ken3335

ken
 

since finishing my Victory, i have done a few fibre glass hulled kits, this one has made me realise, its time to go back to masting and rigging, the Cutty sark is awaiting the build table, hopefully within the next couple of weeks, 
i am not sue about the complexity of the AV i just think its a kit that could have been so much better, (where have we all heard that before) but a have a couple of pointers that might help you, check the stern decoration veranda against the hull early on, the hull could do with some more thickness behind the portholes, as it gets quite thin there after sanding, and you get a nice finish with using the port hole strips as a template but dont use them, you will get a great result painting the white area directly to the hull
 
 

Hi,   I have recently started the Amerigo Vespucci, 1:84 scale from a Panart kit. I quite enjoyed the interaction I got from members on my Royal William log so I’ll again share my build with you.
 
 
 I bought the kit off Ebay for a good price, it is an early version about 20 – 25 years old and differs quite a bit from their current version, I think for the better. Lime for first planking, not balsa, etched sheet brass for the plating not ply, planked deck instead of printed ply and 12 sheets of plans many 1:1, but poor badly translated instructions instead of the step by step guide.
 
 
Although old everything was in very good condition, straight keel and bulwarks, which were very well laser cut, matching the plans perfectly, the strip wood is very nice, straight cleanly cut and still flexible enough although has hardened quite a bit. There are hundreds of castings and machined brass fittings all nicely bagged, these will need a serious cleaning as they have become badly tarnished. A very comprehensive and well presented kit.
 
 
I admire many of the builders on this site for their skill, painstaking dedication to detail and accuracy but I’m afraid that’s not me. My build will be as simple as I can make it, mostly straight from the box with just enough detail to make it a nice looking well made model that will not take me years, with the chance of getting fed up and quitting.  
 
 
I wanted to start the build by first preparing the mounting. I want to mount it on brass pedestals on a large mahogany plinth so needed to do the preparation for this prior to planking rather than risk damaging the model at a later stage by turning it upside down. My first problem is that due to the lack of availability of stuff due to the Covid restrictions I can’t get anything, the wood yards are closed and even popular online modelling suppliers have run out of anything I want, glues, sealers wood strip and my columns.
 
 
I started by joining together the three sections of keel, I reinforced the joins then beefed up the area where the pedestals will be fixed with rods, I drilled them out and hope that they line up later.
 
 
I dry fitted the bulkheads, they only needed the lightest of sanding before becoming a perfect fit. I made up a keel support out of scrap, not very neat looking but works well enough.. I glued all the bulkheads into place, I added extra support on the outer edge of the front three and stern bulkheads. I usually infill these areas with balsa but the lines of the hull are so friendly that I didn’t think that it would be needed. I spent quite a bit of time fairing the frames making sure that they were as perfect as I could make them. I have now started the first layer with the 6 x 1.5 lime planks provided, so far so good.
 
 
That’s me starting my journey please feel free to join me.
 
 
Ken
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi,   I have recently started the Amerigo Vespucci, 1:84 scale from a Panart kit. I quite enjoyed the interaction I got from members on my Royal William log so I’ll again share my build with you.
 
 
 I bought the kit off Ebay for a good price, it is an early version about 20 – 25 years old and differs quite a bit from their current version, I think for the better. Lime for first planking, not balsa, etched sheet brass for the plating not ply, planked deck instead of printed ply and 12 sheets of plans many 1:1, but poor badly translated instructions instead of the step by step guide.
 
 
Although old everything was in very good condition, straight keel and bulwarks, which were very well laser cut, matching the plans perfectly, the strip wood is very nice, straight cleanly cut and still flexible enough although has hardened quite a bit. There are hundreds of castings and machined brass fittings all nicely bagged, these will need a serious cleaning as they have become badly tarnished. A very comprehensive and well presented kit.
 
 
I admire many of the builders on this site for their skill, painstaking dedication to detail and accuracy but I’m afraid that’s not me. My build will be as simple as I can make it, mostly straight from the box with just enough detail to make it a nice looking well made model that will not take me years, with the chance of getting fed up and quitting.  
 
 
I wanted to start the build by first preparing the mounting. I want to mount it on brass pedestals on a large mahogany plinth so needed to do the preparation for this prior to planking rather than risk damaging the model at a later stage by turning it upside down. My first problem is that due to the lack of availability of stuff due to the Covid restrictions I can’t get anything, the wood yards are closed and even popular online modelling suppliers have run out of anything I want, glues, sealers wood strip and my columns.
 
