HIPEXEC

How do you make the cuts on the grate? With a knife or saw?

Finish trim on the main hatch. I had to curve the trim to match the arch of the deck. Made and glued on the boat chocks. Made the bow area grate. Wow...what a job. Now I have to trim it to fit.

Lookin' good!!

I couldn't do it without all your support. I look at your builds frequently to get ideas.

Main hatchway finished except for the boat cradles and brass. If it weren't for  Sjor's  tip, I'd still be fumbling around trying to build them.

My first grate!  I used a comb for a jig to get started, then I laid out the first course, then used scotch tape to hold them together and flipped it to add the last course, then used a 3x5 card to lay it on wax paper for Sjor's diluted PVA glue bath. Hooray....it worked.

Sjors, Thanks for the tip. I shall attempt to build the grates.

HELP!

Any tips how to make gratings out of these pre-cut pieces Constructo gave me? I have to make quite a few of different shapes.. I suppose a jig of sorts would help, but that would take some precision cutting tools that I do not have. Maybe some mildly sticky pads to hold the rows of pieces while I snap the top layer on? I have no idea. I just tried to put some together with no success.

More power to all of you who do that fabulous mini carpentry work. Your stuff makes me envious. I struggle to get these thing straight, level, square, etc. Here's the deck hatch I had to figure out from Constructo's very confusing drawings.

Now I see why Constructo had me plank below decks. At the time I thought it was a job never to be seen again. Wrong! Below decks are quite visible and I will build stairs to get down to them.

Wow! Your detailing is amazing! Great work.

My electrician has just installed some great new halogen lights over my workbench. Wow...what a difference!

I'm working on the deck trim and even though Constructo has finally given me three drawings and a photo of the large grated area on the main deck. I'm having a tough time figuring out exactly what to do. I'm just plunging ahead doing what I think will result in the whole structure looking like the photo. I guess if I knew what the deck structure did I'd have a better idea how to build it. 

I love my Dremel, but you have to very careful with it. It gobbles up material faster than you can comprehend it. Once the material is gone....it's gone. Good luck.

I'm enjoying your build. As for beveling....you will also have to bevel individual planks so their edges match as they round the bulkheads. Keep up the good work.

Working on the transom. Found an eagle on E-Bay..better than Constructo's. Still some work to be done to clean it up. False cannons are all glued in. Some deck trim glued in.

HMS Victory is the Mount Everest of ship modeling.

While I'm pondering my next steps, I'm mounting the cannons so I can construct and mount the gunport covers. If I put the covers on before the cannon, my fat fingers won't let me insert the cannons into the holes I'd drilled way back in November. I've also glued on the starboard bow ornament. The wooden wedges will be removed when the glue dries.

A comment about Constructo: They give you a nice kit, but the drawings and instructions are extremely lacking in many areas. I have to figure out an awful lot on my own. When I built my first kit, the instructions were much better.

You're right....I will recover.

I salvaged the starboard gallery windows, but I have no idea how I'll salvage the aft windows. I don't even want to show you them. They are a product of one of the few pre-cut pieces Constructo provides. The per-cut holes were too big, so I had to shrink the holes before installing the windows. Now I don't like the  way they look, so I'll probably tear them all out and start over. Oh well! They say model ship building is a series of error corrections. The first error we make is starting!

Port gallery windows went in fairly well. I need to work some more on the starboard windows and the aft windows have to be done over. The adornments for the entry are in.

PVA Ph neutral. It dries clear and I tested it by gluing a piece of brass to wood. It stuck like it was welded.

While waiting for the poly to cure, I put the panes in the windows.

Constructo calls for me to give my ship its first coat of poly. Constructo didn't say it in their instructions, but I could see the change in the photos, so I e-mailed Constructo and they e-mailed back to give it its first coat but to be mindful of the areas that still needed gluing. I masked the critical areas and will sand the other smaller spots when the time comes.

I'm going to enjoy watching your build.

Thanks Kevin, but it's too big. I found a dollhouse eagle that will fit with some minor cutting. I only have 1/4 inch in height to play with. They're shipping me two eagles so I can adjust them and if I screw up, I can make the second one fit. But, I keep surfing the web looking for the perfect Eagle, still. 

I can't find your build log on this site?