NMBROOK

I am sure someone else will probably chime in Mark.As you know I have the plans and did scratchbuild the stem,keel and a few frames before putting the build on hold until my domestic situation resolves itself.From memory(the parts are in my storage unit)the prow tapers in both directions,downwards and towards the figurehead.I believe the section at the top touching the hull should be 8mm thick,but this tapers working downwards and forwards.This explains why your kit parts didn't match up.From memory (again) this is shown on the bow view on the sheer plan.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I am sure someone else will probably chime in Mark.As you know I have the plans and did scratchbuild the stem,keel and a few frames before putting the build on hold until my domestic situation resolves itself.From memory(the parts are in my storage unit)the prow tapers in both directions,downwards and towards the figurehead.I believe the section at the top touching the hull should be 8mm thick,but this tapers working downwards and forwards.This explains why your kit parts didn't match up.From memory (again) this is shown on the bow view on the sheer plan.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Absolutely fantastic work Nils Your hull plating looks amazing,almost a shame to paint,it looks fabulous in it's natural silver
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you for the heads up Keith.I have been waiting for something like this to come out after recent finds put into doubt the configuration of this ship.I have duly ordered a copy from Amazon
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Thank you for the heads up Keith.I have been waiting for something like this to come out after recent finds put into doubt the configuration of this ship.I have duly ordered a copy from Amazon
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Quite simply outstanding work Heinz   Personally I am not a big fan of too much paint on my models,if I were to build Victory,it would be a similar approach to yours.
Your caulking technique is not dissimilar to Russian masster Dimitry Shevelev's technique.He leaves a small gap,but after sealing he uses a bitumous wax to provide the caulking and ageing.
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ahoy Mates
 
Just received this new book Friday on the Mary Rose. I had pre-ordered mine just a year ago now. Glade that I did. I have all of the Trust books and any other books on the Mary Rose,and this new book is a great addition to my collection and more important to my building of the Caldercraft/Jotika 1/80 Mary Rose kit.
 
It is soft cover paperback  from the Naval Institute Press. around $40.00 with shipping.
 
It covers the history of the Mary Rose and has added details that all of the previuos books have not covered. The Caldercraft kit has just two upper decks above the main gun deck,but this book has drawings showing the Mary Rose in several points in its life with 4 decks above the main gun deck with high forecastle and sterncastle's.
 
It makes it look like it could capsize in any turn.
 
They also include details of the hull and interior including the different guns and rigging.
 
I highly recommend this book to Mary Rose builders and those who like the Mary Rose.
 
I would have photographed the book and details to show here,but do not know if I would get into copyright problems.
 
I do plan to finish my Mary Rose from Jotika as it is,but my 1/48 clone of this kit will be made to show the additional upper decks as it is shown in this new book.
 
Keith
 
 

I concur with George,superb attention to detail Michael    I feel that not only have we witnessed you model grow throughout your log,your skills and ingenuity have grown at the same time  Outstanding work,a true pleasure to be following along
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Ahem Dimitris....did you say a 'small update'...?
 
As far as I can see, there's nothing small about what you've achieved. Damn good stuff!
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

Hi Nigel
 
Thanks for the kind words, coming from a fellow Yorkshireman I'll take that as a real compliment.
 
Cheers
 
Martin

Beautiful work Martin
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I concur with George,superb attention to detail Michael    I feel that not only have we witnessed you model grow throughout your log,your skills and ingenuity have grown at the same time  Outstanding work,a true pleasure to be following along
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I concur with George,superb attention to detail Michael    I feel that not only have we witnessed you model grow throughout your log,your skills and ingenuity have grown at the same time  Outstanding work,a true pleasure to be following along
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

I concur with George,superb attention to detail Michael    I feel that not only have we witnessed you model grow throughout your log,your skills and ingenuity have grown at the same time  Outstanding work,a true pleasure to be following along
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Beautiful work Martin
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Beautiful work Martin
 
Kind Regards
 
Nigel

Hi All,

 

That’s the hull completed now, until I finish rigging when I’ll fit the lower deck cannons and gunport lids (less chance of accidents).  Nothing much to say about the deck fittings as they’re all pretty straightforward.  Lots of drilling for the eyebolts etc. though.

