SaltyScot

Your attention to detail is awe inspiring, Phil. Now I also know what baggy wrinkles are too

Tom, nice work. Looking at the last photo in your latest post I noticed how good the deck staining was. What method was used on that one, sir?

Those cap rails look spectacular with that oil finish, Jo. What oil did you use on them?

Pristine is all I can say, a sight to behold.

I have those, Adam, and a slow grinder to keep them sharp (I am a wood carver by the way). Thanks for your feedback, sir.

Well ya learn somethin' new every day! You did a good job on getting that done, Glen. Quite resourceful.

Considering most of my tools are DeWalt anyway, this makes total sense (at least that is how I am going to present my case to the treasurer )

Yes, a good vise was the other thing I had thought a lot about, along with the scroll saw that is already on my list. I have a nice soldering iron already, Phil, and I have already purchased that sailmaking/wood bending tool that you had recommended. As far as the milling machine goes, I think I will start a kit, like @Jim Lad suggested, and see how I get on.

You are right! A sound piece of advice, John, and one I shall heed 100%. The last thing I want is a pile of (sometimes expensive) equipment sitting around that I thought I needed. That would be very foolish. I have opted for a decent scroll saw, but only because my old one had seen better days. THANK YOU!!

Welcome aboard. Have fun on your new journey!

Welcome aboard! If you have not already done so, start a build log so that others can follow along.

Yes, that is indeed a play on words I have been seriously thinking about kitting myself out with the necessary tools to at least attempt a scratch built model. I have a very well equipped woodshop on our property here and have been playing with wood for a number of years now but, understandably, the tools in there are rather large and not suited for model ship building. I would like to know what it is I would need to begin this journey. I have a rough idea and already have some input on mini drill presses but things like mills and/or mini table saws for model ship building are all new to me. So, a shout goes out to all those scratch build experts out there. Newbie in need of help here

This makes total sense to me, Phil.

No, Phil, that appears to be the only one. There are a lot of very nice old WWII era pictures on the walls in all the hallways, mostly with a naval theme. The mother in law was not against moving really, that 4500 sq. ft. house was just too big for her. She was also adamant that she didn't want to make new friends in the retirement community when she initially moved in. Since then, she has befriended a retired 2 star admiral, a very funny and interesting man. Things will be just fine.

It is not unusual for me to have a single malt on my workbench when tackling onerous tasks, Maurice (like the somewhat simplistic rigging on me Endeavour but, being a newbie it was a steep learning curve for me). I had to chuckle when you mentioned things pinging off into the ether..... who hasn't been there. Your endurance and patience is certainly paying off, she looks superb.

Yes, Keith, she is all settled in. Thank for asking, sir. That was one big hurdle we are truly glad is behind us.

Very nice, clean lines there, Phil. I am going to "steal" that idea with the PVA glue, it makes a lot of sense! Oh, I like your color scheme too by the way.

On an unrelated note, something really nice happened to me this weekend. For a lot of us here in the US, today was Mother's Day. As a lot of you are aware, we have been busy moving my mother-in-law into a retirement community and selling her house over the past 6 months. This weekend was the first chance I have had to visit that community (the CEO was the front runner on this project these past months, I was just the "hammer" ). The community was originally built to house retired veterans from the Coast Guard, Navy and Royal Marines (the CEO's father was retired Navy but the complex is now also open to the general populace). Because of that, it has a very nautical theme throughout. This is what I saw when we went up to the dining room on the top floor for our lunch today: She was absolutely beautiful.

I look forward to that, Phil!

We live and learn, Tom.

Definitely something not to be rushed, Phil. Yes, this was extremely helpful, thank you. I have a list on my workbench of things to do. One of the items on the list was to make a gun port jig. I can cross that out now, thanks to you, sir.

I applaud you guys who manage to get the very complex (in my eyes anyway) rigging done on models like this, and still retain your sanity! Very nice work, Glen.

I second that

Today I busied myself with the gun carriages. As I have often stated throughout this build, the quality of some of the wood leaves a lot to be desired, the plywood for the most part being the worst. Because of that fact and for the sake of continuity throughout matching parts, I took the pieces of the carriage from the plans into Fusion 360, put them together and then 3D printed them. The dimensions of the carriage brackets exactly match the plywood ones in the kit. Another reason for me doing this was that there was no specification in the plans as to what exactly I should use for the fore and hind axletrees. I could have thrown some scraps together but wanted all carriages to look exactly alike. I will be making all the quoins by hand out of maple wood though, just cuz I can : The kit supplied enough cannons and fittings for 8 sets (although they did mess up with the axles, there were odd numbers of each). I will only be putting 6 guns on my build (see Chapelle's The Baltimore Clipper, top of page 82). I printed an extra set and rigged up a "prototype" to see how everything went together and how it looked on deck. I know that the breeching ring bolt has not been added yet. Also, the cascabel is missing its ring. I am toying with cutting some small brass rings and adding a tiny spot of CA glue to secure them to the top. The capsquares need a little reshaping too. They are TINY so I have to be careful how I mess with them. I also want to add some details to the trucks, they look very bare right now: The placement of the guns can be seen below. Again, I will only be adding 6 to this build so I do have some leeway should there be an issue with the height of the bulwarks: Before the cannons can be placed I obviously have to cut the gunports. I have read differing opinions on several blogs for this build regarding how they should be positioned. Here is what master model builder Frank Mastini has to say about that:

Thanks for your input (and supporting my case ), Bill