Johncclark

Surprise had a rounded forecastle and chase ports. Modified the kit.

Here is a bow on view of Surprise aka Ajax. Figure head is a work in progress. Copper hull plates are Caldercraft , about 850 of them. Not a hard job, took about a week.

I will post some photos in October. At present we are traveling. Pretty surprised to hear about your interest ! I will also need to figure out how to upload photos to this site. Patience please. just added a photo from June. At that point I had coppered the bottom and was in the process of correcting a lot of earlier errors! Attaching a photo is not simple!

At present I am in the final stages of completing Ajax. This is my first plank on frame and it has been a long project. Many modifications and upgrades have been made to simulate my view of HMS Surprise including rounding the forecastle area and adding chaser ports. The mizzen has been made taller to accommodate a second square sail. Caldercraft parts include ships wheels (double wheel assembly) , new anchors, ships boats, carronades, ships stove, and finer rigging thread. Using an article from Model Boats, I was able to get a good start but have supplemented all of this with lots of research. The directions in Italian are hard to work with but the detail in the plans is really pretty good. Generally the kit is a starting point that requires you to immerse yourself in the fine points of ship building. I am also rigging sails. Not a museum quality product but it already has a spot on our living room mantel. Hours of fun!