The Black Pearl... a slow build log

[digger303]

You really have to love Scott's commitment to weathering. He even made his iPad look beat up and cracked to hell.

Ever seen the tv show "Anger Management "

[Twokidsnosleep]

You really have to love Scott's commitment to weathering. He even made his iPad look beat up and cracked to hell.

Ever seen the tv show "Anger Management "

It still works, a good spare for the model room
Run it until it dies

[ForeverPlasticKits]

What a huge work on this henceforth famous sailing ship! I'm really impressed by your 3D printing creation, realism is awesome!

[Twokidsnosleep]

What a huge work on this henceforth famous sailing ship! I'm really impressed by your 3D printing creation, realism is awesome!

my friend and thank you

[digger303]

You really have to love Scott's commitment to weathering. He even made his iPad look beat up and cracked to hell.

Ever seen the tv show "Anger Management "

It still works, a good spare for the model room
Run it until it dies

I hate throwing anything away if it is still usefull. So I'd do the same. My phone fell off the missus car at 80km landed on the corner and now has 2 large cracks and a couple of smaller ones, but I'm still using it. I did buy a spare and copied all my stuff over though. All I can say is idiot owner and a damn good phone case. Which I can't buy now.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Got some more 1/72 figures today
Every pirate has to be a weapon wielding yahoo in some bizarre calisthenics pose it would seem



If I can make this scene…


…out if these yahoos, I will be a happy man


Are two of these guys are doing the YMCA dance??

[digger303]

The one on the right is the wheelhouse man.

[Twokidsnosleep]

A little better with some arm mods




I need to make a parrot

Barbossa is leaning into his wheel turn, Capt Jack is looking at his compass and Cotton with a Parrot on his shoulder hanging on for the ride

[Twokidsnosleep]

Wood effect on the anchor's wood...light ochre and then burnt umber and some textured black iron with the oil paint.
I have some rust effects to try out when these oils dry

[Stokesy44]

Very nice work. I'd hav em on my ship ye hearty!

[digger303]

Wood effect on the anchor's wood...light ochre and then burnt umber and some textured black iron with the oil paint.
I have some rust effects to try out when these oils dry

Ya wood looks good

[Twokidsnosleep]

And now for something completly different...the deadeyes
So there are round wood rope attachments on these sailing ships, 160 to be exact.
I want to use real ropes and wood

It would cost me north of 150 to buy them on line, so.....

They are 6mm in diamater. I have a plunge cutter for the drill press that makes wood plugs to cover a screw hole...perfect for this.
I made two sizes 6mm and 9mm






Then the holes hand drilled into the face shape hence deadeye name


Some refinement to do, but these should work out. I would rather spend that money elsewhere and not on something I can make and have the tools and wood for. Plus the little bugger are super rolley and bugger off on you when you drop them...lost 2 so far to my floor monster.

[RangerNeil]

Many, many, years ago I built the Heller kit of the HMS Victory. Every piece of rigging on that was done by hand albeit with the aid of jigs. Including the dead eyes. So I am incredibly impressed by the dedication shown here!!
Well done!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Many, many, years ago I built the Heller kit of the HMS Victory. Every piece of rigging on that was done by hand albeit with the aid of jigs. Including the dead eyes. So I am incredibly impressed by the dedication shown here!!
Well done!!

Right back at you
Thanks bud

[Stokesy44]

An amazing feat if you can pull it off.

PS - you're crazy!!!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

An amazing feat if you can pull it off.

PS - you're crazy!!!!

Yes, yes I am

[digger303]

Totally understand your view point about making them yourself and right behind you in that.
If I might make a suggestion though. You have a lathe and each one of those blocks need a groove carved into them for the rope to fit into. Would it not be better and quicker to carve them out of a long piece of dowel and drill the holes last.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Totally understand your view point about making them yourself and right behind you in that.
If I might make a suggestion though. You have a lathe and each one of those blocks need a groove carved into them for the rope to fit into. Would it not be better and quicker to carve them out of a long piece of dowel and drill the holes last.

