Blue Ensign

Post One Hundred and Sixty-six
My version of Indy is effectively completed now and with some serious moving about of models within my workroom/office, I have found room to house Indy in the prominent position she deserves, and without encroaching on other areas of the house.
4223
She has displaced Norske Love which now has a new position vacated by Alert which also has a new location.

e2008a
Had I completed the masting on Indy it would be in the order of that of Norske Love which is of a slightly smaller scale of 1:70.

e2012a
Norske Love has received a well overdue clean, having endured all the dust created during the construction of ‘Indy’.

4022
Not quite ready for the glass cover to be on yet, but at least the issue of ‘where are you going to put that’ is now resolved.
As a bonus the lower profile of Indy compared to Norske love will allow me to re-arrange the wall Pictures and perhaps get one of Indy.
 
I have decided to have a further dabble with the boats, and have started assembly of the 26’ Launch, pity not to make them up as they are provided with the kit.
 
B.E.
06/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Perseverance pays off David, well done👍
 
B.E. 

So sorry to read this Kevin,
 
For what it’s worth, hard as it is, I think you are making the right decision.
We invest so much in our cocker family members, and the pain we feel when their time comes is very real.
 
I know you will do right by Dobbie.
 
B.E.
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Stays and Preventors
I have finally completed adding all the stays and preventors for the mizzen, main, and fore lower, topsail and topgallant masts. The sprit topmast and flying jibboom have also been added to the bowsprit.
 
I am reasonably happy with how the Indy is looking at the moment. There is still a few more months work ahead required to complete the build.
 
The first photo shows the Mizzen mast.

The next photo shows the belaying arrangement for the mizzen topsail and topgallant stays, located on the main mast lower platform. I did have to redo the mizzen topsail stay as I was not very happy with the end result after I had added the mizzen topgallant mast stay.

The next photo shows the main mast stays

The next photo shows the main topsail and topgallant stays belaying arrangement on the foremast lower platform
The next photo shows the belaying on the main topsail stay and preventor at deck level.

The next photo shows the foremast stays

The top gallant stay and flying jibboom stays are fed through the dolphin striker, as shown in the next photo.

The fore topsail stay and preventor are taken through the bees, as shown in the next photo.

Some close up detail of the sprit topmast and flying jibboom arrangements in the next couple of photos.

The next photo shows the fore topsail preventor and flying jibboom belaying arrangement at the bow. There is a similar belaying arrangement on the port side bow for the fore topsail stay and fore topgallant stay,

Sad about the launch but the ship looks fantastic and this has been a joy to follow along.

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Thank you Glenn, I'm going to finish off the Indy boats; doing well so far, I've already snapped the stern post of the Launch twice in fitting the Transom.🫤
 
After that it's back to Syren, to finish Chuck's wonderful Medway Longboat.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 

Cheers Guys, I will do a set of completion photos before I encase her, but the wooden framed glass case is  very heavy compared to my previous  acrylic covers, not very convenient for multiple  off and ons, and all the associated risks involved.
 
@ Bug - A lot of the deck fittings are removeable including the rope coils, so these are taken off when cleaning.
I simply start at the top;  firstly cleaning the rigging lines, then the masts and yards, using a soft paintbrush.
For the dust on the decks I pick it up with a soft brush and suck the dust with a hand held vacuum (Dyson) I finish off the outside of the hull.
 
Considering she has been uncased for many years she comes up pretty well, takes around 3hours + to do it.

2007a
Here she is stripped down for cleaning, built at a time before the availability and quality of fittings we have today she still remains one of my favourites.
 
Regards,
 
B.E.
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-six
My version of Indy is effectively completed now and with some serious moving about of models within my workroom/office, I have found room to house Indy in the prominent position she deserves, and without encroaching on other areas of the house.
4223
She has displaced Norske Love which now has a new position vacated by Alert which also has a new location.

e2008a
Had I completed the masting on Indy it would be in the order of that of Norske Love which is of a slightly smaller scale of 1:70.

e2012a
Norske Love has received a well overdue clean, having endured all the dust created during the construction of ‘Indy’.

