CaptainSteve

But why would we wanna do that ?? 
 
 
Most certainly, Bindy !! In fact, I took a few pics that I was going to post to show my method ... just in case anyone actually cared to know.
Okay ... so here goes:
 
Starting with a new plank, I use a razor knife to cut a series of uneven lines along the length of the plank. (1)
Then, using a sharpened HB pencil, I highlight those cuts. This fills the depth of the cuts with "grain". (2)
(I find it necessary to keep sharpening the pencil)
Then, using the side of the pencil, I colour the whole plank with the same pencil. (3) This gives residual "grain" markings.
 

 
Using an eraser, remove the vast majority of the coloured-in pencil. (5)
With the pencil lead in the razor knife cuts, and residual lead on the plank, this will leave the distressed grain. (4)
Now, paint the whole plank with wood stain. (6)
 

 
Once the stain has dried (leave AT LEAST twice the recommended drying time !!), sand the planks down, taking off most of the colour, leaving your distressed plank.
This shot was taken from my Launch ...
 

 
Of course, you COULD try calling them names until they cry !!!
 

You have made some awesome progress since my last visit, KMart !! Your Connie is looking better with every post.
 
PS: I luv the 1812 stern modification !!

Also been working on the other Gun deck fittings
 
Stove....
 
Again, as it will be barely seen under the deck...  I didn't add a whole lot of detail  to it.  
Stove pipe I left long.  will cut it down to proper height after I install the spar deck.
BTW,  being new to soldering.. I think It came out well.
By eye the diameter seems to large, but its same diameter as the kit supplied piece. 


Ridding bits

 
Double Capstan.
Not the kit supplies pieces only for the Spar deck.
So I made identical pieces and made it the proper double.
They do separate so I can install.  
Again more micro soldering to get the copper band on the top of each.
Will stain and then gloss varnish to get the riding bits and capstans looking like bright work.
 

Couple of shots of  them installed.
 

Note that's the kit stove pipe.  Not mine.   Might go with the kit one... I think it looks more accurate then mine.

Prepping the 4 stairs that go from the gun deck down to the lower deck
 

I had created the Channels earlier in the build.   I've now attached them and added some black
 

Lots more soldering practice preparing the chain plates
I studied a bunch of other peoples build to get ideas on how to make these before I got a method down that works for me.
 
Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the process.
I'll try to describe.  Hopefully it makes sense without pics.
First.... I used the kit supplied photo etched parts.
Before cutting them free... I pulled out the tinyest nails I have in my spare parts boxes.
I re-drilled out all the holes on the chain plates and their smaller support pieces.
     My impression as it would be very difficult to open theses holes up after they are detached. 
Made sure the nails would fit through the holes.   I don't want to fight this later when nailing them into the hull.
Then I cut the parts all free.
 
Next I nailed a small put a small pin in a block of hardwood.   You can put the deadeye on this pin through one of the holes in the deadeye.   That basically holds the deadeye stationary for the next steps.
 
On the chainplate, I use a razor blade to fold the end over to make a  very small U at the end opposite of the hole.  
     ---
     |
     --------------------------------------0 
 
Next I cut a length of 24 gauge copper core wire.  ~ 2"  long.
using small pliers to I wrap the wire around the deadeye once and cross the  wires once at the bottom.
  Remember , the deadeye is held stable by that pin while you wrap that wire around it. 
 
 Take the u end in the chainplate and hook the two ends of the copper wire where they cross.. so both ends of the wire pass through the U.  The bottom of the U is now pinned between the ends of the wire and the deadeye.  
 
Put a drop of solder at the opening part of the U soldering the u to the wire.
 
Trim off the ends of the wire.
 
That's its.    The deadeyes even spin so I can later adjust their position.
Repeat 65 more times.
( Side note... Because I'm going for an 1812 build, I compared a few different references to determine how many and what size deadeyes,  chains and eyes I needed.     The MS plans are based on the current rigging not the 1812.  I can share the configuration I chose if people are interested in that.  )     
 
Production line of deadeyes....
Large,  Medium, Small and Eyes

Testing them out

 
That almost brings my log current to where my build is.
By my next posting (hopefully without the long delay in postings again)  I hope to report on the finished gun deck.    
 
Then I'll go over how I'll support the Spar deck.   I'm not doing the full beams  (again as they wont be seen at )  so I have my own unique method.  We'll see how it works out.      I'll cover that next time.
 
Best
K 
 
 
 

The 30 gun deck cannons took awhile.   Just about done with them
 
Decided not to blacken the ringbolts.
Also only going to simulate the breach line.   not all the gun rigging.
As it will all be covered up with the spar deck,  I'll only detail enough that can be seen by peaking through the gunports
 
Gun #1

All thirty

By eye,  they are all centered in their gunports and have the same elevation .... Came out better then I hoped for. 
 
