Martin W

Hi Admiral Beez,
 
I have had a look back thro’ my records, and I hope this info helps.
 
All those rings for the tackles and port lid lanyards, and almost every other instance where an eyebolt or ring was required are 0.3mm Brass etched eyelets obtained from Jotika.
Here’s the link
 
JoTiKa Ltd. ~ Fittings, 0.3mm Brass Etched Eyelets. (jotika-ltd.com)
 
As regards the port lids, this is what I wrote at the time.
 
The port lids provided by Heller are little projects on their own, each lid requiring nine separate operations before they are ready for fitting; at least there are only twenty-eight of ‘em.
 For some strange reason Heller have moulded the grain running the wrong way, vertical instead of horizontal.
The hinges are adequately formed but will require the addition of lanyard rings, these rings should be inside the hinge straps, but I have attached them to the straps as I think they look better.
Horizontal boards had to be scribed on the outer face, and vertical (lining) boards on the inner.
The usual sink holes on the inner sides of the lids had to be filled, before scribing, painting the usual red ochre, and marking with the diamond head nail patterns.
How to fit the ports is something of a puzzle; the lugs on the top of the lids are offset from the back so that the lid should fit flush to hull when closed. Unfortunately, they are too thick to allow the lid to sit flush without thinning down.
For open ports there is no recess on the hull to take the ‘hinges’ and the Heller instructions give no clue as to fitment. I notice that looking at other Heller 74 builds on the net that many completed models do not have the lower port lids fitted, I wonder why.
In any event each lid required individual tailoring to fit – chamfered edges and thinned down lugs. For the closed ports they were such tricky beggars to fit that all my fine painting of the lids and brackets came to naught as the paint mostly rubbed off whilst handling.
In fitting the lids a line was temporarily secured to the rings to guard against the lids being lost inside the hull during the fitting operation – easily done.
0.1mm line was used for the lanyards which were threaded thro’ the previously prepared holes at Stage One, fished thro’ knotted and pulled taut.
For the open ports a slightly different approach was required.
0.4mm holes were drilled in the top of the lid to take short lengths of telephone wire super-glued into place. The moulded lugs were removed.
Corresponding holes just above the port openings were drilled to take the lid wires which once fitted into place can be gently positioned for angle once the lanyards have been fitted.
Such was the good fit of wire into hull gluing was not necessary, but a lot of re-touching of the paint was required where the lids had been gripped by pliers and tweezers during the process.
Were I to do the job again this is the sequence I would adopt.
1) Fill sink holes and scribe planking.
2) Drill holes for lanyard eyelets.
These operations can be done whilst the lids are attached to the sprue.
3) Select and pare down lids to fit for closed ports.
4) Remove lugs from ports selected to be open.
5) Drill holes in top of open lids to take wire lengths to fit into hull.
6) Glue outside lanyard eyes into place on lids, (all lids)
7) Drill and fit inside lid eyelets on open port lids only.
😎 Paint the lids and straps.

Port lids detail
 
On the subject of Gun tackles
For the smaller Foc’sle and Qtr deck guns I used 0.1mm ø line for the Breeching ropes, and for the larger lower deck guns 0.2mm ø line.
I don't think I seized the breeching lines to the bulwarks , merely passed them thro' the rings where fitted,  pinched them, and sealed with a spot of ca.
These are very tiny  things and the knot would be too big.
 

Foc'sle gun detail
This is what I wrote:
Once installed the first job is to fasten the rings for the Upper deck waist cannon.  The holes were drilled before assembly of the hull halves – impossible once the hull is assembled. There is not an option to omit any cannon as all the ports are open on this deck. The 0.3mm brass etched eyelets are just perfect for this job.
For the six cannon beneath the Gang-boards in the waist I had fitted bulwark rings, and what passes for the breeching ropes on French cannon were attached to these. For the others Breeching ropes were attached and super-glued to the deck, as on the Gun-deck.

Waist gun detail
On the Lower deck I have represented the breeching ropes only, which are super-glued to the deck to provide additional security.

