HMS Pegasus by donrobinson - Victory Models/Amati - 1:64

[donrobinson]

This is the start of my Pegasus log which I have been putting off for far too long and decided I would get it going. When I started this hobby a little over a year ago I seen a picture of the Amati Pegasus and instantly wanted her, however, for once in my life I held off starting her as I knew my skill level was not there yet. I feel now if I take my time and with the help available here at MSW I should be able to stumble through and do a fairly good job.

 I know this is a bold step starting this kit as there is some excellent ones on the go now, Blue Ensign and Landlubber Mike  are just two examples of some of the skilled craftsmen here at MSW. Although I do not plan on following in their footsteps, I mean who could, I do plan on making some changes mostly to the kit wood and possibly a few other features(cannons, rigging line etc.).

 I did not include pictures of the contents but if anyone is interested in seeing the contents of this great kit just say so and I will be more than happy to add them.

 Enough of an introduction, it is my hope that I do this girl justice and maybe someday be allowed into that elite Pegasus/fly fraternity. 

 

 To date I have fitted the bulkheads and transom supports. All went together good and there was very little adjustment required. I am impressed with the mdf so far and do not see any problems arising in the future from it, it is defiantly quite a bit denser  than the stuff found in the local lumberyard and should out shine the normal plywood that is typically used.

 The one picture shows the plywood forecastle deck in place, it is not glued down that was just me playing around. In the past year I have had this kit the box has been opened and closed no less than 30-40 times and this piece keeps falling out. So I just put in in place for safe keeping .

 

[Mirabell61]

congrats to joining the 1/64 "Swan Class Club" Don,

 

see your shipyard has had keellaying party already...., wish you much fun with the build

 

Nils

[donrobinson]

Thanks so much Nils, I have some of your techniques in my mind that I hope to use on this build. Your Pegasus is completely amazing and I will be referring to it lots during this build.

Edited June 22, 2016 by donrobinson

[cobra1951]

Think i will join in with this one

[donrobinson]

Welcome aboard Bob, come on in and enjoy the ride

[cobra1951]

Thanks Don

[riverboat]

Good luck Don on your new en-devour...... she's a beauty!!!

 

 

frank

[Elijah]

Nice start Don!

[donrobinson]

Hi Paul, you certainly may make yourself at home

[donrobinson]

Thanks Frank, yes she is a beauty hopefully I'll do her justice.

[donrobinson]

Hey Elijah, thanks. Stop in anytime.

[rafine]

You're off to a good start Don. You should be more than ready for this one.

 

Bob

[Cabbie]

Oh goodness Don, you do know how to fun!!!!!.

Starting another ship that looks to be a very enjoyable one.

 

You must have a big display space to sit these beauties in.

 

I will keep an eye on this as well.

 

hooroo Chris

[donrobinson]

Hi Bob, Thanks for your encouragement it's the masters like yourself that help push me on wanting to do things better.

[donrobinson]

Hey Chris, how are things with you? I think this one should be a lot of fun it's a matter of splitting my time between both builds and hope things work out. As for the storage space I have a basement that I am renovating into one large display area that I'll hopefully finish some day soon. Until then the dining room table still has room for two or three more   .

[David Lester]

Don, you're unstoppable!

I'm looking forward to this build because Pegasus is what I am planning to build myself after my Rattlesnake after my as yet unfinished Constitution. Displaying them is a concern. My Constitution is going to my daughter's office, so that's the big one dealt with and we'll see about the others.

David

[Landlubber Mike]

Don, welcome to the Swan Club!  Glad to see you starting your Pegasus!  Like you, when I saw the kit and the various logs of it, I also knew that this was an absolute must-build for me.  And thank you for your kind words - this is only my second kit, so I'm still very much a novice and learning from others on here each day.

 

Great start - the MDF is so precise and fits together like a glove.  I wish more kit manufacturers went with MDF for the skeleton of the hull.  One bit of caution - when fairing the bulkheads, it might be worth doing so outside and/or with a dust mask on.  I usually am not too sensitive to wood dust, but the MDF burned my chest and made me cough quite a bit.  Using a dust mask helped a lot.

