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 Rank: Vice-Master     Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Monday, 18 June, 2012 - Poop Just a week ago I glued to the poop the floor of the lower gallery and its four vertical supports that serve as point of attachment for other elements. During this week I worked on the model almost every day but for short periods only. The reason of this method is due to new pieces to be fixed on this gallery that needed to be appropriately adapted; but especially because of the long waiting times, once fixed a piece, to dry and "hold" the glue. Everything before managing the next piece. So I spent one day to fix a piece, another for the other side, etc. . I took the opportunity to fill the waiting time with sessions in the pool and gym. However, yesterday I managed to finish this lower gallery to a point that allows me to proceed shortly with the gallery immediately above. Because, as I may have mentioned earlier, I'm not going to color these pieces of blue paint but I want integrate them in the scheme of dark wood / light wood / wood stained, the result you see here below is completely different from that obtained by others: no filler, no painted plywood in view, but coverage of these pieces with the same chestnut / mahogany veneer used for the hull (photo 01 and 02), as well as the floor of the gallery was planked with beechwood (photo 03). 01 P1080270.jpg  02 P1080272.jpg  03 P1080273.jpg  Finally, the gallery windows. For the time being I smoothed and finished them with sandpaper and small files and I applied three light coats of white acrylic paint, as a primer for a future gold paint. I thought to apply in the back of these panels a sheet of acetate (the one that you usually use for transparencies, thickness approximately 0.15 mm.) to simulate the glass and framing the rear perimeter with small strips of 0.5 mm. In this way, once pasted the panel, the acetate sheet is not in contact with the bottom and should give a more realistic glass effect. The problem is that, making some bonding tests of an acetate sheet on a piece of wood, I discovered that the cyan-acrylate practically does not paste at all . . I need an idea. 04 P1080275.jpg  See you soon, Jack.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Saturday, 23 June, 2012 - Poop In recent days, the hot weather has "slightly affected" my productivity; however, between yesterday and today I was able to progress a little bit. Thanks to a very good suggestion of a friend, I decided the best way to simulate the gallery windows, so I began to implement the idea. After having attached the first row of windows, I was able to apply the floor of the second gallery, and, above it, the second row of windows. I started to paint these panels in gold color but after two strokes I realized that I didn't like at all the effect achieved: too artificial and unlikely, so I decided to use a light yellow acrylic paint . . 01 P1080280.jpg  02 P1080281.jpg  03 P1080282.jpg  04 P1080283.jpg  Finally, I proceeded to plank with mahogany veneer the bottom of the overhang, in line with the wood used in the area of the two wales that are at the same level. 05 P1080284.jpg  See you next time, cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Thursday, June 28, 2012 - Poop Again, these days the weather was very hot . . anyway, I was able to continue without too much troubles with this complex poop. Given the type of work to be achieved, my job was characterized by relatively short sessions, followed by periods of waiting time. In the pictures here below you can see the progresses made: they aren't "striking" but they fully satisfy me. In the idle time between the different sessions I started to collect and catalog all the materials of all the issues till now distributed by De Agostini. This was necessary to retrieve in a more efficient way the available materials in the next future. After a few days of this habit, now all the metal decorations, gun barrels, blocks, deadeyes, chains etc. are now well stored and easily retrievable. I have now to decide a strategy of how to manage/treat the golden decorations. I cannot leave them as they are: too unrealistic. The instructions suggest to treat them with "judea bitumen" (is it the right term ?). I never used it but I don't like the effect achievable. I have to think about this problem in search of a good idea, but in line of principle my way would be to treat them with a primer, then a coat of "Terra di Siena Bruciata" with a final "dry brushing" with gold and copper paint. I'm also considering to buy an airbrush, not only to treat these decorations but with in mind future uses and implementations. See you next time, Jack.Aubrey. 01 P1080285.jpg  02 P1080286.jpg  03 P1080287.jpg  04 P1080288.jpg  05 P1080290.jpg 