Lower deck gun detail.
 
Cheers,
B.E.
 
 

I fondly remember your build on the Le Superbe Maurice...exquisite!!. The Soliel Royale was my first attempt at tissue paper sails and kit bashing, still can't believe it took only 8.5 months to complete, sure do miss that old forum though...Cheers.
 
Michael D.

It’s always a pleasure (sprinkled with mild pangs of jealousy) to see how your build is coming along. I’m glad you’re enjoying the rigging. Good idea with the backstays!
Meriadoc

Hi all
 
its been another 2 months since I posted, but I’ve gotten a lot done!  All shrouds and rat lines are completed as well as a good portion of the standing rigging.  All of the backstays are unglued at the moment so that I can get behind them if needed. 


I am really enjoying this portion of the build so far 
 
happy new year to all.  Here’s to a better 2022 

Hi Alan
 
Yes, diameter. Perhaps an accidental slip into a too verbatim translation. In German technical texts you use sometimes  'Stärke' as diameter.
 
Be aware that I don't check all rigging diameters against the tables in Lees -  only when I see some strange proportions or if it seems illogical from a technical point of view I do a crosscheck.
 
According to Lees the futtock shrouds should have the same diameter as the corresponding topmast shrouds - which is logical. They have to transfer the pull from the topmast shrouds to the anchoring point on the lower shrouds.
 
Peter

Good afternoon "Flyer".
I am very interested in following and understanding your rigging of this ship.  I appreciate your comment about the Preventer Stay rigging changing in 1793.  This will be very helpful to me.
I presently have one question: what do you mean by the statement of "The futtock shrouds have a strength of 1 mm"?
Did you mean diameter?

Main mast
 
The lower main shrouds were set up in a similar manner as those of the mizzen. The futtock shrouds have a strength of 1 mm.
 
Some alterations to the main stay and its preventer stay were necessary. The kit's plans are a bit ambiguous as how to fix the forward ends to the bow. After some searching in web and books, I decided to follow Lees and set the collar of the main stay up the way the preventer stay is shown on the plans: It leads below the forecastle rails and the collar goes through the hole in the beak below the bowsprit. The preventer stay leads over the rail, it's collar over a pair of new stop cleats on the bowsprit and through an additional hole in the beak. It runs a bit close to the seats of ease and may irritate the seamen there but nobody said that the life of a seaman is a bed of roses.
 
The snaking of both stays was continued past the foremast. On the plan it ends there but probably this is because the preventer stay up to 1793 only went to the foremast and only later to the bowsprit.  As I try to show my Bellerophon the way Napoleon might have seen her, I set the preventer stay up in the later fashion.
 
The lashing of the stowed boats seemed inadequate. I cut the spliced eyes from the ringbolts and threaded the lines through it and set them up double. That will look better in some lively weather.
 

Main shrouds and stays
 

mast top with crowsfeet
 

stays on the starboard side of the foremast
 

stay collars
 

better lashed boats

The two supervisors are doing a good job, because the one working seaman has tied those ratlines nice and neatly.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin

Hi Brian -- The best tutorial / practicum for carving is the one by Bill Short, "The New Carving Ornamentation for Ship Models."  You can order it from this site:  http://carvingbook.weebly.com/contact-me.htm  I used it to carve the figure head and the stern decorations, and it REALLY helped.  I went from just wishing and dreaming I could actually carve something resembling a recognizable form to actually getting something I'm proud of. 
 
And it's always good to do research.  The 2 Chapelle books, along with Hahn's book, plans, and photos (on CD) have not only been interesting for their information, but also have guided me countless times in figuring out how details fit together or how they're actually supposed to look.
 
