md1400cs

Snug Harbor Johnny,
 
 Thanks, for your nice post as well as your comment/suggestions. Indeed, you are right I (we’ve) probably had issues with leaking Lithium AA/AAA batteries especially in remotes and in electronics that sit idle for extended periods of time.
 
I had originally wanted to add two CR2032 button cells – to be located just under the poop hatch grating cover for easy access, but those button cells only allow a maximum of 10 - 3V LEDs to work with a single CR2032. Had bought two, but decided that I needed more than 20 lights both steady and flickering ones as well. So -so long button cells.
 

 
Now it will be up to the two AAA holders as power sources; also going one step further – The lights being an afterthought, it would have been a mess removing the (to be constructed) case each time to turn the lights on/off. And I’m not prepared to go deep into the ship to drill holes for the on/off switches through the keel – or thereabouts then somehow add the on/off buttons and wires outside of the case.
 
Logged into Evan Designs, they have a remote control with sensors that will turn 3V lights on/off as well for dimming if I so desire (had no idea).
 

 
Perfect solution for when model will be housed in a Plexiglas case. This was suggested to me by a member of another forum – had no inkling of how this technique is so very popular with model railroad enthusiast. Yes, to your well noted point, I will indeed “keep an eye” on potential leaks.
 
Thanks for dropping by and your post – appreciated….
 
Kind Regards,
 

Thanks Frank - always a pleasure when you drop by.
 
Experimenting with locations of the three size lights; Nano, Pico, and Chip blending with some non-flickering as well –
 
This image iPhone was not up to the task (did not pre-set for correct image quality) – lights are not as intense as some depicted in images, but lights harmoniously blend nicely through those windows where I’ve temporarily placed some LEDs. Also, another dozen or so need to be inserted into proper locations.
 
I did determine that I will have to segregate the wiring.
All flickering lights will be connected to a specific 3V AAA power source. Non flickering will have their own AAA battery pack.
 
Evan Designs indicate that all 3V flickering and non-flickering can be sourced from the same power source. Yes, that’s right, they do all work - but I noted that as such, the flickering effect (of those LEDs) becomes much more muted, as to be almost “missing” when blended with non-flickering types.
 
Segregating all flickering onto one power source returned those light to their proper flickering “look”.
 
Having also removed the poop deck will allow me to “fix” an issue that I feel is not quite right – the sloping angle of that deck seems a bit too high at the stern. Other images detail my thoughts
 
Regards,
 

Hi,
Work in progress update. Got all of the LED’s needed from Evan Designs (excellent source!!!). So started the installs – Yikes this would have obviously been SO much easier had I decided to add lights earlier in this project. But enjoying the current challenge this is creating for me.
 
Where to locate the batteries and two needed on/off buttons to be determined. Battery packs will, of course, fit inside – on/off button locations TBD. Will also make some kind of candle looking housings for the lantern LEDs
 
Thanks for dropping by….
 

Patrick,
 
Been remiss not dropping by often enough to your current project - always a good visit 😄
 
Regards,

The name is now complete.

And planking is done on both sides. Further planking at the stern is for later.
Now this part of the hull will first be further detailed (treenails, etc.)

2 plywood bulkheads remain present, so the model can easily remain upside down for further finishing.
The strange piece of wood on the bow is just a temporary reinforcement so that the top part of the stem doesn't break off

Thanks for following, comments and likes

Thanks again for stopping by,
 
Frank
 

Hello,
 
Thanks to those that visit this log, your likes and comments are appreciated.
My model is completed. It took me a while to take the final photos due the the illness and passing of my father in law recently.
Anyway here are the final photos, broken into two posts.
When I have a chance, I will figure out how to move the log into the Finished category!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Lighting and stern update.
The images don't show the great subtle flickering lighting effect. I will need to post a video. I suppose that I will also need to add the video
to my youtube channel then copy/paste the link here?? (will need to create a new channel my current one is only aviation related)
All 50 LED lights, battery packs and remote were purchased from Evans Design..
 
