usedtosail

Cheers Guys,
 
As it happens in the past week, I have received my printed pictorial build album.
 I have done one of these for all my builds, it is a shame not to use all those build photos and record those internal details lost from view.
 
A few pages to give a flavour.

9094

9095

9096

9097

9098

8926(3)
Once again, thanks for your support, much appreciated.
 
 
B.E.
05/11/2022
 
 
 

You have created a true masterpiece, BE. Very well done.

You have created a true masterpiece, BE. Very well done.

Moving things along, I have now painted and added the brass photo etched deck pieces, as well as the seat support strips and the bow and stern platforms. Those I remade from basswood to match the rest of the planking. I just glued planks together, traced the shape of the laser cut pear pieces, and then glued braces to the underside before cutting and shaping. I also "painted" super glue around the perimeter of the mast hole, on the under side of the bow piece, to help discourage splitting. It will still be a fragile point though. 
 
Next up I will be working on the thwarts. 
 
 

 
 

After a long time, I have finally reached the end of building the galley stove:









 

Topmast shrouds
 
Many thanks as always for the kind comments and 'likes'.
 
I'm really glad I rigged the shrouds before fitting the topmast caps and topgallants. Unlike Speedy where I had to seize the shrouds on the model, it was much easier to measure everything on the Duchess then complete the seizings and rig the deadeyes in comfort on the workbench. 
 
I used 0.6mm line for the fore and main topmast shrouds and 0.5mm for the mizzen,  0.3mm for the lanyards and my thinnest Mara line (#150) for the ratlines and seizings. All the techniques were as per the lower shrouds.
 
I also used #150 to serve the shrouds in the normal way, i.e. the full length of the first shroud each side on each mast and the middle quarter of each shroud pair. I always like the look of a gang of served shrouds stacked up on a masthead, even if it's only a few like this:
 

The futtock staves are short lengths of 0.5mm brass rod from the kit, seized with 18/0 fly tying silk. I used the Quadhands to hold the rod in place during seizing as described for the lower masts.
 
Unlike the lower masts, I didn't fit catharpins. They are shown in the kit, but according to Lees (The Masting & Rigging of English Ships of War) catharpins on topmasts did not appear on contemporary models until 1805, and that was an outlier. I was happy to leave these fiddly little items off.
 
As for the ratlines, I'm still trying to improve my technique. I mentioned in an earlier post experimenting with tying alternate clove hitches upside down to avoid the 'S' shape that tends to result if each knot is tied the same way:

For the first rung the result is a pleasing downward curve...,

...but the next pair of knots results in an upward curve:
 

 
However, I actually found that on the model it was easier to persuade the latter curve into a better shape than it was to get an 'S' curve to conform. 
 
I was quite pleased with the results, especially on the mizzen where there are only two shrouds!
 

Here's the whole model:

On next to one of my favourite rigging components, the crowsfeet.
 
Derek
 
 
 
 

a few small steps forward:





 

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

Its been a while since the last update but I have been making some progress with the rigging. I finished rigging the lower shroud deadeyes and the stays. I started to move onto the futtock staves and ratlines by first enlarging the supplied plans that show the ratlines to the same scale as the model, cutting out the shroud sections and gluing them to some manila folder material. I trimmed them to fit behind the shrouds and immediately saw that the mizzen mast was too high! The mizzen mast top was almost as.high as the main top, so I should have noticed it sooner. I made the mast the correct height but it did not fit all the way into the hull when I installed it. So off came the mizzen shrouds and stay and out came the mast. I trimmed the bottom of the mast to fit more into the hull and checked the height, which was now good. I was able to salvage most of the shrouds but I did have to remake one pair and the stay. These are now re-installed and I just need to tighten the shroud lashings and tie them off to the shrouds.
 

 
While I was reworking the mizzen mast I also started adding the futtock staves to the fore and main shrouds.
 

 
I have also started making the futtock shrouds using the supplied PE hooks. I did have to carefully drill out the holes in the hooks to fit the line for the shrouds.

So I was planning to build the Vanguard Speedy kit sometime in the future but not necessarily as the next build, but we found out recently that we are going to be grandparents for the first time and it is a boy, so I want to build the Speedy as a gift for the baby. WIth luck it will be completed by his first birthday. I ordered the kit today to take advantage of the discount that Chris has going on now, but I won't start it until this model is done and in its case. Perhaps the baby will have some of the traits of Sir Cochrane when he grows up.

