Surabaya by Piet - 1/80 - Mid 17th-Century VOC ship

[popeye the sailor]

the plot thickens  

[Piet]

Thank you Jan, Hans, Patrick, Carl, JesseLee and Popeye Denis for dropping in and of course all those who clicked the like button.  It's always a pleasure hearing form all y'all.

 

Well Jan and Jesse, no ship in a lamp but there will be a lamp involved.  Jan, your link didn't open to the spot showing the Musi.  Here is a pic of that ship.  This ship was sold twice and in the below pic she's named "Chweeson."

 

 

@ Hans, thanks for the b-day wish and good to hear that your stuff arrived.  Now I am waiting to hear from Carl for his stuff to arrive.

 

@ Carl and Patrick, B)   ackle, ackle, ackle he grimaces with an evil cackle - - intriguing, nerve wracking, thickening plots       I may just let yuns wait a little longer.

 

We are almost there my friends, I just need to find the time to open a new build log.

 

Cheers,

[Omega1234]

 

All I can say, Piet, is that you've got an evil streak there!! 

 

I guess we'll just have to wait a little longer...

Edited May 22, 2016 by Omega1234

[*Hans*]

I think Piet is going to build a Cliffhanger....

[cog]

Looks more like one of those sixties radio ships on the North Sea ... Transmitting the new very frowned upon  popular music

[YankeeD]

I think Piet is going to build a Cliffhanger....

 

Well he certainly created a cliffhanger here :).

 

Shall we set up a pool?? (poor dutch translation )

 

Hans.

[amateur]

Typo in the link.

Without the typo it s open at Musi, build

 

http://www.rdm-archief.nl/RDM-NB/RDM-278.html

 

Jan

[amateur]

Hint, pleaseeeeee

 

Jan

[Piet]

Thanks fellows for staying with me and your patience.  The "Surabaya" is still on the bench but right in front of her build dock sits my special project.

First of all, my thanks to Jan for the stuff on the Musi from the Archive in Rotterdam.  I did go there a year ago but could not find anything.  Remco contacted the Rotterdam Maritime Museum and got to talk to one of the curators who sold me the line drawings and the deck-layout.  I am really surprised that no building pics or drawings exist of this ship in the archives.  I appreciate your additional info on this nice little ship Jan, even a few pics I don't have.

 

As yuns see in my signature, this ship is on the "to do list" in a scale of 1:50.   Yes, I'm anxious to start with it but seem to get distracted with other fun projects like this "mystery" build.

For the non Dutch speakers here, the name is pronounced as "Moosy."  In the Indonesian language the u is sounded out as an oo like in book.  Having been born and raised in the Dutch East Indies I still remember many words, can't speak in anymore though.

This ship was build as a fuel tanker for gasoline and kerosene in steel drums.  Special care had to be taken to prevent static build-up and fire protection.  Long story involved and whenever I start the build I can elaborate on it.  

 

I may have posted a pic of Gwen's father as captain on the Musi but here he is again in his cabin.

 

Capt. Jan C. van Vulpen on board M.S. Musi, 1951

 

Okay Jan, here is a hint - my special project will be small, ummm, very small. It'll be all wood, has at least one ship, a two master no less.

If I keep jabbering any longer I'll run out of time to start the build log.  Soooh, I'm signing off here.

 

Y'all have a great rest of the day and happy modeling.

 

Cheers,

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

Please, please, please jabber on more!!!!

 

It ain't getting easier for me to guess!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[amateur]

There is some on her launch in maritiemdigitaal, but I did not found a buildpic, as yet.

http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getdetail&id=101139028

http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getsimplesearch&saveToHistory=1&database=ChoiceMardig&needImages=YES&searchterm=Rdm+musi

Jan

Edited May 23, 2016 by amateur

[*Hans*]

Piet,

 

What a great picture is that! I really do like it - but can't tell why. Maybe because it reflects the old days when the world was going up again after WW II (won't say it was a better time than it is now - but sure it was going forward).

 

The picture behind him - 6 kids, and when I look close 5 girls and one boy - am I correct? One of them must be your wife then.

The radio on the wall! We have the same one here on our dresser. Unfortunately it doesn't work anymore, but it is the real type - with radiotubes.

(btw - still playing my music via a tube amp - but that is "hot" again).

 

Ok - drifting away - I am getting older as well. But I like the info on the Musi as displayed here above!

