wefalck

A Little more planker's progress.
 
The tapered planks continue to go on.

I got to the point where more 1/32" ply backing could be added behind the planks in the boiler room area.


As the taper planks were fitted they began to fill central section of the hull relative to the bow and stern.

The taper planking at the stern can be seen quite clearly in the following photo. Seven taper planks were in position at this stage.

By the next photo I was starting to encroach on the area of the Skeg slot. This slot can't be closed up until I have permanently attached the skeg which I don't want to do at the moment.

The next photo shows how the taper planking is going at the bow.

At this stage I did some further checks on progress towards the string line and concluded that an additional filler plank needed to be inserted over the central section of the hull. This plank was full width at maximum beam tapering to nothing about 15" either side of maximum beam. In the next photo I have inserted a short section of full width plank at maximum beam and then temporarily installed a further long plank above this.

Then over the gap in the planks I attached a piece of paper and with some graphite I did a "rubbing" before cutting out the required plank shape as a paper template.

I then pasted the cut out piece of paper on to a pair of planks and shaped the planks to match the paper. One of the shaped planks with the attached template can be seen inserted below.

The fine tapers at either end of the inserted planks were then cut and installed.

The next plank was then glued in place.
I am now back on track with closing the gap to the string line.
 
 

Hi again folks, back at the bench having caught up with the chores, and finding a temporary solution for the 'old fella' shakes - Beta Blockers.  These have a limited effect but enough to allow me to do a few things.
 
I have started back on the masts and their furniture.  The following shows me making the second of the top masts (still have the mizen to go).  These are a combined stick or pole mast where the top, top gallant and royal masts are all in one.  I cheat and turn these up in the lathe, using files and sanding sticks.  I support where the various steps (shoulders) are cut to delineate the masts with a 'jack'.  Not visible is a shallow 'v' groove but I cannot put much pressure on this as the mast is tapered and therefore not fully supported across the saddle - I really need to make a small saddle piece for this jack.

 
The other photos show my approach for filing the flats on each side of the tapered lower mast in which the hounds/cheeks (iron) sit.  The process is to gently hold the mast in the jaws of my indexing head (for a Sherline mill), then line up the end of the inset/flat with the end guide of my filing guide.  Adjusting the height is very finicky but I got there, and now that it is set-up I can do both flats exactly to the same depth, length and 180 opposed.  It took a while for me to sort how I was going to do this, but this worked.  One learning point though is that I will need to better protect the mast in the jaws.  I ended up with a very small mark but nothing significant.  The hardened rollers allow me to get an even flat surface to the depth set (manually) while the roller lugs act as an end stop.  Even though manually adjusted I lucked out and got it about right.
 
Now that the flats are done, I can determine the exact width the trestle trees need to be apart so that I can build a jig to solder them to the formed rim part (fore crosstree plus rim).  I will show that soon.  The brass (photoetched) hounds were designed with the trestle tree attached (with a fold line) which I have done.  This is a test piece which has not been cleaned up yet.  I will also drill out the bolt holes and use simulated bolt heads and nuts in a staggered/alternating pattern when fitting to the mast.  the idea of the flats was to ensure the hounds (cheeks) and trestletree remained perpendicular to the mast centerline axis rather than sloping inwards.  The fore-and-aft angle will also need to be adjusted to ensure the trestle trees remain parallel with the deck/waterline when fitted.
 
cheers 
 
Pat
     
 
 

There is no 'scale' for rivets, only size. So the question is how big on the prototype would these rivets be?
 
Second question: what type of rivet? There are many ways in which rivetting and forming their heads can be performed: half round, countersunk (barely visible on a model), half countersunk, flush (which then would be invisible on the model), hollow rivets, etc. 
 
So a picture of the prototype you want to achieve would be needed to give you informed advice.
 
I would, however, suspect that rivets in 1/200 scale on AA gun mounts would be rather small, with heads of a diameter somewhere around 20 mm max. This means, that in at a 1/200 scale we are talking of diameters of less than 0.1 mm. Assuming that we are talking of half-round heads, the only practical way would be tiny (really tiny) blobs of paint or white glue. It would be a challenge to achieve consistent sizes. In summary, I think I wouldn't bother.
 
