HM Colonial Cutter Mermaid by olliechristo - FINISHED - Modellers ShipYard -

[Jim Lad]

Great work on the windlass, Ollie.

 

Jeff is spot on with his advice re the bell and margin plank.

 

On large modern ships the bell is (or was when I was at sea) certainly used in anchor work - to ring out the number of shackles of cable (each of 15 fathoms length) that were in the water.

 

John

[Jeff-E]

Hi Ollie,

 

I think most planks were between 18 and 25 feet long so at your scale of 1:48, if my maths are correct, your planks should be between 115 and 160mm long depending on how you work out the pattern for your deck.  A 100mm plank would equate to a real length of  about 15 feet

[olliechristo]

Well thanks heaps again guys. I'm getting keen to start that deck planking in the next week..  Not sure of what pattern to do, any ideas are welcome.. Just want to be organised and plan ahead..

 

SO I put on my metal working costume and set about making the bell, I was keen..    About 4.5 hours and a heap of enjoyment..

 

After the last adapter adaption going so well I took another football valve and this one was brass, so nice to work with.. The rest kind of explains itself, lots of filing and fiddling..   In the last pic i have tried misting it with black and then satin clear coated, not great, might retry something else... 

 

Should I invest in this metal blacken stuff? Can i make my own home concoction perhaps, hmmm I will look into it... Enjoy the pics and thanks for looking. Ollie

Edited December 13, 2013 by olliechristo

[egkb]

Looks grand to me Ollie, not sure if a ships bell would be black so that finish seems ok.

 

Eamonn

 

BTW you must be cornering the market in Valve Adaptors at this stage.. Keep up the great work!

[ringbolt2013]

Coloring metal is chancy if you don't know the alloy.....I might suggest... God forbid... a flat black paint?!? Perhaps gun bluing compounds are available? I know you can get it to look black if you immerse the item long enough.   Experiment a bit and check out a "Machinery's Hand Book" one of the earlier editions should have a ton of info in it about the coloring of metal.   Good luck   This might work on guns and other metal fittings.

 

Tom

 

P. S.  What did you use on the windlass??

Edited December 13, 2013 by ringbolt2013

[olliechristo]

Thanks Eamonn

Tom, that makes sense to me

Yes I have been using flat black enamel, and will probably stay with that,. But will do some research anyhow,,Cheers

[Jim Lad]

Ollie,

 

In well run ships it was common for the bell to be polished to within an inch of its life.  Can I suggest just some clear gloss finish to protect the shine?

 

John

[ringbolt2013]

Sorry! I missed a chance to compliment you on how well you did the bell and mounting. Very nice work!! Jim is also correct about a polish job for the bell, but the metal parts of the mounting would be black.

Don't forget to stagger your plank endings. Check out small schooners and yachts. There are a whole bunch of ways to finish the planking and you can pick and choose between them!! They are still using the same rules today!

Edited December 13, 2013 by ringbolt2013

[olliechristo]

I can't thank you guys enough,,, ! Guess what John I got up early and did exactly that,, got some solvent on the bell and cleaned her up and satin clear coated... I had a look at some pictures and I've even impressed myself with this creation.. here she is pretty much done, might blacken up the mounting a little more as have you have suggested TOM.

[Jim Lad]

Looking good, Ollie!

 

John

[ringbolt2013]

SWEET!!!

[olliechristo]

Hi All, I have finished the windlass except for a few deck 'pins' to hold it on.  When scaled up to real size the very top of the bell is just over 1.6 metres tall.. i think its all about right..

 

 

Tom i didnt get a chance to read that script on decking, it baffled me at first glance, but maybe you could PM it to me for a look,, about to get ready for planking deck this week.. Thanks

[olliechristo]

Whilst im at deck fixtures I felt like getting the cannons built up so i cane check port placements. ,, The kit suplied brass rod for axles but it was a sloppy fit in wheels and i think these small canons may have had timber axles anyhow... i used blackbean and worked it down to 2mm rods... I used bamboo wedges to chock wheels in 1mm holes and they can rotate nicely but not sloppy... I made my own mounts for eyelets also... and a jig to make shackles or clasps to hold canons on mount..

Ready get back to hull work almost,, Ollie

Edited June 5, 2014 by olliechristo

[Jim Lad]

Nicely done, Ollie!

 

John

[ZyXuz]

the axles really look better in wood

well done!

[ringbolt2013]

Sorry that the script came out sooooo bad. It was the only thing I could get to transfer and w/out the pix and dwgs. it doesn't make a whole lot of sense..

I could suggest "Plank-on-frame Models" by Harold A. Underhill (Volume I) if your library carries it or another good one is "Planking Techniques for Model Ship Builders" by Donald Dressel. Those are only two of my 'core set" and I refer to them a lot. I use black carbon paper glued to the sides of the plank lumber to simulate the pitch in the seams...works well! Looks good! you might try something a little thicker though.

 

Tom

 

Nice Job on the windlass/bell. Very good looks real!

Edited December 15, 2013 by ringbolt2013

[ringbolt2013]

Speaking of guns...have you seen clayton707 on the net???  Large scale but WOW!

