edmay

Welome back and see u soon ,great progress of high quality will follow .Edwin

Welome back and see u soon ,great progress of high quality will follow .Edwin

Welome back and see u soon ,great progress of high quality will follow .Edwin

Hi Andy, think our minds think alike...
 
I'd also suggest considering the barrels from RB Models.  Hope you don't mind me posting pics, but you can see the side by side (from left to right) of Chucks, RB Models 44mm, and the supplied Caldercraft.  Chucks are beautifully made, but I didn't feel that the scale was right for an 18lb'er, the bore being too small and overall it looks a little light.   Feel both the bore and the cascable on the CC barrel are way too big and the shape of the muzzle just not right.   I'm leaning toward the RB Models barrel.
 

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

glad to see you back Andy!      that's quite a list of changes you plan to make.....you'll be guaranteed to build a vessel worthy of you talents.   look'in forward in seeing more progress on this fine build.
 
I don't blame you for taking the time out............it's will reinforce your creative juices !   just don't get 'em on the ship  

Neat work Andy, hull looks in fine fettle for the next stage
 
B.E.

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
 
 

Hola Ulises:
 
Your Tips will be very useful,  Thanks!!!
 
Saludos, Karl

Mini-update.
 
After doing a final check in my plans, I noticed I missed 4 small eyebolts: 2 on the rudder and 2 on the hull, for a chain that holds the rudder in the case this breaks during battle and prevents it from going to the bottom of the sea.
So, since this is a very small update, I'm taking the opportunity to show how I make eyebolts. These usually come too big in kits, so long time ago I decided I'd make mine, no matter what kit. I hope this helps someone.
 
This is my basic kit to make eyebolts
Holding pliers, wire cutting pliers, plastic wrapped wire, and a small jig I designed.

 
This jig I made from a two sided old drill bit handle to which I attached two wires of different diameter, to make different sized eyebolts.

 
I first used the wire that comes in those little whatchamacallit plastic covered wires they use to close loaf bread bags and stuff. I later found a black colored wire which looked much better.
 
Peel the wire, or cut from your source a length of it.

 
Bend to an U shape and place it as showing in this pic, holding it with the pliers.

 
Twist the handle, while pulling it at the same time. Twist until the wire breaks by itself.


 
The twisted stem will provide additional mechanical grip.

 
I measure the width of the stem to know what drill size will be adequate.

 
Here they are in place. I used a black wire for the final eyebolts, different to the "silvery" one you see in the previous photos.



 
By the way, I use two part epoxy to fix the eyebolts in place, instead of a cement I used to use before, which turned out to be a bad choice. (The figures in my Vasa started to fall off a few weeks ago.) Epoxy is my glue of choice when gluing dissimilar materials like metal to wood. Is it messy? Yes!, is it a big waste? Yes! Is it still the better choice? Yes! (My opinion, of course!)
 
Thanks for visiting. I hope this post helps someone. Thank you all!!!

Hello Again , your pictures look great ,looking forward to the deck furniture ,etc , by the way you are a valued modeler to us that follow you and an asset to the MSW ,so thanks Edwin

Hello Again , your pictures look great ,looking forward to the deck furniture ,etc , by the way you are a valued modeler to us that follow you and an asset to the MSW ,so thanks Edwin

Good Morning Don
Thanks for looking in, yes all is well, just too busy at work and other things.
Maybe at Christmas I can put a few days together and plan some items, and get organized.
Its not so much the doing, but the, what and how.
 
Hello Scott
Thanks for the compliment. I keep telling myself that one day I will master
the art of miniature carving and do them myself (LOL)
The hull seems to be surviving ok, no movement or cracks.
The Endeavour will be finished, just don't want to mess it up.
Hooroo Chris

YO, Howdy folks, yes I am still alive.
The poor Endeavour has been sitting on the desk feeling sad and lonely,
and that is not about to change.
 
The trouble that has developed, is that this build as I am doing it, is too involved, and
takes too much thinking time, and because i am fiddling with it,
changing timbers, and trying to do as accurate as possible, it
is taking time I don't have at the moment.
 
Therefore, it is on hold until I can put in more than an hour or so, here
and there.. The time thing is not going to get better, because i am thinking about
a change in how I work, that will make even less time available next year.
That and all the other life things, that seem to be need to be done these days.
 
I have done a little bit of construction, and made some hinges for the rudder,

 
But because I need to do something,
I am going to partake of that time honored tradition, of model ship builders, and
 
start another one. Build log coming soon.
Hooroo Chris
 
 

Hi all and thanks for visiting. I though I would post a general view of how this ship is coming along. I will start working on the deck fittings and furniture next.
 
Best regards
 

@Edwin. Thanks a lot. Yes, I am well!
 
@Pat. Really appreciate it!
 
@Arthur: Don't look too close.     
 
Thank you all for visiting, likes and comments. They are of big value to me!

That rudder came up a treat Ulises; great work!
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hello Max,Trying to catch up ,your progress and quailty of planking,decking is superb,very neat .Edwin

Hello Ulises, Nice to see you so to speak,great work on the rudder, hope you are well, kind regards Edwin

Very interesting Laci, Your imagination is showing just how much you already know about this type of ship and your woodworking skills look pretty advanced.
 
I like the mini woodworking lathe a great solution.
 
Where in Edmonton are you I get in to the city quite often perhaps we could meet up for a coffee somewhere?
 
Michael 

Hi E-
Thanks for your kind reply.No rigging yet but I am setting up for machining belaying pins,and building a mini wood lathe to do it with and for cannon barrels.
All 3 masts are done except for the hardware.And later yardarms.
   Laci 

Excellent pictures of outstanding details. I'm always impressed at how nice and clean all of the lines are in your woodwork. Looks like it won't be long and we will be seeing the rigging going up.

Hello Ulises, Nice to see you so to speak,great work on the rudder, hope you are well, kind regards Edwin

Hello Max,Trying to catch up ,your progress and quailty of planking,decking is superb,very neat .Edwin