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vaddoc

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  1. @allanyed Allan, you are probably very correct, and I say probably because I simply do not know; I had the lines of the boat but I could not find any plans or info how these boat were actually put together. I searched the net and the few books I have but I did not come up with anything helpful, apart from some dimensions in May's book. So, I improvised and decided to have fun and make it look "busy" to the ignorant eye, knowing it is very probably not historically accurate. Now, as for the grating, the answer is very simple: I really wanted to try and make grating just for the fun of it, I originally intended to put it in the floor but then surfing the net I saw the photo bellow and changed my mind. I am afraid the depth of my knowledge is skin-deep being a landsman that strangely happens to love boats! Best wishes Vaddoc
  2. Ok, time to put the oar issue right. I lengthened the oars and they do look more proportionate. The following photo shows the three different stages in the oar construction - it is truly a lengthy process. I have not found a way to stain the oars so I think I ll just paint them white. I would much prefer though a dark yellowish shade. Vaddoc
  3. I am not ever playing poker with you Craig! You keep raising on me! 16 feet would be 49 cm. If you guys could turn a blind eye, we could go for 40 cm that is technically much more feasible and still give the visual impression of a log oar.😉
  4. (sigh) Craig, you are of course right. I checked May's book and it does give oar lengths. For a 21 foot boat, oars would be 13 feet length or 396 mm in the model, my oars are 255 mm long. Alright then, back to the drawing board it is! Thankfully, I have plenty of maple. Vaddoc
  5. Dear all I had a bit of annual leave so I worked a lot on the boat and I have a few more pics to share. @allanyed Unfortunately Allan, my poor choice of wood means painting the hull is necessary! Ok, so I made the gunwales which went smoother than I expected. Secured with many screws, later changed to wooden nails. I also installed the two knees at the transom. So next is the rudder. It will be a basic one based on the dimensions given in May's book and pictures I found on the net. The rudder is now receiving the very many coats of paint needed due to the acrylics' poor coverage. So while this is cooking, on to the oars it is. I sat in the computer and made a template. I wanted to use a lighter colour wood like boxwood but I only have maple which is very light colour but also a wonderful wood for modelling. I experimented with a bit of dyes and oils but did not like the outcome. So these oars will be painted. So first glue the template onto wood. I switched from Pritt to 3M stick glue - difference is day and night, so much better. Then I cut the templates. Then I laminated them with PVA glue and many many clamps. The end result Then lots of brutal sanding with not so miniature tools. I think it went ok! 4 more to go. Till next time Vaddoc
  6. Dear all A lot of work done, time for an update! Done Craig! Not with Shellac which I dislike but with a water based sealer. Went well and should help Done! Yes, the hull is now painted. It sent reasonably well but I have to admit it has been my worst paint job. Poor surface preparation, hasty and a bit sloppy paintjob, near disaster varnishing. So here it goes: I used grey primer which is supposed to be permanent when dry. Well it is not. I tried to clean the surface with Isopropyl alcohol and immediately started lifting it. Still, no harm done. Then I masked and taped off the hull using frog tape. I actually forgot I had a large supply of various Tamiya tapes - stupid me. In any case, again no harm done - a bit of bleeding which was covered with the next layer. Acrylic paint is pretty horrible. It took 20 coats of ivory to cover the grey primer and still did not completely do it. However, being water based means I can work in house which is a huge advantage. I always swear I ll use enamels next time and always seem to end up using acrylics. No brush marks, Valejo paints are wonderful but surface underneath far from perfect Acrylic paint is also so easy to scratch, needs a varnish. Again, paint is supposed to dry permanent but trying to clean with IPO started melting the paint. Still, no major harm done. I used the Valejo polyurethane varnish that previously gave me good results. Not this time! In all honesty though, this varnish is now 6 years old. In any case, it did not brush well although left no brush marks, took ages to dry, and did not seem to have adhered well to the paint as it started lifting in an area I rubbed to remove a drop of PVA glue. I managed to fix this by brushing a bit more varnish but overall, I know this top coat is a bit rubish. Then, I added the two strips of wood - sanded and coated with Tung oil. Not long now! Still have to make oars though Best wishes Vaddoc
  7. Chisels, including a 3 mm and a V shape, diamond stones, strop. You can probably do without but working with wood is an excellent excuse to get them.
  8. Thanks Craig You are right but I should have done this earlier, when the interior was empty. I think now is a bit too late!
