shauer

An update with the work completed the past few days. I got the first couple coats of crimson paint on the drums and then added the column pieces. Then I started adding the whelps to the lower capstan. I most likely put more thought into how to glue them on with uniform spacing then was really necessary, but this is how I eventually decided to do it. I glued on one pair of whelps that are opposite each other, being as careful as possible to get them lined up opposite each other and placed evenly along the column. I normally use CA to glue printed parts, but in this case I used regular wood glue to allow me time to reposition the whelps. With these two whelps installed and the glue well set, I then added the whelps in pairs, first one side and then the other. I used the chocks as an aid to getting the spacing uniform. using 3 upper and lower chocks to ensure the position of the whelps was correct. I also held the capstan in my bench vice to provide a stable platform to work on this. A couple pictures showing this, the chocks are only set in place as spacers at this point. they still need to be properly shaped and installed once the glue on the whelps has set. And the lower capstan is one step closer to being completed. Then I went back to the display stand. I sprayed a coat of satin clear on all the parts and then added the self adhesive sheets to the lower and upper platforms. The 3M adhesive on these sheets is not repositionable and I treat it the same as contact cement. So I set up the base with a guide stick to help with positioning since I won't have a second chance. Trimming up the edges of these pieces was really easy with a sharp #11 blade and going slow with multiple passes. I then glued the feet to the bottom platform. Here is a test fit of all the parts so far. Nothing is glued together at this point (and yes the columns are upside down) Steve

Good to know. I'll add the matte clear before assembly.

Just a quick update, had time to put another couple coats of black on the display stand, and my black dye arrived so I got that job done. Just followed Chuck's guide on using the dye, made sure to get the alcohol based 'pro' dye since I was diluting it with IPA. (not the beer...) Simple set-up to soak the parts in a small container. Mixed some of the dye with the alcohol until it looked "dark enough" I guess I ended up at about 10:1 but that's a guess. Tried a 25-30 minute soak Fished the parts out of the dye and washed them with water. I noticed there's a difference in the dye absorption. Areas that I had sanded down and smoothed out showed lighter than the "raw" 3d printed surfaces. This did not impact me as these were all mating surfaces that will not be seen. However, the smooth surfaces on the columns also showed slightly lighter than the center portions with a rougher surface finish. You can look at the square portions of the columns in this picture below. Simple solution, I just put these parts back in the dye bath for an hour and that looks like it took care of it. I can see if you were sensitive to the final shade of the parts, then surface finish would need to be taken into account. With something like black, you don't really care so the longer you soak the parts, the better. Never done this with printed parts before, I will definitely be using this technique to color printed parts a solid color where careful control of the shade is not required. The finish is far superior to a painted finish for this application. Steve

I'm using this as the trial run prior to constructing the capstan for my Winchelsea, which will be half this size. I applied the first coat of wipe on poly to all the base pieces as either the final finish or as a sanding sealer prior to painting. While waiting for that to dry I decided to spend yesterday evening and this morning getting the drums assembled and shaped. I have the black dye arriving tomorrow so I can dye the printed parts black. I like working through similar operations at the same time, so I did the upper and lower drums at the same time. Be sure to label them as they are different. I refined the technique that Chuck showed of using the 1/8 inch square stock as an axle to turn the drums from a cordless drill. I created a mandrel from a #6 machine screw that's 1.5 inches long and some flat washers. This is then chucked into my rotary tool which I have held in my bench vice. The #6 machine screw is an almost perfect fit for the hole in the drum, an M3.5 would be the closest metric size I think. I used 1/8 inch by 1 inch fender washers for all this work except for the final shaping of the tops of the drums. The larger the surface area the better. Drum installed in my rotary tool and part way through shaping with files and sanding sticks. Shaping of the inner layers of the drums completed. For shaping the tops of the drums, I used a smaller, regular sized #6 flat washer to allow access for shaping the taper on the top. The LD-3 and UD-3 pieces are only 1/64 of an inch thick. These were a challenge to shape the required rounded edges on. I did the best I could during assembly but found that running a piece of sandpaper edge-wise along the groove while turning the piece cleaned up the transition pretty well. A couple pictures of the completed drums, except for the center cap on the upper drum. Steve

