UdoK

Thanks Pavel, the building method is different to a POB kit indeed but I enjoy it very much to build a ship this way.
 
In order to center and align the Frames later on in the building board I made myself a "adjustable" jig with keel and keelson. I find it easier to sand the frames to lenght and make sure the keel fit in properly instead doing it with the drawings only.

The whole Frames are adjusted and glued on now.
The keel is still only dry fitted to the construction as I have to cut the rabbet before glueing. To make the keel fit, I chiseled off the spacers between the Frames as again the lasercut was not very accurate. Anyway, due to the use of the scrap wood spacers the structure is solid enough without this.
 
It is good to see the hull slowly taking shape!
Next is to prepare the rest of the half Frame Patterns, same way as before.

Everyone likes pics, so here's another one

Today I am fitting the wooden hoops either side of the woolding on the foremast. I am using iron-on wood veneer edging that I got from a hardware shop. I peeled off the heat sensitive glue layer and cut it into thin strips then soaked them in hot water to soften the wood. I used PVA glue and held them in place with cellophane tape until the glue dried

Hi Ken,
 
I would appreciate some photos greatly.  I had a look at some of yours from MSW1.0 but they are a bit small, but it looks like your BS is shaped exactly like the plans and fit in the space properly so more photos would be helpful. Cheers
 
Hi Edward, I just had a look at some more of the plan sheets and it appears that the top of the stem is flush with the rail which means the best way I think would be to chop off the top of the stem as close to the rail as possible as per the photo below and fix any damage that may (will!!) occur.
 
Hi Steve, was busy replying above and decided Option 2 would be the best way after all when your reply came in   LOL
 
Cheers
Slog

Thanks a lot for all the help and advice; I greatly appreciate it!! I have read a lot of the articles that are up and have found them invaluble. They are the only reason I sound vaguely like I know what I'm talking about;). I hadn't put two and two together with the copper plating covering the hull, so thanks Edward, that really helps. I filled the crack with sawdust and glue and sanded it straight so it now looks a bit better and the copper plates should go over it nicely. Thanks Brian for the tip about varnishing first when filling in gaps later. It's obviously not serious with this gap as I'll be covering it, but the glue did leave the surrounding wood a bit darker, as you predicted. On Slog's advice I did double and tripple check that bulkhead 6 is actually bulkhead 6. I was also a bit suprised that the fit was that far off on a Caldercraft model, but apparently it happens coz that bulkhead is definitely in the right place. Thanks for the advice about checking that both sides line up, I'm not sure that I would have thought of that on my own. I sanded it down, and now it all fits:). Yes I had already glued the sternpost in place. My instructions said nothing about sanding down the stern and directed me to glue the sternpost on right away. It does make sense, however, and I see on Dan's Bounty log that he did it as well, so thanks so much Jason for pointing that out! I managed to unstick my sternpost with the blade of a craft knife, so it wasn't too late to do as you suggested:).
My next challenge is bevelling the bulkheads and plank termination patterns. I've started one side of the bow already. So far it seems to be going well, but this step is promising to keep me busy for a while:)

Slow progress with the internal planking I am afraid. It is very fiddly planking under the weather deck and around the cannon. It feels like I am doing ship in a bottle type activity - though this is more bottle in a ship.
 
I have used the mahogany strip left over from the outer deck planking which is not ideal since it tends to split very easily. I also decided to plank the bulkhead extensions that are now on view. They were shewing up as chunks of light coloured plywood amongst the cannon. These non prototypical pieces do not glare at me now they are covered in mahogany. The downside is that cladding them increases their size.
 
The next photo shews the before (above the red line) and after planking. The mahogany used had some very dark grain in it which unfortunately make some of the joints look as though they are gaping.
 

 
Viewed from the outside a gap can be seen between the inner and outer planking around the gun ports. So the next job will be to line the ports.
 

 
In parallel I have been producing a quarter deck rail using the pillars supplied in the kit for the now redundant rails on the old waist layout. The picture shews the partially complete rail resting in place. The rail will stand on 3mm cubes of walnut to raise it to its final height.
 
I haven't quite got the curvature of it right yet. The parts of the rail that point forward are alongside the steps down from the quarter deck on the real ship which won't exist on my model.
 
