rlb

Thanks, CiscoH, Håkan, davec and JJ, and all who are looking in and liking.
 
Yes, I like the "workaday" stowed look better than perfectly coiled lines.  The inspiration came from seeing how the working carronade on the Niagara replica ship had been tied down.   There is a photo of it earlier in this log (post #116), but here it is again--

 
My take on it is a little different (simpler to accomplish), but retains the idea of wrapping the tackle falls back and forth across the top of the carronade.
 
The 6-pounder long guns have been installed--


 
Now it's time to put the ship away again--


 
And continue work on Oneida's spars--

 
All for now,
Ron
 
 

Yes, Håkan, more practice!!
 
I had cut out the trestle trees, and glued the crosstrees down to a piece of paper, to "hold' them while I filed the tapered undersides.   But a nagging feeling that they were too big wouldn't go away.  After holding the topmast close to them, I was pretty sure of it.   I looked at some photos of other models and then got out Lee's "Masting and Rigging", and calculated the length of the crosstrees according to that source.   Sure enough, it appeared that I had made them about 50% too long.   While I love Petrejus' book, this is the second time I've gotten burned using his illustrations without checking the scale accuracy.   Although the caption for the crosstree illustration read "full size" (meaning full scale size), it was actually quite a bit larger.
 
Here are the new crosstrees, roughly shaped, compared to the previous ones--

 
I glued them down and tapered the undersides--

 
I cut out new trestle trees, and here they are along with the crosstrees, and a wrong sized trestle tree and crosstree--

 
The crosstrees need some more work, generally narrowing the depth and breadth a bit, and cutting notches for the trestle trees.  The trestle trees need deeper notches, and some further shaping, then I'll try assembling them and see how they look on the topmasts.
 
Ron  
 
 

Happy New Year!  Thanks CiscoH and jereramy, and those liking and looking in.
 
To replace my toothpick topmast fids, I filed a pair from brass--

 

 
Next these were blackened, along with some eyebolts, ringbolts, and four hooks that I need to finish the carronade tackle blocks--

 
Next task is the topmast crosstrees, following the illustration in Petrejus' book "Irene"--

 
I glued six blanks together so I could do the rough shaping for all of them at once--





 
When I was satisfied that the rough shape was close, the block was given an isopropyl alcohol soak to separate the pieces--

 
I notice some irregularities, mostly the right side end is a little "bulbous", and they look just a bit chunky to me, but there is still a lot of work to do on these: drilling holes in the ends, notching for the trestle pieces, tapering the underside, and refining the overall thickness and curves--

 
All for now,
Ron

Mike,
I understand the rustiness of starting again.   My own modeling has been periods of good work, then long periods (sometimes years) of inactivity.   It takes a lot to get back into the right mental frame to work, especially when you are working on something that requires checking sources, calculating things, planning the order of tasks, not to mention the concentration of doing the actual hand (or machine) work.   When I start back up sometimes I can only work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, for a few days, at least, until I build up my modeling stamina!
 
Good luck on your progress!
 
Ron  

Mike,
I understand the rustiness of starting again.   My own modeling has been periods of good work, then long periods (sometimes years) of inactivity.   It takes a lot to get back into the right mental frame to work, especially when you are working on something that requires checking sources, calculating things, planning the order of tasks, not to mention the concentration of doing the actual hand (or machine) work.   When I start back up sometimes I can only work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, for a few days, at least, until I build up my modeling stamina!
 
Good luck on your progress!
 
Ron  

Post One Hundred and Sixty-three.
 
Countdown to completion - the final stages. 
This is the stage where I attend to all those little outstanding things, look through all the laser sheets and ask myself what the hell is that for, should I have fitted it?
 
It is surprising how long it takes to rig the stanchion and Hammock crane lines.

4164

4162

4163

4166
I use Syren 0.45mm ø natural line. I seem to recall from somewhere that tarred line was dispensed with as it tended to mark the hammocks.

4165

4167
I decided to fit the Fo’csle with stanchions; I think they may well have been fitted, and it balances well with the rest of the model. 
I used additional eyebolts to secure the ends of the lines.
 
