NMBROOK

Whilst I have been doing a little work on Mordaunt,I am holding back on pics for now.However I received another delivery of Pear(some is for Royal William).I had asked Dennis at Twigfolly.com,if he had a small chunk of Pear to carve the figurehead from and he said he would have a root about.The result is the massive Pear chunk for free with the rest of the order!!!!!
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks mate I fear there may be a fine line between dedication and insanity    
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thanks mate I fear there may be a fine line between dedication and insanity    
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Nigel,
I can understand how time consuming it will be to complete the fastenings.  I am going to try a similar use of the copper fastenings but will have to do a lot of practice.  I will probably start with whatever gauge wire works with the #80 drill bit as it is more easily available.  If I get good at it I will invest in the finer bits.  I have found a place in the US that has them but they are still expensive  :-)
I look forward to seeing how the fastenings look on the grates and on the gun deck.
Richard

Nigel, I spent my morning coffee time going through your build log from the beginning and am just in awe of your skill,  Your Sovereign is just gorgeous!

Hello Nigel,

this is an outstanding model.
A really very precise work.

I hope it goes on here soon.

Thats Dedication Mate... I'd just lie and say they were all done.. especially if you can't really see them... 'Oh Yea, They are all in there somewhere.. Honest.. Can't you see them? ahem ahem'     
 
All The Best
 
Eamonn

I have had a lovely long holiday weekend treenailing I have completed both sides under the wales and intend to give this area a few coats of polyurethane for protection.I have also inlaid some small pieces of maple to represent the bowtie piece that joins keel to sternpost.
Kind Regards Nigel

A small update.I have completed the rails on the port side,I have only the forecastle left to do.I had to go and pick up my prezzies from the missus today.I feel like a kid in a sweetshop     Thank you love  Thank you to those on here that advised me which to machine to go for.It goes to show that the way to a modellers' heart is via workshop tools      
Kind Regards Nigel

Thank you very much indeed everybody for your very kind words  
In answer to your question Kevin.I am looking back and thinking how I could of progressed differently.The problem with this being a partwork is there are no drawings and the model being supplied is vastly different from the model advertised.This did start out with the intention of being a near stock build but as the part work progressed and looking at the Italian forum(which is about 6 months infront)the difference with what we are building to what was advertised was becoming obvious.At this point I had a fully planked hull which due to sourcing my own more expensive timber stood me at quite a lot of money.
So then the 'modification ball' started rolling and I found that all the supplied ornamentation was going to be inaccurate.Inspired by Bill Short's log which I used to follow before the 'crash' and becoming a member,I decided to take the step of 'having a go'at producing my own carvings.
What started out as a stock build had now turned in to probably 3-4000 hours work.Thinking on this made me think that 'dummy'canons didn't quite come up to par with the rest of the build.Helped in no small part by Chris Watton's amazing victory prototype.I think though the biggest discovery was Arthur Molle's amazing model of the Sovereign.I looked at that and thought 'I have to do that'.I include a picture of Molle's model that I am going to try and replicate to some extent for the deck structures,I am not planing on sawing the model in half though    
Back to the question of would I have done things different?Yes I would have bought Sergal's plans and worked from there,full scratchbuild.
Kind Regards Nigel

It has been a while since my last update,although I have been doing lots of hours on the build,it doesn't really show.I have now profiled the hull inside.I have cut and relined the main gunports on the starboard side(upper ports still to do.) the gunports have been cut on the port side but lining to finish.I made a start with the internal planking on the inside of the starboard side.I am only representing caulking on the decks internally.The first deck beam shelf is in position and notched.I have now told myself I must complete all the railings before going any further as I am fed up of breaking the uprights.I have made a start on this as my pictures show.There are some gunports to cut out in these but I shall do that when they are all in place.The red is coloured veneer,not paint.
Kind Regards Nigel

After considerable deliberation,I felt my build was missing something,an interior.I haven't posted for a bit,but I have been busy beavering away.I wanted to utilise full cannons and carriages throughout.In order to do this I had to remove 20mm of solid birch ply infill at the bottom and smooth off the inner walls of the hull.I then shaped pieces of lime to the inside profile on the scroll saw to build up the hull thickness to nearer scale.The sections were left overthickness to allow for interior profiling.These were bonded in two at a time and allowed to dry before continuing to avoid hull distortion.It has meant that I get to cut the gunports all over again   .I have started work around the top of the hull completing the railings as I go in the hope of avoiding breaking anymore railing uprights.The plan is to fully plank the interior and other than the lower gundeck that will be fully planked,the rest will have sections of planking missing to be able to see the insides,navy board style.

