Bluenose by JohnU - Model Shipways - 1:64

[GGibson]

Nice work on those barrels, John!  Nice lathe work.  If I stay in this hobby too much longer, I may have to add a lathe to my shipyard arsenal!

[JohnU]

Next the cabinets with the integral skid. This started out as a solid block cut to the dimension of the part. The height was larger than the finished size to allow the three holes to be drilled in the block for the drums. This was done using successive sizes of end mills as twist drills were too aggressive in the soft wood and tended to tear it. The final size was done with an adjustable reamer to allow precise fit for the drums. The holes were just a but undersized at this point. That will be important later. I experimented with cutting grooves in the top of the block to find the best method of simulating the cabinet door. I attempted to make hinges from .001" brass foil. This did not work consistently. Bait cutting boards were made at this time.

The mill was used to cut the block down to the cabinet size opening the top.

The final grooves to simulate the door were made with a razor saw and Exato knife.

This is where the undersizing of the holes comes into play. The drums snap into the cabinet block. Because the holes are slightly small a bend is produced in the bottom of the block. The adjustable reamer is used to widen the holes just enough that the bend conforms to the curve of the deck. This saves trying to sand the curve into the block. Flat brass wire was used to make the hold-down straps. Blackened with Casey's Brass Black.

Hinges this small were difficult to make with the brass. Hinges were made from paper of the same thickness as the brass. An actual hing of 1/16 to 1/8 inch thickness would be ~.064". Which scales to .001". Paper is much easier to cut with an Exacto knife. After drawing the hinges to scale on the paper, the reverse side was painted flat black. The hinges were cut out with the paint already applied.

 

The block and drums were shellacked, sanded, filled with wood putty, sanded and painted. The drums and hold-downs were fitted to the cabinet. The grooves for the doors were carefully cleaned and flat black applied inside the groove by putting paint on the Exacto knife and drawing it along the groove. The bait cutting boards were added and painted as well as the hinges glued on.

 

 

[JohnU]

The plans call out a sheathing area on the deck just in front of the cabin. This is where the drums are located. In pictures the sheathing looks to be low quality boards and a bit beat up. I chose to use some thin walnut strips that were the approximate size to what is in the photos. Because this is an area that uses cheap lumber, I only lightly sanded the boards and left them natural color with a clear flat applied to seal the wood. The boards were cut with a cutoff saw to the same length. To ensure they were straight a couple scrap pieces were taped to the deck to keep them aligned during gluing.

[JohnU]

Planning ahead, I want to have some figures on the deck to give the model human scale. Without that a model could be 200 feet or 400 feet. I had a discussion with Retired Guy who suggested Vanguard Models where he obtained his figures. Unfortunately Vanguard Models no longer carries the fisherman crew set. He suggested looking at MODELU. I purchased a set of ship's crew from ModelU and a figure from Shapeways. These are 3-D print to order firms that have stock figures. Sort of like ordering photos from a stock photo house. You can get any scale you like. ModelU is in UK. I ordered March 19th and the figures arrived March 29th. I guess 10 days isn't so bad for half way around the world and a couple international borders.

https://www.modelu3d.co.uk/

https://www.shapeways.com/marketplace?type=product&q=figures

The Shapeways figure arrived ready to paint in a yellowish plastic. The ModelU figures were still attached to their printing substrate and supports. They need cutting out:

Here's the whole crew on deck(Shapeways figure is on left):

These will be challenging to paint!

[Retired guy]

Those figures look good John did you buy others or just the ones in your picture? totally agree having scale figures on the model brings it to life.

 

Regards

Richard 

[JohnU]

2 hours ago, Retired guy said:

Those figures look good John did you buy others or just the ones in your picture? totally agree having scale figures on the model brings it to life.

 

Regards

Richard 

Hi Richard,

I have one other of a guy climbing the shrouds. It's not very good. It was cast in that cheap metal and doesn't hold detail well. I believe it's 1:48 so could be a short guy. I was debating whether to leave them grey or add paint. The thought is a sort of ghost effect where they would not be part of the model but give it scale. Then focus is on the model detail, not the crew. But the crew can be considered a part of the model for realism. I may try it one way and if I don't like it, the other.

 

On another topic; I was out to dinner with my wife and the place had a model of Flying Cloud. About 3.5 foot tall. The ship was rather crude but the rigging and sails were amazing. Starting to look forward to doing rigging! Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture.

 

Thanks for your help, John