robdurant

Michiel, not only lights but I even thought of RC controls. But since I know nothing about RC boats I moved on.
 
Vaddoc, the primer is Krylon Gray Primer out of a spray can, nothing exotic and sands nice and seals the wood. Also works well with the Glazing Putty in filling any gaps.
 
Thank you all for stopping by and words of encouragement.
 

Hi Guys,
 
Its great to have you gents following along, thanks.
 
As I stated in my previous post I'm interested in the patination of the copper plates for this little boat and so I conducted a few tests to see which gave the best results, here are my findings, I hope you find them interesting.
 
First up was to fix 10 plates onto small boards x 4, a gentle rub down with some wire wool to remove any protection.
 
I mixed two solutions of Tomato feed and both Red Wine Vinegar and White Wine Vinegar, once these had dissolved completely I then brushed the mixes onto two of the boards and set aside.
 
Next to mix up Miracle Grow Soluble plant food with Red Wine Vinegar and the same plant food with White Wine Vinegar, again when dissolved the plates were brushed with the mixtures.
 
Here are some pics after approx 2.5 hour's.
 
First up is the Tomato feed mixtures Red Wine Vin on the left, White Wine on the right. Not a lot of change and so it's not worth bothering with.
       
 
Next up is the Plant food mixtures.
 
First is the White Wine mix. After a couple of weeks I'm still getting changes, the samples have turned to a Bronze colour.
 
    
 
Next is the Red Wine mix, this turned out the best to my mind. The times on the right of the boards is the time on the same day.
 
   
The Red wine mix again is still changing and has a vivid green hue to it, one problem is that its very fragile in that it rubs off easily. Another problem could be the method of applying the mix, as you can see the mix stains the back board so if using this stuff BE CAREFULL.
 
OK, back to the build,
 
The Gunport pattern is now fixed in place, 
 
 
The first plank of the first planking has been fixed.
 
The first planking is now completed with no major problems, that's a first for me I can tell you.
 
 

I also made a start on the Gundeck, I don't think the deck is going to give me any trouble to fit and so I thought it would be easier to plank the deck prior to fixing in the boat.
I decided to change the planking from 1 x 4mm Tanganyika to 1x4mm Swiss Pear, I cut the Waterways from a sheet of 0.5mm Lime.
 
 
I looks as if the outer planks are beginning to splay out but that is just the camera angle.
 
Christian, Binnacles were usually positioned just in front of the ships wheel so that the helmsman could steer his course, a lot were moveable and used to be cleared away below deck when the ship was called to action stations.
 
That's all I have for you at the moment gents, just as soon as I have more I'll stick it up.
 
OK gents that's me for now.
 
Be Good
 
 mobbsie
 

Fantastic! This was the first wooden model I built. Such a lovely model to work on... well designed, brilliant instructions (streets apart from Caldercraft's earlier models) and plans, and makes up into a really handsome model (although I'm sure yours will be streets ahead of my humble efforts). Hope you don't mind if I pull up a chair too.  I notice that your first bulkhead from the bow doesn't suffer from the uneven top that mine had.
 
 

Good Morning All, I was walking down the hall yesterday and seen this guy sitting there looking lonely so I thought it was time to bring him into the workshop and do a little work.

 
So here is how he looked

 
Then four hours later

 
And here is a shot of the instruction booklet and part of the list to follow, the check marks are showing what is completed so far. Quite impressive considering this was started over a year ago. NOT!! Hopefully the pace will pick up now that my Trabakul is nearing completion.

 
Have A Good One
 

Thanks for the comments guys .
 
It's been a long haul, but I'm finally down to the last Hull Skin. I've only been able to manage two skins per day until today where I fitted the last five, although they were a lot smaller and easier to cut, sand and glue. I had more than my share of problems fitting quite a few of them, mostly due to the poor design with the overlaps which I cut off. This meant that most of the skins didn't fall directly on a bulkhead and I had to add and sand extra card to nearly every one of them .
 
As you can see from the pics I also had some major problems with the fitting of the grey skins. They finished up with some really bad creases, due in part to the cut-out Portholes and acrylic "glass" making the skins bend where I didn't want them to, and I've had to use a lot of Filler to get them out. The filler hasn't been final sanded yet, and there's still a little more to add in a few places.
 
