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

[Moonbug]

       I was bound and determined to use the top and butt method for the main wales since it adds such a sense of authenticity to the overall look of the build. Once again - I'm not cutting my own planks, I'm using various sizes that I have in stock in my stash. So - I measured out about a 12 mm total with the wales, 4 mm for the top and a combined 8mm for the bottom two varying in widths from 5mm at the widest point to 3mm at the narrowest point.  To achieve this, I measured out one plank and lined out the shifts, cut the plank, then overlapped it on top of the second plank to essentially create the opposite shift pattern so they could then be married together.   I figured this offered me the best shot at the patterns fitting together smoothly.

 

 

 

 

 

   In the interest of full disclosure;  at the end of the day  (or a couple days as the case may be), this method was only moderately successful. There were still some sketchy and inconsistent gaps and I was ultimately glad that these wales are painted black so the variances are less obvious.

 

      

 

 

 

 

   I like hand painting for the most part, but I was having difficulty getting the crisp lines I usually get.  I blame this on my laser eye surgery.  Before the surgery I was basically blind with anything past about 18 inches from my face. I had like - point me in the direction of the eye chart cuz I can't see it - kinda vision. But - anything close was perfectly in focus.  Great for ship / model building - not so great for... well, life.  Now - I have 20/15 distance vision, which is awesome. Except, I can't see crap up close. So, I now have varying degrees of reading glasses, magnifying head gear, etc. But, I'm still getting used to it and it has indeed affected things like painting and small carving.  Anyway - not to make this some kind of "woe is me" story - but I opted for taping off the ship and airbrushing the paint on the wales instead. I new I could get the tape much more precise than a brush by hand. 

 

 

 

[mtaylor]

Very nicely done on the wales, Bug.  Paint and filler will hide a lot of sins but I think many of us use it. 

[datadiscovery]

Bug -- Since you've mentioned hand-painting and tape, how do you prevent the paint from bleeding beneath the tape edge when hand-painting with a brush?

 

Pete

[Moonbug]

Thanks @mtaylor - Very true, the trick of course being how to mitigate the apparent sin.

 

8 hours ago, datadiscovery said:

Bug -- Since you've mentioned hand-painting and tape, how do you prevent the paint from bleeding beneath the tape edge when hand-painting with a brush?

 

Pete

 

Hey Pete - great question of course and there seem to be as many personal techniques as there are people. But, for me it comes down to two key things: the type of tape and several light coats.

 Tape:  The type of masking tape is crucial for me - the thinner the better. Tamiya modeler's tape works pretty well for most applications and comes in a variety of sizes. But, my favorite is this stuff that some companies call "Frog" tape. 

 

 

It's much thinner than traditional masking tape and feels more plastic-y than paper. It's meant for house painting, but I find it works well on wood.  It is more difficult to tear - but I cut with scissors.  This also allows you to create small curves. I prefer to cut the curves necessary.   A couple other things that go along with it - I use this weird tool I found a long time ago to rub along the edge several times to get the edge seal very, very tight. The edge of a spoon also works well. The trick is to be able to press down the edge without making an indentation.

 

 

  When it comes to actually painting, my biggest mistake is lack of patience (like any aspect of building right?), but very light coats of paint and several coats work best for me. Too much paint on the brush or over thinned paint are deadly. This is why I prefer an airbrush when I can - I can adjust the flow for really, really light coverage which prevents running. Then I just go over the same spot several times with a little bit of drying time in between.

 

A couple random extra notes:  When I'm laying down the tape, if I don't get it in the exact right spot, I don't try to pull it up and re-lay it - I use a new piece of tape. It NEVER seems to stick as well on the second attempt no matter what kind of tape I use.  When I'm painting with a brush, I paint across the tape edge instead of along it whenever possible.  I start the brush on the tape and stroke down across it.  

 

Overall - and once again, this is just my experience - but trying different techniques on scrap wood (depending upon the application) and patience.  Here's how the edge along the main wales turned out close up.

 

Edited November 22, 2021 by Moonbug

[AJohnson]

14 hours ago, datadiscovery said:

Bug -- Since you've mentioned hand-painting and tape, how do you prevent the paint from bleeding beneath the tape edge when hand-painting with a brush?

 

Pete

Hi Pete, one tip I have picked up and used when having to paint a masked edge that might 'bleed' is to pre-paint the taped edge with a thin varnish first to seal it.  But not always necessary when using good quality tapes like Tamiya. But a tip that's has been successful for me in the past.

Edited November 22, 2021 by AJohnson

[Moonbug]

  Thanks Andrew - that's an interesting idea, I'll have to give that a shot.

