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Keith_W DSP system
- Thread starter Keith_W
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OP
Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #462
This post is off-topic and has nothing to do with my system or with DSP. Every now and then someone asks me about my model ships. In fact, everyone who visits my place sees them and spends as much time admiring them as they do listening to music.
The big model ship you see between the speakers is the HMS Royal William. It's a heavily modified ship kit - I discarded half of what came in the kit and made parts from scratch. If you want to see the build log, here it is.
The kit comes in a box with planks, rods, string, some laser cut plywood, and plans. It is very important to learn how to read plans, because there are no instructions! More modern kits do have instructions, but most of the time they leave the modeller to figure out the steps and solve your own problems. You have to think very carefully what you are going to do next, because installation of a feature might prevent you from doing something else. Once a deck is installed and covered up, you lose access to it forever. So you have to really SURE that there is nothing else you need to do before you do that.
The first step is to assemble the skeleton and fair each frame so that planks lay flat on it. Here you can see the assembled skeleton with frame reinforcements and the first five planks. These are the easiest to install since the curvature is minimal and the planks do not need to be individually shaped.
At the front and rear of the ship, planks need to be fatter in the middle and narrower at both ends, in addition to the more severe curve. So each plank needs to be carefully shaped otherwise it will buckle when you try to install it.
This type of model is called "double plank on frame". First you assemble the frame / skeleton. Then the first layer of planking goes on. This is typically a softer wood species (limewood in this case) and it's thicker. It's purpose is to provide structure. Then the second layer of planking goes on - this is usually thinner (I used 1mm thick planks). Since this will be on display, you use a higher quality, finer grained wood.
As planking progresses and the strakes go on, she starts to look more like a ship.
Once that is done, all the details can start going on. This is a comparison of my replacement with the part that came with the kit.
Real ships are held together with wooden nails - "treenails" (pronounced "trennels"). These are used because they don't rust, and they expand when soaked in water, which makes them hold more tightly. To simulate treenails, I use a steel plate with holes of various diameters drilled into it. I pull a bamboo skewer through these holes, which progressively reduces the diameter of the skewer. When it reaches the thickness I want, I drill a hole in the hull (0.8mm), dip the skewer in some glue and push it through the hole, then trim it. When the glue is dry, sand it flat.
This is the result.
These pictures show construction of the lower gallery.
Middle gallery ...
... and top gallery.
The big model ship you see between the speakers is the HMS Royal William. It's a heavily modified ship kit - I discarded half of what came in the kit and made parts from scratch. If you want to see the build log, here it is.
The kit comes in a box with planks, rods, string, some laser cut plywood, and plans. It is very important to learn how to read plans, because there are no instructions! More modern kits do have instructions, but most of the time they leave the modeller to figure out the steps and solve your own problems. You have to think very carefully what you are going to do next, because installation of a feature might prevent you from doing something else. Once a deck is installed and covered up, you lose access to it forever. So you have to really SURE that there is nothing else you need to do before you do that.
The first step is to assemble the skeleton and fair each frame so that planks lay flat on it. Here you can see the assembled skeleton with frame reinforcements and the first five planks. These are the easiest to install since the curvature is minimal and the planks do not need to be individually shaped.
At the front and rear of the ship, planks need to be fatter in the middle and narrower at both ends, in addition to the more severe curve. So each plank needs to be carefully shaped otherwise it will buckle when you try to install it.
This type of model is called "double plank on frame". First you assemble the frame / skeleton. Then the first layer of planking goes on. This is typically a softer wood species (limewood in this case) and it's thicker. It's purpose is to provide structure. Then the second layer of planking goes on - this is usually thinner (I used 1mm thick planks). Since this will be on display, you use a higher quality, finer grained wood.
As planking progresses and the strakes go on, she starts to look more like a ship.
Once that is done, all the details can start going on. This is a comparison of my replacement with the part that came with the kit.
