coxswain

some of them did    terrible the way you boys were treated coming home.  

I thought that almost all of the VN era fixed wing pilots had their pick of jobs flying commercial aircraft back in the world?
 
I almost did the same thing believe it or not. The culture shock between one life and the other when I got out was a little less than 24 hours. One morning I was arming choppers and everything was green, brown, red, OD, and half the time smelled like mildew and feces, and the next morning I was feeling like a bug under a microscope walking down crowded streets with cement buildings and sidewalks where there were people of two sexes, all wearing all of these colors! VERY much of an emotional shock. Even after I got off of the bus and went home, the first few weeks were extremely odd. I contemplated going down to my local recruiting office more than once in the first  month and reenlisting. There can be parts of being in the military that can be very comfortable and secure emotionally.   

very happy to see the start of your project Lou!   as I mentioned,  I dealt with the place your getting the decals and parts from.  I pretty much had to prod the heck out of them........and them having the brass to ask me for a review afterwards......nawwwww,  they would have deleted it,  not only that,  I didn't have the order yet!   I'm sure    I didn't mention it,  but they also asked me to send them pictures of the Nine o Nine.  after almost two months of waiting for the decals,  I wasn't about to fulfill that request.  give Mega Hobby a try.......I got the Wulfe Hound decals in two working days......ordered them Thursday,  the 9th........got 'em on Monday,  the 13th!  I'm sure they will have what you need.  I didn't know what B.S. I'd run into canceling the other order,  so I let it go full circle........but I'll never order from them again.
 
your knowledge of this subject will be valuable.......this will be a fantastic read....and project  
 
I built a few of the gunships they used in Nam Ken........they are some of the meanest pieces ever created!

Well, yeah, I stayed in after Nam and had some fun flying here, there and darn near everywhere. Not much call for fighter types. I did have a hip pocket link to a few big chemical companies (Dow, duPont, Mobil) thanks to interviews I had with them when I was in college. Problem for me was the 28 year break from college to AF retirement. Flying was fun, but the guys and gals I got to work with  made up a big part of why I stayed in the AF.

You beat me too it, Lou.   I'll be making my first post tonight.
Door gunner.. much needed skill.  It could have been if the traffic copters flew over bad parts of town.  
Ken is right about boredom and terror......

Lou, do you know the difference between a fighter pilot war story and a fairy tale? The fairy tale starts out "Once upon a time....". War stories start out "this is no s**t... ".  If you want war stories, I'll chime in where appropriate.  I'm sure there are other vets, from any number of countries, with stories. 
 
Military Aviation is hours of boredom, interspersed with minutes of stark terror,

Well the time has arrived. 
 
The last of the extended family has loaded up on their planes and departed for their homes one and all, and I have been bequeathed the end of the dining table closest to the window as a building area again.  As I have already mentioned before, I was looking for a subject that hopefully would not take as long as many of the projects I have on my "To Do List" at this point. After the grinding of considerable gears in my feeble old brain and digging through my stash over a period of months, it occurred to me that the years of 2019-2020 were the 50th anniversary of my excursion halfway around the world for me to a little known place in SE Asia. While not a particularly long relocation in the scheme of my life, it was a life altering one.
 
So I settled on building the UH-1 Huey as symbol of the primary vehicle and work space for me in my months overseas. My job was as a door gunner, and consisted mostly of hanging out of the right side of a helicopter, yelling over the radio, and pointing a big gun at people and things. A highly desired and in demand set of skills back in the real world of flowers and pretty girls, but it was pretty much what the Army thought my intelligence level was and didn't want to waste the money training me for something more demanding and useful. 
 
At any rate this is as much a personal trip back through time, as it is an attempt to build an accurate model. I will of course try my best and insert as many details and items as my skills and memory allow but the memory may be faulty and the skills are definitely lacking but I will try. 
 
The model I chose to use was one I bought some time ago. While it is not quite as large as the 1/32nd Revell Huey I also had on my shelf, it is still a pretty well made model in my opinion and being in 1/35th I thought it would be easier to embellish with all of the assorted 1/35th stuff out there. At the time I bought it I was going to just build it out of the box and find a place for it where I could point to it to my grand kids and explain to them why it was there. But THEN I joined this forum and found out that to build anything stock out of the box was something akin to sacrilege, and offenders could possibly be burned at the stake! SOOOOOOOOO the search began for the proper embellishments that would be needed to at least try and present a credible model on this forum.
 
