md1400cs

Hi Mates,
 
LEDs update
Lots of hours installing, so far, 29 LEDs some with flickering as well as some static (all warm white)
 
Eighteen others have been added to needed locations (balcony walkways, and for lanterns) but all need to be secured and positioned into their proper places. It’s also important to aim the LEDs for best visual effect.
 
PS: Evan Designs ROCKS!!
 
Still to do….
•install upper rear quarters ceiling into place (that’s next)
•attach its wiring looms for the seven lights,
•clean up the wiring jungle to make room for both AAA battery packs
•connect remote sensors to all lights and battery packs,
•attach two battery packs, to their permanent locations.
•make “candle looking” cylinders for the five stern lanterns,
•seal any light leaks to the outside,
•re-attach poop deck,
•cut two very small openings in rear facing stern upper panel for the remote sensors,
•make a magnetic connector to that rear panel as well (for easy access to batteries)
 
Thanks for dropping by, likes and comments all much appreciated.
 

Peter,
Just really catching up - been away from the hobby for some weeks, as well as the forums.... But my Gmail inbox had lots of your links -
Wow!! your work is so superlative to the smallest detail - camera close up images love your work.. Oh and the sails well  👏. Your log is brilliant..
Hmm I do need to re-open my shipyard soon...on  my mind or so it's been said haha
 
Cheers,

Foresail rigging finished

Hi guys!

Quite an update today with lots of pictures, 24 to be exact. It was not easy to get everything right in front of my camera. I have all running rigging of the Foremast ready. I really had some trouble rigging this sail. Some things I had to redo over 3 times or didn't turned out the way I wanted it and was pretty exhausting from time to time. Also figuring out the details cost me a lot of evening hours of work. Unfortunately in all the documentation I have the details are vague or not known. I followed the rigging of Le Requin in combination with another Xebec (museum model). In the end you make choices that seem logical and I tried to keep as close to reality as I could or know.

The parrel
It starts with the Parrel. The parrel is like a "guide system" that actually rolls the rod / yard up and down the mast. The parrel is made up of so-called "trucks", these are the beads and "ribs" the vertical pieces of wood. As always, I start with a drawing to the actual scale. Then I make it as on the drawing in various steps. Oh yes, the ribs that come with the kit are made of metal and also the wrong size. So I haven't used it. Each rib is individually handcrafted. Builders with milling machines can do this faster and easier than I can, but the admiral won't allow these machines on her dining table and that's the end of the discussion.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The parrel is finally assembled with the made ribs and the trucks of (3mm) and attached to the yard. The parrel of this mast is a simple version. Just 3 horizontal rows that are spliced together and extended into one single rope. On one side of the yard, a strop is used to attach it to the yard. The parrel is wrapped around the mast and then attached with a truss by using a bead the other side of the yard. (see second photo). For the main mast I'm going to replace this bead with a block. Finally the rope runs down at the mast to the foot of the mast where it's tied down using a tackle with a few blocks. This can be seen in the following pictures.
 

 


A lot of lose ends here....
 


The parrel tackle is seen on the picture and is the one with the dark ropes next to the mast. The other two tackels are used to turn the ends of the yard. The ropes are running throught the top sheeves on the mast. These tackles are attached with a hook to the rings besides the mast.
 

 

 


In between I made the flagpole. The flagpole is attached with two metal braces.
 


then a picture of how it looks in full view of the sail.
 

 


And a lot of detail pictures of how I tied down all the ropes.... All rope ends are nicely bound together and tucked away...I tried to mimic reality as much as possible and hopefully the rigging is truthfull to the real thing....
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


And that's it for this update. I know, sometimes I can't see the forest because of all those ropes. The mainsail will carry the same amount of rigging.

Only the rigging of the Foremast took me approximately more than 40 hours of work / time. I can only say that it is a big job and the same is waiting for me for the rigging of the mainsail. I have to finish the construction of this sail first, put the boltrope on and so on. I hope you enjoyed this update.

Until the next update, and I wish you guys a nice weekend!

Peter

Hi guys,

In this update I would like to show you the first impression on how the Focksail looks on the ship. The height and position of the yard is been controlled by to the two ramshead blocks being made earlier. Here you see it in action and placed on the ship. I placed the yard termporarily to experiment with the positions etc. The yard can be detached from the ship. I still need to place some blocks on the yard and make the Parrel. After that I can place all the other rigging that operates this sail and yard.

to be continued....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Making the sails - part 2

Hello guys,

Thanks for all your support, I much appreciate you guys being here and supporting me during this build. 

Well, continuing with the sails. I didn't like the beige color of the boltrope, so I stained / tarred these with bitumen. 
Also I like to show you how I reinforced the loop at the corner of the sails. These are handserved to get the desired result. I also used bitumen to darken the rope to get an even color on the served ropes compared to the bolt rope.
 
 
 
 

So the next thing to do is to add the reef lines. Never did that before... Also I used the the bitumen on the reef lines to create contrast.
 
 



And after a lot of knots and lines, the first sail is finished...One down, two more to go!
 


