SaskieinSoCal

Very nice Henrik! Quick question, did you 'glaze' the windows with clear plastic or leave them open? Not sure what to do there... Trent

Thanks Henrik, I've got a month or so of solid work to catch up with you. You're unknowingly acting as my guide. Much appreciated and congrats on your build, it's coming along beautifully! Trent

Very impressive Ian. I'm jealous you're into the rigging. Seeing yours does serve as a good kick in the rear to get focused again. Thanks! T

Speaking of tedious work, I'm back at it on a pretty regular basis, but did jump ahead to the cannon work. Neither here nor there, but here are the heavy guns waiting for deck assignment....

Now back in California, and over last winter and into this spring I focused on the wales and the sides. I found myself messing up the upper wale and having to redux it, but it ended up ok I think. I also found myself painting and repainting the sides quite a bit obsessing about slight imperfections (hope I don't run out of Yellow Ochre or Black).

A long overdue catch up post....Like most, the last year has been a little nuts, but working on my Aggie has been very therapeutic. It's made the 3100km journey from Carlsbad, CA to Central Saskatchewan twice now (and survived intact). Picking up from my last post(s), I was quite happy with my hull planking and may be crazy, but quite enjoyed the mindless work of coppering the bottom. I did this while up north during a couple of government mandated quarantines following some travel: Here are a couple of reference picts from last summer for reference. More to come.... Trent

Thank you Sjors. I very much enjoyed your build log and I'm sure it will help me a lot. You bring up a great point. I'm not sure where I will keep mine. I suppose my wife will have something to say about that...? Cheers, Trent

Thank you Scott. She has been a pleasure to build and a fantastic COVID lockdown remedy. I highly recommend the kit. The only errors are from my inexperience not the materials or instruction. All the best and cheers! Trent

Just a quick update after a few months up north. I finally knocked out the second planking and added the wales. Cutting our the gun port trim was much more challenging that expected. On retrospect, I think I should have marked out the outlines or used a jig of some kind. Doing it by eye and hand led to a few of the port frames being larger than others. Likely won't be too noticeable, but not perfect. Also, as noted by others, I was shocked at the difference in how she appears in real life vs. camera phone picts. I promise is doesn't look this rough in the flesh (the waterline is actually quite a bit straighter at the stern than it appears in the photo). Now likely a month or so of laying copper plate.... Trent

Looks good Henrik. I like the shorter planking, I should have done that on retrospect. Can I ask how your are leaving the recommended 1mm border around the lower ports? I ran the planks over the openings and then cut to the inside dimensions and finally tried to cut in the 1mm by sight. Doesn't seem very accurate or neat though. Trent

Hi Cosmo, Sorry for the delay as we just made it up north early Sunday and we were settling in. I didn't have trouble with splitting, but my planks were soaked for at least 8 hours so there were pretty wet. I did end up inserting maybe 2mm or so into the bulkheads using small pliers vs a hammer, so maybe that helped? Kind of used a twist and push technique. Slightly thinner brads would have been ideal, but I couldn't find any. Let me know how it goes. Trent

Well, heading North tomorrow. 26 hours of drive time and we'll be back in the north woods. Working remotely does come with perks, usually our trip north wouldn't be until early July. Looking forward to the peace and quiet to knock out some work on the Aggie. The Starboard second planking is essentially done. Just needs some sanding, filling, wale painting and the gun ports TLC. I actually really like the Walnut. Shame to paint it. Trent

Despite being a little tedious, I think you will enjoy doing the 2nd planking. It gives the kit a much more finished look, quite satisfying. I've almost finished the Starboard 2nd planking except for cleaning up the gun ports and re-filling the quarter gallery boundaries. The Walnut on the hull looks so good I almost hate to paint it. I'll be taking a bit of a break as we drive 26 hours north back up to Canada, so I'm guessing you'll be back in the lead straight away. All the best in the meantime. Trent

Looking forward to seeing your final-final product and learning along the way. Heading out tomorrow for the 26 hour drive north. We're not quite heading as far as Whitehorse, but closer. It will be good to be back north of 49 again. All the best and thank you again for the template. Trent

Hi Cosmo, Thank you and I might as well be new as well given my 30 year holiday away from building. As for the brads, I found them at a local Home Depot. They are 1/2x19 (not sure of the metric size). I would go smaller if I could have found them. Also, they appear to be carbon steel, so if you are soaking your planks, they rust a bit, making re-use a potential issue, but minor. As an aside, I did try to order specific plank holders from Micro-mark hobby tools, but they have been on back order for months and never ended up getting delivered. All the best and good luck with your project. Trent

This is so impressive Mike. I've just started the 2nd planking on my Aggie. Hope mine ends up half as good as yours did. The sails are going to be impressive. Trent

Hello Henrik, Great work so far. You have been helping me a great deal over the past few weeks, whether you know it or not. I've now caught up with you and we appear to be almost at exactly the same stage in construction. I've just begun the 2nd planking myself. I look forward to continue watching your progress and learning. Regards, Trent

Hello All, I've been 'stalking' a number of really well done build logs on the for the Caldercraft Agamemnon (Mobbsie, Henke, Vicnelson, etc.) so I thought I should contribute vs freeloading. This will be my second model ship, but the first in 30 years. My first was a Billing Boats Bluenose (of course I'm Canadian 😄) in 1990. Back then I needed something to do in the evenings while my wife finished studying for her nursing degree. My Bluenose has been on our mantle ever since and survived 7 moves over the years with only one major overhaul to repair accumulated damage. Fast forward 30 years, last fall I decided to jump back in to the water and go big with the Aggie, looking for a long term analog hobby. Progress was slow, but low and behold we seem to found ourselves in a pandemic and suddenly I seem to have nothing but time. A series of catch up photo's are included below to kick things off. Coincidentally, I'm almost exactly at the same point in construction as Henke (who appears to be much more skilled and patient than I am) so I hope to learn together a we continue. In general, I've discovered a few things so far. First, I would/should have spent more time fairing the bulkheads before and after gluing to the keel. I have a few lumps in the hull I would rather have not had to deal with but fortunately they aren't too visible. Second, I will be doing more dry fitting going forward. I made the same mistake Henke made by gluing the port and starboard bulwarks backwards (the etching outward), which I don't think it fatal. Finally, I would have been more patient getting the quarter galleries right. This has been the the toughest part so far. My wife an I will be doing our annual migration back north to central Saskatchewan at the end of this week, so I thought I should post this lump of pictures while I have a better internet connection here in civilization outside of San Diego. Please feel free to offer any constructive criticism or suggestions. I've got a thick skin! 😄 Regards, Trent

Hello all from sunny Southern California (Sept-May) and not so sunny northern Saskatchewan, Canada (June-August). I'm a newbie to the group and returning to model ship building after a 27 year hiatus. I built my first model many years ago while my 'future' wife was finishing up her degree and I needed something to do while she studied. As I suspect most Canadians in the group will understand, I started with the Bluenose (Billing). After 8 months of trial by error (pre-internet), I was quite happy with the result. I did give the Vasa (Billing) a whirl a year or so later, but the uncompleted hull was destroyed in a move. After that I gave up the hobby. Well, many years, a bunch of moves and 2 fully educated kids later, I'm getting back on the horse. Nothing like diving into the deep end, so I started the HMS Agamemnon (Caldercraft) last weekend - so far so good... Hoping to get a little guidance from those wiser than I from time to time. All the best, Trent