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

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks once again Brian, Mark, Grant, Allan, Michael, Sjors, Tom and Caroline - much appreciated.

 

Rudder Head Partners

 

To enable the planking surrounding the rudder head to be fixed down there is a Partner either side of it, joined by a short piece aft. This was rebated into each side piece :

 

 

 

 

 

There will be a half-beam fitted either side from the partners to the quarterdeck clamps. The quarterdeck (and forecastle deck) do not have the complex Carlings and Ledges of the lower decks on this ship.

 

  Danny

[Shazmira]

All these little details do bring the build to life. It is amazing the things you think to add!

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Robbyn, but I'm not really "thinking" of the actual details, just putting into practice what is in the TFFM books .

 

Transom Iron Knees

 

The corners of the transom are strengthened with Iron Knees. I made these in similar fashion to the other ones described earlier in my build log. They are "cast" (bent) to go under the half-beam. A Filler Piece has been fitted to take the place of a Lodging Knee :

 

 

Here are the aforementioned "half-beams" :

 

 

 

  Danny

[lamarvalley]

You make it look so easy Danny. Wood and metal works look natural and fitting. Always impressive

[Shazmira]

Danny, don't sell yourself short. You say you are only doing what is in the books....I call bull! The books may talk about it all, but you are the one designing, and creating (very skilfully and beautifully) all those little parts. It takes a special person to bring all those to reality and life and you are doing an excellent job of it! Take credit for your art, you deserve it!

[gjdale]

Yeah, wot 'e said!

[Adrieke]

Danny your bringing what is in the book to life in awesome detail

[Jeff-E]

I concur with all of the above, Danny absolutely excellent work

[Dan Vadas]

Once again a big thank you for all the kind comments Randy, Robbyn, Brian, Grant, Adrieke and Jeff .

 

Gun Carriage Brackets

 

Time now to move on to a very enjoyable part of this build - the Guns. I STILL haven't received my gun barrels yet, but at least I can make up the Carriages while I'm waiting.

 

I'm only making half of the sixteen guns that Vulture carried, as there will be none fitted on the unplanked side.

 

The first parts to be made are the Brackets, or side pieces. I cut the rebates for the Axletrees on the Byrnes saw using spacers to get them all exact. The hind axletree is a fair bit wider than the fore one, but it required a smaller rebate as it fits up differently.

 

I used the mill to cut the steps into the top edge. I made up an "L" shaped piece of scrap timber slightly thinner than the pieces to be milled. This was CA glued to one edge of the vise to make setting up for each piece a breeze :

 

 

 

One of the Brackets after milling. I cut the "ogee" shape into the topmost step with my Xacto knife. The rounded section on the bottom was milled in with a home-made cutter ground from an old 10mm drill bit :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

They should do Brian .

 

Gun Barrels

 

Ironic isn't it? I'd no sooner had a whinge earlier today about not receiving my Gun Barrels YET when .... they turn up .

 

Worth the wait - the casting is superb. Every detail, including the George III Crest and the Touch-hole. They need a little bit of cleaning up, there's a very small amount of mold flash and the surface is in need of a good scrubbing - should look very realistic .

 

I ordered (and paid for) 8 barrels - I received 13, along with a pack of Trunion Capsquares which are also very nicely detailed .

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Sjors]

Hi Danny,

 

Those are really great gun barrels…..

Are you make them black or shiny?

 

[Dan Vadas]

Great work, Danny, as always!

I must have missed it - where are the barrels bought from?

Janos

 

Thanks Janos. I bought them from shipmodels.com.ua in Ukraine. It took over three months for delivery, and they weren't cheap   .

 

Sjors, I'm making them SHINY BLACK :

 

 

 

  Danny

[dvm27]

Lovely cannons, Dan. I notice he leaves on the casting vents. How difficult were they to grind and blacken?

[Dan Vadas]

Fitting Capsquares

 

Lovely cannons, Dan. I notice he leaves on the casting vents. How difficult were they to grind and blacken?

 

Thanks Greg. They took a bit of careful work to get off, first with the edge of my disc sander and then with a needle file. They came to me "as cast" with no extra work done. Blackening was no problem at all once they had been pickled in vinegar and wirebrushed with the Dremel.

