Adrieke

Pics from the cabin:
 


 
 

Hello dear friends!
Thank you for your comments and kind words, I appreciate them a lot and I am glad, you like my work.
I have to excuse I was not here for a long time. Several months the work on Royal Caroline was frozen, I have had health problems and
moreover I am sorry to say,  but there are some envy and grudging people in our country who discouraged me from modeling.   In autumn I have started to assemble some plastic kits from Revell http://modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=175&t=79951   and found again pleasure and desire to work on RC, so now I am continuing with interior of cabins. I really enjoy this kind of work. Here are pics, so enjoy them. The furniture is made of wood or paper covered with self-adhesive foils with wooden look. Decorations are hand made from modeling clay.
 
finished railings:
¨



 
 
Making furniture for the rear cabin

The bulkheads are in place ( dry fit )
 
They tell me to push the lower gun deck with a little force in place.
I'm afraid that I broke something when I do that, so a little bit more playing with the file.
The last picture is to show you how big it is   
 

The temps dropped dramatically here in Palm Coast, Florida, down to 50 F or 10 C.  Brrrr, but I put on a heavy jacket over a heavy woolen shirt and braved it anyway to spend time in the garage.
 
Hmmm, what did I do - - - oh yeah, I turned the steering wheel or tiller pedestal on the lathe and started to make the binnacle on its pedestal.  
I also made the provisions for the forward deck light in the front plate of the cockpit and the reenforcing for the front shield of the bridge.  For that I made two 1 ½ mm strips of poplar, soaked them in hot water for a while and then clamped them to the front of the bridge to shape them into a half circle.  When they were dry I glued them on.  The outside one needs to be shaped into a quarter round for "good looks."    
 
I also started with making the steering wheel, as they call it, but used a too heavy diameter brass rod, 1 mm.   When I started to solder the spokes to it I didn't like the results, much to heavy and out of scale.  Besides, the ring is not round, booo on me.  So I started to remake it with thinner brass rod, ½ mm, much nicer!  I'm using a 1 ½ mm copper tube for the hub and need to make a new jig to solder everything together.  That 1 ½ mm piece of tubing may also be to large but the ½ mm tube Santa brought is too small.  I do have an idea though to solve this dilemma    I'll have to give my idea a try first, tomorrow.
 
This may not look like a lot of work accomplished but I had to make two bamboo pins to anchor the compass pedestal and the steering wheel pedestal into the cockpit deck.  Chisel small sections of deck slats away where the compass and steering wheel pedestals are to be glued.   Then carve the binnacle into shape to make it look like a compass binnacle and the remake of the steering wheel.  All these little things seem to take a lot of time.
 

The brass rod was shaped on this 10 mm dowel, the rod is 1 mm.  Not impressed.  As you can see that brass tube for the hub is also much too big.  Hmmmm, the old machinist's wheels are turning  
 

This is the binnacle on its pedestal in the raw state.
 

Here is the binnacle all shaped with its anchoring pin and in the primer with the new steering wheel.  Much better this time, I think I'll keep it 
 
Cheers,

thanks Sjors update follows as requested
 
thank you Don
 
thanks Bug . you don't have to wait long its already underway
 
thanks dragzz
 
after lots of sanding on the first layer to get most of the unevenness out I added some filler
 

 
after a bit more sanding I felt I had a smooth enough base for the second layer
I also made sure the bow and stern edge was the required width of 4 mm , this to ensure that the back and front bit of the keel will fit nicely
 
I have started the second layer and added the first few planks
I decided to use some cheap masking tape (useless for fine paint jobs) to hold the planks in place till they dry as I did not want to experiment with CA
so far this is going well

 
 

thanks Sjors update follows as requested
 
thank you Don
 
thanks Bug . you don't have to wait long its already underway
 
thanks dragzz
 
after lots of sanding on the first layer to get most of the unevenness out I added some filler
 

 
after a bit more sanding I felt I had a smooth enough base for the second layer
I also made sure the bow and stern edge was the required width of 4 mm , this to ensure that the back and front bit of the keel will fit nicely
 
I have started the second layer and added the first few planks
I decided to use some cheap masking tape (useless for fine paint jobs) to hold the planks in place till they dry as I did not want to experiment with CA
so far this is going well

