Fernando E

After adjusting the main mast to that of the which I think would be the correct position above the real keel some 30mm lower than before and also corrisponds with similar t the Caldercraft length. Here the resemblence stops as all other masts are in line with Lees book. However the lower masts also resemble  RC Anderson book 'The rigging of ships in the days of the sprit sail' whereby the cap of the fore mast is in line of the main mast 3/4 of the head. Also the mizzen cap is in line with the top of the main mast. This allows clearance of mizzen shrouds of the bulwark rail.
 
 
 
Now moving onto the Spritsail and again following lees book for length and shape ets. What I cannot make my mind up is regarding how many woldings . Lees book suggests between 3 and 6 and I have decided on perhaps 4 . Also Iron hoops are for a later date and replacing the woldings . However the AOTS and other references show Iron hoops but no woldings. So I cannot make my mind up. Any suggestions in this area would be welcome. 
 
 
 
Further check in Lees book page 183 for all other ships after 1745 gives the bowsprit mast as 0.63x the main mast which worke out at just over 202mm. This seems way longer than the Caldercraft dimentions. However I also checked with Monfeld's book which is even longer and worked from the breadth of the ship. I have therefore decided to continue using Lees book for reference as much as possible.

Hardly any difference in price between brass and 3-d printed resin guns. In fact, brass barrels would probably work out cheaper. I prefer the 3-d printed versions, as they are all made directly from the master file and extra detail can be incorporated into the designs. Carronades are usually a real pain to do properly, more so turned brass types. I have tried to design the carronades to be as little hassle to build up as I can, there are 18 in a kit, so opted for a 'slot and glue' assembly method, so making assembling the 18 sets less of a chore, but still detailed enough for very close up shots.
 
If I thought turned brass cannon would be better, I would use them, there is no shortage of companies more than willing to do them. But I prefer the 3-d printed version. The extra weight of brass would be minimal, as this is dwarfed by the weight of plans, manual, PE and laser cut materials.
 
Please do not think I choose resin over metal because of price, nothing could be further from the truth. I just use whatever material I think is best for the part and  scale accuracy. If I were asked to do a one off commission, I would still chose SLA 3-d printed resin. I chose this method despite the time and costs involved.  Others will have different opinions, some like the weight of brass, but I do not care about that so much, as long as the end result looks good and can stand up to close scrutiny. 

This will be a more conventional kit. I cannot go as far as did with Sphinx for two reasons. The first being that the sheer size of this would make it way too expensive. The second reason is that this kit will be aimed at more experienced modellers, more used to planking. Decks will be planked with strip and most of the outer hull will also be planked from the quarterdeck bulwarks down. This will be more like my Amati Victory designs. There will still be a silly amount of laser cut and PE parts, though.

A little history (edited from wiki!)
 
HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy. She was built as a ship-of-the-line, but most of her active service took place after her conversion to a 44-gun razee frigate. She had a long career under several distinguished commanders, serving throughout the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions.
 
Indefatigable was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams. She was launched in early July 178,  and completed from 11 July to 13 September of that year at Portsmouth Dockyard as a 64-gun two-decked third rate for the Royal Navy. She had cost £25,210 4s 5d to build; her total initial cost including fitting out and coppering was £36,154 18s 7d (around £6.6m in today's money). By that time, she was already outmoded for the role of a ship of the line as the French only built the more powerful 74-gun ships, and she was never commissioned in that role.
 
She was broken up in 1816.
 
The kit
This is quite literally hot off the press with regards to what you see here. Indefatigable is being represented in this new kit as the razée, and quite rightly so. I do have a lot of affection for the stuff built at Bucklers Hard, having visited there a couple of times myself. It's a beautifully tranquil place in England's New Forest, which really does betray the hive of activity it used to be. It even has the original shipwrights houses and the pub there, as part of the tour. Just to think, Indefatigable was definitely built in one of these two slips, as was Agamemnon etc. I took these photos a couple of years ago.
 



 
This is very stuff for Indefatigable, as all I currently have are the cannon, carronades, and also the cutter. It will also become very obvious that when building these models, I never do anything in chronological order as seen in the manual. I work on whatever Chris has completed and sends over to me, with other work infilling between main tasks. I try to waste as little time as possible in order to keep to fairly tight release schedules. For the first time you'll see me work on stuff like this before the big hitters are sent to me. Even then, I will feed back with my findings and things will possibly be changed to reflect my own build. 
 
