tkay11

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

Thanks, Nils. It's really great when experienced modellers as yourself who produce beautiful and finely crafted work give me such comments.
 
Tony

Thanks, Nils. It's really great when experienced modellers as yourself who produce beautiful and finely crafted work give me such comments.
 
Tony

Thanks a lot, B.E.! My wife hasn't anything to compare it to, but definitely the small size is a plus since it's going into a bookcase.
 
Tony

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

SWIVEL GUNS
 
I really didn’t like the swivel guns supplied with the kit. At first I thought I’d just keep the kit barrels and make my own swivel mounts (which I did, earlier on in the build – see within entry #100 at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/335-hmc-sherbourne-1763-by-tkay11-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-a-novice’s-caldercraft-sherbourne/?p=117947). I thought I wouldn’t have the skill to turn my own barrels on brass, but in the end, seeing as I bought a really cheap Taig lathe on eBay, I reckoned it would be a good opportunity to learn a new set of skills.
 
The first step, of course, was to make the right tools for the job – notably gravers. There are some excellent tutorials on the web on how to make gravers, so I bought some 3mm square HSS lathe bars, some wooden dowel and set up a sharp pointed graver for the square cuts and a rounded graver for the smooth barrelling.
 

 
I was surprised to find that with really sharp gravers, cutting into the brass was almost exactly similar to cutting into wood on a wood lathe. As a result, I was able to cut 8 barrels in a couple of days using the plans for the swivel guns from the AOTS book on the Cutter Alert. Luckily the swivel mounts I had made were exactly the right size.
 
Something that struck me was that it would be easier to cut the handle of the swivel gun at the same time – rather than soldering on a rod at a later stage. This way I’d be able to bend the handle after heating it with a butane gas burner.
 

 
It took me a little while to figure out how to cut the holes for the trunnions in such small barrels (roughly 1.5mm diameter), but I hit on the plan of making a jig from an epoxy putty (Milliput) and leaving a 0.4mm thick piece of wood on which to lay the end of the barrel so that the trunnion hole would run vertically across the barrel.
 

 

 
Unfortunately my attempts at blackening were not great – it may be that my blackening agent is now too old), so I ended up painting them (much to the dismay of my wife who thought the brass finish was beautiful). Much as I would have liked to keep the brass finish, it wouldn’t have been in keeping with the rest of the model and the ebony barrels of the 3-pounder guns. The sad thing is that the black paint on the barrels adds a layer which blurs the sharp edges of the rings and the detail.
 
Still, it’s probably a bit better than the kit barrels and I did learn a whole lot about turning brass with gravers!
 

 
Next up: Anchors
 
Tony

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

FINALISING THE BASE
 
The A3 size blue-tinted acrylic sheet arrived, I cut it to 200mm width on my table saw using an acrylic-cutting blade, then as before cut out the shape with a coping saw.
 
To hold the sheet I bought 300mm of 12mm acrylic rod and cut it into 51mm slices on the saw, then brought that down to 50mm with the disc sander. This ensured the cuts were smooth and the face at right angles.
 
The ends of the cut rod were then polished using 1000 grit carborundum paper followed by a final polish with a leather strop and some honing compound.
 
This meant that the acrylic welding solution could then be applied to the legs with a fine paintbrush – allowing the solution to be drawn into the joint by capillary action, leaving no sign of a join.
 
The final result is as shown below.
 

 

 

 
Now I’ll start work on the swivel guns as the graver’s rod has arrived.
 
Tony

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

Thanks, Nils. It's really great when experienced modellers as yourself who produce beautiful and finely crafted work give me such comments.
 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

SWIVEL GUNS
 
I really didn’t like the swivel guns supplied with the kit. At first I thought I’d just keep the kit barrels and make my own swivel mounts (which I did, earlier on in the build – see within entry #100 at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/335-hmc-sherbourne-1763-by-tkay11-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-a-novice’s-caldercraft-sherbourne/?p=117947). I thought I wouldn’t have the skill to turn my own barrels on brass, but in the end, seeing as I bought a really cheap Taig lathe on eBay, I reckoned it would be a good opportunity to learn a new set of skills.
 
