Elia

Thank you Patrick, Elia, Bob ... and all the faithful visitors of my log.
Elia, this is a beautiful ship, I am impatiently waiting for several years to begin work. It is a great pleasure to work.
... I hope I will not regret it
 
Cheers,  Matija.

We all knew you'd nail those plates (literally). It was just a question of time. Your work inspires us all! 

Main Topmast Stays
 
There is a preventer stay as well as a main stay for the topmast. These were made in similar fashion to the mizzen topmast stay. There is a Violin block attached to the lower end. I made these from one piece of stock the same way I make the Sister blocks :
 

 

 

 
The stays are served where they go around the mast head and for a few scale feet below the mouse. A Collar is used to hold a lead block to the mast. The preventer stay block is fitted just below the foremast hounds. This would have been considerably easier to fit on the bench before I'd fitted the mast top :
 

 
Here are a few pics of the main topmast stay ready for fitting :
 

 

 

 

 
And some more of both stays fitted. The preventer stay goes on first :
 

 

 
The lead block for the main topmast stay has a collar which could be slipped over the fore mast head. This pic was taken well after I'd fitted the stay - the fore topmast and shrouds had been fitted when I took the pic :
 

 
The sister blocks and their tackle at the foot of the fore mast. Hooks are used to attach the lower blocks to the eyebolts in the deck :
 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks for the comments John, Shaun, Juergen and Ray .
 
Main Topmast Shrouds
 
Before fitting any of the shrouds the topmast Burton Pendants needed to be made and fitted. These are served all over  I turned the thimbles on the lathe :
 

 
The four sets of shrouds were made up and fitted the same as the mizzen topmast shrouds. Once again the foremost ones are served for their entire length and the others for the uppermost parts :
 

 

 

 
The Backstay is separate from the shrouds and terminates on the aft section of the channel :
 

 
A Sister Block is lashed between the two foremost shrouds. I made these from a single piece of stock in the same way I make "normal" blocks. After first cutting the basic shape on the table saw most of the finish shaping work was done with an Xacto knife :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you Aldo, and thank you too Greg .
 
 
Yeah, I noticed ...... every morning there were at least 30 "Greg the Pegleg Sailor liked a post in HMS Vulture" notifications. I'm glad you like her .
 
Just for you (oh, OK the rest of you too ) here's an update. Sorry it's been so long coming but my computer's been playing up again. Today it's having a rare "good" day.
 
Topmast Futtock Staves
 
The topmast shrouds have futtock staves that are similar to the lower mast ones :
 

 

 
Fore Stay and Preventer Stay
 
Both stays are attached to the topmast head in similar fashion to the main topmast stays, with the exception that the preventer stay is above the stay :
 

 
The running ends of the stays are fed through the sheaves in the bee blocks, with the preventer stay going through the port side forward sheave and the stay going through the aft starboard sheave :
 

 
The ends of the stays have violin blocks fitted. Two 7" single blocks are stropped to the eyebolts in the knightheads, and are connected to the violin blocks by lanyards :
 

 

 
Topsail Yard Tyes
 
TFFM suggests that now is a good time to fit the Topsail Yard Tye blocks. This would be very difficult to do after the topgallant masts are fitted.
 
I made the two pairs of 14" blocks for the main and fore masts (only) from English Box in a similar fashion to all the other blocks I made previously. They seem to be getting better as I go . The two blocks are stropped with enough length to allow them to hang about a block length below the trestle trees :
 

 

 
  Danny

Topmast Ratlines
 
Nothing real different here, just more ratlines. At this stage I only have most of the ratlines on the main topmast left to do.
 
Here are the foremast ones :
 

 
And the mizzen topmast :
 

 
  Danny

Hi all
 
Here's the latest photos of Rainbow's interior.
 
Hope you enjoy.
 
All the best for the weekend!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick
 
 

Hi Lawrence, Matija and everyone for their Likes! Greatly appreciated.
 
Lawrence, I'm with you on that score. I always believe that adding life to a model, especially through detail, adds so much character and realism; which I guess explains why I love doing the interiors of models.
 
Here are a few more shots, just for the sake of it!
 
Hope you all have a nice week.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks for all the suggestions for imitating vinyl.  I may try several before I settle on one. 
 
I have tried many ways to bend wood.  Soaking in hot water, soldering iron, etc. but I’ve never had wood be as flexible as this piece was. It may have been the process, it may have been the wood, I don’t know.  I’ll have to try it again.  As for the microwave I do the cooking so the admiral doesn’t know.  Just a thought, under the forum “Shore Leave” there’s a heading “What did you cook today?” Do you think I should give them this recipe?
 
