Wasa by fmodajr - FINISHED - Corel - 1:75

[fmodajr]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for all the likes! It is appreciated!

 

I will need to take a break from my ship build, for about 2 weeks, in order to finish another project.

 

In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone can assist me with some input on the topic of the decorative railing for the Vasa.

If I wait to install the delicate railing after the rigging of the ship, should I still pre-plan, drill and cutout where the railing posts are supposed to go? I still have to drill the holes on the lower main railings for the belaying pins and I don't want to mistakenly drill a belaying pin hole where the delicate upper railing posts should be. Also, if I wait to do everything after the rigging, how will I get around the rigging to drill and square up the holes for the posts on the lower railing?

Am I over thinking this?   

 

Thanks in advance for any help or advice,

Frank

[marktiedens]

Frank -

I haven`t got that far on mine yet but I would definitely drill the holes for the railing posts before rigging. I don`t see any way you could drill them properly with the shrouds in the way. On my Sergal build I installed the railings before any rigging but at 1/60 scale they are a bit stronger. i  was careful working around them & managed to not break any . I just thought it would be too fiddly to try and fit the railings to the posts with the shrouds in the way. Just my thoughts.

 

/Mark

[fmodajr]

Hi Mark,

 

Thats for your input. I think that I will make all the railing parts now, drill the slots in the lower rails, then test fit everything to be sure. 

Then put everything aside for later installation!

 

Frank

[marktiedens]

Sounds like a good plan. You may want to make sure your belaying pins are installed as close to the inside part of the railings as possible. I had some issues with the pins too close to the upper handrails & couldn`t get the rigging ropes around the pins - had to pull some out & re-position them. Then I had some extra holes in the lower railings which are not noticeable now with all the rigging in place.

[md1400cs]

Frank,

 

Your mizzen channel pulleys are excellent. You really captured these very well. I will follow your lead when I get there. Enjoy

your other project in the meantime.

 

Michael

[fmodajr]

Back working on my model!

 

I started making the assembly for the upper railing system. I am doing this so I can lay out the slots I will need to mill for the posts. I want to do this now (as discussed above) before I start the masting and rigging.

 

I made the curve pieces by taking some walnut sheet and grinding a radius with my oscillating sander.

Then I penciled the outside line and ground the outer side using a disk sander.

 

I notched one end of the curved pieces and one end of the straight pieces so that there will be more support when gluing together.

 

Now I glued the different sections together for both side of the ship. I left extra stock on the curved section and also on the straight sections, so I can accurately fit everything later in the build. (I will also paint these sections white at a later date)

 

I made up a bunch of the railing posts and left extra stock so I can fit everything later.

 

Now I will start marking and slotting the railing for the posts. (Hopefully I can find tools small enough for the slotting)

 

Thanks,

Frank

[marktiedens]

Nice job on the railings. Lucky for me I had some profiled brass moulding to make my rails although I will probably borrow your method when I get to that point on my Corel build.

 

/Mark

[fmodajr]

I started trying to make the slots for the railing posts. At first I tried using a tiny milling bit with my dremel, but after a couple of attempts I gave up due to my unsteady hands.

So I switched to hand drilling two small holes (.035 dia) right next to each other and then slowly filing out the middle and making them rectangular as best as I could. My posts are 1mm thick x 2mm wide for the ones that support the curved  pieces and the rest are 1mm thick by 1.5mm wide. Most of them came out okay with a couple of slots ending up too big. (Some walnut wood filler should work!) .

 

Working my way down the port side, I milled all the slots and dry fitted the posts that I will be using.

Nothing will be glued down until later after the installation of the shrouds and ratlines.

 

Now onto the starboard side.

 

Thanks,

Frank

 

[md1400cs]

Frank,

 

Great work - super labor intensive no doubt

 

Michael

[JanV]

This lools great. I am also planning to add this railing.

Are you keeping this removable till rigging is completed as I expect that this will be very fragile during rigging

[fmodajr]

Thanks for all the likes and for visiting!

 

Frank

[fmodajr]

 

 

This lools great. I am also planning to add this railing.

Are you keeping this removable till rigging is completed as I expect that this will be very fragile during rigging

Hi Jan,

 

Thanks for your kind comments.

Yes, I will keep all the parts to the side until I see that it is the right time to finish them. I'm not quite sure when that will be. I'll keep an eye on things while I'm doing the rigging. Once I start to feel that I won't be able to get my hands in there soon, I'll add the railings. Even though I am pre-slotting now, the railings will still need some final trimming and shaping to get them in the right spot. So it will be important to have some room to work around them.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

[md1400cs]

Frank,

 

On a just previous post of yours. What size rope did you use for the main anchor rope? 

 

Thanks

 

Michael

[fmodajr]

Hi Michael,

 

I hope all is well with you and your model!

 

For the main anchor line coming out of the ship's hull, I used Syrens tan rigging rope .062 dia.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

[fmodajr]

I just finished making the upper railing slots and dry fitting for the starboard side.

(glad this is done!)

 

 

I also took this time to drill the belaying pin holes on both sides of the ship lower railings.

 

 

I sanded down the supplied belaying pins, in order to thin them down. I will stain them later.