The first step, of course, was to make the right tools for the job – notably gravers. There are some excellent tutorials on the web on how to make gravers, so I bought some 3mm square HSS lathe bars, some wooden dowel and set up a sharp pointed graver for the square cuts and a rounded graver for the smooth barrelling.
 

 
I was surprised to find that with really sharp gravers, cutting into the brass was almost exactly similar to cutting into wood on a wood lathe. As a result, I was able to cut 8 barrels in a couple of days using the plans for the swivel guns from the AOTS book on the Cutter Alert. Luckily the swivel mounts I had made were exactly the right size.
 
Something that struck me was that it would be easier to cut the handle of the swivel gun at the same time – rather than soldering on a rod at a later stage. This way I’d be able to bend the handle after heating it with a butane gas burner.
 

 
It took me a little while to figure out how to cut the holes for the trunnions in such small barrels (roughly 1.5mm diameter), but I hit on the plan of making a jig from an epoxy putty (Milliput) and leaving a 0.4mm thick piece of wood on which to lay the end of the barrel so that the trunnion hole would run vertically across the barrel.
 

 

 
Unfortunately my attempts at blackening were not great – it may be that my blackening agent is now too old), so I ended up painting them (much to the dismay of my wife who thought the brass finish was beautiful). Much as I would have liked to keep the brass finish, it wouldn’t have been in keeping with the rest of the model and the ebony barrels of the 3-pounder guns. The sad thing is that the black paint on the barrels adds a layer which blurs the sharp edges of the rings and the detail.
 
Still, it’s probably a bit better than the kit barrels and I did learn a whole lot about turning brass with gravers!
 

 
Next up: Anchors
 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

MODEL COMPLETED!
 
OK, there’s lots I haven’t added. Such as: the full and correct rigging for the 3-pounders, perhaps the lids for the gunports, rigging the catheads, deck furniture, flags, horsehoes on the stem, waterline marks, clew lines, leech lines, bunt lines and a whole lot more that all you experienced builders will note immediately.
 
There’s also a whole lot that is messy, imprecise or badly finished (I still groan over the blocks).
 
BUT … I’ve achieved what I set out to do: to dip my hand into the waters of wooden model boat building, obtain a grasp of the various dimensions of the hobby, and pick up some of the various skills needed to continue with the hobby. These have been done with enormous pleasure at every step of the way. In particular I have loved the variety of challenges that had me puzzling for days until I was able to find some way of dealing with them.
 
In fact, and perhaps oddly, I have slightly less pleasure in having arrived at the end than in the enormous pleasure I have had in dealing with particular parts. Something that really did please me, for example, was finding out how to make and use gravers to turn the brass swivel guns.
 
All the same, my wife likes it! I wanted to give the model away to a local library or shop, but she’s demanding we keep it – at least until my next build is over.
 
WHAT I HAVE LEARNT
 
Now that I have finished the Sherbourne, I thought it a good point at which to summarise for the benefit of other newcomers what I have been learning as a result of starting this hobby.
 
Keep A Build Log!
 
Most important, perhaps, is the enormous value of keeping a build log. Doing so forces you to review your progress methodically and at the same time helps you to learn from others as they comment on your progress and guide you where necessary. I also wanted to use my log to help other beginners who may be puzzling over how to manage various stages: my steps may provide a few more options for them to consider.
 
Start with a simple kit of a small ship!
 
The Sherbourne kit really is an excellent kit for a first-time builder such as myself. Should I have wanted to, I could have just proceeded with the kit parts and plans as supplied and finished the whole thing in about three months. However, as it is based on plans in the UK’s National Maritime Museum it tempts those who want to go further and make it more like it might have looked in the 18th Century.
 
Don’t be scared: take the plunge and build your own parts!
 
A review of all the other far more expert builders who were and are tackling the Sherbourne showed lots of different possibilities, and I quickly realised that every modeller was making a unique creation of their own. I was gradually drawn in to making modifications of my own as I realised that I might be able to make various parts myself when I observed others doing so.
 
