Chaperon by John Gummersall - Model Shipways - Scale 1:48

[John Gummersall]

Brian,

 

That is a good comment....   And it would be like me to forget that.   But fortunately this time I did not.   Before I masked the sky light I located where the Texas cabin would be located and laid down the wood foundation to support the walls.   Then I laid down the masking tape and painted around where the Texas cabin would be formed....     

 

I will say, there is one issue with the masking tape method..  On the Boiler deck the stationary holes around the edge are square (to accept the 1/16" stationaries).   But unless you have some sort to square drill (and I do not), to free up the holes (covered by tape) you have to drill or poke them out,,,, and they end up more or less round.   But when I comes time to put in the stationaries, square wood is close to round, and with a hold that small, the square wood fills up the hole and it is not noticed.

 

[Cathead]

Using the masking tape method, I found that when I needed to insert something into a square hole that I'd drilled or cut out, that the extra little wings of tape at each corner actually helped hold the square stock in place when it was pushed down in; just a bit of extra friction fit. I think you're right that it won't be noticeable regardless.

[John Gummersall]

Cathead,

 

I agree with what you are saying...  As I tried to dry fit some of the square stationaries into the round holes, those little extra bits of tape really help hold the stationary in place.  

 

With the hurricane deck glued down it was a simple thing to slightly lift up the aft portion of the deck and slip in back wall.   

 

For those that follow in the future with the chaperon... when building that back wall, the jig provided is good in helping with the curve, but not that accurate.   Even my "juice can" method (mentioned earlier) is rough...  No matter how you bend the walls, the most crucial point, and it really should emphasized in the instructions, is that that back wall curves need to match the last holes in the boiler deck floor.   Otherwise the wall will not match up to the last stationaries and will just looks off.     Had I know that fact when I was bending the walls, I would have insured the final bends matched the last stationary holes.    In my case even with a little fiddling, the wall does not match up exactly to that last stationaries.    At this point I think I am going to leave it as is.....   But don't make the same mistake.   This could have been better had I know the exact bend was critical

 

 

As for the bow and the forward stairs, as mentioned earlier, save yourself a lot of grief and do not mount the stairs prior to the hurricane deck as stated in the instructions.  Once the hurricane deck is down it is easy to slip it into place.   No way could I have glued those stairs in prior to the hurricane deck as expect them to line up exactly

[John Gummersall]

Not much to really report today...... Started inserting the boiler deck stationaries.   As Cathead mentioned on previous post, putting a square stick into a round hole works out pretty well.   Just the smallest touch of glue and the stationary easily slides into place.   1/4" above the huricane deck was easily maintained with a 1/4" piece of wood as a guide

 

As you can see toward the middle of the boat the hurricane deck  flared up a bit on the overhang and to be (shall we say) persuaded with some jigs to keep the proper curve.    Same jigs used between the main deck and the boiler deck were modified and did the job well.   Once glue dried, the hurricane deck was in the correct position.

 

Closer look at the stationaries...  No big deal.

 

 

[mbp521]

Nothing like a little gentle persuasion to get the wood to do what you want. 😁

Looking good John!

 

-Brian

[John Gummersall]

It has been about four months, but I am back..  Took a little break and worked on the Western Mountain Buckboard model.   It is what I call a "quick win" and just want I needed to re-energize myself.

Back to the shipyard (Buckboard is not a ship)..

 

Just about completed the boiler deck stationaries (ran out of painted posts) and started the cap strips.  They were previously bent and painted.  Just waiting for the boiler deck stationaries to be completed.

 

 

 

[mbp521]

Glad to see you back at it John. Sometimes a break is what’s needed to help prevent burnout. Nice bend on those cap strips, I’ve never been able to get my bends to hold their shape like the one sitting on the bow. Mine always tend open up a bit. 
 

I’d love to see some pics of the buckboard. I’m sure it turned out just as nice as the work you are doing in the Chaperon. 
 

-Brian

[John Gummersall]

Brian,

Thanks for the comments...  I am no where near in the same class of builder that you are, but I have fun with it.

Here is a picture of the final Buckwagon.

