Top sail schooner by Piet - shipyard diorama - scale 1:2000 - Finished

[popeye the sailor]

you got me speculating too much.......I gotta see where your going with this.   very interesting Piet!  

[DSiemens]

The logs look great. Cutting planks in half at this scale sounds tough. Would it be easier to sand them to size?

[DSiemens]

Never mind it's copy paper. Paper doesn't sand well.

[Piet]

My sincerest thanks to Mark, Patrick, Rob, Carl, Denis and Daniel for visiting and your comments.  Also to all who clicked the like button, thank you.

 

Hey Mark, the incredible we do today and the impossible tomorrow. The funny thing is, now that you mentioned it, that the other day when I was rummaging through some stuff I came across the box with that 6 inch lamp I'm still planning to put a Dutch fishing boat or Staten Jacht in there just happen to be a 50 mm diameter lamp.  Hmmm, this stubborn old coot thought, would it not be nice to make a diorama with a full rigged model of one of Donald McKay's clippers, racing through the high seas with China tea?  Scale - - - - 1:4000.  Say what???  Just a fleeting thought - - - - - or not??  Can you dig it Rob?  No, it can't be put into that lamp, the neck is too small, it's a special purpose lamp.

 

Patrick, patience my friend, patience. Actually, as we speak, it's completed!  And no, you can't see it yet.  I still need to take pictures of it without the glass dome and then with the glass dome for the archive.  I had to quit adding "stuff" to it.  I really wanted to add some workers but at this scale a 5 foot 8 inch person would be 0.8 mm tall. 

 

Thank you Rob, I likewise love all yuns here on MSW, THE best ship modelers forum in the world.  All of you are contributing to the knowledge of ships and how to build lifelike looking representations of them.

 

Yeah Carl, it's small alright.  I can hold the diorama on the palm of my hand and there is still parts of my hand showing.  Maybe I'll do a Patrick and have Gwen make a picture of it in my hand    

 

You too Denis, patience my friend.  If you have seen my pencil sketch you should get at least some idea.

 

Yes Daniel, the planks are from copy paper and are not sandible.  It was really no problem cutting them in half though, using an extremely sharp #11.  I have two Execto blade holders and a 4000 grit stone ready on my other work bench.  I try keeping them both sharp.

 

There will not be an update till next week.  Tomorrow is my day of rest and Sunday is lawn mowing day and I'm cooking dinner for Gwen.  Roast beef, Brussels sprouts with cranberries, carrots with wild mushrooms and baked sweet potatoes and beef gravy.  Gwen wants gravy, so she'll get Piet's special gravy.  Hmmm, something for "what have you cooked today."

 

Cheers to all,

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

Ok, I can be patient...no pressure of course!!!! I must admit that this suspense is not good for my nerves, especially when I know that your miniature marvel is already complete.

 

Looking forward to seeing a sneak peek of the diorama resting in your talented hands.

 

All the best!

 

Patrick

Edited July 23, 2016 by Omega1234

[cog]

 

Ok, I can be patient...no pressure of course!!!

Yeah, right Patrick ...

[cog]

Glad you take your time, Piet ... You don't want to mess it up at the end by simply hurrying things ... you don't want to drop something ...

 

Cheers

Edited July 23, 2016 by cog

[Piet]

Thanks follows for dropping in and your kind words.  Also to all who clicked the like button my thanks.

 

No Patrick, no sneak preview, we don't want to spoil the fun now, do we?  Your nerves are on edge?  How about mine holding it in my clumsy hands?  Yup, the only thing left is taking the official pictures for the gallery and hoping I don't drop it.

 

Yeah Carl, I am taking it slow and easy with this one, much too delicate to rush. And I don't want to do a Patrick now, just a picture holding it on my palm.  I'll have to let Gwen take the pic.  She's a little apprehensive using my big Canon picture making device.  I'll try both lenses, the 35 - 300 mm micro zoom and the 100 mm micro lens.

 

Well, I think I'll add a few pics to this post.  I mentioned before that I did figure a way to make the ship's frames?  Well, here they are with the explanation.

