vossiewulf

Been making the driver boom, I think that's what it is called, the main fore and aft boom, not sure why other than it's one of the things that needs to get done. I also received my Servomatic machine from Chuck, so I will be putting that together tomorrow, I need it to serve the stays as the intent is to have them fully served.
 
Not sure how many people remember at this point but one of my crazy ideas that worked really well was the doing the black of the hull not via brush or spray, but via pen. I got Faber Castell india ink archival waterproof ink pens and colored in the hull like a 3D coloring book. It was very easy and low stress and I like the result better than paint- a single layer of paint at 1:64 scale is like 20 scale coats and detail is lost. The film thickness of ink is negligible.
 
Anyway those original pens are long since gone and while I wait for Faber Castells from Amazon (Jan. 11?! bah) I tried some pens I found locally that also claimed to be india ink archival black pens.
 

We can see at least one of them is lying, it's not black it's dark purple. That's like the "black" of Sharpie pens, it's actually dark purple. The other one is desaturated but it looks more dark gray than black. Guess I will have to wait for the Fabers.
 
Like I said working on driver boom. For those interested in the process, I started with square Castello boxwood stock and made it octagonal using my model maker's palm plane. I then took it to the lathe, and rounded it and tapered it down at both ends, the thickest section is about 1/3 of the way along the boom. I then took it off the lathe, and used the same small palm-plane to create the two angled flats to accept the cheek piece thingies.

I then ripped a piece of boxwood to about 2.5mm and drew out the side pieces, then cut them out with a fretsaw and touched them up with the Nakanishi micromotor.


I used black gaffer's tape for the iron reinforcing bands, the white edges of the tape will go away when the whole boom is blackened.

And then I made and glued on the small wooden cleat.

Standing rigging and ratlines now complete, less bowsprit shrouds (WIP).  I should get through the yards, sails and running rigging fast enough.  I think this will be the last (and my first) rigged model I build for a while.


 

I few more frames added...





Happy modelling..

The build was completed as of today, 28 December!
 
Besides being short on almost everything, this has been an interesting build…as it is not for a beginner like me.  Besides the missing parts, many of the parts have to be fabricated, and that skill said I don't have or should I say didn't have,
 
Well, this was frustrating. However, it was one of the most educational bills I have paid because it gave me a better understanding as I move forward on my next build.
 
I have a few finished photos.

Just beginning to build the Cape Cod Catboat by Bluejacket.  My kit was delivered in great shape and well packaged.  My first task was to look at all the bits and pieces.  Much of the kit is laser cut.  The wood is high quality.  There are a number of metal bits such as copper, brass, cast, etc.  All metal parts look to be high quality as well.
 
Once happy all parts were accounted for, it was time to read the supplied documents.  There is a nice history of the catboat series penned by Howard Chapelle.  As you can see in the photos, the plans are well drawn and very clear. The instructions are clear but the builder will be using a couple pamphlets at the same to ensure an understanding of the steps.
 
My own research in American Sailing Craft by Howard Chapelle says the catboat’s history is murky at best prior to 1850. Nevertheless, the catboat was developed and evolved from 1850 through the end of the century.  The Bluejacket catboat has very similar lines as the 1895 boats built by Manley H. Crosby.  Bluejacket did supply a propeller and anchor that would go well with a more modern boat build after auxiliary power came into vogue.

Don't listen to the crazed part  Short of going with very translucent water it's going to be nearly impossible at 1/700 scale for the average viewer to have any idea what those booms are doing around the ship. At least I think it would be a considerable amount of fiddly work that may not be fully appreciated by your audience. At least any audience outside MSW, we know all about torpedo nets.

As promised, I finished planking the main deck.
Earlier I had mentioned that I was uncertain if the deck at the bow had a canvas or tarpaper cover.  I recently obtained a clear photo postcard of the J H Crawford’s sister boat the Paul L. The Paul L capsized in May 1910 after being unloaded of coal on only the starboard side.   It may be difficult to see here but the bow is clearly planked without canvas or tarpaper.  Contrast that with the canvas used on the hurricane deck

This is my early process on planking.  I added six access or storage hatches.  I built those up on a maple veneer base and then placed them. All the planking was 1/32 by 1/8 basswood. The holes in the decking are where the mid-deck stationaries will be placed. The orange dot will place a capstan.

