Craigie65

Again, thank you so much for all of your kind comments, they do mean a lot to me, and helps reaffirm my enthusiasm for the hobby. I know that my products and business live or die based mostly on word of mouth, they are very low volume compared to the main players, as it takes much longer to produce each kit, and the pear is not as plentiful as standard kit wood, always having to order 2-3 months in advance for the quantities I need.
 
Anyway, another thing I forgot to mention is that I have produced a few sets specifically for 18-gun brigs, and only because at some point, I shall produce my own 18 gun brig. I have a set of armament, 16 x 32 pounder carronades (1795-1815), with laser cut pear carriages, 3-d printed barrel and carriage wheels (like on Indy, Grecian and Trial Cutter), and 2 x 6 pounder long guns (Blomfield). No etch to go with them, but I could include the small copper eyelets. If there's any interest in this set, let me know.
 
I added a 32nd scale cannon crew set to the product list, as I do plan to produce a cannon diorama at some point.
 
Finally, Midwest Model Shop emailed me late last night, with a link wo a first impressions review of our diminutive Saucy Jack (Not sponsered by me, he ordered and paid full price just like anyone else - I didn't even know he was doing this until be sent the link):
 
 
 

Post One hundred and Four
 
Gangways
The sub-deck pieces slot neatly atop the skid beams held in position by the bulwark lugs.

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Separating the deck sections made it necessary for me to add a support beam at the forward end to support the joint against the Foc’sle breast beam.
 
It struck me that on the plans there are no butt joints to the planking. The length of the Gangway is some 41’ which would suggest that some butt ends would be required.
 
The planks would be fixed to the beams which are unevenly spaced across the waist with spaces of: 2@50mm 2@30mm, and 2@ 35mm. which makes it a little more difficult to work out a repeat pattern, but there are only six strakes.
With an open sided gangway it is obvious if a butt join has nothing to support it beneath.

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I worked a system using scale planks of around 28’ maximum to utilise the available fixing points.
I started with the innermost strake and worked towards outboard with a final spiled plank at the bulwark.
 
This completes the Indy planking on my version.

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I have to say that the Castello Boxwood supplied by Vahur at Hobbymill EU was a pleasure to use, excellent quality.
Movin’ on.
 
B.E.
06/11/2023
 

Spent the week making up all the yards. Not rigged yet as they have to be painted first. There are some differences from other yards I have done. In this the fore and main topsail yard have a different central configuration compared to the mains.
 
Pre spray painting. Note I use tape instead of the cardboard as I never get the cardboard correct. The tape sprays up nicely. Unfortunately I was short 2 8mm dowels in the kit but luckily I had spare dowels in the shipyard.
 



After Painting mizzen
 

 
Main

Fore and spritsail
 

 
 
Next week will be gigging the yards.

 

Cheers guys
 
Of course, I cannot please everyone all the time, and will always have someone not happy. Here is a snippet of an email I received earlier this week:

"I have now decided on the Sphinx kit and the kit was delivered today from a German dealer. I have to be honest but very surprised that the cannons are included in the kit in plastic. For a kit that costs 1000, - €, this is really not acceptable. Is this how the kit is delivered by you? Also, the anchors in plastic do not correspond to the otherwise flawless level of the kit."
 
Well, I did initially offer metal cannon and anchors for Alert. The problem was that the cannon were actually oval in shape, and the monogram just a blob, and the anchor was rectangular in profile, rather than square, plus the hole for the ring was no longer a hole, and both had mismatch. Also, the octagonal winch for the Alert shrunk so much, it no longer fitted, plus that too was 'squashed'. I threw the whole lot away and initially went for cast resin, followed by 3-d printed resin. I guess the customer thinks that 'plastic' is a cheap and quick way to rip off the customer, rather than a new technology to more accurately represent the original parts, with zero shrinkage, no mismatch, and every hole perfect. The 9-Pounder cannon for Sphinx takes 3.5 hours to 3-d print 5 kits worth. In that same time, 100 kits worth can be produced if cast. Same applies to the stern decoration, which takes 7 hours to 3-d print, and you keep all the definition that is on the master file, rather than a blob of metal that wouldn't even pass muster for a children’s Clair's Accessories shop.
 
