realworkingsailor

I have a set of those as well. They work... kind of. As mentioned they are soft metal, and the clamp part deforms and breaks easily. I substituted mine with cut off bits of limewood and that seems to work just as well. Also, you may wish to put some heat shrink tubing on the "knurled screw" it will save your fingers! Andy

The stove looks nice... the finger.... not so much! Ow! Andy

Thanks Ham! Yeah, an unfortunate side effect of a seafaring career... life goes on hold. The only upside is that the Seaway will be closed by year end, so I'll only be away for a month or so. Mmmm... bacon! Andy

This will probably be my last update for a while. I've been called back to work next week, so hobby time is on hold yet again. Planking has been progressing slowly on the starboard side. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm still satisfied with the way things have been going, nothing has been sanded yet, so a lot of the apparent unevenness will be remedied later on. I've left the plank at the waist extra wide for the moment. When I get the Quarter Deck/Fo'c'sle/Gangaways installed, I will sand it down to it's proper width. I've been using PVA to glue on the second planking, so that has contributed greatly to the speed (or lack thereof) of construction. I've used modified Micro-Mark planking clamps to secure the planks while the glue dries. The modification of these clamps came about partly by accident and partly by design. When I was doing the first planking, much to my dismay (at the time) the little pieces of soft metal that are used to secure the planks started to fracture, I found that by using drilled out bits of limewood (the first planking material), I could still use the clamps and without marring the wood. Also I found the thumbscrew parts hard on the fingers, so I covered that part with heat shrink tubing for a much more comfortable grip. When I was looking at the CC plans and compared them to the AOTS drawings, I noticed that the aft hanses where too far forward over the 8th gun port. So I scribed the hanses back about 8 or 9 mm with a set of dividers. I only cut back the lower protruding spur, the rest of the bulwark is unmodified. This will eventually allow more space for the ladder and fenders, and show improve the overall appearance of these features. The "sub-wales" and everything below will be done using the kit supplied walnut (most of it will be coppered anyway). Annoyingly splintery and far from first rate quality, but it does have a really nice colour. It's doesn't show in any of the photos, but when given a quick wipe with a damp rag, it turns a nice golden brown hue... I'll have to figure out a good stain/varnish to highlight that in the future. Anyway, that's about it for now. Andy

Time for a small update. Second planking is progressing nicely, albeit slowly on the starboard side. The castello boxwood is really nice (and easy to work with), and so far it looks like only a minimum of fine sanding will be needed to finish the surface (yay!). The walnut below the black strake will be part of the sub-wale, which is only half finished at the moment. Anyway, not much more to report at the moment. Andy

Hi Jason, Those are beautifully blackened! Thanks for posting the pics! I didn't consider the RB models barrels, I do agree it is a heftier looking gun, but I think I will stick with Chuck's guns, since I already have most of them in hand. I feel that I can remedy any short comings with the muzzle bore. Regardless, I think both offerings look miles better than the CC supplied versions. Andy

Hey everyone, thanks for all the compliments and the "likes" Spyglass, she's not much more difficult than Pegasus, although the kit is a bit less advanced so it requires a bit more fudging to get everything lined up properly. I really think CC could easily update the kit a bit to bring it up to the same standards as some of their later releases. And if you thought the Amati parts were splintery..... Jan, I will get back to my laker model one day. The biggest issue I'm facing is a lack of painting facilities. I was hoping that by last winter, the spray booth at the model railway club I belong to would have been operational.... not so much....and still waiting..... so in the mean time, I'm happy to work on this one. Don, welcome aboard! I hope I can live up to your expectations. Christian, I'm actually glad of Jason's lead. I had the same idea when I bought the kit, and he did such a good job on his build. Not only that, I now also have an idea of how many packages of copper sheeting I need to buy! So once again, thanks everyone for all the positive comments. Time to get back to the shipyard! Andy