The tool you showed, although I don't know it, seems to be the kind used by aircraft modellers to indicate flush rivets by slightly marking the surface. This is not what you (presumably) need and the resulting marks would be grossly overscale anyway.

What I tend to do to such flat black parts is to run a soft pencil along the edges etc. to highlight them. Using a cotton stick, you can also slightly rub the graphite away from the edges.
 
Similarly, using dark-grey pastel, you can lightly highlight areas that would normally be more illuminated to accentuate say round parts. 
 
Depending on how you want to show the model, pristine builders's model style or slightly 'weathered', you can add traces of ash or rust around the furnace of the boiler using white or brown pastels.

What I tend to do to such flat black parts is to run a soft pencil along the edges etc. to highlight them. Using a cotton stick, you can also slightly rub the graphite away from the edges.
 
Similarly, using dark-grey pastel, you can lightly highlight areas that would normally be more illuminated to accentuate say round parts. 
 
Depending on how you want to show the model, pristine builders's model style or slightly 'weathered', you can add traces of ash or rust around the furnace of the boiler using white or brown pastels.

Just stumbled across this log, while I am waiting for something to dry in my workshop ...
 
I think the model looks very convincing and the strategy is good in the absence of real plans. There would have been, however, sources of plans for both, commercial and naval vessels built in and around Venice, that one could have explored. Venice at this time was under Austrian rule (formally Kingdom of Lombardia-Venezia) and the arsenal built for the Austrian-Hungarian navy - miraculously the archives largely survived two evacuations: 1866 to Trieste and 1919 from there to Vienna (though I seem to heard that many boxes are still unopend in the national archives there ...). So some lines plans that could have been adapated may have been there. Depending on, where the other ships your are modelling were built, this might be still a possibility.
 
I like unconventional approaches to construction when it serves the purpose. At small scales wood is not always the best and most convenient material. Wood can also be messy to prepare, if you don't have a suitable workspace. And at small scale, the wood-grain is usually to coarse and needs to be covered up with fillers. So acrylic, styrene, bakelite-paper etc. can be indeed better options - even when the final surfaces are supposed to bare wood, as for decks. Painting may give a much more realistic appearance at small scales.
 
At small scales real copper indeed probably is not the best material to represent coppered ships' bottoms. Very thin paper painted is a better way - I agree with you there. However, your overlapping plate-seams appear too pronounced, I must say. To be quite harsh (apologies), I think it spoils this lovely model somewhat. If you look at images of real coppering (me and others have posted a lot of pictures here on MSW), show that the seams are not very pronounced, as the copper-sheathing in fact was quite thin. I would have probably just butted the plates against each other, as even the thinnest paper would be overscale.
 
Looking forward to further progress 👍🏻

The problem will be exacerbated when you work from scanned original drawings. Every line that is not absolutely aligned to the axis of the scanner will become a fuzzy, jagged something.
 
There are a few strategies to overcome the problems discussed above:
 
- never ever use chain measurement. By way of example, it you have a row of identical boxes fitted to each other, don't measure each individual box, but measure the overall length and divide it by the number of boxes to give you their dimensions. 
 
- Similarly, when drawing plans for a ship, do not start from the details, but from the overall dimensions and fit the parts in. The percentage lengths mentioned by Dr PR above go this way.
 
- Think about the practicalities of building: what materials and what tools do I have available or can obtain; dimension parts accordingly, if the deviation would not really by visible.
 
- Think also which part would the easiest to make fit to other parts; say you have to make a flange for a pipe, in which case you may fit the inner diameter of the flange to the available wire/round stock; the inverse, could be also the case for bigger parts, where it may be easier to turn the pipe to the diameter of a flange for which you had a drill for the whole; etc.
 
- Unless I would make a drawing for publication, I tend to make no real drawings for parts, but rather (computer) sketches to which I add the measured/calculated dimensions; I then work from the numbers, rather than taking off another set of measurements from a drawing.
 
- Work from parts with well-known dimensions; say, you need to construct a shell-locker, then start with the dimensions of the shell, which typically are very well documented in the literature of the time, etc.
 

There is no 'scale' for rivets, only size. So the question is how big on the prototype would these rivets be?
 
