72Nova

Hi Jan,

A few things led me to this decision, first  In Landstrom's book the Vasa he mentions discussions regarding this very detail and this was the practice in some Dutch ships at the time and shows an illustration in the book of the arrangement that I ultimately followed. Here's a picture of the 1:10 model at the museum showing the same arrangement and if you look closely you'll see the collar pass beyond fore mast leading into the deck...no cleat or evidence of it being made fast to the base of the mast and oddly enough in the R.C Anderson book he makes no mention of this method but does show an illustration of how they rigged it on the real ship, also in the link you posted, again if look closely at the diorama picture you'll also see the main stay collar does not extend to the base of the bowsprit,  so go figure.

Michael D.

As fiddly as these railings are they are starting to take shape and will need to be built in place prior to gluing up the hull. I mocked up the main stay collar and beefed up the fore mast mounting by adding brass rod and extending the styrene base further into the deck. Thanks for looking.

Michael D.

Ian the Revell kit would've been by far the best choice, all the mods I've done so far are included in the newer Revell version but trying to find is another matter, I think there's just one on ebay for like $125 plus shipping. As always thanks for the likes/compliments.

Michael D.

I started fabricating the pin rails and there are 6 total, at the Qtr deck and beakhead, the rest will be integrated into the new railings. I used .030"x.100" styrene and 24g copper wire, I dipped the end of the wire in medium ca glue and hung upside down a few minutes to form the bulbous end, It's looking pretty darn good to my eye. As always thanks for looking.

Michael D.

I was thinking along those same lines Marc. I redid all the scuppers as the supplied holes were much too big and completed the modifications to what gun ports I chose to open up using 0.26mm styrene. Up next the port side Qtr galleries and deck preparation for the wood deck which is something I do not normally do but this deck as cast is hideous.

Michael D.

Exactly Marc, I'll build these with a base wider then the existing railing so when installed will have a slight overhang on each side somewhat like the original. Another issue I face is fabricating and attaching  the necessary pin rails, belaying pins, cleats etc required to the bulwarks before gluing up hull.

Michael D.

A step often overlooked by many that makes a huge difference in the finish product....drives me nuts!!!. I like to use as much of the original parts as possible, with a little tweaking here and there can be made to look very convincing. Great work Jeff.👍

Michael D

Thank you gentlemen. With the hull sanding/detailing just about complete I decided to add a bit more mods to the outer bulwarks, specifically adding additional material at the base of the railings to give it more definition and some HO Scale  0.56mm x 0.56mm styrene worked perfect, while I'm not able to replicate every detail of the real ship to this build given the scale, this mod is rather easy. The main sheet blocks are fabricated and installed along with adding the poop deck cannon decorative trim.

For this I used sculpy clay and made an impression, baked it for 12 minutes to create a mold, then simply pressing more clay into the mold, removing it, baking it and then trim the excess this is the final result! not too bad. As you can see I'll be displaying her with some of the gun ports closed. Thanks for looking.

Michael D.

I would think what you used on your Victory would be appropriate. 5mm on fore and main channels, 4mm on mizen channels, 3.5mm on fore and main tops and 2.5mm on mizen should fit the bill Bill😀

Michael D.

Thank you Dave, I've been checking out your builds and they are very nice indeed👍. One of these days I'll work up enough courage to tackle a wood kit.

Michael D.

Figured it out, just hit the backspace button🙄

Michael D.

Thank you GrandpaPhil, was quite the journey.

Michael D.

Robert I saw that after the fact, when I enable show signatures in account settings this is what I have in my signature now and want to delete it and just show a simple link not a couple of billboards...lol.

Michael D.

I've attempted to add past and current build links to my signature but screwed up... how do I go about deleting it?, I do not see an option. Just looking for a simple link without pictures, any help would be much appreciated.

Michael D.

Bill,

I painted all the main pieces first, hull, stern etc ...for the figurines and decorations with deep crevices I painted those gold first as the leaf will tear before covering those areas and blends in nicely, sure you'll have go back and add small pieces here and there but it does speed up the process. Besides a good brush a sharp toothpick came in handy to rub off any excess sizing that may have gotten on the paint and leaves a clean edge before applying the leaf and will not mar the paint and also aides in removing any stubborn leaf along the edges for a very clean look.

As far as sealing it, I didn't really find it necessary as none of it rubbed off while handling the model, plus I was after full bling on that build. Hope that helps?

Michael D.

Thanks for the Kudos Marc! Unfortunately I didn't really describe my leafing technique/tricks I used but will be more than happy to explain it to you Bill when the time comes.

Michael D.

Thats some dedication for sure, but the end result speaks for itself👍.

Michael D.

With 90% of the hull sanding complete I've focused my attention to the channels, with the fore channels completed I wanted to try out my new process to achieve the desired look I'm after.

Base coat is Tamiya flat desert yellow followed a thin wash of Tamiya flat white. up next is a thin wash of burnt umber followed by slightly thinned almost dry brushed raw umber then a thin wash of flat black on the middle gun deck ports, once I spray some dulcoat on it, it should give it a deeper tone. I'm quite pleased thus far with the results. The last picture is taken without flash.

Thanks for looking,

Michael D.

One of the nicest Mayflower builds I've seen and love the use of the acrylics on the wood....Excellent!!!

Michael D.

Thank you Kerry, it's putting what skills I have left to the test for sure.

Michael D.

Yet another magnificent build Maurice!, whether for yourself or others you keep setting the bar higher!

Michael D.

The Starboard fore channel mock up is complete, overall fairly pleased with the result considering the scale.

Michael D.

Looks like you're nearing the finish line Frank! just looks absolutely fantastic!

Michael D.

Channels and chain plates, this is something I needed to take into consideration since I will not be using the kit supplied ones and that is chain plate bolt locations in the wales. I made the new channels out .040" styrene sheet and used 24g copper wire as dowels to pin them to ship, the chain plates are the same gauge copper wire hammered flat and bent to the necessary angle, I stropped the 1/8" heart dead eye with thread that is run through a hole in the chain plate and glued and the chain plate is pinned to the wale with 24g copper wire. Obviously the objective here is to get all the channels/chain plates built and fitted prior to painting the hull although the channels will remain in place for that phase.

Michael D.

The starboard Qtr galleries completed vs out of box port galleries...now I get to do it all over again, oh joy! I will note that none of the modifications are permanently fixed yet as they will be removed during paining process and reattached. Thanks for looking.

Michael D.