 
I started by joining together the three sections of keel, I reinforced the joins then beefed up the area where the pedestals will be fixed with rods, I drilled them out and hope that they line up later.
 
 
I dry fitted the bulkheads, they only needed the lightest of sanding before becoming a perfect fit. I made up a keel support out of scrap, not very neat looking but works well enough.. I glued all the bulkheads into place, I added extra support on the outer edge of the front three and stern bulkheads. I usually infill these areas with balsa but the lines of the hull are so friendly that I didn’t think that it would be needed. I spent quite a bit of time fairing the frames making sure that they were as perfect as I could make them. I have now started the first layer with the 6 x 1.5 lime planks provided, so far so good.
 
 
That’s me starting my journey please feel free to join me.
 
 
Ken
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi,   I have recently started the Amerigo Vespucci, 1:84 scale from a Panart kit. I quite enjoyed the interaction I got from members on my Royal William log so I’ll again share my build with you.
 
 
 I bought the kit off Ebay for a good price, it is an early version about 20 – 25 years old and differs quite a bit from their current version, I think for the better. Lime for first planking, not balsa, etched sheet brass for the plating not ply, planked deck instead of printed ply and 12 sheets of plans many 1:1, but poor badly translated instructions instead of the step by step guide.
 
 
Although old everything was in very good condition, straight keel and bulwarks, which were very well laser cut, matching the plans perfectly, the strip wood is very nice, straight cleanly cut and still flexible enough although has hardened quite a bit. There are hundreds of castings and machined brass fittings all nicely bagged, these will need a serious cleaning as they have become badly tarnished. A very comprehensive and well presented kit.
 
 
I admire many of the builders on this site for their skill, painstaking dedication to detail and accuracy but I’m afraid that’s not me. My build will be as simple as I can make it, mostly straight from the box with just enough detail to make it a nice looking well made model that will not take me years, with the chance of getting fed up and quitting.  
 
 
I wanted to start the build by first preparing the mounting. I want to mount it on brass pedestals on a large mahogany plinth so needed to do the preparation for this prior to planking rather than risk damaging the model at a later stage by turning it upside down. My first problem is that due to the lack of availability of stuff due to the Covid restrictions I can’t get anything, the wood yards are closed and even popular online modelling suppliers have run out of anything I want, glues, sealers wood strip and my columns.
 
 
I started by joining together the three sections of keel, I reinforced the joins then beefed up the area where the pedestals will be fixed with rods, I drilled them out and hope that they line up later.
 
 
I dry fitted the bulkheads, they only needed the lightest of sanding before becoming a perfect fit. I made up a keel support out of scrap, not very neat looking but works well enough.. I glued all the bulkheads into place, I added extra support on the outer edge of the front three and stern bulkheads. I usually infill these areas with balsa but the lines of the hull are so friendly that I didn’t think that it would be needed. I spent quite a bit of time fairing the frames making sure that they were as perfect as I could make them. I have now started the first layer with the 6 x 1.5 lime planks provided, so far so good.
 
 
That’s me starting my journey please feel free to join me.
 
 
Ken
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hello Everyone,
 
Just some pictures of the finished model.
 
Ken

Hi Joachim,    I haven't commented on your build so far but I must now say that it is a superb build and does you great credit, well done.
 
 
Ken

Hi Sjors, Coming along nicely. I like the finish that the oil gives and have thought of using it myself in the past, I was unsure though if it affected glueing parts onto the surface later. What's your experience on this, also will it sand ok.
 
Ken

Hello Everyone,
 
Thanks again for your likes and complementary comments.
 
A long day and a bit has seen the lower gallery supports made with only the rudder hole and a slight tweak and final sand to do. I was moving into new territory here and didn't know how it would turn out but again I'm delighted at the result, more grins here.
 
First I'll say in fairness to Euromodel  I found the piece that in my last post said was missing, it was in the bottom of the box, it had broken in half and I hadn't been looking for something that size, the annoying thing is that having made a new piece it wasn't needed at all, ah well.
 
I took note of all the advice that I'd been given about carving small amounts at a time and keep checking against the hull. I would normally guess what size would be needed and hack away only refining it near the finish and if it didn't work start again, this would not have got me anywhere with these supports, I was surprised just how critical accuracy was so the new me just kept chipping, carving and sanding bit at a time all day. You'll see in my pictures what was done, the only thing I would have done with hindsight would be to carve the recess for the casting before I had done the curve because after it couldn't be held in a vice because of that concave curve and was very awkward to hold. The outer edge of the supports profile was quite accurate and needed only minimal shaping. 
 
