wefalck

The woodwork for the model is almost complete.
The wheelhouse has been assembled.

Time for a big dump of progress photos!
 
I completely failed to take photos of building the roof for the pilot house and cabin, but it wasn't complicated. I just cut a thin sheet of wood to the shape I wanted, spread glue on the "rafters", and secured everything with rubber bands.
 
The photo story picks up again as I applied the simulated canvas. I used the same method as I did on Arabia: strips of masking tape held down with a thin layer of wood glue. When that's dried overnight, I trim the edges and paint it. It's held up perfectly on that last model, I really like the texture, and it's more forgiving to work with than tissue paper or silkspan or other options. Plus it's dirt cheap. Here's a sequence showing the progression of slightly overlapping layers on the gently arching cabin roof:



And the same for the pilot house:
 


I'll use some pastels to weather this a little, dull it down, and give it some subtle variation in tone.
 
In the meantime I worked on laying out the support posts for the hog chains, which needed to be carefully situated to run just along the outside edge of the cabin roof. So I marked the final location of the cabin and carefully laid out where I wanted the posts to go through the boiler deck. Then I drilled a series of small holes and used a sharp knife tip and then small files to make the final shape:
 

I then made a simple jig for the angle I wanted the posts to sit at, and used this to set them up. Here they've already been cut and painted. The black tips are meant to represent the iron caps that actually held the hog chains onto the wooden posts.

And here are a few shots of the fore and aft hog chain posts resting in place (not yet glued); you'll notice I temporarily removed the chimneys to avoid any possible damage as I worked on all this:
 



I also built the assembly that goes over the stern, which I'd left off until now since it rises above the boiler deck and I didn't want to bump or snap it while doing earlier work on the deck.
 


Finally it was time to start attaching things for good. Here I've glued down the cabin and pilot house (big step!):
 

And while that was drying I got started laying down the "canvas" on the boiler deck, working up to the aft part of the cabin. I'll let this all dry completely before proceeding up either side of the cabin.
 

A close look will also show that I built and attached the little L-shaped guard wall around the staircase up to the boiler deck.
 
Once all the boiler deck canvas is laid, I'll (re)cut the hog chain post holes, paint it carefully (trying to avoid the cabin walls), then attach the stern piece. At that point the model will really be coming together though a lot of detail work remains to be done (not to mention the paddle wheel, which I'm dreading).
 
Thanks for reading (or at least skimming) through that big dump of updates!

After school I wanted to join the navy for s three-year officer‘s course. Given my father‘s colour vision isues, he arranged for me to be thoroughly tested at the university hospital. They put me through the paces, such as aligning some 30 cubes with colours ranging from purple to violett in the right order. I came out with flying colours so to speak.

After school I wanted to join the navy for s three-year officer‘s course. Given my father‘s colour vision isues, he arranged for me to be thoroughly tested at the university hospital. They put me through the paces, such as aligning some 30 cubes with colours ranging from purple to violett in the right order. I came out with flying colours so to speak.

Looks like the thingy that was given to me by my wife with good intentions, but I found the speed too high for most practical purposes. Mine has three speed settings, but it starts from the highest and then steps down.
 
With all battery-operated equipment it has the disadvantage that one cannot start and stop it free-hand, i.e. with a foot-switch ...
 
Do the inserts have the usual 2.34 mm diameter shaft?

Thanks to all for likes and comments. A brief update - not much time to dedicate to Vigilance at the moment but I am making slow painstaking progress on the forward frames. The pace is dictated by the curvature of the rake which makes these challenging to say the least. However, despite a growing pile of rejects, it is taking shape.
The state of the workbench says it all....

Colour vision is indeed a funny thing. My father was the typical red/green colour-blind, but may have had overall a limited colour vision. His view of what was 'green' was more defined by convention, than by real vision it seems: I remember that he sent me once to fetch a green book from his study, which I didn't find, because the cover was actually blue ...
 
Colour-photographers of old used a colour-temperature meter to select filters to compensate for unwanted colour tints brought about by different light temperature in the course of the day, when working in the shadow etc. The meter was used together with a 'neutral grey card'. I still own one of those meters inherited from my father, but not normally use.
 