Thanks for following and see you soon,
 

Amazing work on those beautiful sails, Pete!

Making the sails

Hello friends,
It's been a while. I had to figure out some things of the running rigging and making the sails. The last one almost got me on my knees. The swear jar has been filled multiple times, but I've come to an acceptable result so far. Working on the boltrope at the moment. But first let me show you the process....
 
 
 
 

The seam is made separately and has been folded a couple of time so it can be placed around the edge of the cloth. The seam is then visible on both sides of the cloth. It's a bit time consuming, but in the end hopefully worth it.
 

 
 

I decided to age the sails with Bitumen. I had to dilute the bitumen with "odorless" Turpentine and it gave a "pleasant" smell....
Mixed it in a glass jar and let the cloth dry in the open air.
 
 
 
 

The bolt rope is attached with needle and threat. It's done entirely by hand and the needle is going through the bolt rope and not around. This gives it a little more authentic look.
 
 

Well, this is where I'm at the moment. Just somewhere halfway with the main sail. I forgot the serve the rope for extra strength in the corner where a loop is made in the rope. I corrected this afterwards...
 
 

Well, that's it so far...
Until next time with hopefully fully finished sails.

 

Rigging of the Mizzen...

Hello everybody,
It's time to move on to the rigging of the Mizzen mast. First a drawing.
 

Again serving 6 ropes for the pins, done by the Syren Serving machine. 
 



Then the upper blocks connected to the mast.
 



In between the ropes with blocks and tied it all together.
 





Well, the standing rigging is done. All three masts are secured. It's a nice journey to experience this type of rigging so far.  Ah well, time to move on to the running rigging, yards and sails. It will be a tough journey because I've never made sails from scratch what I am intend to do for this ship. 

Please leave a comment if you like. Until next time!

Peter, in every square millimeter of your Xebec there is something to marvel at. Outstanding!

Standing rigging main mast part 3

I've fixed the ends of the rope and tied them neatly behind the beam on the bulwarks. That means that the standing rigging of the main mast is completed.
 

 

In meantime I've finished the second set of 9 oars and placed them neatly on deck. So, I explained earlier that it's also possible to hang the oars on the sides (outside) of the bulwarks. This would cover up the carvings and will affect the swivel guns from operating. This is how the kitmaker designed this Xebec version and I honored that decision.
 

And an overview on deck where partly both sides of the standing rigging visible is.
 

The next update will be the standing rigging of the Mizzenmast. This is far less complex compared to the main mast.
I hope you guys are still following and like the updates so far. 
 

To everyone who missed the start, welcome.

Finishing the planking on this side.
One strake has a weird shape to the stern.

W.i.p.

The last streak

One side is done, and received a sanding with 60 grit sandpaper.

And not upside down

Thanks for following, comments and likes

Small planking update.
 
With the experience already gained, much less has to be calculated and noted on the fillerblocks.
The dimensions of the other side are simply taken over on this side.

about half way

Hello,
 
I finally finished up work on all the oars. Quite the project.
 
Lashings attached on all oars

 

 
I made the oar handles out of 1 mm thick walnut and then sealed the wood with polyurethane.
 

 
Handles attached to the oars.

 

 
The oars are complete and set aside until the model can be mounted to the case.
 
Turning my attention to fabrication of the case base. I had to keep the base of the case as narrow as possible so that the finished case would fit on the piece of furniture we bought to place the model on. (Strict warnings from the admiral to not exceed the width of 24"!!)
So the model with the oars attached will finish up at about 20 inches wide. I added roughly 2 inches on each side for the plexiglass case and just made the 24 inch restriction. Because of this I kept the design simple. I would have liked to add some corner rounding radius and made the frame wider if I had the room.
 
Cross section of Cherry wood used for the base

 
Top side view of finished case. I will stain and seal the wood after I receive it back from the manufacturer of the plexiglass top.
The assembled base was sent to Altec Plastics in South Boston. I sent them the base so the plexiglass top could be fitted into the top slots without any miscommunication!
The 1/4 inch plywood in the middle is covered with self adhesive black felt and protected for now (while at Altec Plastics) with plastic.

 

 
Underside photo of completed base. I mistakenly took this photo before I attached thin metal L-Shaped brackets at each corner for extra support. So they are not shown.
The middle strips are for extra support down the middle to prevent any sagging over time and to help give the screws, used to attach the ships base, extra material to grip.

 
Steps Left to do:
1. Stain and seal the case base, when returned from Altec Plastics
2. Attach the ship base to the case base and place and permanently set the model
3. Add the oars and oar lashings
4. Assemble and add all the small flags next to the oars on both sides
5. Fix the ship's rudder and bow cannon that have been knocked around
6. Finalize decision on stern canopy
7. Lightly dust 
 
Thanks for stopping by and again thanks for looking in and for the likes.
Appreciated as always,
 
Frank
 
 

Art,
Yes -super impressive indeed. Beautiful work - so much detail within such a small scale.
PS: Your site is also quite impressive.
 
