ken3335

Hi.  Again thanks to all who gave their likes to my build, and welcome aboard Tom, Mad Dog. It’s still progressing well, here’s the result of the next session.  You will know that I had built the staircases earlier, now I have glued them into place and built up their rails as well as the rails on the upper decks. I have also started to make up the brass rails around the funnel deck, you can just about see part of them in the pics, again I’m pleased with the result.
 
I’m also still making up the smaller parts which add to its character. I have made up pike racks before but never a riffle rack so this is a first for me and I think a nice touch that you wouldn’t expect.
 
Ken
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

Hi.  Again thanks to all who gave their likes to my build, and welcome aboard Tom, Mad Dog. It’s still progressing well, here’s the result of the next session.  You will know that I had built the staircases earlier, now I have glued them into place and built up their rails as well as the rails on the upper decks. I have also started to make up the brass rails around the funnel deck, you can just about see part of them in the pics, again I’m pleased with the result.
 
I’m also still making up the smaller parts which add to its character. I have made up pike racks before but never a riffle rack so this is a first for me and I think a nice touch that you wouldn’t expect.
 
Ken
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

Hi.  Again thanks to all who gave their likes to my build, and welcome aboard Tom, Mad Dog. It’s still progressing well, here’s the result of the next session.  You will know that I had built the staircases earlier, now I have glued them into place and built up their rails as well as the rails on the upper decks. I have also started to make up the brass rails around the funnel deck, you can just about see part of them in the pics, again I’m pleased with the result.
 
I’m also still making up the smaller parts which add to its character. I have made up pike racks before but never a riffle rack so this is a first for me and I think a nice touch that you wouldn’t expect.
 
Ken
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 

Hi Kevin, two things come to mind, the first what an amazingly comprehensive kit, the second, it didn’t take you long to get started!  I suppose you were like a child at Xmas, good luck with it.     Ken

WOW!!! That excited me and exhausted me in equal measures! An incredible achievement in just 6 months 😮 Stunning work Ken! 

Hi.  Again thanks for your many likes. Welcome Chris, thanks for taking the time to view and like my build, it really gave me a boost to have your approval.
 
I promised a few shots of the overall state of the build so far, well the sun shone and I was able to photograph outside. The foredeck looks finished but that’s deceptive, quite a bit to do on it, even a couple more guns which I hadn’t noticed earlier on the plan. There’s the rails, some life rafts, platforms nav lights etc. After these I’ll start on the staircases so still plenty to do.
 
Ken
 

Hello,      Thanks for your likes and comments.  Again happily making good progress, Here's my update.
 
I've completed the first planking, it's a great feeling seeing that last bit of plank slot into place, closure. Not much to say, I just continued in the same way until it was finished. I've looked at the planking and I'm pretty sure that after sanding I will achieve my goal of no filler for the first time. The stern and the rear part of the keel need to be sanded down from there original 10mm to 5mm to allow the second planking to butt up flush with the stern post. I hoped that I'd done this initially but I had been much to timid and quite a bit more sanding was needed. To get it down to 5mm evenly and without going too far I made a metal 5mm strip and attached it to the area needing reducing, this will be a good guide for me and give me confidence to take as much off as needed without going too far.
 
The pictures show the hull just having been completed but not yet sanded,
 
Next will be the big sand, but that will be when it stops raining as I'll have to do it outside.
 
Ken

 

Hello Again,       You didn't have to wait long for my staircase, it surprised me just how easy it turned out to be once I put my mind to it, so here's my version.
Instead of building it up in sections on the ship I made it on my bench, I cut two identical pieces out of ply, one was for the hand rail the other for the base. I cut several 10mm lengths from 2mm dowel for the stanchions. Using cyno I glued the dowels to the lower piece of ply then I glued the handrail on top, as they were identical the top just dropped into place. I then just cut away the gap in the handrail, sanded and stained, as easy as that, the pics show it better. For the stairs I cut steps from 4mm strip, bevelled the rear edge then glued them onto a strip of ply. Again I stained them and placed them in position, because of the closeness of the steps you can't see the ply. I glued the rails in place then put a hand rail for the stairs and varnished everything. I am very pleased with my simple not too fiddly construction.
 
