Aussie048

No problem Eamonn. The pics below almost explain themselves. I used my table saw to cut the V groove, first the two outer cuts to depth, then a cut down the middle for the bottom of the V, and then some decreasing cuts either side to remove the bulk of the wood. I finished it off with a V gouge - it looks a bit rough, but it holds the piece quite firmly. I used my fingers to hold the piece down whilst sanding - holding and shaping them is easier done before cutting the piece to length off the long stock.
 
The stopper glued to one end helps keep the stock at the correct distance from the end - I simply marked the jig with a pencil at the point where I had to stop sanding. If all your pieces are the same length you could glue a piece of scrap across the V at the mark to avoid going over it.
 

 

 
I start off by sanding down one corner until the sanding stick just touches the top of the jig, then turn it 90 degrees and sand down the second corner and so on.
 

 

 
Setting the height was a bit of trial and error, but you could probably calculate and measure the amount of depth required.
 
If you have quite a few pieces to shape you could CA a couple of strips of an old hacksaw blade or flat steel either side of the V groove to avoid sanding the top of the jig too low - I only had 16 pieces to shape so I didn't bother, but the last three or four needed careful work because I DID sand some off the jig. You can see that in the second pic above.
 
  Danny

So here we go, not too sure about some of the "improvements" but when we get more clutter on the deck they may fall into place.

A long time ago in a Modelshipworld forum far, far away ...I started a scratch build based on Amati's pirate junk. All went well and I was enjoying the challenge of a first scratch build until, until.... I used 17th century furniture to support the upper deck railings. I actually thought they looked rather neat, especially as I spent an ice age ensuring they were equidistant.
 
Not so, said my mentors. Take them off and do it again. 
 
So after 6 years or so of muttering, I've done the deed, ripped out the old and replaced them with something more vernacular.
 
So here's the restart. All comments more than welcome.
 
 
 

And thank you shihawk, Geoff, Christian, Rafael, Spyglass and John .
 
Swivel Gun Mounts
 
There are six Swivel Gun Mounts on the Forecastle and ten on the Quarterdeck. They are octagon shaped on the upper portion, and square on the lower. I used a jig with a "V" cut into it to sand the octagon shapes in :
 

 
A small decorative shoulder was cut into the transitions using an Xacto blade :
 

 
The bottom is quarter-rounded. I used the Byrnes Disc Sander for this :
 

 
The forecastle mounts are all the same length, so I've made all six. The quarterdeck ones are of varying lengths, so I'll make up two at a time.
 

 

 
At this stage I have left the tops of the mounts a little bit long, as they will need to be trimmed to follow the Sheer line longitudinally and are horizontal athwartships.
 
  Danny

Thanks Bug and B.E.!
 
Here is how the cannons look in place:
 






 
 
/Matti

Thanks for the comments on the jigs Remco, Mark, dragzz, Doris, John and Pat. I'd toyed with the idea of using the Mill, but after cutting the first swivel mount in a couple of minutes I figured the jig would work quicker .
 
I've now temporarily glued all the Port side mounts in place and sanded the Sheer into them. Now I'll fit the Starboard ones and sand them horizontally athwartships.
 

 

 
  Danny

Now i have started my modifications...
 
I am painting and coppering one side of the hull and other side being left timber finish with a cut away of hull to show planking and some of interior. (including stairs or ladder and rum kegs in bottom of hull)  It as all still very strong..
 
here lies my first ponderings...  I have some pictures to work with but the detail is very grainy. I can make some of it out... sail cupboards on left anothe rcupboard on right perhaps..
 
What im wondering in particular is would the main gangway have stairs or a vertical ladder coming straight down into below?  I am thinking stairs as it would be very hard to bring large items or take injured or sick crew up a ladder
 
Also wondering how much platform and what sort of opening would lead to steps / ladder.   A round hole through deck or rectangle?
 
Any help or ideas would be very much appreciated.. Thanks Ollie

Hi everyone. Before rushing into buying my kit i first wanted to setup a really good work space, so i built/renovated one..  Kit arrived yesterday - 17 Oct 2013
 
And did some scratch building of smalll items to get back into fine timber work... I made a shipping crate out of some old timber that has been sitting for many years from dads instrument building years.. (western red cedar) I believe.
 
I found these series of 8 collectors plates and 5000 were made, based of paintings done by an Australian Maratime artist, Dennis Adams (1914 - 2001) He studied at the Royal Acadamy in London. I got one for a good price on ebay and made a local timber "Silky Oak" (from a old house renovation) into a plate stand.. It is good inspiration for the build and will look great with it finished..
 
I have fitted and tweaked some parts but no glue yet. I am not familiar with the all the terminology as its not only my first build of this calibre and i dont know that much about sailing...   I love to learn and am very handy, though i am glad i have you guys to help me out.. i can see many moments of perplexed pondering... Hrs count so far - 1.5 Hrs.
 
Regards Ollie

Little more progress.

Pretty slow going at this stage but progress is being made nonetheless.

