druxey

But, if the second set is the correct thickness....

But, if the second set is the correct thickness....

The basic forms of the cockpit area can be framed up in ply, & I'm using 2mm birch. The footwell was done but doing the deck & scuppers area in one required some joggle stick style paperwork as it's enclosed on 3 sides, & 2 of them aren't vertical. It looks unlikely in the photo, but actually it was easy to do accurately. I could slide a metal ruler below the paper to be able to press the tape down onto something at the right level without distorting it.

 
And sitting loosely in place. In the photo it's sitting 2mm too high at the stern - it will mitre to the top of the transom & so sit down lower, as this boat has no timber trimming piece or fashion piece there to cover a join that could split later. The alignment at the sides (to the hull) isn't critical, the raking strips of hull above the ply will be built up to 6-7mm thick or about 70-85mm actual, which can sit on top of the plywood. Unlike many remarkable builds on this forum, I'm not concerning myself with the inner parts of the vessel being true the actual boat.

Chapter 7 (unplanned).
About how the author reflects on time and finally gets to the main thing.
 
As I said at the end of the last chapter, the original plan was to put the issue about the side gallery dome in one issue. But then I decided that it would be better to split it into two parts because the text was too long. It was too tedious to type a large text. And even the online translator began to hang, swear and complain. So I decided to publish half of it before the translator completely destroyed everything I had time to translate.
In the morning, when I decided to continue publishing the story, I thought of one nuance.
 
And indeed, it is now the last days of May. Just a moment more and summer will come. Which means that about a year ago and took up this project. And I saw it as my usual carving work. I put my lion projects on hold because now was my chance to tackle new ways of carving. Except that in order to start carving for the Fulminant, I'd have to prepare a bridgehead first, build the stern of the ship. I expected it wouldn't take me very long. And what happened? It's been almost a year and I'm not even halfway through building the stern yet. I have the most challenging design and fabrication phases ahead of me. When will I get to the point where I can do the carving? And that realization was kind of scary to me. It told me that I had misjudged my strength. And one has to accelerate a lot to keep this project from becoming a perpetual thing. On the one hand, doing what you love and building a ship is wonderful. I certainly don't dare to start building my own ship. And this opportunity to do the ship is ideal. If I enjoy it, then let it go on for as long as possible. But at the same time, the thought makes me very sad. If it were my own project, I would not rush, but rather stretch the pleasure of each stage and each new task. But I made a promise to the customer. And I've already broken it. I've missed deadlines. And it's always weighing on me. 
Also, as much fun as it is to build the stern structure, I get a sense of longing when I look at the lion figurine I've put aside. When will I get back to this project? So eager to get back into carving again. I really miss the process.
And now, while finishing the dome structure of the side gallery, I realized my dream of returning to chisels and cutters. But first things first.
 I put the arch in its place and began designing the rest of the dome. 
 

 

 


On the historical sketch this element is drawn loosely. And this drawing can be represented in the finished design in different ways. I was faced with the task of making the design look realistic and at the same time not too different from the original. There were a lot of questions, for example, how to make the dome look three-dimensional, because in fact it is a flat part. Or what kind of materials to use so that the end result would be a balanced combination. Some time ago I already tried to rebuild Beren's drawing into my own version, and they differed from each other, as the ship's hull and the historical drawing had many differences. So now I was faced with having to make changes for the second time. I was not quite satisfied with what I had drawn once. I needed to look at certain nuances in more detail. For example, I came to the conclusion that I should change the original shape and size of the false window. 
The painted version now looked too big compared to the windows on the stern. And I didn't like it. I also decided to correct the dome and make it smaller.
Unfortunately, I can't show photos of intermediate stages of production. They just do not exist. At this point, my son left for a few days on a small trip with friends and took the camera with him. And before that, I broke my phone, so there was nothing to take photos with. So right after photos with paper templates will immediately follow photos with already finished dome.
 


This picture is the only one that can be called intermediate and working. Here I glue the inner part into the frame. At the same time I will explain a little what is this strange bar, which “stuck” to the dome. I made the frame of the dome the way it would be made in life. And in a shipyard, it would be assembled from several separate segments. And the sides would be made of separate boards. And because the joints are so small, it's easy to break off when working. So I glued a temporary strip on top of this joint, which gives additional rigidity. So now it will be a little clearer to look at the following shots, where you can also see this temporary detail.
 

