mathewp

Looks great. Must say your doing well on you first.

Moving along with it now, so I,ve got the bulkheads cut out, and I'm now gluing them in. Once they are in I'll straighten the keel, as it has a slight bend, by putting in a couple of planks flush to the deck level while it's clamped. That should sort that little problem out. Then I'll fair the frames. In the meantime it's a little difficult deciding on which timber to go with for the planks. I've looked at some cherry veneer, but i've never used it before. I also like the look of Jarrah, it's got nice red color. Then there's Teak? Choices Choices. 
 
As always I hope you are all having fun with your builds,
                                                                                       Matt.

You've done a superb job there Ollie. Lovely clean work.

You've done a superb job there Ollie. Lovely clean work.

Thanks Rusty, Mark, Grant and everybody for the likes.
 
Mark - I know the picture looks silly, sometimes I feel like destroying my phone but I wouldn't want to damage my precious Byrnes Sander.
 
Anyway - the stern transoms have all been fitted and pinned in place successfully! I had left the ends of the transoms slightly overlength so I could fair them back to suit the aft cant frame which is what I'm doing now and I have started cutting aft cants 1 thru 7 out of 9" stock.
 
Ben

She's a beauty Sjors. These Occre kits can be a bit difficult, but you've got through it well.

Yep, time for an update !
 
Hull is closed with the first planking         
Filled and sanded.
You see two colours of filler and that's correct !
First I used wood filler and after that balsa filler.
Don't ask me why but it works just great !
Now she feels like a baby skin.
Still don't know how it feels and no, I don't want a baby to check it out !
To prove everything a lot of pictures !
Also the last two pictures is to show you the size.......
Now it is time to clean up the workroom and go back to the Fonz.
Making shrouds and the last ratlines for a while.
 

 
 
 
 

Wow Matt,
 
You are not around for a while but when you are coming, then you have something !!!!!
Great job what you have done !!!!
And thanks for the pictures.....I love that !       
 

Lovely clean work Ollie.She's a work of art.

Lovely clean work Ollie.She's a work of art.

I like the tin can idea, it's ingenious.Keep asking, maybe message some people doing the Victory, otherwise you'll have to wait until they find you.Enjoy your build
Matt.

Your welcome Bala. I do have a dvd of someone building the Perseverance. It does have a lot of hints you can use in general. You can have it if you want it. I found it useful, and still use some of the methods. All you need to do is send me a pre adressed postage paid cd packet and it's yours.
 
Matt

Hi Bala. I think your'e going a little too fast, and in the process missing a few details. The first thing I would say is make sure every piece you place on the model fits before you glue it. From what I can see, you need to stop and fix a few things before you proceed. The bow section need a lot more shaping as there is a bump where the planks curve around the bow. There is also a hollow section along the false keel that needs more shaping, or the Keel part that fits on the outside of the hull will not fit. The plywood parts you glued on should be shaped flush to the false keel. Sanding the hull after the first layer of plankind is very important to remove bumps and hollows on the hull. To minimise these, fairing, or sanding the bulkheads is also important before you put the first layer of planing on. Not enough time on these two steps before second planking, result in obvious bumps and hollows on the finished hull. A little more attention on the grates to square them up without any gaps wouls make them look a lot better.
There's some nice work youv'e done so far. A little more time spent thinking ahead will help prevent major pproblems later.
Remember, this is your build. Do it the way you want. I hope this helps.
 
Matt

Hi Bala.This is a nice kit. Feel free to let me know if I can help. Enjoy,(emphasis on enjoy) your first build.
Matt.

Yes Sjors, here's a little bit of work. I.ve done the Channel boards, the ladder ropes and the bowsprit wood work.There's a few little gremlins here as the metal parts for the Jack top don't fit well, so I made some wooden ones. The mast caps supplied in my kit are all one size, so I'll end up making some as I have with the bowsprit. For now I'll just continue with the masts. The plans called for a bowsprit of a given length, which is no real mystery. However, the bowsprit seems too long by about 40mm. I might have to trim it down a little.
 
Matt.

Thanks Matt.
 
In the end I decided to plank the stem, keel and stern post.  It's not as good as solid timber but looks a lot better than the plywood parts that came with the kit.
It has also given me a pseudo rabbet into which I can butt the second layer of planking as the instructions just say to epoxy the keel, stem and stern posts on after the second layer of planking is completed. 
 
Because I had already faired the false keel at the stern I had to add some filler to ensure that the 2nd planking layer will be level with the veneer I just added on.
 
I haven't had much time to do much work on her this week due to work commitments but I have most of the day set aside tomorrow to make a start on the second layer of planking.  Hopefully I will get most of it done tomorrow.
Thanks for the tips.
 