Not too much to see at the moment, and work won't start proper for a week or so, so keep checking in to see if things have progressed. Here's the two sheets of 2mm pear which contain the gun carts...




 
I also have three bags of guns. These are:
12-pound long 24-pound long 42-pound carronades  
I do need to wash these guns in some isopropyl, especially the carronades as the initial washing left then with tissue debris on them. Also, the carronade carriages will also have 3d-printed wheels! 





 
Indefatigable will have many of the design traits of Sphinx, but this time incorporate more traditional planking around the upper bulwarks and gun ports etc. Indy will also feature a traditionally planked deck too. 
 
Here are the parts for the cutter:
 


Chris might want to chime in here with other notes on the design too. 
 

And done! A few comparison shots for scale 

Start work at the end of the holiday

It is Finished!  I have come to the end of this labor of love. My Revell 1/96 Cutty Sark is done. Many enjoyable hours spent engrossed in her build. My first attempt at making my own sails. Even though my stitches are out of scale I really like the look of them and will employee the same technique on my next build. Also liked furling the bottom sails. I want to thank everyone in this incredible site for your comments, suggestions, and answers to questions. I especially want to thank Shipman, Bob Fraser, Popeye, Rwiederrich, and mtaylor. Your help at times when I was stumped or needed advice was extremely helpful. Thanks again everyone. Now on to my next build the English Man O War. 

Thanks Dave. Yes that is exactly the way I repaired the jib boom. Did not think just gluing it would have held. Drilled both pieces and used a match stick. Finished rigging the 3 masts with all sails. Furled the bottom sails. After seeing other builder’s take on the Cutty Sark, I really like the white railing on the back and front instead of black. I removed the black thread, repainted the posts, and replaced the thread with white. Like it much better. 

After a mild disaster where I accidentally hit and broke off the job boom 😫(which I was eventually able to untangle the chains and ropes in order to repair) I have rigged the jib sails and some of the staysails. Moving right along with my progress. 

Decided to move the studding sail booms inboard since I will not be adding those sails. Removed them from the yards and now debating if I will reattach them in the inboard position or just leave them off all together. Completed the running rigging on the backside of the foremast sails and began attaching the mainmast sails. Have yet to attach the bottom sails on both masts since I am thinking I may furl them. 

Nearly done, railings and rigging done 

You probably won’t find a more enthusiastic Shackleton enthusiast than myself. I’ve collected documents written by him, in his own hand, items he personally used on the furthest south Nimrod expedition, first edition books, etc etc. Collecting items belonging to Shackleton is a passion of mine. With that said, I can’t really understand this expedition. I’m certainly all for it, and I hope they succeed in all their aims, but Endurance isn’t an unknown. We have very detailed information about her sinking, photos, film, so it’s not like  we have too many unanswered questions except for her true position position. 
 
I was discussing this subject with a friend once the second attempt got underway. He and I couldn’t come up with a major question we felt we’d like to see answered from finding the wreck. It’s pretty clear that she was smashed to pieces, and other than the debris on the bottom of the ocean, she won’t be some sort of perfectly preserved Time Capsule sadly. Of course they’ll find items from the expedition, and I certainly hope some can be recovered, fascinating no less. I think ticking her off the list is fine, but there might be other ships that ticked off first. And this coming from the most fanatical Shackleton enthusiast you’ll come across ‘round these parts.
 
I do feel there are two wrecks in the Southern Hemisphere which would be much more interesting. The first being the American bark General Grant, which was lost off Auckland Island in 1866. She was carrying a large quantity of personal gold being carried by her passengers and possibly, though disputed, a large shipment of gold bullion. This bullion is often thought to be a legend but it is interesting because on the manifest it was listed as zinc spelter ballast, which I’m told wasn’t common in New Zealand or Australia at the time. What is known is that she did have something like 3000 ounces of private gold aboard. Not only did the disaster suffer considerable loss of life, her survivors became castaways for almost a year, which in itself is one hell of a story. I think she’s worth finding.
 
