Rattlesnake by scott larkins - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64

[scott larkins]

Wow, what a work out the bow came out to be.  Plenty of broken wood in the process of building up the bow.  For those following along, I did do a lot of photo copying of the plans because the plans actually were right on for sizing.  Pics and the process follow.

 

 

 

 

 

All of these pics show the cutting, sanding and attaching process for the bow.  When attaching that top "shelf" piece, be careful that you don't cover up the slot in the bow where the future bow sprit rope will go.

Edited July 14, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

More of the bow processes.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the next part of the process.  The curved pieces coming up from top shelf piece were a tad tricky because you have to keep the bottom arc the same from the front to the back.  I used the outer circumfance of my sanding drummel to make that happen.  Also, for those following along, you need to make sure you measure out where you put those arc pieces so they don't cover up that slot in the bow again for the upcoming bow sprit rope.

Edited July 14, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

And finally the toilets and finishing pieces.  Again, remember, you are going to be putting the bow sprit rope through the slots in the platform.

 

 

Tried my best to make my piece as close as possible to the plans.  Yeah, my slots are wider but I did my best.  The final piece was cleaned up from what you see here.  I little fine cutting under a magnifying class helped.  LOL, kind of looks like the grill to an old WW II jeep.

 

 

 

I was amazed that I got those toilets and plank to fit the first time in the small area.  I can't believe there is so many pieces of wood in such a small area.  Forward thinking was most critical in planning out the work of the bow.  I can't warn you enough, think ahead on this step.

 

 

Edited July 14, 2014 by scott larkins

[Martin W]

Hey Scott -- The head is indeed a tricky part of the build.  I spent several days just cutting and recutting all the rails.  And I never could get the gratings to fit in any conceivable fashion.

 

Great work, and congratulations!

 

Martin

[scott larkins]

Thanks Martin,  it took me three attempts with those two, what I call, bottom shel, pieces.  i could cut to two dimmensions but getting the wood to bend at such a steep angle was very tricky.  I guess I could have pieced it together but I thought it would be more work.  In the end, it all worked out and I'm extremely happy with the way it turned out.

[Martin W]

And happy you should be, too!

[russ]

Scott:

Good work. those head rails are worth spending some time on to get them right. Yours look good. Well done.

 

Russ

[scott larkins]

Thanks Russ.  Getting closer to starting the masts soon.  Looks like I'll be starting a new adventure soon.

[scott larkins]

Well, I ran out of eye bolts.  Seems MS only sent me enough to do half of my ship.  So while I waited I did some other pieces.  Here is one of the two anchors.

 

I found that the wood top piece (actually metal) center hole was too big for the anchor neck.  I was going to put them together using epoxy anyways, I just had to use a little bit more.

It was helpful to use bees wax on the string.  Took a little of the fold out of it.  But for the big anchor rope I also had to put the string in a vice and hang some weights over night to help.  I'm pretty happy with how this came out.

 

Edited August 2, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

While I continued to wait I started sanding the life boat.  Gluing it together wasn't a problem.  Just use the tabs and some clips.

 

 

 

 

I used a drummel and hand sanding.  The drummel was good and bad.  It certainly got things sanded quicker because there is A LOT of sanding here.  The bad thing was that the walls got thinner quicker than I expected, and, well ...... you can see from the pics above I had a few oopses.  Not sure if I have any suggestions on sanding.  If you are insane enough to do this by hand, they'll take you out in a straight jacket.  Just be careful.

 

This is where the drummel was really needed.  My fingers were too large for the tight areas and got tired too quickly using simple sand paper.  Almost went for that straight jacket. LOL

 

Good thing I was going to plank the outside of the boat anyways.  I used the smaller planking for this that I did for the gunwales. That wood worked really well for this small boat.  I would suggest you plank the transom first before the sides.  I also, just like the actual Rattlesnake, had to angle the front of each plank for the bow piece.

 

Planking all done.

 

Outside is painted according to the plans.  Came out pretty well I guess.  I put the inside off for later since my eye bolts came in for my cannons.

Edited August 2, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

With the eye bolts in hand it was time to continue the cannons.  Cannons are pretty easy to put together.  Like I said seveal pages ago when I did my first cannon to line up the cannon ports, you will have to put that piece at the back to make sure the cannon is level.   And you will have to be careful drilling the holes for the axles.  It would be easy to bust through the bottom of the carriage.