I have painted the area of the gunports black and am now ready for the first planking.
I'm surprised that I have got to this point in just two weeks, everything has gone smoothly so far, may it continue so.
 
Ken

Hi.  Again thanks for your many likes. Welcome Chris, thanks for taking the time to view and like my build, it really gave me a boost to have your approval.
 
I promised a few shots of the overall state of the build so far, well the sun shone and I was able to photograph outside. The foredeck looks finished but that’s deceptive, quite a bit to do on it, even a couple more guns which I hadn’t noticed earlier on the plan. There’s the rails, some life rafts, platforms nav lights etc. After these I’ll start on the staircases so still plenty to do.
 
Ken
 

Hi.  Again thanks for your many likes. Welcome Chris, thanks for taking the time to view and like my build, it really gave me a boost to have your approval.
 
I promised a few shots of the overall state of the build so far, well the sun shone and I was able to photograph outside. The foredeck looks finished but that’s deceptive, quite a bit to do on it, even a couple more guns which I hadn’t noticed earlier on the plan. There’s the rails, some life rafts, platforms nav lights etc. After these I’ll start on the staircases so still plenty to do.
 
Ken
 

Hi,   Thanks for those likes.
 
I’ve been busy working away on the smaller items that fit around the decks, there are a lot of them and they take a surprising amount of time given their size. There are too many to show the making of them individually but you’ll probably notice them around the deck without them being mentioned.
 
I’ll show you the pin rails and you’ll perhaps understand the time it takes on this model of what is normally a quick and simple task.
 
There are thirteen pin rails with a total of 68 belaying pins, each pin has its own brass roller in its brass housing mounted on a shelf below the main rail.
 
As you can see in the plan the roller mount should be first nailed onto the rail then the roller can be fitted with a pin. Here’s catch 22 if you do it this way you can’t fit the roller pins because the other rollers get in the way and you don’t have enough room, it looks simple on the plan but in reality it isn’t. Now if you pin the roller into its mount first you then can’t nail the mount to its shelf. My solution was to use a length of wire and thread all of the rollers with mounts onto the wire like a bead necklace then cut them to the right length for each rail, bend them to suit the shelf curve an attach using thick cyno. I find brass doesn’t hold well when glued so if I’d glued them on singly I think that I would have had issues of them coming off during rigging, but glueing them on strips I think that their combined strength will be sufficient.
 
I’ve also been fitting a lot of the small items that I’ve made to the fore deck and it’s starting to look very busy, in a good way, I’m surprised at just how good its starting to look, I’ll get a good photo session in when it’s sunny, the metallic nature of the brass shows up much better in natural light than in my work area, I’ll post these pics quite soon.
 
Ken

Hi,  Again thanks for those likes.
 
The build continues apace, I feel that real progress is now being made as the deck fittings are starting to give it real character, I’m now very enthusiastic and look forward to each time I can get to it to continue.
 
I have now finished the waist deck cabin and a couple more hatches and skylights. These were a project of their own, they took a bit of time but presented no issues. The walls were made up from ply which was then added to as per the plans. There weren’t enough brass portholes supplied in the kit so for the skylights I used small brass rings, with all the other stuff going on I think I’ll get away with them. I painted it, again using Humbrol enamel then fitted it in place. Lots of pictures this time.
 
Ken
 

Hi,     The next little project was to make and fit the two column radar structure that sits behind the quarter deck house. It was made up from dowels with sanded to shape tops and joined using strips, finished off with some brass wire to support the radar dish. I brush painted it with Caldercraft occre acrylic, before putting on some doors. I like this paint and the colour is perfect so I’ll be using this for some deck fittings and the masting
 
Ken
 

Hello to those following my build, and again thanks for your likes.
 
I have now finished the stern house ( or whatever it’s called )
 
It was made up initially from pre cut ply sides which were then covered with mahogany strips. I then used the same strip wood cut up to make the panelling. I added the skirting, made the upper detailed items from the plan, I added the rails and ladders then I glazed the windows before adding a coat of poly. Job done.
 
