HMCSS Victoria 1855 by BANYAN - 1:72

[BANYAN]

Thanks John, appreciate your kind comment.

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited May 24, 2018 by BANYAN

[mtaylor]

Very well done, Pat.   That had to be some intense work with all the detail at that size.   

[BANYAN]

Thanks Mark, it was but it is still not finished  - I have yet to add some large throat but narrow gauge shackles to the shank (one each side which were used to assist tripping the anchors for recovery).  I am about two-thirds complete on the second one; only one more smaller version of that pattern to go after this one.  The smaller kedge anchor will be the fourth and final anchor; I think this was a standard Admiralty pattern.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

Another small update folks.  Work on the anchors progresses with 1 complete, 1 nearly complete (just the tripping shackles to add) and a smaller stream anchor of the same Pattern in progress.

 

I am still not sure if I will add small chain retainers to the forelocks (pins) in the stock as i would have thought these would be easily 'ripped' off when dragging the bottom etc, and, would get in the way when working the anchor under the cat or fish davit?  Open to suggestions.  If you look very closely at the photos you can see the forelock pin in-situ in the shank and an even smaller one in the bow shackle.  The two completed anchors use purchased shackles, however the one in progress is made by me using EdT's technique for making them.  The graphic which is of a NMM model is the style (pattern) of anchor I am emulating but, as I have some contemporary info that the early stocks were straight bar stocks, that is what I have done

 

I am happy that I was able to make all the parts move including the shackles which move independently of each other.  The other parts in the 'collective' photo are the "Spencer"  anchor slipping mechanism - the stbd side has already been rigged.

 

    

I have also been progressing some other metal details.  The Contract states there was copper capping to be fitted on the cap rails (roughtree rails) in the bow and in the vicinity of where the anchors are worked.  I have completed the bow section using some 0.010" copper.  I have yet to do the anchor areas as i am still determining exactly how much of the rails to cap :).  I have also made a start on siting the pins and 'races' for the pivot gun.  The central pin has been dry fitted in the following photo.  The races are 2mm high and the outer one 56mm in diameter to give an impression as the aspect of the photo is deceiving to the eye.

 

  

As always, feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism is most welcomed.

 

cheers

 

Pat

 

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by BANYAN

[cog]

47 minutes ago, BANYAN said:

As always, feedback, suggestions and constructive criticism is most welcomed

What's there to criticise ... extraordinairilly good ... lovely detail ...

[druxey]

Very nice metalwork, Pat!

[BANYAN]

Thanks Carl and Druxey; appreciate the feedback and encouragement.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

Nothing negative here, Pat.  Only cudos and applause.   Wonderful anchors.

[BANYAN]

Thank Mark, appreciated!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[DaveRow]

Very neat work on the Anchors Pat.

Your skills are really been honed on this this project.

[BANYAN]

Thanks Dave; practice makes perfect they say so I'll have to do about another 6 or so yet

 

cheers

 

Pat

[BANYAN]

Another small update folks; I have been trying to get a 'decent' ship's wheel done.  At 1:72, Victoria's wheel is just shy of 12mm.  I had a go (several times) at making one myself but at this size I simply couldn't achieve a decent wheel so I opted for an 'after-market' brass wheel (14mm - slightly oversize but I will have to live with that). It looks great but I have yet to find a way to make it look like a wood wheel.  Current idea is to chemically blacken it then spray paint it a lighter tan then dry brush with a darker tan?  The wheel was purchased separate and I soldered a drum to it.

 

The standards look a lot better in real life than they show here with shadows and the wood grain making them look crooked and/or uneven.  they actually sit flush and are pretty even.  The rudder telltale on the fore-standard is a 2mm brass tube cut off at 0.6 mm.  I printed a 'card with indicator' (1.5mm) then filled the tube with 'liquid glass' (two part).  It still needs a little cleaning and a polish but the effect is there.   The assembly is only dry fitted at the moment.  the grating are the 'foot plates that are there for the helmsman (one either side)

 

    

 

Along the way I got a little distracted.  A mate came over a couple of days ago and he showed me some planking clamps he had purchased, and I thought I could make some.  the resulting product is shown - only took a day to make 20 of these from some "turkish box" and some M3 (3mm metric) bolts and wingnuts.

