Schooner Germania (Nova) by KeithAug - FINISHED - Scale 1:36 - 1908 / 2011

[Keith Black]

I gave the previous post a thumbs up but I disagree with the statement "plenty of room for improvement". Keith, you're being humble when you need not be because if there is anyone who strives for perfection, it's you and the amount of times you do get it perfect is amazing. 

I enjoy folks coming over to the house for a visit but it really twist my knickers if I see them eyeing the furniture for telltale signs of dust. 

[KeithAug]

Thank you Keith.

 

I finished off the benches starting with the hinge bars. I judged the size on these from photos and made them of .055" x .031" cross section brass. Strips were slit off from .031" brass sheet and then drilled with .025" holes.

The 8 longer pieces were then cut down to length and slipped over a pair of sewing pins.

Aligned in this way the bars were filed to length and the ends were rounded.

I slit a series of slots in a piece of ply to create a rudimentary jig. I cut a number of slots until I was happy with the geometry. Brass pins were inserted at the intersections and then then junctions were soldered.

The hinge bars were then cleaned up.

The bench seats were drilled to take the lower ends of hinge bars.

A piece of poly card was cut to position the back of the seat and attached with double sided tape. With this in place the backs were located in place and drilled to tape the upper pin. 

The backs were then glued in place.

 

 

 

 

[Keith Black]

Keith, amazing as always.

Once you have a coat of poly on the benches, could you maybe please provide a photo of the entire deck? I'm struggling with trying to get a mental image of the deck and all the wonderful things you've made since the last deck photo. 

[wefalck]

Impeccable brasswork, as usual.

 

It seems that the yacht-designers chose a rather complicated solution for the back of the benches. On British railways (I think) and in parks I have seen simple solutions with just one bar and stoppers on either side.

[KeithAug]

1 hour ago, wefalck said:

It seems that the yacht-designers chose a rather complicated solution for the back

Eberhard - yes I agree. I can see that the Germania pivot arrangement will keep the back more upright than a simpler arrangement of a single pivot point with a fixed position back. Presumably they felt that a more upright seating position was beneficial, particularly when dining.

 

3 hours ago, Keith Black said:

could you maybe please provide a photo of the entire deck?

Keith, I find the camera does not cope well with getting the the whole deck in focus. I want to get all the vents made and fitted over the next few weeks and then I'll have a go at a few overall shots. Thank you for the feedback

[wefalck]

Keith, did you ever try 'focus' stacking ? Using a tripod, one takes several photographs with different focal points. Software packages, such as Photoshol (LE) have a function that allows you to superimpose several images to create one image with continuous focus.

[KeithAug]

49 minutes ago, wefalck said:

did you ever try 'focus' stacking ?

Eberhard - no I have not but I can see that it would work.  The basic problem I have is that I keep an old camera in the workshop and not withstanding the good level of artificial light it isn't anywhere near as bight as outdoor natural light. The less than ideal light coupled with a hand held 15 year old bridge camera means that I create the problem. What I need to do is move the model outside, mount my new camera on a tripod and shoot with a small aperture That should give me a greater depth of field. But failing that I'll have a look at your suggestion.

 

[Jim Lad]

Very elegant benches, Keith!

 

If you have a steady hand (as a model maker, I assume you have) you could try focus stacking hand held.  One of the blokes on the bird photography forum I belong to hand holds to take wonderful focus stacked images of insects.

 

John

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, KeithAug said:

get all the vents made and fitted over the next few weeks and then I'll have a go

[BANYAN]

I don't know whether to praise or abuse your efforts Keith   Your workmanship is always exceptional with very high quality finishes - so there is the praise; ..... but, it makes my efforts look so poor I could swear  

 

Very nice work as usual, I am continuously impressed with the jigs and process you develop to complete these fine details.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[FriedClams]

Just catching up on your build Keith.  And what do I find?  The same old predictably perfect and wonderful craftsmanship of a true artist.  Very - very nice.

 

Gary

[Dr PR]

Kieth,

 

Wefalk's suggestion of "photo stacking" is a good way to get extremely good depth of field. I used it to make this picture:

The distance from the tip of the bowsprit to the stern boat davits is 22 inches (56 centimeters) and the image is in sharp focus for the full length! I think there were 12 different images. I just focused first on the tip of the bowsprit, and then moved the focus in steps along the length of the ship for each successive picture. This was made indoors with rudimentary lighting.

 

You get the best results with good lighting, but harsh lighting like direct sunlight will produce undesirable shadows. Cloudy bright or diffused light is best. The camera has to be mounted on a tripod and in the same position relative to the model for each shot. A high f-stop and good depth of field make better images. However, you can use low light and shallow depth of field and just take a lot of images with slightly different focuses. The separate images must be aligned and scaled before stacking.

 

[KeithAug]

John, Keith, Pat, Gary, Phil. Thank you for the feedback and the good advice re photo stacking - I will need to do a bit of reading up on the technique - I feel an internet search coming on.

