Charter33

Adding to the new Completed non-ship category, here is one I built in 2017.  The 1/48 Airfix Meteor, good kit from memory, with a nice touches Airfix added of having an engine and gun bays on display.

One of my favourite Cold War Jets.  The kit itself was a challenge in places, but tempted one day to do a camouflage or green/silver version.

Another one from the "Gloster" archives, a brute of an aircraft, not the prettiest, but it has a charm of it's own! 😆

One of the things that has bothered me was my rigging of 2 blocks together. 
It started as I was doing all of the cannons, which require a double/single combination.
I get that the rigging line would start from the single block, go up to the double block, back down and through the single block, back up and through the double block.
 
In real life, this bitter end could be coiled around the rigging and secured. However at this small scale it looks terrible...well at least the way I did it. I seems to create an hour glass shape and my way never seemed to give that coiled look. I think that is why you see so many models use a flemish flake, which wouldn't be done in reality...it's a very dirty set up if you've ever seen what the deck looks like after a few days of rain and dust.
 
Not much to do about the cannons now! I had installed the foremast stay and preventer stay that run through the bowsprit bees. They are then secured to 2 blocks on each side.
 
Again, I just hated the look and the blocks on the port side was WAY too close to each other. I cut the lashing and redid them. This time, I just tied the bitter end under the block so that you get the sense of the block rigging. For the short port side, I just tied 2 knots in the stay that are hidden under some of the other yet to be used blocks. I am much happier now.
 
I used this technique for some the last back/breast stays I did and they look a lot better. I may go back and redo all of them now.

After finishing all of the various back and breast stays, I moved on to the futtock and then upper shrouds.
I did notice that I made 2 of the back stays on the foremast too tight and there is a noticeable forward rake to the t'gallant section of the foremast. This has also caused a lot of the other lines to droop. It may be the stay that is lashed to an eyebolt, which would be great because I can just cut those lashings and redo. It it's one of the others, the deadeye lashing is all glued, so I may have to look at cutting the tops and retying them. I'll keep you posted.
 
I did the catharpins for the foremast. I think I need to make the others a bit shorter so that the lashings pick up any slack. You can see that mine are sagging a bit. I think that white glue will help to smooth that out. These were the first I did, so I know to do a better job to make them #1 look consistent and about #2, 2-3mm shorter than the futtocks.  Also, the directions call for catharpins on shrouds #4-9, so 6 of them. But the books all say they go on shrouds #4, 5, 7 & 9. That is what I did.
 
The futtock shrouds are attached to a chainplate under the platform with a PE hook and then lashed to lower shrouds. I had to drill out the hooks so that I could get the .75mm line through the hook. I tried to just create a loop on the shroud and then tie the hook to the loop but didn't like that. The hooks are also a bit larger than the chainplate hole so it takes some time to get them in place.
 
According to my books, the shroud is laid in front of the futtock, then wrapped under and around the futtock and then laid on the side of the lower shroud. You can't pre-form the seizing for these, you have to tie the lashing and then add a few hitches. It's fiddly, but doable. The back stays are there and they do get in the way, not unmanageable, but they are there. My feeling is the stays get in the way but I think had I done ALL of the shrouds first, they would have been in the way of doing the stays.....50 50 and pick 'em.

 

 
After the futtock shrouds, I moved on to the upper shrouds. Here I made an installation mistake. The lay of the shrouds and backstays for the upper mast should have the upper shrouds laid first and then the back stays...alternating starboard then port.
 
Since I did the stays first, I have to lay the upper shrouds on top of them. My model will never make it into a maritime museum now!!!!!
 
Adding the deadeyes, I should have waited till morning. I did all 6 on the starboard side and started lashing them when i realized that I was using 5mm deadeyes and they should be 3.5mm. The next morning, I was able to pull the deadeyes off without damaging the shrouds. I added the correct sized deadeyes and was able to add some seizing to secure them. A bit sloppy but done.

Continued to work on the back stays now. They are very labor intensive with the breast backstays requiring a tackle system and more complicate rigging that a standard deadeye to deadeye setup.
 
I have to finish the fore port side backstays and then I will move back to the futtocks and catharpins. 
 
I wasn't happy with the way the mouse looked, so I coated most of them with white glue. this at least smoothed them out. Snaking them was harder than it read in the manuals and books. In the end, my ties were terrible and they are too far apart.
 
It's hard to get good pictures of the rigging, I'll need to put up something white as a background to get a better feel for what's been done.
 
I spent about 3-4 hours just working on the fore back stays today. Rigging the main shrouds for both sides and then taking the time on the starboard side to install the deadeyes, blocks etc takes a lot of time. 
 
The pics really bring out the dust!!!! So dirty, I think I'll have to look for a very soft, light brush to get into the nooks and crannies!
 
 

Might be ash, sapelli and iroko. As paul ron says, difficult to tell from a photograph. If my guess is correct for the bottom one, take appropriate safety precautions if sanding.....

Continued working on the stays. Spent a lot of time on the fore and fore preventer stays that run to the bowsprit bees and then back to the knightsheads.
 
