Charles W Morgan 1841 by toms10 - FINISHED - 1:96 - POB

[toms10]

At last I finally have an identity!

 

Just make a couple of stars and what I am sure will be countless attempts at the eagle carving and the stern will be pretty much complete. 😁
 

Tom

[rookie]

Looks great!

May I ask how you did the lettering? 

It looks impossible to paint; I was looking around for letters or somewhere to do a label

[Ian_Grant]

You can get adhesive vinyl lettering in various colours and sizes, made by BECC.  In fact, "Cast Your Anchor" near you in Toronto carries some.

[toms10]

Hi Rookie

i did the lettering using Microsoft Word. I used white font on a black fill. Can also do the same using Excel. I played around with different fonts and spacing till I got what I needed then just printed it on standard 20# copier paper. Cut it out with a scalpel and glued it to the hull. Luckily on this boat the background is black so it was easy to match.
 

I did find that you need to use a color laser printer. An inkjet will bleed into the paper a bit which becomes a problem when working with tiny fonts. The gold color letters on the bow bulwarks isre only a 4 size font, the stern letters are 6. 
 

Tom

[John Ruy]

Tom, Nicely done… Your lettering is excellent. What is your technique to get the White stripping so clean? It looks like it was rolled on. 😎

[toms10]

Hi John,

The white stripes are just hand painted on very thin strips of wood then glued to the stern. The wood strips also hide the edges of the paper strip that the letters are printed on. 
 

Tom

[rookie]

Thanks Tom

 

I had done the stern lettering on an inkjet printer and the black background comes out pale (almost purple)

Perhaps I will try it again and crank up the dark setting (I think that is possible)

 

Ian, I am not sure about letter size. On this scale the letters are tiny 

I have poked around a bit on Google 

 

[toms10]

Summertime progress is slow but happening. I managed to get the hull mounted to a stand which will be painted black after I finish putting in the deck pieces.  Also got the anchor deck secured in place. 
 

Sure makes it a bit easier having the real boat only an hour away. Using the videos and pics I took the last few times I was there to verify the more “difficult to understand” parts of the drawings. 👍

Tom

[toms10]

Life has been keeping me pretty busy lately but I did manage to build a tiny helm.  It took a couple of tries but I think I finally got it. It was a lot of work for something that is going to be mostly obscured by the hurricane house roof and sky light, but I know it’s their and that is what counts. 😜😁

I can start to put some of the deck structures in place after I finish up the posts and such that the helm is mounted on.   I am still not “feeling it” yet to try sculpting the eagle on the stern but in time I will find the courage I’m sure. 😁😜
 

Tom

[gregkthompson]

2 minutes ago, toms10 said:

Pretty sweet, looks awesome!

[toms10]

Helm all assembled, semi rigged  and stained. 

 

 

This was one of the more difficult parts to make so far. A lot of detail for a tiny part. 
 

Tom

[John Ruy]

1 hour ago, toms10 said:

This was one of the more difficult parts to make so far. A lot of detail for a tiny part. 

I agree, lots of tiny detail… and I had kit supplied metal parts. 😆

 

Nice job! 

[rookie]

Yes the helm is awkward

I ended up buying a brass wheel from UK that had to be assembled

The AL Kit has a completely different helm attached to deck like 'normal' helm 

 

 

[toms10]

42 minutes ago, rookie said:

Yes the helm is awkward

I ended up buying a brass wheel from UK that had to be assembled

The AL Kit has a completely different helm attached to deck like 'normal' helm 

 

Hi Rookie

One of the problems with building at 1:96 scale is it is hard to buy anything that is proportional.  But then again I enjoy scratch buildIng.  On the plus side the scale allows for a model that more easily fits into a room for display. Everything’s a trade off. 😜. This is the first time am I am building at this scale and for me, this is definitely as small as I want to go. 
 

Tom

[rookie]

Hi Tom

 

I missed the 1/96 part 

that is pretty small 

 

Colin

[toms10]

Since we are in the middle of hurricane season, I thought it best to get the hurricane house house constructed. Without a roof it isn’t going to be much help but the weatherman said it would be calm the next few days. Should get the roof in by then. 😜😁

 

Tom

[TBlack]

Tom,

I meant to compliment you earlier on the detail at your scale. Most remarkable. Be proud!

