jim_smits

#50: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 5:16 pm — You're the captain so you can do what you want, but I don't think these ships would have had a figurehead, just the scroll detail on the bow. #51: Author: drtrap, Location: Greece PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 8:11 pm — ...so, have you used rods of 3 mm or 4 mm in diameter for that purpose? Thanks again. #52: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:32 pm — I used a 2.5mm diameter rod to mount the ship as I wanted to retain a reasonable keel thickness around the rod so no weakness was introduced. #53: Author: drtrap, Location: Greece PostPosted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:42 am — I'll try to use the 3 mm rod with no complications, I hope #54: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:33 pm — Hi all, Not a huge amount of progress over the weekend, but I have now finished the main paintwork on the hull. Decided to spend time refilling the inner bulwark planking as there were a few gaps highlighted after painting in red. Looks far better now. Pictures to follow when I get back home tonight. Started on the decking work in a 13524 pattern. Probably about 20% finished by area, but reckon finishing off round the dges will take a while to ensure a good fit to the inner planking. Started thinking about extras, and decided I would probably like to add a couple of ships boats, whether hung from cleats or lashed to the deck. Not decided yet. I noticed that Caldercraft do some boat kits, but these come with a resin hull. Has anyone had experience with these kits? Any good? #55: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:38 pm — Jim, I've been looking at boats as well, since the one in my kit is horrible. The main problem is to get a boat at the right scale. Don't jump at a 'nice looking' one. I'm considering to make one from scratch, when I find the time. Carl #56: Author: davyboy, Location: Binningen. PostPosted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 9:07 pm — Hi Jim, The caldercraft boat kits are ok. I bought one of their launches for my model adding a windlass,stern davit,breasthook and knees. Also made a mast,bowsprit,gaff and boom. Got the info in the AOTS Diana ships boats part. The hull is very smooth and needs a light sanding (I used 240 grit) to ensure that the adhesive (I used CA) can get a good hold. Dave. #57: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Wed Jan 30, 2013 12:23 pm — Cheers guys. I've found a jolly boat kit which under the kit description is suitable for HMS Snake for about £15, so I think I will buy that as a tester and the buy an additional pinnacle if it works out. Decking continuing to proceed, got about 60% coverage now. Didnt get round to posting pictures lat night. Might be able to squeeze them in tonight.

#40: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 4:49 pm — Its very wise to get the wales in the correct possition as you will encounter problems like I did with the chain plates, I was about 2 to 3 mm out and I had to loose some slack otherwise they wouldnt terminate on the wale. I think I put my deck in before the inner bulwarks easier as the bulwark will help hide any slight gaps. #41: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:14 pm — As I am rapidly approaching the point where I will adding detail to my Snake, I am trying to find some background information on the class of ship and extra plans. Got to admit I am struggling a bit other than the Snake appears to be a three masted sloop-of-war? Any fonts of info that other snake builders have found? Presumably other a superficially similarity to the Cruizer class, there are general differences? Cheers guys! #42: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2013 4:05 pm — Try Wikipedia - shows the history of the Cruizer class, each ship which is somewhat interesting. Also, try the NMM site - its interesting to look through to see what they have, its not easy to search - try the link below, and then needs bit of searching. Let me know if you find anything interesting! (There are plans of HMS Gannet/Bellete which I'm going to use to make changes to deck layout. http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections.html#!csearch;searchTerm=cruizer Main thing to remember, the ships would have gone through a lot of changes, especially the ones with longer service history, so there is very little to show what the ship did or didn't have. One interesting example is HMS Pelorus, she was initially brig rigged, and then extra mast added to be ship rigged, and then returned to be brig rigged - guess it shows the flexibility of how these ships could be altered. #43: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:31 pm — Made some good progress over the last few days. Constructed a temporary base to stand the ship on using some spare wood and brass tubing which inserts into two holes drilled into the keel. Should help to protect coppering once I get to that point. Once I had finished the gun and oarports I painted the inner bulwarks. Next I have managed to mark up the waterline using a precision engineered piece of equipment. Also known as a coke can with two holes drilled to the right height and ballast added using kitchen towels and water. Worked quite nicely I thought! Once the waterlines were marked I added thin strips of plastic to provide a point to copper up to, a la many previous builds. #44: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Wed Jan 23, 2013 11:39 pm — More progress from tonight. Painting the outer hull in Nelson Chequer style. Base coats of black and yellow ochre from Admiralty used to get rough scheme. Port side has then been marked up tamiya tape and the fine lines painted in. Got a bit of seepage when painting above the main wale, so had to spend time touching up. The upper black band, however, went on far cleaner. Very happy with the result. Just need to do the starboard side and then I think a coat of varnish. Again considering next steps. Will need to touch up the gunports painting first off. I think after that I will start the decking process. #45: Author: drtrap, Location: Greece PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:52 pm — Hi Jim, Nice waterline! I would like to ask you, did you create the two holes of the keel (for the brass insertion) before the keel's assembly or at a later stage? Thanks Stergios #46: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 2:52 pm — Excellent progress Jim, looking very nice indeed. I've found that pictures can really distort the colours, which product and colours did you use, and would you recommend them? I used the Admiralty acrylic paints that definitely took a bit of getting used to, but do give nice finish once you get used to them. #47: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:00 pm — Hi, I drilled the holes for the brass rods very recently after all the second planking had been completed. I measured up the required height of the two points of the keel to give a horizontal waterline, cut brass rods to length and then drilled 10mm depth. First drilled with 1mm bit to tap the hole and then 2.5mm to the required depth. #48: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:03 pm — I used the Admiralty Snake paint set myself as well. I found the paint to be fine, as it basically the same stuff as Citadel Paints sold by Games Workshop when I did tabletop gaming and modelling in my youth. Anything you found problematic? #49: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 4:14 pm — Quick query. I've not found much further information on the Snake but I was thinking of adding a figurehead for the ship. Managed to find a small brass hood cobra ornament on eBay. http://bit.ly/149klFd Thoughts?