 
 

thanks Sjors update follows as requested
 
thank you Don
 
thanks Bug . you don't have to wait long its already underway
 
thanks dragzz
 
after lots of sanding on the first layer to get most of the unevenness out I added some filler
 

 
after a bit more sanding I felt I had a smooth enough base for the second layer
I also made sure the bow and stern edge was the required width of 4 mm , this to ensure that the back and front bit of the keel will fit nicely
 
I have started the second layer and added the first few planks
I decided to use some cheap masking tape (useless for fine paint jobs) to hold the planks in place till they dry as I did not want to experiment with CA
so far this is going well

 
 

thanks Sjors update follows as requested
 
thank you Don
 
thanks Bug . you don't have to wait long its already underway
 
thanks dragzz
 
after lots of sanding on the first layer to get most of the unevenness out I added some filler
 

 
after a bit more sanding I felt I had a smooth enough base for the second layer
I also made sure the bow and stern edge was the required width of 4 mm , this to ensure that the back and front bit of the keel will fit nicely
 
I have started the second layer and added the first few planks
I decided to use some cheap masking tape (useless for fine paint jobs) to hold the planks in place till they dry as I did not want to experiment with CA
so far this is going well

 
 

The main stairs for this boat are unique and seem to be a challenge for most people to build. It took me several iterations and a lot of looking at other KoM builder's logs, which helped considerably in deciding what to do.
 
 I came up with new problems not encounter during their builds. The first photo show the step assemble using methods from John 46 and Adrieke. Unfortunately, that is when I stop taking pictures until I was confident of finishing the whole assembly.
 
Something about AL's King of the Mississippi appearance from the front that I didn't like. Missing the second deck rail around the forecastle seemed to appear to me like a cleft pallet. I saw that the stairways could be swapped right and left and essentially still function as spiral staircases - just climb the steps leaning in the other direction. Plus, it shows off the step detail to the front of the boat and makes them more visible to viewers.
 
I figure I would need to do the following changes:1) Build new railing and deck across the front, 2) the railing at the top of the stairs must be modified slightly, 3) the column near the base of the stairs must be moved over slightly 4) the arch over the passageway needs to be changed, 5) the notch in the second deck for the center pole need a slight adjustment.
 
When test fitting, both in the way the instructions say and trying my new idea, the steps would come up significantly short.  The height between the surface of the main and second decks on my boat is 43 mm. Each step from the kit is 3 mm tall and 13 steps in all add up to 39 mm. I decided adding another step would help the fit between the deck and fitting extra step to the railings and the balusters would take careful placement to hide the difference. I ended up making an extra baluster out the fret material for each of the straight balusters and fabricating longer railings for that side of the stairs.
 
Getting the balusters and handrails to curl proved to be the hardest part for me. Wetting, soaking, forming slowly the spiral curve went very slowly. Not finding good ways to clamp the pieces into the new shape was difficult. I would use a cylinder the diameter of the staircase and elastic bands but this wouldn't work on the critical top and bottom edges of the balusters. The railings were harder to shape trying form twists and bends and straight sections. I ended up breaking one baluster seven times, the other one did OK. Bending a weakened piece smoothly is near impossible so it got glued back together rather warped. Towards the end I sanded off the worse bumps and re-broke several balusters to even up the spacing. I am amazed the finished photos don't look as bad as they really are.
 
 
 

I finished the second planking and have one coat of wood filler on the hull - now I have the dusty job of sanding it nice and smooth.

The last update for 2013.
 
The mizzen mast is finished with the shrouds, ratlines and blocks on the mast.
I wish you all a good change of the year and watch out with the fireworks !
We need all our fingers and both eyes for the building !!!!!!!
 

Pictures !!!!!    
Between work I can do something.
Placed the upper shrouds and tops deadeyes on the mizzen mast.
Make the first ratlines.
I can see that I don't have the " touch " again.
When all the ratlines are there ,maybe I change this one.
All the beginning is difficult......
 

Thanks for pointing it out that the deadeyes are not good.
There are now in one line.
 

Small update.....
 
