To Build A Ship: HMS Cleopatra

larrymax

Member
Ladders Finished

Here are a couple of shots of the completed ladders. I had to cut the two aft ladders down by one rung as they were too tall. Got the first 3 of 4 boat supports installed. Have a great day! I'm off to work!


ladders2.jpg
 

Ron

Member
God it's good to see you and the Cleo back :) It's looking as amazing as usual Larry. I can't wait to see more!

Ron
 

57townsman

Member
Hey Larry, long time no see!

Welcome back! Looking forward to rekindling my relationship with your Cleo :wink: She's a fine lady she is.

Steve
 

larrymax

Member
Good Morning All,

I was able to get a little built last night. I got the Boat Racks assembled and installed. I've just lightly tacked them down for now. I want to get the boats built and position them before I commit the racks to their final position. I'm looking forward to building the little boats....! It will be nice to actually FINISH a boat! hehehe!

boatracks.jpg


On a personal note...I was placed on a Jury yesterday (I'm on my way back to the courthouse this morning). It's a murder case! I would covet you prayers to help me be a responsible, wise juror as I hear the facts of this case and deliberate the fate of this person. The responsibilityof this is pretty overwhelming!

Yours Truly
Max
Captain, HMS Cleopatra
Paper Navy of the Bear Flag Republic
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
Hi, Max!
For some reason the photo in your last message is not coming up for me... :cry:
Good luck with your Jury Service!
Some cases are REAL interesting, others not so...hope you at least have an interesting case to hear. Obviously you can't tell us about it until a verdict has been rendered, but I wish you luck, not to mention the wisdom and strength to hear all of the evidence and render a fair and proper decision under the guidance of the court's instructions...sound like a lawyer? Well, there you are. :wink:
Jim
 

larrymax

Member
Thanks Jim! I fixed the image problem.....seems I've run out of space on the server! YIKES.....NOW I've got a problem! I went through and cleaned out a few obsolete images to make a little room, for now...but, that's only a band-aid! I NEED MORE ROOM!

MAX
 

cadwal

New Member
larrymax said:
Thanks Jim! I fixed the image problem.....seems I've run out of space on the server! YIKES.....NOW I've got a problem! I went through and cleaned out a few obsolete images to make a little room, for now...but, that's only a band-aid! I NEED MORE ROOM!

MAX

http://www.imageshack.us/ might provide at least a temporary relief.

(Found that link at AtlasF1 thanks to bira)
 

larrymax

Member
Thanks for the suggestion Caldwel....I'll check it out.

Last night I got started on the ships Boats, well, one of them anyway! These aren't particularly difficult, but the fact that they're so danged SMALL! makes the parts kind of difficult to cut out...especially the smallest bulkhead sections. Went through a number of exacto blades!

boat-frames.jpg


The skins need to be marked at either the upper edge or lower edge (your choice) because once you get them cut off the page, up and down are very similar! I just put the page up to the window (my light box!) and made a small pencil dot at the bottom of all the skin parts. I also marked the parts sheet P for Port and S for Starboard so I could tell which side the parts went on. Still not really convinced I got each skin in the proper spot and in the proper attitude, but, hey! It's not like it has to be water tight! (sorry! Just my justification for not being sure if I did it right!)

boat-skins1.jpg


boat-skins2.jpg


OK. That's it for this morning. I'm off to work. Have a great day, gang. See you this evening!

Max
Captain, HMS Cleopatra
Paper Navy of the Bear Flag Republic
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
Looking good, Max!
Did you also glue the pieces to that thicker stuff for the small boats too?
Or is that just the thickness of the kit paper highly magnified?
Great close-ups...I wish my camera would behave so nicely in those tight shots! :roll:
Just an idea, but at this small scale and if the paper is really that big, do you fair the outside edges of the forming bulkheads to which the planking sheets are glued like in making wooden ship models? Can't tell if that was possible, necessary or if it makes any difference, but just a meandering thought this morning. :D
Jim
 

larrymax

Member
Jim,

I did mount the bulkhead pieces to 1mm card stock. I made a small effort to fair the edges at the fore and aft ends where the most curvature is...but at this tiny of a size (note, this boat is about 1 3/4" long) I'm not sure it really makes much difference. I was pleased to find that the skin pieces DID fit very well from half way on one bulkhead to half way on the next. There's a little missalignment at the top edge, but that might be my fault. There is still a "railing" strip to put on that will disguise any little issues there.

I use a Poloroid 2.3 megapixel digital camera. Yes, it has a very good macro setting! The only problem I have with the camera is holding it still enough to get a nice sharp picture!