I have taken some of the decorative castings for this area out of the bags to see how they would fit and Wow, they are something else, better than could be imagined without seeing them in the flesh. I hope that I can do them justice.
 
Pete has shown the gallery cast parts, their numbers and position that they go, on checking I realised that by opening up the windows which form the bulk of the gallery I have filed away the numbers, er!
 
Finishing off I will say that I don't envy those who started this kit without all the logs and information that is now out there, I don't know how they did it, the plans for this difficult area  are vague to say the least. It wasn't overly difficult but it was knowing what to do, I couldn't have figured it out from the plans alone. I'm sure there will be other areas like this and I think that this is why it gets a reputation for being such a difficult model to build. Just my thoughts.
 
 
Ken
 
 
 

 

 


 
Not glued yet, when held the gaps aren't there
 

And now back to modeling my gun deck.
When I last left off...  Had the gun deck   sub floor in,  and had cut away a section for where several stairs and gratings will go to the next level down.
 
created  templates for the gun deck floor.   Also started making the gratings
 

For the grating, as I don't need gratings that came with the kit for the Spar deck... I cut them up into individual gratings, and used them on the gun deck.   
This is what I cut up into individual pieces

 
I sized my gratings to make best use of these smaller pieces and tried match the grating pattern/layout on the CD restoration plans
The circled is what I'll put in with 4 stairs ( 2 up to Spar and 2 down to Berth Deck) in the main hatch and the 2 stairs running athwart ship in the forward section

 
 

The gun deck floor.   At first I going to try and plank it with some 1/32 thickness by 5 mm wide strip wood  I have in my stash from prior models.
BUT.. while in my local hobby shop... (in the wood section of course... ) what did I find, but pre scored planking.. 1/32" thick  with the plank scoring at 3/32"   
And by chance,  the planks  on the model need to be    3/32" wide.      What a find.
 

Next I used the template to cut pieces of that into the right shapes

While the planks are scored. the plank ends are not. So I needed to scribe those ine in.
I used the planking XLS calculator from this site.
Went with a 4 butt shift and 30 ft planks. That  gave me 30mm long planks
 
 

 
 

So following the template,  I drew the but ends on the sheets with a sharp pencil.  Then I scored each line with a sharp exacto knife.
After that I lightly sanded the surface.  It didn't remove the entire pencil line, but it made it much less noticeable.
I then vacuumed the sheets to get all the sanding dust off.
 
For the color, I'm using minwax stains.  Tested a few shades.    You can see how the but ends came out.  The pencil mark still visible, but the stain seeped into the scoring..  it also pooled in the gaps between the planks , leaving a nice simulation of the caulking.
t
 

I went with Golden Oak
 
 

 

Next step was to glue them onto the model.    Because they are thin sheets,   after applying glue, they wanted to warp.  So on the fly, while the glue was setting, I needed to find a way to hold them down in place....... 
Clothespins work in an emergency

 
Now this picture I show ..because something is missing.     I forgot to account for .  Do you see what it is????
 

 
Give up?
The hole where the main mast tenon rests!   I forgot to cut that in.   After carefull measuring, I found the spot and cut it back in. 
Whew!  glad I caught that now and not later or it would have been a real problem.
 
 

 

 
note,  I think the camera flash highlights the pattern in the grain that looks terrible in the pic below.  But by eye in normal light.  it looks good! coloring is uniform light golden color.  more like midship.
 

And a closeup with the deck beams.  you can see how the openings align with the gratings and openings on the Gun deck.
Also, the plank caulking and butt ends look better in this pic
 

 
And you can start to visualize if you are looking in through gun-port, you can see the deck in there.
 

So that it for now.   
Next up,  I'll paint the gun frames black. 
Then put the inner planking on the walls of the gun deck, 
Then outer planking  (again just the band on the gun deck.)
 
 
 
 

Time for next update.
 
First.  Did a bit more on framing the stern windows..
Wow, in the picture , they look, not square, or level.   I'll have to check again.
They should all be 13 mm high and and level.  Hopefully its just the angle of the camera making it look off.
The stern does have a curve... As many have pointed out. :-)

 
I've been eager and scared to start to the next part of the build.
That is working on the Gun deck.  Scared because that means cutting those spar deck  beams.   At that point I'm committed.
Well... I actually had dremel in hand with cutter bit running,  about to start cutting,  and stopped.
One thing that has been bugging  me is how will I be able to put in the new beams later, center the hatchways etc  without those existing beams  as reference points.
 
