KenW
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I mounted the aft two guns and the ‘deck furniture’ between them. Bob (rafine) used this method on his Fair American and I like the plan. I get time off from rigging cannon, which I am finding very frustrating. I am using 1/8 inch (4/32) blocks and .012 line. I found I had to enlarge the holes in the blocks to get the line through the block’s hole. And threading the blocks still required stiffening with CA glue. I attached the breech lines to a gun first, then mounted it and secured the breech lines. Next I strop the blocks using 28 gauge wire; the end of the strop wire forms the hook that attaches to an eye. However, attaching the rigging to its gun is proving a problem. I can’t get the first attached hook to stay in its eye while I try to attach the other. If I do too much to the hook, it breaks off. Are there any tricks that I’m unaware of?
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Blocks and line can be gotten from Chuck Passaro. I'm using his for my current build and find them excellent. He may not have everything, but what he does have is high quality. The site is: http://www.syrenshipmodelcompany.com/ Cheers.
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Thanks and good to hear from you. I know this is an old question, and I can only say that I re-established the bearding to line up with the bottom of the bulkheads. However, if one bulkhead was out of alignment with the surrounding ones, I added a shim to the one that was "out of line". The same applies to one that was a bit longer - I sanded it down to match. I tried for a good line of bulkhead bottoms. Don't know what others would say.
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Your build is looking great. I like the companion way. Good design and workmanship. It looks like a paneled door. Well done.
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They are both good builds. The AVS is probably the easier build. Your choice.
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I am looking at your capstan. I believe that you altered the kit supplied one; is that correct? I like the 'V' slots you made in the bottom. Any advice - since I am starting to evaluate mine? Thanks.
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I agree with the other posters: I think your model is looking really good. ... I've been thinking about this post and I think I didn't make myself clear. I was trying to say that: On my build, I wasn't pleased with my workmanship on the planking of the lower hull. Yet when I showed the hull to members of my family, they couldn't understand what I was talking about. They thought it looked great. Also, the feedback I got from members of this site was the same. We all tend to be hardest on ourselves. In my case, after working on some other things, now I don't think the hull looks that bad after all. Sometimes we have to just relax and enjoy the process. And, don't judge the product until you see it finished.
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Thanks Alistair.
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I came down with the flu virus that is going around here in NY. Combine that with the coming holiday means that the ‘shipyard’ is pretty much inactive. But I did draw, after many attempts, a scroll pattern for the bow. After scanning and running it through my photo software, I glued the print between the cheek knees and like the result.
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Thanks Russ. I did pin them, so I can only hope for the best.
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The timberheads, knightheads and catheads are installed. I cut the heads of the timberhead/knightheads from the 1/8 inch square plank and then cut off at the proper length. Working on the whole plank is much easier than cutting a small piece first and then trying to whittle the head. The two knightheads are an odd shape, like a trapezoid. For that I used a 3/16 inch square plank and cut off a 3 inch piece and used my sanding block get the trapezoid shape and then cut the head and sawed off at the proper length. I thought that the catheads supplied by the kit were too small to drill those 4 holes, so I made two catheads from a 3/16 inch thick piece of scrap wood. Each cathead was made in one piece, but if I do too much more of this kind of work I’m going to have to get a power scroll saw.
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Your build is very impressive. Great workmanship! I may have missed it, but how are you going to 'finish off' the gun rigging? I think the ends of the lines are just laying on the deck. What do you have in mind? Thanks.
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Thanks Frank, Ed, Bob, Nils and wq3296. I appreciate the encouraging words.
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Thanks Russ and Gary. And thanks, Gary, for the warning about the fitting of the figurehead. Fortunately, I already put in the dowel for the bowsprit along with the kit figurehead and made the adjustments so there is sufficient spacing. Cheers.
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The newest additions to my Fair American are the poop deck rail, the gangway steps and chess tree. This completes the outside of the hull (except for the quarter badges). The poop deck rail follows the painting scheme of the Rodger’s model, which I like. I painted the cavil black, as well. The gangway steps are made from a 1/32 inch piece of boxwood laminated to a 1/16 inch piece. They are unpainted except for the upper one which is painted black. I used a round file to shape them. The chess tree was made from two pieces of 1/16 inch boxwood since I didn’t have a boxwood 1/8 inch square plank. Next up are the timber heads, knight heads and the cat heads.
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Good work on the channel and chains. Also the gangway steps. They are small and a real challenge. As to my rudder, I just liked the look of the groove. Didn't know that there was a reason for it.
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Thanks Joe. Are you currently working on a build; and do you have a log for it? Cheers.
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Great to see your build progress again; and I must say it is coming along nicely. I really like the cabin interior with the checkered floor and the cleats and line to open the windows/ports. Everything looks good as well. I agree with you and plan to replace all the dye cast deck furniture. I hope you keep up with regular posting - seeing the problems and solutions of others helps me as I'm sure it helps others as well. Cheers.
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Thanks Scott. Are you currently working on a build?
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Hey Russ - Your craftsmanship is outstanding. Almost too bad to paint and cover it up. Great job!
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Thanks Russ and Bob. I have been retired for two years and I'm finally getting it through my head that Russ is right: " T'aint a hobby if you hurry." Cheers.
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I completed and installed the rudder. Again, I made the straps from 1/16” strips cut from a manila folder. The chain was my first time using “Birchwood Casey Brass Black”, and I had no trouble using what seems to be the standard procedure. Clean the chain (and eye rings) by soaking them about 15 minutes in Muriatic acid, wash clean with tap water and then put the chain into the Brass Black. Wait until it looks the right shade and remove. Clean with water again and try on a paper towel. Next time I will dilute the Muriatic acid, however. I may dilute the Brass Black as well.
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Thanks Gary, Alistair and Bob. It doesn't look as bad as I originally thought.\ Next I plan to mount the rudder. Cheers.
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The lower hull has been sanded and treenails drilled and filled with plastic wood. So I am definitely not painting the hull. Also, since I did a bad job on the rudder, I made a replacement out of spare wood from one of the pieces that contained the frames. The new rudder is visible in the first photo.
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The Model Ship World site was updated and unavailable over the weekend. When the problems were resolved and the site on-line again, there were problems with some of the photos in my build log. The "work-around" is to find the entries with references to photos, rather than the photos themselves. Then 'Edit' the entry, go to 'Full Edit', and delete the old references; Then re-attach the photos creating new references. I corrected my build log (which only has 9 pages), but I can see that for some builders, this will be a real hassle. But I want to inform as many people as possible so they can fix their build log. Good Luck.
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