HMS Druid by kruginmi - 1:48 - cross-section - Hahn

[kruginmi]

Excuse me while I get my sea legs again.....but with the start of fall my workshop has come alive again.

 

I wanted to start with something smaller, so opted for the mast top supports.  Nothing too huge or taxing but it did involve careful measuring and a couple of slots....

 

 

The whole mast will be primed and painted - the mast head black.  Doesn't look too shabby for something that will be almost totally hidden before everything is done!  It is still totally removable for work on the platform.

 

 

Stay Building my Friends,

Mark

[Omega1234]

Good to see you back, Mark!

 

Nice work as always!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Omega1234]

How's your marathons going?

[kruginmi]

Thanks for asking Patrick.  Finished my third (and last) ~Olympic Triathlon of the season two weeks ago.  Hung up my bike at least for this year.  Pretty happy with my results, now to get flabby (and modeling) again.  I need to be in some sort of shape to deal with the two teenagers in the house - so much drama.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Hi Mark

 

You definitely have my respect! Speaking of bikes, last week I placed an order for a new road bike. Should be a dream to ride, but, I wouldn't have a hope in hell of keeping up with you.

 

I hope your health stays good and all the best!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Edited September 22, 2015 by Omega1234

[kruginmi]

Getting back into it means re-igniting a lot of brain cells and old memories.  Returning to the hull I spent a few hours sanding (and more sanding) (and more sanding) to get the whole hull trued up inside and out - primarily on the upper untouched surfaces.  I think I am now pretty close.

 

Using the power of the Hahn method, transferring the plan key points to the hull was done quickly and very accurately.  This included the top railing location (cut off point from the jig), gun and forecastle deck beams, and the four gun ports included in this cross section:

 

 

The biggest lines to add are the main chains, which I need to use another sheet of the plans to locate.  My next jobs are to cut and insert the gun port linings and also add the other deck clamps.  This will allow me to add the actual deck beams and get the mast footing in and all lined up.

 

As a side project I am starting to think through the crew.  This will not be a sterile cross section.  I got for last Christmas the following 1/48 figures:

 

 

My initial list shows the following requirements:

Cannon Crew:  3 figures

Officer:  2 figures

Deck Scrubber:  1 figure

Rigger on Spar:  2 figures

Ratline climbers:  2 figures

Person in hold:  1 figure

People in hammocks:  2 figures

 

Am I missing anyone?  That would be 13 figures.  I am going to sort through the 36 figures (2 of each pictured) and start defining who will be used for what.  There will be amputations, putty and maybe even some molded parts.  A nice side project when things are drying.

 

Another consideration I have to figure out sooner than later is what type of paint to use (and also primer).  This will be a painted ship.  The hull will be yellow and black (blue accents), gun deck red (except the floor), everything below deck white.  Mast will be white with Black tops.  I will need to start doing some experimentation on some extra basswood.

 

I need to get the wales black before adding additional planking next to it - much easier.  Still undecided on coppering the bottom or just painting white.

 

That is enough for now,

Mark

[kruginmi]

More progress, The cobwebs are being cleaned out!

 

Next was the linings for the gunports.  With everything planked and painted I was not going for actual methods here (plus it follows the same method I used on the full hull model).  First issue was to reinforce the ribs where the cuts are to occur so I added spacers.  I wanted the resultant cut to result in a firm ledge for the base sill so I insured the correct angle with a piece of wood that went all the way through the hull.  Then the spacer material was slid in, marked then cut.

 

 

After gluing in top and bottom sill I again used the long piece of wood to verify it was laying flat.  You can see the port templates I made to continually check the resultant hole was consistent with the other ones and correct with regards to the plans.

 

 

The side sills were then measured and cut out in a similar manner.  Then once again a whole lot of gentle sanding to get the hull back into the correct profile.  The top of the second gun port is the railing so the rest of the rib (jig) was removed since it was no longer required.

 

 

These sills need to get painted red prior to planking the outside - which will be yellow.  Next up are the gun and forecastle deck clamps.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Beautiful and precise work, Mark!

