SkerryAmp

Thanks very much John, Aldo and Richard. Good to see you back on the site Aldo .
 
Shroud Cleats
 
There are about two dozen Shroud Cleats needed as far as I can tell, so I've made them as a bit of a break from tying ratlines.
 
Instead of making them one at a time I've used the method learned from others to mass produce them. First I cut 26 pieces (a couple of spares) from 2.8 x 1.32mm stock at 7mm lengths. These were then glued together with PVA and allowed to dry. A bit of disc sanding got them evened up after this pic was taken :
 

 
Next I cut a slot in each long end, and a shallower one for the centre lashing on the table saw :
 

 
Then I clamped the whole section in my vise and did some final shaping with a needle file :
 

 
Finally the section was dropped into a jar of Isopropyl Alcohol to dissolve the PVA. A little bit of rounding up will be done, and I'll stain the cleats a darker brown so they don't "jump" at you :
 

 
  Danny

Thanks for dropping in again, and your kind comments John, Nils, Allan, Richard, Maury and Frank.
 
 
Richard, I'm not using a "professional" setup. I use a pencil torch from Bernzomatic, which uses butane. The solder paste is a medium melting point from Fusion.
 
 
Maury, I cut the plates to length after soldering and before drilling the holes.
 
Ratlines
 
Time for the "fun" job of tying the lower ratlines. I printed out a spacing template using AutoCAD and taped it behind the shrouds :
 

 

 
The lowest 6 and uppermost 6 ratlines don't tie off to the outer shrouds. There is some minor adjusting to be done which I'll do when they are all completed.
 
  Danny

It's pretty busy under the mast tops now :
 

 
  Danny

Thanks for looking in Michael and Jan .
 
Futtock Shrouds
 
Preparations for installing the Futtock Shrouds begins with making the Futtock Plates which hold the deadeyes. I made these from 0.7mm brass wire rolled around a 3.3mm drill bit, clamped up with needle nose pliers, and silver soldered at the bottom end. A 0.7mm hole was drilled into the lower end and the upper end was stretched back out so the deadeye could be inserted :
 

 
After blackening the plate was closed up around the deadeye :
 

 
4mm hooks were bent from 0.5mm wire, silver soldered and blackened. The futtock shroud was then seized to it :
 

 
The futtock plates go through the oval holes in the mast top and the shrouds are hooked to them :
 

 
The lower end of the shroud wraps around the futtock stave and is seized to the lower shroud :
 

 

 
  Danny

● Pumps: The pumps were made according to the kit instructions with one change. When I tried making the main cylinder from 3/16" dowel the diameter ended up too small according to the plan. I was successful when I used 3/16" square strip and a "V" groove jig to hold the strip in place while forming the eight sides. The black bands were made from card stock.
 
I glued the tiny spouts to a piece of scrap wood with PVA glue to hold it while sanding them with my newly acquired "True Sander". I dipped the spout into boiling water to release the glue.
 

 
This photo shows how small the spouts are.
 

 
Finished pumps with a coat of Wipe-on Poly.
 

● Capstan: While waiting for the tools to arrive I thought it might be a good opportunity to scratch a few parts. Here is the first one, the capstan, compared to the kit supplied one.
 

Turns out I made the two hatches the wrong size.  The forecastle false deck has squares marked on it for the placement of these hatches. Instead of adding the 1/16" square strips outside of these markings I placed them inside. My thinking was that the markings represented the overall size. Wrong! Chuck's watchful eye caught the mistake.
 
Before and after
 

 

I'm now in the eyebolt business with the purchase of round nose pliers. I loved the way all the ladies in the jewelry making department eyed me as I shopped in their domain.

Well, I fnally got some time in the shipyard. A little rusty for sure...probably need some "relative bearing" grease to get m old fingers started - as the Bo'suns used to ask for. Working on chains for the Foremast deadeyes. Not as neat as I would like, and not lined up the way they should, but it's a start. I might come back and redo them or not..probably later on in the build. So I'm going to be going all the way around the ship and get these done. Here's the start, I soldered some o f the components with the resistance solderer and Ca'd them to the channels and hull with brads:

Next is Deadeyes and Chainplates. Starting with the starboard Foremast working my way to the Main and Mizzen both port and starboard. I think now is a good time to install all of them since, #1 It needs to be done, and #2 they'll be available when needed without having to interupt the flow of things. I use brass wire, proper deadeys and solder and blacken the brass. Once the chain plate is blackend insert th ends into the pre drilled holes in the channels, wrap the brass around the nails in the kit, drill the hole and glue in place. Should look something like this.