Bob

Time for more.  The sides of the cabin and cockpit are one large oval.  So I made it that way.  First, using card stock, I made a template of the oval and used it to cut out a block from an old piece of 1 X 3 fir.  The circumference was about eleven inches so I cut a piece of 1/32” basswood 3/4” wide by 12” long.  I wrapped it in soaking wet paper toweling and then microwaved it on high for one minute.  It bent around the block as easily as if it were cardstock.  I wrapped a rubber band around it and clamped it for a day.  I then tapered the overlapping ends and glued them, wrapped the joint in plastic film and it is clamped and drying now.  Next time I manage to get to the boatyard I’ll worry about shaping it.
 
Bob
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Matija,
 
That decking is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. Such nice work. I wasn't familiar with this yacht, Pen Duick, until your build log, here, and I find it such a very attractive boat - you're doing a fantastic job of her. (Makes me add it to my 'potential builds' list)
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 108 – Sheathing plates/Deck members
 
Well, those brass plates I showed in the last post certainly sparked a lot of interest – and helpful comments.  Even as I posted those photos I was thinking about improvements.  The comments convinced me and provided some good ideas.   One of the final plates is shown in the first picture – an ultra- closeup. 
 

 
This has a very close duplicate of the original nailing pattern.  The sheets would have been pre-punched – perhaps like this one – then simply placed in position and nailed over a tarred felt covering.  In the lower row, the indentations are about 3” apart, so you can see that the dimples themselves are less than an inch I diameter – just about right.  This plate is 48” x 14” (about 0.67” x 0.195”).  The model plates are .002” thick brass.
 
The next picture shows the stamping fixture – sitting on the block of hardwood used to stamp the brass.
 

 
The top piece is drilled to accept .018” straight pins – a sliding fit.  A fence is added to align the plates.  The top row of holes is extended so the “dress course” (top row) can be stamped a second time so those plates will have nail rows top and bottom.  A brass plate is sandwiched beneath the top piece and a lower piece as a hard support at the bottom of the pins.
 
After drilling the nailing pattern the two blocks and the brass plate were bolted together.  Pins were inserted and clipped off.  These were then machine ground down to a few thousandths above the wood surface to make them a uniform length – as shown below.
 
 

 
With the pins still in the holes, the parts were disassembled and reassembled with the plate under the ground off ends of the pins.  After testing on some plates, the pins were wetted with thin CA to keep them from falling out.  The fence was then added.  The lower block is held in a vise for stamping.  Small dimples are best achieved with a hardwood block tapped lightly over the plate.  I expect to describe this process step by step in the book.
 
All of this was a bit of a side show because I am not yet ready to sheath the hull.  The main event this week has been the installation of the waterways and binding strakes on the main deck.  The first picture shows the starboard waterway being glued against the frames in between the beams and the planksheer rail.
 

 
After forming these pieces and fitting the scarph joints, they were painted light blue before being installed to avoid have to “cut in” the painted line by hand – too shaky for that. 
 
The next picture shows the two 10” wide binding strakes and the “nib strake” being installed on the starboard side.
 

 
The top of the outer binding strake is about 6” above the beams, the inner binding strake is tapered so the inside edge is the height of the common planking – 3 ½”.  The nib strake is that thickness and 8” wide.  The planking at the side will be limited to these three strakes.  There will be central planking between the hatchways.  The next picture shows the starboard side complete and work in progress on the port side.
 

 
Some of the starboard scuppers can just be seen in the above picture.  The next picture shows these being fitted through the outer planking. 
 

 
These will be filed off flush and blackened before final installation.  The remaining hull planking can then be painted and the sheathing installed on the starboard side.  The pencil  lines in the picture define the height of the dress course.
 
The last picture shows a pin rail drilled and shaped but not yet installed.
 

 
These rails will fit right under the main rail.  Paint has been filed off of the top timbers under the rail so the pin rail can be glued.
  
Ed

Thanks to everyone that follow my log, which give likes, support and nice words.   Row, it's all luck,  as all fingers is complete, so far I have only good sanded nails ..
 
Thanks Mike, I'm also a joy to see your log and the progress of construction.
  Today I finished my deck. Now give him a lot of attention, sanding and coating ... Here are a few photos, I hope you will like:   Regards, Matija.                                

