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Niagara by Rich_engr - Model Shipways - 1:64


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Hi Rich,

 

Your carronade look very good and I like the process method shown in the pictures. I do not know if I would have the patience needed to sand down all of the blocks.

Regards,

Larry

----------------------------------------------------

Current Build

US Brig Niagara

Completed Builds

George W Washburn - 1890 Tugboat

Future Builds

18th Century Longboat by MS

HM Cutter Cheerful

Wappen Von Hamburg by Corel

 

If your not making mistakes, your not challenging yourself – my life has been full of challenges :)

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Larry,

Thanks for the compliment! I develop my processes as I go so I can speed things up a little and (most importantly) have repeatable results/quality. For sanding the blocks, I just came up with a jig- just some planks that make a trough that's as wide as the blocks, then load 20 or so in there, gently place in vice, and sand a side down. Flip bocks over and repeat. It's a lot easier than trying to hold w/ tweezers or fingers and sand 1 block at a time. :).

 

I promised some pics earlier, but the week has been busy. I'll work on getting some up tonight and show my deck and block sanding jig. :). (Oh, and my deck plank tapering jig too!)

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I would like to see these jigs. Anything to make the tedium go faster is always welcome.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Your deck looks excellent! Thanks for the pictures of those jigs. They will be helpful ideas down the road for sure. This forum has given me so many different ideas and approaches to try out on future builds.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Thanks Patrick!  Yes, one certainly needs to get creative in this hobby.  I'm glad you like my deck- I was somewhat intimidated by it since I wanted to do it right, and I'm pleased with the results.

 

As for my deck-planking jig, I'll try to get some pics up later- that one took some practice at first, then really sped things up a lot!!

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Again, post-picture post:  I think I'm making my seizings too long- maybe I only need 4-5 turns or so (don't know how many I have actually- should be counting those turns!!), especially since I'm trying to bring the size of stuff down to scale, like the blocks. 

 

More practice, and lots of stropping this week hopefully!  ;) 

 

(yes, I saw my deadeye on the carriage pulled out- I'll fix that.)

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Rich

With the deck. Have you thought about simulating plank lengths

with a 3-5 butt shift pattern. Or are you going to leave it as it is?

 

Regards

Ken

Under construction  US Brig Niagara

 

Completed  HMB Endeavour - Caldercraft

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The rope is looking very nice Rich. Those carronades are going to take some time, but will look excellent with your rigging.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Ken, I'm skipping the butts and I'm leaving it as it is. I thought about doing the butts, but I decided to stick with the simpler tapered look. I may do both butt-shift and tapered planks for the deck of my next build.

 

Patrick, thanks for the compliments! Yeah, the guns are going to take a while, but I think I can handle it now (again, getting over that "intimidation" factor). I just gotta sit down and knock them out in batches/stages. I also need to try the Blacken-it for the gun hardware, deadeyes, and rings. :)

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Not much to report for this evening, other than sanded down the remaining 50 DB's for the guns, tumbled them in my homemade block tumbler, and on the line drying with stain.  :)


The next few evenings will be stropping... or moving the lawn (depending on the weather).


This weekend I hope to face the Blacken-it and get the guns & all metal parts done.  :)
 

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Rich, one of the few benefits of living up north in Ohio is that yard work doesn't start for us until mid-April. Have fun with the guns. Besides the rigging, getting the guns in place is one of my favorite tasks on model ships.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Yeah, I know about the weather/seasons up there- I grew up in Pittsburgh. :). Last time I mowed was Feb here (temps have been ALL over the place, 29 the other night, 70 today, 82 on Monday- it's a crapshoot right now!). The guns are gonna be fun, but I probably need to do a few then make some deck stuff just to keep it interesting and not so single-tracked. So far the guns and the deck have been the most fun (planking the hull for me was like having a sprinter try to run a double marathon!). Definitely looking forward to trying my hand at the rigging- guns are good mini-practice right now. :)

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Here's how I strop the blocks:

 

1.  Basic components here are the 5/32 double blocks (DB's) and some 1 in long pieces of 0.020 in wire (from Michaels).

 

post-1342-0-05141600-1364439813_thumb.jpg

 

2.  I stick two drill bits the size of the reeve holes into a block to hold the DB's steady when I form the wire around them.  In this case I can stack up to 7 blocks at a time.

 

post-1342-0-39394200-1364439919_thumb.jpg

 

3.  With the wire formed around the block, I then use some small pliers and twist the end (maybe 1-2 turns, keeping it tight around the block) to form the "knot" at the top, while leaving one end longer (this end will be used to form the hook).

 

post-1342-0-08709200-1364440030_thumb.jpg

 

4.  Next, I use a #60 drill bit (size may vary depending on the size of hook) to bend the wire around to form the head/top of the hook.

 

post-1342-0-38328400-1364440196_thumb.jpg

 

5.  Finally, use a pair of nippers to slightly bend up the end and cut the excess off, leaving a nicely formed hook at the top.

 

post-1342-0-04378100-1364440257_thumb.jpg

Edited by Rich_engr
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Rich, maybe I ought to put you in touch with some of the management at work to teach them efficiency and tenacity. But then again, there may be no help for my managers! LOL! Maybe you put something special in the grilled cheese to give you that energy boost. The stropped blocks look great and will show nicely with the carronade rigging.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Lol! Patrick, that's funny!! Yeah, I tend to look for efficient ways when doing things (my ocd engineer in me). My management team must know yours, but we are working to improve the situation here (Gemba anyone?). I doubt it was my grilled cheese- most likely was adrenaline/focus (which one would think a few cold ones would have relaxed me after mowing...)