Max
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
Max,
I imagine the increased thickness helps to give the skin a better bonding surface.
The ship's boats are like mini kits in themselves, aren't they? :)

Next time I take a few more shots of the Mexico Victory I think I'll try and use a tripod, because the photos seem to be a hair off of focus...and it's auto focus, so it must be my moving the camera just enough to through off the focus. :? Your shots, however, and a bunch of others here are really very crisp and clear!

Really glad to see you and Cleo back!! :D
Jim
 

Peter H

New Member
Marvelous photos and dialogs Max and it's great to see where your up to.

If jury duty has any lasting effects Max..find some counseling.

Peter H
 

larrymax

Member
Good Saturday Morning card modeling fans!

Good news on the Jury Duty front! The Defense Attourney "thanked and dismissed" me from the jury! The Prosecutor had just accepted the jury as seated! Phwew! That was close. I'm sure it would have been interesting, but, frankly, I'm glad I don't have to be on that one!

On to the FUN stuff! CLEO!!

This morning I finished putting in the floor planking pieces and the seat planking piece! So the interior is pretty well finished. I think I'll make some oars to lay in there, but basically, it's done.

boat-inside.jpg


Next, the exterior. Now I KNOW I'm being anal! I'm NOT AT ALL happy with the look of the exterior. First, all those vertical seams are just WRONG! Second, the color! I think I'd like the exterior planking to be white as it shows in the photos of the model! So, where does that leave me? I am now PLANKING the boats! This is where a bit of experience in building wood ship will come in handy...the shape of the "planks" needs to be sketched out, cut out, dry fit, corrected, dry fit again, then duplicated for the opposite side. That's plank 1!

Here's a shot of the first plank in place, with it's opposite sitting next to the boat. I hope this works out! I DO NOT want to have to start over! Well, Jim, like you said, these boats are like entire models in themselves!

boatplanking1.jpg


Oh well, I guess if I can spend 6 hours on the first cannon, I can spend 6 or 8 hours on the first boat!.....Sucks being a perfectionist! I'm NEVER gonna finish this ship at this rate! Thanksgiving suddenly seems AWFULLY CLOSE! :shock:

Until we gather again,

Max
Captain, HMS Cleopatra
Paper Navy of the Bear Flag Republic
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
Max:
It's not that bad a thing to try and make your model so you are happy with it, not matter what that entails, as long as you are relatively happy with it at the end.... :wink:
Besides, now when you finish the boats you will have the planking runs showing from all your hard work and it will look more like the real thing...the other way would be a fine construction method for a steel hulled ship, but the breaks in what should be a smooth planking run would detract from the finished boat. It's a good thing to plank it your way for that reason alone; besides, you already said you weren't happy with its looks, so what else could you do? It's worth the extra time as long as the end meets gets the approval of your critical eye. :)
This little boat is looking great and I look forward toward the way the planking transforms her into a little gem, as I know it will be.
Go for it!!
We don't really mind how long this takes, do we?
The extra time and care will no doubt result in an outstanding boat!
Jim
 

larrymax

Member
OK. 4:30 and I just finished planking. Been doing a few other things too, but working on it off and on all afternoo. Here's what it looks like. Sorry, kind of an overexposed picture. I'll get a better one later...have to go to a party now! :D

boatplanking2.jpg


Max
 

jrts

Active Member
:D

Hi Max

Time well spent, the look of the boat is just amazing. :shock:

Can't wait to see them mounted on Cleo, so all going to a party are we :lol:

I thought you got grounded, if not why not we want more please.

Enjoy the party

Regards

Rob
 

larrymax

Member
Here are a few more pics of todays progress building Cleo's Boats. On Boat #2 this morning.

This shot shows the hull after "skinning". I decided to paint the brick red panels white to conceal myriad alignment errors and gaps by my attempts at planking. Should have done it on the first little boat, too! That's the next plank, next to the boat, waiting to be installed. The shape of the planks is determined by dry fitting a "best guess", then more trimming, fitting, etc. until I get a plank that lays flat. It's pretty time consuming.

boatplanking3.jpg


Here's a shot of the second boat all planked up.

boatplanking4.jpg


And, finally, heres a shot of the first (smaller) boat, and the second boat. It's not finished yet, but you get the idea. Got it down to 4 1/2 hours for this boat, so far! Here, you can see the advantage of the white underpainting! Much neater finish!

boats.jpg



Time for a haircut! Have a great afternoon!

Max
Captain, HMS Cleopatra
Paper Navy of the Bear Flag Republic
 

Jim Krauzlis

Active Member
Max,
Your boats are coming out great! :D
The planking idea, although a bit tedious, is well worth the time and effort as your pictures show.
How are you doing the interior of the boats? Are you going to install floor boards and the like (or have you done that already?)?
Always looking forward to your postings, Max! :D
Jim
 
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