Robert29

Thank you Bill and thank you all for the likes.  Bill, if you go for the LED lights on your Soleli Royal, on the internet you will find a lot of diagrams showing how to wire the LED's, resistors and supply.  The major problem is how to install the lights in such small places and avoid any wiring showing.
 
Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines for the three masts all rigged.  Here are a few images. 
 
Image showing Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines on Fore Yard and Fore Topmast Yard.

Main Topgallant Yard Lift 

 
Fore Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines.

 
Fore Yard Lifts are belayed to the foremost Kevel on the forecastle.   Fore Topmast Lifts and Buntline ends belayed to shroud cleats. 

 
Belaying on the Forecastle Breast Beam.

 
Fore Topmast Buntlines, starting with a toggle at the 3mm blocked lashed on the yard. pass through the 3mm single buntline blocks held in a span to the tye block, up to 3mm blocks lashed to the crosstrees and down to be belayed to the shroud cleats.  I found it very difficult belaying thread to cleats on the inside of the shrouds.

 

 
Next step is to rig the yard sheets and the cluelines. 
 

Thank you Bill and thank you all for the likes.  Bill, if you go for the LED lights on your Soleli Royal, on the internet you will find a lot of diagrams showing how to wire the LED's, resistors and supply.  The major problem is how to install the lights in such small places and avoid any wiring showing.
 
Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines for the three masts all rigged.  Here are a few images. 
 
Image showing Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines on Fore Yard and Fore Topmast Yard.

Main Topgallant Yard Lift 

 
Fore Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines.

 
Fore Yard Lifts are belayed to the foremost Kevel on the forecastle.   Fore Topmast Lifts and Buntline ends belayed to shroud cleats. 

 
Belaying on the Forecastle Breast Beam.

 
Fore Topmast Buntlines, starting with a toggle at the 3mm blocked lashed on the yard. pass through the 3mm single buntline blocks held in a span to the tye block, up to 3mm blocks lashed to the crosstrees and down to be belayed to the shroud cleats.  I found it very difficult belaying thread to cleats on the inside of the shrouds.

 

 
Next step is to rig the yard sheets and the cluelines. 
 

More work on the yards.  
All yards for the three masts in place and their respective rigging in progress.  Still a long way to go, but little by little getting there.  Belaying the lines to the bitts is taking me ages.  If anyone has a good idea how to do them is more than welcomed to share it.
Basically now I have all the truss pendants, jeers, parrells and ties  for all yards in place, except that some of them still need their ends to be belayed.  I think I will not belay them for now until I rig the lifts, which will keep the yards more stable and in place.  For now I am also not bothering about the exact  sagging effect of the yard horses as while doing the rest of the rigging I keep hitting them and, so I will set them later on.
 
Fore Topmast Parrells.

 
Mizzen Topmast Parrells

Fore Togallant Parrells

 
Topmast Tyes prepared with an eye at one end so that it will be looped to the mast.

 
Pendant prepared for the tye tackle.

 
Tyes secured to mast, go down to the 7mm tye block, up again to a 7mm block, down again through a truck. 


 
Tye passes through truck attached t the topmast standing backstay and a 7mm double block seized at the end of it.  

 
Pendant seized in place to the eylet at the rear of the channel  and a tackle is formed. 

 
Foremast Topgallant Tye tied to the middle of the yard, up and through a hole drilled in the hounds, down again and a 3mm double block is tied to the end of the tye.

 

 
Block on Fore Top to form tackle.  End of tackle goes down through the top to the deck. 

 
Belayed to the 7th pin.

The rest of the Tyes are rigged more or less the same way, with obviously some difference such as belaying positions.  I am missing one truck so the tye for the Mizzen Topgallant has to be put on hold until I receive a new one.  
 
My next step is to work on the lifts, buntlines and leeches but I think I will take a short break, working through all those lines I am starting to see double.🤩
 
Robert
 
 
 

Thank you Ron.  Good luck and enjoy your Victory Build.  I will be looking into your build.
 
A long overdue update.  It has been 2 months since my last update.  Had other priorities and my build was on 'go slow'.  Also had to go for my grandson's first birthday in UK, Stratford-Upon-Avon, and spend some days there, where my daughter lives. 
 
