Jeff-E

Hello All,
The second layer of planking was completed and sanded.
   
    
     
      
      
The next job is to mark the water line and to remove the extensions on the bulkheads so that the deck can be fitted.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hello All,
The second layer of planking was completed and sanded.
   
    
     
      
      
The next job is to mark the water line and to remove the extensions on the bulkheads so that the deck can be fitted.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hello All,
The second layer of planking was completed and sanded.
   
    
     
      
      
The next job is to mark the water line and to remove the extensions on the bulkheads so that the deck can be fitted.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Today worked on small details.
Frame - mahagony stain
Pins - ebony stain
 
I use Admiralty stains and varnishes cause im not so familiar with hardware stoor products yet and they seems like a safe solution.
 

A diversion from the rigging this week, made and fitted the stern window shutters. I made them with a window shaped raised bit that fits snugly inside the widow frames when closed, they stayed in place when just sat in position , then I made hinges. Also fitted the rudder pendants.





 

Hello All, 
The second planking continued with no major problems. These planks were shaped the same way as the first layer of planks by soaking them in water and pinning them to the hull, allowing them to dry and then gluing them into position.
     
      
      
      
      
      
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hello All, 
The second planking continued with no major problems. These planks were shaped the same way as the first layer of planks by soaking them in water and pinning them to the hull, allowing them to dry and then gluing them into position.
     
      
      
      
      
      
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.

Hi all,
Thanks very much for the kind words chaps, they are very encouraging indeed, as are the likes.
Hi Sgt_Hoser, l haven't completed all the Standing rigging for the Bowsprit yet but l will try and fit in a couple of extra pictures of today's session for you, l hope they help.
I had said l was taking a rest day today, l was planning a fishing or birding trip but it was so rainy first thing l decided to crack on with the build.
I concentrated on the Bowsprit, mostly the Standing rigging but also a section of Running rigging, for variety. 🤣
First up are several shots of the Bowsprit Standing rigging for Sgt_Hoser, l hope they help. By the way Sgt_Hoser, how about setting up a build log of your Victory, l would love to see it. I am sure it would help.

Here are two shots of the Running rigging for two of the Forward Stays.

l haven't tied off any of my running rigging yet, l like to make sure it is all nicely tightened first. Also, l am very nervous of that task as, once it is done, it's done. Any errors would mean starting again. 
Having said that, l am running out of my mini pegs. 
And finally, this is where I am now. 

During my next session l should be able to complete the Bowsprit rigging, with any luck
Best wishes as always, 
The Lazy Saint. 
 
Session.         Time.           Total.  
55.                   3 hrs.            188.

Hi all
 
Have made some progress-installed the keels and railings. Also started with small details-thats a strugle cause my fingers are too big.
 
Need some help-apparently somehow there is hole next to keel on deck olanking. How to fill it so its visually good also?
 
Regarding Occre instructions-they seem many times unclear and there isnt enough pictures about finished ship. Also some drill hole sizes dont match up etc. But i guess every kit has a problem and eventually you will find a way. And offcourse finally its handcrafted by yourself and modifications are allowed.

I have had my eye on Caldercraft Cruiser and Master Korabel Polotsk. Found a super deal on Cruiser(stock sale) and ordered it. Also friend visited Russia and got myself Polotsk for almost 50% of the normal retail price. Thought if i dont build them then i can always sell them atleast with same price-so lets call it an investement.
 
Building ships has lead me to think about own house again. Just to have my own room for hobbies soni dont have to collect my stuff every time i finish build for the day. At the moment i share office table with my wife. Cause mu son is only 2 years old i can only build when hes at sleep so progress isnt satisfying for me at the moment:). 
 
Butnother than that i keep pushing.
 
 

Hello All, 
The second planking was done with the supplied 1 x 4 mm walnut strips which were fairly good quality after a light sand. The first plank to be fitted was the garboard strake.
    
    
Then planks were laid alternately above and below the wale and from the garboard strake up.
    
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Hello All, 
After the keel and stern counter were dry the stern counter was planked. The sternpost was fitted temporarily so that the planks were laid hard up against it to eliminate any gap when it permanently fixed.
      
The next step was to add the black strake and the wales. The positioning of these planks is important to determine the rest of the run of second planks above and below the wale. The first plank is position so that it sits 1.5mm below gunports 2 thru 5 and is the allowed to follow it's natural lie fore and aft of these points.
      
      
       
The wale plank is laid directly underneath the first plank and is the same material as the first, 4 x 1 mm walnut and both planks are untapered. A 4 x 0.5 mm plank is then laid on top of the first plank and a 4 x 1 mm plank is laid on top of the second plank forming the black strake and wale.
       
