HM Schooner Ballahoo by egkb - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64 Scale - First Proper Wood Build

[drtrap]

Nice deep colour to the decking. What did you treat your wood with?

Echo that!

That cherry-wood looking is so fantastic to me.

What did you use for that?

[egkb]

Hi There Jim, the stuff is Woodoc 5 Polywax Sealer   Matt Clear.  it isn't as dramatic looking in real life but much more subtle, the combination of Old Camera and Poor Lighting this afternoon has deepened the colour a lot !

Here's a link to what the stuff actually looks is :    http://www.woodoc.com/products/1

In the total absence of that old MSW Favorite 'Wipe on Poly' I asked around the local Hardware Stores for something  1. Clear,  2. Matt, & 3. Light in Consistency,  this stuff ticked all the boxes   I'll be using it on the masts too when the time comes.

Thanks for popping by Mate !

 

Thanks David and Bob for taking the time to look in also !!

 

Sláinte

 

Eamonn

 

Hey There Stergios, I was typing when your question was posted.. Hope this answers your's also.

 

E

Edited November 11, 2014 by egkb

[egkb]

Hi Again All..

 

No Updates I'm afraid as the weather is too miserable and dark to attempt anything delicate.. am also tempted to save up all my cut off timber and various wood strips to build an Arc, how many Cubits was it again... Oh! and what's a Cubit ?  .. hasn't stopped raining for ages, well OK 2 days  , but it feels like ages when you want to try fitting stuff onto the boat !! Ahhhh ..

 

Thanks for popping in, hopefully a better update tomorrow !  Big Thanks also to all the Likes.. it's always appreciated when folks stop bye to have a look at what's going on.

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[jim_smits]

Hi Again All..

 

No Updates I'm afraid as the weather is too miserable and dark to attempt anything delicate.. am also tempted to save up all my cut off timber and various wood strips to build an Arc, how many Cubits was it again... Oh! and what's a Cubit ?  .. hasn't stopped raining for ages, well OK 2 days  , but it feels like ages when you want to try fitting stuff onto the boat !! Ahhhh ..

 

Thanks for popping in, hopefully a better update tomorrow !  Big Thanks also to all the Likes.. it's always appreciated when folks stop bye to have a look at what's going on.

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

 

You're not building outside are you?

 

My workshop is in the conservatory and the noise of rain is rather theraputic....

[egkb]

Hey There Jim.. Unfortunately I like building with natural light, and it is way too dark here at present   your conservatory sounds perfect though, am well jealous !    Natural light streams in through my front window on even moderately bright days in Autumn Winter & Spring (also one of the reasons I tend not to do anything in Summer as the Sun doesn't reach my build table and it is much harsher light) alas dull days tend to be very dull in my build room (an old style house) and I hate artificial light (might of course just need a whole lot more of it     )

I love the sound of rain too .. though it does make me want to go to the loo fairly often !!     

 

Hi Lawrence, great to hear from you.. it isn't quiet cold enough over here for snow just yet.. famous last words right there.. but did I see on the News that there is a pretty cold air stream over you folks this week ? At least you will have plenty of time to do the little men for Victory without outdoor distractions.. except for possibly snow blowing of course   

 

All The Best Folks

 

Eamonn

 

Edit.. I notice my reply has bold text again.. no idea why this is happening, I'm just typing as normal, so please know that I'm not trying to emphasise anything   

 

E

Edited November 13, 2014 by egkb

[egkb]

A Much Better Update This Time.. 

 

Weather 'let up' slightly this afternoon and the Sun shone for a short time.. enough time in fact for me to begin shaping the Fore Mast !!  I figured I'd need this in place to give a proper indication of what 'angle' the chains should run from the channels.. I haven't finished shaping it yet, needs to be reduced by a couple of mm (got a bit late, and dinner beckoned   ) so no point in showing a photo of a half finished Fore Mast !! Hopefully get it and the Main complete tomorrow.. 

 

Jeez it's all go over here eh?    

 

Bye For Now

 

Eamonn

[egkb]

And An Even Better Update.. With Photo's (Plural !!) This Time, Yup!  I Really Spoil You Eh ?  

 

Well the Masts & Bowsprit are shaped and dry fitted, it all went much much easier than anticipated, admittedly I anticipated disaster at every turn !!  Those Mini Lathe things are the absolute Business, though after my 'Finger -v- Channel Pin' fiasco from a couple of days ago I half expected my body to become totally wrapped around the spinning pre Masts   

BTW the reason the Masts/Bowsprit look so dark in the photos is simply because I cleaned them off with Turps prior to putting the Clear Matt on them.

As you can see there is quiet a Rake on the Masts, so I wanted them in place (even temporarily) to help with positioning the Chains.

