catopower

Another quick update, I made the jib inhaul/outhaul/halliard ring thingy, I don't know what it's specifically called. One of the few cases where Chuck and Lennarth Petersson agree on what something looks like.
 
Made out of 18 gauge and 22 gauge wire.




 
I'm also considering getting a serving machine from Syren, Chuck has the stays all fully served and since I've established the serving as fine fly-tying thread, that's lots of serving by hand. I'm also going to experiment with making thimbles from some sub-1mm brass tubing again as Chuck does it for Cheerful, but I'm not sure it will be viable at 1:64, we'll have to see if I can make it work.

Started backstays with a sheet of .016 copper from K&S Metals. The monograph calls for the backstays and chain plates to be 3/64" thick and 3/32" wide strips. The first step was to rip the strips from the K&S .016" sheet using a 296 tooth slitting 3" blade on the table saw.

After putting blue painters tape on the backside I ripped several .1 strips. Next a .04 hole was drilled in the strip and the end radius'd. The strip was brought into shape per the monograph.

With the 6 backstays shaped they were annealed using a propane torch before bending the end loop. A needle nose pliers was used forming the loop.

With parts completed the loops were silver soldered closed to ensure from opening when rigging pulled taught. Image is of the backstays after pickling and before ultrasonic cleaning.

Parts will be painted and coated with aging dust after the chain plates are completed
 

Just back from a wonderful vacation. Started in Quebec City for a marvelous 3 days of touring the 17th century city. Walking in Quebec City is a lot of hard work as it is very hilly as everything is uphill from the St Lawrence. We watched the 32nd stage of a professional bicycle race just as I think the Tour do France would be. Hundreds of racers team sag cars etc. The did 16 laps up and down the steep narrow streets, just amazing. We boarded a cruise to Nova Scotia and then down the coast to Boston where we rented a car for 5 days in Maine. Staying in Boothbay Harbor as our home base to explore. If you get the chance go to the Maine Maritime Museum we spent almost two days so much to see. Bath ME is the home of the museum on the grounds where many ships were built. In 1909 the largest sailing ship built in the US was launched and the ship was lost March 1924. Wyoming was a 6 mast schooner and was 450 from tip of bowsprit to tail of after boom. To understand the size of the Wyoming a steel sculpture was made to it exact size.

Spent time trying to remember what I was working on prior to vacation. Then spent too much time to find the cleats from Syren Model Ship and yahoo I found them in the Cheerful tub of wood and parts. Sanded the largest cleats to shape and drilled a hole for a brass wire. 

Drilled a hole in the stern frames and placed the cleats with superglue.

looking at the photo I see more shaping needs to be done

Well it's been several months since my last post and I'll bring the log up to date. Lost some energy to work on Cheerful due to my daughter's wedding but not back and working in full steam. I started with chapter 10 by maaking 100 eyebolts for the bulwark and gun carriages. My method is fairly simple by twisting a length of 26 AWG wire around a twist drill of a size to create the inside diameter. Then the loop is soldered to the stem with the excess loop cut and filed smooth. The stem was bent perpendicular to the eye creating a post.

These are the eyebolts prior to trimming and etching prior to blackening.
Next was to make the loops for the large gun harness. Using a larger diameter twist drill and 24 AWG wire creating the larger hole with heavier ring. Take the open ring and inserting into the smaller eyebolt the ring was soldered to close. I used a hard silver for the eyebolt and a soft silver for the ring thereby not breaking the eyebolt solder joint.

Again before etching and blackening.
This was a mind bending process that took 3 days of tedious work and I am very glad its over.
The ladders were next on the list of things todo. Getting back to wood work was like a holiday and the ladders were fairly simple to make. With the ladders painted I glued the in place on the bulwarks.

Pinrails were the next thing on the list. I thought the bow pinrail would be the hardest but the side rails were more difficult due to the slight radius of the bulkhead and the rail having a parallel side.

The catheads were the last of the inboard detail prior to cannon carriages. I used the same procedure as the monograph described in making the catheads with two prices. The first step was to notch the cap rail which was very nerve wracking to say the least but after much carful cutting and sanding to notch was completed with no mishaps. The inboard piece was the most difficult trying to get it to sit flush with inboard bulkhead planks. Got this done with several pieces and much cutting and sanding when the fit was correct the length was made flush with the bulkhead top. The top piece was very straight forward using the method of drilling four holes and notching between them simulating pulleys. Taking the pieces laying them flat on a glass tile while glueing together maintain the flat joint. Once the glue set the catheads were sanded in preparation for painting. The vertical piece was painted red prior to installing and the black was applied after the installation.
Fitted prior to paint

Finished catheads

Now onto cannons and rigging.
 