Even though the model comes with what I originally considered a nice set of PE detail parts, I added to this with some additional PE from Edwards Models. These sets are for the "C" model but the parts I will use are pretty much generic between models and should work, or I wasted my money, time will tell. I also replaced the crew figures with better ones and the final model will probably have a mixture of kit and aftermarket figures. I have a few other things that after months are still not here. They are coming from France and were ordered well before Christmas but are taking forever!
 
So to finish this opening, here are some looks at the kit and box.

Good morning everyone
 
made the other side walkway this morning, and put the netting over the rai;ing set that sits on top of the cod oil house, then put a matt white primer over it all
 
nothing is in its final position yet, an still needs more work to make it look presentable

 

I would, but if I did, I would prefer to model the Sovereign how she would have looked during most of her operational career, with the shortened beak and extended quarter galleries removed. I think she looks a lot more 'balanced' in this guise.
 
However, to design such a model will cost many thousands of Pounds, mainly due to the carvings, so right now, that is out of the question. 

Chris, have you ever considered something like crowd funding for the development of a product like Sovereign? I know that some niche musical artists are doing something similar to fund new recordings. I think that some modelers might not mind pitching in if they knew that their contributions were going to help make one of their dream models a reality.

Back with Miss Speedy... and continue with the 2nd planking 🙂

RiggedNow review of plans vs product. Fragile elements will be installed, like headboard, dolphin striker and gallery. 
I pickup the case today so I plan on delivering the ship this weekend. 

Post 54

Yards

There are four yards to be made.

T’gallant Yard, Topsail Yard, Square-sail Yard, and Spread-sail Yard.

The kit follows the dimensions of the drawings in the Alert Book.

There is a problem in correlating sizes to other sources as not all described yards are included.

The Adm Plan only includes the Topsail Yard (4’ shorter) and the Square-sail Yard (2’ longer)

I have decided to follow the yard dimensions as per the kit/Alert Book.

I start with the Spread-sail yard, the largest spar. Altho’ the kit instructions don’t cover the detail; the centre sections of most yards were octagonal in shape and for this reason I am making the yard from square stock.


4325
To form the octagon the yard is put in a ‘V’ jig and thereafter the arms are rounded on the lathe, tapering down to 2mm ø.

 
The Square-sail and Topsail yards are made in the same manner, but the T’Gallant is made simply from dowel as there is no octagonal section.

 
Not indicated in the kit but Alert carried a Mizen mast. This slots into iron brackets attached to the face of the stern platform.


4339
Simple enough to create one.

 

0095(2)
Made from 3mm ø dowel with a length of 170mm.

0086(2)

0091(3)
This won’t be displayed erected on the model but stored on the deck.

 
The yard furniture consists of Sling cleats and yard arm cleats, provided in brass etch form in the kit.


0101(2)
I initially had mixed feelings about the kit pieces; on one hand they are a neat and effective way of adding these items but look a little thin to my eye and will need painting.

On the other hand, making these items is a fiddly business, and only a wood like Box or perhaps Pear is suitable, and they are very tiny.


4362(3)
When I tried the etched items, I thought they looked ok, so the kit items it is. I chemically blackened them before use.

Had I intended to varnish rather than paint the yards, then the wood option would have been necessary.

 
One other item to consider is the addition of thin battens covering the octagonal sections.

To batten or not to batten, that is the question.

Goodwin in the Alert book writes that in ‘all probability’ the Square sail yard was made from two pieces and had battens; but was ‘not altogether certain’ that the Spread-sail yard was similarly made but thought it likely.

Lees indicates that the battening of yards which began in 1773 related to two-piece yards on larger ships, and that the practice was normal on most ships after 1805 except for small vessels.

David Antscherl also omitted them from the yards in his rigging book on the Sixth rate Sloop. (Vol 1V) I didn’t add battens to my Pegasus build.

Apart from some historical doubt and the absence of this feature on contemporary cutter models I have some reservations about adding these simply from an aesthetic viewpoint.

 At model level there is a tendency for them to make the yard centres look too bulky to my eye, even tho’ at 1:64 scale they would be a mere 0.3mm thick.


4360(2)
Even so out of curiosity I mocked up an example starting with some 0.5mm strip.


4359
I prefer the unbattened look and am happy to omit them on this build.

 

4361
Completed Spread-sail Yard.


4363(3)
The Yard set for Alert.


 
 
B.E.

14/01/2020

 
 
 

The one that is missing is the 1:64 version and if Amati delivers as promised i dont really see the point with another Victory considering that almost every manufacturer has one. 
 