Thanks! First impressions are that this is a really nice small project that balances a high level of detail, but it is easy enough to build that it would make a nice novice project, especially in kit form. Spent the evening putting the wood parts of the base together. Keeping the partners separate from the lower and upper base until I have the bases painted black and a first coat of wipe on poly on the partners. Part way through assembly of the bases with the 4 squares mounted on the underside of the upper base and two of the 4 side pieces on the lower base. Following the build guide, installed two opposite sides on the lower base. The overhang ended up being 1/8 inch so just used a piece of scrap as a gauge. You could have also used the included 1/8 square stock that makes the axel as a gauge. One recommendation, do not install the "His Majesty's Ship" side as one of the two first sides. I discovered that the material along the laser engraved 'H' is prone to tear-out when sanding the edges down flush with the lower base. Saving this side for the second group installed will allow more material on the outside of the 'H' and be less prone to tear-out. Close-up of the tear-out on the edge. I'm going to be using the adhesive boards so this will be covered. And the base assemblies ready for paint and poly. This will happen today. Cleaned up Chuck's logo on the bottom with a light sanding. Steve

Looks like I'm the first build log here, mods please let me know if anything is incorrect. I don't have access to a resin 3d printer or a laser cutter at the moment, so the kit option that Portland Scale Ship is offering was the way to go for me. I'll be working on this small kit as a needed distraction from my Winchelsea project. Just needed something small to give me a change of pace for a bit and will be working on both these at the same time. Small box arrived and I was pleased to see an included packing sheet provided for this small kit. The box is just about the perfect size for the kit components so no additional packaging was needed beyond the plastic bags used to hold the parts. Three bags of parts plus a length of 40lb monofilament line, the 1/8th inch square stock, and a short length of brass wire. Printed parts are all very clean and will require minimal cleanup Laser cut parts from one of the bags, not going to show the other as all the parts are already shown on the Portland website. Laser cutting is all very clean. Overall the part quality looks to be the same as the parts I've been receiving from Syren for my Winchelsea chapters. Looking forward to putting this together. Thinking I will display it in my office once completed. Steve

My capstan kit was waiting in my mailbox today. Had not expected 2nd day delivery from across the country when I ordered. Arrived without issue and in good condition thanks! Steve

I need some clarification on a discrepancy between the chapter 4 instructions and the details on the plans. Getting ready to spend my 3 day weekend working on the deck planking. The instructions show that there is a single center plank that spans the centerline of the deck and that there are 7 strakes that make up the planking between the coamings and partners. Plan sheet 3 shows the deck detail and a pair of center planks, 1 on each side of the centerline and 8 strakes in between the coamings and partners. 7 planks from the instructions: 8 planks on the plans I spot checked a few build logs and did not see this discussed, however I could have easily missed it in the volume of info in the logs. Is there a reason for this difference? Which way is more "correct" I'm thinking the the 7 plank arrangement shown in the instructions will work better with the 1/4 inch planking. Steve

I figured out what my temporary distraction from my Winchelsea build will be. Wonder how this capstan will look on my deck? 🤔 Order place and on it's way. Steve

Back to work and real life this week, so progress is back down to my pre-holiday levels. Completed the partners, painted the base color on the stove baseplate, and permanently installed all these onto the deck. One example of using the monofilament line for the bolts on the partners. I don't have a drill press (yet), so all is done with a pin vice and being as careful as I can be to lay out the bolt patterns to get them all looking straight and symmetrical. You can see my layout lines on the work in progress below. A sheet of 120 grit makes a nice surface to hold the workpiece still while drilling the holes by hand. Then started gluing the coamings onto the deck. All the midship coamings are the same width, so I was able to position the forward and rear coamings in this group down the centerline and use a steel rule to ensure the entire group was centered, in line with each other, and straight down the centerline of the deck. Centering the main mast partners between two steel rules running down each side of the coamings. I used a piece of scrap that I sanded until it just fit in the gap on each side of the partners. I checked the forward and rear corners of the partners to ensure they were square before gluing them down. One more example on the stove baseplate. Using scrap shims of equal width on each side to ensure baseplate is centered. Using the sides of the midship coamings as the reference lines. Same technique was used for the rear coaming, foremast partners, and capstan partners. And the pictures of this portion of the work completed. Everything is nice and straight and centered. The forward edge of the capstan partners is shimmed per the instructions so the partners are level. Now onto planking the deck. I may also allow myself some diversions with the stove, capstan, or a few cannon. Not sure yet. Steve

Very inspiring work. I'm really enjoying following your journey on this project. This is a level of craftsmanship that I'm aiming to achieve in the future. I can finally appreciate the comment about cutting into your model to install the catheads. I need to emotionally prepare myself every time I cut into finished work. Steve

Once again, thank you for the comments and the likes. I've been on vacation the past 2 weeks and have been enjoying some time on my project now that the holidays are done. Another incremental update. I have the coamings and gratings all done and have the partners assembled. Had a little assembly line going on the coamings, I think they turned out well. There are a couple small defects in the spacing on the gratings but nothing that will keep me up at night. Just following the instructions in the chapter and no surprises. At this point, the partners were not assembled and the pieces were just set in approximate position. And a couple pictures showing the painted coamings and the assembled partners. Several thin coats of black on the coamings so some of the structure still shows. For the partners, I colored both mating surfaces with pencil to give a stronger caulking line between these pieces. Next steps are to add the bolts to the partners, and add the base colors to the stove baseplate. I'm going with the slate grey for the stones and black for the iron surround on the stove baseplate. Everything is still dry fit until I have all the pieces ready to permanently mount. Steve

Part II of update. Some pictures of completed work. Next up are the coamings. Steve

@FrankWouts @scrubbyj427 - Thanks for the comments, I am enjoying the progress in this chapter and trying out a few new techniques as shown below. A bit of a larger update today. I completed the margin planks, the waterway, and the checkered cabin floor. The margin plank templates for the bow were far enough off that they didn't do me much good. The curve of the bow on my model is noticeably more rounded than the templates. So I needed to make new templates for the bow. First I scribed a line following the curve of the inboard bulwarks using a stick with a piece of pencil lead pressed into a hole I drilled. Need to keep the stick perpendicular to the curve of the bulwark as you scribe the line. Then cut out the new template's outer curve, placed it on the deck, and scribed the inboard line after adjusting the location of the pencil lead in the stick. I cut out the port and starboard margin planks extra wide and shaped them to fit the hull, then used my calipers to scribe a line down each plank to create the inboard lines of the planks. I took the advice of a few different build logs and started the scarph joints at the bow working aft. I cut out one side of the scarph joint and then placed the margin planks back on the deck and overlayed the mating plank in position and taped them together. Then lifted the two off the deck and used the forward portion of the joint as the template for the aft portion at each location. Finished scarph joint with no gaps. Before gluing down the margin planks I made a template for the checked portion of the deck. Not shown in the picture, but I also marked the centerline of the deck on the template and then cut the checkered deck to rough shape before starting the fine adjustment and fitting. For the waterway strips, I made a jig by filing a notch into a piece of scrap material to position the 3/32 inch square stock at the correct orientation so I could sand the diagonal face flat. The cedar is too soft to get a clean surface from a scraper so I used a sanding stick to take off most of the material and then drew the stock through the jig while holding progressively finer sandpaper on it to finish the shaping. "Clamping" the waterway strips into position. They are so thin that not much force is needed so taping sticks onto the deck worked well.

