Niagara by lb0190 - Model Shipways - 1/64

[augie]

Just be cautious.  You don't want the CA to stiffen the line itself and interfere with the way it hangs down to the coil.  The thin CA will wick right down the line.  I use the medium here...you only need a microscopic droplet to hold the line in the block.

[lb0190]

Thanks Augie. Too much CA was my concern, but I'll try to control the amount using the no. 11 Blade tip. I'll use a kit block to test out the process.

I'm absolutely happy I spent the money to buy Chuck's blocks and hooks! The size is much closer to scale and they look so much better than the kit supplied parts.

Edited May 4, 2015 by lb0190

[Don Quixote]

Perfect timing. I was debating on weather or not to even attempt them. Great work.

[lb0190]

Your welcome Brian. Don't forget to use Chuck's picture for reference, on how he rigged them.

[popeye the sailor]

really looking nice Larry........well done on the rigging!  

[lb0190]

Hello Popeye,

Thank you. I hope to finish the rigging on the port side today or tomorrow at the latest.

[Sjors]

Wow,

 

I remove my pictures with the cannon  rigging 

Amazing clean job Larry !!!

 

Sjors

[lb0190]

Thank you Sjors, but your rigging and build looks great!

[lb0190]

It's been a while since I posted any progress and I planned on having more work complete before doing so but now seemed like a good time. I have to clean up the shipyard to set my reloading equip back up to help out a friend so I'll take a short break from the Niagara build.

 

Since my last post with pictures I've completed the following:

 

• All twenty guns assembled and mounted to the deck​ 
• Rigging blocks and tackle attached to the guns but rope coils need added to nineteen and jack-screws are needed for seventeen.​
• The tiller rigging has been added. My tiller angle is too low, but I may just leave it as is. I also plan on adding rope coils for the tiller, positioned aft of the most aft guns.
• I installed the starboard and port pin rails plus belaying pins and if you look close you can see the tension rods under each pin rail.
• The stove smokestack has been assembled and still needs some clean up from painting. I did not like smokestack provided with the kit, so I made this up up using brass, wood, tape and styrene, plus CA glue to simulate fastener heads on the plate surface.

As she now sits.

 

Need to add rope coils and maybe raise height of tiller handle

 

You have to look close to see the rail pin tension rods. I used 0.017" dia wire. I wanted to use smaller to scale it better but could not find any locally.

 

Sitting loose over a mast hole due to dowel sticking out of the button

 

 

Bashed (with primer) next to OEM provided smokestack 

 

Sitting loose over the mount hole

My painting is pretty bad.  should have used the air-brush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[edmay]

Hello Larry,from were I sit your progress looks real neat and tidy including the paint work,also your methods of doing small stuff are ingenious ,Edwin

[lb0190]

Thank you Edwin! It's been an enjoyable build.

[GLakie]

Doing a great job on her Larry. That improvised smoke-stack and the rail-tension wires look fine. 

 

Cheers

[lb0190]

Thanks George!

[popeye the sailor]

you've made some wicked nice progress there Larry.........I think your painting looks great.    very nice detail there! 

[lb0190]

Thanks Popeye! I'm getting close to going vertical.

[SkerryAmp]

Larry your paint job is fantastic.  Neat, clean and crips - I am jealous!!

 

Lookin snazzy!!!

[lb0190]

Thanks Adam! I like the results I get with the airbrush over the hand brush. I just do not have the patience others have for lots of thin hand painted coats

[texxn5]

Hi Larry. I just spent some time going over your log again from start to now. You've come a long way m friend. She's looking really good. Starting to wonder if I have the patience to build this thing after finishing the Morgan. The guns are really a challenge. I really enjoyed seeing the ship today and took about 180 +/- pictures. The real ship only has 2 guns rigged on her so it's hard to realise what she's like with all the guns on deck. I'll post these on my website over the next few days if the "limited" internet access that is available to me here at the RV park allows me. The anchor rope currently is stowed on deck forward of the Foremast, some of the models at the museum show the ropes going aft on deck and then down a hatch, but I could not get access to that area to see where they might go. All of the pictures will be posted in the Gallery section of my website, and I'll provide you with the link once I have them posted. If you need any of the individual pictures just tell me which ones and I'll email them to you. She's a beautiful ship, and yours will look wonderful once finished. Hope these will help you.

Enjoy,

John

[lb0190]

Hi Larry. I just spent some time going over your log again from start to now. You've come a long way m friend. She's looking really good. Starting to wonder if I have the patience to build this thing after finishing the Morgan. The guns are really a challenge. I really enjoyed seeing the ship today and took about 180 +/- pictures. The real ship only has 2 guns rigged on her so it's hard to realise what she's like with all the guns on deck. I'll post these on my website over the next few days if the "limited" internet access that is available to me here at the RV park allows me. The anchor rope currently is stowed on deck forward of the Foremast, some of the models at the museum show the ropes going aft on deck and then down a hatch, but I could not get access to that area to see where they might go. All of the pictures will be posted in the Gallery section of my website, and I'll provide you with the link once I have them posted. If you need any of the individual pictures just tell me which ones and I'll email them to you. She's a beautiful ship, and yours will look wonderful once finished. Hope these will help you.

