Charter33

Hi Nicholas, It's a while since I have been able to get near by own build of the Triton, but from memory I think you will find that these rectangles show the position of the scarf joints that join the various pieces. If you look at the central one on the plan view labelled 4 (keel) the view shows the type of joint from the side. The rectangles on 1 and 5 (keelson and false keel) are the same joint but viewed from above. The aim is to have the orientation of the joints on each separate assembly alternating for additional strength. The same joints appear on the side view but the other way round. Hope this makes sense! Good luck with your build - I look forward to watching your progress. Cheers, Graham

Hi David, I posted a reply to your enquiry last night - I had missed your question due to work, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. It's at the end of my build log. Graham

Hi David, This is only my second attempt to build a model ship so I wouldn't regard myself as being anywhere close to being an expert! I tend to 'wing it' and rely heavily on the build logs of the more highly accomplished members of this site and my copy of 'The New Period ship Handbook' by Keith Julier. I'm happy to try to answer your questions as best I can: 1. Follow the instructions to fit the dummy barrel strips. They get painted black before the gun ports are glued in place. Eventually, once the hull is planked and the ports have been lined, holes are drilled into the dummy barrel strip to take the pins on the back of the dummy cannons. If you go back though my build log you'll see how I used a rectangular block of wood that fitted snugly into each port and rests against the strip as a guide for a Dremel drill. There is plenty of room as you are only gluing in shortened cannon muzzle ie. there is no carriage etc. to worry about. 2. The lining of these ports was a concern I had too but it turned out to be very straight forward. Each piece of lining is carefully cut to fit firmly in the gap and is glued in place butting onto the edge of the gun port pattern. I think I glued the bottom and top horizontal pieces in first, and once these had fully dried added the side pieces. They proved to be fine in terms of strength once the glue had set. There is a very clear description of how to do this in the book I mentioned (P.31) 3. I'm a little confused with this one - I've just checked my hull and there is no need for any deck as, once again the dummy cannons glue into holes in the dummy barrel strip here, although these holes do appear to be much closer to the top of the strip that further forward along the hull. Hope this goes some way towards resolving your concerns. I look forward to seeing how you get on and hope you will be starting a diary of your build too - it's a great and valuable way to get feedback and support from the community here. Good luck, Graham.

Stunning work and attention to detail, an inspiration as always! Graham.

Yes - that's the one, Bruce. It was 'donated' to me by the father of one of my former students when he up-graded to a larger machine. The electricity company did their work at the beginning of the summer break. It only took a few days. They then left the trench work open for the next month. I got away with some light surface rust that was easily dealt with. A couple of bearings had to be replaced anyway and I also took the opportunity to replace the 3 jaw chuck. Bought a nice but inexpensive 4 jaw independent at the same time. It was left to dry out for a very long time before connecting it to the mains supply! Cheers, Graham

Hi, Thank you for the kind comments and 'likes'. I am genuinely appreciative and humbled. I decided to diverge from the instruction manual and turn my attention to the issue of the fire buckets. I'm not the first to feel that the tapered brass items supplied with the kit, although adequate, are a little bit lacking in detail. To be honest my initial attempts to re-machine the supplied components was not a success! Deprived of access to the workshop machines at school I would usually use because of the current global health situation I have been restricted to using a very old and well used Hobbymat lathe that has definitely seen better days. It has really 'been through the mill' including being submerged in water for a while. We were very fortunate to have the Design and Technology Department modernised and re-furbished several years ago and this meant the total clearance of all the rooms. A lot of equipment, including some that were my own personal bits and pieces, were moved to a boiler house on site. This would have been fine if the electricity company had not had to up-grade the power supply to that area. They negated to fill the trench that they had dug to install the new cable and a couple of days of storms and torrential rain left the building's floor under at least a foot under water. The fact the lathe would even work once it had dried out was a surprise. The difficulty I had with the buckets was finding a safe and effective way to mount them to allow the re-modelling being carried out. In the end I had to admit defeat and think of a different approach. I was fortunate to have a short length of 6 mm brass rod at home and made the replacement buckets from scratch. If I found one of my students making this type of cut with a parting tool like this I would not be happy! - but under the circumstances.... My intention was to achieve a result that mimicked the metal band around the lip of the buckets and the slight flair at the base where the bottom was riveted in place. The latter was achieved with a careful touch with a needle file. After blacking with Birchwood Casey Brass Black solution, the top band was taken back to bare metal with 'wet and dry' abrasive paper. Eyelets were added for the handle. The instructions say to use 0.1 mm thread for this, but I decided to use copper wire strands from a scrap of 13 amp multi-strand electrical cable of similar thickness to replicate the leather straps, also blackened in the same way. Adding these proved a bit of a challenge. One down, twenty, plus a few spares to go... Whether it's possible to add the distinctive GR and crown cipher may prove a step too far - but, to quote Baldrick from the 'Black Adder' TV series - I have a cunning plan....... I'll share this in the event of it actually working....! Teaching a 'practical' subject via a computer at home for eight hours plus a day is hell!!!! MSW and my model help maintain my sanity. Take care and stay safe, Graham.