One final quick update before Christmas. Completed the inboard bulwarks and painted it. Installed the inboard counter at the stern and rough-sanded. I still have some more fairing on the inboard counter planks. I left just a touch of the laser char on the edges to give this a subtle line between the planks. Next I'll be onto the margin planks. Cutting out the paper templates today to see how close my model is. Steve

Making good progress the past few days. Paneling in the captain's cabin is installed, second layer of planking on the inboard bulwarks is complete up to approx. midships, and I've started dry fitting the planks for the inboard counter at the stern. Completed installing the deck clamps up forward and fairing the planking. Prepared for installing the paneling by painting around the gunports and at the forward edge of the paneling. View of the completed work. The inboard counter planks are just roughed to approximate shape and dry fit for the moment. More fitting work is still needed. But first I'm going to complete the inboard planking up at the bow and then paint the bulwarks. Steve

This update is about a week later than I anticipated but still making progress. First of all, forgive the bad color balance on this series of photos. I upgraded my phone to iOS 26 and it seems to not be the same any more when it comes to automatically color correcting for the fluorescent lights on my workbench. I'll figure it out eventually. I have the first layer of inboard planking completed and in the process of installing the deck clamps now. View of the bow, rough sanding is completed and the forward deck clamps will be installed tonight. I wet the deck clamps and clamped them in place overnight to set some of the curve into them. Will use some heat per Chuck's instructions during the final install. Looking aft, in the process of dry fitting the deck clamps and checking the placement of the deck beam at the beginning of the paneling. Closer view of checking both sides for equal alignment of the deck clamps. There are some rough spots in the first layer of planking and I'll smooth these out a little more, but they will be covered with the panels and the second layer of planks anyways. Dry fit of the panels checking to see how much work I'll have to fit them between my gun ports. All looks good with a little material to be removed width-wise on all the panels. So it looks like my gun ports are in the right places. Good to know... And where I stopped last night with the aft deck clamps glued into place. Steve

Looking really nice! I'm also tempted to take a detour or two during chapter four. The capstan, the stove, a few cannon. Lot's of things to try out and see how they look on the deck. Steve

A brief update of progress over the past 10 days or so. Things have been a little slow but hoping to be able to spend some solid time on this over the weekend. Almost half way into planking the inboard bulwarks. I figured the most critical plank placement was the plank immediately below the gun ports which needs to align with the bottom of each port so I started there at the bow. I then added the bottom plank tight against the one already placed. Used some scrap and some toothpicks as levers to apply upward pressure while the glue set. And continued from there working aft. Nothing has been faired yet. Figure about another week of work to wrap this up. The second thinner layer of planking will hide some of my sins on the lower planks where I over-faired the bulwarks down close to the deck. Steve

Once again, thanks for the positive comments and likes. And now onto chapter 4. Pretty basic stuff this week with the first few steps of chapter 4 leading up to the installation of the false deck. Added the two sub decks and the beams. I applied one coat of matt water-based sealer to the sub decks to test out if I liked the look. Weighing using a matt finish on the deck, or just keeping it completely natural. I would like to seal the deck planking with something but don't want it to be noticeable. At this point all beams are only dry fit. You can also see the center line I ran the length of the deck. Next was dry fitting the false deck sheets. As I placed the sheets and got them aligned, I followed Chuck's suggestion in the directions and drilled & pinned the pieces in place. All of this still only dry fit. Then it was time to pull it all apart and glue the beams and false deck permanently into place. I ended up adjusting almost all the beams again during final assembly as everything was still just a little too tight and was pushing some of the beams out of alignment. I was able to install the false deck one piece at a time relying on the pre-drilled pin locations for alignment. I used several 1 Kg bags of shot to press the deck pieces down while the glue set. Current state of things. The bow filler pieces are installed. I'm doing one last round of fairing prior to starting on the inner bulwarks. Steve

