casper1961

Very nice work, you are in the final stretch (the rigging) Looks great....great inspiration and a great log to follow when i finally get around to mine.
 
Looking forward to your final pics....keep up the great work!
 
Cheers 
Steve 

Dear friends,
It's a long time ago, but thank you to wake me up.
Actually, I was involved in a lot of relatively big projects. I retired in 2006 and all my children are away. My house was a little bit too big for my wife and myself and so we decided to build a new one just near the old one. It took us two years. And then we had to move and to empty the old house (a lot of work as the new one is definitively smaller than the old one). I needed also a certain time to arrange the roof the way I wanted to have a nice place for shipbuilding.
All of this is now on a good way, and some weeks ago I considered to work again on my Serapis (I bought her also more than 30 years ago...).
First, some repairs. One of our cats bite a cathead (it's true). Imade a new one. Then, I have to continue the quarter deck. I decided to move the wheel in front of the mizzen mast. If you look to drawings of the HMS Roebuck by exemple, you see that the wheel is always in front of the mast. The wheel is on a strange place on the drawings of Aeropiccola.
You gave me now a good incentive to continue, and in the coming days I shall send you some photos.
Best regards,
Pierre

Very nice work, you are in the final stretch (the rigging) Looks great....great inspiration and a great log to follow when i finally get around to mine.
 
Looking forward to your final pics....keep up the great work!
 
Cheers 
Steve 

Hi all, thank you OC for nice words! Little by little, work is going on, these parts are easy to work with, they are already cut.
 

 

 

 
 

Preparing the grating.
 

Hello John,
Sorry for answering so late, but I was also on vacation.
Serapis is a fine ship, even if not 100 per cent accurate. I have all the blueprints but they are very large.
About the rigging, no big problem. They just copied all details from "the anatomy of Nelson's ships" by Nepean Longridge.
If you can get the book, you have all what you need...
Very happy to see your photos when they are available.
Pierre

Hi Sherry
 
I must have missed your posting when you mentioned your brother and daughter. I went back and I am truly sorry to hear about both! I am glad your sister is doing better and I truly hope your brother turns things around and makes a speedy recovery.
 
Just to add to your lighting thoughts, model railroading being another of my endless hobbies, they have simulated flame lantern or fire lighting accessories for between $25 to $70. Most come already wired and ready to hook up. And HO scale is very close to the same scale you are building your model at. Here is one such gizmo...
 
http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/mtr/mtr10010101.htm  George's Trains in Markham might be a source to try out. I haven't been following the model railroad stuff for a few years to direct you any better but they have been around for ages, since I was a wee one. LOL
 
The frames look great so far...great to see the decking go in. What are you planning to do for the deck planking? Please tell me you aren't going to mill those as well? LOL
 
 
The scroll saw was a great investment. I must have several days of cutting ahead of me cutting all the printed parts for my HMS Serapis kit...honestly, I am not stoked about it at all....I guess this is why they invented the laser cut to assist lazy bones dude like me!   Don't get me wrong, I love working with wood but if all my kits were like the HMS Serapis, I would never have time to finish all of them. Thank God for laser cutting!!
 
Cheers
Steve

Very nice work! 
 
Will be watching with envy...  

Hi James
 
I thought I read somewhere that the Serapis was originally fitted with 44 guns but just before going into battle at Flamborough Head she was refitted with 9 more cannons...
 
I'll see if I can find the article that mentioned this...whether its true or not we'll have to ask Capt. John Paul Jones! LOL

Hello All! 
 
Time I started to be more involved in this forum. I started the HMS Serapis back in the late 1980's. A few of you may not even have been born yet!  I had just finished building the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship and wanted another ship model to work on at boat shows to help attract attention to my booth. I loved the story of the Serapis which is what brought me to purchase this kit.
 
Here is that story: 
 
The Battle of Flamborough Head was fought September 23, 1779, between the American privateer Bonhomme Richard and the Royal Navy HMS Serapis and was part of the American Revolution  (1775-1783). The HMS Serapis was a 44-gun 2-decked Roebuck-class fifth rate "frigate" captained by Richard Pearson. The Bonhomme Richard was lesser armed with only 32 guns and her captain was John Paul Jones. Serapis was named after the Greek & Egyptian God Serapis.
 
