marktiedens

Hello,
 
I started working on the lower masts. 
 
After cutting them to the correct lengths, I squared up the top ends. Then I extended the sides down, where I will be gluing the housings for the sheaves.

 
Now, I notched slots for the sheaves on both sides.


 
Squared up the very top for the caps.

 
I'm not sure what you call these, but I made the housings for the sheaves to go into. The ones for the lower mainmast and mizzen mast are set at a 15 deg angle and the foremast at 3 deg. (this will set the angle of the lower crosstrees)

 
Pieces glued to the masts

 
Foremast notched

 
The 3 lower masts with the dowels tapered and ready for the sheaves.


 
Side view of the angles for each mast

 
Now I will be working on the final sanding and touch-up. Then staining of the masts followed by the installation of the sheaves and woolings (bands) on the masts.
 
Thanks,
 
Frank
 

I have been giving a great deal of thought as to how to proceed with this build. I have now completed the first planking up to the main deck level. To my immense relief, the planks are still straight, which means that each deck installed so far is exactly parallel with respect to the others.
 
Other builders of the RW on MSW have decided to continue the first planking upwards, but I am nervous about doing this. Any planking above the main deck is unsupported by frames, and thus potentially vulnerable if the ship is turned upside down.
 
I have therefore decided to start my second planking at the waterline and work downwards and upwards. These photos show that the waterline has been drawn with a thick black marker.
 
If you look closely, you will note that I am using pear strips which I bought from Jeff at Hobbymill for the planks above the waterline, and the Euromodel supplied strips below the waterline. The reason is to save cost by saving the expensive pear strips for planking which will actually be visible. The planks below the waterline will be hidden by white paint.
 

 

 
(EDIT) I forgot to mention - the 2013 edition of "SHIPWRIGHT" magazine has a feature by Mr. Yankovitch who scratchbuilt the 1:36 scale Royal William. It is well worth reading, he talks about his technique and how he overcame various problems. I bought my copy on Kindle. Amazon link is here:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Shipwright-2013-International-Maritime-Modelmaking-ebook/dp/B00GZ8EPPM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416144214&sr=1-1&keywords=shipwright+2013

Hello Frank
I am not to the masting yet but I do have the dowels cut. I set them in place & cam up with these measurements from the planked deck to the top of the lower masts. fore - 221mm   main - 239mm  mizzen - 195mm. I don`t know if this is 100% correct as every builder will probably come up with slightly different measurements. For example I used 1mm thick deck planking instead of the .5mm planking that came with the kit,but it should get you close.
 
/Mark

Hi Mates,
 
Thanks for your thoughtful comments as well as for just dropping buy, always a pleasure and a source of encouragement.
 
Continuing with the cannon doors;
 
All doors have been sized given the minor size variations on the ports. As Nigel pointed out, my errors were actually in keeping with the way Vasa was probably assembled given its early 16th century birth. Love it when my errors turn out to be OK J
 
Started to put together the opening and closing rope pulls, getting there, need 100 altogether. For the much less visible opening pulls (doors will be open almost vertically) I will only do a single rope wrap not a double, as I’m doing for the closing ropes
 
Those nails will double as the door hinges
 
Using the Proxxon to drill through the door and the inserts. I will use the same hole for the pull and pull eyelets.
Again, thanks for taking your time following along, dropping in or just passing by.
 
Regards,
 
Michael
 
 
 
 

Hi friends:
It seems that I am approaching the final steps, now in the process of placing the sails on the masts.  As the first one I selected the fore sail or fore course.  One thing to mention is the great number of rigging it has:  18 lines for this sail only!!
 
Here some pictures:
 

 
Thanks for your likes and comments.
 
Saludos, Karl
 

Try this  - it has Fred Hocker from the museum on it .He knows everything there is to know about the Vasa.
 
http://warshipvasa.freeforums.net/
 
Also for a lot of good pictures try this -
 
http://www.wasadream.com/Index/indexenglish.html
 
/Mark

Cheers Max, we work the same way then.
 