#30: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 1:59 pm — Jim, you are really cracking on, second planking looks wonderful! The answer on the varnish may depend on the paint you plan to use. I am using the Admiralty acrylics, which I'm finding definitely require at least a few coats to get decent coverage, but using on the bare wood. (I varnished below the waterline where the coppering will go, and was a little careless in places and I've found that I've had to spend a lot of time getting the coverage I want - I think enamel paints would probably eliminate that problem) I took the approach you did to measure from the bottom of the gunports to locate the wales. One thing to bear in mind, you will need to install a gunport sill for the carronades which I think s 1.5mm thick. I didn't account for this so not sure whether I will encounter problems or not. By this stage, I had realised that the plans are really not that exact so some personal judgement is needed. Keep up the good work, hopefully you'll be ahead of me soon so I can follow you! #31: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:23 pm — I found it easier not to fully plank over the gunports but to just overlap each slightly giving sufficient to trim back it gives less work and makes finding the edges much easier. #32: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 3:55 pm — Slightly random question at this juncture but it popped into my head. Do the deadeyes, tackle blocks etc require varnishing? #33: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2013 9:38 pm — Never varnished any of mine in 3 models todate, the deadeyes are usually very well finished almost an ebony finish. #34: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 7:27 pm — Hello all! Second planking pretty much finished! Just want to touch up a couple of places, a little extra filler here and there to get a smooth finish where there are a couple of small gaps between planks. The gunports and oarports were a bit of a pain in the butt and I will be planking inner bulwark in pieces upto edges of ports. Onto main wales soon! Assembled some of the deadeyes and chain plates in order to test the position of the wale before permanently fixing in place. #35: Author: drtrap, Location: Greece PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:02 pm — Welcome to the "Snakers" !! #36: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 10:32 pm — Jim, Wonderfull hull, very nice finish so far. It is almost a sin to have it coppered. I didn't know she had sweeps! Cheers, Carl #37: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 11:11 pm — Looking good there #38: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Fri Jan 18, 2013 10:31 am — Quick report: First main wale attached. Spent a long time checking position with regards chain plate positioning. Eventually built a little measuring jig that slips over the bulwark and simulates the chain plate length. Also checking against bow cheek and bow fittings. Really fiddly stuff! Other main wale tonight hopefully. Pictures to follow this evening. #39: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 12:16 pm — Bit more progress last night and this morning. Both main wales are now attached. and I have now planked the inner bulwarks. I just need to tidy up the gunports and the oarports now. Very painful process as it seems to take forever, trying not to split and splinter the planking. Tomorrow, I will take a while to look at the next few steps and decide how I am going to proceed. I have some brass tubing on order, so as soon as that arrives I will construct a temporary base to stand the ship on, in order to protect the coppering once that is commenced.