[Mirabell61]

beautiful work on that section Mark

 

Nils

[kruginmi]

I thought about it, then thought about some more, then gave myself more time to think about it.  I could think of no overriding reason that the base was still needed with it's current state and all the lines transferred that I could think of.

 

So......

 

 

Big day in the Krug household, the Druid-X is free.  I added the main mast to provide some sense of proportion.  This thing is going to be tall, that is for sure.

 

Next task is going to be the deck beams and then the mast step.  I am hopeful the completed decks will slide (easily) in and out.  That will help with fitting, gluing and access.

 

The vision is starting to take shape.

 

Keep Building my Friends,

Mark

[Omega1234]

Hi Mark

 

Looking good and it's nice to be free.

 

It's good when a vision starts to come together.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[mtaylor]

Looking good, Mark.  Keep the vision going... you're getting there.

[kruginmi]

With the hull structure totally accessible adding the berth and gun deck beams was straight forward:

 

 

This caused one of those, ummmm moments.  You can see my 1/48 scale figure posed on the orlop deck - all 6 ft of him.  Looking at it from a different angle:

 

 

You can see the guy would have to almost crawl to get around down there.  My guess is 6 ft wasn't the optimum height for sailors.  Do I need to modify the figures for height??  Luckily the only thing that will be going on in the orlop will be 2 people in their hammocks grabbing some shut eye so I can skirt the issue.  But I need to think about even those on the main deck (and above).  Would 6 foot tall crewman appear correct with the rest of the scene?  On a side note I am working on having the beams/decks as assembled being removable as a unit until I choose to affix them permanently.  Much easier to work the details and paint this way.

 

For painting I visited a local wood specialty shop and was steered towards General Finishes water based sanding sealer for my first coat (usable over even wood that won't be painted).  Then I had been thinking about using Model Color acrylics for the actual paint.  I created a test paint area and laid down the sealer and paints.  Where their was no sealer the paint was absorbed very quickly and faded out as expected.  The sealed areas still seemed moist 5 minutes later, but much more vibrant color.  I still will need a couple of coats (more if white / lighter colors) but that is to be expected with acrylics.

 

 

Finally I turned my eyes (and brain) skyward and have started the compressed instruction set of understanding all rigging.  With a subset of rigging (one mast) I need to start to understand what is and what is not present.  Secondly, what blocks are required and why.  Not an easy task.  The only thing to state is to keep at it and keep reviewing and things will start to fill in and make sense.

 

Stay Building my Friends,

Mark

[mtaylor]

Mark,

 

I think 6 foot was/is a bit tall for the period.  Nelson was 5'8" or so as I recall and tall for the era.  Even so, if the height from beam to beam matches the plans than it's probably correct.  Some of the deck spaces were pretty cramped.  I go down below the gun deck on "Licorne" and some of those spaces are only 2-3 feet high.

[kruginmi]

The berth deck height is correct, Mark.  My issue now is to decide whether to shorten the figures I have to bring them more into a 5' 6"  or less arena.  I can't just take a little from the torso, since their knuckles will drag on the floor - need to shorten the arms also.  This 'short cut' of getting base figures isn't getting so short anymore!

 

Maybe I will just put bandages around their heads to show where they keep bashing them against the beams!  Or to be safe, add scale yellow tape warning of the low overhead.....

 

Mark

[mtaylor]

I ran into that also, Mark.  Seems "scale" figures mean different things to different manufacturers.  So if he's a scale 6' then in reality it's 1-1/2" (38mm) high?   I'm wondering if there's 32mm high figures?  That would get him to 5' even.   I found 4 old AL figures for the Constellation, a 1:85 or so model but the figures worked out almost exactly for 1:64.  You might have to go the Hahn route and carve your own.... 

[kruginmi]

I have spent most of my time studying rigging, but decided to produce some results.  Next up was the top mast:

 

 

With the jigs and the process talked about in TFFM this wasn't too bad, and done in an evening.  Truth be told it did take two tries.  It is hard to see the octagonal section above the bottom square section but it is there.  It should pop with some paint.  It fits just snug into the main top trestle trees.  The top rope sheaves or fid hole have not been cut yet.

