Cazador Jabeque / Xebec by Katsumoto - FINISHED -OcCre - 1:60

[BenD]

The gun carriages are looking good. What finish are you putting one them?

[Katsumoto]

1 hour ago, BenD said:

The gun carriages are looking good. What finish are you putting one them?

I use a medium oak stain and then Danish Oil as a finish.

[Katsumoto]

Part 3 of the gun carriages

The closing of an era. I finished all the carriages. Luckily there were only 20. 
I let the pictures do the talking and before I forget, I still need to fabricate all the bolts, rings and blocks for all these cannons...so...I'm not out of the woods yet...

Then a question for those who has the knowledge about rigging these guns. It's a mid 18th century Spanish ship with French influence. Does any of you have a picture how these cannons were rigged? I mean, I have seen pictures were the thick cable goes through the carriage and I have seen pictures where the cable lies round the back of the cannon / barrel. I do not know what is correct or not. Your help is much appreciated. 🙂😅

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until the next update,
Pete

[Tomasz B]

On 2/14/2022 at 8:02 PM, Katsumoto said:

   

 

Wow !!! Just wow . Your carving chisel looks so big next to it ,and you still can carve it with them.  Hats off. I am speechless. 

[Katsumoto]

@Tomasz B Thank you for your reply! 😃 Just practice with your tools help you to “get to know” the tools better. Because I don’t have a lot, I just get the maximum out of them as I can. But you are right, in this scale it is tiny.

When you’re in front of the ship you reallize the small size and it’s something else I can tell you. 🙃

ah well, I just need to “copy” my work to the other side of the ship…

[Katsumoto]

Hi guys,

 

Today I did some small "detail" work on the halfdeck and made some ironwork eyebolts and rings from brass.

First things first. The halfdeck ends just as shown on the photo below. You can see the endgrain of the veneer wood and the false deck below, so I wanted to change that and place a walnut strip at the end to cover this up.
Well, there wasn't enough space to place the plank and the only option was to cut-off the end of the deck so the plank would fit in between the bulwark.

 

 

I decided to use my knife to make the cut. To keep a straight line, I use a "guide" made of a piece of walnut. 

 

 

 

 

 

The result is a straight line which needed only a small bit of sanding. After that a placed the strip of walnut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After this I worked on the eyebolds and rings. The eyebolds were part of the kit, but a bit out scale, so I reduced the diameter and blacked them with Brass Black.

 

 

After the rings and eyebolds were put together, I placed them on the bulwarks. The breach rope of the cannons will be attached to these rings.

 

 

 

And that's it for this update,

Thank you for all the likes and comments and help I get allong the way. 

 

Pete

[DavidG]

On 6/12/2022 at 7:52 PM, Katsumoto said:

Does any of you have a picture how these cannons were rigged?

you might search for pictures of the Requin online. There are wonderful builds out there,. While that's a French ship, it might be help for you.

one example is below:

https://www.modelships.de/Le-Requin_II/dESC5146.jpg

keep on the good work, 

best,

David

 

[Katsumoto]

Hi guys,

Some progress on the yard I made some improvements at the focsle construction that holds the fore-mast. To do so, I had to put my saw into the current construction. A bit nerve breaking kind of work.....The part I inserted is a slightly different color. Both walnut, so in time the color difference will be less visible.
 

 

The mast is on a certain angle and the fit is just what I was looking for.
 

From fore to aft. Some scratch build parts made and placed on deck. And yes, it's not being placed in the center of the quarterdeck due to the place of the mizzenmast.
 

 

The supportive "arch" I made out of a single piece of solid walnut was a difficult job. The amount of angles this thing has is ridiculous.
It's an add on I see on other Xebecs and I kind of liked it. It supports the spanker boom.
 