 

Good thing they're not glued. Thanks for the observation
 

The wheels are reversed, the large wheels go to the front. 😊

I completed with the cannon painting and weathering with only a minor mishap. I don't remember if I stated that I'm using Syren Models brass cannons and carriage kits. The first step was to clean the brass cannons by soaking them in lacquer thinner. Next washing them in warm soapy water followed by a thorough rinse and a drip dry. I sprayed them with a coat of Mr Eds surface 500 for a primer followed by Tamiya Nato black. I hadn't glued the pins as I think the paint will hold sufficiently until resting in the carriage. Using a weather powder of rusty brown and dusting until I liked the surface. When complete a light coat of Tamiya flat clear was added to protect the weathering. 
And the final result is

The carriages were a small model in their own and below are the parts of each. I want to thank Chuck and Syren Models for the spare parts of each kit.

With the axles requiring shaping for the wheels I figured this would be my starting point. There is laser mark detailing how far the axel needed to be rounded. I used my lathe with the axle chucked and a flat swiss file was used for rounding by lightly using the file. Removing the laser char from the wheels was accomplished during the rounding of the axle. Sliding the wheel onto the axle while an interference fit existed. Spinning the wheel and using the flat file made the job very easy.
before removing the char

after removing the char

Assembling the carriages required making a jig similar to the one shown in the monograph. The assembly required a mental process. With long axle rear and large wheels on short axle so easy to mess up. I made one carriage as a prototype making sure I hadn't done something wrong.
Assembly glued and ready for paint. I decided to leave the wheels natural so the axle end needed to be masked is sprayed so I had painted the prototype. Painting proved to be easy enough. The ends of the cedar pieces are an open pour so paint soaked in leaving uneven dark colors. Many coats of paint were required.
Basic carriage assembly

First almost complete.

I like the wheels and quoin left natural but the axles have darker ends that I'll live with.

Sheet materials (Part 2)
 













 
More soon...

Sheet materials (Part 1)
 
There are a LOT of laster cut sheets...around THIRTY-FOUR in total, made up from ply, birch and beech, with some of these sheets being veneers. All sheets are initials packed into a cellophane wrap. As you will imagine, the construction of the hull will be different to a regular model, simply due to the fact that the entire interior will be fitted out as per the actual ship. The decks themselves are all laser engraved, and these tend to interlock. I think that you'd need to be careful how you execute that so that you hide as much of the connection as is possible. Please look through these sheets as that is what's necessary to gain an insight to how Artesania have broken down the vessel so that you can reproduce it as easily as possible. 
 

 








 
More soon...
 

Dowel and strip stock
There is a hell of a lot of strip material supplied in this new release. However, the packs are physically short, with the strip wood being long enough to satisfy half a hull's length, due to the method of planking. The majority of planking is 1.5 x 4mm and there are SEVEN packets of this. As with all strip bundles, these come laced up in elastic and then cellophane wrapped. The quality of the strip wood is clearly evident, with sharp edges and clean cutting. the material quality is also excellent. See that for yourself, here:
 



 
A pack of dowel is included, with lengths of brass rod within the pack. Again, please check out the quality for yourself:
 


 
More soon.....
 
 

That backstay tackle appears to be a tensioning one as it has a double/single purchase.

Folks, we've had a recent rash of loose images being posted to the gallery. Please read the gallery guidelines if you have not done so already -- gallery images must be of finished models only and placed in albums. Loose images are periodically deleted.
 
Thanks!

An amazing looking kit! Thanks for the look inside James!
 
For those that are interested, Ages of Sail just got these in stock on Friday, and they are shipping them out as of today.
 
 

I'll throw in here... There WERE kits of the colonial schooner Hannah. I guess if you count The Lumberyard "kits" there still is. Also, then, there's the privateer Oliver Cromwell and the Lexington.
 
If you want to creep into other ships that fought during the revolution, but not necessarily American, but "on our side" there are a few kits of French ships as well, such as l'Hermione, Le Cerf, and Le Coureur. 

This weekend, I finally made progress stropping deadeyes. I made my own fixtures for this, as you can see in the photos. A wire is is wrapped around it, and I use small, bent nose pliers to squeeze the wire around the post and metal plate. The excess wire is then cut off and the deadeye is fitted inside.



In the last photos, you can see the masts are temporarily installed. I drill out the base of masts so I could glue in a section of a straight pin into each. The pin will push into the center backbone of the model when the masts are inserted into place. This helps hold the masts in place.
 


The instructions call for installing temporary stays, which you can see in at least one photo. These white lines will be removed later. For now, these will provide the main support for the masts while I work on the shrouds and on getting the correct angle for the chainplates, which attach to the deadeye stropping and secure the deadeyes agains the pull of the shrouds, which will also get installed later.
 