 

I’m going to be working on the masts, most of which are complete, and the yards (gives me chance to play with my new lathe).  I’ll do a separate post on the them, then it’s on to the rigging, unfortunately not my strongest point. I’m going to have a go at making my own rope, a technique I haven’t yet mastered yet by a long way, but I’m getting there, the Byrnes ropewalk is a nice piece of kit, although any hints and tips to de-mystify the age old art will more than welcome.  The rest of my Bynes machines arrived earlier this week and I’m highly delighted, thanks to those who recommended them, they’re well worth the extra shipping costs.  So, now I’ve no excuses!!!!

 

I’m at the stage in the build where my mind is wandering to my next project or more accurately projects.  It’s normally at the ratline stage where I start a new build and the current model is pushed to the back burner a bit, but I’m going to try and resist temptation this time, I want the decks cleared before I attempt anything else.

 



 



 



 



 

Just for info I’ve got two kits waiting in the wings, both chosen by the boss (she likes unusual or different models).  The first in the Mantua ‘Bruma’, and the other the Artisania ‘Red Dragon”, both nice winter projects, got a few ideas for them,  (will do build logs).  My main future build is going to be my first dabble with the mysterious world of scratch building, and that’s going to be the ‘Marie Sophie’ from the Underhill plans.  I’ve ordered all the wood from a company called ‘Original Marquetry’ based in Bristol, who were quite happy to cut Boxwood and Pear to my required thickness and the price wasn’t unreasonable, I’ll be able to cut to my exact size myself now with the Table Saw. 

 

I still haven’t quite figured out how to finish the base for the pedestal stands.  It’s a piece of MDF routed to shape, my thoughts are just to spray it high gloss black, but I’m open to ideas.

 

So exciting times ahead, and I have to fit in our main holiday at the end of November as well, until my next post

 

Cheers

 

Martin

 

 

 

 

 

Hi All

 

Things have been a bit slow again this week as I’m still trying to sort my workroom out, but I did manage to get the cannons completed.

 

I was originally in two minds whether to fully rig the cannon or just rig the breeching ropes, but I finally decided to go for the latter.  The carriages are one piece milled wood which look a bit chunky, but after fitting a couple of rigging eyes and the straps that hold the cannon, don’t look too bad.

 



 

For the rigging I used what I think are called ‘Zip seizing’, a nice little tip from the ‘Ship Modelling for Dummy’s’ website (well worth subscribing to).  If anyone is unfamiliar with them, it’s simply thread wound around a suitable diameter bar and soaked with cyano, I use the dead cheap stuff you can buy by the gallon and is usually only good for sticking fingers.  Once removed you have a nice tube which you can run your thread through.  A little tip, I found that if you clean the bar with fine grade wire wool and rub the tiniest amount of beeswax on before making the seizing, they come off dead easy.  For the length of the breeching rope I made up a little jig.  I’ve added some images to give you the idea.

 



 



 



 

The carriages are dowelled to the deck with a toothpick and that’s about it. 

 



 



 

So, short but sweet, I’m hoping this time next week the hull will be all about there.  Then it’s on to the masts, yards and rigging.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

 

Hi All

 

Seems like an age since I last posted, but I have been a bit tied up redesigning and fitting out my workshop (spare bedroom) ready for my new machines.  

 

I’ve been working on the stern gallery, prow section, chainplates and adding the etched brass decorations.  The Stern Gallery and Prow were pretty straightforward, just a case of fitting, painting and adding the edging strips. I know I’m nit picking but the edging strip is 1 x 2 mm and there wasn’t quite enough supplied with the kit, fortunately I did have some spare which saved the day.  The paint I used was the Citadel ‘Loren Forest’ which is an absolutely perfect match with the green in the decorative patterns.  The prow side pieces I’ve just held in place with double sided sticky tape for the time being, I’ll fix them permanently once the bowsprit is in place and the gammoning is done, just gives me a little bit more room to work on the rigging.

 



 



 



 



 

The etched brass decorations look pretty good once in place, although I’m not 100 per cent sure about the coat of arms at the stern, the ‘animals’ (not sure what they are) look a bit two dimensional.  I’m not sure how my non-existent sculpting skills would match up to my expectations, so I decided to go with the brass one supplied, perhaps resin ones may have been better?

 

The chainplates were then fitted, and are quite solid with the support brackets attached, I know I’m tempting fate but I didn’t think it was necessary to dowel them for extra strength.  The brass bits were blackened and fitted with no great problem apart from the usual struggle to get them on to the deadeyes.  All the deadeyes were secured using the etched brass straps pinned to the whales, just a case of measuring with dividers or compass and bending in the right place.

