glbarlow

I spent the last weeks bending Chris's ear about stuff. You've him to thank for Flirt 😆

Yay!

Finally a couple of Proxxon tools to complete my workshop... hope things will speed up now!

Glen, very nice so far. Your craftsmanship is showing. 

Cutters are my new favorite thing.  I like your concept and work here and will enjoy seeing your progress, it’s looking great so far.

Willie is a cool looking dude, I like having scaled figures to stand around on my models during construction to get a sense of size.
 
Enjoying your research on fishing craft and the modifications to Chris' design.  I'm like you, no more large models for me - these small craft are more enjoyable and a lot less repetitious tasks. My head still spins from the 3,000 or more copper plates I put on Vanguard. 

Post 24


 
A little backtracking.


 
I have been having another look at the ships wheel.

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It is of the same dimensions as the kit provided wheel but whilst looking at a photo of a figure standing next to the wheel on Reaper I have come to the conclusion that it is somewhat overscale.

 
I came across a description of the wheel dimensions as relating to ‘True Vine’, another 70’ Fifie of 1905.


 
A wooden wheel, 20” outside diameter., with a 2” rim, 6” boss, 2½” thick, has six spokes 4” by 1”, and is connected by a worm gear.



5897(2)
I did a scale mock-up in card to these dimensions, and this is the result, quite a difference.


 
The scale wheel measures 14mm o/a diameter including the spokes.


 
Amati do a 14mm wheel which I ordered as a suitable replacement.

 

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A much better scale fit I think.

 

5978(2)
 
I have also created a Skipper for my Fifie.


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Willie Buchan is a little rough around the edges, but he is a good 1:64 scale to help me judge relative size.


5991

5995

5994
 
A re-think on ring bolts

Having gone to some length to make ring bolts for the hatch boards, I’m now undecided whether I like the look, or indeed if they are an authentic fitting.


 
I’m beginning to think from looking at mostly unclear old photo’s, that the boards didn’t have such fittings.

 

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This is re-enforced by this finely detailed model of a Zulu.

The cover boards as seen both on the hatch and stacked up behind the coamings are free of such fittings.


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I remade the boards from Pearwood sheet and they suit my eye better.

 
 

6007(2)
 
B.E.


 
09/07/2020



 

The bulwarks are slowly but surely being replaced and the transom frame pieces are fitted. 
It's a bit trial and error at the moment. 
Thanks for the likes 
Cheers 😁👍

Post 29: Seats of Ease, Knees etc
 
There are three parts to the seats of ease, top, side and front.  There are some tricky angles involved.. I had taken an overhead photograph of my hull and I used this to obtain the profile of the top:
 
.One has to be careful about using such photos.  Most zoom lenses and phones suffer from barrel distortion.  So if you photograph the end of your room for example the walls will bow outward.  Clearly, this makes taking a profile from  such photographs inaccurate.  I used a prime lens which suffers less from distortion and then Photoshop knows which lens you used and can correct for any distortion remaining. Anyway I did make a card template first but the profile was so close that I went straight to the 1/32  timber.  For the sides I used the profile from the transom frame Y and this was accurate enough as well.  For the ends I first made a long piece extending from port to starboard matching the deck profile and making sure it was the same height on each side.  Then I cut the required section next to the bulwark on each side.

 
After assembly I checked that the heights were equal using my digital protractor.  One of the advantages of these is that the hull does not need to be exactly level.  I know my gunwales are level so I first placed the level between the gunwales and zeroed the device then bridging across the seats I could check the angle

 
In fact the angle flicked between zero and 0.05.  So even in the higher angle the difference in height works out to be only 0.06 mm
 
The curve of the transom knees was obtained from the plan and the approximate angle from my overhead photo but the biggest challenge was shaping them to fit the angle of the internal transom frames.  This was trial and error and I found that a had to do a bit of reshaping of the transom frames themselves.  obviously this should have been done earlier but I did not predict the problem until I tried to fit the knees.  so here is the inboard of the stern showing those features.

The horse for the boom sheet was fashioned from 1.2 mm wire and washers were made from light card as  suggested by Chuck.  The cleats are from siren and have been left natural at this stage.  I know Chuck point out that contemporary models show them painted red.  However, any any boat I owned which had wooden cleats we found it impossible to keep any protective coating, paint or varnish on thembecause of the friction from the rope.  Modern synthetic rope is not so bad but hemp is like sandpaper.  I can always decide to paint them later.
 
John
 
 
 

Beautiful work, Glenn!

After completing the drop plank and the first two rows of planks below the wales (where the drop plank counts as two at the bow), plus installing more than one or two fashion pieces I’ve now completed the wales. I painted them using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black, which oddly enough is duller (really more flat) than the Dull Black I normally use.
 

 
I was really tempted to also paint the counter but decided to wait until I’d at least had a dry-fitting with the square tuck I’ll somehow create after getting the next 8 rows of planks on both sides.
 

 
I didn’t take any photos of installing the wales, but it’s as straight forward as on any model - I did try extra hard on keeping neat paint lines. Me and Tamiya tape did ok with that, with some effort. It’s worth it to take the time getting the tape right, its either that or scrape, sand, and clean up where you didn’t. If you’re not familiar with Tamiya tape, get some. There is nothing better, blue painter’s tape isn’t even close, in getting a close tight seal for painting - for those of us like me who lack the skill to free-hand. Though I am pretty handy with an 18/0 brush to do touchup.
 

