NMBROOK

The middle gun deck was the last deck to be fitted before I began the first layer of planking. It was fitted in the same way as the other decks with care taken to make sure the mast holes were aligned and that the deck sat flush on the frames. It was then marked out and the deck planking was laid.
 

 

 

 
I then fitted the bow plank termination supports and the false beakhead deck. The bow plank supports are fitted at an angle to the keel and this is another reason why the middle gun deck was fitted to get this angle correct at the top. I hope you can see in the following pics that it would be rather difficult to fit the middle gun deck after the planking was complete.
 

 

 

 

 
The gap between the supports and the keel seen in the first picture was filled with balsa wedges and sanded flush with the supports

After test fittng the Middle Gun deck with the plank termination pieces fitted to the keel and the small beakhead deck fitted , I determined that I would not be able to fit this deck after the hull panking was complete without doing some serious modification to it. So I decided to fit the Middle Gun deck and then plank the hull. Doing it this way will limit my access to the Lower Gun deck cannons meaning that I will not be able to fully rig all of them but I will try to give them as much rigging as I can get on them.
 
I temporarily attached the Gun port pattern to the frames to indetify the position of the guns on thr lower deck. I made up one 32 pounder gun carrige and marked the position for the ringbolts for the train tackle to be drilled into the deck. However I think I made a slight error here as after fitting them I have read a few logs here where they say that these bolts should be located as close to the centre line of the ship as possible, mine aren't because I made allowance for the anchor cable to pass behind them but I think it might be too much
 

 

 

 

 
In the next few photos you can see the ring bolts fitted along with the Fore rining bits and the shot garlands in the mast partner.
 

 

 

Hi All,
 
After the deck planking was completed the next job was to fit the mast partner , this one differs from the other decks as it is larger and lines up under 2 of the frames above . It will have a stantion in each corner I will also make a shot garland down it's length on either side
 

 

 
I also fitted the hand rails to the Orlop deck companionways and rigged them
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
 
On to the next deck, the Lower gun deck. The under side of this deck was painted white to form the ceiling of the Orlop deck and then it was glued into position
 

 
The false deck was then marked out for planking and the planks laid
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
 
The last job to do on this deck before it was varnished was to fit the stantions that help support the deck above. They are a pre made  part and need to be filed down to fit between the deck and the frame they were then lightly stained with oak
 

 

 
They were then glued into position at the distance shown on the plans
 

 

One of the mod ifcations I am making to this kit is to fit hand rails to the companionways. I don't know if they  were fittited on this deck but as I said previously there was only one ladder leading to the hold deck in this part of the ship.
 
I am going to make the hand rails out of tooth picks as they have a pattern already turned on the handle end and are about the right diameter.
 
To make them I cut them to length plus a few millimeters and then turned the ends down in my dremel so I had a pin to locate into the holes I had drilled in the coamings. They were then stained with oak.
 

 

 

 

 

 
The ladders were then fitted and the hand rail post were fitted to the Hold deck, the Orlop deck posts won't be fitted until the lower gun deck as fitted as they are fragile and may get broken off
 

 

 

 
 

Hi All,
 
While the deck planks were drying I made up the grating for the hatch and the coamings for the companionways and the ladders
 

 

 

 

 

 
After these were made I fitted the companion way coamings and mast partner to the deck
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

The fo'csle was left temporarily pinned for stability of the upper frames and to check the mast  alignment with the lower decks
 

 

 
The deck was then marked for planking and the planks laid
 

 

 

Hi All,
 
Once the hold deck was complete 3 coats of clear varnish was applied to the deck of which I thought I had taken a photo of before the next deck was fitted, but if I did I can't find it  
 
So it is on to the next deck the Orlop. John Mckay's book shows a single companionway leading from the Orlop deck to the hold but the kit has 2 companionways going down. I have decided to stick with the kit version as I said in my opening post that this would be an out of the box build with a few modifcations.
 
