HMS Pegasus 1776 by Moonbug - Amati Models - 1:64

[BobG]

2 hours ago, Moonbug said:

 

    I'm not particularly adept at silver soldering, but that was pretty much the only way to go here.

 

Nice work on the vent, Bug!

 

I have no experience with soldering. I'm in the market for a soldering station as I would like to learn to do silver soldering as well. What is the soldering unit you are using? Have you been completely happy with it?

[Moonbug]

     Good morning @BobG,  Thanks for the comments.   

 

      My soldering iron is a K-Tronic 3020.  I do like it quite a bit.  Honestly - I didn't put too much effort into research, I just looked for a reasonably priced model, but a variable temperature was a must. It heats up quickly and works well - so I'm pleased. 

 

 

[Moonbug]

  Here are the post sanding picks.  I know this borders on sacrilege to the purists out there... but I gave it a first pass using my really cool Dremel/rotary tool extension and a 60 grit tip on slow speed.  The extension allows you to hold it like a pencil and really lightly and specifically cover areas. 

 

 

  After I evened out the hull in general terms, I gave it more traditional sanding with 150, 220, 400, and 600 grit. There are a few slight gaps that I filled in with glue/sawdust (which is why they show up a little darker) or "Wonderfill". 

 

 

 

 

 

Next steps are to carve out a new rabbet line for the second planking layer, then I'm going to draw out the planking plans with pencil onto the light wood so I can scale out the necessary tapering and (possibly) stealers. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Moonbug

[popeye the sailor]

the planking is coming out really nice    stove looks great too!

[mtaylor]

Very nice work, Bug.

[Blue Ensign]

Hi bug and Bob,

Silver soldering is well worth adding to  your skill set, and at a basic level is quite easy to do.

This is my set up, a burner, a pad to work on  and tubes of ready to use silver solder.

It is important to have different melt points if more than two pieces are to be soldered together.

The tubes above  have melt points of 671, 690, and 740 degrees.

This photo shows  two fine brass eyelets soldered to  a brass tube to make a stanchion.

 

The parts must be clean, and devices used to hold the parts together. In the case above one ring is soldered, and then the second with a lower  melt point.

A small amount of solder is  put on the  tube, the eyelet is held in position, the torch flame applied until the silver flashes, and job done.

With fine material like this it takes a second. Hold it too close or for too long and the brass pieces melt.

 

Getting inventive with ways to hold the pieces for soldering is a big part of the process, apart form a third hand tool and self closing tweezers, I use blu tack to keep  pieces in position where required.

 

One advantage with silver soldering is that once cleaned up it takes blackening very well.

 

Hope this helps.

 

B.E.

 

[Moonbug]

Thanks for the comments gents.  And thanks for the info BE - I already have a micro burner and some pretty decent setups for "holding" small parts in pace.  Here I was trying to use a traditional soldering iron and roll of solder.  I'll definitely order some tube style soldering and give it some practice!  

 

I've got a handful of swivel guns to create coming up - so this will be very helpful.

 

 

[BobG]

9 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

 

Silver soldering is well worth adding to  your skill set, and at a basic level is quite easy to do.

 

Thanks so much, BE! I'll definitely be adding silver soldering to my repertoire now!

[Moonbug]

I wanted to post a short update since it's been almost a week.  Last week I had laser eye surgery, so time in the hobby room has been limited. The surgery went fabulous; a little weird having to wear reading glasses to do the work as I'm using being able to see up close and that's it.   Anyway - the big thing is not being able to get dust or anything in your eyes for a week or so; not conducive to woodwork...

 

 

In the interim, I have been able to do some second layer planking - taking it very slowly.  I'll have a more detailed post on second layer planking forthcoming. But I also took the opportunity to do a little bit of inventory of wood and some general tidying up in the hobby room. Thought it might be interesting to see the cave.

 

 

 

 

[Blue Ensign]

Nice looking work space bug, glad the surgery went well.

 

B.E.

[BobG]

I'm envious of your workshop!

[mtaylor]

Nice looking shop, Bug.  I'm happy to hear the surgery went well.

[Moonbug]

     My supplies from a jewelry supply place came in - thanks @Blue Ensign for the tips on silver soldering!   

 

    

 

      After some playing around a learning the ropes - I made my first attempts at it to create the pump cranks!

