mtdoramike

I agree with George, when he told me you are the Captain and when it came to belaying, it was mostly the Captains choice. Like I have posted before, I'm a realist and not a purist, I take the easiest path of resistance, which means exstrapolattion. Which works out great for most ship models that don't have such an honorable history like the Victory and the Constitution. I try my best to do it the right way when possible, but I'm also not above cutting a few corners or fudging or like I prefer to call it artistic license hahahahahahaha. Now, when it comes to most ship models no problem, but when there is shining examples like the Vic or Connie, artistic license can come back and bite you when someone comes up and says "well that is not the way it's done on the real ship" But I think I will add a few more belaying points especially to the rear of the ship to accomodate more belaying points and to minimize having to load up 3 lines to a pin. mike

Hey Paul, how are you going to work out the belaying pin situation. I found that even in the Anatomy of the Ship Vic, it only shows belaying pin stations the same as the kit instructions, which puts as many as three lines attached to some of the belaying pins. I don't have a problem with doubling up on a belaying pin if need be and it makes sense and looks proper. But that's about my limit. mike

Thanks Thomas, I'll have to check out their line of thread and see what they can come close to. I even checked Hobby Lobby, Walmart sewing section in my area and they have nothing that comes close to the sizes that I need in a cotton blend. I have used Constructo and Mamoli rigging thread as well as Model Shipways and like most of their's. mike

Thanks George, I was thinking of doing a little extrapolating when it comes to the belaying locations. I was thinking of adding a belaying pin rack to each side of the stern. But upon checking the Anatomy of the Ship HMS Victory, it only shows the one belaying rack near the Mizzen mast. I'm not apposed to tying off two lines to one pin if it looks good and makes sense, but more than two is where I draw the line per say hahahahaha. mike

I also received my copy of Anatomy of a ship HMS Victory. I had borrowed a copy of the book (hard bound) from a friend when I first started the build, but had to return it a while back. So I figured I would buy my own copy (soft cover).

I have run across an area that I'm finding problematic or at least to me it is......At the stern portion of the Vic, it only has one belaying pin rail, which is directly behind the mizzen mast. The problem I'm seeing is that the pin rail has at most about 8-10 belaying stations and on the rigging diagram, it shows each belaying point being utilized for any where from two to three rigging lines. I only have one line belayed to each point in the photo and as you can see, it gets quite bulked up with one line muchless two or three lines. Most ships that I have built has multiple belaying pin rails near the Mizzen mast as well as port and starboard sides of the stern section. The AL kit also contains what I call a green rigging thread, to be used for most of the running rigging, I prefer a light tan or cream colored line for the running rigging, but it is what it is. I'm trying to stay as close to the kit supplied items as I can as to give an overall persective of the kit. But the rigging thread is testing this. Lastly, I usually try and use my own rigging thread and prefer a cotton blend rather than straight cotton thread because of the fuzz factor. I tried waxing the lines, but wasn't happy with this result. So after much consideration, I recalled something that I did years ago when I was stuck with straight cotton rigging line, I went to my wife's make up cabinet, grabbed her can of hair spray. I spray a good bit on my fingers and then run the rigging lines between my fingers a couple of times to coat them with the hair spray. It seems to tame that pesky fuzz quite nicely. Fortunately it's the spray that drys none sticky. My wife isn't too happy about the donation, but I told her I would buy her a case of the stuff if I continue to use it mike

Thanks George and Paul. I'm studying the rigging plan thoroughly, which isn't bad, but I have had better rigging plans with Constructo and Mamoli models. So some educational guess work may be in order. To help with this issue, I have ordered Anatomy of the Ship HMS Victory from Amazon and expect it in a few days. Hopefully this will give me a little more guidance than just the rigging plan alone. mike

Bit more work done on the Vic. I have most all of the sails attached to their prospective yards with all blocks installed as well. They are about ready to be installed on the mast. Was it a major pain in the %$^*(**()&$% to keep the sails seperated as to which mast they were to go on while attaching them. A few of the sails had to be resewn due to Artesania Latina sending out the wrong sails that I was missing from the kit Like the main fore sail, they actually sent me another large Main sail. But it was worth the extra bit of work to keep from having to cut out and dew all of those sails. What a time savings. mike

Make sure you pin down each half of the hull framing to a building board BEFORE you start putting the planking back on to ensure that you don't end up with any warps or twists in the hull halves upon completion. mike

WOW, absolutely stunning work Paul. mike

Holy cow, did the guy put on the plank on edge? They look way to thick. I helped build this model about 20 years ago and don't recall the planking being more than 2mm thick at best. But yes, the planks need to turn in towards the stern, once you get the stern bulkhead installed, which isn't now. This was one of those models you build half of the ships hull at one time and then sandwich them together. To me, I felt that it would have been easier to put the to false keel pieces together and then put the bulkheads in place and then plank the whole hull. mike

