mspringer

Next question is, how to hide tools from grown kids? Not to protect kids, but to protekt tools? First Dremel set, then paintbrushes, after anvile (!). Yesterday soldering iron ...
 
BTW, with locking door, you will hide Lego from yourself

I was about to complete the quarterdeck framing when I realized that I had forgotten to do the elm tree pumps, which had to go in before the deck framing. Whew.
 
The pumps were made up from boxwood strip and a tiny bit of wire. The body of the pumps are  square strip, sanded eight sided and drilled out at the top and for the drain. I also made up the main jeer bitts and drilled their mounting holes before in stalling the deck framing. They have not been installed yet.
 
The remaining deck framing was done like the previous sections with the beams, carlings, ledges, lodging knees and hanging knees.
 
The next items will be the main topsail sheet bitts and the completion of the chain pump cranks and supports.
 
Bob

Hi Sherry,
 
Your work is totally incredible and a real inspiration!  I really enjoy seeing the great detail.  Thanks for taking the time to share the photos.
 
You might have already said, but what kind of wood are the carvings?  I assume you did those with just a knife and some sandpaper?  
 
Mark 

Another small update.....
 
New additions include the vertical strips of wood on the hull mid-ship. I'm not sure of the name or function of these timbers, but I'm wondering if they could be for protection of the hull when the lowering of the ship's boats? 
 
Also added are more ornamentation pieces, such as the eagles and the piece at the top of the gallery door.
Now to make these same pieces for the port side.
 

 

 

I set up a production line to make the gunport covers. I first precision sanded them square and to size. I made a guage to check the size and mark the center for the gunport which I fled after making a tiny cut with a razor knife. Last, I cleaned off any surface glue left over from gluing the two planks together. I'm not even half way with this part of the process. After this, I have to glue on two hinges on each cover. This is difficult work for me....I can only imagine have much work it would be for the Victory!

It seems like every day I add things that now make a significant difference in the look.  Yesterday was the timberheads, gluing the cap rails down and assembling and fastening the ladders.  I have talked / covered how this was done in other parts of the build so I just attach some new photos:
 

 
Boy, that camera angle sure makes those ladders look totally crazy width wise.  That is optics.  I have the cleats, blackening the chimney and the eking rails left before gel coating and moving back to the quarterdeck.
 
Stay Building my Friends,
Mark

Thx all for likes and comments. Finished sanding with 220 granulation, next 280 and 400. All "trenches" filled, and start thinking about final deck colour- can I replay last experiment, will it be same, better or ... anyway, it must be transparent ... I am so delighted with succes of caulking efect, and this must be visible for everybody who will be interested to put his nose close enough throught jungle of ropes and sails, and who has good eyes to see that without opening Her future glass home

Cleaning sand dust from deck and bulwarks will be interesting. In earlier stages I learned something: if you want perfect (as perfect you are able to do) paint, there must not be any dust traces. And for now, Her Majesty is completly covered with thin layer of dust. Whole shipyard too ( I was "smart" enough just to blow dust from Her to the air ...) . Bad influence of tonight episode of Game of Thrones when son of Lysa Erin said : I want to se it/him fly ... 200W light bulb is so dusted that gives light as bulb 45W strong. Window glass is grey transparent. Coffie had wooden taste. It means that first I have to undust workspace before any painting job trying not to fall out throught Moon door until Gandalf send his Eagle to save me Fortunately, Admiral was not downstairs long ago. If she comes down, even John Snow can not save me of her roaring.

Ship's Boats - continued:
 
In my last update, I described how I was planning to make the frames for both the 28 ft Pinnace and the two 25 ft Cutters.  With that test deemed "successful", it was time to proceed.
 
First up was to make the building boards - one for each of the three boats.  After re-sizing the patterns from my Warrior Practicum (Romero), I printed these on sticky label paper (a tip picked up from Danny Vadas) and stuck them to 3mm Birch Plywood (aircraft grade).  In this pic, you can clearly see the very different shape of these two hull forms.
 

