catopower

Small update,
 
I worked a little bit on the sail set I bought for the Alert. It was a separate purchase I made from Shipyard shortly after I got the kit. The sails are nicely printed on one side, but the back sides are blank, so I just traced out the lines on the back using colored pencil. 
 
Afterwards, I took some .4mm model rope and used it for the bolt ropes. At this scale, it makes sense to simply glue the bolt ropes into place without sewing, which is all the kit instructions call for as well. Personally, I've had good results doing this at 1/4" scale as well.
 

 
 
I also received the swivel guns from Syren Ship Model Company, so I quickly went to work adding the trunnions and blackening them all using BlueJacket's Brass Black. Interestingly enough, the swivel guns' short trunnions were a perfect fit for the small cannon carriages. These are beautifully turned barrels. 
 

 
I haven't made a final decision on using paper or pear wood blocks yet, but I just ordered some more pear wood blocks from Chuck just in case.
 
Clare
 

Thanks Chris, Mark, Slog, for the advice. I'm moving ahead with the turned brass cannon barrels. Regarding blocks and such, I needed to work on something fairly mindless, so I started working on the paper blocks. I figured I'd see how they turn out. If they're not so good in the end, I'll switch to purchased wooden blocks. 
 
The paper blocks have one advantage over the Syren blocks in that this is a small model and with the paper blocks are available in 3.5mm size, which I can't get in pear wood.
 
So, in paper blocks, I now have 2.5mm, 3mm, and 3.5mm sizes. 2mm blocks are available from Shipyard too, and rigging calculations would normally call for them, but that's awfully small to assemble. Anyway, I don't have any of the 2mm paper blocks on hand, and the kit itself calls for these sizes I do have.
 
Here is a sample of the unassembled blocks. These are the same kits that come in the boxed kits. 

 
 
A nice, cool but sunny Sunday morning, cup of coffee and ship modeling project – A perfect day!

 
 
Here's a close-up of painted, CA reinforced and touched up blocks

 
 
Sorted by size and cleaned up a little more.

 
 
This certainly took a bit of effort to pre the blocks. I painted them while still in their sheets, I also glued them up in batches, which is easiest to do on the sheets. The process of assembling is exactly the same as the Syren built-up blocks, except that because they have to be painted, they need touch up. Also, cardboard isn't a very strong material, so I made sure to wick in some thin CA glue. 
 
I have yet to see how well these hold up when rigged, but at least their ready when I need them.
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Tadeuz, 
 
There is something particularly disturbing about running across ones own photos that someone else posted without so much as an acknowledgement. Worse yet, it's mixed in with copper plates from kits!
 
These copper plates are made from tape that I embossed using a die a created. Shown below (and the earlier post above), is the hull of my scratch built U.S.S. Saginaw hull)
 

 
I gave up on all manufactured copper plates 20 years ago as none of them are realistic - all are way out of scale. The closest I've seen to looking correct are the ones that BlueJacket makes, but they are REALLY expensive. Unfortunately, I like the look of a coppered hull, so I've had to work on improving mine ever since my first wooden ship model, the pilot boat Phantom, with its coppered hull.
 

 
However, I haven't gotten a European nail pattern down yet. That's coming up soon.
 
But, I've always liked using copper tape. It's available in a wide variety of sizes – not just the couple sizes regularly sold by ship modeling sites. It's also very thin and can be overlapped the way actual copper plates were applied and not unrealistically butted together. They're also much cheaper than pre-fab plates of any manufacturer, and are copper all the way through.
 
 
Clare

Thank you Nils.  
 
Of course, I can't take credit for making the cannons out of card. I decided my skills weren't up to doing that and having something nice looking, so I did purchase swivel guns from Chuck Passaro's Syren Ship Model Company and adapted them for 1/92-scale 6-pounder guns.
 
I had the hardest time with all the timberheads and the taffrail. Next time I build a paper model, I think it will have no railing like on this one!
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Thanks for the kind words Ron!
 
Well, small update here...
 
I've been trying to wrap up one project and put some time into a big project – can't get very far on large 3-masted ships if you don't put in the hours!
 
But, a friend of mine is interested in the Alert model, and I'm really not that far from the end since the rig is so simple. So, I thought I'd make a little progress by installing the carriage guns. I've had the guns done for some time now, but fitting them into place along with their breech ropes means drilling small holes in paper, gluing eyebolts into place in very small places, etc.
 
I epoxied pins on the underside of the guns to help position and secure them to the deck. Holes were drilled at each of the gunport openings as well as at either side of the gunports.
 
I'd already secured eyebolts to the ends of the breech ropes, so now they just had to be trimmed and glued into place. I used gap-filling CA for this. 
 