Here are two pics with the final one still to go on. I filled the whole last section with card and sanded it to shape to make sure I had something to glue the piece onto. It turned out to be a lot easier to fit than I was expecting :

 
Apologies for the blurry pic :

 
And the last skin fitted - yippeeee :

 
Now to fill some small gaps and start mixing up the touch-up watercolour paint.
 
  Danny

Fantastic! This was the first wooden model I built. Such a lovely model to work on... well designed, brilliant instructions (streets apart from Caldercraft's earlier models) and plans, and makes up into a really handsome model (although I'm sure yours will be streets ahead of my humble efforts). Hope you don't mind if I pull up a chair too.  I notice that your first bulkhead from the bow doesn't suffer from the uneven top that mine had.
 
 

Fantastic! This was the first wooden model I built. Such a lovely model to work on... well designed, brilliant instructions (streets apart from Caldercraft's earlier models) and plans, and makes up into a really handsome model (although I'm sure yours will be streets ahead of my humble efforts). Hope you don't mind if I pull up a chair too.  I notice that your first bulkhead from the bow doesn't suffer from the uneven top that mine had.
 
 

Thanks for all the likes and comments, I am satisfied with the new planking but not with the mismatch colors:

So I decided to try a technique I used on armor models in the past...acrylic toning...really just layer upon layer of thin washes of thinned acrylic paint. When I do this I don't use water to thin the acrylics, but different forms of acrylic medium, I've read that water will break the polymer bonds at the molecular level were the mediums do not...no clue if that is true or not, but I use um cause I have um.  The mix I use is 1 part paint (burnt umber in this case), 1 part Matte medium, 4-5 parts retarder to thin the mix and slow drying time, once thoroughly mixed the mix is poured into a resealable container.

 
From there it's a matter of layering on the wash/toner one layer at a time waiting for each successive coat to dry. I was not sure if this technique would work on paper or not so I tested it on a few of the kit parts I won't be using.   Here you can see the effect of one, two and three coats, from left to right...the effect can be very subtle or striking depending on the density of the color and the undercoats you use, you can use different shades or even different colors.
 
 
 
 
The Pinta received 4 coats on the upper hull and only two on the lower, as it was darker to begin with, finished pic below, the hull will pick up more contrast as the build continues as I plan to do the wales in a darker brown

Thx for following along

Well I've hit the point where I have to add the fore top gallant/royal to the mix. Nothing else I can do until then. I think the bowsprit came out OK. There will still be a few more ropes fixed to that when I add the last spar. The top gallant has a couple of backstays and some forestays and a couple of stays from the main still need to be fastened to it. I'll add the braces between the fore & main and probably call those two done.
 
Which leaves me with the spanker. I think I have everything rigged on the boom and gaff. Just have to tie them off.
 
Thinking about it, that'll be almost everything. I may need some pushing from you guys to finish off the last details. I'm pretty bad about not finishing things. If I am not mistaken, this week 2 years ago I started this build.
 
Here's where she's at:
 

 

 

 

 

 
 

I have been doing a great deal of fussy work on the bay hatches coaming while waiting for more stock to come from Midwest.  A couple of hundred pieces cut and fitted on edge around the hatch openings. While doing this it came to me that given the tight tolerances needed that I better paint the interior and coaming before fabricating the hatch covers. So after priming, glazing and sanding and fussing I finally was able to paint a Gray in the holds, coaming  and bow mooring deck. At least this will be a working color coat for now and will have ample time to dry and set while waiting for the material to arrive on Wednesday. Tomorrow is my presentation to the local Rotary Club on Model Building which has also occupied some of my time as well.
Here is the first working coat of Gray.
 

 

 

 
Now back to the presentation for now and get ready to make hatches.
 

Thanks for the insight Slog, and for the kind comment OC . Here are some pics of my hull skinning progress. I've just fitted the "dreaded" Skin #8 without any dramas . I'm fairly happy with the way they have come out - not perfect, but nothing I can't fix with a bit of filler and touch-up paint on some of the joins.
 