Chapter 3 is now complete, took about 6 weeks to work through it. I had a lot of fun learning how to create and use scrapers for the first time to make the fancy moldings. It was very satisfying to work through this chapter as almost every part added brought the exterior of the model to life. However my patience was tried more than once with all the tiny pieces involved in the tops and bottoms of the fluted columns. QG shots showing the now complete look with the rails in the roofs added. I will likely come back and add fancy molding above the windows once I permanently install the windows much later in the build. Right now they are just placed in position with friction holding them in. Included previous picture of the complete stern. And some pictures along the sides of the hull. I've known that my gun ports are slightly high since I completed chapter 1. The friezes and moldings worked out but I will have a little more work cutting in relief for the gun port hinges into the molding on a couple of these in future. I also placed the joints in the upper molding at the catheads on the bow and at one of the swivel gun locations at the stern. You can also see where the channels will be located. Another minor mistake from chapter 1 is that the bollard timbers are a little low. I lined up the opening for the bowsprit with the top of the stem in chapter 1 which ended up being a little low. I ended up removing a little material from the bottoms of the timbers when I should have just left it alone. The bottom side molding therefore lands a little high on the bow. Only those who know what it should look like will ever be able to tell. Now on to chapter 4 Steve

Working on my build today and decided to take a break from applying the friezes and post some progress pictures from the past 10 days or so. I completed the fluted columns and remaining transom details. Then jumped into working on the fancy moldings and friezes along the sides. I liked the approach I saw in both Frank's and Greg's build logs where they built up the channels and used them to lay out the placement of the center molding to prevent needing to remove large pieces of glued-on molding later. I built up the channels from the chapter 11 parts per the instructions. Never used the spray mount before but it was really easy to use and worked well. I then made up some patterns from the assembled channels to use in placing the center molding. Back to scraping the center molding. This one took 3 tries to get the width of the scraper correct. I kept making it too wide. I now clamp the work piece on my table and push the scraper along with both hands to control the angle of the scraper and make nice smooth linear passes. Locating the channels along the hull and positioning the spacers. Mounting the center molding. Testing to see if there is such a thing as too many clamps... Friezes mounted on starboard side. Still need to mount the lower frieze on the port side. Between the slight stretching of the paper, and the fact that the port and starboard sides will be slightly different lengths, I'm going to need to squeeze or stretch the segments a little to match the start and end positions to match the starboard. I'll pick aspects of the frieze design that are forgiving to this adjustment and hide them under the channels. Next steps will be to wrap up chapter 3 with the lower & upper moldings and the rails on the QG roof. Steve

Looking good! Thanks for sharing the details on dealing with the fitment issues. Hoping to be where you are in a month or two. Steve

Thank you, Frank. I appreciate the feedback and the compliment. I forget who's build log I got the paint mix from but it's approximately 2/3 - 3/4 cerulean blue, about 1/4 - 1/3 yellow ochre, and a dab of titanium white to lighten it up to match. Then adjust as needed. I've enjoyed working on this chapter 3. The stern details and the quarter galley construction provide a wide variety of challenges after doing nothing but planking for a couple months. Steve

Thank you everyone for the likes and comments. Spent the week and much of Saturday this weekend working on the transom details including the cove and related trim around the false lights, and the resin carvings. I also completed the fluted columns on the quarter galleries and started the same details on the transom. Almost done with the detail work on the stern. Still need to add the rails on the QG roofs and complete the fluted columns on the transom in the next few days. Then I need to work on the fancy moldings and friezes along the sides of the hull. I also painted the stem and bollard timbers black so that I won't need to work with black paint so close the the friezes in the future (I hope) Progress on the transom details. I'll call out one of my mistakes here. I completely messed up the painted edge along the upper portion of the cove. I fixed it by applying a very thin veneer strip of cedar over the mess and sanding it down to paper thin, You can see the edges of the fix along the ends of the upper cove. Overall this looks 100% better than having crimson splotches along the upper edge. scraping the base and top of the fluted columns. column details added to the QGs. This was a real trial, I think I dropped and lost one piece for each 3 that I placed. The instructions suggest using needle files to shape the sides of the base and top moldings. I found it was easier to use a fresh chisel blade and cut downward across the grain along the sides to remove the material. The material parts along the grain cleanly and leaves nice clean edges. I think I may add some left over fancy molding along the tops of the QG windows in between the columns the way that Frank has done with his build. I really like that look. And where I am currently at. Started the fluted columns on the transom. These are so much easier to work on than the QG columns. Steve