Greenwich Hospital barge of 1832 by druxey - FINISHED - 1:48 scale

[druxey]

Thank you again, all, for visiting this log and for your comments. 

 

A small update. The corner seats forward of the coach have been made and installed. These were some trouble, and I made three sets before I was satisfied. Running the moulding along the edges where the grain direction changed was difficult, as there was a tendency for tear-out.

 

Instead of wooden standards uniting the thwarts and sides, there are iron straps. On Prince Frederick's barge, the arm of the strap that runs across the thwart is inset flush to the thwart's surface. The side arm is bent as appropriate over the inner sides of the planking. This detail completes the structures in the rowing section.

 

While the model is invertible without risk, I shall be cleaning up the outer sides of the planking and softening the edges of the laps. It is also time to make and fit the gudgeons.

[Remcohe]

I can imagine your frustration getting the moulding right. Making cuts with a scraper on such  small piece is hard or even almost impossible.

Unfortunately the moulding itself is hardly visible on the pictures. It's a joy to follow your progress on this little gem.

 

Remco

[JohnE]

That is beyond exquisite, Druxey. I have no words.

 

John

[druxey]

Another minor update:

 

The underwater hull has been refined and the gudgeons added. The lower gudgeon is conventional, but the upper one on the transom is a small eyebolt. This was often the case with open boats. I looked at photographs of extant ceremonial barges and noticed that the transoms were invariably painted. It was an awkward job to do at this stage of the build, but I was successful using a 00 sable brush. 

 

The mounting of the model now needed to be considered. I decided to make a simple pair of pedestals in clear acrylic. These were turned, then polished. I was filing the keel slot in the second of these when one side cracked off. I had to repeat the set-up to produce a duplicate piece. Grrr!

[bensid54]

Would it be safe to say you are using a Jewelers lathe Druxey? You are well set up for this kind of build do you prefer working in a small scale as opposed to a larger scale? I would need a magnifying glass or glasses to even see the things you build!

Edited March 21, 2016 by bensid54

[druxey]

Bensid: Yes, that is a Boley watchmaker's/jeweler's lathe that I use. This particular model has a collet-bearing tailstock, which is a big advantage.

 

The standard scale that I build models at is the classic 1:48. Open boats look quite small at this scale!

[tlevine]

Your work is always beautiful.  Watching it develop, step by step, simply enhances the appreciation of your skills.

[druxey]

Thanks again, folks.

 

Now for a change of pace. To complete the outside of the hull, the rudder needs to be made and hung. To avoid damage, the base had to be made now. I decided on a nice burl veneer for this purpose - except that I had none on hand. Drawing on my experience of faux finishing, I painted the burl on ply using the three colors shown. The outer edges will be trimmed using brown stained and polished wood (at top). All these elements can be seen in the photo.

 

Assembly will be done tomorrow.

[RichardG]

Is there anything you don't do really well?    

 

Richard.

[Jim Lad]

Catching up after a couple of weeks away, Druxey - she looks superb.

 

John

[BANYAN]

I actually thought that was a lovely piece of burl before I read your text - extraordinary!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[druxey]

The baseboard has now been completed and the pedestals installed. The model has been temporarily mounted and the rudder hung.

[Remcohe]

That is a lovely base for such a great model.

 

Remco

[Gerhardvienna]

Hi druxey

 

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Best regards

Gerhard

[druxey]

Thank you, everyone!

 

The next thing to tackle was the 'go faster' stripe along the sheer strake. Old paintings and extant ceremonial barges show either a green or scarlet strake. I opted for green, to contrast with the red paint. Securing the model on its side gently was a problem. Clamping was not an option! I decided to use a piece of dense styrofoam, which worked very well. I simply cut a slightly wedge-shaped piece out of the block and lowered the model into the gap. The masking used is Tamiya flexible tape.

Edited March 24, 2016 by druxey

[michael mott]

Druxey it just gets better and better, The presentation on the base looks perfect.The burl worktop is pretty top drawer too.

 

Michael

[Maury S]

Making your own Burl...at least you didn't have to deal with the warping issues with veneer.  Great build.

Maury

[wyz]

Wow druxey, that faux burl veneer is really nice!  It sure fooled me.  How are you going to finish the surface?

 

Tom

[druxey]

Thanks again, folks. No further finish on the surface of the base is necessary, Tom.

 

The latest progress has been slow. Making and installing the gunwale was tricky. It is a scale 2½" wide by ¾" deep. That translates to about 3/64" by 1/64" full size. I cut this to shape from sheet Castello and carefully rounded the outer edge with fine sandpaper. The gunwale was carefully glued to the upper edge of the sheer strake and frame tops.

 

At the bow, where the fore deck is flush to the upper side of the gunwale, revision was needed. I sanded off the paint and applied a very narrow strip of Castello over the sheer strake to match the rest of the gunwale. As masking off the top accurately would be almost impossible, I scribed the line dividing the painted area and re-painted the deck. 

[michael mott]

I'm just lost for words.......Where are those knitting needles.....  I must find them.

 

Lovely Druxey.

 

Michael

[Chuck]

Wonderful!!!

[rafine]

"Incredible" is the only word that comes to mind druxey.

 

Bob

[tlevine]

If you found something "tricky" the rest of us mere mortals would have found it impossible.

[jbshan]

Knitting needles?  I'm thinking of penochle.  I think you can get the cards in a large-print format.

[BANYAN]

Even up close (zoomed) this model is flawless; a testament to the skills applied!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[druxey]

Once again, thank you for checking in and for your positive comments.

 

Progress today was slow. The tholes took more time than expected due to chipping as I parted them off the stock. I suppose about 40 were made, to finally end up with 24 useable ones. So it goes sometimes!

 

It is finally time to consider the coach. I realized that the panelled sides need to be inset, or they would overlap the sheer strake and gunwale considerably. This means cutting down the uppermost strake aft. The is a job for tomorrow when I'm fresh! I gave the aftermost part of this strake a preparatory coat of blue paint, but I'm having second thoughts and may change this to black. The draught indicates a dark color here, but no more.

[Wintergreen]

Lovely!

 

Yes, the blue sticks out a bit too much. But I wouldn't go with regular black. Instead blend green with black or go with some blue-black. The main thing is to keep in the color range of the green and red. I cant express in words what I mean, but the blue and green as of now doesn't play together in my eyes.

There is probably some university degree in color matching (which I don't have) but think cars. "Wow, that is a black car." and then you go up to it and discover it is actually very dark green och very dark blue. Something like that.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Does exist a description how do you paint the baseboard? Or can you make a small how to? I like it very much.

[archjofo]

Fantastic!!!

[albert]

Very beautiful work.