One thing I found out the hard way when building my first Card model, Cerberus, is NOT to put any glue on the extra bracing in the middle of a skin. Doing this can "pull" on the skin, causing "starving cow". I only glue the very edges of the skin, being careful not to touch it in the middle until it's thoroughly dry. I use a narrow piece of flat wood with the edges rounded off so it doesn't dig into the paper to push the skin down onto the glued bulkhead, instead of using my fingers which can tend to pull the skin slightly while the glue is still wet - the glue actually softens the card a bit, so care is needed here. BTW - I'm using Acid-free PVA Craft glue, fairly thick straight from my glue bottle.
 
Another thing with gluing large panels - I glue the skins in three steps, the first up to where the skin flattens out, then the flat section, and finally the other rounded section. I tape the skin down with pieces of Tamiya tape as I go, and leave each section to dry for a few minutes before moving on to the next. This way I can easily keep up with the glue before it starts to go off.
 
I've redone the extra bracing between the bulkheads. The longitudinal pieces are faired to fit hard under the skin, without needing any glue, to reduce the chances of accidentally crushing the skins.
 
It goes without saying that there is a LOT of dry-fitting involved, especially on this model where the skins have overlaps designed into them. I'm cutting the overlaps off and butting the skins together, it takes a lot longer but the result is a lot better IMO.
 
I really DON'T like the way this model has been designed - my next Card model will definitely be another Halinski.
 
Here are the pics :



 
 This is Skin #5, the first one that I hadn't earlier cut to the lines. I've managed to "catch up" with the centres of the bulkheads by leaving part of the overlap on, resulting in the black line which I'll have to paint :

 
Skin #8 :

 
  Danny

When I was little, my Dad would take me to see professional model train exhibits. Then I would return home to my puny train layout and take stock. Sometimes I would think why bother, but other times I would be inspired to do my darndest to make it look more like the professional version I had just seen. Your photos inspire me to take the later course.
 
Your capstan...magnifique!

Thanks to Steve and Sam, I got up the courage to install my homemade side badges. The Argus did have side badges, but the ones that came with the kit are not acceptable.

I'm still working on the side badges. I don't know if I love them or hate them. I'll keep on swinging

I'm working on building my own quarter badges. I have no idea how they will turn out. I'll just wing each step of the way.

Shipyard Update
Topmast Futtock Stave and Catharpins:
As others who have reached the dizzy heights of rigging, I am sure realized things get tight and busy. 
 
When the lower mast Futtock Stave and Catharpins were added, thye caused me enough tired arm syndrome. They we each added individually, tied in place.
For the Topmast sets, I devised the plan to "pre-build" them as much as possible, then hoist them up and tie into position.
 
So the picture below shows the 2 sets, each with 3 catharpins to match the Gallant shrouds. Each is just on 16mm wide to fit between the shrouds.
The lower section of the picture shows how I made each of the catharpins on 2 pins, seized each end and cut the ends. Each Stave is 7mm long, a tad bit too long so I found out when they were hoisted up. But they both at this length give some latitude to feed the Gallant shrouds between the Top Mast shrouds, around the Stave when that task takes place(soon I hope).
What is not shown on the picture is, I added a good length of twine(looped) at each end of the brass Staves. So when each was hoisted, I had something to immediately tie to the relevant shroud.

Fore Topmast Futtock Stave:
The Stave being a bit too long pushed the rear shroud out, not going to change it now.

Main Topmast Futtock Stave:

 
What to do next ??
 

As of late I've been using a 0.5mm (0.02") mechanical pencil... it doesn't require sharpening just refilling.
I should however erase the pencil tracing (transferring the pattern to the wood with carbon paper) on the paper pattern when I assemble the wood pieces over it.!
 
As an aside, I have noticed some people inserting scale cut out cartoon people into their builds to effectively demonstrate the scale.
I will be inserting a much younger me into my next build stage photo.
So if you find yourself wondering... yes it is me, not some total stranger lurking about my ship.
 

Thanks for all the 'likes', and Greg, Pat, Mike, Christian, Bob, Tom, Hamilton, Michael, Mobbsie - I really appreciate your thoughts and interest, the good news is that I don't need to decide right now.  I got a little over-obsessive on Snake using the kit supplied materials which bogged things down a bit, I'm sure I'd enjoy rigging more with better quality line and be happier with the result.  What I'm hoping is that I can leave my options open even after things get closed up when the quarterdeck and f'csle go on (e.g. mast stumps that could easily be replaced with full masts and yards at some point)
 
BE - your Victory, despite just looking fantastic, presents yet another interesting alternative.  I too like that look a lot.
 
