dvm27

Thanks!
 
And now: just another day in the sawmill.

The upper deck framing is about half done. This set of photos shows the progress on the deck and some misc. deck items. The framing is European Beachwood and the forward hatch is bloodwood.

Wonderful work on that stern framing (and everything else)!

Greg wrote: 
 
My motto - when in doubt, rip it out! Of course that could explain why my models take so long to complete.
 
So long, yes - but they look so nice, Greg! And you'll say the same, Mark. The re-laid deck looks very good, and you'll now have a nice warm glow inside every time you look at it.

Wonderful work on that stern framing (and everything else)!

Hello Denis,
I'm glad you like it.
Thanks for the nice comment.
@all
Thanks for the LIKES!

The construction of the masts continues as shown on the next pictures.
The other parts are shown as
-Topmast cross trees

- Topmast cap and topmast head

- Topgallant mast

I have now made all the bits for the cleats. The last bits to be made were the wooden cross members.
 
The cross members were made out of barbecue skewers (bamboo). I didn't have any the right size (0.1" diameter) and anyway the cross section was all sorts of shape. A job for a draw plate but as I don't have one I had to make my own. The holes were drilled using a centre drill. The first hole in the plate was drilled through until the conical section just penetrated the underside of a plate. Subsequent holes were then formed with each hole penetrating .005" deeper than the previous one. The cone of the drill thus generated increasing sizes if hole. I drilled one hole wrong - spot the deliberate mistake.
 

The holes had very sharp edges and worked very well. All the skewers finished up round and between .098" and .10" diameter.
 
The cross members needed .04" holes drilled through them .250" apart. I made a simple jig to accurately hold the skewers during drilling.
I have a load of rare earth magnets which I use to hold drills, milling cutters, etc while I am using using them for a specific task. I find it stops me losing them - particularly if they are small. The magnet here is holding the centre drill as i repetitively change between it and the twist drill.
I needed 18 cross members so I made 20. Somehow I immediately lost 2 so made another 2. I then coloured them with wood dye. Colron spirit based wood dye. I am down to the last dregs of the tin and Colron have discontinued this dye because of VOC's. The pity is that the water based replacement product is useless and does not work. Hopefully someone will know of a decent product????
 
I have started assembly.
 

Keith I must say that I enjoy seeing how you solve the manufacturing processes for the parts. The jigs that you devise are very interesting. 
 
Michael

So sorry to take six months to get back to this, but I missed it while I was on my 70-day road tour of maritime museums and Civil war battlefields.  (Along the way I demonstrated the scanner set, in addition to Portsmouth (NH) Athenaeum, to model shops at Annapolis, the USN Carderock lab, the Smithsonian, Mystic Seaport, and Philadelphia's Independence Seaport Museum.  I also viewed the half-hull and model collections at those museums and at MIT.)
 
To answer your question, I tried mounting the scanner on a tripod dolly back in 2014 at Mare island Museum. It did not give better results than the handheld method.  However, I was generally not successful then because I was using an underpowered (slow chip) laptop to drive the scanner.  Since that time I have not tried a track or tripod, so you may very well be right!
 
Use of the half-hull scans for taking of lines is pending, while I try out various software for rotating them and registering them to and x-y-z coordinate system.  At this point, my recommendation for this pre-processing of the 3D scans is the freeware Meshmixer.  I will post more later, with examples.

Over the last few months, I have worked through a very challenging task of creating a set of files that cover the rigging of the Royal William. They include text, diagrams and photos arranged in a sequential order of rigging. They are freely available for anybody who wishes to make use of them and it is my fervent desire that they will add to the joy of creating this mighty ship. Having said that, there is still some work to be done on these files to fully complete them. Hopefully, the MSW members will 'jump in' and make this a real community effort through a range of ideas, suggestions and criticisms. I feel that this task is more than one person can handle so I will wait to see what happens. The files concerned range from RW.06 through to RW.10. The link to the Euromodel website is ....
 
https://www.euromodel-ship.com/eng/royal-william-i-i.php
 
Pete

A long belated thanks, Zoltan! It's been, what, six months since I last posted? 
 
I just finished writing up an article for SIS on buiding the HMS Alert paper model, so that's been occupying most of my paper modeling time for the past few months. With that done, and having spending a pretty significant amount of time working on my main wooden ship modeling projects, I thought I'd put a little time into HMS Mercury again.
 
I've been contemplating those fake window panes and recently realized that forward partition is pretty much right under the edge of the forecastle deck, so those windows are pretty visible. Also, since I'm building this model so that the stern gallery windows are clear, you'll be able to look inside and see the windows in the aft partition as well. 
 
So, I broke down and cut out those fake windows. I had to remove the partitions in order to do it, but that wasn't too bad.
 
I actually managed to cut out just the fake glass panes of those 4-pane windows in the forward partition and its doors. However, the after partitions and doors all have 6-pane windows, so I had to cut out the whole window section in one piece and then rebuild them.
 