Real ships are held together with wooden nails - "treenails" (pronounced "trennels"). These are used because they don't rust, and they expand when soaked in water, which makes them hold more tightly. To simulate treenails, I use a steel plate with holes of various diameters drilled into it. I pull a bamboo skewer through these holes, which progressively reduces the diameter of the skewer. When it reaches the thickness I want, I drill a hole in the hull (0.8mm), dip the skewer in some glue and push it through the hole, then trim it. When the glue is dry, sand it flat.
This is the result.
These pictures show construction of the lower gallery.
Middle gallery ...
... and top gallery.
Last edited:
Amazing and really fantastic! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful DIY of model ships.
I agree with your guests and friends; Even I too dream that I were/could-be joining them at your home...
OP
Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #464
Construction of gun carriages. The kit supplied gun carriages are on the top left, and my replacements in the middle and top right. You can see my measurements sketched on the piece of paper I am working on. I am using a much higher grade wood than supplied in the kit (pear wood). It is much finer grained and carves really well. You can see how much sharper the details are.
Once constructed, the guns have to be rigged. This is my rigging jig - I rig each gun carriage off the model, then transfer it to the model and glue it in place.
Some deck details. The quarterdeck rail was carved. To do that, I laminated some pear strips together to make my own "plywood". If I attempted to carve it from a single plank of pear, it would break too easily. You need the grain to run in different directions for the piece to be sturdy enough to carve.
Some pieces are very difficult to fabricate and require some ingenuity, like the curved staircases. I came up with my own solution to making them.
Construction of the ship's boats. Each one is fabricated over an inverted plug. Then you pop it out and install all the details.
The ship's lanterns were supplied in the kit as a solid metal piece, unsuitable for illumination. My solution was to cut off the top and bottom of the kit's lantern and fabricate the middle out of acrylic. Then I had to figure out how to install an LED in there and route power into it. The base of the lantern is a tube through which I fed some very fine wire.
The exposed poop deck shows all the wiring for the illumination.
I have skipped over many details of the construction, but each one is an adventure. Those seemingly simple gunport lids are constructed of many parts which I had to fabricate, and each is pinned to the hull so that it's sturdy and won't fall off.
Rigging detail. Note that each rope is "served" - meaning one rope is wrapped around another rope to hold it tight and protect it against abrasion. The first rope is fully served down its entire length to protect it from the sail. You can serve the rope manually by clamping it and endlessly winding string around it, but it's much easier to use a machine to help you.
OP
Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #465
The other ship model in my living room is HMS Bounty, also supplied as a kit by Artesania Latina. This model was completed about 18 years ago and I was much less skilled back then. Once again, many parts need to be fabricated and you can see the lack of skill when you examine some details.
For example, compare this boat to the one in the previous post.
The gratings are coarser and the coamings aren't as nicely shaped. The treenails are not real, they were drawn on with a felt tip pen. To be honest they do look very realistic, but there is a certain satisfaction knowing that I went through the trouble of making and installing real treenails.
This is a "single plank" on frame model, meaning your structural layer is also your display layer. Some species of wood, like the walnut used in the lower hull, are VERY difficult to curve because they tend to splinter easily. They need to be soaked in ammonia then curved with a steam iron. If you install the plank before it's fully dry, the wood will shrink and create gaps - as you can see with some of the planks on the bow.
I did do a very good job with the rigging. Even after 18 years, the rigging is still at the correct tension and no masts have been pulled away from straight.
The Bounty was a private ship requisitioned by the Royal Navy, so it's not as grand as a First Rate like the Royal William. The decorations were much simpler.
I ran into trouble with the planking. You can see how the planking in the walnut lower hull is crowded together with some planks ending in sharp points. I avoided that problem with my current model by painting the lower hull to hide it.
