Aussie048

Port and Starboard Wales finally on.
Took me while to decide how to make up the width with the timbers from the kit.
The upper hull planking is 1.0mm thick.
The wales: decided on a 1.5mm top plank, then 5 planks 2mm thick. So the wales ended up with 2 x 0.5mm steps over the top edges.
 
I decided to blacken the edges of the top and bottom planks with the aim to give a sharp edge(hopefully not to cut in later on) to the change in colour/clear.
 
Might do some planks across the stern next, before talking the lower hull planking.
 
Slow going 
 
Cheers shipmates
 
Dave

Thanks Martin - I had a similar thought about the bear, but wanted to keep my thread family rated 
 
Thanks Ian.  The Unicorn is a bit longer, taller and wider even at the smaller scale as you can see in the pictures below.  I should have added the stem to the Unicorn (which as you know is a beakhead ship so it probably looks a little shorter at its front at the moment), and the Pegasus will extend a little further back by an inch or two after the stern extensions are added.  I dry fitted the upper decks to get a sense as to the height differential.  Interestingly, I thought the Pegasus was going to be a lot smaller when I first started on the build, but it seemed to get a lot bigger once the bulkheads and stem were attached.
 

 

Exciting development - I now have the skeleton of the hull.  And yes, that is one of my daughter's pink teddy bears in the background (too lazy to move it for the picture) 
 

 
 
I think I mentioned this before, but in terms of its "bones," this kit is very impressive.  The MDF for the keel, bulkheads and lower deck is flat and very strong.  Even more impressive is the fact that the fitting of the bulkheads and lower deck to the keel couldn't have been more perfect, as everything fit together like a glove.  I probably didn't need to glue the assembly together it fit so well, but I did end up gluing the bulkheads and lower deck onto the keel, and then added glue into all the seams between those pieces.  Other kit manufacturers could probably learn a good lesson from this kit.  After dealing with all the issues on the Corel Unicorn kit, I almost felt like I was cheating in only having to cut out the pieces and stick them together without needing to check for flatness, symmetry and conformity to the plans, fit, etc.
 
Oh, and Jeff's redheart was milled to a perfect 5mm in width.  Despite the very snug fit between the 5mm bulkheads and the lower deck, the lower deck slipped over the new extensions without any issues at all.  Thanks Jeff!
 
Next up I'm planning to add plywood blocks over the bottoms of the redheart extensions to help secure the joints.  I think the instructions call for one to add the upper deck template as well, so I'll be working on that.  I also need to take a look at the NMM plans to see if there are any modifications to the kit that I would like to make regarding the deck layout (like converting hatches to stairways). 

Hi Peeps,
Really got bogged down with the hammock stowage, the little dividers kept snapping off as I attached the outer and inner lining.
However that's out of the way, as you can see I've now started with the deck fittings.

Boats, ugh! Another royal PITA. It's been three days & this is as far as I've gotten. They are going to take as long as the whole ship. I hate carving. I suck at it. I don't know how Michelangelo did it.

Yes !!!!!

I found a way to make macro photos even with this sh... Camera

Chinesse magnifier in front of camera


 

 

Martin,
 
thats right, and ist only the Standing rigging in the Moment, I`m working with pegs and tweezers, guess I know what I`ll be facing when the running rigging Comes on, let alone the sails....
 
here is a Little update on the status
 
Nils
 
 
Build log part 63
 
 
 
 

Hi All
 
All the rigging is now finished.
 
All cannon doors are fitted to port side.
 
Most of the cannons are fitted.
 
Just the anchors to rope up and the stand to paint ( will make do with the stand till I get a better one ).
 
Hope all will be finished on Monday ha ha.
 
 
Denis.

Thanks very much Vivian, John and Pat - no Blacksmiths in my family as far as I know .
 
Mast Heads
 
Back to the Masts, I'd made the Crosstrees earlier. They are notched halfway through to match the notches in the Trestle Trees :
 

 

 
Before fitting them I fitted the Bands around the heads. I made these from thin card which I'd stained black - the finish has a slight metallic "sheen" at this stage, probably caused by diffraction of light, which may disappear when I apply Minwax - I hope not, as they really look like iron at the moment :
 

 

 
I also cut and fitted the Battens - they are 1.2mm wide by 0.6mm thick. These run 3/5 of the way up the mast head, and needed to be notched to fit over the bands :
 

 

 

 
Next I fitted the Crosstrees - a rather straightforward operation :
 

 

 

 
Finally, I made the Caps. These took a bit of careful marking out and cutting. Their eyebolts have also been fitted :
 

 

 
  Danny

Good morning Tom.
 