        
        
I like this method of approaching the second planking, laying the wales first, as it gives you a clear line above and below it for the run of planks. The other kits I have done have you complete the second planking first and then add the wales over the top of it. If it is practical I will use this method in future builds.
All comments welcome 
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 
 
 

Hello All, 
The first planking was completed without an further issues and a few hollows were filled. 
     
      
      
      
The hull was sanded and the planks were trimmed at the bow to allow the stem post to fit snugly between them.
I cut a 1 x1 mm rabbet into the stem post and keel using a 1mm milling bit in my dremel mounted on it's drill stand. I mounted the part to be machined in a vice and then set the depth of the cut on the drill stand and manoeuvred the vice underneath it by hand as I don't have an 'X' 'Y' machining table. The cuts are not as accurate as you would get them with a table but I think they turned out OK.
After the rabbets were cut the stem and keel were doweled and glued to the hull.
      
       
The rabbet can seen in the above photo. The stern extensions and the stern counter were then fitted.
       
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
  

Hello All,
The first planking is the next stage of the build. As mentioned earlier, when I restarted this log, this is where my problems began that caused me to shelve the build.
The main problem was at the bow as the planks started to curve down towards the keel I noticed a clinkering effect was starting to appear and to get the planks to butt up flush with the plank above it a gap was formed between the plank and the frames, especially on the first 3 frames from the bow. This got worse the further down towards the keel I went and I started to add spacers in between the plank and the frame. I stopped after I had added 4 planks to the starboard side and 5 to the port side. The gap between the last plank laid on the port side and frame 2 was about 1mm was only going to get worse if I continued so that is when it went on the shelf for a while, quite a long while as it turned out.
So when I got it out again and had a good look at it the only thing I could think of that would cause the planks to lay as they were was that the frames had not been faired correctly so I removed all the planks except for the first one on each side that sits under the gunport patterns. I made up two bow filler blocks from pine and fitted them in between frames 1 and 2, which I was going to fit in the first place but decided against it because I did not think they would be needed on such a small hull. After fitting them I carefully faired the hull again paying special attention to the bow area and checking the lay of the planks as I went. It turns out I wasn't far out with the original fairing but enough to cause me problems. I decided when fitting the planks this time I would fit the garboard strake and the plank next to it and then plank alternately from the top down and the bottom up. Thankfully Caldercraft supplied enough planks in the kit to cover my mistake.
I cannot find any photos of the planking before it was removed but below are a few photos of how the new planks went on.
    
     
     
You should be able to see the bow filler blocks in the second and third photo. All of the planks except the first one underneath the gunport pattern and the garboard strake were tapered at the bow, most of them to 2mm (half their width). They were shaped at the bow and the stern by soaking them in water and then pinning them to the model and allowing them to dry and then finally gluing them on.
    
    
   Even after tapering them to half their original width a stealer was still need at the bow.
   
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Hello All,
After the structure had dried the frames were faired.
        
       
The stempost in the first photo is only temporarily fitted. I have decided to leave the stempost and keel off the model until the first planking is completed.
The next job was to fit the gunport patterns, they are cut from 0.8mm ply and are fairly fragile so I made a jig from a strip of 2mm aluminium bent around the gunport former to give me their shape at the bow.
      
      
The ply gunport patterns were then soaked in water for about 1 hour and then clamped to the jig and allowed to dry.
      
After they had dried they were glued to the model following the instructions in the manual.
      
      
The model was then set aside to dry for 24 hrs.
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 
 
 

Hello All, 
The second planking was done with the supplied 1 x 4 mm walnut strips which were fairly good quality after a light sand. The first plank to be fitted was the garboard strake.
    
    
Then planks were laid alternately above and below the wale and from the garboard strake up.
    
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Hello All, 
The second planking was done with the supplied 1 x 4 mm walnut strips which were fairly good quality after a light sand. The first plank to be fitted was the garboard strake.
    
    
Then planks were laid alternately above and below the wale and from the garboard strake up.
    
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Hello All, 
After the keel and stern counter were dry the stern counter was planked. The sternpost was fitted temporarily so that the planks were laid hard up against it to eliminate any gap when it permanently fixed.
      
The next step was to add the black strake and the wales. The positioning of these planks is important to determine the rest of the run of second planks above and below the wale. The first plank is position so that it sits 1.5mm below gunports 2 thru 5 and is the allowed to follow it's natural lie fore and aft of these points.
      
