Keith_W

I considered sculpting my own display base with Sculpey and went as far as making one prototype (I need 4). But I decided against it for a few reasons - (1) the model sits too close to the base, I prefer it to look more elevated, (2) I was concerned about the structural integrity of the base and whether it would adequately hold up a model ship without tipping over, and (3) the sheer amount of work required to sculpt 4 stands out of Sculpey. I suppose that 3D printing would solve the problem. 
 
In the end I bent some thick brass rod and soldered it together to support the hull, and drove a hefty bolt into the keel to secure the ship to the base and lock the model to the brass rod support. It is rock solid and does not move. 

Your house must be massive for you to have something like that lying around somewhere and forgetting that you had it  I have a typical Melbourne home ... expensive and small. I would definitely notice something like that in my house! 

@Louie da fly is correct. Wales are essentially very thick strakes. Look at this diagram: 
 

 
And md1400cs build log of his Santissima Trinidad cross section. 

@Louie da fly is correct. Wales are essentially very thick strakes. Look at this diagram: 
 

 
And md1400cs build log of his Santissima Trinidad cross section. 

@Louie da fly is correct. Wales are essentially very thick strakes. Look at this diagram: 
 

 
And md1400cs build log of his Santissima Trinidad cross section. 

DETAILED BUILD INSTRUCTIONS and more pics are further below in Post #15

So I converted my model "Sovereign of the Seas / 1:78" to having a water surface.

I used acrylic glass (top water surface is Tap Plastics - Acrylic Lucerne 1/8th of inch), side is 1/4th inch clear acrylic and then using blue translucent foil on the insides of water surface and side pieces - all from Amazon, plus some water ripple modelling material to model wake. Some flat grey slate rocks for the bottom and some small fake green plants to cover the stand all from Amazon - a display case around it (or not) and you're regular model on a stand can look like this.

Happy to answer any questions.

 


 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

There may be many Victory kits on the market, but at the moment there is only one kit worth considering - the Caldercraft. Having seen the prototype pictures on MSW many years ago I have been anticipating this kit for a long time. Anyway, we'll wait and see. 

Part 12
The Case of the Case
 
In the latter part of October, 2022, I drew up plans for the display case that would protect Victory from dust, cats, and the few individuals that can't resist touching something. I did this "Old School", something I really enjoy, with drafting tools and a mechanical pencil on my drafting table. Dimentions of the base are 54 1/2" L  x 17 5/8" W x 3 1/2" T. The case frame for the plex is 53" L x 16" x 21" T. I chose Maple for the material and Minwax "Gunstock" for the stain.
 
I've built smaller cases before and a few furniture pieces. I estimated about a month to do this. Then the rains came through the Central Coast of California.
 
To be continued.

I own everything that Jim made except for the ropewalk. This means that I have corresponded with him and Donna many times. I have always found them to be prompt and courteous, but there was also something else ... they were such warm people! I didn't know that Jim was only 64 (meaning he was my age when I bought my table saw from him). That is much too young. I think as we can see here, his loss was felt not only by his friends and family, but also by people who have never met him, like myself. 
 
Rest in peace. 

It's not only the tediousness that bothers me. What really bothers me is the potential for inaccuracy, which means that guns might foul hull features such as channels, fenders, wales, guns might be at different heights, etc. Some of these mistakes are unrecoverable if discovered too late in the build, and your model will forever have shrouds that block gunports if you get it wrong! I have examined every Royal William build log on MSW, and all of them have mistakes when it comes to gunport positioning, including mine. 
 
It literally costs them an extra sheet or two of laser cut wood and a quick design change of the frames to lock it in. It saves so much time for the modeller and removes the potential for inaccuracy. 

I own everything that Jim made except for the ropewalk. This means that I have corresponded with him and Donna many times. I have always found them to be prompt and courteous, but there was also something else ... they were such warm people! I didn't know that Jim was only 64 (meaning he was my age when I bought my table saw from him). That is much too young. I think as we can see here, his loss was felt not only by his friends and family, but also by people who have never met him, like myself. 
 