You may notice in this photo the one bulkhead had only been partially clad at that stage.
 

 
 
 
 
 
   

Bill, the royal ships were not just warships but also floating palaces used as symbols of power and for propaganda. The red was a royal color and at the time where she was built, bright colors were used by the powerful and the aesthetics was in the style of north german renaissance. I think its beautyful.
 
Phil, Im not sure about your model, but the local hobbyshop had a really old Vasa model and I think it was a BB. It was from before they knew how she looked. You couldnt tell it was Vasa, but more a generic model of the ships from that time. It was about 50 cm. I cant tell if thats the same as yours, but if it is I would have made it a generic ship.
 
Last week Ive been working on some sculptues. It took time to get them to get a good fit, thank good its plastic, as it allows for easy shaping. I have also made the knights cloaks and swords out of thin styrene sheet.
 
Now its time to start with the emperors.
 
 
/Matti

Hi Mick,
although the only Musical Instrument I know is the Radio in my work shop I would say this Thing just looks great, very well done mate!

I received my lantern kit from Chuck Passaro the other day so I spent most of today building it, very fiddly work but the end result is very good, Really well designed Chuck! The first pic is the lantern supplied with the partwork that I replaced.

Next progress, finishing patina and the sides.

Thanks for all the compliments guys. Cheers.
I've been working onthe foremast today. I have sanded a curvature into the battens on the top because I've seen photos of contemporary models that are like that and it looks better I reckon. For the mast head hoops I used car pinstriping that I cut down to width.
 
Steve

Most of the whole Frames are sanded and prepared.
I started to errect and glue them to the building board. To receive a nice and strait construction I'am using a very thin string line running down the Center of the building jig with a plumb line fixed temporalily to the Center of each keel Slot in the Frames when glueing.
To have more rigidity in the structure I'am adding some scrap pieces between the Frames.

Most of the whole Frames are sanded and prepared.
I started to errect and glue them to the building board. To receive a nice and strait construction I'am using a very thin string line running down the Center of the building jig with a plumb line fixed temporalily to the Center of each keel Slot in the Frames when glueing.
To have more rigidity in the structure I'am adding some scrap pieces between the Frames.

Most of the whole Frames are sanded and prepared.
I started to errect and glue them to the building board. To receive a nice and strait construction I'am using a very thin string line running down the Center of the building jig with a plumb line fixed temporalily to the Center of each keel Slot in the Frames when glueing.
To have more rigidity in the structure I'am adding some scrap pieces between the Frames.

No pressure on this site, is there?  
 
I'm going to bow to pressure, even though it's against my better judgement.    I guess don't want Sjors to hit me up for piccy's.  
 
Here she sits with various implements of destruction lying about...  The black square is where the broken frame was.  Still have a lot of sanding and some re-working of joints before I cut gunports and lay in the ebony wales.
 
The black X's, in case you're wondering, are for the frames I can remove after the chain wale goes on.  A top rail fits in there.  I'm thinking about removing those early just in case she decides to implode/explode/self-destruct when I start removing the build board down the road.
 

Rigging progress.
 
Mizzen running rig complete, now for the sprit sail.
 
Almost done.
 
After a bit of a shaky start I have really enjoyed the rigging process.
 
I am trying photographing against a blue background, I think it reduces the contrast and makes the different coloured cords easier to see.
 
Cheers,
 
David.
 

  

 

Here are better pictures of my ship.  Sorry, but I did not put up the cheap paper flags.  I think they are tacky.  I don't know what my next build will be yet.  What are the cross bars that you put the sails on called?  Anyway, I think I did the back one incorrectly.  I think it was supposed to be tilted.  It did seem weird the way they had the mast done in the middle for that bar.  They were not very clear on how to do it.  I had to be clever on where to tie the front sail off of.  The tiny picture did not really show where the bottom ropes were supposed to be tied to.  I have learned sometimes you have to come up with clever ways of doing certain things.  You know they really need people who don't know how to put these ships together to test their directions to see if the directions are clear enough for people to understand.
 