 
I think I could have equally well used 3mm MDF, but Romero specified the other, so I decided to see if there was a noticeable difference (other than a significant price difference, that is!).  There wasn't - at least not to my rudimentary skill level.  I used a 28 TPI skip tooth saw blade for the most part with these.  Keith asked previously about a spiral blade (which cuts in any direction).  Apart from having had difficulty controlling these in the past, they do have a noticeably wider kerf and I wanted to keep the kerf to a minimum for this job as I need to be able to re-insert the centre section as part of the building process (all will become clear a little further down the track).  The one exception was when I cut the the transom "slot" at an angle after cutting the remainder of the board.  To do this, I inserted a spiral blade and used the scroll saw's tilting head feature to cut the transom slot at 18 degrees for the Pinnace, and 12 degrees for the two cutters.  This doesn't really show up in the pictures (I may have taken the pictures before cutting them).  Anyway, here's what the completed build boards look like.  I clearly still need some practice with the scroll saw, but cutting accuracy wasn't vital for this part (thankfully!).
 

 
I mentioned previously that the frames are cut from 1/32" stock, made up by laminating two pieces of 1/64" stock.  The reason for the laminated approach is to provide structural strength by laminating the two pieces with the grain running at 90 degrees to each other.  While this does work, anyone who has tried laminating sheet stock will tell you of the problem of unwanted curvature - just check out Mark Taylor's Licorne log to read of his issues building ship-size frames at 1:64 scale, and you'll appreciate how much more severe the problem becomes at this tiny scale.  On reflection, I reckon this is the reason that all plywood you buy is made of an odd number of laminates - to keep it flat.  Anyway, here are the frame patterns laid out on the laminated stock - I'm using pear for the Pinnace, and will be using Costello Boxwood for the Cutters.  (Oh, and by the way, after laminating, the stock was placed and clamped firmly between two thick boards for over 24 hours).
 

 
Once the stock is cut down to "frame" size, the warping fortunately more or less disappears.  However, here is a news flash - the scroll saw does not discriminate between wood and fingers!  I got a little too close at one stage and just nicked my right forefinger - nothing more serious than say a slight slip with the old Exacto, but enough to make me sit up and take notice.  After cutting 20 frames, I reckon I'm starting to get the hang of the scroll saw though.  The real trick is getting your mind around manoeuvring the workpiece around the blade, rather than the other way around.  To do this safely, you really need to allow plenty of "waste" stock around the final piece.  I was a little short on spare stock, so economised a little more than perhaps I should have.  Lesson learned.  The method was to cut the inside of the frame pattern out on the scroll saw, clean up with a file, then temporarily re-glue it and shape the outside of the pattern on the disc sander (this gives the otherwise very fragile piece some support). For those frames with complex curves, the final part of the external surface was achieved using a grinding/polishing stone in a hand held rotary device (similar to a Dremel).  The inner stock was then removed through the judicious use of Isopropyl Alcohol - being careful not to use so much that the frames delaminated!
 
And here's the result: 
 

 
The keel was made in a similar way, only using stock of twice the thickness (ie two pieces of 1/32" stock to create a 1/16" thick laminate).  Bending wasn't quite as severe, but is present nevertheless.  I'm now keeping the completed keel clamped until it is ready for installation in order to minimise the warpage.  Again, the inside line was cut first.  Then the frame positions were transferred from the building board to the keel and the piece returned to the scroll saw to have the frame notches cut. Then the outside shape was formed using the disc sander.  Here is the completed keel - note that the deadwood, and apron pieces have been included in the single piece.
 

 
Here are a couple of pics of the keel in place on the building board.  In the first pic, the line of the lamination running down the centre of the keel is quite evident.  
 

 
In the second pic, you will note that the aft end of the keel piece does not reach the aft end of the board.  This is because the transom piece (frame no. 10) will be attached to the keel first, and then a stern support piece will be attached outboard of that into the build board.
 

 
That's it for now.  Over the next week, I hope to install the keel and frames onto the build board for the Pinnace, and once that is proved successful, I'll repeat the process for the two Cutters.

Finally a bit of an update!
First photo shows some shaped pieces at the bow. In my eagerness to finish and install these and the fancy trim overlay, I forgot to take pictures and these pieces are virtually hidden now!
 

 
Next up were the catheads and trim, made from basswood square stock.
 

 
I used copper sheet to cut strips and fashion the brackets that hold the catheads down.
 

 

 

 
Everything is assembled.
 

 
Then installed on the model. I used copper wire to simulate bolts.
 

 
Here's a bow shot with catheads installed and bow braces and trim pieces.
 

