USS Tennessee 1869 by Keith Black - scale 1:120 - Wood Hull Screw Frigate - ex Madawaska 1865

[TBlack]

Keith, you’re doing great. Keep plowing ahead! Eye sight is an issue, but how about shaky hands?

[Rick310]

Really nice Keith!!  Would never have noticed the deadeye if you hadn’t pointed it out!  I’ve come to realize that over time I don’t see the mistakes that I once thought were obvious.

Rick

[mbp521]

Thanks for the Maggie update Keith! Continued thoughts and prayers going out while she recovers. 
 

18 hours ago, Keith Black said:

I've always been a bit of a perfectionist and so naturally my mindset when I first started working on the Tennessee was get it done as perfect as possible.

From what I can see, everything is still on its way to being perfect. As with what Snug and Mark said, I doubt that any of the deadeyes would have been perfectly aligned and even zooming in on the picture you can barely tell the ropes are threaded through the same hole. I had took pretty hard to see it, and since that will be the wall side, we’ll just keep that minor error between you and those of us here on MSW. 😁

 

-Brian

[clearway]

nowt wrong wid them as we say up north in england 😜

[KeithAug]

On 5/25/2024 at 8:27 PM, Keith Black said:

Try as hard as I might, I can't seem to get em perfect aligned

Keith You are being too perfectionistic. They look excellent.

 

Have you had lens replacements?  They make you feel 30 years younger until you see yourself in a mirror.😬

 

 

 

 

 

[mcb]

Looks good to me.  Like everyone else I would never have noticed the particular block, and then only after I had to hunt for it.

You are in good shape now, if I remember correctly, you have much of the ratlines done already. 

 

Thanks for showing your work,

mcb

[Keith Black]

On 5/25/2024 at 4:17 PM, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

  Who says that the deadeyes have to be 'perfectly' aligned?  As they are tensioning devices, variations are bound to occur over time as shrouds get periodically adjusted.  Your ship looks just fine.

 Johnny, in the photos of the Tennessee the deadeyes are dead straight and of course I was/am trying to replicate that. Thank you for the reassurance.

 

"Good point, as I hadn't noticed the deadeye until it was pointed out and I looked again closely ('Just ordered new glasses because my prescription changed, but it will take 1 - 2 weeks to get them).  'Guess Keith and I share a couple traits, since on a Pennsylvania long rifle I made (and was showing to some new friends recently) - I kept pointing all the things I 'did wrong' (mostly small details).  A man with some expertise in antique firearms said to forget real or imagined 'faults' - he thought it was beautifully done ... as is Keith's U.S.S. Tennessee !"

 

 Thank you, Johnny.  

Edited May 27 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

On 5/25/2024 at 6:30 PM, mtaylor said:

I'm with Snug Harbor Johnny on this.   Even the missed deadeye hole won't be noticed except by you and those of us following your log.   

 Thanks, Mark. What bugs me the most is, it's a mistake I could easily have avoided.

[Keith Black]

On 5/25/2024 at 9:28 PM, TBlack said:

Keith, you’re doing great. Keep plowing ahead! Eye sight is an issue, but how about shaky hands?

Thank you, brother Tom. I got the shaky hand syndrome also, another reason to sally forth. It's a real challenge to reach into the midst of the center rigging with a tiny drop of CA to fix a shroud knot. I almost get dizzy watching the end of the needle. 

Edited May 27 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

On 5/25/2024 at 9:49 PM, Rick310 said:

Really nice Keith!!  Would never have noticed the deadeye if you hadn’t pointed it out!  I’ve come to realize that over time I don’t see the mistakes that I once thought were obvious.

Rick

 Thank you, Rick. You're correct, my earlier mistakes are mostly forgotten but these new ones bug the snot out of me. 

[Keith Black]

18 hours ago, mbp521 said:

From what I can see, everything is still on its way to being perfect. As with what Snug and Mark said, I doubt that any of the deadeyes would have been perfectly aligned and even zooming in on the picture you can barely tell the ropes are threaded through the same hole. I had took pretty hard to see it, and since that will be the wall side, we’ll just keep that minor error between you and those of us here on MSW. 😁

 

-Brian

 Thank you, Brian. I feel duty bound to share warts and all with my MSW family. 

