aliluke

Hi Ken

I'm voting with your son too. I think you are right - the bigger issue is the fairing of the frames. Painting won't fix this. It is one big advantage of double planking I guess, you get two goes.

My other points though: First it doesn't look that bad at all, it actually looks pretty bloody good to me. Second, you look down on a model not up at it - so your photos are highlighting stuff that can't been seen when it is displayed. Third, you'll go crazy painting it and curse yourself for investing in holly and then painting over it (I promise you I'm going through this by coppering over boxwood ). Forth, when you come to your next hull you can climb underneath this one - or use a dentists mirror - and figure out what planking lines you'd improve on - you can't see them under paint. Fifth and finally, all of the other detail on the model is such a visual feast that the issues now will fade into insignificance on completion. In my opinion stay natural and move on!

My last thought is to be careful with the sanding - it is surprising easy to sand right through  a mistake which led to my natural hull turning into a coppered one. If you sand through there is no way back...Go slow, increase fineness of grit and be prepared to say "that will do".

Cheers

Alistair

Good to see another kit underway. Beagle is a nice subject combining lots of ship boats - seven by my count, cannons, carronades and a howitzer and all the other deck equipment. It is also transitional with chains replacing ropes in many applications. Being a vessel for survey rather than war is another nice touch. If you haven't already read it, I can recommend the novel "Mr Darwin's Shooter" by Roger McDonald - it will get you "inside" Beagle. Also the AOTS of HMS Beagle by Karl Marquardt shows an enormous amount of extra details that even the very finest kit will lack.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers

Alistair

Looking good Hamilton - I'm glad in your busy life you've found the time to get back at it. Now I can't wait for the next one...

Cheers

Alistair

Nice stuff RMC. It is interesting to look at your coppering as I go through the same process. In the end I think we took a different route but I think that has to do with the size of the hull. The rudder is going to be a hard one and you have done a very fine job on it.

Cheers

Alistair

Worth more than a "Like This" - brilliant work Timmo. As we all find out - bugger - a ship has two sides. Best of luck with symmetry but I sense you have it completely in hand.

Cheers

Alistair

Good to see you at it Martin. I simply scored the stem piece and added a light pencil line to the scoring to mimic the joints - worked for me. Now that I'm coppering only a couple of scored lines remain visible. I think there are many more worthwhile upgrades than rebuilding the stem but it depends on just how far you want to go I guess. If don't have them already the FFM series is a great companion to the model - especially Volume II and IV.

I look forward to seeing your progress.

Cheers

Alistair

I'm looking forward to this log. The Pinky is on my wish list but is far to expensive to post from the USA to New Zealand, that is - more to post than to purchase .

Cheers

Alistair

A wonderful model Mike. Congratulations - I've just been back through your log - fantastic all the way. Have a glass of the bubbly and celebrate. I wish you were doing Pegasus next but Unicorn or Morgan are going to be damn fine too! I look forward to your next log which ever one it is!!!!

Cheers

Alistair

Hi

If these are the issues you are referring to - see attached - I now remember that some parts of the false deck snapped off between the bulkhead extensions. In my opinion DO NOT alter the bulkheads - alter the deck instead but only so much that it fits. I can't remember having a big problem with this part of the build but I do remember being told that the relationships between every part was the key to a good AVS hull. That is the deck, the waterways, the wale and the gun port opening heights. While I'd otherwise never promote Bob Hunt, his AVS practicum really hammered this point and he was right. It also applies to all ships with gun decks and gun port openings. Have a look at the attached picture of my build and you might notice that some of the false deck snapped off between the bulkheads but it didn't really make any difference. It is still hard to tell what is confounding you without any pictures and help is here!

Cheers

Alistair

I'm sort of guessing what you are struggling with...the rebates in the false deck do not align with the bulkhead extensions? If that is the issue don't worry about it - just widen the rebates so that the false deck fits. I wouldn't cut back the deck back to get rid of the rebates altogether to make the fit as you will lose the ability to get the camber right and where it finally cambers into the bulwarks is relatively important. You want a false deck under the waterways to as much extent as you can achieve. If the fit is severely bad it may point to another problem? But without a picture I'm not sure if I'm on the right track for your issue.

