Aussie048

this will be my first scratchbuilt project.based on a set of plans first published around an article in modelboats cica 1996 by a chap called peter danks. (myrmidon man?)
apparently this vessel was originally built for service on the great lakes of north america during the america war of independance.
built around ply wood bulkheads on a similar system to some of the billing kits ie in two halves.
wales planked using 3mm x 4mm beech.
all other  planking in lime wood.
various fittings will be in a mixture of other timbers including boxwood,ramin.

Hello model builders,
the manufacture and assembly of the gunports lid is nearing completion.
The last two lids must still be mounted.

 

 
 

...

Hello,
 
Here are some progress pictures on the middle deck framing.

Hello All, 
 
I have finished the first layer of the hull, filled and sanded, came out not bad tbh, Might add a little bit of filler around the Bow.
all though i was adding 2 per side per day,, the last few was 3  due to the small size, a
 
any ways this task was done..

Hi Ken
I reckon there are some good points made above. You need more room - Space the tackle bolts wider at the port than the breeching ropes. The eye for the tackle hook should be further back and behind the breeching rope eye and ring on the carriage. I use extremely thin blackened jewellery wire for wrapping the blocks. It probably should be rope but it is very easy to use and manipulate. I find that does not break or bend when rigging if handled gently. Here is picture of my AVS cannon rig. 2.5mm blocks, 0.25mm tackle rope and 0.6mm breeching rope. My mistake here is the double block for the tackles at the bulwarks - have since learned that it should be a single. My coils are also too big and too long.

Continuing with building the upper gun deck cannons. Waiting for blackening solution to arrive for barrels etc. Recalled a partial crew for an hours drills. Threw it all together for a moment to pause and evaluate where I'm going with my 'extras'. Upon viewing this image am very satisfied that the deck will look 'alive'. Building the gun carriages like the copper tiles is not that tough a challenge. It looks daunting but I find it is going along reasonably well. I do two to four at a time. Thought about the idea of an assembly line approach like some have done but decided against it. Find that as I go along each gun carriage gets a bit better.
A tip that I've figured out. When cutting the gun carriages and wheels out of the wood make a shallow cut on one side of the piece holding the object to the wood pattern. Flip it over and then make the final cut through the wood. It seems to make a better complete cut. I initially tried to push the blade all the way through from one side. Not sure I've explained well enough but there you go.
On to the final gun carriages. Looks like rigging the cannons will be an interesting time!

Done my first set of Hat 8098 figures. Now have a Navy to run the ship. As I won't get the next sets for a while it is on to the gun carriage assemblies and the rest of the deck. Can't get over how colourful the ship looks with the added figures. Really seems to bring her to life. As I will be gluing these guys on the deck I am going to work on the quarterdeck and fit it before I start rigging the gun carriage assemblies et al. Working with a relatively bare deck at this point will keep the bumps and scrapes to the deck features to a minimum. Will put the Navy on shore leave.
Besides I have to figure out the lighting layout as well so best complete before the shore leave is over. My painting skills have improved but am happy these guys will be buried on the upper gun deck (no pun intended). Will do another set for this deck so there will be about another 46 sailors to add. There is a total of 82 figures on the deck at this time. Have been checking YouTube and there are plenty of suggestions on how to paint. One thing that I was told is to always have the paint warm. So the paint bottles sat on the radiator. When it was time to paint turned up the heat a couple degrees a half hour before I started.
Here is one site that I found very useful on painting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJuQvVjdNCA
Below is my first Navy -- of sailors and Marines. I just realized there are no officers. LOL... hmmmm. Well that is something to think about for the summer. Now back to the ship. Paints are put away. Am heading to the mountains. There is a ton of snow and only two more months before they close. Spring riding is the best!

An Idea came to me reading on Keith's build log here regarding the flattening of the ends of fine gauge wire.
 
By melting the end of the wire
 

 
we also create an annealed ball which can be flattened with a pair of smooth pliers
 

 

 
A watchmakers pivot drill was then used to drill the hole by hand the hole is .022"
 

 
Drilling the holes was the hardes part of this project.
 


 
I am pleased with the final outcome but this will need a little practice to finesse the shape of them for further use.
 

 

 
This method will most likely work with some heavier gauge wire which will eliminate having to use the lathe to create the ball ends.
 
Michael
 
 

I have made the sail templates to make sure it all fits, next job is to make the sails and see if I can get them to work the way I want them to.
 
Even though the sails are just cardboard it looks magnificent, I think it is going to look brilliant under sail.
 

 

 

 
I am hoping this pic will give a good idea of it's presence in a room
 

 

Next step is design and installation of copper sheathing. Key points include:
 
>>> Layout designed similar to clipper ship "Flying Fish"
>>> Copper design includes upper and lower gore strakes and a single cap row
>>> Copper sheathing 1/4" self adhesive copper tape (from Bluejacket)
>>> Plate size 1/4" x 3/4" (16" x 48") larger overlap results in scale width plates
>>> Waterline established by use of surface guage
>>> Installation guided by strips of blue painters tape
>>> Installation starts from stern post and keel working up and forward
>>> Rudder gudgens modeled with thin Bristol board
>>> Final installation sealed with wiping varnish
 
I always enjoy this portion of the build as it adds a lot of color to the model.
 
