Landrotten Highlander

I've got the decorations done on both sides now, more frustration because the opposite castings were different lengths and sizes so it made fitting them a bit of a puzzle and I had to re-arrange them a bit on the starboard side to make them fit but they're on. I've also finished the stern decoration, the hardest part there was fitting the lower two either side of the rudder. I found the radius of the curved section of the transom and drilled a hole through some hard wood with a 32mm speed bore which was the closest to the correct size then cut the wood through the hole to give me a mold to hold in the vice. Then I annealed the castings, laid them in the curved mold and tapped them into the curve of the mold using another piece of wood as a drift so as not to mark them. A little bit of adjusting and they fit beautifully. Unfortunately they are now a slightly different colour but I can't do anything about that, I tried gold paint but couldn't find one worth spit!
 

Hi All,
 
Another episode of ropes and accessories 😋
 
So currently I'm working on "upper level" of standing rigging like top shrouds and stays.
However, it's a good time to consider some other parts to install at that stage, so meanwhile I'm adding stuff like topmast rope and block or leechline and buntline blocks attached to the sides of main shroud eye.
It will be easier now and this way when there is some more space for fingers and not many ropes around.... later it might be 🤬🤬🤬
 
You can see also, that I've manage to do main yard halyard with one of the biggest block (ramshead) on this ship, hanging quite high above the deck 😏
Main yard is just test fitted and it will be removed.
 
Now it's time to jump to foremast top as it has similar "setup", but with just a little bit smaller rope diameter and blocks sizes.
Then last stay, which is fore topmast stay and somewhere in between futtock shrouds... and I will be ready to start with standing rigging tension adjustments and most likely fixing it in permanent position (hopefully 😳 )
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Cheers,
Matt

Hi All,
Thank you for your very generous likes guys!       
 
So another small update from me.
Now I can say that standing rigging on level 1 is done  
Time to slowly climb on upper level.
 
Foremast stay done
 

 

 
 
Gammoning also done.
 

 
 
Cheers,
Matt

Hello, thank you for your likes and Druxey for your kind words. I do my very best 😇
today I prepared the next scrolls. That are the larges and most complicated one. A Euro cent has a diameter of 16,25 mm. 
 

 

 
That is my filigree thumb, not that of King Kong!
 

#B
A pair of bend frames, but they are shown on framing plan with a larger number of spacers (but the but where this should happen is not so marked) I assume this is a mistake. Spacing foreward must allow for a sweep port.
The narrowing gap between this pair and #2 is important so as to allow remaining frames to be placed with appropriate spacing.
Measured and calculated several times, the gap on the keel seems  barely to be enough
.
#A fore-regular
     Aft a shift forward which at its upper futtock, widens to close gap to neighbouring fore#1.
This is to accommodate a pulley block above the sweep port (to be inserted later). I used a wider (7.3mm)blank and milled the aft  part for the shift and lower fore part so the upper part remaining closed the gap to the next frame.
 
# The remaining frames :
 Some confusion with the order/numbering.
With various hints and referral to the framing plan, it seems the order is (going forward) :-
Pair #1 (bend), #1B, #1A, #1O,#O (center) #AO, #A1
 
#1B - shift aftward and sweep port recessed more so gap to next frame is narrower than usual
 
# O- thinner frame -4.77mm-and each joint is framed by spacers on either side (also narrower than usual). The frame plans suggest fixing the first to the frames fore and aft (#O1 and #OA) but I felt easier to match by fixing the to both sides of #O.
Note these three all have cross chocks as bases.
 
Spaces between these frames are also narrower and as I seemed to be running out of space on the keel, made them at 1.60mm.
Nevertheless, when I dry fitted the last few frames I lacked 4mm. Not much, but the crowding was unacceptable.
 
One cause was the extra width allowed for the sweep ports until I learned that they were “countersunk” or recessed.
Anyway, some of the frames were not very good and I’d already made some other gaps too narrow.
Most of the problems were among the lettered frames ( that dyslexia again).
I removed most of the frames (alcohol) and remade completely 3 (#J,#H,#F)
Changed the casts to shifts where I had earlier made mistakes.
After a couple of days of remedial modelling, all fit with the appropriate spacing.
 
8 months of work -frustrating and satisfying- much progress in understanding and craft, but a landmark. Still to make ports, fairing etc and still on ch 3 vol 1 (of 3), but a landmark nevertheless. 
IF I CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!!

Hello and many thanks for your likes, picture and comments
now the second scroll is also ready, but they are at least not installed. There I have to fix something before that.
 

 

Today I finally got the last two frames installed at the bow and the aft end. All frames have been tree nailed to each plank it crosses.
 

Hello and many thanks for your likes
Keith, would you drive me in the ruin? The King did't pay very much
 
After the warm up rounds, now the next scroll. The left one is fresh glued and the wether is fine today, so it must wait. With the parts painted, you see at least all the unevennesses. This time I'm waiting till tomorrow and clean it then up. But I think this time I got it. The parts are 12 mm high.
 

 

 
 

@noel_colledge
@Jeronimo
 
Hello,
I would like to thank you in advance for your attention, and of course all the others for the many LIKES.

I almost forgot the tye blocks for the mizzen topmast. These tye blocks are 5 mm long, so they are smaller than, for example, the main masthead. The double strops are also thinner, but also served.
The dead eyes and the block are only shown for size comparison.