I have been working with the tops. It's funny how fast this step feels after doing slow work like the ratlines.
 
What I've done is making holes for the  connections for the ropes/next level deadeyes holders.
 
I also tried to make the skanskläder for the mainmast:
 

 

 

 

 
 
/Matti
 
 

Here's a kit I bought about 20 years agowhenI was in Junior High School. It was my first wooden kit. Needless to say, it was very rough arround the edges when I finished it back then.
So, fast forward to today, I found it again at my parent's house and want to refurbish it.
 
Now so much more is avaliable for refrence and my skills have improved a little bit too
 
Looking forward to any feedback!
-Matt
 
 

A small update - I decided to go ahead & build all 14 gun carriages.I didn`t like the generic kit carriages so I built some from scratch.The sides were built up from 1.5mm square strips.I simulated the reinforcements on the tops& fronts with black heavy paper.The pegs in the axles are made from .020 inch wire. The axle brackets were made from the same wire hammered flat & bent to shape.i have decided to use the kit cannon barrels.Each carriage will have 38 pieces when finished.In the last picture the kit carriage is on the left & mine on the right. Although they are a little taller than the kit ones would have been I am fairly happy how they turned out.
 

 

 

 
/Mark

A small update - I decided to go ahead & build all 14 gun carriages.I didn`t like the generic kit carriages so I built some from scratch.The sides were built up from 1.5mm square strips.I simulated the reinforcements on the tops& fronts with black heavy paper.The pegs in the axles are made from .020 inch wire. The axle brackets were made from the same wire hammered flat & bent to shape.i have decided to use the kit cannon barrels.Each carriage will have 38 pieces when finished.In the last picture the kit carriage is on the left & mine on the right. Although they are a little taller than the kit ones would have been I am fairly happy how they turned out.
 

 

 

 
/Mark

A small update - I decided to go ahead & build all 14 gun carriages.I didn`t like the generic kit carriages so I built some from scratch.The sides were built up from 1.5mm square strips.I simulated the reinforcements on the tops& fronts with black heavy paper.The pegs in the axles are made from .020 inch wire. The axle brackets were made from the same wire hammered flat & bent to shape.i have decided to use the kit cannon barrels.Each carriage will have 38 pieces when finished.In the last picture the kit carriage is on the left & mine on the right. Although they are a little taller than the kit ones would have been I am fairly happy how they turned out.
 

 

 

 
/Mark

A small update - I decided to go ahead & build all 14 gun carriages.I didn`t like the generic kit carriages so I built some from scratch.The sides were built up from 1.5mm square strips.I simulated the reinforcements on the tops& fronts with black heavy paper.The pegs in the axles are made from .020 inch wire. The axle brackets were made from the same wire hammered flat & bent to shape.i have decided to use the kit cannon barrels.Each carriage will have 38 pieces when finished.In the last picture the kit carriage is on the left & mine on the right. Although they are a little taller than the kit ones would have been I am fairly happy how they turned out.
 

 

 

 
/Mark

Hi guys:
 
Continuing with the sail details  I arrive to the Lateen sail.  At first it appeared to me that the form to arrange the folding rigging lines, according to the Plan, was not logical.  So I tried to see them in the pictures of the 1:10 model at the Vasa museum and Clayton´s  and although it is difficult to see the details one thing is clear: there were different.
Revising again the drawings in the Manual instructions I noticed another inconsistency between the drawing that comes in the Plan and the one in the Instruction manual and although is not complete it seems to be the correct one.  Finally I decided to use the latter with some part of my own.
 
PLAN:

 
MANUAL:

 
MY OPTION:

 
Saludos, Karl
 
 

Ah, the final ratlines of this stage is done, phew. I was bound to make mistakes as it was my first time, and the final mast became better than the first. But I'll look at the mistakes as lessons learned and move on.
 

 
I made a side by side with one of my ref pics, and besides the oversized deadeyes and that I didn't get the right number of ratlines/spacing, I'm happy with how the shaping of the ratlines came out.
 

 
Now  it will feels good to make other things like finishing the tops and planning for the railings.
 
