knightyo
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This might be a fairly obscure question, but regarding a photo from tlevine's Swallow log below... Are "fasteners" to be inserted ONLY on the bottom portion (see arrows) of the standards? I'm close to attaching similar components on my 1492 caravel (bottom photo), and am not sure of how I should reflect the fasteners; for that matter, I'm not sure if they should be trennails, or raised nails. Any guidance on this would really be appreciated. I do know that the standards are currently too thick, so will be adjusting that, but I'm really wondering about the fasteners. Initially, I was thinking that I'd apply fasteners to the upper sections as well, but now I'm assuming that tlevine's fastener's are correct, and that I'd I'd install two of them, both on the bottom section of the standards, but wanted to pick the collective brain of MSW on this one. - Alan
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My palms became sweaty while reading this thread. I never would have made it in the navy. Ironic, as building models ships is my passion. lol Alan
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Wow! That water turned out great! Alan
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Ok, so working at my usual pace, but incremental progress is better than none, I suppose. The entirety of the hull inside and out is now planked with pear. It's dusty in this photo, but compressed air and brushes should remedy that before any finishes are applied. I'm considering applying tung oil and/or shellac, and will be experimenting quite a bit with both. The replica Pinta had a unique looking capstan which caught my eye, and which I wished to replicate on the Nina. Who is to say that the original Nina didn't have this type capstan as well? Below is a start, but will need to be "skinnier" to match the replica; especially the center "X" sections. Not pictured are a few more brass parts I've cobbled together which will need to be blackened. Time to start working on these little guys. Making these at this scale is quite a challenge, and I'm having to make these under magnification. It's still a satisfying exercise, however.
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Thank you both! I will start performing some fairly vigorous experimentation with both shellac & renaissance wax. Ironically, scraping is indeed how I started out finishing the rails; however, I was clumsy and ended up with numbers of fine "cut" lines that I ended up sanding out with a very high grit wet/dry paper. What I'm left with is burnished large surfaces and unburnished small pieces, recessed pieces, etc. Alan
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As I've been toiling over my small Nina project, I've ended up basically burnishing the wood in numerous sections. The rails for instance, are swiss pear, and in a "burnished" state really have a nice look. Are there any recommendations regarding what to apply over burnished wood? My Google searches have made it pretty clear that standard finishes are out as the pores of the wood are effectively sealed when the wood is burnished, which makes sense. Has anyone experimented with applying any type of finish over burnished wood? Alan
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It would also be fun to see something completely different in style, like an ornate Xebec or a ship of an earlier period with all of the carvings, moldings, etc. Alan
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I'll bet I'm not alone in my modeling process. If I build something and the joints look magnificent, I'll leave it as natural wood. If what I've built needs filler or is sub-par, it gets painted in order to hide my sins. 😊 Alan
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If it were me, I wouldn't give them away. I might pin them up in my hobby area as "art" or find some other use. If giving them away, the person who they were given to would be less likely to purchase the plans from someone who should receive legitimate payment for their work, etc. Alan
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RGL, you should know that you are responsible for about 5 of my model purchases. Oh they'll never be finished, but this thread inspired me to buy them. lol Alan
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Hi Dave, This is a very good topic. Just about everything I do is scratch, and my tools over the years have primarily consisted of fingers/sandpaper/x-acto blade, coupled with occasional usage of a mini-saw and files here and there. I will say that I purchased a mini-lathe in order to turn cannons however, as that's incredibly fun. But you seriously don't need to spend a lot of money in this hobby. You can, and you can save a lot of time by purchasing dedicated tooling, but it's not strictly necessary. The most satisfaction I get from this hobby is by retreating into my cave and slowly shaping objects with sandpaper while lost in my own thoughts; it's definitely the process, not the destination that brings me happiness. When I'm working with machinery, it feels more like work and isn't as enjoyable. Alan
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I'm not even building the model as I have about 300 others in the works, but when that figure/table/accoutrements goes on sale, I'd love to buy a copy. I'm envisioning a little cabin scene diorama under glass that I can place under my monitor while I work. Alan
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NRG VIRTUAL WORKSHOP - INVITATION
knightyo replied to kurtvd19's topic in NAUTICAL RESEARCH GUILD - News & Information
Hi Kurt, I'm late to the party on this one but was wondering if the link to your recording is going to be placed with the other workshop links on the NRG site, or if it is a different section. I might be looking in the wrong place, but definitely want to watch your presentation! Alan -
This looks like a fun model! When the hull planking was attached, was it glued in addition to having the pins? If so, I'd strongly recommend removing the pins before starting the second layer of planking. Once the pins are removed, filler is applied to the hull (including any damage incurred during pin removal), and the hull sanded smooth, you should have a very good surface in which to apply the second layer of planking. Alan
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Thanks Gregory. I actually really did go straight online to order a copy. I appreciate your offer, however! The nice thing about not having any definitive plans for these ships is that it sure gives me leeway to model what I like, and not have to worry about being proven wrong on anything. My model is a real hodge-podge of what I liked most about the Nina and Pinta replicas. Alan
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Thanks guys! I was thinking the head would be wood, and had already been shaping it to fit the "boxy" structure; I was just really given pause when thinking about the stress that tiny piece would be under as it was being turned. Gregory, I have the Mondfeld book as well, but unfortunately don't have the AOTS for Columbus' ships; I'm a little embarrassed to admit that as I'm building one of the models. Guess who's now going to go book shopping? I admit to also being curious about the structure of this thing; I think it's actually the capstan from the replica Pinta; it was just more interesting than the one on the replica Nina, so I thought I'd go with it. Alan
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Hello, I'm building the capstan for the Nina, and am trying to determine whether the capstan head in this photo would be wood or metal. Any thoughts? It's hard to tell what is metal, and what is wood on this one! At present, I "think" the discs and baseplate are metal and everything else wood, but it really doesn't seem like the head would remain intact under strain if it was wood as opposed to metal. Alan
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Was the impossibility of making them out of wood that you had referred to based upon drilling correctly spaced holes? You could also use the metal deadeyes you made as templates to pass a pin-vice through in order to create perfectly spaced holes in a blank of wood the thickness you desire, then carefully sand the wood blank to shape around the outside. I've been using boxwood strips to make things lately, and it's been great to work with. It can be held between your fingernails while you sand it, and it's hard enough that your fingernails don't "dent" it while you are sanding (I look through a cheap magnifying unit while working). If there are dents, they will be shallow and can be sanded out pretty quicky. Alan
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I think the mystery has been solved. I very gently felt the areas of concern under my magnifying station using a few different instruments, and could not feel any "edge" to the discolored areas at all; I could have sworn that there would have been edges. I think the hypothesis that the plating has been affected by accidental contact to some other substance is correct. I also worked around one of the edges to see if I could get it to flake, but there was no discernable transition from area to area. Now I feel comfortable moving forward with trying to "age" them a bit more, especially if something can be applied which will slightly fill the dimples bringing them a little closer to scale. I still have the jig used to create these plates; I might press a bunch more plates and then experiment on them with different mediums. Thank you everyone for your help with this! I sincerely appreciate the input; especially for something that I should have been able to figure out on my own. Alan
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The tape does indeed have a paper wax-type backing. The copper peels off of the backing for installation, and has an adhesive on the back side; there's definitely nothing but "sticky" copper on the back side. I've tried to replicate the flaking on a sample piece I just took from the roll, but ironically could not get it to flake. I'm a little mystified. If I can get the nerve up, I might try to further "flake" that section of the hull when I get off work.
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Yep, I've been pondering this as well; additionally, anything applied over the top might actually accelerate the flaking just due to added weight. It seems like if the plates are to remain on the hull, some type of medium would need to be applied which would flow into the edges and dimples of the plates in order to keep everything locked into place. The unfortunate part of this plan however, is that the plates overlap each other from the top down, so there aren't "shelves" along the tops of the plates that a sealing agent could rest upon. I just found the tape I used back in 2008. It turns out that it was 1/4" .0015 Copper FOIL tape. This does seem to explain the current dilemma. I think I have some Googling to do on this issue. Alan
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Thanks Phil, that cupola looks fantastic. I might indeed need to experiment with that as well! Alan
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Thanks Allan, I really appreciate it. It is mighty tempting to apply an oxidized copper green to these; that's a fantastic alternative idea if I don't in fact replace these plates. I do have to admit that the out of scale dimples I created have also bugged me a bit, however I suppose a paint application would also fill those in a bit as well. It looks like there's a good deal to consider on this one. Alan
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