Here is today's update, trying to get some work done on the Morgan, keep my website up to date, and work on my Proxxon Store at the same time....I get confused on which hat I have on. Some work had been done on the Foremast and Mainmast a while back, but not significant enough to discuss yet. The Formast will be stepped at the same time as the Mainmast since the Mainstay (installed at the time of the Anchor Deck constrution) will be fed through the Fairleads on the Foremast and secure to the Main Top. This procedure is done at the same time to insure that the Mainstay is tightly secured.

Playing catch up again but Rich, everything is looking fantastic!!  Great job on the base, the lines are falling in nicely - really love what you have done with this build!

I forgot to include the tiller shot in the above photos...

Good morning Patrick & Augie,
 
I'm still waiting on news for my very cold trip to Ohio (destination Portsmouth, but probably fly into Columbus). My uncle (age 90) is in bad shape. He's retired army, served during WWII (Africa, Italy & Germany) as well as two tours in Korea - shot in both wars. Orders to Viet Nam was the deciding factor on retiring earlier than he wanted, had enough close calls, but hated to leave the service. 
 
I finished installing the rudder, just need to clean it up and touch up the paint here and there (never ending task). I may hang the rudder chains next but not sure if that is a smart thing to do not, due to risk of ripping them out. I may dismount my reloading press so I have more room to work and one less item to bang the ship against as I work. As usual the close ups show dust and areas to tidy up.

I completed installation of the toprail, mounted the bowsprit and completed the rudder (minus the chain). Below are a few pictures of the rudder uninstalled. The next set of pictures will have the rudder installed and the ship mounted to the display board. After three weeks of having 60 pounds of weight on the display board the very small warp came right back. It's so small I'll add thicker felt pads on one side so it does not rock.
 
The rudder was one of those tasks that I though "I'll knock this out in a day..." You think I would have learned by now  , five days later, it's ready to install. I had difficulty using a micro torch to solder the hinges together, but after I switched to my old iron, it soldered fine. I tried making the hinges using a nail as a hinge pin but I did not care for how it turned out. I ended up making two squared off horse shoe shaped hinges per hinge assemble, stacked one on top of the other and soldered the butt joint together. It seemed to be a pretty strong joint and fit in the rudder recess OK. The hinges were nailed in place using 0.016" dia round head nails. I drilled 0.016" holes, shortened the nails, applied CA glue to the end and pressed them in place. 
 
I used Blacken It on the hinges and nails, but like my previous efforts, the results were not too impressive. The material turned black but it flakes off leaving a very rustic look and not very black. I touched the metal with some black paint.
 
Time to head out to the boatyard to dissemble the rudder and mount it to the ship. Take care....

I've managed to get a little work completed over the holidays, along with the usual amount of rework. The hull is painted along with two coats of Wipe On Poly (WOP). I also worked on one anchor, using Augie's suggestion of shrunk tube for simulating metal straps (worked out great - Thanks Augie).
 
I made the anchor ring out of some brass rod that was left over form another project. Solder world a not stick to it very well, probably due to not being clean enough. I did not think of sanding it down until after I made the ring. I did soak it in alcohol for a while, plus I tried several types of flux all to no avail. Heat was not an issue since I was using a mini torch. Since there is little stress on the ring, I just epoxied the ends together. I wrapped the ring using some rope supplied with the kit. I do not know what material was used for the rope, but it convinced me to order some of Chuck's from his Syren Company.
 
I made up a spread sheet listing rope and rigging blocks supplied from the kit, weighted against buying better replacements. All I can say is OMG on how quickly it adds up. I'll have to proceed with caution when going down this path. In respect to buying replacement rope and blocks, can anyone comment of how much extra you think is supplied by Model Expo. I do not expect an accurate number, knowing kits may vary and re-do's occur all the time, but any input on personal observations would be appreciated. I'll buy in batches as I go to help spread out the cost and to make sure I do not buy more than what is needed.
 
I noticed I had a lot of dust show up in the pictures. I guess I need to do a better job of cleaning off the parts before taking pictures or maybe get a lower res camera
 
Speaking of dust, it's a real PIA to deal with and thinking ahead as to when there will be masts, spars, rigging and all kinds of thing to collect dust, that would be difficult to clean off, are there any suggestions on how to minimize dust collection during a build. I was thinking of a curtain box, that would be lowered over the ship when I not working on it, but it sounds big and clumsy when thinking about it. So I thought I would break tradition and ask the many fine builders on MSW BEFORE I build something and ask afterwards where i went wrong...
 
Note: The bow sprite is held in place with tape - could not resist the photo op.

The bow sprite is painted. Tonight I'll apply wipe on poly and eventually dull-coat. The cap needs four eye-bolts installed, but I'll do that after its installed on the ship so I do not damage them. The eye-bolts are very small with a 0.015" dia shaft. I picked up a drill bit today sized at 0.016," hopefully one of my mandrels will handle this size.
 
