robdurant

Not much to update, except to say that I'm pleased with how the first planking is going, and show a little evidence to that effect. (It also shows that my boat building space desperately needs a tidy!)

Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

Just a brief update... progress is gradually being made.  Thank you to all those who are looking in   It's a true encouragement.
 
The first shaped planks are on. I put four strakes on each side without shaping - one more than Vanguard suggest - but it seems to be turning out okay at the moment. Ultimately it's only the first planking, so if it isn't entirely neat, it'll all get covered up anyway. I figure it's good to try and do a nice job, because then I'm getting the practice. I'm sure i could do without stealers at the stern, but this feels like it will make the runs more simple. Time will tell.

Not much to update, except to say that I'm pleased with how the first planking is going, and show a little evidence to that effect. (It also shows that my boat building space desperately needs a tidy!)

Thanks for looking in
 
Rob

Where I had left of on the Diana I was in the process of rearranging the upper deck beams as the bulkheads with their appropriate beams didn't line up with the hatches and ladder ways. The beams on bulk heads 8 and 9 were ommited and 4 other ones placed around them
I also added a doubler to the rear side of beam 6 (on the left here)...

...as a large hatch for the fore hold was missing on the kit and this would be the ledge needed for the coaming carling.
 
This is where I'm at now, a nice evening's worth of modelling. The front hatch between bulkheads 6 and 7 has been added.

My wife wants her dining room back

So just a little over four years ago I decided to put my Diana by the side for a while as I realised it might be a project too large for my skills. Also, the studs for planking the bulwarks (for lack of a better word) kept breaking off which was a royal PIA. To top ist all off, I was trying to pull a plastic model kit from out of the stash which was on the shelf above the Diana, which ended up in the whole stash coming down with some kits hitting her and breaking off four or five more studs in the process. I carefully retrieved her, glued the studs back on as well as I could and totally disheartened put her away again.
A simpler kit was definitely needed to gain some more experience. So I bought an Amati HMS Fly which was supposed to be built out of the box, but I struggled here on the second planking, as I was trying to invent my own procedures instead of adhering to the recommended ways here, which in the end didn't work out well. So the decision was made for another step down and I bought the wonderful Erycina kit from Vanguard Models together with their Saucy Jack. Erycina's hull is very slim as she was built for speed and I decided to work on her first. Success! The hull turned out beautifully as can be seen on a thread here.
 
The Saucy Jack had a more bulbous hull which, as I had expected, was a bit more of a challenge, but I got it done, and I am very satisfied with it. My second success!
The Diana and the Fly had been watching me from the distance the whole time, but I wanted to do another simpler and smaller boat before I get them back on the building board. The next project was the Amati Lady Nelson. By this time I was fairly confident with planking hulls, only this time I decided the shape the individual planks for the second planking by soaking them and bending with a bending iron and also shaping the planks laterally with a flat iron (for the required banana shape). The whole world changed! This is definitely the way to go, the Lady Nelson's hull is the best I have built so far and she turned out very well.

I have not tackled the rigging yet on any of the models, as that is the next step I need to learn.
Here you have part of my little shipyard at its current stage (I've need to learn again how to upload images here so I hope this works).
The Diana urgently needed some attention as studs were coming off again and she started to look a bit sorry for herself.

Greetings!
Fred here... Recently retired and am FINALLY going to start my Heller 1:100 Victory.
I say finally because I've had it in my home for 21 years! I bought it for $66 back then.
I've visited the Victory twice so that accounts for why I want to build her.
I'm excited to be on this page and am looking forward to chatting with fellow builders.
Thank you!
Fred

Finishing the hull…

Painting the bulwarks…

Deck prepared for finishing. 

I have chosen an Amber Shellac to finish  the decking. 

Time to get started on those pesky belaying pins. 
 
Cheers 🍻 

Little update.
 
I will soon have a new 24 and 26-foot launch for sale later today. These have 3-d printed hulls, windlass and stern davit, and a 0.8mm pear laser cut sheet containing knees, thwarts, oars etc. Both in 64th scale for now.
 
