yvesvidal

I see that you like French cheeses....
 
Yves

I see that you like French cheeses....
 
Yves

I see that you like French cheeses....
 
Yves

I see that you like French cheeses....
 
Yves

the rings are made in the usual manner.  Wrapped around a 47 drill bit and parted with a razor saw. The bent wire is much lighter and thinner gauge.  In my case here…24 gauge for the split rings and 28 gauge for the codder pin bent and inserted into the deck.

Thank you Jim...
 
I have completed all of the hatches, gratings and partners to be placed on deck.  You have seen how the gratings were made.  The two hatches are pretty similar.  The only difference is they have cover boards rather than gratings within in the coamings.
 
 The photo below shows the laser cut coamings assembled.  There is no need to remove the laser char from the lap joints at the corners.  In fact it probably isnt a good idea at all.  They are precision cut so you end up with a perfectly squared up coaming the correct size.  You can and should sand both sides of the sheet before removing these laser cut parts to clean the char from those sides.  Just glue them up using the same right angle jig provided earlier.   Then sand the char off the top of the completed coaming being careful to keep the round-up consistent. 
 
You can see the smaller hatch completed.  The larger one shows the three cover boards also laser cut waiting to be glued into position.  But this you will also note the ledge created on the inside of the coaming that the cover boards will sit into.  These are laser cut for you and can be glued on the port and starboard insides of the coaming.
 

This photo shows the three coverboards in the coaming.  They are pretty thick, but only so they are flush with the center of the coaming to allow for the round-up.   The round-up along the sides of the coverboards should be sanded flush to the top edge of the coamings along the P & S sides.  I know some folks like to show one or two coverboards off the coaming.  You can do this if you want to.  But then you should sand that roundup into the bottom of the coverboards as well.   But I will show them all in place like the contemporary model.
 

To finish off the hatches...round off the corners using the right angle jig like you did for the gratings.   Trim them down to the top of the deck planking.   The bolts were added using black fishing line in the same way.   The iron ring for handles were made just like those on the lower platforms.  Exactly the same.
 

Also shown in the photo above are the mast and capstan partners.   These are completely laser cut for you.  They have etched lines to show the separate sections.   All you have to do is sand them clean and round off the corners as described earlier for the capstan partners only.  Soften the top edges as well.  Add the fishing line bolts and the eye bolts on the main mast partners.  Now some of these can be glued onto the model.  They are all ready to go so you can start planking the decks.
 
BUT there are a some like the main mast partners and capstan partners that need some extra work.   I will describe that next.   For example the elm pump tubes below the main mast partners and the capstan drum as well.
 
More to follow...but here is a photo with the all of the hatches, coamings and partners simply test positioned on the model.  They are not glued into position yet.   I did however glue the smaller grating and coaming on the forecastle deck in permanently....those are all finished up.  Its getting there!!!
 

The inner planking of the bulwarks ....

As I said in another post earlier today the workshop heated up to a sweat inducing 10c this week, so I made the most of it and did some shipyard work. To be honest if the workshop drops below 10c the PVA glue takes an absolute age to set and even then the bond strength seems weak. At least that is my excuse for slow progress.
 
Anyway it was time to start glueing the frames into the building board. In the following sequence of shots you can see how I am using various blocks to get the frames vertical.

I am also using the rods to ensure the alignment of the frames both top and bottom.


As I am progressing along the hull I am installing horizontal bracing frames.  Where I want to retain the option for doing some below deck detail the bracing is put in at the below deck floor level. Where the below deck won't be visible I am putting the bracing in where it maximises rigidity. As I progress I slide the alignment rods progressively rearward.





After a while I got this far.

 
 

Update
 
all portholes with glassings, all doors with doorknobs and wall boxes for rolled up fire hoses are mounted to the deck housing
 
Nils

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

The helicopter deck has been fitted. A third pipe was installed on both funnel caps. Hangar reconstructed.
All major pieces have need added i only need to glue the forward bridge section
 
 

Syren Ship Models...the ultimate kit with spare parts. What a fantastic idea, Chuck.
 
Yves

Syren Ship Models...the ultimate kit with spare parts. What a fantastic idea, Chuck.
 
Yves

Syren Ship Models...the ultimate kit with spare parts. What a fantastic idea, Chuck.
 
Yves

Nice save....I have a bit of room on that sheet so I have added a second pair of those parts 9 & 10 just in case.   Best to have a back up...   I am watching the current builds closely so I can add extra back up pieces based on which ones might need it if room on the sheet allows.  

When it comes to scrap wood, I very rarely throw it away, especially AYC. Digging around in the scrap box I found a perfect piece. It only took about 1/2 hour to make a replacement, now to continue with the build. The swear jar is happy as is the scrap bin, it got the messed up part. 
 
Best Regards …. Rick

Love your engines and the cockpit looks super.
 
I bought that same ZM Fw a month ago. Beautiful kit.

