Craigie65

With the frames all faired and checked it is time to add the inner bulwarks. These parts do no seem to go fully into the slot as I first envisaged. Looking closely at the build manual and at other logs it seems as if the forward edge of the bulwarks barely rests inside the slot.
 
I decided to soak the forward bulwarks to put less strain on the stem as the top of the stem cracked just above the slot whilst dry fitting the bulwarks.  I will wait a few hours before glueing and pinning given the amount of swelling pear seems to have.  
 
Also took the opportunity to clamp the pre soaked counter to get the shape.
 
PS forgive the desk - it has been my office and shipyard throughout the pandemic.

I agree, that will work very well.

Don’t worry, those sails look the business. Your Nisha is going to look very fine 👍😀

OK, I have just about finished the Indefatigable stern area, and am happy with how this looks, not too austere but not too plain.
 
The PolyBak parts are not glued, but just lying in place. The columns between the lights/windows are 0.6mm pear. 

Thanks for the feedback! You’re both right, 9 is too red.
 
I’ve dyed two more based on 5 and 8 but added some yellow. The middle two are the ones with yellow added. I quite like the warmth and seemly better colour saturation I’m the yellow adds to the sails which may be more like they were in real life. 
 
The top sample is 5, the next down is 5 with 10ml golden yellow and 10 ml neon yellow added. 
 
The bottom sample is 8 and the second from bottom is 8 with 10ml golden yellow added. 
 
Think I’m graduating towards 8 too without the yellow for this build - but I may add some yellow for one of the other fishing boats.

Lots of lovely detail on these sheets. I particularly like the look of the veneer which will cover the stem.

Hi Glomar,
I use Vallejo paints.  I used the white primer under the red hull.  For the red I used Vallejo’s Mecha colour dark red.  Black and white, well…… I am sure you can work that out.  I use matt so you will need to have a gloss undercoat for the decals or they are likely to silver.  You can then spray matt over the top.  I use Vallejo’s varnish for this job.
 
Not familiar with elmers  - a US brand?  I use ronseal wood filler.  On the question of sealers and filler yes they are different.  
 
I hand brush the varnish for non painted wood - again I just use Ronseal matt varnish - it is cheaper than the model varnishes and does just as good a job.
 
It is difficult to describe how much thinner to use as it depends on the paint type you start with.  I am assuming you are going to spray?   If it is an airbrush paint such as Vallejo’s airbrush range then just a drop of the Vallejo thinner is enough. The mecha Colour below needed more as its a brush paint.   needs to be thin enough to flow but not so thin that it pools on the subject being sprayed. I use Vallejo thinner - I like to keep to the same brand.
 
I usually thin the primer too even though it says it is for airbrushes
 
Follow the painting order in the instructions - lots of good information there.

Brilliant! Made me chuckle!
 
And here is Indy next to the Speedy!

My vote is for 8 or 5. 👍

This photo gives a rough idea of the size of Indefatigable to Amati's 1:64 Victory.
 

So much choice!
thank you for posting your results.
My eye is drawn to 8, I like the slightly browner hue. 
But I think any one of the three on your shortlist will work.
 
I feel your pain on the wonky rudder, had to reattach mine three times 🙁
 

There’s not much I’ve found on MSW about dyeing sails so I’ve been testing different colour RIT dyes and mixtures. I’ve never done dyeing before so here goes - these are my results so far.
 
Unless otherwise stated all fabric swatches have been left in the dye for 20 minutes and the dye mixes are for 1 litre of water. The fabric is 100% cotton T-shirt type fabric which is much lower quality that the Vanguard linen sails. I appreciate that the colour in real life differs from a photo but they seem a pretty close representation and hopefully people will find this little guide useful. 
 
I tried some reds first based on the scarlet dye. The reds are probably too red for sails, but I’ll include them in case anyone wants very red sails. 

Dye 1 is RIT’s colour formula “Poinsetta Red”. (7ml Scarlet + 2ml lemon yellow)

Dye 2 is RIT’s colour formula “Maraschino Cherry”. (15ml scarlet + 2ml tangerine)

Dye 4 is RIT’s colour formula “Flame Red”. (15ml scarlet, 5ml golden yellow, 0.7ml sunshine orange) 
 

Dyes 1, 2 & 4 are almost identical. 

Dye 2 on Nisha - too bright won’t go with this one. 

Dye 3 is a bit different “Blazing Red”. (10ml scarlet, 10ml neon yellow, 10ml golden yellow). Whilst this colour is too bright for me, adding a lot more yellow to the mix could liven up some I’d rather dead brown colours. 

Dye 3 on Nisha. Too gaudy? Adds to colour contrast. The yellow gives it more life than the purer reds. Could consider it! 

So having decided that the red and yellow mixes are probably too bright for Nisha I experimented with some mixes of cocoa brown and red. I used cocoa brown on my Fifie which looks great but is a proper brown colour and I think too dark for Nisha. I read somewhere that the English boats had brighter coloured sails than the Scottish drifters. 

So I’ve tried some mixes of scarlet and cocoa brown. I’ve also experimented to see what the effect is from both doubling the amount of dye in the mix whilst keeping the proportion the same and also leaving the fabric in for 40 minutes rather than 20. 

My “control” for this is Dye 5 (10ml scarlet + 10ml cocoa brown - 50:50). 
 
