Armed Virginia Sloop by Ciciak35 - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:48

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modeleres,

 

again I spent some very quality time in my workshop. Outside was raining, I was listening to my favorite show on laptop and finishing inside deck walls. As I already mentioned I will coat this in red color. ring weekend I will probably cut out the sweep ports.  Here are some pictures.

 

 

Till next time. Total build time is now 168 hours.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

last days were again blast. Feel the atmosphere, you are in your workshop, outside is raining hard, on your laptop you have your favorite show and you are doing progress with your model. Everything is going on like you want. Even when you do some small mistake you can repair it. No problems, you are just doing the stuff you like.

 

I finished inside of side planking and colored it with red color. Also added walnut wale and black strake and colored these with black color. The black and red color is the only one I will be using on this model. Everything else will stay woody. Here are some pictures from proces.I also add the sweep ports (these are far from perfect). Also can anybody tell me what exactly were sweep ports for?

 

Here are some pictures from process.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

again some pogress with the planking above wale. One side is finished. I am working to finish the second side. I like the contrast with the bass wood upper plank.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

I do not have much time to work on my ship. There is a lot going on, but still, when I found 4 hours a week to work in workshop it is blast. I have very happy news. My wife is pregnant so our lives are going to change at least a bit :D.

 

Back to build, I finish planking abowe whale and started yesterday with planking below whale - only one plank so far :D.

 

Both red and black color needs to be repainted as by using sand paper I damaged coloring in many places. I will finish it after whole hull is planked second time. Slowly I am starting to thing about deck. Here I have one question. I will do caulking on main deck of the ship, but what about upper deck? Do you think caulking is necessary there? I will probably do it to preserve some similarities between decks.

 

Here are some pictures from process

 

 

 

 

Till next time.

[rlb]

Looking good, Matus!

 

I would do both decks the same, that is, if you show caulking on one, show it also on the other.

 

Sweep ports were for oars, which were called sweeps.

 

Ron 

[BobG]

3 hours ago, Ciciak35 said:

I have very happy news. My wife is pregnant so our lives are going to change at least a bit :D.

Congratulations to you and your wife! Yes, your lives will change in ways you can not even begin to imagine now. The two of you are about to embark on a truly wonderful journey. Enjoy every moment of it!

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

it was nearly a month I posted something, a lot is going on around me. We already know the gender of our child. It will be boy..................YEAH. Hopefully in few ears we will be building together.

 

On contrary I did some progress with the planking. One side is finished. I will try to finish other side today and I will start sanding everything. Here are some pictures from process.

 

 

You can see that it is far from perfect, but after sanding and polish it will be nice.

 

 

I will put here cover planks.

 

 

 

I will cut the last plank on the right side little bit, in order to match the left side.

 

 

I am happy with the stern part.

 

In total I spent nearly 200 hour on this project. I am eager to finish planking of the hull and start with planking of the deck, making boat equipment and furniture and especially cannons. :D.

 

Till next time. Hopefully sooner.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

I am posting after quite a time. I did not have time to do it, with all things happening. So I was doing more building than posting. I will be better in future. I will try to summarize what I have achieved.

 

So the planking of the hull is finished. Here are some pictures. When I will be doing next model I will use method of planking mentioned on this forum. It takes more time, but it will look more beautiful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also applied first layer of danish oil. It is looking amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you already mentioned I did a lot of treenailing. It was done with drill and than filling the holes with wooden putty. I used two shades of putty one darker for bass wood and one lighter for walnut wood.

 

I also started with the planking of the upper deck and middle deck. I used black paper for caulking. It is sold in our ususal paper shop for 1,5 Euro for whole package. Here are pictures. I used small piece of wood to cover the end of the deck. I kind of like it. Also need to renew color on railing.

 

 

 

Also I build the cabin doors. Still hinges and handles are missing. Will do in another session.

 

 

 

 

 

Total building time is  222 hours.

 

Till next time.

 

 

 

 

[BobG]

Very nice, Matus! You are doing a great job for your first time making a wooden model ship.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

quick update. I finish planking of main deck. I drilled fake treenails and filled them with wooden putty. Still need to sand it completely. Here is a picture. The main deck has tkane 3 day to do it into this state :D. You can also see I finished the dors with fake hinges and handles.

 

 

 

Happy modeling for everyone.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers, again I made some progress. I finally finished deck planking. Of course everything will get danish oil varnish at the end. For tho moment I am just waiting until everything necessary is glued.

 

Here is picture from deck before danish oil of cource.

 

 

As you can see I started building deck furniture, the companionway. It is not finished as the hinges were not attached yet. Hopefully in next session I will finish it. Here are some pictures from process.

 

 

 

 

 

I also went for mushroom picking during the weekend. Many people are doing it here in Slovakia. Here is picture of happy doggo and result after 2 hours in forest near my home town. Enjoy.

 

 

Total building time 264 hours.

 

Till next time.

 

[BobG]

Wonderful work, Matus. You have a fine looking dog there too!