 


And this is how the dome looked after I removed this temporary stiffener.Now there is no point in it anymore. I've already done all the work, so it's not so dangerous to accidentally break off the gluing point. Besides, now the inner field has taken over the role of a rigid base. And the frame will be safe. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
And now for a historic moment in the history of this project. I have finally gotten to the stage that can be called carving! Yay! Opening the champagne, setting off the fireworks and dancing on the balcony! 🙂

 

 

 
 
And the final frames are now left. This too can only conditionally be called a finale. Other elements with decorations will appear here in the future. But these details will be made of another material, not wood. So it will be a different story. And I am finished with the wooden part at this point. 
Carving has appeared so far in a very small form. But it is even more logical to begin with. The first appearance by all laws and should be small and insignificant, like a fresh sprout. Some time will pass and it will turn into something more significant and big. Maybe even like a huge tree. Hopefully my story too will someday be filled with carvings that will finally become many and will finally become the main theme of this story. We'll live to see...
 

 

 

 

Don't laugh at these batchelors: many if these rather eccentric but highly skilled men men were PTSD sufferers from WWII. This was their self-prescribed therapy.

I wonder whether a piece of tempered glass, shattered, would provide granules of the scale size?

But, if the second set is the correct thickness....

Well, you got there, Aleksandr! An unorthodox method, but it worked for you. Well done!

Scraping moldings: some tricks I found helped me:
 
1) Glue the blank strip down on a solid backing piece. I use  PVA white glue. This may be soaked off in 95% isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) when complete.
 
2) Make the strip no deeper than the deepest dimension of the finished molding.
 
3) Scrape lightly and gently. If you apply pressure, the scraper will wander with the wood grain. As the molding develops, you can add a bit more pressure.
 
4) When the blank edge of  the scraper runs against the backing board, you are at the correct depth and the scraper will not bite in deeper.

But, if the second set is the correct thickness....

Things to bear in mind:
 
1) The roundup or spring of each transom and gallery increases as you go upward. This counteracts the illusion of sagging.
 
2) The apparent spring in photos can look exaggerated as the lower the viewpoint, the greater it appears to be. This illusion is because of the round aft of the various knuckles and rows of lights.
 
3) Any row of lights have the same height throughout, as you've noted, Mark. 
 
I thinks that exhausts the subject - for now, anyway!

. . . then you still have to wait for it to arrive from Poland. 😉 I already have the new parts cut out.

Added the pilot's headrest and windscreens. The kit provide neither interior frames nor glazing templates for the latter; I made photocopies and used those as templates.
 

My priorities are in perfect order -- they just don't match my wife's priorities!

More cowl bits added. I mighta got more done today except I spent the entire day stripping the old finish off my fence. 😬
 

Eighteen cowl blisters done. 😵

 

For those of you who are interested, I thought you might like to see what an insanely talented card modeler (not me, obviously) can do by kit-bashing a rather rudimentary model. Scroll down to the pics at the bottom to see the scratch-built super-detailing. It's on a whole 'nother level.
 
MiG-3 at Kartonowki gallery

The main fuselage sections are done now. Next I'll need to go back and mount all the little lumpy-bumpy parts.
 

Two more sections added to the fuselage.
 

Zipped up . . .
 

 
. . . and skinned.
 

The observer's position is complete. These are the last views anyone will see before it gets zipped up.
 

 

 

 

 
After this, anyone wanting to get a good closeup look will need to use an endoscope. 😑

Gradually the fuselage lengthens.
 

I call this next one the "last time you'll ever have a clear view of this cockpit" shot.
 

 
And here's the cockpit section all closed up and mated to the forward fuselage. The butt joint did not turn out as nicely this time.
 

 
A simple fuselage slice is next, followed by construction of the observer's position.
 
Cheers!

All the cockpit bulkheads have been prepped.
 

When this kit first arrived, I noticed that it is designed to use butt joints. I really dislike butt joints. Because it uses butt joints, no joiner strips are provided -- not even the sort that are typically used to close rings. Hmph.
 
Work proceeded on the first fuselage section. Regardless of what the kit designer intended, I simply made myself a joiner strip to close up the ring, which, as you can see in this first photo, is not entirely ring-shaped. It's a ring where it joins the cowl, but then flares to a flat bottom along the rest of the fuselage. The forward-most bulkhead is a simple circle, but the aft bulkhead has a cutout where cockpit elements will be located. I stiffened the entire flimsy-looking bulkhead with thin CA. I also painted the interior a sort-of canvas-colored tan, because I don't know how much of it will be visible once the fuselage and cockpit are assembled. (BTW, that's just an old, dried glue blob in the lower left corner.)

 
Both bulkheads required some sanding to get them to slip easily into the ring. Here's the completed fuselage section, now mated to the cowl assembly. The cowl has numerous blisters, which I will add later to avoid smooshing them while working on the fuselage.
 

 
That first butt joint turned out well. I'll be very happy if the rest turn out as nice. Moving to the next fuselage section, construction of the forward cockpit begins, so there will be a lot more elements.
 
Cheers!