 

Regards,
Pete

[Theodosius]

It's phantastic, what you can do with this kit 🙂

[Katsumoto]

Hello guys,
A sunny summer update from the wharf. Where should I begin, I did so many "small" things this time. So I placed a column, some cleats were placed, barrels placed, did a lot of ironwork (nails, bolts, rings etc), redesigned the position of the stairs to the quarterdeck (one is made, the other not finished yet)
For one, I did some major work on the rigging of the cannons. I use the rope and cable BenD from Ropes of Scale made for me and it's a pleasure working with high quality rope. The breach rope is actually 1.1mm cable and not rope. I used 3mm blocks to rig the first cannon. I did it 5 times over, because I wasn't satisfied with the result. Also I did not go for the rope coils on the deck. The breach rope goes through the carriage and the ends of the tackle rigging are just wrapped around the knob of the gun. 1 down, 19 to go...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

De positie van de trap en het plateau naar het halfdek heb ik volledig anders vorm gegeven en geplaatst. Dit is meer in lijn met de Franse Xebec's.
 

 

 

 

 

that's it for this update,
Pete

[BobG]

Beautiful work, Pete!

[Katsumoto]

For the rigging of the cannons, I use a simple but effective jig so I can rig the cannons off the ship. This makes life much easier because I can turn the jig with the cannon in all directions. Also it prevents damage on the ship doing it this way.
So to me the jig has a simple but effective purpose. I can clamp the carriage to the jig so the cannon stays on it's place. I can use both hands, And to be sure, I sometimes during the rigging progress I wish I had 3 or 4. 😁

Now, this jig is simple like I said, It's functional and pretty easy to make. I used some scrap plywood that came with the kit and made a single gunport situation. It's not important how the jig looks, how fancy it is but only that the distance between the carriage and the hooks and bolts on the jig are the same as on the ship. I made the jig a bit smarter by drawing some lines on the bottom. The first line is the line were the back wheels needs to stop so I can cut the length of the breach rope. The second line is the place where the rear tackle positions. I used my drill to make a small hole for the bolt and ring.

There are many ways to make a jig and I'm sure there are much better ones than I made for my cannons, but in the end it's the result or outcome that matters.... 
After finishing rigging a cannon on the jig, I simply remove the jig and place the cannon already fully rigged on the ship. I can do 1 sometimes 2 per evening depends on the cooperativity of all the materials....☺️

 

 

 

 

 

[Katsumoto]

Hello everyone,

In between the rigging of the cannons, I did some "ironwork" needed for a few things on my to-do-list.
I began with the anchors. The once provided within the kit didn't look to bad and they were already blackened. After inspection I decided to change them a little bit and blued them with Super Gun blue.
 

 

 

I also made an anchor for the "little boat"....
 

i made a few eyebolds and rings which I used for the oar port lids..
 

All the gunport lids are placed included with the ironwork....
 

 

I made two of four knees which I placed to reinforce the catheads . Two down, two to go....I'll remove the cleats above the knees and give these another place.
 

 

As last I worked on the swivel guns. They are made out of zamac and are cast. I bored out the barrels, cleaned them up and blued them with Super Gun Blue.
I dry-fitted these on the quarterdeck, so they are not glued down yet.
 

 

 

 

That's it for now,

Until the next one, happy modeling.
Pete

[Katsumoto]

1 minute ago, Knocklouder said:

I really like your work, can I ask when you say bluing the anchors with super glue, do you brush a thin coat on and then repaint.??🙊

Super Gun Blue is an blueing agent that’s been used on firearms. It gives a patina (steel blue/ grey) on zamac or pewter parts. There are a lot of topics on how to blacken guns. For brass I use a different bottle named Brass Black.

both are from Birchwood Casey. 
 

[Katsumoto]

So, this weekend was the Historic Shipmodelers expo in The Netherlands and two of my ships Santa Maria and Cazador were there.
I wanted to make the central railing on the quarter deck. I did not use the one from the kit and I made my own.
With help of a jig, see pictures below I made a new one and placed the swivel guns on top.
 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Katsumoto

[BobG]

Superb work, Pete!