The really hot weather finally broke here this week so I have had more time in the shop. I finished adding the various chocks and other bits to the bowsprit and gave it and the jib boom a coat of wipe on poly. While waiting for that to dry I made a new anchor cable line to replace the one that came in the kit, which was just a little too loose for my liking. I started by making four strands of 0.035" tan line, then twisted these together counter clockwise to make the cable.
 

 
Since I had the rope walk out, I started making the lines for the shrouds and backstays. I am using 0.035" line for the fore and main lower shrouds, and 0.030" line for the lower mizzen shrouds. I already had some lengths left over from my last build but I need a few more lengths of each. The 0.030 line is on the left.
 

 
I painted the first coat of black on the bowsprit and jib boom and will continue stropping the deadeyes for it when the painting is completed.

I finished up the bow section today. This entailed the catheads and their brackets, the head rails and their brackets, the hawse bolsters, and all the photo etch decorations that adorn them. I started using floor finish to glue the flat PE parts but switched back to CA as those that I glued with the floor finish had a tendency to fall off. I am not sure if I was not using enough or not holding them long enough so they set right. In any case the CA works great and holds the pieces nicely so I'll stick with it for the rest.
 

 

 

 
The next step is to add the rest of the PE decorations down the sides of the hull.

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

I agree, taking good photos of the rigging is very hard to do. I normally end up rejecting the vast majority of rigging photos I take.

I know you haven't heard from me for a while but I have my learning cap on. Ithought i knew every thing there was to learn about soldering and then i saw Giampiero‘s work and knew i knew nothing. So i have been attending the University of YouTube jewlers classes and struggling. Much of the equipment is not available here. Today i finally got a few pieces done but not happy with the result.
Just finding out how to clean bronze before soldering. Made my first pickle to clean the brass. Its hard to justify buying stuff you will seldom use. So it took boiled water from a kettle and added the sodium Bisulfate which was the only acid i could find locally. Its used to lower the PH in pools. Small Crockpot is not on the list of items to purchase.
Then there are the flux’s. I bought all sort of stuff available locally but they did not work. So i ordered a Borax cone set which should arrive some time next week. 
i promise when i figure this all out i will post another video. I tried to get Giampiero to do a video on his current build but language is the big problem and Google translate does not work well on YouTube. 
 

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

In the next week or so, I will be adding an 18-bottle paint set to my range. These will be AK acrylic paints, which can be thinned using ordinary tap water. The set includes all paints used on Indefatigable, but also used on the rest of the range.
 
The bottles shown in the picture are not the ones that will be in the set, I am awaiting shipment of my specially chosen paints from AK Interactive, which is imminent. The set should be more than enough to paint a model as large as Indefatigable.

Hello again to all, and thanks for the likes of my last posting.
 
Now that the containers had all been built and detailed, it was time to mount them to the ship.  The photos show that above the curved support trestles there was a set of second trestles that supported the containers themselves.  Here in this first photo you can see this ribbed piece, one for each set of containers.  Above the second trestle is a retaining board (or at least that is how I interpret the photos).  This first photo was taken before the piracy incident and shows that the retaining boards also had ribs along their length.
 

 
Notice in this photo that was taken at the time of the incident that the retaining boards are smooth and have no ribs.  I have no idea when the change was made, but since I was modeling the diorama as of the time of the event, I used smooth boards.
 

 
The first step was to build the second trestle assemblies that support each set of 12 containers.  Lengths of 5/8” tall I-beams that fit the look and the relative dimensions seen in the photos were cut to a length just slightly longer than a container.  These then had to sit on top of the trestle supports with enough clearance to allow access to the crane guide rail.
 

 
Each of the I-beams lengths was marked in pencil for 7 ribs.  These were individually cut from 0.03” square strip and glued over the pencil marks.  I used a very small dot of white glue on one end of the rib and put each in place.  When the glue dried I went back and fed a drop of plastic cement by capillary action under the rib.  A gentle press welded the rib in place.  I found that white glue alone made a mess as I moved the rib into position, while using only plastic cement did not give me enough open time to fiddle the pieces into place.  A horizontal reinforcing bar was added just above the halfway point and the assembly was painted in a khaki tan.  I have no evidence for this color, but it sets off well from the bronze of the support trestles and the steel of the containers.
 