Oh and yes.. Got the upper gunport lids attached as well.  Painting top and bottoms of the gunports (top and bottom lids)  wasn't bad.    but getting the white edges was ugly. plenty of black marks on the edges if you look close. 
 
I was going back and forth on weather to rig the lifts on the upper ports.   I made a few attempts and didn't like the results.   I figured .. no one would be able to see the lifts when the lid is in the up position so I left them off.   After I glued them all on, now I regret not rigging them.  

Gun breech lines not glued to sides yet.   I put a simple overhand know at the ends.   Will touch  the knot with glue and then stick to side in the right position.   Again just simulating... as no one will be able to see them once spar deck is on. 
 
I have no idea how others manage to attach ring bolts into the side of the bulwarks and then rig them in proper.   I'm beyond impressed for those who can do that.  Even at this larger scale...  rigging them in that small space is way to small for my  paws to manage.   You need to have surgeon level skills....

Nice view looking from the stern


The modified trucks on the cannon works great.  They have plenty of surface area that it glues down securely to the deck.
 
15 guns mounted.  15 more to go.

Starting to work on Guns for gundeck.  So need to make 30 of them .   
I am going to use the ME cannon set.  Not the dummy barrels that cam with the kit.
Fairly common issue is the cannon carriage is to short.  Without modification the barrel it will sit too low in the gun port.
My solution was to replace the dowel axels with a taller pieces of basswood to raise the overall height.
 

The wheels will just glue right on to these pieces flush with the deck.
The wheels themselves will hide most of the piece.  So they wont be as obvious.
 
In  some of my past builds, I've had canons break loose.
The tiny wheels/trucks  just don't have enough surface area connecting the deck to stay stuck.   
I tiny bump and they break loose.   Typically this after deck is closed up and I can no longer access to fix.   
With these pieces, there will be a lot more surface area on the bottom piece's to glue to the deck.   
 
Mass producing the  carriages

Testing them on the ship
 

 
 

 
For the wheels themselves,   still want to show the nub of the axis.
Trying to clean, enlarge the hole to fit the axes will split the wheel.
 
Soo ill try using toothpicks.  Glue the wheel on
Saw off the pointy end flush with wheel.  That's  the side that will be glue to the new piece of wood/axil.
On the center side of the toothpick,  I'll cut short length after the wheel to simulate the end of a axil

 

 
 

 
Once the carriages are done.  30x4  = 120 wheels to make.  Geesh.   
Then I'll start looking at rigging.  At a minimal I'll rig  the breech's on all of them.
I'll do more excessive rigging on the 8 cannons that can be seen though the open grating on the spar deck. 
As I'm aiming for an 1812 version of the ship,  I'm leaving waist hatches off.  
 
 
 
 

Quick update...  Rudder just about done.   
Just need too add the chain.   If you look close.. the eyebolts are already on the stern.

Glad to have you follow along Jean-Paul, I very much enjoyed reading through your QAB log, a model to aspire to.
 
Frame Installation:
 
Additional work done on the keel was some final shaping of the stern post, finishing of the keel taper, installation of the transom, and a coat of wipe on poly for protection.  One thing I have noticed with cherry is the grain can cause optical illusions.  In a couple of places I know the surface is as smooth as I can make it, but the grain makes it appear quite course still.
 
I had been working on making up the frames for some time, for many this simply requires to a frame foot to be glued to its corresponding futtock after cleaning off some areas of laser char.  Pretty simple as each has its own guideline which is well explained in the instructions.  The grooves on the assembly board needed to be filed out a little to allow the frames to be inserted, primarily due to the thickness of the wood and the slight angle introduced by the laser cutter.
 
I think this is good opportunity to share an observation about the kit.  It is definitely a well thought out design with very clear instructions, however, that does not mean that some experience is not required as I was soon to find out....I'm sharing my experience below because every other build log of this kit seems to go together without a hitch, so a little humbling that I found this so problematic.
 
First Attempt:
First off, the assembled frames were inserted and the keel glued according to the instructions making sure that frames aligned well beforehand and that the bottom of the frame floor were at the right height to sit in the keel, and best effort to keep this in a straight line as well as by eyeball trying to keep what will be the top of the frames smoothly aligned.  Everything seemed to work fine, and once the glue had had sufficient time to set, I started to fair the frames.  This is when a first inkling of problems started, I noticed that some of the frames were moving in their slots, and upon further investigation some the frames were not really secured solidly to the keel.  Although the planking will definitely add to the strength, I wasn't convinced the frames would be rigid enough to allow planks to be installed.   Given the construction method, its not possible to remove and re-glue a single frame, so the isopropyl alcohol was brought out to remove all the frames....
 

