US Brig Niagara by mikiek - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - First wooden ship build

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Great work bench. I agree with Julie.  I want to come and build my ship there. My work area is always a mess, and I only have a small tray to place unused items. It gets so bad sometimes that I cover my mess before I take any pictures.

 

I assume all of the cabinets were purchased at Hobby Zone.

[jbshan]

A further thought:

Assuming the units are modular, you could have some drawers for 'rigging' or 'wood work', then move those drawers closer in reach when you're doing those types of jobs.

[mikiek]

Darrell - come on down. Yup it's all HobbyZone.

 

Joel - you could do something like that. The modules have small but super strong magnets in the top, bottom & sides. So rearranging for tasks would be possible. Move what you want and they snap into place. I'm not that sophisticated yet. Right now it's more like files in one drawer, tweezers in another, measuring stuff in another, etc.

Edited November 29, 2016 by mikiek

[jbshan]

Early days, Mike.  You'll work it out, then you can make your labels more permanent.  I don't have depth enough for drawers so have a couple of these.

 

[mikiek]

Now you have me feeling like a gearhead. Can't finish a build, but the workbench looks cool

[mikiek]

I'm starting to see a trend here. Start to work on rigging, instead dress out a new workbench. Start to work on rigging, instead fix a broken anchor

 

 

Start to work on rigging, instead build another ships boat

 

 

 

Well the cutter is coming along. I am using styrene again for the frame pieces. I did the same on the yawl when I built that. It looks a bit odd by itself but after its painted and partially hidden by floorboards and seat benches I think its acceptable.

 

 

Never realized they were so big

 

[cobra1951]

Do i detect that you feel the same way about rigging as i do about sanding

[mikiek]

I hear ya Bob. But I can usually find a machine or at least a tool for sanding.

[Elijah]

Nice job Mike! That modular workshop system is on my Christmas list. You had better start work on the rigging, I might catch up to you !

[mikiek]

Thank you Elijah. Good to hear from you.

[mikiek]

First off make sure you're sitting down    You know it's funny how something that works for me may suck for you. Materials, techniques, whatever.  I realized that I was putting off rigging because I had no idea how I was going to hold multiple ropes, thread on a block or deadeye, tie a knot all at the same time. Especially with these fat fingers. And I thought I had a reasonable amount of dexterity.

 

I've been thru tutorials, build logs and the like but never found something that seemed right for me. I finally came across Ed Tosti's Victory build and the lightbulb went off when I saw his rigging chapter. At least for some of the standing rigging. I'm going to repeat some of it here as I am sure to lose the link.

 

So I started out with scrap of sheet 1/32 thick.

 

 

This is basswood and it began to crack after use. Next channel I will either go to 1/16 or use boxwood.

 

Drill some holes right at the bottom. Stick some wire thru those to help fasten the piece to the channel

 

 

Draw a line parallel to the channel. Looks crooked I know but actually it's the scrap. It's not a rectangle.

 

 

Wrap some rope around the mast head, take the other end and hold it on a deadeye in the channel. Mark where the rope crosses the line on the scrap.

 

 

This is where the upper deadeyes will go.

 

 

Drill a couple of holes at each intersection

 

 

Stick some wire in the holes similar to earlier. Slide a deadeye on the wire. Life just got a lot easier.

 

 

Take the rope to be used for your shrouds. Serve the middle 2 1/2 - 3 inches (the first shroud is completely served and one end is a Burton Pendant). Loop the middle around the mast head - this assumes you have not glued all the mast spars yet. Leaving an adequate sized loop, lash the rope. Hang rope around the mast head. Tighten one end and wrap around the next deadeye.

 

 

Remove the rope from the mast. Use alligator clips to keep the loop

 

 

There are any number of ways to seize the deadeye and the rope end. I used my serving machine. After all, the seizing is just serving 2 pieces of rope instead of 1. Here's a few back on the mast.

 

 

 

And OMG he has some rigging!

 

 

 

[jbshan]

Mike, there are any number of ways to space the deadeyes.  You have found one that I haven't seen before. 

[donrobinson]

Nice method Mike, I will have to give that a whirl when the time comes.

[cobra1951]

Nice idea and very well executed

[mikiek]

Thank you gentlemen. Like I said, it may or may not be what you want. It was somewhat time consuming, but for me it was a good option. Another thing to put in your bag of tricks.

[6ohiocav]

Hey Mike,

 

I just posted my method to sieze the deadeyes to the lower shrouds on my log.  I am curios to see how your method works out.