[Mike Dowling]

Hello again and thank you for your reply to my PM.

The reason I didn't ask you in your main log was because I thought my question related to a very early point in your build rather than being an up to date one. Anyway with relation to the bulwarks, did you find they sat slightly below deck level at the sides? And how did you glue them? Did you use CA or PVA and di you put them on wet or dry? A lot of questions I'm afraid.

 

[Katsumoto]

On 10/23/2022 at 11:09 AM, Mike Dowling said:

Hello again and thank you for your reply to my PM.

The reason I didn't ask you in your main log was because I thought my question related to a very early point in your build rather than being an up to date one. Anyway with relation to the bulwarks, did you find they sat slightly below deck level at the sides? And how did you glue them? Did you use CA or PVA and di you put them on wet or dry? A lot of questions I'm afraid.

 

Hi Mike,

 

To me it doesn't matter if you are asking a thing in the beginning or end of the build. Questions need to be answered. 😁
So, answer 1) Yes, a bit lower than deck level. Use a guncarriage to get the correct height. Just take a carrigae + cannon and put it together and place it on deck. It should be in the middle of a gunport. This will help to get the right height of the pre-fab bulwarks.

answer 2) I used normal PVA (white woodglue) and some brass nails to hold the bulwarks in place.

answer 3) I do not like to place wet wood on the model. It will shrink and leave gaps. Always dry wood on the model. Pre curve / bend the plywood with an bending iron or something with heat like a soldering iron.

 

Hope these answers will help you a bit on your way. 😉

 

regards,

Peter

[Katsumoto]

"The oars"

Well, firstly I have to apologize that you guys and gals have had to wait a long time for a new update.
Second, I had to figure out to make the oars in a way that I can repeatedly get the same result without using "fancy" tools. I had to make 18 identical oars and didn't want to use the ones from the kit. Didn't like the metal parts. I had some walnut lying around, so I used that instead. I use my Proxxon multitool on a stand for some drilling and basic milling actions. This is not exactly the setup you want for your milling job; however, I use the tools I have to get the job done. In this case I milled only three slots to create the oar handles. I used the fence behind the vice as a guide and moved the vice from sideways, so the bit passed through the wood. The max. depth can be determined on the left side of the press. I used a couple of passes to get to the correct depth and so I didn't take too much wood off at a time.
For each milled slot I needed to correct the distance of the fence so the milling bit would get into the right position.

This very small machine is allowed on the dining table. I tried to get a permanent mill and lathe combination installed on the table, but it got rejected by the admiral unfortunately.... 😕

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, the oars are not finished yet.... part 2 will follow soon.

regards,
Peter

Edited October 25, 2022 by Katsumoto

[Mike Dowling]

Did you have to cut the upper bulwark shorter at the stern? Mine seem far too long.

[Katsumoto]

4 hours ago, Mike Dowling said:

Did you have to cut the upper bulwark shorter at the stern? Mine seem far too long.

Mike: At the stern, the upper bulwark should look like this:

 

Edited October 27, 2022 by Katsumoto

[Katsumoto]

One finished Oar...

 

[Katsumoto]

The boat - part 1

Hi guys, today an update from the warf. I start working on the boat which is placed on deck of the ship. It's a big one, almost 18cm in length and more like a shallop than a boat. However, OcCre did do a nice design for this small boat but I'm going to make a lot of changes, correct errors and give my own twist on the matter. Some changes I'm going to create are:
- Change overall design and dimensions
- Change false keel into walnut keel
- Change rudderdesign and stern design
- Change all the frames, ribs
- Change floorboards
- Double plank outside
- Add decorative carvings to port and larboard
- Add anchor and rope
- Add mast
- Some other small things....

So this is what OcCre had in mind, not too bad at all!
 

The kit provides with a lasercut plywood bulkhead and false keel and a small jig to work on. It does the job nicely but as you can see, something is weirdly wrong at the stern where the rudder is placed. The rudder should be placed there, but this will sink the boat in a real situation, so I will change this.
 