And to further complicate things:
The existing beams as per the kit are not accurate to the real ship.  # or location.   Since the kit, has the gratings on the spar deck, the beams are never seen, so it doesn't matter.    With the open gratings and visible beams.. they need to be reasonable accurate.
 
So after pondering awhile.. (Dremel still in hand running)   it hit me...
Build the whole spar deck beams, and framing for the open hatches FIRST off the ship.   
Ensure proper fit,location... Only then cut into the existing beams.
 
Now I had a plan
Step 1:  From the Connie CD/Planes.. study the Spar deck plans... re:deck beams around the open waist
 

 
Nn the blueprint above.. if you look close   has all sizes and distance between centers of the beams and carlings?.
The beams are NOT equally spaced... 
 
Step 2:  In MS Excel   map out my new beam layout 
Note this lays out the beams and lists the lengths and widths.  but Excel not good at making to scale.

 
Also in Excel.. convert from the CD plan   measured in actual Feet and inches
Convert to right scale 1:76
And then convert to MM in the new scale.   (In my models I find it easier to work in metrics )
The number with the green background represents the length inside of the opening (dashed blue line).   
       So from Actual(from blueprint)  scaled down is 161.4mm
       With rounding of all the summed individual lengths  is 163mm
       After some tweaking  162mm
 
The last row labeled mm adjusted is what I actually wound up using.
Minor changes.. +- mm here and there.
My conversions:

 
Next step is to make a scale drawing.
MS Visio  Unlike excel can have a metric ruler and print to scale.  So I can use the layout and measurements from excel.. to make a to scale version in visio. 
 

 
Next, I printed out the visio   and used it as a template to verify on the mode.
It took a few iterations and tweaking to get the right.l

 
Milled some basswood for the new beams  and cross pieces.
Used the existing beam to get the right camber of the deck
 

 

And then glued it up using the printed visio template

 
shifted  so you can see the template

Just placed on the model on top of existing beams to  verify all looks good.

 
NOW I can safely cut out the exiting deck beams.
Went back to the Dremel... with cutting disk  and started surgery.
 
Note I started at bulkhead E.  On E    I cut only the center support but left the original beam in
F,G,H,I,J I cut out the beams
On  K   I also cut the center support but not the beam.
 
Also note... Prior in the build I put a ran a 2x2mm strip of wood under all the deck beam in preparation for this.  (To support the new beams.)
Those turned out to be level with the top of the gun port header as well.  You can see this below.

And now,  With the new beams just set in place (No glue):

 

 
You might have notices I also started making templates for the Gun Deck deck.
I'll save that for the next post.  probably next weekend.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Posting Continued
 
So the incident  with the struts opening I'm concerned.  but I need to continue on.  I'll keep watching to see if they re-open.  Hopefully the infusion of the glue helps solve it or at least stabilize it.   For now at least.   the gaps are all closed and have stayed that way for the last week+ post re-gluing.
 
I decided the next part I would work on on is the gun deck   gun ports.    I figure that putting these in will help strengthening the thin upper parts of the bulkheads before I start cutting out deck beams to model the gun deck.
 
First, I made some jigs
 
 

I cut a piece of stock to 10mm x 14mm.   This is the inside dimensions of the gun ports.  So as I frame the gunports... this block should fir in snugly  and tat will ensure they are framed square and the proper and identical size.    Now I cut these into 2 lengths.   Each piece is longer than the width of the ship.    This lest me frame the mirror gun ports on each side of the ship.
 
The Next two pieces are spaces.  they are narrow enough to fit between the bulkheads.  and they are 6 mm high
So .... to make a gunport
1) place the spacer on the strut.    
 
 
 
 

2) Cut out 4 pieces to be the sill and header of the gun port.  (they should all be the same length.  the distance between the two bulkheads
  Note   these need to be 3MM thick( hight)
3) Glue in the sill  by placing it on the spacer.
   -From the plans,  the top of the sill needs to be 9mm off the high of the gun deck
   -remember my struts are at the same height as the bottom support on the bulkheads.
   -And from the plan.  The bottom support of the bulkheads are at height of the gun deck
 Sooo  The spacer  = 6mm,  the sill's 3mm     6+3= 9mm.   (higher math :-) ) The top of the sill should be at the right height.
 
