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

[JpR62]

Great work. As always, it's perfection.
For the application of the airbrush paint, is it diluted with water or with a specific product?

[jfhealey]

I've got a real problem, Mike, with every post you make and every photo you show. I sit here thinking "If only I were half as good..."! Never mind. I'm really enjoying my build....just as long as I don't look too closely at yours or Chuck's.  

Really superb work

Fred

[Stuntflyer]

Joe, Jean-Paul,

 

I dilute with water until I get a smooth flow out of the airbrush without having it come out too watery. I usually set the compressor between 35-40 psi. Hope that makes sense. 

 

Fred, thank you! Sometimes I feel the same way you do. . . "If only I were half as good...".

 

Mike

Edited August 20, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[Stuntflyer]

I Just finished up the chain pump construction. Definitely a fun kit to build. I'm going to add the fragile tongue later.

 

I found it easier to install the drain plug handle first, before adding it to the pump.

 

There are numerous "boards" that have to be beveled on one side only in order to conform to the rounded hood of the pump. In doing so, I removed all of the char on that one side while being careful not to overdo it. Just enough to clear the char. This gives the appearance of a tight joint when placed against the previously installed board.

 

Mike

[HardeeHarHar]

 

 

 

Hey Mike,

Can you provide further detail on pinning cannons to deck?  Is it standard practice?  Greatly appreciate your sharing your work and knowledge!!!

Brian

[Stuntflyer]

Brian,

 

I will be doing a few guns this week. Give me a few days and I will describe my method for you. I can't tell you if pinning is standard practice or not. However, I wouldn't want one of these guns getting dislodged in the area where the beams are located. I'm sure you can see why.

 

Mike

[HardeeHarHar]

Thanks for any assistance you can offer Mike, I am just at the point of fixing two cannons as bow chasers under the forecastle of my HMS Granado, and as you noted, I don't won't want them to "feel free to move about the cabin".  It will be a good place to "practice" too.

[Stuntflyer]

As promised here is how I go about pinning the guns to the deck. In doing so I try to set most of the guns parallel to one another. In order to do that I use the edge of the deck fixtures as a starting point. First, let's see what the pinned carriage looks like.

 

I used a #77 drill to make a hole in the bottom of the rear trucks. Mine are done on the mill, but doing it by hand also works. After adhering a length of 28 gauge wire into each truck the wire is shortened to about 1/32". The two rear trucks were then glued to the axle while visually aligning the wires to each other.

 

The photo below is explained with steps 1-4.

1. This stick has cutouts that cover the ring bolts on the deck. This allows the stick to be pushed up against the edge of the coaming. The coaming is centered on the deck so I know that the stick is parallel to the centerline of the deck.

 

2. I made an adjustable parallel gauge on the Byrnes saw. The gauge sits between the rear trucks and the stick I mentioned in the previous step. By sliding the two halves of the adjustable parallel I can move the carriage as close to or as far away from the gun port as I want. The carriage remains perpendicular to the centerline of the deck as long as I keep the rear trucks against the edge of the adjustable parallel. Once the carriage is positioned I placed a few pieces of tape over the gauge to hold it in place.

 

3. I placed a stick against the truck as a stop in order to register the gun carriage fore and aft.

 

4. I put some masking tape on the deck where the pins would be located to protect the planking. I used a toothpick to add a dab of black paint to the bottom of each pin. The carriage was placed on the deck as shown in the photo below. Simply push down to transfer the paint to the tape.

 

The markings for the holes ready to be drilled. Use a #75 or #76 drill if you need some wiggle room.

 

Mike

Edited August 26, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[Beckmann]

Hi Mike,

That is an excellent method!! I am close to mounting the carriages as well, thanks for sharing this! How do you manage to get the angles of the cannon barrels all in a good alignment?   

[Stuntflyer]

On 8/24/2021 at 3:52 PM, Beckmann said:

How do you manage to get the angles of the cannon barrels all in a good alignment?   

1. The barrels should be aligned in the carriages.

2. The sides of the deck fittings like the coamings should be parallel to the centerline of the deck.

 

My method relies on those things being correct. In the example above I am using the sides of the coaming as the template for the whole process. The rear trucks against the adjustable parallel insures that the carriage is always perpendicular to the centerline of the deck. Doing this insures that the barrels will be in alignment. Hope that makes sense.

Edited August 25, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[glbarlow]

Great info and helpful, thanks. Just curious, 1. Your reason not to just push the front trucks against the waterway? 2. Is there coaming the full run of the deck, if not how do you see the wheels when the are behind the carriage is open?

 

Thanks

[HardeeHarHar]

Mike, 

Thanks for providing the information, which I will attempt to adopt to my applications.  I can't stop myself from asking you if you will rig the guns before you glue them or after?  I have "pre-rigged" 2 cannons for the bow chasers already, but I can drill the holes in the trucks and insert an appropriate gauge (guitar string) wire in them and install them just the same (I would hope =).

Thanks again, your work is truly inspiring!