As always thanks for your likes, dropping by and comments
 
 

Hi,
 
Just getting back to looking at logs - been away from this hobby and dropping by for several months - Good luck with your new SotSeas project.
 
As mentioned above the castings of the current product are much less detailed than from the vintage edition from Sergal (those 600+ bits were solid bronze). I have been very vocal about this in my dormant log - that I will get back to soon - 
 
Will follow your new project with interest as well (my previous build was the Vasa)  PS: loved the museum - visited twice the last time was in 2018
 
Regards,

I've read about the lessened casting quality in MSW logs.  I suppose one could spend the better part of a year going over each piece with tiny files and dental bits in a variable-speed rotary tool to 'clean them up' considerably.  Then after some cerium oxide polishing, one could get them gold electro-plated (the platers might have to first nickel plate).  Now THAT would really 'pimp' your model quite a bit, but at a considerable cost - possibly nearly that of the kit itself.  But if you're going to spend the next three years doing a super job on this historic ship (some say the costs of building it were a significant factor in causing the English Civil War), I'd consider it.
 
  2nd option might be to try and locate a 'classic' old Sergal kit that has the much better yellow-metal castings (which would plate better).  Using the best of all the materials and plans could be helpful in the long run.  Hmmmm, just had a thought ... If the SoS was the 'ship that caused the English Civil War', then the figurehead casting of a mounted King vanquishing another King might be taken (in hindsight) as Charles the vanquishing himself, as his head eventually 'rolled' when Cromwell had Charles beheaded.
 
  I see you're in Sweden, so am supposing that many there have done the Vasa - (I'd love to visit the Vasa museum some day, and also see the Oseberg ship - among other excellent Viking artifacts ... yeah - smorgasbords and saunas might be nice to do as well, I mean, as long as I was there.) The Sovereign of the Seas is a worthy project indeed.  Good luck !

I have had this kit for two years - time to start. Got the John McKay book from UK this week. To bad - the casting quality... Reading the log from Michael

Peter,
IMO - in this hobby your work cannot possibly be improved upon - You're so at the top of this hobby pyramid.
Stunning work down to the smallest of tiny details. Brilliant build log.  A great pleasure to have followed it along.
 
Regards,

Peter,
IMO - in this hobby your work cannot possibly be improved upon - You're so at the top of this hobby pyramid.
Stunning work down to the smallest of tiny details. Brilliant build log.  A great pleasure to have followed it along.
 
Regards,

Hi Peter,
Just logging back in to MSW. I SO need to post comments re: your just completed awesome log. WOW!!  will do...
At least I got front row seats for this one. You will, again build a masterpiece. 
 
PS: just went back and read your intro to this project another WOW!!  
 
Cheers,

Peter,
IMO - in this hobby your work cannot possibly be improved upon - You're so at the top of this hobby pyramid.
Stunning work down to the smallest of tiny details. Brilliant build log.  A great pleasure to have followed it along.
 
Regards,

Amazing start and backstory Peter!  Looking forward to watching this one come along.  

The convoy ship Wappen von Hamburg 1669 - Corel SM28, scale 1:50

Hi everybody,

I'll guess I'm going to attempt to build a Dutchmen, which is a first time. Some folks may read "Hamburg" in the title and think (Dutch?), Hamburg lies in Germany and not in The Netherlands. And you are absolutely 100% right, however this ship has been built by a Dutch master shipbuilder is by Dutch design. So welcome to my buildlog of this imposing Frigate and kit.