4022
Not quite ready for the glass cover to be on yet, but at least the issue of ‘where are you going to put that’ is now resolved.
As a bonus the lower profile of Indy compared to Norske love will allow me to re-arrange the wall Pictures and perhaps get one of Indy.
 
I have decided to have a further dabble with the boats, and have started assembly of the 26’ Launch, pity not to make them up as they are provided with the kit.
 
B.E.
06/04/2024
 

So sorry to read this Kevin,
 
For what it’s worth, hard as it is, I think you are making the right decision.
We invest so much in our cocker family members, and the pain we feel when their time comes is very real.
 
I know you will do right by Dobbie.
 
B.E.
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Fore Stay and foremost preventer stay were next on the list. Pretty much a carbon copy of the main and her preventer stay except the rope sizes are a bit different and of course they secure to the open hearts on the bowsprit.
 
    Fore stay is listed as 9.5" circular which becomes 1.2 mm at scale with a closed heart just over 5mm.  Once again I'm using the fine lasercut hearts from Syren.  I'm using .45mm line for the lanyard, same as the main stay.
 
    
 

 
  The preventer stay is listed at 6" circular which comes out to .76mm at 1:64, I'll be using .75 since that's what I've made and if anyone can tell the difference of .01mm they've got Superman eyes.  The close heart is slightly smaller as well at just over 4mm as is the lanyard - I'm using .30 mm rope.
 
 
 

 
 Here's where she's at with just under 700 hrs of labor. Granted, I'm not always super great at keeping track of time, so that's a best guess. Up next I'll start working on the Mast Tops as well as the Topmasts.  Oh - pay no attention to the caps - they're just a placeholder. 
 

   
    

I foolishly stopped working on the model and I have had a real problem starting up again. This is the second time I have fallen into that trap. I should have learnt my lesson the first time. To get back into the swing of things I decided to have another stab at my nemesis, the 18ft cutter (jolly boat). I think that I am into double figures with my jolly boat attempts. I have picked up a thing or two from the previously discarded prototypes so I went back to the CAD model and made some modifications. I found that trying to insert the individual futtock heads into the formwork was a real pain so I joined them all together at the top with a sacrificial beam and then modified the formwork so that it could accept these beams which will allow the futtocks to line up with relative ease and they will hopefully remain evenly spaced.
 




 
I went out and purchased some engineering grade resin to try and overcome the failure of the futtocks when releasing from the support structure. I found that it is advisable to put off the curing stage until later as this gives the material some additional flexibility and reduces the chance of sudden fracture. It is more of a faff to use as the model must be cleaned with alcohol rather than water. Once printed out I married the two components together and installed the wash strake first to overcome the futtock distortion problem I previously encountered. I then placed the rest of the keel, garboard stakes, and continued the rest of the planking in my usual haphazard manner. I start out with the best of intentions but soon lose my way. I had some real problems at the pointy end but I realise where the mistake lies and could modify the CAD model to mitigate this in future builds. I decided to just press on with this one as I could not face starting again.
 



The good thing about the new sacrificial beam design is that I can remove the model from the formwork from time to time to see how it is looking from the inside. Not great to be sure mainly due to my munificence with the CA. Despite deploying the engineering grade resin, the dimensions of the futtocks give them the same structural integrity as the bones of a well boiled kipper and they snap off at the slightest touch. I had to replace some parts by organ harvesting from previous model prototypes but I am hoping that a thick layer of paint will keep everything intact.
 






I gave the exterior of the hull a few coats of acrylic paint. I have fallen into the trap of going for a too white paint but I used something called parchment this time. I think I could probably go for one more shade shabbier, which was linen, as it still looks quite bright to my eye but that will hopefully dull over time as it picks up dust and grime from constant handling. I continued my tradition of the admiralty blue identification stripe and added a rubbing strake picked out in white to give it a racy feel. I kept the washboards in a natural walnut finish rather than carrying on with the blue just for some visual interest.





For the interior I started off by laying down a few coats of light ochre colour. I found this in the model figure painting section of the hobby shop and it is apparently the colour of the bones of some mythical beast but it had a nice utilitarian look although I was rather taken with the light blue that BlueEnsign used in his pinnace on his Indefatigable build.