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

quick update. Yesterday I finished the companionway. Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

Also during August holiday I was on kayaks with my friends on river called Dunajec, which is situated on Slovakia Polish borders. It was 3 days trip and I made a video from it. Here is link. Hope you enjoy.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnibUs0GrV8

 

Till next time.

 

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

again I stole few moments to spend them in my workshop and again I made small progress. Here are some pictures.

 

I finnaly varnish the companionway with danish oil. So much more beautiful.

 

 

I also progressed with hatches. This one is finished. And yes it is little bit of center. I did not want to redo it. I can live with how it is looking :D.

 

 

And this hatch will need some finish touches. But it will be done in next session probably.

 

 

 

Thank you for your interests.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

again I made som little progress with deck furniture, as I call it. I do not know whether it is right terminology. I finished and varnished some new parts. Here is a picture.

 

 

And here are some pictures from building BINNACLE

 

 

 

 

 

It is not finished yet. I thought very hard how to make very small compass. Probably I will draw something and glue it on small nut, which will have sanded edges. Probably will work, but I have to create something to see.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

it is starting to be little bit colder in Slovakia, so I started to use my stove again. Yesterday I started fire and completely forget to fill more wood into the stove. I only found out when after 2 hours of working my feet were cold and my nose started dripping.

 

Anyhow I made more progress. I finished steering wheel. I made my home made lathe from electric drill and created the drum for the wheel. Also used the trick with wattered wood glue and rope. Here is picture from final product.

 

 

 

 

Also finally finished the binnacle. I made compass from small nut and paper :D. Here is the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest amount of time I spent yesterday on creation of pump. Yesterday I finished only one. Funny thing is that I tried blacken the brass strip in chemical I already used couple of times for blackening, but the same brass strip I already blacked and used for other furnitures  could not be blackened yesterday. I mean it has blackened the strip but the blackening went off only by my finger. So I used black paint for it. Here are some pictures from finished pump. I also soldered for first time :D.

 

 

 

 

Here is a picture from deck.

 

 

At the end I would like to show you my happy doggo, after 10 km run.

 

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

I made nice progress with the build. I build more "deck furniture", anchors, fitted the rails. Here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have one question for you. How the rigging of the anchor worked?

 

Here is the picture form manual:

 

Correct me If I am wrong please. Anchor cable is the main cable of the anchor, OK I understand that. But why is the anchor connected with the second rope. I understand that the cathead was some kind of hoist to windraw the anchor from water, but it is looking like there is anothere smaller rope connected to anchor. Can somebody explain me how this worked?

 

 

Till next time.

[GuntherMT]

Matus,

 

The second line labeled 'buoy line' attaches to the anchor buoy which is attached to the end of the anchor which has the 'prongs'.  An anchor when properly set is designed to dig into the bottom, and trying to pull it up from the top just sets it deeper.  In order to retrieve an anchor you must first dislodge it from the bottom if it's dug in, and to do that they grab the line which is attached to the end of the anchor (the buoy line) by retrieving the buoy which will be floating above the anchor location.  They winch up that buoy line to dislodge the anchor from the bottom, and then haul up the anchor to the surface using the main windlass (not actually shown on this model design).  Once the anchor is at the surface they attach the hook from the line on the cathead to haul it up the rest of the way out of the water and then lash the anchor to the ship and stow the anchor buoy and line as it's shown in the drawing.

 

Hope that's clear.

[Ciciak35]

1 hour ago, GuntherMT said:

Matus,

 

The second line labeled 'buoy line' attaches to the anchor buoy which is attached to the end of the anchor which has the 'prongs'.  An anchor when properly set is designed to dig into the bottom, and trying to pull it up from the top just sets it deeper.  In order to retrieve an anchor you must first dislodge it from the bottom if it's dug in, and to do that they grab the line which is attached to the end of the anchor (the buoy line) by retrieving the buoy which will be floating above the anchor location.  They winch up that buoy line to dislodge the anchor from the bottom, and then haul up the anchor to the surface using the main windlass (not actually shown on this model design).  Once the anchor is at the surface they attach the hook from the line on the cathead to haul it up the rest of the way out of the water and then lash the anchor to the ship and stow the anchor buoy and line as it's shown in the drawing.

 

Hope that's clear.

Yes thank you GuntherMT I understand now.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

because situation with covid worsen every day in Slovakia and governement is restricting people, I had a lot of time to spent in my workshop. Even better is that my wife is spending this time with me. She has her own project.

 

I was able to fininsh the sternpost part of the ship. I added the windows and made rudder. Here are some pictures from it.

 

 

 

 

 

I also finished the cannons. I was little bit afraid of that because first cannon took like 6 hours of work to finish. But the rest five I made in 8 hours together.

 

 

 

Total worked time is over 320 hours.

 

Happy modeling.

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

It is starting to get really cold and the sun is setting earlier, you are going to your workshop, start a fire in your stove and feel the warm from it getting stronger. This is the situation everyone from us loves. You start building your ship again.

 

I made very small progress, but every step counts. I finished chainplates with deadeye on right side of ship and started left side. I used brass wire 0,8 mm thick. I wrapped it around the deadeye. I used pliers and bent the made chainplate in correct way. Then when both ends of wire were together i soldered them together.  After that I used drill to make hole and inserted nail, from the kit, with little bit of CA glue. Everytihng was at the end colored with black color. 

