Aussie048

Ok here we go.
Tools you will need.
The basics in your workshop but I consider also as necessary, what is shown in the below photo.
A heavy duty pliers, with some flat space (3-4 mm / 0.15748’’) at the edges of its nose.
A haemostatic pliers with as much can be narrow nose. If you can’t find this kind of pliers, you can use instead a strong self closing tweezers.
Your round nose pliers (small and larger).
One part of a small hinge, with the pivot.
Drills bits at 0,50 mm diameter.
Soft wire at 0,73 -0,75 mm in diameter (I think is suitable for the 1:24- 1:26 scale of my models). I used those in photo ear piercing nails, finding them suitable in dimensions and convenient in color (no need to paint them) …
And finally an old PC processor... 
 

Thank you all.
Nils, assuming that you're referring to thimbles, it might be another presentation for this...
Thx
 
The ruler in in cm.

Hi all.
In my last model (is coming soon) I've been challenged to make some more metal work.
So I decided among others to deal also with the shackles. You know, the nautical item shaped as the Greek alphabetical character "Ω”...
I didn't want to spoil my lazy way of making models, so I made relatively reasoning...
Perhaps someone has also found an "easy" way to make shackles but I'm happy with my way.
Consider, I managed to make 12 pieces in 40 minutes, with minimal failure...and there are over 30 shackles in my model.
Just give me a few days time, to set up a presentation.
 
Thx
 
 The ruler is in cm.
 
 

The two 9 pounder Guns were next. I cut the various steps in the carriages on the Byrnes saw
 

 

 
Some (rather dusty ) details of the guns. Once again, more can be found in the full model log :
 

 

 
The guns in place. Side Tackles are yet to be fitted - I'm waiting on some of Chuck's 0.3mm line which has kindly been given to me by Grant Dale (Thanks mate ):
 

 

 
  Danny

Two more steps complete this update.
 
I've made and fitted the Quarterdeck section :
 

 

 
And also shaped and fitted the Entry Steps and the various molded rails, Planksheers and Hances :
 

 
  Danny

Many of you know that there is a magnetic building jig with magnets and a small flat steel tray to hold the magnets you can purchase for about $30.00...  If you want inexpensive or larger consider an older discarded PC. Many have a flat steel removable side access panels that would be about 14" X 14" +/- and a lot less expensive than you can buy online. You can pick up magnets for about $11
 
If you haven't used magnets to hold things in place they are very handy and well worth the money.

I use magnets taken from old HardDisk drives. They are very very strong, and usually free.
 
For the metal tray, I use those metallic cookie boxes... Double pleasure. 

Hello all,
As many of you know company C.Mamoli (producer of Mamoli model kits) completely burn down two years back.
I would like to inform you that this week after long time negotiations me and owners of C.Mamoli sign the contract for transfer license of all Mamoli model kits into my ownership.
As there are no parts which survived from the fire I have to start production from beginning and for this reason I cannot start production of all kits at the same time.
I plan to start production of MiniMamoli kits first which could be available in the Autumn and then I would like to add step by step also the kits from MV series. I also plan to redesign some MV kits into contemporary standards.
Best regards
Daniel Dusek

Thanks everyone.
 
Matt - that's OK because its suggestions like that that got me to try the tape in the first place. The drilling error was probably mostly me. I do have some center bits my brother gave me a few years ago but I forgot I had them. Next time I will use them for sure.
 
David - I know what you mean about these family events. We are have been having a great time all weekend.
 
Geoff - I saw that you recently received many of these same Proxxon tools and more. They are a blast to play with.

Hi Matt. I tried putting tape on the hemostats but the cleats are so small they weren't gripping them well and they kept flying out. I received two smooth jaw hemostats that cost me a whopping $12 on Amazon and they work great. Thanks for the advice, though.
 
I have been building the capstan and after three attempts I finally have one I like. Here is the tale. I started by using the kit supplied laser cut pieces, particularly the thick round piece for the head. You are supposed to drill 8 holes around the edge then square them up with a file. Sounds easy, right? I do now have a mini mill with a dividing head, so that should make this a cake walk. I glued the top to a piece of dowel and put it in the dividing head so that I could drill each hole by rotating it 45 degrees. This part went OK, but the spacing between the holes was slightly off, as well as the horizontal spacing to the head, I think from deflection of the drill bit. And trying to square these off just made them look out of round. So I stopped there with this attempt.
 