 
Second Attempt:
Upon analysis two things became clear.  I hadn't used enough glue in the joints, and that my judgement of what 'play' was needed for the frames in the build board was wrong (the instructions say that these shouldn't be too tight or too loose), but it was really only trying to go through the process of fairing that indicated what this should be.  Some tape was added as suggested in the instructions to more rigidly seat these, and the process to align and glue repeated (using more glue this time around).  Unfortunately, in the final stages of seating everything,  I somehow placed too much pressure on frame G and the result was that the frame foot broke in two places, and the small tabs on one side of the futtock popped prematurely (these are weak by design to allow easier removal at a later stage).  The isopropyl alcohol was brought out once more to remove all the frames........I don't have any photos of this, honestly I was too despondent to record it...
 
Third (and so far final attempt):
After examining the break, the cherry had broken with the grain and looked like it could be repaired.  These are delicate pieces, but I don't think will be subject to much stress once the planks are on.  The breaks were located on each side of the foot where there is a small dark element of grain, and can just be seen in photos below.  The small tabs on the futtock were also given a tiny spot of glue, and to hopefully provide a little more strength a splint was glued to the central section to absorb some of the shearing forces that will be unavoidable while fairing the frames (this is NOT glued to the actual futtock itself). 
 
So far, things seem to be back on track, and work has resumed on fairing the frames which is where things sit currently.
 

I really have no excuse for buying, let alone starting this kit as I have plenty going on I my current builds.  However, everytime I wandered over to the Syren Ship Model website to buy sundery items, this kit stared back longingly at me, and sadly up to now was 'out of stock'.  Fortuitously on the last visit, there was one in stock and I just couldn't resist, after all, it couldn't hurt could it?  Well, the package has arrived and despite my best efforts to leave the box closed (about 5 minutes), the genie is out of the bottle.
 
This will most definitely be a side project, and it will finally be nice to be able to follow some very good instructions and build a very nice looking model out of the box.  Hopefully this will be a nice diversion to 'Jason' which seems to be anything but.
 
I hope that I'm up to this challenge, I can certainly appreciate the reasons why this is classified as a more advanced kit.  Progress will be slow.  I'm not planning on this being the most extensive build log, but will likely post progress pictures and ask questions as I go...

Welcome aboard Bob, and thanks for the interest from all:
 
The upside of social distancing and resting in place is that there seem to be a few more hours in the evening with no commitments.  The remaining keel sections have been installed which is a little bit of a relief as it should provide a little more strength, especially at the sternpost.  The instructions indicate the thin center keel section is a little oversized and can be trimmed at the aft end.  I'm a little concerned that for some reason I needed to shorten this to the extent that the slot for the frame is noticeably narrower than others, which will surely require some attention before frames can be attached (center of 3rd picture below).  Open to suggestions on how this slot should be widened (centered, widen forward or aft).
 

 
Its very difficult to get a sense of size from isolated photos, and it must be said that this barge at 1:24 is far from small.  In fact, from stem to stern its nearly exactly the same length as His Majesties sloop of war Snake, but significantlymore susceptible to damage..
 

KITCHEN SCOURER
The following is from MSW member, Thanasis, where he has used a kitchen scourer to make baggiwrinkles on his ship. This will work in any scale whatsoever.
 
Over to you, Thanasis ….
Baggiwrinkes in 5 minutes
 
I think you all know of those green kitchen sponges ... 

1.    Take an unused one. Usually they are in green colour, but you might find some in the colour you like.
 
2.    Cut a small piece close to the dimensions you want your baggiwrinkle to be.
 
3.    Gently twist the ends between your fingers and your workbench (or between the palm of one hand and two fingers of the other hand) to trim down the corners, and you are almost ready.
 
4.    If you cannot find the scourers in any other colour than the standard green, then you can use some paint to show the threads on the surface (I used a gray in spray form).
 
Finally, place it on your model, using a needle at the edge of a strand of your standing rigging before you fasten both edges permanently. If you don’t glue it, it will slide up and down the rigging line.

POPPY SEEDS – Trying to represent the bolt-heads on the stem-plates, pintles and gudgeons for my Queen Anne Barge (1:24), I stumbled on a cheap and easy alternative ...

Each seed is approximately 0.5mm wide, and much smaller than any nail-heads that I had. I soaked a small pile of the poppy-seeds in a black wood-stain, allowed them to dry …

… and then affixed them into pre-drilled holes with CA glue. Give them a light coat with a thin varnish afterwards to hold them in place …

Here are a few examples as used on my Barge build …

 ... the copper keel-plate.

... on the stem-plate.

... on the pintles and gudgeons.

DRINK CAN RING-PULLS
After the above entries, taken from USS Constitution builds that I follow on MSW, this one comes from my own build.  I had noticed some iron-works marked on the plans. As this hull will eventually be copper-plated, I wanted to replicate these hull braces as an added detail.