 

One thing I noticed on your model is that you have the stern extensions square to the ship.  Take a look at my post below - I think these actually need to curve inward a bit to follow the hull/quarterdeck line as you can see in the pictures (it's quite possible that I have that all wrong though):

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=267492

 

 

One last thing - if you can get your hands on the TFFM books, they are a really nice resource.  Volume 2 is probably the one I have been most using as it has lots of great information and tips on the various detail items.  Volume 1 is mostly for constructing the hull and its frames, and I haven't referred to it much.  Volume 3 shows one guy's journey step by step as he scratch builds a Pegasus which is interesting to see, but probably not critical.  Volume 4 is all about rigging and sails, so it's probably worth considering if you are going to add sails to the model.  So long story short, I'd highly recommend Volume 2 for the pre-rigging stage.  The volumes are pricey and worth every penny, but I was able to find mine on eBay for a good price.

 

The NMM plans for the Pegasus are really beautiful too.  Again, not necessary but an interesting resource if you are open to deviating from the kit.  For me, I've used them to locate and resize certain of the deck items like the hatches and bitts.  I also noticed that the rails were of slightly different widths from the kit, but nothing major.  Overall though, the kit and its plans are very close to the NMM plans.

 

Looking forward to following your build!  Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

[Canute]

Don, I'll be following along, too. The Swan Class has some pretty lines and someday I may do one. Right now, I'll work on my Launch.

[donrobinson]

Good morning David: Thanks for that, displaying shouldn't be too bad as she is only about 3 inches longer than the AVS. Your daughter must be one happy gal knowing that the Connie is moving in with her

[donrobinson]

Hi Mike: Thanks for your comments and the welcome into the Swan club. I am glad you pointed out the stern extensions as they have been bothering me for sometime now. They have since been corrected and I will post pictures later. One question I do have though is what size lumber did you use for your anchor stock and what length? I am thinking of trying that also but would like to practice off boat first.

 I will look into the TFFM books, although I have spent my allowance on some upgrades to my tools so they may have to wait for a bit. The NMM plans really are beautiful I first seen them in your build log and have since bought them and have them framed and hanging in the shipyard. I thought they were a pre-requisite to being part of the "club"

 Thanks for your help and feel free to step in anytime, always appreciated.

[donrobinson]

Hi Ken, Thanks for stopping by. You are more than welcome to stop by at anytime.

[donrobinson]

Hi Spyglass, thanks for the advice. Thanks to you and Mike I have the stern extensions repaired, and I beg of you to keep watching and correct me when needed. It is always a good feeling to know someone is watching your back. The rabbets are done already, although, I did not take a very good picture of them and they hard to see with the mdf. I don't plan on using pedestals for mounting, I'm not so sure how I am mounting her yet but I will keep you informed when I make a decision.

 I have read about the gun strips and the fun involved with the installation of them, I really can't say that I'm looking forward to them.

 I'll be following your log and probably stealing some ideas so I'll apologise for that now. 

[donrobinson]

There is lots of room Zoltan, so come on in and grab a seat

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Don,

 

I just took a look at my build and took some rough measurements of the various top and butt planks.  The lengths of those planks and the "normal" planks seem to have been around 85-110mm in length.  As for width, most ended up at about 5-6mm at the widest part.  If you are spiling, however, you'll need to add a little extra to account for the curves.  If I remember correctly, for some planks I went with 8mm wide planks, and even went as wide as 10mm in a couple of cases.  Take a look at the spiled plank here - the plank itself is not very wide, but the curvature required starting with a fairly wide plank (for reference, the squares on the hobby mat are 1/2" or roughly 12.5mm in height and width):

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=365802

 

 

I got a little better as I went along with using narrower planks so there was less waste, but where there were a lot of curves, like at the bow, I still needed extra material to be on the safe side.  For all my planks, I would cut the shape out like in the link above, but then test fit, hand sand, test fit, hand sand, etc. until I got a tightly fitting plank.  Took a long time, and certainly spiling uses more material per area than cutting taper into normal square planks, but I think the results are well worth it.  Definitely try it if you have the patience.  It's really not as hard as it might look, and as you do more and more of them, you get better and faster.   

