vossiewulf

Much narrower kerf than Zona saws, hold an edge much longer.

Oh and a gratuitous stern shot, haven't showed that. I think this cutter was owned by a smuggler, who blinged-out the stern. And then named it White Tail.

Rudder machined out, deck furniture manufactured. You know the only parts from this kit I've used so far are the bulkheads, keel, sub-deck and now the grates. Do I get credit for a scratchbuild? Maybe I should request a new semi-scratchbuilt category.

The grate frames are boxwood in the right size as far as I can tell, with lap joints at the corner which I understand is the correct joinery. The companion was planked vertically with boxwood and then given hinges out of bits of styrene and door knobs made from squishing the melted end of a piece of stretched sprue. I would have turned them out of wood but my dowel stock seems MIA (I had to move out and back into my house over the summer).

As you can see in the pics, I used alcohol-based aniline dye. You can mix any color, there's no pigment to obscure grain, and even though it looks like it penetrates deeply, it doesn't; don't like this color, get out 400 grit and in five minutes your piece has no color and you're ready to try again. They're also very efficient, as you see a very little goes a long way- get a set of dye powders and you have stain for ships for forever.

The downside is that they'll stain anything, I treat them like nitro glycerine in terms of safe handling.

I also sat staring at the rudder for about two hours before I came up with what I think is a good way to make something that looks realistic while also having some strength. But I will probably set it aside for the time being to focus on deck planking.

You know I was thinking of doing Cruizer next but how am I supposed to beat this? Very nice work Joe.

19 hours ago, stewblack said:

At what points should the bevel begin and end on the false keel please? Should the bottom edge of each bulkhead touch the bearding line? I notice on your build that bulkheads E, F, and G do not. I believe this is the main mistake I have made, interpreting that the tops of the bulkheads should be evenly aligned for the deck planks. 

 

Depending on the angle at which the plank is intersecting the stem/stern/keel the bulkheads can stop anywhere from on the bearding line for planks coming in at almost 90 degrees (e.g. center of garboard) to well short of the bearding line for planks coming in at an acute angle (like those going into the sternpost). 

54 minutes ago, mtaylor said:

I did decide to go the LMS mill as a replacement (retirement gift to myself) so I could use some standard tooling... Wow... what a difference.  By comparison it's quieter and more precise.

Yeah, you can't go wrong with pretty much anything sold by Little Machine Shop. At least I haven't received anything but quality tools and equipment buying from them. Their suped-up versions of the Sieg mini lathe and mini mill definitely own the top end corner of the market, I'm jealous

The standard Sieg 7x14 Mini-Lathe has been around for many years now and is a very accurate machine with which you can do very fine work. I bought mine from Micro-Mark under their brand, same machine. But Little Machine Shop is the best place for you to spend time if you're considering getting a small lathe or milling machine. You can give them a call and they'll talk you through all the options.

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4959&category=1271799306

Attached are 1/16th Le Rhone 9J cylinders that I turned on my standard Sieg lathe. The cooling fins are .006".

8 hours ago, John Allen said:

Has anyone purchased a Dremel 2050 Stylo + ?  I saw one in Wal Mart $ 60.00 it's really small about the size of a fat permanent marker?

Worth the price. Looks like there might be some advantages.

If you're willing to spend the money, what you're looking for is called a micromotor. Brushless, small, high torque, but not cheap - probably $500 minimum and the better ones are up to $1500 or more. But if you get one, you'll never look at a Dremel tool again. The most reasonably-priced one I am aware of is the Marathon: https://www.artcotools.com/marathon-micromotor/

Here's a good example, a couple years ago I went through surgical supply places and bought some professional medical and dental tools. One  of them that you couldn't pry out of my dead hands is called a Barraquer Needle Holder. It sits in a happy place between pliers and tweezers and has taken over much of the duty from both of those. If you go to Ebay and just type that name in, you get this:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=barraquer+needle+holder&_sacat=0&_fsrp=1

A zillion Barraquer needle holders for $15 or less, made in China or Indonesia by god knows who. These would be what Micro-Mark would sell, and they probably don't work super well. However if you hit the "over $35" button you get this:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=barraquer+needle+holder&_sacat=0&_fsrp=1&_udlo=35

If you bought one of the Storz or V. Mueller or Accutome ones you'd get an instrument that's at the top level of world instrument quality in any field, and you'd use it constantly and be very happy every time you did so.  I know they're expensive but I really think the return on investment makes it worth it every time.

Another good one is called Colibri Forceps, they're for opthalmic surgery and they're by far the best tweezers I've ever used. One, good ones are very finely engineered so that the harder you press, the more force is put on what you're holding until it bottoms out. You can lift surprisingly heavy things with them. Two, the L-shaped jaws are genius. Instead of holding something at points like with most tweezers, you're holding with these L shapes and they are an order of magnitude more resistant to having the object you're holding twist than any tweezers I've used. You can lift bottles of paint with them, and with perfect control place tiniest piece you need to attach to something.

Just be careful as some come with teeth. They're big sharp stabby teeth that are exactly what you don't want. So make sure with pics or text that you're looking at ones with no teeth.