The finished product. I included numerous slots in the deck for the stationaries, hog chain braces and bits.  This will be stronger than simply gluing them to the deck like I did on Thistle.


Next step is to begin building all of the “stuff” on the main deck.  This includes machinery, engine room crew quarters, and of course, the Scotch Marine Boiler.  Many thanks to Keith Black in his Lula build for finding a YouTube on an operating Scotch Marine boiler video. That will be a great help in building my boiler.

 

Merry Christmas everyone. It's been a while since Evian, but my little fat girl with the stripes is still slumbering in her transport box in the camper van. Too much to do in the time before the contemplative time.

Nevertheless, there was some news. Late additions and news. First the late addition 🙂

Some time ago I needed some more guns. The proportions of the kit barrels are actually quite good, and with the etched parts you can also get the coat of arms on quite well. However, the most difficult part was always the part that you see the most - the muzzle. In the past, I had always closed it with some sprue and drilled a new hole, which was acceptable for individual pieces but annoying for mass production. Since I already had the basic programming for the guns of the USS Constitution, I took the Blomefield lines from the contemporary plans and updated them in the file and also added the coat of arms in the correct thickness for the scale. So I was able to reconstruct the whole set of guns quite quickly, I still use the gun mounts from the box.

Here's the old and the new together.



Here is the difference between the untreated kit carronade and the new one, once pure and once with paint.







The long tubes also benefit. The basic proportions are correct, but now the reinforcement rings are more clearly defined and the crest fits the scale.







Here is a comparison of the lengths of the 12-pounders: short, medium, long, medium, short. I also took the opportunity to attach the flint lock. Because you never actually saw the empty pan shown otherwise. Either there was a cover over it or the flint lock was fitted.







I think it was worth it 🙂

XXXDAn

So i did not have much time to work on the model, but i made some progress. I made the top part of the davit. I did not use small blocks to make the bend parts. Instead i cut the wood with a small saw and then soaked it and next bend it. Also i made the anchor davit. Before i placed the wood i have painted everything black were needed.

I just made it to one of the margin / waterway planks! Time for an expresso!
 
While it isn't easy to see in this picture, the outermost plank is nibbed into the second plank near the stern so that it was not thinned / shaped to a pointy end.
 
Also, I didn't quite follow the lines on the plywood for the last planks I installed. To keep them as even as possible out to the waterway, I made use of a proportional divider to set the width of each plank as it was added. First taking a sixth of the remaining distance, then a fifth, etc. This was to hopefully guard against having an overly wide (or narrow) plank up against the waterway. It seems to have worked out OK and I will employ the same technique on the other side.

Thank you the twins!
Druxey - thank you and complements of the season to you and yours.
Thank you Glen - I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Hopefully Andy. Because she is with her alternate grandparents in Lyme Regis she won't be getting it until 1st January when we go to "sit on" the Grandchildren before they return to school / nursery.
 
Anyway back to the main event and a start on reporting the few jobs that I managed in parallel with the dolls house build.
 
I tried both versions of your suggestions for cutting out the gingerbread. The reverse blade method worked but I found it a bit slow so I glued the 2 sheets of brass together with double sided tape and attached them to a third sheet of 1/16" plywood. This worked well. The cutting was somewhat quicker than the reverse blade method but still slow enough to provide an acceptable degree of control. "Somewhat quicker" is a relative term as it took me ages to work my way around all those nooks and crannies.
 
The length of the decoration was circa 7" and my jewellers saw only has a 3" throat so I has to make the decoration in 3 pieces. The next photo is part way through the first piece, and features the first broken blade.
And here is the first piece completed.

And then the second piece - sawing completed but still mounted on the backing plywood.

