mikeaidanh

Thanks B.E. The wood supplied with the Surprise kit is Basswood which, I believe, is lime. The quality varies quite a lot strip to strip and I am not very happy with what I have completed so far. It is bite the bullet time, rip it off and start again. Do you have a reliable supplier for your boxwood? I have been buying extras from Cornwall Model Boats thus far. Mike.

B.E. Yes. I do have the Lavery/Hunt book and a full set of the O'Brian books but even so there remains some confusion. I am not too bothered now as I have made my decision on the build....or more likely I have made the first of several final decisions! I have read, in James Choi's account I think, about the problems with the ships head but thank you for the heads up. I have learned a valuable lesson re caulking procedure but I would like to ask you if some timbers are better suited to the task than others. I am using the wood provided with the kit but, before I go any further, What would you advise? Thanks for your interest. Mike.

Hello one and all, Here I go then. My attempt to build HMS Surprise. I had hoped to base this very firmly on Jack Aubrey’s vessel but I have found it difficult to tie down exactly what Patrick O’Brian had in mind. It is quite clear that O’brian contradicts himself at times and that he plays fast and loose with the time line. Others may have a better handle on this than me and I would love to hear their thoughts; in the mean time the plan is to build L’Unite/Surprise before her refit in 1798 thus giving scope to include “long guns” much loved by our Jack. The kit from Artesania Latina leaves much to be desired even to my unpracticed eye and this has been touched upon by others. Kim, krt2, pointed out, in his sadly now missing build log, the problem with mast positions and channels. I intend to address these issues where I can and, again, would be very interested in the view of others. So, HMS Surprise with the odd hint of Aubrey. In the beginning.The familiar starting point. Does anyone else use this wonderful Dremel vice? Gluing in using small engineers squares. All bulkheads in place. As I have a biggish drawing board it occurred to me that I could “test” the planking layout before fitting the false deck sections. Binding strakes and Margin planks have also been drawn in. Templates for margin planks... ......and in situ on the marked up deck. The marked up deck will contain errors due to parallax and pencil thickness so they are purely a guide. I hope they will at least keep me on track when laying the planks. A butt shift pattern had been worked out in advance.....I hope it is correct! Some below deck interest. The main hatch will be displayed open for added interest and the hatch below that will also be open do infer that work between decks is underway. A hoist may be added later. Fitting the false decks..... ....and a preview of the hatch below. Oh no! a boo boo! Bulkhead 18 has been misfitted and I failed to notice it before now. A section of false deck must be cut out and removed before the glue holding the bulkhead has been softened with IPA and the offending piece removed and replaced correctly.(Sorry, lousy photo.) In passing I must pay homage to the accumulated wisdom within these forums (fora?) that led me to the solution of PVA with IPA. All fixed and the false deck section due to be replaced. Starting the planking. A guide has been placed for laying the first plank. The central un butt shifted planks are laid. At this point I must thank those people who responded to my question regarding scraping and scrapers in the Building,Framing and Planking forum. The small amount of deck that has been laid so far looked a bit messy due to inept use of the permanent marker and smudgy transfer from my fingers. I tried a wee scrape and it works! Now I must learn to be cleaner in my work On the subject of plank edge marking it seems to look better if only one face of a pair of planks is marked. Is this the method in general?

Thanks Sid but if you want to see a really good Pickle then visit Blue Ensign's build log. Pickle was my first and only other build and I have now moved on to 1:48 scale to see if that suits my creaking faculties any better. Good luck with your Pickle. Mike.

I have just this minute ordered a set of three scrapers and a burnishing tool. My thanks to all who have replied and a special thanks to Richard for the link. I have printed off the instruction notes. Mike.

Thank you Gentlemen. Scraping it is then.

I notice that scraping a completed deck is preferred to sanding. Why is that please. Are scrapers bought or made? What constitutes a good scraper? Thanks in advance for sharing knowledge.

Harlequin, I echo your sentiments. The RNLI flag still flies at half mast at the old lifeboat station. May it ever do so.

B.E. What a pleasure to read your log of the Pickle build. Mike.

Thanks Zeh, that looks pretty clear. Something to think about. Mike.

In fact I wish I had seen this before doing any of my Pickle! What a classy model. Mike.

I wish I had seen this log before doing my coppering. Mike.

Thank you mtaylor, That all makes sense. Do you have any thoughts on the rigging of a hoist for raising/lowering items? Mike.

Wayne, Thanks for your reply. Stacked to the side is what I had imagined but if I did that without checking then, as sure as the sun rises, someone would have mentioned a "hatch rack" or some such device. I am joking really; I just wanted some input. Thanks also for the useful illustration. I remember something from my dim and distance past about "slinging a cask end on" and the rope and hook system I am familiar with but the rest was new to me. I will file that away for future reference. Again, many thanks, Mike.

Wayne, Specifically HMS Surprise AL 1:48. I intend to add some below deck interest which will require an open hatch giving view to another hatch below that. I thought to infer that items were on the move between decks by having a barrel or two adjacent to the open hatches and, maybe, a hoist rigged ready for use. There is a wealth of written knowledge describing fixtures and fittings as you will know but not so much that I am aware of that describes how things were done. Any thoughts? Mike.

If a hatch is to be displayed open on a period ship how were the hatch cover sections stowed and how was lifting tackle arranged? Any ideas gratefully received. Mike.

I for one would appreciate that Mayohoo. Thanks in advance, Mike.

Hello Wayne, I found 1:72 to be too small for me to manage fine detail. I did not build the cannons and some of my rigging detail left a lot to be desired. I did not tie the ratlines, used a needle and threaded them. I found the small brass eyes etc a real problem. BUT it is a nice wee boat and deserves attention from someone with more skill than me. Give it a go. Mike.

This was my first attempt at model ship building. It is incomplete as the cannon were not built. I found 1:64 to be too small for me. The job was hurried because i wanted to try out all the aspects of the build to see how i liked it. I liked it a lot which is why i am about to take a very great deal of time building the AL 1:48 HMS Surprise. The following photographs form a pictorial record of the build. Sorry....no words. Mike.