it right.
  9. Caferacer
  10. Caferacer
    The fixture worked out well; the plates are all coming out even and identical. Time for some paint.
  11. Caferacer
    Working on chainplates, I wanted to use thinner brass, but couldn't find any. So I thinned out the ends with a file, and got a good tight loop. I also machined a fixture to drill the mounting holes. As I mentioned when I was drilling the holes for the rudder pintles the drill walked so they are not as even as I wanted. This fixture should make the hole spacing and they should be well centered., then I will trim them to size. Hard to tell teh scale, but those are M4 screws and 0.028" (#69 drill) holes
  12. Caferacer
    At this point I've got the deck and bulwarks painted, but not quite ready to start the top rail. I want to consider the right way to approach it, bent 1/4, or 1/2 inch that I trim and shape. I think the latter, but I want to think a bit. Scuppers are cut and cleaned up after this photo, prow is mostly shaped, and cut for the bowsprit. The hull above the water line is just primed. When cutting the scuppers I realized I somehow miscounted the timberheads! There should have been 2 between each frame section, and I only added 1. My next step will be creating the chainplates, that's going to require some work, based on the "lessons learned" from creating the pintles, I want to create a fixture to ensure the chainplates are drilled evenly, the drill walked a bit while making the pintles and given the prominence of the chain plates I want them as uniform and identical as possible.
  13. Caferacer
    Using a similar technique I made a couple of buckets. Also shown the completed gutting trays and the net. The cheesecloth was very easy to work with, so I'm looking forward to creating the sine net as well.
  14. Caferacer
    Thought I wold share some previous accessories; I tried a few ways to make barrels, the one that worked best was turning some soft wood in the lathe. I then created an "index" mark on the lathe chuck, then draw a tool across the round to create even grooves representing the staves of the barrel. I then marked and tapered the the individual barrels while in the lathe, and drilled the hole through the round. Finally at the workbench I carved the details to the staves, and wrapped the "sapling" around the barrels before cutting off each barrel. I didn't drill all the way though so some barrels could be "closed". Using a small chisel I cut back the the face of the "closed" barrels to create the recessed lids. All this was made easier by having a decent piece of wood to hold on to while working. Hope all this makes sense. I made a lot, and using different finishes, so I can pick and choose.
  15. Caferacer
    Finally got back to work, the deck sanded down well. Lost a few timberheads, this seems to be happening a lot, however they are easily replaced. Bulwarks next!
  16. Caferacer
    Decking time! It went easier and quicker than I expected, however the strips provided by MSW are not the same. I think it will all sand down fine, but I bought extra 1/16x1/16, so I should have been more selective. In order to bend the planksheer I built up the transom with balsa. Worked great, in addition to soaking the plank for a while, I "pre-curved" it with my hand. I know they sell pliers for this, but just gently bending it to "loosen" the fibers of the plank, it took the tight curve of the stern well.
  17. Caferacer
    Almost finished with the masts, the spreader lifts are done, and they are assembled, finished off with the top truck.
  18. Caferacer
    Thanks Jacques, I'm starting back to work on the hull. I think I'm going to plank the deck, before finishing the monkey board or top rail. I think having the deck "clear" will allow me to plank using full pieces. Meanwhile, I've been doing a few other details. The boom rest, and the foresail boom, rail thingie. Also the pintles.. almost out of brass strips.
  19. Caferacer
    Meanwhile the hull is done and primed. Once I have a lot of the mast details made up, the spreader and mounts, I'll get back to the hull. The planking isn't perfect, I need to work on tapering the bulkheads. Even after making lots of measurements, I still had some planks "miss" the bulkhead. Also the way the planks meet the transom, yikes. I'm not going or obsess about the gaps in the planks, as long as they are stable, I've worked glue into the gaps to be sure no planks "pop", if the planks show, well, it's a planked boat, they will show.
  20. Caferacer
    I did not like the dowels that came with the kit, and hardwood like these were bound to frustrate me, so all the masts and spars are laminated basswood, then carved down to the right size and shape. While they are not perfect, I think they will stain nicer, and the grain being finer will look better at scale. At the same time I'm making the bands, these are from brass strips, curled and soldered. I put a coat of matte spray paint, then a coat of flat with a brush. The kit supplied cast parts as well, also I made up the spreader struts off the drawings from copper wire.
  21. Caferacer
    Tiny turnbuckles.. I really thought about this one for a while, I didn't want to just paint wood bits, or use sculpy, so after a few tries, I soldered up these. I think after painting they represent turnbuckles well.
  22. Caferacer
    And we're almost caught up to where I'm at. (planking the hull) I remade the windlass brake bar, it wasn't the right size and didn't fit into the pivot casting right, I also made new links. In general the castings are OK in this kit, other kits I have tossed most of them as the scale it wrong, or they just don't look right. The MS Sultana for example, I build up the windlass from scratch as it was all wrong. The Latham windlass is very good in this kit, as were most of the brake parts.
  23. Caferacer
    Like a crazy person, I did fully plank the cabin. I also constructed the sky light in a way that I used painted copper wire for the bars. On all the furniture, I'm leaving off the bottom trim, until they are on the deck, this way I can match the contour of the deck when they are in place. All the furniture is built measuring from the deck surface. This way I can make full length deck planks and not "work around" hatchways or cabins, if needed I could carve away the deck planks, but I want them to be full runs so they curve and fitment is tight. The ports on the cabin are leather rivets. They are the right size and I will add a flat finish to them. A bit of a short cut, but one that I think worked well.
  24. Caferacer
    I did something similar for the main cabin, this tapers in both directions, so this buck allowed me to frame it nice and square. Also shown is the start of the skylight.
  25. Caferacer
    I also have utilized my 3D printer, I made a frame to build the gutting trays, it held the sides square.

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