USF Confederacy by Augie & Moonbug - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:64

[SawdustDave]

Thank you Bug for what you are doing. I gladly offer my services, as a Confederacy builder, any way I can help.

[popeye the sailor]

the wondering...........what does happen to a build,  when a modeler leaves the table?  does it get put in a box and end up in a closet or attic.....not wanting to part with it for sentimental reasons.    circular file?    given away,  lost.........or forgotten?   does it get put on display in remembrance,  with the nagging reality that it will never finished?   wonderful memories.....and a painful embrace........

 

"well,  my friend Augie.........we're going to know what becomes of your build.....that wonderful ship."

 

I don't think humility would be the word I'd use Bug...........honor,  respect,  courage...the willingness to give part of one's self to help another,  are just some of the words I'd use.   that right word is out there......perhaps we'll find it,  maybe even lay tongue to it,  and speak the word aloud.  from what I've seen here in these past texts.....someone will hear it   Diane asked me to help...I was all too happy to find a person with your skill......let alone how easy it was to do.

     

everyone here recognizes what a tremendous task you've laid on your table.......so good to see how many offered to help.  just goes to show how close the MSW community is.   strength in unity....whoever said that was right.  the confed is 'on' the best place it could ever be......I know you will do a great job in finishing her.  have fun with her    thanks again for your help with this.........which will be a stunning tribute to Augie when finished......and again,  my condolences to Diane,  who I'm sure will be looking in on your progress..    may your x-actor cut true.

[riverboat]

Bug.... I'm sure you will do her justice... and I'm also sure Augie has a big smile on his face..... best wishes on the completion!!

 

Frank

[Moonbug]

   Thanks so much everyone for the kind words and support. I very much appreciate knowing the team is here!

 

     I hope to have some actual progress soon!

[Burroak]

@popeye, well said my friend.

[dgbot]

Let it be said that Augie's Confederacy will carry his memory for friends and loved ones a fitting tribute.

David B

[Trussben]

Well, I dont know what to say!!  Augie is gone and I will miss him greatly! We used to PM about our builds of the Confed and swop notes of what we had experienced. It is a sadder day without him here talking about modelling and fishing.

 

ben

[src]

Wow,Bug, simply WOW. Augie was one of those people who always had a good word and encouragement for everybody he met here. So glad you aretaking this on.

Sam

[Nirvana]

Sean,

After reading your blog I am even more certain you will fullfil Augies project of the Confederacy.

Looking forward of the next step.

[Kusawa2000]

Damn.. this loss of good people is happening way to much of late.. Sorry to hear about the forums loss of a good lad and one that had always a good thing to say...

 

My hat goes off to a great ship modeler and a good person

 

Mike Draper

[Ferit]

Today I just learned the loss of a gentle, noble and humble man.

 

My deepest condolences to his family and his friends...

 

And Bug,

I have great respect for your kind and admirable effort.

[Sjors]

My friends,

 

I see that there are some builders who put a memorial in this build log.

Popeye has opened a topic in shore leave as a memorial to Augie named Augie Bruno.

Please use that topic for expressing your feelings and not this build log.

We will thank Moonbug for the task he is willing to do.

I know that there are a few builders who are using this build log as a guide.

So please, let it be a build log.

 

Thank you all.

 

Sjors

[Moonbug]

   Good morning,

 

      I accomplished some actual work last night on the Confed.  After several hours of research and trying to get a good handle on where Augie was headed, how some of his ideas differed from the the plans (leaving some rails natural instead of painting, etc.), what he'd left for later, and what he'd done -  I picked up with something simple just to get me going; adding the timber heads to the railing. 

 

 

      After separating the timber heads, I beveled the top of each one.

 

 

      I started by mounting the lower portions of those on the bow, then matched up the top half. 

 

 

     Finally, I spent a little time looking up and matching paint combinations and painted.  I still owe them a couple more coats then a finish of clear lacquer.  

 

 

Off we go...!  

Edited February 12, 2016 by Moonbug

[Nirvana]

Bug,

Seems like you are doing what Augie did, Confederacy will be a masterpiece.

[Canute]

Good start, Bug.

[HIPEXEC]

I'll miss you, Augie

[Moonbug]

   Good morning,

 

      One additional bit - As I've said, I think it's obviously pretty important to be familiar with the gal you'll be spending so much time with, so I ordered a couple books, looked at a couple Augie had, and did some research on the Confederacy when she came to the shipyard.

  

       I didn't want to post it here, because I'm sure most people following Augie's log are already much more familiar with her than I; but if anyone is interested, I put a short synopsis of the Confederacy's history on my blog: http://lehmanshipyard.blogspot.com/2016/02/usf-confederacy-history.html for the other folks who follow along but don't have access to MSW.