On a personal note, I really have never cared too much about the material used for parts, as long as the end result looks right.
 
I did originally sub contract the cast and 3-d printed resin parts, which was far from cheap. For example, a single 32 pounder cannon barrel cost 1 Euro. I think some do not differentiate between high volume injection moulded plastic and much lower volume cast or 3-d printed resin. 
 
 

Cheers guys, your comments are really appreciated!
 
I remember my wife saying, when Alert was almost ready for release (our first kit), 'Just buy enough stuff for 20 kits, that should be more than enough for now'. Since then, she has been packing kits almost daily, whilst still holding down a full time job!
 
Oh, forgot to mention, I had a fresh delivery of AK paints this week. I ordered much more of the ochre, red, black, blue and off-white, so I will soon be able to offer these as separates, rather than having to have them in a set.
 
Regarding blocks, I would very much like to continue offering the fantastic machined pear blocks. However, right now, the UK has sanctions with the country I buy them from, so if caught, I could lose my entire business. So the stock I have will be the last for a good while, I think. I have tried other avenues, but nothing concrete. It was even suggested that I laser cut my own. 

However, I can think of few things more tedious than making your own blocks and deadeyes, trying to glue the three layers together, and then sand to round off - and to have to do this many hundreds of times. I figured that if I baulk at the thought of having to do that, then the majority of my customers would feel the same. I like to try and make the building of these models as painless as I can – asking the customer to make their own blocks from tiny laser cut parts (Which would take an age to laser cut anyway) would be akin to a swift kick in the shin with a size 12 steel toecap boot!

So for the time being, I will only be able to offer the standard blocks, which, in all honesty, the majority of customers have anyway.
 

But if I did that, overheads would increase greatly, and prices would have to rise accordingly, and some moan now that prices are already high (but they really are not, not for what you get, I have said before, my profit margins are not nearly as wide as other manufacturers, but I can live with that due to low overheads plus laser cutting the parts myself)
 
Trying to keep on top of everything can be quite the balancing act at times, though, from making sure I have enough cannon balls (crazy expensive, but so perfect for the job) and special masking tape for keeping thin sheets flat when laser cutting, to keeping an eye on photo etch sheet stock, dowel, blocks/deadeyes, thread, materials etc. If I run short of just one little thing, then I have to put the kit out of stock.. All good fun, though!
 
 

Forecastle Inner Bulwarks
The eyebolts have been added to the forecastle gunports. When looking at the build manual and plan sheets there are some additional items to be added to the bulwarks, such as belay pin racks and cavels.
 
The various parts were located and painted ready prior to installation. The cavels bottom edge did a slight adjustment so it was fitting flat to the deck.

 
Belay pin racks
I do need to clean this area from all the accumulated dust.

Cavels

Evening all, thanks you for the likes and comments.  Progress update, the first planking is complete, but not without a "whoops" - I dropped the model whilst sanding it and managed to break off the stem and stern pattern which disintegrates into five pieces.  After much colourful language the damage has been repaired - good job this is all painted below the wale!  😣
 
Next glued on the stern post assembly, keel and stem.  I used scraps of wood to align the sliding keel slots and keep them free of glue.  I'm now looking at the second planking and also, as a change whilst waiting on the repairs to glue I have made a start on the Cannon/Carronade assemblies.

Thanks everyone for the likes and for following the log.
 
As a further feature at the stern, I decided to add a rudder coat. After a lot of trial and error, I made the horseshoe band that holds the coat on the stern counter out of 0.5mm styrene painted iron grey. The coat was cut from an old cotton duvet cover, again getting the shape involved some trial and error but these are what I cam up with.