I started fitting the first yard on the fore mast.  I tried to rig as as much as possible on the Fore Yard as it is much easier done when it is in hand than when it is in place.
 
In the manual the sling is made in one whole piece which goes round the yard and up around the mast cap with two knots simulating the thimbles.  In actual fact it is made up of two slings, one which goes round the mast cap with a thimble on the lower part, which I had already prepared some time ago, and another sling round the yard with another thimble.  With the yard and sling in place the two thimbles are lashed together.  The loose thread showing in the picture is the inner end of the horses, for the moment left loose so I can tension them later on with a sagging effect. 

 
Truss pendants rigged in place with a thimble at the end.

Yard in place.  Jeer falls and sling lashing still need tensioning and finishing. The Jeer falls were also secured round the yard before fitting yard in place.


 
Blocks at end of Truss Pendants had to be rigged after the yard is in place otherwise you wan't be able to pass the thread through the thimbles at the yard.

 
 
Robert 
 
 
 

All cannons in place.   





 
Now to start installing the gunport lids.
 
Robert
 
 

Thank you Bill and thank you all for the likes.  Bill, if you go for the LED lights on your Soleli Royal, on the internet you will find a lot of diagrams showing how to wire the LED's, resistors and supply.  The major problem is how to install the lights in such small places and avoid any wiring showing.
 
Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines for the three masts all rigged.  Here are a few images. 
 
Image showing Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines on Fore Yard and Fore Topmast Yard.

Main Topgallant Yard Lift 

 
Fore Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines.

 
Fore Yard Lifts are belayed to the foremost Kevel on the forecastle.   Fore Topmast Lifts and Buntline ends belayed to shroud cleats. 

 
Belaying on the Forecastle Breast Beam.

 
Fore Topmast Buntlines, starting with a toggle at the 3mm blocked lashed on the yard. pass through the 3mm single buntline blocks held in a span to the tye block, up to 3mm blocks lashed to the crosstrees and down to be belayed to the shroud cleats.  I found it very difficult belaying thread to cleats on the inside of the shrouds.

 

 
Next step is to rig the yard sheets and the cluelines. 
 

Thank you Bill and thank you all for the likes.  Bill, if you go for the LED lights on your Soleli Royal, on the internet you will find a lot of diagrams showing how to wire the LED's, resistors and supply.  The major problem is how to install the lights in such small places and avoid any wiring showing.
 
Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines for the three masts all rigged.  Here are a few images. 
 
Image showing Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines on Fore Yard and Fore Topmast Yard.

Main Topgallant Yard Lift 

 
Fore Yard Lifts, Buntlines and Leechlines.

 
Fore Yard Lifts are belayed to the foremost Kevel on the forecastle.   Fore Topmast Lifts and Buntline ends belayed to shroud cleats. 

 
Belaying on the Forecastle Breast Beam.

 
Fore Topmast Buntlines, starting with a toggle at the 3mm blocked lashed on the yard. pass through the 3mm single buntline blocks held in a span to the tye block, up to 3mm blocks lashed to the crosstrees and down to be belayed to the shroud cleats.  I found it very difficult belaying thread to cleats on the inside of the shrouds.

 

 
Next step is to rig the yard sheets and the cluelines. 
 

It's been well over a month with no updates. Had some other priorities and rat lines take a lot of time as well, never ending knots.  
 
I finished the ratlines for the lower masts, except for the futtock strops.  Here are a few images.
 

 

 

 

 

 
More rat lines to follow for the futtock shrouds, and topmasts. 
 
Robert

Charter, Paul and Malcom thank you for your kind words.
 
Next in line were the topmast shrouds.  But I thought I better install the slings for the lower yards before the shrouds are put on.  The manual tells you to make it in one sling and tie two knots to simulate two thimbles.  I took a different approach and made them in two separate slings, one that goes round the mast cap and one that goes round the sling, each with a thimble at their end.  Details taken from Longridge book.
 
This is the sling that goes round the mast cap with an eye on one end and a thimble I made from brass tubes.

 
Sling finished with three seizing. You have to be careful about the length of the sling, the position of the thimble has to be just a little short from the thimble on the yard sling, so that they will be lashed together.  You have to put it in place by sliding it from the top of the masts before you make the topmast shrouds, otherwise you have to make the three seizing with the sling in place, which will be more difficult.

