HMS Pegasus by Landlubber Mike - Amati/Victory Models - Scale 1:64

[riverboat]

Hey Mike, you ought to ask your brother to order you some drill bits that they use , they are really small, i tried to get some from my dentist but to no avail. Might be just the ticket for what you're doing. ( just a thought).

 

Frank

[mtaylor]

Mike,

 

Have a look at Jano's work also.   And there's a fairly good tutorial on the Lumberyard page: http://www.dlumberyard.com/articles.html.

 

As for the tiny bits... dental burs.  I bought a bunch at a good price on e-bay.  New are pricey but if you can bide your time, there's some really good deals there.

 

I'm scared to death of the carving, but getting more confident as I start doing it.  Worst that can happen is "feed the scrap box.".

[Martin W]

I got my burrs from Livesay's.  Like Frank, I have an overly suspicious dentist, and one who holds no familial relation to me.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Landlubber Mike]

Oh, dental drill bit would be a good option wouldn't they.  Mark, thanks for the link to the Lumberyard site - lots of good tips there.  

 

I'm not too worried about carving.  Larger three-dimensional carvings like figureheads would of course be more complicated, but i think with a little practice and the right tools, the little details that can be made from relief carvings shouldn't be that bad.  Frankly, there have been a number of things in this hobby that seem really difficult and too intimidating, but after trying, they aren't all that bad.  Spiling, sails, top and butt planking, etc. are some examples.  

[Landlubber Mike]

Made a little more progress on the Pegasus the last few evenings.  I stained the wales and upper hull below the wales using General Finishes Black Stain.  Martin, the stain actually maintained a lot of the definition between the planks, which I was very happy to see.  For my Lyme, since I'll be using pear for the bulk of the model, I'll probably go with GF Ebony Dye Stain.  It goes on thinner than the Black Stain, which is interesting as I would think by the name that the "Dye Stains" would actually be more like paint when the opposite is actually the case.  I went with the Black Stain here because I'm going to be using the stain on a mixture of woods, including the kit walnut for some pieces and the MDF (e.g., the stem), so I needed something that would give an even color across different woods.

 

 

 

I also installed the port linings for the gun ports and the sweep ports.  I used redheart for the linings, with 0.6mm for the gunports and 0.30mm for the sweep ports -- all cut with my Byrnes table saw which continues to amaze me with its precision.  Because they are inset relative to the upper hull planking, I figured I would install them now and then butt the second planking up against the linings.  The linings are on the bottom and sides only, so I used General Finishes Cranberry Red for the upper part of the ports.  Took quite a while, but it's a nice little touch I think.  Probably won't be able to see much of them when the second planking is on, but I figured I would try anyway.  I feel like I'm a bit cross-eyed working with such small strips!

 

 

 

Next up is to install the upper hull second planking.  The drawback of using redheart for the bulkhead extensions is the fact that it's a weaker wood, and a few of them snapped during the hull construction.  So, right now my gunport patterns extend out laterally more than they should near the center of the hull at the quarterdeck area.  I'm hoping that if I clamp the gunport patters with the quarterdeck support beams while adding the second planking and bulwark planking, hopefully that planking will hold the upper hull in the proper shape.  If not, tightly clamping the upper hull planking against the quarterdeck support beams with some epoxy should hopefully get things right (fingers crossed).

Edited January 10, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[jwvolz]

Looking great Mike. The planking finished up nicely. 

[ianmajor]

Mike,

 

That is looking really good. As you say the staining allows the planking to show up well. I think this will really become apparent when you photograph the ship outside in the daylight which gives a nice defused light.

 

I keep reading about folks using the Byrnes table saw. I would love to have one but sadly can't justify it.

Edited January 11, 2016 by ianmajor

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much guys, really appreciate it.  Ian, you get along just fine with the tools you have so the Byrnes saw isn't necessary.  Plus, less chance for you to lose a digit or two - it always makes my posterior pucker up when I turn it on    

 

I need to get better pictures.  I have resorted to using my iPhone as it is easier than my Sony camera (which has a bigger light sensor) to move pictures to the computer.  I'm trying to be very careful on exposing the ship to sunlight because the redheart has already started changing to more of an orangey-brown color.  The redheart that is sitting in my basement is as bright red as when I got it from Hobbymill, but over time working on the ship upstairs, the redheart has slowly started turning.  I'm not too concerned as I knew that would happen anyway - apparently, even adding a finish to the wood won't stop that process.  Everything should mellow into a nice color at the end I would hope.

