hamilton

Salute hamilton,
with paint added she rised one level higher... I could wonder how nice she would be seen with the finished paint...

Hang in there Hamilton, it is worth it in the end. I know how awkward this build is, indeed there used to be a couple of build logs of Greyhound on the old site that were started but abandoned because of this awkwardness, and that is to say nothing of the changes you are making to the kit yourself. It will be interesting to compare the two Greyhounds of yours and mine as yours progresses. I said before this kit is of high risk of being launched prematurely against the nearest wall, but ultimately looks great on completion. ( just keep a bottle of the strong stuff on hand (not glue  ) Lagavulin in my case) and remember softly softly catchy monkey. The colours are looking great by the way.   

Well she certainly looks better, and these things we fixate on tend to fade as more detail is put on the model to divert the eye.
Glad you feel happier about her now.
 
I like the colour contrast you are achieving.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.

Hi,
 
I am sorry it took so long to re-register - but I have been very busy - plus my internet has been intermittent.
 
Whilst developing and building the Victory prototype, I have made many changes 'on the fly' - sometimes for realism/previous part not quite right to adding more detail - especially the stern windows.
 
I have just completed the boat designs, anchors (100mm long!) and made four new cannon barrel masters - here are some pics:
 

 
Copper plates laid in two distinct bands:
 

 
Rudder is very easy to copper.....:
 

 
Main Channel:
 

 

 

 

 

 
Checking the cannon masters:
 

 
As for release dates for kits, I am sorry, I cannot help. I have as much idea as you, as I only design and develop the kits, and have nothing to do with release strategy....
 
 
Chris

Sorry you've hit this problem hamilton, it's so frustrating when a desired plan fails to work.
 
I think the question you have to ask yourself is which is the most important feature that will contribute to a successful look or otherwise to the completed hull.
 
If I may venture an opinion, I would say the positioning of the wales; if the run of the wales isn't correct then the graceful sheer lines and balance of the hull will never look good.
 
You are not that far advanced, would it not be possible to blank off the sweep ports and redo the wales first, which will allow for a decent run of planking up to the topline, and a better proportion to the below waterline hull.
 
You would then be in a better position to gauge the line of the sweep ports which if re-cutting them proves too testy could at least be represented by closed blanks.
 
I do hope you resolve the problem to your satisfaction.
 
Cheers,
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ahoy Hamilton
 
Do not despair
 
I am currently correcting a mistep I made. It took me over 25 hours to make and I estimate will take another 40 to fix.
 
What I do is start a side project, something unrelated to the current debacle. It could be the ships boat, some deck item, or even another small kit. This way I do not rush into my repairs making another mistake, but contemplate the possibilities for a few days. Repairs will sometimes require long periods where no work can be completed and these side project fills those gaps. They also help me to maintain the right attitude
 
I have found my repairs to be a source of great pride in my build; I hope you will too.
Good Luck

Yes.....I've had many of those days.
 
Step away from the bench with your hands up, sir.
 
I agree that plan # 2 is probably the way you want to go.  I too have had a plan and then needed a new one (or 3).  It's part of learning and anticipating.
 
I'm not sure I understand how this happened.  You probably do by now.  It is often stated here that 'anything can be fixed'.  That is true, but you need to decide at what 'cost'.  I think, at the early stages in our shipwright 'careers'  we all have some 'woulda/shoulda' events.  Well, at least I do.  The important part right now is that you recognized that something is awry AND that you are addressing it. 
 
Hang tough and take a lesson from it.  You are already better because of it.
 
Now ----- back to work

Alright everyone - Happy Victoria Day to my commonwealth buddies! Or Happy May 2-4 for my fellow Canucks. Hope you're enjoying the long weekend.
 
In other news, a bit of an update on Greyhound, which I will now stop calling Greyhound and start calling "Blandford", since it's starting to come together as such....
 
Here's the latest laundry list:
 
1. Cut out gunports - using a template I made a while back that derived from the plans. The gunports in the waist were sawed out with an x-acto saw, while the other full square gun ports were cut out using the tried and true micro-drill/x-acto blade/needle file method.
 

 
2. Inboard bulwark finishing - in Cadmium Red medium (I use Golden acrylic artist paints, which are very nice to work with). Finished off with a coat of polyurethane.
 