The punk kid story...
I remembered when I was a little kid, my parents took my sister and me out for shopping for clothes and stuff in the city of Rotterdam - The Netherlands. Living outside the city, my father always seem to parked his car just outside the shopping area, which means my sister and I had to walk a couple of blocks to reach the area where all the shops were. Passing certain streets and shops, one always grabbed my attention. It was a very small and old school wooden ship modeling shop. That means that the shop itself only sold wooden ship model kits and accessories for wooden ship modeling. When you entered the shop, the smell of woodworking was always around and the lights were dimmed a bit. On the shop's window the name of the shop was painted with a classical font and behind that the most beautiful historic ship models were displayed. Always 3 or more completely built models were displayed with one big model in the middle. The centerpiece so to say! My eyes rolled over the many decks and guns and couldn't get enough of it. The owner was a very pleasant and friendly "old" guy and was building the models himself in the back corner of the shop. It apparently made a "big" impression on me. My mother told me, that I was a bit young for building models like that, but perhaps when I'm older and still be interested, I could have a go with it. She was absolutely right!
One day, passing the shop a new centerpiece ship was placed in the shop's window. It was the Wappen of Hamburg. An imposing vessel, big, lot's of guns, figures on the stern and with removable decks. Can you believe that, I mean, I'm talking about the mid / end '80's of the last century, that was unheard of in a kit! I was hooked and my parents had to drag me away from the window. I could stay there all day long imagining, dreaming building that model. I was 8 years old.

The kit from Corel
There is one wooden kit from the Wappen of Hamburg from 1667 - 1669 and that's Corel SM28 before Movo Milano. It's one of Corel's flagship kits and is a very luxurious edition. Corel stated that a lot of research went into designing this kit and that some of the unique selling points of this kit is it's historical accuracy, the high quality figures and ornaments, the choice of having removable decks, gratings and with a lot of shown interior features, all cannons are on carriages on all decks. That means full decks on all levels with real gun ports and lids.
 

 


Size and measurements
Length: 43 inches or 1100mm
Width: 18 inches or 460mm
Height: 36 inches or 910mm

Scale: 1:50
On the box scale 1:40 is mentioned but all the drawings are in 1:50 scale which is the correct scale for this kit.


The box and it's content
When newly purchased and untouched, the box and it contents are displayed in the pictures below. As been said, it's a luxurious kit with a lot of high quality "walnut" wood and die-cast ornaments and figures. The die-cast metal ornaments are really beautiful and detailed. It's really impressive to see how good they are looking.
 








The history of the ship and her destiny
At the end of the Hanseatic trading period, which was a military trade group by origin, the Hanseatic city of Hamburg did not have its own warships. These ships were actually needed to protect the merchant fleet against the ongoing and growing threat of pirates and competitors. The idea of having own warships to protect the fleet, arose in 1663. These ships would be built by a Dutch master shipbuilder and according to Dutch designs. At that time, the Dutch were the most dominant trading nation in the world which prospers the shipbuilding activities. The plan was to start with two ships, so called sister ships called the Leopoldus Primus and the Wappen von Hamburg. However it appeared that there was a lot of disagreement over financing responsibilities and after a long period of debate the Hamburg Admiralty finally decided in 1667 to start construction of these two ships. Both ships were commissioned in 1669.

The construction of both ships was carried out under the supervision of the Hamburg Admiralty under the direction of an unknown Dutch shipbuilder. The flagship of Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp which was a famous Dutch admiral, called Aemelia from 1632 https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aemilia_(flagship) is mentioned in professional literature as an example and model for both ships.

The Wapen von Hamburg is the first of four convoy ships to bear this name. She was built at the Theerhof shipyard in Hamburg. The ship was not allowed to have excessive draft, otherwise it would have problems safely passing the shallow parts of the River Elbe, and especially the Altona sand. Because the shipbuilder knew, based on the knowledge available at the time, that a wide ship with low masts had more stiffness and strength to keep itself upright in a turbulent sea, and a narrow ship with high masts, on the other hand, sailed faster, the Wappen von Hamburg opted for a combination of both properties. This gave it a good compromise between stability and sailing speed and could pass the Elbe river.