 

 

 

 

 

     As B.E. mentioned, the trickiest part (at least for me) was getting everything held in place and held still for soldering. I blackened the pieces subsequently.  All of the posts and pumps (and capstan) are temporarily placed and will get some touching up prior to final placement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Moonbug

[Blue Ensign]

Nicely done bug, silver soldering really is a great asset to make those interesting little 'iron' pieces so difficult to find as completed items.

Everyone should try it. 👍

 

B.E.

[Moonbug]

    As evidenced by my post in the "deck furniture" section of the forum, I've also been working on the binnacle.  This is a super prominent pieced of deck furniture and undoubtedlyl draws attention from viewers.  After looking at a variety of sources consistent with not only Swan class ships, but also other ships at the time - I decided that my binnacle was an opportunity for a little artistic license.  I didn't want to "over-do" it in terms of adornment, because I don't think that's consistent with either the Pegasus (a humble vessel in her own right) or other sloops.  

     I ended up with a combination of Mondfeld's notes, some research from "The Sailing Frigate" by Robert Gardiner (which coincidentally has the same model to which @druxey referred me), the binnacle aboard the Victory, and other folks' build logs. 

 

    Putting it together was pretty basic using boxwood and added a little bit of 'flair' to the feet and edges.  I went with two compasses (one open on the left and the other still in the 'box' on the right) and a lamp in the middle and the vent holes for the lamp in the rear. I used the kit's pre-fab binnacle parts as a sale gauge.

 

  

 

   The "compass" on the left - that you'll sorta-but-not-really see inside was part of some leftover brass photo-etched pieces from one of the Tamiya WWII planes I've put together.  The "boxed" compass on the right is some random leftover piece from the San Juan Nepomuceno kit.  The Lamp is a combination of a brass tube cut off and topped with some random piece I had lying around that kinda looked like a lamp with a wick.  I literally have no idea where it came from.  Contrary to the picture above, I didn't actually use glaze for the windows because that jar was rock hard. Instead I used a little piece of plastic from a random container.

 

 

 

 

 

  You can't tell in the picture, you can actually see the lamp and other bits inside when a little light is shined through.    

 

    

[BobG]

On 11/11/2021 at 9:34 AM, Moonbug said:

 My supplies from a jewelry supply place came in

 

Nice job with the silver soldering! Where did you buy your supplies?

[Moonbug]

1 hour ago, BobG said:

Where did you buy your supplies?

   Hey Bob - I ordered the soldering paste from a website called wirejewelry.com.   They were pretty prompt with the order, so I was happy with them.  Not knowing the metal requirements, I ordered one each of soft, medium, and hard as well as some spray flux.

    I already had the torch - it's basically just a culinary torch I bought years ago from a department store.

 

   I watched a handful of silver soldering videos on YouTube, then It took a little getting used to.

 

 

[Moonbug]

    Second layer of planking has been ongoing.  Probably should've made a few posts as I went - so don't think this post represents the second layer all done at once or any of that kind of madness.  All my planking is done simultaneous to things like grates and deck fixtures. 

 

     As @SpyGlass mentioned above, I needed to do a fair amount of trimming prior to the second layer, so that's where I start. Curbing the stern and crating a new rabbet for the walnut planks. After that, I split the hull into three sections instead of the four I used for the initial layer.  These 'divider' planks are just tacked there to help me count out the planks.  I then started planking from the bottom up and top down to meet in the middle. The kit provides walnut planks for the second layer, but there's some pretty significant inconsistency in terms of color - so I did my best to separate the planks to get some coloring that was at least in the same ballpark.  As you'll see later - I was only partially successful.  We'll see how the bulwarks end up and then I'll decide whether or not to do any staining - even though most of the planking is painted in some fashion.  

 

 

 

 

  I took the lessons I learned from the first planking and did a whole bunch of measuring and math to try and figure out how much to taper the planks for each section of the hull.  If you take a look at some of the pictures you'll see lots of little notes and marks along the way.  Here's the thing - while I definitely think this all benefitted me - it still ended up basically being 'best guess'  with me measuring out the last section one bit at a time.  After soaking and bending wood - it never seems to return to the same size, or I'm off by a fraction of a millimeter or something.  Honestly, I think I'd have had more success with a harder wood like box or pear - but I didn't really want to fork over the extra cash. I've already invested quite a bit into the deck wood as well as ropes, canons and other miscellaneous stuff.  Besides - I was pretty sure I was going to end up coppering the hull.

