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| Mantua 'Astrolabe' - 1:50 | ||
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Moderators: Winston, aew
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| Author | Post | ||
| popeyethesailor |
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  Registered Member #2795 Joined: Mon Jun 04 2012, 11:57amPosts: 179 | nice looking build Arthur  I'm guessing this build is completed.....simply superb, some of the techniques you have to show. I'm new to the site and am trying to get out here looking at some of the superb work, you folks are doing. I love how looking through these logs, cause coming away with fresh ideas and learned techniques, to be the result in this fine hobby. your talent shines in your build.....great job! | ||
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| aew |
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Arthur   Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 3030 | Thanks for looking in. Yes, you're quite correct, it was my first POB model and I completed it at the beginning of 2009. I'll be posting pictures of the completed model in the near future. | ||
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| aew |
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| Arthur Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 3030 | 28th December 2008 Finishing Touches The last items in the instructions are the anchors. There are four in all, two with wooden stocks and two with brass rods. The wooden stocks are laser cut plywood parts. Although these are tapered on one axis, being laser cut from a plywood sheet, they are a uniform thickness and need tapering on this axis. As I had, by this stage, come to dislike seeing the edges of various plywood pieces, I decided that plywood definitely would not do for these parts. I therefore opted to make new stocks from scratch. Now, I do have the technology to drill square holes in wood but unfortunately, not this small! However a square needle file did the job with no trouble. The instructions show two sets of bindings on each arm of the stocks but I opted to make metal bands from brass strip. The ends were simply butted together, soldered and then blackened. PICT_A_1901  The other two anchors are shown with a brass rod fitted as the stock. There was only one hole in the anchor casting, to which I had fitted the anchor ring on the fore anchors. If I fitted the brass rod through this hole, as shown in the instructions, it would not be possible to fit a ring to these anchors. The solution seemed obvious so I drilled a separate hole for the rod. Pictures I have seen of these types of anchor show a ‘ball’ end to these stocks so a little experimentation was called for. The solution was surprisingly simple. I wrapped a single turn of copper wire round the end of the rod and soldered it in place. By holding the rod with the end downward, the solder naturally formed a nice ball on the end. It was just a matter of adding enough solder to form a suitable sized ball. PICT_A_1902  I opted to leave the fore port anchor hanging from the cat head with the others lashed to the channels. PICT_A_1903  There was one further detail I wanted to add. I had originally mistakenly fitted stun’sl booms to the crossjack yard, which I later removed. I realised I could use these as the lower main stun’sl booms on the main channels. I just needed to make the pivots and some saddles to support them. PICT_A_1904  The saddles and fixed parts of the pivots were made from brass strip, each with two ‘bolt’ holes to fix them to the channels. The end caps for the boom were also made from brass strip, a disc for the end and a small strip soldered to it (like the lid of a jar). A hole was drilled in the centre for the pivot pin and this also was soldered into place. The parts were then pinned to the channels. The following picture shows both the anchor and the boom on the main channel. PICT_A_1905  The lower fore stun’sl booms were apparently fitted to an eye bolt in the hull only when required, so I omitted those. | ||
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| Mike 41 |
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 Registered Member #702 Joined: Fri Feb 05 2010, 10:37pmPosts: 1293 | Very nice detail work on the anchors and your rope work is exceptional. You have built an extremely fine model. Mike | ||
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| teleman |
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 Registered Member #1925 Joined: Tue Nov 29 2011, 05:32amPosts: 1394 | Just beautiful work Arthur, Your metal as usual just outstanding....! | ||
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| aew |
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| Arthur Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 3030 | Thanks gents. I'll be including some pictures of the completed model in the final installment, but you'll have to wait until I get back from holiday! | ||
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| aew |
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| Arthur Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 3030 | 7th February 2009 Review Having finally got more or less to the finishing post, what do I think of the kit? You can build this as a first model, but I think it really belongs in the intermediate category. It was my first plank on frame ship build and it’s a while since I built any models, but I did have some past experience and I do a fair bit of woodwork so I muddled through somehow. The hull is single planked so if you want a finish that displays your handiwork you need to get it right first time. Having said that, the hull shape didn’t create any major problems. There was sufficient planking to comfortably complete the task and the wood was of reasonable quality. The biggest problem for a beginner would be the poor quality instructions (although I’ve now seen worse). There are 30 pages but they are in 5 languages so that effectively means only about 6 pages. They look like the output of one of those translation programmes. Most of the pictures are low resolution and black and white although the pictures and instructions for the ships boat look like a modern revision. I don’t think this is a particularly accurate model of Astrolabe, I think a bit of artistic licence has been applied to simplify things and increase it’s appeal but the kit can produce a quite presentable model. Thanks to help and advice on the Drydock Models forum, I rigged it in what I believe to be a much more authentic manner than the makers intended but that did require the purchase of lots more blocks and other fittings and some custom fabrication. There were some minor shortages in the kit, some dowel and one of the sizes of rigging cord but nothing significant. On the whole, I would say that the kit was quite good value for money. And finally, some pictures of the completed model: PICT_A_2001  PICT_A_2002  PICT_A_2003  [ Edited Thu Aug 02 2012, 09:28am ] | ||
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| Winston |
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Winston Registered Member #1 Joined: Sat Jun 13 2009, 02:08pmPosts: 2633 | Impressive job for a first build. My first (Endeavour) didn't turn out too bad but my second attempt (which shall remain nameless) looked more like a shipwreck! | ||
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| Gene Bodnar |
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 Registered Member #126 Joined: Tue Jul 21 2009, 11:20amPosts: 1776 | Arthur, I agree. Great job. For a first model, your rigging is especially well done. In most first models, the ratlines are usually way too tight but yours look perfect. Gene | ||
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| aew |
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| Arthur Registered Member #1929 Joined: Wed Nov 30 2011, 03:05pmPosts: 3030 | Thanks very much gentlemen. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out, but never the less, it's still a case of "If I'd known then what I know now...." Gene: Ratlines are well down the list of interesting tasks as far as I'm concerned. I think I worked it out at over 1,200 clove hitches on Astrolabe. I haven't dared to even estimate how many I'll need to tie on Vanguard! | ||
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