Section Deck Between Gunbays by mikiek - FINISHED - Panart - 1:23

[mikiek]

Well I threatened some pix so here goes. As I mentioned the other day, no real milestone just a lot of little things added. It's starting to look like a gun deck.

 

 

 

I believe I will go with only 1 row of cannon ball holders. The other row is supposed to go right at the back edge and looked a bit contrived to me. Besides there would have been no easy way for someone to get to them.

 

 

 

 

There's enough strips to make 1 maybe 2 more buckets. Possibly for the table.

 

 

 

I still have to do the rigging for the port doors, however I planked myself into a problem. The ropes for the door are supposed to go thru holes in the hull, outside to inside. But I have no way of passing the rope from the outer hull thru the inner hull as I have already glued a plank over the gap between them. That plank doesn't want to come up and I'm not going to force it. So I'll end up with ropes going from the doors into the outer hull and a different set of ropes coming out of the inner hull. It should look OK but it won't work.

 

 

Plans show 2 short ladders mounted to the inner hull right above the table. Any idea what those would be for? A short guy at the gun?

 

 

 

 

 

[mikiek]

Two great points Paul. Wasn't thinking far out enough. Who cares what happens to that plank anyway? There will be another one with the hammock rail covering it all up. Duh!

 

I keep meaning to type some of that plan verbiage into Google Translate. Maybe that would have said SHELVES. If that's what they are I will include them.

 

Thanks for the help!

[mikiek]

I was able to really get going today. Thanks to Paul - everything  I did today was due to his last post. The shelves(ladders ) and the port opening system. I had been very tempted to leave all that out - the build is already crowded. But I suppose crowded is part of what the design is trying to display.

 

The build has an outer and inner hull with "frame" pieces making the space in between. After completing both hulls I put a capping plank on top of them to close the gap. Down the road I realized that the port opening system required ropes to be passed thru the outer hull, thru the inner hull and then rigged up. With that cap there was no way I could do this and it did not want to come out. Pauls most obvious idea - put a hole where I need to pass the ropes thru. The destruction is not a problem. There will be another plank that sits on top of the entire hull.

 

 

Access to both hulls using the gap in between them. Off to the races. These ropes are used to close the port doors. The brown rope is a seizing.

 

 

 

Holes for passing ropes thru the hull.

 

 

The rig to close the ports. A little cheesy, but they match the instructions.

 

Given that I did all this so late in the build there was no way to drill holes up into the beam, so I bit the bullet and drilled from the top. I'll have to go back and fill them.

 

 

Ropes in fitting and threaded thru hull.

 

 

Second part of the opening rig. Just a stropped eyebolt

 

 

Seizing the rope to the port fittings

 

 

 

Right about this time I got to wondering. I'm putting this whole system together based on one picture. It all looks good but how does it actually work? The next pic shows both positions - port open and closed. The brass fitting in the background is closed. The foreground (which I am pulling on) is open. OK, so maybe it will work.

 

 

Second block installed. More holes in the beams to fill

 

 

This shows the hole rig.

 

 

 

The shelves added. Do you see any resemblance to a ladder?

 

 

I did learn a new knot. I had to tie off the end of a rope in an eyebolt and there was virtually no room to reach it. The Davy Knot did the trick. This is a very cool website if you haven't seen it.

 

I'm actually feeling like the end of this build is in sight.

Edited January 3, 2017 by mikiek

[mikiek]

Thank you Paul and thanks for your guidance.

[mikiek]

A small item(s) added although it took a little while to figure out. Sacks of something hanging on a hook in the wall. Once again the plans show a cryptic picture that made no sense to me. Something about wrapping a piece of the supplied material around a dowel and then I got lost.

 

The end result looked slightly triangular rather than cylindrical so I found something else to wrap around.

 

 

The material.

 

 

Wrapping the material. Used CA on the edge right by my thumb.

 

 

Then fold over the CA edge

 

 

The back side.

 

 

Remove from bottle top. Trim the wide edge - should end up like the 2nd pic.

 

 

 

Put CA on the lower edge and fold the pointed side over.

 

 

 

These things definitely have a good side and a bad side so be careful where/how you tie the knots.

 

 

Carefully drench them in matte varnish. When it dries it helps to keep their shape. I also glued them together so the good side faces out.

 

 

 

I still may do something to dirty them up a bit. G'nite yall

 

[mikiek]

Getting so close I can taste it. I've finished the hammock rail & netting. It was debatable whether to do this or not. I know some have, others didn't. The deciding factor for me was just that the upper deck needed something to balance the clutter below.

 

That netting was not easy to work with. Getting the edge glued around a line really tried my patience. My first attempt at tying the netting off on the rail didn't go well either. What I ended up with is much simplified from the plans. I also found that gluing the netting to the supports first and then tying them off made things a lot easier.

 

I like the look of the netting. I wish I had something like that for my Niagara build. But then again, at 1:64 it might not look right. Still it would be nice to have some to stash away. I could see it being a nice addition for certain applications.

 

I ran out of the kit supplied material for making whatever those bags are. Hammocks? Stuffbag? Still need 3-4 more.

 

 

 

 

 

So all that's left is the railing and the cartridge buckets. The railing is underway.

 

 

[mikiek]

Thank you Paul!

[6ohiocav]

Mike,

 

This looks great.  Have you finally decided whether you will be adding the hammock rail to your Niagara?  I am getting close to that very decision.  If so, have you given some thought how you would do it now that you have this experience.

 

Looking forward to when you get back to the Niagara.  It is lonely out here on Lake Erie without you.

[mikiek]

Hey Darrell - I love the stuff I was working with for this this build. I just haven't checked to see if it scales down well or not. I believe it's the webbing used for wedding veils although this stuff is black. OK well maybe a funeral veil.

[mikiek]

A little closer. The railing is finished and installed. To me it seems way too tall. One more thing that is out of scale.

 

In preparation for the completion, I have been going over everything for a final touchup - lots of small spots that need repainting. I also noticed that while the ropes look OK where they are positioned, there are a lot of lose ends that stick out sideways, one was even pointing up. This obviously needs to be remedied. So I clipped alligator clips at the very end to weigh them down and then painted the ropes with watered down white glue. I'm fairly pleased with the result.

 

 

 

 

 

It's down to the cartridge canisters now. I need to dust off the lathe for that. Also figure out how to cut a thin groove in the canisters. I know the lathe is perfect for doing that I just don't know what cutting tool to use for something that thin.

[mikiek]

Paul - was that a mini file on a lathe or by hand?

[mikiek]

Man I hate it when I start trying to be thorough. Since I just finished hammocks on this build I thought I would take a look back at Niagara since she needs some as well. I Googled a little bit and came across several discussions here along with some pix. And now I'm thinking there's no way I should leave those hammocks piled up in the netting. I didn't even make them the right size.

 

But then there appears to be another inconsistency with the scale. If a real life hammock was 6' that would be about 3" at 1:23 and that gets doubled over, so 3' to 1 1/2". When I make a hammock 3", double it over and put it properly in the netting the stanchions kinda swallow it up. I had to make the hammocks closer to 4" to get the right look. Now I just need about 20 more of them.

 

 

They do look better lined up.

 

 

[mikiek]

Just curious Jud - do they save the brass or just toss it overboard?

[mikiek]

First off thank you for your service sir! I include a virtual salute.

 

Some great pix, sounds like you guys were slinging a lot of lead. Think what they would have given to have just 1 of those guns on a sailing ship.

Edited January 22, 2017 by mikiek

[mikiek]

The hammock redeaux is almost complete. What an improvement! I can't believe the plans and instructions both say to essentially just toss them into the netting. Kinda like this

 

 

I measured out 6' to scale pieces of material then took a cotton pad to give some bulk and rolled that up. When I folded them in half they seemed a little stubby so I increased the size a little. Haven't "rolled my own" in years On this color material, Elmer's ended up being the best glue. For some weird reason CA just didn't want to take to the cotton material.

 

 

I still have to figure out how to tuck the ends in so you don't see the edge of the material. But overall I think it is a great improvement.

 

 

 

 

For some reason I seem to be avoiding the cartridge containers. That's the last thing to do...

 

This whole hammock exercise has been helpful. I need to do the hammocks on Niagara. Doing it all first at 1:23 has allowed me to work out a good 'look' for the 1:64 work ahead.

Edited January 22, 2017 by mikiek

[jbshan]

I tried to find a pic.

Cotton padding is good, there were blankets and perhaps a thin mattress or pad involved also.

Starting with pic 2, where you have the rolled hammocks, tie a line around one end, holding it tight, run a lashing up the length, tucking under at each crossing.  Tie off at the other end.  Fold in half, tying the ends together with excess line.  There should be, if you're cunning, a crossing of your lashing right at the fold so it shows nicely.

I'll try to get a pic of mine tomorrow, I didn't find anything online for you.

[mikiek]

That should look really sharp Joel - and at 1:23 very doable. I have also added a "canvas" siding on the exterior side similar to your pic. After seeing that I decided I will add a siding to the inside as well. That seemed like the easiest way to cover up the raggedy ends of the hammock rolls.

 

So what I will end up with is canvas on both sides but the folded hammocks will stick out on top. Pix to follow soon.

[mikiek]

Hey - Joel  re: the lashing, that should be loose right? Somewhere I think I read 7 times around from end to end?

[jbshan]

Something like that, Mike, as long as you have a turn at the midpoint., so it shows at the fold.

[mikiek]

Maybe like this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jbshan]

You got it.  Now just make 40 more.  :-)

[mikiek]

Well at least I can rig a hammock

[mikiek]

I like the full cut idea Paul. I doubt I would get a straight line all the way around just filing. That sounds a lot easier.

 

Had to move a family member today so I didn't get any further.

Edited January 24, 2017 by mikiek

[mikiek]

Something like that, Mike, as long as you have a turn at the midpoint., so it shows at the fold.

So what is the significance of a turn at midpoint?

[jbshan]

So what is the significance of a turn at midpoint?

So that the lashing shows.  It doesn't work any better, it just looks more cunning.  It's like having all your house windows with their tops at the same level.  It gives some order to what might be somewhat chaotic otherwise.

 

I didn't get perfect uniformity, but you can see the lashings.

 

Edited January 25, 2017 by jbshan

[mikiek]

Hammocks and rail are about complete. In my mind this is a real improvement over haphazardly laying some pillow puffs in the netting. I'm still surprised that a kit maker would recommend that. I didn't take pix as I was building so for those below I kinda pulled it apart to show the various steps. They start with the stanchions already in place. That's pretty much a no-brainer. My only comment is I had to epoxy the nails into the base plank. The stanchions will receive a lot of pressure, bumps, etc. as your building things up and they kept coming loose. Also, there are holes in the stanchion tops to extend a rope and tie it to eyebolts at each end. For some reason I did those first - bad move. Do them as the final step.

 

The netting was purchased at a fabric store - used for veils and the like. They had several choices with larger and smaller holes. I chose the smallest. You will need to measure the inside dimension of the stanchion - from top, down, across and back up. That's how wide your strip of netting should be. If you are cutting on your workbench be careful, the stuff snags on everything. I first tried to fasten the netting to the stanchions with rope - very problematic. I finally glued the netting to the stanchions and then added the rope bindings.

 

 

 

Then based on Joel's pic I added more rope outside the netting. This is just 2 lengths of rope. Start at the top on one end then down, up, down, around, up, down, up and tie off.

 

 

Then an outer "canvas" was added. Was going to add one to the inside as well but I liked being able to fully see the hammock rolls from there. I found very difficult to cut a perfectly straight edge in the material even with the admiral's sewing shears.

 

 

Somewhere I read that the hammocks were bound by 7 turns of a rope. Could have been dreaming but it seemed to fit so that's what I did - the tie offs at each end were included in the count. Joel also suggested that a turn be placed right where the hammocks will be doubled over. Easier said than done, but I did my best. There is an earlier post on how I rolled the hammocks.

 

 

 

And the result:

 

 

 

 

 

Doing this at 1:23 was pretty easy. There was a total of 20 hammocks to be made. As I have said, I now need to transition this to 1:64 for Niagara. The biggest concern is that the rails go around a lot of the ship - I've estimated well over 100 baby hammocks. Although it would be an incredible looking piece of detail I'm not sure I want to invest that much time. So the plan is to show some hammocks in a rail(s) and then make the illusion of more that are covered by canvas.

 

 

[6ohiocav]

Maybe some 1/64 hammocks on the ends. I think that each side of the Niagara has two runs of hammock rails (break in the middle for stairs and boarding ladder).  That would be a total of 8. Then a canvas cover for entire run, and perhaps a square stock of wood with canvas cover in between, which the plan suggests.

 

Make sense?

[6ohiocav]

By the way, I forgot to mention that your 1/23 hammocks are outstanding. Great detail. Love the rope wrap.

[jbshan]

I think he's got it.  Show them a few completely, then they might assume the others are there as well.

[mikiek]

Thank you Darrell and Joel.

 

Darrell - on the Niagara log I showed a complete canvas wrap with a square stick and a small dowel on top of that to make it kinda round on top. I'll have to do something like that although I wasn't crazy over my first attempt. It covered everything including the stanchions which left me wondering what it was supposed to be, and why bother with stanchions? I want a bit more detail to show thru.