HMS Vulture 1776 by Dan Vadas - 1:48 scale - 16 gun "Swan" class sloop from TFFM plans - Finished

[BANYAN]

Nice work Danny, an excellent result.  I may have missed itbut what are you using for the glas - mica?  Looks excellent!

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Christian, David, Yambo and Pat .

 

what are you using for the glas - mica?

 

 

Pat, believe it or not just the plastic top from a nail packet. It isn't totally clear, which gives the more textured look of old-type glass .

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Chesstrees

 

The Chesstrees house a sheave that acts as a "lead" for the Main Tack before it enters the forward Fixed Block and then belays around the cleat. They are positioned just aft of the fixed block.

 

I made the two chesstrees from English Box, both as a color contrast and because of the thin section around the sheave which required a very close-grained timber to avoid splitting. The first one was a "character building exercise" - it took me about 2 1/2 hours to shape. The second one took about 10 minutes .

 

The (working) sheaves are 2.65mm in diameter and 1mm thick :

 

 

 

The second chesstree ready to cut off the piece of stock - after taking this pic I prepared everything (molding on the outer face, sheave hole and "bolts") for this one before cutting it off :

 

 

The Main Tacks are quite large - 5 1/2" in circumference, the scale equivalent being 0.9mm diameter. I threaded some line through both the chesstree and the fixed block to make sure I'd made the slots large enough to pass the line through :

 

 

I made two mistakes (which will remain) on the first one - anyone spot them ?

 

  Danny

[mtaylor]

There's no mistakes unless you're talking about that bit of a ding above the sheave axle hole in the second pic.  Looks great on the ship.

[Navis Factorem]

Looking great Dan, I have been following your build from the beginning on the old site.

 

I have decided to launch into scratch building, attempting the HMS Surprise.

 

Cheers,

 

David.

[Dan Vadas]

There's no mistakes unless you're talking about that bit of a ding above the sheave axle hole in the second pic.  Looks great on the ship.

 

Oops .... forgot about that one. That makes THREE mistakes . Thanks Mark

 

Thanks too David. I wish you well on your journey to the "Dark Side".

 

  Danny

[dgbot]

The envy bug is turning as green as a lime.

David B

[amateur]

Sorry Dan,

 

But to my untrained eye, there are no mistakes. If you want us to discuss the mistakes, you'll have to report them yourself

 

Jan

[clloyd]

Lovely work as always danny.

The trenail holes in the sheer strake either side of the chestree - empty? or a photo artifact?

Colin

[Sailor1234567890]

Is it the lead of the line from one sheave to the next? Doesn't seem lined up to be fair for the line to avoid chafing against the corners involved.

[Dan Vadas]

Is it the lead of the line from one sheave to the next? Doesn't seem lined up to be fair for the line to avoid chafing against the corners involved.

 

Well done Sailor, that's one of them. When marking the position of the sheave I marked the centre pin and forgot to allow for half the height of it. It's 1.3mm too low.

 

The other mistake (apart from the "ding" that Mark mentioned) is in pic #4 of my last post. I made the slot for the first chesstree too long - there shouldn't be such a large gap ABOVE the sheave. I can live with these mistakes (hardly seen by eye) but WILL learn from them .

 

Thanks Colin - the holes are empty. I was going to put blackened brass "bolts" into them but there's no point - they will be completely covered by the Sheer Rail.

 

Thanks also for the nice comments David and Jan.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Hi all, back from my holidays again .

 

Channels

 

I've made the Foremast Channels and the Stools that are fitted just aft of them. They are tapered outboard from 4 1/2" to 2 3/4" (real size) on their bottom face. There are two swivelling ringbolts in each channel - they fit through a small plate on the underside which I made from thin brass shim material and blackened :

 

 

 

 

 

I've cut into the Sheer Strake for added support on the inboard edge. This is only a dry fit so far :

 

 

 

To align the slots for the Shrouds I rigged up a dummy mast and used a piece of thread to ensure they wouldn't foul the gunports and sweep ports. A molding will be added to cover the shrouds after they are fitted. The dummy mast is vertical, not on the angle it seems in the pic (the ship itself is tilted a bit ) :

 

 

  Danny

[flying_dutchman2]

I find this an exceptional built.

Awesome, drooling over the detailed work you put into her.

I am picking up some ideas and tips.

Thank you for sharing.

 

Marc

[Richard Griffith]

Exceptionally nice work Dan~! 

 

The recent posts bring up a good issue-at what point do we accept our work?  That is, when is the part good enough to put on our model ship?  Do we throw away the item and remake it once, twice, more?  We must therefore, make decisions at every step of the way, and take into account many factors, such as will the casual viewer even notice, will it be judged by experts (if entered into a juried competition), can we do better, do we have the time and skills?  For example, I had to remake the drum head for my Vulture 5 times.  (Next time, I will use a slitting saw instead of an end mill to cut the square slots for the capstan bars.)

 

For me and I think most of us, are we having fun? 

 

I am challenging myself to raise my level of fit and finish, do more research, and remake parts to the highest level I can.  This hobby has so many challenges that it never grows stale; there is always more to learn. 

 

Well, enough of this, I need to make more chips, er ships.                        Duff

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Marc and Duff - you're building a Vulture too? I can't seem to find a Build Log of her .

 

Here is the full set of Channels. Now I need to fit them to the hull and make some Standards for them.

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Hmmm.  They seem to be reasonably acceptable, Danny.

 

John

[clloyd]

Hmmm.  They seem to be reasonably acceptable, Danny.

 

John

 

Wot 'e said.

 

Beautiful.

 

Colin

[DORIS]

What a beauty, Danny!

Excellent and professional work and sense for detail.  I really enjoyed the pics. My admiration to your precision and high level of realism.

 

Kind regards
Doris

[popeye the sailor]

cool how you installed the eye bolt / shackles...........nice shape on them too.......love it ! 

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you very much John, Colin, Doris and Popeye .

 

Fitting the Channels perfectly horizontally was accomplished by the use of a couple of specially made "jigs" that sit on the planksheers from one side to the other. Masking tape and clamps hold the jigs firmly in position. The leg glued to the underneath of the horizontal member was measured at the inboard edge and cut square.

 

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Now that's a clever idea for levelling the channels properly, Danny!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Yeah John, I'm full of them (it??? ).

 

Here are a couple of pics of the Channels fitted to the Port side :

 

 

 

 

Sheer Rails

 

The Channels intersect the Sheer Rails, which is why the channels had to be fitted first :

 

 

An unusual way to hold the end of the sheer rail whilst the glue dried - clamps were ineffective in this situation, so I've temporarily glued a piece of scrap to the end of the channel :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[newbuilder101]

The channels look great. I agree with John, great way of getting them level.

[Dan Vadas]

The channels look great. I agree with John, great way of getting them level.

 

Thanks Sherry. My method also gives you something to clamp the Channels to. This prevents them sagging downward whilst the glue dries, if you can't position the hull so they point straight up.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Standards

 

The Standards are small upside-down knees which support the Channels. They are 2" thick in real life, 1.06mm at 1:48 scale. There are three on each foremast channel, four on the main mast and two on each mizzen. These had to go on before the Drift Rails, which are intersected by the standards. I simulated the small bolts that hold them by using an awl :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Drift Rails

 

The Drift Rails are the uppermost ones. I used dark Swiss Pear as they are a continuation of the Planksheers in the Waist :

 

 

 

 

They cut in over the Catheads :

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Nice going, Danny!

 

John

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Really wonderful, Dan

[Trussben]

Sweet Danny.

 

Ben

[SkerryAmp]

Danny, the ship  structure is amazing in and of itself but the finishing work! .   I can't even imagine ever having the patience and skill to do that kind of work.   Awe inspiring.   Such a pleasure to watch this ship come together.