  9. Dear friends One knows it's been a very long time since his last post, when he needs to search for his log! But here I am, so time for an update and a few photos as there is definitely progress made. Allow me to shout a word of caution: DO NOT USE BEECH FOR PLANKING! I did read on wood database that it has a lot of movement in service, but the reality is just ridiculous. Any more movement and the wood would grow feet and run out of the shipyard. First of all the planks shrunk. Initially there was no gap at all as I took pains to make them perfect. Then huge gaps appeared. I filled these in and then the planks shrunk more, with gaps opening once again. Then the boat kept changing shape, sometimes the two sides wanted to come together but others wanted to get away from each other. The biggest problem was that some planks pulled out of the ribs, as shown in the photo bellow. I had no idea how to fix it but in the end, the boat just changed shape again and the gaps closed. Magic! So, next I finished the floor boards and also the small deck aft. I replaced all the screws with treenails and then, it was time for the thwarts. I used the original drawings which kind of hint where the thwarts should go. The benches aft however took an awful lot of head scratching to understand how they could be arranged, without massive wood work. I used the internet and some common sense and I think I came up with a reasonable solution. I then made the legs, they came out alright I think. Then, I made the knees to hold the thwarts. This took a long time as each knee has each individual shape and then had to be drilled, sanded and get a coat of Tung oil. Then all were assembled, using 30 min Zpoxy which I am certain was the way it was done back in 1750. Now the boat is structurally solid and complete. Now however it is time to think about painting the hull. It really needs to be painted but with this cracks between the planks, it is not going to work. So they had to be filled. I used again Osmo filler which I really like. This is how the hull looked afterwards. The sanding that followed will be sang by bards for centuries. I went down to 320 grid, I really wanted 400 but I run out of sand paper. Now, I am sure the cracks will reopen but this is the best I can do! Now, this is a hull that absolutely must be sealed. I never liked shellac and I ve been using for years a water based sealer (Decoart Americana). A coat went on, then sanded to 320 grid. Again, I really wanted 400 but I could not find even a small piece in the shipyard. Then another coat went on, sanded to 600 grid (I found a sheet somewhere) The hull is as good as it will ever be. When I find time I ll put a coat of primer and paint the hull - Ivory and Prussian blue I think. A last photo, till next time Vaddoc
  10. Use this water based sealer. Sand wood smooth to 400 grit. Slap it on with a brush with no care. Dries in 15 min. If you want put a second coat. When dry, sand once more with 400 grit or 0000 steel wool. The wood will be as smooth as baby bottom and sealed. Then spray a bit of primer and then paint on top. Self life of this is very long - years. Deco Art Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer-8oz, Other, Multicoloured, 236 ml (Pack of 1) : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen
  11. All done! I actually find making tree nails very therapeutic, calms (or numbs) the mind down. No excuse now, back to the boat, although I feel like walking in the dark - not sure at all how these things were made. A final picture with the 4000+ nails - about 0.7 mm, very hard wood. If you ever go down this road, if you get a set up that works well just make as many as you can,
  12. Looking at the photo of Victory's planking above, it is incredible how thick the planks are. Considering the thickness of the frames and the inner planking, the hull sides must have been 2+ ft thick - solid wood. And still a cannon ball could penetrate.
  13. I googled it, there are 121 million oak trees in the UK, with 1 million in London alone. It needed 5000 oaks for Victory The tree starts producing acorns after 40 years! Oak trees - did you know? | Action Oak
  14. The amount of wood in these boats is staggering. A floating forest. Thank you for the photos and the info, very interesting.
  15. Ok, a quick update. At this time, I have no idea how to built the rest of the boat. Unfortunately it will not be historically accurate but at least I ll have fun building it! Now, today I sat to make a few thousand tree nails, I have to replace lots of screws and I ll need more as we go. It actually went very well, a short video follows showing how fast they can be made with the needle method. This tree nails are about 0.7-0.8 mm, maybe about 1 cm long. This wood is cherry - very hard. There must be about 1500 - 2000 nails there When the sleeves for my drum sander arrive, I ll sand the back and release the nails. But I will sit tomorrow and make more, my set up is working well and I should take advantage of it. Vaddoc
  16. Many thanks to all for your likes and comments. @allanyed Allan, I simply can't remember how I set the distance between ribs. It my have been based on some data I had dug out or I may have just eyeballed it. But these boats had probably a hard life so they would have had ribs more closely spaced. But I do agree with you, it is easier to find accurate info for the pots in Victory's kitchen than construction info and plans for ships' boats.