Then separated, using white spirit to dissolve the double sided tape.

I then applied a first coat of metal paint to start building the thickness.

I also started building up the prow decoration.
The scroll was turned and glued in place.

Next i turned the elongated "bead" before shaping it and attaching it to a piece of 1/32" ply.

The next photo shows it temporarily in position with a couple of extra bits of carving also in place. The 4 beads in front of the scroll are .04" ball bearings.

I have still much to do in this area to reproduce the finished article and of course much of it will be painted gold.
 
I'll catch up a bit more before the New Year.
 
 

As I recall the nets were only carried the first couple years of the war. Just say it's 1918, no nets
 

Don't listen to the crazed part  Short of going with very translucent water it's going to be nearly impossible at 1/700 scale for the average viewer to have any idea what those booms are doing around the ship. At least I think it would be a considerable amount of fiddly work that may not be fully appreciated by your audience. At least any audience outside MSW, we know all about torpedo nets.

After a month of working on the Flying Dutchman and Black Pearl, it's back to the Constitution and the port side of the ratlines for the lower shrouds.  
 
Proof that one man's heaven as another man's hades!  I do not share Bob's affection for ratlines.  I queue up a bunch of music or a long podcast, put my head down, and grind thru it.  Many, many hours later, it's done!
    
 
 
 
Next up is the upper shrouds.  Of course that means more ratlines, but not near as many as on the lower shrouds.  I'm guessing about 1/3 the number of knots. 

Wouldn't it be more likely that the second ring was used when the guns were stowed sideways for heavy weather?

She’s finished. Thank God for Christmas vacation time! Logged hours: 678h over a 4 year period. The rigging took the lion share of the time overall. What a project. I’m sticking to single masted jobs for a while. Sheesh.
Next up is the case. I’m going acrylic. I made my one and only glass one last year and said no more.

One last build log post, maybe. I went to the wood shop yesterday in contemplation of a name plate. Through the meandering of shop and mind I put my thinking together with my partner and we decided to try something with our 4D Resin printer. 
 
Over lunch we found a website for name plates and you can download the STL files for free. Once we got home we sat down and built a name plate with an appealing font, downloaded the file, and then scaled/size down.
https://www.nametag-designer.com/
If you use this site, note that the size defaults to almost 36in long. So if you are going to size down you have to make everything a bit bigger than you would suspect (like base plate 50mm, Letter height 65or so mm) it will feel too much. but it worked out so well. 

 
Once printed we sanded and primed it. Then my partner helped me use the air brush to cover it all in black. After I had some Golden Metallic Acrylic paint from my D&D character paint set and used a toothpick to over the tops of the boarder and letters in Gold. Clear coated the top and glued to base. 


 
I am very happy with the completed look and that it now feels complete to be placed on the shelf. 
 
Next up will post final photos to Finished Albums. Will post link here once I get the album created. 

Contenti, Rio Grande, Otto Frei all carry reasonably priced pliers sets that are made well and will last a lifetime. I long ago stopped buying any tools from model manufacturers/supply places because the tools they sell are pretty inevitably the cheapest versions of those tools and it's false economy to buy from them.

Contenti, Rio Grande, Otto Frei all carry reasonably priced pliers sets that are made well and will last a lifetime. I long ago stopped buying any tools from model manufacturers/supply places because the tools they sell are pretty inevitably the cheapest versions of those tools and it's false economy to buy from them.

Generally good, with good materials and instructions.

Generally good, with good materials and instructions.

Dear all
 
I think we can call this boat finished!
So lets break down this final update:
 
I finished the lobster pots and tied them up at the stern.

I thought it would be fun to make some oil cans and a crate to put them in.


I really wanted to add some fishing nets and an anchor but my initial attempts did not work out and I decided to leave it here and concentrate on Hercules.
 
A few photos of the finished boat:







I do need to make some kind of cradle for the model but this will be part of a much larger project, as I intend to  space in my loft to display all my models.
 
Many thanks to all for your company in this fun journey and my best wishes for a very happy and prosperous new year!
 