Second question: what type of rivet? There are many ways in which rivetting and forming their heads can be performed: half round, countersunk (barely visible on a model), half countersunk, flush (which then would be invisible on the model), hollow rivets, etc. 
 
So a picture of the prototype you want to achieve would be needed to give you informed advice.
 
I would, however, suspect that rivets in 1/200 scale on AA gun mounts would be rather small, with heads of a diameter somewhere around 20 mm max. This means, that in at a 1/200 scale we are talking of diameters of less than 0.1 mm. Assuming that we are talking of half-round heads, the only practical way would be tiny (really tiny) blobs of paint or white glue. It would be a challenge to achieve consistent sizes. In summary, I think I wouldn't bother.
 
The tool you showed, although I don't know it, seems to be the kind used by aircraft modellers to indicate flush rivets by slightly marking the surface. This is not what you (presumably) need and the resulting marks would be grossly overscale anyway.

Nice find, I didn't know about that book, but then I am not a 'yachtie'. I knew that site and find it quite annoying in the sense that you cannot actually download easily the books ...

I suppose that's how 'builder's models' in the old days often were treated.

She is indeed coming along nicely 👍🏻
 
Concerning black 'marker' pens: there are now on the market several brands of 'artists' pigmented acrylic brush pens. Being pigment, rather than dye, they should not fade, particularly the black ones, that presumably contain carbon-black as pigment.

Just stumbled across this log, while I am waiting for something to dry in my workshop ...
 
I think the model looks very convincing and the strategy is good in the absence of real plans. There would have been, however, sources of plans for both, commercial and naval vessels built in and around Venice, that one could have explored. Venice at this time was under Austrian rule (formally Kingdom of Lombardia-Venezia) and the arsenal built for the Austrian-Hungarian navy - miraculously the archives largely survived two evacuations: 1866 to Trieste and 1919 from there to Vienna (though I seem to heard that many boxes are still unopend in the national archives there ...). So some lines plans that could have been adapated may have been there. Depending on, where the other ships your are modelling were built, this might be still a possibility.
 
I like unconventional approaches to construction when it serves the purpose. At small scales wood is not always the best and most convenient material. Wood can also be messy to prepare, if you don't have a suitable workspace. And at small scale, the wood-grain is usually to coarse and needs to be covered up with fillers. So acrylic, styrene, bakelite-paper etc. can be indeed better options - even when the final surfaces are supposed to bare wood, as for decks. Painting may give a much more realistic appearance at small scales.
 
At small scales real copper indeed probably is not the best material to represent coppered ships' bottoms. Very thin paper painted is a better way - I agree with you there. However, your overlapping plate-seams appear too pronounced, I must say. To be quite harsh (apologies), I think it spoils this lovely model somewhat. If you look at images of real coppering (me and others have posted a lot of pictures here on MSW), show that the seams are not very pronounced, as the copper-sheathing in fact was quite thin. I would have probably just butted the plates against each other, as even the thinnest paper would be overscale.
 
Looking forward to further progress 👍🏻

Just stumbled across this log, while I am waiting for something to dry in my workshop ...
 
I think the model looks very convincing and the strategy is good in the absence of real plans. There would have been, however, sources of plans for both, commercial and naval vessels built in and around Venice, that one could have explored. Venice at this time was under Austrian rule (formally Kingdom of Lombardia-Venezia) and the arsenal built for the Austrian-Hungarian navy - miraculously the archives largely survived two evacuations: 1866 to Trieste and 1919 from there to Vienna (though I seem to heard that many boxes are still unopend in the national archives there ...). So some lines plans that could have been adapated may have been there. Depending on, where the other ships your are modelling were built, this might be still a possibility.
 
I like unconventional approaches to construction when it serves the purpose. At small scales wood is not always the best and most convenient material. Wood can also be messy to prepare, if you don't have a suitable workspace. And at small scale, the wood-grain is usually to coarse and needs to be covered up with fillers. So acrylic, styrene, bakelite-paper etc. can be indeed better options - even when the final surfaces are supposed to bare wood, as for decks. Painting may give a much more realistic appearance at small scales.
 
