kruginmi

Thanks David and Dave.  I actually think the clove hitches would be therapy compared to the issues I just had - but have to believe it is in the past and it is all rainbows and sunshine up ahead, hah hah.
 
Speaking of in the past I jumped into the prototype ship stand today to see some progress (and success).  This was a think of it as you go (other than the base measurement calculations).
 

 
It turned out more solid than I had thought.  I thought some outside rods for lateral movement support would be required but now don't think so.  It is configured for people looking at and through the upper decks to see the internal details.  And yes, the seamless acrylic case is on order.
 
The bottom stand will be painted black and I will probably substitute clear acrylic rods for the upright posts.
 
A little different but I like it.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Now to get back to those other channels.....

Thanks David and Dave.  I actually think the clove hitches would be therapy compared to the issues I just had - but have to believe it is in the past and it is all rainbows and sunshine up ahead, hah hah.
 
Speaking of in the past I jumped into the prototype ship stand today to see some progress (and success).  This was a think of it as you go (other than the base measurement calculations).
 

 
It turned out more solid than I had thought.  I thought some outside rods for lateral movement support would be required but now don't think so.  It is configured for people looking at and through the upper decks to see the internal details.  And yes, the seamless acrylic case is on order.
 
The bottom stand will be painted black and I will probably substitute clear acrylic rods for the upright posts.
 
A little different but I like it.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Now to get back to those other channels.....

Thanks David and Dave.  I actually think the clove hitches would be therapy compared to the issues I just had - but have to believe it is in the past and it is all rainbows and sunshine up ahead, hah hah.
 
Speaking of in the past I jumped into the prototype ship stand today to see some progress (and success).  This was a think of it as you go (other than the base measurement calculations).
 

 
It turned out more solid than I had thought.  I thought some outside rods for lateral movement support would be required but now don't think so.  It is configured for people looking at and through the upper decks to see the internal details.  And yes, the seamless acrylic case is on order.
 
The bottom stand will be painted black and I will probably substitute clear acrylic rods for the upright posts.
 
A little different but I like it.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Now to get back to those other channels.....

Thanks David and Dave.  I actually think the clove hitches would be therapy compared to the issues I just had - but have to believe it is in the past and it is all rainbows and sunshine up ahead, hah hah.
 
Speaking of in the past I jumped into the prototype ship stand today to see some progress (and success).  This was a think of it as you go (other than the base measurement calculations).
 

 
It turned out more solid than I had thought.  I thought some outside rods for lateral movement support would be required but now don't think so.  It is configured for people looking at and through the upper decks to see the internal details.  And yes, the seamless acrylic case is on order.
 
The bottom stand will be painted black and I will probably substitute clear acrylic rods for the upright posts.
 
A little different but I like it.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Now to get back to those other channels.....

Thanks David and Dave.  I actually think the clove hitches would be therapy compared to the issues I just had - but have to believe it is in the past and it is all rainbows and sunshine up ahead, hah hah.
 
Speaking of in the past I jumped into the prototype ship stand today to see some progress (and success).  This was a think of it as you go (other than the base measurement calculations).
 

 
It turned out more solid than I had thought.  I thought some outside rods for lateral movement support would be required but now don't think so.  It is configured for people looking at and through the upper decks to see the internal details.  And yes, the seamless acrylic case is on order.
 
The bottom stand will be painted black and I will probably substitute clear acrylic rods for the upright posts.
 
A little different but I like it.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark
 
P.S.  Now to get back to those other channels.....

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

The dead eyes are really nice Mark....links turned out great. Best part, you will not have to tie all those clove hitches.

Hi Mark:
I enjoyed going through your build log. Very nice work. I definitely agree with you about 1:48 scale. Currently working at 1:60th and actually wishing I had gone to 1:50th. Thanks for sharing.
Dave

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Time to forge ahead and work on those channels!
 
First task was to generate the deadeyes.  I cut some square stock to the appropriate size and chocked it into the lathe.  After rounding it wasn't too much difficulty to get the deadeyes roughed in.  A lesson learned was to keep the length of the wood stock to around 3.5 inches.  This provided enough rigidity to make the lathing pretty straight forward.  Anymore and the flex just started to get too much, especially after a couple of inches of deadeyes were cut.
 

 
With the string of deadeyes it was straight forward to add the three eyes and THEN cut off the deadeye.  Much more handling power so greater accuracy.  With the deadeye figured out, it was a trial and error to define the wire lengths (20 gauge brass) necessary for the three loop lengths.  The intent is to silver solder the loops closed.
 

 
Then to check everything I put the channel in place (still missing the cap strip), made a template of the right angles to put the links on and affixed the prototype.  The bottom flat brass link is still missing.
 

 
Everything seems to check out and now I just need to make 29 of these for each side (2 different sizes for the deadeyes).  With the cap strip on the deadeye is angled more correctly.  If necessary I can add a bend to insure this happens.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Moving right along.....
 
Rail transitions pieces complete, tree pumps complete, rudder chains complete, capstan rigging complete.  Misc Cleanup operations in-process.
 
Once the pumps were gel coated I used the ship as a drying rack.  Not your typical look.  Once the pumps were in place the gun deck is complete for this build.  Lots of stuff going on at the quarterdeck line:
 

 
I decided to attach the rudder chains (since I was blackening the pump metal, might as well blacken the chain).  The attachment points were equivalent to the cannon tackle on the gun deck.  The ships lettering goes right above the chains.
 

