HMS Unicorn Build Log 12 - Rudder & Deck Modification

Rudder & Deck Modification

Some quick updates of recent works.
I've done the rudder together with its hinges over the weekends, and also the painting. :)

Due to my silly mistake on the hull planking, I had to widen the hinges so that they can fit to the hull. Pictures below show the thicker hull compared to the rudder. I'm also planning to add rudder chain to it, but that'll need to wait till my stern gallery to complete. ;)

For the deck, I've decided to remove the gangways following the structure like the H.M.S. Pegasus. I also had some times to put some planking on, and cut the skylight portion off. :)

Thanks for viewing. :)

HMS Unicorn Build Log 11 - Cannons & Weapon Fittings

Cannons & Weapon Fittings

Metal Fittings on Carriage Preparing
Corel provides some brass fittings and most of them need to be blacken. So, I started this part by cutting the brass rod as axles, and blacken all the brass fittings together. 

My mill vise can't grab the brass rods tight, so I used this method. Still slide a little bit, but didn't affect much. :)

The result... 
Total of 32 cannons, so.. 64 axles for the carriages.

Almost all brass fittings are in, besides the pump and bell. Yea.. Corel provides ready-made pump in brass. ;)

I added a brass wire in because the eyebolt provided by the kit seems oversize for me. I'll need to remake some eyebolts. For the cannons, they are in brown brass. I thought they can be still blacken, but they didn't work out.

After some minutes...

While waiting the blackening process, I continued on drilling holes for eyebolts. Here's the jig that I made to get equal position of the eye bolts. It took me almost whole night on this including adding the beds to the carriages (which I missed to take photos on the process).

The metals are left overnight in the solution , and the result looks satisfying. :)

I continued on the eyebolts making. To make them, I've made another jig. Just a hole beside a pin, pictures below show how I did them. :)

Plug the wire in the hole.

Coil it to the pin.

Cut at the end of the coil.

And then flatten it back. :)

Carriage Colouring

I am lucky to have a balsa board which is thick enough to hold the carriages, and it really eased my painting work. :D

A beautiful door frame? :P

Bottom and sides of the carriages after painting. :)

For the inner part, I painted them manually. Here you can see the bed that I previously added.

To colour the trucks, I used this method (I can sure this is a strange one :P ). I put as many trucks as possible into the 'pool' to make sure they are full and don't easily move, so that when I brush them they can stay in position. 

The result is quite satisfying for me. Anyway, here's a problem that I didn't foresee. Since I didn't add a 'base' beneath it, I will need to turn them around almost one by one! If a base is added, I can just cover them with another piece of board, flip them over and start colouring the other side. 

For the parameter painting, I used a brass wire to help on.

Now the eyebolts are good to put on. And of course, I added only on those which will be visible outboard. :)

Putting All Together
To put the axles on easier, I've made this. 

The two slots will help the axles staying in position. 

Then, I applied glue on the carriage, pushed it to the axles and let dry.

And then glued the trucks on. :)

Now, the major parts of cannons are basically done. I will add cap square to them when my copper sheet arrives, or perhaps some nails detail to them.

For the cannon rigging, Corel provides 3mm wooden blocks which are way oversize. Both blocks will be touching each other if they are made to tackle. 

Way Oversize Blocks

So, I've now no idea what to do on the rigging. Either I'll skip the tackle and add only the rope securing the barrel button, or I'll buy or make smaller blocks like in 2mm length. 

Hope I get a solution soon...

Way Oversize Blocks

Thanks for viewing. ^^

HMS Unicorn Build Log 10 - Ladder Stanchion Making

Ladder Stanchion Making

I've finally put my ladder's stanchions on, and it's the first rigging done for this build. :D I first drilled holes at the 4 corners, and put the stanchions on which I already blacken.

My plan was to add two platforms for the stanchions at the end of the ladder, so that when the rigging is done I'll just need to put the whole completed piece to the deck. But when I done the platform, it didn't look good. The platforms seem like an extra piece of wood below the stanchions. So, I changed my mind to directly stick them on to the orlop. 

The challenge of this is I'll need to drill through the little ladder hole, and glue the stanchion on, and make sure it's in the correct direction. After sometimes of squeezing and twisting, I finally managed to fit the first one on. And of course, the knot is already done before I put it in. :)

Here comes the challenging part... I'll need to put the last stanchion to the orlop with the stopper knot tied. What I did is, I put the stanchion with thread to the orlop first, got a desired tension, and made a mark at the end of the stanchion. There will be the point where the stopper knot located.

Marking the end point with the ladder on is even tougher.. got it after few minutes. So, I took the stanchion out again and made that stopper knot, cut the end and glue it on the orlop.

The last stanchion as seen from top.

Group photo with the gratings. :) In this photo, I've already adjusted the tension of the thread to tighter above the deck, and those going into the orlop, looser. 

Thanks for viewing! :)

HMS Unicorn Build Log 9 - Bulwark Planking & Gratings

Bulwark Planking & Gratings

If referring to the HMS Unicorn (1824), the bulwark is painted to ocher green. But, since I don't have any green paint currently, I decided to paint them to red.

I did some sanding and tapering on the lowest plank to meet the deck's level, and pre-cut those wood strips between gun ports.

After the planking is done, I repainted them for a better finish. From the picture below, you can see that the beams are actually done too. Corel suggests to use the kit provided birch wood strip (4mm x 4mm), but instead, I used balsa. Birch strips are too nice for beam. :D

Then I started to drill holes for the eye bolts. I used an unused piece of plywood for more precise distance marking from the gun port. 

Done! And you can also see that the remaining deck planking is done too. :)

I continued to the gratings making on the same day. Gratings that provided by Corel is real bad in quality, so I purchased OcCre ones to replace them from CMB.

For the surrounds, I used 2mm x 3mm wood strips.

This is how my deck looks like now with gratings and ladder on. :) Also, treenails detail are added. I'm using the same technique as my Race Horse, which is chalked by using a mechanical pencil. :)

Thanks for viewing. :)