Rattlesnake by javajohn - Model Shipways - 1:64

[javajohn]

Waterways are installed. It turned out the cherry was pretty brittle too. I broke several pieces and ended up using a combination of basswood and cherry. I think it will be fine after painting.

 

I know have a question about the quarterdeck covering boards (the deck planks that run along the edge of the quarterdeck bulwarks). It seems that the waterways are painted the same color as the inner bulwarks (based on other build logs I've looked at). Would that be the same for the covering boards, or would they be kept natural like the rest of the deck?

[Oldsalt1950]

John, leave them natural to start and see if the look appeals to you, you can always paint them if you don't like it. Your build is looking good. I'll be building Rattlesnake once I finish my current build, so I'll be following your work with intrest.

 

[Pirate]

with all the miss formed parts I think I would have contacted model ship ways and tol them you were retuning the kit and want one of better quality you have done an amazing job

[javajohn]

Hi All,

 

It's been a very long time since I posted; life and work got in the way and I had no time to model since Early January. A major project at work is completed, and I can breathe. I retire in 3 years - then I'll have some time! Anyway, I'm back at it now and have a little progress to share.

 

@Oldsalt1950 

@Pirate 

 

Thank you for the kind words!

 

Unfortunately, I already painted the waterways.  The grain picked up quite a bit. I bought some shellac and I'm going to try that on the planks before I paint. I might try re-sanding and do the same to the waterways to get a better look. I think I was rushing things a bit.

 

I started on the outer bullwarks planking. I had a real tough time understanding how to measure and set the top of the wale line. I made some guesses and came out a little off. It seems a little bit high. A few other things I noticed - the transom isn't center, but it should not be too noticeable.

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of the outer bulwark planking so far. I haven't done any sanding yet, and the gun and oar ports are roughed out but not trimmed completely yet. I will have to repaint the interior of the ports.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

John

[Oldsalt1950]

Looking good John. Looks like your wales are going to be right where they should be. Take your time, this isn't a race.

[Dave_E]

Hi John,

 

3 years will be a blink... I just retired in December and remember the countdown. Savor it Brother, it goes faster everyday. That being said, I have crazy enjoyed being in the shipyard more. You will as well. 😀 I have a Rattler on the shelf, so I'm following you. 👍😎

Edited March 13, 2022 by Dave_E

[Bill Morrison]

I retired from both the US Navy and from teaching.  It does go fast!  Now, I wish I had more time for modeling! Something is always coming up.

 

Bill

[javajohn]

A little progress...

 

I finished the outer bulwarks (except for the outer covering board trim and molding strips) and sanded them. I'm pretty happy with the result. I'm building things a bit out of order from the instructions, which say to add the covering boards before planking the bulwarks, but I am going to do all of the outer and inner planking first. My logic is it will give better purchase for gluing the covering boards and I figure it is easier to do it that way rather than try to trim the topmost bulwark plank to fit between the plank below and the covering board. I'm discovering that the softness of basswood means I have to be very careful. There are still lots of dings even after sanding. Fingernails can leave permanent marks!

 

I'm also contemplating removing the beams of the forecastle deck to make it easier to plank the inner bulwarks and deck below. I am curious why Model Shipways designed the kit with the beams and bulkheads as one piece? 

 

 

 

 

Cheers!

 

John

[Oldsalt1950]

She's taking shape nicely John. I just started my "Snake", so will be following right behind you. The logic behind having the forecastle deck beams attached is that it would strengthen the bulkhead extensions, not that it really helps from what I've read on other builds. Good intentions, bad execution.

Jim

[Dave_E]

NICE! 👍

[javajohn]

I've been contemplating how to make the sheaves installed in the bulwarks. I don't think building them will be an issue. My only real concern is the color.  I assume the outer edges of the blocks should be the same color as the inner and outer planking. What about the color of the interior of the block and the sheave itself? It seems there are many interpretations in the build logs I've read.