Secondly, with all the other missing wrecks being found recently, and quickly becoming the Everest of missing ships has to be the missing ocean liner SS Waratah of the Blue Anchor Line. Waratah disappeared on her second voyage in 1909 off the coast of South Africa. Little wreckage was ever found, none of which could be positively identified as having come from Waratah. No bodies were found, it was as if the 500’ ocean liner sailed to Mars. The subsequent search for her was one of the biggest searches at sea ever conducted, covering most of the area between South Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. Absolutely fascinating stuff, maddeningly perplexing, but still fascinating nonetheless. There are a couple theories about why she sank, and maybe we could start a new thread if there is interest. I can bore you to tears with discussions about Waratah! Anyway, Waratah has certainly moved up to the top, or near the top of the list.
 
As I said above, I wish the Endurance search team all the best, and I’ll be the first to congratulate them on their success. I’ll be properly excited if they do find her. However, I do feel that energy could be put into other missing ships, especially Waratah and General Grant. 

Big milestone today, as the starboard side is fully tiled: 
 

 
Close to 1200 copper tiles went onto the hull. Each tile being 25 mm x 8 mm, cut, embossed and placed by hand one at a time. The beautiful side of the copper tape is that you can burnish each tile and make it blend with the neighboring tiles, for a more realistic aspect. Each tile is overlapping on two sides by a minute amount (usually under 1 mm).
 

 

 
Now, of course, I still have the port side to cover and blend the two sides together: 
 

 
Below are the reference of the copper tape used. Very inexpensive and with two packs, I should be able to cover the entire hull and may have some tiles left for the rudder.
 

 
Some close-ups pictures: 
 

 

 

 
Once both sides are ready I will let the copper tarnish to a beautiful red color and will seal it to prevent ripping the tiles and to block the oxidation to a certain amount. I have been running some tests and will be disclosing the chemical soon: no, it is not Wipe On Poly. WOP is not strong enough for such a large covering.
 
Without additional light, the reddish color is starting to show nicely: 
 

 
Yves
 
 

Boot topping Sunday in the shipyard. 

I have been building models all my life since a pup.   This is something different in scale and complexity.    It is a tribute build to my Loved Pa.   Mervyn H Cripps who was a QMG in X turrent on the "Aussie" 39-45.  I am my greatest critic when it comes to models and will appreciate any constructive critics along the way. 
The Ship will be in 1:72 scale and will be a functional RC model.   

80-G-12107.tif

Hull weathering 

Base coat done 

The deck, dark grey base then two lighter shades to represent paint fade. Then a brown overspray to represent worn down to  metal. I have a tan overspray on the wooden deck. My plan is to do some filters and some paint chips and washes. 
 
as you can see pretty much everything else is the paint cue, which will make it easy to finish. 

The hull is a pain to fix at the waterline. I’ve scribed in the hull plates and I think I’ll grunge up the lower hull below the boot strap. 

Next should be a quick build of a resin 1/350 Bathurst class minesweeper by Pacific Crossroads. Nice PE, resin and this will be a OOB build.  

I just started on the coppering..... The beginning is not too tedious, but I am sure it will not be the same in a few days....
 
The tiles are made one by one, using the chopper tool:
 

 
I am using 3M adhesive tape and that helps a lot as the tiles are easy to install, do not require any glue and can be burnished in position for a nice fit.
 
As mentioned before, the copper tiles provided by CAF are not of the right size and require the use of CA glue. Below you can see the difference in size between the CAF tiles and the ones I am building: 
 

 
The CAF tiles are rather expensive (I think the set for Bellona is about $500 plus shipping) and the 3M tape is a lot more affordable. The real tiles were 4 feet long by 15 inches wide. At the scale of 1/48th, it means a tile of 2.5 cm (1 inch) by 8 mm. The 3M tape is 7.98 mm wide which is perfect for this use.
I am using a wheel to mark a line of nails all around the tile. In my humble opinion, it looks more realistic than the traditional porcupine tiles provided by kit makers. Also, the holes are indented into the tiles instead of protruding out, which is contrary to the real way this was done. Copper nails were hammered into the tiles and there were no bumps visible.
 
The real ship required 2741 tiles and about 2.5 tons of copper nails (according to the Anatomy of the Ship book). The overlap was about 1 inch and a half, which is close to 1 mm at 1/48th scale. I am setting the tiles starting from the keel and from the stern, and overlapping them, until I reach the flotation line and the bow.
 

 

 
Yves

Yves: Glad to see you are using copper tape. While it would have made life a lot easier if plates were provided, the copper tape allows you to tailor those plates to what you want. I have used copper tape before and had great success. Keep the great pics coming! 
 
Mike Draper