Ray

Hi Christian
                   She is looking great, I see you had the same problem as I did, and had to cut the slots for the gammonings after the grating had been made. I have just returned from holiday a great cruise on the Queen Mary 2,  and Christmas is just ahead so my progress will also be slow, I am going to add the dead-eyes and chains next.

Hi Guys,
 
My turn to add an update on progress made so far.
 
Well I ripped out all of the eyebolts from under the platforms and followed the advice from Grant on how they should be done, he kindly sent me some information from one of his practicums which illustrated it perfectly.
 
The big question was "How in _ells teeth am I going to do that", but it wasn't as bad as I first thought. So it was with some trepidation that I drilled my first hole in the Main Platform followed by another 11. The results you will see.
 
The railings and netting was fitted next.
 
I have since fitted the Mizzen Platform to the mast but the Main and Fore Mast Platforms are only dry fitted.
 
Next came the Burton Pendants, I made hard eyes for these out of 4mm dowel, I drilled out the centres with a 1.8mm bit and filed them down to the size required. I then had to serve rope for the Mizzen Pendants, Then it happened, my super duper server fell apart, the gearing got all jammed up and kept jamming, so I had to pull it apart and virtually start all over again. I now have a server that's got more holes in it than a colander, still it works which is the main thing.
 
With the rope served I attached the eyes and served the ends, it is now fitted to the mast.
 
So that's it, not a lot really, but unfortunately life has a habit of getting in the way of building, plus the fact that I have had a bit of builders block, at least that's behind me now.
 
Some pics.
 
Top of the Main Platform showing the retaining pegs.

 
The completed Platforms

 
The underside of the Platforms

 
The Burton Pendants on the Mizzen Platform

 
 
The served rope seized around the mast

 
The 3 masts with platforms

 

 
So there we have it, next step is the Mizzen shrouds.
 
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 

Hi Guys,
 
Thanks every body for your very kind comments and remarks and all those who pressed the like button, it's very much appreciated.
 
I have a little update to show so will be posting some pics in a moment.
 
What have I done so far, Mizzen mast shrouds were served and fitted, Catherpins made up and fitted, Mizzen main stay served and fitted, I used Arthurs method of making the mouse and it works fine, Mizzen Futtock shrouds made up and fitted and finally Ratlines completed on the Port side. 
 
The Catherpins look a little thick and I guess they are, I used 0.25 brass wire, served with 0.25 thread, attached it to the Futtock staves then fitted them to the shrouds, this made the process of fitting the Catherpins so much easier, I tend to look for as much as possible to do off the ship, that way there is less chance of doing damage which I'm prone to do.
 
I'm a little disappointed with the shroud servings, they are not as level as I would have liked above the futtock staves, the only saving grace is that it is a bit crowded in that area and difficult to see clearly.
 
The mouse was made using Arthurs method, anybody wanting to know what that is please look at HMS Vanguard by AEW, page 19 post 280, it really is a good method and so simple to do. I experienced the problems with serving in that the thread kept sliding down the mouse, this was cured by a drop of PVA.
 
The result of all this was that the Mizzen mast is now in it's correct position, tight and vertical with the correct backward angle of 2 degrees. I was a bit worried that the mast would lean over to port as was happening before fitting the ropes.
 
Pictures, not that many and not the best quality but you will get the idea of where I am. ( must change my camera ).
 
Portside deadeyes

 
Mizzen stay deadeyes

 
Mizzen mouse

 
Mizzen tops with the jungle of ropes

 
Beneath the mizzen tops showing the futtock shrouds and ratlines

 
Catherpins

 
Starboard deadeyes from the stern

 
Starboard deadeyes again

 
So there we are guys, your right up to date with where I am. 
 
Your comments will be well received regarding the thickness of the Catherpins, I wont be changing what's done but will make alterations to the Main and Fore masts if you think they are too thick.
 
Stay Safe and Warm
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 
 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

I have finally finished the coppering to the waterline on one side. The other is within a couple of rows of being finished.  At the moment I am sick of the sight of copper plates. It has so far turned out acceptably. I have certainly learned a few things in the process.
 
Applying the plates in complete strips to the waterline worked well - enabling accurate matching of the coppering on both sides.  Once the waterline was reached, fewer and fewer could be applied at once, but the accurate placing of the strips to the waterline made it easy to accurately place the remaining plates.  In effect, they fell into place as earlier I hoped they would.
 
I used "repositionable" CA. In general it worked well.  However I would better describe it as "unpredictably repositionable". If I positioned a plate poorly, it was certain to stick instantly.  On odd occasions when pressure was applied at an angle (to close up a gap) the plate leapt off the boat landing on the floor with the inevitable result that those who have dropped buttered toast know all too well.  With experience I did get better at it - but then you would want to.
 
Here are some pictures of progress.  The plates have been roughly cleaned with lemon juice alone.
 
I found that when a plate needed to be shaped to fit the waterline,particularly when the required part of the plate was very small,  it was best to shape that last plate so that it fitted snuggly between the waterline and the lower plate but not worrying about its length.  I would test-fit the penultimate plate so that it would overlap the last plate, so providing the required length of the last plate.  I then cut off the last plate to the required length, glued it and then applied the penultimate plate.  On the odd occasions this was required cutting off the end of the plate was not noticeable (I hope).
 