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Rank: Vice-Master  Groups: Registered
Joined: 26/05/2014 Posts: 912 Points: 2,773 Location: East Sussex UK
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Hi Jack the ship is looking great, how did you do the small square panels underneath the windows ? Building: DelPrado HMS Victory. Building: DeAgostini Sovereign Of The Seas.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Gibbo wrote:Hi Jack . . how did you do the small square panels underneath the windows ? They are simple small rectangles in veneer, of the proper size and the black lines at the perimeter are made with a permanent marker with very thin edge. Hope it's clear. Jack.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Saturday, June 30, 2012 Since it's approaching the day of my 63rd birthday, I decided to reward myself with a gift useful for any kind of modeling. A couple of years ago I purchased an air compressor. It is shown in the picture presented here below. It's a air compressor made in China that had a cost for me of € 80. It has a tank capacity of 24 liters and a good supply of accessories: to blow air (which I often use to wipe my models), to pump the tires, to paint, to spray oil, etc.. While I didn't made an excessive usage, it has often proved useful in various circumstances. To use it for ship modeling, however, there is something missing, another important add-on, although new for me to discover and learn. 01 P1070156.jpg  A good airbrush! So this morning, with my dear friend Orestes, I went to buy an airbrush. It is a "cloned" airbrush of a famous brand. I paid a more than acceptable price: € 48. 02 P1080291.jpg  Gravity tank, possibility to regulate the amount of paint in output, possibility to adjust the air pressure in output. This latter aspect is interesting in that, while having the same feature on the air compressor, with this feature on the brush you get a greater flexibility and simplicity of use. 03 P1080294.jpg  Finally, I also got a pipe to connect the airbrush to the compressor. Another € 7 for the pipe and € 4 for a couple of adapters to connect to the compressor, which is equipped with a fast connector, very practical in use. All these items are visible in the photo presented below. 04 P1080295.jpg  All that remains to do now is some testing with the new equipment. It should become useful in the near future. . for Soleil I think to the treatment of golden metal decorations. Greetings, Jack.Aubrey.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Sunday, July 1st, 2012 A day lost in search of an smart method to build the front side of the two upper "bottiglie". I beg your pardon but I don't think in english they are called "bottles", and unfortunately I don't know their right english terminology P1080287.jpg How someone can build it with the material supplied (two pieces of plywood) I just don't know (see steps E, F and G of the card n° 105 following the two links here below): http://i46.servimg.com/u/f46/12/86/14/83/105-fr10.jpghttp://i46.servimg.com/u/f46/12/86/14/83/105-re10.jpg After an afternoon of tests and thoughts I finally found a way that seems to work, although it is a rather complex solution. During the next session I think to build these two final items. Regarding photos, at the moment there is nothing interesting to show you. Regards, Jack.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Friday, July 6, 2012 - More on stern This week I had not much time to devote to ship modeling, but even if at a slow pace I did something. I finished, after some testing, the installation of the missing elements to complete the upper "bottiglie". The missing pieces were built from scratch, starting from a sweet wooden block that I had to shape with great patience to fit in position. Time consuming work and with the constant risk of breaking the piece with a wrong movement. I originally planned to plank the "bottiglie" with strips of stained blue but I realized that it was not possible to be completely succesful. For this reason I painted them in blue. Now I have to refine the whole and apply the additional coats of paint. The blue color in the images is not as it appears in the reality: the usage of the flash for shooting photos is responsible of this change . . anyway I don't like too much but . . Finally I covered the remaining mahogany transom with stained blue wood, to complement the color scheme of the sides. As anticipated, nothing striking for a week's work. . however, the wheels are always in motion, and this is the important thing. Of course the heat of these days does not help, indeed. . . for good luck yesterday I washed the