James H

Posting in my capacity as part-time VM employee (😆), this is to let you all know that today is the last day of the VM Summer Sale, with 10% off all VM kits, except for Ranger, as that's a new release. If you want a nice discount on a fisher, Duchess, Sphinx, Flirt or Speedy etc. NOW really is the time to pull the trigger! https://vanguardmodels.co.uk

Welcome to MSW! Quick note: if you paste text from another site, it will copy the formatting. If you then click the 'Paste as plain text instead', then the post will look normal.

Ok, just an interim update. I was going to leave this until weekend when the office was installed, but I may as well show the upper deck being fitted and prepped for further work. Indy will be supplied with deck planking material as standard. At the moment, this looks like it will be red alder, which is gorgeous. I have some here that I'll do a couple of stages showing how to present it, assuming the modeller will have a good idea already. Indefatigable isn't marketed at modellers who are novices or intermediate. This is an 'Advanced' level kit in VM's new 5-point kit categorisation. More on that when it's released. What you see here are the standard ply sections which are laser-engraved so you have something as a planking guide. This is where checking the lay of the deck beams really does pay off. This deck is fitted in halves, unlike the main deck, simply as it's a more complex item. With everything test fitted and dry run several times, the deck beams have glue added to them and the deck is slotted into the outer bulkhead ears. Weights and clamps are then used to hold things down until dry. The 2 inch clamps are perfect for this, especially the cutouts where the front end clamps the joint and the clamp tail holds down the opposite side. And then the other deck half is fitted in the same way. There is a little more internal fairing to do, but this is easy enough. This is where the cabin walls will be installed and I need to make sure there's no bumps anywhere. And while this seems drastic, these frames DO need to now be removed as the next build stages will incorporate engraved inner bulwarks which glue onto the the sides. The forecastle bulkhead ears are now history too. More at weekend when I have the painted furniture in hand.

Nope! This is why I farm this stuff out as he knows what he's doing, plus I'm still busy with woodwork 😆

Have you tried another browser etc? The only solution I have to this sort of problem is to clear cache and cookies and try a different browser to see if can work. It's very difficult to provide solutions to IT when it's not at our side.

Hi Joe, This is at your end. Shut down MSW, clear cache and cookies and then come back to MSW and login again. See how that goes.

A very brief update before the weekend one. The office furniture has been painted by a friend of mine, and here it is. The round table will not be included with Indy, but the other table will, along with a couple of chairs. Here you can see a couple of incarnations of the furniture, 3D-printed and painted with oils. My friend also added the navigation charts for some extra effect! These items, including the round table are available already though. https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product/cabin-furniture/

Looking forward to seeing this. Remember to check out the notes I added about the position of the lower stern counter. Check step 149 for info.

You sort of missed the words before the title you gave this topic: That means, if you have questions about how to use the forum, not how to rig. or plank a model etc.

You're doing a nice job of your planking. Good to see her coming along so well.

I left the hammock cranes off the model as they would've fouled the shrouds. That won't be a problem with your build.

While it's an advanced level kit, if you've got some building experience under your built and can think logically, this won't be beyond many people.

Hornblower isn't supplied with this kit. Just Pellew. It's up to the modeller if they want to include Hornblower and any uniform vagaries (bearing in mind most folk wouldn't know anyway...I certainly didn't).

Sounds like this will be perfect for you 😉😜

Included in the kit will be a set of optional lodging and hanging knees. It'll be up to you if you want the extra work, but for the manual, I have to take one for the team! These are the hanging knees. The truncated ones are the parts that will be fitted where the gun port would otherwise be obstructed by the longer part. Of course, each part also needs to be specifically shaped to its position. Plenty of spares are supplied. Here they are fitted, along with the lodging knees. And the fore deck beams are now added, with the optional knees also installed, followed by the boat beams. These also have optional knees. And here she is so far!!

Time for another update. This was something I was looking forward to doing. Not covering up all that work I'd just done, but to turn a corner and be able to do it all again for the next layer in the Indy cake. Before I did that, I needed to add the scale-sized cannonballs to the shot garlands. These are done with liquid CA and some thin-ended paddle tweezers that won't knock the previous ball glued into place. And with that, it's onto the beams. As the upper side will have some timber showing through the deck cutouts, these were totally cleaned of char. The whole upper face was cleaned also because they look much better for the instruction photos. There are two lengths of pillar, depending on whether they sit on a deck or on a grate coaming. All deck beams were painted red, except for the upper side and all the slots. The beam ID is engraved on each beam and this ties in with the engraved number of the deck beam sill. The beams are now slotted and glued into position. Those beams that are supported are continually test fitted with a pillar before being finally glued. Also important to make sure the pillar doesn't push the beam higher than was intended. A steel rule checks this as I go. The forward beam for the quarterdeck is not only shaped in profile, but also curved across its length. To create this, the beam is made from laminated pear parts, glued together over a jig. When this is dry, the part is cleaned up and fitted into place, sitting atop two of the bitts.

I've always wanted a really long wait of tweezers with precision tip, and reverse grip too. These would be for belaying, and I reckon about 8 inches long. I really do need to look for some.

They are single-piece,;laser cut parts.

And more... Knees(?) now added, as well as a painted brick floor for the stove. And the gun carts now have some colour applied to them, as well as ironwork and wheels. Remember, these won't be fitted with barrels until the model is more or less complete. Capstan finally done. As are the hand pumps. No one wants to walk down stairs without a safety rope around them! And the stove makes an appearance. And this is Indy up to date. Back in the shipyard tomorrow

Ok, major update time! I've actually had a lot of subassemblies ready for a while, as this log shows, but now it's time for adding them in. What I haven't shown here is the spirketting that I added and fitting the eyelets to the inner bulwark gun positions. You'll have to wait until manual is finished for those! I've had to take about 100 photos these last days and sequence them, with the ones I took ages ago. Ok, first paint is for the coamings, after masking off the garlands and glue area for grates. Coamings now fitted without grates as they are more flexible for deck curve. I've probably posted this pic before, but this just shows that the ladders are now being fitted, along with the grates. I pre-assembled the bitts etc in situ, then removed them when dry before painting. These are now added into place for the last time.

Maybe apart from the 'pink' bit (😆), you are absolutely right. In fact, including the pink! As long as the materials are there to build the model as intended, then any small extra effort is up to the modeller in how they depict a vessel.

I can almost guarantee that's the reason, and no other. Shipping prices for business are awful at the moment, and these folk need to recoup that.

It's not the lower gun deck, it's the main gun deck. Many contemporary models show the same for that deck. We have plenty in our gallery.

Ship's stove. I know I did the for the VM web-shop but this one is now printed in 8K resolution using a different resin which is tough. There are two PE frets with this stove, with a few spares for things like pulleys and eyelets etc. The stove assembly is the same as the one in the shop, but here are some pics of the work. Tamiya fine primer was used on the stove, followed by Tamiya Flat Black. The stove was then weathered with Uschi van der Rosten steel pigment. At this stage, the chimney and pipe are only sat in position. They'll be glued to the stove later in the build.

You can have a look through my build logs for stuff that you might be wanting to use. I'm UK and everything I buy is either local, or Amazon.