rybakov

Part 2

Thanks to all that have started following my attempt at a build log and for your likes and comments.

Although most contemporary Admiralty models had no guns, I decided early on to add this level. If I didn't I might regret it later on. My early visions included the possibility of a fully rigged ship and so it would have to have sea going artillery. I seriously underestimated the scope of building a 100 gun ship of the line. The guns and tackle added a tremendous amount of hours and really tested my patience. I often tell my friends that in the time it has taken so far I could've built three frigates. But the other side of the coin would mean I wouldn't have a three decker, the most awesome war machine of its time.

From early 1993 to mid 1995 I had made the master 32 pound barrel on my lathe, made the RTV rubber molds, and started casting 30+barrels. Carriages were constructed with the cross pieces and trucks. The cheeks I scaled on my computer, saved to a floppy disk, and I had them laser cut out of 1/8" white Lexan. The completed assemblies can be viewed in the above photos. Starting amidships in 1995 six cannons have been rigged, have gunport doors, and the middle deck framing has been started. I had also decided to have the guns run out to starboard and the portside guns run in with ports closed or open for viewing, to show the lines of the ship better.

Each gun has three single blocks and three double blocks with corresponding ring bolts and lines. (And like an idiot I made the blocks). There's the breaching rope, etc. Now multiply by 100 and you can see the enormity of the task. Not saying it wasn't fun but I had to take breaks and go back to ship construction.

One photo  shows the mainmast stepped. All three lower masts were made to line up through each deck.

In July of 1995 I was relocated to Orlando, Florida for my work for 3 1/2 years. My wife and I decided to take the train first class with a sleeper compartment from LA's Union Station to Florida. I built a carry case with a clear lexan top and Victory made the trip safely in our compartment with us. Victory was laid up in Ordinary for over 6 years, due to other projects, before I got motivated to work on her again. Let's see...more guns.

In Part 3 we will jump into the 21st Century.

Greetings to all.
 
This will be a "sort of build" log of my scratch-built model of the Victory starting in 1991 to present. In the pre-digital photography era the few photos I have were shot with a Nikon 35mm camera. I'm not the most disciplined when it comes to shooting progress pictures. I get so excited about the build that I think there's just a few more things to do before shooting the next pictures. So here's some shots and explanations of my process from the early '90's.

Part 1
 
After the usual research and gathering of plans and photos I decided to build in 1:64 scale, or 3/16th"=1'. A good average house scale. My base plans were taken from John McKay's book "The 100-gun Ship, Victory", and C. Nepean Longridge's "Anatomy of Nelson's Ships". McKay's plans are based on how she would've looked after her 1800-1803 large rebuild prior the Trafalgar. Longridge has more detailed  drawings along with structural details of general construction of the period. My original intention was to build this version. After prolonged study the drawings I noticed the original sheer line and rails, still visible today, before the build-up of the bulwarks along the quarterdeck. So back to research for drawings of how Victory looked from 1765-1799 with stern galleries and elaborate carvings. Meanwhile the build still went on for the hull structure.
 
The first step was to enlarge the drawings to 1:64 scale. I enlarged the outboard, inboard, framing, profiles and plan views of the ship then all the frame sections. The keel, stem and stern post drawings as well.

Framing and Shaping the Hull

I used what is probably a unconventional approach to construction of the hull. Since the "Man of War" has more frames than a merchant vessel, and they almost touch each other, I figured that 1/4' thick frames would be very close for an Admiralty style builders model. All the frame sections were laid out on 1/4" thick birch marine ply and cut on a band saw. I cut 1/4" spacer sections for between the actual frames. These were carefully aligned and screwed together in stacked sections until I had the complete hull. (No photos exist of this phase). I used a 1" Makita belt sander to knock down the stair step frame sides close enough to start block sanding by hand. I forgot to mention you must make sure your frame drawings, before cutting, start amidships facing towards the bow and aft towards the stern post. That way when the shaping starts you are sanding to the line of the drawings for the proper shape. It's like making a pattern or wood buck for a mold.

After the hull is shaped and sanded to a finer grit, the next step is to unscrew all the frames and take out the 1/4" spacers. Back to the band saw and cutout all the insides of the frames and notch for the keel indexing.

The Keel, Stem and Stern Post

Next was cutting out and assembly of the keel, etc. From here it conventional construction with the keel laid upright and plumb on the building board, and frames set in position. I cut frame shaped sections out of the spacers and placed these between the frames at the middle and lower gun deck levels for strength and rigidity. Once everything is glued in position with stringers holding the outside into place, I sanded and shaped the inside of the frames.


The Planking

All the planking is Basswood used for its very fine grain. For the bow and stern areas I used my wife's tea kettle to steam the planks for the tighter radius bends.
 
Below is the completed planked hull, the cutting down of the bulwarks, The addition of the wales and moldings, upper rails. I made tooling jigs for shaping the moldings. Lower deck 32 pounders are sitting in place. Cannon construction is another project in itself. And of course one must take the motivational paint break to see how things will look.
 

Hello,
the carpenters had build the bitts for the fore mast and made also the partners for that mast and the bowsprit new. 


I'm puzzling with the galley. I know it is a galley made from brick, covered with wood. At older models you see also that there is a room in front of the galley like this one.

Did anyone know how long this was made in this way? The latest model where I saw that is the Ipswich from 1730. But also Steve Anderson build it in his Victory.
Many thanks in advance

Hello,
the carpenters have the deck beams ready and fitted them in. The next thing they have to build are some hanging knees. But not all, you would't see them later.

Continued: Fore yard- Studding sail boom irons - Cercle de bout-dehors de vergue
In the meantime, I also made the studding sail boom irons for the fore yard. In this context, I would like to go into a little more detail about the method of making the hinges for the two-piece mast clamps. In the studding sail boom irons for the fore yard, the hinge lugs were still bent. In the meantime, I have refined the method, as can be seen in the following photo collage. I think the pictures speak for themselves:

 
To finish this part, here's a picture with the studding sail boom irons for the fore yard already blackened.

 
Finally, only the studding sail boom irons for the main yard remain to be made. 
More about that soon ...
 

Here is a decent back-lit shot that shows how well the CA fog disappeared:

I’ve modified the supporting pilasters for between the middle and upper balconies.  Owing to all of the modifications and scratch-work, the height between balconies is a little different.  This necessitated adding plastic, top and bottom, to make up the difference, but I also added a strip of .032 to the backs of these because I felt they were too spindly and slight looking to be doing the support work they represent:


The other little side project was to create a glue lip to make it easier to mount the upper balcony bulwarks; I did this with a bit of the smallest quarter-round strip that I had:

With that in place, it was much easier to make a cardboard template that followed the camber of the balcony, at the appropriate raking angle, fore and aft.  This also enabled me to lay out the 3/32” pilasters.  I should mention that my final attempt at heat-bending the stock balcony bulwark was a failure.
 
I filled a large pasta pot with water and heated to a near boil.  I rubbed some olive oil on the side of the pot, and attempted to gently induce a curve.  Unfortunately, there’s no getting around the fact that the ornamental spindles of the railing are much thinner than the caprail.  As such, they flash malleable much sooner and then become irreversibly distorted.  Given that, I realized there was no way to get around making the balcony bulwarks from scratch.
 
For whatever reason, this is a detail that was very difficult to draw.  Irrespective of what exactly is happening with the pilasters below, the only way to draw a repeating element like this is to ensure that the panels for the spindles are all the same uniform size.
 
After much re-drawing, I got the port half down to an acceptable draft, which could be improved upon with the making of the thing:

For some reason, I just could not get the spacing right for the first panel, starboard of center.  So, I made a mirror photocopy of the port side and this seemed to work perfectly.  The guaranteed symmetry between sides also helps smooth over some of the hand-drawn imperfection of the thing:

As I say, I’ve found that, if I can get the drawing layout reasonably close, then I can bring it home with the tools.  My drawing is no worse than the stock rendering of this detail, so that’s a go for me.

A short excursus.

The printer has once again spit out something, a small collaborative work from www.segelschiffsmodellbau.com



A small iron swivel for older ships.

Faramir had built the original file of the barrel, with me making a few more adations.

Interesting are the dimensions of the trunnions with 0.3 mm and the matching eyebolt of the holder. This actually results in a fully movable gun even in this scale :-)

All modern drawings known to me show the powder chamber handle always pointing upwards. After the first test prints I saw a Life-Fire video and realised that the handle was turned to the side and so the fuse hole was on top, otherwise the fuse would not have been able to reach it. So I turned the handle and inserted the fuse hole.

And there they were, the new prints. For painting, I put the barrels on a needle and noticed that the difference in diameter is not very big. With a very dry brush I brushed them with black paint, which doesn't put to much volume on and rubbed them carefully with graphite on a Q-tip.



I was most surprised that the firing hole is actually visible :-)



And because it is so beautiful, different views.













There you go, the bad boys may finally come 🙂


 
XXXDAn

I have now drilled the hawse holes, and fitted a bolster waiting for final assembly for final trimming:
 

 
 
 
I now have to turn my attention to the trailboard. I am getting closer to painting the blue around this area, and I want to know where the trailboards need gluing.
I want to build the Bellona as first designed, and shown in the first model. But the trailboard detail is frustratingly difficult to see or to reconstruct, from the photo I took:

Unless someone has a better photo, I may have to build the trailboard on the second Bellona model:
 

If I do the latter, do you have any advice for how to glue this down to a backing board for piercing and carving, and then how to get it unglued from the backing board with those tiny, fragile pieces holding it together?
 
Mark
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Continuation: Main topsail yard - studding sail boom iron - Cercle de bout-dehors de vergue
I continued with the studding sail boom irons for the main topsail yard. Since I had thoughtlessly started to make the rings, I forgot to make the bulge for the rollers. Since these rings were already soldered, I tried to solder on this bulge, which then also worked quite well and the even result became more precise.
As they say: the proof of the pudding is in the eating ...😁
 
The following picture shows the rings with the parts to be soldered on.

Here on this picture you can see my " soldering station ".


On the ceramic hole plate you can fix the parts to be soldered quite well.


The jeweler's saw is then used to remove the segments of the rings that are not necessary.


The next picture shows the drilling of the roller bearings with a 0.5 mm drill.


In the picture, all studding sail boom iron for the main topsail yard are united before blacking. The inside diameters of the spar hangers for the fore topsail yard are 2.7 mm, while those for the main topsail yard are 3.2 mm.


For blackening, I still use Brass Black, as I have had very good experiences with this agent. I coat the parts with a brush until they get the desired coloration. This proven method of working allows me to use the agent very sparingly.


The last two pictures show the studding sail boom irons already mounted to the main topsail yard.


Next, I make the irons for the fore yard. At the same time, I'm researching other equipment for the yards, such as attachment of the footropes, jackstays - yes or no, and so on.
See you soon ...
 

Hello,
so, it is done! The head is ready. 😃
The painter has to fix some things, because the man from the admiralty would come and inspect the work. He was very pleased and spend a beer for the crew 😮 Yes one beer 😕
For the next days the crew had some days free and after that, they have to cut the deck beams for the fore castle.

I completed the bumpkins which were the last of the parts which needed to be made.  I decided not to drill the hole through the hull moulding and frieze. It felt that it was a little to risky at his stage of the build. Of course I never thought of it, but if it were possible I would have done so earlier in the build. Instead I simulated as best I could the look of doing so.
 
Its been nearly five years since I switched from the 3/16" to the 1/4" scale version in April of 2018. With the ship now finished, I just want to say thank you for sharing this journey with me. Every kind word, comment and "Like" inspired me to do my best and keep moving ahead.
 
I would be remiss if I didn't give a special thank you to Chuck for being a huge help to me from the very start as well as putting up with all of my nuttiness. Thank you, Chuck!




 

See ya soon, Mike

Lengthy work on the cannon carriages:

work continues on gan barrels:

Update:

I finished the work on the guns, burnishing and protective matt clear coat:
 




 
 

I have started making guns:

Little metal works for the upper deck. I built myself a jeeg for rings with shanks of various sizes:







 

The main bitts:

a few steps forward:






 

After a long time, I have finally reached the end of building the galley stove:









 

a few small steps forward:





 

some small advances. This galley stove is keeping me very busy!
 

I redid the kitchen hood. I didn't like it.
everything is still temporary

continue.....

Continue with the galley stove construction: