HMS Atalanta 1775 by tlevine - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - from TFFM plans

[Maury S]

Fearsome dragons!

Nice job Toni.

Maury

[AnobiumPunctatum]

The frieze looks really good. Wow, I am really impressed.

That's exactly the appearance I like to get for my both models

Edited January 14, 2015 by AnobiumPunctatum

[tlevine]

Jim, Maury, Christian, thanks for the kind comments.  I hope to have the frieze finished this weekend, except for the stern.  I need to examine the building process to see when it would be most appropriate to install that component.

[tlevine]

Greg,here is a picture of the display case.  These wrap around two corners of the room.  Hannah in the center of the picture with her NRG medal.  To the left is an incomplete model of Amati's Prince which I started back in 1984-ish and never completed because of the inadequacy of the plans.  The reflected ship is Dapper Tom.  I forget which kit manufacturer.

 

 

I have finished the rest of the hull friezes.  Extra material was left around the quarter badge, as I am not sure how this will exactly fit. 

 

[jaerschen]

Congrats Toni, very nice work.

[Remcohe]

That turned out looking really great. You've already convinced me to try this on a piece of scrap before tackling the real hull. I might want to paint directly on to the hull......

 

Remco

[Elia]

Toni,

 

That hull is fantastic. The comparison of the riband and exposed framing to the fully planked opposed side is eye catching. The fully planked side, with it's beautiful holly planking and subtle treenails, is gorgeous. And the friezes add more detail and visual 'pop'. Fantastic, clean, crisp work.

 

Cheers

 

Elia

[tlevine]

After being inspired by Remco's build, I have decided that this is the perfect time to start building the rudder,  The blade consists of two pieces which are tabled together.  The top of the rudder is different on Atalanta than on other Swan class ships.  The top of the rudder is stepped and the metal work is more complex.

 

 

I followed the suggestion in TFFM and split the blade in the midline to form the joints.  The tabling was marked out and the mortises were cut on the Preac and cleaned up with a chisel.  The same black paper I used on the keel and stem was used to line all of the joints.  As you can see, the two sides of the blade are mirror images of each other.  

 

 

The two halves were then glued together and the backing piece and sole piece were applied, again using black paper to simulate felt.  The plan showed the bottom of the sole piece extending all the way to the baseline.  I will shave that back a bit once the final height of the rudder is determined.

 

 

 

[druxey]

Very neatly done, Toni. I believe that in real life the rudder sole was higher and angled a bit to ensure it wouldn't snag if the ship touched ground. Your call, of course.

[SawdustDave]

One great looking rudder Toni. Makes me want to re-do my Mayflower rudders.

[SJSoane]

 

Toni,

 

Beautiful friezes. Like Remco, I have been pondering whether to paint directly onto the hull or use paper. You have shown how successful the paper approach can be!

 

Mark

[tlevine]

Druxey, since the sole plate is the last piece applied, it shouldn't be too much work to shorten it up a bit once I get all the other heights correct.  Thanks, Dave.  Mark, painting on paper has the advantage of avoiding uneven absorption of paint on the wood surface.  Even with a hardwood like castello, there is still enough grain that I think painting on paper and then applying it like wallpaper is safer.

[tlevine]

The bearding line was drawn on the fore edge of the rudder and cut in with a chisel.  The advantage of the 4-part rudder blade is apparent here.  The junction between the port and starboard halves of the rudder make an easily followed line.  The width of the bearding is narrower at the bottom and gradually increases towards the top of the rudder.  The bearding stops below the mortise for the tiller.

 

 

 

The rudder was positioned and the locations for the gudgeons were marked out.  The recesses for the pintles were drawn and then cut out, leaving a little extra wood for final positioning later.

 

 

 

The width of the rudder is the same thickness as the stern post and tapers top to bottom.  I took measurements off the sternpost and drew them into the pintle recesses for easy reference.  The taper was sanded.  I had taken the sole plate off earlier but have temporarily replaced it so one can see the amount of wood removed.

 

Next comes cutting the mortise for the tiller and then the dreaded metalwork.

 

[TomShipModel]

Toni,

 

The friezes are wonderful.  The whole concept is very daunting to me.  At some point I'll attempt this.

[Remcohe]

Just take your time on the metalwork, I dislike it too to work with it, takes more patience than wood...

 

Remco

[michael mott]

Lovely work on the rudder Toni.The photograph of the display cabinets is a bit of a tease, any chance of a few more pictures of the display cupboards and the ships in them?

 

Michael

[tlevine]

Thanks, Tom.  And thank you everyone for the likes.  Remco, I will just have to keep your mantra in mind as I attempt the metal work..."Treat each part as if it is a model on its own, you will finish more models in a day than others do in a lifetime".   Michael, the space is difficult to photograph because of all the reflections but when I am home and there is some sun I will give it a try.  Cannot use flash because of the mirrors. 

