Scottish Maid by JesseLee - FINISHED - Artesania Latina - 1:50

[guillemot]

Interesting stuff on Chrome, Keith. Generally Chrome Oxide 3 is the only one painters are interested in....I do try not to eat it of course... . Mixed with Cobalt Blue (another one best not ingested...) it finds it's way into a lot of my seascapes.

Jesse: There are a lot of modellers acrylics in useful shades of green.

[themadchemist]

Hey guillemot, Chrome is a strange element. It is actually needed in the body and an essential micro-mineral. The Cr³⁺ is not a problem. You've probably seen it on old corroded chrome faucet fixtures.
 
The Cr⁶⁺ although, in that oxidation state, was what was shown in the film Erin Brockovich and caused a 300 million payout settlement for ground water contamination by PG&E, due to the death and damage it caused.
I've always found it interesting how inert substances can be highly active and deadly based on very small difference, as in the difference of 3 electrons between the 2 chromium ions mentioned... or for example how the air we breath is ~70% Nitrogen and Carbon is everywhere in living matter. Amino acids have both N and C, but when combined into CN^- (cyanide) its deadly.
 
Cobalt compounds are also interesting in how they are colored depending on hydration. Cobalt chloride makes a great water indicator. Blue is anhydrous (dry) and hydrated is red
 
here the same compound in both states.


I guess that's enough chemistry for today, sorry Jesse for hogging your log with chemistry details.

Oh on an artistic note, the pigments are added to linseed oil typically to make oil paint but one can also use egg yoke to make egg tempera. Just one of the things I've experimented with for fun in the past. Setting paper on fire with water is a really cool trick also.

[JesseLee]

The wood looks nice like it is. Not going to worry about any kind of coppering. What would be the best way to show slight weathering (not too much- just a thin wash) all over the ship so that it looks more realistically used some instead of brand spanking new the first day she was launched?

[themadchemist]

I'd talk with Matti, building the Vasa/Wasan. He has some mad skills when it comes to detailing with washes. I'm sure there a plenty of others also out there.

[JesseLee]

Was going to dry fit the stern waterway & saw that due to a lack of real instructions I did not get the correct curve on the stern & transom area. I was not going to re-do the whole end of the ship so since the parts that will fit here are pre-fab I've got to get them bent to match the curve I have. Dropped the stern waterway, transom step gunwale & stern gunwale pre-fab parts in water for a good long overnight soaking since they are all African walnut & do not bend well at all.

[JesseLee]

After soaking clamped the parts with clothespins to pull down on them while steaming them. Used a hair straightener to heat dry to hold the new shape. 

 

[JesseLee]

It took one more round of steaming & clamping overnight to get them to the final curve I needed because the wood resisted the bending. Taking these several steps at a time prevented any cracking & splitting. Now these parts are ready for when I get to them which is coming up soon.

[JesseLee]

Gluing the water-ways on when I noticed another problem. I didn't get the transom on at the right height as the side-by-side of the model & photo shows. This one has me temporarily stumped.

[Sailor1234567890]

Sit down, pause, two, three..... You'll figure it out. We'll still be here when you do.

[Bindy]

Hi there JesseLee!

 

I found your log  *grin*  and love your work!  Your skills and patience are remarkable particularly when I read about Lyme Disease and considered the extra challenges you must have!

 

The wonderful tips showing your innovations like using a Dog Comb, and your Patent Pending Waterline marker are almost priceless but I do take issue with just one part of your post ...

 

I will never understand women, lol )

 

You have that bit wrong sorry.  It is men that are impossible to understand hahaha

 

Keep up the great work and I look forward to following the rest of your Scottish Maid's journey!

[dcicero]

I remember having trouble with those waterways too.  The pre-fab parts were thicker than the rest of the waterway material.  I stared at that for a while and then I remembered Alice's Restraurant, the part where they're trying to get rid of the half a ton of garbage they've piled in the back of the red VW microbus.

 

"...and off the side of the side road there was another fifteen foot cliff.  And at the bottom of the cliff there was another pile of garbage. We decided that one big pile was better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we decided to throw our's down."

 

Following Arlo Gurthrie's advice, I figured it was easier to build up the thin parts rather than grind down the thick parts.  I used the walnut planking material to build up the thin parts.  The color's the same and you can't tell where the surgery was done.  Worked out great.

 

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant...

 

 

 

 

 

Dan

 

Edited April 11, 2014 by dcicero

[JesseLee]

Sailor, I did figure it out!