 
This picture shows the copper brackets blackened with liver of sulphur. I used EdT's method of soaking them in acetone first, to clean and remove any coating that may have been present. Then I dipped a small paint brush in dilute liver of sulphur and applied to the brackets in situ, followed by a water rinse - it worked like a charm!
 

 
Just a slightly different angle.
 

 
That's it for now.

These are some of my Japanese saws:
 
My absolute favourite is the little one laying on top - its about 5cm (2inches) blade and about 42tpi..and the cleanest cut I have seen.
 
I got them from Deiters fine tools in Germany - as it was just as quick and cost about the same shipping as somewhere in Australia - and cheaper for the items,
 
 
Links:
The 3 set mini's
http://www.fine-tools.com/G312054.htm#ziel10
 
the little favourite.. with a 0.15mm kerf
http://www.fine-tools.com/micro-saws.html
 
My US fret saw: (this one is pretty good too..)
http://www.fine-tools.com/knew-concepts-fretsaw.html
 
Ohh and the one at the back is about 4" blade and is a flush cut Japanese saw...
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Where jig saw blades are concerned, there are quite a few manufacturers of blades but the most available ,in the US any way, is probably Olson. In the hobby shops that are still left one can find Zona brand also. A rule of thumb is to choose a blade that can put three teeth on the thickness of material being cut. So for thin metal you probably want 48 -56 TPI. (Teeth Per Inch) for thicker material, 1/4", you may want say 12 TPI skip tooth blades. These will allow the saw to clear out the sawdust as you move along. Also for thicker material you may want reverse tooth blades for quicker cutting. These blades cut on oth the up and down stroke to speed cutting.       BILL

I think I might have a winner.  I should have checked the paint section of this forum for potential hints, but after a trip to the local Woodcraft and asking the grizzled veterans there General FInishes Gel Urethane came highly recommended.  Now, the label says wipe on and that is a potential issue, but the gel was very viscous and a paint brush worked very well.  If you paint it on consistently in one direction, any excess is essentially removed negating the need for wiping.  It does need to dry overnight but I am okay with that. I took some surplus steps to verify it can handle small fiddly bits and there was no issue.  Definitely no shine like the the other two finishes I tried.  No fuzzies or crazy grain rising either.
 
It recommends 2-3 coats but visually there wasn't much difference so.....one coat for the hard to reach internal surfaces and two coats for everything else.  There is a slight change in color and the potential to darken some with age but again I have no issues with that. 
 
Once I start I think it should take about a week of steady work to get it covered.  Then I can incrementally do the internal sections as they are completed and ready.
 
Mark
 

Thanks for all the kudos, looks and likes!
 
Grant - for most of the ideas you have picked up here, I can probably refer to other builds where I snagged them.
 
Tim - I don't know if I am as good as lucky!
 
As i thought about the forecastle it became obvious two things had to happen first.  I had to pry off the top level outer planks since they were sanded down slightly more than they should have been and replace them.  Not too hard and easy to do.
 
The second was the railing had to be done now (or a factor of 10 in hardness later).  This was a half height railing (would not conform to OSHA standards) of five posts.  For strength I opted to mortise them into the deck beam.  After all the planking is attached I will attach a cap piece running the length of the beam to cover the end of the planks as well as most of the generated mortises.
 
First order of business was to generate five posts that had some carving done to their tops as well as a plank shelf running the length of the railing.  I cut a notch around the post for the 1/32inch shelf to slide into for support and maintain constant height.  To do this I always like a jig:
 

 
Once the post work was done I cut the post to half width where it connected with the deck beam using my Byrnes saw.  I always use a sled that I have built if I am not ripping down lengths of wood.  The whole sled moves with everything else anchored.  Very solid, very safe and easy to make several accurate cuts on different pieces of wood.  A micro-chisel was used to smooth down any bumps left by the saw blade.
 

 
I then attached one post at a time, starting from the center.  I also doweled the mortised section into the deck beam.
 

 
After each post was affixed I used a piece of oversized wood for the shelf and cut the slot for the post into the shelf.  This allowed one slot to be focused on at a time which was easy as opposed to five at the same time.
 

 
Working outwards it didn't take too long to get all the posts in and the shelf fitting snug.  Then I simply cut the shelf down to size lengthwise and width wise.  An important item to remember was that the deck planks have not been attached (so that size needs to be accounted for).  When I put the railing on the ship I put down a couple of pieces of plank thick wood for visual comparison.
 