The coat was cut oversized and trimmed to fit when glued to the horseshoe. Sorry the photo is out of focus

Painted brown and glued to the counter and rudder

I don’t know whether this is correct shape but it seemed sensible to also have a coat for the tiller opening and I cut it to match the hexagonal opening.

The tiller is only dry fitted at this stage.
 
The bow knee and stern knees required some shaping and chamfering to fit to the bulwarks.
In order to set the height of the bow knee, it is necessary to prepare the cut-out for the bowsprit. Using a piece of scrap 6mm dowel and the brass pe bowsprit ring (PE5), the position is marked. I drilled 0.5mm holes around the circumference and then cut and finally filed the hole to shape. The Bowsprit knee can then be glued into position without fouling the bowsprit.

All the eyebolts have been fitted. I used some 0.75mm ones that I had rather than the flat brass pe ones provided. The relieving tackles are made up as ring bolts. I have not added the breeching tackle ring bolts as I plan to partially rig the guns and fitting the breeching tackle ringbolts to the breeching ropes first makes it easier to fix them to the bulwarks.

This marks the end of another stage of the build and it’s now time to move on to the guns and deck fittings.
 
Thanks for looking in
David

Masts rigged, next step, making the yards then rigging them.
 

Standing rigging I think now complete. No big issues, but it’s certainly been more complex than the Vanguard fishers, albeit only harder than Alert in that there’s more of her having two masts not one. 
 
The gaffs and boom are just held on by parrel beads and are not in their final positions. 

She’s not an easy model to photograph well in her entirety without a photo bay with white background given the height of the masts and lengths of bowsprit and boom. So apologies for the not great photos below. 

There’s a lot of lines going to the bowsprit, but the Vanguard plans are incredibly clear and split these out superbly across a couple of plan sheets. Aided by Jim H’s excellent build log photos of Grecian. 
 
Phil thanks for the advice on gammoning, that worked a treat. 

With Alert. 

Running rigging and foremast spars still to be added. Anchors I’ll fit last. No decision on the ship’s boat yet, I need to do more work on it before deciding. 
 
Thanks for all the likes and encouragement. She’s a great kit and I thoroughly recommend her to other builders - surprised I’m the only Grecian build log on MSW other than Jim’s prototype. 

Post One Hundred
 
QD planking cont’d
I next fit the Margin planks using 6mm x 1mm Box. This covers the rough edges where the bulkhead tops still show.
Fortunately, the curve is soft enough to allow an edge bend even with timber this broad.
For the remaining planks I followed the etched design on the sub-deck as far as possible. This involves a degree of taper as the strakes run aft.
Three days works sees the completion, and I’m  fairly content with the result.

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Still work to do, deck scraping and tidying up before the inner bulwarks are fitted.
 
At this stage clearing dust and debris from the Upper deck is a constant issue.
At least with this amount of open space, I can get to remove it.
 
B.E.
28/10/2023

Good work David, the additional effort with the rudder is a nice touch.

Thanks very much for all the likes comments and encouragement.
I am enjoying building this little model which although quite simple on the face of it is throwing up enough challenges to make it interesting and worthwhile.
 
Continuing with the fitting out of the basic hull adding the side counter timbers, steps and rudder.
 
The side counter timbers require some sanding of the back to make them run smoothly against the main wales.

There are four outer steps each side to be fitted. Three are positioned by the engravings on the outer bulwark patterns but the lowest is positioned just below the top of the main wale. I used tape to mark the left hand edge and the bottom edge of the lower part of the step. I also scraped back the paint on the wale to give better adhesion of the pva.

Still the top step to add.

The rudder is made up of a plain core and two outer engraved patterns which are glued together. I wanted to give a more authentic shape to the rudder which meant tapering it below the hanse to about 2mm on the lower edge. The core was thinned on both sides and the outer patterns on the inside. Bringing the lower edge to 2mm would have meant reducing the core to nearly zero at its lower edge which would have made it too delicate. I compromised on a final overall thickness of 2.3mm The forward edge (against the sternpost) is also chamfered to allow the rudder to move freely.