Because of work not much time to do anything.
The shrouds with deadeyes and lanyards on the mizzen lower part are done.....
One side a few ratlines to see how it goes with the futtock stave.
On the port side just put the deadeyes on the tops but no picture of that.
I first want to finish the shrouds to the futtock stave before I make a picture of that .
Be patient what concerns that.
A few pictures of how everything looks.
 

wow Piet you have been busy , looking really great

Firstoff, a HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone on MSW.  May health, wealth and good building be in store for all!
 
Thought I'd start the year with a small update.
 
The planking of the upper hull has been completed with the addition of the second layers for the main and channel wales.  In addition, the main wales have been painted........8 coats of diluted MS acrylic black.  It's got the slightest bit of sheen to it but I'll address that later:
 

 

 

 
Here's a close up.  The strake just above the black main wale is the 'black strake' which, for some reason, is not black.  It is thinner than the wale so it makes for a nice detail.  The wales and black strake have been tapered and contoured into one another so the edge is nice and neat.  Thanks to Bob (Rafine) for mentioning the fact that he paints the edges of the wales before putting them on.  That really simplifies the painting:
 

 
The next step will be treenailing the outer hull.  I'll be using the 'drill and fill' technique.  I need to get the right color on the filler and determine the pattern before proceeding.  Once that's done a second coat of stain will be applied to darken the upper hull....then more painting etc.  FUN STUFF 
 
OK, let's see your latest  !!!!!
 
 
 
 

Just time for the last pre-Christmas update as we hit 250 hours into the build.
 
Sanding of the upper hull has been completed and the second layer of the channel wales added.  The hull has been stained after a coat of Minwax Pre-stain.  For this portion of the hull, I've used 30% Golden Oak.  As the intention is to have the upper hull much darker than the lower portion, a second coat of stain will be applied later (after treenailing).
 

 
Before we get to treenailing, the second layer of the main wales will be added and painted  ...  hopefully in time to ring in the New Year!
 
The very best of the Holidays to all.  Be happy, stay healthy and ENJOY!

Another small update.  The additional planks for the first layer of the main wales have been added.  In addition, the sweep ports have been made and installed.  I used some boxwood I had for these that I got from Jeff @ HobbyMill.  Really nice stuff.  Holds a good edge.
 

 
Also fabricated the ballast ports, this time using basswood.  It's the larger port in the center.
 

 
Sanded her down pretty smooth and will now add the 2nd layer of the channel wales after which I will be ready to apply the first coat of stain.  The 2nd layer of the main wales will be added after that as those are to be painted.
 
 

Thank you everyone for dropping in and your like votes.
 
First thing this morning was checking again how my test piece is working out.  I had enough time for the glue to cure and it seems to be holding just fine.  I didn't really pry to hard, there was no need for that but did use some firm pressure with my fingers and it didn't budge.
 
I found a 00005 sable brush in my collection of good artist brushes and decided to try to paint between the slats on the bridge.  That worked like a charm, still have a steady hand 
I also decided to keep the slats on and mixed some Minwax oak with maple dye that came pretty close to the color I ordered from Fiebing, thanks to Remco for the URL.  
 
I also painted both the front and read gun decks and the aft part of the bridge inner liner.  I still need to add a lot of stuff in the front part before I can finish painting the bridge.  I'll have to wait for the dye to arrive before I can put the deck slats on the gun decks.  But that's okay, I have plenty other things to do to keep me occupied. 
 
I primed and painted the periscope housing and when the paint had dried I glued it to the con as well as the chart locker to the front of the cockpit.
 
Next I cut a few small pieces of copper tube for the center hinges on the crew hatches and soldered them on.  
 
The last thing I did was to trim the aft outer plates to the correct shape for the bridge, painted them on the inside and glued them on. 
 
Well, that was all for today and again a few pics of today's efforts.
 

This shows a close-up of the cockpit with the deck painted grey, the slats dyed with my mixture to simulate teak and the periscope housing glued to the con structure.
 

This is another view a little further aft for an overall shot of the bridge.  The flash of the camera kinda washed out the grey paint but it really looks nice, much better then the dark grey I had.
 

The aft outboard side panels glued on.  I had to use gel CA glue for the aft joint, no way to clamp it there.  
 