[Landlubber Mike]

Last night while recovering from becoming cross-eyed from adding the sweep port linings, I did some planning and research for the upper hull.  Part of the trickiness is the fact that I'm using two different colored stains, one for the upper hull planking in brown, and blue for frieze background.  I was hoping that the planking lines would generally line up with the changes in colors, but no such luck of course.  So, the plan is to install the brown planks first and stain them, then install the blue planks, and cover up the seam between the two color changes with the various rails.  Should work I hope - just need to be careful that the blue stain doesn't bleed too far onto the brown planks.  I'm considering adding a super thin gap between the two sets of planks which will be covered by the rails.  Fingers crossed.

 

Fixed blocks.  It looks like I also need to install fixed blocks in the waist of the upper hull (one single, one double).  Tricky, because one side will be the color of the hull planking, and the other, which faces into the bulwarks, will have to be red.  So, I think I'll be making the blocks with redheart on one side and pear on the other.

 

Extra sweep port.  Quick question on the extra sweep port for you Swan Class builders.  From TFFM and the NMM plans, it looks like there is an extra sweep port in front of port 7.  The kit has sweep ports fore and aft of ports 3-5.  I'm a little confused because I see that BE on his Pegasus and Dan Vadas on his Vulture added extra sweep ports in front of ports 6 and 7, and Martin only added an extra sweep port in front of port 6.  I'll probably go with just adding one in front of port 7, because the steps along the side of hull (I forget what they are called) seem to be right in front of the port 6.  But, whenever smarter people than me take a different approach, I always try to take a step back and figure out if I made a mistake - which is usually the case! 

[Martin W]

Hi Mike -- My NMM plans of the Fly show a sweep port in front of port #6, but not 7.  Now, I've proven myself fully capable of mis-reading the NMM plans before, but I just now stood and stared at them for several minutes and that's still my reading.  You're right about those steps, though, the sweep port is smack in the middle of them.

 

The fixed blocks gave me a bit more of a problem than I had thought they would, and I really mean in their fabrication.  I didn't have the challenge you do of matching different colors, but I did have problems cutting the sheaves as neatly and symmetrically as they should be.  That was one of many times that I went cross-eyed!  I can really understand why people like the larger scale.

 

Oh, and your stain does look good on the wales -- the T&B shows up nicely.  Maybe I put on too many coats?  As for the possibility of bleeding, I had no problem at all with that, since as a water-based stain, the GF doesn't seem to penetrate the wood in the same way as an oil stain. 

 

I was looking at my capstan last night -- made out of redheart -- and noticed that even with a polyurethane finish it's definitely mellowed, even into something approaching russet.  I still like it, though.

 

Keep at it!

 

Martin

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Martin!  I'll have to take another look at my plans.  I'm pretty sure that the extra sweep port was in front of #7, but I should double-check.  What a pain - I'll have to cut a hole and line two more sweep ports.

 

I'm not looking forward to the blocks.  I'm considering adding metal sheaves inside them, but I think if I open that door, I might be stuck customizing all the blocks on the build.  

 

For the stain, I applied one solid coat, a second very quick light coat, and then some touch ups.  I like stains rather than paints because they spread very nicely and don't result in thick spots like with paint.  How many did you use?  Did you use a sanding sealer?  I thought about it, but decided not to as the black has very even coverage.  I might explore it with the blue friezes though.

 

I'm not going to fight the redheart.  Seems pointless from everything I've read.  The russet color is very nice, and not as stark as the bright red of the freshly cut redheart so I think it would work very nicely in the end.  For future builds, I might consider sticking with pear and staining it with one of the GF finishes if I want a redder look.  The Cranberry Red is a really nice color.  Did you have trouble with the capstan darkening too much in the end grain sides with the polyurethane?  I found that tung oil darkened the end grain to almost black, but varnish preserved the underlying wood color.

[Martin W]

Hi Mike -- I didn't put any oil on  the redheart, which is something of a departure from my usual practice after sanding.  I simply sanded the completed capstan -- going from a 180 grit to 400 -- and then put the poly on.  Some of the discarded pieces that I stuck in a box in a drawer have kept their bright redness, but not the capstan itself.

 

And I think I see what I did wrong in staining the wales -- I put on 2 coats, without thinning either.  That thickness is surely what obscured the T&B pattern.  Ahh!  we learn -- and hope that we'll remember!!