 

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited June 27, 2018 by BANYAN

[popeye the sailor]

very nice fitting work Pat........really like the anchors     the ship's wheel looks great too!   very jealous of your metal work

[wefalck]

I would spray-paint the wheel with a sand-cloured paint - there is also Vallejo-paint called 'wood' I believe. Next you can brush on e.g. some mahagony lacquer, either water- or organic solvent-based. Do this in thin layers to have control. You can also mask e.g. the rim, if the wheel had a brass one.

[druxey]

Painting faux wood is an art in itself. Look in the library for a book on faux finishes. That will get you the idea. I usually start with an undercoat of either raw umber or raw siena, depending on the kind of wood I'm imitating, then overcoat it with glazes of darker color, dragged or dry-brushed, depending on the look I'm after. Try this on test pieces until you get a look you like.

[BANYAN]

Thanks for looking in Denis, Eberhard and Druxey, and for all the likes.

 

Thanks for the tips on faux-wood; much appreciate those.  I will investigate the book and online and practice on some scrap to get something I like.  The wheel had brass badges/small plates on it possibly on the rim joints?  Not sure how to emulate these yet but will try a couple of ideas I have on the scrap as suggested.  I have also not done the carving of a kangaroo and emu that was on the lower curved section of the fore standard.  At this scale I think I would have no chance as I have not done any carving at all, and I do not want to ruin what I have done.

 

Helmsman HMCSS Victoria (resized).tif

 

If you look closely at the attached cropped image showing the wheel, you can see the brass plates I refer to.  The only info I have of the carving is that of a description stating that there was a carving of these on the standard but nothing else.  As this design was the forerunner of our national crest I am 'assuming' (I know dangerous) that there would have been a shield also.  I base this on the fact that a shield is shown on the bows of the boats in the profile photo of the 'Victoria', and if a shield was placed there, it possibly was included on the standard (see attached).

 

cheers

 

Pat

Edited June 28, 2018 by BANYAN

[michael mott]

Nice metalwork Pat, the Anchors look great.

 

Michael

[wefalck]

The keyword to look for is 'wood-graining'. Used to be a trade of its own until about WWI. A lot of faux materials were in vogue from around the middle of 19th up to WWI, including imitating wood, bamboo (e.g. on cast-iron garden furniture), and marble. I have a modern book on the subject. However, I am not sure that I would use these techniques on such a small item. It is not very likely to see wood-grain on a steering-wheel, which would have been fabricated from the best quality mahagony probably. The different section of the rim may have had slightly different colours though. I would just apply glazes. Some people also use artists' oil to good effect for this, but drying times are very long, particularly between coats. When you use acrylics, the next coat can be applied quickly and does not dissolve the coat underneath.

 

From the photograph I see that the wheel did not have a continuous facing of the rim in brass, but single re-inforcements, where the spokes penetrated the rim. So my idea of masking doesn't work in this case. One option to reproduce the re-inforcements would be to paint their shape in brass-paint on some transparent decal material and then apply them as decals.

 

One of the next jobs for me to tackle on my SMS WESPE-project will be indeed to make two sets of double steering-wheels - the wheels will only have a diameter of about 10 mm and the spokes will have to be 0.3 to 0.4 mm thick - causes me some head-scratching, but I have ideas ...

