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

[toms10]

Working on the windlass. Not bad for a first attempt. Can’t say the same for the pump & brake mechanism. The first try came out a bit clumsy looking. Maybe just a bit oversized using .032 diameter brass wire. I have some .022 so I will try it again and see how it fits. If I like it I’ll post it, if not I hear the third time is a charm. 😜😂

 

Tom

[TBlack]

Looks pretty good to me. Also, the deck color came out well. Making good progress!

Tom

[toms10]

Thanks Tom,

I will attempt a new pump & brake assembly tonight.  As for the deck, it is actually unfinished maple strips.  The actual color on the ship right now is a weathered light gray.  I do like the color as is right now and may leave it.  I would like it to be closer to the real gray but I don't want to make a mess of it since it looks pretty good now... just like brand new planks.  I plan on building an experimental piece of deck and see if I can come up with a gray that is somewhat "whitewashed".

It was good to see you at the show last weekend.  

Tom

[toms10]

Here is the finished windlass, pump & brake assembly and ship’s bell. A little bit delicate so I need to store it in a safe place until I am ready to install it. 
I plan to start painting the hull now followed by the copper plates. I managed to take in an excellent demonstration by Rich from the New Jersey club on copper gilding and making realistic plates at the Northeast Joint conference.   Can’t wait to experiment with this technique. 
 

Tom

[rookie]

Great work on windlass

is that copper wire?   soldered?

 

I am going to be doing mine soon.... hope it looks close to that good  

[toms10]

Hi rookie

Thanks and yes that is brass wire that was soldered. 
Truth be told that was attempt #2. We won’t talk about the first try 😜😂

Tom

[TBlack]

Whoa! Looks fantastic! Very crisp.

Tom

[KJackson]

On 5/8/2022 at 11:03 AM, toms10 said:

A little bit delicate so I need to store it in a safe place

 

I can only imagine! Amazing work - very clean.

[toms10]

Finishing up some of the countless details on the hull like the various chock holes, cleats, mooring and freeing ports. Still have sea steps and lots of other items that just seem to appear as I think I am getting close. 

Also managed to get the cheek knees and head Timbers mounted. 

Here is what it looks like from a dolphin’s perspective. 😜😁😂

 

Tom

[TBlack]

Tom,

the reinforcements around the chock holes are particularly neat and uniform. What's the trick?

Tom

[toms10]

Hi Tom

No real trick, just patience. I started with an oversized piece of wood. Then drilled a hole and elongated it to size with a small rat tail file. Then I very carefully filed the outside to shape and size and yes a couple did break. To get some more strength to the piece I left them about  .050” thick.  Lastly I glued them in place and after they were set in place I sanded the thickness down to .015 so they were to proper scale. Touch up the inner and outer edges and you have it. 
 

Tom

[TBlack]

Tom,

What kind of wood did you use to prevent crumbling at that small size?

[toms10]

I used some maple I had laying around. Probably not the best choice. I think boxwood, holly or pear might be better but I didn’t have any. Anything with a tight grain should work as long as you take your time working it. Don’t put a lot of pressure on it when sanding and use a finer grit so it doesn’t bite into the wood to deep. 
Tom

[toms10]

Managed to get the bulwarks painted as well as the upper hull. Let the coppering begin!!  
 

As mentioned earlier I plan on using a copper leaf method that was demonstrated at the last Northeast Joint Conference a few weeks ago. This is going to definitely be a learning experience. 😜

 

I still see a few spots on the edges of white lines that need a little sharpening. Damn OCD. 😂😜

 

Tom

[John Ruy]

9 hours ago, toms10 said:

Damn OCD. 😂😜

Tom,

 

Oh how I know what you mean about OCD. But, that’s what drives us to perfection. Close to it any way. 😆

 

Nice work on the bulwarks, color is perfect. Looking forward to your new coppering process. 👍

 

John

[David Lester]

Tom, your CWM is looking wonderful. That white edge is a nightmare to paint. My wife almost had me committed before I was finished. Yours isn't looking too bad, but I just could not get a decent job. In the end I painted some paper white, cut it into strips and glued it on. That worked really well and it was completely undetectable what I had done.

 

I agree with John - I think you've nailed the bulwarks colour. It's a hard colour to get just right.

David

[archjofo]

Fine work !

[toms10]

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

Edited June 8, 2022 by toms10
Moved a picture

[TBlack]

Tom,

I'm following you closely on this, as I have to do it with my HMS Sophie build (for the first time)

Tom

[toms10]

Hi Tom

Don’t get a ticket for following too close!🚔👮‍♀️
This is my first coppering job too and I may have to stop quickly!😂. I will try to do a good job posting my progress if I make any. Two steps forward, a few back is what it seems like right now. 
 

Tom

[mtaylor]

4 hours ago, toms10 said:

Hi Tom

Don’t get a ticket for following too close!🚔👮‍♀️
This is my first coppering job too and I may have to stop quickly!😂.

Tom

Hopefully, you won't need to do a U-turn.  So far, looks good.

[toms10]

Almost done with the first band on the starboard side. The coppering is divided into three bands according to the drawings. 

The leaf is very delicate so you need to be careful not to get glue all over the place. Sometimes when you try to wipe it off, a spot of leafing may also come off.  As with anything, the more practice the better it comes out.  There are a lot of tiles so I will get plenty of practice. 😜😂

 

Tom
 

 

[John Ruy]

Hi Tom, I know it’s early on your process but, will there be a coating, once you have completed the coppering, to keep it this shiny? Do you plan to give it some weathering or patina? 
 

Nice work…

John

[toms10]

Hi John

At the rate I am going, by the time I finish it will patina on its own. 😜. Actually I am not a big fan of the shiny new polished look. My plates have a slightly brushed finish from lightly rubbing the copper leaf with a tissue when I applied it to the paper backing. That finish seems to have calmed down the brightness a bit. I will allow it to tarnish a bit to darken and kill some of the shine the spray it with some clear matte sealer.  At least that is the plan right now. 
 

Tom

[toms10]

Starting to see the light at the end of the copper tunnel!  Both sides are coming out very close to symmetrical so that is a good indication that my frames were faired correctly.  

Estimating around 900 tiles so far.  Definitely falls into the same category as tying 1500 clove hitches for the ratlines on my Leopard. 😜

 

Tom

 

[toms10]

Finished coppering the hull. Just need to do the rudder which won’t take long. Make some hinges and assemble. Well, at least it sounds easy! 😜

I also need to assemble the cradle pieces I made earlier so I can mount it to the hull and the work on the model right side up for a change. 
 

Tom

[John Ruy]

29 minutes ago, toms10 said:

Finished coppering the hull.

Nice work! 👍

[toms10]

Fashioned some rudder hinges and attached a rudder over the weekend. It took several shots at making the hinges but finally got a set that looked respectable…. At least to me. I must admit this part was not as much fun as I would have liked it to be. Clotting the thin brass strips and properly forming them got a bit frustrating at times. 😕

I guess I will work on some of the stern details while I can still easily manipulate the hull around. 
 

Tom

[TBlack]

Getting the upper ones shaped around the hull is challenging; looks like you got it, though.

Tom

[toms10]

Hi Tom,

Yeah it was a bit "fiddly".  I put that one in last. The lower hinges were more straight forward and easier to line up.  They end up holding the rudder in place while I located the holes for the top hinge. Then tapped the brads into the holes to hold the hinge in place.

 

Tom