Wintergreen

Good afternoon friends,
 
After a long hiatus I spent the weekend working on he lower mizzen mast.
 
Best regards
 
Henrik
 
 

A big day (for me, at least) at the museum on Friday. That was the day that I finally finished fitting all the rope coils at the foremast and could get the well deck boats fitted along with the well deck gangway.  It was a bit of a struggle to get it all in around the running rigging, but it finally fitted beautifully!
 
John
 

Hello,
today I build in another 8 knees and only 8 are left 😃
Only to show you the dimentions of the knees. When all went right, I takes half an hour for such a knee. But that happend rarely


The planks I build in between those points are in reality parts of the beams, means it is one pice of wood.

Thanks all for the warm welcome back. Yes Greg the whale will be getting a touch up when I have the nerve to stain it on the model... And no Grant I don't think the rat survived the harsh conditions the model was stowed on for at least a year off-site. It was in an open storage facility suffering the seasons. I'm very surprised that there only some very minor cracks in the planking.

The scuppers were drilled from two sides (don't tell not all the way through because they did not line up very well in all places.

The hawse holes are lined with holy. I soaked a thin sheet of holy in water, rolled it up when it was soft and then let it dry in my food curing oven. This gave a nice curve to the planks.   I tinted the seams with pencel lead to make them stand out a little more.


Deck planking added

 
Breast hooks and bucklers installed


 
Remco
 
 
 
 
 
 

Greetings Fellow Modelers,
 
Thank you Valeriy for your kind words, and thanks to all for the "likes."
 
 
Here’s an update on the Pelican’s whaleback.  First, the toerails along the P/S edges of the deck are cut to shape then heat bent.
 

 

 
 
Next, the ventilator and its mounting/rotation flange got some color.  I used a product on the cowl from AK Interactive that I’ve not tried before called True Metal.  This paint was recommended to me by @TOM G and it works great although I haven’t yet mastered how to apply and polish it for best results.  It’s a wax based colorant similar to Rub’n Buff, but whereas that product is more of an architectural hardware restorer, True Metal paint is produced for the model hobby and comes in a dozen or so colors that modelers can use.  An interesting product that so far, I like – thanks Tom.
 
The cowl below is a mixture of TM “steel” and “iron” applied with a colour shaper.  Almost looks galvanized.

 

 
 
A beveled coaming/plinth is added.

 
 
The “wave break” is a diverter whose purpose is to keep water coming over the bow from flowing aft onto the main deck. It’s made from .03” (.76mm) sheet styrene which scales to about 1.4” (36mm) thickness.

 
 
It’s dirtied up a bit and holes were drilled at each bolt-down location. The unit was temporarily located on the whaleback and selected bolt-down holes were drilled through into the deck.

 
 
Leaving some of the bolt shanks provided a foolproof way to affix it without concern of getting glue smear on the deck surface.  Bolts are Grandt Line 5113.
 

 
 
The stemhead fitting is brass with a scale thickness of about .5” (13mm) and the eyes are flattened wire.  One of the wires will be clipped flush on the backside and the other will penetrate the wood stem.

 
 
A port side deck ladder is made of .035” (.9mm) brass rod and finished with Jax Flemish Gray.

 
 
The ladder receives two styrene mounting brackets and weathering pigment.

 
 
Two 40” (102cm) tie off cleats will be primed then painted with True Metal on top.  I drilled into the bottoms and glued in stubs of brass wire for deck attachment.

 
 
Then all of the above was glued to the model.

 

 

 

 
 
Trim pieces were added here and there.  All of it is basswood except for the half-round styrene on the right.

 
 
A wider strip of half-round styrene was added as a rub rail just below the deck surface.  This strip also secures the rubber membrane flap that folds over the deck edge.

 
Thanks for stopping by for a look.
 
Be safe and stay well.
 
Gary

Hello and many thanks for your likes and comments
the next two strakes are ready. Now there are only two others left. The uper plank here is the rodrarhufr plank. In this plank later come the holes for the oars. She is a little thicker, 0,65mm.




And here you see also the thick fingers, who build this all 😁

Ah, so that's the reason for the absence. Don't think that we didn't notice 😉
Makes sense of course. Better to walk away than doing something irreversible stupid.
Hm, they say the bollards and the stern timbers are some of the hardest parts to figure out. But on the bright side, when you have mastered it, you have taken a step up the skill stairs 😉 
Keep it up!

I'm betting he duct taped the phone to his forehead and used his nose to take the photo. 