 
/Matti
 
 
 
 

Build log part 66
 
 
 
update for Sail making
 
 
guided by the sail Arrangement (overview) I made 1:1 drawings of every one of the 18 sails
 
The Rating is transfred to the starched Cotton Cloth and prepared for sewing with greyish Color thin Polyester sewing thread.
 
For the bolt rope I use 1mm diam. ( greyish color model ship rigging rope in Polyester)
 
 
Have just finished the first two sails, spanker and main top sail, but still have to attach cringles and  reefing strops. Gues the sail making shall take quite some time from now on to get all 18 sails completed
 
Found this on the web for duck-Standards on Britsh sail Cloth :
 
Sail making, Cloth sizes
Standards for British manufactured sailcloth were enacted in 1746.
In Addition to requiring British sail makers to mark each new sail with his Name and adress, the size of a bolt of sailcloth was standerdized at twenty-four inches wide. The seam was 1 - 1,5 " wide
 
In scale 1/64 this results to 9 mm sail Cloth-width
 
 
 
Nils

Thanks for all the likes everyone!
 
Just a minor update.
 
I successfully removed the 2 pin rails over the cannon and was able to clean things up.
 

 
I made 2 more kevels
 

 
Attached them to the sides of the ship
 

 
Now onto the masts!
 
Thanks,
Frank
 

Hi Mates,
 
Continuing with cannon door assemblies; I first looked through the 60 or so inserts that I cut out looking for those that would fit right away. Found a few, some minor edge sanding, and then glued the outer parts of the doors with the inner trim pieces.
 
Used a bit of painters tape to stabilize the outer doors from moving to make it easier to adjust the inner parts before the glue set.
 
Noted their locations and then used hobby masking tape to fix them to their correctly adjusted places. I know that if I had not taped them on my location drawing, for sure the paper would move and well…you know (;-)
 
This bit is sort of fun, though I have to figure out how to drill in two eyelets for the ropes (opening and closings). I’m thinking of using only one eyelet and then curving the backside that will face the hull. This is probably destined to create breakage. I have very little working room after the lions are glued into place,
 
Two eyelet pieces one on each side is probably the best solution….attach the ropes, then the hinges followed by the lion heads.??
 
Yes, I need complete the chain plate bits first, been very lazy with this, though as you can see its been started. The other side has been completed for all three masts.
 
Thanks again for dropping by.
 
Regards,
 
Michael

And now the large triton at the waist.  The kit sculpture was a little odd - it looked sort of like a sarcophagus - so I reshaped it a bit.  The sculpture lies across three of the wales, so I needed to add little blocks to fill the gaps.  Also, there is a rope line of some sort that passes through the sculpture, so one of the filler blocks has a transverse hole cut in it that will allow the line to pass through.
 

 
With that, it's time to move up to the group of sculptures at the beak, starting with the complicated scenery under the beak deck.

Hi guys:
 
These past two weeks I finished fixing the sails to the spars corresponding to the main and mizzen masts.  Also adding more details to the sails and spars:
 

 
Thanks for your likes.
 
Saludos, Karl

I just finished making the upper railing slots and dry fitting for the starboard side.
(glad this is done!)
 




 
I also took this time to drill the belaying pin holes on both sides of the ship lower railings.
 



 
I sanded down the supplied belaying pins, in order to thin them down. I will stain them later.
 
Dry fitted belaying pins



 
So now I only have a couple of minor things to work on before I start the masts in a week or so.
I want to make 2 more kevels and place them where I will be removing the belaying pin rails above the cannon.
 
Thanks,
Frank
 

That`s a lot of frames - looks like you really have your work "cut out" for you.Pun intended .What kind of wood are you using?
 
/Mark

Hi Mates,
 
Moving along, now starting on the cannon doors. Wanted to replicate the example from the original, so thought that the pics below were an acceptable solution. Pics are self-explanatory so I’ll remain brief J
 
So after 100 of these I should be done except for the hinge pins and installation.
 
The last pic is just a demo, need to square and make adjustments. I know that in the original the insert planks are vertical, and that mine are attached horizontally. A compromise, but so it has been going with this build  - hmmmm..
 
