Pirate Project - Disassembly Complete! - Part 4

I finished making that last separation and I think I have finished disassembly the ship. Its at least down to a workable level. It looks like the most difficult part is right here at the bow. The bowsprit needs to come off with the rest of the deck since a good chunk of the standing rigging starts here. That means figuring out to make that whole front of the deck lift off. I'll have to deal with the figure head since it is an integral part of this whole assembly, unless I leave the whole section as a single piece.

This is what the hull looks like with all the decks, finally, removed.

The bow and forecastle are the same casting with the deck sliding in underneath the forecastle.

You can get an idea how these go together here. Its going to be almost impossible to remove them without cutting something up.

I'm going to leave these pieces intact at this point. This section incorporates both the forward mast and the bowsprit so there is a lot going on here from a rigging standpoint. The straight edge from the bow piece also forms one side of the two forward cannon ports. I think I'm going to fill these ports in and reduce the number of cannons on the gun deck.

Here's a look at how the bowsprit support goes together. Three pieces come together here and the joint is not particularly good. Since I'm not going to take it apart I'm going to have to fill the gaps.

From the head on view you can see that the left side has a pretty big gap, the right side joint is much better. Leaving all of this intact also resolves the issue with the figurehead. That can just be glued in place without a problem now.

Now that its in pieces, its time to figure out how to get it back together!

Pirate Project - The disassembly continues Part 3

I managed to steal a bit of time and continued the disassembly of Sophie's Revenge. This time I focused on trying to separate the upper deck from the hull walls. It wasn't quite as bad as I was expecting but there were definitely a few areas that presented some difficulties.

The main hull and top deck come assembled from the factory. The deck is actually made from two different types of plastic. The hull walls and the front and back of the upper deck are made from the traditional bendy bones material (very bendy in this case). The two center sections of the deck and the two main supports are from a much harder plastic, similar to what you find in a regular model kit (but yet not quite, much like the tea served on the Heart of Gold from the Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser "almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea" from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams).

For the most part the glue was pretty light except in a couple of areas and I managed to only  break one small piece of the deck. I did elect to make a couple of cuts rather than try and break a couple of particularly well glued joints at the front of the hull.

So the hull is almost apart, another 30 minutes should do the trick. Then because of the way the bow is shaped I'll have to figure out where I will actually need to cut things apart to allow the top deck to come off.

Here is how things went today:

I started at the bow because that was the first place I was able to see some separation between the pieces.

However, as I worked my way down the stern ended up being the first section I could work all the way around on and separate from the hull. This is the top of the deck, this is where the quarter and poop deck assemblies will go.

A look at the bottom of the deck. Again all the white are stress fractures and the area with the heaviest glue where the four support beams.

Here is a look at the exposed portion of the hull. The stern piece is actually a separate piece that I won't try and take apart.

And a look at the hull from underneath. The big support beam on the left is made from an entirely different kind of plastic as is the deck section that is still attached to it.

 

Here you can see how much glue was used on those aft support beams. I didn't think I was going to get this to separate without cutting them apart.

Grabbed the rear superstructure just to see how it lines up. It fills the rear deck and overlaps on to the next. The mizzen mast also goes through here. Another piece to figure out.

I also managed to separate part of the railing. I'll be glue that back on! Didn't mean for it to come off.

Here is the next section of deck that I managed to separate, the one just forward of the stern.

This is the section I managed to break. Not bad as far as breaks go and I saved the piece. I should be able to glue that back into place without a problem.

The bottom of the deck. A fair amount of stress fractures here as well. Notice how the railing overlap the decks to help hold things together.

And another look at the hull minus two sections of deck. I will definitely have to add crossbeams to help hold support the decks. Not sure if I will leave or remove those big support cross members or not. I will have to mull that over.

Pirate Project - The disassembly continues Part 2

I have been pressed for time, typically really, and this particular de-construction is tedious. However, if I want things to go back together in any kind of reasonable fashion I must proceed a bit slower than I would like.

In my last session at this I separated the top (poop) deck from the quarterdeck. It took about 30 minutes of applying acetone, then prying or flexing the parts (rinse and repeat) until I was able to actually see some of the glue joints separate. There was a lot more glue here than there was along the edges.

