Henke

Thanks for the encouragement ETNZ. Caldercraft's Agamemnon is such a nice model and I will enjoy this kit for a long time. My target is 2025. That is what I call value for money 🙂. Regards Henrik

Time runs and it is now two weeks since I last did a post. First planking is still going on and will so for another couple of weeks. Some parts of the build result I am very happy about and others not. In general planking towards the aft looks a lot better than at the bow. The bow can be saved by filler and sanding but before that I will not show any pictures of the bow. That would be too embarrassing 😐. Instead I would like share some thoughts which came up yesterday about this problem. Planking of the a hull of the size of Agamemnon has its challenges but also advantages. One row of planks stretches for about 850 mm. My apologies for not translating into imperial units 🙂. I have not got a clue. I have divided this length into typically three strips of alternating lengths. A 200-300 mm long strip is easy to handle and can be shaped and bent in practical way. Yesterday I started thinking why do the bow look so crappy when aft looks so good? My explanation is that I have started planking from bow to aft. When I come to the aft I tend to better see how each individual strip should be tapered taking into account the natural curves of the hull. The first strip in a new planking "row" starting in the bow is difficult to get in a correct shape with correct tapering and stealers put in where they should be. I have therefore started planking from midships and going from there aft and towards the bow. The result after that change in planking approach is much better! In the meantime I will consider stripping off the worst part of the bow and as you can see on the second picture planking is closing in on the rudder post Ouhhhh! Kind regards Henrik

I also vote for B and I agree with Tony's view on tree nailing. A tree nail as in Tony's picture above is probably 15-20 mm in diameter. In 1:64 scale that is 0.2-0.3 mm. As a comparison the diameter of a modelling pin is typically 0.5 mm. We modelers do tree nails in our decks because we know it should be there but if we did it in scale most of us, at least we who has passed the age of 40, would not see them without a looking glass. In my latest build I have just lightly indicated the deck tree trails with a sharp pencil (soft). My intention is not to offend any tree nail purists 🙂 just saying that tree nails which are flush with the surface in most cases would barely be visible in 1.64 or 1:90 scale. Regards Henrik

If it is the best method I do not know but I use a pen with a long and pointed tip. I find it a bit less messy than pencil. The downside is that the appearance can be a bit "over the top". It also depends on the scale. 1:64 is in the middle. In scale 1:90 or something like that I would seek for a more toned down appearance. I suggest that you try both methods gluing a couple of deck planks on a piece of scrap wood to see how it look like. Then I suggest you kindly post a picture in your build log and we can have a vote 🙂. Another way of toning it down is to "caulk" only on one edge of each plank. And congratulations to a nice build! Regards Henrik

Hi all, Just a short update as first planking progresses. I have now done about 20 planks from deck and down on both sides. I expect it to be another 15-20 from the keel and up. The sides look good, planking of the bow will need some filler before it will look OK and the last planks to the aft bending around the underside of the transom went very well. I have abounded the Amati "Form-a-strip" for my "flame torch" method, see above. I first make the correct bend to the plank and when I am happy with that I once again re-heat the plank to give it the correct twist. Within minutes I have a plank which can be glued without applying any force 🙂. It is now 10 weeks into the build and I have put in about 80 hours. It has been a pleasure so far! It is a very good model. Regards Henrik