So it has been some time.... to say the least...... I've got some time on my hands again, and things are starting to move once more in the old shipyard. Things have been pretty quiet since the spring...between work and the awesome summer weather (which means spending absolutely as much time as possible up at the lake), it has not been conducive to hiding inside making saw dust. I was busy earlier in the spring purchasing some "upgrades" to the basic Caldercraft Kit. Not finished shopping by a long shot, but at the end of the day, the cost of all this will basically be equal or better than the cost of an entirely new kit ( )... but it will be worth it. So far, I've bought new second planking from Crown Timberyard. Some nice castello boxwood, which I plan to use for the wales and upper works. Below the wales, I will stick to the splintery walnut from the kit. It's actually not all bad once it's cleaned up, but most of it will be hidden by the copper plating anyway, so it's only the top smudge that will be visible. All the blocks will be replaced by those supplied by Syren, far nicer in appearance. Although rigging is a long way off yet, I've already received a good supply to start. There are a few other fittings, such as cleats and gratings that I will also replace, and already have the replacements in hand. The other big thing I'm going to change are the guns. As you can see from the photos below, the Caldercraft cannons are, to my eye, a tad on the chunky side. The muzzle looks wonky and the button on the cascabel is way oversized. The guns Chuck supplies are far nicer and much finer looking. I will also replace the cast white-metal carronades, but that's for another time. Other items on my shopping list: -Replace kit supplied copper with Amati copper sheeting -Try to source better looking PE parts for the chain plates (Would like something along the lines as the PE supplied with the USF Confederacy) -All kit supplied rigging line to be replaced with Syren rigging line -Stern windows and other PE fittings to be specially examined and dealt with as required (I am considering buying the PE set for the Agamemnon, more so if it comes with PE chain plates and not the formed wire nonsense of the Diana kit). I'm on the fence about the gun carriages. I may yet replace them, but we'll see how things go..... So now for the update part..... in order to break up some of the tedium of cutting and lining gunports, I decided to start some of the second planking on the starboard side (since the ports have been all cut and lined on that side anyway). I'd already planking the lower counter back in the spring, so it was a matter of measuring off where the wale is supposed to be and getting going with the planking. I've started off with the black strake, just above the wales. The instructions call for these thicker strakes to be created by doubling the layers of planking. Fairly common for these types of kits, but given my experience with the Pegasus, it can be tricky to get the second layer to lie properly, and when working with CA, do-overs are not easy. To make things easier for myself, I've laid down the black strake in one 1.5mm layer, rather than a 1mm with a 0.5mm layer on top (as described in the instructions). When the rest of the 1mm thick planking is installed, this will leave a proud edge for the second layer of the wales to butt neatly against. I will attempt to do the second layer of the wales in anchor stock pattern, so having a hard edge will go a long way to keeping things neatly in line. Anyway, it will all make sense later on..... maybe.... Hrm.... now that I look at it, I may slap some black paint on the stem before I get further along with the second planking.... Andy

Hi Jason, Would scavenging the windows off an HMS Agamemnon PE set provide a better fit? (And at the very least some other PE bits and pieces that might prove useful). Looks like you can get the PE sets from Cornwall Model Boats. Andy

Out of curiosity, since I'm planning the same upgrade to the copper plates on my own build, how many sets of the Amati plates have you used, or plan to use? Andy

Kinda makes you start to appreciate why real shipyards have all gone to robotic cutting and welding! Andy

Hi Chris, The two are basically the same model, but the Pegasus was issued at a later date with a few upgrades (copper sheeting, laser cut gun carriages) There is an upgrade kit for the Fly also available to bring it to the same level as the Pegasus, but overall either one makes a nice ship. The instructions are fairly reasonable and the plans are well drawn, the bonus being that if you want, you can use the Fully Framed Model (TFFM) series of books and downscale from 1:48 to 1:64 for some of the simplified details, as well as the rigging. Andy

Count me in! I've wanted to see one of these built for some time. Maybe I'll grab one as well, should the opportunity arise. Andy