 
This is the sling that goes round the yard.

 
 
Sling in place on the foremast.

 
 
Foremast with topmast shrouds fitted.

 
Main mast.

 
All topmast shrouds in place with staves as well, except for one shroud on the Mizzen.  I was missing one 2.5mm deadeye.  I have them ordered from CMB together with some 3.5mm deadeyes as I also realised I would be needing a few more as well.  I had turned a few of them into hearts to use on the bowsprit, that is why I am short of them. 

 
 
From time to time I check the alignment of the masts while doing the shrouds to make sure none of them is being pulled to one side.  When you look directly from the front you will only see the fore mast, the other two are completely hidden behind it.

 
Next job is the never ending ratlines.   
 
Robert

A small update.
 
As stated before I always try to see if there is any work mentioned in the manual at a later stage is going to be more difficult to do with what I am doing now.  On checking about the Topgallant Shrouds, the kit manual instructs you to tie off the ends of the topgallant shrouds to the futtock staves.  But looking into Longridge's 'The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships' they are finished differently.  It indicates that the topgallant shrouds pass between the topmast shrouds and inside the topmast futtock stave.  They run down parallel with the topmast shrouds and a thimble is spliced in the lower end. This thimble is lashed by a laniard to another thimble seized to a strop tied below the lower topmast shroud.
 
A rough sketch. (Didn't copy drawing in book because of copyrights reason)

 
I decided to rig the topgallant shrouds as per Longridge's book and thought it would be much easier to install these strops now, before the topmast shrouds.
 
I made some thimbles, (as shown in my post no.114, page 11) from 1.5mm brass tubes wit a wall thickness of o.225mm and blackened them. 
 
The three (on each side) topgallant shrouds for the fore and mainmast are to be lashed to the first , third and fifth futtock plate, for the mizen to the first and third.

 

 
 
Robert
 
 
 

Anthony, Peter, md1400cs, Malcom  and  RB, thank you for your nice encouraging comments.  I hope that my work will be of some benefit to other builders.  I have definitely learned a lot from other builders on this forum.
 
Peter I have had a brief visit of your build, you are doing a marvellous job.  I will go into it in further detail and definitely be following.
 
A small update:
I am trying to do as much work as possible on the masts before I do the topmast shrouds which later on, I think,  will be more difficult to do with the shrouds in the way.
 
I rigged the 10mm triple jeer blocks in place and also prepared the respective 10mm double jeer blocks which go on the yards.
 

 
Fore mast.

 
 
 

 
Main mast

 

 
Robert
 

Futtock Shrouds
Futtock Staves blackened and tied in place.  Catharpins also tied in place.  To help to keep the catharpins the same tension I made a simple jig I had seen in another build.  

 
Prepared the Futtock Shrouds with the hooks.

 
Rigged in place and when I was trimming the extra lengths tragedy struck.
😱😱😱  I hit one of the lower mast shrouds with the snips.  I just couldn't believe what I've just done.
 

 
After getting over the shock I sat down to see how I was going to fix it.  I removed the lower part of the shroud with the deadeye completely, wetted the lower seizing on the futtock shroud to loosen the glue and untied it, cut the end of the futtock shroud just a bit shorter and seized a new piece of lower shroud thread to the end of the futtock shroud.  It came pretty good, it's not noticeable.  Then rigged again the deadeye.
A quick rough sketch.
 
 
Futtock shrouds all in place with damaged lower mast shroud (starboard,5th one on fore mast) repaired.  

 

 

 

 
 

 
Regards
Robert
 

A small update.
I managed to adjust the deadeyes to bring them in line with each other, so I don't think I really need to replace everything.  Basically I had to adjust all of them.  Where I had gone over the glue with water I have some faint whiteish discolouration on the black shrouds. I think a light application of shoe polish will do the trick.  Probably it was caused by the mixing of the bee wax, which was already on the shrouds, with the glue while I was handling them.
 
Some photos with lower masts shrouds, deadeyes and lanyards rigged in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
If you notice in one of the photos, earlier on I managed to knock down the flag pole on the bowsprit.  I will fix later on.  I am really pleased I have't yet fitted the gunport lids as I am sure I would have nocked down a few of them while doing the rigging.
 
Next the catharpins and futtock shrouds. 