 

I think the next job will be the cannons. I’ll probably build a little ‘mock-up’ to see how one looks as I’m still unsure about the carriages supplied.  I have actually found a decent picture of the type used during that period in one of the books I bought the other week and I suppose they’re not too far off. 

 

A quick update, the lathe and milling machine has arrived and are now (after a struggle - bloody heavy, I owe a couple of friends quite a few beers) in place.  Probably, for model ship building they are an overkill, as they are quite large.  Having said that I’m glad I went for that size as there’s not much I won’t be able to tackle with them in the future, I’m highly delighted.  I’ve uploaded a photo of my workroom, please don’t think I’m trying to show off, but it’s the first time in my life I’ve ever had anywhere half decent to work before, can’t believe my luck.  Don’t know how long it will stay as clean.

 



 



 

Cheers

 

Martin

 

 

Hi All

 

Here we are again.  Don’t know why but progress has seemed slow since the last post, but at last I think I’ve now reached the interesting stage where I can start adding detail to the model.

 

I finished planking the bulwarks apart from a little bit at the stern, mainly because I haven’t figured out how I want to do it yet, then on to the capping rails.  Seemed to take an age but was worth taking my time with, the hull looks so much nicer now all the gaps and joins are covered up.

 



 



 



 

 

I followed up with the etched brass door frames and doors, and stern window framing.  I started by spraying the frames yellow with acrylic, then hand painted the doors with brown enamel, not so much by choice (I’m not the biggest fan of Humbrol) but I went to the shop to get some green for the Stern Gallery and Prow and completely forgot the brown.  I think I’ve mentioned before, the paint I’ve been using is from the Citadel range, it’s the first time I’ve tried spraying it but it went on beautifully, thinned with water and the tiniest amount of washing up liquid to break the surface tension.  The hinges and door handles I blackened using Birchwood Casey Brass Black.

 



 



 



 

Now the job I’ve seemed to be putting off, the lower three whales.  The lower most whale I spent quite some time bending so it would lay flat against the hull, and once I was happy with the fit, I sprayed them using the Citadel Chaos Black aerosol before fitting (I can’t recommend it highly enough).  I also fit the hawse hole boards at the bow, bit nerve racking drilling the holes.

 

 

That’s about where I am at the moment, so its on with the stern gallery and prow before I tackle the deck fittings etc. 

 

 

Couple of little asides, went to a car boot sale last weekend, picked up a couple of little gems, a set of travel sized ceramic hair straighteners, forget the commercial plank benders thats the way to go, just damp the wood and run it through the tongs and a perfect curve. The other was a cribbage board, I can think of a hundred and one uses for it, everything from a drying rack to a bending jig to a rigging stand, I’m sure you’ll see it pop up quite often during the build log. And finally all 22 volumes of the Seafarer book series all in mint condition. The whole lot less than £20, (just love bargains).  I’ve added a couple of photos of these in action, the reason they work so well is I’m getting even heat on both sides of the wood (the cribbage board is metal faced so it retains the heat).

 



 



 



 



 

Second little aside, I’ve ordered my machines, and yes, I have gone the Byrnes route, and yes, I’ve ordered the disc sander and thicknesser as well. Think Xmas is coming early this year.

 

Hi All

 

After a week of unseasonably hot weather in Crete (40 degrees when we left) it’s back to the workshop.  Before I went away I managed a day or so working on the masts, mainly because I didn’t want to work on the hull in case I made some mistake I couldn't rectify before the holiday, unfortunately I’m one of those who would have spent the whole week sulking about it.

 

 

It would have been nice to report I had found a new devious way of stepping the masts, but I haven’t so it was out with a nice sharp chisel and cut the square profiles by hand.  The fore-top and main-top went together easily and are ready for spraying.  There’s still quite a bit of work to do on shaping the masts and rigging them, but I’ll need to have a study session on the rigging plans first. I’ll talk more on the masts at a later date.

 



 

Back to the hull, and I decided to plank the bulwarks to hide the dibetou fillers.  The main deck bulwark I staggered the planking so I could get a good fit with the bulkheads and just fill in on one plank section, don’t know if the picture explains that properly.  

 



 



 



 

Before I applied the ‘precious’ paper patterns (love that name) I finished all the fiddly jobs like lining the gunports, and finish plank the stern, underneath the stern gallery walkway etc.  Time to see if all that messing around with setting the whales has paid off and, happily, I can report it has.  The decorative patterns went on perfectly, my only criticism is when you cut round openings it leaves the white of the paper showing, will just be a matter of using a coloured felt tip or something to colour them.