Enjoy,

John

Good morning John. Your a good friend to take so much time taking and posting pictures - thank you! I'm anxious to see them. I have no doubt you would produce an excellent Niagara if you decided to build her. The biggest obstacles for me was the scale being so small and the issues with basswood. Both of these items will help drive my decision on my next build selection.

When time has permitted, I've been working on the deck structures. I've just completed the three small cabins and water pump but still need to mount them. I'll look them over one more time before I glue them to the deck and take pictures for an update.

Enjoy your trip and be safe!

Edited June 17, 2015 by lb0190

[lb0190]

Since my last update, I've made the following items; Captains Quarters, Companionway, Salon Skylight and Bilge pump. All four items are sitting loose on the deck, close to where they will be mounted, except for the bilge pump. The pump has a wire sticking out of the bottom and I have yet to locate and drill the hole, so for the photos below it's sitting over a mast hole. 

 

This is the first time I sat the pump on the deck and it looks a bit too large for the scale, but I'll ck it out closer before mounting it, I hope it correct...   I tried the "typical corner joints" for the cabins as detailed by the drawings but the scale, soft basswood and my skill level simply did not work well for this type of detail, so I simply made alternating butt joints for all three cabins. I found black 0.010 mono-filament cord to use for the window bars and I used the clear plastic from a DVD case for the glass. 

 

I'll probably hold off mounting the above until I finish the gun coils and gun jack-screws so I have plenty of room to access the gun area. Fife Rails are next on the list, along with the stern davits and catheads. I'm really procrastinating on making the jack-screws due to their being so darn small and such a pia to make, but it WILL happen, just not sure when... 

[texxn5]

Hi Larry. Here's the link to all the photographs of the Niagara on my website. It was my pleasure to get these. I hope to be building the Niagara before the end of the year. Let me know if you need any more specific pictures. The anchor and ropes are shown for you. The ropes on the 1/2" scale model show the lines going aft and down a hatch through a hole. The other rigging for the anchor is interesting and I got several good photos of how it's rigged up. Hope this helps.

John

 

Link:

 

http://www.charleswmorganmodel.com/us-brig-niagra.html

Edited June 17, 2015 by texxn5

[GLakie]

The joinery on the cabins looks great Larry! 

[lb0190]

John, I'll take a close look at all of the photos and save many of them to my iPad so I can reference them at the workbench. I'm sure they will be a great help. An initial quick look shows the anchor rope detail is what I needed.

 

George, thanks for the compliment and for following my build.

[texxn5]

Larry, it looks like under the current configuration that the 3" black anchor rope is stowed in a large coil just forward of the Foremast. The mooring lines are laid out on deck and are 2" whhite rope. The large 1/2" model shows it on deck, then thfough a hole in the hatch cover amidship. Glad these will help you. I really like the detail of the anchors hanging from the Catheads and sheaved blocks.

[lb0190]

Thanks for the rope size info. I would have guessed incorrectly and missed by a mile. The black anchor rope looks much bigger than 3"...  

[texxn5]

Hi Larry, yeah 3". Do you realize how big a 3" rope is???? It's large and heavy and used on many anchors. It does look larger than 3" though, so vey easy to think it's bigger. Does the kit come with anchor rope? As for scale rope it's hard to find if not in the kit. Chuck has some large scale rope, but not sure if it's that size or not.

[edmay]

Hi Larry,WOW, what a nice job your making of the "Niagara",it's on an even keel to be a masterpiece, well done.John's pictures will surely be a great help, Edwin.

[lb0190]

Good morning John, I've never seen a 3" rope other than pictures, I bet it's heavy to handle. I do not recall seeing anything in the Niagara kit but between Morope and Chucks rope I'm sure I'll find something suitable. I recall seeing some rope wrapped around wire somewhere which may work well but I'll need to review my notes to find it again. 3 inches is 0.046" dia. at scale - I just looked and seen that Chuck has 0.045.

 

Hello Edwin, thank you!!! It's turning out ok for a second build. I'm pretty satisfied with her but like most builders I can name every single error that most people would not even see

Edited June 18, 2015 by lb0190

[lb0190]

John, I just reviewed your pictures again as well as your notes. You mentioned the ship was a reproduction. Do you know if they used any of the recovered timbers from the original ship in the rebuild?

[Sjors]

That looks real nice Larry !!!!!!

And so clean.........

 

Sjors