zoly99sask

I got all the mahogany strips for the keel glued in place and smoothed.  It turned out okay. 
 
Then came the lacquer, mostly to protect the bare wood from contaminants.
 
I took the hull outside to spray the lacquer.  With the house closed up, the lacquer smell permeates every room, even with the shop door closed.  So the hull got a little sun today.  

After I get the deck glued down, I'll trim the planks flush.
 
On a sad note, when I was gluing the keel strips in place, I used rubber bands around the hull.  At one point I placed the stern on the floor to put some rubber bands on at the bow.  The bow was leaning on my knee with the keep in the air.  The weight of the keel spun it around and I heard a sickening CRUNCH!  I looked at the stern and about half of the planks on the transom broke off below the rail line.  Two steps forward, one step back...

Especially  this one  -      http://countyclassdestroyers.co.uk/Fife.htm
 
 
OC.

Kevin  give this site a try for photos info etc its very good     -    http://countyclassdestroyers.co.uk/
 
 
OC.

When I went over devonshire at portsmouth navy days.
 
 
OC.

This is an Amazing build and closer to me than anything I have ever seen or followed,   Devonsire Class was always my favorite ships and when I was quite young I had the chance to go over Devonshire at Portsmaouth Navy Days in 1976,   what an experiance,   this fuled my love affiar of the Navy and led to me spending a week at Collingwood when I was 15, as a work experience course - I went through the week with flying colors, and a  year or so later I applied to join as a WEM first class, with the hope and dream of serving on a type 42, but alas I failed the entrance exam only slightly on my maths but never bothered to try again.
 
Following this build with so much passion
 
OC.

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 

Continuation.
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
Pawel

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 

Continuation.
 
 
 

 

 

 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 

Continuation.
 
 

 

 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 
 
 

Continuation.
 
 

 

 

 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
 

Continuation.
 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 
The beginning of the relation is available at this address:
 
 
http://5500.forumact...ndre-1-24#66516
 
 
 
Regards, Pawel
 
 
 

This one I certainly don't want to miss!! After your initial post on Shore Leave, I was waiting for your build log to start. Looking good Kevin.

Way ahead
Hull will be left alone at this stage, 
deck will be made at a later date, but for now the plans will be traced and placed onto a work board

Superstructure

Research is going to be the name of the game for this build, from the plans i have to find decent photos to back them up, there are lots of photos out there finding the right ones is harder

i will be building everything in card first, this might work for me, as I am already finding things that dont quite work first time around, I purchased a load of A4 and then A3 sheets of styrene from Ebay, in 0.5, 0.75 and 1mm sheets, but im not in a hurry to use it


So lets make a start

Hanger

the hanger on Fife was off set with the doors on the port side so i got to work
 

the first attempt had a few mistakes, 
 
 
 

 

 

this is just the basic shape, the finished one will have open doors with hanger details and internal lighting (if i knew how)
 
needs to be altered to accommodate the funnel, but im happy with what i tried to achieve
 

lots to discuss with this build, more questions than answers, and the way I plan to build her will no doubt seam strange but here goes
the plans came from a company called Jecobin, i dont know if they are the same ones that come from where i Purchased the hull, but thats the company I chose they are 1/1 so the to shhets give the full representation of the finished vessel 2.3m and cost me £55


 
 
the hull came from a company called fleetscale in Cornwall UK, A gentleman called Justin kept me informed of progress and it was delivered in less than 3 weeks, the price was about £170 and the postage another £30
 
 
 
 
 



 

A new build so I have something to do while waiting for Vasa parts.
 
I ordered this from Maristella and apart from the excellent service Mr. Pavlovich offers I believe that they offer the best prices in Europe. 
My only regret is that I did not order one of Marisstellas own kits instead. But then again I have a reason saving up money for that in the future.
 
The Xebec is the smallest shipmodel I have had so far. But the rigging is something that I for some reason wanted to try out. And it will be like a practice before I go on with my Pinco Genovese that is more like a semi scratch build from Euromodel Como.
 
Here's the pics:

 
Stuff:
They updated the older kit from 1027 to 1427.

 
 
There are 4 sheets of plans. 3 and 4 are of the updates.

 
 
Instructions in Italian, but there is a paper included with the English translation.

 
Bits and pieces:

 
More:

 
Ships boat:

 
Wood, Looks like good quality.

 
And we're underway!!!

 
 

And now a question.
 
Ever heard of a breastshook?
This is a solid piece of wood that is attached to the bow.