 
 
 

I completed the majority of work on the bow sprite other than paint. My plan is complete this piece then mount it on the ship so I can add the top rail. I'll hold off on mounting the jib boom and dolphin striker until later. Right now I think they would simply get in the way and get snapped off multiple times.
 
Hull painting is complete with two coats of Wipe On Poly (WOP), but photos have yet to be taken. Once the top rail is on, as well as the rudder, I think it will be time to mount the ship on the display board.
 
Speaking of the display board, after I applied WOP, I noticed the board did not sit flat. One corner is up less then 1/16" but it's enough to cause the board to wobble. I've had it sitting for the past few weeks with 60 pounds of lead alloy bullets sitting on it (with protective thick plastic plank), hoping this would make it sit flat again. If it does not work are their any suggestions other than varying the thickness of the felt bumpers or stripping the finish and soaking in water?
 
Edit: You may notice I added two extra tread steps than what the plans call for. The last one did not end up where it should so adding two more seemed to resolve that issue.

Since there's conversation going on regarding Tamiya tape, I thought a photo showing how well it worked may be worthwhile (waterline stills needs repaired in this area). As you can see, I painted the end boards for one gun port and one sweep port with decent results. I also added brass drain lines below five gunports. I do not believe this was in the plans and probably not historically correct, but the Captain said put them in.
 
A big finger is always good for size reference...

I managed to get some painting completed since my last post. The bad news is my painting ability has not improved.  I have a lot of touch up work to do where the tape bled as well as a few misses, plus I need to paint the gun/sweep port end boards red. I'm really getting to dislike the macro lens on my camera, it shows way too many faults. Maybe I can find a camera with a fault filter...    I'll post the clean up photos once I spend a few days working on the above issues.
 
If you look close you can see the narrow tape thats on top of the light green paint, hopefully protecting the waterline stripe as I paint above and below the line.
 
Tape...
 
More Tape
 
Results
 
Some issues to dress up
 
I'll re-tape to try and get a better edge...
 
 
 
 

As promised yesterday the pictures.
 
Now I can play with the  2 mm blocks......
When the first one is done I will post another picture of that to see if I'm on the right track.
Enjoy your sunday and do the things that you have to do.
 
Sjors
 
 

Thanks Mobbsie, Nick and Lawrence,
 
@ Mobbsie,
 
I have make 2 breech ropes.
At the end of this post you will see a picture of it.
 
@ Nick,
 
Thank you   
And for you also the best wishes from the two of us !
 
@ Lawrence,
 
You have to wait a little longer for the rigged cannons.
I'm just playing with the breech ropes yet.
But thank you !
 
As I promised to Mobbsie and someone else who is yelling about pictures, I will post two.
It cost me the whole morning to make one breech rope,
I have to figure out what works for me.
I think I found it because the other one takes me about 1/2 hour   
The light is not that good , I have to use artificial light.
Still it is in the middle of the day and it's just so grey outside that I need the lights.
But you can see what I have done so far.
The first picture are the two breech ropes, the second one is with her teeth outside the hull !
 
Sjors
 

The cannons for the lower gun deck are painted and on the carriages.
The 10 carriages and cannons in the middle have the eyebolts for the rigging.
The others around it will have no rigging.
They are hiding under the different decks like the upper deck and poop deck and maybe another deck 
Next thing to do is place the cannons and then I can start the rigging......of the cannons !
Putting eyebolts in the bulwark and of we go 
 
Sjors
 
 

Because it's the day for Christmas and I think it is time to post a few pictures.......
 
The quarter galley at the starboard side are also in place.
The transom decorations are also there.
I have re-do the letters 4 times because it was not what I was looking for.
And don't forget I have a few extra pair eyes in the house........Anja.
She is really my biggest criticus !!!!!!!!!!!!
The railing on the balcony is soft metal.
I have seen on the picture that it is not totally straight.
I will keep it like this at the moment and later on I will try to straighten it.
Now it is time to start at the cannons on the lower gun deck.
That means painting, painting and painting...........
And of course the rigging of those things.
I have received 2 mm blocks from Grant, so wish me luck with the tiny stuff !
When the first one is done, I'll will post a picture of it.
 
Sjors
 
 
Then a last thing from both of us....
 
A Merry Christmas and all the best in good health for 2015 !
 
 Anja & Sjors

A little update.
 
The decorations on the port side gallery are on it.
It looks if the windows are not straight but that's an angle of the picture.
There are frames in the wood where you have to put the windows in.
It can not goes wrong ( except for me then    )
 
Sjors