 

As I recall, my fixed blocks are only about 3/8" long, which doesn't provide a whole heck of a lot of room for detail, unless you have a steady hand, sharp eyes, and a milling machine. 

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Mike, re sweep ports;

 

They are shown on the Pegasus plans both forward of ports 6 and 7. A sweep port does fall between the side steps forward of port 6 which I thought looked awkward and would make the operation of the sweep very difficult.

 

I took the entirely arbitrary decision to modify the side steps on my Pegasus to accommodate the sweep by shortening the length of the two steps adjacent to it.

 

B.E.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much guys.  BE, you're right about the sweep ports in front of both 6 and 7.  I missed the one in front of 6 the first time because it sits right between the steps.  I spent the day today cutting out and lining the four new ports.  Now, it's time to start the upper hull planking.

 

Thanks very much for looking in!

[xken]

Mike,

Thanks for the reference to your build. You are doing a great job and like you I may have to do a little experimenting as well.

Thanks again and keep up the great job you are doing. I will be visiting again and looking over your shoulder. 

Ken

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow, time flies.  It's been a while since my last update, but I've made some slow, steady progress.

 

I'm using the hull planking pattern in TFFM.  I've also mentioned that I'm planning to use stains in lieu of paints on the upper hull planking.  The hull between the wales and the friezes will be a darker brown, the friezes blue, and the top of the upper hull/bulwarks will be red using redheart.  Cutting custom planks and ensuring that the planking runs are correct, along with ending the border planks properly so that I can cover any bleeding of the stains from one section to another with the rails is time consuming, to say the least.  It didn't help that my first run above the wales was slightly off, which I didn't see until I had finished most of the second line of planks - it was one of those moments where I considered just dealing with it and moving on, but I'm very glad I removed all the planks and started over.

 

Here are a couple of pictures where I am now.  I've finished the first section of the upper hull planking, and stained that section, which was planked using pear, with General Finishes Antique Oak.  I'm really happy with the richness of the stain.  I was able to get a "walnut" feel without the walnut issues of uneven color, splintering, etc.  I did some tests using a pre-stain conditioner, but I didn't like how it ended up muting the richness of the stain.  Sorry that the pictures are not the greatest, my lighting isn't very good, especially with it being overcast for the last few weeks.

 

 

 

 

The friezes will be stained using General Finishes Blue Stain.  On earlier posts on my log, I had tested it on maple and pear. The maple was too bright, and the pear was a tad too dark.  I tried it on boxwood and like Goldilocks and the three bears, the color was just right.  So, I'm working on that section now.  

 

It's tricky because I decided to add the fixed blocks in the waist.  There is a single block just aft of the third gunport, and a double block just forward of the fifth gunport.  These intersect the planking lines, so more custom planks will need to be cut  to fit around the blocks.  Also complicating matters is that I will be planking the inner bulwarks using redheart, so the outside of the block will be in boxwood and the inside in redheart.

 

To account for the depth of the block, I glued a strip of 1mm boxwood onto a relatively thick piece of redheart.  From there, I used my Byrnes disc sander to get the blocks down to about 7.2mm in length, 2.6mm and 3.5mm in height for the single and double blocks, respectively, and about 3.5mm in depth so that I had something to work with and sand back to.  Then I placed the blocks in my Sherline mill to drill the sheave holes.

 

 

 

 

Was my first time using a mill, and it took a little trial and error to figure out how to work it, but I was really happy with the results.  No way I could drill holes that lined up as perfectly as with the mill.  I can see using the mill a lot for future work to get this type of precision.  I need to clean them up a bit and gouge out a little area between the holes, but they came out pretty well I think.  Hooray for power tools!

Edited May 22, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

As I have been marking the hull for the lines of the various rails, it looks like I might need to sand back the top of the plywood gunport patterns in the first few centimeters near the bow.  It seems like the patterns sweep up a little high at the bow, and so the area above the drift rail under the forecastle ends up getting higher as you approach the stem.  I took some pictures which hopefully show what I'm trying to describe:

 

 

 

 

Looking at the plans, I think that area should be the same height throughout.  I think it's just a matter of sanding back the plywood pattern a bit near the bow, but before I did, I was wondering if anyone else building the Swan class had this issue?  Also, would it be incorrect to have the uppermost plank in that area cross over the line of the stem?  I'm thinking of doing to so to get the cleanest line just over the stem, rather than try to match up two plank ends on a very rounded part.

