robdurant

Thanks Dimitris A small update on the ship's launch. It's starting to come together a bit better now: I ditched several ideas along the way here... The .5 x 3mm strip for the ribs is far too grainy to bend, and seemed to me to be too thick to look scale, so I used some veneer instead. I also decided to use ply from the pickle kit for the wales, as then I could cut and sand it to shape rather than trying to bend a 2mm strip (again, too thick?) against the widest dimension. By my reckoning the ribs end up about 6mm apart. I also ditched the former at the front and the "bench"? at the back as being way too thick. I've just planked the front with walnut, and I'll do the same at the back for the "bench". The wales need a bit more sanding to make them more uniform, but otherwise I'm pleased with the progress so far. Next step, the "bench" at the back and then the 1x1mm strip and the brass decoration with the blue behind. Soon be onto the masts and spars Has anyone turned the masts and spars for RYC on a Proxxon DB250 - I'm considering buying one to replace the mantua lathe I have (which really isn't man enough, and is dying slowly: not least, because the home-brew power supply I've been using has been providing too many volts to the motor - 14 instead of 12), but I'm wondering whether it's the best way to spend the money Rob

Hi Nigel, Thank you for the kind words. I've looked through your build log for Royal Yacht Caroline - wow, it's going to be a cracking Caroline! a level up from mine, but I'm glad to be pottering along doing the best I can, and I think my dad would have approved so far It's interesting to hear about your solution for the ship's launch. It confirms what I'd suspected - that there's a can of worms (a delight to some, and a horror to others) waiting for the person who takes a ruler to the plans and compares them against AOTS. Your way through this maze sounds like an excellent one, and certainly seems to be paying dividends. I hope in years to come I shall have the skills and confidence to follow suit. I'm hoping to attempt HMS Diana next, and I have the AOTS ready so I have all the materials to cause lots of double-checking and head-scratching!! I hope your house move goes well. I remember with my schooner, Pickle, that there was definitely a moment where it went from being relatively robust to being a very fragile thing that caught or snagged on everything that went near it. I moved house with Pickle and she survived, I'm very glad to say! Although she did go to stay with someone else during the move to avoid the big day! The avatar is of my interpretation of Revell's Flower Class Corvette HMCS Snowberry, although I made it up as a generic Flower class a good few years ago. It's stand-off quality at best, but it does look the business out on the water, and it's fun to sail. I've got a MCMV sat on the shelf that's never gone further than a paddling pool, so when that gets wet, I'll update my avatar Thanks again Rob

Time for another update. Thanks for the kind comments Still working on the ship's boat: Planking completed... I decided one planking would be sufficient, as I wanted to try and get the thin-ness of the hull, and I wasn't planning on varnishing the wood, but painting it... I bit the bullet and put some wood filler on it, ready to sand down... Then the first sanding (I suspect it'll take a couple of turns to get a really nice finish. And then it was the most scary bit... to remove the upper frames... I was really pleased how that went. Now I just need to trim the transom back and get tidying up. Happy building! Rob

So, another week, and a little more done. I started the launch, which posed a few interesting questions. Mainly, the part no. 7 is shown on the plans as extending from frame 1 right back to either side of the keel, but in practice it stops some way short. Hopefully the pictures will make more sense of this than my description. (It's all dry fitted at this stage): I wasn't quite sure whether it was the keel (8) or the former (7) that was the wrong length, so I thought I'd take a look at AOTS (Anatomy of the Ship book), and see what it showed. It's worth pointing out at this stage that this kit is over 15 years old, so it is quite possible that Panart have fixed this is more recent versions. Some of the other Caroline builders may well be able to answer that question Well, looking at AOTS was a revelation. It turns out that the launch in AOTS is just over 18cm (even taking the 1:47 (kit) - 1:48 (AOTS) conversion), whereas, the model is only 14.4cm or 13.7cm if you cut out the spare keel... The picture below gives some idea of the difference... model placed on top of AOTS: That being the case, it seems that this is simply an area where the kit differs from AOTS, but it does help to answer the question should the keel be shortened... I certainly don't want to make the model differ any more from AOTS by shortening the boat even more, so I've decided to leave the keel as is, and accept that the former (which will be disposed of later in the process) is simply short. That decision having been made, I cut the notches into the frames to allow them to be snapped off once the planking is complete, put electrical insulation tape on the edges of the frames above the notch, and glued the frames on to the keel (putting the former in place, but not gluing it, as it will need to be removed later... Then I began the first planking... It did occur to me that with a picture like that, someone could get the wrong idea about my hobby :S Anyway - suffice it to say the pins are only for the purpose of keeping the planks in place and flat to the frames as they glue. You can see the red insulation tape sticking out - that's simply to stop any glue sticking the planks to the frames above the notches... Hopefully it will keep life simple when the time comes to remove those later. That's it for now. Happy building Rob