For the second try, I turned a piece of thick sheet wood to make a new head, then put this in the mill horizontally and used an end bit to mill four slots through the head at 45 degree angles to each other. The depth of the slot was the size of the hole and the bit was the same size. For the center hole, I used the same mill bit while it was on the mill and routed progressively larger holes by moving the X axis of the XY table slightly and rotating the dividing head a full turn. The nice part was that this ensured a perfectly centered hole, which I have trouble with on the lathe.
 

 

 
After that I just glued a piece of sheet to the top to cover the holes. I used the thickness sander on both sides of the top to get it to the right thickness. I temporarily glued the part to a strip of wood to feed it into the sander, which worked great. I then used the rest of the supplied parts to complete the second capstan attempt. The head looked a little small when I was done, but I was going to live with it, but then I tried adding the little wedges between the whelps. It was really hard to get these to look right and in the end they never really did. It also showed me how much the spacing between the whelps was off, even though I marked the bottom part for where each one should go.
 

 

 
Now I could either live with this capstan or make one totally from scratch. I got to thinking that with the mill I should be able to mill in slots for the whelps to fit in on the bottom piece, which would look like wedges when the whole thing was assembled, and help space them more consistently. This got me pumped for another try.
 
So, I made the head the same way, but made sure I didn't turn it too small from the start. It looked much better than either of the first two attempts. I also turned the other pieces from sheet stock and used the thickness sander to get them to the right thickness and a consistent thickness. For the bottom piece, I was able to mill in the slots using the exact same process as the head but with a smaller depth of cut.
 

 
For the new whelps, I took a piece of strip wood that was roughly the size of the whelp in profile and used the Dremel with a sanding disk to get the shape of the whelp, then cut off slices in the table saw. I sanded these a bit thinner until they fit in the slots and glued two on opposite sides of the center dowel, fitting the bottom piece while the glue was still wet. I then fit in the other four whelps. These came out so much better than trying to fit individual pieces between the whelps. I added the final bottom piece and put the whole capstan back into the lathe for a final shaping and sanding.
 
Here are the three attempts. The good one is on the right (but that should be obvious). I will give this two coats of oak stain and add it to the platform between the hatches, after I drill a hole for it.
 

 
The best part of this project is that I got to use almost all of the power tools i have acquired over the last couple of years, which was a blast. I should have taken a pic of the workshop at one point. There were tools and stuff everywhere, although I did try to keep up with the sawdust as I went along. There was a lot of sawdust generated for such small parts.
 
We are having my son's graduation party this Sunday (he just received his masters degree in computer science), but Mrs. UsedTo broke two toes at work yesterday, being run over by a wheel chair with a large middle schooler in it. I think I am going to be very busy this weekend but not in the shop. More next week.
 
 
 
 
 

So instead of waste my whole day on gardening, planting and fixing one of the cooling fans on my car that wasn't running, I decided to do something important like starting to fair the hull of the Constitution.  I got the front starboard gun, anchor and bridle ports done.  I used my Dremel flex-shaft to get it roughly there, and the 150 grit sandpaper backed with wood to finish it.  I don't see any reason to go any finer than 150 grit for this process.  If someone thinks it needs to be finer, please let me know.  My logic for this rougher paper is that the glue I use in the planking process will have more 'tooth' to bite into.
 
Curiously, the instructions totally ignore the fairing process, though I did see a casual reference to it somewhere.  Having never faired a ship before, I am a bit in the dark here.  I think the only reason for this is to get the bulkheads and other structures mounted to them even, so that the planking lays flat upon them.  If this is the case, I think that this practice must have come about back when hide glue was the only available adhesive.  Hide glue used to be about the only glue there was for woodworking.  I have used true hide glue before, and it is a real headache.  It has to be hot, and it stinks.  But as far as strength goes, it is very, very strong.  It does have several drawbacks though... It won't fill gaps like modern adhesives can.  It also doesn't do well in humid environments.  I do like hide glue for what it is capable of, but I won't be using it on the Constitution.  Modern adhesives are better when things don't fit perfectly.  Hide glue also has the advantage that it is easily released... All it takes is some water.  And as mentioned before, it is very strong.
 