Pete Jaquith
Shipbuilder

So, here is my "wooden mud" method of filling "trenches" between planks and finishing deck planking
 
Sanding is done with very light preasure with little piece of sandpaper catched in medical pean, applied particulary on places where veneer strips are little ubder surface


Sand with 150. dont clean dust, then  "cover" with light acrylic and let it dry. Then sand with 220, cover, dry, again with 280. cover, dry.
 
Two effects are there: first - "wooden mud" made of acrylic and sand dust stay in trenches and permanently fill them, become plastic when dry.
 
Second, better sanding. I remembered time when I have got my first job in small carpenter company, and from workers I learned - if you wish maximum of sanding, get surface wet, wait until dry and then sand.I applied this lesson long ago when I was making beds for children from solid wood, and it works , so, why it didnt work heere ?
 
After that sand again with 220. 280 and 400 without further acrylic covering . At the end, there are not trenches any more, caulking is visible, and whole decking is nice and smoth.

Here is first mud on main deck after 150 granulation sanding 



and here is fore deck after last mud before final sanding

Some photographs ... Thanks
Dimitris
 
 

Hello , the booms and gafs are in position, except little jib boom . Some progress photos. I used a big pillow to focus on the ship.   Good night.
 
 

Steering Rigging
 
I also rigged the Steering Wheel to the Tiller. I removed the previously fitted eyebolts in each side, as it's MUCH easier to strop the blocks to them in my vice rather than on the ship.
 
The blocks are 6" (3mm) from Syren Ship Models, and the line is 3" (0.45mm) from the same place - great stuff, thanks Chuck . I also seized the line to the starboard side of the Tiller off the ship :
 

 

 
Then I replaced the eyebolts/blocks on the starboard side and glued in the wheel :
 

 
Five turns around the wheel Hub, replaced the Port side blocks and did the rather fiddly seizing to the port side of the tiller - TWICE. The first attempt wasn't as successful as I'd have liked - I took over an inch of slack out of the line the second time :
 

 

 
Some views of the completed rigging. Note the very small nail in the centre of the turns on the hub :
 

 

 

 
See you all in a couple of weeks.
 
  Danny

Thank you Geoff - you didn't have long to wait for this one, but the next update won't be for a week or two - I'm back up to the van and some more will be done on that Victory re-build (maybe even get her finished I hope ).
 
Brake Pumps Fitted
 
Going through my "Finished Parts" drawer this morning I realized I could fit the already finished Brake Pumps, so I did :
 

 

 
  Danny

John, David, Nils, Patrick, mij, Toni, Grant, E&T, Jason and Laman - thank you all very much for your kind comments.
 
 
I ended it the way shown on the NMM sheer plan - in mid-air. It's only 16 (real) inches from the last gun mount, so doesn't need anything more :
 

 

 

 
The NMM plans don't show a Taffarel Fife Rail, so none will be fitted. If it had been fitted the Roughtree Rail would have butted against it.
 
  Danny

Looks good! Doublecheck that all frames are properly aligned, so there would be no "holes" and "bulges" because some frame is a bit non-aligned. I did that mistake on my pinnace, it's unfixable on later phases. Take a plank and see how it goes, hull must be perfectly symmetric.
 
Small hint - it would be easier to make a planking if you glue all frames together with a few strips on top:

 
And then glue some scrap wood in the center of the hull, to just clamp it into a table vice:

 
It is much easier to plank when hull is firmly fixed, you don't need to hold it, and frames are not wiggling (because they are glued together).
All that strips will go away when you remove the frame centers, so they do not affect any end result.
 
 

Well, Francis seems to be slightly stalled at the moment.  I got hardly anything done last Wednesday due to there being hardly any visitors in the museum.  No, that isn't an oxymoron, because there were no visitors the volunteer guides were all bored out of their minds so kept coming to have a chat to the friendly model maker.
 
At lest I got a couple more square frames on.  Here she is at the moment.
 
John
 

 

 

Construction of the main deck staircase from scratch. This is included on the plans but not supplied in the kit. Even though it will not be visible once the upper decks are placed, it was a nice touch and a challenge to build.
 
Each step is made up of 2 parts and needs to be beveled at 45 degrees. I jig was made from lumber and the steps placed on top of each other. Once the whole thing is completed, it can be lifted off the jig.
 
I did find some nice stanchions at Model Expo that were pretty close to the correct size, and only had to be cut down a little and beveled on the tops.
 
I finished the whole thing in red walnut and weathered it to look old. Once the main deck is installed and planked, the staircase hole will be cut and the assembly placed down into the deck. A "C" shaped bannister will have to be constructed to match the staircase and attached to the outside wings so it encloses the opening in the deck on 3 sides.
 
Vince P.

She's coming on very nicely Ollie, some great detail appearing - now onto that wonderful task (chore?) of rigging   You may wish to hire some of Danny's (Dan Vad - HMS Vulture Scratch Build) trained rigging spiders
 
cheers
 
Pat

The strap angles were located by running cord from mast through channels.. Ollie

I have also fitted my lower deadeye straps. Just need to get my canons rigged properly, and I can move on with shrouds.. :-) you can see the spacing jig I have made.. Ollie

You lot are too kind! I have her mounted but can easily take.her off if annoying me.. Oliver

So after wasting some paint and several hours....I decided to prime everything. I figured it would be easier to see ALL my mistakes and I could add filler where needed.




 
My new cherry grating showed up, so I finished making the two pieces. Still need to paint the coaming, but haven't decided what color to use yet


 
Yay!, new tools. I must say, these two might be my best investment yet.