I took a few slivers of 0.2 mm cherry veneer to form the frames.  Soaked them overnight and formed them over the jig. After they had dried I soaked them in liquid CA!  After that had cured I could use my resharpened #11 blade to cut them back to more scale like dimensions.  So far, so good.  

I also cut the bottom of each frame flat to fit in the grooves of the keel.  Oh yeah, I had to make grooves in the keel to make it look real.  I first used my sharp #11 and followed with a knife edge file.  I think you can see the grooves in one of the picks below.

 

Actually, this whole process took place over two days.  There is just so much my eyes and hands can handle in one sitting and besides, there is still house work to do too.  But the end result was quite satisfactory to me.

I now had to wait for the landscaping to be done before I could cement the ships and boats on the slipways and water.

 

I planned to first CA the hull to the left slipway and after that was really secured to CA about three or possibly four frames to the keel.  So, next update will be landscaping and other pertinent shipyard items. 

It's now really getting interesting seeing this thing coming together in 3D instead of in my brain

 

I removed the veneer from 0.5 mm plywood for the last attempt in making the ship's frames.  That process in itself was rather nerve wrecking and tedious.  I wound up with about 0.2 mm cherry.  After it was good and wet (overnight) it formed rather easily over my forming block.

 

This shows three bend frames and four in process of being formed.  You can see that the frames are still a little too big for my scale but I'd rather shave some wood off then try using even thinner veneer.  In the end I lucked out and they looked acceptable.  The CA really helped as did the super sharp #11 blade.

 

I made a guide for where to cement the deck beam.  I used the already completed schooner to measure it out.

 

Here we have 5 frames ready to be shaved down a little and shaped a little better.  I picked the best of them.  This was no work for shaky hands, for sure.  Sorry, no deck clamps or knees

 

Cheers,

 

[cog]

That's grand Piet ... I knew you could do it. I just didn't know how ... stunning ...

[Piet]

Thanks Carl for the faith you have in my abilities, sometimes it requires us to take a step back and let things settle.  A little head scratching, pondering and thinking  in how to tackle a problem.  Something as insanely simple as ship's frames can become a giant obstacle.  Yes, I'm happy with the end result.

 

In the last post I talked about getting to the "landscaping" part and now is the time to show the start of that process.  As I have shown all yuns an idea at one of my very first posts, this diorama has progressed to include two slipways instead of one.  I also changed the waterfront a little.  

 

The sawmill and shop's building was a definite.  I first thought to make them from copy paper and all in one piece, lik,e a cut, fold and glue model.  I don't know what I was thinking, it sounded like a great idea at first but after i drew up the plans I realized that it was not going to work.  Gwen also thought that I was nuts just thinking about it.  So, I made them from solid wood   

 

I took some scrap pieces, one for the base buildings and another for the roof.  I also attached the steam boiler room behind the sawmill with a smoke stack from a toothpick.  To at least show some interior of the sawmill I carved about half it away from the inside and left the sidewalls whole.  The details will be painted.  

The walls are simulated clapboards with slate roof tiles.  The chimney is simulated red brick.  I was not very successful painting all the bricks, kinda difficult in a scale of 1:2000      Actually what I did was, after the red paint had dried, I penciled some horizontal and vertical lines in them to at least give the idea.

For the clapboard and roof tiles I just scratched a few lines in the wood trusting that the brain will complete the picture.

I also put smoke coming out of the chimney by using some of the fur from our cat Ivanna.

 

For the grass I found some model railroad grass but I had to modify that too by mincing it with a sharp kitchen knife.  For the trees I was going to use kitchen scrub-buds, cut into shape and paint them.   However, when finding the fake grass I also found fake tree stuff already in green.  

To put the grass on the base I first painted these areas with the same green I mixed for the VOC ship Surabaya and while whet sprinkled the grass on it and kinda tamped it into the wet paint. Not to bad an effect.

After I "modeled" the trees they were glued on with nail polish.  

After the buildings were completed and cemented to the base I could also add a few trees behind them but that'll be shown in a future post.

