Next I cut 7 windows and a couple decorations from Swiss Pear.
Windows are tiny. Smaller than my pinkey nail.
Windows are tiny. Smaller than my pinkey nail.
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FAIR AMERICAN 14 GUN Privateer by Model Shipways 1:48 SCALE
Working on design. Will cut transon from Swiss Pear, then stain everything same as hull.
Rob,
I love what you’re doing there, and would that I had the CNC capability you’ve got. Especially for the name board—looks so much better than the fingernail decal letters I ended up using.
The windows you’ve cut look fantastic, but if you check the plans you’ll notice that the window frames are not all rectangular and become more trapezoidal the farther they are from centerline.
I point this out only because, with your CNC capability, it should be easy enough to make that adjustment, although they’re going to look great either way. I had a bit of a challenge morphing the kit-supplied white metal frames to the right shape and then building framing to accommodate, but I think the end result was worth it.
I love what you’re doing there, and would that I had the CNC capability you’ve got. Especially for the name board—looks so much better than the fingernail decal letters I ended up using.
The windows you’ve cut look fantastic, but if you check the plans you’ll notice that the window frames are not all rectangular and become more trapezoidal the farther they are from centerline.
I point this out only because, with your CNC capability, it should be easy enough to make that adjustment, although they’re going to look great either way. I had a bit of a challenge morphing the kit-supplied white metal frames to the right shape and then building framing to accommodate, but I think the end result was worth it.
Hey Namabiiru. I'm not that good at the CNC software to make the trapezoids. I just barely get by. I buy .STL files (they are cheap) and modify them. I tried making trapezoids, but just couldn't get them right, so I made rectangles. That'll work for me. I use a software called Vectric Vcarve Desktop, if anyone can help!!
Bravo Rob
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How do you find the ease of workflow with Vcarve?
I have been looking at this for my work.
TheGatzby. I tried Fusion360 (free version) for some time. Way too complicated for a beginner (for me anyway). And much, much more than I need for the simple things I do. I've found Vcarve desktop so much simpler to use and it's still a powerful CAD/CAM software.
Namabiiru had mentioned trapezoides. Vcarve can to this. The problem I had was.... You can take a rectangle, select it so there are tabs in all four corners. You can select the top left corner and drag it left to angle the left side without shifting the top, bottom or right side. It also angled the windows inside the rectangle. This works fine. What I couldn't get to work was... Every vertical line shifts left with the left side, EXCEPT the vertical right side of the rectangle. What the internet says is to hold the shift key while dragging the top left corner and the right side moves with it. I couldn't get the right side to move off vertical. After trying so many things I finally gave up and made rectanges. Guess I should write Vectric and ask about this... Maybe later. I don't have a problem using rectangles standing vertically as they move down the slope of the transom. Or maybe setting the bottoms parallel with the slope.
Drawing things, setting the dimensions, changing the dimensions/height of a object are all straightforward and easy to learn. Same with setting the object where you want it inside the wood material. It's easy once you learn a couple tricks. Chosing bits and generation of the pathways/gcode are also fairly easy. I watched several youtube vidoes on different softwares before purchasing CNC CAM software to replace the difficult/powerful free version of Fusion360. Vcarve is Windows only, so doesn't run natively on my Apple laptop. But I already had 'Parallels' which allows me to run Windows software on my Apple.
Namabiiru had mentioned trapezoides. Vcarve can to this. The problem I had was.... You can take a rectangle, select it so there are tabs in all four corners. You can select the top left corner and drag it left to angle the left side without shifting the top, bottom or right side. It also angled the windows inside the rectangle. This works fine. What I couldn't get to work was... Every vertical line shifts left with the left side, EXCEPT the vertical right side of the rectangle. What the internet says is to hold the shift key while dragging the top left corner and the right side moves with it. I couldn't get the right side to move off vertical. After trying so many things I finally gave up and made rectanges. Guess I should write Vectric and ask about this... Maybe later. I don't have a problem using rectangles standing vertically as they move down the slope of the transom. Or maybe setting the bottoms parallel with the slope.
Drawing things, setting the dimensions, changing the dimensions/height of a object are all straightforward and easy to learn. Same with setting the object where you want it inside the wood material. It's easy once you learn a couple tricks. Chosing bits and generation of the pathways/gcode are also fairly easy. I watched several youtube vidoes on different softwares before purchasing CNC CAM software to replace the difficult/powerful free version of Fusion360. Vcarve is Windows only, so doesn't run natively on my Apple laptop. But I already had 'Parallels' which allows me to run Windows software on my Apple.
Hey Rob, your ship model is looking great ! 
They still look great!
Both the stern lights and gallery lights (there were no windows ) are trapezoidal and no two are exactly the same. Using rectangles the same size will not look right. English ships did not allow any name on the ship in the age of sail for obvious reasons of security except from 1771-1780 and during that brief period there were specifications regarding the size to be painted on. I cannot find any archival information regarding American orders like those held at the PRO in England for the RN. Was there similar security concern in the American navy or did they not care about this and paint or carve names on the stern?
Allan
The question feels a bit pedantic, but I’ll bite. Even if we ignore the fact that this is a model of a model of a ship that may or may not have actually existed, is it necessarily a valid assumption that she was subject to Navy regulations? Could she as easily have been a privateer or an armed merchantman, in which case the owners could do whatever they chose?
English ships did not allow any name on the ship in the age of sail for obvious reasons of security except from 1771-1780 and during that brief period there were specifications regarding the size to be painted on. I cannot find any archival information regarding American orders like those held at the PRO in England for the RN. Was there similar security concern in the American navy or did they not care about this and paint or carve names on the stern?
Allan
- Joined
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The kit is a model of a model..
The original model builder was captain of the ship..
lakedaisy is the captain of this ship.
I have no idea, I was not questioning the model, I was just curious if the United States Navy in the age of sail had regulations that included such things regarding secrecy and security like the British did. A lot of things RN carried over into the US Navy. Heck, even John Paul Jones was in the Royal Navy before switching sides.
Allan