Another update....
I started work on the starboard quarterdeck hammock nettings and was able to complete them tonight.
Just as with the forecastle hammock nettings, first I made a bunch of hammock netting irons using small nicron wire. They are all formed in a "U" shape, with as flat a bottom as I can manage with my sausage fingers. Then I mark their appropriate positions on the top of the bulwarks...there are fifteen irons between the gangway and hammock boards (those little brown colored pieces, one at the gangway and the other further aft on top of the bulwark) with one iron each at each board, on the inside surface. I painted them flat black to replicate the actual oxidized finish they have. This is how they looked once installed:
Next, I made up the hammock nettings using that scarf I bought from a street vendor, mentioned in an earlier posting. Same construction sequence was used, gluing lines at the top and bottom edges, and then they are trimmed to shape to remove the excess netting outside the lines. This is how they looked when done and trimmed for length:
Then, they are installed on the irons and bulwarks. I like to do the inboard side first, seems easier to get to doing it this way. Here is how the inboard netting looked once installed:
Then, the outboard netting is installed, in the same way. Here's the finished hammock netting for the starboard quarterdeck:
I should mention that I used PVA glue through out the construction, and it works out very well. I find it dries nice and flat, and I can dilute it and it still adheres very well; this is very helpful with the netting since if you used the glue straight it would clog up the gaps in the weave or leave hideous clumps of dried glue everywhere. I apply it with a thin sable brush and then go over all the glued edges before it fully sets to thin down and dilute the glue spots that might crop up during the process. This is particularly useful when gluing the lines on the netting at top and bottom since I found if I run a damp brush over the glue spots that invariably show up when gluing the lines it dilutes the glue fairly well and removes the "blemishes." This works very well when done with the netting on top of a piece of paper towel that soaks up the excess water and glue, removing it from the netting...just a trick I came across in this part of the build.:twisted:
Well, that's it so far! I didn't have to use any of those fancy magnifiers on this part of the build, just my reading glasses (remember, I'm fairly blind without them for close work!:grin: ).
That's it for this installment...I might start a bit on the port quarterdeck hammock nettings, but won't have that done tonight but I'll post an update once that's finished. I already started on the channels, cut the basic parts out for the mizzen mast channels, but nothing worth seeing yet...that's for a future update.
Thanks again for stopping by and having a look, mates!
Cheers!
Jim