 

I used the mill to drill the holes for the Capsquares - can't beat it for that kind of precision, every cap fits perfectly . Unfortunately, the caps are slightly overscale (1mm too long), but I can live with that :

 

 

 

  Danny

[Sjors]

Great job Danny,

 

And thanks for answer my question         

 

[gjdale]

Cannons look great Danny - well worth the wait (and expense).

[mtaylor]

Nice work on the brackets.  Lovely cannon barrels also.  I'm still considering the French guns they offer.

[ianmajor]

Lost for words other than stunning.  

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for looking in again Janos, Brian, Sjors, Grant, Mark and Ian.

 

Janos, the guns are cast in brass, not bronze. I've never used pewter so far, so I don't know anything about blackening it.

 

Drilling the Bolt Holes

 

Apart from the already drilled capsquare holes there are another 8 holes to drill in each bracket for various bolts and eyebolts. To assure precision placement of each hole I made a jig to hold the bracket from some pine board and scrap planking. I set the mill to the first hole, drilled all 16 of them and then reset for the second hole etc. There are three 0.5mm holes for the Breeching and Training Tackle eyebolts, and two 0.7mm holes for the Bed Bolt and Transom Bolt :

 

 

 

The jig was also used to accurately scribe the join between the upper and lower halves of the brackets using the back (blunt) edge of an Xacto. A pair of stops aligned the steel rule

 

 

:

 

I used the same setup as for the capsquare holes to drill the three 0.7mm holes for the bracket bolts :

 

 

  Danny

[Adrieke]

very nice  

[BANYAN]

Hi Danny, I have been absent for somer time on holiday and it has been a pleasure reading the updates to your impressive build.  As others have said, those canon are the 'ants pants' and you have detailed them very nicely - great work. Does the manufacturer create these to a 'scale' (i.e. 1:48) or are they available in various sizes and you select that closest to scale?  these are very nice castings and would love to get copies in 1:64 and/or 1:72 if he has them.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Adrieke and Pat.

 

Does the manufacturer create these to a 'scale' (i.e. 1:48) or are they available in various sizes and you select that closest to scale?

 

 

Pat, it looks like they are nearly all 1:48. They are made in various sizes from 35mm to 80 mm, at least for English cannons. It would depend on the calibre of the particular gun you need, but unless you want 32pndrs I think the smallest would be too big for your scales. I used 41mm barrels which are perfect for 1:48 scale 6pndrs.

 

Here's the link to the "Artillery" page of the website : Artillery Click on "Cannon" to see them all.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

Axletrees

 

The Hind Axletree should have had a pair of rebates where it fits up to the bracket, but I decided not to show that feature as it would look identical to the way I have rebated them anyway. It was much easier to simply enlarge the rebates in the brackets.

 

I had a few attempts at turning the stub axles into the trees. As I had to use a 4-jaw chuck it wasn't all that successful, at least time-wise (it took to long to accurately set them up). I came up with the idea of drilling the ends of the trees with the mill and inserting two lengths of 2mm dowel (these were trimmed down off the longer lengths after gluing) - perfect results and it didn't take very long at all . There is a small step on the inboard end of each axle to prevent the Truck from fouling the bracket. I cut these on the Byrnes saw :

 

 

 

 

The Fore Axletrees are a different size and shape to the hind ones. I made them in similar fashion, once again using the saw to cut the spacing rebate :

 

 

  Danny

[mtaylor]

Great idea on the milling and round stock. I've done the 4-jaw chuck bit and it's a pain to set up for each axle. 

[Kevin]

Danny good morning

 

just caught up on yr build - lovely work - well done

[rdsaplala]

Beautiful work on the stern details as well as the gun carriages, Danny, and those gun barrels are 100% eye candy, really cool

[druxey]

Nice dodge, drilling for the axletrees! Well done.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Mark, Kevin, Aldo and Druxey.

 

Carriage Assembly Jig

 

I've made up a jig to assemble the carriages, I can do four at a time.

 

 

The one in the foreground is completed (for now), three are glued together in the jig, and one is being set up :

 

 

  Danny

[dvm27]

You're the Henry Ford of ship modelers, Danny. Now I'm wondering why I didn't extend my jig to mass produce the carriages instead of assembling one at a time. Next time!

[Adrieke]

you are a master in jig making Danny