 

 

 

 

These are the blocks that will be put at the back of the cannons that you see in the picture below.  I figured I'd get the blocks all tied up first before I attempt to put them on the cannons or the gunwales.  As I'm working on this model I am learning to think ahead and make things, well..... as easy on myself as I can.  There's no accounting for size issues though.  These old eyes just ain't what they used to be.

 

Edited August 3, 2014 by scott larkins

[dgbot]

Scott I have seen this kind of build up before with lifeboats and I admire anyone who can make them look good.

David B

[JSGerson]

Another comment on the ship's boat - I have seen logs/practicums (can't remember which) on how to make this style of construction. One of the tips was not to initially glue the bottom piece on. This way it makes it easier to file, sand, or drummel the interior because now it's open at the top and bottom. Once the insides are finished, the bottom piece is then added and finished off. I know it's a bit late for you at this point but maybe it will help someone else.

[Kenneth Powell]

Everything looks great. An inspiration since you are a little ahead of me. The comment on the boat by JSGerson is correct - don't glue on the bottom piece until all sanding is finished.

 

Thanks - Kenneth

[scott larkins]

Thanks guys, I actually did try the sanding of the inside first because I did see that comment.  It said to put the boat together first without the clue, draw a line on each piece that was sticking out, take the boat apart and sand to the line.  I paraphrase.  I must have been more heavy handed than the guy who put that together because I snapped one wall and said screw it.  I'm not kidding, that little boat is tough to make.  That is one reason I stopped where I did.  My wife was standing behind me with the straight jacket just waiting for that last moment when I was going to loose it.  Didn't happen though.  I learned when to say enough.  Perhaps that is a great lesson when working with these small models.  Know when to say when.  LOL.

[dgbot]

Scott, that is why I would have made one from something else.  A week at the funny farm is not what I like.

David B

[scott larkins]

Here is a pic of the two ropes and blocks for the cannons.  The use of a large lit magnifying glass was very helpful.  For the one block that has the extra rope I first made a knotted loop, put the extra string through the loop and then over the block and close the loop. Yep, didn't always work well but I'm getting there. Got 60 total blocks to make, I'm up to 50 right now.

 

Edited August 13, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Okay, making progress on the cannons.

 

Here are the cannons with the blocks added.

 

Here is the blocks added to the walls.  Nothing really to say about either step.  Simply tie on and add a small dab of CA glue to hold in place.

 

Here is the process of roping the cannons into place.  Not that easy considering the small confined spaces on deck.  I used a my big lit magnifying glass and two pairs of tweezers to get this done.  Again, a small dab of CA and let dry.  Then a dab of CA glue on the deck and droop the rope into place.  Let dry and cut as close to the glue as possible.  Then the next step of adding the coiled rope.

 

I tried this step of putting the cut off tip of a tooth pick in a plastic lid and coiling the rop around the tip.  Didn't work so well.  I had a game change next.  I ended up putting a dab of CA on a plastic lid and letting it dry.  Once dry I then used some Sobo glue and ran the glue on the rope and let slightly dry.  Then I used a magnifying glass and started coiling the rope around the CA glue point.  I would use my finger to push the rope down and squeeze the glue out to glue the rope together.  Again, let dry.  Then I used a chisel excel blade to pry the coiled rope off.  Cut off the access rope.  Done.

 

Add coil to rope on the deck and glue in place.

Edited September 2, 2014 by scott larkins

[scott larkins]

Continueing the life boat work.

 

Here I've started the ribbing on the inside of the boat at the bow.  The pencil marks are lining up where I'll be putting future ribs.

 

 

Bow ribbing is all done.  Instead of soaking the wood in water or a water ammonia mix I'm making tiny crinckles in the wood by pinching the wood between my thumb nail and index finger.  Makes just enough of a bend as you progress.  I'm also only ribbing half way into the boat instead of using one whole piece.  Saw the frustation of others and came up with a different process.

Edited September 2, 2014 by scott larkins

[JPett]

Ahoy Scott  

 

Nice job on the boat. That one's not an easy gig 

[JSGerson]

When rigging the guns on my Rattlesnake, I was ignorant of making pretty coils of rope. When some commented to me about this I started to look into how to make them. Usually the answer I got was to wrap the rope between two piece of clear plastic disks pieced by a pin or nail. However I did receive this one comment as follows:

 

"I wouldn't bother trying to model those coils like that. They are purely decorative and no sailing ship would have them unless they had visitors coming aboard; Dignitaries, VIPs etc. They tend to keep moisture and rot the deck beneath them if they are left there. They are "yachty" and most sailors wouldn't have them on their boats. I wouldn't."

