leginseel

Hey howya goin Nigel mate, shes coming along nicely mate.    

Since my last post I've tried some on scrap that I've sanding sealed and you're right it holds the colour much better. 
Cheers
Nigel

Thanks Steve that makes sense. I'll try a few experiments on some scrap. 
Cheers
Nigel

Thanks Steve, really feel like I'm moving along with it now.  It's funny you should mention about the Bulwarks as it is saying they should be done after the aft deck side planking.  I've cut the planking ready but I really feel that I should fit the Bulwarks and paint the hull to get all the lower stuff (sorry about my terminology) done first.
Re paint I've an Ultramarine blue which has come out a little darker than I wanted, but I think that it is due to the colour of the wood (sapele).  My yellow is mid yellow and I've painted the edge of the Gallant Rail and it's not showing up much. Very happy with the Red though.   Pretty sure the wood is absorbing the yellow and wonder whether I should give them a coat of sanding sealer first - what do you think?
Thanks so much for your interest and advice
Cheers
Nigel 

Made a little more progress.  Gave the deck a coat of well thinned sanding sealer after marking the treenails with a pin.  I had a bit of a nightmare with the gallant rail as the kit requires 3 x 2mm x 2mm section lengths of Sapele to be bent to form the curve in the gallant rail.  After 4 attempts I gave up as the wood is too brittle to bend well even after a good soaking.  I did manage to bend one but it had such a horrendous twist in it I gave up and put my thinking cap on.  So I've used 2mm x 6mm Sapele and jointed it to form the curve on the Bow.  I've sanded the outside edge and I'm now constructing a little jig to protect the deck while I sand the inside curve.  I think it will look ok.  As for the painting I wanted to use an airbrush but I can't find a small model here in Turkey so I've reverted to the brush.  The results are reasonable (see the red) which close up looks good as you can see the wood grain and the planking.  Also the Sapele has taken the edge off the bright red colour and made it more 'lived in', which I like.  Next job is to test colours for the hull.
Cheers
Nigel

I've made a little more progress this week.  Firstly I was unhappy with the design of Binnicle in the kit (left) so I made another one (right)
I've also been through the lengthy process of filling and sanding the hull and I've fitted the keel, bow stem and stern post.  I now need to pause to construct a secure building rig to keep her stable.  I've decided to paint her and having seen the excellent results Steve12345 has got on his Bounty I'm looking for a small air compressor for the paint job.

I'm really enjoying the build and so grateful for all the advice I'm getting.  Thanks to all.
Cheers from sunny Antalya
Nigel

Made a little more progress.  Gave the deck a coat of well thinned sanding sealer after marking the treenails with a pin.  I had a bit of a nightmare with the gallant rail as the kit requires 3 x 2mm x 2mm section lengths of Sapele to be bent to form the curve in the gallant rail.  After 4 attempts I gave up as the wood is too brittle to bend well even after a good soaking.  I did manage to bend one but it had such a horrendous twist in it I gave up and put my thinking cap on.  So I've used 2mm x 6mm Sapele and jointed it to form the curve on the Bow.  I've sanded the outside edge and I'm now constructing a little jig to protect the deck while I sand the inside curve.  I think it will look ok.  As for the painting I wanted to use an airbrush but I can't find a small model here in Turkey so I've reverted to the brush.  The results are reasonable (see the red) which close up looks good as you can see the wood grain and the planking.  Also the Sapele has taken the edge off the bright red colour and made it more 'lived in', which I like.  Next job is to test colours for the hull.
Cheers
Nigel

Since my last post I've tried some on scrap that I've sanding sealed and you're right it holds the colour much better. 
Cheers
Nigel

Sanding sealer or even a light primer will work also Nigel. Anything that has light colour as a topcoat, I'll usually prime first which helps the colour as in your case, yellow and blue stand out.

Thanks Steve that makes sense. I'll try a few experiments on some scrap. 
Cheers
Nigel

Made a little more progress.  Gave the deck a coat of well thinned sanding sealer after marking the treenails with a pin.  I had a bit of a nightmare with the gallant rail as the kit requires 3 x 2mm x 2mm section lengths of Sapele to be bent to form the curve in the gallant rail.  After 4 attempts I gave up as the wood is too brittle to bend well even after a good soaking.  I did manage to bend one but it had such a horrendous twist in it I gave up and put my thinking cap on.  So I've used 2mm x 6mm Sapele and jointed it to form the curve on the Bow.  I've sanded the outside edge and I'm now constructing a little jig to protect the deck while I sand the inside curve.  I think it will look ok.  As for the painting I wanted to use an airbrush but I can't find a small model here in Turkey so I've reverted to the brush.  The results are reasonable (see the red) which close up looks good as you can see the wood grain and the planking.  Also the Sapele has taken the edge off the bright red colour and made it more 'lived in', which I like.  Next job is to test colours for the hull.
Cheers
Nigel

I've made a little more progress this week.  Firstly I was unhappy with the design of Binnicle in the kit (left) so I made another one (right)
I've also been through the lengthy process of filling and sanding the hull and I've fitted the keel, bow stem and stern post.  I now need to pause to construct a secure building rig to keep her stable.  I've decided to paint her and having seen the excellent results Steve12345 has got on his Bounty I'm looking for a small air compressor for the paint job.