car. Usually, the effect is that immediately starts to rain. . let's hope. Update: this system seems to work ALWAYS, in fact some hours later it was raining a lot . . Cheers, Jack. 01 P1080297.jpg  02 P1080298.jpg  03 P1080299.jpg  04 P1080300.jpg  05 P1080301.jpg  Extra image...06 P1080296.jpg 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Tuesday, July 10, 2012 - again the stern These are the last pictures of the work done these days, before closing the yard for a couple of weeks for summer holidays. I built the upper gallery, integrating it with the color scheme of that particular area of the hull. I would say that there is not much to add since there are no real problems running this kind of work, only a lot of patience. . 01 P1080302.jpg  02 P1080303.jpg  03 P1080304.jpg  04 P1080305.jpg  05 P1080306.jpg  See you soon, Jack.Aubrey.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Saturday, July 28, 2012 - Decorations Due to an early return from a short vacation near Pisa, I found myself in these days making tests for the treatment of the stern decorations of the ship. I obviously choose those elements that must be applied before proceeding to complete the remaining galleries. In practice the main figure on the transom (fig. 01) and the "columns" to be applied at the sides of the stern windows (fig 02-03). 01 P1080308R.jpg  02 P1080309R.jpg  03 P1080310R.jpg  What you see above is the result, for the time being to be considered 95% definitive . . I will decide in the coming days. For the moment, no aero-pen usage, only a simple brush. The procedure is briefly the following: 1) cleaning the pieces with brushing and subsequent degreasing with nitro; 2) two coats of primer (polyurethane water); 3) a coat of "dark brown" paint (always polyurethane water); 4) gilding with golden paint, always polyurethane applied using the "dry brush" technique. I'm considering also a moderate usage (always using the dry brush technique) of a copper-colored paint.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Sunday, August 5, 2012 - Stern Here are some pictures of the stern as at yesterday afternoon. The images were taken today before starting further work. 01 P1080311.jpg  02 P1080312.jpg  03 P1080313.jpg  04 P1080314.jpg  05 P1080315.jpg 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Monday August 6, 2013 In the meantime I tested and finished the browning of all the gun half-barrels: there is the type I call "big", which should, I think, be mounted on the lower and intermediate decks and the "small" or "medium" type for the upper deck. The browning was done in four "steps", due to the number of guns, and the resulting colour slightly differs between each step. I think it's due to a progressive weakening of the burnishing liquid that I used more than once. Some have a blue tone that I like more than the classic gun metal tone . . 01 P1080316.jpg  02 P1080317.jpg  See you soon, Jack.Aubrey.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Thursday, August 9, 2012 In the meantime I progressed a bit with this complex poop and here I put some pictures of the stern with the galleries practically finished. Obviously the decorations are not yet included .. this will be the main job of the next .. weeks! These photos were strongly affected by the use of the digital camera "flash", so the colors are a bit dissimilar from reality. . Jack.Aubrey. 01 P1080327.jpg  02 P1080328.jpg  03 P1080330.jpg  04 P1080331.jpg  05 P1080332.jpg 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Friday, August 10, 2012 - embellishments
Today I spent most of the day to do tests for garnishing. The method described in the written instructions was not suitable so I tried alternatives. So I turned to think of other solutions and, after many trials that did not satisfy me, see photo number 02, I found "my" garnishments in the picture number 01.
Method of construction:
- Material used: copper wire diameter mm. 0.5, the color creates a diversion to gold decorations;
- Inserted the two ends of the wire in the minidrill spindle I held it stretched with a nail;
- I turned on the minidrill until the clutch permitted, then I turned off removing the piece;
- Unbelievable, the obtained garnish is always perfectly right;
- I cut the ends of the garnish;
- I glued two hanks each other with cyan gel, this bonding is only temporarily, until the piece is placed in its final position, where (I have already tried it on a piece) it is definitely fixed with epoxy glue.
I look forward tomorrow to verify that the bonding with the epoxy has the seal that I expect and if "OK", I'll proceed with the rest of the bonding, all pieces should be all ready.
PS: the image here below are not photographs but scans, I forgot the camera. .
