Dan Vadas

Nice one Grant .
 
Probably. Or a bigger motor - someone once said "There's no such thing as TOO MUCH power", and I agree .
 
Are you running a Cav Plate? You might have it adjusted a bit too low. That'll push the bow down.
 
More likely the problem will fix itself when you get a bit more speed out of her .
 
  Danny

You'll probably find more problems like this, even the best kits have them. It works in theory but not in the practical world, where if you're even a fraction of a millimetre out when fairing hull frames (pretty easy to do) the assembly won't fit. Better to do the bow section first, then the bottom of the keel which you can trim at the stern, then the sternpost.
 
  Danny

Thx Robin...
Hi Danny, I have noticed that with other aspects of the assembly...a bit of tolerance stackup 
THX for the comments gentlemen

You'll probably find more problems like this, even the best kits have them. It works in theory but not in the practical world, where if you're even a fraction of a millimetre out when fairing hull frames (pretty easy to do) the assembly won't fit. Better to do the bow section first, then the bottom of the keel which you can trim at the stern, then the sternpost.
 
  Danny

just a quick update...the hull planking is complete, not at all perfect, in fact not even close, got some gaps and pointed planks, but overall it's better than it was...Pics follow

Thank you to all the guys who hit the "Like" button for my last post .
 
Forecastle Timberheads
 
I've marked and drilled the slots for the Timberheads, and also made and dry-fitted 8 more of them to check if the angles were going to need changing yet. Fortunately all the Forecastle ones are straight, so I can make 8 more before I have to adjust my jig. The bad news is that all the quarterdeck ones will need to be cut on at least four different angles - it could have been worse .
 

 

 

 
  Danny

No worries Elmer - plenty more where that came from .
 
I've finished fitting all the Planksheers. The port quarterdeck one is completely finished, others are in various stages.
 

 

 
You can clearly see the two-piece construction on the forecastle ones. This is necessary (even on the real ship) as it is impossible to fit the planksheer over the timberheads owing to the changing angles of the latter.
 
Don't forget, I'm "cheating" here - I'm not making the timberheads as part of the top timbers. I find it much easier to cut the moldings into their tops on the bench rather than on the ship   .
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thank you, and you're most welcome Mark, Remco, Christian, Grant, Jeff, Maury and Neal .
 
Forecastle Planksheers
 
The Planksheers for the Forecastle and Quarterdeck need to be fitted before I can continue with the Timberheads.
 
For the quarterdeck I could soak and laterally bend the four required as they only have a shallow bend. Here's the first one fitted - there is a smaller piece still to be fitted on the inboard side :
 

 
The four on the forecastle are a bit trickier. I cut these from wide stock. Fitting the forward one around the Knightheads was quite a task - I had one reject, and used at least 30 "dry fits" on each before I was happy with the result :
 

 

 

 
  Danny

Yeah Greg - although as I mentioned before they are all different .
 
Maury - I'm using the Byrnes Saw instead of the Mill.
 
Using the Timberhead Jig
 
Before the questions are asked about how I use the Timberhead Jig - here's how.
 
1. I file the two inboard and outboard tapers using the wide slot :
 

 

 
2. I transfer the piece to the narrow slot and file the fore and aft tapers :
 

 

 
3. I cut the shoulders for the moldings using a sharp flat Xacto chisel :
 

 
4. The shoulders are rounded off with a needle file :
 

 
5. Using the jig I cut the top of the lower step all around on the Byrnes table saw :
 

 
6. I cut the piece to length :
 

 
7. Using the chisel I cut the lower step to size :
 

 
8. Finally I round off the corners of the step to fit the oval hole cut through the planksheer :
 

 
  Danny

Thank you Mark, Grant, TJ, Tony, Bill and Elmer .
 
I've made all 10 Hances. I've used a simplified design eliminating the fancier rolled scrolls on most of them - they were hard enough to carve out the way I've done them   .
 
The upper ones on the forecastle and quarterdeck have been scarfed out to fit to the planksheers :
 

 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Thanks Druxey, actually it was quite easy. The hardest parts were shaping the molding around the end return and the small notch above the rudder hinge. Cutting the bevel only took one go (I must be getting better at doing things like that "by eye" ).
 
Quarter Badge Stools and Munions
 
This looked like being quite a challenge, but thanks to the instructions and tips in TFFM they haven't been too difficult so far (I haven't got to the Carving part yet though   ). I'm only fitting a Badge to the Port side.
 
The first pieces to be made, which the success of the rest depend on, are the Upper and Lower Stools. These took some careful measuring and marking out to get the right angles. In fact, I had a failure with the lower stool - I didn't have enough angle from the vertical (12 degrees) the first time I glued it in and had to get the Isopropyl out and have a second go. No biggie .
 