 
A piece of wood on the deck as an example (Not yet in the right shape)

Would i attach this part on the deck?
Or is this actually placed under this deck? And is thereby invisible on this model.
 
i did a google search
But found no satisfactory answer

The plywood frames are replaced with frames of solid cherry wood.
After long thinking I took 9mm as a space between the frames.
It seems that the distance between 2 frames  could have been between 38 and 45 cm (on scale 1/45 =  9 to 10 mm).
This can match the width of the gun ports (40 cm) (10mm on scale 1/45)

I made  a mistake :
I should have replaced the plywood frames first before start planking the upper hull.
Now I have a few frames that are in the middle of a cannon port.
I did not find any way to avoid this
I hope that this is no longer noticeable after the hull is fully planked.

 
Frames are supported at the top with soft wooden spacers (later easily removable).
All the frames are now too long ( Shortening them is easier than making them longer)


An extension must still  be provided to the transom for the poop deck.
But before I can do this, I must first know where the other decks will match the transom. 
I think I choose for a balcony around the stern.
Maybe it's wrong, maybe it's right. Who knows?

Thanks for following this buildlog
Index post 1

Thank you Lawrence.
 
Scratchbuilding a wooden ship  is something totally new to me.
Before I started this, I had no idea of the complex structure of the interior of a wooden ship.  
I have learned a lot of shipbuilding in the 16th century.
 
If all of the information I found is helpful to others.
glad to be of service.
 
Meanwhile, construction continues.
Saw cherry wood (With old-fashioned and with modern tools)

Replace  the plywood frames (work in progress).

I hope to do an update soon
 
 
And everyone
Thank you for following this log
 
Index post 1

Design and construction
Fife was the first and only British warship to bear the name, for county Fife. She was a Mk2 Guided Missile Destroyer (GMD, also referred to pre-1975 by its then US Navy/NATO designator DLG (Large Destroyer (USN 'Frigate') carrying long range surface to air missiles for area defence; post-1975 DDG, 'destroyer' with similar characteristics). The Mk2 designator refers to her primary armament, the Seaslug Mk2 missile. The weapon had begun development in the early fifties and entered service in the Mk1 GMDs like Hampshire. By modern standards the Seaslug is a huge missile with one sustainer rocket motor and 4 disposable boosters. The missile was a so-called 'beam rider'. It was launched from a huge rail launcher in the stern and boosted into the guidance beam from the fire direction radar which pointed at the target, a high altitude supersonic attack aircraft. Once in the beam the missile would fly at supersonic speed to the target where a proximity fuze would detect the target and detonate the continuous rod warhead.
The ship was ordered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 26 September 1961. The keel was laid on 1 June 1962 by Fairfield Shipbuilding and the vessel was launched 9 July 1964. Fife was commissioned 21 June 1966 with the pennant number D20.
Royal Navy service
In 1969, Fife took part in a group deployment around the world. She left Portsmouth on 1 April 1970 and sailed to Safi in Morocco; the first visit by a British warship for over a 100 years. Then to Lagos in Nigeria just at the end of the Biafran War. From Lagos to Simon's Town in South Africa. The gates of the former British Naval base still bore the royal cypher, VR. From Simon's Town, she briefly took part in the Beira Patrol off the shores of Rhodesia after Prime Minister Ian Smith declared Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. The Beira Patrol was a naval blockade to enforce economic sanctions on the errant regime. From there she crossed the Indian Ocean and stopped off at the NATObase on the island of Gan en route to Singapore. There she spent 6 weeks in an Assisted Maintenance Period (AMP) before heading for the South China Sea to conduct the first live firings of the Sea Slug Mk2 area protection anti-aircraft missile. The ship had been refitted in Portsmouth to accommodate a larger war-load of missiles and this work was completed in Singapore where she took on live missiles. The trials were successful against US targets from bases in the Philippines. After this she went to Hong Kong and Kobe in Japan for Expo 70, before heading to Pearl Harbor on Hawaii and then on to Long Beach in California and Acapulco in Mexico and via the Panama Canal to Puerto Rico and on to the Mediterranean. She visited Toulon and spent time in Malta and Gibraltar before returning to the UK. Whilst in Hawaii, the Royal Navy abolished the rum issue. As a result, Fife became the last ship in the Navy to issue rum by virtue of being the furthest west in the Pacific. The Hawaiian media came on board and were quite bemused when the ships Senior Ratings staged a mock burial at sea, complete with a Pipers Lament provide by the ship's pipe and drum band and pall bearers dressed in black.
Her Commanding Officer for this voyage was Captain David Scott, who had been the 1st Lieutenant of Seraph in the Second World War when the submarine penetrated Tokyo Harbour and sat on the bottom, carrying out reconnaissance of the Japanese shipping there.
She had 'B' turret removed and replaced with four Exocet launchers in the mid-1970s. In 1977, she attended the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review and formed part of the 2nd Flotilla.[1] In 1979, Fife provided assistance to the Caribbean island of Dominica after the island was severely hit by Hurricane David. She was under refit during the Falklands War and did not take part in the conflict.
 