 

My proper camera is still away so I'm still using the old compact I'm afraid (much less control over settings as you can see from the well dodgy photo quality)

 

Remember Comments Are Always Welcome.. Unless you are pointing out a major flaw that I missed and won't be able to fix.. in that case 'Not So Welcome'     

 

Bye For Now

 

Eamonn

[jwvolz]

Looking great Eamonn!

[Stockholm tar]

Hi Eamonn,

 

I agree, she looks great. You're doing a fine job. I think the quality of your work shines through, despite what you say about the camera!

 

Remind me again about the enlarged gunports, was that called for in the instructions, or for some dark idea of your own? For fitting bigger guns, perhaps? I'm sure you've mentioned it somewhere in the log, but then I'd have to go trolling through it...

 

If it makes you feel any better, we have the same weather over here. It's been gray dark and overcast for a couple of weeks now, albeit there are a few brief moments when that round yellow thing in the sky makes a brief appearance. I believe it's called the sun, although I'm not too sure.

 

You'll understand that a good working light is essential up here in these here parts, to get anything done at all in the winter! I have a really good one, fitted with a circular fluorescant tube. This gives a really good light and it has a magnifying feature in the top of the lamp, which works really well. The light is also soft and doesn't give any eye strain, as some lamps do. It also comes with a foot clamp, so you can fix it solidly to any surface. I'm very pleased with it. OK, add over...

 

So, the masts next. They look good by the way, and you'll certainly need them in place to gauge the angle of the chainplates for that extreme rake!

[Landlubber Mike]

Yeah, looking really great Eamonn.  Very clean work, this is coming along very nicely.

[NMBROOK]

Looking great mate

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[egkb]

Thanks Lawrence, Joe, Kester & Mike for the encouraging comments and the Likes.. as I mentioned before it really is appreciated !

 

Kester the enlarged Gun Ports were indeed part of the build instructions, though with my proper sized upgraded guns (which are a lot smaller) they probably won't be necessary.. I shan't be changing them though !  

 

Will have to consider one of those Lamps Kester, what brand & model is yours?

 

All The Best Folks

 

Eamonn

 

Hey There Nigel, you must have posted at the time I was writing this.. so thanks for stopping by too !! 

Edited November 14, 2014 by egkb

[Stockholm tar]

Eamonn,

 

The lamp has the name 'Hansy' and I bought it from Clas Ohlson, the shop for buying practically anything in Sweden! I believe it is also made over here, so I'm not sure you would be able to get it in Ireland. Anway, here is the page from their online catalogue (obviously,it's the one to the left!) Click on it to get a larger view:

 

http://www.clasohlson.com/se/b/El/Lampor-&-belysning/Arbetsbelysning

 

It has certainly made a big difference, the one I had before being just an ordinary extending-type desk lamp. It didn't have the flexiblity this one has, and is better all round. I'm sure you would be able to get a similar type of lamp where you are, if you look around.

 

Good luck!

Edited November 14, 2014 by Stockholm tar

[egkb]

Thanks Kester.. I'll have a looksie for something similar as it would be priceless at this time of year !!

 

E

[tkay11]

I bought mine at Warco. There are a few types. I bought one with a base, but the one with LED lights and a clamp is at

 

http://www.warco.co.uk/lights/302938-led-lighting-work-lights-magnifying.html

 

You can do a search for the other types by typing in 'magnifier' to their search function. It's the cheapest place to buy these lights and their delivery and service was excellent. Warco's based in the UK, but you may find an Irish supplier.

 

I hope that helps

 

Tony

[egkb]

Thanks Tony.. I'm in work today so will look online tomorrow and see what turns up !

 

E

[egkb]

Deadeye Strops are proving awkward.. the kit supplied Photo Etched ones are the devil to fit correctly, they seem designed for either thinner Channels and/or wider slots in said Channels.. so I've moved onto making my own, spent an hour today rummaging about for suitable wire, and then attempting to actually solder the beasts into loops.. not with great success it has to be said   decided I'd have more luck actually setting up a Smithy Forge and making the darn things from raw Iron Ore a hammer and an anvil  !!  Anyhoo after much puzzlement I found some articles in the Tips Techniques & Research section on MSW and I know what I've been doing wrong (the list of errors seems to begin with me actually getting out of bed in the morning and goes on from there)

So hopefully tomorrow (weather permitting.. i.e. nice & bright) will see me with some usable Deadeye Strops !!

 

I did however get some of the eye-bolts in  place, so not a total disaster   Oh and my soldering technique has improved what with all the repeats .. which was nice 

 

All the Best Folks

 

Eamonn

[jim_smits]

Take a look at my ballahoo build as there's my section on creating deadeye strops. Hope it provides some tips.

[egkb]

Thanks Jim.. that's exactly where I'll be heading !

