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Comments
My household projects are finally at an end after two months, my hobby room tidied and I'm motivated to get back to modeling . . . In the interim I've even added four more kits to my inventory - there was a space on the shelf that looked lonely. Thank goodness I plan to do this until I am at least 250 . . . . some people talk about getting old - fortunately that will never happen to me!
Respectfully,
John
Respectfully,
John
Keep progressing. You're doing great. Phil
Paul
Karl.A
I love your enthusiasm! Glad to see you're to see this project through. I think Brett mentioned the flashing...perhaps a little gray chalk here and there on some of the vents and stacks (the metal ones) as those tend to lighten as they age.
I'm hoping you'll bring this along to the Expo in March so we can get an in person look. Plus, Paul will be there and you can pick his brain too!
Well done!
Brett, thanks - yes, I see what you mean, now that you point it out. I was so pleased with myself for how perfect the fit and appearance was that the coloration never occurred to me . . .
Paul & Karl, thank you. I never thought I'd make the platform sufficiently sturdy but in the end it worked out. Tank coloration eluded me for several attempts but finally it got to a point where I was satisfied.
Thanks Bill. I can't wait to see you all. Yes, I need to dab a little here and there with toning things down. The guyed chimney was a challenge figuring out how to get the brass wires attached to the right place and at the correct angles so that they all looked symmetrical. Hopefully coloration will begin to come to me with experience. At this point I don't seem successful starting with an objective like you and achieving it - if It has reasonable coloration - any coloration - it pleases me and I'm grateful for it!
The following pictures are insignificant other than to demonstrate I have abandoned 1:1 and am back into The Shipyard . . . .
It's hard to imagine this is an afternoon's work.
Respectfully,
John
I have been carefully following Brett's sequence in the manual with no jump aheads and nothing left for later - that I am consciously aware of. A nice thing about being so far behind everyone is the opportunity to meld Brett's manual with the experience of those ahead of me.
Today, on page 50, I built the left loading dock. With so much dock area to build I was pleased to see how rapidly this project evolved from start to finish.
Next, cutting the legs I was surprised to learn I do not have a True Sander. I didn't even know what it was until a few minutes ago when I Googled it. Brett's instructions were sufficiently clear that its purpose was apparent. Just last night I reread Paul & John Elwood's thread and saw the block that Paul created to deal with qualified ends to the pilings. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I made one minor modification by cutting a trough in the block. All was done with a table saw for angular perfection. I hold the piece of wood in position with my finger and get square ends by moving the block along a piece of 100 grit sandpaper.
And last but not least is the completed left freight dock. Brett stipulates the glue will suck the legs down nice and "square" but being a military person I believe in "trust but verify".
An excellent piece of information was the main dock leg length Paul experienced vs John E vs the documentation with the speculation that the foam material thickness may vary from place to place. I am on notice to have that in hand prior to cutting dock pilings.
Thank you for looking in . . .
Respectfully,
John
The addition of that channel has other possibilities: You could use a similar setup as a tool to hold dock legs, pier pilings, fence posts, etc 100% true while gluing. (As long as 2 sides were completely square)
Beats the way I used to try and square up legs:
Bill, you may have to demonstrate this new use. Phil
Today I began / completed the Right Dock. Phil, after wasting a lot of glue, it occurred to me to simply squeeze a large drop out of the main bottle. When it becomes unusable, I rinse the cap in the sink. Yesterday I found myself at odd and uncomfortable angles to my work so today I set up on a small cutting board that I can turn & reposition to best suit being right handed and seeking illumination. The wood is set up correctly on the print but looks lop sided because I did not cut the paper parallel to the diagram.
At the top of the next photo are the 24 legs for this dock. I found it easiest to use my jig to square one end of the piling, put that end against the stop on the cutter and then after chopping, to qualify the cut. By making the length of the piece sufficient, I could square the newly chopped end and still have the correct leg length. The second photo below is a repeat photo of how I squared both ends. This closest picture also has my next attempt at nail holes. My attempt on the main building did not come out well. Do these pass the test? They appear subtle to me.
Bill, you looked at my sanding jig last night and surprised me by relating it instead to a device for aligning dock supports as evidenced by the photo you included. That never would have occurred to me but look how well it worked in the photo below. I did all 24 pilings with it. How convenient! I'm fortunate to discover this at the onset of the zillion support legs & pilings that are in my near future with this kit. I can simply cut appropriately notches in the block to deal with other piling sizes. In this photo the furthest end of the jig is on a shim so it remains parallel to its task.
Unnecessary to show the completed dock. Tomorrow, the derrick dock . . .
Thank you for looking in. Only baby steps but major ones for me.
Respectfully,
John
Paul
Phil
Dave
A less productive day in the Cougar Mountain Shipyard today with multiple activities. I believe the natural curved section is destined to be the stem for a new ship build that has just been contracted.
When not watching that activity the cross bracing was completed.
Not much, but a great afternoon in mountain fog and one step closer . . . .
Respectfully,
John
Karl.A
I envy you. Im sitting here in some pretty mean african heat today wishing i had those conditions to model in.
Wes, Thank you also - its very nice to see you looking in. Are you working on a particular project now? Forgive me please if I should already know.
Another day, another dock. I will do nail holes tomorrow and touch up raw edges at the same time. Nothing much to look at here, just proof I did it!
I didn't want to break the day going out looking for N gauge grey ballast for barnacles, so I have experimented. First let me say the overall color of the piling appears to have the chalk coated to thickly and I guess I need to brush them out somewhat overall to reduce that effect. The picture below is using Brett"s technique of wetting the piling with glue then sticking it into barnacles - in this case, salt and pepper! I took a couple of dozen pictures and don't seem to be able to capture the effect/color very well. I would really appreciate comments on this matter.
Respectfully,
John
Barnacles look good to me, good colour variation, be careful not to dissolve the S&P with any washes you do in the future.
Karl.A
I have already cut the dowels on my Byrnes saw but can easily hold them with tweezers and follow your suggestion. I also need to rough up their tops a bit.
John
Respectfully,
John
Thank you for looking in . . .
John
Yes, the black objects are half inch steel cut up into sizes that are convenient. I got the idea from Paul but no not have a convenient Cu source.
Ken, I chewed up the end of the dock beams - let's see if it is visible when I take the dock off the pattern.
My barnacles arrived today. The Amazon photo seemed like an envelope of fine ballast but boy the box was large and heavy for that. I was shipped a pint! It is a lifetime supply. Looks like I'll have to put barnacles on the lightning rod, all the chimneys and even my light fixtures.
I located, colored and cut the wood for the main dock, then got that reasonably along.
I have spent a lot of time trying unsuccessfully to find where to buy code 70 weathered rail that Brett recommends. All I need is two 18" pieces for the diorama. Would someone please suggest a source?
Respectfully,
John