hamilton

going to follow along as well
hamilton

I started my CAF Granado kit part 1 this weekend and was asked to start a build thread. Overall, Tom did a great job on both the manufacture of the kit and the instructions. This is a first effort for me on building and admiralty style ship model. I worked through step 7 of part 1 and just need to figure out part 8A-1 and 8A-2. I removed them without identifying which is which. I struggled with the CNC Router parts in that after sanding away the rough edges of the parts, the fit of one part to another left some slight gaps. Some needed a bit of filler made from sanding dust and some yellow glue. It did help somewhat. As far as the laser cut parts, very careful removal of the laser burns yielded parts in which once assembled, joined together very nicely with hardly any gaps to speak of. Throughout the build I will have to pay closer attention to laser burn removal and parts fit.
 
Any and all suggestions or observations will be welcomed.

Its testing my skills even though I don't have to cut out the parts myself

Hi Jeff:
 
Just catching up on your progress here - this seems like a very challenging build even without the split hull option!
hamilton

Hi Jeff:
 
Just catching up on your progress here - this seems like a very challenging build even without the split hull option!
hamilton

Finally an update. I said this would be slow and I wasn't kidding. I've started to cut out the frame parts in preparation for assembly. There are 2 types of frames; single layer, double layer and triple layer. Here are some pictures to show an example of each. There are 53 total frames to build. This will take some time. I cut up the frame drawing to separate each frame drawing and then made a copy of them all.
 
This is a single frame. Not much to say here other than its unique method of assembly. As you can see there is quite a bit of laser burn to clean up. I'm going to need to come up with a very cautious way of doing that. When its time to assemble I'll put some double sided tape on the plan to hold the pieces in place in order to make sure all the parts are lined up correctly.

Here are a couple of examples of a double layer frame. This first one is frame 10. The parts are marked a and b to eliminate confusion. a is the front facing layer I think and b aft facing. I need to be sure I have that right.
Note the handy bevel lines. I need to be sure I glue these together in the correct orientation. I think the bevel lines on the a-layer should face forward and the bevel lines on the b-layer face aft. I hope I'm right. Please correct me if I'm wrong. The a-layer faces front and the b-layer faces aft. That's clear on the profile drawing.
Also note the bevel line on the mating surface of part10b3 where it attaches to part b2. Those two mating surfaces need to be beveled before joining together. I'll need to brush up my beveling skills, they're not good. I'm also debating on whether I should prebevel or bevel after the frames are glued on during the fairing process. Either way, the bevel lines need to disappear. Or should this be done before the layers are glued together? These frames have steps also. There some spacers supplied in the kit to help with that. Its important to get that right. The steps can be seen on the plans so that's helpful.

This one is frame 17. I'm a bit puzzled by the bevel lines here as its only on 4 parts so not sure how to proceed. I'm assuming there is just some minor beveling needed so may just let that go until its on the model.
 

 
And finally a triple layer frame. The next 3 pics are frame 19. No beveling needed here apparently. Not too difficult , just make a sandwich, a on top of b on top of c. These frames also have steps but it will be a little easier to deal with since the middle layer b provides a flat surface to glue the other two layers to.
 



 
I'm cutting all the parts out and storing in sandwich bags so none of the parts get mixed up. I did mark each part on pencil with its part number also.
 

 

I've got most of the stem, stern and keel done now. This was pretty challenging since there were a lot of parts involved. One thing I need to get better at is sanding the edges of the parts cleanly. I seem to end up with a crowned edge or an edge with more off one side than the other. I'm going to have to come up with a way to make sure I get a nice clean edge, especially on surfacers that are glued together. I ended up having to fill a few gaps. I'm sanding manually so that's part of the problem. The laser cut parts have quite a bit of laser burn which is also ridged so its tough.
 
Anyway here are some pics of my current progress.
 
This is the upper part of the stem not glued yet. Its hard to tell from the picture but these are all built up from 3 layers. This is to accommodate the option to split the hull. I'm not building that option so will have these seams visible.
 

 
Some parts of the stem assembled
 

 
And done. The part you see sitting there is positioned approximately where its to be glued but I'm not 100% sure exactly of the position, so its not glued yet. There are steps that go here also for the forward frames but again not sure of the exact position so I haven't glued them on. Something I'm going to have to figure out. Something tells me the position of these parts is critical. You can also see there is a lot of color variation in the parts.
 

 
The parts of the stem after removal from the sheet. These are CNC cut (all but one part) and there's some cleanup to do.
 

 
After cleanup
 

 
The overall
 

 
 

Hello Srenner
 
This can be a frustrating kit - especially for a beginner, since the instructions are very sketchy and the plans inaccurate. This was my 12th model build and I was happy to go into it with some experience under my belt. Now for some practical advice.
 
The keel can be straightened in construction. Make a building board and run two long strips of wood as keel fasteners - if these strips are straight you can just wedge the keel part in there to keep it straight during construction. When you fit the bulkheads you can add some small support braces between them to make sure they are aligned perpendicular to the keel - once the bulkheads are squared, braced and glued to the keel, the keel will maintain its straightness through the interaction of all these parts.
 