Cheers,

Planking update
 
At the bow there is a very wide plank. Why??.

An extra wide plank

The plank is first made approximately on the correct arc

Made wet and bent

ready to glue

done

work in progress

current status:
Looks good, so far. There will be a lot of sanding to do...

Made an investment for my retirement.

Went on holliday, and found a new toy in southern Spain  
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/38.1_cm_/45_Model_1926_naval_gun

Thanks for following

Lighting and stern update.
The images don't show the great subtle flickering lighting effect. I will need to post a video. I suppose that I will also need to add the video
to my youtube channel then copy/paste the link here?? (will need to create a new channel my current one is only aviation related)
All 50 LED lights, battery packs and remote were purchased from Evans Design..
 
As always thanks for your likes, dropping by and comments
 
 

Thanks Frank - always a pleasure when you drop by.
 
Experimenting with locations of the three size lights; Nano, Pico, and Chip blending with some non-flickering as well –
 
This image iPhone was not up to the task (did not pre-set for correct image quality) – lights are not as intense as some depicted in images, but lights harmoniously blend nicely through those windows where I’ve temporarily placed some LEDs. Also, another dozen or so need to be inserted into proper locations.
 
I did determine that I will have to segregate the wiring.
All flickering lights will be connected to a specific 3V AAA power source. Non flickering will have their own AAA battery pack.
 
Evan Designs indicate that all 3V flickering and non-flickering can be sourced from the same power source. Yes, that’s right, they do all work - but I noted that as such, the flickering effect (of those LEDs) becomes much more muted, as to be almost “missing” when blended with non-flickering types.
 
Segregating all flickering onto one power source returned those light to their proper flickering “look”.
 
Having also removed the poop deck will allow me to “fix” an issue that I feel is not quite right – the sloping angle of that deck seems a bit too high at the stern. Other images detail my thoughts
 
Regards,
 

They are joggle planks. They are visible on the rest of  bow - they are very eroded, but they are there. Look at the pictures I added.
I think some similar of them are on the aft. BTW, look carefully on the hull. No one plank is the same, each one is the original😉
 
Jan

Planking (from keel to first wale)
 
Plank dimensions 
Thickness : 9,4 to 10,5 cm (yes, about 4 inches).
width  : 23 to 47 cm.
length : 1,47 to 9 m.
 
Wale dimensions
thickness : about the thicknes of a plank + 11 cm.
length 3.25 to 13.8 m.
scarfs between 2 wales 71 to 180 cm.
shape :  see further in this post.... 
 
Planking diagram
green color : the 2 stealers in front and back
Red color : A very wide plank at the bottom of the bow. I'm going to replace it with a less wide one, otherwise I could get into trouble
Bleu color : to be studied later.

Construction of the wales.
For some reason they gave them a rather illogical shape. 
 
I made a scraper in the desired shape

method : clamp the wood to a flat plate

hold the scraper at an angle to rough shape

finish with the scraper at 90°

result

The cherry wood bends easily

After drying it is glued to the hull

Planking is also started

assistant is supervising 

Thanks for following

Lighting and stern update.
The images don't show the great subtle flickering lighting effect. I will need to post a video. I suppose that I will also need to add the video
to my youtube channel then copy/paste the link here?? (will need to create a new channel my current one is only aviation related)
All 50 LED lights, battery packs and remote were purchased from Evans Design..
 
As always thanks for your likes, dropping by and comments
 
 

Hi all,
 
Seems as if log had been "standing still".
That said the 40 LEDs have been installed - now just need to button things up. Next post will be when all is back together.
I will try to add a video that will show the really nice gentle flickering of the lights including the five lanterns. 
 
So appreciate your continued interest in this log.
 
Regards,
 

Peter,
 
Just found your log - Beyond impressive - Learning a lot here 🙂
 
Cheers,

Peter,
 
Just found your log - Beyond impressive - Learning a lot here 🙂
 
Cheers,

Peter,
 
Just found your log - Beyond impressive - Learning a lot here 🙂
 
Cheers,

Rigging Main Mast (part 2)

Hello everybody

A small but major update on my Xebec this weekend. I've finished the standing rigging of the main mast. Even if the rigging is "simple" from design, it's still tricky to make. The standing rigging of a Xebec works a bit like running rigging with the blocks and all. In the previous update I've shown the bottom part of the rigging, these were the horizontal pins connected to the bulwarks. Next are the upper part of the rigging that are connected to the top of the mast.

I had to make the parts first, one set of each side of the ship.
 

With two bindings the parts are held in place. Now I have an upper and a bottem part that's fixed to the ship. The ropes with pulleys and blocks in between are next.
 
 
 

I had some time left, so I made two waterbarrels and placed them on deck. I think I secure these with some rope later on. What do you think?
 

The rigging part of a ship is still not my thing yet, but it grows on me. The rigging of this ship isn't that complicated compared to square rigged ships, however, to make it look authentic is still a hard thing to do.
Well, that's it for this update. Until the next one. Thanks for following my log it's really appreciated.