OP
Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #466
You might be sick of ship models by now, so this is the last one. This is a Viking Ship which I gave to my Swedish friend for his 40th birthday. Sadly he has passed. This was an unmodified build from a kit, and it's single plank on frame. The difference is that this model has a clinker-planked hull, which is immensely more difficult to build because you have to maintain consistent spacing between the planks. Because each plank needs to be precisely shaped, the kit supplied laser cut planks which simplified matters, but the planks are still oversize (to accommodate variations between builds) so some shaping is still necessary.
This model was completed 13 years ago and my friend's widow still displays it.
This is the hull with the frame assembled and half planked. I am always concerned about the strength of the hull, so each plank gets a thorough coating of PVA glue on the inside surface to make sure they don't come apart.
Planking completed. Holes drilled to receive nails.
This is a home made nail. You make it by grinding a metal plate to form a 45 degree "V" angle, then roll the metal plate back and forth over brass wire. It rounds the brass wire into a dome as it goes along until it eventually cuts through.
Planking the deck.
Constructing the sails.
Once the sail is complete, I soak it in a dilute glue mixture then suspend it until it dries. The glue mixture stiffens the sail and gives it a billowing appearance.
End result.
This model was completed 13 years ago and my friend's widow still displays it.
This is the hull with the frame assembled and half planked. I am always concerned about the strength of the hull, so each plank gets a thorough coating of PVA glue on the inside surface to make sure they don't come apart.
Planking completed. Holes drilled to receive nails.
This is a home made nail. You make it by grinding a metal plate to form a 45 degree "V" angle, then roll the metal plate back and forth over brass wire. It rounds the brass wire into a dome as it goes along until it eventually cuts through.
Planking the deck.
Constructing the sails.
Once the sail is complete, I soak it in a dilute glue mixture then suspend it until it dries. The glue mixture stiffens the sail and gives it a billowing appearance.
End result.
KenMasters
Active Member
Wow, very impressive! I must show my wife, she'll love this!
Holmz
Major Contributor
ZolaIII
Master Contributor
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Remind me a bit of my model airplane day's. Whosent that much into actual models tho did those too. Whose more into actually flying one's with and without propulsion and rackets too. Unfortunately it didn't stick and it's one of long gone hobbies for me.
It's interesting to see when model really follows actual original construction process.
It's interesting to see when model really follows actual original construction process.
OP
Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #470
Yup, I have a Byrnes Table Saw (website is down at the moment). The alternative is a Proxxon Table Saw FET. Both are miniature table saws and are incredibly precise. I also have other power tools - miniature mill (Proxxon MF-70), lathe (Sherline), and a Byrnes disc sander and thickness sander. Oh, and a Dremel. Between all the power tools, the ones I use most are the table saw, Dremel, and disc sander.
Holmz
Major Contributor
I was thinking of exactly those mini table saws.
I have a Mafell Erika, which does “a pull function”, but obviously a lot bigger.
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Keith_W
Master Contributor
- Thread Starter
- #474
You're a rich man if you have a Mafell! I was considering a Festool. They make a table saw (CSC CYS 50) which is small enough to be folded up and stored away with its own wheeled trolley. I don't have the luxury of a shed, so I have to wheel tools in and out of my garage when I want to use them. But I suspect that Festool is too small for the projects I have in mind and there is no way I can build those projects unless I move to a larger property with a shed, and buy a full sized table saw.
If you guys are shopping for model building table saws - check out used printers lead saws. They are incredibly precise, sliding tables, blades are thinner and the blade height and fence are adjustable by 1 point. (12pt=1 pica, 6 picas=1") No tilt adjustment but make a jig.
Holmz
Major Contributor
FT is like a cult or a religion.
The FT crowd lord it over everyone saying, “you get what you pay for.”
And then when they see Mafell prices they say “it is over priced.”
I got the Erika delivered from the old county, and well as the Tracksaw and use the Bosch rails.
Most of the FT gear is rebranded stuff, and one of their first routers was a Mafell.
The Mirka sanders are generally better, but I do have an older 4” FT belt sander.
And a Maflll UVA 115. For RO the Mirka is great and the screens are worth trying.
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