It’s been a while since I last wrote an update on this build. The deck assembly has been sitting in the hull, and is in the process of fitting it in place. This has not been easy………it just doesn’t want to sit in there properly. I’ve done some sanding to arrive at a good fit, but there seems to be something else that’s holding it back. I said the heck with the extra lighting…..just as well I did. So……in the meantime I did this little update with the existing lighting, just to let you know I haven’t scuttled the build.
This was taken in November 1st……..not much of a picture, but then I got the idea to light it.
Some of the stern deck railings have come off in the process of fitting the deck assembly……I can put everything to right once the assembly is together,
This shows some of the poor fit………a couple of the guy wires have come loose in the process as well.
I’ve turned to a couple of my other projects, so I can think of solutions. I hope to have an update for you very soon.
AHOY!!!
It’s been a while since we last saw the hull assembly………
My son had gone out and bought this shrink tube assortment…….he gave me the package of small ones.
The wires for these doll house lights are very thin. They are so thin, I can strip the wires between my finger nails.
I was going to add a couple more lights to the mix, but to speed the build along, I’ll just use what I have. The lights were soldered and shrink tubed.
To bring the build up to speed with it’s progress, I did try to fit the deck assembly in place. I’m not getting as good a fit, as I would like. It might be that the wires are falling on a structure wall inside….but when I try to press it into place, the guy lines want to go limp. I’m hoping that it’s the wires and not the fact that there is a deck curve…..making adjustments after the deck assembly is in place….is not an option. Should I get some time {might be hard this week}, I will go into it further and try to straighten it out. Pictures soon…………
AHOY!!!
The guy lines were rigged on both sides.
The funnel top and grate were added next.
Paint is the same…….flat black for the outer surface of the funnel top, and altered black {the hull paint} for the grate.
With the third funnel finally rigged, nothing more will be done, until it is assembled to the hull.
AHOY!!!
Time isn’t my friend anymore………I’ve taken on a part time job, and it has been very time consuming learning the ropes. The month of October has been spotty at best, as far as model building is concerned…….but I did make small advances here and there. The latter part of this month allowed me some time, and I took full advantage of it. The third funnel requires some work, so I can reach the point where the guy lines can be finally rigged. This bit of progress began on the 20th……..
With the structure roof cemented in place. the pipes that jump over to the funnel, was dry fitted.
Seeing how the pipes cover portions of the port side roof structure, of the funnel, I got the feeling I over thought the railing for that side. I can make adjustments though, so no big deal. The handrails for the railings were painted at this time.
As can be seen, the port side railing {the one on the right} has been trimmed. The pipes were then cemented in place and allowed to dry. The section of pipes that climb the port side of the funnel was trimmed and cemented on next. The railing completes the port side assembly.
The starboard side gave me a fit…….it broke as I was trimming it.
It took a bit of fidgeting, but I managed to get it on the starboard side with out too much trouble. The railing was added as well.
Time to touch it up and let it dry…….the small section of railing that sits between the pipes, was also added.
AHOY!!!
Leaving off with the railings……..I went back to the funnel tops, cementing the top on the #4 funnel. The grates were cemented in next. The #4 funnel is different from the others in this respect……..it’s grate has a damper.
The starboard railing was finished…….along with cementing the roof on the neighboring structure.
The port side railing was next to assemble……..a lot of small sections make up these railings.
At this point, I got skeptical. I was looking at the parts left over to finish it and the area left to go. It looked like I was to use the wrong parts……I made an adjustment.
The grates were painted with the hull paint to match the internal liners of the funnel tops. The color black looks perfect for imitating the soot.
Once I can do the touch ups……..I can proceed with dressing up the third funnel.
AHOY!!!
I had stopped the build for a short time, to work on the Half moon. I didn’t get back to this build until the beginning of October………even that was sporadic at best. I did a little here and a little there……not making very much progress. I had left off with the second funnel, needing to finish the guy lines. There was a vent in the way of the starboard side guy line, making it hard to rig without hitting it. It needed to be relocated, and the deck repaired, since this will leave a mark.
