shihawk

I,ll start with a couple of pics i forgot to post the last time , the 4 ladders to lower deck simple enough to make and i think the brass handrails blend in ok . I,m not fond of the rope handrails as i find them clumsy looking if not done correctly so will try to avoid !! I then moved on to the steps up to the quarterdeck (i think that,s what it,s called )and as usual i used the supplied ply parts to assist the scratch building of the new ones What i finished with , but again the rope handrails didn,t please me even when i drilled the posts to avoid oversized knots and i thought the wooden handrail looked oversized as well . I know i,m beginning to sound a bit loopy ,maybe i am but too many times i have looked back and said i could or should have fixed that at the time ,but it,s to late ? So with my new found skills on the lathe ,lol, i made 2 more posts and replaced the rope with wood . Happy days ,im satisfied this time . I,ll be building this Vic for 10 years at this rate ? Moving on i have discovered another mistake i made . When planking i assumed that the all the slots in the upper hull were for external fittings and so carefully cut them out as i went along and then planked the inside covering them up ,BUT it turns out that the 3 upper most were for the belaying pin rails and the small vertial one is to attach a post which i must assume will be under pressure from rigging as it needs to be so well secured . So i had to cut the slots through from the inside and will now have to patch the holes on the outside . Maybe if i had paid more attention to the plans this botch could have been avoided !!!? While i am in redo /repair mode i still don,t like the brass posts and rails on the main staircase and think i should replace them with wooden ones , more practice on the lathe ,Don,t know why they annoy me cause i like the brass in other places .Can,t wait to start the rigging ,possibly next year

I wear them all the time,and keep my 2.00 glasses on the end of my nose to look through if i want to "line up something ",as they do distort things , but i couldn,t work without them !

The safe way is to Experiment on scrap wood if possible before commiting to the actual model , it seems this applies to paint as well as varnishes and oils etc , i think you got it right about the way different woods absorb differently, more experienced readers may explain more , but the main thing is don,t spoil a years work and a great model by trying some thing which could be irreversable ? Been there done that ! I agree matt looks best and mine also was oil but like all things others will have there favourites and i must admit my experience with anything else is limited. Hope you got it sorted to your satisfaction Boyd

I can,t remember , it,s so long since i looked at the instructions but are you building in the sequence they recommend ,or as i do ,whatever i feel like ??? BTW Flag stores look great !

Just found your log , Glad to see you back and with a Vic . Fantastic job so far and some great ideas ,i hope you don,t mind if i borrow a few ? Boyd .

try www.tbs-aachen.de

Sounds like hard work Mike .Bending 2x5 sounds daunting !! Surely the second planking was thinner . But you seem to have made a good job of it . Your decking looks like maple if so did you have any problems keeping it all the one shade ,i only ask as i had a few diffs with mine and wondered if it is common with all Maple or maybe mine was cheap stuff ?? At least the weather is in your favor , no reason to go outside !!

rtrop if possible get both, but if i had to choose it would be the table .IMO

KeithW I only bought mine a short time ago and found a small amount of play as you discribed but when i tightened it up there is no problem although i haven,t used it much yet .

Had diffs picking replacement strips for deck ,had used all the best in first attempt but after a couple of false starts i found the only way was to varnish the strip before commiting . Still not perfect but will have to do ,hopefully deck fittings will cover any differences Just as a matter of interest is there a simple way to decide the grain direction or is it just hit and miss ? I read how some one else had similiar problems but had mixed the planks more randomly which i think i could have lived with , or as i suggested earlier do i need to change my wood supplier ??? .Has anyone had the same problem with Lime or Holly ??? While i was waiting for the varnish to dry i made the 4 ladders down to middle deck I used the brass freestanding handrails ,which i think i seen used by somewhere else . Maybe not authentic but practical .

If i had mixed the strips and had dark and light mixed i think it would have been more acceptable . I can remember changing plank direction on the other section of deck but can,t think if i did it on the forward section . This was the one part of the build i wanted to do well so if it has to come off so be it . I must pay the price for my stupidity so i won,t do it again , It,s the way to learn .I had thought the bottom deck would not be noticeable but i see it every time i look at the ship so if this can be fixed i think sooner rather than later .