Firstly I compare these to the Fifie sails, 100% cocoa brown. Note the much finer fabric the sails are made of which has a less obvious weave and provides a more consistent colour than the rough T-shirt cotton weave. 
Dye 5 on Nisha, definitely a contender:
 
Dye 6 is the same dye mix but the sample has been left in for 40 mins rather than 20 mins which according to RIT should make it darker. 
In practice this makes no difference whatsoever. 
 
Dye 7 is the same proportion of dye but double the dosage as Dye 5. So 20ml scarlet + 20ml cocoa brown. 

This does make a difference but not much. Produces a slightly darker, duller version of Dye 5. 
 
Dye 7 on Nisha: 

 
Dye 8 is 5ml scarlet and 15ml cocoa brown (25:75). Very similar in outcome to Dye 7. 

Dye 8 on Nisha:

Dye 9 is 15ml scarlet and 5ml cocoa brown (75:25). 
Dye 9 on Nisha: 
 
5, 8 & 9 are contenders with I think 9 being my favourite so far. What do you all reckon? Any feedback welcome!
 
I may experiment with adding some yellow to dye mixes 5, 8 and 9 to make the sails a little more tan / orange and alive. 
 
In the meantime Nisha has grown a bowsprit and dead eyes. I’ve fixed the rudder by drilling a hole for a length of 1mm brass rod in both rudder and stern post in place of the middle spigot so it’s firm and strong now. Repair is almost invisible. 

Difficult choice! I was nervous that I would waste a lovely set of sails.
In the end I plumped for RIT scarlet with dark brown in a 50/50 mix. RIT’s website gives formulae for different colours,  of course screen and actual life can be very different.  Mine turned out a bit more brown than I expected.   I think for Erycina, I will go more red and go 60/40 or even 75/25.

Would a 2 part kit save on postage?  Or do the additional costs of splitting the kit outweigh any savings?

Lots of lovely detail on these sheets. I particularly like the look of the veneer which will cover the stem.

Lots of lovely detail on these sheets. I particularly like the look of the veneer which will cover the stem.

Lots of lovely detail on these sheets. I particularly like the look of the veneer which will cover the stem.

Continued. 
 
I've grouped most of these photos into thickness of sheet, and there are a lot of various thicknesses with multiple sheets for them. You can see the tabbed gun carts here too. Those tabs are on the forward 'bulkhead', closest to the inner bulwarks.
 




 
 
You're going to have to make FIVE ship's boats for this one!
 
 
Inner bulwarks are split into three sections to cover the entire length. There will also be doorways from the cabin into the quarter galleries. 





 
 
 3D printed stuff, like belfry, anchors etc. and I do see some copper tape there too.

 
 
Quirks of prototyping. Various cabin floor sections. 

 
 
LOTS of strip too.

 
 
Decals for name and depth markings. Also, there is no white edge on that text. It's merely the light catching the ink edging! I have checked.

Looks amazing.

Time for a quick update. This will be the last one before work starts very shortly.
 
I'm making this update over TWO posts due to number of pics. These are just camera photos and won't represent anything you see in the manual.
 
Indy turned up with UPS this morning, and the box is large and heavy. In fact, the box isn't large enough yet as the masting, rigging, manual and plans also need to be included, as well as PE etc. The box was packed out as it was. This one took up two seats on my sofa.
 




 
Take a look through and you'll notice some little things here and there. One of those is that the main gun deck carriages are tabbed so they slot into the deck and can't be knocked free later in the build. This is only an optional feature as the modeller can, if they wish, plank over the tab slots and remove the tab from the carriage. That would be up to the individual but this is a perfectly good solution that will be invisible when implemented. If also means the guns will be perfectly spaced too and the barrels therefore evenly protrude from the hull. Those barrels will also be fitted after the hull is painted, so attaching them later won't dislodge a gun cart.




 
This is the engraved maple deck which won't be included as standard, unlike the other kits. This kit will have traditional planks for the deck, but it is quite likely that this option will be provided on release. If that happens, then the gun carriage location slots aren't likely to be there, and you'll simply open them up if you want use that kit feature. Oh, these parts are BIG!! My cutting mat is in 1cm squares, as a guide.

 
 
Not fantastically clear here, but the ply sub decks are engraved with planks. This isn't the finish. It's designed to give you a template onto which to lay the kit planks. That will save the modeller having to mark up stuff themselves.

Your Nisha is turning out a smasher.  I really like the colour contrasts you have gone with.  

Difficult choice! I was nervous that I would waste a lovely set of sails.
In the end I plumped for RIT scarlet with dark brown in a 50/50 mix. RIT’s website gives formulae for different colours,  of course screen and actual life can be very different.  Mine turned out a bit more brown than I expected.   I think for Erycina, I will go more red and go 60/40 or even 75/25.

I used dark brown, not cocoa. I wonder if by mixing it ended up closer to the latter?   
 
Anyway I look forward to seeing the results of your experiments and will shamelessly purloin your good work 😉

Would a 2 part kit save on postage?  Or do the additional costs of splitting the kit outweigh any savings?

Difficult choice! I was nervous that I would waste a lovely set of sails.
In the end I plumped for RIT scarlet with dark brown in a 50/50 mix. RIT’s website gives formulae for different colours,  of course screen and actual life can be very different.  Mine turned out a bit more brown than I expected.   I think for Erycina, I will go more red and go 60/40 or even 75/25.