Cheers,
 
Martin

The cannon and swivel guns have all been cast and blackened.  The casting process went surprisingly well.  I bought a pewter bar and casting spoon from my local jeweler's supply house (Amazon).  Using a jeweler's saw, I cut off teaspoon-sized pieces from the pewter and melted them in the spoon over the flame on my cooktop.  The guns were cast using the setup shown a few weeks ago without any difficulty.  I waited a few minutes between each pour to allow the mold to cool down.  Unfortunately, the royal casting mark did not come up as sharply as I had hoped.  Most likely this occurred because it is made of paper.  Everything was blackened in pewter blackening solution from Blue Jacket.  Finally, they were clear-coated with a matte finish.  I also noticed that I had neglected to mold the trunnions on the swivel guns.  This was corrected by boring through the gun and inserting a brass wire.


The cannon barrels needed carriages to rest on.  The first two pictures show the numerous parts necessary to construct the carriage.  I will not be making the capsquare until the guns are ready to be mounted.  The last photo shows the cannon resting on the carriage before the capsquare is installed.

thanks for the congratulations and ship encouragement! I appreciate the looks. 
 
@Blue Ensignshe is very supportive of the modeling and I am very thankful for that  she’s a keeper 

She does have a nice look about her Tim, and incidentally I quite like the look of a model completed with just lower masts and rigging in place, convenient where space is an issue.
 
Congratulations on your forthcoming all important 'project'. 🥂
 
  Later this month it will be 50 years and many models completed in my case, I do hope your  wife to be is sympatico with your  modelling interests, as mine has been over all these years. 🙂
 
B.E.

Hi all
 
It has been quite some time since my last post.  Been quite busy with other projects as well as getting engaged and planning a wedding.  
 
During this time I have still been slowly working and have made a bit of progress.  I have completed some of the standing rigging including a few of the stays and the shrouds.  I worked tonight on the jeer types and I’m quite satisfied with the crossing rope look.
 
Overall I think it’s starting to come together nicely!  Just wanted to share my progress 
 
have a great night 
Tim

Good morning BE
 
This how I interpreted the instructions based on the images on the plans.  Admittedly I removed more wood than I likely should have.   Is this not how this area should be? 
 
Tim

Finally have some progress to show after a decent lack of posting.  The masts have taken more time to create than I had planned, plus life and work were getting in the way. 
 
anyway, I have completed the lower masts for the most part and have the upper portions to the proper(ish) dimensions.  I have learned quite a bit along the way that I will carry to other builds such as properly sharpening chisels and how to plan out consistent cuts that have the same depth on 4 sides. I messed up quite a few times on this. 


Overall I think the results are pretty good to my eye.  Please point out any areas missed or which can be improved! 

best 
Tim

More forward progress is being made slowly
 
i did more work on the bow of the ship with completing the netting as well as the main stay collar (?) and the boomkins.  For whatever reason I have been looking forward to completing these portions of the ship...I’m decently happy with the outcome. 

I have also gotten most of the lower portion of the foremast completed including portions of the foretop. Still need to add the railing in. I decided to add the battens to the top and I love the look.  These were fiddy to get to the right shape and fit but the outcome was worth the hassle. 

 
overall, moving along slowly! Happy Sunday 
 
Tim 
 

Thanks for the advice! 
 
I have seen many people start with square stock, and I tried to go that same route. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find any ramin square stock that I can get shipped for a practical price.  I see tons of birch and poplar but I’m almost anaphylacticly allergic to the pollen of those trees so that wood makes me a little too anxious to use.  I can find pine pretty easily but I’m concerned it won’t stain to the same color as the ramin I have used on the bowsprite.  If I fiddle too much more I may just make the swap and see what happens 🤷🏻‍♂️

It's easier starting with square stock and rounding the round parts with the lathe following the 7-10-7 rule - lots of examples of how to go about that in various build logs. Harder to make a round dowel squared and tapered.  Just a thought...

Very small update tonight. 
 
I decided to redo my bowsprite gammoning with my own self made rope and I decided to switch from black to dark brown. I like how you can see the details of the rope more clearly compared to the kit supplied .75mm black.  I had previously set the black on there but after playing with my rope rocket, I decided to remove it. 
 
I have also begun making the masts.  I feel like this is going to take a while.  I am learning how to use the Proxxon lathe as well as using wood chisels to get the proper squared sections and tapers which is proving to be more challenging than I was expecting.  
 

 
more Ramin dowels are on the way, so for now this is the first and only attempt. 
 
any and all advice is always welcome! 
 