 

Glad you like the blocks- I really hope when all is said and done, they still look ok scale-wise. We shall see. Over the weekend I'd like to have about 4 guns rigged so I can place them on deck to check the scale. :)

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Here's an idea as to my process/order of events for the build- this is a Gantt chart I made up during lunch one time (apologize for the bad scanned copy).

 

MS2240 Sched.pdf

 

Although I'm not necessarily keeping to the milestones and dates, it helps me stay somewhat organized and focused on one aspect at a time.  :)

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If I'm reading that correctly that puts you completing your Niagara in a little over two years?

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Yep, that's about right...  of course, since this is my first build, I am basically estimating the time for each step (masting, rigging, deck fixtures, guns, etc.).  Some things tend to go a lot faster than I expected, while others take a good bit longer.  One thing I am noticing is that as I gain experience, I can recover a lot more quickly and don't have to spend as much time re-tracing my steps if I don't work on her for a while. Also, I'm not constantly referring to the plans as my safety net- I can basically see how it's supposed to go, then refer to the plans for a specific location/reference point.  :)

 

Plus, I only have a few hours in the evenings and some on the weekends to work on it.  Keel was laid in April 2009 or so, and there's been over a year where I didn't work on her at all, but if my momentum keeps up I should be able to pull that "2 years from now" in a bit.  ;)

 

Nonetheless, I'm trying to do it right and incorporate as much fine detail as I feel comfortable with at this time- pushing my limits but knowing when to stop.  :)

 

As an update:  The other night I stropped all of the DB's for the guns, and last night I stropped around 70 of the SB's (some need reworked since the wires broke). 

 

Next up:  Finish the remaining 20 or so SB's and then seize the "pigtails" of the tackle lines to the SB's, followed by reeving the tackle.  Then I gotta cut and drill the remaining breech plates and finish the rest of the carriges, as well as blacken the guns and eyebolts.

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Ok...  now that I've finished stropping and have a few sets of tackle ready, I'm trying my hand with the Blacken-It for the gun hardware, with poopy results thus far.  :(

 

So far, I think the stuff likes the plain brass more than the brittania metal for the guns (although all produce some soot, but at least the brass is blackening).

 

Here's my process:

  1. Clean all parts in acetone for about 30mins or so.
  2. Rinse/soak in filtered water (this may be a problem, since I'm not sure if my filter on the fridge removes all metallic impurities).
  3. Pat dry
  4. Dip like metals (ie, Britannia metal guns in a batch, or brass in a batch- no mixing metals) in various solutions of Blacken-It.
  5. Solutions:  I've tried a 1:1 of B-I (Blacken-it) and filtered fridge water (produced a slight greying of the Britannia guns), and pure B-I (dusty-black on Britannia metal or a sooty-black on the brass).
  6. I let the parts sit in the solution for anywhere from 5-30mins, just to maximize reaction time, while gently shaking to ensure that all surfaces get exposed.

This picture shows the Britannia metal guns, the left one with the 1:1 ratio of B-I and water, the gun on the right is with pure B-I (bottom guns have only been cleaned).

 

post-1342-0-73489200-1364784558_thumb.jpg

 

post-1342-0-41001700-1364784540_thumb.jpg

 

These show the pure brass parts (eyebolts and breech straps, side plates).  These were left in the pure B-I solution for about 30mins:

 

post-1342-0-71659000-1364784509_thumb.jpg

 

post-1342-0-51368200-1364784476_thumb.jpg

 

post-1342-0-09472600-1364784420_thumb.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

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Rich, that Britannia metal doesn't blacken very well at all. In the end, I ended up priming and painting my carronades. For the last coat I sprayed from a further distance than normal and got a nice textured look to them.

Thanks,

 

Patrick

 

YouTube Channel for fun: Patrick's Scale Studio

Finished: Model Shipways US Brig Niagara

Current: I Love Kit USS Curtis Wilbur DDG-54

 

"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday"

- John Wayne

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Patrick,  thanks for the reassurance.  I thought something was weird with it- so I'll revert back to painting the guns, but keep the B-I for the brass parts.  Definitely helps! I'm not going to try to rewrite the laws of chem just to get the guns done.  lol

 

In other news, probably won't get much progress today since I'm booked with eye and dentist appointments....  so much for a personal day off of work~~  :huh:

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Ok...  first post of the layoff period...  over the weekend I painted the guns instead of using the B-I.  Also, I used the B-I for the brass eyebolts.  I might work on some breech and side plates today, just to let my mind relax a little so I can work out a plan for this "transition" and new job search.

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Ok- time for a little break from the job hunt... 

 

Basically what's going on with the build is I blackened all of the eyebolts and cut some wire for a ton of rings (guns, deck, blocks, etc.).  I need to finish painting the guns and make the remaining breech plates, then blacken those.  Also, I need to wipe the extra "soot" off the blackened brass parts since selenium and toxic metals aren't a part of my nutritional diet (as far as I know anyway...).

 

Once I get 4 full sets of carronade components I'll place them on deck to verify the scale, look & feel (should make for a good photo op that shows some actual progress!).  :)

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