Rod

This issue is a real problem, as some manufacturers design the kits with using the nails in mind, and providing thin soft bulkheads. This then makes pins and planking screws split the thin ply. You have to pre drill all the holes, but still end up with splits.I've got a large packet of nails/pins that came with the kit, that I won't end up using.

G"day Rod, yes I did plank them, only I didn't know how to do it properly. The main problem is the stem. You can cut pieces to make it look more like it's solid timber but you would need a pattern of some description to work from. The Keel and Stern are just straight pieces, so not much mystery there. You don't have to remove them to put the planking on. You do have the option of solid ones. Modelers Shipyard have 5mm Mahogany boards if you want them.
 
Your hull looks very good. I would suggest you take the extra time to get a nice smooth shaped hull before going to second planking. A common problem is bumps and hollows that need fixing beforehand. I see you joined a club. With their help you shouldn't need too much help from me, but I'll chime in from time to time if you don't mind. Feel free to let me know if you have any problems as I still have the plans etc I can refer to.
 
Matt.

I,ve got this model sitting in my lounge room. Let me know if I can help. Matt

I,ve got this model sitting in my lounge room. Let me know if I can help. Matt

I,ve got this model sitting in my lounge room. Let me know if I can help. Matt

Have a happy Chrismas Jeff. I'm having a break from building to holiday with my 3 lads. She's taking shape now, and will look a treat with the copper.

Thanks Jeff. It's Cannon time, and longboat. The parts here are a little fiddly, and some needed sanding till nearly nothing was left. The Thwarts for the lonboat needed a lot taken off as they were just way too thick. You could almost just make these from 0.25 mm planks. The plywood parts were 2 mm. I planked the top section including the gunwales in Mahogany. The bow and stern Thwarts were planked in Tanganika and sanded to within an inch of their lives. The cross pieces were 2 mm by 6 mm Walnut. I made my own paddles as I didn't like the metal ones. I didn't have any dowell so I used toothpicks, and some 0.5 mm walnut plank.
    The Cannons went together ok, only you have to try and fit them square so that the cannons fit in squarely. That's not so easy when the parts are angled. After gluing the plywood parts there were some gaps so I filled and sanded each one. Once painted they looked ok. Then it was cut the brass pins for the cannons and the wheels, then paint the wheels. Next I whipped 8 pieces of the thicker cord to an eyepin, and attached a small block. There's no allowance in this kit for putting the pulley blocks on the cannons, so you will have to get some if you want to do your cannons this way. I used the ones left from the Thermopylae build where I lost everything, nearly. Then I put 2 blocks on each gun carriage. From there it was just a case of pre assembling the cannons and placing them on the deck.
  That's it for now
 Matt. 

Thanks everybody. I'm having a ball with this build, apart from a couple of small issues The last two days have been spent on deck fittings. The pump, Capstan and mast pin rails and posts for each. and a belfrey. The Capstan parts supplied aren't the best. The round washer at the base was too small, so you can make one from a scrap of 12 mm dowell. That fit quite well allowing for the diameter of the dowell in the centre, and the thickness of the whelps. I made 8 to start with by cutting them and placing them on some tape, and shaping them to the same profile was easy from there. It beats making them one at a time. * wasn't quite enough to go around the pole, so I made an extra that fit nicely in the gap. This was easier than spacing them so they all fit.
     The pump and belfrey were fairly easy, with no issues. The mast pin rails were a problem. The pre cut plywood ones don't fit the holes precut in the deks. The best way around this is to make some from 2mm by 6mm walnut, but make them without the slots , and to put the slots in the posts. Then you can slide the posts along the rail until you have a good fit. Worked like a charm, however the holes in the deck were too big, and would leave unsightly gaps. The only fix I could think of was to put some 2mm by 2mm around the base of each pole that went into the deck. It seems to have done the trick. That's it for now
Matt.

I spent some time today dong the ladders and the hand rails for the decks. Some of the hand rails double as pin rails. The plans call for 22 mm wide ladders. Don't make them this wide. They won't fit. There's only room for a total of around 18 mm in width for the half deck, so I made 15 mm rungs for them and they fitted ok . There is room on a couple of spots for 22 mm but I wanted all of them to be the same size, so that's what I did. I painted the columns as indicated on the instructions a red color, the same as the gun ports. The instructions don't give you a specific color though. You have to find one for yourself. I've also added the main pin rails. Looks can be deceiving as there is now a total of more than 90 pin rail holes. It doesn't look like a lot, but they add up, and there's still more to do.
That's it for now.
Matt..