 
I will add small pieces of wood to fill the gaps in the shelf behind each post.  This system worked out a lot easier than I had thought and I feel much more confident on the railing work on the stern now - which is a good thing.  Lots of ways to do things, but this worked for me.
 
Next up is the mast partner and then the catheads.
 
Stay building my friends,
Mark

RIght now I have no plans to.  This hull has been around for 8 years (assembled) and been very stable so far.  Also, there are already regions I am unable to adequately reach.  With basswood really need some sort of sealer.
 
This whole ship has been a learning experience for me.  Most items (where possible) are doweled or positioned with clamps as opposed to glue to allow some movement.  I attach an internal pic of the orlop deck which has survived with no ill effects so far.
 
Loving the hobby,
Mark
 

Let me add my best wishes for a Happy Birthday!
 
And, yes, cable management can be a real bear...

Here is short video guide how to make it like this

 
 
(click CC to turn on subtitles)

Yes, pinning is the answer for the channels.  I use thin wire, depending on the thickness of the channel.  Something like 28 gauge.  Mount them in the channel then position it to define the holes in the hull.  They make a tremendous difference in strength.  You don't need many and they need not be very long.

The 1x2mm wood is used on the masts and for the railings. 
 
A wooden wheel would've been nice but in the end it is not that visible in the build anyway (it's behind the dual staircase).
 
I wish a manufacturer produces nice slender wooden belaying pins at that size but sadly they tend to be very fat little things...
 
Mamoli kits use older build techniques (there is almost no laser cut parts other than the bulkheads, false keel and false deck on recent releases). So no fancy gunport templates ala Occre and Caldercraft. The wood quality is ok for some and a bit raggedy for others. Some fittings are really good (the metal anchors are the nicest I've seen).
 
One of the best things about Mamoli is they have some of the most aesthetically beautiful subjects, it's probably their greatest strength. The Freisland and Royal Louis are two of the most beautiful ship model kits on market.
 
Mamoli kits also have a very robust construction designs with a very solid false keel and a lot of bulkheads, so will provide a great base for kit bashing (as many do to avoid the metal gunports..which aren't that bad..   ). 

Interesting ship and from a company I've not heard of.  I'll pull up a chair as well.  I'll be particularly interested in the larger scale as that seems to appeal more to me as the years slip by....  Thanks for sharing another build log!  
 
Mark

Hello,
thanks to everyone for the kind words and likes..
 
12 pdrs cannon barrel
 
Pictures from the production of the negative mold to the finished
cannon barrel in the tin casting method.
Karl
 
 
T e i l  46
 
 

The copper plating of the hull is finished. After
experimenting with different nail patterns I finally settled for one. The
following images show the hull preparation, the production of the nail head using a variation of
Alan’s method with the diabetes needles, and the resulting copper plating.
 

I first prepared the hull by filling every hole with wood
filler, treating the hull with MinWax Sanding Sealer and sanding it down to a
very smooth finish.


To produce the nail head I designed the desired pattern with
MS PowerPoint, shrank it to the right scale and printed it out (image 2.1). I
glued the image of the nail pattern on a piece of 3mm thick balsa wood which in
turn was glued to a thin piece of plywood. I made sure that no glue was between
the balsa and the plywood under the area where the printed image of the nail
pattern resided. Using a #80 drill (~0.3 mm diameter; Micro-Mark) and a micro
pin chuck (Micro-Mark) mounted in my drill press I drilled the holes for the
nail pattern (image 2.2). The soft balsa wood allows the thin drill to proceed
without bending. Once the drill hits the hard plywood the drill channel in the balsa
wood acts as a guide for the thin drill ensuring that it enters the plywood
without being deflected or bent. Next I removed the metal needles (~0.3mm
diameter) from the plastic heads of the diabetes needles bought at Wallmart
with a pair of pliers and inserted the needles into the drilled holes (image
2.3). Pushing the balsa wood surface against a flat piece of metal ensures that
all needles end in the same plane (image 2.4). The needle ends sticking out of
the plywood side were glued together with JB Weld (image 2.5). Now the nail
head can be cut out according to the drawing glued on top of the balsa wood.
The balsa wood surface is then sanded down until all needles show a complete
diameter perfectly aligned in the balsa wood plane (image 2.6). As a next step
the balsa wood can be separated from the plywood (for this reason it is
important to have no glue between balsa and ply wood underneath the nail
pattern drawing, see image 2.7) and the nail head is finished.
 