It started with the rudder, pintles and gudgeons. Then deck fittings – the hatches, companionway and pumps. Then I realised I might have a bash at making the gratings a bit better. Then I took on the cannon, belaying pins, rope, masts, bowsprit, yards, jeers, windlass, blocks, anchors, swivel guns, boom crutch, hooks, sails, rudder coat, yard horses, foresail horse and, to my great surprise, a Perspex sheet for the waterline stand.
 
All of this came about as a result of the wonderful support from other modellers on the forum, as well as lots of reading, research and visits to museums to inspect contemporary models.
 
Skills that come your way when you try
 
Of the many skills I have been picking up, those that pleased me most have included:
 
* Accurate sawing with a table saw
* Using a Proxxon mini-drill and converting it to use as a wood mill
* Turning with a wood lathe (masts, spars, ebony cannon)
* Using a metal lathe to turn brass swivel guns (a Taig/Peatol) and making gravers to do so
* The value of a disc sander
* Silver soldering with a really basic butane torch
* Blackening brass
* Understanding ship plans
* The value of a software CAD programme (TurboCAD) to trace plans and draw up my own to make particular parts (e.g. cannon)
* Making my own stains for rigging and wood
* Sharpening and honing
* Cutting and welding Perspex sheet and rod.
 
Don’t be worried that at the end of it all your skills are not as good as others!
 
Of course my ability with these skills is nowhere near as good as very many other modellers on this and other fora, but the point of my drawing up this list is to point out to those who are starting a wooden ship kit for the very first time that you may well be surprised at how rapidly you can take on skills which at first seem impossible.
 
Even more: by taking on some or all of the new challenges you discover how deeply and broadly rewarding this hobby is in maintaining and generating learning, and in figuring out how to overcome new challenges. It’s far better than computer gaming (in my opinion)! Better still: the process of learning continues endlessly, no matter how high your skill set is!
 
So it’s with the wonderful understanding that I’ll be learning a great deal more, and encountering a whole new range of challenges, that I’m now organising myself to start on a new level – how to make frames with the Triton cross-section that is so generously supported in this forum.
 

 

 

 
Tony

ANCHORS
 
As usual, I had thought I might be able to make the anchors from the kit parts, but the moment I tried to fit the wooden stock I found (as have so many before me) that the channels cut in the stocks are too wide for the shanks. So I had to make my own stocks. I used a pear offcut I had and dimensioned it using the dimensions given by zu Mondfeld in his book Historic Ship Models.
 
I drilled 0.5mm holes for the bolts, used 0.5mm brass rod to fill them, and touched the ends with undiluted brass blackener to blacken them.
 
As is the norm, I used 1mm black cartridge paper to mimic the iron rings round the stocks.
 
For the puddening of the ring I used black polyester thread, using CA glue to hold the first part in place on the ring.
 

 
STOWING THE ANCHOR
 
After a short discussion elsewhere on the forum, I decided I’d stow the anchors as for sailing (since the sails are up and the model is on a sea of Perspex). I followed Harland’s diagram (Seamanship in the Age of Sail) and used a simple stop in the catheads to hold the rope for the stock end.
 

 
Interestingly I had been puzzling about the use of two eyebolts shown on the plans for the kit placed in the deck just aft of the windlass. I decided that one of them would be perfect to hold one end of the rope for the crown end of the anchor.
 
The following pictures show how the anchors are stowed.
 

 

 

 

 
That's it. Next up: reflections on completed model.
 
Tony

SWIVEL GUNS
 
I really didn’t like the swivel guns supplied with the kit. At first I thought I’d just keep the kit barrels and make my own swivel mounts (which I did, earlier on in the build – see within entry #100 at http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/335-hmc-sherbourne-1763-by-tkay11-–-caldercraft-–-scale-164-a-novice’s-caldercraft-sherbourne/?p=117947). I thought I wouldn’t have the skill to turn my own barrels on brass, but in the end, seeing as I bought a really cheap Taig lathe on eBay, I reckoned it would be a good opportunity to learn a new set of skills.
 
The first step, of course, was to make the right tools for the job – notably gravers. There are some excellent tutorials on the web on how to make gravers, so I bought some 3mm square HSS lathe bars, some wooden dowel and set up a sharp pointed graver for the square cuts and a rounded graver for the smooth barrelling.
 