The pintle straps are separate brass PE for each side. The hinge stems and strap above the waterline were blackened rather than painted. Although the hinge stems are flat PE brass, once glued in and the rudder is fixed, I thought they looked OK. Others may wish to scratch them from brass or styrene tube.

Of course having shaped the rudder meant that I needed to go back and shape the stern and stern post to give it the same taper as the rudder. A few hours stripping the paint back, sanding the stern, refixing the brass straps and repainting and the job was done.


I'm continuing work on the hull having added the swivel gun posts, which will be followed by the timberheads, tiller and catheads.
 
David
 

In todays build log post I have detailed the method I used to assembly the ship's steps and the channels.
 
Indy's Steps Assembly
There are 10 steps required per side and each step comprises two 0.6mm pear wood pieces which have be assembled at right angles to each other. As these are quite small and fiddly pieces I decided to make a simple jig to assist me with the assembly process. I glued two small lengths of scrap planking material to a wooden base, as indicated by the blue arrow in the photo below. A second length of planking material (yellow arrow) is not glued and will be used as brace.

Once the laser char had been removed wood glue is added to the lower part of the back section before it is positioned in the jig, as shown below.

The other step part is then slowly pushed into position using the brace and is adjusted left / right as necessary. Once the parts are properly aligned pressure is applied to the brace for a few seconds. The brace can then be removed so the step can be gently eased out and left to cure.

It was a fairly quick process to produce the first 10 steps.

Channel Assembly
There are 5 channel assemblies required per side and each channel comprises three wooden parts, one is the central section and the other two are slightly smaller and to be glued either side of the central piece. It is essential that these parts are correctly aligned so the various iron work parts can be added, such as the strops and eyebolts.
 
A layer of wood glue is applied to one side of the central channel section and using some old broken micro drill bits, located in the holes the first two parts are aligned.

Glue was then quickly applied to the other side of the central section and the remaining part was positioned, once again using the drill bits as a guide.

It was then a case of adding clamps to the assembly.

Once the glue had been given time to cure, the clamps were removed. The locating pins (were added (but not glued at this stage) so a test fit of the channels could be made.

 
 

Well the weekend was productive for the first planking and I now have eight planks on per side, hoping to get the first planking done this week and the hull sanded for starting to plan out the second planking over the weekend coming.
 
The amount of bending to get the planks around the bow was quite a lot and even with this I was still getting a bit of plank twist so had to go back for more bending, slowly learning to let the 'feel' of the plank tension/bending guide me to how much more I need to do - I might get the hang of it by the last plank and then no doubt promptly forget it all when I come to my next project. 😆
 
Thanks all for following along, the likes and comments. 😁

Thanks all for following and for the likes.
 
The inner bulwark pieces were painted with Admiralty Red Ochre before gluing in position. Likewise with the spirketting.
A bit of filing of the gun ports and sweep ports was required to get the edges smooth and level and then they were painted red. The top edges of the bulwarks were also sanded and then checked to make sure that they were level from side to side. The pre-painted spirketting was then fixed in place with pva.
 

The stern panel fitted perfectly but the engraved platform panel needed a fair bit of sanding of the edges to get a snug fit. A couple of coats of dilute matt varnish were then applied.


 
Next up the main wales. These were also painted first with Tamiya XF-1 matt black before fixing with ca gel. The engraved joints and tree nails are barely visible after painting even though I cut the joints a little deeper and wider before painting. But that’s probably as it should be.

Next the engraved upper rail area was painted black after masking off the outer bulwark.
 