These two ships clashed at Flamborough Head, England,  on Septermber 23, 1779 during the American Revolutionary War. The ships traded heavy gun fire at which point the Bonhomme Richard lost most of her firepower but did manage to grapple the Serapis and bind the two ships together. Captain Pearson seeing that the Bonhomme Richard was sinking, he hailed the Bonhomme Richard and asked for her surrender, the famous quote by Captain John Paul Jones "I have not yet begun to fight" was his response. The battle raged on for another 3 hours giving time for the Alliance ( a frigate in Jone's squadron of ships) came upon the 2 ships and began firing at both. With the Bonhomme Richard sinking and being bound and tangled to her and unable to turn her own guns on the Alliance in defense  Captain Pearson surrendered the Serapis. The American's captured her and transferred her to the French who commissioned her as a privateer until she was lost off Madagascar in 1781 to a fire. Although and embarrassing event for the British, Captain Pearson was decorated for his defense of the convoy that she was tasked to defend.
 
 
The kit itself is as you can see over 30 years old. So no laser cut pieces. The frames were pre-cut as was the keel and that is it. Several sheets of printed plywood, pre-cut cannon bases, sanded blocks for the rigging, 5 different bundles of rigging, 5 sheets of instructions and a very small instruction page. The planking is double plank on bulkhead, with basswood for the first planking and walnut for the 2nd planking. Materials are of decent quality. A unique feature to Aeropiccolla kits of this time were pressed wood-fibre molded pieces for the stern decorations and lifeboats.
 
I have included at the start a photo of the finished product that came with the kit. My hopes are that I will end up with something somewhere near as nice!
 
Here is the first set of photos. 
 
Cheers
Steve
 
 
 
 
 

Hey Sherry...I saw your posting regarding the results or lack of so far in casting the cannons.
 
For this size casting I definitely would be painting the resin on both sides of the mould, (if you made your mould properly, you should have a fairly good size reservoir to use) Why?
 
Once you have painted both sides of the mould with resin, and "slap" the 2 parts together, in your case I would stand the mould vertically and pour some leftover resin in the reservoir and squeeze the mould halves together like you are giving it CPR, squeezing the air out and drawing the resin into the mould, pumping it vigorously. This is if you do not degas the resin with a vacuum chamber or vibration.
 
This usually works very well...messy?...can be!
 
How many barrels do you have in your mould? If you have several, this comes in handy in that you may have 4 in the mould and each casting get 1 to 2 that are perfect...still better than carving each....as you do more of this you will find little tricks that make it work better each time.
 
How long do you have for setup time before the resin starts to turn solid? 5 minutes? 10 minutes?
 
Steve

Hey Dirk
 
Not sure if something was lost in translation but as a wash, I meant a very thinned dark paint like 20:1 thinner to paint and using either oil based or water base based paints. You can try difference ratios of thinner to paint but this should give you a starting point. I and many others use this technique in military model painting to bring out details and then dry brush lighter colours on the highlights...but with this I would just add the wash and then wipe off the excess .
 
I wasn't meaning a wax....
 
Hope this helps clarify my friend.
 
Cheers
Steve

Hey Sjors!
 
I agree Sherry is doing an amazing job but I'm worried about your offer of having her do your balcony! You realize it would be to a scale of 1:90 it would be really small! Too small for you to sit down and enjoy! LOL
 
 
Carry on with 1;90 Sherry!
 
Steve

Hey Sjors!
 
I agree Sherry is doing an amazing job but I'm worried about your offer of having her do your balcony! You realize it would be to a scale of 1:90 it would be really small! Too small for you to sit down and enjoy! LOL
 
 
Carry on with 1;90 Sherry!
 
Steve

Hey Sherry
 
I think I see a new pole coming, spindusters or balustinders? Spinduster sounds like a new product by Swiffer! I like the balustindles myself!
 
And to add to the mystery aren't Balusters those bubbles you get on your hands and feet when you work too hard.  
 
