No Idea

A bit of a story here but this may help someone. Today I needed to cut quite a lot of wood starting with some 13mm thick Castello. It's been a while since I had changed my blade so I fitted a brand new Malco 4" 110T blade. Now 13mm wood can be difficult to pass through with this blade and sure enough as I got almost through to the end of the blade it all jammed up. So I did the rest of this job using a carbide blade which I don't like using as they are a bit brutal on the wood. Next I needed to cut some 8mm wood and reverted back to the Malco blade and the exact same thing happened - I literally could not get anything passed the full width of the blade without the whole thing jamming up and stalling. My lovely saw sounded like a cat in pain 🤣 So I thought that the fence must have somehow moved out of alignment so I checked it with a dial gauge and sure enough it was slightly off. So I corrected this and tried cutting again. This time it was even worse which really surprised me and I thought that I must have done something wrong setting the fence up. So for the next couple of hours I must have set the fence at least 10 times and each time I could see that the alignment was perfect but the problem remained. As a last resort I swapped the brand new Malco blade for a brand new Martindale blade - Problem cured!!! I have no idea (I must change my forum name) what was wrong with the Malco blade as I put it back in again and I had the same problem. So if you have this issue and just cannot see why - swap the blade out even if it looks perfect. It worked for me and as the fence is now probably the most perfectly aligned in the world the saw is back to its amazing self. Needless to say the Malco blade became a frisby and is no longer in the house! Cheers Mark

Bruce if you do find a replacement I would be very interested in buying a couple as well 👍

Another update from me - The hatches are now finished 👍 I completed the front hatch by cutting the small rebates into the frame that the battens sit in. The battens were cut to match which was a little bit fiddly to do. I also cut the 45 degree angle that sits around the edge of the frame and glued it in place on the hull. Then it was onto making the front hatch cover Then the rear hatch cover which was a really nice simple job to do. Next I put all of the pieces in place and also fixed the bulkheads permanently into the hull. So my next job is to make two more Samson posts that lead up from the hold to the main deck. I need to make another two beams to make this happen so I hope my order of 0.7mm end mills arrive soon as I've broken all of the ones that I had. Cheers Mark

Hatches - or should I say hatch frames first! I've never made one of these before and it wasn't until I had a quick look at Adrian Sorolla's book that I realised that the joints are not plain mitred. Looking at the plans too I could see how they needed to overlap so here's my first attempt and how I went about it. Firstly I cut 6 - yes 6 equal parts (I always make mistakes) which were 4.8mm x 2.5mm x 36mm. Its always good to have spares on hand These then needed to be rebated. The rebate is 1.1mm x 1.9mm and I don't know how everyone does this by I prefer the mill for short pieces of wood. The reason being is if I use a parallel under the piece being cut I only need to set the cutter to depth once and then I get equal pieces. I also get the piece as low as possible into the vice to stop any deflection as the end mill passes along. Next I swivelled the vice around to 45 degrees to make the first corner cuts. I know that the cut needs to be 1.1mm but I did this to 1mm so that I could finish it with a chisel if necessary. Right this is where it gets a bit complicated - So decided to cut the two ends with the ears first (I'm sure they are not called that) 🤣 Using the already mitred end I cut a rebate 4.8mm in from that end at a depth of 1.25mm. Once this was done I used the indexing on the cross slide to measure my finished frame length of 33mm and made another cut. You have to allow for the diameter of the cutter doing this so from the 4.8mm rebate I moved the slide forward 31.8mm. I then repeated the 4.8mm rebate on the other end and then simply cut the other 45 degree angle on the face sander. Lots of words I know but they look like this when complete. Next were the other two parts which I again used the indexing on the slide to get the correct length. To cut the other 45 degree angles on these pieces I swivelled the vice the other way. The finished 4 pieces look like this Here they are dry assembled and I'm pleased with the way they turned out. So it's not finished yet but I thought that this might help someone else. Cheers Mark

Alan that is an amazing hull you have built there! Wow it looks complicated but really nicely faired by you.

Oh yes!! The next ship I build is only going to get the essential planks inside. I had to blow the dust off of my mill its been that long since I used it. Thanks Keith 👍 Thanks Vladimir 👍

Just a small update - The bow and stern small decks have both been planked. I'm not fully planking them thats as far as I'm going. Next is to make the hatches - The bow hatch is framed but the stern one is just a simple design. Then I can get the bulkheads fixed in place. A few pictures of the decks Cheers Mark

