Charter33

All sorted, Jorgen - magnificent work!

All sorted, Jorgen - magnificent work!

In the UK there is a real steam-engine scene, whole in continental Europe and much of the rest of the World these thingies may be only known as a historical phenomenon. Also, due to the industrial development lagging behind, they have not been as wide-spread, as in the UK. Having had the Matchbox model of a traction engine, I was aware of their existing from an early age on, even though I grew up in Germany, I certainly was not aware of the extensive 'steam scene' in the UK until I came to live there in 1987. I then attended various 'steam-fairs' and it turned out that the uncle of a colleague of mine actually had one ...
 
This model was built around 1989/90. I just got my watchmakers lathe, but building a working model was certainly out of scope at that time. I happened to chance upon the Keil-Kraft kit, which was still current then - the company faltered since then. Just at that time the monthly Model Engineer published a series on building a working model of a Fowler Z7 (HAINING, J.: Countryman‘s Steam - Fowler Class Z7S.- Model Engineer, 5 August 1988 - 1 June 1990.), which came very handy for detail drawings, particularly for the actual steam-engine. A local museum owned a Fowler Class BB1 ploughing engine which I could photograph and sketch for more 'typical' Fowler details - the makers followed their design practices independent of the size of the engine. The visits to various steam-fairs furnished further photographs of Fowler engines.
 

The assembled, but not yet painted model
 
The Keil-Kraft kit was ok with respect to the proportions and the principal structure, but lacked most of the technical details that are very visible on such engines. Most notably, there was big hole, were the two-cylinder compound engine is supposed to be. So most of these details were built from scratch in brass, steel, aluminium, Plexiglas, and styrene. The engine, of course, is not working, but the appearance of the engine, the gearing, the ploughing gear, etc. has been faithfully reproduced as far as it is possible at 1:76 scale.
 

 
Fowler was a very interesing and innovative company in the field and the market leader in steam-ploughing sets. A set consisted of two identical ploughing engines and a so-called balance-plough that was hauled between them across the field. The sets were expensive so that only very rich land-owners with large fields could afford them. Typically they were operated by contractors, who would move from farm to farm. Off-season they were employed in drainage work, pulling tree-stumps and everything, where a strong winding drum with a steel-cable was needed.
 

 
The winding drum has an interesting history and was the key innovation by Fowler. The invention was not made by John Fowler himself, but by a young German engineer, who came to the UK to learn and in search of work. Max Eyth also became an important sales engineer, first helping the Viceroy of Egypt to build up a cotton industry and later in his home country from where he worked also in Eastern Europe. In Germany he also became known as a writer through his memoirs and various novels.
 

Compound cyclinders with their drainage cocks, safety valve, and steam-operated whistle
 
The history of Fowler as a company is written up here:
 
LANE, M.R. (1980): The Story of the Steam Plough Works. Fowlers of Leeds.- 410 p., London (Northgate Publishing Co. Ltd.).
 
Fowler not only produced plouging engines and ploughs, but also a wide range of traction engines, locomotives, and other items.
 
 
 

The clutch-system to connect the winding drum to the steam-engine
 

Two-speed driving gear and clutch and boiler-feed injectors including water-hose
 

Driver's view
 

Driving stand with all the levers, valves and gauges
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Completed the bow head rails, gratings , cat-heads and the figure heads.  Took me awhile to get it organized but it worked  out fairly well. Poop deck is planked - with maple - and just about complete. Am now working on the flag lockers.  
 
Stay safe and well,
Mort

As I went along with my Victory build, I decided that I wanted to display her as she went into battle, including with her hammock cranes full.  It was common practice, especially in times of war, for His Majesty’s ships to wake all hands an hour before dawn to prepare for a battle with any enemy ship that may appear nearby at dawn’s break.  Hammocks were broken down, rolled and triced up, with the sailors’ bedding and other belongings inside the roll.  The hammock tricing, as per the bosun, was with the regulated 7 circumferential turns of small stuff.  The roll was then folded in half and stowed in a hammock crane at the sailor’s assigned position under the watchful eyes of one of the bosun’s mates.  The reason for doing this was twofold; one to get them out of the way as there was little storage space below decks for personal belongings, and secondly to act as some degree of protection from the wood splinters that were the result of an incoming cannonball’s impact, and also from musket shot from the enemy’s Marines stationed in their fighting tops.  The filled hammock cranes were also an impediment to boarding parties coming over the side. The weather deck of a line-of-battle ship during an engagement was not a nice place to be! The filled cranes were usually covered with tarps to protect them from the weather, but I decided to display them without covers so the individual hammocks could be visible. Hammocks were also lashed to the aft net barriers on the fighting tops to afford the Marines positioned there some protection from enemy musket fire.
 