 

[BANYAN]

Hi again Eberhard and very many thanks yet again for your great ideas.  The wheel was indeed specified (and reported) as being mahogany so going with a solid colour and decals is a great idea.  Now to find a decal maker - or more likely, I'll have a go myself at making the decals 

 

Victoria's wheel was specified as 'double' but all evidence points to it being single (as evidenced in the photo also).  When I was looking I found a 3D product on Shapeways you may consider if your idea doesn't work out for you - have a look at the double wheel on this page as an example https://www.shapeways.com/shops/model_monkey?section=1%2F72+Ships&s=0 

That said, having witnessed what you achieve in that micro-mill and lathes of yours I am sure you will work something out.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[wefalck]

I had indeed looked into the possibility of having the wheel printed in 3D, but the required materials diamaters push the current technology to its limits. Besides, I have not mastered yet the 3D-modelling techniques that provide the input for the printing process.

 

I don't really like buying-in things that I think I can do myself - it's like dodging the challenge

[druxey]

I agree that full-size wood graining is different from scale work. However, (depending on scale) I've substituted old toothbrushes or worn out regular 'flat' brushes for graining tools effectively. For smaller scales, glazes over a base color as Wefalck suggests would be the way to go.

[cog]

5 hours ago, druxey said:

I agree that full-size wood graining is different from scale work. However, (depending on scale) I've substituted old toothbrushes or worn out regular 'flat' brushes for graining tools effectively. For smaller scales, glazes over a base color as Wefalck suggests would be the way to go.

IWith a grainy-ish paint you could get the desired effect on smaller scale as well, i.e. to a certain degree

[BANYAN]

Thanks again for the feedback Eberhard, Druxey and Carl.  Thanks also to the additional likes; appreciate people looking in.

 

Just to be sure I am not heading off the path; could you please explain what a 'glaze' is please?  My initial thoughts were of a thinned lacquer/varnish but this is probably wrong?  I was going to colour this with the same stain I used on the wood.

 

Eberhard, WRT to the brass badges/plates on the rim of the wheel, a friend is going to help me experiment with PE this from a very thin brass plate (shim) as a complete circle connected via very thin fret which will be cut away once placed - worth a try I think?  

 

If this works we hope to do a ;ace-like etch of the outline of the carvings to glue to the standard - if  the PE is thin enough we hope this may give the impression of a carving (at that scale) when painted - can only hope?

 

cheers

 

Pat

[cog]

If you have some dentist tools - the old fashionned - you could try to replicatie the obvious cuts in wood for the standard, the wood needs to be grainless obviously

[wefalck]

Using etched parts can indeed simulate carvings or mouldings.

 

I have the feeling that the metal re-inforcements where actually let into the rim, rather than being applied on top of it - they could easily rip of during rough handling and could also cause injuries. I think they would be flush with the surface. At least that is what I have seen on museum pieces. While not looking quite brass-like as the real brass, imitating the re-inforcements with decals might be closer to the real thing. Once could make one circular decal for the rim, rather than applying individual tiny ones.

[cog]

but then again, you can also use brass paint ...

[wefalck]

Directly ? Sure, but then, when you mess up, you have to begin all over. I think it is easier to paint on a flat surface, like the decal sheet. You can also print the pattern to be painted on it before, as a guidance for the shape and spacing.

Edited June 30, 2018 by wefalck

[cog]

live dangerous wefalck ... live on the edge ... as artists seem to do ...

[wefalck]

I am not an artist, I am a scientist

 

Forgot to say something about 'glaze': in artists's parlance thess are thin, (semi)transparent coats of paint. The Old Masters built up their paintings from numerous layers of glazing, which is why the colours are so deep and luminous. Glazing with oil-paint takes time, because each coat has to dry (oxidise) or otherwise it will be dissolved by the following layer. Each coat may take at least a week. With acrylics, the 'drying' takes minutes, but they are not as luminous. There are also 'wood-glazes', which are varnishes with some dye or pigment in them. When they are organic solvent-based, you normally can apply only one coat, as the next coat would dissolve even dried previous coats. If they are acrylics-based, you can apply as many consecutive coates as you like.

[cog]

wefalck, I think you are both ...