I'm really enjoying the build and so grateful for all the advice I'm getting.  Thanks to all.
Cheers from sunny Antalya
Nigel

Thank you both for the kind advice. One thing is clear that when making these models from inaccurate kits it gives great scope to amend and hopefully improve. 
I can't get the Vallejo paint here in Turkey so I'm going to use artists acrylic which I can get hold of. I'm on what I hope will be a final fill and sand so I need to do some tests on some scap. I'll post my findings later. 
Thank you both for your interest
cheers
Nigel

Beautiful work!!  Just discovered your log and will be following from now on.  The delicate work on the small boat is amazing.  I need to scratch build a launch for my Bounty and it's given me some good ideas.  Cheers and keep up the good work
Nigel

Thanks Steve that makes sense. I'll try a few experiments on some scrap. 
Cheers
Nigel

I found with my aclilic paints it some times especially on the yellow takes up to 6 coats sometimes I cheat and use enamel paint especially if I need a fine edge line painted 

Thanks Steve, really feel like I'm moving along with it now.  It's funny you should mention about the Bulwarks as it is saying they should be done after the aft deck side planking.  I've cut the planking ready but I really feel that I should fit the Bulwarks and paint the hull to get all the lower stuff (sorry about my terminology) done first.
Re paint I've an Ultramarine blue which has come out a little darker than I wanted, but I think that it is due to the colour of the wood (sapele).  My yellow is mid yellow and I've painted the edge of the Gallant Rail and it's not showing up much. Very happy with the Red though.   Pretty sure the wood is absorbing the yellow and wonder whether I should give them a coat of sanding sealer first - what do you think?
Thanks so much for your interest and advice
Cheers
Nigel 

Looking superb Nigel ,I'm curious as to what stage constructo advises fitting the bulwarks?
and if it is of any help I chose royal blue and yellow ocre
its nice to see your moving along nicely with the ship
happy building
 
steve

Made a little more progress.  Gave the deck a coat of well thinned sanding sealer after marking the treenails with a pin.  I had a bit of a nightmare with the gallant rail as the kit requires 3 x 2mm x 2mm section lengths of Sapele to be bent to form the curve in the gallant rail.  After 4 attempts I gave up as the wood is too brittle to bend well even after a good soaking.  I did manage to bend one but it had such a horrendous twist in it I gave up and put my thinking cap on.  So I've used 2mm x 6mm Sapele and jointed it to form the curve on the Bow.  I've sanded the outside edge and I'm now constructing a little jig to protect the deck while I sand the inside curve.  I think it will look ok.  As for the painting I wanted to use an airbrush but I can't find a small model here in Turkey so I've reverted to the brush.  The results are reasonable (see the red) which close up looks good as you can see the wood grain and the planking.  Also the Sapele has taken the edge off the bright red colour and made it more 'lived in', which I like.  Next job is to test colours for the hull.
Cheers
Nigel

Beautiful work!!  Just discovered your log and will be following from now on.  The delicate work on the small boat is amazing.  I need to scratch build a launch for my Bounty and it's given me some good ideas.  Cheers and keep up the good work
Nigel

Been a little quite on updates this week though haven't been too idle. My kit doesn't come with any ships boats and there aren't any plans etc of what she had onboard. I'll assume she would have had at least a large long boat, and possibly a cutter and a yawl. The English pinnace not to be confused with the Dutch pinnace of the 17th century (more like a small frigate) had yet to come into being. 
 
So ive been left to my own devices with these. I decided to start with the smallest first. Two reasons mainly, if I could build the smaller one easily enough the two larger boats shouldn't prove to be an issue and, my miniature van de Velde needs a place. So I thought a prefect boat for Van de Velde to be sitting in sketching the sovereign. 
 
First of all a keel is put together with a stem and transom piece. This is then placed over frame formers - these are frames to guide the planks of the hull though arent actually fixed to the keel. Slots are in place in the keel to take thin strips of wood which will replicate the frames and on which the planks are actually glued too. The gunwale strake is a single piece also with slots on the inside where the frame strips will run through to continue the shape of the hull. The frame strips at this point are only placed where the formers are. The remainder will be placed once the hull is planked. The gunwale is slotted into the stem and against the transom with help of slots on the hull former but again only glued to the keel and not the hull formers. Working from just below the gunwale, the hull is planked towards the keel. As these are very thin and small planks, I use CA glue to fix the planks. With the former still in place the hull can be sanded. Being so small this is a very delicate model on its own and if you were to sand later, there could be disastrous effects.

The hull can now be turned over and the hull former gently pulled out. Being careful with the placement of the CA glue this came out without any hitch. The strips are now cut down to the height of the upper strake and the final strips added for the remainding frames. Still more to go, but this is how it looks so far.

Thanks guys, an enjoyable side project of their own  
 
Added in seat slats, interior gunwale and floor boards and gratings. Still a bit to go but started to paint it also now. The only painting which shows the sovereign with any boats is a modern painting of a model built in the 30's with a large longboat that has a black hull and golden filigree work. The filigree on the boats upper strake is scribed into the plank itself. I've taken my colour pallet from the early 18th century with reds and blues leaving the hull wood and White below the waterline as I think the black hull would be too much.  I've again used my oak wash over the hull planks which give it the darker wood colour of typical ships boats of the 17th century while still having decorations being from a royal warship. The final pic shows Van de Velde sitting comfortably forward making his sketch of the Sovereign:)

I wish i was in Antalya and was drinking a bottle of beer at the seaside right now
 
Have a good day Nigel !!
Mustafa

I've made a little more progress this week.  Firstly I was unhappy with the design of Binnicle in the kit (left) so I made another one (right)
I've also been through the lengthy process of filling and sanding the hull and I've fitted the keel, bow stem and stern post.  I now need to pause to construct a secure building rig to keep her stable.  I've decided to paint her and having seen the excellent results Steve12345 has got on his Bounty I'm looking for a small air compressor for the paint job.

I'm really enjoying the build and so grateful for all the advice I'm getting.  Thanks to all.
Cheers from sunny Antalya
Nigel