With the completion of the Quarterdeck Barricade assembly a minor psychological milestone has been reached - I'm exactly half way through the first instruction manual! Before finally fixing it place, together with other deck fittings, I wanted to add more detail to the inner bulwarks, notably the black mouldings that feature so significantly on the scale 1:1 version in Portsmouth, something the original kit omits. With building materials unavailable from local model shops which are now closed for the foreseeable future it was time for a bit of improvisation. I do have some 1 x 1 mm mahogany strip stashed away but there was no way it was going to bend to the curves without breaking. Another one of those moments when a reluctance to bin anything that just 'might be useful one day' bore fruit - a short length of twin and earth cable left over from a bit of DIY many years ago was pressed into service. The central copper earth wire is 1.3 mm diameter. I needed it to be 1 mm. Using an old steel rule of the required thickness as a guide, lengths of wire were filed .......... and then finished with abrasive paper. The 90 degree bend at the end, once rotated 180 degrees, allowed for opposite sides to be flattened to the right thickness. This bend was then twisted 90 degrees so the third side could be finished. The remaining side was left with the radius that would eventually face inboard. Card templates were cut to aid drawing the correct profiles ........ and with other features like the kevels and staghorns in place the copper strips were cut, bent, filed and soldered. And finally, after a couple of coats of dull black paint these were fixed into position. Shot garlands to follow..... Take care and stay safe in these challenging times, Graham.

Welcome back!! I look forward to following your progress again - I often look to your Build log for inspiration, and those photographs you took on board are a significant research source when I try to add detail ...... thank you. Graham.

Hi Wallace, Was the headstock bearing a plain journal bearing or a ball race or needle type bearing? If it's the former I'd be tempted to use bronze rather than brass. In the UK I get small lengths from live steam model locomotive suppliers. If it's the later, many bearing suppliers have the facility on their website to type in the dimensions required and then match them. I'm not familiar with that particular make of lathe. I own a Poolewood 28-40, and, like you enjoy turning bowls, chair parts etc. Good luck with the search! Graham.

Hi Helli, I've had this problem once as well. I think I solved it by clicking on edit, then deleting the pictures from the bank of imported photos at the bottom. I believe it was necessary to hover over the thumb nail picture for the X to appear. I'm no 'IT techy', but it might be worth a try. Good luck - and a very nice build you have there! Graham

Copy all the ideas you like, a lot if them I picked up from here too! My absence was not through choice, I assure you, but it really is good to be back at it. Some interesting R/C aircraft in the background there..... Cheers.

A great start Helli. I look forward to watching your progress. Welcome to the Caldercraft Victory club! Cheers, Graham

Hi, What did I receive today? - the postman delivered an off-cut of velcro from my sister. Sounds a bit uninspiring, but let me explain. A nine inch length of velcro, just the hoop, not the loop, was more than enough to complete the friction sander I made the week before last. With full time retirement getting ever closer I decided at the end of last year to try my hand at taking part in a couple of craft fairs, selling some of the bowls, automata and other small wooden items that I make. The plan was to see if I could make what my Grandfather used to refer to as a bit of 'pin money' to finance hobbies such as model making and the on-going restoration my motor bike. To cut down the time it was taking to get a decent surface finish on the turned bowls I thought of buying a friction sander - then I found out how much they cost! Just couldn't justify the outlay. After a bit of on-line research I decided to try and make my own, for as little as possible. The handle and interchangeable heads are turned from elm off cuts, the ball races spares from my serving machine. Brass bar off-cuts from the 'scrap' bin were used to make the knuckle, while the knurled adjuster nut and lock nut that secure the shaft to the handle were reworked from a tired and battered chisel honing aid that was worn beyond use but I hadn't had the heart to throw away. The ferrule is half a 22 mm diameter copper pipe connector, and the thumb screw that locks the knuckle was machined from a short stub end of titanium I had as I'd run out off suitable brass. Neoprene rubber from an old Pilates mat cushions the sanding discs. The only cost incurred was £3.99 for a pack of 50 6 mm dia. insert nuts from Screw-fix. The remaining 48 will no doubt find a use...... eventually. Just one slight fly in the ointment - it will be sometime before I can try it. My lathe is in my school workshop, the school is closed for the foreseeable future, and teaching is now done remotely from home via computer. Stay safe, Graham.

Hi Will, Lovely grain, very much like the figuring - my guess is walnut, but not the grade usually found in model ship building. As a veneer there is a beautiful box crying out to be encased in this........ my fingers and creative juices are itching in anticipation, you are one lucky bunny to have this to play with - good luck! (oh so jealous!) Cheers, Graham

Hi, Thank's for the comments and 'likes' gentlemen - always genuinely appreciated. Robert - your photographs of the original ship are proving to be a great source of information, as is your own impressive build log - thank you. Wallace - welcome aboard! In fairness I feel I should flag up the observation that has occasionally been made on this site that although the main aim of this hobby is to complete a well made model, the journey travelled to achieve this is equally, if not more, enjoyable and important. That said I must confess that sometimes I will occasionally climb off and break the journey, take a deep breath and admire the view for a while, usually by choice, but sometime forced by circumstance. It's taken a while to get to the current stage, and there's a long way to go - but I will get there, eventually. No pressure..... Cheers, Graham