I found that I didn't have enough room to glue the eyebolts to the bulwarks with the cannon in place, so I let the cannons flop around while I installed the breech rope eyebolts. When these were dry, I mixed up some epoxy and glued the cannons down to the deck. The pins, even epoxied, didn't hold the guns securely in all cases. So, on some guns, I put a little glue underneath, close to the rear axles. 
 

 
 

 
 
Definitely tricky trying not to spoil the appearance of the printed paper deck. I manage to get a small shiny spot on the deck from glue. I ended up having to give a shot of Testor's Flat Lacquer Clear Coat, which worked extremely well hiding the shiny spot.
 
Clare

Thank you Phil and David, for the nice comments. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I had reason to work on some other things.
 
One of those is a big project that is close to completion and then I have someone who wants the Alert and would like it in the next few months. So, I'll press ahead. Hopefully, the end of the build will go as well as the start of it. But, I have no experience rigging a paper model. The masts and yards are all wood, so that's no problem. However, I sense the need to be particularly careful about the shrouds, deadeyes and chainplates.
 
I'm actually wondering if I can work out a way to set the upper deadeyes, then rig the ratlines off the model. In theory, if I could set up a stand that holds the mast and a set of lower deadeyes in the exact position, everything should work out. No?
 
Now, one thing that happened recently is that I can't get any more of the pear wood blocks I bought from Syren Ship Model Company. I probably have enough for this rig. But, I've been thinking about switching to paper blocks anyway. It IS a paper model, after all.
 
I've only rigged a few blocks, so those should be easy enough to replace. Hope it all looks good!
 
Clare

jbford, what is it that you are building that you don't think is good enough for nice quality rigging line?
 
You will definitely find that the good stuff will enhance your build and your enjoyment.
 
Of course, if you're rigging a 3-masted ship, it might take a good supply of line.
 
I turned my own rigging line early on, but I was never really very satisfied with what I could produce. I have given in to the wisdom of buying line from Chuck Passaro – it's really nice stuff!
 
Clare

If we're talking strictly about wooden models, then I'd say '10-15 of the "big players'" is a generous overstatement; it's more like a half-dozen. My guess is that is easier for smaller fish to join in these days thanks to the advent of 3-D design software and cheaper laser cutting and CNC milling machinery. And thank goodness for that, too, since it means modelers have more choices now than ever.

Hi Dave,
 
Congrats on starting your build and build log here! 
 
In reality, my model's scale is somewhere in between 1:40 and 1:48. It's so close in design to being a kit of the Halifax, that I've been using elements of that ship to build this model. There's actually a lot of "fudge factor" in my model!
 
Also, I actually used plain pear wood, not swiss pear. I got some from The Lumberyard that was very dark in color. I bought more in sheet and rough cut form and think I must have gotten the last of the dark pear wood supply. I've seen other models that used pear wood (again, not swiss pear) and it was much lighter.
 
In any case, I'm really looking forward to watching your progress. 
 
Clare

Hi Dave,
 
Congrats on starting your build and build log here! 
 
In reality, my model's scale is somewhere in between 1:40 and 1:48. It's so close in design to being a kit of the Halifax, that I've been using elements of that ship to build this model. There's actually a lot of "fudge factor" in my model!
 
Also, I actually used plain pear wood, not swiss pear. I got some from The Lumberyard that was very dark in color. I bought more in sheet and rough cut form and think I must have gotten the last of the dark pear wood supply. I've seen other models that used pear wood (again, not swiss pear) and it was much lighter.
 
In any case, I'm really looking forward to watching your progress. 
 
Clare

Hi Dave,
 
Congrats on starting your build and build log here! 
 
In reality, my model's scale is somewhere in between 1:40 and 1:48. It's so close in design to being a kit of the Halifax, that I've been using elements of that ship to build this model. There's actually a lot of "fudge factor" in my model!
 
Also, I actually used plain pear wood, not swiss pear. I got some from The Lumberyard that was very dark in color. I bought more in sheet and rough cut form and think I must have gotten the last of the dark pear wood supply. I've seen other models that used pear wood (again, not swiss pear) and it was much lighter.
 
In any case, I'm really looking forward to watching your progress. 
 
Clare

Hi Dave,
 
Congrats on starting your build and build log here! 
 
In reality, my model's scale is somewhere in between 1:40 and 1:48. It's so close in design to being a kit of the Halifax, that I've been using elements of that ship to build this model. There's actually a lot of "fudge factor" in my model!
 
Also, I actually used plain pear wood, not swiss pear. I got some from The Lumberyard that was very dark in color. I bought more in sheet and rough cut form and think I must have gotten the last of the dark pear wood supply. I've seen other models that used pear wood (again, not swiss pear) and it was much lighter.
 
In any case, I'm really looking forward to watching your progress. 
 
Clare

Hi Dave,
 
Congrats on starting your build and build log here! 
 