You will undoubtedly encounter a lot of frustrations with this kit - I don't think any modeller on this forum who has built this has not encountered frustrations and challenges, regardless of their level of modelling experience. I would strap yourself in for some serious head scratching in the future - but between Collingwood, Harlequin, myself and others who have built this kit, hopefully we can provide some remote assistance!! She does build into quite a nice looking ship if you can get through the framework portion of the build! Once that's done, it's more or less "smooth sailing" (insert eye roll here....)
hamilton

Hello Srenner
 
This can be a frustrating kit - especially for a beginner, since the instructions are very sketchy and the plans inaccurate. This was my 12th model build and I was happy to go into it with some experience under my belt. Now for some practical advice.
 
The keel can be straightened in construction. Make a building board and run two long strips of wood as keel fasteners - if these strips are straight you can just wedge the keel part in there to keep it straight during construction. When you fit the bulkheads you can add some small support braces between them to make sure they are aligned perpendicular to the keel - once the bulkheads are squared, braced and glued to the keel, the keel will maintain its straightness through the interaction of all these parts.
 
You will undoubtedly encounter a lot of frustrations with this kit - I don't think any modeller on this forum who has built this has not encountered frustrations and challenges, regardless of their level of modelling experience. I would strap yourself in for some serious head scratching in the future - but between Collingwood, Harlequin, myself and others who have built this kit, hopefully we can provide some remote assistance!! She does build into quite a nice looking ship if you can get through the framework portion of the build! Once that's done, it's more or less "smooth sailing" (insert eye roll here....)
hamilton

Hellooooo! 
 
From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. 
 
Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly
hamilton

Excellent work Tim! Love the coppering and the special sans-sails rigging! I'm looking forward to following your Cutty Sark when the time comes - hope you have a great holiday and bye for now!
hamilton

Bob was someone whose work I was always excited to follow and admire - and he helped me a lot with my Blandford some years ago, and I'll always be grateful for that - I know his logs here will continue to be a source of inspiration and instruction for many here. Rest in Peace, Bob
hamilton

Bob was someone whose work I was always excited to follow and admire - and he helped me a lot with my Blandford some years ago, and I'll always be grateful for that - I know his logs here will continue to be a source of inspiration and instruction for many here. Rest in Peace, Bob
hamilton

Hellooooo! 
 
From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. 
 
Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly
hamilton

Hellooooo! 
 
From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. 
 
Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly
hamilton

Hellooooo! 
 
From my last post, I see it's been over a year since I've updated this log. In the meantime, I've commenced on a kit-build of HMS Bellona (Corel) (which I've also had to take a break from given demands of work these past months), but the Bluenose has not been too far from my mind, and as Christmas approaches and the end of my semester looms, I'm looking forward to getting some work done on BN. 
 
Before the lengthy hiatus from this build, I had started on the quarterdeck planking - laying only the first two strakes along the centreline. The planking pattern of the quarterdeck follow the narrowing of the ship's beam aft, and since I'm a little "spatially challenged" as my kids might say I'll need to do some studying to work out how to approach this properly. I'll be returning to the workbench tomorrow to start this. More to follow shortly
hamilton

All the best to you Bob - I wish you a safe procedure and a speedy recovery!
hamilton

Wow - so nice! You're making me want to build this model again! Love the look of the natural wood tones
hamilton

Wow - so nice! You're making me want to build this model again! Love the look of the natural wood tones
hamilton

She's looking really nice Paul! Love the deck configuration
hamilton

She's looking really nice Paul! Love the deck configuration
hamilton

Hi Everyone, thank you for the very nice comments and Likes. The jig that holds the tombstone in place underwent a revision. A strip of wood was glued on to give the bottom strakes something to rest on. A strip of wood was clamped to each side of the jig to keep the planks from rising up and a Ty-rap was used to pull them together.
 

 

 
The planks in the next strake were cut out of a 5/16” wide strip. The plans/ directions say that a stealer would probably have been used between the two strakes but I took the easy way out and put it on top. It was cut from 1/16” sheet. This is where the clamping derby started.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The inside of the stern was framed and then I started checking the fit of the seat of ease which will be made later. 
 

 
A few jigs were made to assist in cutting the stanchions to the proper height.
 

 

 
 
 
Then came lots of sanding and a coat of w-o-p.
 

 

 

 

 
The cap rails are going to be painted so the kit supplied rails will be used except at the bow where they don’t match. Hope to see you next time.
 

 

 

Hey Everyone, first and foremost  many thanks to all of you for your comments and Likes. The cabin is finished and the deck has been laid. The cabin was made pretty well the same way as the hatches. The walls are 1/16”cherry and the roof is 3/64” AYC. 
 

 

 

 

 

 
One of the kit supplied cabin roof beams was used to support the roof planks. Two straight planks were laid down the center of the roof and the remaining planks were tapered. Well except for the outer two planks which will have to be sanded back to the proper amount of overhang..
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
After a good sanding the companionway roof slides were attached. Holes for the port lights were made. I had a couple of Billings plastic port lights laying around which I think look good so they were used. Mod Podge “ Dimensional Magic “ was used to glaze them.
 

 

 

 

 

 
Then the deck planking was started. The plans and directions say that no nibbling was used and that the planks should be “feathered “ into the planksheer.
Here are the photos just showing the progression of the planking.  The deck was given a coat of wipe on poly.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 
Next will be the stanchions and knees. Hope to see you next time.
 
 

a little of Peregrines transom completed....the 50p coin shows just how small this build is....brings its own set of problems.

Looking really good, Yves!
hamilton