Nah, I just borrowed a phone selfie stick / tripod contraption from my teenage daughter and used a "photo timer" feature on the phone  It is an essential item for her, how would you do some outdoor selfies and group photos otherwise?

Maybe it is one of those AI rendered pictures where people have 13 fingers and three arms?

Maybe it is one of those AI rendered pictures where people have 13 fingers and three arms?

Yep, still mopping up the coffee off my keyboard!

I laughed so hard I think I broke my laugh emoji button.

A little more progress.
 
At the front of the stabilisers are a couple of metal fillets - presumably to deflect debris from the gap between the stabiliser and the hull. I'm not sure why the holes in the stabilisers are for and I have omitted them in error. I'll need to go back and insert these.

I cut the fillets from brass and included a web for mounting.

Cutting the slot in the hull was another stressful operation - I marked the slot position with card.

Before cutting the slot with an x-acto keyhole saw.

I took my time to avoid damaging the hull varnish.

The stabilisers and fillets were then Temporarily installed to test the fit.

Then it was on to preparing for the paint job. Starting with the waterline stripe. I was having difficulty getting the waterline to sit at the correct height at bow and stern using the laser level. After some head scratching I realised that the bench wasn't perfectly horizontal. This of course wouldn't have been a problem if I had been marking the waterline with the traditional scribing block and pencil method. To sort the problem out I had to shim the base board at the bow. I also had to place a spirit level on the bench (as a track for the laser level), also shimmed to be horizontal. (See arrows).

Having sorted the levelling problem I went on to mark the waterline by laying the masking tape directly to the laser line.


After changing the height of laser I went on to  mask the upper edge of the waterline. 
Of course I then had to turn the hull round and re-level before taping the other side.

I didn't get any further with masking because I got the call for dinner. One must never delay when called by "she who must be obeyed" or the dinner will be in the dog.
 
 

Slowly getting my deck clamps in after a few more health concerns (all better presently).
Working on the quarter deck/waist/forecastle clamps that support the deck beams.

My first photo is locating the deck height using my gun carriage assembly to get it to look correct.
The height of the deck is measured using the device I made to originally mark my heights (but I marked the top of the beam instead of the bottom!).
Then comes the math... using the contract to get the deck plank thickness and deck beam height and subtracting these from the height measured.
That locates the height of the top of my clamp.
This I double check to the plan measurements.... close enough!
Now I calculate the difference to the height of the top of the lower cill of the gun port.
This is the width (height) of the spacer needed.

Next I made my spacer, thin flexible maple, and clamped it to the hull (red nosed clamps), locating the top edge to the top of the gun port lower cill.
My deck clamp was glued and clamped (blue nosed clamps) while butted up against the spacer.
You can see the other deck clamps below.
I've got two more sections to install per side at this level, the last piece needs to be steamed to fit at the bow.
Then is the roundhouse or poop deck clamps and then I can start putting the decks back in.
 
Photo below... you can never have enough clamps.

Ok, the modelling block is over, decided to ignore that dip and make a normal straight lower deck like on all the other ships:

Remaining beams are cut out of boxwood. Cutting curved blanks really makes a big difference, I extracted 10 planks from the same width of a sheet instead of the previous 6.
 
They are rough from the bandsaw, but milling setup takes care of it, and the result are nice and smooth beams  


Marking beam locations was a bit nerve-wracking. Pencil was not precise enough when working on such angle, but a marking knife is perfect for that job. Taking a lot of care to not scratch anything around...

Finally! I can go back to building instead of overthinking  
 

Welcome back, Remco! That light fixed block wil also darken on exposure to light and air. In a year or two - like the holly - it will blend in nicely. I'd forgotten what a nice job you've done so far.
 
For drilling scuppers, I mark out carefully outside and in, then drill small pilot holes from both sides. They should meet - or almost meet- in the middle. A small round file will make any corrections before progressively enlarging to the correct diameter. Drilling should never be done from one side alone! As a cheat, you could simply drill blind holes from each side.

After a long (way too long) interruption my Kingfisher is back on the bench. I have still been busy modelling but with other (plastic related) topics not fit to portray here, still it was al lot of fun. But it was time to return and make some wood dust again. So over the past few week I managed to get back into the build, did a lot of head scratching trying to remember where I left of and more important how things were done. Some of the procedures got lost in time and I have to figure out again. 
After taking the model out of storage ( it was stored in a dark place) I noticed a few things, the boxwood turned darker, the holy I used for the lower deck planking turned dark almost to the color of the boxwood. The wale that was stained with Fiebing ink turned much lighter. Overall a few cracks have appeared between the outside planing, but nothing too serious. Not bad after 5 years in storage and moving 3 times to different locations. 
 