 

Here is a test for carving out the block and adding a sheave to it. I think it looks good. I will also test a layered approach, using 1/32 x 1/8 strip for the blocks and cut the 1/8" dowel into 1/32" thick disks for the sheaves. My guess is the layered approach will be a bit more accurate, but that this scale, it might not matter. 

 

 

 

[Gregory]

I think the inside would end up being dark; shades of brown and black,  as a result of contamination and wear and tear.

[Oldsalt1950]

John, seeing as a working line passed through the sheave, the shaft holding the pulley would have been greased. That means it accumulated dirt and rope fibers as the line passed through it. A dark brown to black would be the most likely color. Hope that helps.

Jim

 

[javajohn]

@Gregory @Oldsalt1950 thank you for the information. That really helps! I have a few paints I can try to mix (I really need to stock up - all I have is the paint kit that came with the Rattlesnake and some red oxide and crimson liquitex I am using for the bulwarks).

[Oldsalt1950]

John, you can try mixing a little of the Hull White with the Iron Black. Should give you a dark grey that will be close to what grease that has picked up some dirt and debris looks like.

Jim

 

[javajohn]

A  small amount of progress this week, but progress nonetheless!

 

I tried the layering approach to making the sheaves but didn't like how they turned out. I also messed up on calculating the width for the blocks; my bulwarks are a tad wider than they are supposed to be. So I took the more tedious route and drilled out a the blocks using a small drill bit and then used various small files to shape the block.

 

 

Then I cut them and inserted them into the quarterdeck bulwarks. Based on what you guys said, I decided to use some spare walnut wood to fashion the sheaves.  I am really happy with the result. The walnut gives it a dirty brown look which is what I was aiming for.

 

The photo shows one sheave inserted in the leftmost block (not glued in yet). I'm thinking that I'll wait until the bulwarks are painted before I glue the sheaves in place. I'm a sloppy painter and don't want to get any on the sheaves.

 

[javajohn]

I now have to complete the inner bulwark planking. As I do that, I started thinking about the cannons. I'm going to go ahead and build 12 cannons. I splurged and bought 4 kits (12 cannons total) from Syren. I could not make any of the cannons in the kit look good. They should be here in a week or so.

 

The two aftmost gunports don't have guns according to the instructions, so that still leaves four total below the forecastle deck. I'll remove the beams because I don't think I have the skill necessary to rig the cannons with those beams in the way. That will make it easier to do the planking anyway. I'm not going to show the gun deck below the quarterdeck and will make gunport lids for that area.

 

 

[Dave_E]

Hey John,

 

Did you order the cannon kits based on the size of the cannons in the kit? I might do the same.

[glbarlow]

On 3/29/2022 at 10:41 AM, javajohn said:

color of the interior of the block and the sheave

A number #2 pencil lead has a nice effect, that’s the recommended technique for Winchelsea and what I used. 

[Oldsalt1950]

John, it may not look like much progress, but that is actually quite a bit. You have a lot of time invested in that work, and it looks great. Slow and steady work beats spurts of quick work. Remember this isn't a race. 

Jim

 

[javajohn]

Dave, I ordered the 6-pounders. The carriage and cannon dimensions are nearly identical to those in the kits, probably within 0.5mm. I'll post a photo showing the differences when I get them. I think I bought all of the brass cannons sets Chuck had in stock (4). I'm sure he'll get more soon. It will be a while before I start on them - I need to finish the gun deck first, but I'll probably finish up the hull first.

 

Glenn, thanks for the #2 pencil tip. That just might be easier to control than a brush, and I can remove any lead I get on the surface. I tried painting the layered blocks made, but they just didn't look good.

 

Jim, thank you!  I will take my time. It will be a year or more before I finish most likely, but as you say, it's not a race. 

 

[Dave_E]

27 minutes ago, javajohn said:

Dave, I ordered the 6-pounders. The carriage and cannon dimensions are nearly identical to those in the kits, probably within 0.5mm. I'll post a photo showing the differences when I get them. I think I bought all of the brass cannons sets Chuck had in stock (4). I'm sure he'll get more soon. It will be a while before I start on them - I need to finish the gun deck first, but I'll probably finish up the hull first.