 
 
 
 

 
4)  Repeat process  between the same bulkheads but on the opposite side.
5) Now take the two long gun port jigs and place them on the sills.    Make sure they are facing the right way up.
 

6)   You can now glue in the header piece on both sides  by placing them on top of the gun port jig.
7)  Give the glue a 1/2 to set.    Then carefully slide out the jigs....
 
 

You now have the gun ports  sill and header,  the proper and equal height off the deck and the header also equal and the right height above the sill.
In two sessions in the workshop.  got all 30 gun ports  in. (hearer and sills only)

Looking down the side, by eye , they look to have a good run.
 
 

Now I still have to do the side pieces of the gunport.
again using the jig.,  place it back on the sill and all the way across the hull
 

cut and and glue the side pieces.    Both port and starboard.
 

 
So I was able to get the first 4 ports done.  2 on each side starting at the stern.
Using this method.  The sills , header and side pieces are all square  and identically sized and proper height and symmetrical with its pier on the opposite side of the ship.
In case you cant tell....  I've become kinda obsessive about making sure the gun ports look right  :-) 
This is from my experience building the Friesland... ( a Dutch 2 decker 80 gun ship)  Try aligning 13 guns per deck, om 3 decks , crossing 4 wales  all with cambers... and make them look symmetrical.   I digress.
 

 
Also note... An added piece under the sill.    There is not a lot of surface area at the ends where the sills are glued to the bulkheads.    I was afraid that when working on the side pieces, they would be susceptible to breaking off.    So with some scrap wood.   I cut a bunch of filler pieces.   6mm high and same depth as the sill.    Glued them underneath the sill.  Now much stronger.    To do all 30 gun ports took <2 hours .
 
Now... If you've lasted this long and are still reading this.....   You spent too much time here and should be in your own shop working on your own models  :-)  Just kidding!
 
Final thought/ question before I end this post.
 
When looking at the ME planes,  the gun-ports are NOT evenly spaced across the length of the hull. Some have 25mm between gun ports .  others are 30, 32, 28...
However, when looking at the AOS side view..    They are all consistency spaced.  So which is right?    Did you other Connie builder experience this and what did you do???
Need to figure this out before I do any more work on mine.
 
Till next post.
K
 
 
 

TigerSteve:      The grain on that particular piece doesn't really matter as its a Jig only used to space the stern pieces.   Wont actually be used on the model.
JS Gerson:        I did the same as you.  went and checked the Connie CD with the historic and restoration plans..
                     
                      Also, I was looking at your log today.. Saw the discussion on the stern. Along with Cpt  Steve's comments.
                       By luck maybe... I didn't have the curve problem.. or I should say I dealt with it without seeing it as an issue.
                      As you mention, the transom block is curved.   But the 4 stern pieces are identical.   When I was fitting those 4  (6 if you include the 2 outside                               pieces)   As I was fitting them, I trimmed the end of each one (the side  toward the bulkhead) so that the bottom outer edge lined up with the                           stern block edge.    And thus all six of the stern pieces followed the intended curve.
                   Now I'm not detailing the Great Room / Captains Quarters as you ans Steve are........ (But then again...maybe its not to late to re-consider ;-) 
      
 
Sooo...  Today the wife was out of the house the entire day.  That means I got to spend the whole day in the shop!! Excellent!
And back to the gun port spacing issue.
And I have an answer.... :-)
 
 
The diagrams in the AOS book are too small to decern any difference.
The various ME plans are all consistent in that the spacing is inconsistent.   (Although the ME plans are consisting among each of the sheets  (if that makes sense)
 
So I went to the plans off the CD.    Awhile back I had the ones for the Gun deck printed ...scaled up  bigger than the ME Plans. and taped to my wall actually.  (How did I miss that !)   On this plan in the larger scale is was clear that the spacing was  Inconsistent.   Some minor.  some not so minor.
 
I was also looking at another view of the ship from the CD to compare.   Its a historic line drawing showing the profile of the ship with all the masts and rigging.   I believe the port locations are adjusted to avoid the shrouds and dead eyes on the chain plates.
 
So with that figured out.  I'm just going to follow the spacing as layed out on the ME plans afrer all.


So  back into the workshop..  With the entire day to myself.  I finished framing all 30 gun ports on the gun deck.
 