Coamings
Moving on a little, have started on the coamings and gratings.  I had ordered some of Chuck's gratings some time ago and these were relatively painless to make up.  The coaming dimensions were taken from AOTS with a few small adjustments to ensure the edge of the coaming met the wider binding strakes as illustrated.  I did go the whole hog and build these as per TFFM which was good practice, if not slow.  Not really much else to say.
 

 
Where the companionways are, I did do bit more fiddly work to try and simulate the beams and carlings that would be visible.  I'm sure there must be a better way, but the approach I took was as follows:
Build up the bottom of the companionway coaming by 1mm to account for the thickness of the deck (as coamings would sit on the beams/carlings, not the deck) 0.5mm sheet was applied to the side faces to simulate the recess on the interior face Boxwood sheets and strips attached to simulate the beams/carlings.  This was not hard once the approach had been figured out as this all still needs to slide in through the holes in the deck (which had to be enlarged a bit).  I did decide to paint these black, as is shown to good effect on the contemporary Winchelsea model.  I was tempted to leave these natural, but as I had made these out of pear, I felt that another wood tone would be distracting.  In any event, black appears to have been quite commonly used toward the end of the century to aid safety by making the companionways more visible against the deck. Bit of a Frankenstein's monster from underneath, but to my eye looks convincing enough when in place. 

 
All the coamings and gratings have been made up and just need some finishing.  I was pleased that the coamings lined up with the butt pattern of the planks, because as irregular as they looks, they do correspond with the theoretical placement of the beams below.
 
The third photo shows the difference in appearance with the added depth in the companionway, vs the coaming simply sitting on the deck for comparison.  The last photo shows everything in place.  One slight fudge I'm making here is to put a grating into the foremost of the two rearmost openings.  This should really be a companionway down to the wardroom, but the keel former realistically presents this being represented, and given that this will barely be glimpsed, a grating went on top instead.  The kit plans omit this feature entirely.
 

Wow. I love this bit of the build where the deck - and so the ship - starts to spring to life. It begins to feel like a place you could walk round. Great work.... and an inspiration for when I reach this stage. Love the bitts and manger!

Shipyard Update
Fore Topmast Stays: Tackles
The tackle for the Fore Topmast Stays have been added to the Bowsprit.
 
For the 2 tackle sets I used 7mm Fiddle blocks, 5mm single blocks with a 4.5mm rope.
I lowered the Stays from the cross trees to do the rope work about each block.

The Fore Stay on the Starboard Side of the Bowsprit:

Close up of the Tackle fixed to the inner gammoning and tread'd back to the rear cleats on the Bowsprit. 

Similar for the Preventor Stay on the Port side of the Bowsprit.


Update to the attachment of the Tackle.
I changed the Tackle end onto the eye-bolt for both sides.
The replica and "Petersen's" has it this way and seems the way to go. Once the Fore Stays are tension'd, no need for further adjustment, leave the cleat for the running lines.

 
Next task:
Skimmy up the Fore & Main Top Masts and add the Futtock Staves & Catharpins >> be ready for the shrouds to the Top Gallants.
 
 

I've installed the doors on the companionway at the same angle shown in the plans. I pinned them as well as glued them.

Hi Robin & Zach
Thanks for the kind words : much appreciated. 
Although issued quite long ago , HMS Diana is a recommendable kit and offers lots of possibilities for extra details.
BTW : and just for the record : has anyone a clue when Caldercraft issued this kit ?
anticipated thanks

Truly is beautiful. The amount of detail in her is outstanding. Can wait to see what you do next! Hopefully one day I'll get to this level of detail
 
Happy modeling 
-Zach

Thanks for all the kind words and likes, much appreciated.
It sure feels good to put "daily life troubles" aside and putting the mind ( or what is left over  ) at rest .
 
Next subproject : the 26 ft launch : the AoTS describes a windass and other intersting details. This should be fun !

Thanks Jason, while we're at it and just a thought : perhaps you may want to fix the rope coils  on battens & other "furniture" while fix the latter on the deck ?
For reasons related to accessibility I'm considering this option  for later builds.
Any thoughts on this specific topic are more than welcome.