 

Dry fitted belaying pins

 

So now I only have a couple of minor things to work on before I start the masts in a week or so.

I want to make 2 more kevels and place them where I will be removing the belaying pin rails above the cannon.

 

Thanks,

Frank

 

[fmodajr]

Thanks for all the likes everyone!

 

Just a minor update.

 

I successfully removed the 2 pin rails over the cannon and was able to clean things up.

 

 

I made 2 more kevels

 

 

Attached them to the sides of the ship

 

 

Now onto the masts!

 

Thanks,

Frank

 

[fmodajr]

Asking some fellow Corel or Billings Vasa builders for a little help!

 

I am preparing to cut the dowels for the lower mainmast (part #210), lower foremast (part #223) and mizzen mast (part #200).

The Corel plans give the overall length of the dowels only, not the dimensions for the height from the deck to the top cap. I made the holes into the bowels of the ship deeper than the plan called for (for more support) but neglected to measure the difference in depth. As a result, I do not know what the height of these lower mast should be from the deck up to cap. If anyone has that measurement for the 3 masts, it would be appreciated!

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

Frank

[marktiedens]

Hello Frank

I am not to the masting yet but I do have the dowels cut. I set them in place & cam up with these measurements from the planked deck to the top of the lower masts. fore - 221mm   main - 239mm  mizzen - 195mm. I don`t know if this is 100% correct as every builder will probably come up with slightly different measurements. For example I used 1mm thick deck planking instead of the .5mm planking that came with the kit,but it should get you close.

 

/Mark

[fmodajr]

Hi Mark,

 

Thanks for the measurements! Tomorrow I will give your dimension's a try. They seem to make much more sense than the one's I had come up with.

 

Thanks again

Frank

[fmodajr]

Hello,

 

I started working on the lower masts. 

 

After cutting them to the correct lengths, I squared up the top ends. Then I extended the sides down, where I will be gluing the housings for the sheaves.

 

Now, I notched slots for the sheaves on both sides.

 

Squared up the very top for the caps.

 

I'm not sure what you call these, but I made the housings for the sheaves to go into. The ones for the lower mainmast and mizzen mast are set at a 15 deg angle and the foremast at 3 deg. (this will set the angle of the lower crosstrees)

 

Pieces glued to the masts

 

Foremast notched

 

The 3 lower masts with the dowels tapered and ready for the sheaves.

 

Side view of the angles for each mast

 

Now I will be working on the final sanding and touch-up. Then staining of the masts followed by the installation of the sheaves and woolings (bands) on the masts.

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

 

[marktiedens]

Excellent job - that is almost exactly what I did on my masts on my Sergal build.

 

/Mark

[fmodajr]

 

Excellent job - that is almost exactly what I did on my masts on my Sergal build.

 

/Mark

Thanks for the comments Mark!

And thanks again for supplying those dimensions!

 

Frank

[fmodajr]

Thanks everyone for all the likes and for visiting.

It is appreciated!

 

Gunther,

I visited your log today.

Great job so far on the Virginia Sloop. Interesting ship!

 

Frank

[CptNautilus]

Very interesting. I'm following you closely because I have just finished the portholes and after gluing the ornaments on, I'll be right there, building the masts. It helps to have someone scouting the approaches!

 

Very good and inspiring work.

[fmodajr]

 

Very interesting. I'm following you closely because I have just finished the portholes and after gluing the ornaments on, I'll be right there, building the masts. It helps to have someone scouting the approaches!

 

Very good and inspiring work.

Thanks!

I'm sitting here with my Corel mast plans, copies of the Billings mast plans, and the actual Vasa plans from the 1980's! Trying to figure things out between the 3 plans!   

 

Frank

[edmay]

WOW Frank, read a lot of your  well thought out and executed log, and there's lots of learning's and tips,color ideas ,thanks you do  real nice work.Edwin

[CptNautilus]

Thanks!

I'm sitting here with my Corel mast plans, copies of the Billings mast plans, and the actual Vasa plans from the 1980's! Trying to figure things out between the 3 plans!   

 

Frank

 

 That makes for a awsomely great model!

 

  Now that you are reaching the masts, I guess the archeologist's plans are going to be less accurate as the masts were not so well conserved in Stokholm's harbour muds?

[md1400cs]

Frank,

 

Your masts are looking good. Yes quite a conundrum between the three plan sets (:-)

[fmodajr]

 

 

WOW Frank, read a lot of your  well thought out and executed log, and there's lots of learning's and tips,color ideas ,thanks you do  real nice work.Edwin

Hi Edwin,

 

Thanks for your comments. It is appreciated. Since I joined this forum, I also have learned a lot from other fantastic logs. So it works great both ways!

 

Thanks again,

Frank

[fmodajr]

 

 That makes for a awsomely great model!

 

  Now that you are reaching the masts, I guess the archeologist's plans are going to be less accurate as the masts were not so well conserved in Stokholm's harbour muds?

 

Hello CptNautilus and Michael,

 

Thanks for the input!

Yes, things are confusing between the three plans. I just have to keep working through everything with an eye towards the upcoming rigging and to see what works the best and what feels the most accurate.

 

Thanks,

Frank