 

 

 

      From there it's pretty much what we've all seen before.  Measure, soak, mount, dry, glue. 

 

 

 

  When I got to the final middle section I realized a couple of things - I botched the measurements at the stern and didn't taper correctly. I was thrown off by the "L shape" and didn't get the math right.  This lead to a pretty wonky looking section that needed to be filled.  So I used cardstock to take a template and try and measure out what needed to be done.  In the end, it was pretty clear I was going to need a stealer regardless. 

 

 

 

 

[Moonbug]

   My method for the stealer isn't really historically accurate, but I still think is a pretty functional way of handling my botched math.  I ensured that planks didn't come to a sharp taper, and basically did a combo - split stealer - kinda deal to fill the remaining section. I started by gluing two of the planks together to create a wider double plank.  Then I cut off the ends to create the same kind of butt that I use in a more 'traditional' stealer in the stern section.  I traced out what needed to be filled then put a brand new blade in the x-acto to cut out and match the section to piece I created.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Filling in the stern stealers rounded out the second layer.  These pictures are all before any sanding of course.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Moonbug

[Moonbug]

   Here are a few fun shots of sanding out the hull in the garage.  I have a thinner version of wood glue standing by to fill in any gaps that show up. I slap some glue into the gap, wipe off the excess and then sand over it so the gap is filled with the glue and sawdust.  Works pretty well for me.  In the second shot - other than the mess - you'll see a 5 in rotary sander attachment.  I love to use this to sand by hand because it's easy to hold, easy to switch out the velcro sandpaper, soft enough to have some 'give' over the hull, and still precise enough to get into the spots I need to get to - like along the keel.

 

  

 

   Not quite @Chuck-worthy, but at the end of the day it was one of my better planking jobs.  Going into this I'd briefly flirted with the idea of not coppering the hull - but there ended up being a few too many flaws so I'm going to go ahead with the copper.  You may have also noticed in the stern shot that I got a little carried away in that area and thinned out the stern post so I'll be replacing that. 

 

 

 

   

 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Moonbug

[CiscoH]

That looks great!

[mtaylor]

Good save on the planking.   I think many of us are right there with you.  A small mistake is measuring or cutting the planks and we end up trying to fix it.  

[Blue Ensign]

Your experience resonates with me bug, but even if you can’t quite maintain the accuracy strake by strake as the second layer is applied, those linings and tIck marks do provide a guide to follow.

I find that even after one or two strakes the planks start to run out of sync with the tick marks along the hull. Even with what should be the simplest line marking at the central bulkhead with full width planks the match is invariably off after a few planks are applied. A combination of width variation in the kit planks, and inaccuracies in marking the ticks all contribute to the situation.

I work on the basis of running the planks as best as I can down to the required number for the banding, and then re-assess what is required for the remainder.

Once I complete the second banding I will remark the strakes and work up from the Garboard. Hopefully the final spiled plank  won’t be too weird in shape and will lie below the round of the hull, as does yours.

I think you have achieved a good result, and those stealers and spiled planks will be covered by the copper.

 

B.E.

[Moonbug]

   Thanks Cisco, Mark and B.E.
    Mark and B.E. - you’re both exactly right.  I also don’t have the equipment to get the tapers perfectly consistent.  I had a good sized eraser and I was erasing, remeasuring and remarking along the way - hence all the fun pencil marks like a university chalkboard. 

     What an art from it is to get it nailed down like some of the great work we see on here!

     I’m going to make a couple of repairs and touch ups still - but when I started my goal was to have the option of coppering or not coppering. Internally -  I’m a little disappointed that the flaws have essentially removed that option, but I’m still happy with it.
   At least I won’t have to stain the hell out of it to get it to look good like my first build the San Juan.  😛

[Moonbug]

   My first go-round on the stove vent was both pre-drill press and pre-silver solder - so I gave it another attempt and I'm much more pleased with the result.  Same basic process, but able to dial in a little more detail.  The vent itself is a small brass washer with the hole filled in with a smaller disc.  The entire thing is blackened, then dry-brushed with the same metalizer used in the previous attempt.