 

[datadiscovery]

Thanks for the prompt and informative reply, Bug. I had not heard of the trick using the little tool to seal the tape edge. I can see where that would help. Also, the idea of brushing across the tape down to the bare wood makes a lot of sense. I do use Frog tape but have not used these two suggestions in the past. Hopefully they'll help. And for Andrew, if the latter two tips don't do the trick I try the varnish suggestion.

 

Pete

[Moonbug]

   Just a short post about a small, but anxiety-ridden process for me - the scuppers.  I measured them out and drilled the angle through from the black strake to the deck.  Got almost all of them right on too!   Most are 1.5mm and the pump dale scuppers at 2 mm. 

 

 

 

 

  I have decided not to 'fill' the scupper holes with a simulated lining like some folks have.  I tried it on a couple with a couple different things and I couldn't really get it to not look like a**.  So I'm going with a cleaner, slightly less historically accurate angle of having them natural holes.  Maybe I'll fill them later if I can find a nice tube that looks legit.

[Moonbug]

      One of the things that I really enjoy about this forum and interacting with all you fine builders - is the plethora of ideas when it comes to home-made tools and techniques.  Here's my version of a scribe tool for rails and strips - a 90 degree angle chisel with the edge filed off.  The 90 degree end get butted up against the side of the wood strip to keep the line even.

 

 

 

       I did need to compromise a little bit with the location of this particular strip; which after reading some of the other build logs is not uncommon. Apparently it's tough to get enough room to later attach the frieze, so I lowered this strip and instead notched out the tops of the sweep ports into it.  Still looks pretty clean.  From there it was about eight to ten hours of painting.  First I masked each section off and hit light even coats with the airbrush to get the lines that I wanted, then I went through the entire ship touching up by hand.  I've included my array of color choices: The Yellow is thinned down with a little brightness added to the yellow ochre. The Vermillion red is toned down with a nice earthy ochre, and the blue is Vallejo's blue grey.  I'm still experimenting, but the sepia wash will be used to give the frieze texture after it's painted yellow ochre. 

 

    

 

 

 

 

[Moonbug]

      I did manage to get in some shipyard time over the holiday weekend despite the busy-ness.  For a while of it, my 31 year old son actually hung out with me a bit while I worked on the brake pumps.  As others have pointed out - there is no reference what-so-ever to brake pumps in the kit instructions, which is a pretty big oversight in my opinion. 

 

   My brake pumps consist of a wooden dowel that is drilled out then planked on the sides.  I left a little knob on the bottom of the dowel so I could fit it into the deck. I chose to plank using the thin leftovers that were supposed to be used for deck planking to mix up the color a bit.

 

   

 

 

Handles/brakes and cheeks are shaped and carved from boxwood with the sides sanded down for shape, then the inside sanded down to accommodate the slot for the handle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumps are finished up with a brass tube for a spout, wire eyelet for spear, and a metal strap - ready to mount later.  After a few hours and me walking him through the process, my son (who's never been particularly interested in this type of stuff) said "Wow, I can't believe we just made that from nothing!"

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Moonbug

[Blue Ensign]

Your perseverance is paying off bug, and you're very brave drilling thro' the strake to the deck for the scuppers,  something I passed on, I had little confidence I would hit the right spot.

 

B.E.

[Moonbug]

   Thanks B.E. - it was a bit agonizing. I will confess I was off  by a couple millimeters on one deckside scupper - surely not to be noticed by passersby with the canon and rigging, etc - but I'll always know it's there.  😕 

 

    Much like the other fittings, the clerestory-style companion top that goes on the aft deck didn't much look like the ones I'd seen from other builds and swan class research.  It seemed pretty easy (relatively) to construct one, so I put it together with boxwood.  Created the grates first, used the far aft opening to measure out the top, then drilled the windows and filed them square. A leftover laser-cut bit from a previous build gave me a good template.

 

 

 

 

 

   One thing I did a little differently - that I'd been musing over for a while: the window panes. I typically use some sort of acrylic sheet or plastic lining to create the windows, but then I remembered reading in a model train forum that "nothing looks like glass like glass looks like glass..."

So I ordered these little guys - .013-.017mm covers for microscope slides.   While they're very cool - they're a MAJOR pain in the keister to work with because they shatter almost instantly.  After completely unsuccessfully trying a handful of methods to 'cut' them (even trying a glass cutter), I ended up using forceps with the ends tape to brake them close to the right size, then gently sanding down the jagged edges with 400 grit sand paper. Probably took more time than reasonable given that the end result is unlikely to be noticed by most people.  But - although it's very hard to tell the difference in photos - I notice the difference, and that's cool. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by Moonbug

[Beakerboy123]

@Moonbug, where exactly does that little cupola go on the aft deck? Could you show it in place? I’m on the last bits of the deck railings on my Pegasus and if I like it I may copy off of your design.