Thanks
Tim 

Thank you to those that liked my last post
 
Minor work done this weekend.  I had purchased a lantern kit from Chuck at Syren a while back and was finally at a point where I could put this together.  I have to say the mini kit was a pleasure to build...extremely well crafted. I chose to leave the acetate out as I liked the look without it.  
 
tonight I got it mounted on the stern and I am very happy with the look 
 

 
 
Next I will be moving onto the masts and attempt to use my new lathe properly.  If there is any advice on lathe work, I am open to any and all comments
 
have a great night 
Tim
 

Hi all
 
Got to work on adding some of the blocks to the bowsprite this weekend.  These are taking more time than I would have guessed, but I am playing with serving lines (courtesy of Chucks Serv-o-Matic— such beautiful tool) and creating eye splices that I finish with frapping(?).  I think that’s the right term....
 

love the look, but it’s an adventure getting there sometimes.  I’m sure I’ll figure out tricks as I go on. 
 
everything is dry fit right now with the jib boom held on by a small dab of putty.  

 
I think the cleats for the gammoning may be my favorite feature so far on the bowsprite. I got them evenly spaced and they have a nice little profile. 

 
I have test fitted the gammoning but will leave it off for now until I place the parts for good.  
 
I was fortunate to purchase a Proxxon lathe recently so I’ll be playing with that for the rest of the masts and yards.  Should make things easier but I’m sure there’s a learning curve there too
 
Cheers 
Tim 

First post in a long time (again) but I’ve made more forward progress !  I have been able to complete the lower shrouds and ratlines as well as the Catharpins, platforms with railings, the additional masts for the lifeboat, and the forward portion of the crowsfeet.  I was able to take some learning experiences from these processes to know what to do/not do for my next ship.  There were some areas with the Catharpins that I just did not leave enough room to work around but the effect works just the same. 
 



 
I hope everyone has a happy Halloween! 🎃 
Tim

Ended up just going for it and assuming I understood everything correctly.   Everything is mostly dry fitted at this point, but I had to redo the cap as most have done.  I couldn’t see any way to get the angles right or otherwise.
 
i decided to use Ramin dowel since I can use light staining as needed. The walnut in my kit seemed like it would have been too dark to my eye given the rest of the ship.  I rigged a lathe by using a standard power drill and my feet/toes to operate the trigger, leaving my hands free to sand and hold the dowel steady. Glad no body was around to watch that show 😂😂
 
here is my attempt at the bowsprite.  Almost all of it can be adjusted so please let me know if something appears off. 

 
Tim

This may be a bit of a dumb question but I figured I’ll ask.  On the plans, does the length of the dowels include the depth that goes into the ship?  For instance on the bowsprite plans 
does the 161mm include the portion that goes into the bowsprite hole until the point that it is fully in place? 
 
also, the plans do not seem to indicate a taper to the bowsprite, but it seems that there is a slight taper. Is there a portion of the instructions where this is listed and I am not seeing it or should I just measure directly from the plans on this one?  
 
thanks! 
Tim

Hi all
 
Minor update tonight.  I was able to complete the starboard side chain plates and orient them to the projected path of the shroud lines.  This was much more cumbersome than I initially expected but I’m happy with the result 
 
I’m hopeful that now that I have some experience placing them, the port side will not be as fiddly. 
 
I also received my replacement 15mm swivel guns from RB Models.  I was impressed that they only cost 11$ US including shipping all the way from Poland. They are extremely well done in my opinion 
 
I had to drill through the center to insert a 0.7mm wire on which to attach the yokes(?). The yokes I decided to make from 24 gauge dark annealed wire that I formed into the appropriate shape and twisted the bottoms together to form a pin to insert to the post.  They are not perfect, but they fit nicely and I feel they look good to the eye. 
 
for now they are dry fitted, but I will paint them black once completely assembled. 
 
That’s it for now. Onto the port side ! 

have a great night
—Tim