MORDAUNT 1681 by NMBROOK - Euromodel - 1:60 - Beyond Bashed

[NMBROOK]

Not a very exciting update today,however my experiment has been a success.I have been debating about caulking techniques and despite using a pencil for longer than I care to mention,it never looks as good as the black paper route.However after watching Dr Mike's dvd explaining that black paper prevents proper glue bond strength,himself using cheap white paper and dying it black,I wanted to find an alternative with a bit less faff Having to visit town today for other reasons  I did stumble upon black tissue paper.I thought this would still allow proper penetration of the glue,but would it be easy to work with?I adopted worse case scenario for the test and cut some planks roughly(not even changing to a fine blade )on the table saw.Smearing one edge of these with alaphatic and placing them on the tissue edge on.Having left to dry for a hour(would really leave overnight in practice) and then cutting the tissue with a new scalpel blade close on the underside and a little above the face side,separated the planks.These were then glued to a sheet of ply.Two hours later this was scraped and sanded back.Again I would leave overnight but I was being deliberately rough for the trial.Anyway complete success.No issue with the tissue paper wanting to drag out of the joints as it was fully impregnated with glue and razor sharp black(not greyish you get with the pencil) lines.The only imperfections are from the rough edges of the planks.In reality these would be smooth .I wanted to crack this dilemma as this technique will be used on the whole build which includes the scarph joints in the keel and the hull planking so strength is important.A couple of pics but the difference between this and pencil isn't truly conveyed with my iphone camera.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Edited April 23, 2014 by NMBROOK

[patrickmil]

Nigel, what an excellent discovery! I have been using pencil, marker and black paper and all have their pros and cons, This looks like it is the best method. I will have to search for some black tissue paper as well. Great work on your ship so far.

[Mirabell61]

Looks great Nigel,

 

thae way you do the hull, the inovative caulking method and the whole build to date.... just amazing and a delight to follow. It is a real Special in scale 1/60, I trust this will at the end be a master Piece of model shipbuilding

 

Nils

[rtropp]

Nigel,

I appreciate your detailing the caulking. I used the same process but with a thin paper. (I have been experimenting with different papers to see how they looked.) Since I am gluing the planks and their paper caulking to a base, a piece of 1/64 birch ply, I figured that would be enough to overcome any bonding issues between the planks.

 

Originally I thought tissue paper would be too thin but after seeing your photos I will have to try it.

 

Also, I read the suggestion to clamp the planks together, then glue to the caulking paper. I was not sure how difficult it would then be to slit the paper without damaging the planks. I will have to try that also but with the tissue paper.

 

Nice work, I will be following since one of my kits on the shelf is the Falmouth, also by EuroModel.

 

Richard

 

Richard

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Patrick I was actually searching for the thinnest black paper I could find but came across this in the present wrapping section.It cost 75p (probably about $1 in your money for 5 sheets two foot square!!!).With the bleed resistance as well,it seem ideal.I am back in town Saturday so will pick up several packs!!!!

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Nils for your very kind words  ,I am pushing myself and pulling out all the stops on this one in the hope to create something a little bit special

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Richard:   I agree bonded to a subdeck,the strength issue is off limited importance.I think the bond has alot to do with paper density,the shop I got the tissue from shows black paper of 84g/sqm on their website, which is the lowest I found on the net.My local branch doesn't carry it which was when I found the tissue.I found a mere smear of alaphatic and whipping it off so only leaving a trace was ideal,too much and it soaks right through.The trial planks were glued to the tissue on a glass sheet just in case.I wouldn't like to try and split a bundle of planks,I think you may get a little tearout on the paper.I think it is preferable to leave a little stuck up and clean it off when scraping the deck.I scraped and sanded with P60! on this trial piece just to be sure it was well and truly secure.Even the deck planking will be spilled on this model as curved deck planks are correct for the period,so tissue will have to be applied to each plank separately .

The Falmouth is a very nice vessel,it was only for my love of late 17th century vessels and my fondness of the works of Van de Velde that I chose Mordaunt.I think the beauty with all the Euromodel kits is that the only limitation as to how far you go with them,is your imagination.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[egkb]

Nice work Nigel, sorry for not getting back to you after your PM (house full of people AGAIN !!  ) that paper looks the Cats Pyjamas, I use a permanent marker that has a very fine almost paintbrush like 'nib' which sands back to a crisp line but you have to be careful.. your tissue paper solution has me intrigued !

 

All The Best Mate

 

Eamonn

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much Eamonn Yes markers do work well as long as there isn't any bleeding issues.I was wanting something I knew would take any finish I wanted later down the line.On this build I will use tung oil on the carvings and tung oil or shellac on the rest of the build.I won't be using poly as there will be no and I do mean no paint on this build You read it here so rollickings welcome if you hear the 'P' word  

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[egkb]

I'll keep my eyes peeled for the P word !! Rollicking's on Stand By ..

 

E

[NAZGÛL]

That looks just great Nigel. Clever work!