In the evening hours of the 10th of October 1683, a fire broke out for unknown reasons in the lower room of the ship's forecastle. This expanded rapidly and, despite all efforts, could no longer be adequately accommodated by the resources on board. The crew tried to get to safety in the lifeboats, but was ordered by Admiral Karpfanger to return to the fire and to try to extinguish it. At the same time, signal shots were fired to signal surrounding ships to send emergency firefighting teams. When the fire spread through the deck to the foremast and immediately set fire to the rigging and sails due to an unfavorable wind, the rowing helpers kept a safe distance for fear of an explosion of the gunpowder room. Karpfanger had his son, who was traveling with him, taken off board, who had earlier appealed to his father to leave the ship with him to keep both lives safe. However, Karpfanger did not want to consider the loss of the ship just yet. It was suggested that they shoot a puncture in the hull and allow the ship to fill with water and sink to the seabed - but Karpfanger refused. Finally, he agreed to try to beach the ship and had the ship's anchor ropes cut so that the ship could run aground near the shore. Abandoning ship was in any case out of the question for Karpfanger: he saw himself bound by the oath he had taken on the 14th of July 1674 before the Senate of Hamburg, which instructed him to "stand manfully in defense of the fleet entrusted to him and rather to to use good and blood, to sacrifice life and limb than to abandon her and his ship.

As the convoy ship slowly drifted towards the coast, the fire below deck moved increasingly towards the stern, where the gunpowder room was also located. Towards midnight the fire reached some of the guns at the stern, which ignited themselves and fired volleys. At the same time, some grenades on board also ignited.

An hour after midnight, after the ship had burned for five hours and Admiral Karpfanger, true to his oath, was still the last man on board, the fire reached the gunpowder room, which eventually exploded. The back of the ship, which was broken in the middle, flew into the air, the front lay on its side and began to sink. Debris rained down from a great height. The accident resulted in 65 deaths: 22 soldiers and 42 ships men, as well as Admiral Karpfanger were killed. His body was found floating in the water on an anchor line of an English ship in the harbor of Cadiz on October 11, 1683.

On the picture below the Wappen von Hamburg (left) and the Leopoldus Primus (right) is displayed.
 


Luxurious but notorious
This kit is famous and notorious at the same time. The quality of all the components are superb and the features of this ship excellent. However when you look at the "building" aspect of this kit and the way the modeler is being "guided" by the help of the construction manual and the dozen drawings does has it's challenges. It's an old kit. developed in the late 70's and never updated as far as I can tell. Corel expects that the builder of this kit knows all the basic things to make a model ship and to craft all the items needed. Little or no step by step pictures are added with this kit. The drawings are of good quality but it shows only parts of the ship, not the complete process on how to actually build her. That means that a lot of questions will arise for the modeler. Perhaps that's why there are so few finished buildlogs on the internet. People strand a lot during the build of this giant, and it's developed a reputation of a hard to build ship. When a modeler decides to pick a new project and looks at the variety of ship kits and compare the prices of these kits, the Wappen von Hamburg is at the very top of the range. With the bad building reputation it has, a high purchase price and the abundant choice of other kits, it's lost her glance and popularity. I think this is a sad conclusion and hopefully with this buildlog I can inspire others to build this unique and magnificent ship.

A picture below shows the inscription on one of the cast metal parts. This was cast in '78 by Movo!
 

The drawings and instruction manual are shown below. Although the drawings are of high quality, only the end result of a product to craft is shown. Then the modeler should somewhat guess where the crafted item should go on the model because the drawings are not always clear on that part. The written text in the instruction manual isn't always helping either so I think that there is a lot to win by Corel if these instructions and drawings are updated and brought to standards of today. I'm sure this will benefit the sales and popularity of this kit.
 


