augie

A year well spent, mate.

Sam, hand is as good as it is ever going to get, little feeling in the pinky, but the rest works fine.
 
Scott, I really do like the natural light in that room, makes the modeling better in the daylight, Planing to hang some florescent lights above the countertop, as the ceiling lights just don't provide enough light for the finer details, works ok for the planking phase, but will need more light soon. 
 
Greg, welcome to my build, I hope you enjoy.
 
Everyone else, thank you for the kind return messages, I have missed you all!

Fantastic lantern you've done, Moonbug.  

I decided that the stern lantern on the Santa Maria was an opportunity for me to get a little more elaborate than was likely actually on the ship.  I started by having Chuck send me one of his Stern Lantern Kits so I wouldn't have to manufacture the little bits on my own.  Then I stained and prepped the pieces.
 

 
I put the basic pieces together, then started the modification process. I based my idea on a lantern I saw from one of the Russian model builders. I used thin wire and wrapped to pieces together to create a "roped" look, then filed down and flattened one side.  I glued these pieces to the corners of the lantern.
 

 
I painted and rubbed the lantern black, and used parts of brass nails to create the door handle and hinges.
 

 
Then I chopped off the ends of straight pins and mounted them on the top of the lamp to create "pillars" that extend above the lamp.
 

 
Finally, I used a 3mm wide brass strip and filed it down to create the cross on the top.
 

The channels are in and I added the eyebolts to the exterior of the hull.  I also drilled the scuppers which was pretty straight forward.  Then I started to fabricate the plates for the backstays.   These were made using 1/64" x 3/32" brass strips.   The K&S strips are soft and can be filed easily to shape.  You can see the progression of steps used to make them.  There will be three chainplates on each side of the hull.
 
I started by drilling the hole at the bottom and rounding it off.
 
Then I used a round file to notch the strips on both sides as shown in step two.  This will be the top of the chain plate where it gets thinner.
 
In step three I used a flat file to extend that thinner portion on top so I could bend it into a loop like making an eyebolt.
 
Step four is where I cut off the top excess strip and tapered the bottom portion so it got slightly narrower as it worked its way to the top.
 
The last two examples show the chainplate completed with the thin portion of the brass on top bent into a loop.  This will get a hooked tackle when it comes time to rig the back stays.   I used small little brass pins....you know the ones...they come in every kit and I have a whole bunch of them.
 
Next its on to the deadeyes and chainplates for the channels.  Its really the same procedure to make those except we will add a stroped deadeye to the top of each.
 
The outboard details are almost all complete.  Once the deadeyes are completed there is only the rudder and fixed block on the stem.  Then we finish up inboard!!!!
 

 

 

Hmm..... Let me simplify.... here's a picture. 
 
The planks between the first wale and the last are all wide and thick.  Starting after the first, they all get thinner until they're at the same thickness as the  lower planks.  They also change in width.  I've taken a bit of liberty on the width change as I wasn't sure I could match the width at each strake.  If I were doing this again <cold shiver up the spine> I would as I'm more confident and comfortable with what's needed.
 
As for the tapering I mentioned, I lined off the hull, figured out how many strakes I needed and marked every frame to show the width.  Do to the shape of hull, the planks take some "unique" twists, turns and tapering.  It's not a uniform taper.
 
I hope this helps.  If not, let me know and I'll try to show it differently.   The other ships (kits) I've done, and the ships I have plans for (English and American) don't have a lot "strangeness" to them by comparison.
 
Edit:  Click the picture to make it bigger and readable.
 

We usually count on Sjors for the popcorn.

That's a really awesome stern light.

Hmmmmm......good excuse for some planking practice!

WOW!!!!!

Hmmmmm......good excuse for some planking practice!

I appreciate the comments and insight.  We're pretty sure surgery isn't the answer.  We do need to get her off the opiates due to bowel problems and still get pain relief.  Being in Oregon, we're working on the "alternative" but her back isn't simple due to a lifetime of compensation.  We think the pain clinic is on the right path.... we'll see.
 
Back on topic... here's a pic... 6 more strakes to go and one (at the bow) will need to be a drop plank...  <sigh>  I tried to get it without one.. but not going to happen.
 

We usually count on Sjors for the popcorn.

Nice find!  Always great to discover how other cultures do things.

WOW!!!!!

