garym

Back to the deadeyes and chains.
 
First up was creating a test piece to determine the look and fit of the channel deadeye strops and to use that to see how much material to cut out of the channels to slide the strops into.  The strops are made from 20 guage steel wire, which seems to fit the groove of Syrens 6mm deadeyes nicely.

Note:  The deadeye on the right is an upper deadeye.  I filled in the groove on the left hole.  This will be the hole on the inside face that the mathew walker knot on the end of the laniard bears against.

 
For anyone who chooses to go this route...caution!!  The 20 guage steel wire is relatively hard to bend around the deadeyes and fills the groove completely. Any sideways torque when bending the wire WILL split apart the deadeye.  Although this ability to split the deadeye face off came in handy later when I had a couple of solder joints break!
 
After the concept piece was done I pulled it apart to measure the length of wire for the strop and went into production mode.  The wire was cut, the ends cleaned up and the strop was formed into a wide loop (big enough to fit the deadeye) and silver soldered closed.  Then the pieces were blackened in a bath of Blacken-it.  The strops were then bent into final shape around the deadeyes.

 
Appropriate size slots were cut into the channels to fit the strops.

 
The stropped deadeyes were offered up to the channel and a line was run from the main masthead to determine the proper angles to bend the strops to.
More caution here.  My original thought was to hide the solder joint in the channel slot.  Bad idea.  This is where the bending occurs to get the strops pointing in the right direction.  I should have planned it better so that the solder joint fell in the lower straight portion of the deadeye strop.  The solder joints are barely visible anyway.  I had a few joints open up on me and being at the bending point right beneath the deadeye the only way to re-do the solder joint was to pop the face off the deadeye, remove it, re-solder the joint and then re-assemble the deadeye in the strop.

 
The chains were made up and blackened in the same manner using 24 guage wire.  The deadeye strops were inserted into the chain loops before soldering closed.  I also made up some backing links from the 24 guage wire.  These are the same style of elongated loops but with the center portion squeezed together and then the whole thing is bent so the the end loops are offset in order to fit from the wale to the hull planking below the wale.

The sharp eyed of you will note that some of the deadeyes are not set straight in the strops.  The ones for the aftermost shrouds have a slight angle to accomodate the angle of the shroud.  The pins in the above photo are bending jigs set for the size of the chains and the backing links.
 

 
The eyebolts in the hull were prized open, a backing link was put on each one, and then the chain/deadeye assembly.  The deadeye strop was then swung up into place in the slot in the channel.  A little flat black touch up paint was used to cover up some spots were the blacking was rubbed off with the pliers.

 
Still to come... filling the holes cut into the edge of the channels and pinning the lower loops of the backing links to the hull.
 
See you next time.
 
Regards,

The wood cap has been added to the top of the bulwarks. This took quite a bit of bending on the ends and required letting the wood stock soak for a couple of days to get it soft enough. This cap will serve as the bottom for the side railings to be added later.
 
Vince P.

The bulwarks have been trimmed to match the height and contour of the metal trim edges. I also decided to cut the ends of the fenders to match the trim. It looks neater than bringing them up to the railings.
 
Vince P.

More photos...
 

I have completed the port side with metal decorations. The pieces are of high quality, but still require quite a bit of cleaning up. They have to be bent, trimmed, and cut away for the gun ports as well. All in all it took quite a few hours to do this one side.
A note of caution, the actual pieces are larger than the plans show and will not sit exactly as the drawnings indicate. Their positions in relation to the wales and the bulworks tops is quite different. I adusted them as best I could. Also, once they are all placed, the seams are closed with a little filler which is rubbed on with a finger and then painted over.
 
Next up after completing the starboard side is to trim down the excess height of the bulwarks to the contour of the metal pieces and place a wood cap on top, which will be the base for the side railings later on.
 
Vince P.

Starting to place the metal ornaments on the port side. This piece has been shortened, trimmed and cut away for the gunports. I said that they needed to be stuck on the hull until I could mark the bottom line and then removed. I found this stuff called "Tacky Wax" in a gift shop in Sacramento. You just spread a little on and it sticks to anything. Afterwards just peel it off and wash it off if necessary. I works great as a temporary glue.
 