[Craigie65]

27 minutes ago, Beakerboy123 said:

@Moonbug, where exactly does that little cupola go on the aft deck? Could you show it in place? I’m on the last bits of the deck railings on my Pegasus and if I like it I may copy off of your design.

It replaces the kit skylights just in front of the mizzenmast 

[Moonbug]

Thanks @Craigie65,

 

@Beakerboy123 - my aft deck isn’t in place, so Craigie’s is a better representation for the moment. 

[Beakerboy123]

Got it. Thanks.

[Moonbug]

          On to the assembly line that is guns and carriages.  Like many folks who have together the Peg - I found that the guns and carriages that came along with the kit are adequate. That said - I was first introduced to the elegance of @Chuck's Syren guns and carriages when putting the Confederacy together and I couldn't help but add the same upgrade to the Peg.  Obviously much of this process is well documented, so I'll just add some highlights in terms of how I handled the process.

           I created an assembly jig out of leftover scraps, and also used the boxwood pieces from which the carriages came as a jig that allows me to score the sides of the carriages and the wheels. Here's the assembly line. Keen eyes may catch the upper right corner with the iPad (for catching up on old episodes of "Boardwalk Empire" - my current binge) and the stiff rum & coke.  😶

 

  

 

     I couldn't get as smooth of an edge off the small pieces provided for the quoin, so I substituted some of my own leftover boxwood. After cutting it down into strips, I fed about 3 or four inches up into the drill press, exposed a quarter inch at a time, lathed out a quoin and cut it off, then pulled the boxwood down another quarter inch and repeated the process. The fourth picture is my process for sanding down the char off the wheels.  I have a devil of a time keep them round when I do it by hand, so I inserted a bamboo toothpick into my chalk and put the wheel on.  I then VERY gently hold my fingernail against the wheel to get it to spin (rather than push it hard onto the tooth pick) and then barely brush it up against the edge 200 grit sandpaper that's hanging over the table. Couple of important notes:  the Dremel is on is lowest speed, and it's important not to do it against a hard surface, but rather let it brush against a flap of sandpaper. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Moonbug]

   Here's my take on weathering the guns.  I started by adding the little emblems from Syren (fiddly little buggers!!) and drilling out a touch hole.  Then (I skipped a step in the photos), I blackened the brass and then sanded off much of the black which leaves some blackening in the crevices and lines.  This is an extra step that I liked during my experimentation phase as it ends up giving a little extra texture/variance to the end look that appeals to me.  I then airbrushed all the guns with a mixture of Vallejo's black and grey black thinned down with a black wash.  This gives a nice color and the thinness allows the emblems and details to stand out really nicely without getting pounded down with paint. This first shot is pre-weathering.

 

 

 

   Finally, Tamiya is my preferred weathering product and I gave each gun a light brush of "soot" to dull the paint, then "rust" to bring out the edges. My goal is to give the guns some character but not make it look as though the crew has neglected their duty in maintaining the equipment.

 

 

 

 

    Still a lot of work to do on the guns and carriages of course - next steps are finishing the carriages, drilling out all the holes, adding the bolts/rings, mounting the guns and starting the rigging.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Moonbug

[Moonbug]

   Continuing with the Guns and Carriages - I was trying to decide what kind of monofilament-esque item I'd used as nail/bolt fillers for the carriages.  I started with a few strips from an old broom in the garage, but it ultimately felt too large and out of scale.  Then I tried some bits from an old golf club brush I found sitting around.  Here's a side-by-side comparison - the latter definitely a much better fit. I drilled out holes, filled them in, then shaved them off with a razor.

 

 

 

 

 

   From there, it's back to the assembly line. I did all the hole drilling, quoin affixing, and eye bolt mounting prior to adding the wheels so they weren't handled too much.  Guns were added to carriages after the wheels were mounted. 

 

     

 

 

Still a bit of touching up to do to the eye bolts, rings and some edges of the guns - but I'll wait until I work some of the rigging and do it all at once before they're mounted on the deck.

 

 

[AJohnson]

Those are fine looking guns there Bug 👏

 

Particularly like the additional details for the quoin handles and simulated bolts and so on.  Good tip on removing laser char, very neat work. 👍

[flyer]

Hi Bug

 

Your Pegasus is coming along real fine. I especially admire the extra details you add - and their quality. (I'm a fan of including the scuppers too, but I never had the guts to drill them through from the inside - I just show the outer opening.)