[Keith Black]

14 hours ago, clearway said:

nowt wrong wid them as we say up north in england 😜

 Day not be perfect but I tank yea for the kind words, Keith.     

Edited May 27 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

11 hours ago, KeithAug said:

Keith You are being too perfectionistic. They look excellent.

 

Have you had lens replacements?  They make you feel 30 years younger until you see yourself in a mirror.😬

 

 Thank you, Keith I've thought about corrective eye surgery but if the chances of complications are one in a zillion, guess who the unlucky winner would be?  

[Keith Black]

6 hours ago, mcb said:

Looks good to me.  Like everyone else I would never have noticed the particular block, and then only after I had to hunt for it.

You are in good shape now, if I remember correctly, you have much of the ratlines done already. 

 

Thanks for showing your work,

mcb

 Thank you, mcb. The main and fore channel shrouds are the remaining ratlines. I'm kinda looking forward to that surprisingly enough.  

[My Fathers Son]

Rat lines are a good exercise in patients, I still have one mast to do on CS and I look forward to getting back to it but my furry friends are still way to interested in what I do. All yesterday, they sat within a couple of feet right next to me. Hate to think what they would do if a claw got hooked in any rigging. 

[Keith Black]

 

6 hours ago, My Fathers Son said:

Rat lines are a good exercise in patients, I still have one mast to do on CS and I look forward to getting back to it but my furry friends are still way to interested in what I do. All yesterday, they sat within a couple of feet right next to me. Hate to think what they would do if a claw got hooked in any rigging

 Our old cat Amelia who passed away four years ago could have cared less about the Tennessee. I never worried about her doing anything untoward. Now, our new cat Emma (Emilia), I wouldn't trust that knot headed cat for a second. She is NOT allowed in the shipyard.   

Edited May 27 by Keith Black

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to all for the comments, likes and for following along.

 

 Quick update.

 

 The main's channel shrouds are done. The little 3mm deadeyes (far left) are crazy small to lace and attach. I'm glad there are only two per mast.   

 

 Other than weaving the main's channel shroud ratlines and attaching the main yard with both lifts and braces, from the main mast aft all the rigging is done. 

 

 Thank you again to all of you for your thoughtfulness.

 

  Keith

[FriedClams]

Nice updates, Keith!  Good to hear Maggie is progressing even if at a slower pace.

 

I agree with all the above comments - would never have noticed a thing wrong if you hadn’t pointed it out. Looks perfect to me, but I understand how some things can just bug you when it’s your own project.  We modeler’s are our own worst critics.  
 

Have you ever considered Optivisors?  I have their plastic lens model that I simply couldn’t do without. I understand the glass lens models are even better.

 

Gary

[Keith Black]

19 hours ago, FriedClams said:

Nice updates, Keith!  Good to hear Maggie is progressing even if at a slower pace.

 

I agree with all the above comments - would never have noticed a thing wrong if you hadn’t pointed it out. Looks perfect to me, but I understand how some things can just bug you when it’s your own project.  We modeler’s are our own worst critics.  
 

Have you ever considered Optivisors?  I have their plastic lens model that I simply couldn’t do without. I understand the glass lens models are even better.

Gary,  thank you for you kind words regarding Maggie and the Tennessee.

 

 I tried an Optivisor and didn't care for it. Today I ordered 6X glasses off Amazon, they were cheap. We'll see how those work out and if they don't, I won't hesitate to toss them in the bin. 

[wefalck]

I have been away travelling almost every second week for the past couple of months or so and barely could follow what was going on here. It seems that you are making steady progress in spite of the family health issues  👍🏻

 

For years I have been using magnifying (only x3) safety glasses, but together with my myopy it should give a total magnification of around x7. If I need more I use an optivisor, but found it not so comfortable for longer work, also because one has to come close to the object.

[Keith Black]

 

 Thank you to all for the likes and for following along. 

 

3 hours ago, wefalck said:

It seems that you are making steady progress in spite of the family health issues  👍🏻

  Thank you, Eberhard.  

 

 

 Below are the 6X glasses I ordered from Amazon...

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CFWSN6P?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

  Working distance is 8 inches away from your face, beyond that objects start to blur. I'm amazed they arrived okay. They were shipped in a thin plastic shipping envelope , no bubble wrap or cardboard around the glasses. I expected to take out a broken mess but not so, they were in perfect condition.