Hi Derek and cheers for you nice comments - I think scratch building is as good as the plans that you have. Ancre plans literally give you everything that you need to build a ship which is great as I do not have the skills to do my own drawings. They are so precise that as long as you are too as the builder it should all come together for you. It's also a lot more expensive than I thought it would be. I bought my first batch of wood and I would say I've then bought the same again due to my many many mistakes. It lovely though when it all comes together! I do think you should finish your Vanguard models first or I'll have Chris Watton on my case for loosing him sales 😂 They really are fantastic kits! I'm pretty pleased with the results of the shellac that I bought and I now have enough for about 2 complete ships. It wasn't totally matt but a quick rub with a fine (grey) scotchbright pad brought it down to what I wanted. I've dropped a couple of pictures below which show what it's like. Thanks for your recommendation too! VTHokiEE - Thank you too! My go to tool for measuring is a 150mm Mitutoyo digital vernier caliper with carbide tips. It's the best £300 I've ever spent and is just so accurate. Other than that I also have my height gauge and that's really it. All of the compound angles that I cut are taken pretty much from the plans as they are all clearly drawn. Often I will have to look a 2 sheets to find both angles but its all there if I look. It's also really important to have a datum that does not change. All of my measurements where possible are from the bottom of the keel upwards. That way if I put one part on slightly out of place it won't affect anything else and then later stands out like a sore thumb. Also allowing for the kerf of blade cuts and cutting the correct side of the line drawn pretty much sums up what I do. If you need anything else drop me a PM and I'll do my best to answer it. A couple of pictures of the shellac which I think looks ok. It's not the easiest place for a test under the decks but I've got to start somewhere. Oh and ignore the nice gap in my planks - that particular carpenter has now been sacked

Great job what a lovely ship build!

Hi Paul You are spot on mate and thank you for your kind comment. I did an apprenticeship as a maintenance fitter/welder. Back in the day (the very early 80's) if a part was broken or worn we had to make it. So much of my apprenticeship involved toolmaking and the accuracy that came along with it. Having said that most of my work then involved very straight lines and everything was square in one way or another and was made of metal. Model ship building is anything but that so I have tried as best I can to adapt my very old skills to curves and wood. My approach is simple - try your best; ask questions to people that know and be honest in what your doing. I often fail and sometimes get really lucky. But it's the journey for me not the final outcome. If you've got a project get it out there as I could not be where I am without the help and advice I have received. I have to ask - how on earth do you pronounce where you are from 😂 I mean Wales is just down the road from me but thats a new one for me! Welcome to the forum mate - Mark

Thanks Tobias that's nice of you to say - I'll find out about the shellac tomorrow as I'm trying it under the decks first. I got it from a UK company called Finney's and I explained to them exactly what I wanted it for. They suggested a shellac with a shine reducer in it which was delivered yesterday. I was very surprised at the cost of it though as its nearly £30 for 500ml. I'll let you know what its like to use and how the finish is. Thanks druxey - I just try my best and at least I'm not making every part twice now. It's amazing how quickly you learn to use sharp edged tools when model ship building. Oh and how to sharpen them properly too - what a difference that makes when aiming for accuracy!

Tobias and druxey I think you both make very fair points and it's not something that I had really thought about. I quite like they way it looks and I know that once the shellac is on it will change the way that they look again. In fact it will probably make the planks look a little separate but it will be subtle. It gives me something to think about before the finish is applied so thanks for your comments Here's some more of what I've been up to - I've made up the two internal bulkheads which is another of those jobs which is easy to make and difficult to fit properly. I like the small samson post on one of the posts which leads up to a hatch on the main deck Like the pump well I had to make and fit the beams over the bulkheads to get a correct fit. More dovetails to be cut! Front and rear bulkheads fitted in place after quite a bit of fettling And this is how she stands as of now So my next job is to plank the two small decks before installing the bulkheads permanently. I've got some shellac with a shine reducer in it that I will try under these decks before I fit the planks. Thanks for all of the comments, feedback and ideas as it really does help me - Cheers Mark

Hi All I've now made the hinges and the lock for the pump well doors. I made them out of 0.25mm brass sheet, 0.5mm brass rod and 1mm brass tubing. They are attached using 0.6mm nails as I already had these in stock and didn't want to buy any more. Here's a few pictures - I really like the one looking inside the well! Cheers Mark

I use Vallejo and I have no problem with airbrushing their paint. Buy the air paints from them and not the brush on. The air paints I have found still need thinning down. I also use their flow improver and their own thinner - It works great for me and they give good coverage too.

I have this airbrush and it's the best one for modelling that I have owned. With so many attachments it does just about anything that I need. I haven't found the fixed cup to be an issue as I just move what I'm airbrushing. Its also very easy to clean and the double action works great.