 

I have questoin here. I use brass black for blackening the brass parts. So I put the brass into the chemical and then after 30-60 second I take it out onto piece of cloth. I let it set. But after it is dried the black color is still getting off. That is why I use black color fo chainplates. It just looks better. I use black brass for ringbolt, eyebolt and hooks. Am I making anything wrong with black brass? Is this the way how it works? That the black color is going off?

 

Do anybody have any guide how to create nice little hooks? Because I was looking all around internet and can not find anything which could help me. I have found nice hooks but from USA. The hooks were priced reasonably, but the transport, it was very expansive. Nothing in EU region. 

 

OK back to the build. 

 

Here is my soldering equipment

 

 

Here is the  right side of the ship with finished chainplates and deadeyes

 

 

 

 

And here is left side started. The soldering on this side is better, because I used clamps to hold the chainplate, so it was more stable.

 

Till next time.

 

Stay safe.

[Ryland Craze]

Your chain plates look nice.  I also struggle with blackening parts.  You have to really have the parts clean and any protective covering has to be removed.

[GuntherMT]

Good work on the chain plates.  I really should have soldered mine, but I didn't and I can tell on close inspection.

 

For blackening parts, I also used a chemical brass blackener from a company called "Jax".

 

What I found worked best (learned from someone else on this forum) was to first.. etch and clean the brass thoroughly.  First put the brass into a light acid (I think I just used distilled vinegar) where I used a paintbrush while immersed in the vinegar to make sure to remove anything.  Then put the part into distilled water to kill the acid, where I hit it with another paintbrush while immersed, and then rinsed it again in a separate batch of clean distilled water.

 

Only after the parts were thoroughly dried did I use the blackening agent.  Once again immerse in the chemical and while immersed use a brush to make sure it's getting through any air bubbles left on the brass, and again rinse twice.

 

Instead of trying to get the part completely black in a single pass, I did multiple short immersions in the chemical as the results were much better, and it was easy to control how dark I got the part.

 

Hope that's helpful!

[Ciciak35]

Hello felow modelers,

 

I thought hard about what to do next, before I start with mast and spar . Probably I need to secure cannons on the deck. But before I thought I will finish shipyard. As you can see on the pictures. New added wood is withou any color. I also added swivel gun post on right side, you can see them on the pictures below. As my main rail is little bit thicker I needed to cut opennings in it for the swivels. I am planning to hav 6 or 7 supporting joists on both sides - I will see how i will like it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Till next time.

 

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

I started with rigging of the cannons and with  production of home made hooks. I am happy how the hooks are looking. I will show pictures next time.

 

Here are some pictures with all deck assembled. Still need to drill holes for some cleats. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear felow modelers,

 

yesterday I had some time in my workshop. I was working on rigging for cannons. I will show you my home made hooks. I used thin nail, nailed in board and couple of pliers. The wire was bent around  nail with pliers. Here are pictures.

 

 

 

 

Also I would like to share my saturday hike with you, on my favorite mountain in High Tatras with my doggo Zara. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Till next time.

[Ciciak35]

Dear fellow modelers,

 

I made a lot o progress. I finished the hull and made all parts of mast and spar. I took everything from my workshop and transfered it to my house. It is warmer there and basically now I need "only" to assembly everything. 

 

Here are some pictureds from rigged cannons. Everythink on the hull is varnished with danish oil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here are the parts for mast and spar.

 

 

 

 

I never thought that I could do it so fast. I know it is not perfect, but I like it very much. Working with wood..it is just awesome. When you can feel the flow of it. I do not need to explain it again. Everybody who is working with wood knows what I am speaking about.

It is just crazy that it has taken only 9 months to come here.

 

Till next time.

 

[GuntherMT]

Making some great progress.. Soon you get to play with rigging!

[BobG]

Your model is looking great, Matus, and the finish line is in sight. Great photos of you and Zara hiking in the mountains too.

[Ciciak35]

 

Dear fellow modelers,

 

firstly thank you for all the likes. Yes the finish line is near and the finishing is happy and sad at once. Happy because everything is comming together and sad because part of something is ending. Also this is last modeling project for some time I think as I would like to start building my own house next year and in January we are expecting our first child. I would like to come back as soon as possible, but few years will pass definitely. 

 

Back to build. I manage to rig cannons. For the rope coils of cannons I used double sided tape. It has worked quite well.

 

 

I also rigged LOWER MAST BACKSTAYS, you can see it here.

 

 

 

Also the SPREADER YARD HORSE is rigged.

 

 

 

This is the top look of lover mast.

 

 

 

And last but not least the overal look of ship so far.

 

 

I know I made a mistake when building the BOWSPRIT & JIBBOOM. I should glue Jiboom at slight angle. I did not. I do not want to change it as everything is secured with glue and 4 glued nails. When I was doing it I did not read plans well and I was wondering why on building logs it was angled :D. It did not look well...but..:D

 

I am coming to 400 hours with this build.

 

Till next time.