[Jeff-E]

Hi Ollie,

 

Great work on the bell, it does look much better as polished brass. The cannons look fantastic also, the wooden axles look much better thn the metal ones . Are you going to fully rig them?

[olliechristo]

Thanks all

Tom. I had a look at those canons,wow a bit of a contrast to my little babies.

 

Jeff, I want to add as much detail as possible so thanks for asking, I have made some smaller eyelets as I noticed the large shackles are not the only attachments on most canons. I figure the rigging would be the same as other canons of the era? Any advice appreciated.

 

I figure I will need to make 'blocks' to rig these, and I'm thinking I am going to invest some drill bits smaller than 1mm. Ollie

[Jeff-E]

Hi Ollie,

 

Yes I think they would be the same rig a other cannons , a breech rope, side tackle and train tackle.

 

I just ordered a set of small drills yesterday from "my tool store" , I think they are based in Brisbane, the set comprises of 20 drills ranging from 0.3mm to 1.6mm, it steps up in size by 0.05mm to 1mm and then by 0.1mm to 1.6mm. I thought they were very reasonably priced. The link is there if you want to have a look at the site 

[olliechristo]

Thanks so much, they have some great gear

[ringbolt2013]

I like the array of useful tools but shipping would be a pig!

Thanks for sharing! There are some cool places for tools here too!

I acquired a rope maker a couple of years ago and it has helped a lot in scale sized rope.

More than paid for itself!

 

Tom

[olliechristo]

Yeah great if your in oz but, just ordered the micro chuck, 10 piece drill set and micro drill all express posted for $50, not a bad deal a think, thanks for the heads up.

[ringbolt2013]

I have a couple of sets of the drills THANK GOD there were a couple of sizes I broke and so my sets are missing teeth.

Speaking of Blocks did you know that the U.S. used a larger dia sheave than the Brits?  About 1.5 times the size. Was thought that the larger sheaves allowed the rope to run faster and not wear out quite so fast.  Interesting.   How are you planning to make them??? I use a shaft cut to width and depth, score the sides and then cut to length. Then throw them into my rock polisher to knock off sharp corners. Then I drill out the holes   I don't get into itty-bitty sheaves...I'd go nuts!!  Watch your sizes and keep to scale!! It can look funny if they come up too large!

 

Tom

 

Love the guns!! Can't help it!!

Edited December 17, 2013 by ringbolt2013

[olliechristo]

That is interesting tom, I hadnt figured out how to make them yet, but your method of tumbling sounds great.. I have made a homemade tumbler but have been thinking about a loritone 3a or the like.. One of my other hobbies is metal detecting ( i collect hobbies;) Although i search for old coins not in current circulation i happen to find a few modern coins and they are not scoffed at. .. So a tumbler is on my list!  It will pay for itself..  Oh and regarding the bits,, Yes i want to order a few more, I like the look of the ones with fatter shank and only short micro bit at end, much less likely to break and flex or wobble. It is silly really to use a long micro bit if not needed. Rarely drilling long holes it would seem.... http://www.ebay.com....=item43bace93e7   

[olliechristo]

Hi all. Well the first two eyelets were too small, they had 1mm centres, second round was heaps quicker of course.. Pictures show how i made them, i want to have a full circle of metal not a piece of wire joined as i dont have the right soldering gear... these are flattened 2mm brass rod that was supplied for axles, eyelets have 1.5 mm centres now and look right.. primed and let to dry before black..  progress is slow until holidays and then will be patchy but hope to get a couple of solid days in, instead of little bits...  Ollie

[ringbolt2013]

Guns really are looking good!! Lots of small pieces!! Good fun though...lots of repetition....lots!

I really don't have any of my wood models left any more the last couple of moves have wiped me out

and financial problems because of my disability have made it necessary to sell them off 1 by 1.

Got good money for them and it saved my Keester so to speak. I still have my library and my memories.

And still am not quite techie to figure out how to attach a lousy pix...Go figure!

My main passion is the rigging...Love to see how the runs of line lead and where too belay. What stresses there are

and the tackle used to handle it all.  Those guys were some tough old birds!!!

 

Tom

[olliechristo]

Just wondering guys... I am going to make a start on the margin plank soon and wondering if it is typical to use the same planks as deck? 

 

Jeff'..  I noticed on your Norfolk Sloop you used a thicker and wider margin....     

 

Planks being only 4mm wide it looks tricky to keep the margin at that width and would certainly be a lot easier to start with a wider plank say,, 6-8mm..   Also wondering if it is usual to bend or cut to the curve of bulwarks?     Ollie

[olliechristo]

Ok well i thought i better use some initiative and joined two planks side by side with glue and sanded.. This is all i could think of to do and once caulking is added i don't the eye will really notice it..

 

Turning some corners today..  Also when I got home early today I was feeling brave and in the mood to cut out my side of hull for the 'revealing' side of the ship..  Regards   Ollie

Edited June 5, 2014 by olliechristo

[Jim Lad]

Ollie,

 

Sorry for the late reply, mate, I've been out all day (since 5.30AM actually) and have only just got home.

 

I'll send you a PM in a couple of minutes of an illustration of deck planking.  It's copyright, so can't go here on the open forum.  I'm just waiting for my printer to warm up so I can scan.

 

John