 

So I didn't change rope coils and saved myself a lot of work in attempting to do them over. Mine look more like a working coil of piled rope. The choice is yours.

[Martin W]

Hi Scott -- You're definitely hard at it!  Great work on the guns and the boat.  Very tidy all around.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[scott larkins]

Thanks for the comments guys.  For my Niagara I will definetly not coil the ropes.  Too late now but that's okay.  I'm planning on keeping the sails furled anyways and the yard arms down as if in port. So perhaps some digantaries will be on board before the disasterous maiden voyage.  More to come.

[JPett]

Ahoy Scott

 

I don't see any problems with the coils. Once completed your kit will be on display  I would even go as far as to say "it would be a very good way" to show a ship.

Edited September 6, 2014 by JPett

[scott larkins]

These next few steps are what I am calling the half way point.  I say that becasue I am, for the most part, done with the ship haul and am now moving on to the masts and rope work.  This last step was putting the dead eyes on the side of the ship.  I first put on the wood shelves on the side of the ship according to the plans.  I used the same wood that was used for the bottom haul of the ship.  I cut them to size and notched them out according to the plans.  Next I used the planking wood for the top of the ship and glued it over the notched edges.  Sanded the final shape and then painted and glued in place.  Most of the following work was done under a large well lit maginfying glass.  No accounting for these old eyes.  I hate getting old.

 

 

First I wrapped the wire around the dead eye with my fingers and then used a pair of forceps to hold the wire in place as I turned the dead eye1.5 times.  Make sure the the three holes are lined up correctly.  Once the wire is wrapped it is very difficult to rotate it in the wire. Then I snipped off the extra wire with a small pair of wire cutters.

 

 

I then measured out an equal length of wire for all of the wire pieces so I had commonality.  Not all of the wires had the exact same length because some are more angled than others on the shelves depending on their relation to the mast.

 

 

I had at first measured out and marked a spot on the side of the ship according to the plans where the bottom of the chains, or in my case wire, should be nailed to the side.  Once I put the dead eye through the shelf I placed the nose of a small pair of forceps on the nail spot and wrapped the wire 180 degrees around the forceps.  I then pulled the dead eye out and finished wrapping and snippting the wire to make a hook that the nail would be inserted through.  I then put the dead eye back through the shelf and drilled a starting hole for the nail.

 

You can see better here those nail marks I was talking about above. I had to make sure the wire was bent accordingly and then inserted the nail with just a dab of CA glue and put in place.  Bam, done.  Move on to the next one and repeat.

Edited September 20, 2014 by scott larkins

[JPett]

Ahoy Scott  

 

That blue you have chosen is beautiful. Those close ups really show what an excellent job you have done so far. 

[scott larkins]

Thanks Pett.  I liked that blue too.  I chose this color scheme from a professional's job I found on the web and liked how the blue was just enough to accent the other colors.

[scott larkins]

I took a few pics outside to get a better feel for how the colors work in natural light.  Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2014 by scott larkins

[dragzz]

thats looking vary good like the colors thay stane out really nice keep up the great work

[scott larkins]

Now that I'm done with the hull it's time to move on to the masts.

 

Started with the bow sprit first.  Pretty simple really.  Just measure out what the diagrams show, sand it down and bam.  I used my drill as a poor mans laithe.  I put some tape around the end I put in the bit and wrapped sand paper around the dowel and turned on the drill.  Watch that you take breaks, the friction gets worm.  I used two grits of sand paper, 120 to get the rough size and 220 to finalize it.  I also used a caliper to make sure the dowel was sanded down to the correct size.  I hightly suggest a caliper for this.  Oh one last word, when wrapping the rope between the jib and the bow, watch how you place the rope.  Don't forget there is a slot there within all of that wood you put on earlier.

 

And here is the top to show the other wood pieces you need from the plans.  I stained and then painted it than attached according to the plans.  The little saddle between the two pieces is really small so be careful and take your time with it.  I wrapped a piece of sand paper around a wood dowel to help form the saddle.

Edited October 11, 2014 by scott larkins