Edited May 23, 2016 by *Hans*

[Piet]

Thanks again fellows for visiting and your likes. 

 

Yes, I would really like to start the build of that little ship.  Gwen does not have many momentous of her dad and this would give her something to connect.

 

Jan, again many thanks for your efforts in finding things for me.  I have scoured Maritiem Digitaal and didn't find some of the things you have come up with.

 

Hoi Hans, I really appreciate your comments.  Ah yes, the old days, some good most not so good, at least not for us.  It was quite an interesting story in how master van Vulpen became captain but that'll have to wait till i post the introduction to the Musi build log.  The photo is the whole family, his wife three daughters and one son.  Gwen is the fourth of the clan, so yes, she ultimately became my wife.

I did have the pleasure knowing Mr. van Vulpen when I lived in the next village over.  According to Gwen he did take a liking to me and I like to think that he would be pleased having me as his son in law.

 

Okay, let's move on to building ships.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

Alright "Pete".... Enough with the dilly-dally..... Let's get on with some "rat killin" here.

You and me....you and I.....either way, we both be old and weathered. If we sit too long, and get all comfortable, we fall asleep and waste another precious hour of what remaining time we have.

So.... Enough with the yard work, the bikes, and all the other stuff.... It's SHIP BUILDING TIME

[Piet]

Okay, okay already   - - - As things grow here in Florida I have to keep somewhat active with the yard otherwise it'll be more difficult to get it back in somewhat of an order.

However, I managed to start with the bow lion.  I bought a block of basswood to carve a trial piece before I tackle the "real" one from castello.  

 

Now I have divide my attention between the Surabaya, the Diorama, yard work and drawing.  Then two of my neighbors are asking for help with a few minor projects and Gwen's hands are really giving her a fit.  After her carpal tunnel operation, now a year and half ago, she has what's called "trigger finger."  It is painful and has almost no power in here hands to hold much of anything.  I am now also having to cook more, which I like to do, but it takes time away from shipbuilding. 

 

At least the basswood is easy to carve but found out that it as also very easy to split small parts off at the grain line, if one is not careful.  So, I don't have much new to report but at least it's something and not very exiting.

 

Here you see me cutting the bow lion out of that piece of basswood.  I figured it being easier to do it on the band saw rather then on the Proxxon jig saw. 

 

This shows the roughly cut out bow lion.

 

Here I have penciled in the lion outline looking down on it's back

 

Here I have penciled in the lion outline looking up at its belly.

 

This shows the beginning stages of the carving.

 

Cheers,

[cog]

Nice preparation, Piet ... it's time for hammer and chissel especially the hammer

 

Cheers

[mtaylor]

Excellent start, Piet.  I'm with you on things keeping us from the shipyard.  

[Piet]

My sincere thanks to all who visited my shipyard and your likes, it's always very much appreciated.

 

You Carl, there is a lot to say about using wood for carving instead of marble.  With wood we can fudge - - - a lot.  We can add wood putty when we remove too much.  With marble, well what can I say - buy another block. I hope i wont have to add wood putty but this'll be a trial piece and if I have to I will.

 

@ Mark: Yeah, house and yard work are one of the necessary things one must do when owning a home.  Especially in Florida during the spring season when we have had a lot rain and now a lot of sunshine.  Plants grow fast and if you stay away from tending to them, even for a week, then it's catch-up time.  And now that Gwen will be needing more of my help bench time will be shorter yet. 

 

@ Brian: We are in the same boat so to speak.  This bow lion will be the third carving I have ever done in my 82 years of life.  The first two, that actually entailed one trial carving, for the counter, was my very first.  Now, I did obtain a book on carving and read it several times to get a feel for it.  Like you, I understand the principals of it all but the actual doing it and making it look like something presentable is a whole other thing.

I am also a self taught artist and can switch brain halves in an instant.  This helps tremendously in visualizing the subject appearing out of a chunk of wood.  First thing is to make an accurate drawing of your subject, both profile, top view and bottom view.  The profile is rather easy, may examples around but now come the top and bottom of the lion, like in this case.  I don't have any drawings of that so I had to kinda guess at it.  We do have a cat and taking a few pics her is one way to to do it.  One of my 14 or 15 certificated trades is machine draftsman and illustrative draftsman, you know the guy who draws a machine in three D as if blown apart?  I guess drawing comes to me as second nature but I do rely on photos and drawings or paintings, which I also have.  When you carve the drawing away just redraw it again.

