Sovereign of The Seas by SawdustDave - FINISHED

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave

I love your enhancement of the lantern. It proves that you can improve on excellence!

Havagooday

Greg

[mobbsie]

Super stuff there Dave, I love it.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[SawdustDave]

Thanks for the visit BV, Patrick, Greg, Bill and Mobbsie.

Most say, the transom lantern is such a critical piece to the overall appearance of the iconic stern of the SOS, if necessary, I would have built it several more times to get it right.

As model fixtures go, I would put this one among the most difficult scratch builds I personally have ever tackled. Bill might agree with that assessment.... told me he did the little top three times.

 

Off to a good morning...

Three new carvings to fill in the panels on the transom.....only 25 to go before I can attach the transom module to the stern.

 

Had to interrupt progress in order to chase a little round ball around a course with sticks ill designed for the appointed task.

[Piet]

I like version 2 very much but do like the dome on version 1, looks like the dome on some of the old Florentine cathedrals.  Nice work Dave.

 

Cheers,

[SawdustDave]

I like version 2 very much but do like the dome on version 1, looks like the dome on some of the old Florentine cathedrals.  Nice work Dave.

 

Cheers,

I too preferred the more rounded dome shape Pete.... I lost the contour with all the grinding I did to keep the 8-sided shape tapering from bottom to top.

Anyhow.... AIN'T DOING HER AGIN!

[SawdustDave]

Transom Complete........

 

All transom carvings completed and the lantern now fitted.

 

 

Think I might should take a little break before I begin to tackle the transom counter.  It appears to be pretty straight forward.

Mostly, I just need to do a few more cannon ports and some tree nailing as a change of routine.

Edited April 3, 2016 by SawdustDave

[mtaylor]

Unbelievable....sort of pulls the breath right out of you.   Excellent work, Dave.  

[GLakie]

Outstanding work Dave! You've definitely earned a break! 

[Omega1234]

Truly amazing, Dave!!!!! 

[Piet]

Very nicely done Dave, bravo.

 

Cheers,

[dgbot]

Eye popping.  Did you use gold leaf for the gilding or a paint?

David B

[CaptainSteve]

Just awe-inspiring, Dave !!

[SawdustDave]

Eye popping.  Did you use gold leaf for the gilding or a paint?

David B

Dave B.... Good Q....

Considered melting down some of the Admiral's necklace's, ear rings, etc. (she would never miss them...RIGHT?)  

Na.... What a foolish question!

After experimenting with several different gold metallic paint options, looking for the brightest gold on the market, I landed on RUST-OLEUM - AMERICAN ACCENTS - 2X ULTRA COVER.... METALLIC bright gold (spray can).

I found it to be a noticeably brighter gold than any other I tried.

Purchased at Lowe's Home Improvement stores anywhere.

I first spray the parts by sticking them, face up, onto a piece of masking tape inside a paper plate.  After thirty minutes, carefully remove the sprayed parts, clean any paint flash from the edges, then lightly brush on a finish coat with my smallest detail brush.

 

Occasionally, the camera will point out a flaw in the way light is reflected on the surface, and I can refinish the flaw, even after the piece has been glued in place.

 

 

Edited April 5, 2016 by SawdustDave

[modelshipwright]

The stern is looking amazing Dave. Can't wait to see the counter.

Bill

[Canute]

Dave, beautiful work on the transom. Fantastic.

 

I like you plan, but don't ever get caught. You have to outlive the Admiral for it to play out.   Otherwise, methinks it would end badly, with you walking the plank in shark infested waters.

[Omega1234]

Well...Dave.  About your plan...What can I say.  You're either very brave, or very foolish.  Either way, never forget "Happy Wife Happy Life and you cross this adage at your own risk!      

[SawdustDave]

Ok.....nuff of the fun chat.

My Tarheels lost a heartbreaker at the buzzer....heck of a basketball game. I'm exhausted.

 

Back to ship building early in the morning.

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave

Bravo and ditto to all the above!

I can see many, many hours in the transom. You make it look so easy, it's the sign of a true craftman!