 

The beginning of the building up of the transoms top edges

Edited April 12, 2014 by JesseLee

[JesseLee]

As the transom top edge is made higher the bulwarks also had to be added on to a little also where they joined the transom. I took an extra strip of wood from the first hull planking & sawed it in half lengthwise. This made 2 strips almost exactly the right size to fit the top of the bulwarks. Added all this on

[JesseLee]

Sanded everything down. Added more planking to the inside side of the transom. looks more like it should now. Once some paint is added it wont show on the outside. While I was at it I evened up the bulwark tops at the bow too. 

[guillemot]

Good work. It's one of the really good things about working in wood, you can nearly always fix it!

[JesseLee]

Began cutting the timber heads. It takes 54 of these so this step will take some time & a lot of sawdust.

 

Seeing the sawdust there I thought I'd show all the various colors I have saved up on this build. Being sick leaves you with a lot of left over medicine containers. They have worked well for sawdust containers!

 

 

 

 

[aliluke]

Hey Jesse

You are doing some great work here.

 

Pete Jaquith is back. His Newsboy,  that I referred you to, has a post. I think it is in General Nautical Discussions. His work is well worth looking at.

[riverboat]

Nice fix Jesse.... I like your sawdust collection too !!!

Frank

[Sailor1234567890]

I caution you to test with the sawdust before you use it in your model. I did a similar thing with my canoe and noticed that the sawdust, even though it comes from a certain colour of wood, seemed to darken more than the wood it came from. Use the sawdust, just make sure you don't use the wrong colour.  

She looks awesome and continues to progress greatly.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Sailor1234567890

[JesseLee]

Sawdust isn't as simple as it seems. I have found that if you sand the sawdust is lighter than if you saw or file/rasp from the same piece of wood!

[SGraham]

Great sawdust collection, Jesse! Your Maid is looking drop-dead gorgeous!

 

I've found that the only sawdust-as-fillers I can't see at all are ebony and dark oily woods like rosewood, teak, desert ironwood, etc.

 

Steve

[Sailor1234567890]

At least we all know to test our sawdust now. Mission accomplished.

[JesseLee]

Got the timber heads & the stern thwart done today

[aliluke]

Superb Jesse. The third photo is just great. Crisp, clean and wonderful lines.

[themadchemist]

I agree - that 3rd picture shows the beauty of symmetry. Great work my friend!

 

I also really like the graininess and colour of your decking, It looks so very realistic.

[Dee_Dee]

Ditto, the third photo is fantastic and shows the symmetry you have achieved on both sides.  

 

[JesseLee]

My kit shows no scupper holes for the top deck. Anyone know where & what size they would have been on this kind of ship? There is so little information left on this ship.

[aliluke]

Hi Jesse

Have a look at Flyer's log for Pegasus, B.E's log for Pegasus and my Fly log. "Ferrule crimps" from an electrical store make good scuppers. They are certainly correct for Pegasus or Fly and I think they'd easily adapt as an intuitive and good detail add to the Scottish Maid. I'd go with intuition for this and scale/place according to your eye.

[themadchemist]

Maybe I'm remembering wrong, I'll blame lyme-fog , didn't someone post that the SM was designed to sit low in the stern and that the back was opened so water could exit fast? Did she have scuppers?

 

On the DSotM I made up my own pattern for the scuppers, but that's me. I've always liked PopJacks scuppers in his Swift, how he cut them into the waterway so they would drain correctly. That was a fun build log.

 

I'm sure someone has better ideas then I do on the historic nature of this next question. Its fun working through these details. You made the correct decision to paint and I'm sure whatever comes from this will be just as right.

 

BTW, Jesse. did you paint or stain the timberheads. Their colour and contrast is perfect with the deck. This is really turning into a beauty of a build.

 

Also how did you finish your deck. I'll be doing The DSotM's soon and really like the sheen of yours. I'm planning tung with steel wooling. also what gauge steel wool did you use on your hull. I think I have both 000 and 0000 but need to check.

[themadchemist]

As I sit and eyeball the 3rd picture, that is a great shot, I'm considering deck camber.

On the Swift the deck is high on the ends in the direction of the keel and high in the middle with the frames. Its compound shape is a bugger to glue down but Its one of the things I love about the Pilots framing.

 

The SM appears to have a much flatter deck. That may be the photo as angles play tricks with perspective.

Would that explain rear exit of H₂O verses side exit? 

How would the deck sit when she was floating. Would it angle back slightly?