Rest in peace. 

Chris, I think we are all fed up with Amati dragging their heels on this kit. If they have lost interest, maybe you should purchase the rights back from them and then offer it for sale as a Vanguard kit. 

I own everything that Jim made except for the ropewalk. This means that I have corresponded with him and Donna many times. I have always found them to be prompt and courteous, but there was also something else ... they were such warm people! I didn't know that Jim was only 64 (meaning he was my age when I bought my table saw from him). That is much too young. I think as we can see here, his loss was felt not only by his friends and family, but also by people who have never met him, like myself. 
 
Rest in peace. 

I own everything that Jim made except for the ropewalk. This means that I have corresponded with him and Donna many times. I have always found them to be prompt and courteous, but there was also something else ... they were such warm people! I didn't know that Jim was only 64 (meaning he was my age when I bought my table saw from him). That is much too young. I think as we can see here, his loss was felt not only by his friends and family, but also by people who have never met him, like myself. 
 
Rest in peace. 

These massive yawning gaps appeared on my HMS Bounty, completed in 2008. This is a single planked model. Back then, I was less experienced with wooden ship model making. My method at the time was to soak the planks in my bathtub, bend it with a steam iron, then install it. It appears that the wood was not dry enough when it was installed, which has two effects - (1) the wood will shrink as it dries, and (2) the PVA glue will not penetrate wood which is saturated with water, it needs to be dry - it will thus form only a surface coating resulting in a weaker glue bond. The combined effect of both - stress pulling the joint apart + weaker glue bond, resulted in the gaps. You can also see that different wood species react differently to being installed wet. The walnut (darker coloured wood below the wales) remains nearly perfect. The limewood (yellow coloured wood below the painted blue band) has suffered the most. My theory is that the limewood is more porous and swells more than walnut. 
 
To my mind, the solution would be: 
 
1. Construct your models properly. Don't install wet wood, make sure the planks are glued together and not only to the frame. 
2. Keep models in a humidified condition, or conditions similar to when it was constructed 
3. Treat the wood with swelling agents like polyethylene glycol to keep the fibres saturated and fat. This is what is currently being done to the Mary Rose in Portsmouth, and has been done to the Vasa and Batavia in Fremantle, Australia. 
4. Choice of varnish and sealant will affect the rate of moisture migration in wood, but won't prevent it entirely. 

Best to think about what instructions ask you to do, and ask yourself if it's the right thing. If in doubt, run an experiment or ask in this thread. I have run several experiments over the course of making model boats, including whether any glue allows you to stain wood post installation. Answer is: none of them. Also, some stains inhibit some types of glues from working (which may be where that advice to glue before staining comes from!). I have found that oil based stains severely decrease the strength of CA glue and PVA glue, and will form a weak bond unless you let the oil fully cure, at least 1 week. Any alcohol based stain will inhibit CA glue from working until all the alcohol is gassed off. The best are water based stains, but then these tend to raise the grain and you will have to sand it to get it off, thus removing some of the stain. Even different stains made from the same company might affect glue differently. Not to mention, some alcohol based stains can also dissolve or weaken glue! None of these solutions are perfect, and you need to know whether what you have in front of you will work or not. 

For me, best practice is stain first, then wait for the stain to fully cure. You can stain some scrap at the same time. When the scrap timber holds a glue joint, proceed to install. Then sand and stain again. 

It's not only the tediousness that bothers me. What really bothers me is the potential for inaccuracy, which means that guns might foul hull features such as channels, fenders, wales, guns might be at different heights, etc. Some of these mistakes are unrecoverable if discovered too late in the build, and your model will forever have shrouds that block gunports if you get it wrong! I have examined every Royal William build log on MSW, and all of them have mistakes when it comes to gunport positioning, including mine. 
 