So here are the photos of the fairing so far.  I expect to get the rest of the starboard ports completed tomorrow.  It just takes a bit of work, and making sure the sanding board isn't digging in where you don't want it to.  This amount of work took me about 45 minutes, so I figure fairing will take me about 5 or 6 hours to complete.  Remember, there is inside bulwark fairing to do as well, which is more difficult.  I have done a bit of it too, and it is harder to get to with the portion of the main rail installed.
 
Matt

CaptainSteve, this is going to take a long time once I get to it.  At least a month instead of 1 week as I had predicted.  But I am not in a race, and this is an important detail to me.  I am going to try and complete it, however it is a lot of work, and I am leary of whether it is going to be worth it.  Looking at some of the beautiful models that are here, it is obvious that this is not a necessary detail.  David Lester's model doesn't have this detail, and it is still beautiful. 
 
Modeling is a fun thing... Some of us see details that we find important, and other are looking at other things that they find much more important.  When I model something, I want it as close to the original as I can possibly get, but that doesn't mean every tiny detail.  My bolts/rivets are not spaced like they are on the real ship, but they give the impression of what they are.  That is what modeling is.  I know my bolts/rivets are to tall to be true, but if I made them much closer, nobody would see them other than me. 
 
This is a balance we all have to walk between what is real and what is the model.  It is true that we have little choice how we must make these adjustments, and it is important how we think through these things.  When I made those test pieces, I knew they were too long, and they will be maybe a 64th shorter in the final. 
 
Matt

To finish off how I am going to handle the bulwarks.  Pictured below is one of the jigs I have made to get my spacing of the bolts/rivets correctly placed.  It is a simple affair, consisting of a fence, and a barely visible pin that positions the part based upon the last hole drill.  The pin fits in the hole, the next hole is drilled, and the plank moved so the last hole drilled fits over the pin.  This gives very accurately spaced holes, which are then filled with .015" brass wire.
 
The wire is pre-cut, using another jig I made.  It is simple a piece of wood with a hole drilled in it to attain the proper length of wire.  Doing it in this fashion is much easier than trying to cut the pins oversized and then trim them after they are in position.  This can be inconsistent, but I finally got the process down.  You will see there are some shorter pins on the pieces that are shorter, which I made before I got the jig made right.  These parts are by no means exact copies, and are just practice pieces.  The spacing will be much more accurately staggered on the actual model parts.  I just made these to test my process. 
 
This is a slow process, and am still questioning why I am undertaking this madness, but the results really do look realistic and I am liking how they are close to scale.  I admit, they are a bit larger than actual, but they are close, and a good representation of the feature.  Remember, these planks are only 1/8th" wide and 3/64th" thick.  This process isn't perfect yet, but I am getting closer to good enough.  These are the third and fourth tries I made.  The first two were fails because the wire bent when trying to clean them up with a tiny file.  Trying to straighten them out again resulted in destruction of the wood.  But I am satisfied with the basic process at this point. 
 
I should be able to drill all the holes in a 24" piece of plank material, which is what I have.  It is easier to work with a long piece than many short ones.  The drill bit is .0145", so there is a slight friction fit between the wire and the wood.  Once in place, CA glue is applied to the backside of the plank to secure the wires. 
 
This is precise and exacting work, and I don't recommend it.  I wouldn't be doing it if I were sane, but I want the detail in this model.  But I now know this is going to take me longer than I first estimated, and maybe as much as 4 times as long.  Oh well... I want a model I can be proud of, and it doesn't really matter how long it takes as long as it looks right.  Anyway, here are the photos.
 
Matt
 
 

Thanks, David, and yeah... It is going to be a major undertaking, but it is a detail I thought was worth including.  Rivets and bolts make military models look meaner... lol.  But to tell the truth, it is going to be so subtle, that I doubt many will even notice it.  The reason I want it there is for me... So I can look at the model, and know I came as close as I could.  But like I said, it is a detail I don't believe anyone else will notice.
 
The paint I used I picked up at Walmart... Just a cheap craft paint that they sell.  I will insert a photo below of it, so you can see the bottle.  It is a little darker than I want, but not much.  A drop or two of white should bring it pretty close.  I am sure as cheap as it was, it is neither light resistant though, nor color fast.  I like the color, but want a artist quality paint so things don't fade as much over time.  But if I did... Hey... Then I could just forget the drop or two of white, right?  I am tempted to use oil paint, but that poses problems with drying, and glossiness, and it is risky doing a flat coat of acrylic over oil.  What I will probably end up doing is using Vallajo paint.  I have had great success with it in the past, it is not that expensive, and I have airbrushed it and manually brushed it on, all with excellent results. 
 