 

However I hope you permit a remark to your gratings. As far as I understand the gratings were removable while their frames were fixed to the deck. For stability therefore the removable lighter coloured insets should end on a frame and not on stubbles. You could check on the example in this article:

 

 

Sorry for nagging but to me this detail sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

Keep up the great work.

 

Cheers

Peter

[Moonbug]

   

Good morning - Thanks Andrew and Peter - I appreciate the look-in and comments.

 

And no worries @flyer - not nagging to me at all, but rather much of the purpose of being part of a forum such as this.  Grates are a nuisance to me for the most part - yet, always one of the THE most visible portions of a deck, so definitely worth taking another look and noodling through an improvement. 

[Blue Ensign]

Nice work on the guns, Bug 👍

 

B.E.

 

[Moonbug]

Thanks BE - much appreciated.  I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I feel as though they look even better in person; which is good I guess.  Sometimes macro is a little TOO close... 😜 

[mtaylor]

7 hours ago, Moonbug said:

Thanks BE - much appreciated.  I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out. I feel as though they look even better in person; which is good I guess.  Sometimes macro is a little TOO close... 😜 

Only sometimes?  It's nice for details but still shows every flaw.

[allanyed]

'Bug,

I am enjoying your build log very much and kudos on some really fine work.  

I totally agree with Peter that the grates should be replaced.   His photo shows the grating peripheral pieces nicely.   It is usually the case that it is better to make the proper gratings as close to the size on the drawings as possible, then make the coaming and head ledges to fit the grating, not the other way around.  This may put the assembly off by a hundredth of an inch or two, but will look much better.  Don't forget that the head ledges rest on the coamings rather than the coamings on the head ledges.  Sketch below may help a little.

Allan

 

[Moonbug]

   Thanks for the all the input and references folks.  After doing a little followup on my own of course, I spent yesterday upgrading the coamings, battens, and hatches.  Obviously a much better result. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[allanyed]

Fantastic!!  Very nicely done Bug

 

Allan

[Moonbug]

Thanks @allanyed.   Sometimes I have to remind myself of why I started doing wood ships: after a high speed military career, I wanted a way to instill the idea that taking as much extra time as necessary to do something properly pays off big dividends in the long run.  I still forget that pretty regularly, and sometimes get caught up in wanting to finish an aspect rather than savouring the process - so refreshers are always helpful. 

[Moonbug]

   I've been both anticipating and procrastinating this next bit for a while now - but it's come time where I've got to get it done before I can move on with the build.  I'll be honest - I'm kinda freaked out by coppering the hull, mostly because I've never done it before, but also because it seems like an area that has little tolerance for mistakes.

   That said - I've done a fair amount of research and looked and looked and looked at build logs so I can go into it with at least a little confidence.  I started by using a couple of different levels to get the ship straightened out before marking the waterline with my home-made waterline marker tool derived from one of the weird tripods I have sitting around. Once the line was marked, checked, marked, checked, adjusted and checked again on both sides, I taped it off with Tamiya masking tape.

 

 

 

 

 

  I also checked the different set of copper plating about four times before labelling them as Port and Starboard.  As others have mentioned, then bolt patterns are different. I started at the stern and worked my way along the keel. I'm glueing down either one, two or three plates in a row depending on the situation using CA glue.  I put a couple drops on the back of the plate, then spread it out with a toothpick before putting it in place. With the CA spread out that thin, it dries super fast so it's a quick and sketchy process getting the little buggers in place properly.  I'm glad others have mentioned that there are a handful of extras... cuz I've definitely mangled a few.

 

 

 

  For the keel - I remembered that I have this snazzy roll of copper tape sitting in a drawer from when I acquired a bunch of Augie's supplies after taking over the Confederacy.  I'm using the copper tape to cover the bottom of the keel, then as I plate along the sides, I can trip the plates nice and tight and get a clean look. I'll go through and mark a bolt pattern on the tape later.

 

 

 

 

  After looking at a handful of different builds, I decided it was appropriate to overlap each layer the very slightest amount as I worked my way up from the keel.  This provided much cleaner lines, and also gives me just the tiniest bit of wiggle room to adjust as I go along.  Which was totally necessary as I got near the bow. I also decided to work down from the stern so I could plan out and visualize the path of the rows; knowing it's going to get a little wonky as I work across the middle of the hull.  In the meantime - slow and steady and hopefully minimize mistakes and/or fixes.