Brian

[Stuntflyer]

Glenn,

If I push the guns against the waterway then they will all be at different angles. I prefer the look where they are in line with each other. There are enough fixtures (coamings, mast partners, stove platform, etc.) to use my method.

 

Brian,

I won't be rigging the guns.

 

Mike

Edited August 26, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[Stuntflyer]

I just edited post #395 as I felt it needed a clearer explanation.

 

My apologies,

 

Mike

Edited August 26, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[HardeeHarHar]

Interesting decision.  You have all those beautiful ringbolts for gun tackle on your carriages and bullwark but aren't going to put them to use? 

[glbarlow]

With this beautiful model I plan to do the same and agree with Mike’s call on not rigging the guns. I may include breaching ropes but that’s it. Now I get aligning all the guns, that will stand out so much more nicely without ropes all about. 

[HardeeHarHar]

I have mixed emotions.  Having just learned how to make a few nice rope coils, I was and still am anxious to rig the gun tackle and coil the ropes on my Granado.  It is kind of a moot point for the bow chasers that will be covered over by the forecastle decking, but I think it looks good with all the guns rigged on the Granado (at least when done well by others).  However, I also completely understand the variation and elimination of this element.  There are a lot of "personal" choices encountered in building.  I like the idea of the breaching rope, and I have seen some "compact" wrapped tackle lines that eliminate coils as well.  One thing is for certain, whatever decision Mike makes, it always looks fantastic 😃 

[Stuntflyer]

I'm still working in the area of the chain pumps. Getting the pumps to sit properly is a bit fiddly. Your basically there when the chocks are sitting flush on the mast partner and the deck and there is no rocking of the pump. In order to achieve this I had to shorten the tubes on the bottom of each pump.

 

In making the jeer butts and gallows I deepened the sheave slots on the mill. I used 1/32" and .045" end mills as needed. Then I inserted tiny discs to simulate the sheave. With a press fit, no gluing was necessary. I just applied some W-O-P over the sheave to better hold the disc in place. Okay, it's not PVA, but it does have holding properties and keeps things a whole lot neater.

I used some layered masking tape to help in aligning the pump while gluing it in place.

 

 

Mike

Edited September 1, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[druxey]

Attention to detail really pays off! Once the cranks are on, you'll be able to pump ship. Nice going, Mike.

[Stuntflyer]

Thanks, druxey!

[bdgiantman2]

Mike, your model continues to be an amazement to follow and you give great teaching. Great work on here and keep it up.  I have one question involving the chain pumps. Looking at the book Cross-Section Man-of-War, the book shows wooden chutes (apparently named dales) that would transport water from the pumps out the side of the ship. However, these chutes (dales) would be extremely close to some cannons. Neither you nor Mr. Passaro have shown these thus far. Would these be accurate?

 

Brian D. 

Edited September 1, 2021 by bdgiantman2
adding graphics

[Stuntflyer]

1 hour ago, bdgiantman2 said:

Would these be accurate?

Well, I really don't know, Brian. Perhaps Chuck or someone else will be able to give you the answer.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Mike

[druxey]

Pump dales are attached to the boxes at the top of the tubes and discharge water to the larger scuppers at the side opposite the boxes. As they impede movement along the deck, they were rigged only when pumping. Usually dales would be stowed out of the way.

[dvm27]

Brian - the pumps were fixed but the pump dales were removable and stowed elsewhere when not in use. Typically there would be a scupper where they discharge from the hull. They are rather unattractive wooden boxes so are seldom modelled along with the more elegant pumps but here is an example from my Echo cross-section.

 

 

 

[bdgiantman2]

Greg and Druxey, thank you for providing more details about this. I did not realize that the dales were removeable, but agree that they would be a tripping hazard in a already confined space.

 

Brian D. 

Edited September 2, 2021 by bdgiantman2

[Jorge Diaz O]

Hello, in my model of the HMS Triton I had also put it. It looks interesting.

[Rustyj]

Hi Mike, Great work as usual. 

[Stuntflyer]

Chain pumps. .  . I decided to make the 4 Rhodings from 1/16" x 1/64" brass strip. The square portion of the crank handle is only 3mm in length. Any longer and I think they would look out of scale. After blackening the brass rod I used some weathering powder to age the look of the metal.

 

After that I added the the decorative moulding to the forward edge of the breast beam. Then came the elm pumps and QD bulwark planking. For the carlings I made simple wood templates that fit between the beams in order to position the carlings equidistant from the center of the deck.

 

 

Mike

Edited October 5, 2021 by Stuntflyer

[Gahm]

They look fantastic! It must be a lot of fun to build those pumps!

 

Thomas

[Stuntflyer]

Been working on the stove kit. Just want to say that Chuck has done a masterful job of precision cutting these parts. Everything fits with little or no sanding required. The stack has been thinned down at the top to about 1/64".

 

I forgot to photograph the drain pan. Anyway, here it is ready for paint.

 

Mike

Edited October 8, 2021 by Stuntflyer