James H

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!!
 

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).

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. 

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).

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).

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!!
 

There'll be an update in the next days, but in the meantime, here are some pictures of the Indy figurehead and also 1:64 figures of both Pellew and Hornblower. Both of the figures will be on the website in the next days, but Pellew will also be included with HMS Indefatigable when the kit is released.
 

Time for a quick update. This will be the last one before work starts very shortly.
 
I'm making this update over TWO posts due to number of pics. These are just camera photos and won't represent anything you see in the manual.
 
Indy turned up with UPS this morning, and the box is large and heavy. In fact, the box isn't large enough yet as the masting, rigging, manual and plans also need to be included, as well as PE etc. The box was packed out as it was. This one took up two seats on my sofa.
 




 
Take a look through and you'll notice some little things here and there. One of those is that the main gun deck carriages are tabbed so they slot into the deck and can't be knocked free later in the build. This is only an optional feature as the modeller can, if they wish, plank over the tab slots and remove the tab from the carriage. That would be up to the individual but this is a perfectly good solution that will be invisible when implemented. If also means the guns will be perfectly spaced too and the barrels therefore evenly protrude from the hull. Those barrels will also be fitted after the hull is painted, so attaching them later won't dislodge a gun cart.




 
This is the engraved maple deck which won't be included as standard, unlike the other kits. This kit will have traditional planks for the deck, but it is quite likely that this option will be provided on release. If that happens, then the gun carriage location slots aren't likely to be there, and you'll simply open them up if you want use that kit feature. Oh, these parts are BIG!! My cutting mat is in 1cm squares, as a guide.

 
 
Not fantastically clear here, but the ply sub decks are engraved with planks. This isn't the finish. It's designed to give you a template onto which to lay the kit planks. That will save the modeller having to mark up stuff themselves.

A little history (edited from wiki!)
 
HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions.
 
Indefatigable was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams. She was launched in early July 178,  and completed from 11 July to 13 September of that year at Portsmouth Dockyard as a 64-gun two-decked third rate for the Royal Navy. She had cost £25,210 4s 5d to build; her total initial cost including fitting out and coppering was £36,154 18s 7d (around £6.6m in today's money). By that time, she was already outmoded for the role of a ship of the line as the French only built the more powerful 74-gun ships, and she was never commissioned in that role.
 
She was broken up in 1816.
 
The kit
This is quite literally hot off the press with regards to what you see here. Indefatigable is being represented in this new kit as the razée, and quite rightly so. I do have a lot of affection for the stuff built at Bucklers Hard, having visited there a couple of times myself. It's a beautifully tranquil place in England's New Forest, which really does betray the hive of activity it used to be. It even has the original shipwrights houses and the pub there, as part of the tour. Just to think, Indefatigable was definitely built in one of these two slips, as was Agamemnon etc. I took these photos a couple of years ago.
 



 
This is very stuff for Indefatigable, as all I currently have are the cannon, carronades, and also the cutter. It will also become very obvious that when building these models, I never do anything in chronological order as seen in the manual. I work on whatever Chris has completed and sends over to me, with other work infilling between main tasks. I try to waste as little time as possible in order to keep to fairly tight release schedules. For the first time you'll see me work on stuff like this before the big hitters are sent to me. Even then, I will feed back with my findings and things will possibly be changed to reflect my own build. 
 
Not too much to see at the moment, and work won't start proper for a week or so, so keep checking in to see if things have progressed. Here's the two sheets of 2mm pear which contain the gun carts...




 
I also have three bags of guns. These are:
12-pound long 24-pound long 42-pound carronades  
I do need to wash these guns in some isopropyl, especially the carronades as the initial washing left then with tissue debris on them. Also, the carronade carriages will also have 3d-printed wheels! 





 
Indefatigable will have many of the design traits of Sphinx, but this time incorporate more traditional planking around the upper bulwarks and gun ports etc. Indy will also feature a traditionally planked deck too. 
 
Here are the parts for the cutter:
 


Chris might want to chime in here with other notes on the design too. 
 

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.

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.


 

Tiny update as I am doing a few other things in other build areas of Indy too.
 
I now have some colour on the model. I first varnished the exposed strip on the inner bulwarks and then used masking tape before I added paint. For this, I used some Plastikote Red Oxide (same as on the lower fisher hulls) and decanted it from the aerosol so I could airbrush it. The paint was left to de-gas for a few hours. That's important as it'll boil if you try to use or do anything with it when fresh from the rattle can. The paint was then thinned with mr Levelling Thinner, about 60:40 paint to thinner. When completely dry, I airbrushed Tamiya Flat Red over the red oxide. 
 

 
 
After more judicious masking (and masking the ports off from interior), I did the same paint regime for the gun ports. Once dry, everything was unmasked.

 
 
 
The standard kit will be supplied with Red Alder for deck planking. This is a beautiful timber. However, for this, I am using an engraved maple veneer deck. There will be an option for a maple deck, but it's an actual maple deck, not veneer. Fitting the deck will be the same as for this, with a subtle flex and sliding into the rear first, underneath the stern timbers. First though, a test fit should be done and the edges sanded so it lies flat to the bulwark edges. 

 
 
 
The deck was then glued down and left to dry. In the meantime, the main gu deck coamings were masked and airbrushed in Tamiya Flat Black. The grates will be added after the coamings are fitted, so to reduce rigidity when fitting.


 
 
More soon(ish) 

This update shows the basic external finishing of Indefatigable, and at this stage doesn't include the numerous rails etc. that make up the side bulwarks. That's for later in the build.
 
After a LOT of sanding of the second pear planked layer, the gun ports were opened up to their correct size at last. Before using some custom-made sanding sticks for the job, the inner bulwark port openings were trimmed down more or less to the size of the port itself. The sanders were then used to finally clean them up and even out the internal areas. A sharp scalpel was then used to square up any corners properly.
 

 
 
 
If you remember, the first pear plank was laid to be in the exact same position as the the upper strip of the wales. Here you can see the mark that indicates the flow of the plane at the prow. The top also aligns with the top of the prow, so that makes it easier!

 
 
 
A 4mm wide strip of 1mm pear is now run from the prow to the stern, following that plank line. I used CA gel for this as I didn't want to use any pins on this area. I've left the plank overlong at the rear so you can see where it runs to. The last two gun ports are also partially obscured by the strip.


 
 
 
Now, three 5mm wide pear strips of 1mm thickness are run directly underneath the 4mm strip, again with CA gel. Once in place, I masked off the area on both sides of the wales and sanded the wales smooth. You'll note that I tapered the lower two planks towards the bow, and the lower one plank at the stern.

 
 
 
The gun ports are now cut into the wales, and the wales are finally shaped at the stern. These are shaped from the curve of the stern lower counter, and rounded into the underside of the wale.

 
 
Indy now looks like this. The next update will show some internal work underway. 

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!!
 

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!!
 

Good afternoon everyone
thank you for comments and likes
 
DAY 18
revisited the enclosed after deck and sorted the hatch truckways and the new 2nd class gymnasium

also on the top deck is a childrens play room this still needs work, im not happy with it at all

i think some primer is required


the primer has stopped the lightbleed

 
both sides of the hull are now with topcoats, been deliberatly left looking pants to ease the weathering (which is the same as i hate airbrushing)

 
 

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!!
 

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!!
 

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.

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.

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!!