Hi,
this post is dedicated to a problem that I had once I mated the fuselage halves and wanted to install the canopy included in the kit. Actually, the canopy of the kit is very well made with a very clear plastic, but unfortunately it was found accidentally separated from its tree. Consequently, the plastic in the vicinity of the gate was torn off and stress cracked in the bulk of the part as shown below:

The depth of the of the frame at this location is very narrow and once painted it is not enough to hide the offended area. After some attempts to sand and polish the defect, where instead of improving I worsened it, I decided that the canopy had to be binned and replaced. After a search on the web, I bought two vacuum-formed canopies produced by Squadron.

I must say that I never used these types of canopies and I was uncertain about their quality. The bag contains a blister with two canopies, but only one of them is usable for the model I want to build (i.e. the standard type).

My doubts were associated with the very thin material used and with the necessity of precisely separating the canopy part from the rest of the blister. However, according to some articles, these canopies with their thin thickness are supposed to be even better than the original kit parts. For cutting, as prescribed by Squadron, I used a fresh X-acto blade making multiple passes with minimal pressure while the canopy was supported by a blu-tak plug pressed inside it. I first practiced on the bulged canopy before proceeding with the good one. At the end, the cutting and subsequent trimming fortunately turned out to be quite precise:
Next, the gluing operation followed. According to Squadron and to most of the articles that I read, the most suitable glue to be used is the Micro Kristal Klear. The glue had to be thinned with water to decrease its viscosity and allow it to penetrate by capillarity in the gaps between the canopy and the sills:
 
I brushed the thinned glue along the gap cleaning the excess with a wet pointed cotton swab. Because the thinned glue shrinks a lot when cured, this process has to be repeated as many times as necessary to satisfactorily fill the gap and obtain a fairly strong bond. So far it is going fine, but I will be able to see the quality of the result only when I will brush some paint over the joint.
That's all for now,
best regards.
Dan
 
 

How can those of us who aren't piping engineers know for certain that all that piping wasn't just added to the ship in random patterns? 🤔😉

So now both bunker manifolds are in place. Not on Portside, because on that side the bunkerline is actually crossing over the cargo piping (due to the longitudinal piping rack). So first up is the transverse cargo piping and then PS HFO bunker pipe (DO pipe does run underneath the pipe rack, logics 🤪...)
 
First was lining out the support bars for the piping. I wanted to start aft and connect to the cargo heater system, but decided against it and started on the forward piping. Aft part will be more difficult as it's the part going over the edge of the hatch. It would also have restricted my access for the forward piping probably causing damage to the aft piping, so, first forward. 
 
Since I had the two supports of the manifold piping in place, I could now put a transverse pipe in place to line out the supports. I used normal straight pipes. I'm also building the bent cargo piping on a flat surface to have the bends in a single plane. 
As you can see I held the supports up with some copper wire attached to the beams. I used CA on 1 or 2 vertical supports and normal plastic glue (= slower curing, but stronger bond) on the rest of the supports. 

 
One of the supports near the center was a bit angled in, not leaving enough space for the aft (Inert Gas manifold) pipe to pass. I used a spreader on top of the pipe to keep them at a correct distance while using the support to keep at the proper distance. 

 
Seems to have worked. The 3 forward pipes in place. Most forward is Liquid System 2, followed by Vapour System 2 and Inert Gas line. 
For normal cargo operations the Vapour Return is not used on LPG tankers. Normally the reliquefaction plant will liquefy the vapour coming from the tanks and send the liquid/condensate back to those tanks during the loading operation. 
If for some reason the reliquefaction plants can not handle the vapour and pressure rises too much in the tanks, the vapour return connection can be opened towards the terminal, but in that case the vessel will have to pay a fine (normally vapour return is sent to a flare and is therefore considered a loss). So it's almost always connected to the shore terminal, but rarely used. 

 
This may look like major progress, but it's not. As you can see I need to make a lot of flanges for valve connections on those pipes. Lining the pipes up transversally and longitudinally is a challenge as you need to keep the longitudinal distance on the manifold equal, while you also need to keep the bends in the correct places. Again a lot of fitting, adjusting, fitting again etc. 
The forward liquid system also has a big cargo strainer connected. During loading, you normally load through the strainer (you don't want dirt in your tanks), while during discharging, this strainer is generally bypassed (but often stainers are using inside the manifold connections). Of course this means you need valves to by-pass this strainer, so again more valves to add on the system. The stainer you can see already on the starboard side, unpainted. 
 
It will take a while before I finish these lines, but once they are done, it will be quite a step forward to completion of the vessel. 

The hull is growing slowly. 

This morning marks my first contribution to the swear jar. I was trying to fit the stepped part of the keel and guess I didn’t have enough coffee or sleep and really butchered the part. Being this joint is visible, a new part will need to be made.
 
 Best Regards …. Rick

Minor updates again - this kit sat on the shelf of doom since the last post. Hated it because it was pure crap. Still the only game in town so I decided to restart it. 
 
i used lead wire for conduit and started adding PE to the island. Still much more to do but here goes. Enjoy. Did I mention it was pure crap???

Impressive stack of precious wood !!!
Yves

RGL, would you mind elaborating on the techniques you used to finish the water, especially the wakes and foam?
 
This is by far, one of the most realistic piece of ocean I have ever seen. Congratulations.
 
Yves

Hi photo Victory .