In progress

Basically working 4 at a time... two on each side

 
Only trick was that the sides of the ship have some tumble-home.  And the amount of tumble home changes  over the lenght of the ship
So while the length of all the pieces were consistent (10mm).  I had to cut both ends at angles (not square) for sections where the tumble home was significant
The end cuts varied from 5 - 35 degrees.  
 
After doing a few , I got into a rhythm .. they actually went a lot faster than I expected.
After I finished them,  let the glue set for a few hours   then sanded them all down to be fair with the frames
 

ahhhh   ...Nice square gun ports.   My OCD at work :-)


 
Now back to work tomorrow.
And the work week to think about and  plan..what to tackle next weekend
 
K
 
116678001.pdf

For folks building the kit, the cast metal pieces are pretty close to the Chapman plans (the kit plans shown below are exact replicas from Chapman).  There are some differences though, which people should be aware of.  For example, the upper tier of lights is the right dimension, but the kit is simplified in having a rectangular row, rather than slight curves as in the plans.  The gallery balcony railing is pretty close.  The quarter gallery lights are pretty much spot on.
 
What is a little off is the lower tier of lights/upper counter area, the wrap around section that goes to the quarter galleries, and the tafferel - all of which are smaller than the plans suggest:




 
They aren't off by much, but it's something to be on the lookout for.  My guess is that the tafferal can be bent outwards to widen it a bit at the sides.  What is tougher is the fact that the lower lights section of the stern is not as wide or tall as the plans.  I'm not sure the reason, but maybe it was intended to simplify things for the builder a bit.  It looks like builders have taken all types of approaches to make the cast parts work, since the plans and parts don't match up precisely.
 
In particular, I think that the lower half of the quarter gallery should extend further out as in the picture below.  I think you could use the cast part, but my guess from the Chapman plans is that one would need to add some filler under the cast metal piece to accomplish this.
 

So, I think I'm going to try scratch building the stern as much as possible.  It's complicated, and has taken me a lot of time to work through, but I think in the end I'll be a little happier.  Plus, I won't have to try to fill in caps between the cast metal pieces, open up the window panes, etc.

Hi Mates,
 
Well she is done. Last pics for this log, a big thanks, especially to those of you who have followed along – for such a long time!! adding your kind and encouraging words, and all of your important advice. So many of your compliments have also helped me become a better builder – again thanks. Big thanks for so many of your Like clicks and visits as well.
 
Captain Steve: Up next, after much hand wringing –it was between the Billing Oseberg (1/25th) 
As much as I became obsesses with Vikings after watching all seasons of The Vikings this kit is just too big (my fault for not paying attention to its size during the purchase) Yes there are smaller size kits – could be…..
 
So having learned so much with Vasa, I will go with the OcCre Santisima Trinidad cross section. I intend to bash the heck out of it, including leaving some of the lower and upper gun deck planking bare, as well as poss. at the weather deck as well – showing the, to be added,  under framings. And trying my first at coppering the hull. 
 
Jörgen regarding the woods – those that came with the kit, along with wood from Corel’s Mirage. Then from Midwest products; some walnut, mahogany, Cherry, and beech. I did not use any finish on this build, nor do I intend to.
 
Again Mates THANKS SO MUCH for your kind words.
 
Regards,
 
 
 

Hi Mates,
Last build update for this Vasa – the next (last one) will be some shots of her full views - completed. Hard for me to believe  
Just finished the flags better rigged. Henry, et al – thanks for your advice; pics of the three masts.
Tomorrow I go to pick up the case cover, and move her to her new room.
 

 
 

Mates,
 
Thanks for likes - slight variation on the above technique. Looks a bit more realistic in terms of how rope is "actually" secured around itself - Added a knot - actually also easier to do than the above back side glue/cut/hide bit.
 
here are a couple of updated shots. Minor diff. but just a bit more realistic IMO.

Cheers,

Most of the standing rigging for the foremast and bowsprit is complete. The foremast backstays and shrouds will be done last.
 
Next up is spars, sails, and running rigging for the bowsprit and spritsail topmast.
 
Vince P. 