 

Here are the pics with the usual explanations, hope yuns like them.

 

This was the original plan and as yuns can see I have made several changes.

 

Here you see the beginning stages of adding grass and trees.

 

This shows my overambitious plan for a cut, fold and glue set of buildings.

 

Here  you see the beginning phase of the sawmill and the shops building.  The lower part will be the lower partvof the buildings with the roof part cemented to the lower parts.

 

This shows the roughed out buildings.  I should have added the matchstick for scale reference.

 

Both buildings completed.  As mentioned above I hollowed the sawmill out and cemented paper doors to the side frames.  it's a shame you can't see the details I penciled into the doors, just accept my word for it. Honest.  I also  put a cupola with a copper roof on top of the sawmill.

 

This is Ivanna the cat, I call her the Dutch way as poes, who so graciously donated some of her fur for the smoke

She .likes to keep me company when I chat with all yuns on MSW.

 

Cheers,

   

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

Ok. I'm gobsmacked after seeing the buildings. You Sir, are one talented master builder!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[cog]

Told you so, Piet. Love the mill and the shop ... maybe with a lighter colour, we could have seen the details on the door, but this is more realistic for the type of building. Again some great results on a tiny scale!

 

Cheers

[harlantk]

Hello Piet:

Amazing, just amazing! The steadiness of hand here! I have been following along with curiosity, of this undertaking as it sort of hit home for me. The challenge here is on the extreme side and that is what makes this so awesome.

Keep the great work. You are an encouragement to some of us

 

Tim

[captainbob]

Great job Piet. I can just imagine that the schooner in the water has just slid down the ways and another being built.  Are you going to be able to show workmen at this scale?

[Piet]

Thank you Patrick, Carl, Tim and Capt'n Bob for your very kind words and also to everyone who clicked the like button. 

 

Well Capt'n Bob the one schooner is not quite ready yet to slip down the ways, she's still in the stocks.  The new one has only four frames erected but there are a few laying ready though, along with the deck and hull planking.  Oh, sorry, that'll be shown soon though.  Making people at this scale is taking it to the extreme.  For a 5 foot 8 inch person (my size) he'll be only 0.85 mm and to now carve a head, arms and legs on them was just too much for me.  I tried though, and perhaps i should have used "Sculpy."  In any case, there'll be no people running around.

 

Welcome to my shipyard Tim, glad to see you and thank you for your encouraging words.  Yes, fortunately I still have steady hands and okay eye sight, although the latter needs some attention.  Working with this scale does help improve the eyes though. 

 

Yes, Carl, a lighter color would have shown up better but weathered wood clapboard does age darker.  The whole thing can be lit up with a flashlight or placed under a lamp and then you can see the details okay.

 

Oh my Patrick, master builder?????  No, no, far from it.  Looking back at it now and the close-ups - - - I should / could have done better.  But on the other hand, nobody is going to put a microscope to it and besides I have had a lot of fum and satisfaction with it.  The overall appearance is a pleasing one and a sure conversation piece.

 

Yuns will see the buildings put in place and perhaps the water added in the next post, I think.  We are coming close to the finish of this project and the start of a small kit build that's rather special to me.

 

Cheers,

[BANYAN]

Some very nice micro detail there Piet; glad to see the supervisor purring along

 

cheers

 

Pat

[amazone]

nice work piet  you most have eagle eas

[Piet]

Thank you Pat, Dirk and Lawrence for your very kind words and of course also to all who clicked the like button. 

 

Well Lawrence I prefer working in larger scales too, much more forgiving.  At a scale of 1:2000 even the tiniest drop or hair will show up big time out of scale as my pics show. 

 

Thanks Dirk for dropping in and your kind comment.  How is your project coming along?

 

Good to see you here too Pat and yes, Ivanna Poes is a character, nosy and likes to see what we are doing.

 

The two buildings have been cemented on and we are ready to add other stuff to the landscape.  I have cut the deck and hull planking to scale size and prepped for pouring the water.