Hi all,
This is how my Victory looks like at the moment.

 
Taking a closer look at the shrouds on the Fore and Main masts I am not at all happy with them.  
The top deadeyes are not in line with each other.  I did a jig to keep the same distance but I think my mistake was that I did not tension each and every consecutive one I installed as I went along.  I finished them all with the knots, glue etc... then I tensioned the lanyards at the end.  To my disappointment the deadeyes  were not coming in line with each other as you can see in the pictures.  I was really angry at myself for doing such a mistake, a job which took me hours on hours.  First I thought to leave them as is, trying to convince myself that after all on real ships they are not always lined with each other.  But every time I looked at them they bothered me.  Then I tried to fix them.
 
 
 
 
If you look at this picture I fixed the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th shroud.  They look better now.  Fortunately I did not use any CA glue on the knots.  I am taking off the lanyards, wet all the knots and painstakingly sliding the the shroud thread through the knots to shorten it.  Seems to be working.

 
But for the foremast I am not sure if this will work as I also have the cleats fixed on the shrouds.  To my mind came Helli's build log were after he had already put on the rat lines he literally took all the shrouds off because he didn't like the rigging of the deadeyes on the shrouds.  Helli, I admire your guts to have taken that decision after so much time was put in the work to make them.  So with Helli's encouragement I decided to first try to fix the ones already in place, if  not satisfied I think I will replace with new ones.  In the meantime I will order some 1.3mm thread from CBM as I do not have more of it. 
 
Luckily I had realised my mistake before I finished the shrouds on the Mizzen.  Before I rigged the shrouds in place I thought it is better to fit the davit brackets and the windows on the second gunport, as it will be more difficult with the shrouds in the way.
 
I had prepared the davits and the windows at an earlier stage.  Know that the davits will be in the way whilst doing the rest of the rigging on the ship I found the exact positions for their brackets, drilled the holes for the nails and glued in place just the one side with the shaft soldered to it.  All I have to do when the time comes to fit the davits is just slide them on the shaft, glue and nail the other part of the bracket in place in the already prepared hole for the nail.  

 
 

 

 
 
Robert

Heinz,
Thank you, comments appreciated.   From time to time I visit your build log to steal some ideas.🙂
 
Sjors,
Thanks for your comments.  You yourself are doing a very good job on your Victory.
 
Now I have basically started the rigging.  As per kit manual I started with the shrouds on the lower masts.  I had already done the pendants before.  I started by serving the part of the shroud that goes round the mast.  The forward shroud is served all the way.  The thread for the Mizzen mast is a different size.
 
First I tied the shrouds round the mast

 
Then I tied the deadeyes with the shrouds, also tied the cleats to the shrouds before rigging the lanyards.  The lanyards still have to be tensioned and tied. I will do them together starting from the front, set by set alternating from starboard to port when I have all the shrouds in place.

 

 
 This is the knot and the way I am tying the shrouds to the mast and to the deadeyes.  I had seen how to do this type of knot on Youtube   For the knots I am using the 0.25mm thread.

 
Five times around the bunched thread, end passed through the small loop.

 
Tighten the knot, fit the deadeye in the loop by pulling either the very end of the shroud or the other end going up to the mast, to get the deadeye at the right height from the channel. 

 
Same knot used.

 

 
When all four knots are done I go over them with white glue and when dry trim the ends.

 
 
Robert
 
 

Thank you Allan,
Yes, I will be adding the anchor lift davit on the launch.  I have it ready but I haven't glued it in place, in the below photo it is only dry fitted. I will also be placing the respective anchors (supplied in brass with the kit) on each boat.  As a matter of fact  even the windlass, I haven't glued in place yet.  The anchors I still have to blacken and since I also intend to add a few more items (such as barrels) I thought better not glue anything for the moment.

 
If 'the strips on the launch hull' you are referring to the hull planks overlapping  each other (clinker type planking), I am not sure if any of the boats were constructed with this type of planking.  I just went along as indicated on the kit manual.  To be honest I tried to look for details of the boats but found very little.
 
As for the ears, I haven't seen them on any HMS Victory boat images I managed to find on the internet.
 
At this point there might be some details which I could have added, but it is too late to add now.  But if you have any details of the boats of which I am still in time to add and within my capability I would be much obliged if you can furnish me with them.
 