Once I get the drill press set up, and the jig made, I should know how long this is going to take.  I am thinking maybe a week to do all of the interior bulwarks.  I did the experiment freehand, and even with painting it took me maybe 10 minutes.  But we are talking about over 1000 holes, I am sure.  Maybe I will count for the record.  It is my guess that it will probably take about 5-10 minutes per side of the 24" planks.  The jig is actually quite simple to use, and anybody should be able to fabricate it after I show it.  But then again, I doubt many will want to once they see how many holes there are to drill... lol.
 
Here is the picture of the paint.
 
Matt
 
 
 
 
 
Here is the stuff I used for paint.  It is called "2917 classic green".
 
Matt
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello all. Update.
 
Worked the metallic parts in the bow.
 
I fixed these parts like this. With thew upper part level with the top part of the keel.
 

 

 
Then I realize they were too low. No room for the anchors holes.
 


 
Then I looked more closely and saw that they should be higher: The top part in line with the back of the neck of the figure.
 
I unglued them and fixed in their new position
 

 

 

 
They look better now.
 
I painted them black and then drybrushed the gold so that some of the black showed out. I like the "old" effect.
 
Thanks for watching!!!
 
Ulises
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello all.
Finally the dreaded part 112 is done!!!
 
I am happy with it although it has its flaws. As you can see there is some unevenness here and there. I'm gonna' have to live with that.
 
As you can see here, the instructions say to use several 2x2 woods to fill the space and then shape accordingly. I decided to use a piece of balsa instead.

 
Here I am making a shape with cardboard of the profile.

 

 

 

 

 
Planking starts. Due to the nature of the shape and the difficulty to properly clamp these planks, I decided to use contact cement
to do this job. Worked wonderfully. I also changed the size of the planks from .5 x 4 mm to .5 x 3mm.
 

 

 
Making sure both sides of that part will be at the same height.
 

 

 
Both parts are finished and painted. Here is starboard
 

 
When finished, I noticed some spots that were a bit bouncy, meaning they were not very well glued. And I was undecided about what color to use here. I decided to give a coat of CA to the entire area and then paint it black, to match the color of the wales. Unfortunately, the paint I used to paint the wales became unusable so I used a different paint, and it shows when looking closely.
 
General view of the ship at this moment
 

 
Thanks for watching, mates.
 
All the best.
 
PD We celebrate mother's day today. Best wishes to all moms here, either members or members' mom.
 
Ulises

Now fit this here... yeah, right!

 
Coming along!
 

 

 
Part dry fitted in place.
 

 
Best regards!

I had a lot of yard and garden work to tackle this weekend, so didn't get much time to continue working on my waterways.  But while the chainsaw and tiller spun, I had some time to think about the best way to handle the bulwark rivets, which thanks to David Lester, I don't believe are rivets at all, but rather bolts threaded into Ogee nuts.  Ok, I know the photos aren't great from my cheap little camera, but it is all I have at the moment. 
 
David's link to the google maps shoot of the Constitution is about 6 posts back.  I urge anyone who is working on this ship to look at it carefully.  Since I have never had the pleasure of touring her, the link was a real Godsend.  I see so many details I would not have imagined.  Thanks again, David. 
 
So contemplating how I was going to emulate the rivets/bolts, I finally decided the most realistic and accurate way was with brass wire.  In the photos, I show .022" wire glued into holes drill in a plank and painted.  They were inserted in the holes, cut to length, glued and carefully filed to final height.  But when it comes to actually doing this, .022" is too large.  By my calculations, this is about 1.5" real-world.  So, I will be using .015" instead, which may be a little on the small side, but I am accounting for the thickness of the paint as well, which when you are working at this small scale, does make a difference.  And when painting this test piece, I should have used a thinner paint, but you can see the shadow caused by it's thickness.
 
Now this is going to amount to probably at least 1000 holes to be drilled in precisely the right spots.  How can I achieve this?  With a jig, of course.  So I will build the jig, and get it set up for use on my Dremel drill press.  This will give me exactly placed holes each time.  I will post pictures and an explanation when I do this, which might be as early as tomorrow, we shall see.  CA glue holds the pins in place.
 