I didn't count on the capillary action of the resin I used for the water.  It climbed right up the wall retainer and the dock pillars.  i had a heck of a time to remove most of it.  As the resin was setting I tried to stir it up some to create movement.  I think it worked out okay.

 

I have now cemented both ships to the slipways and prepping for the next step.

 

That's about all for now, next post will show a little more.

 

Here I have cemented the near completion schooner and the one at the beginning stage to their slipways.  The keel has just been laid and waiting for the frames to be erected on it. I have also put the logs near the sawmill and one inside to be cutup for planks and larger timbers.

 

This is another view where you can see the keel on slipway 2 more clearly.

 

Yet another view from the other side.

 

This shows a packet of deck planks on the right and a packet of hull planks on the left with a grain of rice for size comparison.

 

I made a form from stirene prior to pouring the water.  I didn't want to let that stuff run into the groove, too much work to grind it out later.

 

Here the water is poured, setup enough for me to remove the jig.  I had to do a lot of work after this phase to simulate movement and push the resin away from the retaining walls and the dock posts.  It helped some but needed to remove more after the resin had hardened.  Viewing it with the naked eye it's not noticeable but it irritate me.

 

Cheers.

[mtaylor]

Piet,

 

I'm just in total awe of this and looking forward to seeing how it comes out.

[DSiemens]

Looks great Piet. Really does have a sense of realism. Like looking down on the scene from a mountain.

[dgbot]

My eyes my eyes.  Are you using a surgeons microscope?

David B

[ggrieco]

I've always loved dioramas and your miniature take on it is wonderful. Ivanna is beautiful. I have four cats of various colors -- you've got me wondering if I could put their fur to good use. Nice work!

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

What can I possibly say that hasn't already been said! This miniature world that you've created is just amazing.

 

I don't think you can doing anything else to top this one. The bar is set very high!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[cog]

Piet,

 

It looks like you can push the finished hull straight into the water for her maiden voyage, and finish planking the other one ... it's astonishing the detail you got on that little piece of wood, the size of a lamp bulb ...

[Keith Simmons]

Piet,

 

               Wow !!!    That's all I can say.....

 

   Keep up the good work,  Keith

[BANYAN]

That is some very nice work Piet; some of us mere mortals couldn't achieve that at the normal working scales.  

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Omega1234]

Hi Piet

 

I know that I've commented earlier...but, just one more thing.  You know that giant grain of rice in the fourth photo?  Did you get it off EBAY because I want one, too!!!

 

Hehe, only stirring!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited July 31, 2016 by Omega1234

[Piet]

Thank you Mark, Daniel, David, Glenn, Patrick, Carl, Keith and Pat for your most kind words and all the likes, that's what motivates me, thank you all.

 

David, to answer your question about using a surgeon's microscope, ummm, no.  Just a cheapy 3 X optivisor.  My dentist has one that's $350 and really powerful with a great depth of field.  Poor little old me can't afford to lay that kind of sough out.

In my next life

 

Great seeing you here Glenn.  In model making one can use whatever suits the need. Actually, I should have paid more attention and used the hair from her tummy.  Oh yes, she LOVES a rough back rub, one time she made some funny cackling noises with her eyes closed.  When Gwen does it she bites her hand, go figure.

 

Well Patrick, a few more installments and we can reveal the finished product.  It's now sitting between the two sloop models on top of the dresser cupboards.  As small as they are, this thing disappears between them.  The rice grain is actually from the land of giants as is the matchstick

 

Well, like I mentioned already, we are now close to revealing the finished model.  I have been busy sorting out the pics.  I made a bunch with my Canon EOS 450D and the Samsung cellphone.  Needles to say, I have to pic the best out of the bunch.  Till then, my best wishes to all.

 

Cheers,

[harlantk]

Very impressive work Piet. Just getting caught up after the week from ... Amazing the detail you can accomplish! Work to be proud of!!

Looking forward to seeing the final photo you choose to post!

 

Tim

[captainbob]

The rice grain is actually from the land of giants as is the matchstick

 

Cheers,

 

That's just what I suspected, that grain of rice would feed the whole village. 

 

Bob