Hi all, Just a little update. I've finished rigging the cannon (minus coiled rope that will be added right at the end of the build to keep the deck tidy while I do the rigging... I've also been working a little on the starboard staircase. It's a fiddly little blighter, and I haven't decided whether I can live with the colour discrepancy between this one and the one already in situ - I think I must have used a different wood as it's much darker once varnished :S (see last picture)... I'll sleep on it and see how I feel about it in the morning. I suspect it's going to mean another re-work... Happy building Rob

Time for a little update... The starboard cannon are rigged now. Happy building Rob

Hi Max, Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, I've been on holiday camping with the family. I've read through your build log and it will be a fantastic resource for me as I follow in your footsteps... I only hope I can achieve something of the results you've had. The large eyelets I made myself from 0.8mm brass rod. The smaller eyelets and hooks are leftovers from the HM Schooner Pickle kit by Jotika / Caldercraft. It's etched brass. They're brilliant for this sort of thing as they really are fine. Hoping to get a bit more done on the cannon this evening Happy building Rob

Hi, A small update... I've got some more of the deck fittings in place, and spent some time working on the starboard staircase. I've also started rigging the cannon (using some left over bits from Pickle. Given the larger scale of Caroline (1:47 rather than 1:64 for Pickle), and the larger size of the cannon (over the tiny carronades on Pickle), it seems a shame not to rig them fully. Anyway, here's how it's going so far. I made a jig, and so far I've only got two rigged up - it's amazingly time-consuming. I haven't tied off any of the ropes yet, so there's a certain spaghetti quality to the whole thing, but hopefully the pictures make sense. Eyelets in deck ready for rigging cannon 48 x 2mm blocks, 56 x eyelets, 24 x hooks, 16 x rings later and it's just a case of finishing putting them together... More pictures soon Happy building Rob

Hi all, Emelbe: I certainly didn't pick up anything insensitive in your post, so please don't worry - I agree it's a lovely kit, and I hope you will have the opportunity to build it at some point, too. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments and likes. I'm already absolutely smitten with this boat! Do feel free to pull up a chair, and if you have any helpful hints along the way, please do chip in. Rob

Hi all, I've set up the build log for the next project - finishing Royal Yacht Caroline - and here it is. http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/11123-royal-yacht-caroline-by-robdurant-panart-scale-147/ Happy building. Rob

Hi, It's time to start my second build log on ModelShipWorld.com. As I won't be starting this build from scratch, I guess a little explanation is in order. My father started this model, and built it to the point shown below, where the hull decorations were mainly in place, and the deck furniture was mainly built, if not fitted. He passed away in January 2013, and I felt it would be a terrible shame for the model to be left unfinished. The challenge was to get some of the skills necessary to attempt to finish such a kit, so I started with something smaller. For those interested, you can see how I got on here with Caldercraft's HM Schooner Pickle (HM Schooner Pickle.) Anyway, I finished that kit a few days ago, and now I'm ready to begin work on Caroline. Here's a picture of Caroline before I started work (except to go over her with a soft brush to get the dust off) You can see a number of the fittings next to the bow. The first evening's work was to go through the plans carefully and try and get my head around what had been done and what hadn't. I was immediately struck by how sparse the instructions are. Compared to Pickle which guides you through the rigging step by step with great care, the instructions for Caroline stop once you've put the deck furniture on, and just point you to the plans. Thankfully I'll be able to draw on the many excellent resources on this website, and my experience with Pickle. Secondly was that the plans are printed on both sides, and so some time was spent sellotaping the plans back together where they had worn so thin they were in pieces. Once this was done, I was ready to start fitting deck furniture (which had been pre-assembled off the model by my father). An emotional process, but it's lovely to see it start coming together. Photos of progress so far are below: Cleats at the bow, fitted: Capstan, fitted, although I'm not very happy with the gap between the capstan base and the deck, so this will be gently refitted... The support for the flag pole... Steps... And then, just for the fun of it, I dry-fitted some of the other fittings just to give me an idea of how they would fit onto the deck side by side... (cannon, ships-boat supports, etc..) - all of these are dry-fitted (and now I look at it, the sled for the ship's boat is upside-down!) Sorry about the state of the photos, but it will give a rough idea. Anyway. Happy building, thanks for looking, and I hope to be back with an update very soon. Rob

Thanks Eamonn, Mike - kind words indeed. I really like the idea of using black cotton - I shall be trying that on my next build. Eamonn - not quite sure how I managed to miss your post ... anyhow... I've seen it now. Royal Yacht Caroline's next up. I've been sorting out space so I can store it safely while I'm not working on it (a necessary step as I have a 5 and a 6 year old in the house ) Once Caroline's in dry-dock I'll start a new log, and put some pictures up (and add a note on this log ) - watch this space. Rob

And here are some slightly better quality pics Also a pic of the new stand.