Excellent observation
Yes I could do them that way, in fact I dare say most are made that way in scale and likely in reality.
That is my plan B btw...making a shaper tool to cut that groove and shape the faces from a dowel on the lathe.
The problem is that then everything on the front face is end grain as you are cutting rounds off a rod.
The way around that is to cut into a flat sheet and make a plug. Now the faces are parallel grain and easier to shape and deal with, take stain more even etc etc.
I will make a little jig to friction hold the plugs and let me do the side v groove and shape the faces properly on the lathe or the Dremel

[Twokidsnosleep]

This is the shaper/ lathe method an absolute master craftsman used, found when researching how to make the deadeyes
You can see he has modified a chisel into a shaper that makes the exact deadeye profile…like doing wood moulding


And then then this is his friction fit wooden holder to refine the deadeye in the lathe


I made 20 deadeye blanks in about 30 min…including rummaging around for the cutter, finding wood, clearing space, vacuuming, setting up etc etc
The plug cutter method is fast and then all so have to do is lathe them to refine; well that makes sense
Once I get it all going, I am sure I can churn out 160 + in an afternoon
I am not paying myself and can take my time, but rather make them than buy them

[digger303]

I never thought about the way the grain would look in the end product...very good point as it would not look right once stained.
Now your making me think about it more I also would think the choice of wood is very important too. For the reason of tightness of grain to be in scale and when drilling you don't want splinters blowing out the hole in these small objects.
Following with great interest.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I never thought about the way the grain would look in the end product...very good point as it would not look right once stained.
Now your making me think about it more I also would think the choice of wood is very important too. For the reason of tightness of grain to be in scale and when drilling you don't want splinters blowing out the hole in these small objects.
Following with great interest.

Bingo
They use walnut or basswood for the retail ones

[Tomcat64]

Just doing some catching up and the weathering on those steps a few pages back looks great with more wear & tear towards the centre of the treads, and I love the idea of constrasting the colouration of the deck against the outer hull - maybe try & make that look like scorched wood to match the backstory.

Loving all the other additional attention to detail that's going along with the project - including the modifications to those dodgy-looking crew figures!

Great to see you back at the bench

[Stokesy44]

I've stopped commenting on this thread because it makes me feel inadequate.

Great stuff. The scratch building is not my bag but I know skills when I see them

[Twokidsnosleep]

Well I spent the day. It was glorious in the garage, music, nobody bugging me, well only a few interruptions.
I think this was successful. It will take a while to get them all done, but it is doable.
So let’s get to it.
The cutting of the plugs set up:






130 rough cut plugs cut out


Then to the lathe and popped into the collet that fits the plug. I do the groove with a v file and refine the two faces with sanders and files.





In the end, I got 35 or so done and ready to use

[Stokesy44]

Great stuff. I love all the hardware you've got. Its next level stuff and opens up a whole new aspect to the hobby beyond what comes in the box.

There must be a strong engineering influence in your genes.

[Tomcat64]

Superb work and attention to detail mate

In my den this right here would just be a tray of carpet-monster snacks!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great stuff. I love all the hardware you've got. Its next level stuff and opens up a whole new aspect to the hobby beyond what comes in the box.

There must be a strong engineering influence in your genes.

Haha, thanks Stokesy
Professional tinkerer is how I think…but yes a couple engineers in our family tree
My math skills are abysmal.
I am also a tool whore, so love getting the tools for a specific job

[Twokidsnosleep]

Superb work and attention to detail mate

In my den this right here would just be a tray of carpet-monster snacks!

Oh you are so right Neil, good insight
The ones I dropped in the garage on the paint chip mottled floor disappeared instantly, but I miraculously found every one
The ones I dropped in the model room blend with the wood floor and are impossible to see
The little blighters roll like hell too

This may seem crazy to make these, but I had everything for them and quite enjoyed the time

[Twokidsnosleep]

Didn’t like the moulded rivets and moulded banding on the wood portion of the anchor so stripped it all off


Drilled holes and made brass metal bands, then primed and got light layer of oil paint back down


Three steps back for one step forward…I did get the metal rusting pretty good

[Twokidsnosleep]

These are both my channel video links, not sure why the second didn’t embed, but here we are

Lanterns LED test



Below deck flickering light

https://youtube.com/shorts/sV8Y779YO_o?feature=share

[Twokidsnosleep]

My making of deadeyes and how I did it

[Twokidsnosleep]

Figures day for me today, Capt. Jack and Mr Gibbs. 1/72 is difficult to stop getting muddy paint

[Twokidsnosleep]

The anchors are finished now, save for a bit of rust weathering maybe
Before:




Now with separate rivets and metal strappings


Fooling around with the main figures on the wheel deck

[Stokesy44]

Anchors away! Very nice work

[Twokidsnosleep]

Anchors away! Very nice work

[Twokidsnosleep]

Trying to move forward on the hull and have to get all the lighting figured out and routed.
The research and calculations said that the 3V supply would be fine with these LED’s but apparently not…I fried two LED’s in the test circuit.