Tom

[toms10]

Other than some blocks and cleats mounted to the davits, the hurricane  house is complete. 

 

Now I will work my way forward with the other deck pieces. That gaping blank space on the stern is just screaming for the sculpted eagle. 😱. Maybe give it a shot after the deck stuff. 😁
 

Tom

[TBlack]

Crisp, I calls it. And BTW, Tom, the lettering on the stern is fabulous!

Tom

[toms10]

Managed to get the deck items I built a while ago mounted in position. Tryworks and boat bearer platform over the deckhouse are the next “big ticket” items. Slow but steady. 
 

Tom

[JJUSNRET]

Absolutely incredible!!!  Just completed the hull planking on my MSW CWM and about to paint the inside bulwarks.  Want to get that done before deck planking so I don't mess up the deck.  Truly impressed with the skylight fixture.  Trying to figure out how to do that.  There is an instruction on line for better description of the tryworks station, still, it looks challenging!!!  Best of luck, your photographs are really helpful (this is my first)!!!

[toms10]

Thanks JJUSNRET.  The skylight was a bit of a challenge. I usually try to build each piece as it would be done at actual scale. I found that this is often easier than trying to “fake” the build with shortcuts. The end product usually comes out better. 
 

As for the skylight, I built the framework and then glued black threads to simulate the iron bars. Finally I put thin strips (.015”) to cover the ends of the threads to make them look like the were actually inserted into the window frames. The end pieces had little grooves filed into them to allow the thread to fit in and let the wood strips lay flat on the framework. That was probably a bit of overkill at this scale but that’s how I probably would have done it at full scale. 
 

Glad my log is helping someone. I do most of my learning from the logs here on MSW. That is what makes this site so great!

 

Tom

Edited August 28, 2022 by toms10
Spelling

[toms10]

Made some tiny check that, very tiny buckets that will hang from the forward beam of the shelter/boat bearer. Amazing how many details and side diversions keep popping up as I go along. 🙂

I was hoping to finish in time for the next Northeast Conference in April but that doesn’t seem probable right now … unless my boss lets me work on it during working hours. 😜😂. Yeah right, well there is always the next show. 
 

Tom

[TBlack]

Well, Tom, you can always bring the model to the conference at whatever stage it's in. We'd love to see the real thing.

Tom

[toms10]

1 hour ago, TBlack said:

Well, Tom, you can always bring the model to the conference at whatever stage it's in. We'd love to see the real thing.

Tom

I don’t mind showing it at club meetings and such but I would rather wait till it is finished before I show it at a conference. 
Tom

[toms10]

Boat bearer supports and stanchions in place. Harpoon racks are full and buckets in place. 
The harpoons are made with toothpicks filed down to scale at the tail end  that is the part that sits in the rack. The middle section will be covered by the rooftop and unseen so I left those diameters larger but small enough to fit side by side in the rack. Not pretty but it serves the purpose. 

The blade tips are placed through slots in the front hanger. You only see the tips coming through the front. For the tips I used some card stock (index cards) and cut them into an isosceles triangle. I put a small slit in the end of the toothpick and inserted the tip. I then prayed the tip through the rack. The end result simulates the harpoons placed in the racks. The buckets then are hung on the front beam. 

When all is said and done I think it does the job at 1:96 scale. I will finish up the roof but wait to attach it. I still have some eyebolts and assorted small things to place on the bulwarks. It would have been easier if I put those in first but I forgot about them and got excited about putting in the supports.  That’s okay though because it would not be the first time I did something the hard way. 😜😂

 

Tom

Edited September 8, 2022 by toms10
Added harpoon pic

[toms10]

Starting to work on the tryworks structure. First step was to figure out how to make bricks at 1:96 scale. An actual brick measures 2 1/4” high x 7 5/8” wide x 3 5/8” deep.   That makes my scale brick .023 x .079 x .037.   I decided to try printing a grid on regular 20# copier paper and then paint the back. Borrowed this idea from sail making on my Leopard build.

