Fernando E

Here you go. There are some other shots in this log showing my hand too.
 

 
 

so the top of that ist lime strip is flush with the top of the lower gunport sill, thats clever
great update thank you

...and the top of the upper strip (directly below pear) sits along the top edge of gun port. Scrap material fills the gaps between. Works a treat.

Just for some info, Indy will be approx 880mm tall.
 
Ok, onto business.
 
The hull is now faired. This isn't really a task you can sit there with a piece of sandpaper and hope to achieve inner calm. Chris finally talked me into getting a palm sander (mouse), so I splashed out on a Black & Decker one. Even with this, fitted with an 80 grit pad, this job still took me a total of about 5 hours, along with the final task of wrapping some sandpaper around a 12 inch piece of thin ply to absolutely ensure the curves were right....plus the joyous task of blending those last bulkheads and fairing blocks into the keel.
 
 

 
 
 
 
There is a lot of regular planking on Indy, but the inner core of the outer bulwarks are laser cut. So as not to stress out the forward bulwarks and those temporary gun port sections, these were first soaked and clamped in place. These were left for a full 24hrs to dry out and shrink back to their normal size. Pear has a hell of an expansion, even when soaked for 30 mins in hot water, so you really need to find a book to read, guitar to play, or TV to watch while this dries.

 
 
 
 
 
Now that the parts are completely dry, I draw around the forward position of the bulwark so that I have my positions for the flow of the first plank that runs below the gun ports, and also the extent of the planks above this. It's important to know here that this pear part sits along the top of the gun ports on the main deck.


 
 
 
The pear bulwark is now removed and the first 1.5mm thick lime strip laid along the bottom edge of the gun port sills, and along the lower line I've just drawn. On the prototype, each plank is 500mm long, and they meet up on the double thickness bulkhead #9. We're not yet sure if that will be the case on the final product.
 

 
 
 
 
 
The back end of the same plank run is now installed. These planks are pinned until dry. If you pin all the way through, they will penetrate through the inner bulwarks, but that doesn't matter as any holes will be in the area covered by the spirketting. 

 
 
 
 
 
The pear bulwark sections are now temporarily clamped into position so the bottom edge runs along the top edge of the gun ports. You don't need top do this but I just considered that it was good insurance that the plank that runs directly underneath these pear parts, would be properly installed and a snug for in that area.It also gives you something to finally sit these parts onto later so you have a much better chance of both sides being exactly equal. Care is taken not to get any glue on those pear bulwarks. The spaces between the gun ports are now filled up with lime strip. This doesn't need to be neat at this stage. They'll be cleaned up later.

 
 
 
 
 
A razor saw is now used to cut away the lime strip in the top row, that is partially obscuring the gun ports.

 
 
 
 
 
The pear bulwarks can now be reinstated, but before this happens, you need to know a little bit about the side framing of the rear half of Indy. Not all of it will become a part of your finished project. When it comes to gluing the rear sections on first, the area in red here WILL NOT have any glue applied to it as that section will later be cut away. You can see the area with glue covers the the lower area just underneath the red area and for the rear section, it terminates at the point where the longitudinal strips were installed in sections. When you look at the model and my previous photos (without red marks), you can see that split in the strips, denoting the two areas.

 
 
 
 
 
The rear bulwarks are now finally glued into position after some final measuring, ensuring both sides are in exactly the same position. This isn't too difficult now that this part sits upon that lime plank. Other factors also help too, such as the two rear gunport frames on the quarterdeck and the quarter gallery doorway. Just check at the back end to make sure things align with the stern timbers. Of course, you don't need to worry about gun port alignment on the rest of the quarterdeck gun ports as those frames will later be removed, as discussed. 2 inch clamps are very useful here to make sure the bulwark is squeezed into the hull curvature, as they can hook through the gun ports. 

 
 
 
 
 
The mid and fore pear bulkheads are now glued into place.

