Fernando E

good afternoon everyone
 
for a few months now, reluctant at the start, i knew i had to return to this build, a few of my followers know the reason why. but having got over that i have my build back on the table
my next step was how to proceed, i used the main deck (for some unknown reason) in the lower position and had to order a replacement from CAF in china, i should have just used some cherry and made horizontal deck beams, but was worried i would not get the internal bulkheads height right,
then i was concerned that fixing the lower deck beams in would hinder the top ones going in if they were not quite in the correct position, if placed the to far fwd or aft
Anyway i have been setting up the replacement beams and everything lines up (im totally amazed)  only because my photo' make the hull look like a two year old had made it
 
with that hurdle out of the way, i am now going to plank the rest of the inner hull
 
new upper beams being test fitted, they were then taken out
 
 



 







now going to continue planking inside the hull

good evening everyone
 
well she made it back to the work bench, it took most of yesterday and this morning to get back into it and sorting out
 
But i have done something wrong
 
real wrong
 
I made up deck beams 1 to 4, sanded them down, milled the notches and located the correct position, and they fitted, with out any agro, that is just so not right (well not for me anyway)
 
i need to think carefully now as i am going to have to adapt the lower deck to accept ladders and hatches now, but i am so happy, i could skip

 
new deck beams to the left, and the adapted originals
 
now im confident that this will work out,  the mast is going into correct place

I have made some progress with regards to the deck furniture/fittings . I did find assembling the windlass rather tricky compaired to the Bounty as I wasn't too happy with the barrels. Each flat of the octagon required assembly using 0.7 mm plywood strips as can be seen in the vice. This part on the Bounty was a cast piece and was much easier to assemble. however I got there in the end.


I
I have now only got the bilge pumps to assemble and perhaps tweek the angles of the bottom of the bitts and then I am almost ready to start attaching the fittings and furniture to the deck. However I need to fit pins to the bottom of the bits and the supports for the ship boats. I am still not sure of the Binnacle as I cannot see were this will fit. It is my intention to make something similar to the Endeavour replica as can be seen here

Anyway here is a couple of photos of my progress so far

Making progress  with compensating for the slope of the aft deck. I made two wedges for under the Capstan base on my Proxxon Milling machine and cut a wedge out of the sides of the skylight

All deck furniture and fittings are now in place.  The next task is to complete the fence and cap rails.
 

 
The fence consists of small fiddly stanchions, a slotted plywood cap rail and a thin cap rail trim that covers the slots in the cap rail.  I was concerned that if the stanchions were fixed in place into the slots in the fence base first it could be difficult fixing the cap rail if there was any misalignment of the stanchions.  The longest length of cap rail had 13 stanchions to match up.
So I decided to insert each stanchion in the fence base, but not glue them.  (I should have dusted off the dust before taking this photo!).
 

 
I then fixed in place the fence rail, juggling each stanchion into place as required.
 

 
I then glued the stanchions to the top rail by dropping a dollop of CA into each slot in the top rail.  I then carefully removed the top rail together with the stanchions and painted the underside of the rail and stanchions.
 

 
The final step was to glue the assembly back on to the fence base with a dollop of PVA in each slot in the fence base.  The PVA gave me time to make any adjustment and pull the plug if there was a disaster.
 

 
Fortunately it worked!  The rail trim has yet to be installed.

Work progressing on the deck fittings and furniture including the cargo hatch framing and covers, and steps that are between the lower and top deck.  Looking at the step dimensions has raised a query in my mind about the scaling of the model.  The steps are not seen when installed so haven’t bothered to conceal the plywood edges.
 

 
Have also finished the fife rail pin bits and pin rail bits.  Each bit is located in a pre-cut hole in the deck adjacent to a hull frame face.  The end of each bit has to be checked for length and tapered to suit the frame profile at the same time as setting the bit plumb and at the correct height.  The frame 11 at the stern of the hull is not vertical having been built at an angle, so the bit at frame 11 had to be cut short at just below the deck with enough contact with the frame to be held in place.  The only ‘error’ in the construction details I have come across so far.
 

 
Two pumps in progress and a tiller I carved from basswood to replace the unattractive plywood tiller provided.
 