 

A word of warning to my friends who are also building this model, the lowermost pattern, No 13 you must split at the stern galley door otherwise it won't be long enough as I found out to my cost, I had to cut the door area out and try to graft it at the bow, there’s no way can you remove the paper once the glue is on.  It does actually show it in the manual but it isn’t highlighted, that’s my excuse for missing it!

 

Just waiting on some decent dry weather now so I can spray the whales before fitting, but plenty to be getting on with in the meantime, what to do next?

 

A little aside, I’ve had a windfall, (only a small one), by way of a pension I had completely forgotten about.  I’ve decided to get ‘tooled up’ and am looking at some machinery.  I’m going to invest in a small table saw, a milling machine and a lathe.  The ones I’m looking at is the Proxxon  bench saw and milling machine, and the Toolco 1022 lathe.  I know a lot you out there recommend the Byrnes Table Saw and I could be swayed, it’s just the shipping that worries me.  Any thoughts on the Proxxon stuff, and has anyone had experience with the Toolco lathes? 

 

Sorry about the lack of photos, think I need a new camera this one's not holding its charge any more.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

 

 

 

 

Hi All

 

Latest update coming up!  I think progress hasn’t been too bad since the last post, the side panels are fitted and She’s starting to look like a ship at last.

 

Fitting the side panels wasn’t the stressful experience I thought it might have been, they just needed a little trimming here and there to line up properly, whether or not it was the time I spent earlier setting them up of just sheer good luck we’ll never know.  Before fitting I sprayed them with a couple of coats of white primer to fill the grain and then finished it off with white acrylic.  Just for your information the best acrylic sprays I’ve found are from the Citadel range, they’re the ones who do the Warhammer games and have wonderful names like Chaos Black, Skull White, Vomit Green etc.  they go on evenly and dry quickly leaving a nice sheen finish.

 



 



 

 

Once the side panels were in place I fitted the inner bulwarks to strengthen the joint. The bulwarks  are made from one piece and are impossible to fit neatly as they are, as they need cutting to both length and height and then slotted to fit over the decorative strips on the bulkheads (if anyone has any ideas how to do this please tell me).  The only solution I could come up with was to cut them in half and fit in two parts. It’s no big deal as I’m going to plank them anyway.

 



 

The whale above the gunports I set in much the same way as the others, using a strip of 4mm walnut lined up with the gunport tops and measurements taken from the plan to make sure it ran parallel to the others.  I then planked in-between the whales, which was a little bit fiddly to make sure there were no unsightly gaps. I’m not going to bang on about if there were some 5mm strip it would have been easier, I think I’ve said enough about that (get over it Martin!!!).  Planking above the whale is straightforward especially as that will be covered in decoration at a later stage.

 



 



 



 

So, all in all, I think the critical bits have been done now, and to be honest, without too much trauma.  Most of the work left on the hull is mainly cosmetic, so hopefully it will be just a case of taking my time and working as neatly as possible.  Time-wise, this is week seven since I started so I reckon just under 300 hours (it’s great being retired and the missus still working).  I’m not sure if I’ll get chance to post before my holiday, so if not, see you when I get back.

 

Cheers or should I say Yamas (think that's Greek for cheers)

 

Martin

 

 

 

 

Hi All,

 

Back again with another progress report.  I’ve spent the last week working on the Quarter Deck and Poop Deck both of which were planked off model.  Before planking the Quarter Deck, I made up the hatch surround and cut away the beam crossing the opening and added two support posts as in the other decks.

 



 

I was surprised that the poop deck blank provided was made from 2mm MDF, it’s far too rigid to conform to the camber, so I cut a blank from the left over ply sheet and planked that.

 



 

Now to my favourite part of the build, the deck fittings and bulkheads.  The cover for the helmsman I made up pretty much as per instructions apart from adding the curved roof which I made from an off cut of ply before planking, I also planked the walls and added some relief from the ‘L’ shaped walnut included in the kit.

 



 

  The bulkheads I also decided to plank below the decoration, as I said earlier, I’m not too keen on having the dibetou on show as the colour and grain patterns are pretty inconsistent, plus I’m pretty sure it would have been planked anyway.  I was pleased the way the paper decoration went on, and, after a coat of matt varnish look pretty good.