Victory had a complement of about 850 men, so making individual hammocks of this volume was going to be a challenge. My Vic is the Caldercraft 1:72 version, so the slightly over 6 foot long hammocks are about 1-1/4” in finished length.
My aim was to make them showing the tricing lines, with the fabric a slightly off-white from the natural canvas color, as they would often get a little grimy and gray with use even though they were scrubbed regularly. I didn’t want the tricing to appear too stark, as that would detract from the random look that would have appeared as the hammocks were placed in the cranes. This meant no pure white canvas material, and no dark contrasting lines to simulate the tricing lashings.
 
I tried several types of material, including cloth and paper of all sorts, but none seemed to look right to me or were just too difficult to make in large numbers. I then tried some polymer modelling clay called Fimo, which showed some promise.  Fimo can be manipulated like regular modelling clay, but after taking the desired shape can be oven-baked for several minutes to produce a hard, stable object. As I experimented with the Fimo, I developed a procedure and a simple jig that produced acceptable (to me) hammocks – generally the same, but different enough from each other to present some degree of randomness in their rolling and placement.
 
Fimo comes in a couple of different consistencies, and a limited palette of colors – none of which was exactly what I wanted for the hammocks.  I thought about combining two or more colors of the Fimo into a composite color that approached what I wanted for the finished hammocks, but was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to duplicate it over and over as I needed more material. In the end I decided on the “soft” version of the Fimo in White – I would color them later to the desired hue.
 

 
To simulate the tricing grooves, I glued seven .020” soft iron wires about an inch long at equal distances apart over 1” on a scrap piece of 2” wide, ¼” thick scrap of basswood. 2 more wires were added about 1/8” outside of the first and last tricing lines – these would serve as the guidepoints to trim the finished hammocks to their proper lengths.
 

 
First a chunk of Fimo was torn off the block, about the size of a grape.  It was softened slightly by rolling and warming in the fingers into a rough cylinder.  This was then rolled between two wooden planks about 3” wide to get a long cylinder about .100” in diameter and 4” or 5” long.  The length is not important, and you will soon be able to “eyeball” the proper diameter close enough - some diameter variation is to be desired to simulate randomness. Cut off a chunk of the roll about 1-1/2” to 2” long, place it near the wire strips, and using another flat board press down and roll the Fimo between the boards once to leave the tricing line impressions from the wires on the hammock. Rolling more than once will blur the lines.  If it’s not right, just wad it up again and repeat. I would usually make them up in batches of about 50 to ease the tedium.
 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
Once the tricing lines have been impressed, carefully fold the hammocks in half, bringing the two outer impressions (the cut-off lines) together.  This will leave a shape like a Greek Omega, with a bulge at the top.  Don’t try to fix this with your fingers, but squeeze the roll together gently between two small chunks of flat wood to make the sides parallel, or they won’t fit right in the hammock cranes. At this point I trimmed them a little longer than the cut-off lines, prior to baking them.  I probably could have trimmed them to the exact length here, but this became my routine.  Now they get placed on a piece of aluminum foil and baked in the oven at 230° F for 30 minutes to harden them. 
 

 

 
 

 

 

 
After they have cooled, trim to the proper length. Now rub the sides on a piece of medium sandpaper, which will make them flat so that they lie properly next to each other in the netting.  Keep a couple of them rounded on one side to use at the ends of the arrays in the netting.
 

 

 
I wanted the finished hammocks to appear a slight grey-tan, so I made up a diluted (abut 60-40 water to paint) batch of acrylic paint in the desired shade in a pill bottle, and soaked the baked batch of hammocks for a few minutes.  Then they were placed on a piece of paper towel and blotted to get most of the paint off the surface, which left the paint darker in the tricing line grooves.
 