 

A word of caution.  Don't tie these off. I strongly urge you to tie on all of the upper shrouds and standing rigging lines to your masts, attach the fully rigged yards, and tie on harnesses, lifts, (clews and sheets if you plan on using them) BEFORE you step the mast. I did all of that on my bench.  I cannot imagine how hard and time consuming it would have been if I had to do this when the mast was installed on the ship.

[mikiek]

Good advice Darrell. At the moment nothing is permanent. It's a good thing too. After doing the last shroud on the starboard main channel, I got one of those sick in your stomach moments when I remembered I should be alternating starboard - port. But given that I can still take it all off, I don't think it matters

[6ohiocav]

Depending on how tight your mast fits in the hull, I would not worry too much about alternating from starboard to port. I thought about that, but did not have any problems. You should not be pulling the shroud lines to hard to line them up.  Just snug. That should not pull the mast out of whack.  You might want to consider alternating when you tie them down.

[mikiek]

From what I have read, real shrouds would be strung on alternating sides. For our models it probably doesn't matter structurally but I suspect visually it does. All the starboard shrouds looped around the mast head then all the port loops on top of that might look odd.

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

If you are talking about how they are attached to the top of the mast - YES you alternate P to S. I thought you were referring to alternating for when you tie them down.

 

This is how I did mine.  I think this shows the alternating pattern.

 

 

[mikiek]

That's what I had in mind. Nice pendants. Did you seize a thimble or bullseye or just do an eyesplice?

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

I just wound the rope around a scrap of small dowel and did the lashing. That rope was served, so it was pretty stiff and held its round shape pretty well. I guess you would call that an eyesplice.

[mikiek]

At least as good as you are going to get at 1:64 . Have you seen how they do a real eye splice?  Not even going there.

[jbshan]

At least as good as you are going to get at 1:64 . Have you seen how they do a real eye splice?  Not even going there.

A lot of what we do is to simulate things we know should be a particular way, but it's just too darn small.

Edited December 1, 2016 by jbshan

[mikiek]

Either that or too much wasted material. Somewhere I did see a tutorial on making an eyesplice (modeling sized) The guy unraveled the last 2" of a piece of rope (3 stranded) and then proceeded to thread a needle with a strand and run the needle back thru the rope to make the loop. He did that with each strand. The result was very nice, and I believe almost like a real eyesplice,  but I would like to finish my build in the next year or so. He also cut off the strands after they came thru the rope so for a 1/16 eyesplice you throw away 2" of rope.

 

For my pendants, I did use the same styrene tubing I used for the bullseyes - it's in one of my pix. It's probably a little oversized but I'll live with it.

Edited December 2, 2016 by mikiek

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

Here are some photos of the vice set up I used for the deadeyes.  The official term for the steel clamp from my fly-tying days is a hackle plier. I use it to clamp the deadeye in place after measuring the line with the jig and then simply insert it all into the spring clamp as per the photo. Makes for a quick and secure base upon which to seize the deadeye in place.

 

The extended spring clamp in the vice gives me the ability to get it in close to the ship to reach the shroud.

 

Happy rigging!

[mikiek]

Thank you Darrell. I like the idea of the vise and clamps extending all the way to the boat.

 

That's one thing my workbench is lacking. I have just a small area where I can securely clamp my vise and it's way down at the end. Actually on the far side of the new storage modules.

 

I need to see what I can do to get the vise back on the playing field.

[moreplovac]

Hi Mike, what is model/manufacturer of a light you are using? I am hunting for a good, led-based light for my 'ship shop' (nice rime here) and a light you have looks like a perfect solution. Thanks

[mikiek]

singidunum - I have 2. The first one is one of those with a circular flourescent tube and a magnifier in the middle. These can be found most anywhere online or the big box hardware stores. I does a decent job but the shadows - when my hands are in between the light and the object of interest - were killing me. No fault of the light, any single source is going to do that.

 

So the second light is purely LED. Don't remember how many but it was a lot. The manufacturer is Dazor.  U.S. made, excellent stuff but pretty expensive. I got turned on by the customer service - the guy went over and above to make measurements of height, reach, cord length. It is very similar to a dental light which is something you should Google.

 

There are plenty of knock offs out there as well and I imagine some of those could be pretty decent.

 

I now have a light to my right and to my left - both shining to a spot in front of me. Shadows are gone!

 

Hope that helps....

[moreplovac]

Thanks Mike for a prompt response. I will look for a Dazor; reviews are great, 5 years warranty is not that common these days. Price is a bit higher but i am willing to pay a bit higher price for a good, long lasting tool/product. 

 

Appreciate your comments. 

 

Regards,