Charter33

Moved onto the first layer of planking after finishing fairing the bulkheads more on advice of James H.  Trying out pre-bending and shaping the planks before fitting to the hull, going okay so far taking it steady, but as the Nisha is small, an evening can see a few planks done in a sitting.
 
While waiting for those to dry, I have cleaned and primed the PE ready for painting and also done a few of the later deck fitting sub-assemblies, I'll get some pictures of those uploaded soon.
 
Also enjoying reading  "Sailing Trawlers" by Edgar J. March, this has given me loads of ideas for adding little bits to my version of Nisha (many of these ideas beyond my abilities probably, but I can dream! 😆)
 
Thanks for looking in.

Finished Christmas shopping so now back to Erycina. 
 
Started the fairing the forward support pieces and kept putting them on the keel section wondering how is this going to work?  Being basically noisy I removed the locating tabs from the 3mm sheet and placed the pieces in place. The more I work with Chris's kit the more impressed I become. Holding the filler pieces to the keel all 3 tabs slipped into place. Amazing.
 

 
I had done a little fairing on the forward frames prior to attaching the fillers. But still wondering how to fair fullers. So now the stern fillers using the same method.
 

 
These fillers flow into a nice bearding line for a rabbit. And as stated the lower deck fell into place with a little frame jiggling. Each time laser cut parts fall into place amazes me. 

 
Put the + shaped parts in place and glued into position. It is so foreign to me that the frames are just left in a dry fit position. I've always used squares, levels and glue to insure the frames are square to the frame and level athwartship. Now putting in the longitudinal pieces squaring the frames along with the lower deck the boat is becoming rigid.

 
Had a small problem with the longitudinal pieces aligning with the + pieces. A NOTE TO OTHERS MAKE SURE THE + PIECES ARE FLUSH WITH THEIR ADJOINING FRAMES OR THE LONGITUDINAL PIECES WONT SLIDE INTO PLACE. I fixed my problem with a slight amount of sanding and then  the parts sled together. Snapped the after pieces with no issues.The last thing was to snap the false deck into place. Once again the parts alignment is amazing. I slide the deck into the starboard side making sure it was fully seated and the with a slight amount of bowing slipped the port side into the frame notches. Diluted some white glue and painted all the joints. After setting awhile the structure is very secure with no bending or flexing.

 
Thats enough for today must let all the glue set and begin tomorrow.
 
Many Regards
Will
 
 
 
 

Welcome everybody plenty of room to join the party. Lets get started. 
 
 
First I carefully cut the 16 bulkhead frames from the 3mm MDH using a #11 blade. When not being sure if the laser char should be removed I removed the keel from the 2mm MDF and dry fit each bulkhead. The fit is so tight, not too tight and not a sliding fit, so I'm leaving the laser char. I did remove the little attaching tabs from each piece.
 

16 bulkhead frames on such a small ship will make planking easier keeping a clean smooth sweep.
 
I used my Proxxon rotary too to fair bulkheads 1, 2, 3, 4, 15 & 16 to the laser scored line. It was a little nerve wracking on the first and last frames as the line was so far from the edge. I put the frame back into the keel to check and went ahead fairing to the line. Proxxon has a great clam shell clamp to put in a vise. With it secured it was easy to hold the frames along the drum and up to the line.
 

All the fairing done and the frames back on the keel as the manual suggested. So I'm now back working in the correct order
 

Doesn't seem like a lot of work but after spending so much time checking, checking, and rechecking I feel better that it is correct. On previous kits I learned that small mistakes always seem to come back to haunt the design later. So my neurotic checking continues.
 
More tomorrow now its time to do some Christmas shopping.
 
Many Regards
Will
 

Hammock cranes mounted and nettings sewn onto .25 black line. It was very tedious and precise work. Seemed to take forever. I used black tule for the netting. Am now making the hammocks. 
 

Charter, Paul and Malcom thank you for your kind words.
 
Next in line were the topmast shrouds.  But I thought I better install the slings for the lower yards before the shrouds are put on.  The manual tells you to make it in one sling and tie two knots to simulate two thimbles.  I took a different approach and made them in two separate slings, one that goes round the mast cap and one that goes round the sling, each with a thimble at their end.  Details taken from Longridge book.
 
This is the sling that goes round the mast cap with an eye on one end and a thimble I made from brass tubes.