 
 
I was not happy with the grating that I had 3d printed as the perimeter timbers were too wide. The geometry is quite complicated as it needs to fit snugly in the as-built space but I bit the bullet and redrew these to come up with something that was closer to the drawings shown in the AOTSD.

I used maple for the keelsom and footwalling. I left this a natural colour with a golden oak stain to highlight the complicated planking layout that took me a while to achieve although the joints are messy and the shape somehow got distorted. This position of the footwalling was the whole reason for embarking on the jolly boat journey as it was sitting too high in the kit supplied version with no way of lowering it.
 

Thwarts, knees, sternsheets, risings, gunwales and decking were all made from the golden oak stained maple to match the rest of the interior timber work. This also ties into the deck colour of the ship so it hopefully does not stick out like a sore thumb. I slightly bumped up the thickness of the thwarts over the dimensions shown in May as the scaling down of this element caused it to appear too insubstantial.
 
I added ringbolts and other bits and pieces. I 3D printed the mast clamp as it is a very delicate piece. I even had to exaggerate some of the dimensions as the dimensionally accurate one was so fragile that it tended to crumble to dust in my fingers.
 



I 3D printed some oars with a view to making them out of timber but once I had them in my hand, I realised that they are too delicate and would therefore be too frustrating to construct from any of the timber in my stock. For fiddly pieces that need to be produced in multiples, the 3D printing process is so much easier. I used the dimensions from Steel based on the 6ft breadth of boat but the length of the oar at 19ft turned out to be longer than the boat which was not what I expected. Further investigation revealed that the oar size can be in a range of 2.5 to 3.5 times the breadth of the boat. I noticed in May that he states the oar length for an 18ft cutter should be 14ft. This is however for a 19th century boat. I knocked out some a few 15ft examples for comparison, as they do not take that long to draw, and I am much happier with the proportions. I made the looms round as Steel notes these were often made round for the ship’s boats.


Along with the oars there are other bits and bobs scattered about the boat. One of these is the anchor. Quite a while ago I had purchased the smallest grapnel anchor that I could find on the CMB website. This was a 20mm long version. I had to rummage around before I managed to locate it in the back of a drawer. I glued it together and tossed it into the boat and found out that it was much too large. I drew something up on the computer loosely based on the drawings and dimensions in Steel. I went with the four flukes rather than the five fluker he has drawn (and he does note both are acceptable). Even the slimmed down version was probably too big for the jolly boat and more suited to the pinnace. I scaled the original down in two stages based on what I thought might survive the printing process and came up with three different sizes. Steel notes that the weight for these anchors ranges between 112lbs to 30lbs. An advantage of working in CAD means that I could get the volume of the model and thus calculate the scaled-up weight. The three versions I produced theoretically weigh 106bs, 78lbs and 54lbs which puts them right in the ballpark. For the jolly boat I plan to use the smallest of the three. While this is not down to the 30lb weight, the anchor is so insubstantial that when I had an ant infestation in my workshop the other day and I was worried that they might carry it off to decorate their burrow and I would never see it again.


 
 
 

 


According to Steel the anchor rope is just under an inch in diameter and 40 fathoms of long. This scales to about 0.37mm in diameter and over a metre in length. In an attack of frugality, I decided to only equip my jolly boat with 20 fathoms of anchor rope, which still looks like a lot. I just need to practice making a convincing looking rope coil that stays in place which is a skill that I have yet to master.
 

I repurposed the rudder from version X and. I guess the rudder should be stowed in the boat until it is deployed so I may not fix it in place. I have yet to decide on which route to go which will determine how I construct the rudder fixings so I will leave that for now and stick it in place using blu-tak for the time being.
 

The finished boat is the best one of my prototypes to date. There is still room for improvement but I am going to call it a day on the jolly boat odyssey as I have, more or less, achieved the goal of producing something that is a bit of an improvement on the kit supplied item.
 



It is high time that I returned to the ship itself. I have made a real botch in the rigging department and will have to get busy with some dismantling work.
 