 

 

 

 

I am very sad.   My shrouds turned out terrible.  The rope/thread for them was horrible.  It would not tighten at all.  It is like a thicker, kind of waxy, hard thread.  Anyway, I did get creative and make them look a little better.  I still have some ends I need to clip in these pictures.
 


 

 

Topmasts continued with shrouds attached. I never realized how much detail goes into them. I have yet to add ratlines, a daunting prospect again after going to a wedding last night so the couch is easier.

Slowly fitting the topmasts. I just have to glue in the mast tops and align it properly before setting it for good.
 
I had to include the tackle first as the shrouds will run over the top of them so they fall in a single line thus it has to be spliced. The double blocks are Chucks from Syren, drilled out a bit and filed along the sheeve lines to give a little more definition. 
 
shrouds next, then numerous backstays, then stays over the top, Then I'll have to worm the jeers up between them so they hang under it all.

Hi Jeff,I have a 30w soldering iron and some electrical solder so will try that the next time I have any soldering close to possible melting material!  The anchor ring isn’t under any stress so CA will do.
 
Thanks for the comment Mick
 
Hi Sam, I might try solid brass rod and take slices off the end as needed.  I was also wondering about trying Evergreen or equivalent styrene sheet to cut the sheaves from as would definitely be quicker and easier to cut and trim.
 
A quick paint, as obviously can’t blacken them and they are done.  For all you can see of sheave once its in place I think it may be a viable alternative.  I may try that also.
 
Hi Wayne, I have also drilled and cut grooves to simulate sheaves and have been happy with the result up to now, but because the davit had an open end sheave I had to fill the gap somehow.
 
When I get to the masts and yards which I believe are dotted throughout with various sheaves I might try some other techniques and materials to see what works.
 
 
A bit more progress with the anchors.  I previously mentioned that the grooves in the anchor stocks were to deep so here is a dark and blurry photo to show the gap with the two halves together.

 
 
To overcome this I glued in some 1mm walnut strip in to each groove in the stock, which then made the gap to small.  It was a case of filing the grooves back in with a miniature file until the anchor shank sat deeper in the stocks.
I was going to leave a gap between the stocks and bend the ends together like a real anchor but wasn’t happy with the way they looked so took some artistic licence and continue to file the grooves until the stock halves fitted together the full length.
 
Next up was to do the puddening on the anchor rings.  I used my pliers and a clamp as a kind of helping hand.
 

 
 
With the puddening I found a thread on MSW which mentioned that 0.25mm thread would be suitable so that’s what I used.  I have no idea how to start and end the puddening.  I tried a dab of CA glue to fix the end to the ring then wound my way round.  Once I got to the end I used CA again to fix it but not happy with this method.

 
 
I also tried various media as I worked round the ring to hold the thread in place.  Initially I tried using watered down PVA but this appeared to bulk up the thread.  I also tried using Caldercraft Flat matt varnish which worked very well as dries invisible so used that.  I would wind along a bit and then varnish then continue.  Again I don’t know a way to secure the ends.

 
 
I used brown Guttermann cotton thread to do the extra bits round the puddening (don’t know the term for this) but yet again don’t know how to start or finish.

 
As can be seen in the finished photo the puddening itself isn’t bad and settled into a rhythm to do this BUT the start and finishing is terrible and lets it down. Also not happy with extra brown bits as my spacing went awry as well as being clumsily executed.  I will cut the whole lot off and try again.
 
If anyone has a method for starting and finishing the puddening I would like to hear from you.
 
Cheers
Slog

I'am pretty busy today!
 
First two of the whole Frames are up, dry fitted to the building board.
 

Thanks Pavel, the building method is different to a POB kit indeed but I enjoy it very much to build a ship this way.
 
In order to center and align the Frames later on in the building board I made myself a "adjustable" jig with keel and keelson. I find it easier to sand the frames to lenght and make sure the keel fit in properly instead doing it with the drawings only.

Hi all,
finally I got the Backbone done.
At the first attempt of making new stem parts  I did a mistake on cutting the Joints due to be in a rush. No good, I couldn't use the parts anymore.
I had to order some cherry wood to start the second try, that worked well.
 
Here is the result with Joints and false keel as per the Aots drawings.