There are so many other larger ship that are not available in 1:64 which would be great to see!

I have been very much involved in the development of two large Victory kits, I have to be honest and say that I do not want to be involved in another. I have done that one to death. I would very much like to develop a 64th scale model of Royal George of 1756 at some point though. But no more 1805 Victory models.

Slow going this week, a full time job really is a hindrance!
 
This week, I finalised the open and closed heart blocks and have now laser cut a few sets of each and are now available to buy:
 
https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product-category/fittings
 
They range in size from 6-11mm, 6 sizes for each open and closed heart block and all cut in 1mm pear wood, 4 blocks per set.
 
After I did those, I carried on honing the designs for the little beginners kit, and have now started to build and take pics of the prototype model. Am hoping to get this finished pretty quickly but, again, my day job is still a huge barrier to progress..
 
ETA - Forget to add, the new Speedy and Alert are now fully updated and all options to buy with the kits available. All new kit laser cutting is now done in-house.

Another little update - the lower hull is now planked   Not perfect,but will be a good base for the coppering after some sanding.   Thinking ahead,I am wondering if I should put some gloss polyurethane on the lower hull - tape seems to stick better to a smooth,glossy surface (the copper tape supplied has a self adhesive backing).
 

 

 

 
Mark

Working on the topsail. I have attached the sail to the yard and added al the ropes
Next I put the assembly on the ship and run the ropes through all the blocks 

Next step woul be set the yards to correct position and fix the running rigging on the deck

Satnding rigging is now finished. Time to prepare last 2 sails. Bolt rope added to both of them. Now jump to attach topsail to the yard. 
 

Over the weekend, I spent another 4 1/2 hours to get the yard to the stage you see below. I built out the squared ends and yes, there is a sheave inside. There's also 10 eyebolts, 4 wires for the stunsail irons, and of course the truss. Still need to add the footropes. The jackstay supports are .020" thread tied around them.

I previously mentioned that attaching the sails to the yards was easier before the yards were hung on the masts.  Now I have attached the yards and added some of the running rigging.  I have also glued down the masts and run the stays and shroudlines. In opting to preserve some of the original rigging, I accepted their "flaws."the hull mounted dead eyes are very crowded and misaligned.  Their mates on the shrouds are anything but aligned.  This situation is in keeping with reality but it messes with my sense of order!   

Yes I did  . Thanks for the replies guys  .
 
Speaking of problems - I found a doozy. A long time ago, when I was building the front bogie, I made this drum-like piece which turns out to be part of the steering mechanism :

This is the only diagram of this part - nothing in further diagrams to show how it fits, so at the time I put it aside with the thought it may become more obvious later in the build. Unfortunately it should have been fitted much earlier before I'd fitted the main axles and wheels, as the front axle is supposed to go through the middle of it. How to fix the problem?
 
I approached the dilemma with the thought in mind of leaving it off altogether if I couldn't work out a solution. There was no way I could easily remove the axle as it was attached to the wheels with CA glue - impossible to remove without causing major damage to already fitted parts. In addition the crank and a few other parts would also have to come off.
 
I came up with the idea of splitting the drum in half and slipping it over the axle. If the idea didn't work then I'd have had to leave it off, but at least I wouldn't have damaged anything else. The sequence below shows how I did it. First pic is of the axle it had to fit around and the seemingly impossible place it was in :

Removing the two hexagonal ends was fairly easy, as I hadn't scraped off the clear coat. A single-edge razor blade did the trick :


After cleaning everything up the three pieces went on relatively easily :

All done  :

Danny

Good evening all,
a small update. It took three attempts before I was happy with the hatch coamings. On this picture here the deck planks have again been loosely put in place, just for a sneak preview if you will. I cut away some large chunks from four bulkheads as I realized they would be visible from the upper deck hatches. That‘s the official version, but the truth is I wanted more deck area for planking. As I‘ve said before, Tosti writes that the planking outside of the Binding Strakes was done in Evergreen Fir. So cutting away the bulkheads would give me more space here.

I didn’t want the deck to look as if it was 3‘ thick so I beveled the edges a bit. 

the PO had followed the instructions here and simply painted the lower deck in Walnut Stain.

The bulkheads and false keel were painted black where the hatches are to make them a bit more inconspicuous when the gratings are added later 

Thanks for stopping by,
 
Chris, in Germany

Here's the current status
 
 

Thank you for the help and for the picture
 
Here's the next video on the series, still a bit behind the current status of the project