 
3. Installed the upper wale - Goodwin's book shows the Blandford with a really distinctive double wale. I'm using 3mm x 1.5mm line for these wales with 1mm x 3mm lime for the filling strake. The upper wale was very difficult for two reasons - first because just locating its placement was tough. Goodwin shows its top edge flush against the sweep ports/ballast ports at mid-ships and then crossing the line of these ports at both bow (slightly) and stern (where it crosses entirely and where a few of the aftmost sweep ports are in line with the filling strake....I could not really get this effect without really edge bending the wale - so I avoided doing this and went with what looked good and followed as close as possible to the natural run of the planking...though I think I may get in trouble with the second planking above the wales.....
 

 
4. Installed the counter planking - and finished it also in cadmium red medium - very straightforward.
 
5. Installed the stern planking on the exposed aft side of bulkhead 13 - used a diagonal pattern as shown in Goodwin's book...this was (like the filling strake) stained using Minwax Golden Oak.
 

 
6. Installed the filling strake - see notes above.
 

 
 
 
That's it. I'll be laying on the lower wales tonight and then on to the outboard bulwark planking.....Bye for now
hamilton

Looking great Augie - the boat, I mean. Like other commentators, I would love to see an overall picture - but maybe you're saving it for a big reveal at the end.....
hamilton

Just a minor update, barely worth a photo.  The lifts and leech lines for the lower yards have been completed on both masts :
 

 
As busy as it has been, it's about to get worse!  Picking up some family from the East Coast at the airport today and we'll be spending about 10 days out and about in the Colorado high country.  So no updates for a while.
 
I will be checking in to keep an eye on everyone so STEADY THE COURSE.
 
Everyone stay well and, where appropriate ----- Happy Mother's Day!!!

Slow progress.
 
Here's a selection of pieces to be glued on: eybolts, eyebolts and eyebolts-with-rings for the transom gunports; some cleats for the running rigging-- 
 

 
 
And here they are glued in--
 

 
 
That double sheave piece poorly cut into the bulwark is bothering me.  It doesn't stand out so much in plain eyesight, but I think I'll try putting some sawdust paste in the gaps. 
 
 
Ron

I set about reducing a square cherry piece to a dowel for the larger dead-eyes.   The piece was a little over 1/4" square--9/32" to be exact.  I needed to get it down to 3/16".
 
This was done all by sandpaper.  First sanding it square down to just a hair over 3/16"--
 

 
 
Then, sanding at a 45 degree angle on the 4 corners of the square, creating an octagon.  Then just twisting the piece in a loop of sandpaper until it was round.  I used 80 grit, then 160, and finally smoothed it a bit with 320--
 
 
 

 
 
(The caliper in this picture was set to millimeters--it shows just under 5 mm)
 
 
Yes, it took a long time, but I was in no rush.
 
Then I used the jig, drilled the holes and roughed out a deadeye--
 

 

 
 
I'm not sure how thick to make the deadeyes.  I need to work with the shroud line, and chain links to determine this.
 
My short list of the next steps is--(1) finish my experimentation on how to make the deadeyes (I don't necessarily need to make them all yet, just settle in my mind how I'm going to do it).   (2) experiment with making belaying pins, (3) make the pinrails.
 
 
Ron

I'm jumping around a lot currently.  I have a back-log of things I want to work out.  With each little task, though they're not directly related or in order, I feel like I gain some knowledge that might help dissipate some of the "fog" that lays ahead, and make the way forward clearer.  That probably sounds overly dramatic, but I'm really slowly feeling my way at this point.   I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out! but there is trepidation.   Some of the things I've been concerned about for a long time.  Like the dead-eyes.  The fact that I didn't have an answer for them was weighing me down a bit.  
 
 
My problem was that, in seeing the web site photos from a lot of supply places, the holes aren't really in the right places on the dead-eyes.  They shouldn't really be an equilateral  triangle in the center, at least from what I've learned about a ship of my era.  But even if that was the desired location, the variation from piece to piece looked pretty bad.  On the other hand, I've seen fantastic examples on here of folks making their own with great results.   But they all have lathes, and precise equipment.  What to do?
 
Then, today, I saw Russ' post in his cross section log, and the light went on.  In making his dead-eyes he used a jig based on Underhill's, and though I own the book, I hadn't though to look at it.  I have now, and the technique is do-able.
 
I have a couple of pieces of old dowel in my wood supply, that I hadn't measured.  I'm not sure what kind of wood they are, but lo and behold they are the two sizes that I need for my dead-eyes.  The dowel for the larger size isn't perfectly round, so I'll have to figure out if I can deal with it, or whether I need to buy more.  But it's good enough to practice on.
 