 

Experimenting with different nail patterns. The 3 nail heads
in the front were used for my model – one for starboard, one for backboard, and
a symmetric one for the dress belt.
 

The “Sensipress” (Micro-Mark) came in handy for the copper
plate mass production.
 

Resulting copper plate pattern.
 
 
Here are some additional views of the copper plated hull:
 
 

 

 

 

 

I finally have my head rails finished.  As this is one of the more challenging assemblies of the Syren build I will summarize in more detail the method I used to make these head rails.
 
The whole assembly was built out of (regular) pear wood as the firmness of the wood facilitates getting clean looking edges and inscribed lines, and especially helps with the making of the tiny head rail timbers. Contrary to Swiss pear regular pear with its yellowish look blends in nicely with the color scheme chosen for my Syren, especially once stained with Golden Oak wood stain (MinWax).
 
Cheeks and rails were all built according to the same method which is demonstrated with the example of one of the middle rails in images 1 – 4. I first used the laser-cut bass wood part from the kit to transfer the correct lines to the pear wood sheet (images 1a and 1b). Then I took the remaining negative shape of the same part, which is left in the kit-provided bass wood sheet when the respective positive part was cut out, as guide to impress and carve the “decoration” lines into the pear wood (images 1c and d). Finally the part was roughly cut out (image 1e).  In the case of the middle rail the part was cut in 2 pieces using the dimensions of the kit provided parts as guide (image 2f). However, to ensure that the head rail timbers would all end up with a concave shape I increased the length of the middle rail piece, which is supposed to run closely along the ship’s hull, by about 2mm. The middle rail was then fitted to the ship’s hull (image 3), the 2 pieces glued together and its shape refined via sanding (image 2g). Finally the knee for the cathead was fitted to the middle rail, the whole piece sanded to its final shape (image 2h) and permanently mounted on the ship’s hull (image 4).
 

Image 1
 
 

Image 2
 
 

Image 3
 
 

Image 4
 
 
That was the easy part  .
 
 
The challenge with making the head rail timbers lies in making the 2 pieces of each timber appear like you are looking at one continuous piece. As demonstrated in image 5 this can be more readily achieved adjusting the timbers like shown on the left side (a)) of the drawing. However, this method implies making tiny pieces with “crooked” angles (image 6). Once mounted these parts need to be adjusted to their final shape. To be able to do so it is very helpful to have easy access to the head rails from the top and the bottom and therefore to mount the ship’s hull upside down when needed. I also made a good number of special sanding sticks (image 7, top) to be able to do the fine sanding required within the head rails with the timbers mounted, and I needed a special wire tool (image 7, bottom) for mounting the head rail timbers, which are closest to the hull. My finest tweezers were too big to get these parts in their correct place.
 

Image 5
 
 

Image 6
 
 

Image 7
 
 
The top rails were built following Chuck’s instructions in the Syren booklet. They did not pose any significant challenges. Images 8 - 10 are different views of the finished head rails.
 
 

Image 8
 
 

Image 9
 

Image 10
 
 

The bulk of the heavy lifting on the stern and quarter galleries has been completed.  Here are a few different angles:
 

 
The photo etched garlands and metal castings were finished with Model Master 'Wood' color (never claimed to have much imagination) then given a coat of clear flat acrylic.  We've already discussed the glazing.
 

 

 

 
And now for the classic CONFEDERACY shot: 
 

 
Have a few things to add to complete the stern.  Neptune (he's at about 11 o'clock) needs his Trident, the gun ports need hinges, eyebolts and lanyards and there's a little touching up to carry out (one or 2 stern lights needs 'caulking').  That will all wait until I get the rudder and it's fittings mounted.
 
I have to fess up and admit I didn't think I'd get it to come out as well as it did.  But thanks to Chuck's design and a little care with all the alignment going back to the stern framing I feel pretty good about the way she looks at this point.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nenad, I agree with you on the books....the movies/mini series' leave too much out and just don't have the "feel" that the books do.  I wish I could read them again for the first time.
 
Mark

...And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain...
 
I recognized quote on first two words ...
 
Have you read Herbert, Bindy ? Books are much better than movie