I like it because there are a lot of little details: blocks, lanyards, etc. I think the port side came out better than the starboard side, I thought I had measured the second one so that it would fall in line with its opposite side, but it didn't happen. 
 
Doing the stays is a challenge. The directions are very simple and direct and if you don't have a background in this, it's hard to figure some things out. I spent a lot of my time using my books as references...especially Longridge.
 
I've finished most of the forward stays and was going to begin working on the back stays. While the instructions don't state this, it appears that many of these stays are 2-sided. IE, one on each side of the hull. Thankfully, McKay's book has a table and since I was staring back to front, my first line was for the mizzen t'gallant backstay. McKay in very VERY small letters says it's 1 pair.
 
I'll see over the weekend how this goes!
 
Some of the stays I did were a struggle to figure out. The main t'gallant flagstaff stay goes from the main t'gallant mast to the foremast and then down to a belay point b9. It says this is above the foremast preventer stay. That's a bit vague and I couldn't for the life of me find any reference to b9 anywhere on the various blueprints. In the end, I drilled a hole above the foremast preventer line about 10mm above the foremast platform...so technically, it is above the prevent stay!!!!

The planking of the Quarterdeck is done. Next job is the sanding and putting on the varnish. After that I will do the lining of the gunports.
 

 
 

Very impressive Ron👏

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

With the bench now finished the next task is the installation of my biggest piece of equipment. My wood turning lathe came into my life back when I was also running woodwork based evening Adult Education classes. The school had a couple of wood lathes which were so popular we had an informal rule that access was restricted to alternating weeks, with a second project being worked on in parallel. I received a letter from a friend of one of the course members offering her late husband's lathe, at a very reasonable price, that would certainly reduce the pressure on the existing equipment. Unfortunately the senior staff rejected my request for the funding. The lathe was too good to pass, and with the Admiral's consent, I scraped enough together to buy it myself. It graced my school workshop for the majority of my career, retiring when I did.
When I collected the machine the previous owner's wife mentioned that her husband had been a pilot in the Battle of Britain and then went on the become chief test pilot for BEA. He was the Captain of the first ever fully automatic commercial airline flight landing. I found this story on-line:
https://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Poole.htm
A fascinating bit of history, and I do wonder if they would get away with not telling the paying passengers until after the event these days!
The lathe came with a piece of branch from a Madagascan ebony tree, allegedly smuggled back in the cockpit of a Trident. I still have some of it in my material stash. There was also a half turned bowl mounted on the chuck and my first job once the lathe was set up at school was to hollow it out and finish it. Once completed I presented it to her.
When originally purchased the lathe came with plans for a sand filled timber stand. While renovating it I added two layers of wood to raise the spindle height to a better height for me and my creeking back.

Time stored in a damp garage had left some surface rust in places but elbow grease, oil and wire brushes soon restored it to it's former glory. 


It runs as smoothly as ever, but will need bolting down to the floor before I can use it in anger.
Attention can now turn to tool storage, and benching out the model making area. Happy days!
Cheers,
Graham

Spent about 5 hours today working on cleats and rigging shrouds. If I read the blueprints correctly, there are not any cleats on the main mast shrouds and just 5 each on the fore and mizzen. Looking at the directions and taking a hash count of the number of lines belayed to cleats on the channels and I think that is correct.

My first stab at putting the cleats up on the mizzen shrouds wasn't the best. They aren't aligned very well, but when they're blackened and the ratlines are installed, they'll fade into the back ground.

Also, from a scale point of view, I would think that the poop deck hammocks would be 3-4' tall with the average sailor then being in the 5'6" range. Some of my cleats are going to be WAY TOO HIGH!

I CA glued the cleats to the shrouds after first filing away any excess and filing the curved recess on the back to help with making them stick together.

It's funny, when gluing things if any little bit gets on the lines they stick right away. Except when I WANT to glue something like a cleat to a line....then it's hit or miss if they will stick!

Perhaps too many pictures below, but this really makes the boat come alive and I'm kind of excited about that!
My hope is to finish the last channel tomorrow and tighten them all up and hope that my layouts are going to allow for even deadeyes across the board!!!

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

Finished all of the lower shrouds. Using scrap wood, I was able to create rigging templates for the channels that helped to keep them consistent.
 
Once done, I wanted to take a stab at rigging some of the deadeyes. I managed to do 8 of them on the main mast, port side.
I have to research exactly how they're tied off when completed to be sure I did them correctly and I have to add the cleats prior to finishing them.
 
They will remain loose until all 6 sets of shrouds are strung up.