Here's a competent example:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Asico-Colibri-Forceps-0-12mm-AE-4030/362497499945?hash=item546688e329:g:y80AAOSwc-tY1CAI:rk:20:pf:0

This evening I sanded her all over with 2000 grit to knock down all the fuzz and to flatten the finish a bit, then she got two more coats of a different more satin clear acrylic. I'll do a light final sanding with 2500 tomorrow and she'lll have a nice smooth finish.

The black is slightly variable, but I've decided I like it, or at least am doing a good job of talking myself into it. The markers worked well over all but had two problems I didn't anticipate: one, it reacts to dry CA glue, forming a halo around it. I had to resand things even more carefully before putting the final coat on. And two, I didn't anticipate the effects of having to go over and over in certain hard to reach areas, which is pretty much everywhere but the turn of the bilge downward.

However, the resulting effect looks almost like scale paint brushes to me, and there is a little bit of variability that I'd expect on a real ship. It also covered with a much thinner film than paint, leaving the woodgrain still visible. 

Hopefully tomorrow I will unmask the deck and start looking at the deck planking. Since I am using holly, I am not wasting a ton of wood with hooked planks, it's after 1800 so it's legal for me to do nibs. I have a good drawing of a nibbed deck that seems straightforward. Easy, no, straightforward, yes. Making the outer plank is going to be an adventure. I plan to do it similarly to how I did the rest of the planking, making the nib cuts in the outer plank in situ. I think.

13 hours ago, tkay11 said:

I don't know if this helps, but during my build of the Sherbourne I had a query about Petersson's illustration of the mast tackles

Thanks Tony, have bookmarked that for later

1 hour ago, BANYAN said:

Nice progress Vossiwolf.  I would not be too concerned with the gloss look.  I had the same issue with a matt black on Endeavour where under lights etc it looked very shiny but to the eye in even lighting looked 'flat'  - amazing how light can play such tricks!

I'll let it sit and I will stare at it a while before deciding to do anything. But if I do want to switch, I have at least three other compatible satin clearcoat options in the closet, so it won't be any big deal.

56 minutes ago, Rick01 said:

Just one thing to remember - make sure that you can fit the irons through the mortise before gluing it all up. Very embarrassing when you find the mortise slightly too narrow (as I found out ) and have to rebuild it. 

I thought about that while making them- and went back and deepened them a couple times before I felt double extra sure that any brass strip of correct size will easily fit through

4 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Several years ago I bought a package of ZRust strips and put some into enclosed tool storage cabinets.  They seem to work.

I use Renaissance Wax. Used by the royal museums in England to protect their collections, of course no silicone. A very thin coating keeps my planes and chisels and carving tools (I have up to jack planes so not all small) rust-free.

One for the beginners, if you need a bunch of very narrow mortises in something, cheat and make it out of two pieces.

And at the bottom, how she stands as of this evening, with two supposedly satin clear coats but it looks pretty glossy to me, will have to see how it looks tomorrow. May need to switch to something more satiny. But the clear coats do finally bring the cocobolo to life, it's one of those woods that looks good unfinished but finished it's whoa...

Bummer of the channels is that the oar port there no longer makes sense, but I didn't think far enough ahead. If done over, I'd plank over the oar ports, I see several models showing none.

On 11/1/2018 at 5:09 PM, CPDDET said:

Just received my first MicroMark catalog. Holy smokes!!

 

This reminds me of when I first became a boat owner and later when I first became a RV owner. West Marine and Camping world sold more gadgets, do-dads, thing-a-ma-jigs and what-ja-ma-call-its than one could use in 3 lifetimes. As a dyed in the wool tool addict this type of paraphernalia is dangerous to be within a country mile of the house.

 

This newbie will be seeking the advice of you more experienced builders about which contraptions are worth having before I dish out any of my hard earned moola.

 

Dave

Keep in mind that the quality of tools from Micro-Mark varies quite a bit. Some are pretty good, but many are cheap knock-offs of professional tools, mostly jeweler's tools. I long since stopped buying from Micro-Mark and I go straight to professional jeweler and watchmaker and machinist supply places, this is very much a you get what you pay for thing - if you buy a set of needle files for $10, don't expect them to work real well, it's far better to save your money and spend $50 on a professional set that are dead straight and extremely sharp and will last many years.

Start here: http://www.ottofrei.com/

I sanded mine to 800 grit, but no filler used. Below it was at the 400 grit stage.

3 hours ago, ronald305 said:

how do I find his store are you talking about a drill bit or a special knife 

                                

http://www.hocktools.com/products/knives.html

http://www.hocktools.com/products/perfectedge.html

https://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Pebble-Sharpening-Waterstone-Whetstone/dp/B01FZZUL30/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1543524111&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=combo+water+stone&psc=1

The best solution because you use it everywhere is a better option than X-Acto. That's a real knife with an Rockwell hardness of 62+ and proper sharpening stones and then you have something that can be made much sharper than X-Acto blades and it will hold that edge orders of magnitude longer. And sharpening blades is neither that difficult nor very time-consuming once you get the hang of it. Pick up a copy of The Perfect Edge by Ron Hock if you don't already know how to sharpen things. And then go to his store and buy a good detail knife, in my opinion he makes the best blades outside Japan.