Vaddoc

I’ve been looking at the 18” extended table for the Byrnes saw since it became available.  Prior to Jim’s passing, his shop would do the install.  I reached out to Donna. The extended table was still available but I would have to install it myself. I was terrified about potentially messing up a saw that would be difficult to repair or replace, but decided to move ahead anyways. 
 
It came with instructions, but they were a little sparse.  7 steps totaling 9 sentences, no illustrations.
 
Turns out the instructions are actually adequate and despite my limited mechanical skills, I was able to complete the install.  I did not take pictures (sorry) but had some additional detail that might help anyone who takes on the same project:
 
1)      Remove belt guard and belt
This step was pretty self explanatory.  To remove the blade guard you need a Phillips head screwdriver with narrow diameter.  The access holes are small.
2)      Lower blade mechanism all the way down
Again, self explanatory
3)      Turn saw over and remove the blade
And again, self explanatory.  I was feeling pretty good at this point.
4)      The coupler (U-Joint) that has the threaded rod going into it needs to be heated because it is loctited in place. 
This is where I started to get nervous.  Loctite comes in 3 different forms.  For the more permanent variety, I read about using a butane torch.  I did not want to use anything this hot.  Turns out a regular heat gun is adequate – the same one that I use for bending wood.  I ran it over the coupler for about 30 seconds.
5)      Break the set screw loose…  press the blade mechanism down toward the bottom of table and the threaded rod should come out of the coupler (u-joint).   Once it has broke loose, turn the saw back over.
I didn’t like the “break” word.  Turns out this works as written.  With gentle pressure, the threaded rod pops out of the coupler.
6)      Remove the 6 screws that are holding the table to cabinet and remove table
This is straightforward as well.
7)      Put your new 18” table on cabinet, and do all the above in reverse order.  Insert screws, flip saw over and put loctite on new threaded rod going into coupler. 
I laughed when I read “do all the above in the reverse order.”  This is like in surgery training where we were jokingly told that after you remove whatever needs to come out, you just “stitch everything you cut back together in the reverse order” – it isn’t usually that straightforward, and wasn’t here.
 
-          I had big problems getting the new threaded rod into the coupler.  I’m still not sure why this was a problem.  It looked exactly the same as the old threaded rod- same diameter and threads.  After almost giving up, I took the old coupling rod off the 12”top and swapped it for the new rod.  For whatever reason, this one fit easily.
-          Replacing the belt guard was a nightmare -if anyone has replaced the belt and has a trick for this, please post it.  This will be hard to understand without pictures.  The guard creates a closed space, and 3 of the 4 attachment screws are not reachable from the open end.  I supported the saw on its side so the belt side was up and level, balanced the 3 screws in their holes in the belt guard, and attempted to line up the holes and get the screws started through the small access holes.  Invariably two screws would fall out while I got the first one started.  I finally got two of them started.  The fourth screw is easy as it can be reached from the end that opens for the belt.  Fortunately, the cover is secure with just 3 screws.  Unless there is some special tool, I’m not sure how to get all 4 screws in place.  There must be a trick because it came with all 4 in place.
 
I’m happy with the new saw.  I think the extra 6” of top makes a big difference.
 
-          On the left of the blade is more table to support long pieces while being cut.  This makes it easier to manage long or bulky pieces.  Also, it is easier to keep fingers further from the blade. 
-          The right side of the blade is where the big improvement (for me) happens.  I can now cut 6” pieces without removing the fence of micrometer adjustment.  I work mostly in 1/48, so this is a scale 24’ length of lumber.  Removing the fence isn’t that big a deal (two screws), but  somehow I always dropped at least one of them and had to search for it, so this is a big deal for me.
-          Downsides- The saw takes up more room on the workbench and is a little heavier and more cumbersome to move around.  It will likely make blade change a little more difficult.
 
I’ve done some cutting on it since the install.  I’m very happy with it.  I may have knocked the old saw a little out of alignment in around 15 years of use.  This one rips like the saw is new.