I took the shape of the stools straight from the drawing in TFFM and cut two identical pieces. These need slightly different bevels on their inboard edges to keep the stools horizontal athwartships. Here is one stool ready for gluing in, the molding on the edge has already been scraped in :
 

 
To assist in gluing them to the correct angle I used masking tape :
 

 
The upper stool is quite a bit trickier to make than the lower one. It consists of three parts with a "bell" shaped piece in the middle. To make the centre piece I first cut out the lower portion from some thick stock, sanded the outer face to conform with the lower stool, then scraped the molding, and finally sanded the outer portion to shape on the disc sander :
 

 

 

 
The joints are cut at a 45 degree angle. I glued the three pieces together before bevelling the assembly :
 

 
To ensure both stools were perfectly parallel I used a piece of scrap with two bevels sanded into it as a spacer. The 2nd pic shows the spacer in use, but was only my 1st attempt before I realised I'd got the angle wrong :
 

 

 
Take two, after I got the angles right :
 

 
Last step to this stage, I've fitted the four Munions - more tricky angles, all done on the disc sander. The rough bit of cutting into the Sheer Strake above the bell will be covered by the Upper Finishing later on :
 

 
  Danny

I bent them cold using two pairs of small pliers. I didn't have any brass of the correct thickness, so I filed down some sheet and cut the strips with snips - quite a bit of hammer and anvil work to straighten it out (hence the "hammered" look). Also quite a bit of work with a needle file to get out the plier marks.
 
  Danny

Thanks for the compliments on the straps Piet, David and E&T.
 
 
Yeah E&T, these were considerably more difficult to make than flat ones . The previous pics didn't really show that they  also have an "S" bend that roughly follows the wooden rail below :
 

 
Doing the lateral bends was a trick, and getting Port and Starboard rails to look like mirrors of each other was a whole different ball game .
 
  Danny

I found it on Ebay. There seem to be several colours, but I don't have time to check any further at the moment.
 
The manufacturer seems to be Konrad Hornschuch AG.
 
  Danny

I found it on Ebay. There seem to be several colours, but I don't have time to check any further at the moment.
 
The manufacturer seems to be Konrad Hornschuch AG.
 
  Danny

J, if you find out what she uses let us know too . It looks like a very handy material for card modelling. Maybe send her a PM?
 
  Danny

Many thanks to Dan, he stopped me from unnecessary spending.
and even more thanks to you, Graham. For showing me where to source the timber from. Even though i live in Essex, i do drive down to portsmouth at least once a week, so i could even pop in mysef and save on postage... crap, even more spending on the horizon...
and it looks like i might need to change my ks230 for something slightly larger. It just doesnt have the mmph to do the job.
thanks boys for the quick answers.

Why not fill and paint below the waterline with "Anti-fouling" Off- White or Black ? That would remove the bulk of the bumps . I don't know if that was historically accurate back in the late 1400's, but that may not be a concern for you. You could certainly use Acrylic for that.
 
Another option is to fill it and sand smooth. then use "timber" foil like Doris uses on her models. See THIS LINK.
 
  Danny

Hi jct,
What I was thinking I might do is to score the lines of the planking, which should make the piece conform a little better. It would need a light wash of paint to kill the white of the paper that would show through afterwards. I actually use paint washes pretty heavily on my HMS Alert, keeping them really thin. That worked for the most part, though I fully painted the lower hull.
 
When you turn your model over, I expect the issues you were having with the lower hull won't be so prominent. Also, something I learned with the Alert was that as soon as you put paint down on the model, it looks better, overall, if everything has a thin wash of paint on it. Evens out the look.

Not really Pav. It's too soft to hold sharp edges, and the grain and colour are nothing to get excited about. It would be OK if you don't actually see any of the framing.
 
  Danny

Have you done any more work on SD14 lately Kevin? I'm looking forward to an update.
 
  Danny

The Rigging is all finished, it only took about 3 hours .




 
The last thing to be fitted is the one I usually try to leave to the end - the Ensign, or whatever the Japanese equivalent is . I just noticed that the railing at the stern is bent, good thing I took this pic or I may have missed it :

 
And here are a couple of pics of the finished ship. I'll be putting more into the Gallery :



 
Total time to build was exactly 3 months, about 6 months less than I was expecting it to take . Next up will be Bismarck, starting tomorrow.
 
  Danny

Thanks Kevin. Not in this lifetime I think .
 
I've been busy making and fitting some of the smaller deck pieces. Here's the Aft Deck at the moment :

 
I have no idea what this structure is (something to do with the Anchor Chains?). This part of it consists a lot of small discs - I'm so glad I bought those punches :


 
Most of the fore deck fittings in place, apart from those on the edges of the deck. I'll fit those after the Railings go on :

 
Speaking of Railings - I've made a start. A bit of paint touch-up will be done when they are all on :


 
  Danny

Thanks Carl and Pat. Yeah, I'm getting the hang of working with paper . I now have the confidence to tackle the Bismarck, which I'll start in about another week or so when I've finished Amatsukaze .
 
Here are a couple of pics of the fitted Main Mast :


 
There is another large Winch on the aft deck. This one has 25 parts, but is quite a bit bigger than the Windlass. A pic of the Supports under construction, and another of the rest of the parts :


 
The winch finished and fitted to the deck :




 
  Danny

Sorry Carl, here it is - at the tip of my (blunted) Xacto knife :
 

 
  Danny