 

 
The hammocks were then glued side-by-side in their nettings. I did this in batches of about 5-8 pieces at a time, letting the glue set before adding more hammocks to avoid getting them out of alignment. Foe ease of manipulation, this was all done prior to mounting the hammock crane/cap rail assembly in place on the hull.
 

 

 

 
 
 

I had much less of a break after finishing the Alert than I had thought -- got the itch to start this kit, which I have been looking forward to.  It's my first Caldercraft kit and I'm interested in the comparison with Amati and Vanguard -- my gold standards up to now.
 
There are a number of build logs on this kit by builders with much better skills than mine, so I don't know how much added value I can provide, but I find these logs fun to share, and what I'll try to focus on (as in this post) are construction details and issues, and how I addressed them.
 
So I've skipped the "what's in the box" opener, because what's in the box is what you'd expect.  There are three manuals:  one for the hull -- with pictures, one for rigging, and a third for parts -- which is great, as you don't have to wrestle multiple plan sheets up on the wall to figure out the wood panel and other cut sheet parts.
 
I also bought some white posterboard to provide a better backdrop on my workbench for my pictures.
 
I have finished the first phase of the frame:  keel, bulkheads and lowest deck.  This kit uses 5mm plywood for all of that -- in all of my other kits these parts have been MDF, and based on my experience with MDF where all the parts slide together easily without sanding, I found working with the plywood a challenge. 
 
NONE of the slots in the keel, bulkheads, or deck fit without some more-than-trivial widening.  Regular sanding would take forever, and I tried a couple of times to use rotary tool sanding disks, but they get chewed up fast.  So I found some 3mm rotary burrs on Amazon, and that did the trick.  But with 18 bulkheads and 16 double-sided deck slots, it comes out to 68 slots to widen.   
 
Got it done, and everything fit together as you can see.  This is a heavy ship because of the plywood and its size.  I'm looking forward to digging into it.
 
Regards,
David
 

Will, MD and Heinz thank you for your comments.  Thank you also for the likes.
 
My intention was to do the boats in between the rigging.  Although I started some work on the shrouds I got carried away with the boats and continued working on them.  The boats are a project in themselves.  I will try to put as much detail in them as possible because I think they will be very eye catching when you are looking at the complete model.
 
On the Launch and the Barge, for the second planking I used the 0.5mm Walnut as indicated in the manual.
  
 

 
For the Pinnace and the Cutter I did not use the 0.5mm Walnut supplied with the kit.  I had some left overs of Sapele from the model Bluenose II.  It was slightly thinner, 0.4mm and more flexible, which I thought made it a better material for the second planking because of the small size of the boats.

 

 
Outer hull brushed with watered down PVA glue, left to dry, sanded, then gone over them with a fine filler and left to dry.

 
 
When filler was thoroughly dry hull sanded with fine sand paper and inside bulkheads removed.

 

 

 

 
Robert

Hello, I temporarily removed the hull from the yard to start leveling the coasts.

Hawker Sea Fury FB 11
Koninklijke Marine - 1953
Airfix 1:48
 

 
Dear all,
this is the final istalment of my Sea Fury build. I enjoyed very much this model from Airfix which reproduces quite well the lines of this powerful and handsome aircraft. The fit of the parts is very good and well engineered. Decals are also of very good quality. On the downside, the surface details are a bit heavy and few details are missing, but these negative point are dwarfed, in my opinion, by the positive ones. On a scale of 1 to 5, overall, I would rate between 4 and 4.5. For my model, I chose one of the versions offered in the kit, namely an aircraft with the livery of the Koninklijke Marine (Royal Netherlands Navy) which in 1953 was part of an aerobatic team called AeroBats.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
A big thanks to all who followed my build and provided suggestions and support.
Best regards,
Dan.
 

 
 
 

Whilst still waiting for the brass tubes for the thimbles I finished the boats with the first planking.
 
The Launch with the first plank.

 
The Launch planked all over.

 

 
 
The Pinnace.

 

 

 
 
 
The Cutter.

 

 
 
All four boats brushed all over with watered down white glue, trimmed and sanded, ready for the second planking.


 

 
 
Having received the brass tubes I finished the lower masts pendants.
For the fore and main mast pendants I used the 2mm diam. brass tube for the thimbles, and for the mizzen mast I used the 1.5mm diam. tube, and blackened them.  I served the lines for the pendants all along before fitting the thimbles. 

