Bracera (Brazzera) by Albuk

[Albuk]

Thank you, Anja and Elmir. That was the easy part, but I made (again!) the garboard plank to curve too much upwards at the bow which will result in having to use drop planks. I don't know how will the grooves between planks look like in that case (not very nice, I suppose) but, due to the shape of the hull, to do it right I would have needed to bend the strips laterally a lot more then I did. Strips that thin don't like been treated that way.

 

Alex

[sonicmcdude]

Nice build Alex... I will be around and wait for more pictures.. I think that the kit is nice too, and is pretty near to me, so maybe will be a third Bracera in the future after yours and Elmir's   

[Albuk]

Thank you Sinan. The Bracera is a nice vessel and you should have a lot of fun building it, especially that it lets you customize it as you wish (as did the builders and owners of the real ones). I will start posting new pictures as soon as I'm back from vacations.

 

Alex

[NenadM]

Good work, keep on

 

It is interesting how old Tehnodidakta plans live their second life

 

Nenad

[Albuk]

Thanks Nenade, hopefully I will finish the second layer of planking in the next couple of days (3 more planks!). I am really busy at my day job so I come back to tired to do some building.

 

Alex

[Albuk]

Finally, the second layer planking is over. I stained the planks with blue stain and although I like it, plywood didn't go as well. The layers are visible on stronger light. I'm still thinking whether to leave it as is, or paint.

 

Next, I will paint the hull below the water line with white matte color but before that, I have to do some metal work, for which I got my hands on a 0.3mm brass plate. The copper sheet that came with the kit is very, very thin... more suited for coppering.

[captainbob]

Just found your build.  Nice planking job and I like the way you opened up the hold in the center.

 

Bob

[Anja]

Hello Alex,

 

That is some very neat planking job.

Have you painted the hull below the waterline yet or are you still working on the brass plate?

 

Looking forward to your progress.

 

Anja

[Albuk]

Thank you Anja.

 

No, I haven't done anything on my Bracera build. I have bought a pet to my son, a parrot, so I was "evicted" from my work table for the time being. The funny part is that my wife was frowning at me for making a mess in the living room... you should see what a parrot does! Hopefully, the newcomer will get used to his new family soon so that I can reclaim my space and continue with the build that is taking too long already.

 

Cheers,

Alex

[NenadM]

Very nice and precise work, Alex

 

Keep on

[olliechristo]

This is a beautiful build, love the customised hold and way you aged the timbers, look forward to seeing this beauty progress along. Regards Ollie

[Albuk]

Thank you Nenad and Ollie. There will be some progress soon...

[Albuk]

And, five months later... rudder hinges are finished. I decided to use the brass sheet that I bought previously with a brass pipe and wire. I used a torch and silver solder to connect the pieces.

 

Continuing with metal work, I decided to make a grapnel anchor because the anchor that came with the kit is way too big for the scale and I don't beleive to have been used on this type of vessel.

 

I made the grapnel a little bigger than the drawing in the plans. Luckily it looks OK on the model.

 

[Anja]

Hello Alex,

 

It's good to see you back.

 

Nice work on the rudder hinges and the anchor. They look great.

 

Anja

[NenadM]

Alex, please repost missing pictures in your log, and keep on working

 

Very precise hands you have, and your work is marvelous

[Albuk]

Anja, Nenad,

 

Thank you for your kind words. It's good to be back...

[Dida]

Hello Alex!

 

Very nice build, very clean work. Where did you cut the bulkheads?

Edited April 12, 2014 by Dida

[Albuk]

Hello Alex!

 

Very nice build, very clean work. Where did you cut the bulkheads?

Thank you Dida! I bought the kit based on Tehnodidakta's plans, here in Belgrade, with the bulkheads already laser cut. Anyway, there is a lot of places which do laser cutting here. You bring them a vector based file (Coreldraw for example), and they do it in a matter of minutes.

 

See you on your forum...

 

Cheers,

Alex

[Albuk]

I soldered brass nails to the hinges, filed them on the inside and then proceeded to blacken all the brass parts that I have made. My failure to properly clean them can be seen on the uppermost brass plate. I should have used a toothbrush and toothpaste to clean flux residues, rinse and then soak them in acetone before using the patina liquid.

 

I got a little bit of spare time and decided to make a bucket with leftovers from planking.

 

I also made a cradle for the model and cut a thin plywood board for deck planking.

Edited April 18, 2014 by Albuk

[Anja]

Hello Alex,

 

Lovely work, it looks great.

 

Anja

[Albuk]

Thank you Anja and "likers"

Brass looked nicer to me but this black iron look has its appeal too...

 

Cheers

Alex

[Albuk]

More metal work... two lanterns. Unfortunately, I don't have a lathe so I had to make them the hard way with a brass sheet, solder and a lot of filing. Now, I need to figure out how to simulate red and green glass...

[Anja]

Hello Alex,

 

They look beautiful. Well done.

 

I have no experience with it, but maybe you can use colored plastic sheets or colored acetate sheets to simulate the glass?

 

Anja

[Albuk]

Hello Anja,

 

I am testing various options for the glass. Right now, I am testing with PVA that dries transparent mixed with ink or tempera paint. One should give me a glossy semi transparent result and the other, flat glossy. Since I have already soldered the lanterns (I really wanted to put a colored glass bead inside but shops were not working these past few days), what I need is to fill them with a cheap, easy to make, glass looking material. They are really tiny and already an overkill...

 

Alex

[Thanasis]

Hi Alex. You're doing beautiful work on your model and I like that you don't stay on what is provided with the kit..

As about the colored glasses, consider whether you can use part of a colored ballpoint pen (from the crystal tube) or from the curved side of  a colored lighter.

Keep up the good work

Thx

[Albuk]

Γεια σας Tanasis,

 

Thank you for your kind words. Nice ideas... will try!

 

Cheers,

Alex

[Albuk]

I glued the second planking on the inside of the bulwark and decided to stray from the plans once again and make a companionway on the bow. Since I plan to make it semi open, I stained that part of the inner hull. I used CA to glue the planking to make it faster but the glue went through the veneer strips in some places. Hopefully, varnishing will even the color.

I cut openings on the thin plywood board for deck planking and wrestled it to position with nails because the deck is slightly curved upwards on the bow and stern and downwards on the sides.

[Albuk]

I has been a while... In the meantime I got a daughter which is also a miniature, being born 2 months early with 1.55kg.

 

Having a little bit of free time I made a companionway for my Bracera. I used pear wood strips that I bought for the deck, thinning them and cutting to size with a circular saw. I wonder how I kept all my fingers in place. Now I need to do some metal work for the hinges.

[Wishmaster]

Wow Alex great news and I hope the little one is ok. I wish you and your family all the best! Best gift is child and for dad specially daughter I have one 2 years old.

 

About Bracera - amazing build. Really nice!

 

Keep on!

 

Regards

[Albuk]

Thank you Elmir. Yes, nothing compares to having a child, and if we manage to raise them to be a decent human being, the joy is overwhelming. Fortunately, she is fine, still in a incubator but growing rapidly. Hoping to have her home in a month...

 

Cheers,

Alex