Refit 1986
In 1986, Fife underwent a refit to convert her into a mobile training ship. The removal of her Seaslug missile system and its large magazine was completed in June 1986, which created space for extra messdecks and classrooms for officers under training. One messdeck still used hammocks and these officers are possibly the last men in the Royal Navy to sleep in hammocks; they were told so at the time. In early September 1986 she undertook a Dartmouth Training Ship (DTS) deployment to the Caribbean Sea and Florida, returning to Portsmouth in late November. She was accompanied on this deployment by the frigates Diomede and Apollo.
A "hut" was built where the Seaslug launcher had once stood, aft of the helicopter pad. This grey box was a navigation training classroom and attracted much attention from a Russian Kashin-class destroyer, which regularly "buzzed" Fife for some close quarter photographs.[citation needed]
Her second Dartmouth Training Ship deployment in January 1987 took her via Brest into the Mediterranean Sea, in company with Intrepid. Her final voyage in the Royal Navy was to lead a Dartmouth Training Ship deployment to North America, in which she and Juno sailed into the Great Lakes. On her return to Great Britain in June 1987 she landed the officers under training at Dartmouth and then proceeded to Portsmouth where she was decommissioned after 21 years of service.
Chilean Navy service
The ship was sold to Chile on 12 August 1987 and renamed Blanco Encalada. She was taken into refit at Talcahuano on her arrival and, taking advantage of the removed Sea Slug, her deck was extended aft and a new, larger hangar constructed. The rebuild was completed in May 1988. In 1996 Blanco Encalada's Sea Cat launchers were removed and she was fitted with the Barak SAM.
Blanco Encalada was decommissioned from the Chilean Navy on 12 December 2003 and was sold for scrap in November 2005. She was broken up by Turkish shipbreakers Leyal Gemi Sokum in 2013.
 
This is how she looked in the Chilean Navy

The next step was to smooth off the ends of the planks.  Once again the shape of the section makes this a very easy process.
 

 
I 2nd planked the  outer hull for the experience.  I am planning to copper plate below the waterline and paint above so it wasn't necessary but I wanted this to be my testbed for various procedures I haven't done before (like getting in the shallow end rather than diving into the deep end!)
 
Next was to cut out the gun ports.  A bit nerve wracking but I thought I could turn the 1st one toward the wall if I botched it too badly.  It worked out ok.
 

 
You might notice in the last photo that the 3 gun ports further from the camera have been framed in while the 3 closest have not.  They are all done now.
 
This is where it stands at the moment.
 

I have do a bit of work on this project before I started this build log - so I'll catch it up with the current state with a couple of posts.
 
The 1st planking of the outer and inner hull is such a breeze - not a taper or a bend in any of the strakes. 
 

 
It was going so easily I forgot to stop on the inner planking to leave a gap for the deck to sit on.  I only had to remove a couple of planks to fix that since the width of deck gap was an integer multiple of the  plank width.  Very considerate if the designer - thank you whoever you are!
 

Here are the latest photography tests using a Telephoto lens. The first picture, I think is a good example to show how distance  can be compress  by a telephoto lens. If you look at the lanterns on the right side of the picture, knowing that the distance between each one is about 500 feet; you can observe the compression effect on the distance.
 
For many reasons, I wanted to try to take better pictures with a camera and one of these is to show photos of modelship construction on this forum. In this quest I explored many lenses. The biggest telephoto I could afford is a 150-600mm. After this stage, prices are out of range. To show an example of how expensive it can go, the second picture is a used lens of a 1200mm for only : $180,000.
 
There is another way to go with a higher magnification at a much better price. I chose one between 750 and 1800mm. Even if it is a not a  camera lens it acts as one. The main difference is that less light enters by this lens. The name of this lense is a spotting scope. There are many uses, by examples to look animals and birds. There is a new adapter  on the market of 43mm for a full frame camera. This allows you to take photos. It is similar as taking photos with a microsope.
 
Taking photos with a spotting scope, it is called Digiscopy. At first sight, looking at objects from far is of no interest for a model ship maker but as a piece of 10 cents; there are 2 sides to it. The other side being it  also can be use as a macro lens and the minimum focus distance is under 7 feet. The next photos are examples of macrodigiscopy and the last picture shows the setup.