As usual thanks so much for visiting, “likes”, very kind and encouraging comments, and just dropping in for a look….
 
Regards,
 
Michael

A small,but possibly useful update Work has stopped on my deck 'treenailing' as I have now been waiting a week for some more drillbits to arrive
I have decided to start producing the deck clamps 'in the rough'.These are made from 3mm thick pear sheet and spiled,profiled and prebent where necessary to conform to the inside of the hull.This is not helped by the fact that the tumblehome changes direction right in the middle of these pieces.My plan is to make and bend the sections overlength and add the hooked scarph joints to the ends a little later.
I have started at the bow,a paper template was made for the shape and pieces cut to suit oversize in height and length.The top edge cannot be accurately established until the deck beams are dry fitted and the hull cutouts used as a reference.The angle of cut of the top edge also changes massively at the bow as the profile is in effect twisted.
I soaked the piece to be bent for three hours in water,then this was placed in the kettle and boiled up.The strip was first worked in my fingers to ease the bending process.The strip was then clamped to the inside of the hull and left for 3 days!!!!.Upon removal absolutely no spring back was experienced.The final job for now was to dish the matting face to suit the tumblehome.
The second one is now clamped in place and is resting for it's 3 days I will continue with something else for the rest of the weekend
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Working on the keel stem & sternpost the shortcuts begin right off.
 
Quoting from Peter Marsden's book Mary Rose Your Noblest Shippe : "The cross section of the keel varies throughout it's length.  It's midship portion has an uneven hexagonal shape whereas fore and aft of this it becomes deeper and narrower with rebates for stealer planks cut into the upper part of it's sides".
 
hmmmmm.... ok, at the bow and stern it is rectangular as you move amidships it becomes hexagonal in shape that changes over the length of the keel.   Well,  Chidoken did it for his cross section.
 
I thought about it overnight.  Not whether I would try it, but if I should switch to something easier.  That made my eyes go crossed just reading the description.  I knew I didn't want to try that.
By the next morning I decided that as I am modeling the whole ship the keel shape isn't going to be that noticeable a detail for the amount of effort it was going to require and I made the keel assembly as would on any other model.
 

 
Next up are the frames.
 
Although there is a great deal of information on Mary Rose there are still many questions.  After reading through the information I had I am still not entirely sure of the framing arrangement.  So rather then display the framing by leaving one side unplanked I will just have viewing ports on one side to enable the interior to be seen and leave off strips of ceiling
so that the framing is an interesting bit of detail behind the ceiling planks. 
 
OK, to get started with the framing.
The plans showed the frames to be fairly evenly sided and spaced.
 

 
But on drawing on page 105 of Mary Rose Your Noblest Shippe show something far different.  I will use this drawing as the basis for my frames sided dimensions and location,  of course forward and aft of the diagram will just be a guess.
 

 
Mary Rose's framing was unique for a vessel of her time.  An article I found online gave a good explanation of this.
The Structures of Atlantic Shipbuilding in the 16th Century, by Brad Lowen:
"In the case of the Mary Rose, the concept of tying each frame timber to a specific element in the frames design had become impracticable because the arcs were too long for the available timber supply.  In particular, long enough first futtocks could not be found to cover the bilge arc, the futtock arc and overlap with the clamps at the first deck.  The solution adopted by the builders was in some ways a precursor to the double-sawn frame.  Instead of overlapping the the floor timber and the first futtock, these pieces were laid end-to-end, and a second timber laid between the frames in order to reinforce the area of the end-to-end joint".
 
This illustration from Marsden's book shows this and the hexagonal keel.
 

 
So far I have sawn and sanded several of the midship frames and most of the frame blanks for the rest of the hull, haven't begun to glue any on yet though.
 

 

 
 
 

Excellent job Matti! I read on the Vasa forum that the shrouds may need to be configured differently according to Fred at the museum. Are you going to continue with yours or wait until the rigging book comes out? Have you heard any news as to when the book is due out?
 
/Mark