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

[dvm27]

Lovely Toni. You must have found the miniature hinge pins we included for those photo-etched hinges   

[Jim Lad]

Way to go, Toni!

 

John

[Mirabell61]

lovely work Toni

 

would like to see more of the interior Fittings....

 

Nils

[tlevine]

Thanks for your encouragement, gentlemen.  As far as interior fittings are concerned...  My perspective is that I like to see the carpentry and do not have much interest in adding things like barrels, ballast, shelves, pots and pans, microwave , etc. My next build will probably be a cross section which will show all of those items (except possibly the microwave).  This is also why I am only building out the port side and leaving the starboard relatively bare.

 

Those are your hinges, Greg.  Blackened with Birchwood Casey and attached with Elmer's yellow glue after the underside had been sanded to bright brass.  I found this worked better than epoxy.

[tlevine]

_{Robin, I agree that the lantern positioning looks odd  from above but this is the location on the NMM plan.  There is no armament on the lower deck and the magazine is aft.  Whether a lantern is mounted or carried in to the room, some type of illumination would be required for these storerooms as there is no natural lighting this far forward.}

[Trussben]

Beautiful work Toni, I love the details on the doors and the lanterns are great.

 

Ben

[TomShipModel]

Toni,

 

I haven't had much time on the site recently, but I have your build book marked. Your work is inspiring. The workmanship is very clean and accurate. Truly something for me to aspire to.

 

Tom R

[tlevine]

Ben and Tom thanks. 

 

I have installed the bed platforms (three aft and one fore).  These are simple structures with a higher edge medially to help prevent rolling out of bed in rough weather.  Once everything was glued in place I applied a single coat of Watco's.  As I may have mentioned before, it appears their formula may have changed because it is causing a significant yellowing of the wood.  With the Costello box it is not an unpleasant yellowing...almost an aging look.  Compare these pictures with the bare wood pictures on the preceding page.  But I am not sure it works well for the holly.  Well, I have several months to work that out.

 

 

 

[druxey]

Very nice work, Toni. I suspect that there were 'filler' pieces above the doors that need to be short for privacy and or security.

[tlevine]

I agree with you completely, Druxey.  When the beams are finally installed I will add the filling pieces.  Would the pieces be oriented horizontally like the door header or vertically?

[Dan Vadas]

I agree with you completely, Druxey.  When the beams are finally installed I will add the filling pieces.  Would the pieces be oriented horizontally like the door header or vertically?

 

I'd think horizontally Toni.

 

  Danny

[WackoWolf]

Excellent work on the detail. It is beautiful. Keep the pictures coming.

[tlevine]

Thanks for your input, Danny.  I was thinking the same thing.  Thanks, Joe, for looking in.

[Kevin]

lovely work, i quess the bed mattresses would be hay filled, and also suspect they would sooner have hammocks 

[druxey]

I agree with Dan: a horizontal board will do it.

[tlevine]

Thank you Druxey.

 

A hay-filled mattress...  How inviting , Kevin .  Hammocks take up more room lengthwise than a bed and so would not have fit into these small rooms.

[tlevine]

The framing for the upper deck has started.  Hopefully it will look better than the lower deck framing.  The biggest difference between the two decks is that there are hanging knees at every beam, slowing down the process considerably.  In order to accurately mark the centerline I have wrapped a loop of thread through the ventilation spaces of the hawse pieces.  A second thread is secured to this loop and attached to the stem.

 

 

The carlings are dry-fit (and at least one of them needs replacing ) and still need their notches for the ledges cut.  The pillar has a tenon superiorly to fit into a mortise on the undersurface of the beam.  Inferiorly it is simply glued to the deck.  The large gap between the hanging knee and the frames occured because I have chosen to omit the ceiling below the deck clamps. 

 

[Jim Lad]

Coming along very nicely, Toni!

 

John

[Ryland Craze]

This really looks nice.  I have enjoyed your build log.

[WackoWolf]

Toni,

 

    Your have turn wood into something of Beauty, keep the pictures coming.

[tlevine]

Thank you John, Ryland and Joe for your compliments. 

 

One of the big problems I am having is keeping dust and debris out of the lower reaches of the hull.  I currently have a piece of aluminum foil that I keep molded to the lower deck aft of where I am working but this does a marginal job at best.  Any suggestions besides an air compressor?

[druxey]

Damp - not wet! - brushes of various sizes can pick up dust and quite large particles by surface tension and/or adhesion. It's a tedious process, but will deal with everything the vacuum won't.

[WackoWolf]

druxey,

 

   I like that idea of your, never though of using a damp brush to pick up saw dust and other small crap. Nice idea, Thank you.

[EdT]

Toni,

 

I gave up on all attempts to keep the dust and debris out - masking tape, foil, etc.

 

I used a dry, long handled, stiff bristled, artists round to loosen dust where it could be reached, then blew it out with the shop vac in reverse mode.  You can direct the air through the lower frames from the outside in the final step.  I did this periodically throughout the work.  I also tried using the pressurized cans for cleaning electronics, but found that not to be necessary.  If you use an air compressor, make sure it is either an oil free type, or that the oil trap is clean.

 

Sometimes a good shake with the model inverted is also needed to dislodge larger bits or to recover parts.

 

Good luck.

 

Ed

[tlevine]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  Ed, I particularly like your idea of forgetting prevention and simply cleaning along the way. I have started keeping the model in a separate room and only bringing it to my workspace (ie the kitchen) when necessary to minimize the dust.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.  Ed, I particularly like your idea of forgetting prevention and simply cleaning along the way. I have started keeping the model in a separate room and only bringing it to my workspace (ie the kitchen) when necessary to minimize the dust.

 

Toni - don't bother at all with trying to keep the lower decks clean of sawdust .... you still have A LOT OF IT to be done ON the model, and it's impossible to keep out. Save that for when the hull is FULLY COMPLETED.

 

I've been using a similar method to Ed, along with inverting the hull a few times to shake out all the shavings and other debris. I flexible plastic hose which you can use either manually (stick it in your mouth and blow, or if you don't mind the taste of sawdust .... suck ) or attached to a low-pressure compressor can also work wonders .

 

  Danny

[EdT]

Danny, I never thought of the simple solution of blowing through a tube.  Bravo!

 

Toni, if you are building your model on the kitchen table, then you deserve even more praise for the quality of your work.  I seem to need an entire workshop and that is often not enough.  Also, I can't bear the thought of cleaning everything up before dinner.  Well done.

 

Of course, permanent residence of the model in the workshop with all the other activity - sawing, thickness sanding, etc - even with dust collection - adds to the cleaning requirements.

 

Ed

[tlevine]

Lots of great ideas.  Thanks everyone.  As far as cleaning...  As I am the "admiral", if I make a mess the only person I can complain to is myself.  I try not to let it get too out of hand but if you get something crunchy in your dinner and it looks like a carling, oh well.    

[Alex M]

but if you get something crunchy in your dinner and it looks like a carling, oh well.  

that you loose one or two hour before and give up to find it... :D  Small wood parts are not a problem, but be carefull with metall parts, Toni!!! :D

 

Alex

[tlevine]

Alex, the metal parts I am more likely to step on, especially if they are sharp!