 
Sling finished with three seizing. You have to be careful about the length of the sling, the position of the thimble has to be just a little short from the thimble on the yard sling, so that they will be lashed together.  You have to put it in place by sliding it from the top of the masts before you make the topmast shrouds, otherwise you have to make the three seizing with the sling in place, which will be more difficult.

 
This is the sling that goes round the yard.

 
 
Sling in place on the foremast.

 
 
Foremast with topmast shrouds fitted.

 
Main mast.

 
All topmast shrouds in place with staves as well, except for one shroud on the Mizzen.  I was missing one 2.5mm deadeye.  I have them ordered from CMB together with some 3.5mm deadeyes as I also realised I would be needing a few more as well.  I had turned a few of them into hearts to use on the bowsprit, that is why I am short of them. 

 
 
From time to time I check the alignment of the masts while doing the shrouds to make sure none of them is being pulled to one side.  When you look directly from the front you will only see the fore mast, the other two are completely hidden behind it.

 
Next job is the never ending ratlines.   
 
Robert

Cannons completed on one side.  A few comments:
 
I only rigged the ones that are visible. Regarding rigging:  there are three elements (inhaul, outhaul, breech line), and I only used two -- inhaul and breech.  Two reasons:  first, adding the outhaul tackle on each side just seemed busy, and I felt that the breech line would add enough interest on the side.  Second, I'm lazy. Regards,
David

Hi everyone,
 
Have just mounted the rudder. I used dome headed pins to simulate the rivets and added a rudder coat as per Longridge. I used .50 tan thread for the rope line to the mizzenmast channel. I couldn’t organize the stopper knot properly so I fastened the rope to a medium cleat.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all. Stay safe and well,
Mort
 

Caldercraft HMS Victory build Update - 30 x 12 lb. Long guns
 
Hi all;  it's been awhile since my last post.  Work has been busy.  Anyway, I finally managed to get my first cannon rigged and mounted.  I had no idea these little buggers could be so time consuming.  Cutting and sanding the parts and drilling all of the various holes easily took a week.
After that, I prepped all of my brass per Kurt Van Dahm's post on brass blackening.  I didn't get a perfect, even black finish, but was still reasonably happy with the result.  No new discoveries here, just follow his advice to the letter including the pickle pot.  I'll leave this photo legibly large.

 
I assembled and painted the gun carriages before having to clean paint out of all of my holes again.  (12 holes per carriage - all of varying sizes)  I found a nice little micro-drill bit kit on Amazon (0.2 to 1.1 mm) and quickly learned I should have bought ten of each size as they have a nasty habit of breaking if they're just merely breathed on wrong.  I also made sure the glue surface for the stool bed was adequately masked off before painting.

 
Each carriage took four coats of paint to get adequate coverage.  I had to relocate all of my pad eye holes with a finely sharpened pin after each coat.  Note bed bolt hole in photo below.

 
After painting, I inserted the bed bolts, glued on all of the stool beds, and added all of the metal, including pad eyes.

 
A templating jig allowed uniform pad eye hole placement in the deck and around each gunport.

 
The rigging for each cannon was (and still is!) a tad more involved than I had originally thought as well.  I couldn't seem to rig them in place, so I made a mock-up jig for this.

 
...And one for making block & tackle assemblies.

 
Mine...

 
...And here's the real thing.

It will be another few months before I post again.  Work, family etc., and 29 more cannons to rig!

Hi Mike,
The best answer to your question probably depends on the reason behind why you need to harden the wood.
If you want to achieve a silky smooth surface that sands well enough to enable you to get a good quality surface to subsequently apply a painted finish to you will probably find that a good quality sanding sealer will do the job. 
If you're trying to toughen the wood to improve impact resistance you could try applying something that will give a good depth of penetration and bind the wood fibres together such as a wash of watered down PVA wood glue.
I think that I'd only resort to polyester or epoxy resins if I was hoping to achieve a waterproof finish, but here again it would depend on the size of the area being treated for reasons of cost if nothing else.
Wood varnishes, polyurethane and acrylic, will also improve surface hardness and reduce damage from scuffing and knocks etc.
Hope this helps....
Cheers,
Graham

Hi Mike,
The best answer to your question probably depends on the reason behind why you need to harden the wood.
If you want to achieve a silky smooth surface that sands well enough to enable you to get a good quality surface to subsequently apply a painted finish to you will probably find that a good quality sanding sealer will do the job. 
If you're trying to toughen the wood to improve impact resistance you could try applying something that will give a good depth of penetration and bind the wood fibres together such as a wash of watered down PVA wood glue.
I think that I'd only resort to polyester or epoxy resins if I was hoping to achieve a waterproof finish, but here again it would depend on the size of the area being treated for reasons of cost if nothing else.
Wood varnishes, polyurethane and acrylic, will also improve surface hardness and reduce damage from scuffing and knocks etc.
Hope this helps....
Cheers,
Graham

PILLAR DRILL : A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted project which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.
 