 
 
 
 
And for the last part of this update, here's how she currently looks. Next job is to cover that lower real estate in lime planks. Remember, this is the same size as Agamemnon!


 
 
Until next time....

I have made some progress with the yards. Making the stunsail boom irons out of brass tube and 1 mm brass wire for the lower main and fore masts. I still need to fit the blocks, stirups and flemish horses to them for completion. I used strips of black card supplied by the kit for the boom iron staps. I still need to   fit the lower stunsail booms to the outside of the main mast channels. Unfortunately still slow progress due to other comitments.




 
 

finished the bow details now for painting

This is my completed rudder, going to see if i can fit it in without pliers 

cannon ports are done finally, that had to of been the most tedious thing i have done this model. i accidently dropped one of the hinge pieces on my carpet and it took me over 20 minutes to find it. after that the pace stepped up a bit more. glad to be done with this.

Some more progress, on the bow. Having the front of the ship open, was disturbing me. The front bulkhead only comes in Session #4 and in my humble opinion, it is too late as I will show in the coming description. 
 

 
They assume that the main/upper deck must be installed before setting the front bulkhead. I like to disagree and will propose a solution moving away from what CAF is recommending. The picture above shows the beginning of Session #4 instructions.
 
The main deck and bow deck are not exactly at the same level (in the model). Using the 1a/1b beams, I glued them in place to match the level of the main deck: 
 

 
I then glued on top of beam "1a" only, a 2 mm strip of wood to put on the same level the front of the bow with beam 1a: 
 

 
This will create the front deck.  I now have to cut from the main deck parts A, the sections which are used to plank the front of the ship: 
 

 
These two parts are then glued and a central piece is inserted to finish the deck.
 
The remaining section of deck A, do fit perfectly, although 2 mm below. That is no problem at all.
 

 
Using some 0.4 mm shims, I then position the front bulkhead (coming in Session #4): 
 

 

 
So far, so good. I like the fact that two sides are now joined by a very stiff piece of plywood.
 
The decorative rails are not working very well and some "deconstruction" is necessary: 
 

 

 
I would strongly recommend to not install any of the front rails, until after building the front bulkhead and adjusting the round houses. The moldings on the round houses have to match these rails and that is not obvious to do.
 
The front deck (crapper) is planked: 
 

 

 
The vertical surface of the bulkhead is covered with the 0.4 mm planking as well.
 

 

 
Everything is finely sanded, the deck receives Wipe on Poly (multiple coats). I now apply the first two coats of Ultramarine blue: 
 

 

 

 
There is still a ton of work to be done in this area, but at least I am feeling better about the solidity of the model. 
 
Yves
 

Another update.
 
Not too much to show this time, but there was a lot of work in terms of sanding and waiting for soaked parts to dry before gluing etc.
Before I could proceed, I needed to sand the inner bulwarks. This isn't too bad of a job...just time consuming. Despite my pic, you're best rolling the hull onto its side on a towel, and applying pressure downwards when sanding. This is done until everything is nice and even.
 

 
 
 
 
Each 1mm interior bulwark is split into four easy to manage sections. To lessen any load on the frames, so as not to cause any spread in them, all inner bulwark parts were soaked for 30 mins before clamping into place until dry. These were left 24hrs so they were entirely back to their normal size. Pear swells a lot in water, so it's vital you know, beyond doubt, that there's no swelling left. Once dry, all parts were carefully aligned to the port frames, glued into place, and clamped until set.




 
 
 
 
Provision now needs to be made for the eventual deck beam positioning. This is done using some 2mm MDF frames which slot into the bulkhead beams, above the inner bulwarks. There are two per side. These fit with a nice, reassuring push, but at this stage I don't glue them.




 
 
 
A good number of the 6mm pear deck beams and 5mm boat beams are now sotted/hooked over the MDF parts I just installed. This is done to check that the position of those MDF parts are absolutely in the right place. These beams are NOT glued in yet, obviously. At this point I've also reinstated the MDF temporary beams across the quarterdeck bulkheads. Again that's just to make sure every dimension is exactly as designed.