I’ve attached a few photos for you to see.
 
Ken

Hi,    Just to keep you interested, here’s pictures of some of the smaller detailed deck items that I’ve been making for later placement.  They are some pin rails, the training guns and the small cranes. I think that they came out well and along with all the other stuff will look good on the deck.
 
Ken
 
 

Hi,  Again thanks for your likes.
 
I’ve been putting in the hours on the build over the last few days and have got quite a bit done. The powered winch, the funnel structure and a few deck fittings were made up and fitted in place. I took quite a few photos as I built them up but unfortunately deleted them before I had downloaded them, a senior moment, so I only have the finished items to show. I’ll try and do better, as I used to say to my teachers.
 
I made the winch platform then worked out how to assemble the many metal parts. This looked simple on the plan but caused much head scratching, like those silly impossible puzzles you got for Xmas. I wanted the individual parts to have contrast with each other rather than just brass or plain black, more detail gets noticed that way so I blackened each part differently and got the effect that I wanted, I then assembled them. Again to get contrast rather than leave the platform a deck colour I stained it light teak.
 
Next was the funnel assembly. The funnel was a very nice brass one with a separate brass piece as the head, I left the funnel brass as that’s my theme but again for contrast I blackened the head. There are four sets of brass rings around the funnel and these are held in place with eyelets. Gluing the eyelets into the thin sided funnel wasn’t a good option so I glued a wooden dowel inside to give them more of a hold, I could also cut off the dowel and that would leave a good substantial area for fixing later. The funnel housing is made up from brass sheet, I first made up the housing to the correct size from a block of wood then glued the exterior brass sheet to that before finally fixing the funnel to it.
 
I’ve fixed these and the wheelhouse into place on the deck. I have made up a few deck fittings as well as the wheelhouse ladders and put these into place.
 
 
Ken
 

Hi,  Thanks again for your likes on my build.
 
As you know I was unhappy with what Panart wanted me to use as a canopy for the wheelhouse. I decided that I would make up my own frame and use acetate sheet to glaze the individual windows. I used a mixture of the kit photo etch brass for the top and sides and some brass strip for the rest, soldering them together. The outcome was successful but was far from easy. My soldering skills are very basic and leave a lot to be desired. It looked easy but in the end it took about four hours to solder together. Making up a 3D structure with many differing angles by eye proved a challenge, with many solder, de-solder, re-solder and swear moments, it was only with the help of my wife’s extra pair of hands that I managed. It was messy and needed a great deal of filing to get a decent finish, it was worth the effort. You can see the difference with the kit version from the photos.
 
On reflection it would have been easier to make a wooden mock up and use that to rest the pieces against as you solder, you would end up with the correct shape and fit first go, hind sight is wonderful.
 
Ken
 
 

Hi,  Just a small post. I just couldn't resist putting on the stern decoration piece. It is a detailed casting made from a soft metal which molded easily to the hull shape, I nailed it on. It put a smile on my face, a couple of minutes work for a noticeable improvement.
 
Ken
 

Hi,   Again thanks for the many likes and comments on my build, as I’ve said they are encouraging.
 
Here we go on to something that I’ve been looking forward to making, the wheelhouse. It’s one of the main detailed features on the deck and it gives me the chance to see how my brass and mahogany theme looks. 
 
Whilst the plans looked simple enough I found them hard to follow. All the detail and measurements were present but because they were spread out over three sheets like a mad woman’s diary and not shown to scale they were confusing, many of the small parts that were made up were not shown where they actually went.
 
In spite of that the wheelhouse turned out better looking than I had expected, I put quite a bit of work and thought into it and I’m rather pleased with myself. I’ve shown the process in pictures as I think that this explains better than words.
 
The glass canopy is another issue. A moulded acetate plastic one is supplied, with photo etch pieces meant to be stuck to the outside to look like the frame, that’s always going to end up messy. The moulded piece is misshapen, the wrong size with rounded and not defined edges, I’ve seen better jelly moulds.  I think that I will have to make my own so watch this space.
 