It literally costs them an extra sheet or two of laser cut wood and a quick design change of the frames to lock it in. It saves so much time for the modeller and removes the potential for inaccuracy. 

It's not only the tediousness that bothers me. What really bothers me is the potential for inaccuracy, which means that guns might foul hull features such as channels, fenders, wales, guns might be at different heights, etc. Some of these mistakes are unrecoverable if discovered too late in the build, and your model will forever have shrouds that block gunports if you get it wrong! I have examined every Royal William build log on MSW, and all of them have mistakes when it comes to gunport positioning, including mine. 
 
It literally costs them an extra sheet or two of laser cut wood and a quick design change of the frames to lock it in. It saves so much time for the modeller and removes the potential for inaccuracy. 

Yes, I think it's a strange decision by Artesania to do that. Surely it would make more sense to double plank it. 
 
Also, I don't think that a model released in 2023 should be making you cut out your own gunports. Yes, the template makes it easier. I had to cut out 80 gunports (maybe more?) on my Royal William, and that was an anxiety filled experience given that you don't know whether parts that have not yet been fitted (like wales, fenders, channels) will fit later on. It turned out that I made a dozen mistakes and had to go back and reposition gunports, which I was able to do because the model was double planked. But companies like Caldercraft and Vanguard mean that expectations are different these days. I shudder at the thought of having to cut out 200 gunports. 

Yes, I think it's a strange decision by Artesania to do that. Surely it would make more sense to double plank it. 
 
Also, I don't think that a model released in 2023 should be making you cut out your own gunports. Yes, the template makes it easier. I had to cut out 80 gunports (maybe more?) on my Royal William, and that was an anxiety filled experience given that you don't know whether parts that have not yet been fitted (like wales, fenders, channels) will fit later on. It turned out that I made a dozen mistakes and had to go back and reposition gunports, which I was able to do because the model was double planked. But companies like Caldercraft and Vanguard mean that expectations are different these days. I shudder at the thought of having to cut out 200 gunports. 

Single plank model with 2mm thick planks is a recipe for disaster. You have to become very very good at bevelling planks and use a lot of filler. Given my modelling skills, it would probably be the latter! Good thing that the entire hull will be painted! 

My first kit was an Artesania as well. I never finished it. 

Yes, I think it's a strange decision by Artesania to do that. Surely it would make more sense to double plank it. 
 
Also, I don't think that a model released in 2023 should be making you cut out your own gunports. Yes, the template makes it easier. I had to cut out 80 gunports (maybe more?) on my Royal William, and that was an anxiety filled experience given that you don't know whether parts that have not yet been fitted (like wales, fenders, channels) will fit later on. It turned out that I made a dozen mistakes and had to go back and reposition gunports, which I was able to do because the model was double planked. But companies like Caldercraft and Vanguard mean that expectations are different these days. I shudder at the thought of having to cut out 200 gunports. 

Single plank model with 2mm thick planks is a recipe for disaster. You have to become very very good at bevelling planks and use a lot of filler. Given my modelling skills, it would probably be the latter! Good thing that the entire hull will be painted! 

My first kit was an Artesania as well. I never finished it. 

Yes, I think it's a strange decision by Artesania to do that. Surely it would make more sense to double plank it. 
 
Also, I don't think that a model released in 2023 should be making you cut out your own gunports. Yes, the template makes it easier. I had to cut out 80 gunports (maybe more?) on my Royal William, and that was an anxiety filled experience given that you don't know whether parts that have not yet been fitted (like wales, fenders, channels) will fit later on. It turned out that I made a dozen mistakes and had to go back and reposition gunports, which I was able to do because the model was double planked. But companies like Caldercraft and Vanguard mean that expectations are different these days. I shudder at the thought of having to cut out 200 gunports. 

Single plank model with 2mm thick planks is a recipe for disaster. You have to become very very good at bevelling planks and use a lot of filler. Given my modelling skills, it would probably be the latter! Good thing that the entire hull will be painted! 

My first kit was an Artesania as well. I never finished it.