Enterprise by src - Constructo - 1:51 - or Lessons in Adapt Improvise and Overcome

[src]

Got the parts blackened, although I may try to get them a little darker, once I rubbed at them they looked a bit more brown than black. 

 

This will most likely be my last post for a while, work is getting more and more demanding. I was supposed to be off today and have spent almost the entire day on the phone. Who said working from home is more productive??

 

 

sam

 

 

 

[Shazmira]

They look quite good Sam! Excellent, clean work. Yes that nasty 4 letter word does have a way of getting in the way of what we want to do with our time

[russ]

The deadeyes and chainplates look good.

 

As for the depth of color you want, I have always made repeated applications of my blackener until I got the color I wanted.

 

Russ

[Sjors]

Very nice Sam,

 

When you place the chain on to the hull, be sure that the chain is following the line of the shroud.

You can see how I did that on the San Ildefonso.

And at the last picture, you have to turn the deadeye 

One hole at the bottom, 2 up.

 

[Rich.F]

Looking good Sam, Don't work to hard.

 

Rich

[src]

Thanks everybody. I have marked my approxomate locations with the tape and will finalize when I run the schrouds, the eyes have just enough play in them to rotate as needed. 

Thanks again! another morning on the phone on my day off....

Sam

[src]

Work has been keeping me busy these last few weeks, I have had a bit of time to play but not much. I have shaped and fit up my Bits as the instructions call them, yesterday I was able to chop the mortices where they will go and stain them - pictures tonight or tomorrow.

 

As I mentioned earlier I received my rope from Chuck. I started rigging the ropes for the gun ports - I should have rigged  the rings off the ship - this is more difficult than I imagined it would be. I have re-rigged them several times now. My first attempt I just knotted them and didnt look right so off they came, I tried seizing with the smallest of Chucks rope and that looked WAY too bulky. Do it again. During al of this I was lurking and asking questions in the rigging forum. Bought a fly tying vice and some 80wt thread. Last night I tried it out and so far I like what I have, lots of room for improvement still but I am going in the right direction.

 

A question, What is the best way to get rid of the fuzzies? as good as chucks rope is I still have fuzzies.

 

Edit - My clumsy fingers hit "post" instead of "more reply options" Need more coffee!

 

My early attempts, not bad but bulky and the wrong color seizing

 

 

 

Bought a fly tying vice, thats helping.

 

 

Not bad, room for improvement. How do I get rid of the fuzzies?

 

Sam

Edited November 17, 2013 by src

[Shazmira]

beeswax helps with the fuzzies. Check out realworkingsailor (andy) pegasus log, he uses some sort of paint (clear) stuff and his rope is beautiful and fuzz free. I don't like the wax, at least not on bad rope, it takes too much to make the fuzz go away and then it looks crappy. Since chuck's is better rope, maybe only a light coat of the wax will do the job. You can find it in the sewing section

[mtaylor]

Sam,

 

I like the way you are approaching this.  Your last pic looks good on the seizing/knotting.   As for the fuzzies... beeswax:  run the line through the wax and then either work it with your fingers into the thread or move it over a light bulb to melt the wax into the line.  OR  Diluted PVA.. paint it with a 50-50 mix of PVA and water.  Run your fingers to get it into the line to soak it in.

[src]

Robyn, Mark, thanks.

Use the wax in a solid form or heat it? I have used beeswax cut with thinner for furniture I imagine it will soak in better that way. Will the wax work like rosin to help set knots?

Sam

[russ]

Sam:

I have used beeswax that is slghtly warmed and rubbed it into the thread with my fingers and then run the thread over a hot lightbulb. It will melt it into the thread. You can use an open flame but it takes a little practice to not burn the thread.

 

Russ

[ZyXuz]

very nice work on the lid seizing

beewax is certainly the best solution, hope you got them solve soon

[src]

Russ, Z, thanks,

I did try a lighter btw, Not sure what law of thermodynamics I demonstrated, but it was mildly exciting. 

Looks like beeswax is in my future. Its gonna be a couple of days more than likely, I just finished a 20 hour shift, relaxing with an adult bevarage and MSW before crawling off to bed for a couple of hours.

Sam 

[src]

Small update - arent most of them any more? 

I finished up the second port cover rope, just have to make a tube for them and attach 'em. the Stb one is slightly shorter than the port, not sure if it bothers me enough to rip it out and do it a 5th (6th?) time. I am glad I only had two of these to do, then again by the time I finished 15 or 16 I would be an expert!

 

 

Last weekend I started the bits. I set the angle at the top on the Proxon saw I bought weeks ago, it had been languishing in its box since I assembled it and was feeling lonely and left out. Figured I better put it to use before the FA decided it needed to be in the garage or the cat felt it was hers to sleep on.

 

That made short work out of that part of the process. The pyramid shape at the top was done with careful marking and needle files as was the chamfer along the edges. The bases were morticed and pinned like the Catheads. Sorry, no pictures of the process, other than a couple of hours Saturday it was 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there. I am generally pleased with how they turned out. 

 

I wonder though, would these have been an extension of the framing? If so I should have notched them into the cap railing. Me thinks I'll accept them as they are and build differently next time.

 

 

Sam

[russ]

Sam:
The timberheads would have been the upper part of the hull framing. They would come right up through the caprail rather than inboard of it.