 

If you care to see all the gory detail, below is the log

 

https://modelshipworld.com/topic/35314-western-mountain-buckboard-by-john-gummersall-finished-model-trailways-112-scale/

 

 

[John Gummersall]

Cap strips and Hog Truss posts have been added

 

 

and Chicken Coop

 

 

Started looking into the smoke stacks and decided i wanted to use some sort of pipe instead of the dowel rods.   Looking at other logs, others seem to imply they used 1/2" PVC pipe saying the outside diameter is 5/8" (same as the supplied dowel rod).  I am not sure what 1/2" PVC dowel rods they were referring to, but the 1/2" PVC pipe I have has an outside diameter greater then 5/8".    I did find at the local box store that the 1/2" PEX pipe is the correct dimension as the supplied 5/8" dowel rod.   You can get a short rigid 1/2" PEX pipe about 3' long.

 

 

As you can see it fits exactly to to outside diameter of the supplied dowel rod.   This is what I will be using for the smoke stacks when I get to that stage in the build.

 

 

Here is an interesting "fun fact"....   With the 1/16" square vertical posts installed on the Hurricane deck, it is not possible to install the back stairs.   With the posts installed, there is not room to slide the stairs into place from the side.   Even inserting the stairs at the bow of the boat and sliding it all the way, back back, I was unable to right it into place.   Only option was to remove one of the posts, insert the stairs, and then replace the post.

 

Below shows post removed and stairs ready to be righted.

 

 

Once stairs were in place, post was replaced

 

 

Decorative support brackets have been installed...    I have a lot to learn about painting brass...  I am not sure what the story was....  I primed the brass and then followed up with at coat of paint, but as the decorative support brackets were glued in, some of the paint came off and had to be repainted.   I am not sure, maybe I should have sanded (scratched up) the brass before priming it as it is really smooth.   I can see why paint has a hard time sticking to it.   I need to look into that for the future..   Anyway, below shows the decorative support brackets installed

 

 

Sky light complete and ready for the Texas.  Masing tape was used here too to simulate the tar strips

 

 

Texas house almost complete.   As with the Hurricane deck the Texas has 1/32" squares battens.   And as with the Hurricane deck they are a real pain in the $#%@. 

Once all the battens were in place, just needs a another coat of paint and the doors.

 

 

And the top to the Texas.   Again masking tape was used to simulate tar strips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cathead]

Everything looks great!

[mbp521]

Gotta love all those battens 😁. They really test your patience. Great work John!

 

-Brian

[John Gummersall]

Got to working with the skylight...  Back when I was struggling with deciding on the type of roofing for the various decks (that simulate tar paper) I ended up gluing masking tape to the decks and painting over it.

Here is a little "fun fact".... If you use masking tape, or tissue,  silkspan to cover the roofs.... you need to  cut away some of the material where the skylight attaches to the roofing  Otherwise  you are gluing the skylight to the material and not solid wood.    After removing the weights holding down the sky light for gluing, guess what pops up?   Ask me how I know this?

 

Anyway had to remove what little of the skylight was still attached to the roofing, removed the roofing around where the skylight was to be attached to the roofing, and glued it down again.   While I am no expert model builder, that was a rookie mistake and I should have known better.   I bet that mistake will not happen again  🙂

 

Below show the 2nd attachment of the sky light

 

Texas housing complete and glued on.   The Texas roofing is in the background ready to be attached.   I have a feeling I will not forget to remove some of the masking tape where the wheelhouse attaches to the Texas roof  🙂

[mbp521]

8 hours ago, John Gummersall said:

After removing the weights holding down the sky light for gluing, guess what pops up?   Ask me how I know this?

If I said this never happened to me and you believed it, we need to talk about some ocean front property in Arizona that I'd like to sell you  . It may not have happened on the tarpaper roof, but I have made this mistake in other areas on other builds. At least with the masking tape it's a little bit easier to repair. With silkspan and Modge Podge there is a lot more sanding involved.

 

Great job on the recovery though John.

 

-Brian

[Cathead]

Great story and instantly familiar. I'm actually in the process of doing the same thing to my Peerless, but lucky me, there's no Texas so there's nothing to attach on top of the roof. Definitely an easier fix than some roof coverings, love how you turned that into a positive.