#20: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:41 pm — Try looking at my build from pages 4/5, it maps my progress on the stern in my build oof the Snake. Good luck in your build Jim you have made a good start. http://modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7855&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=40 #21: Author: mort stoll, Location: South Nyack, NY PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 8:41 pm — Hi Jim, Nice job on the first planking. I would plank the stern areas - parts 13,55 and 104 - first and then plank the hull. That is what I plan on doing. As of now I am about 2/3 through my first planking. Jason raises a great point concerning the stern areas and how the parts were mounted. Mort #22: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:07 pm — Hi all, Here are the latest images #23: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 11:48 pm — Jim, Sorry for highjacking your log, but I took this picture to show the planking on my build, forgive the picture quality. Believe me, there was a lot of head scratching! You can also see how I terminated the wales at the stern and the planking on the stern fascia. Keep up the good work! Last edited by beefwellington on Fri Jan 04, 2013 3:46 pm; edited 1 time in total #24: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:04 am — Jim, She is looking good. Job well done so far. Seamonster ... thought it was you Laughing it does give an extra touch Cheers, Carl #25: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:34 am — Thanks for the links and images guys. I have now planked the stern area, and some dry fits of the hull planking look pretty good. Now onto second planking with gusto now then....! #26: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 9:30 am — Yesterdays progress: Second planking is really coming on now. Planked the stern and now progressing on planking the starboard side. The experience gained in the first planking is really paying off this time around! #27: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2013 10:35 pm — Hello all, Managed to complete second planking on starboard side! Added walnut filler and sanded back down. Just increasing the grade of the sandpaper until a nice smooth finish now. And then onto the port side....! #28: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:30 am — Jim, Starboard side is looking real smooth. Very well done indeed. Carl #29: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Tue Jan 08, 2013 12:51 pm — I am now rapidly approaching the end of the second planking (although I imagine cutting out the gunports will take forever!) and I had a couple of questions. Firstly, once the second planking is complete and the wale added, is it best to varnish (matt acrylic) the entire hull and then paint? Secondly is there any surefire way of fitting the wale correctly? The only way I can see is measuring from the bottom of the gunports on the side plan and using the measurement to mark out the model. I want to get this spot on as I have noticed some had issues as a result of incorrect fitting. Cheers in advance guys!

#10: Author: mort stoll, Location: South Nyack, NY PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:54 pm — Hi Jim, I too am building the Snake. I just finished gluing the deck to the keel and frame pieces and will follow your build as I am following the other Snake builds with great interest.. Mort #11: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:56 am — Build update. The deck is now glued onto the keel and bulkheads. Spent most of yesterday bevelling the bulkheads and the bearding line. I suspected it was slightly lopsided, which was confirmed when I attached the walnut keel and rudder post. Suspect I will just have to sand one side more heavily to get a proper fit once planking has been completed. Have got the bulwarks clamped in place gradually shaping them to the hull. Taking a gradual approach so that they will be as close to the hull shape as possible by the time I come to glue them on. It seems to me that the attachment area (once bulkhead extensions are off) is very small indeed. Do the two layers of planking give it more strength? #12: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:10 pm — I found there to be a only very small area on each bulkhead where the gunport ply could be glued, especially if you make sure that the bottom of the gunports will be the appropriate hight from the deck after allowing for the main deck planking. I found that once it was securely glued to the bow and the stern fascia it was strong enough to handle with care. I didn't put any glue on the bulkhead extensions and in many places found them of questionable structural support in some areas (I used the capping rails to assist in the shaping of the gunport ply knwoing these would need to be attached). I found that once the first and second layers of planking are on, its certainly structurally sound. I would definitely echo Carl's advice to read well ahead #13: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 8:20 pm — The hull takes on incrediable stength once double planked, light and very strong, remember to overlap the 1st planking with the walnut for strength and it alson helps cover any gaps. #14: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 5:25 pm — Hi all, Been a little gap since the last post. Hope everyone has had a great Christmas and New Year. I have now completed my first planking. Bit of a learning curve but I think I am getting the hang of it. Just need to do some more sanding and filling and I think I will be ready to move onto second planking. #15: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:07 pm — Jim, Best wishes to you and yours too. I see you have been at it, and I must say nice job on the innner planking. Looks already quite smooth. Cheers, Carl #16: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:04 pm — Looking good keep up the good work, dont worry the first planking looks like it will clean up nicely. #17: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:10 am — Nice work Jim, very clean. I'm sure you appreciate the milestone. It was a big relief for me to get the first planking completed. Look forward to more updates. #18: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 1:27 pm — Right, started on the second planking now. Rabbet lines have been touched up and the bearding sanded back down to accept the second planks. Garbord planks are now in place and I have added five planks onto one of the bulwarks, almost down to the bottom of the stern facia. Now find myself debating as to what order to proceed. Do I plank the stern areas with the 3mm planking and sand back to accept the main planking? Just a little difficult to visualise at the moment. Has anyone got any decent images of the stern area during their second planking? Cheers! #19: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:38 pm — Jim, unfortunately I don't have any photos. I started with the stern planks first, and I also planked the stern fascia (inside and out) to make the stern the same thickness as the main bulwarks. I simply sanded these flush before laying the main fore-aft planking. Normanh and drtrap have probably some of the best pictures on their build logs. I think everyone building the Snake or Cruizer kits struggles with the rear area, and it can turn out differently depending on exactly how the frames and the false ply gunport strip were fitted. Could you share a photo of the stern and can maybe then provide some additional thoughts.