 
The stern panels were next.
I sanded the face of the transom (part 83) to give it more of a curved appearance and then chamfered the bottom edge to obtain a smooth fit with the edge of the counter. Be careful with the posts on the transom; they are quite delicate as I found out.
The ports required only a small amount of work to make the edges flush. They were then painted red ochre. Finally the lower counter rails and transom framing were added. The rails needed some trimming and I also wet them out and curved them at the extreme ends to make a better fit against the hull . Frame and rails were fixed in place with pva. A couple of coats of matt varnish are yet to be added.

I had to check but the transom frame is centrally placed even if the angle the photo was taken makes it look otherwise.
 
There is still a lot more detail to be added before the outer hull is completed with the gunwales to be added next.
 
Thanks for looking in
David

good evening everyone
 
i have been reminded its a build log and not a cocker Spaniel Facebook page, so on with the build
 
build log day 235-14 main lower shrouds
 
i put in some deck fittings and hand rails and started the main shrouds yesterday, hoping to get the deadeyes all laced up tidy in the next couple days
 

Thanks all for your likes and comments, finally back in the saddle!  The house all back to normal and the garage (my workshop) is cleared out, so after a restful holiday in North Norfolk last week (yes I did go for dinner at "The Lord Nelson" Inn at Burnham Thorpe, but it was too dark after that to go see his birthplace plaque) - we are back to the Trial! 😁
 
First planking commences and I am taking this opportunity to improve my planking skills by trying to line-out the bulkheads and work out plank widths in advance, as per the tutorials by Chuck and others on MSW/NRG.  I marked out some plank widths and tested them along the middle bulkheads and then tried to set out three bands using thin flexible tape.  This took ages, lots of squinting at the hull from various angles and repositioning the tape.  The Admiral thought I was going mad! 🤓  Anyway a couple of evenings later and I settled on the bands and started setting out the planking.  Pen marks for the band boundaries and pencil marks for the intermediate planks.  First planks are on, I did start bending and thinning the planks a little from the start and I am going to try and do one plank per. side  as I go to try and keep them even on each side.
 
I know this is the first planking and all will be hidden, but if I practice on this layer, hopefully the second planking will be better and one day I might dare to do a single layer hull! 😱
 
With the rubbish weather forecast for the next few days, I hope to get some planking done and get some momentum going on this build at last!

Well, back after a week of visiting my mother on the occasion of her 91st birthday.  Am building the mast lower sections first then upper. Previously I would build each entire mast but as these require painting and bindings I decided to do a bit more assembly line manner. I used tape instead of the black cardboard as I always mess the cardboard up and the tape sticks better. As the tape will be painted, color not an issue. I also added nail head as there are markings for bolts but the plan does not specify. I think it dresses the top up .

Grecian is a really fun kit, very straightforward to build, but she’s going to take up a lot of room. 
 
I’ve put together a table based on the dimensions of the kits on Vanguard’s website. The measurements are at the widest / longest / highest part so would be the absolute minimum dimensions for the kit to fit within a rectangular case with no additional space around it. 
Grecian is longer than Sphinx and the overall volume of a case only marginally less than Sphinx which is a much more complex build and the one I’m aiming for eventually.
 
Grecian’s volume is roughly double that needed for Alert or Speedy, the latter being surprisingly small.
 
I think that the height measurement for Trial is wrong on the website, in the photos she looks taller than the larger fishing boats but Chris’s height measurement says 285mm. I suspect her correct height should be 385mm which makes her volume 68k cm cubed so just between Speedy and Duchess of K. 
 
Ranger is my next build. After that I’ll tackle my first square rigger. That will almost certainly be the new version of Speedy. I did debate Speedy vs DoK, but DoK is much smaller than Speedy and has the rigging of three not two masts to fit in. I think too soon for me to tackle such a lot of rigging on such a small ship.

Not had enough time shipbuilding recently, so just a few photos. To break up the monotony of ratlines I added the upper shrouds, futtock shrouds and backstays to the foremast before starting ratlines on the main mast. 

Gradual progress on the ship's boats.

Beautiful!

Beautiful!