Black Pearl by Tararasik - Zvezda - 1/72

[tararasik]

Today I installed quarterdeck and windows for the cabin. I also noticed a strange behaviour of the paint + primer. I primed whole hull with mr.surfacer and painted with matt Tamiya and it become completely matt. Windows primed with Vallejo and painted with same paint, but they turned out much glossier. It's a bit noticable on the last photo. But I hope it won't be visible after I'll age the hull. I also left one wall not glued so I can see sometimes what captain is doing ))

[tararasik]

A lot of work but a small progress. Spent a lot of time on fixing holes after gluing sides together. Still far from perfect but I'll call it a battle wounds ))

- painted the "dirt" on the hull

- painted gallery and all the decorations

- started to age the hull

- installed the rudder

- started building masts, insert wooden rods inside, also going to remove imitation of "ropes around the mast" and replace them with real ones

- installed "channels?", had and issue with this small parts which installed to tight and started to crack after I glued them, so have to putty them a lot (

- and the most interesting part is guns. Decided to reuse plastic "blocks" but replace plastic tackles with ropes and added breeching

 

And have two questions

1. Are these parts are useful or it's better to remove them?

2. When the cannon is in ready to fight position, the breeching is not tight to stop the recoil, but as I understand, the gun tackles are tight, because they pulled the cannon. So after the shot and recoil breeching becomes tight, but what happens to the tackles, are they manage to stretch by themselves?

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

    'Looks like after the blocks and tackle are used to run out the gun, they are not made fast - and the line is left loose on either side.  When fired, the recoil is slowed (energy absorbed) by the loose line racing through those pulleys as the distance between them (under strain) increases ... sort-of like "brakes".  Then the remaining force is checked when the thick line goes taut.  This constitutes a recoil 'system'.

[tararasik]

Today I spent a lot of time with the guns, they will be more visible so I tried to clean them properly, and it was a loooot of sanding. I decided to remove those hooks from the carriages. 

Then I added water streaks, not as neat as I imagine but still I like it. And check how the masts will look.

And one more cool update - I have a new lamp, it's big, very bright and there almost no shadow, I'm super happy.

z

[tararasik]

Spent another day with guns, it's so boring. I'm going to do something else before rigging them.

[tararasik]

To rest from a monotone work I get another monotone work - gun ports and chain plates ))

[tararasik]

I'm thinking maybe change the gun colour, what do you think, which is better?

[Dave_E]

One one the right. 👍

[tararasik]

28 minutes ago, Dave_E said:

One one the right. 👍

Thanks, I also like it more.

[tararasik]

A bit of a progress. Painted gun ports and started to install.

Then I remembered that I can make a proper rope and tried to install one. What do you think, is it much better to replace all the port ropes? 

Left is "proper" rope, right is from the kit.

Painted all guns into black

Made a jig for breeching and installed one on the gun.

 

Now the hard part, I tried to install first gun on the deck and it's soooo hard. The place is in the corner near the captain cabin so it's very inconvenient, but still I was very frustrated. So I left it on the half way and will continue tomorrow.

 

[tararasik]

I took a rest from the guns and decided to improve the stairs. Added additional steps and those that goes to quarterdeck want to change to look more like in the movie. But I stuck with railing, can't decide how to do it.

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent  work,    the guns  look  so much better  as the Iron  would have aged  with use,  and also the staircasses  look a lot better  with that distinctive  curve at the bottom,     keep  up the  great work.

 

OC.

[tararasik]

9 hours ago, Old Collingwood said:

Excellent  work,    the guns  look  so much better  as the Iron  would have aged  with use,  and also the staircasses  look a lot better  with that distinctive  curve at the bottom,     keep  up the  great work.

 

OC.

Thanks for the support, it inspires me ))

[tararasik]

This thing almost killed me but made me stronger. I'm pretty happy with the result, but I guess I reached my limit ))

Guys who scratch build ships, seriously how do you do it? I think it's out of my league.

[Jeff T]

It is challenging and can be time consuming to make your own parts, but in the end, it can give you a very good feeling and help to drive interest to keep plugging forward.  Your staircases look very good!  

[tararasik]

12 hours ago, Jeff T said:

It is challenging and can be time consuming to make your own parts, but in the end, it can give you a very good feeling and help to drive interest to keep plugging forward.  Your staircases look very good!  