"Dutch Ebay" and plan A
On the "Dutch Ebay" called marktplaats (translation is marketplace) a second hand kit of WvH was offered. I wasn't really looking for this particular kit, but it came up and somehow I was triggered. I guess my childhood memories and sentiment took over. I reached out to the seller and apparently the hull was already completely built. He showed me a few pictures and at the beginning I hesitated to go on with the purchase. I have this principle that I love to rescue kits from Ebay that otherwise been thrown away, however the kit should be in pristine condition, unbuilt and "untouched" so to say. It's just that I don't like to continue other men's work with respect to the previous builder, I just want to start from the beginning to have the full experience. Call me weird, I don't mind... 

So the hull was built and again with respect to the builder, it didn't fit my expectations....take a look. Below a few pictures of the way it was built with a lot of gaps and cracks.
 
 

The kit was complete and everything was there. I was pretty honest to the seller, that it lost most of it's value due to the fact that the complete hull was already done. The owner almost gave it away due to the fact he inherited the kit and it was in his way. It took a lot of space in his house. So I decided to purchase the kit and had the idea to carefully demolish the hull, order new wood and simply start over! Hold that idea, it turned out a bit differently....

Arriving back home with the kit and the hull, (The Netherlands is a small country, so it was easy to drive to the seller and pick up the kit) I opened the box and inspected all the items inside. Beneath a few items I found some glue tubes which were almost empty. Epoxy glue, some UHU hard glue and the last one was CA glue.... Alarm bells went off inside my head! I could only think, "please don't let this hull being glued with this stuff"....boy was I in for a treat.....you probably are going to guess what's next?

The first try to get one of the hull planks of the bulkheads resulted in a mess. The glue residue was glass hard and it was used all over in a very abundance of amount. I think the previous modeler must have thought that it should be glued together forever...I don't know but the carefully "take it apart" approach ended into a total demolish and destruction of the hull.
I tried everything from using heat, chemicals like acetone, white spirit, hot water, glue remover etc. nothing worked!
With pain in my heart I had no choice and had to throw away all the nice hardwood used for this ship. The bulkheads that appeared underneath the hull planks were poorly placed and faired wrong. Also the bulkheads were beyond repair due to all the glue residue and wrongly fairing. These need to be replaced as well...
While closing the lid of the trashcan, I realized I also discarded plan A which lies with all the broken pieces of wood inside the trashcan.

Woodglue!
I would like to reach out to all my fellow modelers and advice to please use woodglue like the normal white woodglue. The stuff is made for this purpose and it's great. Sure, the people living in the USA also have an abundance variety of wood glue's and the easy access to yellow wood glue like Titebond. Both are great and more important easy to repair with afterwards.
By applying heat, the white and yellow wood glue becomes soft and so you can easily make repairs or redo parts afterwards. Normal white wood glue dries fast, has great strength and dries up transparent and glue residue can easily removed with a damp cloth. The brand I use is a local brand called Bison. After it had dried it holds some of flexibility, so when humidity let the wood of your model shrink or expand a little bit, the glue can cope with this and doesn't crack or let the wood crack.
CA glue can help, sure. I use it as a liquid nail on certain difficult spots, so to say but very sparingly. Sure, you can't glue metal parts with wood glue and perhaps an epoxy glue or CA gel would be best, not for wood on wood. Hell, I even use diluted wood glue with a syringe to apply it to knots on my rigging work. Works great! I'm just saying, I love my white wood glue.

Out of frustration I forgot to take pictures of the before stage of the hull....I'm sorry!
After the demolishment, I was just left with al lot of parts...
 


 




Plan B:
Because I left Plan A, it's time for plan B. I had this idea to remodel all the bulkheads from the plans and use new plywood for the bulkheads. Then I would replace the lost Walnut with swiss pear! Sounds like a plan to me and so I took a short trip to my nearest modeling shop and returned with all the needed plywood and some pear veneer.

I redrew all the bulkheads on paper. Apparently I was out of white paper and "borrowed" some pink and green paper from my kids stash. They wouldn't mind I guess....and again they were in bed sleeping at the time.
 