Hi, This will be my first wooden kit build and being reasonably ambitious I have opted for HMS Snake by Caldercraft as it looks to be a good challenge without being daunting. Received the HMS Snake the other day from Cornwall Model Boats, despite UPS best efforts to ensure I didnt. As I was out during the day, they delivered it to a 'Neighbour', who turned out to be 8 doors down from me. This was after they didnt leave a card to say where they had left it. Cue calls to UPS customer service..... Anyway, had the day off work today so, spent the the day going through the contents to check all was there and have had a good look through the instructions! Have commenced removing Keel and Bulkheads from the sprues. More to follow tomorrow hopefully. Jim #2: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:14 pm — Welcome to the site Jim - as a first wooden model the Snake will be a challenge but dont let that put you off the kit makes a might fine model and there are a good few current builds in progress currently. Plan well and dont be affraid to ask questions in your post. She was my third build and still a challenge. #3: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:13 pm — Work so far today. Completed removing the bulkheads. Initial dry fitting of the bulkheads was a little worrying as they were slightly loose and therefore getting them all squared off seemed to be a potential issue. Decided to remove the Main Deck and this has been very useful in acting as a template to square the bulkheads. I plan on glueing bulkheads in place with the main deck ensuring that they are fitted correctly. #4: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:08 pm — Using the main deck is an invaluable guide to llining up the frames, a few people on here suggested clamping a Lego brick to the frame and bulkhead - a perfect position is the gained between the two. Something ! will try in my next wooden ship build #5: Author: jim_smits, Location: Bristol PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:01 pm — Cheers Norman, yes the main deck proved very useful! I have now glued in place the bulkheads and the mast alignment blocks. These blocks needed a little sanding to get them to fit properly such that the masts would actually slot in correctly. Spent this evening drilling guide holes to pin the deck in place. Also having a good hard look at the stern area, as there seems to be a lot of angles meeting in one place. I have been reading normanh's build log and that has proved very useful in getting my head around (hopefully!) how it all fits together. Going forward, I have a query with planking and the walnut strips used as the keel and rudder post. Once I have done the bearding and rabbet lines, should these then be glued in place or should I leave them until both first and second planking is complete and use them to cap off? Tomorrow's plan is to use my trusty dremmel to bevel the bulkheads in preparation for the bulwarks and planking. Jim #6: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:27 pm — 'Skeleton' looks good Jim, I would recomend reading ahead of what you're doing. Often you need to take into account a next step in the building process. In my kit I had to wait until I had layed the second planking. You could try and have a look or ask it here I'll certainly drop in from time to time. Cheers, Carl #7: Author: normanh, Location: Essex PostPosted: Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:46 pm — I fitted both of mine prior to planking as the false keel was tapered so thin I was worried about getting it positioned correctly, the the 1st planking as the timbers are much thicker than then walnut and you will likely have to sand that back to get the walnut flush with the stern post. #8: Author: beefwellington, Location: Simsbury, Connecticut PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 1:07 pm — Great to see another Snake build Jim, looks like you made a solid start. Like you, its my first build as well. I took the same approach as you and it seemed to work great. The issue I would keep my eye open to with the deck to is when you come to fit the gunport ply, despite bets efforts I found that the edge of the main deck ply got a slight wave in places. If I were doing it again, I would put some material under the deck edge where it will meet the gunport ply to ensure it stays in alignment, you will find that there is very little area to glue when these get attached, and that would only help. Maybe a silly quesion, how did you add the hyperlink to your buildlog in you signature - very handy feature but can't figure it out! Will be following along, all the best. #9: Author: cog, Location: Empe, Gelderland PostPosted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 8:34 pm — Beefwellington, Signature you can add in your profile: It is not that hard for someone who knows something about programming ..., but I'll try to explain the basics to you: The text you put in the signature can be plain, formated, you can put a reference to your build as a link, probably an image aswell. Well, to give you an example: Current build: Dolphyn/Corel Give it try. The that is the part which refers to your log. On the dots you put the url which you find at the top of the browser in the address bar After the closing bracket (']') you can put the text you want to show to people and finaly you close the link with the '' part. Current build: [ url=http://www.modelshipworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=21517]Dolphyn/Corel[ /url] If you want to make the text bold, en close it in b-tags like: [ b]your text[ /b] => your text I put a space after the '[' to make the tag visible. Hope this makes it more clear to you. Any questions, just send me an e-mail at c.o.gellings@gmail.com Hope this helps, Carl

Hello all! I go skiing in Germany for a week and it's all gone wrong in my absence...! It's a shame that the upgrade had a bit of a mishap but thats life. Well done to everyone who is pulling the site back together. I still have my images from the original build log and managed to find a cached text version from Jan 13. I will post the text and images to preserve the thread as well as i can. Also I have managed to find 1,2 & 3 of 5 pages of beefwellingtons snake build log in text format. Beef let me know if you are back and want the text. Anyway onto the catch up.