GuntherMT

I can't find another of these in the build area so I'm guessing any previous builds disappeared in the site crash, so here goes.
Absolutely my first wooden ship build but I've had some experience with plastic kits and although it looks daunting when opening the box I'm prepared to work slowly though it all.
Instructions are not bad but do leave something to be desired and dry fitting everything is a must.
First question - staining/varnishing/sealing the wood. It appears to me that this would be easier with the interior ribs etc if done as you assemble the kit rather than wait 'til it's finished. 
Either way what is recommended (available in Aus) if I choose not to paint but leave as a timber finish.

Ribs attached to keel - good fit all round.

Main deck dropped in place to check alignment of ribs.

Decking glued down - note it needed a light sanding at the ends as the fit was just a little tight.

Side rail dry fitted to check alignment again. The rail was slightly out of true itself as can be seen where it doesn't quite meet up with the 2nd rib.

Both side rails attached and alignment sorted with glue and pegs. I did have an accident at this point whilst cleaning one of the rails and snapped it at a rib cut out. This should be OK as it's been glued and once the boards are attached should ensure it stays properly in place.
 
Next step is shaping bows and stern area. AL suggest doing this with a file and show a nice bastard rasp in use. I'm guessing that if I use one I'm liable to rip things to bit given how they bite into the wood. However I'd think that judicious of a sharp knife plus very careful use of a Dremel will do the job. Bit of a let-down here as AL don't show the finished/shaped sections so it's up to you to look at it and imagine how the shapes should flow.
Look forward to comments and advice and by the way who ever suggested lego bricks as a tool deserves a medal!
 

I have my cockpits pretty much planked and am doing some last minute sanding before planking.
 

I have inserted some 'treenails' at some strategic points to keep the structure sturdy.  I am a firm believer in supplementing glue joints with pegs.
 

Bailing well cover in place.  I will eventually drill a hole in each corner adjacent to the keelson and insert grab ropes to assist in lifting the cover off the well.
 
Holy cow!!!!  I need to do a better job at sanding that cockpit floor.   (Yeah, I know in real ships it is called a deck.  This is an army ship.  Bratten calls it a floor...placed upon floor timbers.)
 

Bailing well cover removed.  shazaam!!!
 
I am thinking of staining the cockpits before planking.  Whadya think?

Starboard inner gun port framing finished. Looks good with the black against the red. Starting on the port side now and then start planking the hull soon.
 

Magnificent.
 

Finishing up the anchors!
 
So, working on the starboard side, trying to show the anchor being raised.
 
During a test fit of the anchor, I noticed that the assembly would be swinging loosely when finished, so I had to think of a way to protect and secure it without being noticed.
So I drilled and pinned the backside of the stock and drilled a corresponding hole on the side of the ship.

 
Now I pressed and glued the pin and stock into the side of the ship, holding the anchor assembly firm, without being noticeable.

 
Rigged the block and anchor to the bow davit

 
Rigged the other end of the anchor to the removable davit.


 
Finished the large anchor cable

 

Hi guys:
 
Finally I finished the standing rigging placing the upper stay of the mizen mast.
 
At first I was going to do it according to the BB plans (only one rope) but I change my mind and prefer making it as shown in the 1:10 Vasa model and Clayton´s, with double rope and fixing them to the main mast shroud.
 
It is important to mention that if using this form it is necessary to make additional holes to the pinracks located near the mainmast.  Do it before making the shrouds!!
 

 
Saludos, Karl

Well, I've made a bit of progress since my last post ...
 
Added the height adjustment screws through the carronade cascabels (is that even vaguely right?) Put breeching ropes on the port carronades (starboard still to do) Handles on the main hatch Started painting the figures Put together the second skylight and companionway (all but the top hatch) - I've left the doors open a little to just give a hint of what's inside. I can see these breaking right off again, but we'll see how they go :S Put the windows on the skylights, although I haven't yet glazed them (I plan to use Humbrol clearfix), or put on the protective grills. The photos show up just how much touching up is still to do, but I'm pretty happy with it so far...
 

 

 

 

 
All comments very welcome
 
Rob

Mike, Spyglass and John, thanks for your input. It has helped me immensely. 
 
I decided to go with the side tackle being horizontal so changed the drilling jig accordingly. The breaching tackle will be mounted lower and wider appart which I think fits in with what you guys are saying.
 
Re the blocks. They are rather meaty for these cannon but I decided to go with "off the shelf" blocks. The wood that I possess is too crumbly for making small blocks and (since I am only ever going to make one ship) I don't want to stock up with good quality wood that would get little use - a bit negative I am afraid. The smallest ones that I could lay my hands on were 2mm as in the photo.
 