   

         It's a combination of a few different sources, and there are of course some inconsistencies from author to author. History seems to be nothing if not malleable.   

[lambsbk]

...amen.

[Moonbug]

  I noticed this afternoon that there was a strip of molding missing from the bow of the ship. Not sure if it dropped off somewhere, or if Augie was waiting to put it on after the  timber heads were installed, but it was nowhere to be found.

 

 

  Now, I didn't inherit the handy little scoring tool from Chuck and the fine folks at Model Shipways, so I had to take a couple cracks at it old-school style. I laid my metal ruler along the wood, and first scored it with my X-acto knife to ensure a straight line.  Now, when I say "ensure" - I mean took me a couple of tries and a couple of wasted little strips of wood.

 

 

Then, I gouged out the score a little wider with these handy tweezers.  And finally, I folded a piece of 400 grit sandpaper in half, and sanded the groove.

 

 

After mounting the strip, it was time to dig back through the log and find out how to match the coloring.  Turns out, Augie favored a coat of Miniwax prestain, followed by Miniwax "Natural" color, and finally an acrylic coat.  As luck would have it - I have a pretty extensive "Mini-wax" collection, so I think I got her pretty close match to the upper strip.

 

Edited February 12, 2016 by Moonbug

[GLakie]

Looks like a perfect match to me Bug! Nice work! 

[Nirvana]

Bug or Sean; don't know which name you prefer to go with,

in my opinion that is what I think what Augie would have done.

Beautiful done!

Edited February 12, 2016 by Nirvana

[Kusawa2000]

what I have used in the past for scoring is getting those old fashioned double edged razor blades that have a protective cover on one blade and using a dremel cut into the blade to leave a little piece that use to score the wood.. then slowly run the razor up and down the wood.. works great for me...

[yancovitch]

just found out...so sad....didn't know him much, yet i miss him....guess that't the kind of fellow he was.....much respect to his family....good to moonbug to keep the spirit alive....................vic

[mtaylor]

Beautifully matched, Bug.  

[Sjors]

Great work Bug !!!

I have the feeling that I look at the work of Augie !!!!!

 

Sjors

[SawdustDave]

You go Bug. Great start!

Dave

[Moonbug]

   Thanks gentlemen for the likes and comments.  And Thanks Mike - great suggestion, I'll definitely have to try it.

[popeye the sailor]

your off to a great start Bug.......very nice  

[Moonbug]

    I spend the weekend in the shipyard doing some initial repairs, then some new work.  Because Augie hadn't been able to work on the Confederacy for quite some time, it had collected a little bit of dust and had a small amount of disrepair, including some deck planks that had separated a bit and seemed uneven. So I cleared off some of the cannons and fittings, resurfaced the deck, filled in gaps with sawdust from sanded down Swiss Pear,  then applied some tung oil and a light coat of satin poly.  I also ended up touching up some of the black and red paint that had been negatively affected by dust, etc.

 

 

    During the course of that - I noticed that the steering wheels that had come with the ship, well - just weren't that awesome.  After doing some searching for bits and pieces, it turns out it's actually pretty difficult to find good wheels that are not metal and painted.  So I set about creating new ones. 

 

Attempt #1

 

 

I cut off part of a dowel that was 15mm in diameter - the same diameter as the existing wheels.  I mounted it onto my Dremel vertically, using a small screw attachment to create a version of a lathe.  Then I used dental tools to notch and carve the piece giving it texture.

 

 

However, because the kind of wood I used was hard, but a little too porous and brittle, it crumbled when I attempted to cut it off the end of the dowel with it's new shape.

 

 

Drat.

 

Attempt #2

 

During the second attempt, I used a softer, but more dense piece of wood for the framing of the wheel.  This wood is actually from an old pen case that I had from somewhere.    You never know what you're going to dig up in the extra supply bin.

 

 

I cut it square, rounded the edges, then mounted it on the Dremel as before.  I smoothed out the top and bottom and used my mini level to make sure it was even.

 

 

I used miniature files to care out the edges and give the wheel some shape. 

 

 

For the spokes, I used a strip of boxwood, split it to 2mm, then rounded it with sand paper.  Once again mounting it into my Dremel Lathe, I used a miniature file to shape the spokes. 

 

 

I then mounted them around a center piece, and sanded my frame out to fit, notching the edges slightly to give room to the spokes.

 

 

For the outer handles, I used the same process, and notched the frame out to fit the pieces.

 

 

Finally, I lightly sanded and added a cherry mini-wax stain.  When it's dry, I'll sand it out with 1000 grit sand paper.

 

Now I just have to do another one!  heh

Edited February 15, 2016 by Moonbug

[mtaylor]

That is some pretty amazing work, Bug.