 



 

Still dithering about with the Jolly Boat. I eventually bit the bullet and splashed out on a new resin 3D printer. I got the Elegoo Saturn 3 Ultra 12k and the Anycubic Wash and Cure. Not a great amount of research went into this as it was the only one that was available in the store at the time. I think that it is a fairly good machine though and should be more than good enough for my needs. I am now feeling like one of those old dogs that is forced to learn some new tricks as I try to work out how to produce an acceptable print. You know you are in for a whole lot of pain when all the articles you read start off with the phrase that resin printing is more art than science.

The first foray into the resin world was not a great success. I thought that I should have a stab at the Jolly Boat as it was this that caused me to buy the set-up in the first place. I thought I should take some advantage of the new capabilities and try to print the entire set of futtocks and keel at the same time thereby saving myself a few assembly steps. I had to revisit the CAD model and put it together virtually so that it was a complete structure rather than an assemblage of parts. I also took this opportunity to thin the futtocks down from the chunkier versions that were necessitated by my previous printer. I modified the detail around the sacrificial tabs so that I could snugly fit the wash strake from the get go and hopefully prevent the futtock non adherence issue I encountered in my previous prototype.

 

 
 

 
The finished model was exported and imported into the new slicer program. I then had to try and orient the model to ensure a successful print and achieve the optimum print quality and support location. I suspect that this stage along with the myriad of settings is where the art lies.

Once all that was out of the way I transferred the file over to the printer, loaded resin, pressed start, and went out for a beer as this is not like a paper printer where the result shoots out in seconds. Several hours later I went back and it looked like a mess of spaghetti but I could discern a model amongst the support structure. Then it was over to the wash station and after that was finished it got a quick blow dry using the airbrush and I then had it rotating in the cure station like a midnight kebab.
 


After removing the supports and giving it a cleanup, it was ready for comparison with the previous version. The resin print is a lot sharper and the ability to produce results on a much finer scale is commendable. I wish I had access to this a couple of years ago. I would have improved the resolution of a lot of the details where I had to compromise due to the limitations I was labouring under. Unfortunately, the futtocks are so delicate and, while the material has some flex, it is very brittle. I snapped off a whole lot while trying to free the frame from the support structure. I have subsequently found out that I would have had a better chance if I had removed these supports before curing but I need an alternative method as the futtocks are too small to be glued back on and just one failure would set me back. I also noticed the keel does not possess the required stiffness a keel should possess which may result in some unwanted distortion. I replaced the lower section with some walnut which solved that issue.
 


I did some googling and found out that there are other resins available that have different structural properties. I have sourced one that is for engineering purposes and seems to have better performance specifications although I think that the cross-sectional area of the futtocks is too small to be completely resistant to sudden fracture but it should give me a fighting chance until the planks are in place.
 
Before heading out to the shop for new resin I thought that I might try and hone my skills by printing out various other bits and pieces of deck furniture that I have already constructed namely the barricade, belfry, and skylight. This will give me an idea of what is and is not possible and how much detail I can include before it becomes invisible at the scale I am working with. As these are structures that I have already completed I will have something available for comparative purposes. I had a go at drawing these up and then running them through the printer. The speed of the print is determined by the vertical travel distance so I can cram in a whole lot into the horizontal footprint of the print bed without affecting the print time. The pre-print drawing does look like a tornado travelling through an antique shop though.


 


The first element that I attempted was the quarterdeck barricade. I had already built a CAD model of this but I needed to do some work on this to make it printable. It came out OK with fine a lot of fine detail preserved. I am not sure if I will swap this out as I have grown fond of the crude homemade workmanship of the original.
 




Another piece that seemed to be suited to the printing technique was the belfry. This led to more CAD work based on a combination of the drawings in the AOTSD, details from the NMM plans, photographs of the HMS Victory belfry and my own interpretation. I could have printed this all out in one model but I decided to split out the bell beam and the bell so that I could introduce a more natural joint. I drew up two versions of the Bell. One as per the AOTSD and the other with more exaggerated articulation as I did not think that the original detailing would show up at the 1:64 scale which turned out to be true. I should have also increased the wall thickness of the bell as the printed version was so thin to cause it to collapse under its own weight.
 