Wow that is just awesome mate - I've been following your build step by step for quite some time now and its been inspiring for me. Your finished ship looks beautiful and worth every minute that you've put into it. Really good luck with the Bismarck but I suspect it will be a walk in the park compared to your Swan. Cheers Mark

Derek that is one outstanding ship that you have built there mate. The attention to detail leaves me speechless

Thanks Gary - the wood is castello boxwood 👍

I've now made a good start on the pump well - Here's the main parts that it's made up of which include some very simply reinforced doors. Then they were assembled - They are well over sized at this point to give me loads to play with. You will also see the very thin reinforcing battens at the opening Next I used the template to cut it to the correct size but I left it overly high as this part has to fit snuggly under the main beams. I also milled out the slot for the keelson and shaped the bottom of it to match the hull. Then I removed the planks that I had previously fitted as the pump well sits directly on the frames. I also at this stage cut the holes through the frames for the actual pumps. I got a nice tight fit I then used the main beams to determine the correct height and recessed the support posts to fit between the beams. The well pump is wider that the opening between the beams. I also completed the side planking and added the planking nails. And here's the pump well in situ inside the hull I very pleased with the way it fits and I didn't have to make any alterations to the plans. So my next job is to make the hinges and lock for the doors. Cheers Mark

Such a tiny little boat - good luck with the build 👍 I have don't know how the manufactures make these for so little money but I'm glad they do. What a great way to get into our hobby.

Well I have to say that I'm glad I paused and re-checked. This morning after the 1mm strip that I put onto the port side had dried I checked every frame on each side for accuracy. I found a high spot on the starboard side and also discovered that the port side was not completely 1mm incorrect. In fact the clamp was slightly wavy 🥲 So I've spent today pulling both sides to their correct dimensions as thinking forward - if I don't do this now I'm going to have to make loads of alterations to the waterway to make it fit. I'm sure it will still need fettling into place but nothing like it would have done had a not checked. The results are great as I can actually see that the clamps run far straighter than they did and now I know that they are correct. So after doing that I cut the dovetails into the two beams that I had made. I then cut the receiving dovetails into the beams. I cut these 2.5mm deep as apposed to the 2.4mm on the plans (Sorry druxey I'll try harder next time I promise 🤣) The beams are now in place and the fit is really nice - even better they are bang on the money height wise with just a little left to sand out. So now I can get on with the pump well as I now know its exact location. I can't thank enough for the encouragement and making me re-think to get this right. Cheers Mark

Hi Greg you completely blew me away with this comment - I just didn't know how to reply yesterday. Thanks for your really nice comment 👍 So I took a step back and decided to do a full measurement of the clamps as I was unsure if one side was high and required sanding or the other was low. I was actually hoping that I had put the starboard side a bit high but no......I was right and the port side was roughly on average 1mm too low. So I've taken your advice and added a strip today to get me to the correct level which needs feathering in towards the stern. I'm very glad that I have done this as sometimes it's so easy just to plough forward with a build and not reflect where you are. Thanks for the advice and I'll have an update soon. Cheers Mark

Trust me there was a huge bit of luck involved here Greg that a great idea as I just sight down the line with my eye which surprisingly I have found to be quite accurate but this will be better. Here's a question though - I have discovered after my initial happiness that the port side clamp at this point is about 1mm lower than the starboard side. So to scale that is 25mm so nothing major but still a discrepancy. I was thinking about dropping the starboard side slightly lower within the clamp with these 2 beams to pull them level. But even if I do this the waterways will still be slightly lower. So is this something that I need to worry about as on such a large scale as it certainly wont be seen. I've never tried for perfection as I'm just not experienced enough so my thoughts are just leave it but I'll be interested to see what others think.

Just a quick update as I'm a little bit happy with something. So today I made a few main beams which are huge. They are each made from a piece that is 15mm x 7.9mm x 200mm. Sorry I digress - I then fitted the two that I need for the dimensions of the pump well and I thought that I had better check that the build was going the right way. So just like all of the other beams I checked the height at the crown of beams using my height gauge. The beam according the drawings should be dropped into the deck clamps by 2.6mm to be at the correct height. Mine need dropping by 3.0mm!! I am so happy about this as I fitted the clamps ages ago and things have moved on since then. I'll take being 0.4mm out everyday of the week 👍 It may be different at various points of the clamp I'll find out as I go along. I just need to work out how to cut the dovetails in both the beams and clamps but I'll sort it. I need to sit these beams at their final height to build the well. A few of pictures of these beams in place and sorry for my little self indulgence but I'm well happy with this result! Cheers Mark

Hi Tony - Yes mate they are carbon fibre rod. I can get most sizes really easily in the uk and it sands down at the same rate as the wood. I know most builders prefer brass but I'm not overly keen on the shininess of it and also they are hard to sand down too when in wood. Thanks Tobias 👍 Cheers druxey - I was fortunate that the two sides are pretty much identical so once I got one to fit the other just followed as I already had a pattern. They do take time though there's no doubt about it! I find getting the beams to fit exactly harder to fit funnily enough; as you are lining them up on more than one axis and they keep on moving from where you put them 😂