  17. Glad you are feeling better Hakan, hopefully no more bumpy roads. You are building a might nice model but indeed, enjoy yourself and leave things for later on. As Mark says, both the wood and us will be waiting patiently. All the best Vaddoc
  18. Dear friends Time for another post, some progress but also some unfortunate findings. Lets start. So, there is an urgent need for the boat to have some structural support but it needs to be built from the bottom up. So, the floor needs to be installed. I had previously cut the floor supports but I found some were off and needed adjustments or replacement. Finally they were epoxied in place and coated with Tung oil - for no reason at all really! However, It was then that I noticed a rather big issue. The planks have pulled away from the ribs, the glue in the tree nails failed - but also the pressure from the planks must have been pretty substantial. I do not think this can be fixed without disassembling the boat and in the end of the day, it does not bother me much. So on we go. Next, I did some work at the gunwales and attached the stringer and the breast hook. So far everything is screwed, later on will be replaced with tree nails. Next, it was time for the false stem to be installed. Again I had to make adjustments but I got a good fit. I used thickened epoxy and it came out pretty good. Especially the joint with the planking, which in the past had caused me headache, came out also fine. Ok, so far so good. Next it was the floor boards. This took a bit of work and some head scratching but actually came out better than I hoped. I am not sure if it is historically accurate but we do need a floor to walk on - so here it is. And with some Tung oil on All the screws need to be replaced with tree nails, so time to make a few hundred. I will be using the last of the cherry wood I saved from the fire wood pile 10 years ago. Cutting one more slice was difficult, this wood is very hard This wood is very dry and needs to get some moisture before we can drill the nails out. The slices are now submerged in water. Till next time Vaddoc
  19. Acrylic paint is easily damaged. Enamel paint is much harder but also can get damaged. I think the only part of the boat you should seriously think protecting is the hull. It will certainly get scratched during the rest of the build or during its life after. I use varnish, either water based or enamel. Water based is easier to use but enamel is overall harder and better - I think I ll go back to enamels for the boats I am currently building. I ve tried the Valejo polyurethane varnish previously, water based, seemed to be ok. Humbrol enamel varnishes are also very good, or at least this has been my experience. Couple of things to consider 1. Spray cans can be temperamental and spray inconsistent or thick coats. Be careful 2. Satin finishes need good stirring to evenly distribute the media within. Matt varnishes are more difficult, they need some care to avoid inconsistent results. 3. Basically practice and test your finish on scrap wood, NOT the model! Seriously, you do not want to be sanding the hull down if something goes wrong. I d definitely put something over the hull.
  20. I d say just buy the thinner, same brand as your paint. The cost is insignificant all things considered and you know you get the correct product. If the paint job goes wrong it is usually a much bigger job to fix things. Certainly for brush painting with Valejo, I feel it is a must to buy their thinners and retarders.
  21. Some progress and at last, a couple of nice photos to post! I finished the pieces for the deck screwed things together, replaced with wooden nails, add reinforcing pieces underneath, glued everything together and sanded to 400 grit. Then I had to decide whether to have black or light caulking. Admiral said black, so black it is! I masked the pieces, mixed black acrylic paint with Osmo filler and splashed it on. Then removed tape and sanded everything smooth. The filler becomes light grey but with Tung oil will go ack to black. Then I secured the grating with epoxy thickened with gypsum. I also made a leg to support the deck using a drill sanding against the disc sander - very fast results. It does not look too bad! When I have time I ll glue everything together and move on Regards Vaddoc
  22. It would be very worthwhile but British homes are tiny and the admiral would not have it... Hakan, I ended up feeling I simply had not enough brain cells for the task! So glad finally it is done. Good to be back Gary. The mould has disappeared now that the garage has been heating up. The shape incident is interesting. I think initially the ribs were pushing the planks outwards but as slowly they started accepting their new shape, the inward pressure from the planks overwhelmed everything. So thwarts are there really to push the planking outwards - had not realised till now. I reworked the deck to make it look more proportioned and nice - photo bellow. Still needs work though Regards Vaddoc
  23. Oh dear! It has been 5 months since my last post. The cause has been twofold: Too much work but also serious difficulties with the boat. I returned to the shipyard and found two major issues. One was mould developing on the model. The garage where I do my modelling has not been heated for months with temperatures as low as -8 C. Thankfully it was like fine dust, easy to remove. But when mould starts growing on your model, it certainly is a subtle sign you 've gone into hibernation! The other was that the boat had dramatically changed its shape. Initially, the beam wanted to spread so I had to make braces to hold the sides. However, now this was reversed. The planks appeared to push the sides inwards and the beam was drastically reduced, pushing the stem and sternpost outwards. I started pushing the planking outwards with bits of wood, gradually increasing the beam, using the braces as guide - so happy I had taken this precaution. It took a few weeks to get the boat back into the proper shape. However, the sheer was now a bit wavy so I fixed a couple of very thick strips on the inner aspect - this did the job well. I also heavily reinforced the flimsy braces. Now, with the boat back in shape, I was able to proceed with the build. I am essentially making it up as I go as I do not have any detailed plans but I do not think I am actually far off. Now, I would like to have a deck at the bow. This proved a fantastically difficult task. I tried all sorts of jigs to mark the planking so that I could install stringers to support the deck. In the end, I started screwing little pieces of wood, and using flat sheets finally got it close enough. This took weeks and months - very difficult. Then I screwed the stringers which had to be soaked in boiling water as the curve was quite severe. The small wood pieces were then removed Then, I started making a frame with beams to support the deck. I forgot to take pictures though but again, was not easy. In the next photo the frame is ready, waiting for the epoxy to cure. Next, I slowly started adding the various pieces for the actual deck. It slowly is coming together now. I hope things will speed up a bit now. Till next time Vaddoc
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