shipman

Hi Ron. I'm on board after realising 'a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do'. Not sure if you want to make new decks and fix what details there are to that. Or, do you wish to keep the decks but replace those hatches. Apart from a few location holes there isn't much else. There are those who would encourage you to make wooden decks, and that may be a good idea with this job. The original decks would be fine to fix planking to. That's beyond my territory. Whatever you do, make some sort of paper copy to record details you will need later. As they are, the decks would benefit from some longitudinal bracing to help fix the warp. If you go about it right, when the deck is glued into the hull, and some pressure is applied until it's dry, it will take the correct level. You mentioned you weren't happy with the hatch covers, instead of gratings. You can follow the moulding lines with a sharp craft knife/drill and file. That way you'd keep the coamings. Then fit gratings....you can buy those. Those decks are as simple as you're ever going to get and would be easy to replace, including the hatches/coamings. Just trace the outlines of what you have. If you want to make new decks, but use the hatches, then cut around them, leaving a couple of mm border. Run a sharpy along where the shapes meet, then carefully sand on a sheet of glass until you get to the lines you marked. But again, those hatches would be easy to make. Don't forget to add internal detail to the inside of the hull, timbers and such. At that scale, just painting the back of the gun ports won't cut the mustard. But if you open them up. another deck is required. Not impossible, but another can of worms. You need to think through thoroughly 5 steps ahead, as each modification will impinge on something else. Enough for now.

Hoping all goes well with your build, Ron. Another ha'porth....I think the lozeng coloured decoration so often perpatrated could be entirely spurious. Plenty of room for sober reflection on that.

The 'Bambi' is a female red deer, an heraldic emblem used by Drakes sponsor. The ship was launched as 'Pelican', but a year later was re-named 'Golden Hind', to honour the sponsor. There must be accounts of the ship at Deptford; but does that record survive....a lot of people must have visited. It must be remembered, the Thames would have been full of similar ships, so the only distinctive feature would be the ships deterioration. Any structural and decorative details for this ship simply don't exist, so conjecture is the only option. 'the general shape of the model is pretty good' ......a statement based upon what? The only source for ships of this period are idealised illustrations. To glean accurate details is a hopeless task. Several modern museum models exist. I would suggest one of these will give you what you're looking for. I do know the museums do admit their models are their best guess. Who knows, Airfix could have got it exactly right, so a super detailed version of what's in the box would be as accurate as you're likely to get. I must admit, the mouldings shown above look 'convincing', clean and not plastered with unwanted embellishment. BIG TIP....make your own decks.

Aye lad. It's the lifelong curse of being a Yorkshireman. Can't help it. Well....I can, but to me some things are simply beyond the pale. What matters the most here on this forum is we should all enjoy what we do. I've had my rant, so now I can comfortably sit back and let you prove me wrong.

Ok Ron, I'm going to upset everyone and spit my dummy out. When you've got to the level of your Victory, don't waste your new found skills on this travesty of a kit, which always looks best with the lid kept firmly on the box. This applies to any ship kit from this period, except the Vasa, which has the improbable advantage of being here for all to see for what it is. There you go.....I'm a bad 'un, trying to save you from yourself. Because I care.

Good luck with that one, RON. I'm sure you'll build this one to even higher standards than your excellent 'Victory'. No doubt you'll enjoy hunting references.

Looks like a ship! Just love the stretched sprue guns. Lateral thinking....like it.

Jonathan, I'm following your splendid project. I'm looking forward to it's completion, hopefully you will do something about the dogs dinner surroundings when you present your final photo's.

I've never found a contour gauge that was fine enough. Somewhere there is a post discussing this. It is feasible to make your own. A length of softened copper wire does a fair job.

Me again! Keeping up the good work, I see. Don't know if you intend keeping the boats in that position.....they would always be keel down on a ship like the Victory.

What a lovely job, Backer, quite an accomplishment. Good luck to you all and hope you're back to normal soon.

Support your sponsor. Who would argue with that here.

Backer is making a damn good job with his Bounty and doing his best to make it convincing. I agree with your historical comments on rigging practices, wefalk. With all due respect to Backer, he's got limited resources available and it seems to me he's happy with the overall 'impression' he's getting. And why not? He's doing fine and building his confidence. Sometimes the right thing can get in the way. Tomorrow is always a new day; to be welcomed, so we can go forward with what we learned yesterday.