After a couple more rereads of the instructions I realized the stern gallery does indeed have to be built up so started working on that tonight.
 
The red fabric you see is my attempt to color match the curtains in Nelson's cabin and make curtains on my own kit.
 
I'm hoping that once the windows are glazed that you will be able to pick up just a hint of the color and get the effect.

And a picture of the handrails using that same homemade rope.

Spent the last couple days working on the grating for the gun decks. I think the biggest thing I have learned being in this forum is that it's ok to rip something out and start over if you're not happy with the look.
 
I didn't like the idea of the grating just sitting on top of deck planking so I cut the holes below where the grating was to go to give a more authentic look. Then I completely screwed up with the grating by building the frame first and trying to fit the grates after the fact. I realized I needed to rip it all out and build the frame around the grates so that the grates would be trimmed off at border pieces instead of "spokes". They may get ripped out one more time to try and square things up a bit but I haven't really decided yet.
 
Progress has been kind of slow. Waiting on my paint kit to show up before I start working on cannons for the main deck. Also been doing some testing with a homemade ropewalk and making my own ropes. Rather promising so far. Found some stock to make stanchions out of and between those and my homemade rope, I will be making handrails for the gun deck ladders.
 
That's probably all that I will get done for the next 10 days or so. For those of you that know the IT world, I am taking my CCIE exam next week so I'll be out of the shipyard for a bit with that.

Merry Christmas to everyone here.  I am now starting my build log for the Mamoli HMS Victory.  I realize this is one of the most commonly built ships, and many must be thinking, "Yet another Victory" but I have a real passion for this ship and have been patiently waiting to buy this kit for the last 7 years.
 
I chose the Mamoli over the other kits as I couldn't talk the Admiral into the Caldercraft and the Mamoli seemed to yield the nicest build of the 1:90 kits.  As has already been said, the instructions are a train wreck, but useable.  My main concern at this point is simply quantity of materials.  I don't see how there is possibly going to be enough planking and rigging in this box...but we shall see.  
 
My first few pictures are the finished frame and the "false deck"  I tested many different stains and finishes on the deck planking before settling on the one in the pictures.  I was initially hoping to use Minwaxes "weathered oak" finish to give the greyish teak look but it just never would put down enough color.  I instead decided to use the Minwax pre-stain and then a few coats of Danish oil and am actually quite happy with the results.  
 
I used black paint to simulate the caulking and a #78 drill bit to partially drill out tree nails.  Then I used a barbecue skewer, and dipped the tip in black paint to color the tree-nails.
 
Although I used a 3 butt-shift plank on this false deck, I will switch to the 4 butt shift for the actual visible decks.  I know this deck will barely be seen so I just scaled it down a bit.
 
 
My first of many questions in this log:  Should I go ahead and plank the 4 pieces of the upper gun deck(mamoli calls batter deck) before putting the grating and stairs on or do as the instructions say and put them on and then plank around it?
 

Thanks Patrick. This is a tough decision because historical accuracy is important, too. In the end though, aesthetics to me are going to win out.
 
Some progress this weekend on the stern framing. I transferred the support piece outlines to the last bulkhead and the transom filler block.
 

 
I glued some small tabs along one side of these lines and let them dry some
 

 
I then glued in the supports and the tabs on the other side and slid them up to the first tabs. I checked the alignment of the stern ends using a divider to make sure they were all parallel to each other
 

 

 
I started beveling the two outside support pieces but quickly saw that if I hold them flush to the last bulkhead, the deck beam notches are too far forward and don't align with the inner support notches, and the stern uprights are also too far forward. So, I glued some extra wood to the front of these two pieces, which I will bevel to match the angles and put these pieces in the right place. I'll have pictures of that process later.
 
In the mean time, I started to frame the windows. As you can see, I used two small piece of wood that were the same height as the bottom window frames to align them parallel to the transom filler block and with each other to be all the same height. I also made sure that these frames stand a little proud of the support pieces so they will get faired along with the support pieces when I sand the supports before planking.
 

 
A lot more work to do on the stern, but it is nice having a start.

Thank you all for you're  still here.
Sorry for this delay but I had to travel to UK to see my new grandson.
You see, I became grandfather for a second time.
Back to work now...
Soon as I got back I painted the cagemast and I placed the fitting of the open bridge.
I must admit that this cagemast is a model by itself...

Thanks

Happy New Year to all.
Well the ladders have arrived and have been placed between the floors.
It's hard to be seen in the photos inside a room, so I took the chance to use the Greek sky as a background even in January...
I think you can see two ladders between the first and third floors.

 
I placed also the shelves for the searchlights and the observation post at the top of the mast, all made by pieces of plastic.