Vince P.

That's good advise. It's a lot of work and if your not in love with it, you won't finish it. I started a solid hull bounty years ago and didn't get very far ( bulky not sleek, no guns etc.). I ended up with a POB model that I love. After I put all that carving into that solid hull I didn't like it. Ended up planking it anyway. Still didn't like it and put it aside. Should have just started with a POB.

Just be advised - a plank-on-bulkhead (POB) model isn't a walk in the park, either.  Each method has its own skill set and learning curve, and there's hardly any way to decide which one you would like better until you've tried both.  Don't be overly swayed by modelers who swear by one or the other.  Their experiences are not a sure indicator of your future preferences.
 
Before waffling on the POB vs. solid hull question, take a step back and ask yourself, what model(s) really, really appeal to you on a visceral level?  Knowing the answer to that question will narrow down the search for you.

In order to figure out the proper lengths of the lines that will belay in the waist I need to temporarily set up some of the main rigging.  So I stepped the main mast, crossed the main yard, and rigged the clew, sheet, tack and brace on one side.
 
Let me just say that I love the challenges involved in rigging this ship as close as possible to the real vessel.  But, it is obvious that it is going to add a looong time to the build.  For example, all the blocks on the yard are stropped with long and short tails with eyes and rose lashed to the yard.  The clew line is fastened to the yard with a timber hitch, and the brace pendant is put over the yardarm with an eye splice.  The strops for the sheet and clew blocks were stropped with large eyes that have to be large enough to fit through each other and also admit the tack knot.  Each individual block on the ship will have a different size or type of strop based on the blocks location, size, and purpose.  All rigging will be fastened with proper seizings, lashings, bends, and hitches; no knots.  
 
As an example of the time I'm spending on these items.  It took me about eight hours to perfect the tack knots before I could say that I like the result.  Figuring out the lengths of the strops needed for the clew garnet and sheet blocks took a few trial and error attempts and about five hours to get right.  Add to that the time it took to make the clew garnet block out of two 5mm Syren blocks and you get about 15 or 16 hours just on that one sheet tack and clew assembly.
 
I really like the deadeyes that I purchased from Syren but I am taking them one step further.  I am shaping them so that they have more of a bulge in the middle and go thinner towards the edge.
 
Am I nuts?   Maybe, but I really like the results.
 
Here are some photos of the latest work.





 
Iron strops for deadeyes next.
 
Regards,

The 2 piece upper wales are in place. To keep the spacing even, I put another piece between them while gluing. This finishes the wales.
Next up is to sand and finish the bare wood sides of the hull.
 
The fenders come next. You can see in the last photo, I have marked the locations with a pencil line. They go from the lower wales up to the top of the bulwarks and cut through the middle and upper wales. Since the wales are 2mm thick and the fenders need to be 2mm beyond that, the fenders need to be 3mm widex4mm deep. They have to be bent into an "S" shape to match the contour of the hull sides. Bending a piece of walnut 4mm thick is a little much, so I am going to contruct the fenders from 2 pieces 2mm thick and place them on top of each other.
 
Vince P.

I wish to all builder or just watcher from the MSW a
 
Marry Christmas ! 
 

 
This are just a "part" from the list of wishes i sent....

Mike, i have still to go to my job, stay with my granddaughter and her brother, do things for home, and
at the end is the pleasure (my hobby). I'd like to work a lot to finish Sovereign and start a new ship, but... that is life.
I love my family very much,and, as you know, we are the last with pleasures in family.
All the best Cristi

And here i am, before a weekend with my granddaugter, when we have to prepare "decorations" for christmas
 



 
And a Merry Christmas to all ship modeler builders
Cristi

The transom and stern galleries are finally completed. While there has not been any easy steps yet in building her, I believe the transom to be the most difficult and tedious part of the entire build, but we will see.   I am glad it is done and it took me several months and a couple hundred hours to do. It is not perfect, but I am happy with the results.
 
Next up will be the wales, I think.
 
Vince P.