I lined the companionway openings with 0.5 x 4 mm walnut and the sanded them down to the thickness of the false deck. This was not in the instructions but I did it to cover the ply which would be seen when finished.
 

 

 

 
The next job was to paint the underside of the false decks, the ceiling of the hold deck.
 

 

 
The deck was then glued on ensuring the mast hole aligned with the deck below
 

 

 
 

Hi All,
 
Just A small update to complete the hold deck. It was planked with 0.5 x 4mm walnut strips in a 2 butt shift pattern, I will follow this pattern for all of the lower decks as you won't be able to see them once the model is complete however i will do a 4 butt shift pattern on the fo'csle.
 

 

 

 

 
The deck waas then sanded and the magazine store was fitted
 

 

 
Also as you can see in the last 2 photos the lower frames have been stained with walnut

Hi All,
 
After the frames were dry I faired them some more, very carefully, with a smooth file.
 

 

 
As I said before I am going to paint the inside of the hull so my next job was to mask up and paint the frames before all the decks are fitted. the walls of the hold deck and the area below it, the bilge, will be left natural timber. So the frames in this area will be stained with a walnut stain.
 

 

 
Afte masking up the frames I glued on the false deck for the hold and then painted the frames.
 

 

 

While I was waiting for the frames to dry I made up the magazine store which will be fitted to the hold deck
 

 

 
It was then planked with 0.5 x 4mm walnut strips
 

 

 
And finally the door was made up and fitted
 

Hi All,
 
After dry fitting the frames and ensuring a good fit the next step was to roughly fair the first three fames and the bow planking supports because I would not be able to support them properly once they were glued to the keel and it was easier to shape the bow planking supports before fitting them.
 
I then glued the frames to the keel. The first frame was squared to the keel, glued on and allowed to dry then the other three frames were glued on using the decks, which were temporarily pinned and clamped to the frames to keep them square.
 

 

 

 

 
 

The rest of the decks
 

 

 

 
And now the frames and decks dry fitted. These all fitted together very well with minimal adjustment required
 

 

 

 
Well that is all for now I will post some more progress tomorrow

Hi All,
 
First off acouple of pic's of the plans
 

 

 
They are basic drawings but give you the necessary dimensions
 
The next lot of photos is of the keel, frames and decks cutout also the assembly plan
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Hi All,
 
I started this model last Christmas, sorry I have been so long in starting a log , but I was alsostill building the 'Norfolk'. Then the kit went back on the shelf while I finished the 'Norfolk' and I contemplated a problem I was having with the planking, that lasted for about 5 months!!
 
I finally got her out of storage a couple of weeks ago and have been slowly building again in between house renovations.
 
I have taken heaps of photos so please be patient while I upload them to catch up to where I am currently with the build.
 
I would like to make a few comments about the kit. The timber and laser cut parts are all of good quality, however all of the planks including the deck planks are walnut this makes for a very dark interior on an open model. I think they should have supplied a lighter timber for the deck planks as a contrast. all of the fittings are of high quality material although the bow figuere head does seem a bit large and akward. There were a few parts missing which I have replaced. I also have brought some extra blocks  and eye pins so I can fully rig the guns and some heart blocks to replace the 3 hole blocks they supplied for the forestay.
 
I intend to fully rig  the guns on the middle and upper gun deck and to rig at least the breeching ropes on the lower gun deck.
 
My plan is to fit the middle and upper gun deck after the hull has been completed so I can rig the cannons on each deck before fitting the deck above. We will see how that plan works out    
 
Here are some pic's of the kit
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I will post some more pics later Enjoy
 
 

love the treenailing - well done

Nigel,
You are one of the builders who keeps my interest going on this hobby...
Always clean, harmonic, showing the difficulty so easy to overcome...