Thanks again.
Robert
 
 

More work on the boats.  I finished the outside painting.  In the kit manual it indicates to paint the outside hull of the boats Dull White.  Apparently, Admiralty Paints do no do the 'dull white' anymore, I used Matt White.  For the golden bands I used the modelling masking tape as suggested on the manual itself.  I cut strips the required width, painted them gold, secured them in place  with their own backing glue, then applied clear varnish all over the washstrake and tape to keep it secured in place.  Just for the Pinnace I used styrene strips.  
 
The Launch

 

 

 
 
The Barge.

 

 

 
 
The Pinnace.

 

 
 
The Cutter.

 

 
 

 

 
I still have to paint the oars and some more details, but I might do that later on, when I decide which boats I will fit on deck and which once I will be hanging on the davits. I really need to go hands on, on the ship's rigging.  It is quite a challenge for me as I never did rigging of this level.  I only did much easier rigging on two much smaller boats. 
 
Robert
 
 

Long due for an update.
 
Thank you Anthony. I myself was so much inspired by great builders on this forum. 
 
Thanks Ian, yes the hammock crane netting was very time consuming and it also took me a long time source a material from a drapery shop which simulates the netting.
 
Thanks Johnny,  although the boats were built more or less  as 'out of the box' per instructions, I did a few changes such as the rudder hinges and sail mast brackets in the Launch.  I am sure they are a bit different from the original boats and if I did more research I could have made them closer to the original boats.  To be honest, on the internet, I did not find much details for these boat.
 
I am finishing the inside of the boats before I work on their outside. For the rudders I added the hinges and the tillers for them.
 
This is how I made the tillers.  I took two lengths of 1.5 x 1.5 walnut, cut a notch on the end of both of them to take the top of the rudder and glued them together. 

 

 
Then shaped them as per photo.

 
For the hinges I used small strips of styrene with a piece of brass rod glued to it.

 

 
Launch ready from the inside with floor boards, thwarts and painting.  Rudder with tiller, windlass and davit ready as well.

 
Launch, Barge, Pinnace and Cutter 

 
Apart from the anchors and oars supplied with the kit I will try to add some more details, such as barrels and sail masts.
 
Next week I will be having a small break from the build because my daughter who lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon has just made me a grandad and I will be flying from Malta to visiting her and obviously my first grandson. 
 
Robert

A brief update on the boats.
I was tempted to use styrene strips for the hull ribs, but decided to go for walnut strips.  Quite a lot of time involved to bend each and every one of them and glue.  The electric plank bender was really useful for this.

 

 
I left the ribs a bit longer then needed and easily trimmed them to the required length in place.

 
Launch with ribs trimmed and row locks cut as well.

 
 
Barge with ribs and row lock cut as well.

 
 
Pinnace,  I might differ some finishing from the manual so I left the ribs untrimmed for the moment.

 
Same with the cutter, ribs not yet trimmed.  In another Victory build, can't remember who it was, described the cutter as 'the little bugger'.  it truly is a little bugger, because of its small size it involved quite some work.  

 
Still a lot of finishing to go in them but the main basic work, constructing the hull and ribs is ready. 
 
Regards
Robert
 
 

Will, MD and Heinz thank you for your comments.  Thank you also for the likes.
 
My intention was to do the boats in between the rigging.  Although I started some work on the shrouds I got carried away with the boats and continued working on them.  The boats are a project in themselves.  I will try to put as much detail in them as possible because I think they will be very eye catching when you are looking at the complete model.
 
On the Launch and the Barge, for the second planking I used the 0.5mm Walnut as indicated in the manual.
  
 

 
For the Pinnace and the Cutter I did not use the 0.5mm Walnut supplied with the kit.  I had some left overs of Sapele from the model Bluenose II.  It was slightly thinner, 0.4mm and more flexible, which I thought made it a better material for the second planking because of the small size of the boats.

 

 
Outer hull brushed with watered down PVA glue, left to dry, sanded, then gone over them with a fine filler and left to dry.

 
 
When filler was thoroughly dry hull sanded with fine sand paper and inside bulkheads removed.

 

 

 

 
Robert

Whilst still waiting for the brass tubes for the thimbles I finished the boats with the first planking.
 
The Launch with the first plank.

 
The Launch planked all over.