 
I was surprised to find that with really sharp gravers, cutting into the brass was almost exactly similar to cutting into wood on a wood lathe. As a result, I was able to cut 8 barrels in a couple of days using the plans for the swivel guns from the AOTS book on the Cutter Alert. Luckily the swivel mounts I had made were exactly the right size.
 
Something that struck me was that it would be easier to cut the handle of the swivel gun at the same time – rather than soldering on a rod at a later stage. This way I’d be able to bend the handle after heating it with a butane gas burner.
 

 
It took me a little while to figure out how to cut the holes for the trunnions in such small barrels (roughly 1.5mm diameter), but I hit on the plan of making a jig from an epoxy putty (Milliput) and leaving a 0.4mm thick piece of wood on which to lay the end of the barrel so that the trunnion hole would run vertically across the barrel.
 

 

 
Unfortunately my attempts at blackening were not great – it may be that my blackening agent is now too old), so I ended up painting them (much to the dismay of my wife who thought the brass finish was beautiful). Much as I would have liked to keep the brass finish, it wouldn’t have been in keeping with the rest of the model and the ebony barrels of the 3-pounder guns. The sad thing is that the black paint on the barrels adds a layer which blurs the sharp edges of the rings and the detail.
 
Still, it’s probably a bit better than the kit barrels and I did learn a whole lot about turning brass with gravers!
 

 
Next up: Anchors
 
Tony

Más

Thank you all for your appreciation of my efforts! Today, I completed the program "maximum", finished sheathing the hull, with the exception of wale. At this stage, I suspend the construction, because tomorrow might go to the hospital... good Luck to all!!!

Just some close ups of the tricky stern section.
 
I had to use a few stealers (or dropper planks?) to keep a nice smooth run on the planking. I basically terminated the original plank around bulkhead 8 with an inverted triangle - and shaped 2 new planks to carry on to the stern.
 
The second photo shows some of the sanding I've done by the keel to allow for the second planking to lay properly. I should have prepared it more before I began the planking, but it'll work out in the end.

Thanks, Joel and Druxey.
 
I am happy in following Harland as suggested by both of you. Interestingly there are a couple of ringbolts on the deck whose function was not given in the Sherbourne plans, but whose position is exactly right for the anchor tethering.
 
Pete: eBay in the UK has lots of chain of various types. You have to specify links per inch or per cm, as well as structure (e.g. oval, stud link) and dimension (e.g. 1.5 x 1mm). There are also a few modelling shops (especially railway modelling) selling fine chain.
 
Tony

I have just made the anchors for my Sherbourne, but am a little unclear as to how they would have been stowed.
 
The AOTS book on the Alert shows the following:
 

 
This is fairly similar to the plans with the kit which show the anchor stowed -- although the throats of the anchors on the Sherbourne plans are held by a rope. John Harland in his book on Seamanship in the Age of Sail also shows the anchor held by ropes.
 
My question relates to the use of a chain as shown for the Alert. How would the chain round the throat have been fixed to the bulkhead? Presumably it can't just have been wound round itself -- or would that have been the way it was done?
 
The question equally applies to rope fixing, because they'd need to be fixed very strongly to hold something that weighs 12cwt and is perched on the outside of the ship.
 
I am tempted to use chain just because I have some of the appropriate size, but realise it may be inauthentic for a cutter that was some decades earlier than the Alert.
 
Any comments on how the anchor may have been stowed, along with some details of how the ropes or chains were fixed to the bulwarks, would be very much appreciated.
 
Thanks
 
Tony

Thanks, Joel and Druxey.
 
I am happy in following Harland as suggested by both of you. Interestingly there are a couple of ringbolts on the deck whose function was not given in the Sherbourne plans, but whose position is exactly right for the anchor tethering.
 
Pete: eBay in the UK has lots of chain of various types. You have to specify links per inch or per cm, as well as structure (e.g. oval, stud link) and dimension (e.g. 1.5 x 1mm). There are also a few modelling shops (especially railway modelling) selling fine chain.
 
Tony