[Retired guy]

Very nice set of benches Keith 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[KeithAug]

Thank you Richard. 

 

Unfortunately not a very productive week. Really quite hot and a lot of garden jobs to get on top of.

 

I got on with the deck dining table. This has a flanged support leg - quite unattractive in brown paint but much better in brass. .8 1.1 2.1

 

 I turned the 0.80" long leg as a cone.

This was then transferred this to the mill to cut away the excess metal to create the triangular flanged leg.

The leg was then parted off to length and a 1/8" diameter spigot was soldered on to the lower end to allow it to be mounted on the deck.

I cut the base bracket from a piece of bar and drilled a 1/8" hole for the spigot and 4off .025" holes for the mounting bolts.

The base plates were then slit to thickness and then cut off and polished.

The table top is 1.1' x 2.1' with the two leaves extended. This was made from .060" planks with scribed lines to simulate the leaves.

Wooden plinths were mounted on the deck and given a couple of coats of poly before the brass plates were added.

The legs were then added followed by the table top.

While I was at it I mounted the base plates for the crutch.

4 eyes are located at each corner of the plate - very small and made from .020" diameter brass wire.

I know I said that I was going to get on with the vents - but I got diverted.

 

 

 

 

[wefalck]

Very good idea for turning/milling the legs from the solid ! Probably gives a much cleaner and crisper result than trying to fabricate it from sheet.

[druxey]

Looks nicer than the real thing!

[Keith Black]

Keith, there's never a ho-hum entry in your build log and to boot, each new entry is as good or better than the previous. Us mortals may get two in a row or maybe three if we're really on a roll but you sir, you hit it out of the park with every swing. 

[BANYAN]

Brilliant!

 

[Jim Lad]

Well, I suppose it looks fairly reasonable, Keith.  

 

John

[mtaylor]

Beautiful work, Keith.   The brass is visually a nice touch and probably stronger.  Stupid question perhaps, will you be doing the china and silver placesettings?

[Bedford]

Geez Mark, give the man a break. You'll get it into his head and he'll go mad trying to make it all

 

[Retired guy]

Its all in the details Keith very nicely done and I know what you mean by getting diverted 

 

Regards

Richard

[KeithAug]

7 hours ago, mtaylor said:

perhaps, will you be doing the china and silver placesettings?

Mark - My plan is to model the boat with her sails up. The owner may be wealthy but he doesn't like to bounce his best crystal, silverware and Bollinger on to the deck as she heals. He doesn't mind the financial loss but the additional skivvies necessary to clean the deck take up too much room.

 

Eberhard, Druxey, Keith, Pat, John, Steve, Richard - thank you.

[druxey]

The Owner wishes to convey that he would prefer Veuve Clicquot, if you don't mind.

[wefalck]

Well, the descerning owner prefers exclusive small producers ... we collect a case or two from time to time from https://www.vivino.com/max-cochut-champagne-aristide-de-saint-cyr-brut/w/6366721?year=U.V

 

[druxey]

Salut, monsieur!

[KeithAug]

5 hours ago, Dubz said:

This build is a dream!

Thank you Dirk - I hope you don't mean it put you to sleep.

 

5 hours ago, druxey said:

Veuve Clicquot,

 

4 hours ago, wefalck said:

descerning owner prefers exclusive small producers

 

Actually I prefer Gin - Bombay Sapphire.

 

 

[KeithAug]

Final diversion before vents start first thing tomorrow.

 

The helmsman platform forms a shallow U around the wheel.

Using the photographs I was able to get a very good approximation of size. From this I created a sketch.

The overall size is 3.2" long by 1.35" wide. The thickness is .080".

The gratings are too fragile to be structurally sound so, as with the case of the stern platform, I built the platform on a 1/32" ply backing. The legs positions were drilled through on the ply backing and then this was used as a template for drilling the deck.

A plastic disc was turned to fit the large circular holes and then this was used to drill the hole centre positions on the deck. 

I then started to build the framing on the ply backing. Plastic card was cut to create spacers for accurate positioning of the frames.

I had planned ahead when making the grating for the stern platform and had enough to complete this platform.

Edge pieces were then installed to mask the edge. The next photo was taken in the rough state prior to sanding. The small size of the grating holes makes the presence of the backing undetectable.

Legs were then turned to diameter and length. Diameter .092" and length .250". the legs were drilled through to take .040" wire. This wire located in the holes in the platform and deck. its not obvious from the photo but each row of wires is a different length so they can be progressively inserted in the deck holes. They are glued in place using CA.

Once the platform had been sanded and sealed it was glued on the deck  (using makeshift clamps).

Then a few pictures were taken.

 

[BANYAN]

OK, I've run out of superlatives Keith   Very nice work as usual, and that overall shot of her after deck looks just like the real thing.

 

cheers

 

Pat