Cheers,

Spend some time today prepping some scrap wood for gluing the deck slats to a painted surface.  I had a rattle can of RustOleum primer that was dark grey and a rattle can of RustOleum enamel in light grey.  The poplar strip to the dark grey primer seems to hold pretty good but not so good to the enamel.  Found out that I used a different wood that was very hard so I tried again with poplar, the same wood as I intend to use on the model.
So far both seem to hold pretty well but I favor the lighter grey though.   Only problem is that it is glossy.  Fortunately the decks are all flat and can use sand paper on it to dull it but most is hidden anyway by the slats.  So, it looks like i'll be gluing the slats to the paint.  
 
While the glue for test strips were curing I started to make the brass lids for the crew hatches and the AA gun hatches.  That's 5 total.  They turned out great but I had to do some final hammering to the two larger ones for the gun buns.  The die I made from an oak dowel was just a tad too small so the edges for about 2 mm didn't follow the dome curve.  No problem though, with a little gentle persuasion with a small hammer on the male part of the die they took a nice shape.  So they are now ready for the hinges.
 
I also made the three doors on the port side of the con. They too are ready to be finished.  They need some stiffening on the backside though and then the hinges and latches.
 
I am in the process of making the chart locker and the antenna bracing bridge that's mounted to the bridge/cockpit sides, also looking good.
 
So, all in all a productive day.  Now I need to carefully put some of the lighter grey between the slats I already glued to the bridge deck but I doubt that'll work without touching the dyed slats.  I may just rip them out and start over again.  The poplar seems not to take up the dye too well, wonder why.  Could be some glue residue on top but I sanded them after the glue had set.  Hmmm, may need to find some teak water based dye, right Remco?  
I really would like to finish the gun decks and bridge area so I can put the hinges on the hatch and bun lids, that'll get me closer to finishing the con.
 
Here are a few pics of todays work.
 

This shows the con with the lids and three doors.  They are all just loosely laid on the tubes and the doors are propped against the opening.  It's difficult to see the inner liner of the bridge on this picture but it'll show better in some of the following ones.
The white styrene will be hidden by the brass hinge arrangement I have to make.
 

This shows the inner liner of the bridge better.  I had to cut an opening in the sides for the antenna brace.  Another thing I forgot but it worked out okay.
 

Another view of the bridge where you can see the inner liner and the stained deck slats.  I'll need a 000005 brush to get between the slats to put the grey paint on the deck 
 

This is a close-up of the cockpit.  You'll have to cock your head 90 degrees though, sorry about that.  In order to make the dome shapes with my die you have to cut a very narrow pie shape out of the circular plug otherwise it'll curl up at the edges.  In making a dome like this the outside circumference becomes smaller.
 

This is the last pic I took before knocking off this evening.  The chart locker sits on the gun bun, I just glued the bottom braces to it.  The antenna brace is made and just stuck in place.  I made the top tube oval by pressing it in the vice.  The ship's bell also hangs from it.  Hmmm, I have to make a tiny bell now   I mean it's tiny, perhaps I'll buy one meant for a charm bracelet 
 
Well, that's it for today 
 
Cheers,

Okay, it's New Year's eve and this'll be my last post in 2013, here's to all y'all   
 
Now that the bridge is planked I decided to go ahead with gluing the side panels on.  It'll be a little difficult painting and staining the deck but I'll use a small brush 
 
I was busy ripping the 1 X 1 mm strips of poplar and sanding them.  I only want enough to do the AA gun decks.
Bothe the forward and rear decks are now glued on and we can proceed with installing the slats.  But first I'll check to see how the glue will hold on paint with some small voids in the paint for the glue to hold to wood.
In the meantime I can make the other stuff that goes into the cockpit like the chart locker, the helm, power telegraph, antenna bridge, three doors, hinges for the crew hatch lids and the AA gun bun lids,  etc. etc.
I can also fiddle with the gun pedestals to add some "stuff" to them.  And make more slats for the main deck.
 
So I have plenty of little things to do before getting back to the deck slats.
 
Well, here are a few pics of the progress this day.
 

The front part of the bridge and the forward and rear gun decks are being glued on.  I used my riveting bucking bars as hold-down weights.  These are still left over from my aircraft sheet metal days in a previous life  .
 