I have also commissioned a 22- and 24-foot cutter, 22-foot yawl, 28 and 32-foot pinnace and another launch, so ultimately, I shall have complete pre made hull sets (along with the laser cut wood parts to go with them) for all of my kits, including future developments, as an alternative to the plank on bulkhead versions.
 
Also almost ready are the new Nelson figures. This will be available in 72nd, 64th, 48th, 32nd and a few in 1:16th scale. These have a separate base.

For a first kit from Caldercraft, you might want to consider HM Schooner Pickle... it's the model I started with, and as one of their later decelopments, meaning, it has more detailed instructions and goes together nicely. The older kits (Caldercraft's Sherbourne for example, which I have also built) require a lot more reading between the lines and prior experience is helpful
 
Just my tuppence. Whichever way you decide to go, welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of help here... I know I have 

Wow thank you everyone some great advice and really making me feel welcome too so yeah thank you. getting paid soon and birthdya next week so hopefully not long and i can purchase my first kit! will keep you all updated! Thanks again

Just a brief update... progress is gradually being made.  Thank you to all those who are looking in   It's a true encouragement.
 
The first shaped planks are on. I put four strakes on each side without shaping - one more than Vanguard suggest - but it seems to be turning out okay at the moment. Ultimately it's only the first planking, so if it isn't entirely neat, it'll all get covered up anyway. I figure it's good to try and do a nice job, because then I'm getting the practice. I'm sure i could do without stealers at the stern, but this feels like it will make the runs more simple. Time will tell.

Okay - so having had my immune system attack my brain (explained here... An enforced and hopefully not permanent hiatus), I'm currently unable to think at the kind of level required to make any progress on the projects I had going before (Barque Stefano, HMS Bristol (1775), and Nordkap). To be honest, I can't quite believe I ever even attempted them at all! I'm now having to learn a whole bunch of stuff all over again (new neural pathways, apparently!), and this build is part of my exploring what I'm able to do now  Progress is encouraging! Over the past month, I've gone from managing one step of a lego model per day, to being able to use a scalpel again without terrifying everyone within arm's length, to building and painting the brand new 1:48 Airfix tiger moth kit (picture below). I can recommend that kit, btw... it's a fun build! (And no, I didn't attempt the wires between the wings... )

Now, I'm excited to be taking on this beautiful kit as the next step. Having built a model of Lady Isabella before (below), I knew the instructions, kit design and support from this forum, and the simplicity of the build as a whole would be the best shot I have at getting back into this wonderful hobby! So thank you, Chris of Vanguard Models for such an excellent kit!

It will be interesting to see how close I can get to this in this new build... I'm hoping to invest in the more detailed sails for Erycina (a rough set are included with the kit, but I can confirm that they aren't a patch on the sails that I purchased alongside Lady Isabella, which I presume are of the same quality as Erycina's separately sold sail set). That Vanguard sells them separately also means I can get them as a separate purchase and spread the cost . Hooray!
 
There are already lots of excellent build logs of this kit, so I'm not expecting to exhaustively cover every step, but I will share my thoughts on it, and if I digress from the kit (not the plan!), I'll note what I've done and why, and you are very welcome to follow along and comment if you'd like to.  
 
Anyway - Erycina arrived today, and I shall get stuck in tomorrow. Thanks for reading this far. I'm sure progress will be slow! But slow and steady is just fine More sleep, first! Updates to follow.
 
Rob

Just a brief update... progress is gradually being made.  Thank you to all those who are looking in   It's a true encouragement.
 
The first shaped planks are on. I put four strakes on each side without shaping - one more than Vanguard suggest - but it seems to be turning out okay at the moment. Ultimately it's only the first planking, so if it isn't entirely neat, it'll all get covered up anyway. I figure it's good to try and do a nice job, because then I'm getting the practice. I'm sure i could do without stealers at the stern, but this feels like it will make the runs more simple. Time will tell.

