md1400cs

Hi Mates,
 
Took some time, and now getting back to the yard. Here is a minor update (as mine seem to always be) so still working on the mizenmast putting the bits together;
 
••Fiddle blocks for mainstays (amazing how long these small bits actually take to put together) – nothing new here you have all certainly thought the same thing working on your builds—
 
••Lower cap along with its release clasp metal bits- done
 
••Completed the lower platform
 
••Finished the lower mast as well
 
So now - onto installing everything Hmmm….
 
PS: those two locking pins will be cut to proper size (:-)
 
Cheers
 

 
 
 
 
 

Frank,
 
Don't know how I missed this, but your HMAT SUPPLY with barnacles on the hull is, well ridiculous SO PERFECT. What great work. I think that when it comes to aging and "wear and tear" looks your ships are the best that i have seen here at MSW, or anywhere else for that matter. Just went through your completed photos of that ship.
 
PSL Your Riverboat is also a treat.
 
Cheers,

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 180 – Bowsprit
 
So, after three years and179 parts to this build log it is finally time to get off the deck.  Making the largest spars – lower masts and bowsprit – is the first order of business.
 
In shaping all the spars for the model, I expect to generally follow the methods used by the original spar makers – except of course for the tools.  I expect to take some liberties with the made masts, but that will be covered later.  There are many steps involved in getting from a model "tree" to a finished spar.  I do not intend to cover them in detail here, but merely to provide an overview.  Even at that, this posting on the bowsprit has nine pictures and a fair amount of text.
 
I started with the bowsprit as perhaps the simplest of the large spars.  At 47' long and 36" maximum diameter it was undoubtedly made from a single tree – probably of long leaf (yellow) pine.  The first picture shows the spar after the "first trimming" – the point at which the tree has been squared to the spars maximum diameter and cut roughly to length.
 

 
The piece has been marked on all four faces at the ends and at the four "quarters" forward of the "partners" – that is in this case, the knightheads.  The square section inside the knightheads has been marked.  Centerlines have been drawn on all four faces.
 
In the next picture the breadths at each quarter and the ends are being marked on one face only with dividers set from the drawing.
 

 
In the next picture the "second trimming" is being made on the disk sander. 
 

 
Two opposite faces are being trimmed back to the measurements made above.  This tool helps keep the cuts perpendicular and fair.  The next picture shows the spar after the second trim.  It shows the tapers at the ends on two opposing sides only. 
 

 
These cuts were made just slightly full so they could be safely finished to the final dimensions in later steps.  The calipers and the calculator are key tools for this.  The converted dimensions may be seen in pencil on the drawing.  In the picture the trimmed faces have been marked with centerlines and quarter marks.  The breadths at each point were then marked on the trimmed faces, so the "third trimming" could be made on the remaining two sides – also on the disk sander as before.  The bowsprit after the third trim is shown fitted part way in position between the knightheads.
 

 
The next step – the fourth trimming – converts the still square areas (except at the partners) to an intermediate octagonal shape.  The trimming is done by hand – planes, rasps, files, scraper plate.  To provide some rough guide lines for that work, the tool shown below was useful.
 

 
The apices of an octagon are 7/24 of the diameter in from the sides of the square at each point along the curve.  The tool shown has a scriber point at 7/24 distance from one of two end guides.  By angling the tool as it is drawn along the spar, a 7/24 line is scribed.  This takes some practice and is a rough measure – but a very helpful one.  With lines marked on each face of the square section, the octagonal flats were cut and the spar trimmed as shown below.   
 

 
A lot of caliper measurements and fine trimmings are required to get the spar to this point.  The diameters of all the faces at each point are measured and trimmed to size.   The final, "fifth trimming" is being made below.
 

 
The apices are being filed off and the spar rounded.  Again the diameters at each mark are checked.  Roundness along the spar was checked using a draftsman's circle template to spot high areas.  The last picture shows the bowsprit fitted temporarily with its tenon seated in the step above the main deck.
 

 
In the picture the bowsprit has been sanded but not polished and the tenon for the cap is not yet cut.
 
Ed
 

Hi all - another update. Figured I may as well do the curved stairs. First thing I did was cut the steps from some 3x5mm strip.
 

 
Then I glued them up into a curve.
 

 
Then I added a landing at the top plus one more step. I made the hand rail stanchions by putting a round wood toothpick in my Dremel & cut some grooves with a file. After staining & gluing in place,I formed the handrail with my plank bender & glued them in place.
 

 
This last picture shows the curved stairs in place. They are not glued down yet - the quarter deck guns need to be mounted first as access will be limited after the stairs are permanently in place.
 

 
As always,thanks for looking in. Also the hand rail will be finished after the stairs are permanently in place.
 
 
Mark

Mark,
 
It seems to me that somewhere in her build log Doris has a section on how she makes her flags, which by the way are so amazing
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/854-royal-caroline-by-doris-card-1749-140/page-1?hl=doris
 
PS If you have not visited her build logs you are in for an astonishing treat. Her work is so over the top amazing.
 
PS 2: plan on spending a lot of time looking at her work, if you have not already done so. Also her paper SOS is absolutely amazing.
 
I thought that I had "saved" her posts on flags, but I can't find them. In any case BEFORE you do anything with flags look at her techniques. 
 
Maybe another member can point directly to her specific flag area.
 
Good luck,
 
Michael

I finished fixing the cannons
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much, friends!!!
 
I started the final fixing of artillery:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark,
 
Just catching up !!  Yes this one IS really special indeed. And as Frank mentioned nice work on all of those curved bits.
 
 
Cheers,

She keeps getting better and better Mark. You did a fine job on those "S" shaped railings

More progress in the shipyard - First thing I did was assemble all the ladders & glued them in place. Next I built a base for the capstan from 1x5mm strips edge glued together & added the small timbers around the base. One small problem I had was when I built the capstan I shortened it to fit under the forecastle deck beam but forgot to take into account the thickness of the base. So I just cut a hole in the base just big enough for the capstan to fit into. After fitting the base in place,I could just slide the capstan into place .  Then I fitted all the bitts in place - all were pinned & glued. Next up were the forecastle & quarter deck railings. Their construction was pretty straightforward - just a matter of cutting a bunch of short timbers & gluing them together. Bending some of those 2x3mm timbers was a bit tricky,but I got `em done. The railing on the gangway was a bit fiddly due to the timbers were only 1.5mm square. The S shaped piece of railing joining the gangway railing to the quarter deck railing kept splitting or kinking when I tried to bend it,so I ended up just carving it from a larger timber. Also the plans showed that the grating between the quarter deck railings appears to have larger openings than the gratings on the decks,so I used a little larger spaced grating from my stash.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Mark

Outstanding. Thank you for sharing these pictures with us. As always will be waiting for more and more LOL.

Jason,
 
Super nice work. Your building notes are also so excellent - nice of you to share with such added details.
 
Cheers,

almost finished
 

 

 
only a mast and sails to make

Hello friends,
thanks for the kind comments and likes.
New pictures of the  74 gun-ship.
Regards
Karl
 
T e i l  11

Peter,
 
Very nice new build - will follow along. Plating work is also very nice indeed. Rudder is a work of art in and of itself.
 
Were you on holiday, or finally no longer driving those big machines anymore?
 
Cheers,

E.J, thanks glad to be helpful. It's nice that we all learn from each other (:-)
 
Buck, Don't know the bit size (all Greek to me). I just "eyeballed" it. (as I do all of them) hmmm
 
That said I really need to give a 5 Star review to the Proxxon Rotary tool AND I't Flex shaft. This shaft is SO precise. It accepts the absolute smallest of drill bits and rotates perfectly in line. Absolutely no wobbling whatsoever - bearings are absolutely precise. Love this combination tool, super dependable doing this kind of detailing.
 
PS: last photo is the supplied Corel platform along with its metal trim ring. FYI
 
==========================
 
Heading out-of-town for an anniversary celebration with my 19 year old girlfriend from 43 years ago xo
 
Cheers Mates
 

 
 

Hi Mates,
 
A little more work on the mizzen lower platform. Self-explanatory so keeping text to a minimum.  As always thanks for the likes.
 
Michael
 

 
 

UPDATE .......      Hi Lawrence ...Thanks for looking in and your nice comments.....Well it's time for another update!!  Slowly but surely things are coming together. All the deck pieces are finished, stairs, ladders, and a couple other thinks I added. The following pictures will bring you up to date with my progress. Again, thanks to all who stop by and comment, and thanks too for all of you that have pushed the "LIKE" button.
 
Frank
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
This I over did the hole for the ring so I made something different.

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
This is the window that came with the kit, I didn't like this so I made some other windows

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
I added a couple posts on the stern upper deck to tie some rope railing

 
 
That's all folks!!.... Thanks for lookn in!!
 
Frank

Ken,
 
Brilliant work indeed.

Jason,
 
Super nice work. Your building notes are also so excellent - nice of you to share with such added details.
 
Cheers,

Think I've got a bit of catching up to do.  Firstly, heres the Captain Cook Monument in Waimea, no undercooked beef wellington shots in this one   .  Found the beach he landed at, nothing special but couldn't locate the plaque that allegedly marks the spot according to guide books.
 

 
I have managed at least an interim milestone, the completion of the starboard copper...this task just goes on and on
 
Couple of items I've found to be helpful:
Super Solvent - I've found this product to be highly effective at getting rid of any CA glue residue (at least the Admiralty Pro thick stuff).  Wiping over the surface of any potential smearing is usually enough Some plates plates require very acute angles to be cut and when using scissors (which I find by far the easiest), the ends tend to curl and distort horribly.  I found that cutting these as part of a larger section this problem is eliminated, although care is needed still to separate them.
 
And the results.  Some of the photos are before I cleaned to plates with copper cleaner, which I did to ensure that there was no CA residue anywhere.  These will need to be done again once all the plates are on as I can guarantee more finger prints.  Managed to do the copper plate pattern at the bow that seems to be prevalent on so many models and AOTS drafts, slight discrepancies in the plates will only become less noticeable as the copper ages and darkens.  Overall I'm very happy with the Amati plates, and slight plate misalignments that just seem to be inevitable when using CA glue are tolerable.  Not sure I could do it any better if I were to do it again, so I think that's the yardstick to meaure to.
 
At the bow, I plated the cutwater first and tried to shape the plates on the planking to match the required curve.  Its far from perfect but will do.  I think these areas are inherently limited given the thickness of the plates, I suspect using copper tape would allow a more scale appearance.
 
I drilled some small holes in the waterline batten to simulate nails and highlighted with pencil, these are not to scale but felt it gives it a little bit more functional relevance.
 

 
Et voila!  The pinkish hue of freshly cleaned copper reminded me on the AOTS Diana picture, I was very pleased with the lines that appear once the waterline is apparent. Obviously next step is to continue with the other side.... 
 

After what was a very slow build week last week, Sunday proved to be very fruitful with a nice 8 hour build. So what did that time give me? Port side channels and deadeyes. Starboard side are all prepped and ready and should get installed later this week.

Ken,
 
Brilliant work indeed.

Ken,
 
Brilliant work indeed.

Ken,
 
Brilliant work indeed.