It has been a little hectic at work,but I have managed to finally get in the shipyard this weekend
After much deliberation and the fact I now own a Brynes drawplate,I have decided to proceed with treenailing .This is being done exclusively in boxwood and includes the areas of Ebony.This contrast I noticed on the upper areas of Dr Mike's L'Ambiteux and is a feature I particularly like.I did a small area to get an idea of the finished result and have now started the mass drill and insertion.The idea with doing this as I go along is that I have the bulkheads as a guide and also to relieve what would be a mega monotonous job when the hull is fully planked.Also it is easier to sand smooth prior to fitting the wales above and below this section.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you Brian and Bob I purchased boxwood 'stringing' from Original Marquetry in the UK.It comes in various square sizes from 3.2mm down to 0.8mm which is what I used in this instance.It easily fits in the drawplates largest hole.It comes in 1 metre lengths.The first ten or so holes in the drawplate progressively remove the corners,then the diameter starts to be reduced.Had I wanted larger nails,then I would have to use larger section.These nails are 31 thou which is a reasonably snug fit for a 0.8mm hole.I plan on taking the nails down to whatever works best in a 0.5mm hole for the decks etc.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

It has been a little hectic at work,but I have managed to finally get in the shipyard this weekend
After much deliberation and the fact I now own a Brynes drawplate,I have decided to proceed with treenailing .This is being done exclusively in boxwood and includes the areas of Ebony.This contrast I noticed on the upper areas of Dr Mike's L'Ambiteux and is a feature I particularly like.I did a small area to get an idea of the finished result and have now started the mass drill and insertion.The idea with doing this as I go along is that I have the bulkheads as a guide and also to relieve what would be a mega monotonous job when the hull is fully planked.Also it is easier to sand smooth prior to fitting the wales above and below this section.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you Brian and Bob I purchased boxwood 'stringing' from Original Marquetry in the UK.It comes in various square sizes from 3.2mm down to 0.8mm which is what I used in this instance.It easily fits in the drawplates largest hole.It comes in 1 metre lengths.The first ten or so holes in the drawplate progressively remove the corners,then the diameter starts to be reduced.Had I wanted larger nails,then I would have to use larger section.These nails are 31 thou which is a reasonably snug fit for a 0.8mm hole.I plan on taking the nails down to whatever works best in a 0.5mm hole for the decks etc.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

It has been a little hectic at work,but I have managed to finally get in the shipyard this weekend
After much deliberation and the fact I now own a Brynes drawplate,I have decided to proceed with treenailing .This is being done exclusively in boxwood and includes the areas of Ebony.This contrast I noticed on the upper areas of Dr Mike's L'Ambiteux and is a feature I particularly like.I did a small area to get an idea of the finished result and have now started the mass drill and insertion.The idea with doing this as I go along is that I have the bulkheads as a guide and also to relieve what would be a mega monotonous job when the hull is fully planked.Also it is easier to sand smooth prior to fitting the wales above and below this section.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you Brian and Bob I purchased boxwood 'stringing' from Original Marquetry in the UK.It comes in various square sizes from 3.2mm down to 0.8mm which is what I used in this instance.It easily fits in the drawplates largest hole.It comes in 1 metre lengths.The first ten or so holes in the drawplate progressively remove the corners,then the diameter starts to be reduced.Had I wanted larger nails,then I would have to use larger section.These nails are 31 thou which is a reasonably snug fit for a 0.8mm hole.I plan on taking the nails down to whatever works best in a 0.5mm hole for the decks etc.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

It has been a little hectic at work,but I have managed to finally get in the shipyard this weekend
After much deliberation and the fact I now own a Brynes drawplate,I have decided to proceed with treenailing .This is being done exclusively in boxwood and includes the areas of Ebony.This contrast I noticed on the upper areas of Dr Mike's L'Ambiteux and is a feature I particularly like.I did a small area to get an idea of the finished result and have now started the mass drill and insertion.The idea with doing this as I go along is that I have the bulkheads as a guide and also to relieve what would be a mega monotonous job when the hull is fully planked.Also it is easier to sand smooth prior to fitting the wales above and below this section.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel