hamilton

Hi Richard
You are moving along very well. One suggestion is to make the gun ports narrower than the pattern suggests. I take this from my Fly pattern where the ports are arguably too wide. That might not apply to Mercury though however it is easy to widen a narrow port and much harder to make a wide port narrower.
 
Cheers
Alistair

Thank you Joe and Pete.
 
Well, the first planking is done now. After sanding the hull I've marked the gunports by using the gunport pattern.
 

 

 
And some more pictures of the hull as of today:
 

 

 

 
 
 

I have now completed one side of the inner bulwark planking. To begin with, I added some filler pieces to the edge of the false deck to cover up the sizing errors. I used material from the laser cut sheet from which the deck had come. After that, I cut, and bent as necessary, boxwood planks for the spirketting below the gun ports and installed them. Following that, I made up three plank units of boxwood to fit between the gun ports for the quickwork and installed them. Lastly, I did the boxwood planks for the waist, forecastle and quarterdeck clamps. Planking of the forecastle and quarterdeck bulwarks will be left until the framing for those decks is installed later.
 
All of the planking has caulking simulated with pencil on one edge and one end of each plank. I did not do any treenailing since I expect to plank this side of the upper decks and such work will be totally invisible. The caulking was done out of force of habit, although it too will not be seen. I finished the work with a coat of Wipe-on Poly.
 
I'm now starting on the other side, which will be at least partly visible after the upper deck framing and planking.
 
Bob

Sjors, Mike, Jim - as always your comments mean a lot coming from you guys, and always good advice!
 
Frustrating I've found that I'm two cleats short (and Cornwall Model Boats are out of stock!) so can't complete the mizzen mast just yet so started to attach blocks to the other masts.  Lots of pictures below on approach to the under blocks under the tops, Mobbsie was very kind to send through a lot of info that he had accumulated, found this modified method worked well for me.  Only had 4 to do, but thought it good practice to do it authentically as possible for practice even though I could probably have lived with blocks attached to eyebolts.
 
High tech jig assembled (i.e. 2 pins in spare wood about 9mm apart)  Block placed on one pin and knot tied at top of block to secure it in place.  Loose ends then tied over the top of other pin....

 
...knot tied on other side of pin to make a loop.  At this point applied some GS Hypo glue to the knots and the 'loop' to secure it.

 
After glue had dried, trimmed loose ends and served the line in between the loop and the block...

 
...which resulted in the finished item.

 
In place with wire pegs inserted into loops to keep them in place.  1.3mm holes were drilled and the hoops pulled through with thin thread.  Took a bit of teasing.

 

Hi Jason,
 
My approach will be to fit the lower masts and then the shrouds before I add the topmasts and caps. I will make a 'mock up' of the Masthead on which to form the shrouds, and then transfer them to the actual model, less tiring that way.
 
I would leave the  Mast top rails until much later, on many models there are lines that have to be worked around the tops, or even belayed there, and those rails tend to be fairly fragile.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Looking good Mobbsie - I'm trying to picture my Blandford standing on her stern at your mid-ships....just to get a sense of the scale.....
hamilton

Hello all:
 
First of all, for Ferit I have the photo of the port side fore lower shrouds and ratlines (first photo below) - hope this is what you're looking for.
 
The night before last I shaped, finished and outfitted the spritsail yard, and this evening I installed and began rigging it. I had hoped to add the clews and sheets as well, but I only managed to add the sling, the halliard, the lifts and braces. I also added jibboom guys and guy falls (as noted in Lees), but ended up removing them because I felt they made the model look too cluttered. I'm now cursing the absence of a fairleader block on the bowsprit - which Goodwin features, but which I didn't feel confident in making - now I'm not satisfied with the chaos of lines at the bow, and yet don't feel up for dismantling all my work.......I will live with it, I suppose.
 
Anyway, I'll hopefully have a chance of finishing the spritsail yard rigging tomorrow - from there I'll start the spars from the mizzen mast forward.....Enjoy!
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

Hi Guys,
 
My turn to add an update on progress made so far.
 
Well I ripped out all of the eyebolts from under the platforms and followed the advice from Grant on how they should be done, he kindly sent me some information from one of his practicums which illustrated it perfectly.
 
The big question was "How in _ells teeth am I going to do that", but it wasn't as bad as I first thought. So it was with some trepidation that I drilled my first hole in the Main Platform followed by another 11. The results you will see.
 
The railings and netting was fitted next.
 
I have since fitted the Mizzen Platform to the mast but the Main and Fore Mast Platforms are only dry fitted.
 
Next came the Burton Pendants, I made hard eyes for these out of 4mm dowel, I drilled out the centres with a 1.8mm bit and filed them down to the size required. I then had to serve rope for the Mizzen Pendants, Then it happened, my super duper server fell apart, the gearing got all jammed up and kept jamming, so I had to pull it apart and virtually start all over again. I now have a server that's got more holes in it than a colander, still it works which is the main thing.
 
With the rope served I attached the eyes and served the ends, it is now fitted to the mast.
 
So that's it, not a lot really, but unfortunately life has a habit of getting in the way of building, plus the fact that I have had a bit of builders block, at least that's behind me now.
 
Some pics.
 
Top of the Main Platform showing the retaining pegs.

 
The completed Platforms

 
The underside of the Platforms

 
The Burton Pendants on the Mizzen Platform

 
 
The served rope seized around the mast

 
The 3 masts with platforms

 

 
So there we have it, next step is the Mizzen shrouds.
 
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie
 
 

Wow Richard - I was just getting into your Endeavour build, and now I find this!! You are prolific! It's interesting to note a nice model like this with no logs attached. Certainly there are some very famous subjects out there (Victory, the other Endeavour, Bounty) that get a lot of hits - but there are others like this one, the Corel Bellona (though Harlequin started one a while back...), and as demonburger noted the Mary Rose that get missed....hard to say why....I'll watch this one attentively. And please don't neglect the Endeavour! A very exciting build
hamilton

Hello, a few days ago I started a second project: The Russian brig Mercury.


The original

The Russian 20 gun brig Mercury (Меркурий) was laid down in Sevastopol on January 28, 1819 and launched on 7 May 1820. She was designed as a patrol ship to guard the Nothern Caucasus coast. The Mercury fought in many important naval battles during her career.

The kit

The weight of the box is really notable. The shipping details showing the kit weighed 6 kg. No wonder, the 5 mm MDF for keel and frames weighs more than plywood. Furthermore the kit contains many brass etched parts, 17 plan sheets, a flag set, a 20-page step-by-step instuction (hull assembly only) and much more.

Scale: 1:64
Length overall: 860mm
Height overall: 654mm


 


I wonder why there are no building logs. In fact I found only one in a Russian forum. Is there something wrong with this kit? Or with the ship?
Anyway, let‘s start!


 

 


The false deck and the gundeck are a special feature of the kit. The planks are laser-engraved.
 

 


It looks pretty nice. Unfortunately it‘s plywood.

Next stage and the first problem was to fit the plywood gun port patterns. I‘ve soaked the parts for one hour, but for all that it wasn‘t possible for me bending the patterns vertically. So I planked the bulwark with 1x4 mm stripes. That means a little more work but much more easy on the nerves. Later on I can use the gun port pattern for marking the gunports.
 


The planks are only glued among each other, not to the frames.
 
And here we have the bulwark; still without the gunports:
 

 

David,  As I said, I couldn't respond to your private message because it put me in Internet Explorer 11 and I was unable to up-load photos.  Firefox lets me up-load.
Attaching the lines from the bow sprit is difficult to see on my photos of the real ship, but their location is clear.  Photos from my log shows them rather clearly due to a better camera angle.
 
Two photos from the real ship.  Eyebolts with blocks are seen attached to the lower rail just above the round house.
 

 
Four photos of the model show the eyebolts with blocks, forming a part of the tackle.
 

 
I hope this answers the question.  Cheers, Gil

A bit more on the clue, sheet and tack blocks. The photos I have of the Victory show the blocks held together with shackles (which hadn't been invented in 1805.  McKay's drawings show a monkey fist and loop arrangement.  I've simply prepared the blocks and lashed them together.  I suspect McKay's illustration is more accurate.  Fashioning the clue block.  All line including the strop and eyes are served.  Brass rod used to maintain the eye.
 

 
One eye completed.
 

 
Forming the second eye.
 

 
Sheet block
 

 
 
 
 

Haven't had much time to spare recently.  Masts approaching completion, small strips of paper were used to simulate metal bands above the tops and also added some scratch jeer block strop cleats for bit more interest out of scrap.  Painted up it seems to be coming together and I'm pretty happy.  Rails and the eyebolts will be left off until later, but all holes have been drilled.  Few more deck details to put finishing touches to and glue, and then onto the shrouds and ratlines.
 

Continuing on with the aft coaming area--
 
Here the blackened brass rods are fit to the skylight sashes, and dry fit on the frame--
 

 
 
The skylight hinges are trimmed short.  You can see where I've cut a small mortice in the skylight for them to sit--
 

 
 
The binnacle is started from a solid block.  I've also epoxied "glass" (cut from the plastic address window of an envelope) on the underside of one skylight sash--
 

 
 
The center is cut out of the binnacle block.  I've glued the hinges onto the skylight sashes, and you can see the effect of the glass in the skylight--
 

 
 
A top is made for the binnacle, and holes are drilled in the center.  A larger size from the top (the width of the compass) and a smaller one all the way through, to push the compass back out from below during test fittings--
 

 
 
In this photo you can see two sections of brass tube soldered together.  Inner tube will form a seat to glue the compass face to.  For the compass, I smeared the corner of a piece of white card stock with some stain, so it wouldn't be so bright.   Then I epoxied some "glass" to it.   After not doing a very good job cutting a tiny circle (that's where that little cut out in the corner came from), I got the idea to file the end of a brass tube to make a punch--
 

 
 
The punch worked great, but I ended up making another from the next smaller tube, as this left a little gap between the brass tube and the compass face--a hint of a gimble assembly--
 

 
 
After much frustration and delay with the companionway doors (re-gluing hinges multiple times), everything is finally there.  Some is glued, some is just sitting (the binnacle).   There's no hardware (i.e. latches, knobs, etc.) on the companionway doors, or the binnacle doors.  I'm still deciding whether to add anything to those.  I have a hard time controlling epoxy smears, and my CA has all gone bad, so for now they'll stay as is--
 

 
The binnacle is pretty short.   It's that way to stay below the companionway top, which overhangs its sides about and inch and a half.  
 
 
I think the visibility through the "glass" is just about perfect--
 

 
 
A longer "context" shot.   The deck is looking a lot more finished!
 

 
 
Ron
 
 
 

Continuing with the aft features:
 
I can't believe it's taken me all day for this progress, but here's what I've done.  (I often suffer from a need make progress,   but I must say--I did feel a sense of relaxation doing a lot this work--simply because it took so long, and I had to forget about actually finishing anything!)_
 
After making the top pieces of the companionway, check to make sure the capstan bars (in this photo a trimmed toothpick) will clear the companionway in it's open configuration--
 

 
 
Cut the pieces for the skylight "sashes".   A large part of why this takes me so long, is that I don't have milled wood the right size.   All of these pieces are sanded down by hand from larger stock--
 

 
 
Drill holes for the brass or iron (haven't decided yet) bars in these pieces.  Easier to do them in double sections before cutting them to their individual pieces--
 

 
 
Cutting the doubled pieces apart and filing the ends--
 

 
 
These are then glued on to the skylight sashes--
 

 
 
A number of hinges are made, out of brass sheet and wire, and then blackened, for the companionway, and the skylight--
 

 
 
Here's where I'm at.   The upper part of the companionway is done.   The doors have hinges glued to them.  The skylight sashes need some "glass" and their hinges, and then I'll glue the sashes onto the frame, and put the rods in--
 

 

 
 
Ron

Here is a quick picture to show the first attempt on the forecastle deck with the weathering agent applied.
 