 

 

The same process will be used for the top gallant mast, but with thinner stock.  I cut the rough square stock out of basswood but think it is just a little too thin.  I will use boxwood for this - as well as the topmast trestle trees.  I couldn't help putting the top gallant plug in place:

 

 

The topgallant mast and associated trestle trees is the goal for this week.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Hi Mark

 

Looking really nice! I also gotta say that she's turning out to be a big model, as witnessed by your last couple of shots.

 

Irrespective of size, beautiful work, as always!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[kruginmi]

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

 

With a bit of time I decided to tackle the top gallant mast out of a piece of boxwood.  It was coming into shape pretty quick and I was liking the result when, bang, the top pole snapped off.  Too much pressure / not enough support.  From history I learned to take a breath (okay, I uttered some stuff first but then....) and calm down.  My first instinct was to go at it with another try, but it was a shame with the first one shaping up so well.

 

I leaned back and laid out my options.  I actually decided this was a good thing.  Better snapping now then when you are pulling on the backstay and the whole assembly comes off.  The wood here gets pretty thin so I decided to try something to provide some added strength.  I grabbed some thin walnut dowel I had nearby and drilled in a hole for it to sit - what could I lose.  With some glue and a good snug fit it didn't take too long to put in a much stronger replacement.  With some more walnut I added the cap and sanded to shape.  Lemonade out of lemons.

 

 

I am sorely tempted to not paint this piece and leave it as a nice capper to the mast assembly.  What started out as a negative has definitely turned into a huge positive.  I love this hobby.

 

Still some more sanding to do on the mast section itself.

 

Mark

[Omega1234]

Hi Mark

 

Sometimes it's amazing how much good fortune can come out of a simple mistake.

 

Good turn around, for sure!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[Canute]

Great save! Another idea for that bag of "tricks".

[kruginmi]

Rigging, rigging, rigging.  I am relatively new to the details of this subject and prior to going much farther on the masting work wanted to have a firm plan on what should be done when, specifically regarding blocks / thimbles / and collars.  Before I get into the details I am working three questions with respect to this cross section:

 

1.  Should I include rigging features that are used for the sails on the main mast, but have no termination. A good example are the braces.  The pendants can be quite long and will be left dangling since the forward connection points are not present.

2.  A related question are rigging features that are used for the mizzen or foremast.  A good example are the mizzen stays.  There are several collars on the main mast that would lead these stays to the deck below.

3.  Last are the temporary used features, like the topropes for raising the topmast into place.

 

My initial thoughts are:

1.  Include them, but shorten up the pendants so they don't stick out so much.  They will be empty blocks at the end of the pendants.

2.  Include them. Again, empty blocks.

3.  I would like to include these for education opportunities (both for me and people looking at the model).  I need to insure with all the other rigging place these can be in place.

 

For my education I am using TFFM - Antscherl, Rigging Period Ship Models (square rigged) - Petersson, Anatomy of the Ship (Endeavor) - Marquardt, Masting and Rigging of English Ships of War - Lee and Plans for the HMS Brilliant from the Smithsonian (prior to renaming Druid).

 

This is an American cargo ship converted to a British Sloop of war so there are lots of questions and deviations from any one source.  The first task was to understand what rigging lines I need to handle and what they touch.  This is captured in a spreadsheet still undergoing review (partially shown):

 

 

Green means there is a touch point between the line and the component listed at the top.  For my sanity I split the masts into component pieces.  Once complete I can look down through any column and insure every one of those touch points are handled (hopefully prior to putting on the model).

 

After tracing everything a couple more times and verifying them the next step will be to identify line diameters and block types and sizes (TFFM at its best).  Then I will feel confident enough to proceed.  My biggest issue was getting this global view.  For running rigging, the diagrams 'usually' don't include the details from the standing.  Something was always missing for simplicity.  This spreadsheet overcomes that issue.

 

Lots of learning.  I feel like I should re-read those Aubrey-Maturin books now, I would have a MUCH better understanding of the at sea events.