 

I have 3 different grids depending on how the brick is positioned. I used a scalpel and steel straight edge to cut the grid into strips. Then the strips were cut to the appropriate brick view length. This resulted in tiny little bricks which look like confetti for mice. 😂

 

Pictured below are bricks looking down at the top 3 5/8 x 7 5/8 (lower group) and next to the tryworks are bricks looking at the front 2 5/8 x 7 5/8”. 

 

Below is the front step with top view bricks layed in place. The mortar is supposed to be 3/8 wide in full scale which comes out to about .004”. I am eyeballing what seems to look good proportionally. If anyone wants to check when I am done - have at it. 😜😁

I am pleased with the results so far. Next is to do the rear step. Then all 4 sides with the 2 5/8 high brick. Tedious work but I think the realism is worth the effort.  Just when I recovered from placing a thousand plus copper tiles I get to do microscopic bricks. This must be the “journey” part I keep hearing about with this hobby!😂

Tom

 

[John Ruy]

 Nice “work” on the Tryworks, Tom. I’m with you on the “journey” my railings on the Robert E Lee are maddening. 🤪

 

You know it’s worth every excruciating second. 😂 Looking excellent very realistic.
 

John 

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

On 6/7/2022 at 9:39 PM, toms10 said:

So I started on my coppering. I took a piece of regular 20# copier paper and printed a grid in Excel. Each plate will measure .145” x .500”. The grid is 50 x 20 resulting in 1000 plates per page.

 

The paper was then copper leafed on the opposite side then sliced to width using a scalpel and straight edge. There are plenty of You Tube videos on leafing to learn how. This was my first time and it is really not that hard. 
 

2 pages produced the 2000 plates you see in the box below. 

Here are a few up close along with one of the strips prior to cutting to the .500” lengths. 

Finally I started gluing a few on to see how it would look. You need to be careful not to get glue (I am just using regular wood glue) all over the leaf because it can be tricky to get off as the leaf is only about .002” thick. 

It is only about ..005 to 006” thick so it is not terribly out of scale. I am not putting any nail marks in the plates as the model scale is 1:96 so you really would not see them in the real world at normal viewing distance. 
 

Tom

  Outstanding method of coppering I haven't seen before ... another reason to go through all sorts of builds on the forum.  No need for 'nail marks' since there are tiny surface irregularities in the copper leafing of the paper that 'suggest' nailing - but as you say in 1:96 (a useful scale since I 'round' it to 1:100 when figuring the size to make things, and that makes math easier), you wouldn't clearly see the tiny nails.

  

    A full-size copper tack has a flat head, say, 1/4" (0.250").  Divide that by 100 (my 'easy' math) and you'd get .0025" on a model in 1:96 !  Dial verniers show my copy paper to be .004 - .005 thick, so scale 'nails' would be HALF the thickness of a sheet of paper.  What, nail heads the thickness of human hair?  The only change I can think of to the metal leafed paper method would be to use acid-free archival paper (100% cotton fiber content) as opposed to common wood-pulp paper (acid content varies) that might undergo changes over time (presuming you model will be kept by others long after you're gone - and with the fine job you're doing, this is quite likely) and possibly react with the metal on top.

 

 What did you use for belaying pins?  brass escutcheon pins?  'Looks like a handy solution since many kit-supplied belaying pins come too short and too 'fat'.  I rather like brass touches on a model ... no need to paint or finish since time will slowly put a brown patina over bare brass surfaces.  All you need is time.

 

Fair sailing!        Johnny

[toms10]

4 hours ago, Snug Harbor Johnny said:

 What did you use for belaying pins?  brass escutcheon pins?  'Looks like a handy solution since many kit-supplied belaying pins come too short and too 'fat'.  I rather like brass touches on a model ... no need to paint or finish since time will slowly put a brown patina over bare brass surfaces.  All you need is time.

Hi Johnny

For the belaying pins I use brass brads. I put them in a drill style homemade lathe and filed the heads down and shaped them a bit. The diameter of the brad was about .025 to start so I just cleaned them up so they ended up about .020.

 

As for using standard paper and reacting with the copper, there is actually a layer of sizing between the leaf and the paper. In theory the metal shouldn’t come in contact with the paper. You do bring up a good point though. I will take heed of your advice on the next one. But then again, 50 years from now I probably wont be worrying about it. 😜. If one of my daughters takes up modeling it will be a good restoration project for them. 😂

Tom