 

The two craziest planks that I had to craft were in the links below.  They were at the bow and at the stern, respectively, and not only were spiled, but also had to account for a drop plank above them.  The second one almost killed me (and you can see that I probably had to start with planks at least 12mm wide).  Those took me a few hours each to craft

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=366765

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=367440

[donrobinson]

Hello All, hope things are all good. Since last post not too much has happened. I corrected the stern extensions, thanks Mike and Spyglass, and then went on to planking the lower deck. For the most part a waste of time as it won't be seen but it was a lot of fun and a planking exercise is always a good thing . This was leftover planking from my Mayflower so a bit of a salvage operation as well.

 Next up is the false deck and planking it.

 

 

Take Care

[Seventynet]

Very nice Don.

 

Ian

[donrobinson]

Thanks Ian and Zoltan

[donrobinson]

Thanks Paul, I agree with you about the planking I prefer the dark colours versus the light also. From what I have read here at MSW the light coloured decks are more historically correct and that is what everyone is trying to portray. If you want, though, I'll follow along with you and do dark coloured decks even though it may jeopardise our membership here     .

 As for the bulkheads again it was probably a waste of time as I am sure not many of them will be seen through the hatches but I started painting a few and just kept going. I even went so far as to give them a coat of poly. I think what it all amounts to is me stalling before all the hard stuff starts to come.   

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice Don - that's a nice wood for the lower decks.  Is that maple or something similar?  I also blackened the bulkheads and other interior items.  Now that my hull is planked and the deck laid, I'd say it was probably overkill, but made me feel better.  I think it's probably most important for the stern and quarterbadges though, depending on how you do the windows if you want "depth."  

 

I also hear you on stalling before the "hard" parts, though after I end up completing them, I always think to myself, "that wasn't too bad!"  

 

Are you going to do the deck next?  If you do, a couple of things to note.  First, it's well worth considering adding midline supports for the plywood deck template.  It's a little tricky because of the various holes for the hatches, masts, etc., but you can see here how I added a few small supports which adds a great measure of support at the midline:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=243029

 

 

Second, while the kit is very close to the NMM plans, there is a slight difference in the kit's deck items to simplify construction.  I moved some of the hatches and deck items forward to better comport with the plans:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=248877

 

 

The one tricky thing if you decide to do that is that the aft hatch is too far back, and if you look at the NMM plans, the hatch should be more forward to where the bitts go through the hatch.  Also, if you are going for "accuracy," some of the bitts are the wrong size (the main topsail sheet bitts and jeer bitts) and the cross piece on the jeer bitts should face aft.  Take a look at my log here on how I approached that if you're considering going that route:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/7267-hms-pegasus-by-landlubber-mike-amativictory-models-scale-164/?p=258189

 

 

The only other thing I would suggest is that if you are cutting your own deck planking, you get a nice clean look if you butt the planks up against the hatches, rather than sit the hatches on the deck planking.  It's not really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things once the deck is finished with all the cannons and rigging, etc., but it is a cleaner look and technically more accurate if you are into such things.

[donrobinson]

Hi Mike, Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, the light wood on the deck was a bit of an experiment. If you look close you will see some narrow strips down the middle and again framing the main room those are maple, the rest is basswood. Not much difference in looks in the pictures but the maple does finish much nicer.

 Thanks for the links to your log I was just going through your log to plan my next steps so this really helps me out. I think those supports are a real good plan and I will be doing something similar on mine. The bitts I have heard you and Spyglass talk about and I am still trying to wrap my head around that, a little more studying and hopefully the light will come on.

 Thanks Again much appreciated