 

Nice work on the stern port lids.

 

Russ

[Shazmira]

Beautiful as usual Sam! Hmmm, up through the cap rails...gotta file that tidbit away and remember it myself

[src]

Russ, Robbyn, Thanks always appreciated.

Sam

 

Edit -

Russ so more like this then?

 

 

If so, too late to do anything about it now, there are .125x.125" holes in the deck where I morticed in. Oh well, live and learn. I REALLY need to stop relying on the instructions.....

 

Sam

Edited November 23, 2013 by src

[russ]

Sam:

That is it exactly.

 

Russ

[Sjors]

Sam?

 

Take a look at one of the pictures from my San Ildefonso.

On the bow you see them.....

 

[src]

Russ, I thought so, next build

Sjors, I will stop by later today and check it out, thanks

 

Now, I am curious, the instructions call for the stern pin rails to be mounted under the poop rail, I dont have much choice but to do it that way. Is this correct or should they have been part of the poop rail? 

 

 

Sam

[russ]

Sam:

Why not just drill through the rail for the pins? That would make more sense than adding the pin rack. Make a paper template for the pin spacing, then mark on the rail, and use the drill bit to indent the marks. Hold a scrap piece of wood under the rail to prevent any splintering underneath while you drill.

 

Russ

[src]

Thanks Russ, I had a suspicion that was the case, but for some reason I was envisioning a "b" or "d" shaped rail and that looked to me to be weak. I should have seen the obvious "KISS" 

And no, I am not offering to smooch with you.....

Sam

[Shazmira]

Okay, I have a questions...regarding the bits....are they all supposed to just be above the rail? if so, why not just add the top piece like in Sam's pics and pin & glue them to the rails instead of making the whole piece that is attached to the deck? (Sam I get why you can't change it now). What I mean is why do instructions have us make these bits in the first place, or is this top-rail manner only good for certain ships?

[russ]

Think of the timberheads as the very top part of the bulwarks frame.The kit's instructions were off on this issue obviously.

 

You are right that you should add the top piece right on the rail. Be sure to pin them to the rail so they do not have a chance to pop off in the middle of rigging.

 

Russ

[src]

Robbyn, I cant say why the kits have us do this for sure. After surfing and lurking here for a while I have seen several Constructo kits, they have similar premade parts like the pintles and gudgeons, belay pins thread etc. I get from a manufacturers point of view that is a lot of parts to keep in stock. As far as the bits  timberheads I think its lazyness or lack of research. If it wasnt for MSW I would never know they were wrong - I also wouldnt have the build I have today. I also would be done with this build, either as a completed model or in the trash bin, not sure which.

 

The FA went away for T-day and left me to my own devices, Foolish Mortal! I spent part of the day working on my pin rails and have the Starboard side ready to glue on. Now of course after all that work I am wondering if the pins are a little out of scale, they look kinda beefy to me. They measure out at 0.399 long - about 20" the fattest point is 0.0895" - about 4.5" Dia. That doesnt seem unreasonable in my mind, they just look a bit big, I have nothing to compare to though.

 

 

Sam

[Shazmira]

IMHO they belaying pins look just fine. I am looking at the spacing between holes, if you had smaller pins then the scale of the spacing of holes on the pin rack would be out of whack

[src]

Robbyn

Thanks. I have reached the point I no longer trust the instructions or the pre-fabed parts.

 

I went through the "Fully Framed" series, "Masting and Rigging" as well as a couple of other books looking for dimensions. Either I am not qualified to to research this or the information isnt in those books.  Most likely me as I have found other information I have searched for at a later date.

 

I may need to make a trip to the hobby store and find me a 1/48 scale period sailor figure and do like other builders do; use the figure as a reference and check. A 1:48 figure will be a tad large for 1:51. A five foot sailer is 1-11/64" at 1:51 scale and 1-1/4" at 1:48 scale, only a 1/64" difference.

Sam

[capnharv2]

Sam,

 

Regarding the pin rails under the poop rail. . .

 

This may not be historically accurate, but I would rig a turning block (or set of turning blocks) on the deck just under the belaying pins. That way, the loads aloft would go to the deck eyebolt, and not try to pull the poop rail off. I've made that mistake on other peoples' boats (and almost pulled pin rails out of the deck ).

 

Again, though, it may not be historically accurate. Just a thought.

 

BTW, she looks great!

 

 

Thanks,

 

Harvey

[src]

Harvey,

Thanks for stopping by and the compliment. Always nice to see new faces.

 

I dont know what you mean by turning blocks. Do you have a drawing or picture you can share? Feel free to post it here or a link is fine also. 

 

Thanks,

Sam

[src]

The Gremlin has been sitting on my shoulder and grumbling about the timber head locations. I may have found a work around to shut him up. Since I bought correct cannon barrels for this ship I have been planning on lashing them sideways instead of the more common run out position. It hit me suddenly that I might be able to hide four of the mortices with the carriages so I made a very crude carriage mock up based on the plans in the database here. If I can remove the timber heads reasonably cleanly it looks like it will work.

 

 

 

I can cover the forward most hole with a bucket or broom or something. Restaining the cap rail could be problematic, got some 'speramentin' to do.

 

Stupid Gremlin wins again! 

 

Sam

Edited November 30, 2013 by src