I had modified the gunport lanyards for the lower ports to a double arrangement on the Port side, but the starboard side remained to be done.

4152

4168
Even tho’ it is a bit of a pain to do, I couldn’t leave odd sides.
 
Boomkins.
These less than attractive booms used to spread the Fore tack invariably cause me trouble. In my build they didn’t easily meet the angle of the cap square that secures them as they cross the Main Rail of the head, and the line was also inhibited by the position of the seats of ease which required a little adjustment.

4159

4160

4174
I also added the capsquares, represented by black card strips.
 
B.E.
01/04/2024

Definitive assembly of the model on its base, other works will follow

Mike,
I understand the rustiness of starting again.   My own modeling has been periods of good work, then long periods (sometimes years) of inactivity.   It takes a lot to get back into the right mental frame to work, especially when you are working on something that requires checking sources, calculating things, planning the order of tasks, not to mention the concentration of doing the actual hand (or machine) work.   When I start back up sometimes I can only work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, for a few days, at least, until I build up my modeling stamina!
 
Good luck on your progress!
 
Ron  

Thanks Rick.
 
Continuing with rough shaping of the Bollard and Hawse timbers, they are glued together, and sanded.  After they are close to the right shape, they will be separated and will be filed to form the correct gaps between them.  To the left, the first cant frame "Z (Forward)" is also cut out--
 
The second cant frame "Z (After)" is made up of two pieces each, with a chock.  This is my first time building a chocked frame, and the chocks need to be skewed to accommodate the inner and outer bevels of the frame--

 
  The skewed chock is made oversize and glued to the first piece--

 
Then it is sanded flush on the side without the paper pattern--

 
Here are the frames with the second piece ready to be glued.  However, I discovered that the upper starboard futtock (the one on the left in the photo) is misshapen.  The paper pattern became distorted when I glued it down.  I had had to lift and reposition it on the wood billet, and during that process it warped.  I will need to make some more paper copies, and cut another one--
 
 
Ron
 
 
 

I have a little bit more work to show.   Final shaping is not done, but I've glued together some of the pieces that make up the bow and stern framing--
 
The bow assembly-

 
The sternposts and deadwood assembly--

 
And the rough cutting out of the bollard timbers and hawse pieces--

 
Ron

I hope you are right, druxey!   Paul, yes, I made the clamps--credit goes to Ed Tosti, you can find them on his build log for Naiad.
 
While most of my work this week has been on Oneida, I have spent some time slowly sanding the bollard timbers to fay to the stem.
 
They need to match the concave taper of the upper stem--
 

 

 
 
Still some work needed, but they are getting close.   The overall width is constant now at the head and foot of the assembly--
 

 
 
Once I have them tapered correctly to the stem, I'll start roughly beveling them forward, and at the foot where they meet the lower apron.
 
Ron 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Thanks Thukydides.  I am trying to get over this brasswork hump which I feel has slowed my enthusiasm and progress more than I'd like. 
 
Probably because the pintles and gudgeons have taken way more work than I planned.  This weekend I spent a couple hours fine-tuning.  All the pieces fit mostly, but lots of slightly lengthening or widening mortises, slightly shortening and rounding off the ends of the strapwork, and chiseling holes to allow the rudder to be seated with the smallest gap possible.  Heres where I started; to me the gap was too wide and the top pintle a little too high.  Not much I can do about the high pintle at this point but I can work on the gap.

I also noticed all my handling and fitting of straps was getting the holly dirty.
 
After this final futzing I washed the brass in isopropyl alcohol for 20 minutes, then moved them with stainless steel tweezers to a aprox 1:8 brass black to water for 15 minutes.

Here they are drying, about 99% coverage.  1 spot on a gudgeon that will need paint.  I haven't handled them yet to make sure the blackening sticks but I am optimistic.

And finally I started with the hull's finish coat.  After sanding off any marks on the sternpost from fitting the brasswork  I applied the first coat of Polycrylic (water based polyurethane that doesn't yellow) with a qtip, the immediately wiped it down with a old cotton t-shirt.  Most of the finish comes off so its a thin coat, but the tshirt smooths quite nicely.  I'm guessing I'll do 3 or 4 coats.  I have to test some of my discarded blackened brasswork to see if it looks ok covered with this finish; if not I'll put hinges in after finishing.
 
