Jackson7

Fascinating! I'm fairly sure now that I don't want to use the chain plates from Corel, simply for the reason that they are fairly terrible. Glad to hear the history seems to bear it out too.

Hey Srenner, I'm curious about your build. Are you saying that in 1720, ship chainplates were usually rope, not metal? Or is it more a question of the Greyhound kit chainplates being poorly made? I'm working on the Greyhound, and am very discontent with the kit-issued metal. I'm thinking of doing them with rope instead.

The next few steps have required much thought, and advice from @harlequin. I'm grateful for his help, and plan to start them later, when I'm less tired. For now, I've amused myself with painting the figuredhead. A 3D print from my friend has far exceeded the original in quality. And some paint has put it to a whole different level. I thought that for a ship that sailed the coast of Africa, an African lady would prove lovely. For contrast, the original is below.

Thanks! Much appreciated.

I attached the rudder at long last. Supergluing metal to wood isn't something I recommend, but it's something that sometimes proves necessary. With enough sanding, cutting and gentle persuasion, I think it ended up working. I'm playing with the idea of using thread to hold the deadeyes in place. The metal loops need so much painting, and I'm not sure it's even plausible to paint something so small without loads of trouble with chipping, even if I plan to paint hardcoat over them.

I just finished putting on the chain-wales. I supported them underneath with two small pieces of 2x2mm wood each. It was difficult to sand them to fit the curve of the hull, but the end product works well enough. I drilled holes in them where the pictures of the Greyhound show they need them. The instruction booklet should mention this part and advise builders to do it before putting them on the hull.

Done with the transom's structural parts at least. I'll have to contemplate what to do with any potential decorations. I used the trusty boil and bend technique to put the cap piece in place. 2 hours in a thermos of boiling water, 24 hours being bent to shape between nails, and then 15 minutes or so of pressure to glue to the hull. Unfortunately, the 1x3mm cap piece was too short by a tiny bit, so I had to patch it over on the side. It's hardly noticeable though. My final verdict is that it looks far better than the original metal kit part. Far more natural, and definitely a better fit.

The transom windows are now complete. Given that the 3d printing is just too big, I've settled for a simple framing design reminescent of the HMS Surprise. I'm not sure if I want to paint the window pillars or the wood pieces above or below the windows.

One tiny piece at a time, I advance. Four left. Cutting 20 miniscule window bars to shape has been stressful and somewhat tedious. But I think the results justify themselves.

The last few days have been productive. Before I put on the last two planks, I put the window pillars in place, aligned with the wood above the hull. Everything I've glued to the window was done using superglue. After the 2mm by 2mm pillars, I put on the 1mm by 1mm vertical window bars. I'm going to work on putting on the 20 horizonal bars over the next few days. After these steps, I put on the last two pieces of transom wood. Gluing them on was simple. I sanded them until they looked like a relatively smooth arch. I'll bend a cap piece over them after I finish the last few details.

Thanks @Srenner! That's a very kind offer, and I will definitely consider it if things don't go well. I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean about the small window timber. On mine, the back is fairly flat, so I plan to just glue it on the same way I did with the side windows.

Tonight I put everything onto the transom planking except the last two planks. The only difficult part was the plank directly above the transom window. I had to cut a divot in the middle so the window could fit smoothly. It all has gone very well though, apart from some remedial sanding where surfaces haven't been perfectly flat or straight. The last two planks will have to wait until I finish the transom window supports, as the pieces underneath them show where everything fits together. To my disappointment, I learned the lions I had my friend print are actually too big to fit on the transom. Not only was the metal badly cast, it was also somewhat too large. That said, I still like my planks more than Corel's metal transom piece. Also, I accidentally dropped the metal transom at the beginning of this step, and it broke. So I'm fully committed.

Here is as good a place as any to say a few words about the art of shipbuilding. In an idea world, building a model ship goes perfectly. Pieces glue in at the right angle, parts line up and everything looks great by the end. But that is not the world we live in. Instead, we live somewhere where after six tries, something looks like a solid seven out of ten, and you're sure the seventh try will bungle it worse. Sometimes that's the best you can do. That's where you should learn to cheat. In these situations, the best way forward is to find ways to build little optical illusions into your ship. By the time you're done, you and others who look at it won't notice, and it makes the model look far better. Here's an example or two from my Greyhound. The side gallery windows have tiny wooden window bars. In an ideal world, they would connect percectly with the pillars that frame the windows. But the back pillar is too low to connect perfectly against its bars. Rather than leave the bars bumping up, I sublty cut the bars into a wedge shape so it looks like they are flush with the pillar. On the stern, one piece of yellow-dyed wood is too short. To make it fit, I cut and glued two other pieces so they looked like a single solid piece. The result is hardly noticeable. There's another similar piece of woodworking on the bow where I did the same thing. These are far from the only things I've used to make the Greyhound look good despite setbacks. Little moves like these greatly improve the look of a model, even when you're not able to get things perfect. Sometimes attempting to make something perfect after a mistake only makes it worse.

This next step took forever because it involved my nemesis: oil paint. And even worse, yellow oil paint. To get the next two planks to approximately the right shade, I had to blast them with several layers of thinned oil paint. Of course, each layer took a day to dry. Of course, after the painting, they went on fairly easily. And in the meantime, I realized that my glass for the transom window wasn't quite blue enough, so I've put on another layer of staining goo. Hopefully, the next step won't involve loads of drying for stuff under my control.

I have finished the rudder. It may be the best woodworking I have yet achieved on this ship. To get the last piece of the rudder required something special. I bored a hole in 4mm by 4mm, widened the hole to fit a 2mm by 2mm tiller, then shaved down the whole piece so it was 3mm by 3mm. Then I cut it to shape and glued it to the top of the rudder, so it can fit in a new hole I carved into the hull. It all fits perfectly! Unfortunately, I'm still working on the transom. The oil paint looked blobby, so I need to repaint it. I'm getting very tired of trying to repaint uncooperative yellow. Ah well...