After the glue had cured sufficiently I could remove the weights and clamps and just wanted to see how the next side plates would look.  Not too bad   
 

These are the 1 X 1 mm slats ready for use on the gun decks.  
 
Cheers, 

Thank you all for visiting and like what I'm doing!  It's really encouraging to me.
 
Today I made some saw dust.  I started to rip 1mm planks out of some discarded pieces of poplar.  Waste now want not, right?  Must be the frugal Dutchman in me 
I guess that for the main deck I'll need to buy a new ¼ inch board or two from the Home Depot.
 
I'm aiming right now to get the entire conning tower put together so I can concentrate on the deck details.  Lots of work there.
 
Yeah, it's a little labor intensive work to make a gezillion slats but right now I have no other choice.  I cleaned up the slats in the cockpit and they came out rather nice.  I made the slats for the aft end of the bridge planning to install the sides but I'll have to hold off doing that till I have pre-made some of the detail stuff in the front.
 
Next on the agenda is to finish the aft and forward AA gun decks so I can put the deck slats on them.  I made the forward AA gun deck plate and cemented the AA gun buns to the frame.  I could glue all the deck pieces to the lower con frame but before I do that I must remember to paint the white styrene AA gun buns gray and trim the deck plates.  That'll be a chore for tomorrow.
 
It's better to glue the slats to the decks when on the model because then I have the gun buns and the crew hatches as a guide to where to glue these slats.  I'm following the deck layout drawing that shows the location of the teak deck slats.
 

This shows all deck pieces fitted but not yet trimmed to their final shape.  I'll wait with that till they are glued on.  It's perhaps a little hard to see but I have glued a few slats to the deck between the cockpit and the periscope housing.  That area will fall inside the bridge side panels.  I just stuck the Vickers AA guns in for the heck of it   And that reminds me of making a slight mod to the pedestals so I can add some details to them, they kinda look naked    
 

This is a better view to see the slats I glued on this afternoon, yup, tedious work alright but it's quite satisfactory to me.  Hmmmm, been thinking how to paint the deck and not the slats - - - I would like to stain the slats    Gluing them to a painted surface is not a good idea.
 

Here is another view looking forward.  You can see a faint outline in pencil where the bridge side panel will come.
 

This is the original deck layout that I'm trying to follow as best as I can.  The quality is not the greatest but we'll muddle through it.  Right now I'm not that anal about getting the precise number of deck slats  correct.  So far though it seems to be working out just as the drawing show.  It should, because 1 mm is in scale for 5 cm, which is my guess they may have been originally.
 

This is just a profile shot as the con looked at the time I closed the shipyard at 17:30.  I'm pretty happy with how it's looking   
 
Cheers,
 
 

Hello all and thank you for visiting and your like votes.
 
Today was a bit frustrating.  I tried to cut 1 X 1 mm styrene strips for the deck slats but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get anywhere with it.  They keep curling and refusing to remain straight.  I gave up and went to making 1 X 1 mm wood strips.  
Yeah I know, it's more labor intensive but the end result was quite satisfactory.  I'll have to go into mass production when it comes time to do the main deck 
Actually, it goes rather swift once I have 1 mm planks cut.  It's then a matter of sanding it smooth and by that time it's about 0. 8 mm, which actually looks a bit nicer.  Then carefully cut the 1 mm strips from it a little over size so I can sand them smooth on the cut sides.
 
I made a few strips to plank the small recessed deck of the cockpit and it came out rather well, just a little cleaning up. 
 
I also had to remake the aft AA gun deck.  I forgot to the side overhang to allow for the gun operation.  Oh well, such is life.  Got to thinking about those dumb deck slats and didn't pay attention.  At least it's a good excuse and I'm sticking with it      Wont do that with the front gun deck though    I'm running low on plywood.
 
So, tomorrow is making the deck slats for the aft gun deck - - - after I come back from the dentist.  We are going to get the stitches taken out and an impression made for the two crowns - - - yippee!   
 

The .8 X 1 mm slats are glued on to the deck in the cockpit or bridge.  Yes, it still needs to be cleaned up  some.  The few rough spots in the front will be removed because the help post will be placed there.  In the starboard front are a few cabinets and some "stuff" on the port side.  That area is also covered with a weather shield so most of the forward slats will not even be visible. 
 