Nice find!  Always great to discover how other cultures do things.

We usually count on Sjors for the popcorn.

WOW!!!!!

I just discovered your build log today. Your ship is looking great. Sorry to hear about your mom. I lost both my parents to cancer. It's not easy to deal with. I wish you and your family all the best. Alright now whose got the popcorn?
 
Greg

I pray that your loved one heals soon.  Because of my problems I have a fracture in my lower back and understand pain pills.  They come in handy when needed but I will not get behind a wheel or operate a machine when I take one.  The biggest drawback is basically what you used to take for granted no longer works for you and you feel helpless.
David B

Hi All,
 
Follow on post to show you how things look after rigging the sail onto the foremast.  The pairs of single blocks attached to the foremast were used to rig the foresail halyard and lift. They were then tied off to the different windlasses. Bowlines were then tied off either through the deck ring bolts onto Syren cleats or directly to the deck bitts.
 
Good to see the first sail rigged and I am really happy with the deep red color. Images below and thanks for reading and of course for the earlier "likes".
 
Now onto the main and mizzen sails! Perhaps I am just starting to see the finishing line emerging....
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

Hi Janet,
 
Firstly my best wishes for a speedy recovery Janet...I hope you are soon up and about, feeling much better and able to get back to your great Dragon. Thank you for your kind words.
 
Hi Captain Steve,
 
Thanks the encouragement...hope you like the below post 
 
As for the red sails, well here is my first effort!  Needless to say given all the sewing, I have now donated the required amount of DNA to my build...now you know why I chose red sails! 
 
Sails were cut from the fabric by cutting out the pattern after pinning the pattern to the cloth. The sail edges were double hemmed using iron on adhesive hemming tape so the cut edge was fully sealed. I then sewed around the edges of the sails to try and add some detail. 
 
Foresail pawls were then cut to length and the ends rounded off. Each pawl was then attached to the sail by stitching through the sail several times to form evenly separated loops. Finally, the foresail halyard, lift and bowlines were assembled using Syren single blocks and 0.012in rope and tied to the pawls.
 
Not the neatest job, but I am pretty happy given it is my first sail. Images are below and the next post will show the sail after attaching to the foremast.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard, your figurehead turned out very nicely! And I fully agree, it is quite rewarding and a lot of fun to scratch build the one or other part and replace the kit provided pieces. And so far you do an excellent job on these parts!
 
Thomas 

Ian, welcome aboard   .   @Nirvana. I am slowly preparing my workshop for future fully scratch build project (or more of them). Proxxon tools are great tools for their value. Also I modified almost every one of them and get better and more precise tool. Only sponsor is my wife who allowed me all these toys   .   Today I made better, more realistic, picture of final finish, using different light source, camera settings and post-production.   On sample 1. Hard wax is used to simulate caulking. Nigel described this technique here.  

Hello all.

After completing Bluenose this will be my 2nd build. This time I wanted something with guns. There is a lot of very tempting kits and finally decided to go with Mercury, which attracted me even when I was buying my first kit.

The first impression is that this kit is of very high quality. Instructions are one of the best I have ever See, especially I like separate plan sheets for rigging which will be quite a job to do.

My plans:

-I like natural finish of wood as seen on NMM Greenwich models. This mean that most of the model is going to be unpainted, and I am going to change A LOT of materials provided in kit. For most of the build I am planning to use pear  wood, maple And some walnut. As Ebony I will stain pear wood. Today I received wood from Germany (2nd picture)  .

-There will be no coopering on hull, reason is above.

-Deck planking. Laser engraved plywood deck looks good, but not good enough for me. I will most likely use maple, but have pear For backup. As this is my second build and still don't wont to overcomplicate it I am thinking to use "normal" straight Pattern for planking like on brig Syrene for example, instead of curvature shape.

-Armament. From personal aspect I like the look of guns instead of carronades on deck more. Don't ask me why, just like them  . So I am still in research if there is any possibility that Mercury carried guns before carronades or has sister ship. This can be Seen on HMS Cruizer (guns) vs. HMS Snake (carronade) and Le Cyclope vs. Le Cygne. I have already purchased 6pdr Guns but will wait with that. If anyone could help me with this information I would very appreciate it.
 
-Sails. I am planing to do Mercury with partially set sails

Well, that's it for the moment.