Richard44

Hi TBE, The project is going OK, albeit slowly. Most of the time expended has been in trying to decide just what can I actually build in that very cramped space. I should have an update in my build log soonish. Cheers

Hi TBE, Your build is looking really good. I see that you've added the seats of ease - I'm just struggling with those myself at the moment. BE's list is actually at the end of his build log - https://modelshipworld.com/topic/15526-hms-pegasus-by-blue-ensign-finished-victory-models-164-scale/page/10/ Cheers

That's right it is. The first image, from a Pegasus plan, shows the the fascia and both counters (excuse the poor "straight" lines 🙂). In the second image, of your model, the lower extent of the fascia is shown by the red circles - not all of which are in exactly the right place, but you'll get the idea. Dry fit the fascia until you're happy with its placement. Some slight sanding of the four stern extensions may be required. For the moulding strips that seperate the different pieces, you could use 1mm square strip. I actually used 2mm square strips that I shaped using a tool made from a Stanley knife blade. I cut a profile in the blade using a Dremel with a cut-off wheel , but files could also be used. The image shows the blade with two profiles and a piece of strip with a profile cut in it. Simply drag the blade along the wood till you get the profile you want. Once you plank the decks you won't be able to remove them. Everything that you need/want on the upper deck has to be in place before you finally fix the ply false fore and quarter decks and plank them. This importantly includes the cannons that will be hidden by the fore and quarter decks. "Paralysis by analysis" strikes most of us at some stage 😁. Cheers

Probably not. Maybe the ply/walnut could be trimmed to shorten them and thus close the gap, but I certainly wouldn't force them into place. This would probably result in a disaster sometime later as the glue gives up. So long as the ply/walnut fits correctly elsewhere, then planking the deck will eliminate the gap. I'm not quite sure what you're asking. The side planking should overlap the planking of the upper and lower counters. Above those you have the stern fascia (this may be what you are calling the gallery) which itself extends out to the side and so overlaps the side planking. I would next plank the decks, only because you'll be able to run the Qdeck planks out over the stern, if the fascia is not in place, and so easily trim them to length. Then the fascia (?gallery) and finish the hull. All I can really say about the order in which you do things is - think it through and preferably several steps ahead. You're doing well, keep it up. Cheers.

Thanks for the likes. All the swivel gun mounts are in place and now to deal with the guns themselves. The ones supplied in the kit are terrible, so guns were bought from Syren, nicely turned brass barrels, brass trunnions but no yokes. I initially thought that I would do what B.E. did and bend and silver solder together two brass hooks. I tried this but was unsuccessful. I then realised that because I was not going to install the hammock cranes, these could perhaps be used. The photo shows the first attempt (on the left) at adapting one of the cranes - rather rough. On the right is the second attempt, much better. Also shown is a hammock crane as supplied and a brass nail which I will have to cut down to use as the trunnion. The trunnions that came with Syren’s guns are too big to fit through the holes in the arms of the cranes, even after I had drilled these out as much as I dared. The new yokes are perhaps a little underscale, but even so, they look quite good. A 0.5mm hole was drilled in the gun and a short length of 0.5mm brass rod was epoxied in for the tiller with a blob of epoxy forming the knob at the end. The sixteen swivel guns ready for assembly. The small washers are to go onto the tops of the mounts as sockets for the yokes. One of the finished guns on a mount. Finally, this photo shows one of the kit guns compared to my version. That’s all for now, Cheers

Thanks for the likes. The quarter deck cap rail is supported at its aft end by a simple post, and at the fore end by a pre-cut slot in the rail which goes over a post. In between these two are the five swivel gun mounts into which the rail slots. All seven points of fixing had to be aligned so that the rail formed a straight line in profile. To do this, I glued the rail to the aft post and the first and last gun mounts were similarly glued in place and adjusted so that the rail was reasonably straight - it did sag in the middle. The rail was just slipped onto the fore post, but not glued at this time. The remaining three gun mounts were then offered up to the rail and adjusted till the rail was straight. The join between the rail and the fore post was painted with glue, and after drying, the post was trimmed as it was overlong. The wheel had already been made, with a few changes from the kit. The end stanchions were simplified, the barrel was replaced as I did not like the appearance of the plywood one in the kit, and the wheel was rigged to the tiller following the diagram in TFFM, rather than the one in the plans. The binnacle was fastened in place. The Swan-class ships had two brake pumps (elm tree pumps) as well as the two chain pumps. The kit did not supply nor mention these. So, a Caldercraft kit for two pumps was bought. The instructions weren’t quite followed. The 4mm dowel supplied to form the body of the pump should have been cut into 13mm lengths and drilled length-wise through the centre (a 0.75mm diameter hole). A length of 0.7mm brass rod (the connecting rod) was to be fed through this hole, protruding through the bottom to make a locating peg, and formed into a small loop at the top to take the brake handle. I decided to cut a 4mm dowel into a length sufficient to reach the lower deck of Pegasus and to give the 13mm length suggested for the body of the pump above the upper deck level. A short hole was drilled in the top for the connecting rod for which I used a pre-formed eyelet. Caldercraft supplied 2mm dowel from which to make the outlet - I had some thin walled brass tubing which I used instead. The hole I made through the upper deck was angled as the pumps were not perpendicular to the deck. The instructions call for the pump, when in place, to be oriented so that the handle pointed aft and the outlet forwards. The TFFM says the opposite and this is the way I will install them. When looking at the space available, this is more logical as there is room for a sailor to operate the pump. Also the outlet now points directly at the scupper that the chain pump drains to. The parts to the pumps with the extra long dowel. The completed pumps, and I was careful to make port and starboard ones. One of the pumps in place. They’ll be permanently installed later. The next installment will be all about swivel guns. Cheers

Just as an aside B.E., I hope you're backing up your build log - I'd hate for you to have to try and recreate it (as you did with Pegasus) if there is another system crash. Cheers

Very nice planking Mugje. Cheers

Thanks for the likes and comments. The two ladders in the waist, the swivel gun mounts at the bow, the tiller, the cover over the head of the rudder, the pin rails and the channels were all added. The wheel and binnacle will both be added later as I think they would be a little vulnerable to being knocked at the moment. It was immediately apparent that the channels lacked something - the supporting knees. The kit makes no mention of these, but TFFM says that the fore channel has three, the main four and the mizzen two. So knees were made from suitable strip and glued in place. A Dremel with a sanding drum was used to put the curve into the knee and it was then simply cut from the strip. There is a however, however. The knees butt against the hull between the two rails that have already been installed with PE decoration between them. Removing the PE, trimming it to allow for the knees and reinstalling was never an option. Neither was trimming the PE whilst in place. So the knees are simply glued against the PE decorations. Although close inspection would show this, the knees will be hard to see behind the rigging. The Dremel and two knees that have been parted from the strip. The tops of the swivel gun mounts were sanded to an octagonal form, but this is not readily apparent. The black “iron” bands around the tops of the mounts are heat-shrink tubing. The fore channel and two of the mounts. That's all for now. Cheers

Thanks Jason, that's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure. Cheers

Chris, I've just got to ask...."starving cow" problem with card models? I'm really curious because my first card model (a Murray River paddle boat) is on its way from Europe, but more of that when it arrives. And I'm following your build log with much interest. Cheers