01 Guarnitura-1.jpg
02 Guarnitura-2.jpg
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Wednesday, August 15, 2012 These days I used, for the first time after 40 years, the airbrush I purchased a few weeks ago. Main objective was to apply a couple of coats of primer and a coat of paint in dark brown on the metal decorations. Even with all my inability to master the medium, after a little practice I was able to achieve the result that I had in mind. The day after I then ventured to golden them. What shown below is the final result. This is only a small part of the decorations to work on. I'll work on a little at a time, with patience in three or four steps. 01 P1080334.jpg  I propose here below two images of the famous garnishments, explained in my last message, mounted on the top of the galleries. I like very much. I changed a bit the copper colour with some gold applied with dry brush to maintanin an identical aspect with the other decorations. 02 P1080336.jpg  03 P1080337.jpg  Cheers, Jack.Aubrey.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Friday, August 17, 2012 Another group of decorations for my Soleil ready for goldening. In the image these decorations are shown after the application (with the airbrush) of dark brown color, namely an intermediate stage of processing. Yesterday afternoon I finished them, more/less a couple of hours of work . . 01 P1080340.jpg  In the meantime I continued with the application of the decorations at the stern. Compared to the first experience I did a little variation to the bonding process which is proving to be crucial to speed up this kind of work: having realized that it is not necessary to use over the entire surface to be bonded the epoxy glue, very long to dry, I left a couple of very small areas clear, where I placed a drop of cyan-acrilate in gel. This "trick" makes the cyan able to fix almost instantly the piece in place and then you can wait quietly the drying of the epoxy without bothering to stop by one means the piece in place . . and of course I can continue in the meantime with something else. . 02 P1080341.jpg  03 P1080342.jpg 
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 - Stern galleries Finally today I have finished with the stern galleries and the goldening of all the decorations, apart the figurehead and two other human statues. I think I achieved a result that exceeds my expectations: - The epoxy glue is very good for this type of bonding. . by the way I also glued with the same glue the guns under the decks, guns that detached after few hammer blows when they were stuck with the cyan; now I can do everything; - But, more importantly, I think I've got a very good quality even though at the cost of a lot of time and patience; - Negative point is that I spent a lot of time to finish in a precise way (and perfect for me) the wood of the galleries and then, with all these decorations, I realize that even if I finished less precisely would have been fine anyway: we see so little of the background veneer stained. . Let's start with a total of three images of the stern . . from behind: 01 P1080343.jpg  . . from the right: 02 P1080344.jpg  . . from left: 03 P1080345.jpg  . . Finally an image closer: 04 P1080346.jpg  As I think I've already written, I used a two components epoxy glue that, after this very positive experience, I would totally recommend for this type of application. Once dry it is very strong and, in contrast to the errors I've done at the beginning, you do not need a lot of it to assure a strong bond. To overcome the long setting time and drying I soon learned the trick to put in a couple of points a drop of cyan in gel form. This glue, taking hold almost immediately, holds the piece in place, thus leaving the possibility to epoxy to dry. It's a trick that speeds up a lot of the work. . . continues. . Best regards, Jack.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 26/05/2014 Posts: 912 Points: 2,773 Location: East Sussex UK
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spending that extra time has certainly paid off Jack, looks great. Building: DelPrado HMS Victory. Building: DeAgostini Sovereign Of The Seas.
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Rank: Vice-Master Groups: Registered
Joined: 28/05/2014 Posts: 938 Points: 2,823 Location: Milan (Italy)
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. . continuation. . I continue here with the publication of additional images of the stern galleries from a closer viewpoint. In the first one you may notice that I have yet to find a way to close the bottom "bottle" (I've not yet found a proper english term) on the front side, "closing" that I intend to do as soon as possible. 01 P1080350.jpg  Here, however, you might notice a couple of caryatids that connects the lower to the middle gallery above. At the time of bonding two other caryatids are missing. They will be installed in place shortly. The two missing caryatids are visible in the picture number 04 at the top. 02 P1080351.jpg  03 P1080352.jpg  In the next two images are shown all the last decorations, that remained to be gilded, in their last stage of processing. Now they have to be separated from the double-sided tape, smooth on the back side to remove the residuals of the tape glue and other filth in order to prepare a good support for bonding. Then it will be the turn of the "bottles" decorations . . 04 P1080354.jpg  05 P1080355.jpg  It remains to "gild" three statues, rather large: the figurehead and two human figures that are to be applied in the stern area. Having regard to the size I want to think not only to a process of browning but also to apply some color. To this end, I will try to find some photos on the internet "enlightening" of these details. Until now without great success but . . See you soon, Jack.
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Impressive work Jack, looking superb....  Regards Alan
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