 
The companionway is assembled from laser cut plywood components with etched cladding pattern and doors.  The companionway as provided is pretty ordinary and decided to upgrade it with a bit more detail.
 

 
The companionway as illustrated in the building instructions.
 

 
The companionway after upgrading with trims etc.  The assembled companionway sits comfortably and precisely into the opening provided in the deck.  
 

 
That completes the deck fittings and furniture.

I've got the deck on, but as I've already told Rodger (he's building the same model as me, but doing a far better job of it), I wish I had a tenth of his skill.
 

 

 
I appear to have fixed the slight warp in the frames, it was taken up by the deck as I thought it would be.  I've also got the lodging knees in which proved to be easier than I thought.  Next job is the planking.  If you need to see how this kit is done properly, have a look at https://modelshipworld.com/topic/29444-mary-byrne-1826-by-rodgerdodger-modellers-shipyard-admiralty-model/
I've fitted the first row of planks, but this has shown me that I don't have any clamps small enough to go between the frames to hold the planks on while they are being glued.  I'm going to put the project on hold until i can get hold of the right ones, but given the delay in post times due to the current lockdown, and the fact that I live at the end of the known world, i might have a bit of a wait.  The photos do show that I have a very scruffy workbench though.
 

I'm well into the build of this model, and although I intended to do a full build log, I held back because Rodger Dodger's log is a hard act to follow.  I thought I would just use this as an adjunct to his, showing some of my own ideas and techniques (If you don't mind Rodger?).
I wasn't too impressed with the colour of the plywood supplied with the kit, it was a bland, blond and looked nothing like what I imagined a real admiralty model would look like, so I decided to stain the frames and the keel.  I used Resene stains,  'Bark' for the frames, and 'Driftwood' for the keel and decks, both thinned 50/50 with water, and I intend to varnish the visible bits later with a satin polyurethane.  I've already tried this on the lower deck, and I'm quietly pleased with the effect.
 

 
 
I was very conscious of Rodger's advice on getting frame 1 square and plumb, so after giving it some thought,  I decided to use a couple of techniques I'd picked up from other members here.  I used a pair of lego blocks, blu-tacked to the keel to get the frame square, and by rigging a line from the stem to stern posts, and marking the centre of the frame, I was able to sight down on to the frame, and get it plumb.  This took care of the pitch and yaw axes, but the roll axis I did by eye.  I would be very grateful of any advice people could give me on how to do this in future.
 

 
Unfortunately the photo I took of the centering line was too blurred to be on any use. (I never said I was a photographer!).  
 
I've used the spacing inserts extensively throughout the framing process, and it worked out quite well
 

 
as you can see from the above photo, the stern frames appear to be skewed to starboard, but after having a few heart attacks about this, I've found it was caused by a slight warping of the keel.  This will get fixed when the deck and whales are put on, at least that's what I'm telling myself.
 
I'll be getting on with the deck now and I'll report back on that later.  Oh, as a by the bye, I'm pleased with the kit so far, everything seems to fit, the instructions are superb, and it's been very enjoyable so far (my wife hasn't been subjected to any sailor's foul language, up to now anyway).  The only niggle I've got is the 5mm plywood does tend to de-laminate at times, which would need to be fixed if it's visible on the model.
 

After fitting the new position of the Naval hoods and the holes drilled through there is now sufficient room for the anchor ropes. Anchor lines also fitted and painted. 

Hi All,
 
I managed to finish the topmast stays. Below are some of the pictures taken during the work.
 

 

 

 

 
Main topmast stay done as above. Repeating the procedure for the main topmast preventer stay below.
 

 
 


 
Main topmast stays are done.
 
Mizzen and fore topmast stays are done as below.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 
Topmast stays all completed.

Hi All,
 
I am now working on the top mast rigging - shrouds, ratlines etc. Some photos of the work are attached as below.
 

The below are pictures on cross tree and top mast related works that were done recently.

Hi All,
 
Managed to finish crowsfeet, cross tree and other top mast related works. Below are some picture on crowsfeet work

Hi everyone~
 
Uploading recent work at the shipyard - blocks for lower mast yards, sheets and yards for the lower mast area, installed additional belaying pins for the sheets. Also, as I am going to use much thinner ropes for ratlines from the mid mast section onwards, I dyed lower mast portion ratlines with black ink (water based) to match the color of the thin rope that I have available for the mid section ratlines.