 

 

/Matti

[NMBROOK]

Thanks mate I am hoping to get the joints as tight as possible on the model.I foresee some sort of wedge setup on the horizon,just like laying a hardwood floor

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

As I am waiting both for glue to dry and a timber delivery to arrive,I thought now may be a good time to make some linings up for the ports of the main gun deck.I had come up with a simple design that through its shape would ensure consistency of size.This profile was machined on the MF70 out of 3mm Pearwood.The thickness will be hidden under the planking so I could afford to make something substantial.The idea being to machine the profiles,glue together and slice the box up into lengths sufficient to allow for the tumblehome.These will be glued in place and the inside and outside face shaped flush with the hull structure.the sequence of pics explain it better than anything.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[patrickmil]

Very nice little gun port boxes Nigel. This is a method I may steal for use in my endeavors. Great idea!

[AntiSpiral]

amazing method nigel, looks like a great idea.

[NAZGÛL]

You got such a clean result and it gives scale to her. Perfect! 

 

 

/Matti

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Patrick,Admiral and Matti I wanted something that the inside dimension would be fixed by the milling work ensuring consistency and also wouldn't rely on a jig for accuracy.With these I just applied glued and squeezed the assembly together in the bench vise.Hardest part is making sure I got all the excess glue off the inside .

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[tkay11]

Nigel, could you say who your supplier of the black tissue paper is in the UK. My initial search came up with sites that do not specify the weight of the paper.

 

Thanks

 

Tony

[NMBROOK]

Hi Tony

That one is easy,and they have a branch near you I should imagine,WHSmith   It was their site that listed the black paper and gave the weight.There were some other sites I looked at,mainly bulk stationary suppliers that gave larger weights.I just bought another 5 packs of tissue yesterday just in case there is a sudden national shortage If you visit their store the tissue paper is next to the wrapping papers

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Keith_W]

Nigel, you fit those pieces of wood together so tightly that i'm sure that your ship would hold a vacuum if you decided to make her airtight. 

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Brian and Keith Originally I had hoped that I would be able to follow the drawings to a much greater extent than I normally do Brian,however because of the simplification of both the stern and beakhead in the kit(there isn't anything wrong with the kit,I just want mine to accurately reflect the model in the NMM)it has had knock on effect.I will cover this in my next post,which is due very shortly

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[NMBROOK]

I have completed the basic 'inner' hull structure to the starboard side.As I am waiting for a timber delivery I thought I may as weel sort out the lower gunport linings.After studying Euromodels drawings and also pics of the builders model,it became apparent there were differences not just in the position of gunports but also the height  and shape of the top of the hull sides.Because I want to reflect the design of the NMM model I would have to address these areas.The most notable fact is there is a gunport right forward on the museum model that is missing on Euromodels representation.Looking at the design you would probably only get a musket in there,but it is there nevertheless.Also the stern galleries are very different and you will notice the gunports are close up to this.This basically meant starting from scratch and the bulk of the ports were moved aft slightly.An additional port would then fit in at the beakhead,but also the first and last port on the main gun deck are spaced differently.My revised design reflects this. 

There is a three page article in John Franklin's book covering the builder's model which gives the exact gunport sizes and wale scantlings and spacings.The Euromodel kit design shows upper wales that are too small in comparison.In order to get things to work the top edge of the hull has been increased in height to compensate for this.You will notice the additional pear laminations on the top edge,the bulkheads are too short to run to the top.The lower of the pear strips has been 'dowelled' with 0.7mm copper wire into every pear upright.This has resulted in an incredibly strong hull wall even before planking.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[patrickmil]

That is a beautiful hull Nigel. Fantastic work!

[NAZGÛL]

Such nice lines! Everything looks top notch Nigel!

 

 

/Matti

[NMBROOK]

Thank you very much indeed Patrick,Geoff and Matti for your kind words   On to the next,smaller update.I decided to carry on with this side as I still hadn't got my timber.I moved on to the gunports on the next deck.These are different in that many fall in the unplanked,exposed frame area.There is no option but to do them properly.An interesting point is that I am following the information in John Franklin's book as to the gunport sizes taken from the builders model,the main gun deck ones work out at 13mm W x 12mm H,the upper ones are 8mm square!!.I made a simple strip to slot between each side to ensure the cills ran true to the waterline athwartships and cut the rebates out with a burr and scalpel.I also made some simple sanding sticks up to ease the process,notably one wide enough to span between both frames to keep each side level.The excess will be sanded off after the top and bottom cills have been glued in place.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Mirabell61]

Nigel,

 

I love that hull and the lines of that ship, beautiful build

 

Nils

[NMBROOK]

Thank very much indeed for your kind words Nils Yes she has wonderful lines,I don't think there is one straight line anywhere

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

[Ferit]

Hi Nigel,

I salute your craftsmanship...

[NAZGÛL]

Nice way to solve the size! Vasas gunports vary so much in size it would drive anyone insane to get them all right...

 

I'm really looking forward to see her planked.

 

 

/Matti

Edited April 28, 2014 by NAZGÛL

[Vivian Galad]

Going pretty well. Great hull work!