Scottish Maid by mrangus - Artesania Latina - first build

[GLakie]

The chain-plates look fine Robb! The cabin looks good as well, and for the walnut, Jason should have exactly what you need as he carries it in his store.

http://www.crowntimberyard.com/Wood-Species.php   As for the pins, the smaller ones should be good unless there will be more than one line on it, then maybe, the 10 mm would be better. 

 

Cheers

[mrangus]

Awesome George, thanks for the input! Funny you mentioned Jason's store, I searched online for walnut planks for ship modeling and voila his site came up. If/when I go down this path again I think I'll use his wood - looks to be way better than the kit supplied materials.

 

I feel like all I'm doing is plagiarizing Jesse's build. Every time I look into options I can see how he came to his decisions. Hope you don't mind Jesse!

[JesseLee]

Not at all!

[mrangus]

A little more accomplished. I built the entranceway to the lower part of the boat. This little piece took about 3 1/2 hours to complete. And I was thinking hour and a half..... On to the lower deadeyes now.

[GLakie]

Looks like time well spent to me Robb. Your end-result looks great, and that's what it's all about.

[mrangus]

A few more updates. I fitted some of the deck items to their location, they give the boat the start of a completed look. Motivating. I also fitted the lower deadeye and chain link to use as a template. Trying to figure out how to create en-masse without scratching up the brass too much. Maybe use nails as a template?

I marked out the location of the deadeyes on the channel, I assume equidistant, even for the smaller deadeye?

 

What the heck is that big brass thing that goes in front of the steering wheel? It doesn't really fit into the space and not sure what it's purpose is. Looks like an oversized fire hydrant....

[GLakie]

Nice work on the dead eyes and chain plates. As far as the brass fixture,  my best guess would be probably a compass.

[JesseLee]

George is right- its a compass

[mrangus]

Thanks guys. You got my curiosity up and it is apparently the binnacle. I really don't think they'd put it right in front of the door like they suggest in the model. Perhaps to one side (right) for the captain. I've been researching binnacles for the past hour now and I think I'm going to try to build my own. The older ones look a lot simpler than what is provided in the kit. I will carve something, and see if it makes sense to cap or create something else.

[mrangus]

I have read about binnacles and the one provided with the ship seems to be out of line from a time perspective with the rest of the ship. The two balls on either side of the compass were magnets to counter all the iron that was used in later ships - this was invented in the 1850s and then patented sometime in 1870. Evidently they are quite valuable these days. The earlier ones were much simpler from what I gather. I found a whole book on binnacles but spending $65 seems a bit overkill.

 

Here's my first attempt at the new 'old' binnacle. Much simpler than what was provided but more in line with everything else on the boat. Trying to figure out how to add some detail to the top. Any ideas?

Edited June 25, 2015 by Mr.Angus

[GLakie]

Looks good now Robb, not sure what else you could add to it, unless maybe a piece of clear plastic to the round viewing port to simulate glass. 

[mrangus]

I received my pear wood planks for building some of the components that have precut pieces I seem to have misplaced over the years. So I worked on the windlass over the weekend with some pretty good results. getting the belay pin board drilled was a task, I split two boards before getting it right. I also received my brass wire so I'll begin my lower deadeye chain plates. 16 of them so not too bad, but probably will take a few sittings.

 

I also ordered some brass strips of a few different sizes. The strips that came with the ship look a little to small/fragile to fasten the chainplates to the hull, so I'm going to try to make something a little more sturdy. I hope I'm not going overboard with the brass, but in keeping the wood natural color and not painting, I'm hoping it will give the ship some color.

 

[GLakie]

That pear seems like it's really nice to work with Robb. The windlass looks great! 

[mrangus]

It looks so easy until you try...

I built the winch, had to manufacture the prefab pieces similar to the windlass. Looks ok, need to add the cap and paint. will probably darken the wood as well will try tung oil on this wood and see what it looks like.

 

I started on the deadeyes. Boy this is not easy! I thought I'd get through this with a breeze but working with the wire has it's own challenges. Perhaps I'm not using the right tools, I'm getting by with a wire bender and needlenose pliers. Doing it all by  eye too, not sure how to get measurements on something like this. My goal is to get good enough so that when I tie the rope around the neck of the collar, it will hide most of the scarring left by my crude manipulations.

 

Also cut grooves into one of the channels, concerned that the deadeyes are too close. Do I need to re-do?

 

Edited July 1, 2015 by Mr.Angus

[GLakie]

Those lower deadeyes look good, but as far as being too close, it all depends on where the shroud lines will need to be. 

[mrangus]

Thanks George. I'm still not sure how I can tell where the shroud lines need to be. Is it based on the picture in the plan?

I used a string tied to the mast to get a feel for the angle of the shroud lines. Any advice on what else I can do?

 

Thanks!

[GLakie]

If you did that, it should be good or at least really close. 

[Jack12477]

I take a piece of string loop one end around the mast and loop a deadeye around the other end at the approximate distance from the installed deadeyes, clamp the deadeye in the string, then swing it back and forth checking the alignment with those installed on the channel. If it looks good, I leave it; if not move them slightly. Use a pencil to put a tick mark on the channel.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Jack12477

[mrangus]

I have a funny suspicion that I'm only going to fully understand the nuances once I've installed the shrouds

[JesseLee]

It should be ok where it is

[mrangus]

More accomplished this evening...

