HMS Vulture 1776 by Dan Vadas - FINISHED - 1:48 scale - 16-gun Swan-class sloop from TFFM plans

[Jim Lad]

Neat bit of joinery, Danny!

 

John

[rtropp]

Dan,

I have to learn how to make those scrapers. I made some railings for my build and just a simple double bead mold on a 1/16 strip. The method I used would not be appropriate for anything more complex. The scrapers you show are a good model for what I might try.

 

I had a question, did you use any power tools/mill or just use a hand file to work the blade?

 

Really great work and your detailed explanations are very helpful.

 

Thanks,

Richard

Edited January 17, 2014 by rtropp

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Aussie and John .

 

Richard, I'm not great at making Scrapers either - for me it's a matter of trial and error before I achieve anything that looks reasonably like the right shape .

 

I use a flat Xacto blade with a heavy-duty handle. First I anneal the steel by holding over a gas flame until red hot, and allow to cool without quenching. This softens the steel sufficiently to allow a file to work.

 

Then I cut a "negative" of the required shape using a thin cutting disc in my Dremel, finishing off with needle files. I angle one side of the cuts to sharpen them - they work best if you pull from the flat side. Some sections of the profile aren't sharpened but rather rounded off to avoid cutting into the timber. These act as guides to follow the edge of the timber or stop the cut at the required depth.

 

Finally I re-heat the blade and harden it by quenching in oil to cool it quickly.

 

Another tip - I cut the molding into a wider piece of stock first, then trim it to width on my Byrnes saw. This allows me to hold the otherwise very thin piece firmly without it wanting to wander all over the place.

 

  Danny

[druxey]

That tuck rail is far trickier than it looks. Looks like you nailed it, Dan!

[Dan Vadas]

That tuck rail is far trickier than it looks. Looks like you nailed it, Dan!

 

Thanks Druxey, actually it was quite easy. The hardest parts were shaping the molding around the end return and the small notch above the rudder hinge. Cutting the bevel only took one go (I must be getting better at doing things like that "by eye" ).

 

Quarter Badge Stools and Munions

 

This looked like being quite a challenge, but thanks to the instructions and tips in TFFM they haven't been too difficult so far (I haven't got to the Carving part yet though   ). I'm only fitting a Badge to the Port side.

 

The first pieces to be made, which the success of the rest depend on, are the Upper and Lower Stools. These took some careful measuring and marking out to get the right angles. In fact, I had a failure with the lower stool - I didn't have enough angle from the vertical (12 degrees) the first time I glued it in and had to get the Isopropyl out and have a second go. No biggie .

 

I took the shape of the stools straight from the drawing in TFFM and cut two identical pieces. These need slightly different bevels on their inboard edges to keep the stools horizontal athwartships. Here is one stool ready for gluing in, the molding on the edge has already been scraped in :

 

 

To assist in gluing them to the correct angle I used masking tape :

 

 

The upper stool is quite a bit trickier to make than the lower one. It consists of three parts with a "bell" shaped piece in the middle. To make the centre piece I first cut out the lower portion from some thick stock, sanded the outer face to conform with the lower stool, then scraped the molding, and finally sanded the outer portion to shape on the disc sander :

 

 

 

 

The joints are cut at a 45 degree angle. I glued the three pieces together before bevelling the assembly :

 

 

To ensure both stools were perfectly parallel I used a piece of scrap with two bevels sanded into it as a spacer. The 2nd pic shows the spacer in use, but was only my 1st attempt before I realised I'd got the angle wrong :

 

 

 

Take two, after I got the angles right :

 

 

Last step to this stage, I've fitted the four Munions - more tricky angles, all done on the disc sander. The rough bit of cutting into the Sheer Strake above the bell will be covered by the Upper Finishing later on :

 

 

  Danny

[SailorGreg]

Wow Danny - you must have come back from your holiday, dropped your case in the hall and walked straight through to the workshop!

 

Lovely work as always.

 

Greg

[CaptainSteve]

Dan,

I'm trying to wrap my head around the concept of sitting under my camper annex, out the back of NSW somewhere, swatting away flies whilst chewing on a well-done steak ...

... And knowing the guy in the caravan next to me is one of the world's most eminent ship-modellers !!!

 

Damn !! But you are good !!

 

Edited January 18, 2014 by CaptainSteve

[Jim Lad]

Very nice job on a bit of tricky joinery, Danny!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Greg - no, the case made it to the bedroom but I DID turn on the workshop lights on my way past .

 

I'm trying to wrap my head around the concept of sitting under my camper annex, out the back of NSW somewhere, swatting away flies whilst chewing on a well-done steak ...