In the end I was successful separating it into two sections. At this point I think I can begin to consider how things will need to come apart. Again the biggest issue I'm facing if that if I'm going to have the main deck come off so you can see the gun deck then the rigging and masts have to come away, intact, with it.

Here's what it looked like after I finally pried it all apart

All of the white discoloration you see are stress fractures in the plastic from bending it. Its thick enough that I'm not concerned with it at this point. A little more texturing and paint should cover it right up.

I'm going to leave the stairs attached. Its one of the better gluing jobs that I have run into so far and I don't think I can get them apart. It should work out just fine that way.

Here you are seeing the underside of the deck. You can see how much glue was used in the center section

Here I was just doing a test fit to make sure that this section still fitted correctly to the sides. Looking good so far.

Pirate Project - Sophie's Revenge - The disassembly part 1

As is pretty normal for me I have been distracted by yet another project that is likely to never be finished but its the thought that counts! I have been thinking a lot about what to do with this massive kit, which means its likely going to be displayed in the main part of the house which will require more than a game level paint job and build. We have plenty of guests that would appreciate it as a ship but would not understand what gaming terrain means.

I know that Talon did the design concept and Chris Lewis was the sculptor I see a lot of the Black Pearl and Queen Anne's Revenge in this ship and I'll use one of those two for the rigging. Yes, rigging. I know that its likely to be in the way as a game piece but I like the thought that players would have to maneuver around all the components that you might find on a ship and that means ropes, lots of ropes. 

Based on what I have been researching I think I can get away without the running rigging and just go with the standing rigging, except for perhaps the on the mizzen mast. What I'm thinking is adding a lateen sail as part of the mizzen and I think a sail there wouldn't be in the way to much, or maybe do all three lateen sails. The key to all that though is that the decks have to come away as a single piece to keep the rigging intact. I'm not sure I can even pull that off at this point, but I'll give it a try.

To even get to that point I need to figure out how to disassemble the ship and rebuild it so that any interior detail can be seen and appreciated. With that in mind I worked up my nerve and took a knife, a sculpting tool and acetone to the quarter and poop deck structure. I'm was fairly certain that they used super glue to assemble this at the factory hence the acetone which would serve to soften the CA joint. So using a brush I started running beads of acetone into the joints and gently trying to pry it apart.

I managed to separate the deck from the bulwarks and I think I'm in business. I broke the deck in a couple of places in the slots but it wasn't awful and I'm going to leave those "breaks" in place it will help make sure everything fits back into the right place. I want to be able to remove the decks, including the mast, and leave the bulwark in place so that I can detail the cabins in this area. Still not quite sure where I'll be making those cut lines but now that its in a couple of pieces it will certainly be easier to figure out.

Painting will probably be an ongoing process rather than something done at the end of the project. Will just wing it as I move along.

Let's take a look at the damage I managed to do!

And this is where it starts. If you really take the time to examine this its made up of 7 or 8 pieces.

Under the gentle ministrations of a hobby knife, a sculpting tool and a lot of acetone. I managed to separate the deck from the bulwarks

You can see a couple of the rough edges on this side. I actually broke the plastic here instead of it neatly separating. I'm going to leave the broken pieces in place, it gives a nice reference to glue everything back to.

Here is a look at the underneath of the deck. The circular bit is were the magnets for the mizzen mast are located. I'll need to run some deck  beams across the "ceiling" to make sure the deck remains stiff and not flexible when I take the deck off (if I can pull that off). Techincally I think there should be another cabin underneath that top deck, but there isn't a door and I'm not sure I want to go to that much work.

You can see the edge of the deck that I broke off. I was more careful after this and did much better after this. Just below this is the point where I need to start cutting the deck and top edge of the bulwarks away. Although I'm having some second thoughts on this because of the way the rest of the ship goes together. I'll avoid rushing in with a knife at this point.

And a look at the inside of the stern. This is another spot where I broke a portion of the deck that fits into the slot.

When I start to reassemble this I'll glue the gun deck down to a base that should help keep everything aligned. But the afterdeck cabin sits on the main deck which is the biggest issue for adding the standing rigging, if I try and make the quarter and poop decks removable.