If it is a royal barge, why not the period correct Royal Standard? Andy

Hi Mike, please feel free to shamelessly borrow as you see fit (at least bring any tools back when you're finished ). Andy

Wow, guys, Thanks ever so much for all the birthday and well wishes, it's very much appreciated Jason, I've got a long way to go yet to catch up to you (and that's even after taking a few short cuts like not replacing the stem and stern post, as you did so nicely) Kevin, thank you very much, but don't feel the need to apologize, if it wasn't for all the good cheer around here, I'd miss my birthday too! (Just another day on the boat ) Popeye, good to hear from you again too! I wish I could say for certain it's only a few weeks but....... Bill, Elijah and Chris, thank you all as well. Andy

Thanks Guys! Andy

Personally I would love to try a fully framed model, but lack the tools and skills to build completely from scratch. My main interest lies towards period ships (18th century-ish), which is well represented in the kit market as far as POB models go. Every person has their own particular favourite era, and saying we need more of this era, or that era might not be the best if that particular era is not of the greatest interest to the largest number of potential kit buyers. Sorry to upset all the foamers (the ones who foam at the mouth over their particular favourite subject, and yes that includes myself). Seems to be for larger-ish ships 1:48 is the ideal scale for POF work, but other scales are not unheard of. As for price, I would expect something around the $500 to $800 mark, at the very least, for something along the lines of a small sloop. So yes, I would love to see a 1:48 POF kit of the HM Snow Ontario, but I would still be interested for virtually any available POF kit of a ship in that same era. Andy

Hey guys, thanks for all the well wishes. So the "allegedly" has now been expanded, possibly until the end of June, which I really don't mind too much, as long as I get some time up north at the lake in July. Andy

So.... One of you, not sure who, was hoping too hard that I'd get back to work soon! Seems like fate has a sick sense of humour, as I was just getting underway to head up to the cottage for the May two-four weekend (aka Victoria Day weekend), the first long weekend of the summer, when the stated objective is to do as much damage to as many cases of 24 bottles of beer as possible, the dreaded phone call came... Stupid hands free blue-tooth... No excuse to not answer.... But I digress, at this point I'm not going to say not to work, even if it is only for a few weeks (allegedly). So I'm off first thing tomorrow morning, and as usual all building comes to a halt, and I was so looking forward to playing with that most excellent castello boxwood that arrived in the mail just a couple days ago... Oh well Andy

Ouch, that's a tough break! I hope that there's a good bit that is salvageable, and all that's needed is a new keel piece! Andy

Hi Ben, glad to hear you're getting back into it. I'm looking forward to seeing your next update(s). Ed, thanks for the kind sentiments. I'm not totally sunk, but just undergoing my own personal recession! Hopefully I'll have some stories to share soon enough. Thanks again to everyone else and all the likes, and especially all the compliments, they are very much appreciated. So a small update on the goings on last weekend. After re-checking my measurements, I've begun to cut out the gun ports on the port side. In some areas it looks like you need to put on a pair of those old blue and red 3-D glasses in order to make sense of all the lines. But it all works out after a fashion. To help break things up a bit, I decided to intersperse one monotonous task with another equally monotonous task, and began lining the starboard gun ports. I'm using the kit supplied walnut for this task, as the end product will be painted anyway. The instructions say to use the 6mm strip, but I found the job easier by adding widening the strips to 10mm by adding a 4mm strip. It means I'm not fudging around trying to get all the angles right, and in some cases the thickness between my bulwark and outer planking is a bit over 6mm anyway. Not much more to add for the moment. Andy