 

 

 

Hey John, that would be great! Thanks 👍😀

[javajohn]

I'm slowly working on the inner bulwarks, but I was surprised that the cannons I ordered from Syren Ship Model Company came in a few days early. I didn't expect them until mid next week.

 

Oh my... the kit-supplied cannons and carriages don't hold a candle to what @Chuck has created. Simply beautiful. I hope I can build them to live up to his standards!

 

I don't think I need to point out which one is Chuck's 🙂

[Dave_E]

WOW! Thanks John. I will definitely be copying you on this move! 👍😀

[Oldsalt1950]

Looks like I'll be ordering some cannons myself. Those look great.

 

[Gregory]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:12 PM, javajohn said:

I ordered the 6-pounders. The carriage and cannon dimensions are nearly identical to those in the kits,

I just to clarify, are those the cannon that are 1 11/64" long - 29.75 mm ?

That would scale to a little over 6 ft at 1:64, and sounds reasonable.

 

I was looking at the measurements on the MS plans and they scaled to around 5 feet which did not sound right.

 

[javajohn]

@Gregory I measured the MSW cannons at 1.09" (27.6mm) (about 5.8 ft at scale), although they tend to vary quite a bit. The Syren cannons are 1.175" (29.7mm). My calipers are cheap plastic ones that aren't super accurate. The resolution is +/- 0.005" and +/- 0.1mm.

 

That seemed odd based on what you said, so I took a look at the plans. It turns out the cannons on the plans are not scaled to what's actually provided with the kit. You are indeed correct, the plans show cannons that are too small. I never bothered to check if the plans matched the parts.

 

John

[Gregory]

It's one of those things that can be nagging if one worries about ' historical accuracy '..

I'm of the " If it looks good, it is good. " school..

I'm not going to fret over a mm,  but I found no documentation of a 6 pdr being less than 6 ft.

 

I have the Hahn plans which also have the cannon at about 5 ft.. 

I was just looking for some 6 pdr barrels  for my 1:48 project, and going by the MS plans I was coming closer to 30mm than the 37 mm that would scale closer to 6 ft at 1:48 ..

 

The 6 pdrs for the AOTS Blandford are 7ft 6" not counting the cascable.

 

They look a little top heavy to me, sitting on the carriage.

Lavery in ' Arming and Fitting-' says they could be from 6ft  to 9 ft 6" according to the 1703 establishments.

 

I think the 30mm barells look good at 1:64  and I am comfortable scaling those up to ~ 37 for 1:48.

 

 

[javajohn]

I made a little bit more progress this week. I finished the inner bulwarks and added the molding strip and outer covering board on the quarterdeck. I removed some of the deck braces on the forecastle to allow me to more easily plank that area.

 

The biggest problem is that I messed up the bow section when fairing the inside. I left the inner section way too thick. I had checked the fairness of the bulkheads but didn't pay attention to the gunport frams until after I had laid several planks. Stupid. You can see one of the shims I had to add to the framing to close the gap. I know better next time - check, check, check everything!

 

I used a separating disk and Dremel to cut out the shape of the molding strip on a razor blade. I've never attempted that and it took several tries to get a cut that looked decent. I then scraped the strip to shape. I learned quickly to hold the razor still while pulling the strip through it. Otherwise you end up with a mess. I think it turned out OK, but basswood is not really meant for this. I'm wondering how best to remove the fuzz to make it look better.

 

Next steps will be to add the covering boards.

Yikes!

 

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by javajohn

[Oldsalt1950]

She's looking real good John. You are way ahead of me now. I should be ready for planking by around November at the rate I'm working. I'm making more progress in reverse than forward. I need to remove the forecastle coverboard so I can fair the inside bulkheads. Good thing I only use a dot of glue to hold things together. I see you are going with red for the bulwarks, I'm bucking tradition and going with grey. Privateers were a thrifty lot so mixing black and white paint together rather than purchasing addition red paint just seems to make more sense.