I rarely play around with the colour-temperature setting of the digital camera, but rather compensate in Photoshop when post-processing my RAW images. In Photoshop you can either select the colour-temperature summarily or you can select an area in the image that you want to appear 'white' or 'neutral grey'. As I normally do not scientific or archival photography, the choices are based on aesthetics and not on trying to achieve a 'true' colour of an object.
 
One thing to avoid is mixing lights from technologically different sources, such as LED and incandescent or daylight. It is virtually impossible to correct such images, as the areas lit by one source will always be 'wrong', when correcting for another source.

Everything you need to know about gondole and other Venetian boats: https://www.veniceboats.com. Gilberto Penzo also has a little shop in Venice, where he sells his books, the plans and the kits he has designed.
 

No, not for gem-stones, but you are right, these have a similar 'goniometer-head'. The Deckel SO is a tool-grinder for single-lip tools, such as D-bits, engraving cutters, and can be also used for chisels. The tool can be turned around its axis at a given angle to the grinding wheel, which is needed for hollow gauges. 

No, not for gem-stones, but you are right, these have a similar 'goniometer-head'. The Deckel SO is a tool-grinder for single-lip tools, such as D-bits, engraving cutters, and can be also used for chisels. The tool can be turned around its axis at a given angle to the grinding wheel, which is needed for hollow gauges. 

Ideally, one should have something like the Deckel SO (or one of the various old or modern clones), perhaps with a diamond honing wheel, for sharpening:

Image from http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/page3.html
 
To make the gauges one probably needs something more complex, with knife-edge grinding wheel. Or one starts from silver-steel/drill rod, drills a hole on a lathe and then grinds away the rest. This then needs to be properly hardened and tempered. Not sure, how V-gauges are made.
 

No, not for gem-stones, but you are right, these have a similar 'goniometer-head'. The Deckel SO is a tool-grinder for single-lip tools, such as D-bits, engraving cutters, and can be also used for chisels. The tool can be turned around its axis at a given angle to the grinding wheel, which is needed for hollow gauges. 

Looks like the thingy that was given to me by my wife with good intentions, but I found the speed too high for most practical purposes. Mine has three speed settings, but it starts from the highest and then steps down.
 
With all battery-operated equipment it has the disadvantage that one cannot start and stop it free-hand, i.e. with a foot-switch ...
 
Do the inserts have the usual 2.34 mm diameter shaft?

... and one shouldn't anyway now.
 
In principle, anyone with a good tool-grinder could make such tools from round HSS-blanks.

No, not for gem-stones, but you are right, these have a similar 'goniometer-head'. The Deckel SO is a tool-grinder for single-lip tools, such as D-bits, engraving cutters, and can be also used for chisels. The tool can be turned around its axis at a given angle to the grinding wheel, which is needed for hollow gauges. 

Ideally, one should have something like the Deckel SO (or one of the various old or modern clones), perhaps with a diamond honing wheel, for sharpening:

Image from http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/page3.html
 
To make the gauges one probably needs something more complex, with knife-edge grinding wheel. Or one starts from silver-steel/drill rod, drills a hole on a lathe and then grinds away the rest. This then needs to be properly hardened and tempered. Not sure, how V-gauges are made.
 

It should be possible to find someone with EDM (Electrical Discharge Maschining) capability to make such dies from hardened steel in a small series ...

Ideally, one should have something like the Deckel SO (or one of the various old or modern clones), perhaps with a diamond honing wheel, for sharpening:

Image from http://www.lathes.co.uk/deckel/page3.html
 
To make the gauges one probably needs something more complex, with knife-edge grinding wheel. Or one starts from silver-steel/drill rod, drills a hole on a lathe and then grinds away the rest. This then needs to be properly hardened and tempered. Not sure, how V-gauges are made.
 

It should be possible to find someone with EDM (Electrical Discharge Maschining) capability to make such dies from hardened steel in a small series ...

Looks like the thingy that was given to me by my wife with good intentions, but I found the speed too high for most practical purposes. Mine has three speed settings, but it starts from the highest and then steps down.
 
With all battery-operated equipment it has the disadvantage that one cannot start and stop it free-hand, i.e. with a foot-switch ...
 