 

 
 
The Pinnace.

 

 

 
 
 
The Cutter.

 

 
 
All four boats brushed all over with watered down white glue, trimmed and sanded, ready for the second planking.


 

 
 
Having received the brass tubes I finished the lower masts pendants.
For the fore and main mast pendants I used the 2mm diam. brass tube for the thimbles, and for the mizzen mast I used the 1.5mm diam. tube, and blackened them.  I served the lines for the pendants all along before fitting the thimbles. 

 

 
 
Pendants rigged in place.  One problem that I found rigging them in place was that when you loop the pendant round the mast and tie a knot round the two lines you will not be able to push back the knot because of the line being served.  I had to tie the knot exactly in its place otherwise I wasn't able to slide it back. With the line not served it is quite easy to slide the knots.  I will have the same problem with the shrouds.  I don't know if there is any other way to go about it!!!

 

 

 
Now I can start work on the shrouds.
 
Robert

Mort, Thank you for your reply.  Guess you are right, depends on the size of the rope you are serving.  So I took out the serving machine I had made at the very start of the project but have never used up to now and give it a trial run.  It ran pretty good and was amazed how accurate and quickly you can serve the lines with this machine.  After a trial runs on the 1.3mm line used for the pendants I decided to go for the thinnest thread for serving.
 
This is the serving machine I had made, of course I took the ideas from this forum, from those which are ready made to buy and from those that builders made themselves.  In my garage I found two perspex angles which were a holder of something, a piece of mdf, which was already the size I needed and after some planning I bought the gears, rods, and a few bolts and nuts that I needed.  Their cost was only a few euros.

 
As you can see the length can be adjusted by undoing the bolts and moving the angles to the other pre drilled holes in the board.

 

 
Although there are some serving machines which are pretty expensive and come with a motor and so on, which do a very good job, there are also others which are quite cheap and do the job just as well but maybe take a bit longer.  So if you do not want to take the hassle of doing it, you can buy one at a very reasonable price.  In my opinion, if you are not doing it as a fun project, its not worth the hassle  for the price you can get one.😁 
 
Anyway, so as I had stated in my previous post I was starting with the Burton Pendants, so I served the lines for them, which ran pretty smooth.  I intended to put thimbles at the end of the pendants.  In an earlier post I had posted how I made tiny thimbles from brass tubes.  But I have a small problem, the line used for the pendants is quite thick, 1.3mm,  and the thimbles I had made (out of 1.5mm diam. tube were too small, and the next tube size I have is too big.  So I had to shelve the rigging until I order more brass tubes.  I am ordering 2mm and 2.5mm diam. and see which is best.
 
In the meantime I continued on some other work.  I prepared the 10mm Jeer Blocks, the 8.5mm Cat Blocks and the Open Hearts for the stays which will be used further on. I made the grooves on my proton table.

 

 
Cleaned and sanded.

 

 
 
Blocks and hearts dyed and varnished.

 
 
I started work on the boats as well.  My intension was to start the boats and do them little by little whilst I am doing the rigging, sort of every now and then having a break from the rigging.
 
There are four boats in all and here are the Launch, the Barge and the Pinnace.  Trimmed and glued the bulkheads, floor and keel glued
together ready for planking.

 
 
But when I came to the Cutter and dry fitted the bulkheads to the keel I noticed something was not right.
If you look at the photo when you insert the bulkhead into the keel notches, the bulkheads go down to the very lower edge of the keel, leaving no space for the planking, that is the planking will be protruding further out then the keel itself!!! 

 
 
This is a picture of the Launch and this is how more or less the space between the edge of the keel and the bulkheads should be with the Cutter as well.

 
On checking the dimensions with the drawing (full scale) in the manual I also realised that if I had to fit them like this the top edge of the bulkheads would be substantially lower than they should be.  In the next photo I marked in red the position were they would be.  So you end up with the front (stem) and the back of the keel (stern post) much higher than hull of the boat.  
  
 
 
I tried to look in other caldercraft Victory builds, but strangely enough nobody mentions it.  I think that there is a miscalculation. 
 