 
To get the spacing for the lower trestles on deck I first had to put together the blocks of 12 containers that would sit on the second trestles.  These blocks are in turn made up of four ‘triples’.  I found that it was easiest to get consistent results if I assembled three containers onto a flat plate.  I could align them against a square jig and use thin spacers between them as the glue dried.  Two of these ‘triples’ were similarly attached to a larger plate with a bit larger space between them.  Then the final two triples were stacked on top.  Once all the blocks were made up I took three and dry fit them on top of the trestles on the aft deck.
 
I was very pleased to see how well they fit, given the tight tolerances of the model.  The outside aft corner of the trestle had to leave enough space to walk between it and the deck railing.  The result is perhaps a tad narrow, but looks acceptable.  Without moving anything the centerline and outer corners of the lower trestle were marked and drawn on deck.
 

 
The blocks of containers were removed and each pair of second trestle pieces were joined together to form a pallet.  This was done with I-beam cross-pieces that fit inside the flanges of the trestle pieces.
 

 
Shim pieces were added to the cross-pieces to make up for the differing sizes of I-beam and the pallets were painted.  Now a full block of containers could be attached to each pallet.
 

 
In a similar manner the lower trestles were connected with I-beam cross-pieces that were sized so the trestles fit on deck exactly as marked and the pallets of containers fit exactly between the crane rails.  Once everything was triple checked the trestle assemblies could now be permanently attached to the decks.
 

 
The pallets were set in place on the trestles and the retaining boards added.  These were painted a slightly lighter tan color than the pallets, but the difference is hard to see.  Here at the bow the forwardmost block of containers was not supported on a pallet, but just on I-beams.  This matches what is seen in the photos, but I have no idea why they are different.  In this later photo some additional details have been added, including the guy wires for the forward mast, the railing along the side of the deck, and the fairleads and bollards for the mooring lines.
 

 
The last major element to construct was the pair of rolling cranes to load and unload the containers.  These will be covered in the next segment of the build.
 
Till then, stay well.
 
Dan

Jon,  Thanks for those reference shots...  They help a lot.    I can see the bumkins as well.     
 
 
 
More update.  
Note:  I plan to hold off on the final cap  rail and those covering boards between the Top rail and the 4th rail.
Eventually I'll get to the inner (green) bulk works, before I add the caprail.  Will finish that last pieces of the headrail then.  
 
First I painted all the rails black.   As you can see in the pic.... paint is really rough, even though rails were sanded prior to painting.     
I did wind up sanding the rails post paining with 200 grit (After pic was taken).  White stripe still needs some touch up as well.   Very hard to reach with the rails there.
 
 

I decided to use 1/64 inch wide architecture tape for the stripes.  Found it on Amazon.   About $7 bucks for a single small roll.   
Only tape I found that small.    Didn't want to try to glue anything on (wood or styrene strip) as I think they would be very hard to position.  Tape  lets me peal off and try again / reposition as needed until its positioned right.
 
The question is how long will tape stay attached. (long term)    I do plan to clear coat (matt) it when its done.  Hopefully that helps
 

Note 1/64 is real tiny.   It wasn't as hard to work with as I expected, but its a good deal of eyestrain and close up work. Good magnifiers required!    And its all against black so bright, direct lighting is needed to clearly see the edges of the rails.
It turned out better than I had hoped for.  Especially at the very end where they all converge.  The bow ends of each rail is < 3/64" wide.  With 1/64th tape   you can still see distinct stripes (not overlapping) with a sliver of black between at the foremost end.
 
Only have the Starboard side done so far.
 

 
Alternated between the stripes and the carvings.
First scanned the carvings onto the PC just in case I screw up the painting.   
Painted the carvings white first.  then when back filled in the black.
 
Its very slow going.   Took several multi hour sessions and am still working on it.
Will definatly need some touch up before there acceptable.   II suck at freehand painting details.... Grrr.

 
 

Final shot for this session.   (carvings not glued in yet)
 

 
 
 

I  ended my last post saying the topsail yard would be just like the topgallant yard, only bigger.  Yes it’s definitely bigger, but there are some differences as well.
As mentioned in a post back in August, the lower two yards are supposed to be constructed from two dowels, separated by a square piece to be shaped to an octagon in cross section.  Then battens are to be glued to the flat parts of the octagon section.  I found it easier to make the entire topsail yard out of a single dowel, tapered at both ends and leaving the center section round, not octagonal.  As can kind of be seen in the picture below, I painted the middle section black before attaching the battens, because the latter fit so closely together I wasn’t sure I could get black paint into the tiny gaps between them. Eventually almost the entire yard is painted black, unlike the yards above which are entirely stained.