I,M beginning to think similiar , Could it be that when i turned the ship around to do the other side i did,nt turn the planks . could explain it ?Am i a twat or am i a twat ???? I know that rotating end to end makes a difference that was one of the things i tried to avoid so i marked all the planks to run in the one direction but did i remember to turn the planks when i turned the ship . The only way i will know is to lift a few and reverse them . that takes care of the rest of this week !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In an earlier post i mentioned the color or shade difference which showed om my lower deck after a coat of varnish . I went to great pains to try and prevent the same thing happening on my top deck choosing the strips carefully,and marking them to make sure i kept the grain running the same way etc , I could live with that ,but and I can,t figure out what i did wrong , i purposely picked in daylight and wet them to make sure they were all the same shade yet from a certain angle they look like two different woods , I won,t be changing them it,s too much work but i don,t think i will use Maple again !!!! One other minor thing i would mention to anyone else building this kit ,Parts 42 A and 42B are numbered incorrectly and should be swapted .Part 55 i can,t find and still can,t figure what it is , i simply replaced the proper 42A with hand made posts

Yes the step clamps came with the mill , but thanks for the suggestion . I have now ordered and recieved the mill but am still waiting on a couple of sets of end mills with 3mm shanks

Simply Brilliant....

Chris , I looked at different methods of recreating the frames and there are a few ,thread is one , styrene strips , sticky tape , but finished up using very fine strips of wood , I had a few lengths of Lime and found them the easiest to cut so thin .As you will see in my log i started with thin plastic for glass and then built the windows piece by piece . A slow fine process but i achieved the result i had in my mind .The strips were cut by hand with sharp knife .

Hi Chris , just wanted to let you know about a small mistake in the plans . Parts 42 A and 42 B seem to have swapped places . You may have figured it out already but as i just discovered it so thought i,d let you know . Any thoughts on painting the hull or buying copper plates/ tape ??

I have a similiar problem with a Maple deck and once you varnish the color difference will be more noticeable . the only thing is yours are well mixed, mine were in blocks of different color ,yours may be more realistic looking?? it,s very difficult to choose planks all the same shade and when fitting if the plank is turned ,not only side to side but end to end it can make a big difference !

I recently bought the same ,if yours is older the screws may have a different head but the method of adjustment should be the same .Click to enlarge the pic Hope this helps.

Lookin good , I found it,s well worth the effort and time working out the planking system ,and once learned ,never forgotten !

John , a pic would be good ,it will take me a while to get my head around all the possible uses , GLakie , i was waiting for that ,you drove me to it .

For some time i have getting concerned about DUST , not only the build up on my build but the fact that i must also be breathing in a lot as well . I bought a small sort of shop vac and a cheap air purifier which did help but using a lathe or the nanogrinder still left a lot of dust everywhere . As i needed to reconstruct my workspace i fitted a new table and thought i would try to fix some type of dust collector to connect to my vac . It,s simply made with 2 ins pipe and although the cone is only cardboard and tape it works extremely well and will surfice in the mean time . The motosaw has a collection duct and the hose from the vac is easily changed between the two pipes . Even hand fileing causes a lot of dust and i have started wearing a mask ,maybe it,s because i wear magnifiers and so hold the work up close . I just thought i,d mention this as i never considered dust would cause me any problems , but working in a confined space for long periods of time it can be dangerous . Now back to the build although i do have a couple of new proxxon toys to play with with for a while first ,my MF 70 arrived today and i can,t wait to get trying it out . This second childhood is great !!!! All i need now to make my life complete is a Jim saw ???????????

Apologies Keith i had forgotten you were also building the Billings Vic , Chris , that,s a log worth a visit !!

You need no advice from me ,you seem to have it all under control. I must agree the fit of the ply parts were usually spot on ,but it,s just a pity they use ply for everything. I supose it,s down to price ,you certainly get a lot of ship for the money !! You will really enjoy the planking.

Hi Chris i have just added a welcome on your introduction post and didn,t realise you had already started your build . you seem to be getting on well dispite the lack of instructions ,just take your time and dry fit as far in front as possible . you must be a natural !!!!