HMS Winchelsea 1764 by Stuntflyer (Mike) - FINISHED - 1/4" scale

[Jorge Diaz O]

incredible master.

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you very much for the kind words!

 

I do enjoy the photography side of the build. Originally, I was shooting the photos against a beige painted wall in my apartment under 2500k incandescent. I never liked the lack of separation between the model and the background. While shopping for paint at the local Michaels store I found a 30x40 white stretched canvas. I tried using it as the background. It helped a lot especially after moving the shots to the workroom which has 3000k LEDs.

 

Mike

Edited April 19, 2020 by Stuntflyer

[Dziadeczek]

1 hour ago, Stuntflyer said:

Thank you very much for the kind words!

 

I do enjoy the photography side of the build. Originally, I was shooting the photos against a beige painted wall in my apartment under 2500k incandescent. I never really like the lack of separation between the model and the background. While shopping for paint at the local Michaels store I found a 30x40 white stretched canvas. I tried using it as the background. It helped a lot especially after moving the shots to the workroom which has 3000k LEDs.

 

Mike

Mike,

You should have the possibility to change the white ballance in your camera as well. Set it to "incandescent" and, if it is necessary, furthrer tweak the ballance in post prod - if you shoot in RAW.

Also, if you can set your camera to aperture priority mode, select the smallest f. stop, for example f.22 and your camera will automatically choose appropriate exposure time . This might be some long time, a few seconds or so, but you said, you are using a tripod, so who cares, you are not chased anywhere and can wait... This small aperture will give you deep depth of focus, everything from close by to most distant details will be sharp (well,... almost, for in order to truly get EVERYTHING razor sharp, you have to use a technique called "focus stacking". But, I am sure you know about it already...)

Also, I found out that the best light for photographing models is using daytime light, outside, but in a cloudy day, not direct sunlight.

Admiring your modeling skills!!!   :-)

Thomas

Edited April 19, 2020 by Dziadeczek

[Stuntflyer]

Its been an interesting couple of days. I managed to get one roof sanded to shape and then I added the tiles. The first row of tiles overhangs the roof slightly and touches the molding below. Other than the last tile at the end of each row, I did not reduce the tile widths. With each row, I set the the tops of the tiles to touch each other and then angled them as needed to align into a staggered pattern with the row below. Each row was sanded paper thin at the top and reduced to about a 1/64" at the bottom. Then the next row was added. I also added the molding that sits on top. The molding has the added benefit of cleaning up the edge of that last row of tiles. I will be painting the roof black and applying some weathering powder to tone down the color.

Mike

[Gahm]

It looks fantastic, Mike!

 

Thomas

[JpR62]

As always : a perfect job ! Superb !

[Stuntflyer]

Chapter three is still a work in progress. I added the friezes to the ship. The sides of the hull were done in sequence while adding the middle molding along the waste and the laser etched molding along the forecastle and quarter deck. The QGallery roofs were painted dark gray and work has started on the QGallery columns and roof rail.

 

The friezes were cut out with the aid of long ships curves. This worked out quite well and I can think of only one edge that had to be done by eye. For adhesion, I used the Elmers School glue stick. When using the stick, I made several passes over the frieze. I wanted to use enough glue to allow for positioning of the frieze before the glue starts to set which can happen quickly if applied to sparingly. 3-4 passes should be about right. A sharp #11 blade and a clean planking edge makes easy work of cutting the friezes around the inner edge of the gun ports, but only after the glue has dried. Here is where I'm at as of today.

Mike

[Wacom]

Mike, your craftsmanship never ceases to amaze. An inspiration to us all, well done.👌

[Dziadeczek]

Delightful!

How did you make those perfect spirals, if I may ask?

[JpR62]

Wonderful job ! These friezes are really superb and you have managed to put them to perfection.

[Chuck]

Looks great Mike.  That is coming along wonderfully.   

[Gahm]

Your craftsmanship is amazing! Wonderful model!

 

Thomas

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you all! No secret regarding the "perfect spirals". Those are laser etched by the master himself, Chuck.

 

Mike

[Rustyj]

Great workmanship and explanation Mike. Always a pleasure seeing your updates!

[KenW]

You workmanship is still the best. 

Can't wait until we can have club meetings to see models live again.

Cheers.

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you, Ken!

 

Mike

[Stuntflyer]

Small update: Things are moving a bit slowly lately, but I did manage to get some work done. I've been jumping around a bit in the build sequence which seems okay for now. Here are few photos showing where I'm at.

