Timmo

The Granado is my second wooden ship build.  This follows the cutter Sherbourne which you can follow the link to in the MSW gallery.
The Granado was chosen for a vessel offering more than a single mast but still able to be displayed in a reasonable space.
Firstly a tribute to all the prior Granados on MSW's former incarnation - they proved immensely helpful and I owe a huge tribute to you all in helping to spot impending difficulties and work around them thanks to your efforts. 
After wantonly pillaging MSW for help with my first build it's time to add to the basket of knowledge that MSW members have so graciously given to me.
This build is by no means complete but hopefully of use to others as I found previous members' posts.
So on to the build...
The build was started in April 2012 and at this stage I've just completed the second planking above the wales and filed out the gunports.
The Caldercraft kit is all the usual business like efficiency with little in the way of complaints. The fittings are top quality with turned brass cannon, limewood for the first planking and walnut for the second.
 

 
No, it's not a botch. The lens curve making the stem appear out of alignment here.
 

 
One thing to watch for on this kit is setting the gunport patterns correctly. I thought I was being very clever in measuring the placement from the base of the keel. It resulted in patterns not quite meeting the tips of the bulkhead patterns. As a result at least half of the gunports had to be raised slightly.
Better to just fit them to the tops of the bulkheads. Oh well.
 

 
Another thing to watch for is the sweep ports. The instructions don't mention them until after the gunport patterns have been installed despite the plans showing them as illustrated. From there it's the somewhat more difficult matter of cutting them through from the outside and matching them up with the inner spirketting - no easy task. If your want the sweep ports showing on the inside then tak e gauge of where they should be before installing the gunport patterns and adjust once the lot is installed. It's not difficult but comes down to reading the instructions all the way through before taking any steps.
 

 
I found it made more sense to skip ahead in the build and install the lower stern counter before the upper hull sides were planked. It allowed the upper stern counter to be shaped to fit and also allowed the wales to be shaped to fit around it. The black used here is probably a bit too dark to see the chase ports to best effect. That might be looked at later.
 

 
The mortars went together nicely after some cleaning up. The mortars themselves are nicely cast brass that just needs some time with a file to bring out the best. Some brass wire handles were added as per Peter Goodwin's excellent Anatomy of the Sip Grandado book.
The example here is the stern mortar - the smaller of the two on board.
Following shots show the mortar surrounds in place which are identical for each of the two mortars aboard.
 

 

The Granado has nine sweep ports each side but the instructions make no mention of them until much further into the build. This is a good point to jump ahead and add them if you want as it's hard enough to cut them in on the inside at this point as it is. They are reasonably prominent on the inside of the bulwarks but are not included on the gunport patterns.
If you want them you'll have to mark as shown on the plans and cut them in yourself.
 

 
The instructions offer either open or closed gunports. Obviously if you have them open you'll need to cut the square port all the way through. There's also the option of just adding the closed port and hinge to the outside of the hull with no port being cut on the inside. This is one difference I've noticed between the Victory kits, which appear to have the ports included and presumably pre-cut.
I like the busy feel of the added ports so in they go.
 

 
The ports align with the top of the inner bulwark spirketting - the strip that runs along the bulwark between the gunports and the deck. Before this was added the top edge was marked in pencil and the position of the ports added. The edges were cut on the inside with a scalpel and drilled through from the outside.  A square file and more scalpel work cuts the hole. Given the roughly 3mm size of them and the difficulty of access from the inside it's difficult to get them square further than a couple of mm in but give they'll likely be closed on the outside and painted inside it shouldn't be too noticeable.
 

 

 
 

The Granado is my second wooden ship build.  This follows the cutter Sherbourne which you can follow the link to in the MSW gallery.
The Granado was chosen for a vessel offering more than a single mast but still able to be displayed in a reasonable space.
Firstly a tribute to all the prior Granados on MSW's former incarnation - they proved immensely helpful and I owe a huge tribute to you all in helping to spot impending difficulties and work around them thanks to your efforts. 
After wantonly pillaging MSW for help with my first build it's time to add to the basket of knowledge that MSW members have so graciously given to me.
This build is by no means complete but hopefully of use to others as I found previous members' posts.
So on to the build...
The build was started in April 2012 and at this stage I've just completed the second planking above the wales and filed out the gunports.
The Caldercraft kit is all the usual business like efficiency with little in the way of complaints. The fittings are top quality with turned brass cannon, limewood for the first planking and walnut for the second.
 

 
No, it's not a botch. The lens curve making the stem appear out of alignment here.
 

 
One thing to watch for on this kit is setting the gunport patterns correctly. I thought I was being very clever in measuring the placement from the base of the keel. It resulted in patterns not quite meeting the tips of the bulkhead patterns. As a result at least half of the gunports had to be raised slightly.
Better to just fit them to the tops of the bulkheads. Oh well.
 

 
Another thing to watch for is the sweep ports. The instructions don't mention them until after the gunport patterns have been installed despite the plans showing them as illustrated. From there it's the somewhat more difficult matter of cutting them through from the outside and matching them up with the inner spirketting - no easy task. If your want the sweep ports showing on the inside then tak e gauge of where they should be before installing the gunport patterns and adjust once the lot is installed. It's not difficult but comes down to reading the instructions all the way through before taking any steps.
 

 
I found it made more sense to skip ahead in the build and install the lower stern counter before the upper hull sides were planked. It allowed the upper stern counter to be shaped to fit and also allowed the wales to be shaped to fit around it. The black used here is probably a bit too dark to see the chase ports to best effect. That might be looked at later.
 

 
The mortars went together nicely after some cleaning up. The mortars themselves are nicely cast brass that just needs some time with a file to bring out the best. Some brass wire handles were added as per Peter Goodwin's excellent Anatomy of the Sip Grandado book.
The example here is the stern mortar - the smaller of the two on board.
Following shots show the mortar surrounds in place which are identical for each of the two mortars aboard.
 

 

Almost finished:

 
The draft scale will be modified.
Enjoy the pics.

Kind regards,
Doris