 

My advice is to purchase the book from Bill Short, "The New Carving Ornamentation for Ship Models."  I believe it's still available through MSW, check the log-in page.  You can also e-mail him at modelshipright@sympatico.ca

There is plenty of very good advice and illustrations in it for the novice carver such as me and you.  Also the tools you'll need.  I do not have all the tools I would like to have but a small scalpel or at least a #11 Execto and the Execto chisel blade is almost a must and keep them sharp.  Small gouges are also very helpful, of which I don't have any, at least not the good ones.  I'll have to make them I guess, the good ones are not cheap.   Next ask you dentist for his worn out burs and get a small rotary tool or flex shaft with collets that fit on a Dremmel type tool.

I find that these are not as easy to use on soft wood like basswood but still a worthwhile tool to have.  That's why my final carving will be from boxwood.

 

The rest is trial and error.  Go slow and keep comparing with your drawings.  You'll be surprised what you can do.  Jump in, the water is great.  

Good luck my friend and

 

Cheers, 

[SawdustDave]

Dear friend Piet.... As with every thing else you do, I am quite sure your carvings will turn out great. Good advise you gave on getting Bill Short's book. A true master of the art, and a wonderful person.

Another suggestion for our friends..... Get some modeling clay.... Not only more effective than drawings for visualizing 3 deminsional objects, but also very effective for getting the right scale. Can't tell you how many "pretty good" carvings I had to discard due to tiny scale issues. Most folks don't realize how much a carving that is a single mm over/under scale jumps out at the eye after being fitted in place.

Can't wait to see your finished piece.

 

Regards to Gwen.

 

Dave

[Kevin]

hello my freind

Just caught up with your log, lovely work, and the carvings are fantastic

Looking forward to the start of your next project, and sorry for nor adding much to this log,I have also been busy recently, and only just really getting heavy back into building 

hope you are all well

[kees de mol]

You are doing great Piet. I like the carving very much and I am very curious about your next build.

[Sjors]

Piet,

 

You are a very talented young man     

The Lion looks a little as the one that's on the Delft ( the one they build at Delfshaven Rotterdam )

Amazing work !!!!!

 

Sjors

[Remcohe]

Way to go with your carving Piet. Looking at Gwen's fathers pic I suddenly saw a striking resemblance with Marian (Piet's daughter). Pretty weird especially if I told you I look a lot like my Grandmother on my mothers side. I'll pm the pic and let you decide :-)

 

Remco

[Piet]

Hello friends and thank you for visiting and also thanks to all who clicked the like button.

 

Thanks Dave for the added advice.  Yes, scale is always THE important issue when dealing with carvings.  Modeling clay such as Skulpy can be a boon to all without "wasting" valuable time with wood.  After you have hand molded a reasonable "carving" you can proceed with duplicating it in wood.  I decided to jump right in using wood.  Problem is that I don't like working with soft wood, at least not in this small scale.

 

@ Kevin: No prob my friend, thanks for dropping buy, always good hearing from you.  Keep up the good works with your Vic, she's looking impressive.

 

@ Kees: Thank you Kees for stopping by, good seeing you here.  The carving is going slow, too may house and yard projects going on.  My next build?  Let me first finish the Surabaya then I'll decide.  Could very well be the Musi, who knows.

 

@ Sjors: Hey buddy, good to see you here as well.  Talented? Nah, you're too kind.  I was not aware that they had already carved the bow lion for the Delft.  I am using examples from the Batavia, the 7 P and the staten jacht Utrecht.  Jan send me a few nice pics some time ago.  Most of it will evolve as I'm removing wood.

 

@ Remco:  Thanks my friend.  Yes, Marianne has features of Gwen's dad but also from my part of the family.  Strange things these genes.  Also thanks for showing a pic of your grandmother and yes, there is a resemblance, lucky you.  She sure was quite a nice looking young lady.

 

Cheers,   

[Piet]

Okay, a very small and miner update, if that's what you can call it.   With all the extra curricular activities there just isn't much time for ship building or carving.  Like yeasterday I spend most of the day repairing a broken aluminum ladder for our neighbor. The gardener she hired to trim her hedge managed to fold one of the main legs over, ruining her ladder.  He's just a wild man and not careful with equipment he borrows.  Well, at least I had fun working with metal, aluminum too.  