This is a close-up view of the slats.
 

This shows the aft AA gun deck with the overhang I forgot with my first try.  The overhang will have a 1 mm reinforcing strip glued to the underside as well as metal support braces. The area with the vertical supports will have an inner lining, that's why I left decking out between the verticals.  The outside plating will cover it nicely.
The periscope housing is not glued on yet, first the slats to be glued to the deck plates
 
Cheers,
 

Thanks to everyone for dropping in and your "likes."
 
Accomplished a few more things today.  I finished the periscope pressure seal housing, and lucked-out that all the holes lined up with the ones in the pressure hull and all the way down to the keel, wonders will never cease.
 
I had to remake the front piece for the cockpit and the second one worked out fine.  A dry fit was great, it seems to be strong enough and is also perfectly vertical to the waterline.  I guess that was the aim.  All my concerns were for naught, fortunately.
 
Before I can put this all together I have to first make all the deck pieces because the styrene deck slats need to be cemented on it first.  That'll be a job and a half.  I tried to cut the 1 mm wide slats with an office paper cutter but that may not work too well.  It tends to pull the styrene into the blade as I progress further down.  No way to hold it from slipping, may think of a clamping arrangement or  another way like clamping the styrene under a steel straightedge and using a sharp utility knife.  1 mm is scale but I may have to go a smidgin wider, it's rather difficult to cut these narrow strips.  It also has a tendency to curl.
 
Once the deck pieces are made I can then cement the styrene strips to them on the bench rather then on the model, a lot easier that way.  This'll take some time I'm afraid but it has to be done and they'll have to painted as well before gluing them to the lower con. 
 
I cemented guide tubes in the periscope pressure sealing housing for the antenna mast and both periscopes to slide in.  That way they can be pulled up and down to simulate the actual operation.  
 
Just a lot of "stuff" going on with the conning tower and bridge.
Okay, this is all she rode for today, next installment hopefully Sunday.
 

This picture was taken this morning before lunch.  The deck pieces had not been made at that time because I had to attend to some correspondence in the afternoon.  The front end of the cockpit or bridge is just stuck in place and needs to be trimmed yet.  The main thing is that it fits like a glove and rather sturdy.  The rest of the sides going aft will come later after the decks have been made and glued on.  That large white looking thing with the 4 holes is where the antenna mast, periscopes and snorkel air-intake slide in and out of.  Yes, even the snorkels are retractable.  The snorkel intake is the aft location then the antenna mast and two periscopes in the forward holes.
 

Looking aft
 

Looking forward.
 
Cheers,

Hello all and thanks for visiting my shipyard and your "like" votes.
 
I may not have posted a progress report for one day but that doesn't mean I have been idle 
I managed to glue the port side lower con side panel to the frames. I also painted the inside, at least those areas we can see through the door openings.  Everything fits nice and smooth.  Detail finishing will come after the doors are made and mounted.
I had to remove the little steps at the aft end, even CA did not hold them securely.  There's something with this plywood that doesn't like CA.  Epoxy is a little netter but that's also iffy.  I'll install them when I'm ready to paint, that way they won't be bumped.
 
I have started with the bridge and the periscope housing.  I'm using bass wood for the last one, it's a little easier to model.  The cockpit of the brige will be a little tricky holding the 1 mm ply secure.  I'm installing a few vertical frames but the only attachments for them are the upper longerongs of the lower con.  I think that the front wether shield frame will add enough support.  The cockpit is also lined on the inside that should also add some support.
The concern I have is that weather shield.  It looks like a compound curve with a half moon shape that extends as a top-railing like arrangement.  See pic below.  I think though that I'll make it a little simpler.  Well, that's a worry when I come to it next week 
 

This shows the port side of the lower part of the conning tower.  In my spare time I'll make the doors and the door frames and hinges.  
 

This is a composite picture of the bridge or "badkuip" (bathtub) as the Dutch submariners called it.   As you can see there is plenty of "stuff" to add.  Right now I don't know how much I'll make and install, enough though for the heck of it   
 
Cheers,