The large heavy casting that makes up the top decorations is all in one piece and goes across the top of the entire transom. The one in my kit was cracked about in the middle. It did not break in half, but any rough handling would have done it. Since this piece has to be heated and bent to match the curvature of the transom, the crack had to be repaired first. Some thick CA and pressing the crack closed, and placing in a clamp for a few days did the trick. Once it was heated and bent, it was painted and clamped in place on the transom.
 
Vince P.

The plans don't really show how to place the little upper windows on the transom. I have seen them just placed over the openings and also reset into the openings. I decided they look better if reset into the openings, especially because the two end windows can be seen from both front and back. They are exposed on the backside in one of the little balconies. Also, these metal window castings are only detailed on the front side and blank on the back. I had to detail the backs of the two end ones and paint them accordingly.
 
Vince P.

The upper transom balcony bezel with the scroll end windows has been added. Two stantions have beed added to support the long ceiling opening. This is not part of the kit, so I used a couple of 12mm walnut stantions from my stash.
 
Vince P.

I did get to fiddle with her a bit...........
 
the deck assembly was removed........really stubborn bugger.......the aft railings paid the price.   they just popped off.....I can put them back on later.   anyways........the sides were sanded some more,  so the fit might be better.   it was a combination of the fit and the wires that is causing the problems.......I made the adjustments,  but still have to move the wires around for the fore section to drop into place.   since I said the heck with the extra lighting,  I was curious to see how she would look with what I had .........
 

 
I have to get the light in the fore section to line up with the forward galley dome.
 

 
here is the problem area I still need to fix..........I shouldn't have left the assembly in place for so long.   it caused the side to bulge out
 

 
here is the fore section........
 

 
...and here she is shown aft.
 

 
I probably should have waited til it got a bit darker.........but the admiral liked it,  and I guess that's all that mattered.  I'm hoping to get more done on her this week   

And glue some sticks

Bending some parts



 

 

Painted some parts, when i had a little time



 
Also i have to teach my granddaughter how to work with tools,
hope she will take the hobby from me:


 
 

....but wait........there's more!   out came the hull......
 

 
my son supplied with a whole pack of small shrink tube..
 

 
I was going to add a couple more lights to the mix,  but the heck with it,  I'll do with what I have.  so,  I stripped the wires...it was very easy........did it between my finger nails 
 

 
the lights were soldered in place and shrink tubed....
 
 
 

 
now.......if I don't have any more interruptions.......perhaps I can put all this together 
 
 

got back home around 1:30 PM..........the plummer left about  1/2 hour ago.   spent a bit of time setting the kitchen back up and washing the floor.  what a mess!
 
anyway.........back to the Titanic......    I used CA on the rigging of the funnel.......trimmed off nicely   
 

 

 
....found that I had a couple more pictures of the guy lines.  I guess the next thing to do,  would be to get the top on the funnel.
 

 

 
I'm not sure if the grate is painted in these pictures.......they are in these pictures though.
 

 

 
 

well........things have taken another turn.     I was kinda on vacation from the part time job until I got my badge.......I have it now.   I worked last night and I need to go in this morning.   I have one humongous update.......here is the beginning of it......
 
the port side pipes were cemented in place
 

 
while removing the sprue stubble from the starboard side pipes,  the darn thing broke!
 

 
but I managed to get them on anyway
 

 
then the railings were added,  along with the section for the back edge,  between the two pipes
 

 

 
now I can rig the guy lines
 

 

 
the rest will have to wait till the afternoon.  I got to get ready for work.   there's more crazy stuff going on behind the scenes here......got a plummer coming......the power company is running all over our neighborhood replacing transformers {I hope they don't block our drive way again}........to name what is to be today.   tomorrow might be worse.......power might be out for a while.........I'm going back to work again for the evening.  the fun is beginning 

this morning.......some touch ups were made.  instead of doing a dry fit,  I just cemented the bottom part of the pipes in place.   I then found that the port side railings was wrong......I shouldn't have over guessed them.   but it looks like the railings would have been too long anyways..
 

 
I painted the hand rails of the railings
 

 
the port side has already been trimmed down to fit.