 

 

Looking at the laser cut sheet one can see that the 5 moldings that run along the top edge of the transom are not all the same width. Only the center molding at the very top is correct. The other 4 are slightly wider and the lower edge of each needs to be reduced in width in order to match the center molding.

 

I found that PVA glue doesn't work well for adhering the figures so I suggest using medium CA which works very well.

 

The green paper on the transom was cut back approx 3/64" along its outer edge to allow for a gluing surface.

 

 

Mike

[Stuntflyer]

I've been working on a way to get a good fit with the drops. I know that no two hulls are the same, but on my ship it required some experimentation in order to get the front of the drop (tear drop) to fit tight against the hull.  I tried using dry heat and manual bending which worked somewhat though not perfectly. The solution. . .?

 

1. Place a strip masking tape on the wales for paint protection.

2. Remove material from the drop where necessary in order to get as close as possible to a good fit. Concentrate on the back end of the drop where it intersects with the transom. I sanded mine paper thin.

 

 

3. Once satisfied, place the drop in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes or so.

4. While the drop is still hot, place it into position.

5. While holding the back end down, press the front end (tear drop) against the hull.

6. Hold for a few minutes while the drop cools.

7. Paint the drop

 

 

Yes, when gluing the drop it will still be necessary to push the tear drop against the hull, but only by a fraction of the distance required before the boiling. I think that most will not need this technique at all. For those that do, it works.

 

Mike

[Chuck]

Beautiful Mike....

 

Your resin drop and carvings match the boxwood perfectly.   You used the fruitwood gel stain and wiped it off immediately after applying?

 

Lovely!!!

[Stuntflyer]

Thank you, Chuck. Yes, I used the fruitwood gel stain. No mixing of the stain beforehand. Straight off the top layer of gel that was in the can . It was wiped off immediately and I only needed two coats.

 

Mike

[Rustyj]

Great job on the drops Mike! I am using a similar technique as we speak.

[Hubac's Historian]

Just really beautiful, clean work, Mike!

[Gahm]

Super work, Mike! I love following your progress!

 

Thomas

[Stuntflyer]

I decided to take a short break from the transom details in order to complete the framing for the deck coamings. The photos below show the completed work. The first photo is the aft framing followed by the forward framing.

 

My frames are made from boxwood. During frame assembly I tried to keep things squared up and centered on the deck by removing material from both sides of the beam. A number of dry fits with the carlings were needed. Notice how the laser cut mortises are etched on both sides of the beam in order to line up the ledges. I would imagine that this would be a two step process and time consuming to do with the laser cutter.

 

 

 

The beam supports can be placed slightly below the bulkheads. I recessed them less than 1/64" which saves having to fair them later. They are only needed to hold the beams and will be completely covered up, #1. When adding the beams I set them flush with the bulkheads, #2. As you can see, the beam support is below all of the pieces that need to be at deck level.

 

 

Not having to chisel out the mortises was huge time saver. Another well thought out kit which leaves just enough wiggle room to achieve a proper fit. Thanks to Chuck for making this possible!

 

Mike

[Chuck]

That looks perfect Mike.  Yes it was great to push the laser cutting technology to make those mortices on both sides.  I am however contemplating not using them on the quarter deck and forecastle beams for the very reason you mentioned.  They take forever to laser cut and the mortices will eventually be covered up anyway by the decking.  
 

I will see how time consuming it is once I get that far along.  A simple butt joint with the ledges will work just as good.

[mugje]

This is an extraordinary build! Looks perfect! Also very good photo's   

[Stuntflyer]

I have finally finished the transom detail. For this kind of work I clamped the hull to the work table with the transom face up above table height.

 

I used the same background paper below the windows as I did above. When fitting the figures that cover areas of molding I decided to notch the figures and leave the molding untouched. Seemed far easier to replace the figures rather than fix misplaced gouges, etc., in the molding.

 

When painting the figures, I lightly rubbed my finger over the high and low areas to achieve a variation in the color depth of the paint. This, along with rounding the back portion of the figures slightly, gives the figures a three dimensional look. Unfortunately, the lighting in the photo makes if difficult to see this.

 

 

Mike

[Dowmer]

Beautiful work as always Mike.  Lovely attention to detail. 

[ccoyle]

That is simply gorgeous!

[Rustyj]

Ah that looks so nice Mike!