      
       
The wale plank is laid directly underneath the first plank and is the same material as the first, 4 x 1 mm walnut and both planks are untapered. A 4 x 0.5 mm plank is then laid on top of the first plank and a 4 x 1 mm plank is laid on top of the second plank forming the black strake and wale.
       
        
        
I like this method of approaching the second planking, laying the wales first, as it gives you a clear line above and below it for the run of planks. The other kits I have done have you complete the second planking first and then add the wales over the top of it. If it is practical I will use this method in future builds.
All comments welcome 
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 
 
 

Hello All, 
The second planking was done with the supplied 1 x 4 mm walnut strips which were fairly good quality after a light sand. The first plank to be fitted was the garboard strake.
    
    
Then planks were laid alternately above and below the wale and from the garboard strake up.
    
All comments welcome.
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 

Hi Daliab,
The figure head castings supplied by Mantua are very thick and need a lot of thinning on the inside of them to get them to sit properly, at least the ones supplied for my bow section of the kit did. I thinned the top one down until the crown sat fully on the stem post and glued it on with epoxy the second piece was widened until it sat underneath it. See the picture below.
                     
However I now believe this is wrong. The instructions in my kit did not mention notching the stem but it would allow the figurehead to sit back more on the stem and the bottom piece to hang straighter and fit tighter against the stem.
Hope this helps.

Thanks. I knew you did your homework but it just seemed counter intuitive. Maybe Mrs Hamilton did the decorating !

Hello All, 
After the keel and stern counter were dry the stern counter was planked. The sternpost was fitted temporarily so that the planks were laid hard up against it to eliminate any gap when it permanently fixed.
      
The next step was to add the black strake and the wales. The positioning of these planks is important to determine the rest of the run of second planks above and below the wale. The first plank is position so that it sits 1.5mm below gunports 2 thru 5 and is the allowed to follow it's natural lie fore and aft of these points.
      
      
       
The wale plank is laid directly underneath the first plank and is the same material as the first, 4 x 1 mm walnut and both planks are untapered. A 4 x 0.5 mm plank is then laid on top of the first plank and a 4 x 1 mm plank is laid on top of the second plank forming the black strake and wale.
       
        
        
I like this method of approaching the second planking, laying the wales first, as it gives you a clear line above and below it for the run of planks. The other kits I have done have you complete the second planking first and then add the wales over the top of it. If it is practical I will use this method in future builds.
All comments welcome 
Thanks for looking and the likes.
 
 
 

And a few more....
                     
                     
                     
                     
Thanks to all of those who looked in and left comments or likes. I am quite happy with how the finished model turned out with all of the modifications and enhancements I made to the original kit.
Thanks again for looking.

Hello All,
The following photos are of the finished model and were taken back in 2016. Please excuse the clutter in the background.
                           
                           
                           
                           
                           
 

Hello All,
The last things to do on the model were to fit the anchors and tidy up the paint work on the cross section and fit the photo etched knee brackets.
The first two photos show the cross section painted and the second the knees temporarily in place.
                            
                             
The anchors were made up from the kit parts and primed.
                             
They were then painted black and the puddening was added to the rings.
                            
They were attached to the anchor cable using a clinch knot which was seized with 0.10mm natural thread, they were then rigged and hung from the catheads.
                            
                             
Thanks for looking.

Hello All,
The catharpins were fitted next they were made from 0.75mm black thread with an eye formed in each end they are lashed to the shrouds and futtock staves at the fourth, fifth and seventh shroud, binding the port and starboard shrouds together. There are normally 4 catharpins, the fourth fitted to the ninth shroud, but seeing as this model only has 8 shrouds the fourth has been omitted.
                       
The rigging for the spritsail yard was set up next.
                       
                        
 There are two lifts on this yard the standing lift and the yard lifts. The standing lift which has an eye formed in each end, one end being lashed to the yard about 50mm from the slings and the other end lashed to a thimble in a collar on the bowsprit aft of the bees, it is made from 0.5mm black thread. The standing end of the yard lift falls has a hook seized to it which attaches to an eye bolt in the bowsprit cap, the running end reeves through a block on the end of the yard and the through the block on cap and runs down to belay on timber heads on the forecastle breast rail.
The cluelines also belay on timber heads on the forecastle breast rail.
The standing end of the spritsail yard braces is seized to the forestay just above the mouse and eye, the running end reeves through the brace block on the end of the yard and then up through two blocks fitted under the foretop and down to tie off on a timber head on the side rail.
                    
The jackstaff was the fitted to the bowsprit cap and rigged with it's halliard and stays which are anchored with eye bolts to the marines walk.
                    
Thanks for looking and the likes.