The best I could think of to solve this problem is to fit the bulkheads at a higher level, thus getting the space needed between the edge of the keel and the bulkheads and rising the sides of the hull to the right height.  I blanked all the notches in the keel, so by ding this the bulkheads will go up by the same depth of those notches.  The only disadvantage is that the bulkheads will have a much less strong fitting to the keel and might break off while doing the planking.  But I think this can be overcome by inserting and gluing some sort of spacers in between the bulkheads, and anyway all the bulkheads are to be removed after the planking. 
 
 
Here are the bulkheads dry fitted.  The space down the edge of the keel is better and the top edge of the bulkheads is also much better to the relative height of the front and back of the keel.

I will align and glue the bulkheads and let you know the outcome of the boat.
 
Robert

Thank you Michael and thank you all for the likes.
 
I have a small update.
I fixed the Victory letters to the stern. They are quite tiny and fragile. I glued them with just a small dab of CA glue.  
This is how I marked the positions of the letters.
a. With the  computer I printed the 'VICTORY', same size as the supplied brass letters, using double spacing between the letters, on a plain paper.
b. As soon as I printed it I took a piece of Tamaya masking tape, which is slightly transparent, and stuck it on top of the printed letters.  Took the tape off again and the  letters were transferred to the back of the tape (on the side of the glue).
c. With a thin marker I drew some lines marking the side positions of the letters and some of them the centre as well. Then with a blade I cut the tape in two all along the base of the letters.  The bottom part of the tape is about 3mm. I centred this on the stern and against the brass profile underneath the letters.  This served as a guide  for the right spacing and to be horizontally in line with each other along the brass profile.  The other half of he tape I taped on top just as a guide to know that the letters are perpendicular.  When you use CA glue on a painted surface, the glue melts the paint a bit and does not dry immediately.  It gives you a few seconds, enough to adjust the letters in their exact position.

 

 
The result after taking off the tape and retouching the letters with paint. I was wondering if it's a good idea to go all over the letterings and cover all that area with a coat of matt clear varnish so that all the tiny fragile ends will adhere to the stern with the varnish.  
 
 
This was the other name plate supplied with the kit.  Of course this would have been much easier to paint and fit but I think the individual letters are more authentic.

 
 
I also painted the Side Entry port castings.  I think I will fit them in place after I finish the shrouds.

 
As you can see I have driven two brass pins into the back of the side entry arch for a stronger fit and also as a guide to their exact position.  This has been done before painting them and holes to accommodate these pins are already prepared on the hull over the side door.  This way I will eliminate handling them as much as possible as I will only have to put some glue and slide them in their respective holes. 

 
Robert
 

The bowsprit is fitted in place and gammoning done.  Passing the line in between the bow rails was not that straight forward.  When doing the gammoning saddles I had calculated  that the distance between them will accommodate exactly the nine turns of gammoning.  While doing the gammoning I managed to knock down one of the cat heads, but already fitted back. 

 
Then fitted the knights heads, with the boomkins already attached to them.  I seized the boomkin shrouds and the block beforehand.  When possible, seizing is much easier done when items are still in your hands. I worked two saddle bars to hold the boomkin in place on the main rail.  Figurehead fitted in place as well.
 
    
 
 Net railing also fitted, but for the moment it is only dry fitted to be able to remove if needed to the bowsprit rigging.  The marines' walk is only dry fitted as well.
 

 

 

 
Robert

Eamonn, Roberts and Michael, thank you for your comments.
 
I have a small update.
 
Painted and fitted the stern trophy of arms.  Also fitted the chain under the stern. I am not much of an artist, took me a long time to paint and retouch.

 

 
 
Figurehead painted but I will not be fitting it for now.  I will first do some further work on the bow first. 

 
I have prepared the railings on the bow.  They are only dry fitted for now.  My aim is to prepare the parts that go on the bow so that when I start fitting them I do not have to stay measuring, trying fits and so on, they will be ready and just fit in place, thus avoiding damaging parts already fitted. 

 
My next step is to fit the bowsprit, which is already prepared, do the gammoning, and when that is ready start fitting the parts on the bow plus the figurehead.
 
I am still undecided which name plate to use on the lower part of the stern.  With the kit there is a nameplate as a whole, and there are individual letters which in my opinion look better.  The first, of course is much easier to fit, as it is one whole piece, but the latter, apart from the problem that you have to keep them in line and equally spaced, some of the letters are quite fragile.  I might have a go at the  individual letter. 

 
 
Robert