GLakie

Well, another month has passed since my last update - where does the time go?  It seems that work, life, family, and Christmas have all taken priority for the last several weeks, but I have at last managed to find some time to make a little more progress.
 
4-lb Guns
 
After fitting out the gun carriages with the requisite ring-bolts and eye-bolts, I decided it was time to have a go at turning the gun barrels.  I had been putting this off as I had never attempted to turn a tapered gun barrel before and I only had sufficient ebony of the correct size to have one go – it was get it right first time, or think about other alternatives.
 
I spent some time studying the drawings, taking measurements, and reviewing any instructions I could find for turning gun barrels on the lathe, as well as reviewing the instructions for using the compound slide on the lathe to cut tapers.
 
I was so focused on each step in the process, that I forgot to take any “in progress” shots.  You’ll just have to take my word for it that all went according to plan, and in the end turned out to be somewhat easier than I’d feared. The only “oops” I had was when I tried to get a bit too clever with forming the button on the end of the cascobel, and it parted off by itself.  To fix this, I drilled a hole in the base of the gun, along the axis of the gun, to receive some 3/32” brass rod.  I rounded the end of the rod by filing and sanding, and then blackened it and epoxied it in place. I’m pretty happy with the way this “fix” turned out too, as it is quite difficult to tell the difference between the “good” one and the “fixed” one now.
 
Here’s a picture of the two turned guns. To ensure that the trunnion was correctly placed below the centreline of the gun, I drilled the hole for this in the square stock before I started turning.  The trunnions themselves are 3/32” brass rod, chemically blackened with Jax Pewter Black.
 

 
Here is a comparison shot with one of the brass guns that Danny gave me (these are the ones he imported from Russia).  While I took all my measurements from Jeff’s drawings, you can see that the overall size and shape is pretty close.
 

 
Finally, here is a couple of shots of the guns placed on their carriages.  I still need to make the cap squares to go over the trunnions, and that will complete this section.
 

 

 
Hopefully, it won't be another month before the next update!
 
 

Thank you for the kind words Tom, I have to admit it turned out quite nice indeed.
 
mike

Hi Dimitris
 
Many thanks! Christmas has come and gone all too quickly, though!
 
Have a great 2016.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks Bob! Much appreciated and all the best!
 
Patrick

Hi Vaddoc
 
Many thanks and yep, the photos were taken during a work session. I guess that's the advantage of these small build's...less mess!
 
Cheers. Patrick
 
 
  
Hi David.
 
Many thanks. A cruise like that sounds great. I can only dream...
 
All the best
 
Patrick
 
 
 
Thanks Kees.
 
Greatly appreciated!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hi Hyposhagma
 
Many thanks and greatly appreciated!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Thanks Denis! Greatly appreciated.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hi Michael
 
Yep- she's beginning to take shape nicely now. At long last...my brain has finally shifted into gear.
 
All the best
 
Patrick

Ah -- Finally found your build Mike. Hope it ain't too late to pull up a barrel out in the wings. 

Nice work there Captain. It appears there's a fair amount of calculation going on here, and I'll be patiently awaiting more updates!   

You've done a lovely job on her Bob, and you should be very proud. 

Ah -- Finally found your build Mike. Hope it ain't too late to pull up a barrel out in the wings. 

Hey tom tagging along too huh I'm the same with the skill level I have for this model vs price range I can't wait to see this girl take shape

Mike, just tagging along as this model has always appealed to me but at this point it is out of my price range.  I will wait till my skills improve before I lay down that kind of cash.  Good luck with your build and whomever receives this donation will be quite lucky.  I saw the pics of the one you donated to the library... beautiful piece of work.
Tom

Thanks for the link Mark, actually I have seen his build log quite a while back and his work on this model is amazing to say the least. I will be using this link and his build as references for my build. I'm going to do the same with mine where he used quite a bit of filler blocks between the frames, which will aid in fairing the hull planking since the frames are quite thin for a model of this size in my opinion.
 
 
mike

Mike,
 
Have a look at Garward's build:  http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/82-montanes-by-garward-occre/  I think he's the only one who's finished it.. and then went on to win medals with it. 

Here is a little progress on the Montanes. The frames went into the keel slots with ease and a nice tight fit, unlike the Latina Victory, which was quite sloppy and loose. Also, the decking went in rather easily, and I have to say out of all the models that I have built, the decking just slipped in with very little trimming and filing. To me, most deckings on models were always way off and needed all kinds of trimming to get it to fit decent. Now this model has a white cast metal stern plate, which I always hate on ship models and I usually opt to replace and build up my own out of wood. But I will see how this one looks before passing judgement on it since I have seen a few videos of the construction of this model on Youtube and thought the stern section looked rather good. But we'll see, I'm not even close to worrying about that part yet.
 
Also the parts list is posing a tad bit of a problem since it doesn't offer English translation, but I'm muddling along with it and  have only had to check out some translation issues a few time on the computer. I'm curious to know if OcCre every really intended for a western release of this kit and a few others because of the lack of English translation in the kit information.
 
 
mike

To you as well JP.
 
 
mike

Nice looking kit Can't wait to see it take shape Merry Christmas my friend

Well I'm getting about ready to start the Montanes Build after a nice break from building the Victory. Now this was not a new kit when I purchased it, which was from a forum member last year hence the tape all over it to secure it while shipping. I went through and did a inventory and all parts seem to be present along with 7 sheets of plans. Now this would not be a beginner kit especially for someone in the United States unless you speak Spanish, which I don't because the instruction booklet is written in Spanish only. I'm sure this kit was for the Overseas market and was purchased in Spain. This little issue doesn't phase me though because I rarely ever follow instructions and mainly build by plans. Now the construction booklet is great with colored photos, which will help during the build if needed. I assume if you can find a Montanes kit in the U.S. it would have English translated instruction, if you can find one. I love a good challenge and this will add to the challenge.
 
I noticed while unpacking the kit contents that the keel and frames seem to be made with a thin plywood of like 1/8" thick, which I thought was a bit thin for this size model because the Victory keel and frames were twice as thick, but it also made the final product quite heavy. 

hahahahahahahaha, Yep I know the feeling.

Tell you what I'll supply the case if you donate the ship to me lol My ice asked me how much trouble do you think you'd be in if you spent that much time and money then just to donate an expensive case I said with my head down "a lot "

Thanks JP, it is a very interesting ship for sure and it seems a fairly rare one to be modeled as well. I found only one or two builds on this beauty on YouTube, but at least there are a couple for viewing in case I hit a snag or want to change something.
 
 
mike 

Not letting the cat out of the bag, but I have spoken to a representative from my local Hospital, who would be interested in displaying this model at their hospital if I decided to donate it to them. But I'm not really entertaining any plans on that aspect yet until I get quite further into the build.
 
I'm also hoping to find a business or group who would be willing to supply the display case or fund the display case on this donation because on the last one almost got me kicked out of the house when I told my wife that not only was I buying the kit, supplying all the materials, and spending 2500 hours building the model, I'm also supplying the $900.00 display case. That went over about like a rock.
 
 
mike

mike  i am so interested in following this build  i sure hope you get rested up soon  and begin this marvel