 
 
 
 
Once happy with everything, the MDF deck beam mounts are brush glued into place.

 
 
 
 
Lastly, the pear beams are removed and carefully put away somewhere safe. The temporary MDF beams remain in place to help me with the hull fairing, and that's the next job.

 
 
That's all for now.

Chris's dining room table:

🙂
Jonathan

This was posted on another thread, but I think it fits.
 

A small but noticeable progress on the poop: The rear gunport lids. Once again, you can admire the lack of instructions....very spartan, to say the least.
 

 
The rope is not provided in the kit. The brass eye pins are from Model Shipways, as I find the pins provided with the kit way too large for a gunport lid. The other parts are from the kit PE sheet. All parts and CAD drawings are from the Session #5 box.
 

 

 
Yves
 

Final touch on the rudder. The part was missing from the kit, so I used a strip of brass and two brass eye pins that I drilled and soldered.
 

 
The part is then soaked into the Black Brass chemical and pinned to the rudder, with four micro nails. The chain is provided in the CAF Model kit and cut in half. It may seem a tad too long and I will adjust the length when the model is completed.
 

 

 
That is all for now, regarding the poop. Rudder and chains can be removed easily and we can now move to another part of the hull, before going back to the "official" Session #3 instructions. 
 
Yves

We are now entering Session #2.5 (somewhere between 2 and 3). It actually uses a lot of the parts located in Session #5.
 
The goal of this intermediate session, is to build all the details of the hull and gun deck before moving to the main deck with Session #3. Honestly, I think it would be foolish to wait and assemble all the details about the hull in Session #5. There are a lot of things that have to take place before you can close the lid on the main deck and because of the sheer size (and weight ) of the hull.
 
With that in mind, we chose randomly the rudder, fully described and provided in Session #5.
 

 

 
The part above is missing from the kit. I will have to build it since it will take a long time to come from China.
 
And from the book Anatomy of the Ship: 
 

 
My goal is to make the rudder movable and ultimately (if I manage to do it), controlled by the wheel. There are 7 pivots/hinges that are supporting the heavy rudder of Bellona. The kit provides a sandwich of three layers of cherry wood: 
 

 
The end result is way too thick and will prevent the rudder from rotating, unless you open the "grand canyon" on the transom. Instead of using the middle part, I am using a 2 mm strip of wood to create the triangular shape of the rudder. This allows me to keep the laser engraving of the external sides and saves me a ton of sanding.
 
Aligning six or seven pivots can be made but it presents a serious challenge and most likely, the end result will be very stiff and hard to rotate. Instead, I only use the top and bottom support for the articulation and all the other supports are playing a fake role. 
 

 
You can see (above) the finished rudder, with the copper tiles and some of the decals provided in the kit.
 

 

 

 
Above, notice the top and bottom supports. All the other ones are fake and not mechanically active. You can also see the strip of wood inserted at the heart of the sandwich. Rest assured, nothing is visible and in retrospect, I wish I had a 2mm strip of cherry to match the sides of the rudder.
 
The completed rudder, installed on the stern of the ship: 
 

 

 
The rudder rotates freely and I have some hopes to make is steerable using the wheel. It will not be easy as I have to cross through multiple levels of deck.
 
The decals are quite thick, not the kind that you find in plastic model kits. I use Future Floor Pledge as a sub-layer to glue them and another coat of Pledge on top, to seal the decals. It seems to work rather well which is good news, as decals are usually very fragile.
 
Yves
 
 

We are still isolated at home and can't go out
The number of people infected by the epidemic is still 20000 per day
Therefore, according to the analysis of the current situation, we are still unable to obtain freedom for a while
The situation is deteriorating, and the epidemic is also breaking out in other cities except Shanghai, so the whole city may be under martial law at any time
When will it end? I think only God and politics can know
 
Tom 
In Shanghai  China

There is nothing you need to ask forgiveness for, Tom.  The virus has been very disruptive to everyone's life.   The prototype looks very good.