The vent sat on a raised pod. After it was removed, this pod was shaved down flush with the deck. I did an attempt……..don’t think I did as good a job as I would have liked, but I did my best to scribe plank lines into the repaired area. the vent was then cemented further inward on the deck.
I had misjudged the thread and had fallen short in completing these two sets of guy lines. I cemented off these lines and added two ‘patch pieces of thread to make up the difference. One side went fine………the other side, the cement didn’t hold on the thread, and when I went to trim off the excess, it popped out of the hole. I ended up redoing it……..this time I used Ca as the cement. It held then……….hee…hee….hee!
I think another week passed before I touched her again. Since the first, second and fourth funnel is rigged, I’ll work on putting the tops on them……the third one will have to wait a little longer. The funnel tops are three pieces……..the outer part, the inner liner, and the grates. The outer surface of the tops were painted flat black. The inner liners and any internal parts of the funnel throat, were painted with the paint I had mixed for the hull.
They are all the same part number…….but I wasn’t sure if there was a front or back. They were fitted to determine this {they fit poorly…..had to do some shaving}, and cemented in place. The first and second funnels got theirs…..
All this time, I had this section on my desk. The darn thing was in the way all the time it was there. At one point, I hit it with my arm, as I was coming out of the living room. I broke a number of small parts on the funnels…….a vent tube…..a ladder…….and I broke free the aft pair of cranes {surprised I didn’t break the booms off}. I had to do some repair work…………then it got moved to the main table! The last thing done at this time, was the beginning of the starboard railings for the third funnel.
There is one for the port side when this one is assembled. There is more to go after these are done. I will get the third funnel rigged, so this entire assembly can be cemented in the hull. I can do the rest when that is done……..the ship will no longer be in sections.
AHOY!!!
Finally, I got to painting those railings……..the ones that I had already cemented in place were the worst of it. I had to stiffen up the paint, which by this time, was thinned down to a wash. I only had mixed up 1/4 oz to do the bottom paint with……figured I’d use the rest of it for painting the brown aspects. There will be some touching up to be done.
When the railing painting was caught up to some degree, other parts were painted before they were cemented in place.
That tiny piece of railing toward the back of the clothes pin………..it was part of the two sections that are in the clothes pins to the left. I was going to cement the section together, when it flew to parts unknown. I looked all over for it! When I found it futile to continue looking for it, I used the duplicate part that was on the other sprue. I had to take Gibbs out……….when I came back in and settled in my seat, I noticed it on the floor beside the garbage can! I must have been blind! 😀 😀 The 3/4 square sections were also put together……..there are a lot of small sections like this.
More parts were added to the aft section…….a bit of touch up was done here as well. The two 3/4 square sections were cemented in place next.
Then, other sections were added to the structures……..and even more touch ups were done as well.
After double checking to be sure that all of the railing was in place, the first funnel was rigged with it’s support cables.
This funnel is keen to note………in some of the pictures I saw, there is another set of cables that originate from the structure roofs, and terminate half way up the funnels. The first funnel has one……..but it terminates at the top of the funnel instead. Had I seen this earlier, I would have done this………this was very doable and interesting that this scale of kit doesn’t have this sort of detail.
This bit of extra detail would really add to the model. In between the third and fourth funnel, there is a small structure that need to be assembled further. It requires the painting of a skylight and the addition of two set of pipes for the third funnel. Work began on the roof.
More was done around the second funnel.
When this step and touch ups were done, the second funnel was rigged with it’s cables.
The thread fell short………I ended up adding in another section.
It looks like I’ll need to make an adjustment to that vent. I left this section of it unglued at the moment, until I fix this.
With the number four funnel finished as well, it too was re-rigged with it’s cables.
AHOY!!!