 


The cutting list
I made a list of all the missing strips of walnut to replace them with pearwood. On my Proxxon tablesaw I cut all the needed strips. It took me a while to work trough the entire list.
Let's say I made a lot of dust and the Admiral wisely said to do this outdoors instead in the living room. I guess I didn't need to push the limits here. Call me a wimp!
 



While working out this plan I had more and more doubts. I did not completely agree with the shape of the bulkheads and the lines of the ship. Besides I saw all kind of points for improvement to make the ship look “more Dutch”. In addition, replicating all the gun ports as Corel had designed would be a hell of a job with my limited resources. I eventually decided to throw this plan in the proverbial trash bin as well, which was already starting to become quite full... Because I was momentarily without inspiration, I decided to put the project on ice and think things over. Eventually I decided to completely left the project and started focusing on something else....

The rise and development of plan C
While working on my previous project (Xebec 1750) and I was already in the preparations (research) of a new project, the Wappen von Hamburg kept nagging at my head. Somehow I couldn't quite let go of the project and started searching the internet for some inspiration. During this research I came across a booklet by Wolfgang Quinger about the Wappen von Hamburg and ordered it out of curiosity. After a few days the doorbell rang and I received the booklet. It is an old book, pages completely yellowed and fragile, it even smells old and according to the publisher it was published in the former GDR, East Germany, in the early 1980s.
 



It was of course written in German and to my knowledge has not been published in any other language. In addition to a wealth of information, the booklet contained a completely different treasure, namely two large drawings printed on both sides with, yes, a complete plan of all the frames on a scale of 1:75. Quinger himself describes in his book that he has consulted many sources, mentions and praises them all. Some well known sources are N. Witsen, C. van Ijck, R. Hoeckel, H. Winter, W. Mondfeld, F.H. Chapman, R.C. Anderson. He himself says that the reconstructions of some well-known ships liken the Friedrich W. Zu Pferde, Derfflinger and Roter Löwe, among others, designed by Hoeckel quickly gained name and fame, but that the very thorough research of Mr. Friedrich Jorbergs led to more than 80 adjustments to Hoeckel's earlier reconstructions. One of these adjustments was that Hoeckel used the Amsterdam dimensions (Amsterdam foot) and Jorbergs the Rotterdam dimensions (Rotterdam foot). Later in this report I will explain why this is important and is essential for the lines plan and proportions of the ship!
 

Quinger made a new reconstruction of the lines plan based on all the information he gathered. With his plan he explains that he had made a compromise between Hoeckel's plan based on Amsterdam dimensions and Witsen's. It is a shape that could well have suited this ship and is therefore more truthful than the shape that Corel has chosen for the WvH. The more I immersed myself in the design, the more it started to appeal to me. Slowly a new plan formed in my head….Plan C!
 


 
Plan C
After extensively studying the frame plan and the rest of the drawings, I decided to use parts from the Corel kit on the hull shape of Quinger. The advantage for me is that Quinger's design fits more with all the points that I would have liked to adjust from the kit. It solves many questions and puzzles for me, but it also brings completely new challenges for me. Quinger's drawings and therefore also the plans are on a scale of 1:75 and the Corel kit is 1:50. This means that I have to convert the drawings to a different scale and then completely scratchbuild all the frames. All things I've never done before. My interest in seeking out the unknown and taking on the challenge grew more and more... I can't wait.

In short, this means the following work:

- Increase the frame plan from 1:75 to 1:50

- Reconstruct keel plate, keel, transom, decks, guns and bow according to Quinger's plan;

- Use a different design for gun ports and bulwarks.

- Change wood from Walnut to Pear wood

- Cutting all hull planks, deck planks, deck beams, wall planks, knees, gunwales, arrangements, carriages, gun port lids, etc to size.

- Underwater ship hull planking in a “Dutch” manner

- Ornaments and decorations partly according to Corel with additions from myself;

- Rigging and sails according to Quinger's plan

- Flags according to Corel



My overall conclusion so far is that a lot has ended up in the trashcan....