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited May 22, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[Blue Ensign]

Don't know if it helps Mike but this is an early stage of my fitting of the foredeck and planning out the planking.

 

 

You can see that the forward end of the pattern does rise increasingly above the deck as it meets the stem. This will be necessary for when you come to fit the catheads and other fixtures.

 

I wouldn't be too quick to sand down the patterns, there is plenty of time to so once the Foc'sle deck is in if you feel it needs tweaking.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks very much BE.  You're right that I should hold off as I can always sand things down later.  

 

I couldn't tell from your pictures, but does the area above the drift rail (what you painted red) get progressively taller as you hit approach the stem?  From the plans and the NMM plans, it looks like the area stays the same height, but the gunport patterns, at least the way I've installed them, suggest that it's not a consistent width.  

 

It could also be that I mismarked my drift rail and other rail lines.

[mtaylor]

Nice work, Mike.  It's great to see progres. 

 

One thought though it's too late now.  When you're drilling holes for sheaves and fixed blocks, while still on the mill after drilling holes, you can connect the holes (instead of using a gouge or files) by using the drill bit (or change out to a mill bit of the same size) and make that groove.  Try it on some scrap next time and you'll see what I mean.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks Mark.  Really great idea.  I was using a regular drill bit, and not a milling bit.  I thought about doing that, but I will have to sand the block back to get it to fit into the surrounding planking, so I don't know how deep to go with the connection just yet.  I was thinking about using a small file once the blocks are installed and sanded back to do so (maybe starting them ahead of installing them).

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Mike, this is how mine looks from the outside.

 

 

Externally it looks fairly consistent above the rail.

 

B.E.

[Landlubber Mike]

Thanks BE.  That picture really helps.  I must have mis-measured my rail lines, or perhaps my gunport patterns are slightly off from where they should have been installed.I had to open up the bowsprit hole so I think I must have been a bit off.

 

By the way, really clean lines, wow.  You really set the bar high for the rest of us  

[mtaylor]

Mike.... I tried to send you a PM but your inbox says it's not taking any messages...????  

[Martin W]

By the way, Mike, congratulations on your power tools.  The Sherline is the best.  I'll be interested to hear how you put that and the sander to work.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Landlubber Mike]

The Byrnes sander is probably my most used tool.  I've tried things like the "sand-it," sanding blocks and the like, but nothing can approach the power tool approach of getting precise straight edges and corners.  

 

The Byrnes table saw is probably my next most-used tool.  So far I've only used it for cutting planks and some of the deck items, but I'm looking forward to using it to build other things like the gun carriages.  Like the sander, the table saw is great for cutting precise pieces with straight edges.  When you add things like the taper jig, you can cut things like the stern post and rudder and other longer angled pieces with straight edges where it might be hard to use a sanding block to achieve the same results given the length.  I love the table saw, but you have to respect it - turning it on always makes my posterior pucker up a tad.

 

I also have the Byrnes thickness sander, but I rarely use it.  I used it on my aborted Lyme build to sand down piece of plywood that I used to replace the warped keel, and use it here and there when my stock wood is slightly thicker than what I need.  I saw a video of one of the Russian masters who seems to routinely use it to quickly get a nice finish on completed parts.

 

The Sherline tools are really nice.  I bought the mill and lathe used a while back on eBay to save money, and have cobbled together various accessories as well when I've seen deals.  Maybe a tad overkill for what I would use them for since I'm not scratch building open-frame models, but after reading TFFM and seeing what people are using them for here, I'm excited by their functionality - if my wife ever asks, I'll just blame Ian for making me feel like I needed them after seeing his detail work on his Unicorn.   The mill in particular has a lot of cool features one can use it for.  I used to have the Proxxon mini-lathe which was a godsend when I was building the masts and spars on my Badger, but I figured I'd upgrade to the Sherline which is a little bigger and can also do metal.  The add-on accessories can also be used on the mill which is a nice touch.

 

The last tool I have is the Dewalt scroll saw, which I bought on Craigslist for a really great deal (a hobby furniture maker near me bought it on a whim at a show, got it home, turned it on once to see if it worked, and then realized he had no need for it).  I've used this quite a bit.  For the Pegasus, I used it to cut out the bulkhead tops out of redheart.  I also recently used it for my Morgan to cut out a new stem in pear.  It's also my go-to tool to quickly cut out a small piece of wood that I then sand down to straight edges on the sander (it's easier than resetting the table saw, especially when the rip fence is locked in place and I need it in the future to make repeated cuts in that width).