I finished wrapping rope around the deadeye strops, I ended up using the kit's brown rope, it worked ok with some beeswax applied. A few pics below show the progress. I missed snipping the rope on one of the deadeyes and had to rebuild. I think they will look good once on the boat.

 

The brass strips arrived today. I can use the thinnest strip, should hold up fine. Started cutting individual strips 3mm to use as the chain plate anchors. I anticipate lots of filing to get this right. Some new tools arrived today as well including a small hammer, which works great to flatten out the brass plates once cut.

 

Last, I fitted the anchors onto the railing. What's in the picture is 14 gauge brass wire that I ordered, which is MUCH better than the 20 gauge wire that was provided for the railing. Will stand out nice and it fits the anchors perfectly.

 

I have tons of deck stuff strewn over my workbench now. Need to get the deadeyes on the boat so I can wrap up the decking. One last thing I want to try is to make a better bilge pump. I found one image while perusing another build and will attempt.

 

On to the pics:

[JesseLee]

Glad you are making the chain plates yourself. What the kit supplied & instructed looks just awful. Looking very good. I also made better bilge pumps. The kit tells you to glue a wire to a brass piece- doesn't look right at all. These little details make for a much better looking model!

[mattsayers148]

Excellent build you have here Mr.Angus. I happened to be searching for one thing, found your build log, and loved what you did with the wheel assembly. I just might want to use your pics as a reference if you don't mind? The detail you're putting into everything is very impressive, very impressive indeed!

[mrangus]

Updates...

 

@Jesse - thanks for the ideas. I ended up borrowing Brian's design for bilge pumps although they will end up looking a bit different. I'm putting more copper (bling!) but basic design is identical. It took me an hour just to get the handles done - not easy! For the hinge, I glued two pieces of pear of different lengths and sanded down the shorter corner to get that angle. Lots of sanding tonight. I plan on using 20 gauge brass wire for the hinge, and either 20 or 18 for the pump. will also put copper bands around the bilge pump.

 

@matt.s.s. - thanks! Please use anything you find helpful - I am humbled by your request! I feel like I'm a shadow of some of the talent that is seen on this forum, your comment is very motivating. Thank you.

 

I feel like I have boat ADD. I have several items on my bench that are in various stages of completion. And I keep starting new projects. In no particular order, my TODO is:

- finish fixing the lifeboat.

- create chain plate anchors

- create chain plates and attach to deadeyes

- attach deadeye/chain plate assembly to boat

- finish winch (paint top and attach, paint handle)

- put together bilge pumps

- put on railing

- put on deck stuff

 

Then I have to think about the bowsprit. Already thinking about following your idea Jesse in opening up the deck so the bowsprit won't be flush to the deck. How hard was that?

 

[JesseLee]

Not that hard. Use a scrap dowel curt off the way the instructions tell you to do it. Mark with a pencil where it touches & drill a hole. Start small then keep checking & enlarging using the bowsprit you will put through the hole to go by.

[mrangus]

Completed a few more things.

 

Got the railing on, the pics in the instructions showed there were 4 railing loops, I thought it looked sparse so I ended up adding a few more to have seven. I used 14 gauge wire (much thicker than what came in the model) which worked well, the wire juuust fit into the eyes. I had to put each of the rail posts on the wire before putting on the boat, which made the final installation a test of patience. I haven't glued yet as I wanted to see how it looks. I like one side, the other needs to come off to adjust the wire bend. Then glue.

 

Bilge pumps almost complete. I want to add one more copper band on each, and stain/paint a little. I've been avoiding painting as I have no experience working with paints other than on the walls of my house. But I want the tops of the pumps a dark (black) color to give some contrast.

 

I also started shaping the chain plate anchors. slow work but easy, hand shaping with a metal file. I'm thinking of having curves on both ends. The square end looks incomplete.

 

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

[GLakie]

Bilge-pumps look great Robb, and good call on adding more hoops for the railing.  

 

Have a Happy 4th! 

[mrangus]

I came back to the deadeyes and chainplates on my latest. I fashioned a better anchor for the boat out of the brass strip I purchased and it works quite well. The brass plating is a little bit thicker than what came in the kit, and I can alter the width of the anchor easily. I'm making the anchors 3mm, the kit supplied brass strips were only 2mm across. Looked a little small with the wire I'm using for the chain links.

 

I've been going back and forth on whether I create a "manufacturing line" of the chain links, because they vary in length ever so slightly and may require individual sizing. One way around this is to change the angle of the anchor attachment to adjust for the differing lengths. I am, however, going to try to manufacture all the anchors as those will look better if they are about the same size and it's harder to duplicate when all the others are already on the ship (I found that out when I put on #2).

 

Process is pretty easy once the chain and anchors are created. I drill two holes into the ancho that just fit the pins that come with the kit, then measure where the holes need to be drilled into the ship by placing the deadeye into the slot and pulling the anchor down with my needle punch tool in one of the drilled holes. I poke the boat with another needle in the second drilled hole, and drill away. It has worked pretty good.

 

I may have to fix the second chain (the one to the left) the anchor hole on the anchor was not centered and now that the chain is on the boat, it's pretty evident. I will see how it looks when the third one is on....

 

[GLakie]

Those look fine to me Robb.  Their mates on the other side should be identical, so making 2 at a time, shouldn't be a problem.

Edited July 6, 2015 by GLakie

[mattsayers148]

Same as George said, they look great!