John, glad you liked the loco models. When I get back to them I am/will be making models of actual locos that I saw and traveled behind in my youth. Nostalgia is not what it used to be.
 
 
Meanwhile, back in the workshop I stole and modified another of Dafi's ideas. Because the bulwarks are pretty inaccessible I made an extended drilling tool which can be fed through the gun port opposite to the one being drilled. With the usual no expense spared approach it is made from a kebab stick. The end is drilled to hold the bit. The other end I gripped with my normal collet holder to give a hand grip.   It is in the following photo along with the modified drilling jig.     It worked well - too well. The third hole that I drilled went straight through and out the other side of the bulwark. Pathetic really.   So I used some brass tube with an internal diameter that was an easy sliding fit over the bit and cut a length of it such that only 3mm of bit protruded beyond the end. This set the maximum depth of the hole.   The next photo is the tube alongside the bit.....     ....and with the tube fitted.     Drilling the holes was then simple. With the jig plugged in to the gun port the tool was used without the tube in place just to spot the 4 holes. Then the jig was removed, the tube fitted on the bit and the holes drilled to their final depth.   You can see on the jig that two of the original holes are blocked up and the new holes marked blue to avoid confusing myself.   The adjacent port has the holes already drilled.     Then it was time to fit the first rigged cannon. I went for one of the easier positions first. Using hooks in to rings actually made it much easier that I expected.   I fitted the side tackle in to the bulwark first (without the cannon in place) then roped them out of the way. The breaching ropes were fixed with the cannon in the run in position to give room to get at the ends of the ropes. Then the cannon was glued in place in the run out position. Finally it was just a case of dropping the side and train tackle hooks in to their respective loops/rings.   Of course I made a couple of boo-boos.   The first was that I had the cannon with its rear slightly too far forward so it was not directly in line with the train tackle. The second was that I used liquid super-glue to pin the breaching tackle to the deck in its final position. I had used the applicator on some blackened parts and I think it must have picked up some of the "black" (despite my burnishing the blackened parts). This was carried by the glue in to the rope and darkened that part of it. Doh. I will revert to dilute PVA for the ropes in future.   This all became apparent after everything was glued up solid.     Yet to be done on that cannon is to put some rope coils in place.   It is now going to be a lot more of the same. I have gone in to production line mode for the remaining cannon. I made a component list for all the bits I need to make for the rigging. It is amazing how their numbers build up. I will be rigging 16 of the 24 cannon and will require:   96 off large split pins 64 off small split pins 16 off deck rings 64 off hooks 96 off blocks 32 off caps   ...and of course another 15 cut splices for the breaching tackle. I may be some time.   In the meantime I am off to Anglesey for a week with my wife. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us.         
 
 

Hello everyone... It took a couple of days but I finally realized the reason I had trouble fitting the bulheads on the launch's keel.  I couldn't understand why one of the notches in the keel didn't line up properly.  So I went ahead and cut a new notch in the keel and assembled the launch's hull frame as best I could.  Believing it would be a good idea to build a second ship's boat at the same time,  I began to build the barge.  When I went to look for the barges keel I discovered that I used it for the launch and the whole mystery unravelled.  And I almost did too.  It was impossible to take the first assembly apart so I decided to start over again.  I ordered three new sheets of ship boat's parts from Jotika which left me thinking of something else to do.  I decided to start making and installing the coils.  And,  I admit my stupidity.
 
When researching the ways of making the coils I discovered in a MSW article a method that seemed unbelievably simple.  One uses a needle nose pliers as the spindle to wrap the thread around to form the coil. I placed the pliers in a vise to keep it from opening and to provide a stable working platform.  Where on the pliers one winds the coil will determine the size of its diameter. The article says to place a little white glue between your thumb and forefinger and run the thread through the glue on these fingers.  Then, wind the thread aound the pliers until you have the coil thickness you want.  Let the coil dry for a short time and slide it off the pliers; let it dry fully and trim it.  See my photos for explanation.
 
I am enjoying this process since it seems to be going well.  When it comes to the coils to be suspended from the belaying pin racks, the article says to squeeze the coil into an oblong shape before it dries.
 
Here are the photos taken so far.  i hope this is helpful.
 
Best regards,
 
Jerry

The beak decking was straightforward.  I used mahogany instead of the kit-supplied wood because I wanted it to match the hull.
 

 
Here's a picture where you can see the side supports for the prow in place.  It's nice and stable now.
 

 

 

I finished planking the bulwarks yesterday. Since its a compound bend the planks didn't want to lay against the bulwarks, I had to keep adding clamps as I used pva .
 
When I was sitting back looking at it, I thought it looked kind of humorous.  No rubber bands here.
 
 

Update time
 
The hull has been painted and the upper gun deck is awaiting installation of the guns.
 