Hi All,
I found this great book, thanks to a new member here, Mark from Virginia USA. It is illustrated with actual drawings and paintings from the 1600's by the builders of  war ships of the period of the mid to late 17th century. Also photos of various museum models.  Since I am building the Royal William and Prince coming next, I thought it would be a good addition to my reference library. Not only is it a great book, but it has diagrams of rigging plans as well. I am building the RW with full rigged sails and the plans leave out some of the tiny details. I have been going back and forth to several sources trying to figure the running rigging out. This book has a complete diagram for rigging sails on a ship like the RW. In ten minutes it answered all the questions I had. It also has fabulous closeup photos of the decorations for the RW and the Prince and many other ships of the period.
 
I got a used copy in almost new condition from Amazon for $149 US.
 
Thanks Mark! 
 
Vince P. 

Slowly making some progress.  Finally got the bulkheads and filler blocks faired and started with the first planking.  First three planks starting from the keel are in:
 


 
So far so good.  Lots of curves on this ship.  There's a lot going on with the stern, so I spent quite a bit of time going over the plans and how the cast metal parts are supposed to fit together.  The interesting thing about the Euromodel plans is that they will be true to the Chapman plans in some drawings and simplified (e.g., straight, less curvatures) in others - sometimes on the same sheet.  So, you have to be mindful of that when building.  The cast metal pieces for the stern are pretty good, but in some cases like the row of stern windows fronting the balcony, follow the more simplified square approach, whereas the Chapman plans show more curves intended that follow the curvatures of the decks and balcony.  As is often said with respect to these Euromodel kits, they are quasi scratch kits that are intended allow a builder plenty of latitude to build the model as simple or as detailed as one would like.
 
I think I'm going to challenge myself and scratch build some or all of the cast metal pieces for the stern.  I'd like to follow the Chapman plans as much as possible, and I think the cast metal parts deviate in certain respects.  For example, there are windows at the lower drop area of the quarter galleries and between the balcony and counter/chase ports - but the cast metal parts have these filled in.  Building them from scratch would probably take close to the same amount of time as opening these and other windows up.  Along with potentially not doing a clean job opening the windows up, I worry that the seams where the cast metal and wood parts meet would need to be filled, which sometimes could be a hard thing to do.  Then of course, there is the need to paint the cast metal parts, and I'm not that great when it comes to detailed painting.  I just think that I can achieve a crisper finish scratching these items than I can from working with the cast metal parts.  The good news is that the parts and plans give a very good model for me to base my work on.  I'll try to detail some of the changes from the kit in future posts.
 
 

I have completed the construction of the foremast off ship. This includes the spars, sails, and almost all of the running rigging. It will now be stepped into the ship and the standing rigging completed as well as the lower shrouds and attaching all of the running rigging to the deck. With addition of the sails, the amount of running rigging increases substantially.
Like I mentioned before, I prefer to complete the masts off ship so I don't have to rotate the ship continuously to attach the rigging and sew the sails. This method works well for me.
 
Vince P. 

Hi Mike, I'll go along with Vince on this. I changed the deck strips for Tanganyika out of preference for colour, all the wood in my kit was of excellent quality more than I can say of some other kits that I've built. I stained my hull light oak and this made the wood slightly more amber and brought out a very nice wood grain. I applied sanding sealer before a light coat of poly. Other than using a few pieces of scrap ply I have only used what was supplied in the kit.
 
Ken

Hello Everyone.  All ok here, got back into the groove so here's the latest update.

I've got quite a bit done, I lined, sanded and painted the inner bulwarks and open ports. I made and fitted the capstan, this needed reducing in size quite a bit, I think that it must have been a general stock part. I have got a fair way with the planking, well past the fiddly bits around the ports, I was very pleased that the method I had used produced very clean, neat results. I have now started from the keel upwards and that too looks to be going ok.  I have shown an estimation of where the main wale will go, it is hoped that I can hide the transition from the top planking to the upswept planking behind it. With painting the lower hull and the fitting of the ornamentation around the bow I think that my not very correct planking pattern may not be much noticed and if I can keep my joints tight it will look quite good. I have seen some perfect planking patterns that because of poor joins look not so good, so again I just want it to be simple and neat.
 
 
 
Ken
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

Hi Mike, 
I've shown a few pictures of how I mounted my Royal William, I think that they are self explanatory. Like yourself the stand was a very late addition. The Royal William is a very heavy model and this stand has proved to be very strong and stable, it is also quite easy to lift off.
 
Ken
 

I saw your pics in the gallery this morning at breakfast and have spent today going through your entire log. Wish I’d have looked in sooner. 
Picked up several tips along the way. Thanks. 
So glad you spent the time to chronicle you journey. 
Great work. 
Thanks for sharing it.