 



 

I haven’t permanently fixed the poop-deck or bulkheads in position yet, I want to add some planks to the rear of the poop side patterns where the openings for the swivel guns are, I know it’s a minor detail, but if I don’t, that little voice in my head says I’ll regret it later.

 



 



 

All in all, a very pleasant part of the build, Revenge is starting to come together now, which leaves me a couple of days to work on the Forecastle before the boss begins her pre-holiday stress and panic week, but that’s another story… 

 

Cheers

 

Martin

Hi All

 

The main deck was my next step, with one deviation from the manual instructions.  The instructions recommend partially planking and fitting before removing the bulkhead tops, but I prefer working off model wherever possible and didn’t see any reason why the deck couldn’t be fully planked at this stage.   The manual also recommends removing the bulkhead tops by twisting them with a pair of pliers, but a much easier and cleaner way is to use a pair of snips and clip them off which is easy due to the softness of the MDF.

 

I have to admit I’ve had to reign myself in a bit, I think I’ve reached the stage where psychologically I think all the hard works been done and it’s all downhill from here, but I had to remind myself that there’s a long way to go yet, slow down!!!.  It’s a bit of a dangerous stage where one can think nothing can go wrong now and tend to start rushing things, I don’t know whether anyone else has experienced this.  Still, another 2 weeks, and it’s a week in Crete for a bit of sunshine, we certainly aren’t getting any here in Jersey!

 

 

Anyway, enough of me rambling on, back to the build log.  I did mention earlier that I intend leaving the grating off the hatches on the main deck so you can look down through the hull, and I thought it could do with a little bit more interest (although you can’t see much). It’s not worth going to the trouble of rigging the guns as you can’t really see them so I thought it might be an idea to make some cannon ball racks to run along the gun deck hatches, and in my opinion they don’t look too bad.  If anyone’s interested I’ve put up an image of how I mark them out and keep the holes aligned, just glue some graph paper along the wood and mark with a bradawl before drilling.  For some reason Amati have included ten barrels in the kit, they don’t give any indication where to put them, but I thought I could put some of them to use at the end of the hatch and made up a simple rack as stowage, you can probably see better in the picture.

 



 



 



 



 



 

I did remember to clean every thing down and blow out all the dust before fitting the deck, it’s a shame really ‘cos theres a lot of work covered up, you can see bits of it now if you look through the gunports etc. but when the models finished I think your in great danger of getting your eye poked out by a yard or mast to see most of it.

 

Although I’m absolutely gagging to start on the fancy bulkheads, I think the logical way to go is to complete all the decks first, so it’s on with the quarter deck and forecastle deck next, then I can think about turning our ‘Plain Jane’ into the ‘Belle of the Ball’.

 

 

 

It was my intention to crack on and plank the main deck, but unfortunately ‘The Devil’s Cat’ a.k.a. Pudding had other ideas when she decided to take up residence on my kit (no pun intended) box. It’s not a case of not having the heart to move her, I just don’t have the bottle, so time to think of something else.

 



 

I decided I’d start work on the stern which involves planking the stern gallery bulkhead and painting the gallery windows, which would normally be straightforward if only I had the eyesight I had twenty years ago.  On the prototype the windows are painted all white, but correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they had double glazing in Elizabethan times and window leading was lead coloured.  I did a bit of research on Blackening Brass and came up with soaking the parts in white vinegar for a while to clean before putting into the solution which worked well.  After blackening I buffed them up with a soft cloth and although I say it myself, looked pretty good, all that’s left now are the frames to paint!!!  As it happened painting wasn’t too painful with the aid of a magnifying lamp, the relief on the etchings been pretty good.

 

 

The stern bulkhead was planked with 0.5 x 3mm strip as I don’t really like the grain on dibetou, it’s OK for smaller areas but the black flecks in the grain can be a bit too much in your face on larger areas in my opinion.

 



 

I’ve fitted the bits for the helmsman which I made earlier and made up the cannon carriages for the lower decks.  Being a hoarder has its advantages (I hate throwing offcuts etc. away),all the bits that push out of the sheet parts I have kept, and there are two very nice pieces of 2mm that fit perfectly to make a platform for the two carriages at the stern rearmost gunports which are pretty low.

 



 

Next job is to set up the decks and bulwarks to be sure everything lines up properly before planking now I’ve managed to retrieve the parts as the moggy’s gone for dinner, so will update soon.