 








 
Here are shots of the the coppering (finally ) to the waterline.  Aside from completing the other side, I still have to take to copper to the bottom of the keel (about 2mm). I haven't yet decided how to do it. Starting where I did - just hitting the garboard strake - seemed like a good idea at the time.










 

It may seem strange, but at one time the vessels plying the inland Great Lakes were some of the largest in the world. Even in the mid 20th century, most ocean going freighters settled comfortable around the 500 foot mark, lakers were already into the 700 foot range.
 
Thanks to the opening of the 4th Welland Canal in 1932, ships of up to 730 feet could make the transit down from the upper lakes (Superior, Huron, Michigan and Erie) to Lake Ontario. At that time, the largest ocean going vessel that could reach the lakes was limited by the locks and canals of the pre-modern seaway.  Smaller vessles, known as canallers, would tranship from lakes ports to ports on the lower St. Lawrence river. They were limited to a mere 261 feet long by 40 feet wide and a maximum draft of around 8 or 9 feet. These were small ships, but there were LOTS of them.
 
In 1959 the current Seaway was opened. This allowed passage of the largest lake vessels (at that time) to the lower river, it also reduced the total number of locks from 28 to 7, between Montreal and Lake Ontario. The old time canaller sailors used to joke, that they would litterally walk from Cornwall to Montreal. This also meant the end of "Canal" sized vessels, as they were no longer efficient in the face of the larger vessels. Aside from specialty ships (cement carriers or package freighters), most canalers were gone by the end of the 1960s. The last unaltered canaller currently sits at Industrial Marine and Salvage in Port Colborne Ontario. The crane ship "D.C. Everest" (1953) was last used as a barge. She now sits awaiting her eventual fate.
 
 
Another small update. Have completed the fo'c'sle bulwarks. Made of styrene sheet and strip. Each frame, and the bulwark was made from 0.030" styrene. The flanges and cap rail are all 0.015" x 0.080" styrene strip. I used the moulded on rivets on the hull as a reference for spacing the frames correctly. It will need a little touch up with filler along the bottome outside edge to fill any remaining small gaps and inconsistencies. But otherwise, I'm pleased with the result.
 
 
Now it's time to get serious tackling the stern and mid sections and get that hull put together.
 
Andy

Top work ray. The colour of the timber with the paint and copper is magic

Such Excellent work! I will come back to this when I get to rigging my cannons.

Enjoy your holiday.
 
Mort

Hi Guys
 
 Christian 
 Thanks, I have had a look at the lining boards and I think you are right, they are probably the wrong way round, so I have removed them reworked them and refitted.
 

 
  Bill
To get the cannons to move up and down, when assembling them I glued the trunnion in the barrel and drilled down into the carriage and ten pinned the cap-square onto the carriage dry which allows the barrel to still move up and down. when I fitted the cannons to the deck I used very thick cyno and also rubbed the finished cannons on sand paper to give a small flat on the bottom of the wheels, to give a better contact-glueing area, plus I glued where the cannons touch on the inner bulwarks the last thing you want is one coming loose when the fore or quarter deck is on.
 
 
Mobbsie
The brackets under the mizzen channel are made from the brass/ sprue no problem to make, you would think that the price these kits are right number of parts would be included.
 
A carriage with holes for the trunnion 

 
A cannon with trunninon and you can just see the sanded flats on the bottoms of the wheels

 

 
 

Hi Guys
 
 Christian 
 Thanks, I have had a look at the lining boards and I think you are right, they are probably the wrong way round, so I have removed them reworked them and refitted.
 

 
  Bill
To get the cannons to move up and down, when assembling them I glued the trunnion in the barrel and drilled down into the carriage and ten pinned the cap-square onto the carriage dry which allows the barrel to still move up and down. when I fitted the cannons to the deck I used very thick cyno and also rubbed the finished cannons on sand paper to give a small flat on the bottom of the wheels, to give a better contact-glueing area, plus I glued where the cannons touch on the inner bulwarks the last thing you want is one coming loose when the fore or quarter deck is on.
 
 
Mobbsie
The brackets under the mizzen channel are made from the brass/ sprue no problem to make, you would think that the price these kits are right number of parts would be included.
 
A carriage with holes for the trunnion 

 
A cannon with trunninon and you can just see the sanded flats on the bottoms of the wheels

 

 
 

i can now restart my build, 

Good afternoon everyone
 
i keep sneaking into the man cave and doing small changes to the build, a door here and another hatch there, surprising just how much extra can be put onto this build, but i do miss the victory
 
the case is temporary, not deep enough by about 1/2 inch but would be a lot more when all the waiste extras (gangways etc) are added
 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

With the bow section now completed minus the stanchion rails and netting it was time to decided  which part of the build to do next. The choice was to do the deck fittings or the sides, I decided to complete the ships sides details,I first looked at the position of the channels and chain plates to make sure they did not interfere with the gun ports the fore and main mast channels needed moving by about 5mm to allow the links from the dead eyes to run at the right angles with out passing over the gun ports, I had plenty of the slotted rail to replace the now short ones rather than infilling with small bits, the mizzen channel will sit above the gun ports on the main deck and on top of the rail. I also decided to make new gun port lids as seen in the photos, so far then I have fitted the channels drilling them and adding pins, plus fitted the oar ports and vents,one side done and about half way through the other.
 
