Clark

Cannons: Rigging and installation Since I want to open up the quarterdeck and the forecastle quite a bit, 10 of the 13 cannons on each side will be visible on deck. So I will rig 20 cannons including breech ropes. The eyebolts were degreased with isopropanol and then blackened. I then fitted 60 bolts/blocks (2mm) with rigging lines (0.1 mm) and attached 60 blocks to eyelets only. This is a task that allows a lot of time for contemplation. I want to display one of the cannons in a back position for loading with a gun crew in place. I used this cannon to determine the length of the breech ropes. There is always a risk of underestimating the length here. To make the breech ropes, including the ring bolts, I made a small auxiliary construction. The distance between the two ring bolts at the bulwark is 13.7 mm. I only made ring bolts for the breech ropes. As for the rigging, they would take up too much space and, in my opinion, thus make the model look unrealistic. The carriage in the back position was glued in place with cyanoacrylate. The carriage was then secured to the deck with 0.7mm brass wire. I have also tried out the positioning of the gun crew (also from Chris/Vanguard). I built a small aid to help positioning the other cannons. The remaining cannons will be completed and installed in the near future.

Cannons: Assembly I have now started on the cannons (before attaching the various deck structures), as there is still space on the deck and I want to rig the cannons and also show one cannon in a loading state, with a gun crew. Once the other structures are in place, it will be more difficult to handle the cannons. Several building reports describe a holding device for the carriage parts. I built something similar and used it to glue the carriages together. Chris has provided a tab on the front of the carriages that fits into recesses in the deck. Since I planked over the recesses, I cut off the tab. I have never found the alignment of the guns to be a problem in my previous builds. I will secure the carriages with a brass pin. The support rods for the quion are glued on with double-sided adhesive tape and cut/sanded to the same length. The support boards for the quions are also fixed with double-sided adhesive tape. This makes it easier (at least for me) to glue the quions in place. The support boards were glued so that the barrels only marginally rest on the quions. To check the levelling of the carriages with the gun barrel, I equipped one with wheels. To do this, the axles had to be sanded down slightly. Complete round grinding would cause the wheels to wobble. The mounting of the barrels on the quions was tested and the alignment in the ship was checked and adjusted. The adjusted carriage was used to align the other carriages by comparing the height of the gun barrels. The picture shows that the left barrel is slightly lower. To adjust this, the quion was slightly sanded down. And so the gun barrels were brought to (almost) the same height. This was done for all carriages. I want to show the loading process for one cannon. To do this, the cannons were usually raised slightly so that the powder bag and projectile did not fall out again. For this one cannon, the quion was then moved backwards so that the barrel of this cannon was slightly higher than the others. The carriages were coated with diluted primer before painting. Otherwise, the paint would not adhere well, especially to the areas charred by the laser (which were difficult to sand down). As I do not have an airbrush, the paint was applied with a brush. As with the test carriage, the axles were slightly bevelled for attaching the wheels so that the wheels could be easily attached but still sat firmly. Left carriage without bevelling. Right carriage with bevelling. After attaching the wheels, the heights of the gun barrels were compared again. No differences were noticeable on most of them. A row of 7 guns. On two carriages, the barrel was too deep. Here, the quion was resanded. Next, I will prepare everything for rigging and securing the guns on deck.

Planking the gun deck Before planking, the transitions between the two parts of the inner bulwark were filled and sanded. The caulking of the deck planks was simulated with paint. To do this, 7 deck planks, each 12 cm long, were clamped together. The spirketting and upper strip were painted five times with heavily diluted paint so that the engraved lines were still visible. The inner bulwark was also painted with diluted paint and the openings for the deck fittings were tested. No regrinding necessary. Some gaps approx. 0.2 mm. These will be bridged by the planking. Then I went on with the planking. In the middle area, where the base for the oven will be positioned later, i.e. an area that will not be visible, I sanded with 120 grit sandpaper and tried out the coating. I will first apply wood wax and then cover it with matt varnish. In the picture, you can also see that there is a larger gap between two strips. Thankfully, this is the only one and is not a problem, as the base of the oven will go here. The holes for the eyebolts of the cannon rigging were drilled using a template. The deck was sanded manually (120, 180, 240 grade) and with a Dremel (320 grade) then treated three times with wood wax and then coated with diluted matt clear varnish. I was afraid that the spirketting would not be flush with the gun ports, but it was flush without me having to modify the strip. For the alignment of the upper strip, push pins were inserted through the holes for the eyelet bolts. The alignment of the holes in the strip matches the arrangement of the holes in the bulwark below. The small gap between the two parts of the spirketting was filled with diluted filler, sanded down and then painted over. Next, I will turn my attention to the cannons.

Sorry to read that.

Would also be interested in 1:64 scale

Attaching the wales The first 4 mm wide strip for the wale is very flexible and can be easily fixed with masking tape. I followed the guide strip of the second planking that I had attached earlier. When attaching the other strips, I was initially unsure how they should run in the stern area. In the end, I adjusted them to the curves of the second planking and then taped them towards the counter. The counter was slightly damaged in the process. I will probably fill this in before painting. Otherwise, the strips are very close together, so I won't be filling them, and I don't think it would be a problem if the planking is slightly visible. The wale was sanded with 180, 320 and 500 grit sandpaper.