Chapter 1 - plan of scale 1:75 expand to 1:50
Due to the fragility of the books plans, I copied the plan of the lines of the hull by using plain A4 paper and a pencil.


 


To enlarge the plan to the desired 1:50 scale, I need a bigger piece of paper. In this case, A3 format will suffice. Clamping is easy by securing the corners of the paper with tape. I made sure the sides of the paper are parallel to the lines on my cutting mat. This will help against the paper from sliding all over the place and I can use the grid of the mat to use for my horizontal and vertical lines. Having a professional drawing desk with the right equipment will make the job much easier. However I have to do it with a more primitive solution.



I begin with drawing the grid on paper. Then place the dots on the paper where the lines of the plan crosses the grid. Eventually I connected the dots drawing the lines by hand.
The more accurate I am in this stage, the less corrections I have to do on the actual bulkheads when fairing in a later stadium of the build.
I start with the view on the bow, which is the right part from the middle. The left is the stern view.










Both drawings next to each other. 1:75 on the left, the 1:50 on the right!




Chapter 2 - the stern drawing
Quinger made a nice drawing of the stern of the ship. I decided to copy that and to learn and experience the difference between Quinger's and Corel's design.


 


On my computer I played around with some colors and this will give me an idea how the stern fully painted would look. It's a draft and I probably will change some things, but it just gives me an impression. Nothing more, nothing less.




And that's it for the introduction and first few babysteps into a new project. I hope you will like this new endeavour of mine and hopefully you will follow me along.
It's not that I aim for 100% historical accuracy, but I would like to build the ship the way I like it.
I would really appreciate that due to the fact I'm in uncharted territory and can use all the help I can get to finish this project.

Until the next update, see yah around,

Peter

Hi Mates,
Happy New Year - hopefully better than 020
 
“Busy work” update – as well as needing to fix an obvious mistake.
 
First inside facings of main deck along with gun port openings and working on pin rails – this area is more complicated – not sure how many (if any) rails to add, or how many holes for the pins – I’m tempted to add sails – as you know this will require many more belaying pin locations than are shown in the Sergal rigging sheets.
 

 
 
I also acquired the Amati rigging sheets (that kit included instructions for sails) and looking at my McKay book Each are different – so “all over the map” -- sorta speak. Both Amati and McKay indicate kevels for mid deck – no pin rails. Also Amati and McKay show pin locations mostly in railings running across the decks Forecastle and so on…. so just not sure how to proceed before installing these two mid-deck bits. (McKay's rigging details are also for added running rigging with sails)
 

 
So who knows? - certainly McKAy is arguably the most correct
 
In the meantime -- entry platforms were too large – needed to be fixed,
 

 
 
Will clean and prob. attach some of these bright bits as well as installing carriage retaining rings to the inner deck timbers before securing to the deck.
 
 

 
 
 


 
 
I need to think of when to start and complete hull second pearwood planking  hmmm?
 
As always thanks so much for dropping by and taking a look much appreciated.
 
Cheers,
 

Hi,
Minor update - planked the main deck using Pear Wood 3X.5mm - First time using this wood. Very easy to work with. The current kit's pre-scored deck made a perfect alignment guide.
 
As always thanks for dropping by...
 


 

Hi,
Richard: As always big thanks – glad that you like this log – your work is so over the top
 
Boxbuilds: Thanks for your kind words. Regarding this Sovereign, as I had noted in my first post I did not intend to follow Sergal’s instructions for exactly the reason you state for your Soleil, along with other reasons as well.
The template for cannon doors that Sergal included (for this kit) made this part of the build obviously much easier. I don’t know of a generic guide for locating the gun openings. For my previous Vasa, Corel intuitively added segmented grooves in their framings indicating location spaces for doors. That made it much easier indeed.
 