I use a scrap part of the plywood to add the piece I need. I cut it larger than needed for allignment and gives me a bigger glue surface. With some sanding I correct the final shape after the glue has dried.
 

 

 

 

Time to remove some of the height of the keel. This is needed so I can place the walnut version later.
 

 

First layer of planks added to the bulkheads.
 

The walnut keel constructed and placed on top of the false keel.
 

 

Removing the bulkheads and replaced it with walnut ones....
 

 

 

 

 

Didn't like the design of the bulheads. The walnut parts is an better upgrade but the bottom in the boad is flat and I didn't liked it at all.
So I decided to rip it all out and made new frames out of stacked veneer strips (laminated).
 

I changed the design a bit and added a strip to both sides. The top is blackened with ink.
 

I made a small storage hatch
 

 

 

 

 

Next part will show the second layer of planking of the outside of the hull. Preperations are being made.

Regards,
Peter

[Katsumoto]

Hello guys!
This weekend I continue my work on the small boat. It's sometimes all try and error really. Exploring if I have any "scratch-skills"...  😁

 

 

Soms denk je iets gemaakt te hebben dat werkt, moet je het toch weer afbreken en opnieuw opbouwen. Dus ook aan de voorkant van de boot...
 

 

 

Also worked on the mast and yard.

 

 

 

 

regards,
Pete

[Baker]

Great work. 

yes, you do have "scratch skills" 😉

[Katsumoto]

Continuation of the small boat

The holliday season gives me so time off and so I can also do some work on the ship. While we are celebrating Christmas, my friends in the USA are fighting for their lives. I sincerely hope you guys are allright and live to tell the tale. It's some storm that's getting the USA on it's knees if I may believe the reports.

Some updates on the small boat. It's a lot of figuring out to build it. I have no drawings and only a few pictures to scratchbuild it. I'll take you along the way what I have done within these two days....
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next on the planning is the planking of the second layer on the hull....

until then, stay safe and to be continued....
regards.
Peter

[Katsumoto]

2nd layer hullplanking

The last days I did my prepwork for the second layer of the hullplanks. I used the same simple method I use on the big ship. The better the preperations, the better the outcome can be. Although, so goes the theory....
I did my calculations and decided to go for 3mm thin veneer walnut strips to respect the scale of the boat. After the caculations I devided the hull into sections so to say. In total 3 equal sections + the garboard stroke. By deviding the hull into sections, it possible to keep control and to keep an good overview. I see each section as a subgoal.

When using thick planks, I say start with the garboard stroke because it needs to fit into the rabbet of the keel. In my situation using veneer, it was possible to place the garboard stroke as last.
 

 

I use simple white glue on the veneer. Some say it can deform the veneer, but I haven't had any issues so far. I also use CA glue as a liquid nail on nasty places like the bow area. With a drop of CA the wood is fixed within seconds to the hull, so you have no time to think or correct. When it sticks it holds and that is it....
So I work one section at a time until I reach the garboard stroke...
 

 

 

 

 

 

After a thin layer of Danish Oil....
 

 

 

The next things I have to fabricate are

•  Rudder and hinges
•  Oars and oarlocks / rowlocks
•  and cable
•  support blocks to place the ship on deck.

Some work to do yet until I can call this miniproject finished.... 😅

Pete

[Katsumoto]

Hi Guys, I wish everybody the best for 2023 and may all your dreams come true!

Some progress on the small boat.
Made some Oarlocks and did some carving...
 

 

Sometimes it goes wrong....
 

Designing the carvings, which will be placed on both sides of the boat....
 

 

 

 

It's very tiny.....
 

 

 

 

 

Next steps will be the construction of the rudder....

regards,
Pete

[Baker]

Very nice carvings and boat 👍

[BobG]

Your carving skills are so very impressive, Pete!