Do the inserts have the usual 2.34 mm diameter shaft?

... and one shouldn't anyway now.
 
In principle, anyone with a good tool-grinder could make such tools from round HSS-blanks.

It should be possible to find someone with EDM (Electrical Discharge Maschining) capability to make such dies from hardened steel in a small series ...

... But that's not to say the work is over. There's more to do. Good stories have unexpected twists, plot changes. Just when you were looking at a story with the same mood, suddenly everything changes. Something minor suddenly becomes major or vice versa.
And since we're writing this epic with a Star Wars tinge, it's a good time for:
"Luke, I'm your father!"
- "Noooooo!"
Agreed, a good twist in a narrative is then especially good when it didn't just fall out, but when there were some hints before. But at one time they were not noticed or given any importance. And only when the twist is realized, you suddenly realize that all this time the true state of affairs was under your nose all along. That's when it's not just a primitive Luke-I'm your father, that's when it's something more thoughtful, meaningful and interesting. I don't know what analogy to pin it on, but I hope for your imagination, choose the twist that tastes better to you. Some people are closer to the fact that the killer is a gardener, some people are closer to the fact that Jon Snow is a Targaryen or that DiCaprio is not a detective on the Island of the Damned (sorry for spoilers).
I won't say that my stories claim to be recognized as geniuses. But hobby stories could use a little twist, too.
Now it's time to get back to where it all began. The rubik's cube. After all, a lot of people have asked why did I bother so much? Why did I have to do so much? Just take a block and work. But for me, that was the whole point!
And in those moments, when I told how I cut out the face, that I repeatedly disassembled the blank, pulled out the segments from the very middle, I inadvertently opened the veil of the future twist. Now is a good time to remember these episodes. To ask the question, and indeed, how is it that the glued billet was so easily disassembled? Why? Doesn't that say something?
Yeah, yeah, I know no one thought so. Who needs to remember that? But as the author of the twist, I just have to blow the fog. "This is the way"  and all that.
Anyway, all of the above led to this particular stage in the work.

If the lion from Vassa was as close as possible to the state at the time of lifting from the bottom, a copy of his museum original, then Chewie I wanted to represent the sculpture at the time of installation on the bow. The actual dimensions of the sculpture piqued my interest at this particular stage. How was such a huge structure built? How was the blank prepared? How was it installed? In my opinion, this way the overall collection will be more multifaceted and interesting. When different figures will show different things, and not just a line of lions. I haven't decided yet what will happen with the next lions, but now we're talking about Cheubaka, so we'll come back to him.
 
 
 
 
I decided that just drawing the figure on the seams would not be enough. It is necessary to open some joints and show these divisions. In fact, this figure can be called an admiralty figure. To be able to see some technical elements that are usually hidden from the eye.
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
And if I'm showing the "insides", how can I leave out the carnations? I have to show them too. I decided right away that there will not be any "hedgehog" - when every single nail is present according to the staff schedules and places. Once in a while will be enough. More of a hint that they were.
 
 

 

 
So I didn't have a week-long nailing stage and tons of dowels. Everything, starting from estimating the size of the dowels themselves, wells for them and ending with the process of riveting, blackening and seating was done in a day and a half.
The nails themselves were made with the help of a small device. It had been in storage for a long time and I was sad that there was no reason to use it. So when I decided that this sculpture would feature nails, I was very happy to finally use this device.
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

The Admiral is back and I am back to a slow move in the build. I have been working on the stack figuring out to provide  a conical champher on the stack top. Right now I am trying Wefalks use of lacquered  card. In the meantime I started the water tanks.  Following in the results for the fresh water tank.

Thanks a lot for the likes. You are my support and inspiration.
 
 
 
 

Today, my long awaited parcel from Japan arrived, which included my Infini 0,135 mm aero flexible rigging thread. I never used the stuff and was eager to see, if it is suitable for the classic ´ thread through tube - then through the eyelet - and back a second time through the tube ´rigging and it worked. So this will be my method of rigging the nacelles, which are very delicate with their struts. The outer wings will be made with the same process, but with mor rigid fishing line instead for extra stability.
 
Cheers Rob