Before moving to Session #2.5, I adjusted the floor pieces for the main deck. A total of 10 thin plywood plates, delicately cut. They do require some adjustments mostly against the inner side of the hull and sometimes to accommodate the thickness of the frames. 
 

 
Some final sanding will be required to make them fit without stress or tension, but most of them are perfectly flat and in place. A final view with all the masts and capstan axles: 
 

 
Yves

Test assembly of a new kit
MK0304 "42ft launch rigged Yawl with a 24-pound carronade (1841).   (in russian documents - rigged as Plymouth`s boat)
Scale 1: 48
 
length - 498.5 mm (hull - 267mm),
width - 80 mm,
height - 351 mm
one 24-pd. carronade
Material - pear
265 parts have already been assembled.
To be continued...
A few photos of the previous stages

Mike, you are correct. The guns can be installed very easily with no conflicts. The hull is large and relatively easy to access internally.
Guns rigging? Only if you are masochistic and need some pain.
 
Yves

I am installing the main deck beams, within the context of Session #3. The beam #2 is cut to let the bowsprit pass through: 
 

 
I would highly recommend doing the reinforcement as I pictured it. That beam (#2) is essential to the right positioning of the front mast.
 
The plate holding the front mast is glued to Beams #4 and #3 (notice the wrong markings on the plate - It should be 2 and 4). 
 

 
The piece underneath is angled at exactly 30 degrees. It takes a lot of fine tuning to get that part right, but once done, it fits perfectly and can be glued in confidence.
 

 

 
To make it really solid (if one day I decide to build the bowsprit) I placed two pieces of wood on the deck to make the bowsprit holder very rigid and well anchored: 
 

 

 
The remaining beams are glued very easily. I am amazed by the precision of the parts and how well they fit. Even though some beams are longer than 270 mm, they do fit perfectly with no cutting or sanding. Once again, the careful assembly of the frames is paying off. Let's hope the same will be true for the upper decks.
 

 

 
All the beams have been installed: 
 

 

 

 
And a few goofy sailor's perspectives: 
 

 

 

 

 

 
Oh, I forgot to talk about Beam #12: it is passing very close to the axle of the capstan and I decided to cut it for a better and free rotation of the axle: 
 

 
This way, when the main deck capstan is rotated, the lower one will rotate in concert.
 
So far, Session #3 is moving along nicely and I think it is time to go back to the outside of the hull and do all the preliminary work (Session #2.5). The main guns will be installed at the very last minute and not a second early.
 
Yves

The front beams are a little bit more delicate to install and precise adjustments are required to make the mast vertical in all directions.
 

 
Beam 2A and 2B will have to be cut to allow the passage for the bowsprit. That is really a bummer as this beam is very sturdy and provides a nice anchor for the plate holding the front mast. I decided to install two pieces of wood to hold that #2 beam, which will be cut later on. Hopefully, that will reinforce it and prevent the front mast from losing its (perfect) alignment.
 
Yves

The instructions in Session #3 are urging you to install and secure the large guns, on the gun deck. In my humble opinion, one should wait the very last moment to do that, as all these 28 guns protruding from the hull are presenting a little disaster in themselves. Plus, installing the main deck beams will automatically create some sawdust and the guns will be in the middle. Therefore, I will install (and build...) the large guns at the very last minute, before closing the coffin on the gun deck.
 

 
The first few pictures were about drilling the hawses on the bow of the ship, to pass the anchor ropes. I will do that later.
 
First, I want to see how these beams are fitting in the hull: 
 

 
Beams 16A and 16B have been installed. The fit is perfect and just tight: impressive, when you know that the entire hull was built without any templates. I am trying to make sure they are horizontal as much as possible.
 
Then installation of  beams 15A/B and 14A/B to hold the mast of artimon: 
 

 
Finally, a sailor perspective: 
 

 
Yves