 

  

 

 

 

 

   

[AJohnson]

8 minutes ago, Moonbug said:

   My first go-round on the stove vent was both pre-drill press and pre-silver solder - so I gave it another attempt and I'm much more pleased with the result.  Same basic process, but able to dial in a little more detail.  The vent itself is a small brass washer with the hole filled in with a smaller disc.  The entire thing is blackened, then dry-brushed with the same metalizer used in the previous attempt.

 

  

 

 

 

 

   

Looking good! 👍

[Moonbug]

 

   Exactly how to plank the gunports and fit the main wale has been giving me fits. I've been looking through books and logs and and have been agonizing over what to do here until I realized that the stern / transom area on the kit is a little bit of a debacle. Not only does it not really line up very well, but it doesn't appear to create the proper shape based on the NMM plans or really any of the other top-notch logs/builds. Not to mention there are some weird gaps and an oversized hole for the helm port.  

    Since I re-created the stern post and needed to remount that anyway, I abandoned the kit parts and re-planked the counter. This gave me the chance to carve out a much more size-appropriate helm port and also get a better view of how my main wale and bulwark planking would line up.

 

   

 

   

 

[Moonbug]

    After I got the second planking laid down and I adjusted the stern parts, I started laying out what the gunport planking would look like.  I wanted something lighter than the walnut so I'd have more painting (or not painting) options, so I'm using basswood.  It's not my favorite of course, since it's soft and difficult to get precise around the gunports and sweep ports, but it's what I have and It'll end up getting painted anyway.  My intention is to paint some key parts (main wales, inner gunports, outer gunports, masts etc) but leave a lot of the deck fixtures and other parts more natural wood colors. Once again, a bit of artistic license being used here. 

    At any rate - laying out the gunport planking made me quickly realize that my lines were off.  Following the prefab gunport parts gave me a much more significant dip along the main wales than makes sense.  I soaked and shaped the sheer strake and held that in place so I could sort out how many planks I'd need and where'd they'd go - you can see the nasty gap there.  Yikes.  Thanks what I get for blinding following the gunport and forgetting to look ahead far enough.

 

 

 

 

   Normally I'd start with lining up the main wales and work my way up, but I decided I would  instead start with the black strake (not actually black) and work from there since it's critical that the black strake line up to the deck so the scuppers make sense.  I wasn't too worried about trimming and filling in the second layer walnut in the areas that needed it because that will ultimately be covered up by the main wales. As you can see in the last photo - much smoother lines and more consistent with the NMM plans. 

 

 

 

  

[Moonbug]

    Gunport planking continues.  After getting the black strake sorted and mounted, I worked my way up mostly following examples from @Trussben and Dan's work - to some degree.  Since I'm not cutting my own planking strips I couldn't necessarily scale them exactly to the planking plans from the NMM, instead I adjusted the math to work with the sized planking strips that I was using - 5mm for the sheer strake and 3mm for the 'tweeners' along the gunports.  Perhaps not the easiest or preferred method, but I did one (sometimes two) strips all the way across before I carved out the gun and sweep ports. To me, this is jut easier than planking from port to port and ensures evenness across the whole thing. 

 

 

 

 

   To get the sheer strake to protrude out from the rest and then fall into and blend into the rest of the planking, I cut out a section near the bow, doubled up on it, then blended it in.  Finally, I sanded the thickness way down so it didn't jut out too far and look awkward.   

 

 

 

  

[Moonbug]

      Adding the outside planking to the gun ports gave them (in my opinion) enough additional support and strength to allow me to hack off the side posts on the main deck.  So - here's the thing:  completely not sure what I was thinking planking the main deck all the way to the outsides before this part of the build. If I had to guess, I'd say that I was just a little excited to see how the Swiss Pear was going to look and just rolled on through the planking.  Any - I DO recommend this to anyone else.  Heh    Completely violates @SpyGlass's policy of trying not to remove wood that you've already added. 
 

     Anyway - what's done is done - so I cut off the posts, pulled up the planks, and replaced them by forming some card stock and cutting out the planks from wider pieces of Pear and adding a scarph joint.  Since I have some trouble lining things up perfectly, my scarph joint is carved into the plank rather than actually adjoining two separate pieces.