When assembling the gun carriages I discovered that the brass etched eyelets part No. 480 make excellent breeching rings, just cut off the leg and attach them to the Cascabel with thick superglue. the scale is just right as study of the single photo of a gun illustrates.There are plenty of spares in the kit so shortages are not a problem.
 
 
 

Hi All
 
All the rigging is now finished.
 
All cannon doors are fitted to port side.
 
Most of the cannons are fitted.
 
Just the anchors to rope up and the stand to paint ( will make do with the stand till I get a better one ).
 
Hope all will be finished on Monday ha ha.
 
 
Denis.

Bow rigging

 

 

 
details from sails

 

 

 
deck view details
 

 

A diversion here-
That trip to collect my grandfather's stock of timber netted more than expected. Most of it is rimu which has a lovely warm red glow for the heart timber sort of like pear for those in the northern hemisphere. There's also some outer stock with a lighter colour. The grain might not be tight enough for smaller pieces of ship fittings but I'll be keen to try to work some in somewhere in future builds.
My father will be kept in woodwork for many years to come with that pile.
 

 
Also while on the trip I uncovered a forebear of mine was also a ship modeller.
A copy of a newspaper clipping , date unclear, of my great grandfather in his later years with one of his efforts.

Work continues on the masts. The mizzen was done first and was fairly straight forward. I rather enjoy filing square and octagonal sections now.
The mizzen is 5mm dowel but it's just a shade under in width. I considered changing it for something slightly larger as it just looks thin but will stick with it after checking with AOTS and realising there's only .2mm in it.
A couple of the top mast caps are supplied in two parts to join around the mast tops but I've made one from offcut timber and will continue with the rest.
 

Added the "iron " bands to the anchor stock and undercoated in preparation for painting and "puddening" the anchor rings.
I took the photo on my plans from AOTS...

And here are the  fiddly chained eyebolts...

I used a Caldercraft 74mm anchor, and scratch built the stock. I will use B.E.s method of paper for the iron bands as much easier to work with...

That tiny brass turnbuckle? 

So I do believe that you lot of scallywags in this community have completely warped my concept of what exactly a "kit" for building a model is...
 

That tiny brass turnbuckle? 

Ken, interestingly that rudder is made from only 2 pieces, with grooves as necessary to simulate the planks!
 
I've spent ages fiddling with the next few bits - the joys of retirement!
 
Following someone's advice, I didn't fit the hand cannons until I had finished other fittings.  At first I thought I would leave the new timber unpainted:
 

 
 

 
 
I made up a test ladder, and decided I could live with the scale, without redoing the doors.  So I made both ladders in finer timber than the practicum/plans suggested, and I think they look OK:
 

 
 
Then I decided to paint just the timberheads, leaving the cannon mountings just sealed.  I've placed the swivel cannons in, but saw no point in gluing them.  They swivel just fine:
 

 
And now I'm making the slipway or stand or whatever it's called.
 
Cheers,
 
Brett

A little update - decided to start the second planking. I chose not to use the supplied mahogany planking below the lower whales. I had some leftover walnut from another kit & decided to use it.the planking on the real ship is varied with all kinds of different length & width planks with lots of scarph joints so I thought I would show some of them - not all - there`s just too many.The planking at the bow is especially odd with lots of odd shaped short planks.
 

 

 

 
As odd as the bow planking is there are only 2 stealers at the stern!
 
/Mark

Exciting development - I now have the skeleton of the hull.  And yes, that is one of my daughter's pink teddy bears in the background (too lazy to move it for the picture) 
 

 
 
I think I mentioned this before, but in terms of its "bones," this kit is very impressive.  The MDF for the keel, bulkheads and lower deck is flat and very strong.  Even more impressive is the fact that the fitting of the bulkheads and lower deck to the keel couldn't have been more perfect, as everything fit together like a glove.  I probably didn't need to glue the assembly together it fit so well, but I did end up gluing the bulkheads and lower deck onto the keel, and then added glue into all the seams between those pieces.  Other kit manufacturers could probably learn a good lesson from this kit.  After dealing with all the issues on the Corel Unicorn kit, I almost felt like I was cheating in only having to cut out the pieces and stick them together without needing to check for flatness, symmetry and conformity to the plans, fit, etc.
 
Oh, and Jeff's redheart was milled to a perfect 5mm in width.  Despite the very snug fit between the 5mm bulkheads and the lower deck, the lower deck slipped over the new extensions without any issues at all.  Thanks Jeff!
 
Next up I'm planning to add plywood blocks over the bottoms of the redheart extensions to help secure the joints.  I think the instructions call for one to add the upper deck template as well, so I'll be working on that.  I also need to take a look at the NMM plans to see if there are any modifications to the kit that I would like to make regarding the deck layout (like converting hatches to stairways).