Ken
 

Hi,    The build continues at a good pace. Today’s post shows some of the smaller projects that I’ve made up whilst waiting for paint/glue to dry, they include some hatches, waist lockers, deck storage units, skylights etc.
 
I’ve shown my start on the wheelhouse, I’ll continue showing this soon, I’ve done more of it but I haven’t sorted the photos out yet, it’s coming out better than expected
 
Ken
 

Hi,   Thanks for those likes.
 
I’ve been busy working away on the smaller items that fit around the decks, there are a lot of them and they take a surprising amount of time given their size. There are too many to show the making of them individually but you’ll probably notice them around the deck without them being mentioned.
 
I’ll show you the pin rails and you’ll perhaps understand the time it takes on this model of what is normally a quick and simple task.
 
There are thirteen pin rails with a total of 68 belaying pins, each pin has its own brass roller in its brass housing mounted on a shelf below the main rail.
 
As you can see in the plan the roller mount should be first nailed onto the rail then the roller can be fitted with a pin. Here’s catch 22 if you do it this way you can’t fit the roller pins because the other rollers get in the way and you don’t have enough room, it looks simple on the plan but in reality it isn’t. Now if you pin the roller into its mount first you then can’t nail the mount to its shelf. My solution was to use a length of wire and thread all of the rollers with mounts onto the wire like a bead necklace then cut them to the right length for each rail, bend them to suit the shelf curve an attach using thick cyno. I find brass doesn’t hold well when glued so if I’d glued them on singly I think that I would have had issues of them coming off during rigging, but glueing them on strips I think that their combined strength will be sufficient.
 
I’ve also been fitting a lot of the small items that I’ve made to the fore deck and it’s starting to look very busy, in a good way, I’m surprised at just how good its starting to look, I’ll get a good photo session in when it’s sunny, the metallic nature of the brass shows up much better in natural light than in my work area, I’ll post these pics quite soon.
 
Ken

Hi Mike,  I just thought that you might like my current build, Amerigo Vespucci.
 
Ken

Hi,   Thanks for those likes.
 
I’ve been busy working away on the smaller items that fit around the decks, there are a lot of them and they take a surprising amount of time given their size. There are too many to show the making of them individually but you’ll probably notice them around the deck without them being mentioned.
 
I’ll show you the pin rails and you’ll perhaps understand the time it takes on this model of what is normally a quick and simple task.
 
There are thirteen pin rails with a total of 68 belaying pins, each pin has its own brass roller in its brass housing mounted on a shelf below the main rail.
 
As you can see in the plan the roller mount should be first nailed onto the rail then the roller can be fitted with a pin. Here’s catch 22 if you do it this way you can’t fit the roller pins because the other rollers get in the way and you don’t have enough room, it looks simple on the plan but in reality it isn’t. Now if you pin the roller into its mount first you then can’t nail the mount to its shelf. My solution was to use a length of wire and thread all of the rollers with mounts onto the wire like a bead necklace then cut them to the right length for each rail, bend them to suit the shelf curve an attach using thick cyno. I find brass doesn’t hold well when glued so if I’d glued them on singly I think that I would have had issues of them coming off during rigging, but glueing them on strips I think that their combined strength will be sufficient.
 
I’ve also been fitting a lot of the small items that I’ve made to the fore deck and it’s starting to look very busy, in a good way, I’m surprised at just how good its starting to look, I’ll get a good photo session in when it’s sunny, the metallic nature of the brass shows up much better in natural light than in my work area, I’ll post these pics quite soon.
 
Ken

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

Hello Everyone,
 
FINISHED!!!
 
The boats have been completed and are now mounted on their beams. I think that they worked out quite well and I'm glad that I made the two. The rope coils have also been placed around the deck and give it a finished look.
 
As far as I can see RW. is now finished, I'll leave it in my workroom for a couple of weeks casting my eye over it to see if I spot anything that I need to do, I'll clean it up then when I get some decent light I'll do a photo session. I'll also put my mind to writing up my conclusion.
 
It's been quite a journey and thanks for coming along for the ride.
 
Ken