Matt
 
 

Hi, i was just catching up on your blog. You are doing a great job. Your instincts were right on target. India Ink is color stable on the ship and can be safely used from ebonizing to coloring standing rigging. Sharpies are not. There are many nice models out there where colors are looking faded or worse after just a few months. Stay away from them if at all possible.
 

Matt, that looks like a great way to address the bolt/rivet issue, but it's a big job to undertake and once started, it pretty much has to be finished. It's a subtle detail on the actual ship and needs to be subtle on the model too. It looks as this should achieve that effect.
 
It also looks as though you've hit on a good colour for the bulwarks. The green on the ship is actually quite a bluish green rather than a bright Kelly green. Yours looks pretty close to the real thing. What are you using? I'm sure I broke every rule in the book by buying sample sized containers of house paint from a hardware store. But it seemed like an acceptable approach for this bit of the model as I knew there would be a fair bit of experimenting. My options for model paint are either order on line and wait for it to arrive or drive about 45 minutes away - neither of which seemed practical when I knew there would be multiple stabs at it, and there were because with every attempt to match it, it seemed to come out too turquoise. I'm happy enough with my final colour, but it's not quite a dead match.
 
I don't recall now where I stumbled across that link to the Google maps tour of the ship, but I'm glad you're finding it helpful. You can really zero in on many different details. I use is almost constantly. We toured the ship a couple of years ago and I took some pictures, but they're not particularly helpful as I didn't take them with modeling in mind so they seem to never show what I need to know.
 
David

Hi Matt,
I mitered my waterway at the transom, though I think it could also be coped. Bob Hunt suggests mitering the waterway in his practicum and it seemed to me the best way to go.
 
Do you have the link to the Google Maps "tour" of the ship. Even though some of the details are different than in the kit, I still find it to be an invaluable resource. Here's the link if you don't have it already.
https://www.google.ca/maps/@42.3724197,-71.0564018,3a,75y,96.03h,75.28t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sY3hsBHFmwkkAAAQZN-nfoQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&hl=en
 
It includes a clear shot of the waterway corner at the transom, but it's still a bit difficult to tell how it was done, although my guess is that it is a coped joint.
 
David

Thanks for the comments and "likes".
 
 
 
It's mostly just fiddly work in Corel Draw.  No programming as such, David.  Which makes me very happy. 
 
 
Well, all has not been quiet here in the shipyard.  making progress.  On the down side, it is slow, slightly maddening work to translate a 2D drawing into a 3D part....  Luckily, when the first side is done, the second side should go a lot faster.
 
I've got two of the three windows glazed and in place.  The third is currently somewhere in the workshop with the glazing drying (I'm using liquid glaze).  I've probably cut and re-worked, and re-cut 20 or wo windows to get to this point and I find them very fiddly indeed.
 
I've started working on the gallery roof(s) and drop(s) for both sides but have nothing to show in photos yet.
 
So here's the two windows in place.  Feel free to speak up if something is awry while I can still get access to the part.
 
The slight (ahem) misfit at the bottom of the taffrail where the lower molding meets will be hidden by carvings.  I've started those also....
 

I think... (operative word here is: think) that I got it.  Not as perfect I would like but I've pushed my limits to the extreme.  All three windows are in on the starboard side.  I might (yeah.. sure... he says to himself... I know I will) re-visit these and see if I can make them better after doing the starboard side.  All in all for a first effort at scratching  quarter galleries with minimal plans... I'll give myself a B+.
 
A bit of cleanup in the shop, and I'll turn this around to the other side.  The next side ought to be a bit faster as I won't be re-cutting windows and reworking everything.  That part has been done. <crosses fingers>
 
I'm feeling like if I can do these galleries... I'm ready for anything.  Even carving.
 

 

Mass production of 4mm dia dead eyes started
 
In the back is little jig I made for easier manipulation with telephony Cu wire. 4mm dia BBQ strip and toothpick
 

Hey guys and gals Ran out of my single hole blocks I've ordered them but waiting for them to come in So I took advice from a couple of chaps on another string and decided to change my mast woolings I gues they are called the brass rings on the masts and bowsprit to rope to make it a little more traditional looking So here is the out come