SaturnV

Tom, the full cannons need to go on before the upper decks because there is no way to install them afterwards. Look ahead in the picture book of this area and you will see what I mean. I wold advise you to mark the book at the "install upper deck " part with words install guns first.

the plywood bulkhead can be bent by sandwiching it between wet paper towels for ten minutes at a time, bending it a little each time. Takes a few steps of this but it works. You have to keep an eye out for the plys seperating while your doing it but I never had that problem on mine.

Hobbylinc sells the AL thread if you need more. I had to buy 5 extra spools of the tan running rigging thread because of waste while tying knots.

hope all that helps. Best of luck. It makes a fine model when completed.

Richard

Wayne,

I actually have that document but did not read it yet. I had to register on the website to get it and now they keep spaming me with newsletters and stuff. Kind of funny. I guess I need to get more into that document to see whats in it. Thanks for the tip.

Richard

Hi Juergen,

I placed my wales first so as to stabilize the framing for sanding. The frames tend to vibrate under the sander and make it hard to get anything done. Now that I have the wales in place the material is coming off more quickly. I'm not following any instructions for this but merely making it up as I go. Kind of fun that way. 

Hope that helps.

Richard

Wayne I think you are correct as one is a sloop and the other a frigate. I've been searching the internet for a couple of months to find some drawings that would be closer to my models type and year but have come up empty. I opened this topic out of desperation....

Thank you for the formula Druxey. I will keep that for future reference.

Richard

I guess I am refering to sixth rate vessels in general of the period for my MSW build of the Triton and how it compares to the Swan class books - The Fully Framed Model. I have all 4 books now and the 4th book has plans for the masts and spars. I also have the dimensions of all of the masts and spars as provided by MSW for the Triton model. So, using the dimensions given for the MSW Triton build and the layout of knees, platforms and cross trees as shown in the TFFM book series do I have the correct information to build masts for my Triton that would be historically accurate for the Triton of 1773?

I also have the Pandora and the Diana books to do a little cross referencing and to make educated guesses as to what I am going to be building but checking with the knowledgable folks here on the forum I was hoping to get my guesses substantiated.

In the end, if no one can confirm or deny my guesses then anything I do will be as accurate as I could possibly get as I have exhausted all of my known information sources.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I really appreciate the input.

Richard

Mermaid class versus Mermaid the ship. I will be building the Triton with full masts but only have plans for a Swan class of ship. I am wondering if these Sawn class mast drawings would be accurate on my Triton. The TFFM books claim the information is good for all 6th rate ships. I will, of course, be using the dimenshions supplied by the MSW Triton build forum topic.

Richard

Ah, the gantry bridge. That is coming soon for me. I don't see any other way to get good measurements inside of the hull without one. Mine will likely be rudimentary as I have not the money or skills to build a nice aluminum one. I am off work all next week so I expect to get the keelson completed, the hull finish sanded inside and out, and then finally stain her so that I can finally see her true colors. Should be fun stuff.

Richard

Thank you Mark!

as you know I'm building the Triton but there are no plans for the masts and rigging. The only plans I know of are the ones from the swan series books but I am not sure if those would be accurate for my Triton. So, is a sixth rate a sixth rate regardless of the size when it comes to those sorts of things? Tough question apparrently.

Richard

I am confused by all of the different classes of ships, "rates" of ships, and the intricate details that set them all apart from each other.

Is there a book out there that would clarify all of this? The more details the book would cover the better.

Richard

Hi Daniel! I can understand you, hopefully you can understand me too.

I measuered the same way - measure three times, glue once! It seems to be correct.

The tops of my frames have never been cut or sanded to their final height so it gets tough to visualize if things are straight. The gunport frames have not been sized either so height on the Wales can't be judged by that either. The only thing that counts is the wale height above the keel. Does that make sense?

Richard

Looking at the model with the light in front makes all of the wood blend together and therefore hard to discern the individual parts and the curve of the wale. Lit from behind all is black making the curve the only thing that can be seen. Plus the picture looked kind of cool so I thought I would share.

Thought this to be an interesting shot. I was wanting to get a profile only of the wale to see if it looked correct. Got what I wanted plus the photo:

Other than size, would the overall construction methods of the masts, platforms, crosstrees, and spars be the same for these two classes of ships? They are both considered 6th rate ships but differ in size and cannon quantities as well as other items.

Thanks ahead of time for any answers provided to this question.

Richard

Way to go Daniel! Looking sharp. And as far as the slot for the door, this would be difficult to see way down in the depths when the model is completed so extreme accuracy is not required on this level of the ship. She looks good. I would move forward with the way you are doing things and increase the accuracy as you move up to the higher decks.

Meanwhile, I am still sanding the inner hull of my model.....

Richard

The Swan Class and then Diana and Pandora all have a different plan for the wale planking so I took a midway between them approach. My wales are roughed in and that has provided much strength to the model. I started yesterday carving out the space between the cant frames to make room for the keelson at each end. Used a Dremmel with a spiral bit to rough cut then sanded for a final tight fit. Next up is sanding down all of the frames to their final inboard shape - this will take a few weeks I'm sure. Will take pictures when I get something done worth showing....

Happy modeling to all!

Richard

I founds this site on the interweb. Thought it was interesting and provides a starting point for more research on this vessel:

http://threedecks.org/index.php?display_type=show_ship&id=7215

Richard

My Pandora book shows one piece deck beams from the bow back to about one fourth the length of the ship. The deck beams at the stern are also one piece about one fourth of the way forward. The center half is all two piece notched together.

Hi folks! Working on the Wales. Should my planks be notched like they are shown in the AOS Pandora book, or not, like the Swan books show? There is no planking guide in the Triton drawings.....

Thanks ahead of time for any help with this.

Brian, willow is good for. Hidden structural parts like bulkheads, filler blocks, and first layer hull planking. It bends easily and holds up when cut small. Depending on the log it can be substututed for basswood. If you got a nice log it would work well for deck planking. Some logs will fuzz up when cut but just as many will not. Try to cut some thin pieces and see how yours behaves. I would certainly not discount willow as a source for timber.

Richard

Agreed. I am lucky that I have you folks to keep me on track. It looks like I am due to make another donation to this forum as thanks for all the help.

Richard

Ah, my bad. A quick search shows it as a mermaid class. It is difficult sometimes to tell the difference between all of these types of classes. I have much learning to do. Thank you Mark.

Richard

So, I'm working on the lower counter planking and in the TFFM books it states that Swan class ships do not have the two ports on the stern. However, the MSW drawings and everyone elses models that I can find show two ports on the stern. Which is correct? Dealers choice maybe?

Richard

Good to hear from you Daniel. Would love to see some pictures of your progress. I was going to start planking but got derailed by the frame issue. Now it is back to sanding for me. I am considering getting volume 2 of TFFM because this whole planking thing is making me nervous that I don't have enough information to do it correctly. Always doubt with me, its a wonder I get anything done on my models......

Richard

Thank you Allen and druxey. Your descriptions are adequate for me to now make an informed decision.

and Mike, you are correct, without any sort of idea of what I would be spending $70 on I have restrained from purchasing one. A missed sale for them.

Does anyone have the indexes of what is in each of the Fully Framed Ship Model Swan Class books? I have the first book but I can't seem to find this information on the website for the other books.....

Thanks,

Richard