 

E

[egkb]

Hi again Folks..

 

Have hit on a method for doing the Deadeye Strops.. the Method owes much to Jim Smits description for making Strops over on his own Ballahoo Build (I'm not as talented as Jim so I had to adapt it somewhat! in fact I'm kinda rubbish at this sort of stuff   ) 

 

Anyhoo here goes..  There are photos at the bottom somewhere ! Oh and any changes in the font or font size isn't highlighting or indicating anything other than some sort of issue within my Google Chrome & MSW interface..

 

1. wrap suitable wire (regular electrical wire in my case, comprising of 0.5mm strands of copper, and there are loads of it in even a few inches of the stuff) around a dowel, 9mm approx will do.. but don't be too worried over this as they are easily trimmed to length once circular. I ran the length of wire through some emery paper a few times to clean it up first.

 

2. remove the coil you created by wrapping from the dowel and cut across the coil with snips.. this will produce a bumper load of individual rings.

 

3. flatten approx 2 or 3mm of each end of the ring (I squashed them in a mini vice, but pliers will work as will smacking them with a hammer!  )

 

4. squeeze the now slightly flattened ends together so as to form an overlap  2 to 3mm or so will do (we now have nice flat ends touching each other which will give loads of surface area for the soldering bit later)

 

5. put this ring into a suitable holder so as to have the join upwards, just to make the soldering work easier to reach.. again I put them into the jaws of the mini vice.

 

6. heat up the iron,  and away you go.

 

7. pop the dead eye into place, close up the strop around it, I find putting a sowing needle or similar into the opposite end helps keep this part open slightly.. you will produce a bowling pin kind of shape.. incidentally I use a round nose pliers to do the squeezing. I suggest keeping the join near the bottom, that way if it fails at some stage your rigging won't become slack, as may happen if the join is towards the top where the deadeye is... gluing the strops in place in the channels should stop any issues.

 

See Photo for outcome.. it needs fine tuning (less blobby looking solder for a start) but it works!  and if it doesn't quiet fit (too big for example) than simply trim a small amount off the Ring (stage 2 above) and try again.

 

All the Very Best Folks

 

Eamonn

 

[jim_smits]

Great effort mate.

 

Are you using soft solder with an iron or silver solder with a torch?

[egkb]

Thanks Jim..  I'm using Solder-It   solder paste 

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solder-It-SP-7-Silver-Bearing-Solder-Paste-Syringe-7-1-Grams-Flux-Blended-In-/291082936652

 

I bought it on eBay and it came with a Copper version free.. well easy to use for an idiot like me ! it can be used with an iron or any flame !! it is amazingly strong too, using the above method on a long loop of the same wire, I was testing it.. I wasn't able to pull it apart with my hands!! (there was a good 0.5 cm of overlap though)

 

Eamonn

Edited November 25, 2014 by egkb

[jim_smits]

Hopefully that will work for you.

 

I will recommend buying a soldering pencil torch and silver silder paste. Get the learning curve out the way and it is dead easy to use and joint will be rock solid.

[egkb]

My soldering iron is of the Butane variety.. I wasn't able to pick up the necessities for Brazing around town or even near-by so I went online and was dazzled by the different recommendations (got totally lost in fact) until I found the Solder-it and at a great price.. no kiddin I was totally lost re Flux & Silver Soldering etc just when I'd find what I was looking for I'd discover they don't post abroad.. or were in industrial size quantities.. I actually gave up on it (I'm usually very tenacious    ) and Solder-It was a 'God Send' !

 

Eamonn

[DavidM]

Hi Eamonn,

Also inspired by Jim's build log I've been having a go at making some strops for my Ballahoo; it's not as easy as it first appears!.  I've just tried the method you've outlined and my success rate (i.e. joints that don't immediately break under tension) has improved.  Many thanks!

Kind Regards,

David

[jim_smits]

Hot tips....:

 

File the ends perfectly flat and clean

Ensure that the tension on the ring is holding the gap shut

 

This will ensure that the silver will flow over the gap.

 

If you're using flux/silver paste it will only require a second of heating. Anymore and the brass ring will itself melt.

[egkb]

Small Update Time Again..

 

All Deadeye Strops are complete and have their Deadeyes in place, the strops aren't anything special to look at but I still feel that they are way better than the kit supplied versions.. next up is painting the strops black than adding them to the channels.

 

All the best Folks, and Happy Thanksgiving to my friends across the pond.

 

Eamonn

[Holty]

Hi Eamonn, great progress, I might have missed it but what lathe did you use for your masts?

[egkb]

Hey Holty..  It was the small Proxxon one, it was on special offer and I couldn't resist.   

 

All The Best

 

Eamonn

[jonny.amy]

Looking great Eamonn, keep up the good work!

 

By the way I sent you a PM