 

 The first time I wore them was for two, thirty minute stretches with a 30 minute break between the two and my eyes were okay. The second time I wore them for a couple of hours straight but it felt like my eyes struggled a bit to adjust back to normal afterward.                                                                                                                                    

 

 But I really really need them because of two recent purchases from Shapeways, see below.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/C9PG8J4AN/1-125-royal-navy-seamen-set-104?optionId=301259378&li=ostatus

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/F3B3ZE7AY/1-125-royal-navy-seamen-set103?optionId=301259186&li=ostatus

 

These Royal Navy figures, in this size, (these figures measure 0.56 inches) are the closest to the latter 19th century US Navy figures I've be able to locate.    

 

 The biggest drawbacks are, the Shapeways figure's trousers are bloused at the boot tops, US Navy, a slight bellbottom trouser goes all the way down to the shoe tops. Royal Navy caps, oval shaped, US Navy, round caps. Less use of white on the US Navy uniform that that of the Royal Navy. The figures being so small, once painted, I think it will be hard to see the differences.  Of course I'll be painting them to resemble the US Navy uniform as close as possible.

 

 This is my first experience with 3D printed parts. Is it best to seal first with varnish/polyurethane or paint with acrylic paint then seal? After testing painting three figures, I think the quickest and easiest way to paint these is the uniform first then the head/face, hands, and boots. 

 

 

 

 And the journey continues......

 

[Keith Black]

 Thank you to all for the likes and for following along.

 

 I have painted three of the Shapeways figures but they have not been sealed. The jury is out on these guys, I'll seal them and we'll see. I think there is a much better way of painting these than the way I did for these three. I painted every detail leaving the white for last. The white is the trickiest part of the process, if they were sealed before applying the white and the white didn't go on as wanted, I could remove a portion or all without messing with the paint underneath the sealer. The way I did it here I had to touchup the blue uniform and maybe the face, yada yada. Sealing and then adding the white has got to be better.   

 

My apologies for the following two photos. I was in a hurry and it's late, I promise I'll do better with the next photos.

 

 Taken with my lighting array, 

 

 Taken with flash. The shadows make that middle figure look like he's been going through the chow line twice. 

 

I need to get the figures off the paper and posed midair because taken in this manner ya can't see diddly.

 

 Again, thank you to all. 

 

 

[BANYAN]

Nice find Keith, I'll have to look into these and see if they do 1:72 (or something close) as well.  Looking forward to seeing these in-situ as you are doing a great paint job.

 

Glad to hear Maggie continues to improve mate.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Keith Black]

4 minutes ago, BANYAN said:

Nice find Keith, I'll have to look into these and see if they do 1:72 (or something close) as well.  Looking forward to seeing these in-situ as you are doing a great paint job.

 

Glad to hear Maggie continues to improve mate.

 Thank you, Pat

 

 I couldn't rest without correcting those horrible photos in my previous post not that these are all that great. My camera stinks when it comes to taking nighttime photos. I'll make sure I don't take anymore at night.

 

 

 

 Thanks for putting up with me. 

[TBlack]

Keith, You must have a steady hand with the paint brush!

Tom

[KeithAug]

Impressive little crewman Keith. Excellent paint job.

[mtaylor]

Nicely painted Keith.  Way above my pay grade.

[Rick310]

Really nice job on the painting!!  The figures are so small no one will notice the difference.  
Rick

[Glen McGuire]

Exceptional work, Keith!  From now on, I'm going to send all my SIB penguins to you for painting!!  😃

[Knocklouder]

Great job on painting the figures  Keith.  I just finished painting my first two figures for my Drakkar,  look in my Mayflower  log  post #189,  bottom of the post left hand corner. All thought they are Vikings for my Drakkar @Gabek  has showen me how to use Army Speed paint.  All the figures in the case were painted by him, he showed me how one afternoon, it took all of 15 minutes to explain how, I found them easy-to-use.  Dont know if Army Speed Paint would be better than what you are doing now cause what you are doing now looks amazing.  Just thought speed paint maybe better, I found it easy to use on my builds, might be worth the look.   

Bob M.