Hopefully these two photos will help, the glue was first diluted just enough to be able to be squeezed out of a large diameter hypodermic needle #25 the needle needed to be filled a few times for each run. I was able to lay the needle in the v groove between the planks and drag the needle toward the stern while squeezing the glue out. It was nerve wracking for sure because I did not want to spill any. the glue shrank when it dried so there were at least three applications of glue. 
 

 
Once the glue was fully cured I used a cabinet scraper to remove the lumps and blobs.
 

 
I have to admit that mini me helped in the tight corners  
 

 
Michael

Well, for better or worse, I installed the cathead supports and eking. I still wasn't entirely happy, but I had had enough of it.  After finishing that, I had a burst of activity and did the seats of ease, the anchor billboards and the waist gang board rails.
 
The supports and eking are boxwood, as are the seats and billboards. The waist railing uses the same brass stanchions that I used for the quarterdeck ladderway, with a rope railing. 
 
The remaining work on the head is the figurehead, the iron railings and supports and the boomkins. The railings and boomkins won't be done until I've made and installed the bowsprit and done the gammoning. My Sculpey and a set of clay modeling tools just arrived from Amazon, so I'll start experimenting with the figurehead. I'll probably also start working on the bowsprit at the same time.
 
Remaining work on the hull consists of the deadeyes, the hammock stanchions and netting, the anchors, the lantern and the boat(s). It is my current intention not to do any of this until I have at least made and installed the lower masts.
 
Bob

managed a little more work on the cradle this evening. the longitudinal beams 12x10 were cut from some clear fir and they were mortised into the cross beams.
 

 

 

 

 
The cutter is now supported by the new pads and is quite stable, more so than the former cradle.
 
Michael
 
 

480 hours into build
 
the 1/4 galleries were perhaps the easiest bit so far for me anyway i got it right 1st time. I can only presume that is because i managed to get everything where it needed to be, ie i would rip it off and do again if not so
 
there was quite a debate about this at the time, i had a PM through stating they are in the wrong place/position, this is in fact an optical illusion
 

the copper tiles took me 140+ hours - to be in a position where i was happy with them, I made lots of mistakes and found ways to correct them
 
few things i learnt
 
i used superglue,, but there are different formula's - i found the medium jel worked for me in the end,
ensure you have a good waterline
from the waterline i worked down about 14 rows and found from there i had a continual run of tiles which hit the waterline forward and aft, then worked from the keel up this ensured that that the gore line was hidden under the belly of the build
the stern up to the rudder post was a pain to get - so that it looked the same when viewed from there looking forward, this was because both side were not exactly the same
 
i used a thin strip of plastic on the waterline to tidy the tiles up
 
copper tape always was an option - i decided against this
i required to purchase more tiles
i would change the glue type next time to something light something like evostick - something that gives you time to move the tile around, and easier to get any residue off
 
hope this makes sense

sept 2011-280 hours into build, all gun ports middle and lower have been lined.
 
This was achieved using a simple built jig that allowed the linings to be put into the cut-out at a depth of 1mm from the outside of the hull, without constantly loosing then into the hull
 

at 240 hours into the build, all second planking had been done and redone, whales took several attempts to get right, at this stage, I was getting ready to do the gun port linings

the 1/4 galleries fit nicely to the gun port templates, lol providing the previous post is correct this was at 150 hours into the build
 

it is absolutely essential that the gun port templates are exactly in the right position, as i found out and had to rip them out at a later date, 

Contents

I finished the outer planking around the gun ports on the port side. Also completed the counter planks on the lower transom, added the fashion pieces on both sides of the rear and completed the final pieces on the inner transom. I am going to deviate a little bit from the original plans and go with red and black on the inner gun port areas but I am going with the green and black hull.

Working on the lifeboats in between gun port planking.

Starboard upper planking done. In case you're following it's 3/64 x 3/32 in black and 1/32 x 3/32 in yellow. Going to start the port side now.

Started some of the upper planking today. On the transom the black is 3/64 by 3/32. All the yellow on the transom and both sides is 1/32 x 3/32

Cool plank pins. Saw these on greatgalleons Niagara build site. Don't know if he made them or bought them but I liked the idea. Start with a 1.5 inch quilting pin and bend it at 90 about a 1/3 up. Bend the pin back straight. Bend the center over on itself and hit it with some solder. Seem to work well. Sorry for the lousy pics, not enough hands.

The capping rails have been installed (CNC-cut parts) without issue and now the sheer rail strip is next. Caldercraft supplies profiled brass for this but I choose to use boxwood. A groove was scribed into a 1.5x3 mm strip and deepened with a needle file. The center was then painted blue and a razor blade used to scrape the flat surface clean of excess paint, which gives a nice sharp edge. These were then installed per the plans. A little filler was used to lend with the capping rail and the area above the sheer rail at the bow was painted blue. The trim along the forecastle capping rail will be next.