Amati did include sail cloth into the kit, but there is only enough material for one attempt, no mistake is allowed.
After some research in shops I found material very similar to Amati sail cloth and bought it enough for a few models
I borrowed Admiral's sewing machine and start to learn, from knowing what all those knobs are for to sewing first
 lines. After several days I managed to make three small samples, testing different colors and technics. The most
difficult was that with sewn rope on outer edges,but is a bit out of scale. Maybe I will use it on future bigger models.
I decide for first version (left - 2nd picture) with lighter thread. Than I made first real sail which came out fairly good, but
I am not satisfied because it wrinkles too much. I think that tread tension is a bit too high. 
Practice, practice,... 

Hi everyone
 
Hope all is going well. Thank you to everyone for their comments, Likes and encouragement so far.
 
As you'll see from the following photos, I've made some progress on Rainbow's interior. Still a very long way to go, but it's a start. Please don't mind the bulkheads being out of alignment because they're just temporarily positioned whilst the work progresses.
 
Hope you enjoy the photos.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks Lawrence, Michael and Dennis as well as everyone else for their comments and Likes!! They all mean heaps to me.
 
Lawrence - it's interesting that you say that about putting lots of detail into small spaces, because in the past, it was more a case of putting too few details into a model. However, with my more recent models, eg Lennox, Dorade and Ingomar, I've gotten better at doing things (not boasting in any way, just recognising that my skills have improved, as does everybody's over time). So the question now is what details should I omit! For instance, I'm basically using the premise "if it fitted on the real boat", you should at least try to put into the model". Sure, sure, sure, it'll never look exactly like the real thing, but I'm happy if I can at least give it a go.
 
Thanks once again, to all of you.
 
Cheers and happy modelling!
 
Patrick

Richard, I personally would not use soft solder for something like this.  Silver solder is much stronger.  I would be concerned first about the joint breaking when you saw off the parts, then later breaking on when the rudder is installed and it is too late for a repair.  There is virtually no risk of this with a silver soldered joint - if it is a good joint.
 
I may use soft solder to fasten the pins into the pintles but there is very little stress on those joints and if I silver solder them there is a risk of opening the first joints.
 
Ed

Thank you Gaetan.  I assume the  plate in the picture uses syringe tubing.  Following Matt's suggestion I made a stamp using .014" syringe tubing, which corresponds to 1" at 1:72 scale - about the size of the nail heads used for metal sheathing.  Unfortunately, the dimples in the metal appeared much larger, so while good for larger scales, the dimples are too large for 1:72.
 
I have found a solution, however, using the points of .018" dressmaker's pins.  As I am sure you know, these must all be at the same height and the correct height to produce good plates.  The picture below shows the result with the pinpoints.  Visualizing this in a photo is difficult, but in the picture the indentations are in, not out - as nails in thin plate backed by felt would be.  Because of the lighting reflection (?) they also appear a bit deeper and larger.
 

 
I will say more about this in the next post.
 
Ed

Hi Mark, here is another one.
 
 

Greetings to all. Nigel-Carl-Brian , thank you for visiting my build log and also for your likes. Another small update to my build...
 
Cheers
Dimitris

Hello shipmates,I thank you all for visiting my build log and also for your likes. A little  progress to my build.
 
Cheers
Dimitris

One down, fifteen to go!  
 

 
Cheers,
Tim

My next task was to place the front and rear saddle on a flat surface, set the tube into them, align each saddle with the center of it's reinforcement plate, then glue them to the tube.  This step was quite easy!  
 
The next step requires a more steady hand and a set of magnifying visors, (at this point I wish I had bought the type with LED lights).  Then I snip two front and two rear gussets from the photo-etched sheet and glue them in place on top of the reinforcement plates.
(See photos below).  There will be four for each tube for a total of sixteen gussets to mount.
 

 

 

 

 
Cheers,
Tim

Greetings, a snowy morning in Virginia Beach makes for a good day at the building bench!  I managed to get the Breech Covers, Impulse Chambers, and all the Access Covers on the  torpedo tubes and some work on the Day Cabin.
 

 

 

 
 

 

 
Cheers,
Tim
 

Thank you for all of these comments.
 
Jerry, I hear you on the plates.  I had been planning to roll these flat after they were in place.  However, I am looking at other methods.  Rather than countersunk, I believe these 14" x 48" x .05" thick plates were prepunched pretty close to the pattern I have used , then laid over felt, then nailed with flat headed nails.  this would leave a decidedly quilted appearance - not something you see on models, but certainly more realistic if it can be represented well.  We shall see.  Stay tuned.
 
Thanks,
 
Ed