Mmm, drilling and shaping 1mm long blocks? I'm sure it can be done only by you. You'll be doing the same with poppy seeds next. Wait...I was joking.

A few deft strokes with a pointed needle file or a scalpel tip would help 'fair' the hole in the block; much as should be done to advantage with deadeye holes.

Patrick, so sorry to hear your unfortunate news. No idea how old you are, as age seems to be a significant component of Covid infection outcomes. Take care of yourself, like many others here, I wish you a quick and full recovery. Keep us posted please.

Patrick, thanks for the sail tutorial; excellent results. The 'tissue'....is that a single ply kitchen type?

CA de-bonder (basically acetone, which is the main component of nail varnish remover) does the job of releasing CA joints. I'm not a big fan of noxious substances, but common sense goes a long way. Good ventilation and avoiding skin contact should do.

Last year I made an offer on one that didn't sell. Got it for £4.50+p&p! Saw the empty box, that was a larf! AND it's still awaiting a new owner.

The Tilley Revell is as good as it gets. After seeing your excellent work on the Victory, I know you could get to that level with the Airfix kit, the larger scale would be a lot more convenient too. To my knowledge, no one has done justice to the Airfix Bounty. You can.

The Airfix Bounty is so much better than the Revell one (which can be well detailed with a lot of work: look up the late John Tilley's build on the net-see attachment). Plus, the larger scale is a bonus. Don't you have ebay where you are? Lovely rudder pendants. The finest chain I have is 54 lpi. Already blackened; it's so fine you'd never guess it's chain at first glance. I got it off a retired chap in the Isle of man. I'm sad to say I think he's passed away, he was ill the last time we spoke, a couple of years ago. The email address is closed. He also supplied some superb 1:98 brass belay pins and stanchions. I haven't discovered the original source of the chain; if anyone knows.....

Always a n educational pleasure to read your posts and comments, Eberard. 'modelships.de.' was and is the only source I found models by the guy's mentioned. I'm not interested in the buying and selling thing either, but often sites such as these can surprise with often well photographed subjects. I'll be looking into details of the Bremerhaven museum. Thanks again.

G'day, Roger. The aircraft museum was not far from Duluth, but I can't remember what it was called. I did get vivid descriptions of ice storms and deep snow winters. The 'State Bird' stories made me laugh! It's a shame the model rooms at the NMM and Science museum have closed. It would appear Chatham Historic Dockyard is the place to go now, though I haven't visited. Glasgow seems to have the biggest public model display now. Portsmouth has the Victory, Warrior and Mary Rose. If You're ever in London, the Cutty Sark is a must, though my last visit was before the fire and restoration. Lucky to have most of the woodwork removed before the conflagration, so that aspect is authentic. I have several copies of the book “The Boats of Men of War”; it's a shame most of the illustrations are so small/indifferent, but it's a tome worth having. I'm always amused The Republic of USA, remains the last place to insist on the 'Imperial' measurement system. Us older Brits are able to work comfortably with Imperial and Metric. Take care on those slippery surfaces.

My stash includes the 1:200 Nichimo kit. Now that's a big one! Looking forward to your progress.

Roger, thank you for your kind and generous reply. I looked up your 2 photo 'album' of your longboat, which looks rather splendid. That's the sort of model I admire; no ostentatious superfluous decoration there! I'm curious about a couple of details. What did you use to make the sails? They look so natural. The capping rail appears quite wide; no doubt your research confirmed that. Did you base it on drawings from the NMM? I noticed you are in the Duluth area, which reminds me of my only visit to the USA, over 25 years ago. I was in Owatonna, for three weeks. I drove up to your neck of the woods to visit an aircraft museum, which impressed me. Got to see a baseball match on Independence Day, the technicalities were lost on me, but I was impressed with the stadium. I'm not sure what i was doing on a visit to the 'Mall of America'. I was struck by how friendly most people were (as long as I didn't mention politics. It seems Americans are aggressively polarised). Don't know why, but I was constantly being asked if I was Australian? On my return to the UK, I realised what a hole the UK can be. By contrast, later that year I had my last holiday; in Goa (India). Now there's a place of contrasts. I didn't expect that part of India to be dense jungle. Though the average Goan lives in abject poverty, you wouldn't find such delightful and friendly folk anywhere. I cried when I left. Anyway, less of my adventures. I'll be looking out for your posts. Stay well and safe.