Made a first try with the first plank coming from "underside" of the transom. I am not entirely happy with the result but I will wait until glue has set. Maybe I will take it away but a bit of sanding and filler may do for the moment. For the bending I used a combination of my own plank bending method and and the Amati "Form-a-strip". The Amati tool sort of chews on the wooden strip thus creating a bend which can be quite sharp or steep. I do not know if I liked it. I need to to practice more I think. Instead I will explain to you my own method. And yes, I know there are many many methods.... Mine is probably a bit brutal and comes with a warning. You can burn your fingers unless you are careful but with a bit of practice it works fine. On the first picture there is a LPG (liquid propane gas) bottle with an attachment which I saved when my brother and I cleared our parents house. My parents were keen cross country skiers and the attachment to the propane bottle is for melting ski wax but I use it to bend wooden strips. I first soak the strip in water for a couple of minutes. I then light the gas at lowest possible power. I move the strip over the front edge of the attachment forth and back until warm and soft. I then start bending while still heating the strip. With a bit of practice the plank is bent and dry in minutes. The trick is to heat the wood as much as possible without over heating the surface in contact with the heated metal. Pyrolysis of wood starts around 250 degrees C. The wood turns dark or black and fumes. What I look for is 100 degree C or a little bit more. The dry substance of wood consists of cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin. The lignin acts as glue holding the cellulose fiber bundles together. The theory is to heat the wood so that ligin softens but without over heating. Enough of wood chemistry! My method can probably be derived from some kind of mental occupational injury from working in pulp and paper industry during most of my career 🙂. Anyhow I am sure my parents would smile in their heaven if they could see how I use their ski waxing tool. By the way, yesterday at the dinner table my wife complained saying that I nowadays spend more time with Aggy than I do paying attention to her. I did not know what to answer.... Regards Henrik

Hi David, I have one stupid question. The deck planking on the Mantua/Sergal model of yours, is it printed on the plywood sheet or...? I try to see from your pictures but I am not sure. And your build looks very nice. 👍 Regards Henrik

Mike (aka Kusawa 2000): I have missed your Aggy build log but I will follow it from now on. You have a very nice build ongoing. My intention although is to build her "out of the box" but if you can give me some hints about any inaccuracies as my build progresses I would be more than happy. This is what MSW is for. I have done about 60 h so you are 1940 h ahead of me 🙂. Ian (aka VicNelson) Thanks for nice words and encouragement. I hope I will get some more time at the ship yard this weekend. Regards Henrik

Planking continues. I do one row of planks on one side and then repeat on the the other side in order to get at symmetrical look (and do the same mistakes on both sides 🙂). I guess I have done about 1/3 of the first planking on both sides. I am getting close to the point when planking turns onto the underside of what will be the transom, one or to planks more. I am a little bit nervous about that..... Regards Henrik

Welcome to this fantastic forum Rob with friendly and many knowledgeable members (I do not count myself into the knowledgeable group but I am at least friendly 🙂). I have a comment on Item 2 regarding the gradual rise from bulk head 10 and backwards. This may be the sheer of the deck (longitudinal deck curvature) and in this case sheer aft so do not start sanding yet. Back in time sheer was used to increase stability and prevent pitching. I know because I noticed the same thing on my Agamemnon build which has both sheer aft and forward and therefore asked for advice in my MSW build log. I do not know how good the Mamoli drawings are but check. In my case Caldercraft's drawing actually showed a clear deck sheer although not commented in instructions. This is probably something which the manufacturers believe us modelers to know. Those of us less knowledgeable, count myself in 😎, has to ask about it on MSW. Have you found the quick-find index to build logs at MSW? There are a couple of Mamoli Victory build which can be checked for reference. Enjoy the build and let's hope it will be a happy ship. Regards Henrik

Pleased to see you are back, Vic. Your nice build log has inspired me to take on Agamemnon although my skills are not near yours. The progress you have done in a year is fantastic. i will probably not be at rigging until 2025 🙂. I follow your build log with great interest. Regards Henrik

Hi David, I will follow your build with interest. I have been looking at this model thinking "Mantua/Sergal's Cutty Sark might be something for me". I wish you best luck David. Regards Henrik

May I suggest that you put together a cannon on a carriage and test fit at each gun port and remember that there will be deck planking also. Another thing you can check is the drawing. The drawings of Caldercraft are generally of good quality and in "1:1" model scale. You can measure on the drawing and compare with your build. If it has turned out to be something wrong with the gun port alignment you can check what is wrong. This way it will be easier to rectify any mistake (if there is any). And remember: Enjoy the build. If you make a mistake, and I do them all the time, take a step back and make it right. Regards Henrik

Hi everybody, Just a short update. I have started planking! Maybe I am a little bit childish but I really like planking. It requires a bit of planning and thinking in three dimensions. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you get it wrong but the good thing with wood modelling is that you can normally redo. The worst thing that can happen is that you have to buy extra wood strips 🙂.//Henrik

Sorry for coming in late Mike, but what a nice build! I take a back seat so that I do not disturb the other in the audience./Henrik