Sanding the hull First, the hull was sanded with 120 grit. Left in the picture: sanded. Right: unsanded. The hull was then filled and sanded again with 120 grit. Left in the picture: filled and sanded. Right: sanded. Filling and sanding was repeated several times. After sanding with 120 grit, I sanded with 240 and 320 grit. I also applied a thin coat of paint in some places to check how the plank transitions would look. Clark

Finishing the 2nd planking It took some time to finish the second planking. The next 5 planks were fitted with small stealers at the stern. The distances between the garboard plank and the last plank laid were measured again. It is clear that a taper towards the stern is necessary from about the 12th/13th frame. However, I initially added a few more planks without tapering. After further planks were added without tapering, the next planks in the stern area were tapered further. The last plank can simply be fitted in the bow area. You can see that the distance to the garboard plank widens in the area of the 12th frame. I will compensate for this with the last plank. The critical area points downwards and will not be visible later. Critical area after adding one more plank I have levelled out the gaps in the stern area with three plank sections. All in all, the hull still looks pretty scruffy. But I think that the imperfections will disappear when sanding.

I made the stunsail booms for the fore channel and also built the fastenings on the channel. However, the spars then protruded quite a bit into the room and also hindered the placement of the anchors. I don't know how people solved that problem back then. Inboard? Dismantled the spars again.

Just a short update: the second planking takes time. For the next five planks, the distances were measured at several bulkheads and, as described above, these distances were converted to five planks and corresponding marks were made for laying the marking tape. 5 planks are laid and for the next 5 planks the distances between the garboard plank and the last plank laid were measured again using marking tape and then recalculated. I will not be tapering the stern area, only the bow area. The distances converted for 5 planks were marked on the hull at the level of the 3rd, 5th and 9th bulkheads, and a marking tape was placed along these marks to record the taper up to the stem post. 5 more plank layers are applied in this way. At the rudder post, the rabbet was about 0.3 mm too large (too much of the first planking was sanded off). I then underlaid the planks at the rudder post with a thin strip. For the next five plank layers, I then again measured the distances between the last laid plank and the garboard plank at various bulkheads. Now the distance could also be measured at the rudder post. It can be seen that stealers may be necessary at the stern. I will wait and see how the planking develops. At the bow, I no longer use marking tape to determine the curve, but instead I use Chuck's planking fan to ‘calculate’ and mark the necessary tapers. To taper the planks correctly, I measured the bulkhead spacing again using painter's tape.

Planking the bulwark on the starboard side, planking the hull The bulwark on the starboard side was planked in the same way as the port side. It also took longer than I thought. To plank the hull further, the distances to the garboard plank were measured at bulkhead 9 and at bulkhead 14. During the first planking, it was found that the distance at bulkhead 14 was reduced. I will measure the plank tapers for every 5 planks. Therefore, the reduced distance at bulkhead 14 was calculated down to 5 planks (23.7 mm) and a corresponding mark was made on the hull. The only fixed points were marks at 25 mm for bulkheads 7 to 11 and the mark of 23.7 mm for bulkhead 14. Otherwise, the marking tape was laid by eye. As often discussed here, there are many ways to determine the plank tapers. I'm quite happy with mine. With Chuck's Planking Fan, the first two planks were only tapered at the bow. At the stern, one plank should still be in full contact with the counter and another full plank should form the transition from the counter to the hull. To form the transition from the counter to the hull, a plank was watered, adjusted and allowed to dry. The adjustment at the stern was also carried out wet for the other planks, and the planks were glued after 24 hours of drying. Certainly a bit elaborate, but I still find the adjustment in the wet state to be the method of choice for the somewhat difficult stern shape. For the three remaining planks, a taper was also made at the stern. I will replace missing planks at the stern with stealers later. Here, too, an adjustment was made in the wet state. All five planks of the first 5-pack are now in place, the first two of which are not tapered at the stern, while the remaining three are tapered. All five planks are tapered at the bow.

Planking the remaining bulwark / garboard strake on the port side When planking, I largely followed the building instructions. First, a strip was glued under the pattern of the outer bulwark. For this and the other strips, I alternated between cyano gel and PVA, using PVA mainly to create contact with the previously glued strip or pattern. A second strip was glued underneath and the openings for the gun ports were cut out/sanded. For the guiding strip of the wale, the distances between the lower edge of the gun ports and the upper edge of the wale were first measured at the individual gun ports and a marking tape was drawn along the points. Glue was applied accordingly and the strip was glued in place. Likewise, three strips were glued for the garboard strake. To plank the remaining bulwark, four planks were needed at the widest point. Accordingly, the strips were tapered at the stern and bow and then glued. The strips were attached in such a way that the space between the gun ports was left for the last strip, which made the adjustment much easier. The gun ports were then sanded free. It took longer than I thought. Now it's the turn of the starboard side.  

First and last shroud is mostly sufficient. Clark

Chris has since provided the boats in 3D print/cast form, but I still like the original version better. If you take the necessary care, it's also a lot of fun to make them. Plus, as Schooner also found, with time you get more skilled at it. Have fun with it too. Clark