Well, there we go. I have still to get the proper camera out and take some proper pictures, but she's finished, and the crew have come onboard ready to set sail. Here are some mobile phone shots I'm going to miss building this kit. It's been a great experience (especially since it was my first wooden kit build!) Thanks to all who have liked and encouraged along the way! Now... I really ought to get some sleep Happy building all! Rob

Quick update... Ships boats still under construction... Slowly but surely ... but it can't make sense to hurry at this stage Happy building Rob

Hi Eamonn, Thanks for the encouragement. Yes, the boats did come with the kit. They're resin mouldings, and they're nice and thin. Rob

And another update... so close to finishing now... just the fore-top yard lifts, sheets, ensign halyard and ships boats to complete. Progress to report: * The anchor's in place... * Backstays, yard slings and trusses are done. * Foreyard lifts are done. * Ships boats are under way Having got this far, I'm a little more aware of places I would have done things in a different order, were I starting again. One of the things I would certainly have done differently is to have put the pendant blocks for the lifts onto the mast top block earlier. It's a blighter to do it at this stage, as all the topmast stays get in the way. I'd also have made sure all the blocks were on the yards (falls included but coiled for ease) before I attached the yards to the mast... (I have a vague recollection that Blue Ensign may well have done it this way, and now I understand why...!) All in all, though, I've never built a kit with better instructions, and more accurate parts... Well done Jotika! A real pleasure from start to finish! (i.e. an appropriate amount of head-scratching and hair-tearing-out for this kind of model -- well, we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it! ) Happy building Rob

A quick update... the bowsprit shrouds and bobstay are on... A bit hard to capture on camera, though. Rigging for the yards next. Happy building! Rob

Hi all, Thanks for the likes... A little progress. I've been putting on the backstays. I spent more time searching the carpet for 3mm blocks than building last night, but finally, there's something (not a lot, but something) to show for it... Main-mast backstays next... Happy building Rob

Thanks Eamonn. Well, the move went well, we're almost out of boxes, Pickle's arrived in her new home from her temporary port. I just spent a couple of hours yesterday evening adding the span for the topping lift, securing the topping lift for the driver boom to the deck (port side of the main mast) and beginning to add the backstays. I suddenly realised that I'm getting there. I spent a little bit of time working on the ship's boats as well. They're fiddly, but not impossible You can see them in situ in the second photo... So far, I've only put some of the ribs in, using the black card. I used carpenter's glue, which seems to work really well as it allows you to reposition things and make sure it's all lined up before it sets. Just for fun, I've added a picture of the wall in my office - a bit of inspiration when I'm working (the WWII fleet destroyer's a battered and bruised old Deans model of HMS Grenville I made when I was a teenager that needs a big refurb, so before anyone says, yes I know it's not even vaguely historically correct - but it is nice to have the hull out of the loft again) Rob

Thanks for the kind words, Eamonn. It's not up to your Ballahoo, which looks fantastic!, but I'm pleased with how it's turning out so far. Not far to go now! Well, Pickle's moved... A few more bits of rigging and a little tidying up... and a picture of Pickle in her temporary home with Royal Yacht Caroline... Happy building Should be in the new house by the time I post again. Rob

Yes, she does look a little lop-sided, doesn't she Time for an update... more standing rigging... * I've finished the ratlines * Made the mouse on each stay that requires one... I did this by wrapping the thread round a plastic tube with superglue on it... This could then be trimmed and glued on to the stay in the right position. I touched up each end with a little paint to cover up the white styrene ends... * Put on the stays on the foremast and the schooner stay for the main mast (these are in place, but only temporarily fixed (by belaying them in the wrong place), before I finally fix the bitts. Pleased with how it's coming on. The Jotika plans and instructions are excellent... even so I've had to stop and think about each stage before I've gone ahead... and even then I've had to undo and retie various bits as I haven't quite got it right... Finally, here's how it looks so far... (sorry about the picture quality on that one) Things may slow down for a while now, as I'm moving house across the country next month. Happy building and thanks for the likes. Rob

Thanks for the encouragement, Jim. A quick update... I've been tying the ratlines... Wow, it's time-consuming I decided to take the ratlines across to the backstay (fourth shroud) too... just a personal choice... Anyway - port schooner mast ratlines are tied. Three more to go! Happy building Rob

I use a mix of an EOS 40D when I want really nice shots, and my Samsung Galaxy S4 phone camera... I was struggling with the picture quality, espcially in the evenings, for build logs, but then I put a daylight spectrum bulb in my anglepoise lamp, and just moved that around the get plenty of light on the subject, and that's really helped Also, if you really want nice shots, then using a tripod, or beanbag with a slow exposure can help get the picture away from the limits of what the camera sensor is happy with, and if you use a time-delay shot, then you won't get camera shake as you hit the shutter button. I tend to avoid using a flash, because it is hard to get diffused light that won't burn out some bits and leave other bits dark, when the camera's so close to the subject... but that's just my tuppence. This is on the galaxy s4 with daylight bulb anglepoise And this is the Canon EOS 40D (with Speedlite 550EX flash bounced off a white wall and ceiling behind) Cheers Rob

I should probably add that I was very grateful to my 4-year-old son for handing me one of the gaffs with the words 'Daddy, I think this is part of your boat', and a very serious face that said... Daddy, you ought to be more careful in the future lol! He may have a point.