8-14-2015
I know I’ve been on the fence………whether or not to light this model. I found that I had made poor provision to do this. My biggest concern would be the light filtration through the white cabin parts. I don’t want it looking like a ghost ship. I had done an earlier dry attempt using only two bulbs, and saw that it really didn’t give the look I wanted. I was going to abandon the idea……but I changed my mind. Running wire through both of the holes in the stand pegs…….I made notches in the base. The wire were captured in U shaped brackets made of plastic. Four lights will be used……two soldered to one circuit, the other two on the other incoming wire. Before the stern section was cemented in place, one light was placed way aft……….I wouldn’t be able to get to it, if I didn’t.
Two wires were added in the mix, that will lead to other lights, that will be placed in the bridge deck and the cabins of the A deck. Sadly, nothing can be done for the boat deck. I’ll try……..but I can’t guarantee anything. These next pictures may be hard to see……..blown up, they are a bit more visible. The admiral was skeptical about it at first…but now that she’s seen it……..she likes it 🙂
It does seem kind of neat that the well decks are somewhat illuminated. The light filtration even comes through the decks………to do this in a better way, would take a lot of extra work. I’ll go with it the rest of the way 😉
AHOY!!!
8-13-2015
Turning my attention to the hull……….I’ve got an alignment problem here. Now that the A deck and the boat decks are assembled, I can work on it while I deal with it. The stern section of the hull has a bit of a warp to it. The stern section does not sit properly, nor does the mid section, when in place. I need to make a couple of jigs to pull the section together. Once this is done, pieces of sprue can be cemented across the span of the aft hull to make it permanent.
At this time, the props were cemented in place.
The bow section has already been assembled to the hull. The holes on the tab of the bow section, for the mid section, were ‘egg’ shaped with a file to insure a better fit. I did drill them out larger, but it still seemed to fit odd.
The jigs were removed when enough time had passed. The glue should be dry by now.
The stern section was dry fitted in place……..it seemed to be a tight fit. The procedure was a success 🙂 Sanding along the side edges of the stern section took care of the tight fit problem, and it was finally cemented in place.
Before this was done though, the top edges of the well areas were painted with flat white. Along the mid section, the top edges were painted with the flat yellow. An inspection was made to insure that there was no gaps between these two parts……the stern section, and the hull.
AHOY!!!
Here is a little something that I could not help myself in doing. There are a few parts that can be cemented in place, getting them finally off the table. If you saw my tables………you’d swear I had some divine intervention, that I haven’t lost any parts. The A deck railings were touched up, and the last pair of cranes were cemented in place on the A deck.
I had a reader ask me about my choice of rigging thread……..the added size being perhaps too thick and out 0f scale. The kit comes with only one size rigging thread, which I find hard to believe. From pictures I have seen, it is clear, that there are other thicknesses used in the rigging. The upper funnel guy lines for example…….they were actually made thicker to support the funnels. I used the thicker gauge thread to show this. If I had the opportunity to do the lower guy lines, I would have done them in the thinner thread, to show the contrast between the two. I have done this with the masts……..the guy lines that give the main support, I made them thicker. Contrast between the purpose of these lines………when you see the communications lines, it will give a better understanding of their function. When this is seen as a whole……..I think it will look a lot nicer as well.
Since the #4 funnel has the railing work done on it, I decided to rig the upper guy lines……..I was dying to see how this looks.
This really makes them stand out………..sad that I missed the boat on the lower lines. That would have looked even better. Eye bolts at this scale would be a fool’s errand. The stays for the mizzen can be seen here………the thicker upper fore stay and it’s thinner lower fore stay. These are not cemented in place just jet………I got another question. Am I going to paint the top handrails of the railings teak {brown}? I painted the staircase railings…….why shouldn’t I? I do have one small problem with this………when I assembled the bow, I didn’t do it. I’m concerned about messing it up at this point……..but I will have plenty of practice before I get around to do them.
AHOY!!!
Cutty Sark - Revell 1/96 scale model 