Studding sail booms:  The end guards and end guard rings (terms used in the instructions but not the plans) are two pieces at each end. Both pieces need to be trimmed after gluing together.  The end guard is basically a cage that is slipped onto the end of the yard.  Rather than taper the yard ends enough to allow that to happen, I tapered them enough to be flush with the outside of the cage/guard, then cut a smaller round section just thin and long enough to fit inside, as can be seen in the picture above. I think the assembly would have looked better if the guard rings had been cast the same as the topgallant yard rings and if the guards had a hole in them through which the stem of the ring would pass, into a hole drilled into the end of the studding sail booms.
This yard, and this yard alone, has what is identified as a “coxcomb” glued to the top of the yard, about half an inch in from each end.  I don’t know what a coxcomb is or what the other yards don’t have them, but here I did as I was told.
Consistent with everything else about this yard, the plans show the footropes running through stanchions that are somewhat longer than those found on the upper two yards.  That doesn’t make sense in my mind, as the men who stood on this yard’s footropes weren’t any taller than the men who stood on the footropes higher up. I made these stanchions the same length as those above.
As is discussed in further detail below, the topsail yard is supposed to have two halyards, each one leading to either side of the hull, not just a single halyard leading to the starboard side as is the case with the royal and topgallant yard halyards.



The locating pin shown below is dry fit and was replaced with a shorter one before installation on the mast.




 
Halyard(s):  I viewed the plans as showing a two-ended halyard wrapped around the mast at its midpoint.  Seemed pretty obvious to me that running rigging wrapped around a mast wasn’t going to “run” very well.  Reading the instructions, what’s contemplated is two halyards, each ending with a clove hitch around the mast.  But after leaving the mast, each halyard passes through a double block on the yard, then passes over the top of the forward cross tree, then aft to a single block attached to either side of the mast, then down to the jig which secures it to the hull.  How this running rigging is supposed to “run”, and change direction by 90°, when it passes over the edge of the cross tree under tension, is beyond me.  So since I was going to ignore both the plans and instructions to remedy that problem anyway, I decided to turn it into a double ended halyard (by hanging a single block on the front of the mast). After passing through the double block on the yard, each halyard runs below the crosstrees and through a single block hanging below and between the middle and aft crosstrees.


Finally and a little late now, I wish I had made the halyard jigs shorter.  The yards are displayed in their raised position, which would mean that most of the line in each jig would be pulled in and the two ends of the jigs would be close together.  As rigged (which is consistent with the plans), to bring the yards down to their lowered positions (shown faintly on the plans as an alternative), the upper ends of the jigs would end up tucked up close beneath the fighting top.  I doubt that would be the case on the real ship.

Sprits'l yard braces and foremast yard braces in place.  Obviously, a lot of tensioning and retensioning has yet to be done.  I thought I had that done on the upper stays, but nope.  Oh well, good thing I have debonder on hand.  Braces can  droop, but I will wait until they are all in place, and the backstays are finalized before I try to get it all right.  Topmast and t'gallant mast backstays reconnected.  My missing the mark on the upper fore and aft stays made me delay finalizing them.
 

I can't believe how hard it is to belay lines.  I do not remember its being anywhere near this hard when doing my plastic ship models as a kid.

Thanks Glenn and for the likes.
 
After a nice week's vacation in Canada I am back in the shop. I have finished installing the futtock staves and have started adding the catharpins and futtock shrouds. I apologize for the crappy photos but I find taking pictures of rigging not easy.
 

 

 

....continued.
 
Now, those laser cut rails. These are now glued into the engraved positions on the outer bulwarks. Some extra parts are added to these to create a 3D relief.






 
 
 
 
What we believe is the remainder of the original second wale from her 64-gun days, is now fitted. The position of this is crucial. Here you see the area around it masked off and the wale sanded.  

 
 
 
 
The timber which is obstructing the gun port is now carefully snipped away and sanded flush with the gun port edges.

 
 
 
More gunwale position levelling, and the parts finally glued into place.



 
 
 
The gun port positions on the forecastle gunwale are also prepared.

 
 
 
 
Now it's the turn of adding rails to the stern of this beast. These are all laser cut and engraved. All you need to do is to make sure you fit them all in alignment. 



 
 
 
 
At this point, I glue in the second set of foremast bitts.

 
 
 
 
And here is Indy so far.

 
 
 
I have actually done more than this in preparing other assemblies, such as binnacle, ship's wheel, catheads etc. At this point, it's not long off adding some colour to this hull.