Rails removed

 
Channels dry fitted

 

 
New gun port lids

 
First side done minus the support brackets

 

 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

The channels, gun port lids, plus the oar ports and ventilation ports and the eye bolts have all now been fitted, plus the channel support brackets and the anchor lining boards I found the best way to work on her, was keel up, it gives much better access to the under sides of the channels, this would not be such a good idea if the deck fittings have been added.
 
One problem I found was that parts no 258 the channel support brackets there are only 22 supplied, and the plans shows 26 and if there are ones behind the anchors you need 28 I will get around this by making the extras from the brass strip around the etched parts.
 
This might be the last update for a bit as we are off on the QM2 for a holiday and Xmas is coming.
 
Working upside down

 

 
support brackets

 

 

 
All the parts fitted to both sides
 

 

 

 

Hi Mobbsie  Nice masts, good idear to extend the lengths it will made threading the rigging much less hassle, it all gets a bit busy under the tops a bit later.
Glad the build is back.

With the bow section now completed minus the stanchion rails and netting it was time to decided  which part of the build to do next. The choice was to do the deck fittings or the sides, I decided to complete the ships sides details,I first looked at the position of the channels and chain plates to make sure they did not interfere with the gun ports the fore and main mast channels needed moving by about 5mm to allow the links from the dead eyes to run at the right angles with out passing over the gun ports, I had plenty of the slotted rail to replace the now short ones rather than infilling with small bits, the mizzen channel will sit above the gun ports on the main deck and on top of the rail. I also decided to make new gun port lids as seen in the photos, so far then I have fitted the channels drilling them and adding pins, plus fitted the oar ports and vents,one side done and about half way through the other.
 
Rails removed

 
Channels dry fitted

 

 
New gun port lids

 
First side done minus the support brackets

 

 

The bow Section continued
 
I then taped the two parts of the grating together to see how it fitted in the space between the rails and the head timbers, it sat rather high so I cut and ground down the tops of the head timbers so that the gratings sat below the top of the main side rail.
I then made the cat-heads as per the instructions, the cast decorative rails were then shaped and added, after painting, and I cut them off where they turned flat onto the hull. The cat-heads and their support timber were glued together and fixed to the hull using cyno, and a couple of pins, the second part of the cast strip was then shaped and joined to the cat-head support and the strip on the hull. I then made a pair off second support timbers as shown in The Anatomy of ships Diana and added them, and to finish off fitted the timber covers over the side of the timber heads where the cast rails run through them, the sides of the timber heads did need a bit of fettling to allow a neat finish to the covers. Lastly the whole job was painted and touched up where necessary.
 

 
Decorative rail and timber covers fitted

 

 
The grating was finished next, I made a frame to fit inside the space which did not match the plan, but the space, I added the seat`s of ease ( the use of these  must have a bit tricky at night in a gale )and then fixed the assembly in place. I added a gold lines down the covering timbers (it looks much better in real life than the photos) a final paint touch up, and the gold painted decorations were added, the only thing left is the stanchion rail and netting which I will add later.
 
The grating

 
Ready for finishing off

 
Bows finished

 

 

 

 
 

With the bow section now completed minus the stanchion rails and netting it was time to decided  which part of the build to do next. The choice was to do the deck fittings or the sides, I decided to complete the ships sides details,I first looked at the position of the channels and chain plates to make sure they did not interfere with the gun ports the fore and main mast channels needed moving by about 5mm to allow the links from the dead eyes to run at the right angles with out passing over the gun ports, I had plenty of the slotted rail to replace the now short ones rather than infilling with small bits, the mizzen channel will sit above the gun ports on the main deck and on top of the rail. I also decided to make new gun port lids as seen in the photos, so far then I have fitted the channels drilling them and adding pins, plus fitted the oar ports and vents,one side done and about half way through the other.
 
Rails removed

 
Channels dry fitted

 

 
New gun port lids

 
First side done minus the support brackets

 

 

With the bow section now completed minus the stanchion rails and netting it was time to decided  which part of the build to do next. The choice was to do the deck fittings or the sides, I decided to complete the ships sides details,I first looked at the position of the channels and chain plates to make sure they did not interfere with the gun ports the fore and main mast channels needed moving by about 5mm to allow the links from the dead eyes to run at the right angles with out passing over the gun ports, I had plenty of the slotted rail to replace the now short ones rather than infilling with small bits, the mizzen channel will sit above the gun ports on the main deck and on top of the rail. I also decided to make new gun port lids as seen in the photos, so far then I have fitted the channels drilling them and adding pins, plus fitted the oar ports and vents,one side done and about half way through the other.
 
Rails removed

 
Channels dry fitted

 

 
New gun port lids

 
First side done minus the support brackets