 

 

 

As you can see, the results aren't perfect, but I'm reasonably satisfied, because I'm pretty sure I can't do better than this. I'll try using some canopy glue to create the window pane glass.
 
So far, I have all but 4 doors left to do. Once that's done, I'll move on to the next thing.
 
Before I started getting obsessed with getting rid of the fake windows, I went on to the next step, which was to add the gunport frames to the bulwarks core pieces.
The frames came from the laser-cut super detail set I purchased from GPM. It was a little confusing figuring out which piece was which, because many of the pieces vary in shape and have unique part numbers. 
 
I should point out here that one of the reasons I got inspired to do some work on the model again, is because I was at a local IPMS conference and spoke with someone who was building his first paper model, and I think it was also his first ship model, the larger 1/72-scale boxed kit of the same ship, HMS Mercury. He's doing a great job and some photos of his progress were posted on Ages of Sail's blog here:
 
https://blog.agesofsail.com/2017/03/08/a-172-scale-hms-mercury-card-model/
 
Clare
 

Thanks for all the "Likes" and especially the comments.  The deck planking has been re-stained. 


The variation in color is a result of having scraped the planks earlier, then staining over them.  There were some planks that were still "too light" so I just stained over them again to bring the variation to how I wanted it.  Brush it on and wipe off right away.  I went through a dozen Q-tips.  Personal choice.  The masking tape is Tamiya, well burnished.  The joint between the planking and the waterway (barely visible) is caulked with Ebony Minwax putty and rubbed off.  A few touch-ups are needed on the black paint on the waterway.
Maury

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 203 – Dust Case
 
The dust case mentioned earlier was completed this morning.  The first picture shows the framing of the case after the initial paper covering was removed.
 

 
As I mentioned earlier, the framing was made from scrap, so it is not fine furniture.  It is meant to be an inconspicuous part of the project – to keep dust out and allow me to take pictures of the rigging without having to drag out backdrops.  Both sides are easily removable.  The top is Plexiglas® sheet to pass light from the fixtures above.  Six screws at the base permit the entire case to disappear.
 
For those who offered suggestions on covering material, thanks again.  I went with Elmer's white foam board, which is what I used on the previous Victory case.  It is glued to the frames with water-based contact cement.   The next picture shows the port panel covered with the board.
 

 
The panel is covered with two 30x40 sheets.  You may just make out the center seam.  Finally, in the next picture, the completed case, with the starboard panel removed.
 

 
The case is certainly a major presence in the shop.  Now back to the model work.
 
Ed

Plank on frame airplane modeling...a far cry from the plastic models of my youth. Makes me want to take a stab at a WWI biplane or triplane. Or recently, I was diverted by a You Tube modelers chanel specializing in WWII aircraft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Mdr1mgVuU. The level of detail and finishing is amazing. And those damned Pocher classic automobiles...

All the pieces so far! I have decided to "paint" the model so the metal parts have been spray painted with "plate metal" color. Wooden parts I will keep "wooden". It takes time but it is a very rewarding kit to build. I really look forward to putting all these subassemblies together. Then it will really begin to look like an aircraft instead of a pile of parts. I also look forward to some "easy" building of the engine and getting all the details in place. And although I enjoy soldering it will be nice to be more or less done with it (for the moment at least!)
 
Some work left on the stabilizer and tail section on the aircraft and then, I guess, time to build the final jig. Once again a great kit!
 

Gun rigging is prepared, I can start to install the guns.

I had a couple hours today to work on the Great Republic and so I finished the masts...Here are some pics.

Thank you to all.
I started with rigging for guns. First part - breeching is ready.

Plank on frame airplane modeling...a far cry from the plastic models of my youth. Makes me want to take a stab at a WWI biplane or triplane. Or recently, I was diverted by a You Tube modelers chanel specializing in WWII aircraft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Mdr1mgVuU. The level of detail and finishing is amazing. And those damned Pocher classic automobiles...

Plank on frame airplane modeling...a far cry from the plastic models of my youth. Makes me want to take a stab at a WWI biplane or triplane. Or recently, I was diverted by a You Tube modelers chanel specializing in WWII aircraft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Mdr1mgVuU. The level of detail and finishing is amazing. And those damned Pocher classic automobiles...

Totally agree with that statement too.....

Visit and explore this site for Pocher cars and replacement parts. 
 
http://www.modelmotorcars.com/our-store/
 
Enjoy! 

Plank on frame airplane modeling...a far cry from the plastic models of my youth. Makes me want to take a stab at a WWI biplane or triplane. Or recently, I was diverted by a You Tube modelers chanel specializing in WWII aircraft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Mdr1mgVuU. The level of detail and finishing is amazing. And those damned Pocher classic automobiles...

Plank on frame airplane modeling...a far cry from the plastic models of my youth. Makes me want to take a stab at a WWI biplane or triplane. Or recently, I was diverted by a You Tube modelers chanel specializing in WWII aircraft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-Mdr1mgVuU. The level of detail and finishing is amazing. And those damned Pocher classic automobiles...