Hello everyone! 
 
Uploading recent updates - mast top related works . Mast top dead eyes were done using serving instead of soldering. Not ideal but wife does not like the smell of soldering. Anyway, mast top works are mostly done except for the rails.
 

Update from the shipyard - finished shrouds installment and working on the ratlines.
 

Hi All,
 
The latest work in the shipyard.
 
The lego serving machine is becoming very useful. The below are the shroud line and foremast tackle related servings before the fuzzy fluffs are removed with lighter.
 

Just realized I think O have made my first major mistake or perhaps not myself. Looking at the two hawse plates just which I have lined up just under the upper wale. Fortunately as yet I have not drilled the holes out yet. I have checked other blogs and they too have had the same problem and have fiited the naval hoods higher up than what is on the drawing.so I will need to do the same and cut away the upper wale. I am kicking my self for not noticing this earlier as a few people have documented the problem with this build. Hopefully I can sort this without any damage to the hull when removing naval. hoods.

After removing the naval hoods and a section of wale you can see from the new position of the pins through the hawse holes that there should be enough clearance for the anchor rope to clear the deck. 
 

Fitted Rudder pintles and bushes which I found very fiddly.Then I fitted the rudder straps first then temporarily secured the rudder with tape whilst gluing and pinning the longer rudder staps to the hull. Glued Quarter badges using CA glue after paining behind the windows mat black .Started focusing on the anchor linings part no 122 which did not fit. I therefore decided to make new ones with 5mm x 1.5mm Lime strips as can be seen below using double sided tape and extending the strips to enlarge the anchor linings and then shaping them. It will also be necessary to bend the 1.5 mm strips to suit the shape of the hull. Hope this works out ok.

All good Fernando, enjoy your build. My book that discusses binnacles says the typical cabinet was 3'-6" wide, 3'-6" high and 1'-3" deep. I converted this to metric and scaled, then fashion my cabinet out of scrap, with central sliding doors facing the tiller, and lamp doors on each end. Final is approx 23x23x11mm (ended up being too deep according to plans, but still looks ok). Try to use the best fine grain wood you have to skin it, as the cabinet would have been high quality as it housed an expensive (and critical!) instrument. Mine is a bit crude looking.
 
I had some trouble with the rigging plans for this kit...especially standing rigging, and routing of the braces. So made numerous changes per my understanding, and the books I had available. I also added many rigging details that are missing - left out by the manufacturer to keep it simple, because the model is large enough to take them and it's a good opportunity to push your skills (such as lower yard slings, truss pendants, upper yard parrells, bowsprit rigging complexity, stay-mouses etc). All part of the fun!
 
Reach out when you reach those phases and I can share details of what I did. Certainly still an amateur, but am developing an eye for nonsensical rope sizing and routing! Cheers, Matt

Puddening the anchor-rings. The pre-formed stocks are wonderful to work with. A couple of hoops of black cartridge-paper around them and they’ll be done. Easy-peasy.

I’ve ordered additional walnut 3mm single and double blocks in order to rig the cannon more correctly. While I wait for them to arrive, I’ve removed all the hatch-covers had decided to add the brass hatch-rings to their copper loops while I can still access them. Poor photo, but you get the idea.

Started adding some decoration to the stern quarter and stern facia and adding the larger of the 3 hinges to the gun port lids which were previously fitted to the hull. There are still a number of lids to fit to the hull ( In the closed position) but I found it difficult to accurately position these on the hull ( Its an age related thing) so will probably glue these in position away from the model which I hope I will find easier. The metal decorations were glued using appoxy resin but the hinges were glued on using CA.

I almost forgot. I removed the stand as the ship was not sitting level athwartships so decided to build another slipway /drydock which keeps the ship level. This is mainly for when I begin to fit the channels in the hope I can keep these in line with the water level rather than 90 degs to the hull. I am not 100% sure if this is correct but heard it mentioned somewhere.I think it will help with other parts of the build.
 

Then a little update.
All the bulwarks and stripes and more of that funny stuf is on it.
Painted and happy.
Last saturday we had a model meeting in the Netherlands from a Dutch forum.
They helped me with the black stripes because they don't follow the bulwarks.
So now I am happy 🙂