WIRE WHEEL : Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, 'Oh sh*t'
 
PLIERS : Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.
 
BELT SANDER : An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.
 
HACKSAW : One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle... It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.
 
MOLE GRIPS : Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.
 
OXYACETYLENE TORCH : Used almost entirely for  setting on fire various flammable objects in your workshop. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub out of which you want to remove a bearing race..
 
HYDRAULIC JACK : Used for lowering a car to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.
 
BAND SAW : A large stationary power saw primarily used by most people  to cut good metal sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the bin after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.
 
TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST : A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.
 
PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER : Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids or for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to  butcher Phillips screw heads.
 
STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER : A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws and butchering your palms.
 
PRY BAR: See Screwdriver
 
HAMMER : Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent to the object we are trying to hit.
 
STANLEY  KNIFE : Used to open and slice through the contents of parcels delivered to your front door; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while in use.
 
ADJUSTABLE SPANNER aka "Another hammer", aka "the Swedish Nut Lathe", aka "Crescent Wrench".  Commonly used as one size fits all, usually results in rounding off nut heads before the use of pliers.  Will randomly adjust size between bolts, resulting in injury ,swearing and multiple threats to any inanimate objects within the immediate vicinity.
 
BASTARD TOOL : Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling  BASTARD at the top of your voice . It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.

As ever, thorough research immaculately executed!
Keep up the good work -
I'll be dusting off my copy of Longridge's book, that's for sure!

Anthony, Peter, md1400cs, Malcom  and  RB, thank you for your nice encouraging comments.  I hope that my work will be of some benefit to other builders.  I have definitely learned a lot from other builders on this forum.
 
Peter I have had a brief visit of your build, you are doing a marvellous job.  I will go into it in further detail and definitely be following.
 
A small update:
I am trying to do as much work as possible on the masts before I do the topmast shrouds which later on, I think,  will be more difficult to do with the shrouds in the way.
 
I rigged the 10mm triple jeer blocks in place and also prepared the respective 10mm double jeer blocks which go on the yards.
 

 
Fore mast.

 
 
 

 
Main mast

 

 
Robert
 

Hi Patrick,
I'm still here but sometimes life gets a bit complicated. I had to retire from a 43+ year career teaching Design Technology last December . The impact of this was significant including the loss of access to a great suite of workshops, equipment, and the loss of 'my' computer.
My own personal tools, including work bench (rescued from a skip when my faculty was extended and modernised), wood turning lathe and numerous woodwork and engineering tools collected over the years had to be packed away and put into storage. The more valued and precious items are currently cluttering my already cramped model room, ie. the smallest bedroom in the house.
My aim is to now build a workshop in the garden - I've planned it and hope to start construction soon.
I made the mistake of putting things off until I retired, forgetting the the Admiral would have her own ideas for how my practical skills could be employed! 
My Victory is safe and a little progress has been made. I hope to be in a position to crack on with it in the near future. I do have some photos on my camera, but no way of downloading them at the moment. I can only access this site via my phone - but following the various threads on it is a great pleasure. Good to see the number of Caldercraft Victorys now under way; some superb and truly inspirational work, including your own!
Cheers,
Graham

An very impressive resource, and now right at the top of my 'must have' list.
Thank you for bring it to my attention!
For those with an interest in Adriatic sailing craft there's an impressive collection afloat on the Fosso Venarella canal, adjacent to the Museo della Marineria in Cesenatico, about 140 km down the coast from Venice, 23 km up from Rimini. I came across it when researching these types if vessel. I've only been able to explore it 'virtually' using Google Earth, but there's a wealth of detail to be seen. I recommended using the street view function and viewing from both sides of the canal. 'Photo sphere' pictures show views of the boats in different rigging stages, including full sail. Enjoy!

So for a test built it went fair enough. Many firsts for me, and many back and forths. A lot of improvement happened, and as usual, the next built will improve on the previous one. Here is on my hand for scale. I may revisit the thread if I make a new base as originally planed. 

