HMS Royal Caroline kit ZHL 1/30 (Following the Maarten's RC)

Dear Uwe,

Thank you! Yes, for his age (82) it is a pretty cool outcome. We have some quality issues, but in general it is fantastic!

maybe you should try with a drawplate...
Do you mean just to draw the dots with a pencil? Sorry, I did not understand the following text about "darker timber ends"

british ships were using only wooden treenails
Yes, I agree this is our case.
 
Do you mean just to draw the dots with a pencil? Sorry, I did not understand the following text about "darker timber ends"
No drawing with pencil - the tool is called drawplate, like the shown from Byrnes


Take also a look at the very good description @tedboat made :
 
No drawing with pencil - the tool is called drawplate, like the shown from Byrnes
ah, yes, sorry for misinterpretation!

Well, I have read the description from @tedboat , and it is impressive!

Taking into account my particular level of assembly (I define it as the "middle") I would rather follow the technique suggested by Maarten: blackened toothpicks. It makes the right impression at the half-meter distance, and easy to implement. It is not as perfect as the "museum quality" described by @tedboat , but I think it will be enough at our level of building.

But I am VERY grateful to you, Uwe, as you allowed me to make the "educated decision" in my case.
And one more thing: all these discussions just confirm my idea of building the next generation platform on the base of SOS, where system will suggest the state-of-the-art explanations just like the one I got from you. It is very useful to go myself through these educational discussions. So, thank you very much!
 
G'day Alex, I agree with Uwe, your Dad is doing a great job, I was only pointing out something I thought you had missed, my own build is far from perfect, and I know what you mean about age, I'm seven years behind your Dad, and my sight and dexterity are not what they used to be.
I have just encountered a problem on the Focsle, something not quite square, the belfry rail tips a little bit to the starboard side, so to take emphasis from the belfry rail I cut the Port side post of the Fore bitts down a little bit to balance things up, see attached pic,

Best regards John,

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Hi Alex,

Use wooden tree nails instead of bamboo. Bamboo has bigger pores creating these black spots. If you already use wood you can avoid the spots by not blackening the treenails but blackening the drilled hole with a soft pencil. I used the pencil methode for the treenails in the deck of my rc.
 
you can avoid the spots by not blackening the treenails but blackening the drilled hole with a soft pencil
That's an interesting idea, Maarten!
Well, from the other side, we are talking about something which is as small as the retina on your computer screen. You do not mind green/red/blue points on your screen, right? So, I may consider these spots as a method to make the wood look little bit darker, which is the purpose of the supersize.
But, again, it is very important to make educated decisions, and you help a lot. I have a special block of wood where I experiment with nails and waxes and oils and their combinations. So, to be continued!
 
I have just encountered a problem on the Focsle
noted! Thank you.

Speaking about my father, the guy loves working with wood, he really likes it. But painting and waxing drives him crazy, as well as engineering way of thinking, which is required, as you know. So, I took it on myself. He likes simple orders and clear instructions, and then he is processing it with an amazing speed, usually 10x comparing to me. Well, it affects the quality, and then we have to redo it again. So, it's fun.
 
Issue: how to treat the 2nd planking?

I have tried different methods:
- beeswax
- Danish Oil
- Tung oil
- both Oils + Bees wax or "Antique wax" (which I found somewhere). I tried both the mix and oil layer + wax layer in all combinations.

Decision (if no one will argue): I will use the Danish Oil + Antique wax.

Reasons:
1. The Oil articulates the wood structure
2. The Antique wax provides more or less the same effect as the beeswax, introduced by Maarten, but it is easy to apply and the result feels better when you touch it (although all the differences are very, very subtle)

Any comments?
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Hello Alex, You cannot go wrong with any of the product you have listed. For my personal taste beeswax\antique wax and oil. I am big fan of Linseed or flax seeds oil because they natural. Treat Her well, give at least two\tree coats but make sure there is an adequate time for drying (between the coats). I usually wait 48 hours +, but it well depends on the timber characteristics. lightly sand with 1500 grit sandpaper before applying next coat. Usually it takes 15~20 minutes for wood to absorb the oil, after that time remove whatever left, al et it dry naturally. Don't use fan or heater or sun ;)
 
Hi Alex, Sorry I wasn't clear enough. Wax is only required at the final stage (after oil treatment). It make a nice lust. If you put wax first, it will clog wood and oil will not penetrate. However, if you mixed wax and oils (hot) then only few coats suffice. It all depends on the type of timber. For example: Pearwood likes oils... Ebony doesn't (it has its own). After the final coat, rub with steel wool 0000. Before treated the model experiment on piece of scrap wood to make sure you satisfy with the results.
 
I have bought 8000 toothpicks and they are different from what I had before: they totally soak in all the brush/ink you give them! Therefore I decided to use not black but the light brown color, and it looks ok now. Here is the picture which explains it
выбор гвоздей.JPG
 
OK, we start the wood nail project.
I used Maarten as an example, as usual. I enlarged the distance between nails +10%, made it 2cm, just to make it easier, although it could be slightly wrong. Also, it means just 4000 nails below the wales.
Of course, we made many experiments on this frame before we made final choices:
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Here is a pack of 1000 toothpicks ready to be painted. When one end is sprayed with the paint, we close it, open another one and paint again:
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Here is the result
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Now, it's time to draw the lines across the hull for the nails
IMG_0982.JPGIMG_0983.JPG
OK, finally we put 3mm ribbons on the hull and the process has been started.
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12 hours later the second part is in production:
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Hi Alex,

Smart idea with the laser and the airbrush for coloring the treenails.
Maybe by using the airbrush the paint is too thin and soaking into the wood. I colored each and every treenail with a marker which took me a view evenings but the core of the treenail remained blank.

See below the replica of Willem Barentz ship which is currently being build in Harlingen and your treenails are spot on.
20190729_114754.jpg
 
OK, guys, the treenailing is done.
4000 nails were inserted in 10 hours.
9 seconds per nail.
What can I say...
Not bad for the old guy.
Well, not without mistakes, sorry. When he made the last row in the aft, he was rather tired, and forgot to control the symmetry.
IMG_0993.JPG
OK, we added a new row and now it looks better:
IMG_1000.JPG
The nails themselves look ok to me.
IMG_0999.JPG
 
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