 
I can finally sit back and see how close I am:
 

 
The channels, ships wheel, ship name lettering and figurehead are all that remain (end of the month?)
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

I got all the beams painted (carilngs and ledgings too) on the sides and underside but nothing photogenic so I skip the attached pic. 
 
I did notice I had not finished the gun deck supports so I had to get a few manufactured.  I dug around my odds and ends box and found the original (simple) jig I had made for those things.  Wasn't too long before I had the ones required made up.
 


 
I do dowel them into the lower deck but skip this step for the top end.  Just too hard to get everything aligned.
 
My biggest hope was to fashion the metal work for the rudder.  Pulling down my supplies I found my flux had dried up to look like some meteor just fresh through the atmosphere.  I could not find the stuff local and spent days and $$'s trying other stuff that just didn't work.  Finally ordered the original stuff and hope to get it later this week:
 
Handy Flux for soldering or brazing gold, silver, brass, copper  8 oz.
 
Hopefully more progress to show soon,
Mark

Finally got the time to put one coat of the gel urethane on the starboard side (to include in between the frames).  In the picture of the bow the location of the eking rail was left 'in the raw.'   Due to lighting issues, the bow pic is a little washed out.
 

 

 
This wasn't that hard to apply at all.  It made the frame components really pop and highlight the plank joins.
 
I am still looking at applying another coat.  This was a good thing to do and I am glad I was pushed in this direction.
 
Mark

On to the chesstrees.  There is definitely a few hours here as will be explained below.  My first gut was to jump right in, make a cardboard template to match the hull shape, transfer to a wooden piece and get'r done.  Well, I never really like butt joints that show and in this case I was unable to get a real tight fit all around the chesstree.  Pause to think.....
 

 
Well, the easiest way is to inset the chesstree into the planking.  So, I carefully trace around the chesstree and chisel half a plank depth away.
 

 
The result is much more satisfying.  As a bonus, the joint will be a whole lot stronger.
 

 
Now here came the biggest problem to overcome, creating the sheave hole.  At first I jumped in and carefully drilled a hole at both ends of the sheave hole and tried to remove any remaining wood in between.  I didn't even take a picture as the result was totally unacceptable no matter how much I carefully filed, scraped and poked.  I ended up walking away for the night. 
 
Later on the solution came to me and involved keeping it as simple as possible.  I would cut into the chesstree to the sheave from the bottom.  Once everything was cleaned up (now that the entire hole was accessible this was easy), a small section of wood would be replaced.  Very quick and the result I liked very much.  The actual block you see is one fashioned quickly and will be replaced.
 

 

 
So overall the process was probably 3.5 hours.  The next one for the port side will probably be done in less than half the time but I am okay with that.  I ended up with something that looks good and methodically worked through the issues as they came up. 
 
Cheers,
Mark

RIght now I have no plans to.  This hull has been around for 8 years (assembled) and been very stable so far.  Also, there are already regions I am unable to adequately reach.  With basswood really need some sort of sealer.
 
This whole ship has been a learning experience for me.  Most items (where possible) are doweled or positioned with clamps as opposed to glue to allow some movement.  I attach an internal pic of the orlop deck which has survived with no ill effects so far.
 
Loving the hobby,
Mark
 

Greetings (again).  Returning to MSW after a bit of off time (eg I just completed my 5th sprint triathlon).  I have not been idle and have lately been kicking it into high gear with my version of the HMS Druid.  Believe it or not, started in 2003 (two kids and a couple of homes ago) but looking to finish in the first quarter, 2014.  I have loved every minute I have spent - probably a little over 300 hours so far.
 
I just finished with the bow assembly (sans the eking rail which will wait until the cathead is affixed).  Previous to that was the stern caprail.  I believe I am on the downhill of this build.  Next up is finishing the rudder metal work and then working up from the berthdeck finishing all the details.
 
Additionally I have made progress on my Lady Anne and finished the DaVinci wing (currently on display at the Michigan Aviation Academy), but that will be a subject for another day.
 
Mark

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Mark:
That looks good. The links are very well shaped and I do not see any joints. The hard work paid off.
 
Russ

You did a great job.  When I had to make links I would use a drill bit the right diameter.  That way my oversized fingers would not get pinched.
David B

I think these links are among the most time consuming and frustrating things I have done on this build.  I have spent a lot of time trying to get them right and have probably thrown out enough wire to do 2-3 ships.  Never anticipated this at all.  After a lot of false starts and changes in techniques I finally have something that I am okay with:
 

 
Thirty eight (38) total pieces involved for this.  I have only kept track since about a third of the way in the build but I have to be over 2500 total pieces so far.....
 
Now to just do the same thing for the other five!  I am hopeful I can cut the time required for each to just a couple of hours per.
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark

Moving right along.....
 
Rail transitions pieces complete, tree pumps complete, rudder chains complete, capstan rigging complete.  Misc Cleanup operations in-process.
 
Once the pumps were gel coated I used the ship as a drying rack.  Not your typical look.  Once the pumps were in place the gun deck is complete for this build.  Lots of stuff going on at the quarterdeck line:
 

 
I decided to attach the rudder chains (since I was blackening the pump metal, might as well blacken the chain).  The attachment points were equivalent to the cannon tackle on the gun deck.  The ships lettering goes right above the chains.
 

 
I can finally sit back and see how close I am:
 

 
The channels, ships wheel, ship name lettering and figurehead are all that remain (end of the month?)
 
Stay Building My Friends,
Mark