In reality, my model's scale is somewhere in between 1:40 and 1:48. It's so close in design to being a kit of the Halifax, that I've been using elements of that ship to build this model. There's actually a lot of "fudge factor" in my model!
 
Also, I actually used plain pear wood, not swiss pear. I got some from The Lumberyard that was very dark in color. I bought more in sheet and rough cut form and think I must have gotten the last of the dark pear wood supply. I've seen other models that used pear wood (again, not swiss pear) and it was much lighter.
 
In any case, I'm really looking forward to watching your progress. 
 
Clare

This will be my build log for AL's "Independence 1775".  First let me say that this is an entirely fictional vessel, much like Al's Swift or Harvey.  It is , however, representative of the colonial schooners built in America between 1763 and 1775.  Harold Hahn covers these ships in his book "The Colonial Schooner - 1763 - 1775".
 
I was drawn to the vessel because of her lines, and especially the bluff bow.   But what convinced me to build this model was the excellent build log of Clare Hess:
 
http://www.shipsofscale.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=539
 
Clare is building the model on commission and has seriously kit-bashed the build.  The result is a beautiful , if fictional, colonial schooner circa 1775.
 
The first problem with the kit is the scale.  The box cover lists the model as 1:35 scale.  At that large scale, the model would be very small...smaller in fact than "Sultana", the smallest schooner known to have been built.  A vessel that tiny would never be able to be armed with 4 carriage-mounted cannons.  What to do?
 
Clare decided to build the model in 1:48 scale.  I chose a different path.  After researching both the "Halifax" and "Sultana" in Hahn's book, I discovered that if I built the kit in 5/16" scale, the model would be a little smaller than "Halifax" but larger than "Sultana".  She should be able to carry 4 three-pounder cannons.
 
The 5/16" scale is unusual, and it translates to 1:38.4!  Convieniently this works out to 8 mm = 1 inch, a convenient ratio.  So I'll be building "Independence" using metric measurements.
 
I completed the hull framing and reinforced the framing with blocks.  Probably overkill, but the bulkheads are plywood and very hard.  Fairing the hull would put a lot of stress on them so I decided better safe than sorry.
 
I plan to use the same wood scheme as Clare:  boxwood decking, boxwood and swiss pear hull planking.  I will used redheart for the inboard bulwark planking and the deck furniture ordinarily painted red.

After the piece was off it was merely a matter of using the dremel using various sized bits to sand away the extra material. Using wood putty I then smoothed out some of the rough cuts and then sanded that down as well. Be careful! The top piece will warp when putty is added, as any wood will when water is added, but an asy fix since it can simply bend back to shape. My advice is leave it on the model in its original place to dry 

And here is the end result.  I have more work to do but it gives an idea of what it's going to look like.  The drilling needs to be about 1 1/4" for both the hatch and stern area which I'll widdle away on during the week. Until next time.

Hi Andy,
 
Looks like you don't have many options there.
 
I agree with your original thoughts. Don't look at the bulkheads, just lay your center plans between the center of stem and center of transom. You're deck will be wider to one side, but only slightly. It won't be noticeable unless you're looking really closely. Only problem I can see is that you're masts will be slightly off center too. Shrouds on one side will be slightly longer than on the other. But, looks like you're only talking about 1/8", so you should be fine.
 
The photo of your model from the side looks great, by the way.
 
Clare

Hi Andy,
 
Looks like you don't have many options there.
 
I agree with your original thoughts. Don't look at the bulkheads, just lay your center plans between the center of stem and center of transom. You're deck will be wider to one side, but only slightly. It won't be noticeable unless you're looking really closely. Only problem I can see is that you're masts will be slightly off center too. Shrouds on one side will be slightly longer than on the other. But, looks like you're only talking about 1/8", so you should be fine.
 
The photo of your model from the side looks great, by the way.
 
Clare

Hi Andy,
 
Looks like you don't have many options there.
 
I agree with your original thoughts. Don't look at the bulkheads, just lay your center plans between the center of stem and center of transom. You're deck will be wider to one side, but only slightly. It won't be noticeable unless you're looking really closely. Only problem I can see is that you're masts will be slightly off center too. Shrouds on one side will be slightly longer than on the other. But, looks like you're only talking about 1/8", so you should be fine.
 
The photo of your model from the side looks great, by the way.
 
Clare

Hi Andy,
 
Looks like you don't have many options there.
 
I agree with your original thoughts. Don't look at the bulkheads, just lay your center plans between the center of stem and center of transom. You're deck will be wider to one side, but only slightly. It won't be noticeable unless you're looking really closely. Only problem I can see is that you're masts will be slightly off center too. Shrouds on one side will be slightly longer than on the other. But, looks like you're only talking about 1/8", so you should be fine.
 
The photo of your model from the side looks great, by the way.
 
Clare