21ft English Pinnace by Mike Y - FINISHED - Model Shipways - 1:24

[Mike Y]

Slowly finishing interior details. Mounted splash protectors, rings, some decorative things near a few twarts, small ladder for a captain.

Some things are done not according to the manual (different position on splash protectors, etc). So far I like the modified parts compared to pictures in manual

 

 

 

Rudder tiller was nice, but too small for that scale. Made another one, bigger. Maybe it is not in scale, but now it will not break if a fly poops on it

Connection between carved part and turned part is enforced with a small brass rod. It is a pity that connection is visible, will try better next time:

 

And that is a moulded boxwood strip instead of friesers (that look like an overdecoration imho). I understand that are a part of contemporary model, plus the whole point of captain pinnace is to flash, so it was overdecorated. But I like a more laconic design, so replaced most flashy parts with less flashy, but elegant:

[Mirabell61]

Looks beautiful Mike,

 

wonderful lines, wonderful authentic build, Looks featherlight and must have a sparkling Performance when rowing the master to the shore...

 

Nils

[Mike Y]

Thanks Nils! It is inspiring!

[gjdale]

Very nicely done Mike. She looks fabulous.

[fnkershner]

Well I guess she is ready for the finished gallery.

[Mike Y]

Not yet, but she is close And I also need to build a display case, already bought some plexiglass for it.

[Mike Y]

Today worked on oar locks. There is a mismatch between photo in instructions and the ship plans, preferred version from plans.

 

Inspired by Remco build log, decided to switch to "treat every detail as a model" philosophy and no sanding, make things good straight away, do not count on sanding to hide mistakes. And - want to make a tiny thing - make a jig first!

 

 

 

 

Now I wonder how to apply poly to that tiny pieces... And ideas?

[Mike Y]

Prepared all metal parts. Manual suggests to use black paper, but it looks so-so, will use blackened brass instead.

Imitation of bolts is done by bumping it with a dull nail.

Waiting for a blackening liquid to arrive...

 

Rest of the day was spent on oars. Tricky little things, if you don't have a lathe.

I turned them from a square boxwood stock, holding it with bare fingers. Even on a minimum speed it was hard, now I don't have a fingerprints on a few fingers anymore

 

When painted, they look cute (no poly yet, will be better after a coat of poly):

[Blue Ensign]

You surely have achieved an elegant build Mike, very nicely done

 

B.E.

[MEDDO]

Very very nice. Thanks for sharing your progress.

[mtaylor]

Very well done, Mike.  The oars look perfect.

[gjdale]

Very well done Mike. Those oars look great.

[fnkershner]

When do you start on the Longboat? I want to follow you closely. Very nice.

[DBorgens]

Mike,

Just read your log. All I can say is well done! My Pinnace is sitting ready to build and you've provided some great ideas.

Thanks,

Dave B

[Mike Y]

Thanks everybody!

 

Dave, please keep in mind that I did some things not according to instructions, original Chuck's pinnace will look a bit different. It is all about individual preferences...

 

Floyd, will start it right after pinnace, but on a slower speed, since it is summer

[Mike Y]

Installed oar locks. Their crisp edges a bit in contrast with a smooth hull. I tried to smooth them, but on that scale I can't make it accurately. So let's call it a feature

 

While making a photos saw how innacurate is the twart moulding... I should have make it from boxwood, but. I had no boxwood back then... And it is deeply in a boat structure, can't find a way to replace twarts without traces.

Well, I will blame that drunk rowers, who was trying to hide contraband in that mouldings!

[fnkershner]

Mike I hope my longboat is half as good as this one.

[Mike Y]

Floyd, it would be even better! Looking forward for photos in your log

[DesertWolf]

Superb build!

[Mike Y]

Blackening liquid arrived (Birchwood Casey), but the first blackening was an epic fail

Blackening just falls off, it do not stick at all. I cant take a piece with fingers or tweetzer, the black patina just sticks to fingers, thats it:

 

What has go wrong?

My workflow was:

1) put brass parts into acetone for 30min to degrease

2) rinse with water

3) put into blackening liquid diluted with water 1:8

4) wait for 30-60min

5) Actually blackening stopped after 30min, so I added a bit more liquid, maybe it ended up close to 1:6 ratio.

6) removed after 2 hours in liquid

7) rinsed with water

8) left to dry overnight.

 

Maybe I should use another ratio? Or use distilled water instead of tap one? Or?

Would appreciate any hints!

[Dan Vadas]

Hi Mike,

 

Try soaking the part in vinegar for 10 minutes before the acetone bath. Sometimes there could be contaminants that acetone won't dissolve.

 

Also, you're leaving the parts in the Blackener far too long. All this does is create a black crust which flakes off. Try leaving them in for as little time as you need to get an even coat - I only leave my parts in for between 30 seconds and 1 minute. I polish off any excess blackener with a paper towel or q-tip.

 

  Danny

[Mike Y]

Thanks Dan!

 

Maybe I should not dilute the blackening agent then?

After 10min, parts were not black at all. Fist sign of blackness appeared after 30min or so.

[Dan Vadas]

After 10min, parts were not black at all.

 

 

Very odd. My brass starts blackening almost as soon as it hits the Blackener. The main secret to it is to VERY THOROUGHLY clean the brass - try polishing it if the vinegar doesn't work, or use brass from another source and see if there's any difference.

 

BTW - your ratio of 8:1 is about spot-on. It's not critical to get it exact.

 

  Danny

[Mike Y]

Got it, will experiment with cleaning/sanding/vinegar before blackening. Thanks!

[Mike Y]

Cracked the reason. My brass was covered with a layer of something transparent, for a nice shiny look.

Brushed it away with a metal disk brush, to expose a bare brass. Now it blackens immediately, as expected! Awesome!

[Dan Vadas]

Well done Mike - I suspected as much, but acetone usually dissolves the coating that's sometimes applied to brass. You may need to try a few different types of thinners until you find the one that works, perhaps a Polyurethane thinner may do the trick. They may need an overnight soak in the stuff.

 

  Danny

[fnkershner]

Mike Danny Beat me to it. I use only the vinegar or paint thinner. I don't even use acetone. I also do a 4:1 mixture. Other than that  I do exactly what you do. And make sure to rinse and completely dry between steps.

[Mike Y]

Works now! No acetone, just a mechanical force of a metal circle brush

[jburchfield1@wowway.com]

Glad to see you solved that problem Mike.

 

I'm a long way from blackening but keeping track of the tips/tricks for when I get there.

[Mike Y]

Hooray! I finished all the messy part of gluing metal parts onto wood parts. Damn CA! Hate it!

 

Metal bumper looks much better then a paper one. Or I probably just cant work with the paper (some build logs of ships from card totally changed the view on paper)

 

Rudder tiller have a brass rod inside to make a stronger joint with a rudder:

 

And here is the rudder installed. Fully functional, you can rotate it gently

 

Trunk of the pinnace looked too empty. Then I started to think... What could be there? It is a flashy pinnace, not the one that is used to carry food supply. It is intended to transport officers. What they could carry with them?? Aha! Some high quality booze, to make sure it will not disappear while officers are on the shore.

So here is a tiny booze tank:

 

SKÅL!