 

 

I finished the bridge and deck that comes off the front.  Lots of great little details in the Infini set for sure.  Even the underside of the deck, which one won't be able to see, had close to a dozen lattice support pieces.  The Infini set has been fantastic.  Aside from the issue I had with the ladders, the PE is firm, cut clean off the frets (the tabs connecting the parts to the fret have an indentation that allows the knife to get in and make clean cuts), and have great details.  The pictures in the instructions are well done too so you have a good sense of what you need to do.  Highly recommend the set if you are going to build this kit.
 

 

 

 

 
Thanks for looking in!
 

Siggi, the painter seems to be much more careful with the yellow paint than the red paint, there's not a speck of yellow on his smock. He's doing a fine job, maybe you should consider raising his wages? 

Hello and thank you, thank you
I think I made it. Even when the scrolls look at the moment a little bit uneven. I hope that when the paint has dried, they look better.
 
Here one is nearly ready and at the second I started carving the basic form. As you could see, here are at least the rails smooth.
 

 
And here are both ready. The left is 8 mm high, the right 7.5 mm. The rails are 3 mm hight and 1 mm deep. 
 

 
And here is all installed. The painter has painted just the rest. His favored paint is red, I think. I did't see him every day, but when I see hin he is painting red 😉
 

 

 
 

Thank you for like!
 
Channels. I had to measure their width so that the ropes would not rub against the railing, because what is painted in the plan does not agree.
 

 
Channels secured with steel pegs..
 

 

 

 

 

 
So far dry..
 

 

 

 
 

Completion of guns + swivel guns.

Hello and many thanks for your likes
today a small update. I started with the scrolls for the hansing pieces. I'm not so happy with the result. May be tomorrow it looked better when the paint has dried, or I make an other one. This piece broke into 3 pieces. 
 
That is the largest match I have 😇
 

 

Are you certain you used the right gears? 
When I compare all pictures it appears to me you have the Mercury gears working fine, but there is a discrepancy with the Venus gear - in the instructions the gear-pair on the Venus stage appear to be of similar size, while yours appear to be very different.
 
Before the lockdown I worked with a group of people on the Hachette Victory, and in that project one had to be very careful, as very often the wood for two or 3 teps further would be delivered with one issue.  For instance, you were provided with kit parts in issue G, but when carfully looking at the instructions you need part of the wood provided with G, but also some provided with D and some wood would be left for a step discussed in issue P.
 
Did I confuse you?  So were we at first...

Hi All,
 
I have some update on my build.
Rigging situation is slowly progressing
 
Shrouds are done. Obviously ratlines are still missing, but they will be rigged when all standing rigging will be done and only after final tension adjustments.
Next step was to place my hands on stays.
First... mizzen mast stay, then main mast and fore mast.
 
You might notice one "shortcut" on the stays.
Mouse... it's not 100% accurate. I was planing to do vertical threading and horizontal daring to achieve well known basket weave covering of the mouse, however I was kind of unhappy with the result and look. Especially on mizzen where mouse is quite small (also on the main topmast and fore topmast stays) . Main mast and fore mast stays are noticeably thicker and mouses are bigger so it was easier to achieve desire covering. 
...but then I've ended up with two different covering on the mouses. I've decided to match the look of bigger mouses to smaller. 
That is why I've done just simple serving on the mouses using ~0,18mm rope.
Compromise, which I'm not proud of 
...but in the end looks ok... I guess 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Also due to the thickness of mainmast and foremast stays it was necessary to do worming on them to fill the groves for serving... otherwise surface of served rope become very uneven.
 

 
 
For smaller diameter ropes I'm serving rope without worming.
 

 

A little bit more progress 
 

Hello,
a small update, the 4th layer of paint. That is the second layer with the final color. I removed the masking tape from the wales, so that all the paint could dry evenly. After that and may be a little sanding here and there, comes then the I hope last layer. I paint at the moment the port lids. 
 

Thank you for your input and thoughts. Building models according to plan or their historical accuracy is a dilemma that every builder must face. Fortunately, nowadays there are already enough quality plans.
 
I waxed the railing, covered the part where there would be other equipment..
 

 

 

 

 

 
There really isn't room for a Pin Rail on the aft deck on this plan..
 

 
Preparation for channels..
 

Making of guns, it remains to complete the rear of the guns.

Thanks Mark, she was built in 1749 for King George II.
 
That puts her 15 years ahead of Endeavour and while the replica Endeavour is clearly not the original it is regarded as one of the most accurate replicas around so I'm using my knowledge of her to guide my thinking on this build, same country, same era, same navy and basically the same size so there are bound to be many similarities and that thinking has helped me understand and in many cases change what the drawings and instructions say to do
 

Another small update. In between the riveting and framing I have been whittling away at the oars. Now the full set of 16 is ready.

@captain_hook
@bruce d
Thank you very much for your nice comments and to all the others for the many LIKES.
 
In the meantime I am already working on the mizzen topmast shrouds. There the dead eyes have a diameter of only 2.3 m. 

 

 

Slowly making progress though sometimes it's two step forward and one in reverse.   This bit was a combination.  I was one plank too high on the aft.. had to remove it.  But planking above the wale is installed, gunports cut and sized.  Also a light sanding.  Gap filling will happen after all hull planking is done.