Tag Archives: balcony

Balcony – Part 2

The last Post was getting a bit long so I decided to continue the Balcony here.

I’ve really been working on the Port Balcony for about 3 days… Trying to get it right.

Now, the Starboard Balcony is a practice of duplicating a mirror image of the Port Balcony.

I’ve had to remake the outer Bulkhead a few times.

This is what I’ve got so far…

Gluing Bulkhead to Balcony form

I ended up burning it a bit while removing the Bees Wax. But that Bees Wax is the thing to use for this work.

Glued down bulkhead with Superglue

I’m soaking the top Decorative Piece to bend it around the curve because otherwise it will break.

Does my Butt look even???

I’m using Rubber Band to bend the top Decorative Piece around the form of the outside of the Balcony.

The reason I’m using the Rubber Band is because I used clamps last time and it left indentations.

Rubber band to hold it in place until the form takes
Glued Top Decorative Piece. Carved out windows. Painted inside black and outside top and bottom black.
Starboard side done

Balcony – Part 1

Looking at these pieces for the Balcony, I’ve to come to realize that this is going to be a bit more complicated than I expected.

First thing that I did was to manage to break the Balcony outside piece. These guys are incredibly delicate! So much so that I’m pre-hardening them with Superglue even before I begin!

Supergluing easy to break areas.

After a couple of failed attempts, I decided to form a shape out of some Balsa Wood as the form and gluing the wood to it on the outside. I had to use some Putty to disguise the cracks.

Putty on the bulkhead of Balcony

I’m going to be using some Primer and then Paint it.

Bending the top Decoration

I didn’t mention that I had to make a whole different one of these Balconys because I wasn’t satisfied with the above.

This one, I used a piece of Poplar Wood I had in my Backyard.

I didn’t like how the Balsa was too soft above.

Then, I took and used the Cutout as a Pattern and made the outside Bulkhead put of some Mahogany that I had.

I then cut the Windows out with a Xacto Blade.

Top Decorative Piece in

That Top Decorative Strip… I had to soak it for 2 hours with Ammonia and Water. Good thing I did too… Else it would have cracked for sure going around that bend.

Then, after it was dry, I simply dribbled some Superglue around the Edges to hold it.

So, while I was Sanding the Starboard side one, I ended up sanding the end of my finger off!!!

Ouch!!!

The solution I came up with is to use some Double sides Tape and attach a Dowel or something to hold it while pressing it up against the Sander.

I think Contact Cement is the way to go for the Windows.

Waiting for the Contact Cement 15 minutes… Ugh

I thought I had lost these pieces so I started creating some Decorative Columns with some 1x3mm Walnut with my Micro-Shapers.

Port Side Balcony done
I used Bees Wax in order to hold the part for sanding

I messed up on this part so I need to sand it off and start over again.

While looking for a way to hold the part so I don’t sand off the end of my finger again, I came upon my Bees Wax.

I said… Hmmm… 🤔 . . Bees Wax. By jove, it might just work, what???

Right now I’m trying to create a mirror image for the Starboard side…

I’m going to stop here and make the outer Bulkhead before proceeding…

Hatch Rails – Forward

Been making the Rail Posts for the forward part of the Hatch.

I discovered something quite by accident but which I like.

What happened was that I made the Rails using some Basswood 1.5×3 mm Stock instead of the Walnut. This was because the former didn’t split all the time like the latter does.

But, because I used the light colored Basswood, I had to stain it. Well, I used some Dark Walnut Stain first… I didn’t really like that dark of a tone so I went over it with some Colonial Maple… Viola! I got this weathered look which I really like.

Forward part of Hatch before Rails
Rail Posts stained
Baseboards

I found that a great way to do this is to clip the Baseboards in with these Clips, then to just dab a touch of SuperGlue on either end and the middle to hold it. That way, you can adjust to your heart’s content before you commit to to glue.

I ordered some Birch wood from Modelers Central in Australia. Anyway, it turned out that this was the wrong sort of Beech wood!!!… I needed Flexible Beech.

Anyway, now I found some use for it!

I made these Posts out of the Beech wood and I really love it because they DON’T Split!!!

Posts made from Beech wood
Posts up
Gluing Rail to Belfry
Making the Rail ends
Forward Hatch Rail done
View from the front