Hello again everyone, and thanks for all the likes and comments. Time for a small update. I've been busy lately with the gun ports. I was reasonably satisfied with the layout on the starboard side, so I decided to start hacking them out. It's not 100% accurate, but it will be one of those things that separates my build from everyone else's. As has been identified by other builders, the forward gun ports cut through two of the bulkheads. For my approach, I decided to laminate leftover pieces of first planking in order to build up the thickness and support the bulkhead extensions. For the first layer, I offset the planking by starting with only a half width plank to improve the overlap between layers and make for a stronger structure. So far no observed issues and the bulkhead extensions appear to have retained some strength. I've also made a stab at the lower counter. The instructions say to simply plank the area, but I read in Jason's log where he created a template. I used some 1/32" basswood sheet I had kicking around to create my own version. Moving on, I need to verify all the port side gun ports to ensure things line up as closely as possible before cutting them out. I've had to redraw the forward ones a couple of times already. But I'd rather waste sand paper and a pencil lead and re-do it as many times as needs be! Any day now I should receive my order from Crown Timberyard as well as my first order of replacement bits! Can't wait! Andy

Hi Kevin, no need to ask permission, you're always welcome! I got the batteries charged so here are a few more photos as promised. I used the kit supplied tanganyika for the deck. I expected it to be splintery, but useable. After sanding the edges, I used a pencil to simulate the caulking. I've seen a lot of discussion on whether to plank the deck before, or after installing the false deck. I suggest doing both! OK, now you're confused, but it's really not that complicated. After marking out the centre line and the butt shift, I planked the centre section only, until all the hatch ways and other openings where surrounded. There's still more than enough spring in the false deck to install it as once piece. The other two photos show the first planking at the bow and the stern. Not much more to show for the moment. Andy

We now return you to your regularly scheduled build already in progress..... Well, it's been a while since I've posted much of anything. My temporary shore job went temporarily bust just after Christmas (it all came down to a numbers game, there are simply not enough ships running this year to justify the overhead expense blah blah blah (we'll see what happens in audit season!)). Anyway, I'm not out of gainful employment, they've sent back to the fleet (yeah...what fleet?!) at any rate. Long story short, I've had some free time on my hands, so I figured I would start hacking my way through another build. If some of you may recall, I've got two frigate kits sitting around waiting to be built. As the title suggests, I decided to tackle the HMS Diana first. I didn't take any photos of the early part of the build, mostly because at the time my head wasn't in to documenting for posterity, every minute (mis)step I went through. Reviewing some of the other build logs (Ray's and Jason's), they pretty well sum up all the pitfalls to watch out for when building this kit, and there are many! In general I found the CnC cut bulkheads leave a lot to be desired in terms of cut accuracy, in many places I had to sand down or shim up in order to get a smooth run of planking without dips or bumps. I've finished the first planking, and I made an attempt to try something like the method that Chuck espouses for his builds, and ended up with (to paraphrase Douglas Adams) something that almost, but not quite entirely, doesn't resemble it. But it was good practice. I found that the kit was short 4 strips of the first planking material. But rather than order replacements, I found I had enough long scrap pieces lying about that I could reasonably cobble together the missing planks without compromising on the strength of the hull. You may be able to spot one or two of the odd planks in the attached photo. At the moment I am currently marking out the gun ports. As has been observed, the included template is pretty much garbage. It's a lot easier to take the base dimensions given in the instructions and draw out the ports using a ruler and dividers. Around ports 7 and 8, I found the distance between the ports needs to be slightly greater, around 37mm as opposed to 30. This is where the entry ladder and fenders will eventually go. Going forward, I intend to replace much of the kit supplied second planking, and last week I ordered a good supply of castello boxwood from Crown Timberyard. Below the wales will pretty much be kit stock, as it will be largely covered by the coppering. I am going to try to make any of the exposed walnut planking look more tarred than painted. I have no intention of using the kit supplied copper plates, I find the Amati plates much better looking and far less.... pimply. I also intend to replace all the blocks, rigging fittings, deadeyes etc., and rigging line. I will probably replace all of the guns, as I'm not a fan of the supplied versions. That oversized bowling ball of a cascabel and weird muzzle shape detracts from their appearance, but the two largest size guns that Chuck sells do match closely with the dimensions of the supplied guns (discounting the aforementioned bowling ball). I would have some more photos, but the battery on my camera ran out of juice (I really should check these things more often). I'll have some more photos soon. Andy