So I added a 100 Ohm resistor and Matthew laughed at me for not listening to him before hand

[Stokesy44]

I know sweet FA about electrics



But whatever it is, I'm sure its awesome

[Twokidsnosleep]

I know sweet FA about electrics



But whatever it is, I'm sure its awesome

Always up for a LOTR quote

Let me enlighten you as to what I am up to


One of three lamps at the stern, seen here just over the character’s shoulders

[Stokesy44]

Brilliant stuff.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ok this is the fun part of modelling. I researched, planned and executed this modification all day today to the anchor supports.
The anchors hang from a supportive beam. I have to make a beefier one as the kit one is small and sad.
When looking it up, the beam is called a Cathead. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say:

A cathead is a large wooden beam located on either side of the bow of a sailing ship, and angled forward at roughly 45 degrees. The beam is used to support the ship's anchor when raising it (weighing anchor) or lowering it (letting go), and for carrying the anchor on its stock-end when suspended outside the ship's side. The cathead is furnished with sheaves at the outer end, and the inner end (which is called the cat's-tail) fits down on the cat-beam. The shank painter is a short rope or chain by which the shank of an anchor is held fast to a ship's side when not in use. The process of securing the anchor is called catting and fishing it. The cat stopper also fastens the anchor on. The purpose of the cathead is to provide both a heavy enough beam to support the massive weight of the anchor, and to hold the metal anchor away from the wooden side of the ship to prevent damage when the anchor is being raised from the water. In common practice, the projecting end of the beam was carved to resemble the face of a lion or cat. Whether such carving was due to a play on the already existing name of the beam or whether the beam was so named because of the practice of such carving is unknown.

Ok cool. So they actually carved the face of a cat or lion in them. Hilarious. My bets was they did that so rats would scare off from climbing the anchor ropes onto the ship when docked. No proof of that but makes too much sense.
Research pic shows a cathead



And on the Black Pearl??? Yep right at that front corner you can see a carved tile with a cat face by the anchor.


Off I go to find a cat or lion face or tile that I can 3D print. I found two possibilities



Printed them at a couple sizes and started the beams from rectangular styrene stock




I will verdigris these and weather them, practicing on the larger faces first.

[Stokesy44]

One word describes the research and the work - fascinating.

[digger303]

Very creative.....mojo has been recharged

[Twokidsnosleep]

Used the Citadel oxide paint over the gold





Those worked out so went to town on the rest of the ship’s brightwork









This is gonna work out

[Stokesy44]

I love your approach and the use of the equipment you have bought over the last few years. Its great to see all the stuff in your locker being used so superbly to turn a really basic kit into something to treasure (no pun intended)

Garrr and Yarrr me hearties!!

[digger303]

[Twokidsnosleep]

I love your approach and the use of the equipment you have bought over the last few years. Its great to see all the stuff in your locker being used so superbly to turn a really basic kit into something to treasure (no pun intended)

Garrr and Yarrr me hearties!!

Thanks guys
Yes Stokesy, I do try to have some method to my madness...and madness in my method
I would love my equipment and stuff to be far better organized and in fewer locations, but here we are

[BigWall]

Dude! Interesting stuff and well executed!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Dude! Interesting stuff and well executed!

Thank you
I am really having fun modelling again...good when stuff doesn't blow up in your face

[digger303]

Dude! Interesting stuff and well executed!

Thank you
I am really having fun modelling again...good when stuff doesn't blow up in your face

Your not experimenting with black powder for the guns are you....

[Twokidsnosleep]

I did have a small fire with the LED lights when I over powered them and smoked out a couple. No gunpowder
The lantern LED's are all sorted and wires run through them now.

Moving on to the rear of the ship, I am working on the captain's quarters.
Very ornate windows back here and they will get the verdigris treatment


The kit parts are in three sections back and two sides.
I am playing with the notion of making it removable with magnets like I did for the Ducati fairings That would be cool but I have to hide wiring and 3D print out tables and chairs and such. So more work.
Maybe just one side magnetic and removable, then hide the wires on the far non viewable side

I have primed those three parts and used True Metal Dark Brass on the parts to go verdigris.
I am again impressed with the quality of the mouldings in this kit. The surface textures and details are excellent.


I went this way instead of Tamiya TS gold as it did not matter in my tests if the under base colour was gold or brass and the True Metal is a nice smooth easy brush paint to do.

Then after work and before dinner snuck in some time to paint the burnt umber oil on the wooodwork inside and out