So the upper deck spriketting and quick work was finally finished. I did not dare to drill holes for the scuppers as I'm afraid the inside and outside planking is not completely aligned the way it should be and the suppers might hit the wale. 


 
Upper deck planking installed and treenailed. I used thin black paper for caulking.
 
The fixed blocks were remade as the previous ones had fitting issues. I decided to make them from one piece and carve the sheaves in situ.  Unfortunately I discovered too late that the wood I used for the double block was much lighter. Now it looks like it was an off site repair job. 


 
Whilst working with plastic and specifically with Gundam models I picked up there plastic scribers. They also function as great mini chisels for wood. They come in many sizes and are super sharp. Due to the high angle of the blade they cut very aggressive in wood so care must be taken but a great addition to my woodworking toolset.

 
 
 
 
Remco
 

Keith, add them to the hull and if you absolutely despise the look of them, build the stand in such a way that they are hidden.  

So, fighting my deamons, both real and imaginary, takes time.
 
But a quick update on the joinery I can give you (hopefully it still qualifies as "delightful", I guess John will be the judge of that).
Note though, that the aft three pieces are not glued in at this photo.

Then I got me a puzzle.
However there are some drawbacks in comparison to a regular "off the shelf" puzzle.
1. It doesn't state on the box how many pieces it is. In fact, I didn't even get a box for it.
2. The instructions are "sparse", and that is stretching it a bit. It only says, "Start outwards and work you way towards the middle". Not very meny clues in that statement.
3. There is not even a clear picture of what the end result should look like! No box art or anything. As Whitney sang "how should I know???"
Whish me luck guys!

On a slightly more serious note, the deck is not laid workboat style, i.e. straight laid. Instead it is laid yacht style, meaning a slight curve for a more gracious appearance.
 

Thank you guys!
 
Yes Keith, heating is a real plus (pun intended) during the dark, damp and cold season. And the space is convenient as well. I could of course do with a smaller space, but then all the big machinery would have to go and be replaced by more appropriate sized ditos. But, it's the Parkinsons law in effect, all available space/time/money is used up to its respective limit. (Check it out, it is a real thing).
 
Than you Michael! I try to take it slow and progress thoughtfully. It makes for fewer re-do's... right now I am contemplating how to lay the deck so that it looks gracefully with a slight inwards bend at both ends. 

Hello, and many thanks for your comments and likes
Life was against working at the shipyard most of the week, but now I have all collecting planks ready. I started also with planking the meginhufr.
I hope to finish the strake tomorrow.

Here are some of the parts, who did't it  ☹️

Hello All,
Thank You to Keith Black, Canute, Fried Clams and Wintergreen for your comments and thanks to all for the likes.
Here is a brief report as this build moves slowly along.
The rear derrick legs are built up and resting temporarily in the fixture.  I will now have to build the three sets of cross braces between the front and rear legs.  All these legs and cross braces are of different sizes and constructions.  I hope that it will be apparent in the final product. 
Before long I should check clearance on the actual model, so I don't have any nasty surprises.
Last night I brushed the front leg assembly knocking it over gently onto the cutting mat.  One of the guide sheaves went flying to the floor, I was an hour finding it.  At least I don't have to make another.
 
Thanks for Looking in,
mcb
 

Thank you guys!
 
Yes Keith, heating is a real plus (pun intended) during the dark, damp and cold season. And the space is convenient as well. I could of course do with a smaller space, but then all the big machinery would have to go and be replaced by more appropriate sized ditos. But, it's the Parkinsons law in effect, all available space/time/money is used up to its respective limit. (Check it out, it is a real thing).
 
Than you Michael! I try to take it slow and progress thoughtfully. It makes for fewer re-do's... right now I am contemplating how to lay the deck so that it looks gracefully with a slight inwards bend at both ends. 

Hi all, first real update for the season.
Okay, so the potential "bobo" was the arrangement for the bowsprit. 
The drawing only show one post but luckily I was a bit slow to build during the spring and had a look in the book. Of course there should be two posts to support the bowsprit.

So, some more bracing was needed as well as a step for the heel of the second post.
Tow pictures showing the small progress that in no way correlates to the hours it took. But, hey, that's true for every part of a scratch build right?

I will leave them there and come back later for detailing. Note, only dry fitted at this time. 
Now on to the garboard...