Havagooday

Greg

[SawdustDave]

Not much to report this morning.  I guess this posting is mainly just to say "good morning" to my MSW friends after a few days of not posting any progress.

 

Finally finished installing all of the gun port lids to the port side.... both sides now completed.  I'm not going to bore you with redundant pics of the same result seen in my earlier posting of the starboard side.

 

Planning to rig a few more main weather deck cannons today before moving back to sculpting the figures for the beak cowling.

I'm sure you all agree, it's great to see our friend Bill Short back in the shop after a long absence.  His SOS has been such an inspiration to me in my feeble effort.

[modelshipwright]

I'm sure you all agree, it's great to see our friend Bill Short back in the shop after a long absence.  His SOS has been such an inspiration to me in my feeble effort.

Don't underestimate your achievement with The Sovereign Dave as there are very few who can say they have scratch built her and carved the ornamentation. Few indeed! 

 

Regards,

Bill

 

[SawdustDave]

Bill....As you know, we all tend to be our own worst critic....right?
While seeing virtually every single flaw in our own work, and wishing we had done a little different (cleaner, more precise, more accurate, etc.), we look at the clean perfect work of a fellow modeler as flawless examples of how we SHOULD have done it.

 

Personally, I consider this as a very good thing about having MSW friends.
Otherwise, how would we ever improve our skills.

[JesseLee]

I agree Dave!

 

Jesse

Edited April 10, 2016 by JesseLee

[mtaylor]

Bill....As you know, we all tend to be our own worst critic....right?

While seeing virtually every single flaw in our own work, and wishing we had done a little different (cleaner, more precise, more accurate, etc.), we look at the clean perfect work of a fellow modeler as flawless examples of how we SHOULD have done it.

 

Personally, I consider this as a very good thing about having MSW friends.

Otherwise, how would we ever improve our skills.

 

 

 

Spot on, Dave!!!!  I wish I could hit the "like" button for that a 1000 times.

[edmay]

WoW ,very well done Dave,outstanding .Edwin

[SawdustDave]

Progress update.....

 

Couple of quickie shots after finishing up all the gun ports....also note the tree nailing finally done.

 

Then, moving inboard, all of the main deck cannons have now been rigged.

 

Next, I'll be adding the tiny swabs and rams (so often neglected in models of war ships)...,.
Note:  This shot reminded me, I still need to add the quoins to each cannon carriage.

 

Trying to decide on the use of shot garlands, or brass monkey's for this ship.  I'm leaning toward shot garlands mounted on the bulwarks.  I can't find anything to tell me when brass monkey's came into use. 

Would appreciate any input from some of the historians on that issue.

Also playing around with some very small swab buckets and powder boxes.

From what I'm reading, the smaller deck demi cannons on the upper decks would have been supplied with shot boxes, rather than shot garlands or brass monkeys.  We'll cross that bridge whinst we arrive there.

Edited April 14, 2016 by SawdustDave

[GLakie]

She looks great with all her teeth in place Dave! Must be a pleasant change of pace from doing all those carvings!  Very nice! 

[BLACK VIKING]

Very nicely done Dave looking forward to your next update

 

Rgd BV

[Greg the peg leg sailor]

G'day Dave

regarding your question "I'm leanings toward shot garlands mounted on the bulwarks.  I can't find anything to tell me when brass monkey's came into use." Well a few years ago I was researching the the saying 'cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey' and I dicovered it came from the 15th century when the brass plate (brass monkey) would shrink faster than the steel canon balls, so hence came the saying. So to answer your question, it was between the 15 and 18th centuries when brass monkeys were used.

Hope ths helps.

Greg

[SawdustDave]

Similar findings here Greg. 
Played around with both and concluded, I like the look of fixed shot garlands just above the base of the bulwarks and tend to believe that would have been the method used on the SOS..... sticking to it.  lol

Thanks for the input Mate.

[SawdustDave]

Tiny little swab buckets are the current challenge. Five down, fifteen to go. Update soon.....