 
To my eye, the horseshoe-shaped front brace looked a lot like a drink can ring-pull …

… so I salvaged a few for a trial. Holes were drilled to simulate the bolt-heads. The ring-pull ends were trimmed off.
 

… shaping the bow hull-brace around a pencil-tip.
 

Braces for the stern were cut from the rim of the drink can, annealed and straightened.
 

… grooving out a seat for the stern braces.
 

The horseshoe-shaped bow brace fitted into position ...
 

…. and the stern braces also placed. The surface of the braces sits slightly proud of the keel.
 

 
Since I am still a long way from planking and copper-plating my hull, a test was done to see how the braces would appear, once plated …

... NOTE TO SELF: Be more careful when coppering-over the holes.
 
 

SHOELACES
Browsing some of the logs that I follow recently, and I stumbled upon this idea by one of my favourite USS Constitution builders.

 
Thanks to Tom (UsedToSail) for this idea to reproduce more realistic slings for the boats on his build.
Over to Tom …
“I have been doing some thinking about how to stack the two cutters on the waist rails. The plans show only the large cutter with cradles underneath and strong backs over the tops to hold it down. I could use the same method and use cradles on the small cutter to sit on the strong backs, but I thought they might stick up too high. In the AOS book, they show the small cutter inside the large cutter, with fenders between them. I liked this method better, but was struggling how to make fenders until one day, as I was tying my shoes, it hit me to try pieces of shoe laces. I bought some white oval laces and after cutting the pieces, I browned them using brown shoe polish. I was quite happy with the look.”
 
Tom says that he first tried this with round laces, but it didn't look as good:

 
Better success was had using a flatter lace …

 
And a later pic from Tom’s build, showing the boats positioned on-deck …

 
 

Lookin' good, DrPer !!

Verily, ‘t hath been some time since me last posting … but Chuck didst prompt-eth me to do some digging and I didst manage to recover-eth some lithographs.
 
What wit’ me limited carving skills, it took-eth many an attempt afore I were to have a full set of decorations for me barge. Fortunately, Chuck did provide two extra sets of carving blanks … and these were all eventually required to produce a full set.
 
Unfortunately, as I didst mention, pictures of those appear to be lost to the annals of time (and NiCad battery life-spans).
Fortunately, however, some later pictures DID survive …
 

 
(The general viewing public shouldst be aware that the above carving is approximately 1inch by 1 inch, in real life)
 

 
Next, an friend of mine (and the Barge’s eventual care-taker), helped with the gilding of my carvings, using actual gold-leaf …

 

 
 

 
Whilst I still need to take and post some final shots of me Barge, I were to be most impressed with the eventual outcome, Chuck …
 
                     
 
                     
 
                     
 

BEADS - There are thousands of different beads available. I strongly recommend spending a few hours browsing through the shelves of a good bead store, if you can find one. Otherwise, settle for a raid on the Admiral's sewing table. Try imagining each bead cut in half/sanded/sliced.
 
This pic shows a whale-boat (1/76th scale) I am currently working on. The central drum is a bead, with the wooden ends being former chopsticks.
 

The map and letter are really extra, special touches.
Nice work, Bill !!

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

I use these sticks frequently for use in my other miniature projects. What a great idea as planking!

Wooden dowel for masts
 

Was the impossibility of making them out of wood that you had referred to based upon drilling correctly spaced holes?  You could also use the metal deadeyes you made as templates to pass a pin-vice through in order to create perfectly spaced holes in a blank of wood the thickness you desire, then carefully sand the wood blank to shape around the outside.  I've been using boxwood strips to make things lately, and it's been great to work with.  It can be held between your fingernails while you sand it, and it's hard enough that your fingernails don't "dent" it while you are sanding (I look through a cheap magnifying unit while working). If there are dents, they will be shallow and can be sanded out pretty quicky.  
 
Alan

There is one question that made my mind fluffy ... dead eyes 3-4mm dia ... from different reasons I don`t want to order and to by them ... at another side, to make them from wood - impossible mission for me. So - what to do?
And idea comes after couple months braking my head
On photos I present only idea and testing of idea, with non-adequate ropes and knots
I found brass pipes with inside dia 1mm and 2mm ... and thinking ... oneo to other, I have got 3-4mm outer dia ...

 
Soldering three of them in triangle form

Cut this structure on desired width and clean holes, and I got this!

Playing arround with first "rope" I found in home, just to try

Ok, it can be painted ....
And just testig does it work

 
And I think this will be final soolution for me
 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up. 

It's been quite some time since I last looked in on your work, Hubac (alas, studies have meant that my modelling room has remained unvisited for many months). I am absolutely blown-away by your progress, and I could spend many study-days just drinking in the photos of your work. Your research and attention to detail is producing a true piece of art. Keep it up.