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

With the bench now finished the next task is the installation of my biggest piece of equipment. My wood turning lathe came into my life back when I was also running woodwork based evening Adult Education classes. The school had a couple of wood lathes which were so popular we had an informal rule that access was restricted to alternating weeks, with a second project being worked on in parallel. I received a letter from a friend of one of the course members offering her late husband's lathe, at a very reasonable price, that would certainly reduce the pressure on the existing equipment. Unfortunately the senior staff rejected my request for the funding. The lathe was too good to pass, and with the Admiral's consent, I scraped enough together to buy it myself. It graced my school workshop for the majority of my career, retiring when I did.
When I collected the machine the previous owner's wife mentioned that her husband had been a pilot in the Battle of Britain and then went on the become chief test pilot for BEA. He was the Captain of the first ever fully automatic commercial airline flight landing. I found this story on-line:
https://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Poole.htm
A fascinating bit of history, and I do wonder if they would get away with not telling the paying passengers until after the event these days!
The lathe came with a piece of branch from a Madagascan ebony tree, allegedly smuggled back in the cockpit of a Trident. I still have some of it in my material stash. There was also a half turned bowl mounted on the chuck and my first job once the lathe was set up at school was to hollow it out and finish it. Once completed I presented it to her.
When originally purchased the lathe came with plans for a sand filled timber stand. While renovating it I added two layers of wood to raise the spindle height to a better height for me and my creeking back.

Time stored in a damp garage had left some surface rust in places but elbow grease, oil and wire brushes soon restored it to it's former glory. 


It runs as smoothly as ever, but will need bolting down to the floor before I can use it in anger.
Attention can now turn to tool storage, and benching out the model making area. Happy days!
Cheers,
Graham

With the bench now finished the next task is the installation of my biggest piece of equipment. My wood turning lathe came into my life back when I was also running woodwork based evening Adult Education classes. The school had a couple of wood lathes which were so popular we had an informal rule that access was restricted to alternating weeks, with a second project being worked on in parallel. I received a letter from a friend of one of the course members offering her late husband's lathe, at a very reasonable price, that would certainly reduce the pressure on the existing equipment. Unfortunately the senior staff rejected my request for the funding. The lathe was too good to pass, and with the Admiral's consent, I scraped enough together to buy it myself. It graced my school workshop for the majority of my career, retiring when I did.
When I collected the machine the previous owner's wife mentioned that her husband had been a pilot in the Battle of Britain and then went on the become chief test pilot for BEA. He was the Captain of the first ever fully automatic commercial airline flight landing. I found this story on-line:
https://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Poole.htm
A fascinating bit of history, and I do wonder if they would get away with not telling the paying passengers until after the event these days!
The lathe came with a piece of branch from a Madagascan ebony tree, allegedly smuggled back in the cockpit of a Trident. I still have some of it in my material stash. There was also a half turned bowl mounted on the chuck and my first job once the lathe was set up at school was to hollow it out and finish it. Once completed I presented it to her.
When originally purchased the lathe came with plans for a sand filled timber stand. While renovating it I added two layers of wood to raise the spindle height to a better height for me and my creeking back.

Time stored in a damp garage had left some surface rust in places but elbow grease, oil and wire brushes soon restored it to it's former glory. 


It runs as smoothly as ever, but will need bolting down to the floor before I can use it in anger.
Attention can now turn to tool storage, and benching out the model making area. Happy days!
Cheers,
Graham

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

You've explained the purpose and benifits of the sand very succinctly Egilman. The legs are also hollow and sand filled. When wood is initially mounted it can run a bit eccentricly and cause vibrations until shaping begins. This is also why the lathe needs securing to the floor.
Wood turning is very satisfying. Often you go in with a general idea of what you want to achieve and then the wood grain takes over and leads you, especially when turning bowls. I also turn legs and spindles for Windsor chairs, components for wooden toys, and various other items. Hours of fun to be had, Javlin. Have a go if you get the chance. A word of warning though, it can be addictive....😄
Cheers,
Graham.
 
 
 
 

With the bench now finished the next task is the installation of my biggest piece of equipment. My wood turning lathe came into my life back when I was also running woodwork based evening Adult Education classes. The school had a couple of wood lathes which were so popular we had an informal rule that access was restricted to alternating weeks, with a second project being worked on in parallel. I received a letter from a friend of one of the course members offering her late husband's lathe, at a very reasonable price, that would certainly reduce the pressure on the existing equipment. Unfortunately the senior staff rejected my request for the funding. The lathe was too good to pass, and with the Admiral's consent, I scraped enough together to buy it myself. It graced my school workshop for the majority of my career, retiring when I did.
When I collected the machine the previous owner's wife mentioned that her husband had been a pilot in the Battle of Britain and then went on the become chief test pilot for BEA. He was the Captain of the first ever fully automatic commercial airline flight landing. I found this story on-line:
https://bbm.org.uk/airmen/Poole.htm
A fascinating bit of history, and I do wonder if they would get away with not telling the paying passengers until after the event these days!
The lathe came with a piece of branch from a Madagascan ebony tree, allegedly smuggled back in the cockpit of a Trident. I still have some of it in my material stash. There was also a half turned bowl mounted on the chuck and my first job once the lathe was set up at school was to hollow it out and finish it. Once completed I presented it to her.
When originally purchased the lathe came with plans for a sand filled timber stand. While renovating it I added two layers of wood to raise the spindle height to a better height for me and my creeking back.

Time stored in a damp garage had left some surface rust in places but elbow grease, oil and wire brushes soon restored it to it's former glory. 


It runs as smoothly as ever, but will need bolting down to the floor before I can use it in anger.
Attention can now turn to tool storage, and benching out the model making area. Happy days!
Cheers,
Graham