Hi Patrick,
I'm still here but sometimes life gets a bit complicated. I had to retire from a 43+ year career teaching Design Technology last December . The impact of this was significant including the loss of access to a great suite of workshops, equipment, and the loss of 'my' computer.
My own personal tools, including work bench (rescued from a skip when my faculty was extended and modernised), wood turning lathe and numerous woodwork and engineering tools collected over the years had to be packed away and put into storage. The more valued and precious items are currently cluttering my already cramped model room, ie. the smallest bedroom in the house.
My aim is to now build a workshop in the garden - I've planned it and hope to start construction soon.
I made the mistake of putting things off until I retired, forgetting the the Admiral would have her own ideas for how my practical skills could be employed! 
My Victory is safe and a little progress has been made. I hope to be in a position to crack on with it in the near future. I do have some photos on my camera, but no way of downloading them at the moment. I can only access this site via my phone - but following the various threads on it is a great pleasure. Good to see the number of Caldercraft Victorys now under way; some superb and truly inspirational work, including your own!
Cheers,
Graham

Hi,
I can't believe it's over a year since I last added to this build log.....! Here are some details of the progress that I have made:
 
With the quarter deck in place it was time to cut the tops off the forward bulkheads.

 
Next job was to re-install the outer forecastle gunport strips that had been removed following the advice of Shipyard Sid.

The beakhead bulkhead had the roundhouses fitted and was painted. It will have the additional decoration added before it is finally glued into place. It’s currently just dry fitted.

With the deck planked and tree nailed, using the method previously explained, and inner bulwarks fitted…

…. I made up the quarterdeck screen assembly......

I decided to try and produce a modified version of the belfry.  The uprights provided in the kit seemed to lack detail of the mouldings as shown in John McKay’s ‘Anatomy of the Ship’ and were restricted to just the front and back surfaces.  
I also wanted to replicate the copper roof.  After a bit of experimentation, and a few failures, I came up with a way to press form thin copper sheet into an acceptable shape. This is the result …..




 
Second planking on the outside of the hull and inside the bulwarks was completed, gunports lined and then all painted.  The cap strips were glued into place.  I couldn’t find anything provided for the small curved sections just ahead of the poop deck so laminated some.  Two strips of walnut were soaked and then clamped around a former, in this case a wooden collet I had made to hold ‘turned’ wooden components for some automata I’ve been making.

Once they had dried these were glued and re-clamped before being cut and sanded to size and fitted into place.

Forecastle gratings were assembled but I chose to make them up separately from the deck rather than following the method outlined in the instructions.  Having gone to the trouble of trying to replicate the dovetail details of the coaming joints on the gratings on the previous deck, (which are now hardly visible!), I was keen to try and do the same thing here. Probably the hardest aspect was trying to sand the slight curve that was needed on the top surface.

The galley chimney was given a bit of attention with the addition of two handles and the impression of the seam on the main body prior to painting, using pictures of the chimney found on-line as a guide.


The Forecastle Breast Beam assembly has also now been completed. All these pieces are dry fitted and will be glued in place once some more painting has been done, including the cap strips, and a few other additions have been added to the inner bulwarks.


Cheer for now,
Graham.
 

Work continues with the upper gun deck cannons ........
 
I've decided to replace the breech rope eyelets on the carriages with larger ones as I hope to increase the diameter of this rope to 1 mm rather than the recommended size that seems a bit small when compared with images I found on the web. These are Mantua Models eyelets but while the rings are okay, the second piece of each fitting needed to have the 'loop' tightened up a bit. This was achieved by pulling them part way through an improvised draw plate.

 

 

 
After fitting the breech rope and it's eyelets to the barrel it was mounted on the carriage.  A short length of brass rod with a small dimple added to one end was used as a simple drift to push the round headed pins into their pre-drilled holes.

 

 
Trying to get the breech ropes to hang appropriately..........

 
Rigging hooks attached to 2mm blocks ...

 
...strung ....
 

 
.... and attached

 
And finally my first attempt to install one ......

 
One down, 29 to go ......
 
Cheers,
 
Graham.