... And knowing the guy in the caravan next to me is one of the world's most eminent ship-modellers

 

Garry ..... is that you ? Thanks Steve .

 

Thank you too John.

 

Upper Finishing

 

Work continues on the Quarter Badge. Here is the Upper Finishing under construction. I made it from English Box. The first step was to cut out the lower portion to fit around the bell :

 

 

Then I finessed the inner face to fit tight against the hull planking :

 

 

The outer face was sanded down to fit the curvature of the upper stool :

 

 

Then the upper section was cut on the scroll saw :

 

 

Finally it was rounded off. The flat section on the top will support a carving of a Crown, and the whole piece will be textured :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Delightful, Danny!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

But wait John .... there's more .

 

Lower Finishing

 

The Lower Finishing is done in three sections - upper and lower sections divided by the Lower Finishing Rail.

 

I first made the upper piece, which is sanded inward on it's lower edge by about 25 degrees. I then cut the molding in.Then I made the rail and glued it to the bottom of the upper piece :

 

 

The lower piece was a bit harder to make, as I incorporated the Drop (the fancy round bit at the bottom). I carved a representation of three "leaves" into the drop :

 

 

The last bit was easy - glue the two assemblies to the bottom of the Quarter Badge :

 

 

 

Some carving still needs to be done to both upper and lower finishing pieces. This should be fairly easy with all parts fitted to the hull (I hope   ).

 

  Danny

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Wow, your side gallery is looking great.

[Remcohe]

Danny, it real looks great. 

 

Remco

[Jim Lad]

That's really the cat's whiskers, Danny!

 

John

[gjdale]

Yep, as flash as a rat with a gold tooth Danny!

[tlevine]

Wow!  Not only is the craftsmanship great, but the tutorial breaking it down step-by-step is even better (if that's possible).

[mtaylor]

Very well done, Danny.  I can't wait to see your carvings.

[WackoWolf]

She is lookng better and better each time I see an update. Keep the pictures coming, I am always watching. Thanks for sharing this with us.

[Trussben]

Thanks for the great step by step Danny, will keep on file.

 

Ben

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for the comments Christian, Remco, John. Grant, Toni, Mark, Joe and Ben. Also all those who "Liked" the post. Much appreciated .

 

Carving the Finishing and Glazing Lights

 

Mark, as per your request - the carving on the Lower Finishing :

 

 

 

I won't be doing any of the "fancy" carving for quite a while yet if I do any of it at all, I'm still undecided - I don't have the tools, and my skills don't extend to the "artistic" type carving yet. Perhaps I can persuade Janos to make a few for me (hint, hint Janos ).

 

I've also "glazed" the Lights with Acrylic (Perspex) and made and fitted the frames and munions. The curved frame in the central light was done by soaking and bending the strip :

 

 

Almost finished with this very enjoyable project. Just four Pilasters to make.

 

  Danny

[mtaylor]

Nice work Danny.  For the crowns, if you don't want to carve, find the King from a chess set of the appropriate size.  One king would give you two half-crowns.

[Dan Vadas]

For the crowns, if you don't want to carve, find the King from a chess set of the appropriate size.

 

 

Thanks for the tip Mark, but it would have to be a VERY small chess set - the Crown is only 4mm high .

 

Pilasters

 

The final pieces of this jigsaw puzzle - the Pilasters. The first pieces I made were the Bases and Capitals. These were cut from a length of molded English Box :

 

 

The Columns were done in similar fashion, from long lengths of molded stock :

 

 

Some pics of the finished assembly ready for a coat of Minwax :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[CaptCraig]

Your work is exceptional...Thank you for sharing this with us!

[dvm27]

Lovely work, Danny. Is the other side left in frame (I forget)? Then you don't have to repeat this difficult task.

[Jim Lad]

Very elegant, Danny!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Lovely work, Danny. Is the other side left in frame (I forget)? Then you don't have to repeat this difficult task.

 

Thanks Greg, and yes it is. Leaving one side "in frame" has saved me a mountain of double work so far .

 

Thanks again John.

 

  Danny

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Wow, that looks great. Perhaps I should also let one side open and show the frames.

Another hint for my build book

[dgbot]

Nice way to put a complex part together.  Break it down into several pieces and then fitting them together.  Bravo!

David B

[Yambo]

Thanks for the tip Mark, but it would have to be a VERY small chess set - the Crown is only 4mm high .

 

 

 

  Danny

 

 

Travel chess set? They'll be plastic of course but I'm sure you'd be able to make them look good.  

[dvm27]

 

Wow, that looks great. Perhaps I should also let one side open and show the frames.

Another hint for my build book

 

Spending all the time to properly frame a model in an historically correct manner and then covering it up seems like a crime. There are may strategies to show framing or areas of framing.