[Trussben]

Very nice work on the rudder Toni.

 

Ben

[tlevine]

Michael, this one is for you!  Isn't there a beer commercial with a very similar jingle?  These are my display cases.  They are made of mahogany left over from construction of the house.  There is a can light in each bay (I think you Canadians call them pot lights).  The glass floor of the upper tier allows light into the lower tier.  

 

 

Some of the occupants of my dockyard are Mantua's Peregrine Galley (the first POB ship I built), Mamoli's Roter Lowe, Amati's Prince (abandoned because of terrible plans), Sergal's Cutty Sark, Model Shipways' Fair American, the Lumberyard's Oneida and Mantua's Victory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there is my triplet of small ships, Scientific's Cutty (we're not even saying what decade that was built), Admiralty Model's cutter and Chuck's longboat.

 

 

Finally, there is a small display for my other hobby.  Those eggs take up a lot less room than a ship!

 

 

There is a running theme with these ships.  I discovered that I truly dislike rigging.  I keep telling myself that I will finish the rigging on the Cutty and Victory, especially the Victory, but so far it hasn't happened.  That is why I have converted to hull-only models.  Sorry about the photographer in one of the pics, those mirrors make photographs difficult.

 

 

[tlevine]

And now back to building...  Work continues on the rudder assembly.  After all the metal work done over the last few days I can vouch for the fact that sawdust smells much better than lubricating oil.  The metal work on the rudder consists of six pintles, the straps by the tiller and the spectacle plate.  I made the pintles from four pieces:  two straps, a pin and a center piece pierced for the pin.  All holes were drilled before assembly.  The joints were all silver soldered.  I use a silver solder paste, which has flux already in it, and the Smith Little Torch which uses propane and oxygen for its gases.  The first picture shows the pieces after they are removed from the pickling solution.  The next pictures show how the pintles look after soldering and before cleaning up.

 

 

 

 

Once I got a rhythm, I was pleased with how things came together.  Each pintle took about an hour.

 

 

The spectacle plate is on the aft edge of the rudder.  Chains attach which help prevent unshipping the rudder accidentally.  They were straight-forward to make.  All of the metalwork is recessed into the rudder.  In this picture only the recess for the spectacle plate has been finished.  

 

 

There is a strap above the topmost pintle but I am not sure how I will fabricate this.  The circumference at this point is smaller than the head of the rudder.  At this point I am leaning towards simply pinning it in place, bringing the ends together without actually joining them.  I still need to clean up the metal work, finish the recesses for the pintles, make the tenon for the tiller, and finish the metalwork at the head.

 

 

 

[Jim Lad]

Crikey!  That's some setup for your models, Toni!

 

John

[druxey]

Well, you are a prolific modelmaker, with time for pysanky as well! 

 

Nice work on the pintles and straps, Toni.

[dgbot]

A real nice set up Toni. AS For the paste I have always had trouble with it eating the brass when I take a torch to it.

David B

[SawdustDave]

Thought I was looking at photo's taken from a museum tour Toni. Wow! Beautiful job on the display cases. Your ships aren't too shabby either. Thanks for sharing.

[michael mott]

Toni

Thank you for taking the time to share the display case set up. The mahogany cases lend such a great sense of timeless quality to the visual presentation of your work. Being able to reflect on your development and having the ability to see where you have been with regard to the ships you have built. The pysanky display is amazing as well. I cannot imagine how many hours you have spent doing all the work in those cases. Prolific seems to pale as a descriptor.

 

Thank you again for sharing.

 

Michael

[tlevine]

John, Druxey, David and Dave thank you.  The eggs are a fun distraction.  I always keep dyes ready to go in the fridge.  Michael, I did not mean to imply that I built the cases.  We had a cabinet maker build them.  The mere thought of using "big boy" tools makes me shudder.  Now if there was a kit...  Actually we have built furniture but it was always provided pre-cut as a kit.  All that was required was assembly and the finish.

[EdT]

Impressive display, Toni.  I love the eggs.

 

Ed

[rtropp]

Toni,

beautiful collection.  What a great room.  I would be spending a lot of time in there.

Have a question.  Do you pickle the parts before you solder?  If so, why? Also, do you pickle again after you solder?

 

Thanks,

Richard

[Martin W]

Toni -- I just can't help but weigh in here on those display cases:  wonderful cases for some wonderful builds!!  Mahogany, no less -- oh boy, I'm GREEN.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[tlevine]

Thank you gentlemen.  And thanks for all the likes.  Richard, I pickle parts both before soldering and before blackening.  All the pickle does is remove surface contamination.  This is critical in both soldering and blackening.  Depending somewhat on my mood I will use either a jeweler's pickling solution (Sparex is one brand), 90% isopropanol or acetone followed by a water rinse.  Just as important with silver soldering is knowing that it is not gap filling the way soft solder can be.  The parts are fused to each other so good contact is imperative.