robdurant

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just finished uploading all the previously-photobucket images to MSW. Apologies to anyone who couldn't see the pictures. And every best wish to any who are setting out to build this wonderful model!
 

Just finished uploading all the previously-photobucket images to MSW. Apologies to anyone who couldn't see the pictures. And every best wish to any who are setting out to build this wonderful model!
 

Not sure whether anyone will flick through this in the future, but I've just finished moving all the pictures off photobucket and onto MSW's servers, so they're all there should you wish to take a look

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

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

Well, this evening Caroline reached her home berth:
 

 
Thanks for all your kinds words and support.
 
Rob

So... as others have said before it's harder to get decent photos of the rigging underway... but I've worked my way through it, and here are the results...
 

 

 
Really pleased with how it's turned out. Just need to get it back to my mum's house, now... Plenty of bubble wrap, blankets, made-to-measure boxes and some smooth driving are called for :S
 
Thanks so much for the advice, encouragement, suggestions and likes! It makes a big difference!
 
Rob

Just finished uploading all the previously-photobucket images to MSW. Apologies to anyone who couldn't see the pictures. And every best wish to any who are setting out to build this wonderful model!
 

Well, this evening Caroline reached her home berth:
 

 
Thanks for all your kinds words and support.
 
Rob

So... as others have said before it's harder to get decent photos of the rigging underway... but I've worked my way through it, and here are the results...
 

 

 
Really pleased with how it's turned out. Just need to get it back to my mum's house, now... Plenty of bubble wrap, blankets, made-to-measure boxes and some smooth driving are called for :S
 
Thanks so much for the advice, encouragement, suggestions and likes! It makes a big difference!
 
Rob

Thanks Per,
 
I had a look through your builds - just beautiful I think my dad would have approved. It's certainly making Caroline look more like I know he would have intended.
 
Thanks to everyone who looks and 'likes'!
 
I've made some progress since my last post. The mainmast shrouds are complete, I've added various stays, and begun the topmast shrouds. Along with the topmast shrouds come the futtock shrouds... Not my favourite thing I have to say, but perhaps I'll like them more as I get more used to doing them.
 
Anyway - here are some pictures of the shrouds and ratlines going on...
 
The foretopmast shrouds and ratlines
 

 
Maintopmast shrouds, futtock shrouds and ratlines being put on... I find it hard to stop the deadeyes twisting when I'm rigging it up... don't know whether anyone has any wisdom or cunning suggestions to avoid that? It looks worse on this shot, because the masking tape's pulling them even further out of line, but it illustrates the problem...
 

 
I've also added shrouds to the foretopgallant - something I see in the "Period Model Shipbuilding' book, but don't see on the model plans - They seemed to be a realistic addition, so here they are..
 

 
It's all progress, as long as I can straighten up those deadeyes... a target for this evening, I think.
 
Finally, here's a picture of progress so far...
 

 
Thanks again for all the encouragement.
 
Happy building
 
Rob

Hi all,
 
Thanks for the likes. Progress is slow as the ratlines are tied. With a bit of help from my brother I've completed the ratlines on the mizzen and main masts. I've been using a printed out sheet with lines the right spacing apart (I make it 6mm), which has made it much less tiring on the eyes than when I did Pickle.
 

 

 
Happy building
 
Rob

Hi all,
 
Thanks for the likes.
 
I've carried on working on the tops, masts, and I've turned the yards. At the moment, I've put them in place using loom bands (courtesy of my daughter), which helps me to keep tabs of which yards I've turned, and which I still need to do. Some of them still have the stubs on each end where the lathe was clamped, but most of them (due to lack of excess dowel) were cut precisely to length.
 
Detailing on tops:
 

 
Jibboom and bowsprit:
 

 
Yards ready to be turned
 

 
Yards so far... (all over the place, but at least roughly in place on the masts to help me remember which I've already done)
 

 
You can see I've begun putting some detail on the first yard (cleats and blocks), as per below. I also went over the rigging plan and marked the different types of sheets / lines with different colours to try and make it a little clearer.
 
Detailing the yards...
 

 
I'm hoping to get all the blocks onto the yards before they're attached to make the whole process somewhat simpler.
 
Take care
 
Rob

Hi all,
 
Thanks for the likes.
 
A little progress on the masts, tops and crosstrees:
 
Fore top detailing (I ran out of the walnut strip, but I've got some more on order from Cornwall Model Boats)
 

 
In the meantime I started making up the crosstrees:
 

 

 
I finally managed to drill some passable mast caps by drilling from both sides, and added some detailing to the fore and main masts:
 

 
And the progress so far...
 

 
Having made it through the frustration of making the mast caps (which was a patience-building exercise as I seemed to lack the ability to drill a simple hole no matter how many ways I tried!), it's all going quite well again
 
Happy building
 
Rob

Hi all,
 
Thanks so much for the likes. Always an encouragement.
 
I've spent a good part of today working on the masts... Built the structure that supports the main-top and mizzen-top, turned the maintopmast, mizzen-topmast and made some caps, although two of the caps will need making again, as the plywood disintegrated as I drilled it... They work, but they ain't pretty... Next time, I'll drill before I cut them out of the plywood sheet, and drill through on to an extra sheet of wood so that the ply is supported as the drill comes out of it...
 

 

 
Once the masts are turned and dry-fitting okay, I'll take it all apart again and add the detailing onto the tops, and make sure all the holes are drilled ready for rigging.
 
The keen-eyed amongst you may spot that the main topmast is a little too long. I made it oversized, and haven't cut it down yet... it's probably about 2cm too long, but I guess, that's almost a metre on the real thing... Being my first three-masted model, I'm not quite sure whether it looks right or not... I'll cut it down and forge ahead as per plans and we'll see how it turns out. I'm planning on following Panart's option with the mizzen-top-gallant, hence the long mizzen-top-mast. That's as high as that mast gets now.
 
Happy building
 
Rob

Hi all,
 
I've started work on the foremast and foretop.
 

 

 

 
It's all dry-fitted at the moment, and the top has more detail to go on. I want to try and assemble the whole mast, dry-fitted before the mast is stepped.
 
More soon
 
Rob

Hi all!
 
Thanks for the kind words Don.
 
I've done a little more work on the launch:
 
I added a tiller from brass rod (painted with Caldercraft Walnut acrylic paint)... I also used this walnut paint to paint along the edges of the ply wales. I added the wale strips (4mm below the wale) from 1x1 walnut strip. Then painted in the 4mm band with blue acrylic (Humbrol 25), and added the brass etch gilding.
 

 

 
You can see a small spot on the rear corner where the blue needs touching up. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the results I'm planning to put some matt varnish on the brass to stop it tarnishing.
 
Still to do: I need to add the rowlocks, oars (waiting for my new lathe to arrive - yes, I finally took the plunge and have bought a Proxxon DB250 - and "benches".
 
I've spent a couple of hours drawing up individual plans for each of the mast sections ready to start shaping them. I'm creating these from the plans, and then I'll take a look at AOTS and see if there are any changes I want to make. They're not to scale, but they do give some idea of how those masts are going to be built up. It also begins to give me some idea of where caps, crosstrees, tops and masts meet, and how they're going to go together.
 

 

 
Thanks again for the likes and kind words. Such an encouragement!
 
Happy building
 
Rob

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

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