 

However, I do sneak in a few minutes here and there.  After I made the center slit in the lions belly to slip over the cut water I determined the cut water to be too wide making the lion too fat and the head proportionally too small.

I removed quite a bit of wood from the sides of the cut water and glued some wood strips into the groove of the lion to thin him out.  That's what a trial carving is good for.  Yes, I could have used Skulpy but would have encountered the same problem with the thick cut water.

  

So, that's where I am at the moment, carving a new and narrower groove in the lion to match the thinner cut water.  Then I can proceed with the further carving  of the lion.

 

Cheers,

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

I tell ya, if the City of Palm Coast, Florida, had an award for the "Most Generous and Caring Neighbour", you'd have to be the winner! That's truly generous of you to take the time to help, particularly as most people would've just turned away to let someone else do the work.

 

Good stuff!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Piet]

Thanks for the praise Patrick but helping people is part of my beliefs and I really enjoy doing it. 

 

Weather has been rather warm the last week or so with a tropical storm thrown in.  Temps are now near 95 F or 35 C, in the shade    You can imagine how hot my shipyard, aka garage, is.   I love the heat but sitting there at the bench dripping in sweat is not particularly enjoyable.  However, even with all that I did manage to do a little more on the bow lion carving.

 

That basswood is really giving me a fit.  I don't like working with it and am almost to the point to start with the boxwood.  But I'll continue stumbling along with it for the simple reason to see how it's going to look on the ship.  

 

 As noted in my previous post I had to remove some wood from the sides of the cut-water, which necessitated closing the large groove in the underside of the lion.  Next was to make a chisel to carve the new groove.  I used a #17 Excel chisel and ground the sides down till I had a 3.5 mm chisel.  This had to be sharpened and honed on 1000 grit and 3000 grit stones.

 

Re-cutting the groove was easy and quick and I could now concentrate on shaping the lion.  I removed quite a bit of wood from the sides making it much leaner.  I even started to shape the muscles in the lion's legs, which are beginning to look a little better.  Next I moved up and started work on the head, much more difficult with this crappy wood and will most likely have to use some wood filler.

 

Well, that's about as far as I got yesterday when I threw in the towel and called it quits.  Showered and changed into some dry comfy duds, just a pair of shorts.  Had a cup of Rooibos tea and two gingersnap cookies, yummo

 

Here are a few pics of my efforts.

 

This shows my narrower chisel I made from a #17 Excel blade.  Held between a pair of Vicegrips and slowly grinding the sides down with intermediate dunking it it cold water to prevent loosing the temper.  Here it's not yet sharpened.

 

This shown the new 4 mm groove in the underside of the lion.  Everything is still in a rough state.

 

A 3/4 side view of the lion.

 

This shows the bow lion temporarily stuck on the cut water.

 

Cheers,    

[Sjors]

Keep on going Piet......

 

A few more cuts   

 

Sjors

[kees de mol]

Slowly you are getting there. Nice carving

[Piet]

Thank you Sjors and Kees for dropping in and your encouraging words, it's much appreciated.  Yes, I keep in plugging ll the lion needs is shaping and modeling, remove what doesn't belong on a lion or adding some putty that does belong.  The basswood I am using for this training and practice session is really giving me a fit.  The wood is not only too soft to my liking but there are harder strands running through it that cause my burs and knife to slip and dig into the soft part where I don't want it.

 

I decided to continue using the basswood just so I get a feel of using the different tools and how the shape of the lion will be when close to completion.  I may change the position the lion is featured in, don't know yet. 

 

It's been a few days now and not much has changed.  I have been very busy with other - - umm - - more pressing projects - so not much time at the bench.  I do sneak in an hour here and there but that doesn't give me much time for some real progress.  I'll post a few pics I took yesterday but unfortunately some of the details are washed out, like a few ribs on the one side.  Yup, it's still very rough but hopefully I can make some time and finish it in the few days or week.

 

This was taken yesterday morning from where I left it Tuesday evening. I had been working on the head, which still needs more modeling.

 

This was taken yesterday morning before lunch.  Here I have been working on the legs.  The ribs I managed to "carve" into the side are barely visible but they do look okay.  I plan to add a tongue and teeth, of course and nails for the claws.

 

Cheers,