 
C.

No major milestones but time for an update.
 
Planking continues.  The mishap with the flying paint jar on the port side was eradicated by removing most of the planking on that side, including 2 of the simulated sheaves, and starting over:
 

 
The starboard side is at the same point.  All of the sweep port openings and gun deck gun ports are completed:
 

 
I'll be working my way up to the forecastle and QD with the planking.  Then a good sanding before I add the second layer of planking to the main and channel wales.
 
 
 
 

Slow progress with the internal planking I am afraid. It is very fiddly planking under the weather deck and around the cannon. It feels like I am doing ship in a bottle type activity - though this is more bottle in a ship.
 
I have used the mahogany strip left over from the outer deck planking which is not ideal since it tends to split very easily. I also decided to plank the bulkhead extensions that are now on view. They were shewing up as chunks of light coloured plywood amongst the cannon. These non prototypical pieces do not glare at me now they are covered in mahogany. The downside is that cladding them increases their size.
 
The next photo shews the before (above the red line) and after planking. The mahogany used had some very dark grain in it which unfortunately make some of the joints look as though they are gaping.
 

 
Viewed from the outside a gap can be seen between the inner and outer planking around the gun ports. So the next job will be to line the ports.
 

 
In parallel I have been producing a quarter deck rail using the pillars supplied in the kit for the now redundant rails on the old waist layout. The picture shews the partially complete rail resting in place. The rail will stand on 3mm cubes of walnut to raise it to its final height.
 
I haven't quite got the curvature of it right yet. The parts of the rail that point forward are alongside the steps down from the quarter deck on the real ship which won't exist on my model.
 
You may notice in this photo the one bulkhead had only been partially clad at that stage.
 

 
 
 
 
 
   

I have been pushing a head with my build and have finaly finished planking the lower deck, i have added a small edge strip against the forward bh, and a similar strip further back although these wont be seen they have helped to strengthen things abit, i have decided after cleaning the deck down, to leave it un-treated as it will not be seen to a great degree.
Here are the current pics...
 
 
C.

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Congratulations!  That's really great news  
 
Kids are wonderful, but I found that when the second was added (in my case, having twins the second time around), I had almost no free time for a few months.  Enjoy your time with your baby - the Blandford will be there when you're ready

Hello all: Thanks for the kind notes!
 
Wolf - the rigging lines are only free of fluff now - later there will be a veritable winter wonderland of fluff polluting the lines. I don't build cases for my boats, because I'm an idiot. This opens them all to the wear and tear of any other household item. I read somewhere that using a small fan-shaped paint brush and running this along the lines can help - and this is what I normally do once a week on the models I keep around the house. I think that a can of compressed air might work too - especially on decks - as long as everything is good and secure!! However others on the forum might disagree - this might be a good question (if it hasn't been asked already) for general discussion.
 
In other news I've received a "commission" for a model boat from a friend of my wife's - it will be the Mamoli Yacht America - I'm just waiting for ME to ship it - I've been waiting for over 2 months!! This may pre-empt the Dos Amigos/Fair Rosamund build that has been commissioned by our close friends' 7-year old.....busy busy! The current build will go to our newborn - though he won't be in a position to even see it properly for quite some time. 
 
Bye for now
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton

Thanks for the compliments all. 
 
Unfortunately I do not have an update on the Blandford, for two very good reasons. First, we welcomed our second child, a boy, last Sunday morning and the newborn is just far more pre-occupying to me than the boat has been. Second, it is end of semester and work has come to occupy the time that is otherwise occupied with family. I hope it is appropriate to mention this here, though it is not directly related to ship modelling.
 
I hope to get back to Blandford next week, once things settle down a bit. In the meantime, I'm planning my approach to the spars and remaining details...I'm not quite at the stage where I'm thinking ahead to the next build - but soon, I hope. It's strange - I've built larger models in the past, but building a ship-rigged vessel at scale is incredibly mind-bending in a way that I really did not anticipate....I'm sure you all know what I mean. I hope you're all enjoying your time at the bench. And now....back to work!!
hamilton