Thanks Paul, They are chomping at the bit to get her. I'm still shooting for the end of the year, but if sooner that would be great too. mike

hahahahahahaha, I keep telling myself that and at least it makes that bitter pill easier to swallow mike

WOW Thanasis, I sure wish I would have thought of that setup you made for yourself. It would have saved me hours of grinding and filing all those teeth off of those slip joint pliers. I also like the fact that the pressure put on the wood from the entire jaw of the pliers is spread out more evenly and could easily be used to make outside bends as well as inside bends. jbshan: I agree, anyone wishing to learn the art of planking and yes, it's an art unto itself should read all the planking tutorials on this site as well as other various books on planking techniques, I have a few of those books myself. But to me, there is always time to read and practice the PROPER way of planking once they get over the frustration of planking that first or even second models. I'm not an over patient person so I need to see some kind of progress especially when I start something new. I never got into ship modeling to spend years building a model and my clients really got antsy if I spent more than 6 moths on a commission piece of theirs. I can plank a hull within a few days with a pair of these crimpers rather than weeks and even months doing it the traditional way. But like I said above, this method doesn't set well with purist

Thanks George. I'm just trying to keep at it as to not lose interest. I figure like this, what little I do now, will just be one less thing I have to do later as long as there are no re-do's , which I have had a few of those. There's nothing like doing something twice to take a bit of wind out of your sails.

The planking pliers may not be a silver bullet or magic wand to some, but if you are on your first plank on frame model and keep soaking, heating and bending and then breaking planks due to overly dry kit supplied wood, you will quickly feel that this is as close to that magic wand as you will get and once you practice a while with them, you can bend a piece of planking inward, outward and yep, even sideways depending on the angle of the crimp. But like I said above, this info is not for the purist. So if this method offends you, forget about, don't read it or move on. This particular method got me through my first couple of ship models because after breaking most of the wood from the first kit and having to re-order all new planking strips, I made my own pair of planking pliers out of a pair of old slip joint pliers that I filed the grooves off of then epoxied a piece of wire to one of the jaws of the pliers. Planking became a breeze for the most part and I never looked back. Had it not been for the planking pliers, I would have taken that first model out to the drive way with a hammer and made firewood out of it. mike

here is a few more updated pics of the Vic with gun port covers installed. I still have a few more standing riggin lines to affix and rig, but I took a break from that and started dressing the yards with foot rope brackets and other attachments. Then I will affix the sails to them so that they will be ready when I get around to starting the running rigging. mike

That is where brute force come into play. mike

That depends on fit and finish. If you are copper plating the hull below the waterline or if painting it than sure you can. But if finishing her natural than I would go a little further back to make you splice to maybe a 4 inch board. It will look better and give more re-enforcement. I love copper plating or copper foil tape or those painted hulls because all you need is a smooth surface to apply and once finished, looks like a million bucks or at least a couple of hundred anyway. Copper plating or paint covers up a multitude of sin, but and here that but goes again, these options especially coppering would only be an option if the original ship was coppered or during the era of coppered hulls. mike

No, he's referring to vinyl stick on letters I'm sure rather than dry transfers. I bought mine from Cornwall Models in England for a couple of dollars a sheet along with water depth marking numbers for the hull. The shipping wasn't too bad to the US. I think the total was like $20.00. They have a multitude of colors and sizes to choose from. I bought mine in yellow. I might also add that it took about 3 weeks to get them though. mike

It sounds more like to me, you bought kits of ships that have the same or similar hull design. But yep, most of your basic parts in your kits are or will be quite similar. There are only a few ways to make cap stands as well as deadeyes and blocks and even life boats. There are very few kits that are exact to the original ship. But there are a few such as Blue Jackets Constitution, Model Shipways Constitution. If you want to build a model exactly to the original from a kit, buy a kit from a ship that is still afloat today and then research, research, research to find how to build that particular model to the way or era that you want that ship to represent. mike

Thank you for saving these models. What a shame that your neighbor didn't have any more respect for his son's efforts than to treat the ship models that he built and seems to have given him. mike

I used some of the wood from the REAL HMS Victory that I received from England to fashion a couple of anchor collars. You can still see and smell some of the tar that was on the wood. Cool stuff. mike

hahahahahaha, I know what you mean George. They are soooo tedious. I try and do a little bit on the rats each day, some times for only an hour. That is a major factor with doing a ship like the Vic, is repetition. mike

Well here is a progress update on the Vic. I've about completed the ratlines and most of the standing rigging and the spares have been made and awaiting sails and installation. mike