glbarlow

Phase 2 - Cannon I’m still here, I haven’t a lot of ship time lately due tog lots of summer activities and travel. I have managed to complete another group of nine cannon bringing my total to 17 with eight more to go on the main deck. This is how I’m thinking of mounting them 😄 A coat of Admiralty Ironworks Black, followed by Doc O'Briens Rusty Red weathering powder. Completed carriages airbrushed red. I was surprised how much fine red dust ended up in my air filtration system - it even gave me a clean filters warning. I of course wore a mask and saw first hand the reason why. Adding WOP to wheels and hanging them out to dry. One thing I can’t seem to sort out is how to get completely clean wheels without removing too much wood, at this point thought it’s more important to me to be consist with my dirty wheels. I won’t bore you further with my process again, I covered it in detail back in post 361 if you’re interested. I just did it all again for nine more (one is for my 6 year old grandson, he asked me to make him one) and will again for the remaining eight, and once again later for the eight q-deck and forecastle guns. Perhaps of passing interest, each cannon consists of 28 separate parts. No shortcuts here, just gotta get in and do it. One thing I brushed over in the earlier post was the capsquares. Doing them with the hinge, latch, and pin is a bit of a fun getting the four pieces consisting of 30 pound black monofilament, 24 gauge wire, and black paper to come together to fit there properly on top of the carriage. I can’t say enough about the power of powder in the form of Doc O’Briens Weathering Powders. Somehow Rusty Red combines with the plastic cannon and Ironworks Black paint to create an nice gun metal finish. I took it one step further and also added it to the capsquares after first also painting them with the Ironworks Black. Once buffed up it brings all the plastic, wire, and paper into a uniform appearance creating a nice looking brushed metal appearance (at least mini-me thinks so). A lot of time spent making these in addition to assembling the cannon - well worth it. It’s starting to look like a warship (they’re just sitting there temporarily). I was going to take a break from them and build the capstan or the stove, but now I think I’ll go ahead and make the remaining main deck guns while the steps are fresh. Thanks for stopping by, hope you’re all enjoying the summer. I’m having eggs for breakfast these days since I can just cook them out on my Texas driveway.

Excellent work, very impressive belfry.

With Winchelsea underway I’d have to negotiate for space in the house for two such big hulls first 😁🤔

I’m a fan of Chris and fully support what works for his business. Hopefully all those that said they wanted Indy have their order in and if not in now order it soon. I’m sure Chris’s investment in such a detailed model is significant Revenue provides the capital for future models. His kits are such a level above all others.

Your artistry in hand painting these is amazing, well done!

Congratulations Mark, well done!

Sorry that happened, just another opportunity for creative problem solving. It seems you already have it well in hand. Enjoy your week off.

I was looking at the edge, didn’t see that. I’d guess Chuck would send replacements, he’s excellent about doing that. I’d recommend PMing him. Based on the many Winchelsea logs I follow it’s an exception and an uncommon problem.

We in the US just assume everyone in the UK is rich😂🤣

Sand them before removing them. It’s not uncommon. Here’s an example cannon carriage half sanded, half not.

I have a source for adhesive sandpaper I cut into small pieces. I also found the supplied paper not helpful. I make custom sanding sticks and foam sanders. Comes from Soft Sanders

Excellent planking Derek. I’m a big fan of the Proxxon mini-sander and the various end tips that come with it, comes in handy a lot. The curves at the stern are such joy. My only disappointment is I didn’t see any new tools I just had to have. I was a bit behind on your log, I’m really impressed, as I often am with your work, with how you scratch built your ladders. Very clever.

Thanks Don. I’m enjoying following yours as well.

Thanks Joe, I appreciate your saying so. The new camera is a fun bit of technology. Should I stay inside and work on the model or go outside and shoot photos, hard to choose😊

I probably should have also lashed it, but it didn’t show that on the plans. This is one of my first builds. I didn’t stray far from the plans back then.

It is true the masts and especially the rigging rely mostly if not completely on the plans, just to make it more fun and interesting. Either the pin or some PVA or both works, the rope lashing wouldn’t hold it by itself very well. Here’s mine if it helps, I believe I both pinned and glued it

Nice work, it looks great. Congratulations on the grandkids, they are truly our greatest reward.

Masterful just under sells how good this is. Enjoyable just seeing the photos, the detailed knots and rigging show elements I didn’t know existed having done much inferior rigging that until now I thought was pretty good.

Thanks Rusty. I appreciate your saying so.

Thanks BE, kind of you to say so. Even though the forward three will be mounted open eventually I wanted them to all fit and match the run of the planks correctly. It took a try or two.

Nice work on the wales. I’m personally left wondering though, what a Hoggs of Fife country shoe must look like😊

Thank you, yours is one of those I follow for inspiration.

fun stuff and nicely done,

Chapter 5 is Complete After 3 months that included assorted other distractions I’ve completed chapter 5, only seven more to go. Nothing new to report but thought I’d add a few photos summarizing this long bold chapter of work. One of my distractions is a new camera, photography being my other hobby. I just got it so thought I’d give it a try instead of my usual iPhone work, still figuring it out. Nothing fancy with the lighting other than moving my work lights around and messing with shading and white balance for different affects - not work I'd put on my website, but fun. First up is the rudder. It is now safely tucked back into my finished work cabinet until I permanently attach it near the end of the build, otherwise I’m sure I’d find a way to knock it off. The captain’s cabin benches and rudder house followed. As I noted earlier, accurate or not I added my own personal touch to the cabin floor with cherry and boxwood. Then the ship’s ladder’s, which naturally are a bit hard to photograph. These are designed so nicely and laser cut in boxwood, a step up from my scratch built ladders on Cheerful. To avoid the port lids for a while longer in addition to shaping and adding cleats to the bulwarks I also made all and added all the eyebolts and rings for the 28 ports. You get pretty good at bending and cutting wire once you do it for a while. I’ve learned to enjoy making these, just crank the music up and zone out with the pliers and flush cutters. The ports took me a while, partially because while only ten are needed, I made … well, more than ten. There’s a lot that goes into making these little not-squares. In the end I’d like to say they were fun to make, as I said, I’d like to say… The cheeks and hair brackets are another of the many things I’ve had to opportunity to do more than once, I’m probably a broken record on this. Someday I’ll do something right the first time and totally surprise myself. They are a pretty cool feature of the ship and really stand out from anything else I’ve done. From these macro photos I can see a few things to go back to try improving. I did learn here that there is no end to the opportunity to over-optimize. The hawse holes - ok there is one thing I got right the first time, not much chance for a re-do on those so yay me. The bolsters are also something that nicely stands out. There is some sanding, ok a lot of sanding, involved to turn a flat square rectangle into a curved not flat bolster. And finally more sanding to shape the two pieces of the bow knee into one. Even though it eventually won’t be seen under the forecastle deck, it doesn’t take away my obsession to make it look as good as I can. Chapter 5 was everything I’d want and enjoy. A significant challenge and lots of variety from the rudder to the knee. Good Times! Now I have lots of cannon to make and mix that up with building the stove and capstan. The journey continues.

Just amazing work. The consistency of the interior fairing, my having done it for Winchelsea, is crazy good and no small feat.