Louie da fly

Beautiful work, Silverman. She's really looking good.

Belissimo, prestissimo! Those blocks are beautifully and precisely done. My hat off to you sir!

Well, perhaps not an expert, but less of a duffer . Currently I feel like i know absolutely nothing about planking - but little by little I believe I'm learning to see how things should be. I think by the time I've planked everything below the waterline in the Great Harry I'll move from being totally ham-fisted to being merely slow and awkward . . . Of course planking the underside when the ship is in such a state of completeness elsewhere (with a mast that's already in place and can't be removed without doing damage, and cannons sticking out the sides) does make it rather more difficult.

And here is the nother one. Clamped in place And the second plank added to make the full strake. Marking out for the corresponding plank on the port side: Cutting the plank to match the cardboard master: Clamping the forward end. Oops Had to make a new one: This time it fits! And when the after end is clamped down to follow the curve of the hull it will fit too. I'm learning a fair bit. Planking at my level of skill involves a lot of trial and error. And needs endless patience . . .

Very good question - unfortunately i don't know the answer to this one; it would probably be in some archaeological report somewhere. Does it make a difference to how yo're doing the model?

That's news to me as well - I'd thought there was a "tenon" at the lower end of the topmast that fitted into the space, and that the fid just made sure it didn't waggle around. You learn something new every day (if you're not careful!)

Though this is from a later ship, this diagram might help you understand how the crosstrees and trestletrees work. The top is a different shape in the later vessel, but the principle is unchanged. which I think means the topmast can't slip through the hole - it rests on it, and the fid holds it in place.

Thanks for that Silverman. I've looked at the other thread and bookmarked it. Not likely to do much about it straight away, but I'll definitely get around to it.

Hi, Eric. First let me say that you've done a very good job with cutting off the tops of the frames, and particularly that you've recorded how you did it for the information of others who follow. Regarding the angle of the top strakes - I can't see a sensible way out. Whether it's because of your inexperience, or bad instructions/kit I don't know. Probably a bit of both. But I agree - the best thing is to put that problem to one side for the moment and see if anything occurs to you. In the meantime, yes, go ahead with your deck planking to replace the ready-made stuff. That should be rewarding and interesting, and put you in a better frame of mind to perhaps come up up with a solution to the strakes. In the long run, that issue might end up being a case of putting it down to experience, but you'll at least have given it your best try. Sorry to hear about the personal issues. I agree - the hobby is supposed to be a relaxation away from problems, so concentrate on the parts that are relaxing and enjoyable - you don't need the extra frustration in your "time out". But I'm sure you already know that. Take your time with the model. It's not a race. I hope things get better with time.

Beautiful work, David. She's looking better and better.

This is fantastic, Silverman. I've bookmarked this page, and I expect I'll be going out and getting some lego for myself to make the rope walk. Very valuable technical instruction.

I think it's the width of the door that makes it look so big. A standard house door is 820mm wide, but there are also 720's and even 620's, and I expect a shipboard door could be pretty narrow. Chuck, I'd be going for more like 5' 6" - depending on when and where, it was Victorian times with bad nutrition that people really got short. Apparently Anglo-Saxons in the 11th century averaged about 5'10". OTOH this is a Spanish ship, and I think the average height there was less.

The door does look rather big. Have you measured what size it would be full scale?

A hoe on the feet - that's very graphic. I can almost feel the pain. The second doesn't mean quite exactly the same thing, but quite close. It means that you've done something that will cause you trouble later. I often think this about parents who want to avoid trouble so they give in when their children act badly, instead of insisting on reasonable behaviour. They're making a rod for their own backs because now the child knows he or she can manipulate the parents, and the way to get what they want in future is to misbehave. Shooting yourself in the foot means you made a mistake that's causing you trouble - usually now.

I'd be interested. I wouldn't mind having a ropewalk, but I don't want to pay a fortune for it, and that looks very straightforward t make ( I may regret having written that! )

What a wonderful description - is that a common Italian saying? In English we'd probably say "I've shot myself in the foot", or perhaps "I've made a rod for my own back" - which mean pretty much the same thing. And I do like what you've done with the rails. That's very impressive.

Wagga Wagga (usually just called Wagga), but Woy Woy is kept in full. Woolloomooloo. Wollongong. Cootamundra (it's on the Gooramundry Creek - presumably these were both approximations of how the name was really pronounced). Wendouree (that's the lake we have at Ballarat - the story is that it's the local aboriginal word for "go away", presumably what one of the locals said on being asked the name of the lake - though it occurs to me that it might not have been that polite.)

All a-tanto . . .

I've added the other plank for the garboard strake on the port side. I've been using the "Half Hull Planking Project" as a guide, working very slowly and fumblingly. I've planked before but I still don't think I really know what I'm doing. I'd shaved the deadwood down to allow me to add the plank but I couldn't take too much off in case it weakened the structure. I used a very thin plank so it didn't stick out too much, and I'll sand it down flush later. Here's the after end of the plank already glued down and the forward end clamped in place, where it twists to be in line with the forward plank. The join is just to the left of the left-hand peg. And here is the forward garboard plank for the starboard side. I cut the forward end of each garboard strake off at right angles (instead of it coming to a sharp point) to allow for "nailing". And the after plank. The join is at frame 7. On checking the two sides against each other, and the forward and after planks, I discovered I needed to trim the starboard planks to make a smoother run and mirror the starboard and port sides more exactly. Then time to make the forward plank for the starboard side. I followed the "Half Planking" tutorial, made a cardboard template which followed the outer line of the garboard pretty closely, but I had to make a notch near the end to slip it up to the cut-off end of the garboard. All looking good till I put it in place. Something definitely wrong here. You can see the notch in the red circle, but the plank seems to be curving away from the garboard instead of toward it. After a bit of thought I realised I'd made a real duffer's mistake. I put the notch on the wrong side - I must have had the strake turned upside down when I cut it. As you can see - here is the plank right side up. It needs to be adjusted a bit at the forward end but otherwise fits quite well. But now the notch is on the wrong side . . . As Effie from the TV series Acropolis Now would say "How embarrassment!" Ah, well - I'll just have to make another one . . .

Perish the thought! The truth is that nobody knows what kind of anchors cogs had - the information just isn't there and won't be until a cog is found with its anchors. The only thing we can do in the meantime is extrapolate from what is known.

Ha ha, bloody ha ha ha . . .

I'm shocked - shocked - at such a wanton mis-use of such a brilliant model. You should be ashamed of yourself, sir! (emoji added to indicate irony). P.S. How do you get all the crumbs out?

You're off to a very good start, Cap'n. It'll be worth watching where it goes from here.

I couldn't agree more. All that work has really produced superb results. That's such a beautiful shape.

You're the expert in weathering 20th century warships, Greg. Every time I think you couldn't do any better, you crank it up another notch!