 
It can't be seen but I haven't placed one last wire because I need an open, through which I will place some fittings
of the open bridge (a ship's wheel, compass). As some other items, they have to be waiting the painting of the mast.
Thanks

 

Didn't get to go fishing today.  My wife had other ideas so in between lots of household chores, I managed to finish the second planking on the starboard side of the hull.
I ran into a bit of trouble as I neared the end and the last plank had so many undulations in it to fit the final gap, that it looked more like a snake than a plank!
I cant believe how long this took me.  Either I'm just very slow or there is a simpler way that I'm yet to figure out.
I've given it a rough sand but will wait until I've done the other side before doing a final sand.
 
In the DVD instructions it says to give the whole hull and deck a spray coat of satin estapol. 
Should I do this before adding the wales, stanchions and deck railing caps or after they are all glued on?
 
I'm really enjoying building this model but cant wait to get to the deck fittings etc.  This planking caper is hard work!
Cheers
Rod

Several hours later I've made all the swivel gun mounts to this stage. Next comes some rather tricky ironwork.
 

 
  Danny

Well I've decided to back track a bit and work on my quarter galleries. Since I wasn't too thrilled with the detail on the castings, and I couldn't mix any combination of paints to match the color of the hull, I decided to make my own. But I am using the castings as a pattern to get my measurements from.
 
This probably isn't the best way of doing it but I'm giving it a try. (comments, critics, and most of all ADVISE are highly welcome at this point)
 
I'm going to do it in 3 sections, Top, middle & bottom. So far I've completed the middle section. I started by spot gluing 2 pieces of basswood together and getting the basic shape then I filed out the 3 slots for the windows which I wanted them to be 6/32 x 6/32 (scale 1'-4" x 1'-4") but I forgot to follow the measure twice rule and ended up with 1' x 1'-4" windows. Then I used HO scale 2" x 2"s and 1" x 2"s to make the frames.
 
I sanded down 2 pieces of scrap basswood to make the trim for the top and bottom of the windows. Once I get them sanded down a bit more I'll glue them to the windows.
 
Here's some pics of my progress.  

Hi everyone, I finally have a chance to work on my Syren. 
 
I've completed putting the figurehead on which was an adventure in itself.I ended up breaking the lower cheeks off while fitting the figurehead. Also I've been able to get the swivel brackets, pinrails and cleats installed. Now I'm working on my carronades. Two are done and fitted. 
 
 

Hi Thomas and thanks, its always good to have a little humor shot across m' bow. I'll throw you a tow rope and maybe we can get caught up with the fleet.
 
Augie, I think I may have a bad dowel. i'm going to work with what I have and see what happens. If it doesnt work, then I'll go get another dowel.
 
But in the mean time, I've finished the head rails and I'm working on fitting the figurehead while making the bumpkins. I've thought about putting some color to my figurehead, but I'm not really sure. It seems that most all figureheads on HMS ships are quite colorful. But I'm learning that most of the U.S. fleet ships either went with the wood color (natural) or white.
 
Richard

Hi everyone. Wow, what a change! 
 
Anyway, it looks like I need to start a new log so here it is.
 
I haven't been able to get much done as of late. I've managed to get the catheads &  headrails done. Unfortunately I didn't see the the plan view of the middle head rail before attaching it, so it's missing the angle. (I really need to look at these plans more carefully!!)   
 
Also here's my first question:
 
According to the instructions the bumpkin is to be made from 1/16" round dowel but the stock I have is very flimsy and I don't believe it will hold up without bending when I attach the rigging. Should I use a bigger dowel?
 
And I just want to say - Its good to be back - I have lots of catching up to do on everyone's build logs.
 
Richard
 
  

Thanks again Grant, Allan, Bug, David, Guy and Alex - your comments are very welcome .
 
Allan and David - I'm intending to fully mast and rig the ship (if I live that long ).
 
Entry Steps 
 
There are six Entry Steps per side - I'm only fitting the Port side.
 
To avoid making yet another Molding Scraper (which would have been very difficult to use around the ends of the steps in any case) I've made each step in two pieces using English Box. I used a previously made scraper to shape the lower portions, along with needle files and Xacto knife.
 

 

 

 
The two steps on the black Wales have been stained with Ebony wood stain - real Ebony didn't like my scraper very much, too much chipping out happened when I tried it on a sample piece :
 

 

 
Each step needed a varying degree of bevel sanded into it's inboard face to match the shape of the hull at that point.
 
  Danny

Hello every-one 
Nothing really to explain with the pin rail stands or the ships bell . Both done out of walnut . I left the ships bell as is and just gave it a little polish to shine it up a bit .


The fore and main mast  pin rails are all standard . Nothing to say to paint it black , but i prefer the black than to leave it just as ply . 

The Davits , again i changed from the ply parts . I think they look a lot better than the kit supplied one's .

The transom decoration was a cast part . ( i would of liked to have tried to carve one but my skill is nowhere near that type of detail yet ) a bit of scraping to get all the burs off then a good clean , under coat and then a couple of top coats of gold leaf . I used a 5 minute epoxy to attatch it to the transom .

 Now this is where i am up to now . The next step is the ships boats . These might take a while as i don't like all the ply with them . Will see what happens .
 
 
 
David