Hi Patrick,
I'm still here but sometimes life gets a bit complicated. I had to retire from a 43+ year career teaching Design Technology last December . The impact of this was significant including the loss of access to a great suite of workshops, equipment, and the loss of 'my' computer.
My own personal tools, including work bench (rescued from a skip when my faculty was extended and modernised), wood turning lathe and numerous woodwork and engineering tools collected over the years had to be packed away and put into storage. The more valued and precious items are currently cluttering my already cramped model room, ie. the smallest bedroom in the house.
My aim is to now build a workshop in the garden - I've planned it and hope to start construction soon.
I made the mistake of putting things off until I retired, forgetting the the Admiral would have her own ideas for how my practical skills could be employed! 
My Victory is safe and a little progress has been made. I hope to be in a position to crack on with it in the near future. I do have some photos on my camera, but no way of downloading them at the moment. I can only access this site via my phone - but following the various threads on it is a great pleasure. Good to see the number of Caldercraft Victorys now under way; some superb and truly inspirational work, including your own!
Cheers,
Graham

Hi Patrick,
I'm still here but sometimes life gets a bit complicated. I had to retire from a 43+ year career teaching Design Technology last December . The impact of this was significant including the loss of access to a great suite of workshops, equipment, and the loss of 'my' computer.
My own personal tools, including work bench (rescued from a skip when my faculty was extended and modernised), wood turning lathe and numerous woodwork and engineering tools collected over the years had to be packed away and put into storage. The more valued and precious items are currently cluttering my already cramped model room, ie. the smallest bedroom in the house.
My aim is to now build a workshop in the garden - I've planned it and hope to start construction soon.
I made the mistake of putting things off until I retired, forgetting the the Admiral would have her own ideas for how my practical skills could be employed! 
My Victory is safe and a little progress has been made. I hope to be in a position to crack on with it in the near future. I do have some photos on my camera, but no way of downloading them at the moment. I can only access this site via my phone - but following the various threads on it is a great pleasure. Good to see the number of Caldercraft Victorys now under way; some superb and truly inspirational work, including your own!
Cheers,
Graham

Futtock Shrouds
Futtock Staves blackened and tied in place.  Catharpins also tied in place.  To help to keep the catharpins the same tension I made a simple jig I had seen in another build.  

 
Prepared the Futtock Shrouds with the hooks.

 
Rigged in place and when I was trimming the extra lengths tragedy struck.
😱😱😱  I hit one of the lower mast shrouds with the snips.  I just couldn't believe what I've just done.
 

 
After getting over the shock I sat down to see how I was going to fix it.  I removed the lower part of the shroud with the deadeye completely, wetted the lower seizing on the futtock shroud to loosen the glue and untied it, cut the end of the futtock shroud just a bit shorter and seized a new piece of lower shroud thread to the end of the futtock shroud.  It came pretty good, it's not noticeable.  Then rigged again the deadeye.
A quick rough sketch.
 
 
Futtock shrouds all in place with damaged lower mast shroud (starboard,5th one on fore mast) repaired.  

 

 

 

 
 

 
Regards
Robert
 

Hi Patrick,
I'm still here but sometimes life gets a bit complicated. I had to retire from a 43+ year career teaching Design Technology last December . The impact of this was significant including the loss of access to a great suite of workshops, equipment, and the loss of 'my' computer.
My own personal tools, including work bench (rescued from a skip when my faculty was extended and modernised), wood turning lathe and numerous woodwork and engineering tools collected over the years had to be packed away and put into storage. The more valued and precious items are currently cluttering my already cramped model room, ie. the smallest bedroom in the house.
My aim is to now build a workshop in the garden - I've planned it and hope to start construction soon.
I made the mistake of putting things off until I retired, forgetting the the Admiral would have her own ideas for how my practical skills could be employed! 
My Victory is safe and a little progress has been made. I hope to be in a position to crack on with it in the near future. I do have some photos on my camera, but no way of downloading them at the moment. I can only access this site via my phone - but following the various threads on it is a great pleasure. Good to see the number of Caldercraft Victorys now under way; some superb and truly inspirational work, including your own!
Cheers,
Graham

Well, we're moving along now with gun port lids. I now have 15 of them under various stages of assembly/painting. Once these are finished and installed I only have seven more to build...whoopee! As each lid is custom-built and fitted to its respective gun port (to allow for building up wales and slight variations in size) I number them and then place them on sticky side up masking tape so they don't fly away or get mixed up once they're painted inside and out. I use the sticky side up masking tape on the painting bench too so the lids don't get blown away by air pressure from the air brush!
 
Patrick

Then a little update.
All the bulwarks and stripes and more of that funny stuf is on it.
Painted and happy.
Last saturday we had a model meeting in the Netherlands from a Dutch forum.
They helped me with the black stripes because they don't follow the bulwarks.
So now I am happy 🙂