This weekend, I finally made progress stropping deadeyes. I made my own fixtures for this, as you can see in the photos. A wire is is wrapped around it, and I use small, bent nose pliers to squeeze the wire around the post and metal plate. The excess wire is then cut off and the deadeye is fitted inside.



In the last photos, you can see the masts are temporarily installed. I drill out the base of masts so I could glue in a section of a straight pin into each. The pin will push into the center backbone of the model when the masts are inserted into place. This helps hold the masts in place.
 


The instructions call for installing temporary stays, which you can see in at least one photo. These white lines will be removed later. For now, these will provide the main support for the masts while I work on the shrouds and on getting the correct angle for the chainplates, which attach to the deadeye stropping and secure the deadeyes agains the pull of the shrouds, which will also get installed later.
 

This weekend, I finally made progress stropping deadeyes. I made my own fixtures for this, as you can see in the photos. A wire is is wrapped around it, and I use small, bent nose pliers to squeeze the wire around the post and metal plate. The excess wire is then cut off and the deadeye is fitted inside.



In the last photos, you can see the masts are temporarily installed. I drill out the base of masts so I could glue in a section of a straight pin into each. The pin will push into the center backbone of the model when the masts are inserted into place. This helps hold the masts in place.
 


The instructions call for installing temporary stays, which you can see in at least one photo. These white lines will be removed later. For now, these will provide the main support for the masts while I work on the shrouds and on getting the correct angle for the chainplates, which attach to the deadeye stropping and secure the deadeyes agains the pull of the shrouds, which will also get installed later.
 

This weekend, I finally made progress stropping deadeyes. I made my own fixtures for this, as you can see in the photos. A wire is is wrapped around it, and I use small, bent nose pliers to squeeze the wire around the post and metal plate. The excess wire is then cut off and the deadeye is fitted inside.



In the last photos, you can see the masts are temporarily installed. I drill out the base of masts so I could glue in a section of a straight pin into each. The pin will push into the center backbone of the model when the masts are inserted into place. This helps hold the masts in place.
 


The instructions call for installing temporary stays, which you can see in at least one photo. These white lines will be removed later. For now, these will provide the main support for the masts while I work on the shrouds and on getting the correct angle for the chainplates, which attach to the deadeye stropping and secure the deadeyes agains the pull of the shrouds, which will also get installed later.
 

Finished the bridge deck today, including the dreaded cowl vents (**shudder!**).
 

 

Did you think I was going to take a break after finishing my Bf 109 last night? Ha! That is where you'd be wrong! Of course, you are also wrong if you thought I might be going back to work on Phoenix. The reason I'm not is because I only have a month before I'm taking a long-ish Christmas break, during which there will be no modeling. 😒 So I've decided to tackle a small project that I think I may be able to finish within four weeks.
 
That project is the Norwegian excursion steamer DS Børøysund, currently home-ported in Oslo. She began life in 1908 as the Odin. She went through a number of owners over the years, all of whom it seems didn't care for whatever the ship's previous name was, so they changed it. She became the Børøysund after being acquired by the Norwegian Veteran Ships Club in 1968.  Børøysund is 33.1 m long with a beam of 5.5 m. Her triple expansion steam powerplant can whisk 100 passengers along at a breathtaking 9 knots. At 1/250 scale, the model consists of only two pages of parts and when completed will be a shade over five inches in length. I also have the laser-cut detail set.
 

 

 

 
Look for first cuts soon!
 

Gun ports lined. This completes the basic hull structure. I'm thinking this is a good point to take a break from this build and whip out a card model. That has always been my plan for this build -- to intersperse it with other projects so as to not burn out on it. Fear not -- it's not gonna take 17 years, like some other unnamed project did!
 

Gun ports cut out.
 

As a former Russian major, I have a soft spot for relevant history. Never done a MK kit but they've always struck me as well-made. 
 
If you want to keep your card credentials, you can always do paper sails!

The next step was to fit the glazing for the stern and quarter gallery windows. A slight bit of sanding was needed to get the pieces to fit, but not much. The clear plastic is covered on both sides with a protective film, which of course has to be removed from the back side before the pieces are glued in. You can see that on one stern window I accidentally removed the film from the wrong side -- that piece is now temporarily protected by a piece of cellophane tape. The quarter gallery panes are also painted black on their inboard sides, since otherwise one can see right into the model's internal hull structure.
 

 
The next step is somewhat lengthy and not very exciting -- the inner bulwarks must be built up from multiple pieces of strip wood and pre-cut filler pieces. Again, I'll post pics of that after I'm done.
 
Cheers!

Oh, a model not made of paper !!! That is a paradigm shift 🙂
 
Great progress so far and beautiful construction.
Yves