|
||||
[?]Subscribe To This Site
|
He did send m a copy of the plan he used for his USS Essex project and his website contains a 39-picture gallery of this build, but I need a lot of help. When I get it done, I want the 1/35 scale Fighting Top diorama to fit a bookcase shelf that measures 14-inches square in a wall unit that has six of these. Guzman Is a prolific scratch builder of model ships and has won over 75 awards in Texas area scale modeling contests. He did a scratch build of the 34-gun 1814 frigate, USS Essex, built in Salem, MA and I learned a lot from his 105 picture tutorial of his build of the Essex on his site. It is actually a three part presentation that accompanies two dioramas, one of action on the Essex Fighting Top and the second of a two 12-pound guns and the associated decks. I started my project by building a 1/35th version of the main mast's top using some stripwood left over from a previous ship kit build. I did my best to shape the curved front of the top, but wasn't really pleased with the results. I did have a couple pieces of oak left over from a shelving project. Framing them with walnut stained trim made a pretty good base for the lower mast. I found the actual color plan for the USS Essex, otherwise I'd have never chosen yellow for the mast with a blood-red base and a black top deck. Actually, I like the colors. The next step was stepping the mast. I actually set it at too much of a rake creating a main top slopped towards the stern. The next step was to string the shrouds to set the stage for building the ratlines. I used a serving machine to string a casing around the middle of each line. Actually I cut them too short and the didn't fit, let alone stay tight. Stepping back and taking a critical look, I'm not happy with it.
|
|
||
|