14 hours ago, popeye the sailor said:

hello there!   glad to see your back at the table     I believe that on these ships,  some of the dead eyes are for back stays,  and are not included in the ratline rigging of the shrouds.   in some cases,  back stays can even be done in a pendant and pulley assembly fashion,  not utilizing a dead eye.   when I plank a deck,  I'll leave openings for structures and holds,  but not for anything else.   hope to see more of your project........the hull looks really good   

Good to see you're still building like four ships at once

Smaller wale and cap rail installed and first of the black sections colored in. It was done before the cap rail was installed, and the cap rails themselves were blackened before install as both would be hard to reach easily once the cap rail was in place. Now working on channels, I am making a single one for each side using five deadeyes per the fore and aft book, although Tony's pics all seem to show them with four. They will go below the gunports, again like the book, with a gap for one gunport.

Well harrumph pic I uploaded is blurry. Trying again...

I don't see a link there

On 6/26/2017 at 9:41 PM, Rick01 said:

Hows the planking coming on? I find the last couple of runs can be real sods when attempting a perfect fit! I guess work and your cough have probably been in the way a bit recently.

Probably after, I should have put one in first but I forgot and went ahead and painted the gunwales, which I did with airbrush after masking everything. I may try to add a small strip after the deck planking is in and hand paint it.

For anyone who has the Rigging Period Fore and Aft Ships or whatever the title is, the first section is of course basically this ship. I'm confused however by the shrouds he shows. On one page he shows five deadeyes per side with one paired with a burton pendant, all six pairs going to the mainmast. But then on the next page he shows two deadeyes per side running to the topmast through spreaders. Seven per side seems a lot of deadeyes for a cutter, but the vice versa is two per side going to the top leaving only three shroud stays per side going to the mainmast, and that doesn't seem right either. If someone can clarify it would be much appreciated.

4 hours ago, Rick01 said:

I sketched in the areas where the deck fittings were to be situated, planked up to them then dropped the fittings in after. Sounds a bit awkward but I found it easier than trying to manouvre planks round hatches etc.

Good to see you back! 🙂

 

Rick

4 hours ago, Haliburton said:

Good to see you back in action!   Scott

4 hours ago, BANYAN said:

Welcome back; I trust you have resolved all the issues so that you can concentrate on your build again.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Thanks everyone. Things seem good and stable for now so hopefully progress will continue

Rick, especially glad to see you around still. Thanks, I think that is what I will do, that's a good compromise.

9 hours ago, tkay11 said:

Glad that life now allows you to continue! Nice work!

 

Tony

Thanks Tony. It's been a long time with many challenges, most of them bad, so it's nice to be sitting at workbench again making progress. Last evening and today I made the gratings, cut my small wales pieces and the external stern counter reinforcement pieces (I'm sure there's a specific name for those pieces but can't remember) from cocobolo and dry fit them, and also picked up Faber Castell india ink art markers at the local art supply store as they're the only art markers I've seen that are actually black. Prismacolor, Tomboy, Sharpie, all are dark purple, not black and that clashes with my cocobolo pieces.

And if you're wondering why I'm using art markers, the answer is because they're the best way to do the next step in the way I'd like it done. India ink markers, even if pigment-based, leave a much thinner film than does paint and I really didn't want to lose the texture of the wood under paint layers. Being india ink they'll be light fast, and also make it much easier to apply the black than masking everything for an airbrush or brush painting everything. I'm going to play ship coloring book and color in the black with my markers

So I've been away for a while much longer than intended, life, health, work, yadda yadda boring stuff. Apologies to those who were following.

I finished the planking, have the main wale on, and have painted the interior gunwales and stern red ochre or at least my version of red ochre. Main question I have now is should I place the deck fixtures and plank around them, or glue them on post-deck planking? The instructions recommend the latter while I think the former is more accurate.

I think I'm going to paint it black topsides except for the stern (holly) and the wales (cocobolo) and below the waterline, all of which I'll leave natural. The lighter color of the boxwood can represent the white lead paint without covering over all the planking.

The way to avoid that problem is to build the wings and tails over the plans, that is what I have always done. Tape plans or a copy of them to your building board taut and flat, repeat with some plastic wrap over top to prevent any problems with glue sticking to plans, pin or clamp spars in the correct place and off you go. No way to have a problem unless the plans themselves are wrong.

Andrew, I recommend you contact Model Expo, they have a free replacement for broken/missing parts policy. I cannot see any reasonable way to fix what you have or use it in the finished model as is - explain to them what happened and see if you can get replacement parts for the wooden parts of the top wing.

Thanks Rob  I've been thinking about selling a range of tools for modelers that are a considerable step up from hobby shop tools, just don't know where the time is supposed to come from. I'd have to find someone who can totally manufacture what I want to my standards, no way with the job I have to do another job on top.