 

 
 
Pendants rigged in place.  One problem that I found rigging them in place was that when you loop the pendant round the mast and tie a knot round the two lines you will not be able to push back the knot because of the line being served.  I had to tie the knot exactly in its place otherwise I wasn't able to slide it back. With the line not served it is quite easy to slide the knots.  I will have the same problem with the shrouds.  I don't know if there is any other way to go about it!!!

 

 

 
Now I can start work on the shrouds.
 
Robert

Hello my friends!
 
I have seen so many nice pictures and progress by all of you, that I decided to make an update for myself.
 
In the meantime, I began with the mizzen mast. 
Of course, the same work as on the other two masts. But still the opportunity to post a few new photos.
I wish you all a great weekend!!!
 
Heinz
 
 

 
 

 
 
He

Hi,
I have to give you some information about laser cutting machines - I could be wrong, and in many ways I hope I am and other members will correct any errors in my understanding of this subject.
'Laser cutters' are basically a speciaised form of printer. Instead of producing printed lines with ink on paper a laser beam is focused onto the material and 'vapourises' it. I have not come across one that isn't connected to a computer, or that doesn't need the components to be drawn up using some type of CAD software.
There are some relatively inexpensive packages out there I'm sure. My experience is based on many years teaching this type of technology to secondary age students. It is amazing just what can be produced, and I developed my own understanding by making the components for balsa R/C model aircraft - drawing and cutting the ribs for a bi-plane was very rewarding. I have also used it to make various jigs and fixtures to assist with my 'Victory' build.
Graham.
 
 

The plans from Mystic Seaport Museum are on their way, This is exciting.
 
Michael

Hi,
As you can see I've completed the beakhead bulkhead and timberheads. The bulkheads for the Captain's dining and day cabins are installed.  I've also completed the Captain's dining and day cabin. The dining cabin has 2 side tables and a liquor box in addition to the dining table and chairs. The day cabin contains 2 clothes trunks, a dresser, a chest and a desk. I'll probably add a small circular table. 
 
I tried to remove the center keel piece and the other bulkhead # 105 thereby opening the remaining area of the day cabin, but It's too involved for my skill set.  
You can also see the template for the poop deck dry fitted, there exposing the Admiral and Captain's cabins.
 
I thank you Heinz very much for your support. You're the best.
Stay safe and well,
Mort
 

https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2021/03/2700-year-old-phoenician-shipwreck-to.html?fbclid=IwAR0pj1HhLWQTGfJ3X8QnFmbG0teMmdZzVmnyt1p7wdUJChEW3ti7yIka9_8

Thank you Michael and thank you all for the likes.
 
I have a small update.
I fixed the Victory letters to the stern. They are quite tiny and fragile. I glued them with just a small dab of CA glue.  
This is how I marked the positions of the letters.
a. With the  computer I printed the 'VICTORY', same size as the supplied brass letters, using double spacing between the letters, on a plain paper.
b. As soon as I printed it I took a piece of Tamaya masking tape, which is slightly transparent, and stuck it on top of the printed letters.  Took the tape off again and the  letters were transferred to the back of the tape (on the side of the glue).
c. With a thin marker I drew some lines marking the side positions of the letters and some of them the centre as well. Then with a blade I cut the tape in two all along the base of the letters.  The bottom part of the tape is about 3mm. I centred this on the stern and against the brass profile underneath the letters.  This served as a guide  for the right spacing and to be horizontally in line with each other along the brass profile.  The other half of he tape I taped on top just as a guide to know that the letters are perpendicular.  When you use CA glue on a painted surface, the glue melts the paint a bit and does not dry immediately.  It gives you a few seconds, enough to adjust the letters in their exact position.

 

 
The result after taking off the tape and retouching the letters with paint. I was wondering if it's a good idea to go all over the letterings and cover all that area with a coat of matt clear varnish so that all the tiny fragile ends will adhere to the stern with the varnish.  
 
 
This was the other name plate supplied with the kit.  Of course this would have been much easier to paint and fit but I think the individual letters are more authentic.

 
 
I also painted the Side Entry port castings.  I think I will fit them in place after I finish the shrouds.