At small scales real copper indeed probably is not the best material to represent coppered ships' bottoms. Very thin paper painted is a better way - I agree with you there. However, your overlapping plate-seams appear too pronounced, I must say. To be quite harsh (apologies), I think it spoils this lovely model somewhat. If you look at images of real coppering (me and others have posted a lot of pictures here on MSW), show that the seams are not very pronounced, as the copper-sheathing in fact was quite thin. I would have probably just butted the plates against each other, as even the thinnest paper would be overscale.
 
Looking forward to further progress 👍🏻

The grid is 1sq cm, the carriages are a mix of parts, about 10mm long with 2mm glass beads for wheels with melted sprue for axis , the body was part of a larger carriage that I cut down. Here are most of the rest of the pieces of the model ready for painting. Ladders hatch covers, capstain, doors, the bits, the pinrails, rigging bounds and euphroe etc are scratch, done from the pastic sheets I have, these were easy.  The steering wheel is from a kit with a scratch base. The anchors are each from 3 different sources put together. Generally the scrap pieces I have are not very compatible with the 1/144 so I could not use many. The guns are the right size for a 12 pounder at 1/144, dont know where they were orriginally from, probably 24poundes at 1/220. I will most probably use them, but there is a catch. I want to make a series of 1/144 ships and want consistency. I have yet to find a way to make gun barrels at such scale, I might need to resort buying metal ones, 18mm are the smallest ones I can find online. 

The deck fittings, guns and ship's boat are bit of a challenge.. I have a lot of spare pieces of various kits to use though. For the boat, I found one lower hull of the right size, and added the rest of the details in the correct scale using plastic strips and scrap pieces. 

The masts are made of balsa soaked with cyanoacrylate and plastic. Added eyebolts for the rigging as well, mostly to make the rigging easier, than anything else. And a closeup of the foremast. I have set the yards at an angle, I'll put sails later and prefer to have them with the wind at an angle, even if it is not an a diorama base. 

Thank you all! Since I now try to put daily work on the models, and with most other non modeling issues mostly resolved, I'll be more consistant in posting here in general. 
Timberheads on the bow are now done, and the hull is ready for painting. The forecastle is also temporarily dry fitted. 
On the matter of the deck, I improved on my older solution, that is, I drew a 1/144 scale deck pattern, complete with colors, planking and nailheads on the computer. 
I printed it on thick paper. Then I glue it on 0.3mm thick plastic sheet in the shape of the deck and painted it over with matte enamel coat to seal it. I like the result, not many other solutions in that scale (other than buying ready decks or sth) so the same deck pattern will be in all my 1/144 models from now on. 

Thank you Ian! Oh well, my unorthodox builts are still a bit of a way to go to become masterpieces hahaha 😅 
Here some photos of the hull, almost complete, with most outside details in place. I am very relieved of how it came out, having designed it myself, despite its shortcomings. It is not perfect, but from pictures of Ares and paintings of similar mediterranean merchant brigs, it looks much more correct to my eyes, so that is enough.  

More details around the head of the ship, the boomkins etc. Also added the various hooking points (ringbolts) for the bowsprit rigging  

The details of the stern, based on her 1890s photos. The rigging plan and as much as I could discern from the paintings will be in her 1820s configuration, but for everything else, I'll have to take some later details to fill in the gaps.

A clearer view after applying the copper plating pattern

More of the same. The method was quite smooth after a while, it will be used in all my 1/144 projects 

The process was slow, mostly because I was streamlining my method of creating this copper plating effect. A lot of back and forth, that took a while, but in the end I think it was worth it. Also I started to add more details, like the bow railings etc, brace knees on the shroud chain plates etc. 

Now, this is some interesting part. The hull required coppering, but in this scale, I could get away with simply painting copper color on the flat surface. Also, since it is tiny, one could just put it in a sea diorama base and dont bother with the hull. But I went through so much to design and make the plans and the shape of hull of the ship that it was not an option to just hide it. I went over many threads of fellow modelers here, of how they approach coppering the hull, but none really were of any help in this situation. So the hard path approach it is... I drew the lines of each plate, first the horizontal, then the vertical to create the pattern of the plates on the hull, and then put 0.25mm thread on it....After soaking it with cyanoacrylate glue, I sanded it very lightly, and slowly moved up the hull... 

Details of the bow section, with some blue plastic mesh to indicate gratings.