The first print of the belfry was not bad in terms of the detail included but the roof looked a bit flat so I exaggerated the proportions slightly for the second go around.


 

I had used copper sheathing on the roof of my original timber attempt but I was never happy with the scale of the patina that I ended up with. For this version I decided to go with a lead sheathing. While the current HMS Victory belfry appears to have copper, I suspect that they would not have been that extravagant back in the day and lead would have been the go-to material. Not having access to suitably thin lead I tried to mimic it using stainless steel sheet but that was hard work so I resorted to plain photocopy paper that I painted grey to try and look like lead. I cannot show a photo of the bell in place as I shattered the bell beam trying to force the brass supporting rods into holes that were slightly too small. The material does not have the forgiving flex of styrene.



The other piece that I was never happy with was the skylight on the quarterdeck. My first effort was quite clumsy as I could not get the members fine enough. I have not been able to find any detailed drawings of an 18th century skylight so I had to rely on descriptions in Lavery as well as what can be seen on HMS Victory and HMS Trincomalee. I used a lot of artistic licence and treated it as a bit of a test bed by introducing some articulation. This was to make it look more like a joinery item and to see how small I could go before the details become invisible to the naked eye.

 
The first prints did not work as the gap that I had left for the glazing closed up during the printing and the mullions were too thin to maintain structural integrity. I redrew this using thicker sections and a new method for incorporating the glazing by printing the entire frame assembly in two separate pieces with the glass sandwiched in between. The new chunkier sections are not a million miles from the sizes I used in the existing model. The 3D printed version has a lot more detail than the original and has a bigger glazed area so that it might be possible to get merest of glimpses to the deck below so I may go ahead and swap this out. There are visible details at 0.2mm which is finer than I can manage using traditional techniques.
 





I seemed to have lost a lot more time while faffing about with my new toy so I should really get back to working on the model as it has been stalled these past few weeks.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-six
My version of Indy is effectively completed now and with some serious moving about of models within my workroom/office, I have found room to house Indy in the prominent position she deserves, and without encroaching on other areas of the house.
4223
She has displaced Norske Love which now has a new position vacated by Alert which also has a new location.

e2008a
Had I completed the masting on Indy it would be in the order of that of Norske Love which is of a slightly smaller scale of 1:70.

e2012a
Norske Love has received a well overdue clean, having endured all the dust created during the construction of ‘Indy’.

4022
Not quite ready for the glass cover to be on yet, but at least the issue of ‘where are you going to put that’ is now resolved.
As a bonus the lower profile of Indy compared to Norske love will allow me to re-arrange the wall Pictures and perhaps get one of Indy.
 
I have decided to have a further dabble with the boats, and have started assembly of the 26’ Launch, pity not to make them up as they are provided with the kit.
 
B.E.
06/04/2024
 

So sorry to read this Kevin,
 
For what it’s worth, hard as it is, I think you are making the right decision.
We invest so much in our cocker family members, and the pain we feel when their time comes is very real.
 
I know you will do right by Dobbie.
 
B.E.
 

Post One Hundred and Sixty-seven
 
The 26 ft Launch - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
Altho’ the main work on Indy has been completed, the overall display requires further work.
Building the Launch continues my work on the boats. I like the Launch because it offers opportunity to add detail such as the windlass.
I have been here before as I made up the 24’ Launch for Sphinx. This didn’t however guard me against breaking the stern post (twice) during the fitting of the transom.

4227
Again, I thought it prudent to add little support pieces to the build board to reduce any flexing during the fairing business. These small boats are delicate and require gentle handling particularly in the early stages.

4232
The fairing went ok.

4235
Regrettably, the stem broke in two places along the planking slot during the testing of the first planking strip, hardly touched it Gov’ner, and the repairs didn’t hold.

4236
I suspect it was a combination of the inherent weakness related to the planking slot, plus possible grain run of the stem.

4239
I did think about replacing the stem element, but removing the frames from the base resulted in what our American friends may describe as FUBAR.
 
Sadly, Indy will be without her Launch, but stuff happens – right.
 
B.E.
07/04/2024