After a marathon carving session over the last few days I have managed to complete the basic ornamentation on the starboard side of the prow.There are still vertical carvings to fit on the stem underneath and of course the myriad of decorative panels.
Kind Regards Nigel

Just a little progress,these figures are taking about six hours each on account of the small size.The faces are 2.5mm across.
Kind Regards Nigel

I thought I would post some pics as they clearly show the stages involved in the prow ornamentation.I laminated 1.5mm pear sections on to the outside of the upper and lower rails inbetween where the uprights sit.You can see one in the first pic.The top and bottom rails were shaped and tapered leaving stubs where the uprights sit.The uprights were shaped form pears stock to fit over all three rails.The uprights will have the central carving carried out off the model and the rest will be done after fitting.This is to get the correct shape of the wrapround top and bottom.
Kind Regards Nigel

Managed a little time on the build today and planked the prow in black boxwood.
Kind Regards Nigel

Despite the birthday distractions I have made some progress on the build.After careful study of the V de V engraving it became apparent to me that the prow cheeks are not faceted as depicted on most models,but in my opinion are flat.I came to this conclusion because the vertical carvings run down in a straight line when viewed at an angle.This made life a whole lot easier.I developed the shape to match the engraving but also to match the proportions of my build.I cut the pieces out of 0.8mm ply and made formers to hold the pieces to the correct curve.When it came to planking the cheeks I had originally planned on horizontal planking,however being faced with a 3D structure that I believe must be close to that of the original,it didn't ring true.I realise the planking on Vasa's prow runs inline(nearest thing in existance,thanks Matti for your wonderful pics)but whilst the two look similar,they are quite different.The way I saw it was that you have four very large structural timbers running inline close to one another,then it made sense that the planking infil would join these together.
therefore I chose to plank the inside faces vertically with boxwood.These have been treenailed and epoxied in position.The outside faces should be planked tomorrow with black boxwood.
Kind Regards Nigel

I have had quite a productive evening.I first fitted the remaining carvings.I then made the caprail  out of 1mm pear then fitted it.Finally I applied a coat of varnish.The varnish still has a slight sheen because it is not fully dry.
Kind Regards Nigel

Just a small update.Work is progressing well on the pediment carvings,but as they are only 6mmx8mm I gave up trying to take a decent picture.I have now fitted the first and the autofocus on the iphone works now the carving is fitted to the hull.I am actually up to 5 out of 6, but because I am putting two coats of varnish and then leaving 24 hours before fitting,it will be a couple of days before they are all fitted.
Kind Regards Nigel

I have decided to concentrate on detailing the bulkhead before fitting the sides to the prow,simply to make access easier.I include a snipet of the van de velde artwork I am working to.The plan is to start at the bottom and work my way up.The first job is to replicate the frames around the lower charactures.I cut a piece of !mm pear strip and cut out apertures for the carvings.Rather than leave the corners sharp like in the artwork,I decided to put 0.5mmx0.5mm chamfers on with the scalpel.I feel that this looks much better.The next task is to carve the six pediments with the climbing foliage that sit below the figurines.These will fit on the vertical sections between the panel cutouts.
Kind Regards Nigel

I have fitted the grated deck to the prow with epoxy and a few brass dowels in key positions.
Kind Regards Nigel

A small update.Both carvings/hawse holes are now sorted.I masked off and varnished the area below where the grated deck sits in preparation for fitting the deck tomorrow night.
Kind Regards Nigel

The final instalment.The rib detail was added using the scalpel and dental probe.The end detail were shaped using the scalpel.Then finally a dress up of the edges with p320 silicon carbide paper.
Kind Regards Nigel

Before proceeding any further,the carving was 'parted off'from the end of the strip and a section of stripwood was glued to the back end on so I could clamp the piece in my small proxxon machine vice.I used a dab of thick cyano for the job.
In Pic one is the two burrs I will use for the next step.
Pic two;
I first cleaned up the background of the carving using the burr in the top of pic one.You will notice that the end is flat,cutting edges only on the side.By working round and slowly dabbing the surface keeping the tool square to the face(not so easy as the carving is curved to suit the bow)I was able to reduce to final thickness and achieve a better surface finish.The sounding edges were then thinned using the burr at the bottom of pic1.These edges were lightly dabbed again with the cutter,working along the edge to thin it out
Kind Regards Nigel

First job today was to further refine the shape of the jaw and shoulder/neck area.This was carried out with the tip of the scalpel.Only removing minimal material has changed the head from 'planet of the apes'to a definate skull.
Kind Regards Nigel