Glenn-UK

40 minutes ago, Kevin said:

looking very good, sorry about the other project

I am pleased with the Indy now the second planking is complete. The Royal Yacht was a nice distraction but certainly not suitable for me.

Wales – Work In Progress

Over the last few days, I have been working on a birthday gift from my wife, which was Amati’s Royal Yacht (in a bottle). I managed to construct and shape the hull and to then paint and fit the deck and bulwarks. The problem came when I started to fit the deck items. I really struggled to located and secure the parts. After failing to fit the fore bitts and windlass assembly I decided to abandon this project as I do not have the requisite tools or eyesight (even with my magnifying glasses) as the ship is too small for me.

It was a nice gift to receive, and I am glad I tried to build it but unfortunately, in my opinion, it is a very poor-quality kit and very badly presented instructions.

You can see the difference in size in the photo below.

I have given the Indy hull good sand and it does look and feel reasonably smooth. I have also sanded the gun port openings. I am still debating if I should just add a varnish finish or if I should paint and copper the hull. I have started to add the wales. The first wale is a length of 4mmW boxwood. I was able to use Titebond and clamps when adding the top wale. I suspect I will have to revert to CA clue for the remaining 3 x 5mm wale planks.

Despite my best efforts this kit is way to small for me to complete. I managed to shape the hull and to then paint and fit the deck and bulwarks. The problem came when I started to fitted the deck items. I really struggled to located and secure the parts as required. After failing to fit the fore bitts and windlass assembly I decided to abandon this project as I do not have the requisite tools or eyesight (even with my magnifying glasses).

It was a nice gift to receive and I am glad I tried to build it but unfortunately, in my opinion, it was a very poor quality kit.

great work

I thought I would make a start on this build. The hull construction is very different to any of my other previous builds. As can be seen in the picture below the hull is made up of 5 differently shaped sheets which are glued together in a staggered manner.

The picture shown in the build instructions is drawn at a scale of 1:1. After a taken a measurement the required stagger is 1mm. I added a strip of 1mm tape to help me align the parts.

I continued with the checking the stagger, using tape to help with the alignment as the remaining parts were glued in place.

The next task is to sand the hull to get the required curved shape. The kit has provided a series of templates to aid this shaping process.

The quarter gallery comprises 4 parts which are stacked on top of each other. According to the build manual the 4 parts are different sizes but in reality the parts were all the small size.

hjh

As a birthday present I received the Amati kit for the Golden Yacht (in a bottle) which was a total surprise. The box states this will be a Museum quality wooden model. I will be very surprised if I can build any wooden model to be suitable for display in a museum.

Once I have completed sanding the Indy hull I will take a short break to have a look at start building this kit, which will become a side project. Having opened the box the parts all look very small.

Having been spoilt for high quality pictures and instructions with the various Vanguard Model kits I have built the Amati instructions seem a little bit threadbare in comparison.

Just now, James H said:

I hope you'll try your hand at this one.

I will probably buy this kit as a side project at some point later in the year. I was given the Royal Yacht in bottle kit as a gift today which will be also be a side project.

Looks a great addition to the Vanguard range

5 minutes ago, Thukydides said:

The run of the planks looks good so I think if you fill in a few of the gaps with sawdust as BE suggested and then sand it down so it is level it will look great.

Many thanks

6 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

I think you will get an acceptable  finish  Glenn, well done.

For those minor gaps in the strakes, run a bead of pva along the gap, sprinkle Boxwood dust over it, smear with your finger, and sand. Repeat as required.

 

B.E.

Many thanks your comments and sound advice Maurice. I have a long weekend away in the Lake District so I will be making plenty of sawdust filler on my return early next week.

10 minutes ago, Esap said:

Its definitely your build and your decision, but I think the natural finish sounds great. You have mentioned a few times how it is a big improvement against prior builds, and that is worth proudly showing if you ask me. Good luck with the sanding!

Many thanks for your comments and advice.

Second Planking – Right-Hand Side Second Planking Completed

The work on completing the second planking on the right-hand side is now complete. This completed planking represents a big improvement on my skills in this area and I am very pleased with how much ability to plank has developed with this build, especially with the use of lateral plank bending. The correct tapering of the bow and stern planks meant I did not have to add any stealers. My hull fairing skills, particularly around the transom, still requires much more work however.

I opted to use boxwood for the second planking with the idea that I could leave the completed planking in their natural state with a nice, varnished finish. On reflection this was perhaps bit optimistic on my part as my completed planking is not as clean and neat I was would have liked.

Once I have inspected the completed hull, I will fill in some of the small gaps, either with filler or thin slivers of off-cuts and then I will give the hull a good sand. Once that is done, I will be better placed to make a final decision on weather to paint and copper or to simply varnish the boxwood.

 I have attached a few photos of the completed planking.

Second Planking – Right-Hand Side Second Planking Progress

The work on completing the second planking on the right hand side is progressing well. I only have 5 strakes left to fit. I have used a butt shift pattern and this has made fitting the planks so much easier. As with the left and side I fitted 192mmL planks, noting 96mmL and 64th scale planks would be more representative of the actual ships 6m planks.

Around the bow area I have used the lateral bend method to ensure I have a good fit, and I now fully understand why Chuck's method works so well.

After completing the planking under the transom, I started to taper the stern planks which require a double taper. From the midships they are tapered down to 4mm at the narrowest point. From there a reverse taper is applied up to 4.5mm where the plank sits against the stern post. By keeping the faith the tapering (at bow and stern), and regularly checking the taper points, no stealers will be required.

The planks, in the attached photo’s, look a bit messy, but once the planking is complete and they have been sanded smooth it will look much better.

Second Planking – Right-Hand Side Second Planking Started

I have started the second planking on the right-hand side. I have completed the section down to where the main wale will be fitted. I still need to clear all the gun ports. I will be using a butt shift pattern for fitting the remaining planks down to the keel. I will also be adding the lateral bend for planks fitted around the bow area. I will taper the stern planks once I have planks under the transom. If all goes to plan,a s with the right-hand side, there should be no need to fit any steelers.

33 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

Well done Glenn, that will clean up very nicely.

 

B.E.

Thank you.

52 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Very precise, well planned and thought out, very well done Glenn! Proof positive that a good planking job doesn’t require stealers and how pre-bending and good planning pay off. As far as the troublesome plank, sometimes a shim behind the plank can help correct a low spot. Or if you have the wood cut a thicker plank.

 

At any rate, you should be justly proud of taking on the challenge of a butt shift pattern and making it work this well!

I have now added a filler bit (Yellow circle) which sorted out the troublesome plank. I also added a smaller filler shim (blue arrow).

17 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Nicely done Glenn

For the future, there are a lot of contemporary planking expansion plans on the RMG Collections site, both inboard and outboard that you may find helpful as well.  One example is https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-83495

Allan

Thank you

15 minutes ago, Kevin said:

that looks fantastic

 

Thank you Kevin

1 minute ago, glbarlow said:

Very precise, well planned and thought out, very well done Glenn! Proof positive that a good planking job doesn’t require stealers and how pre-bending and good planning pay off. As far as the troublesome plank, sometimes a shim behind the plank can help correct a low spot. Or if you have the wood cut a thicker plank.

 

At any rate, you should be justly proud of taking on the challenge of a butt shift pattern and making it work this well!

Thank you. I'm planning on adding a shaped filler plank to correct the fault with the troublesome plank. The lateral bending certainly was the way to go as was the 4 butt shift pattern, albeit I went for simulated 12m long planks rather than 6m long planks.

9 minutes ago, chris watton said:

Glenn, that is a fantastic job you have done there, well done!

Than you, I am pleased with the outcome and hopefully, the RHS will even better.

4 minutes ago, James H said:

That really looks superb. So jealous that you did this without stealers...

Thank you. I kept the checking the gap measurements when working out the tapering requirements and I was really pleased everything worked out.

Second Planking – Left-Hand Side Second Planking Completed

I have finally completed the second planking on the left-hand side of the Indy. I used a 4-butt shift pattern for the planks below the water line which really made the task a lot easier. I kept up with the tapering and lateral bending around the bow, I did not have to resort to adding any stealers. I also tapered the planks at the stern, below the transom.

Compared with all of my previous builds the completed Indy LHS second planking is a big improvement but there is still plenty of room for improvement. I am planning on painting the upper section black and yellow, as per the plans. I am still undecided if I will leave the area below the water line as plain boxwood or if I will go ahead and add the copper tiles. The copper tile finish does have great appeal. I remember adding over 3000 copper tiles when I built HMS Victory (Caldercraft) and loved how the hull looked.

I will now spend the few weeks adding the second planking to the right-hand side. In the meantime I have included a few photo's of the completed LHS planking.

Such a shame for you. I did wonder about having one side bare and one side copper on my model just for the contrast.

Second Planking – 4 Butt Shift Hull Planking

As the planking continues on the left-hand side very slowly I have now moved on to using a 4 butt shift pattern when fitting the planks. Historically hull planks seemed to be 5 to 6m long which equates to approx. 94cm at 64^th scale. I decided that the plank lengths would be best suited to a 4 butt shift pattern arrangement if the plank lengths were divisible by 6, e.g. 96mm. After a bit of experimentation with spreadsheet arrangements I decided to double the plank lengths to 192mm and came up with the following plan.

After fitting three planks up from the keel, I determined the maximum infill area would be 90mm, thus requiring 18 full width 5mm planks. For easy of tapering planks I made some simple calculations, as can be seen in the next photo.

I then made a template based on the calculations to mark the positions on the hull for 54mm (3mm), 72mm (4mm) and 81mm (4.5mm). The 4.5mm became necessary as the planks taper towards the stern down to 4mm and then from that point to the stern post requires reverse taper back to 4.5mm. The 4.5mm reference also became an important taper reference point between the 5mm and 4mm run from midships toward the stern.

As I started to add the planks I found it beneficial to have a template 192mm long plank with marks set for the planking sequence.

For the bow planks I am taking a plank a long length and applying the required taper. Next I apply the lateral bend, as can be seen in the next photo. When I am happy with how the plank looks I trim the plank into the required lengths.

The next photo shows the stern area, which looks Ok apart from one plank which caused me no end of problems to get a decent fit (blue arrow). In the end I decided to live with it as this area will be painted black so filler will hide the bad workmanship.

The next photo shows the stern area. I have never planked a bow area this well before but it is certainly not of a high standard. The blue arrow indicated where the next plank join will be.

The final picture shows where a plank join is on the marker (blue arrow). It also shows the 81mm (4.5mm plank width) position (yellow arrows).

2 minutes ago, glbarlow said:

Excellent research. Did you look at the plans? They might show the pattern and provide for longer runs, or at least show the pattern visually. 

I did not look at any plans. I found that the hull plank repair work on HMS Victory were 6m long, click link for description. Also found a reference on Ships Of Scale which mentioned 5 to 6m lengths. With my limited knowledge I therefore assumed max plank length would be 6m