milosmail
-
Posts
85 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by milosmail
-
Excellent beginning. Looking forward to your progress. I need to restart my build log, as I stopped work about 3 years ago for various reasons. I have just completed planking the deck, and will resume from there. Looking forward to your progress.
-
Really nice build on your Niagra. I have been a lurker reading your blog, and I appreciate the info. on problems you encountered. As for mounting , We probably all made the mistake on our first kit to not drill mounting holes in the keel at an early stage. I know I did. Looks like you recovered nicely. Mine is going slowly, as life has interfered over time - mostly a couple of home remodels... I have just finished painting the hull and moving on to planking the deck. Well, enjoy your ship. What's your next build?
- 843 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- niagara
- model shipways
- (and 2 more)
-
This may have been previously stated, but... When you set the mast(s), be very sure you start attaching lines from the inside (i.e. closest to the center line) out. But, attach ratline shrouds first, to stabilize the masts, then all the standing rigging. Then any running rigging you want to add. You may want to put some running rigging on, such as sheets, braces, halyards that would normally be present on an operating ship at dock. Even without sails present.
- 843 replies
-
- 2
-
-
- niagara
- model shipways
- (and 2 more)
-
I never glue in the masts. They will be very snug once all the shrouds and stays are attached. They won't wobble, but be sure tension on shrouds is equal, such that mast is upright with the proper rake and vertical side to side... But, still very difficult to remove once many lines are attached to the deck and railings.... So just paraphrase the old carpenter's saying - measure twice (at least) and cut once.
- 843 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- niagara
- model shipways
- (and 2 more)
-
OK, vacations are done, visitors are gone, so I finally have time to get back to it. I have been building the scaffolding round the gun and sweep ports. In the process I discovered a manufacturing error. My bulwarks for section K were not equally spaced from the center keel line (not symmetrical), and in fact the port side was 3mm narrower measured from the center keel to the inside of the bulwark. This became very apparent when I placed the cross brace from K to L at the tip of the bulwark. I went back through alignment measurements - everything was square in all 6 axis, so I measured the space left on the billet the parts came out of. Sure enough, one edge of the bulwark was closer to the center line than the other. In fact, I found none of the bulwarks on that sheet were symmetrical. Must have been a bad day for the laser cutter.... I was able to fix the problem with a shim on the exterior side and some shaving on the interior surface. I am now complete on this step, and I did not find any other significant problems. But, it's just one more thing to watch our for in construction.
-
Very ship shape (excuse the pun). It's looking really well done.
-
Regarding anchor rope; remembering this large diameter rope could well run over 300 feet or more, and when it was not stowed below deck, then it would have been coiled in a figure eight pattern called a flake, and left on the deck near the bow. Flaking minimized the chance of the line fouling when the anchor was dropped.The working end would have to be available at the capstan, as that was used to pull it up. I believe typically when the ship was at sea, the anchor rope was detached and stowed below. It would be brought out only when anchoring seemed to be a probable event. I would run your rope through the forward grate - even drill or cut out a neat gap for it to fit through. Or flake some on the deck for a satisfactory appearance. I was told once that the anchor rope for the Victory was run from the hawse below deck to the capstan and back several times, and not flaked due to its large size. Seems to me this would interfere with gun recoil, but maybe there was enough beam.
- 468 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- niagara
- model shipways
- (and 1 more)
-
Dale, isn't it nice how we get to be carpenters, painters, plumbers, electricians, riggers, sail makers, steam fitters, etc. I like the photo of the chain plate. These are really simplified from others I have seen, made from links or made from a solid bar. Easier to replicate. Yours will be fine. By the way, not sure on square riggers, but on a modern sail craft, the lee side stainless steel stays will always be slack as the mast will bend a bit. I suspect this was true for wooden masts with hemp/manila shrouds as well.
-
Larry, what kind of wood did you fashion your oars from? I take it you cut the blanks from wood the thickness of a shaft, then did a lot of filing/sanding? Did you grind the shafts down first with a Dremel or? They look great, and I want to repeat the process.
-
Dale, the ships boats are really looking great.
-
Very nice deck, Larry. Wood finish looks natural as is. I usually mount or mark deck coamings positions, cut planks to fit around. But I may try installing on top this time. I still hope to use nibbling strake, but if it gets too difficult, I will abandon. I probably will run planks full length, as you did.
-
Boats are looking great. Glad to have you blaze the trail (calm the seas?) for me. Mine is going slow; still working on gunport framing prior to planking.
-
Well....., I was going to post pictures today (but that was before I discovered I had washed my IPhone with my other laundry - oh well, I wanted a new IPhone 6 anyways). Once I have the new phone, I will post some shots again. I am in the process of executing the gun port/oar framing which is not difficult. Tedious due to the planksheer needing fill to match the thickness of the bulwarks as previously mentioned. I plan to plank the external hull from the caprail down to the waterway, and then begin with the garboard strake at the keel. This is my least favorite part of construction. I enjoy making deck furniture and masting/ rigging, but not planking. I am also going to try to make nibbling strakes for the edge of the deck planking. Has anyone else tried this? If so, I would love to hear your comments. Or anyone else wishing to tell me I am nuts and talk me out of it....
-
Had little time to work the past few weeks (my daughter has 7 month old twins which are a handful), but getting back to it now. Has anyone deviated from the painting plans on the kit? The green interior bulkheads seem out of place (shouldn't they be red?), and the red coamings seem wrong also, at least with respect to authenticity. I think the kit is just following the color profile of the ship in Erie. In looking at painting of models vs the posted picture of the real Erie ship, I was struck that on a large scale, the red and green are much more muted. The model paints are too bright. And, I have never seen an historic painting of a war ship where coamings were painted red. Also, I noticed the cabin sides are painted on the Erie ship (for maintenance convenience?) whereas on the historic ship I would have assumed these would have been varnished. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
-
How is the planking going? Here are a couple of thought. Planks do need to be tapered within the belts (duh) as they approach the bow, but no plank should be tapered less than half its width. Are you aware of the joggle strip technique? I don't have any photos, but essentially you make a custom fitted piece to dove tail into two narrow pieces near the bow. Sort of the opposite of stealers, which you will need at the stern. If you have access to recent issues of Ships in Scale, there are a series of articles on planking by Bob Hunt which demonstrate the use of stealers and joggle strips. Planks will not necessarily lie flat (although this is the ideal), but you must exercise care that planks doe not curve downward at either end. There is a tendency for planks to do that on some models, if not corrected. Have you been beveling your pieces? This helps with the fit as well, especially where hull curvature is pronounced. Otherwise you will have gaps between planks. These can be filled with wood putty, but I find that the puttied areas do not look the same as the natural wood after painting. I prefer beveling. The planking layout shown on sheet two do not show any joggle strips, but no two models are exactly the same. In fact, the two sides of the ship will not be the same, so don't try to force it. And remember, painting will hide a lot of the planking detail (and errors). If you can't find the SIS articles, post a reply and I will try to find a photo.
-
My computer crashed last Friday (bad memory chip corrupted the Windows kernel), so I have been busy rebuilding it. Back on the air now. Yes, a quick check showed most of the sills were too narrow. I had already painted them in preparation for installing, so I think I will add strips of filler after they are glued in and then shape when I add exterior planking. Is that about the right sequence? Meanwhile, back to the knightshead....
-
I looked at sheet 5, and I concluded the following: as the outhaul was not connected to any sail on this rig, it must have served as a brake to keep the jib boom from moving aft under load. I would believe these two lines would be secured to a bulkhead after running through the chock rail. They might also have been attached to the bowsprit in some fashion inboard of the chock rail. They would likely have been a piece of seldom adjusted rigging - but I am guessing here.
-
Outhaul and downhaul serve different purposes on a triangular sail, but both affect the amount of 'belly' in the sail. It depends on wind conditions and angle to the wind as to how they are adjusted (I have raced boats for years, and generally we do not adjust these lines much). So, they are different lines. Keep in mind that where lines were secured varied a great deal; frequently changed depending on the master or the captain's preference. So, pick a spot that seems natural to you (no crossing lines - that's a big no-no as it causes a lot of wear in real life), and secure. You might go as far as adding a cleat if needed.... No one knows where these lines ran on the original ship, but I suspect the run of lines on the model correspond to those on the replica on Lake Erie today.
-
So, the gun port sills are not wide enough? I will give them close inspection. Dale, thanks for another good tip.
-
I coat my lines with bees wax (cuts down on the amount of dust collected) and then run it over a light bulb. The heat of the bulb relaxes the line. By the way, nice catch on the 3/8" scale. Glad you mentioned it before I got to that point. I checked plans and found several other instances, including the knighthead (2B- and bulwark x-section (2A-A).
-
Really nice. I remember struggling with these on my AVS. And photos are in focus, lighting was good.
-
Resolved the quarter stanchions issue with a slight amount of re-positioning and some coarse sandpaper. All fits now. I had not realized that the stern rail was not the full width, but actually sits inside the side rails which extend to the stern. Still wondering if anyone is dealing with the wood strips that are thinner than the plans call for. Are you just ignoring? Anyway, back to the waterways and plank sheers. This part is going quickly. Should be able to air brush in a couple of days.
-
Here is some help on focusing your IPhone: first turn on the grid option for the camera (found in Camera under Settings), then when you line up your photo, wait for the yellow box to appear. The area inside the yellow box will show what the camera has focused on...hope this helps. I enjoy reading your build log. I have just started my Niagra (and build log). You have done some nice work. Remember: only you will be aware of the blemishes. The rest of the world will just be amazed at what you did.
-
Good, you will need to enlarge in one axis.. Because of the rake of the bowsprite, the hole will be a bit elliptical. I think Bob picked 1/2 inch to allow for that.
-
Hi Curtis, how is the kit coming along? I built the AVS a couple of years ago, using Bob's practicum. As someone else noted, you should ignore the kit's instructions, and follow Bob's. I kept mine in a binder, and inserted the correction sheets on the proper pages. One error Bob never corrected, which caused me a bit of a problem - the dimension of the hole in the bow for the bowsprit specified by Bob is too large. It needs to be about an 1/8 in. smaller, as I recall, as this piece is a 3/8in. dowel. This will save you having to putty up the hole later. I will monitor your build, so post questions if you have them. Looks very good so far.
Our Emblem ®