 

Mark

Edited October 18, 2015 by kruginmi

[kruginmi]

This is an updated partial look at my DRUID rigging details spreadsheet, centered on main mast connections.  I am liking this more and more.  This will be pretty standard for detailed rigging systems in the future for me:

 

 

If you read across any row you can identify all rigging lines that are accounted for and the run of the lines themselves.  So, for example, the Main Yard Jeers (7" line) has a one 20" double block attached to the yard, two 20" single blocks lashed to the Main Mast Head, a double block attached on the deck by the mast then a second double block for mechanical gain, then on to a sheave in the rail prior to affixing to the pin rail.

 

If you read down any column, you can see what connections any one part should have.  So the Main Top Gallant yard is exactly identified (all the sail work lines are farther down out of view).

 

I am still working through the sheet from several different angles to insure its completeness.  Next steps are to identify the lay of each line and also whether any serving is required.  Lots of in depth learning which is making me very comfortable with the subject matter.

 

mark

Edited October 20, 2015 by kruginmi

[kruginmi]

So after finally settling down on understanding the number and type of lines, I can move into the job of estimating what type of work I have in front of me with regards to blocks.  Currently I am showing 132 blocks are needed for this cross section (wow).  For the basic type (single and double) there are:

 

 

So you can see the actual ship had 12 varieties of these from 5" to 20".  For the model on a first pass I am looking at cutting this down to 8 types from 1/8" to 3/8".  So, for example, the 5, 6 and 7 inch single blocks are combined to the 1/8" scale block.  The question now is whether or not I should combine more, to like three of each type.  Feedback welcome.

 

For the rest of the blocks, the numbers are much smaller (besides the dead eyes):

 

 

There are one offs that I can think about actually making without going a little crazy.  Still need to go over the blocks again and am sure to add more - the biggest mistake I keep making is to double shown quantities to account for port and starboard.

 

Really enjoying the process, hope to start building again soon!

Mark

[kruginmi]

Whew - after many reviews and open books spread across the table and a lot of "A-HA' moments I think I am finally over the rigging plan.  These charts will be invaluable for this build.

 

Final Tally:

- 71 lines have connections to the main mast and are accounted for

- 142 total blocks will be necessary to rig this thing up.

- 3 to at most 5 line widths will be used.  Once I get my ropewalk up and running this number will fall out of the thread choice and resultant windings.

 

I am not putting on stud sails / booms - and so no lines above reflect this option.

 

My latest 'senior' moment was figuring out why the ratline shrouds were 10" line, that is huge.  Well, finally had the light bulb and realized the line dimensions were in circumference and not diameter.  So this meant a 3.5" line which makes sense.  

 

Now to think about cutting some wood.

Mark

Edited October 23, 2015 by kruginmi

[dgbot]

You are doing a wonderful job Mark. I am learning new thing every time I read your log. Be glad you are building the criss section and not the full hull. You would have trouble finding room to work on it.

David B

[kruginmi]

Thanks David,

 

One of the most common questions I have gotten on my full size hull model (same scale) is why I didn't rig / complete it.  Having this as a companion piece drives the answer to that question home.  Also, not to make light of anyone, it will show that the hull was truly planked all the way to the keel - another common question, and having the ribs exposed was not the norm.  Bringing wooden ship concepts to the masses - never a bad thing.

 

The width of the Druid-X will make it sit very nicely on the mantel, close to the full hull.

 

Mark

[kruginmi]

Time for some progress.  I turned towards the main mast cap. 

 

I used a circle stencil to figure out the correct diameter of the top mast at the tenon and chose the drill bit accordingly. A good snug fit that was fine tuned with some sand paper.  Now I needed to work on the tenon onto the mast itself.

 

Thought about how I was going to do it.  First the result:

 

 

I did add a little mast exposed above the mast cap, just like the look.  How did I accomplish this?  How about the following pic:

 

 

That's right, there really isn't a tenon.  I cut off the mast at the appropriate height, drilled a hole through the mast cap for a 1/16" dowel into the mast itself, and then finally added a faux mast piece on top of the dowel.

 

Still a lot of shaping and tuning up, to include the metal hoops, bolsters, etc etc.  However I am happy with the result at this rough in stage.  Next up is the topmast to topgallant mast connections. 

 

Mark

[mtaylor]

Sheer genius. Mark

[Omega1234]

HI Mark

 

I definitely concur with Mark's comment above.

 

Nicely done!

 

Cheers

 

Patrick