 
As you can see I have driven two brass pins into the back of the side entry arch for a stronger fit and also as a guide to their exact position.  This has been done before painting them and holes to accommodate these pins are already prepared on the hull over the side door.  This way I will eliminate handling them as much as possible as I will only have to put some glue and slide them in their respective holes. 

 
Robert
 

The bowsprit is fitted in place and gammoning done.  Passing the line in between the bow rails was not that straight forward.  When doing the gammoning saddles I had calculated  that the distance between them will accommodate exactly the nine turns of gammoning.  While doing the gammoning I managed to knock down one of the cat heads, but already fitted back. 

 
Then fitted the knights heads, with the boomkins already attached to them.  I seized the boomkin shrouds and the block beforehand.  When possible, seizing is much easier done when items are still in your hands. I worked two saddle bars to hold the boomkin in place on the main rail.  Figurehead fitted in place as well.
 
    
 
 Net railing also fitted, but for the moment it is only dry fitted to be able to remove if needed to the bowsprit rigging.  The marines' walk is only dry fitted as well.
 

 

 

 
Robert

Looking really good!
 
Here are some pictures from the Mary plans, showing how the bowsprit is set up..
 
  
 
The end is stepped under the fife rail in front of the windless..
 

 
 
Might give you some ideas for setting yours up..

Henry, I think that's a rabbit hole. Once you've gone down it, then your next thought will be, "well I've gone this far, I might as well remove this/these" and before you know it you wind up with a completely disassembled model. Which isn't a problem except, how many broken bits come about in the process? If the existing pieces are well attached, clean as best you can, touch up any paint if you choose and move forward. As the ole saw goes, discretion is the better part of valor. 
 
 I support whatever path you take, I just what you to have fun with the project. Removing a large number of pieces can lead to a lot of "I wish I had left that alone" I speak from my own past experience. 

Roger, from the bottom of my heart, "thank you". I appreciate you taking the time to put into words what I feel is/or what should be the essence of the MSW experience...........Keith

Ok, let me put my oar in the water.  I count my self as a serious ship model builder interested in advancing the state of the art.  I have been trying to do this my entire adult life, longer than I care to admit.  Unfortunately, I have no artistic ability, and struggle to produce the clean work of the masters that post on this site. In spite of this, I do have a collection of models that I am proud of.
 
What I am able to contribute to the mix are good research skills.  Over the years I have refined these to the point where I do know what ships being modeled should look like.  When I joined this forum, I was disappointed by the time and $$$ that forum members expended on ship model kits that don’t produce models that accurately portray the subject.   I continue to be amazed that modelers obsess over details such as the shade of paint when the model’s hull lines produced by the kit are obviously inaccurate.
 
In this case, Henry, has spent his money on something that he thinks that he might enjoy restoring.  He has asked for our help.  We have pointed out that this is not a priceless antique and never will be.  Henry could have spent a lot of money on a poorly engineered kit, become discouraged, and given up.
 
Why not help Henry learn what he can about our craft while he restores this model?  For example, to rig the model, he starts with a clean slate.  Let’s encourage him to rig it properly.  When he finishes, he’ll have a better appreciation of our craft.  Maybe he’ll be interested enough to buy the SeaWatch book/plans to build a proper Dutch Yacht.
 
Roger

Hi md, thank you for your comment and especially for the website for the Roman numbers.  They look great, pity I did not know about them before.  In my case, my only hesitation is that, although they are very small (2.5mm high) they might be a bit too big for my scale (1:72). The decals I used are 1.5mm.  I doubt it if they make them that small.
 
Graham, I try my best and I owe most of my moderate ability to a lot of members in this forum, who are magnificent builders, from whom I learned a lot. 
 
Robert

I'm rapidly running out of superlatives - just superb, Robert,
Stunning!

Amen.

Some models are good examples of how people can turn lousy kits into beautiful objects..  ( Eye of the beholder, and all that...)
 
You could spend all day for the next ten years pointing out the shortcomings in thousands of build logs.
I don't think that is what we are here for.
It's not very becoming to come into someone's log and lecture them about the futility  of their efforts based on your superior knowledge.
 
 
I'm looking forward to the piece of art that Henry makes out of this salvaged model..
It has been really interesting so far.
 
Perhaps a moderator can tidy up the log and get it back to the excellent subject it is..