Still and always "freaked out" by your mastery or is it misstery?
Steve

Ok ok ok! Seems like you all missed the essence of Sherry's question about the "NAUTICAL" term for spindle. Now a spindle is a baluster, and a spindle/railing and newel post = a balustrade. But these were Architectural terms from a long time ago. Now, a spindle on a ship is not a baluster...it is a point that something rotates around like a capstan rotates on a spindle and the pins used to manually rotate a capstan may also be referred to as a spindle. So, let me put it out there again, is there a truly nautical term for a baluster other than baluster?
 
BTW my term "spindle aye" means spindle yes! And it was meant as a joke! ha ha!  lol
 
Cheers
Steve   ps carry on freaking us out Sherry!

Ok ok ok! Seems like you all missed the essence of Sherry's question about the "NAUTICAL" term for spindle. Now a spindle is a baluster, and a spindle/railing and newel post = a balustrade. But these were Architectural terms from a long time ago. Now, a spindle on a ship is not a baluster...it is a point that something rotates around like a capstan rotates on a spindle and the pins used to manually rotate a capstan may also be referred to as a spindle. So, let me put it out there again, is there a truly nautical term for a baluster other than baluster?
 
BTW my term "spindle aye" means spindle yes! And it was meant as a joke! ha ha!  lol
 
Cheers
Steve   ps carry on freaking us out Sherry!

Hey Sherry
 
Why not buy some wood dowel, same as the maximum diameter and file and sand them down with a drill...cut them 1/2" longer to fit into the chuck, If you make a stand for the drill that would give you hands free...and you could make the stand so that it has another centre with a pin to hold the other end of the dowel to hold it steady while turning...a Dremel might even work better....I'm kind of thinking as I type.
 
When the barrels are turned, then stain....
 
Just a thought...
Steve

Nautical term for spindles on a ship....spindles aye!
 
 
Anytime...anytime!

Hey Sherry nice job on the repairs! I've got a good eye for details and I find it difficult to see any of the previous damage.
 
I think she should be re-Christened the San Felipe-Phoenix  
 
I was going to say something smart like "great repair but why does she now have 2 bows? " lol  but I'll save that for a rainy day 
 
Cheers 
Steve

Hey Sherry nice job on the repairs! I've got a good eye for details and I find it difficult to see any of the previous damage.
 
I think she should be re-Christened the San Felipe-Phoenix  
 
I was going to say something smart like "great repair but why does she now have 2 bows? " lol  but I'll save that for a rainy day 
 
Cheers 
Steve

Oh oh....not good. Yeah boats aren't meant to fly and when they do the landing its usually disastrous! Like Grant said, the saving Grace here is that it is wood and usually repairable.
 
Glad to hear the repairs are under way already.
 
Good luck on the repair...btw did the carving get damaged?
 
Steve

Hey Sherry
 
Why not buy some wood dowel, same as the maximum diameter and file and sand them down with a drill...cut them 1/2" longer to fit into the chuck, If you make a stand for the drill that would give you hands free...and you could make the stand so that it has another centre with a pin to hold the other end of the dowel to hold it steady while turning...a Dremel might even work better....I'm kind of thinking as I type.
 
When the barrels are turned, then stain....
 
Just a thought...
Steve

I would agree the postings above this, and go make an RTV rubber mould and resin casting. I would only make the one mould for now, but I would buy several, around 5 canon  barrels and make the mould hold all five. Then you are only having to make about 20 castings. Tips when casting..You can vibrate the bubbles out of resin while in the mould if the mould is set vertically as the bubbles with rise to the top or make your self a homemade vacuum chamber using a clear fairly strong container that you can make a connection to your vacuum cleaner hose. This helps draw the bubbles out better than vibration. Having a clear plastic or glass (I used a large mason jar for mine attached to a refrigerator compressor with a surgical hose attached to a little pipe glued through the lid) having the container clear allows you to watch and regulate how long you need the suction. 
 
Steve

Hey Sherry
 
Why not buy some wood dowel, same as the maximum diameter and file and sand them down with a drill...cut them 1/2" longer to fit into the chuck, If you make a stand for the drill that would give you hands free...and you could make the stand so that it has another centre with a pin to hold the other end of the dowel to hold it steady while turning...a Dremel might even work better....I'm kind of thinking as I type.
 
When the barrels are turned, then stain....
 
Just a thought...
Steve