First comes some brass fabrication: a ring of brass strip made to the size of the dead-eye.  And a brass "plate" with the guide holes for drilling the dead-eyes (for the plate I used some thin brass sheet that could be cut with regular scissors)--
 

 
 
They need to then be soldered together--
 
 
 
 
My first attempt didn't quite make it.  The holes, though nicely symmetrical, were not close enough together.  I unsoldered the ring, and a process of slow refinement took place.  After six or so tries to get the right spacing, I settled on the piece on the far left--
 

 
 
Soldering was tricky.  Due to my single overhead light and shadows, it was hard to tell if I was putting the ring precisely where it needed to be to put the holes in the right spot.  But this version looked good--
 

 
 
The little jig is then simply placed over the end of the dowel, and the holes drilled--
 

 
Then the dead-eye's contours are fine-tuned with a file, and it's cut off the end of the dowel.  The result was pretty good.  The spacing isn't perfect, but I think it's okay--
 

 

 
 
I learned a few things to improve as I go forward (like making sure the holes are drilled straight through--the back side of my test piece doesn't look as good as the front!), and I need to decide whether to use the dowels I have or maybe something better, but I'm just happy that this looks like it's going to work!
 
 
Ron     

...

An another, maybe unnecessary detail from the past...
At that time I have not had a saw machine to cut strips of 3mm thickness.  I have planked the deck in this way.
Now I got it but the deck has been finished long before...
 

Salute,
I decided to go to the past.
The reason is that maybe, one day this will be helpful to anyone who wants to build this ship.
I wanted to share a correction, maybe modification that I have made before. Unfortunately, as I have had no idea to become a member at that time I have not taken photos step by step. But now I try to explain how I have acted.
 
The kit provides the transom part by plywood. As I have followed the plans, first I have built the transom with 5x5 mm walnut strips as the same dimensions of the kit plan. The transom had to run over the edges of the hull a little. 
But the metal curtain decoration did not macht with the dimensions of the transom. It was more smaller.
I have extended the lenght of the curtain with wood. Then I painted it.
 
I have rebuilt with the wooden strips to provide symmetry of the top decoration. Then I painted it as well.

Hello all:
 
The first planking is now finished, and she is shaping up, I think - or maybe I should say "I'm feeling a little more pleased about her". Since my last post, here's a couple of things that have happened....
 
1. I was studying the Goodwin's AOS Blandford and noticed that I had forgotten to cut a little "step" in the f'csl bulwarks.....this I did - see below.
 
2. finished planking the 5 bands I had lined off on the hull
 
3. applied liberal amounts of acrylic modelling paste to the hull and then sanded it quite vigorously on my front porch as the sun went down.
 
4. filed out ballast and sweep ports
 
5. I decided to lay a spirketing plank of 1.5mm x 3mm, and then plank the rest of the inboard bulwarks with 3mm x 1mm lime - I'm going to finish them in red once I cut the gunports and line them
 
6. finished the sweep and ballast port frames in red (again, and I'll have to do so a couple of times more I think....
 
Anyway, things are proceeding now, and the next couple of weeks will show a real transformation....I'm starting to have fun with this build - it only took 6 weeks!!
 
Here are the photos - enjoy!
hamilton
 
 

Nice to see you're up to the challenges! A wonderful addition! Now let's see what more painful details we can request!!!
hamilton

Not a black dot for the door knobs but a brass coloured one, much more classy. 

Good detail work Harlequin - the discerning eye will see it! Now how about putting a dot of black on the door knobs for good measure!!
hamilton

Lots of folks call me "Hammy", so Ham suits me fine! Enjoying your build greatly, Ham or no....
hamilton

I appreciate your critique, Augie, and I'll take it under advisement....maybe it's just semantics, but I much prefer to slather and then wield the sandpaper like a Toreador to tame the filler into submission! Splitting hairs maybe, but......
hamilton

Beautiful work! So clean!! Very impressive - thanks for sharing
hamilton

...

OK, ok!... Don't get all bent out of shape...  
 
I've got the battens done on the main top, next step will be to do the bands and cleats, then the main mast will get painted up.
 
Foremast all painted and the wooldings put on, I had to joggle the spacing a little bit, but it's not really noticeable unless you attack the thing with a ruler.
 
Also got the bowsprit all cleated and painted up, and yes according to the plans, those cleats are supposed to look like that.
 
And just for good measure, a couple of overall shots.... nevermind the mess on the workbench... the paint revolution has not yet come...
 
 
Now... is that better?
 
Andy