Here's the hull after its first coat.  It looks almost identical to before I finished it, which is the point.

thats it for me.  Monday is fast approaching and its off to mentally prepare with some hot chocolate and a book before bed.
 
thanks for reading
 
cisco

Mike,
I understand the rustiness of starting again.   My own modeling has been periods of good work, then long periods (sometimes years) of inactivity.   It takes a lot to get back into the right mental frame to work, especially when you are working on something that requires checking sources, calculating things, planning the order of tasks, not to mention the concentration of doing the actual hand (or machine) work.   When I start back up sometimes I can only work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, for a few days, at least, until I build up my modeling stamina!
 
Good luck on your progress!
 
Ron  

Mast steps are not complicated, but struggling with pattern transfer. 
Feeling like I miss some obvious tricks? Even thought about making a miniature duplicator tool with toothpicks instead of metal pins
Would appreciate your advice!
 
First I tried to make patterns like on a full scale - by gluing small rectangles on a piece of card. That way works great for real boats, but is very awkward and potentially messy on a small scale.
But I like that tiny plastic vernier gauge! Got a few of those to measure spacing inside the hull without scratching it.

 
Then I just traced a frame pattern on a piece of card and eyeballed the other side. That is less complicated than I thought, but takes a lot of fine tuning (counter light helps too). But feels like an art rather than a reliable and repeatable method.
Though should admit - trimming and cutting card is quite satisfying!
Is that how everyone is doing it or is there is an easy way?   

Practicing the quiet modelling (in preparation for the evening sessions) - tried a coping saw instead of a bandsaw. The dust extraction problem solved itself, vacuum hose fits perfectly between the clamps:

Finally - the rough pear blanks are cut and I hope to shape them into beautiful parts in the upcoming days! 
I really aint much, but a little symbolic step towards the healthy hobby routine

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Hello everyone, completion of the stern timbers.
 

 

 

 

@glbarlow Thanks a lot - there have certainly been a lot of challenges to overcome, not certain that I've quite "mastered" any yet though :-).
 
I've been continuing work on the lower deck framing and while not perfect I'm happy with how the cross section is shaping up. I struggled for a little bit trying to determine how to score the mortises (joints?) for the ledges and carlings until I recalled my mantra for this build - go re-read TTFM book 1 and of course there was a nice tip for how to easily make pseudo joints which I attempted to follow. The picture thats follow show how I set the angle for the score on beam and then the finished cut.
 
 

I did my best to get the matching score aligned, but they are slightly off - though it isn't very noticeable until you really start staring at the deck and I think it will be even less noticeable when the upper deck is added (though I will have to be more exact there).


I have to add the center hanging knees and lodging knees before finishing out the deck framing, but here is where I currently stand.

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron
 
 

Continuing on.
 
I'm going to try using clay to stand in for the hammocks.   My plan is to wet the Silkspan, and wrap the clay.   Hopefully when it dries it will shrink a little and take on the bumps in the clay.  We shall see.
 
First test is to size the clay filler, and determine the right width to cut the Silkspan--

 
I folded this piece over the clay, and held the ends down just to try and get some idea how it will work, and look.  It hasn't been wetted, and it's also the thicker Silkpan, which I don't intend to use.  But I can waste it to test, and determine the width piece that I need.  I think I can trim 1/4 inch of the width of this piece--

 
I'm also ready to start locating the end caps and cranes on the cap rail.  After epoxying a pin in each end cap, I located them on the ship, drilled holes and dry fit them--

 
Incidentally, I ended up narrowing each cap a bit.  These looked okay in place, so I drilled more holes in the cap rail and tested the 7 aft starboard hammock cranes in place--
   
I discovered that some of the blackening on the cranes had either not taken, or had flaked off, so they will need to be re-blackened.   I also see that the end caps need some adjustment of the top curve.  The two at the entry steps are not uniform.  When I narrowed the end caps I also adjusted the angle/curve of the tops, and apparently I "fixed" some more than others.  The angles on the iron cranes will need fine tuning as well, once they are glued on.


 
All for now.
Ron