 

 
 
My current Sergal SoS does not have these clever grooves. Hence I did not follow their instructions of covering the entire hull with basswood, then having to sorta blindly hunt for properly cutting holes for openings.
 

 
 
================
 
A build update
 
I had intended to raise the stem above the bowsprit beakhead area – but having already done all the framing for the deck area, would again need to  remove and re-do more pre done framing. As it is, given the offset mast re-work as well I thought against it -- instead --- went to plan B. 
 
I looked through some brilliant museum examples and decided to emulate their work by just framing a cover above and around my missing “stem” and just affix the needed cupid and lion on top visually it works as a good “go around”
 
The Sergal kit does indicate for a frame to be constructed above the non-offset mast with the cupid/lion then affixed above. see last image.
 
As is known, a mast offset was required, given how close the foremast is sunk through the forecastle. This came out pretty well.
 
 

 
Now really need to get back to finishing and prepping first planking.
Thanks for your kind posts as well as likes or just dropping by....

Hi,
 
Been away from the yard for a bit of time - so no real updates..
 
Peter (@Katsumoto)
 
Thanks for your very kind post. Yes, you are right the Amati decorations tend to be a little more yellow. I think that over time that they will hopefully fade. Judging from the Amati bits that I added to the forward bulkhead, the others may also “fade” a bit more as well. Good luck with your current project, as well a possibly later starting a sovereign as well.
 

 
Wade13, Wow – so touched by your thoughts – that, BTW, go way beyond my perceptions of what I am capable of. You are overly kind – So appreciate that this project is of great interest for you. You also have a great gift for the written prose….also loved your exaggerations of my skills (;-)))
Again, so touched by your words….
 
I have finally ordered from Evan Designs as many LED’s of different sizes (took three orders) – both flickering and solid, and of different sizes as well that now can move forward installing lights were they may be the most useful. The power source locations are still a work in progress - given that the lights were an afterthought....
 
Regards,
 

 

Snug Harbor Johnny,
 
 Thanks, for your nice post as well as your comment/suggestions. Indeed, you are right I (we’ve) probably had issues with leaking Lithium AA/AAA batteries especially in remotes and in electronics that sit idle for extended periods of time.
 
I had originally wanted to add two CR2032 button cells – to be located just under the poop hatch grating cover for easy access, but those button cells only allow a maximum of 10 - 3V LEDs to work with a single CR2032. Had bought two, but decided that I needed more than 20 lights both steady and flickering ones as well. So -so long button cells.
 

 
Now it will be up to the two AAA holders as power sources; also going one step further – The lights being an afterthought, it would have been a mess removing the (to be constructed) case each time to turn the lights on/off. And I’m not prepared to go deep into the ship to drill holes for the on/off switches through the keel – or thereabouts then somehow add the on/off buttons and wires outside of the case.
 
Logged into Evan Designs, they have a remote control with sensors that will turn 3V lights on/off as well for dimming if I so desire (had no idea).
 

 
Perfect solution for when model will be housed in a Plexiglas case. This was suggested to me by a member of another forum – had no inkling of how this technique is so very popular with model railroad enthusiast. Yes, to your well noted point, I will indeed “keep an eye” on potential leaks.
 
Thanks for dropping by and your post – appreciated….
 
Kind Regards,
 

Hi all,
 
Seems as if log had been "standing still".
That said the 40 LEDs have been installed - now just need to button things up. Next post will be when all is back together.
I will try to add a video that will show the really nice gentle flickering of the lights including the five lanterns. 
 
So appreciate your continued interest in this log.
 
Regards,
 

Lighting and stern update.
The images don't show the great subtle flickering lighting effect. I will need to post a video. I suppose that I will also need to add the video
to my youtube channel then copy/paste the link here?? (will need to create a new channel my current one is only aviation related)
All 50 LED lights, battery packs and remote were purchased from Evans Design..
 
As always thanks for your likes, dropping by and comments