 
I also followed Chuck’s instruction to thin out the wales at the bow. I cut and dry-fitted both top and bottom planks then held them side by side on a work board and tapered them down to near saxophone reed thickness. In my case they actually did fit into the rabbit. They do look so much better this way.
 

 
Since I’ll be working upside down it was time for a new stand, really an old stand modified. I go for function over form with these things so its nothing fancy, just a cut-down of a stand made for my Vanguard with some cross blocks added for stability. The fun part is I used my new mill for the very first time - for the very easy job of adding a slot down the center of the cross blocks. So now I'm a miller, sorta.
 

 

 
I added a fresh coat of poly across what is now the completed top third of the hull. Now it’s time mark the two belts with artist tape, get out the tick strips and line the hull as I start planking the 8 rows of planks that make up the top belt.  Not that anything has been fast, but this next phase will be slow going to get each plank right - and as a bonus I also get to rip more planks, so Yay!
 

Thank you for all the likes and follows. It’s inspiring to know other builders are watching my progress. 

Thanks for the interest, glad you’re enjoying it. I like your avatar. 😊

Thank you for all the likes and follows. It’s inspiring to know other builders are watching my progress. 

To say your modeling skill is next level would imply there is another level beyond, there isn’t. Your work is superb. 
 
I may have missed it somewhere, how to you get length for your moldings, a special table or home built mod?  Mine Mill is limited to 5 inches.

After completing the drop plank and the first two rows of planks below the wales (where the drop plank counts as two at the bow), plus installing more than one or two fashion pieces I’ve now completed the wales. I painted them using Admiralty Paints Ironwork Black, which oddly enough is duller (really more flat) than the Dull Black I normally use.
 

 
I was really tempted to also paint the counter but decided to wait until I’d at least had a dry-fitting with the square tuck I’ll somehow create after getting the next 8 rows of planks on both sides.
 

 
I didn’t take any photos of installing the wales, but it’s as straight forward as on any model - I did try extra hard on keeping neat paint lines. Me and Tamiya tape did ok with that, with some effort. It’s worth it to take the time getting the tape right, its either that or scrape, sand, and clean up where you didn’t. If you’re not familiar with Tamiya tape, get some. There is nothing better, blue painter’s tape isn’t even close, in getting a close tight seal for painting - for those of us like me who lack the skill to free-hand. Though I am pretty handy with an 18/0 brush to do touchup.
 

 
I also followed Chuck’s instruction to thin out the wales at the bow. I cut and dry-fitted both top and bottom planks then held them side by side on a work board and tapered them down to near saxophone reed thickness. In my case they actually did fit into the rabbit. They do look so much better this way.
 

 
Since I’ll be working upside down it was time for a new stand, really an old stand modified. I go for function over form with these things so its nothing fancy, just a cut-down of a stand made for my Vanguard with some cross blocks added for stability. The fun part is I used my new mill for the very first time - for the very easy job of adding a slot down the center of the cross blocks. So now I'm a miller, sorta.
 

 

 
I added a fresh coat of poly across what is now the completed top third of the hull. Now it’s time mark the two belts with artist tape, get out the tick strips and line the hull as I start planking the 8 rows of planks that make up the top belt.  Not that anything has been fast, but this next phase will be slow going to get each plank right - and as a bonus I also get to rip more planks, so Yay!
 

OK, I have just finished the Flirt box art, ready to be sent to the printers.
 
I now have to wait until I have the plans, manual and boxes done for me.
 
For the Master Shipwright version of Flirt, I have decided to ditch the maple veneer deck due to high scrap rates, so have ordered 1mm thick maple sheet instead. As soon as that arrives, I can do the MS decks. Everything else is done, laser cut wise, and waiting to go into the boxes...

You're quite handy at doing it - amazing work. More amazing is how little time it takes you to do it!

That’s really all you need for Cheerful, but you do need that.  Chose the Byrnes saw when you’re ready, best modeling tool I own.  

Pretty much.
 
I've been doing book and magazine work for about 10yrs in a lot of international titles, but that was in plastic modelling. I just needed to adapt it to wooden ships, which takes up far more space 😆

Couldn’t choose better for your first, my only issue with this and Speedy is the historically accurate but very tiny guns.  I hope you also put Cheerful on your list Bob.

Such amazing work James.  When I do my build log how about I just use your photos since I can’t match your quality🤣😂
 
Do you mind my asking, is building And photographing models your work, or are you just this good in your spare time?

Well, this is it folks, it's all done. It's taken me just under 11 weeks from start to finish, and that's around 10 days longer than I planned, simply because I've had to re-learn rigging again. The last time I did a fully-rigged warship was about 13yrs ago, so I was just a little rusty. I rigged this model in about 12 or 13 days, in total. I actually re-learned swear words that I'd also long forgotten.
 
I have cut corners, there's no doubt, but that's more through necessity as I know Chris needed to get this kit sorted. Ordering the boxes is by far one of the longest jobs when it comes to wait times. But I can tell you that the model will now be available in early August (tentatively), and in standard and Master Shipwright editions.
 
Please ignore the strange rear shroud line in this first photo. They don't cross. It was just me moving blocks etc. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And here is the finished model, in various angles. Remember that the launch is only in one shot for effect as that will only be included in the Master Shipwright edition, and not shown on the box art.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And here's the manual's cover...
 

 
 
 
For me now, it's a very short break before I plough into the Amati Victory which I've just been told is being kitted for me at this moment. Hope you liked the Flirt build! I know it's abridged, but you can see the full manual in the kit   

Beautiful build, James! This may well be my first ship with guns.

Thank you for all the likes and follows. It’s inspiring to know other builders are watching my progress.