 

Using the tools has been fun if you're into that sort of thing.  Certainly they can be expensive, but if you don't mind used machines, you can get great deals on Craigslist, eBay, etc.  Of course there are people that strictly use hand tools and come out with models much better than I can ever dream of approaching.

Edited May 26, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[Landlubber Mike]

I've been making slow progress on my Pegasus.  I completed the first strake of planks for the frieze area - using the TFFM planking pattern, I counted 26 planks per side from the frieze area on up, and so far I've gotten 10 done per side.  The next strake is a little tricky as the planks have extensions over the gunport, need cut-outs for the fixed blocks in the waist, and one pair have a scarph joint.  I'm using boxwood, which is a really really nice wood to work with.  Very similar to pear, if not a tad better to work with.  

 

I mentioned earlier that I thought the bulwarks came up too high over the stem.  Here is a picture that shows what I mean:

 

 

 

Looking at the Amati plans, the bulkwarks should barely extend of the bowsprit - and the NMM plans show and even narrower section of the bulwarks extending over the bowsprit:

 

 

 

 

I ran some masking tape to mark the upper line of the waist rail.  Here is the line which matches the run of the planking:

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I think this is a little high at the stem.  From what I can tell, the top of the waist rail should be approximately 5.5mm below where the top of the stem meets the hull (the lower frieze is about 5.5mm in height, and the top of that area ends right about where the top of the stem meets the hull).  So on the port side, I marked where I think the upper line of the waist rail should end up (about 2mm lower), and marked the edge of what should be the top of the bulwarks at the stem as well.  

 

 

 

 

This is a good picture to show how the run of the waist rail to the stem under both approaches, as well as how much of the gunport pattern will need to be sanded off:

 

 

 

Looking at the hull front on, the line dips slightly on the port side, meaning I would have to sand off the stain in that section.  I think the cleanest thing will be to just stick with the planking lines as is, though I think the waist rail line at the stem probably will be a tad high (the line is likely in the middle of both the starboard and port approaches).  I could add in a very slight taper to the planking as it approaches the stem to help bring the bulwarks down a little more.

 

I think all this bears out that my initial gut that the gunport patterns sat too high at the stem.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[Martin W]

Hi Mike -- I commiserate with you on this (and I think anyone building from the kits would as well).  The problem with the stem was one of the reasons I pulled the gunport strip off repeatedly.  In the end I decided that the alignment of the guns in the ports would matter more, and so I sought a consistent distance from deck to bottom of port.  Even that led to numerous problems, but it did have the positive effect of taking my mind off the stem.

 

cheers,

 

Martin

[Landlubber Mike]

Hey Martin and Spyglass, thanks for looking in.  After looking at the many Swan class logs on here, I think my gunport patterns are right in line with the rest of everyone else's.  So that's a good thing.

 

Spy, I don't know what exactly my problem is, but it's most likely that I'm just way overthinking things    If I was painting the model, things would be much easier - run the waist rail, paint the frieze background, add the friezes, add the sheer rail, and so on.  By using stains, I'm trying to measure with precision where the rails need to end up because I'm switching from pear (dyed brown) to boxwood for the friezes (dyed blue) to redheart for the upper area above the drift rail.  I've been trying to take exact measurements off the plans, and it seems like there should be very little bulwark above the bowsprit, especially if you look at the NMM plans.  Every Swan class on here seems to be on the higher side, especially relative to the NMM plans. 

 

My sense is that the patterns do run a little high at the stem, and it's good to see that you also found that you need to take a bit off the "peak" at the stem.  Makes me feel like I'm in good company.  It would be nice if Amati noted in the instructions and plans where extra material, if any, existed on the gunport patterns.  And you're right about my freestyle lines - that's why I broke out the blue tape to at least start with the waist rail.  Once I've set that line, I can use a compass to draw the line for the sheer rail and drift rail, since the areas between those rails should be consistent throughout.

 

I think I'm just going to go by feel on this and run the waist rail and other rails where it looks best.  The difference between the starboard and port tape lines is only on the order of 1.5mm or so, and much of it will be covered by the headworks anyway, so I'll try to not make myself too crazy on all this.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Landlubber Mike

[Beef Wellington]

Mike - think you are dealing with the same issue that had my head spinning.  My solution was to slap myself around the head a few times and ensure that I had left a little bit extra height that I could then come back and shave away once the the decorative pieces were in place to make it 'look' correct.  Nice progress!