Thanks for the kind words, it helps me a lot. In this particular case, the result worth the effort. But I still felt like totally exhausted when I finished it. There should be additional pillars, but I'm not ready to make them, so I just leave as it is. I guess it's the last big improvement on this ship ))
Meanwhile I primed staircases and railings for the stairs to the lower deck, I'm going to make them with ropes.

[tararasik]

Maybe you know what are these rods in the masts? I can't find them nether in instruction nor in the books.

[tararasik]

Dry fit masts, OMG it's so big. Can't wait to install them.

[Jeff T]

4 hours ago, tararasik said:

Maybe you know what are these rods in the masts? I can't find them nether in instruction nor in the books.

I have not built that particular kit, but those look suspiciously like “pins” that would have corresponding holes on the spars that will likely be glued to the masts at some point.  Try dry fitting the spars to the masts and see if they have matching pins/holes.

[tararasik]

On 9/1/2022 at 11:55 PM, Jeff T said:

I have not built that particular kit, but those look suspiciously like “pins” that would have corresponding holes on the spars that will likely be glued to the masts at some point.  Try dry fitting the spars to the masts and see if they have matching pins/holes.

Thank you, you absolutely right. I thoroughly read the instruction and found this. But I still will remove those pins as I'm not sure that I'll use spars from the kit.

[tararasik]

As I decided to make a proper shrouds, I have to change the construction of the connection of the topmast. I also tried topgallant masts and royal masts and they seems very thin and bendy. So I think maybe to replace them with a wooden.

[tararasik]

Time has come and I finally have to finish cannons. So I started with blocks, drilled the holes and cut off plastic tackles. Made a necklace to paint.

To make rings I came up with such idea. Pinned small nails without caps, wrap the wire around, shape a bit with a tweezer and cut it with a knife. I made 50 rings in a half an hour. 

And breeching. I didn't make the seizings, as it wouldn't be visible but very time consuming. Just glued the end of the rope around the ring. Then made a loop to put it on the cannon.

[tararasik]

I love guns on the ship, but already hate to build them )
Today I installed all the breeching and painted blocks. I almost see the end of this.

I also think about imitation of cannon fire, something like this, what do you think?

Edited September 9, 2022 by tararasik

[tararasik]

Today was another fight and I won ))) First two cannons and I assume they were hardest to install in that limited space. But I'm pretty happy with the result, at least visible part of the result ) 

I also made the rope railings

Next I'm going to glue stairs and capstan, I guess they are the last parts on the deck, and cover all the deck and hull with matt varnish. Then install all the cannons and continue with the masts.

 

[tararasik]

To rest a bit from the ship I found an old model that I started 8 years ago and decided to finish it.

And back to business. This is how fully "rigged" cannon looks.

And the deck with all the guns.

It was a mistake to install railings before cannons as I broke them couple times (

[Jeff T]

Nice!

 

Also, the cannon rigging looks great!

 

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Jeff T

[Dave_E]

Now where is that going to fit on the Pearl? 😆

[tararasik]

1 hour ago, Dave_E said:

Now where is that going to fit on the Pearl? 😆

I guess instead of a lifeboat, it would be much convenient ))

[tararasik]

Ok, I finally did it - all the cannons. I'm not completely satisfied with the result, but in general they look good. It was a nightmare to work with ropes and superglue. It sticks to everything but the ropes )) And it leaves white spots. Is there anything better to use? 

So here is what I have at the moment.

This is my rope factory )

And this is how full rigged cannons look.

To reward myself after this, I made my first proper rigging - gammoning of the bowsprit. It was a pleasure to work with and the result is very satisfying.

Then installed decorations around it.

Tried my modern lifeboat, but it didn't fit so I'll proceed with the old-school one  I'm not sure what is the proper way to tie it up, can you suggest?

Decided to improve it a bit and made a sail on the spar.

As my deck part is almost finished, I also want to add some stuff on it. At the moment I have couple of barrels. But it still looks empty, especially the poop deck. What can I add more? Maybe some boxes, buckets, some ropes. I would appreciate if you can give me some references.

[Old Collingwood]

Looking excellent,   with  the spars   if you could  make them from wood dowels  - it will   save you in the end  as the plastic ones  will  bend/break from tthe rigging.

 

OC.