Cheers

Alistair

Hey Bob

Aside from "Like This" I must say that is incredible work. As per my comment on MSW version 1 - it is very Rafined. Love it, keep it up and I look forward to more.

Cheers

Alistair

Looking really, really good Jesse - a hull to be very proud of - near perfect from what I can see!

Cheers

Alistair

That is a very clever system for marking gun ports - impressive work!

Cheers

Alistair

Nice to see another AVS up and running. I lost my log in the crash of MSW last year but there are a few pictures here.

You look like you are off to a great start!

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Ken

Just a thought since your log has popped up again - shouldn't the flags be flying in the opposite direction? With the wind that is driving the sails? I made the same flags for my AVS but without sails they looked a little pretentious to my eye so left them off. They really work with sails though!

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Jan

Been following your log. The rails look great. My lessons in blackening:

- Remove all grease from the part with a soak and brush in lacquer thinners or acetone.

- Do not touch the part after this as your fingers are greasy!

- Soak part in Spirit of Salts (a diluted form of sulphuric acid) for 10 minutes or so.

- Soak in the blackening solution. I use Birchwood Casey's Gun Black and dilute 50/50.

- Gently wipe with tissue paper - if the black comes off re-soak in the blackening, if it still comes off re-soak it again and so on.

The most important thing is to prepare the part by getting rid of grease and then giving it an acid etch. Many miss this. Next is to keep your greasy fingers off it until it is finished.

Blackened bits beats painting easily in terms of look but I do both...Certainly cannon barrels are better blackened but I'm more inclined to just paint bolts and other smaller parts.

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Bob

Amazing work all round - I enjoy. I'm intrigued by the rope off the end of the chains. Pendants, as B.E calls them - no doubt the correct term. These are correct in all ways I'm sure but I've never seen that detail before. Can you enlighten on the source of this detail and why it was so?

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Danny

Just found your log - not sure how I missed it as I'm a Bounty fan. Stunning work there and a brilliant result. Congratulations!!! I certainly can recommend Fly or Pegasus - a very elegant ship and an easier hull to plank than Bounty.

Any way - great work by you!

Cheers

Alistair

Yes I do except for the side tackles which I pre-rig but finally tension after the cannon is fixed down. I glue those rope ends to the deck and place a rope coil over the glued down ends.

Julian

A couple of options for fixing the cannons to the deck:

- Put a brass pin under the cannons bed block and drill a hole  into the deck glue the pin and trucks to the deck with CA or epoxy glue

- Slightly flatten the trucks - just lightly run over sandpaper - so that there is a bigger bonding surface and glue to the deck with CA or epoxy glue

- Do both

I certainly think cannons that you can't access in the future need to be glued down.

BTW thanks for the PM.

Cheers

Alistair

Great work on the deck fittings Julian. I'm a fan of Lego jigs - a perfect right angle every time. Good stuff, your Granado is showing it's qualities - as a ship, a kit and by your build.

Cheers

Alistair

Fantastic work. Crisp, clean and precise. CONGRATULATIONS!!! Bloody well done.

Alistair

Superb work Len - a pleasure to view.

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Jay

Know nothing about that mill and I couldn't get one in NZ in any case. Since I keep on contemplating getting a mill my research headed me towards the Proxxon Micro Mill MF70. I know there are better but at a significantly greater cost. The Proxxon appears in many milling pictures in many logs here and that, as well as the relatively low cost, convinces me that if I ever get a mill it will be a MF70. I wonder if it is more $$ than your selection?

Cheers

Alistair

Not sure what is going on with the holly there Ken. I used it on my deck with pencil caulking and had no issues at all. Perhaps the joints between the planks need to be tighter? Easier said than done and certainly easier on a deck than a hull...Any way it all looks pretty ship shape to me. The flow of the planking looks great - you maybe being to hard on yourself?

Cheers

Alistair