A very brief update.... three strakes on one side, and four on the other... from this point on I'll need to taper the planking, but it's making for a good solid base for the second planking. The large number of bulkheads make the planking a pleasure to do, and being able to edge bend the planks with the rib-bending iron mean very little pressure is every required.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

For a first kit from Caldercraft, you might want to consider HM Schooner Pickle... it's the model I started with, and as one of their later decelopments, meaning, it has more detailed instructions and goes together nicely. The older kits (Caldercraft's Sherbourne for example, which I have also built) require a lot more reading between the lines and prior experience is helpful
 
Just my tuppence. Whichever way you decide to go, welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of help here... I know I have 

Just a brief update... progress is gradually being made.  Thank you to all those who are looking in   It's a true encouragement.
 
The first shaped planks are on. I put four strakes on each side without shaping - one more than Vanguard suggest - but it seems to be turning out okay at the moment. Ultimately it's only the first planking, so if it isn't entirely neat, it'll all get covered up anyway. I figure it's good to try and do a nice job, because then I'm getting the practice. I'm sure i could do without stealers at the stern, but this feels like it will make the runs more simple. Time will tell.

Just a brief update... progress is gradually being made.  Thank you to all those who are looking in   It's a true encouragement.
 
The first shaped planks are on. I put four strakes on each side without shaping - one more than Vanguard suggest - but it seems to be turning out okay at the moment. Ultimately it's only the first planking, so if it isn't entirely neat, it'll all get covered up anyway. I figure it's good to try and do a nice job, because then I'm getting the practice. I'm sure i could do without stealers at the stern, but this feels like it will make the runs more simple. Time will tell.

For a first kit from Caldercraft, you might want to consider HM Schooner Pickle... it's the model I started with, and as one of their later decelopments, meaning, it has more detailed instructions and goes together nicely. The older kits (Caldercraft's Sherbourne for example, which I have also built) require a lot more reading between the lines and prior experience is helpful
 
Just my tuppence. Whichever way you decide to go, welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of help here... I know I have 

For a first kit from Caldercraft, you might want to consider HM Schooner Pickle... it's the model I started with, and as one of their later decelopments, meaning, it has more detailed instructions and goes together nicely. The older kits (Caldercraft's Sherbourne for example, which I have also built) require a lot more reading between the lines and prior experience is helpful
 
Just my tuppence. Whichever way you decide to go, welcome to the forum. You'll find lots of help here... I know I have 

A very brief update.... three strakes on one side, and four on the other... from this point on I'll need to taper the planking, but it's making for a good solid base for the second planking. The large number of bulkheads make the planking a pleasure to do, and being able to edge bend the planks with the rib-bending iron mean very little pressure is every required.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

A very brief update.... three strakes on one side, and four on the other... from this point on I'll need to taper the planking, but it's making for a good solid base for the second planking. The large number of bulkheads make the planking a pleasure to do, and being able to edge bend the planks with the rib-bending iron mean very little pressure is every required.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

A very brief update.... three strakes on one side, and four on the other... from this point on I'll need to taper the planking, but it's making for a good solid base for the second planking. The large number of bulkheads make the planking a pleasure to do, and being able to edge bend the planks with the rib-bending iron mean very little pressure is every required.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

A very brief update.... three strakes on one side, and four on the other... from this point on I'll need to taper the planking, but it's making for a good solid base for the second planking. The large number of bulkheads make the planking a pleasure to do, and being able to edge bend the planks with the rib-bending iron mean very little pressure is every required.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 

Time for an update. The sub-deck has been put in place. It clips in nicely, and once glued provides a good solid structure,
 

Once in place, the doublers at the stern can be glued in, and I added some slightly watered down carpenter's glue to give these areas some strength before continuing with some fairing to get ready for the bulwarks. This area is quite vulnerable, but with a little care and attention it hasn't caused me any problems.

After getting the fairing near to where I felt it should be, the keel parts are glued into place (thus saving them being sanded away unintentionally... 


 
I like this way of doing things. It gives you the double benefits of good access to sand, and a neat finish. Kudos, Chris!
 
Now the bulwarks can be fitted... They aren't glued above the sub-deck, but can be clamped... Again, it all seemed to go very smoothly.


Having waited again for things to dry overnight, the sub-counter was soaked, clamped in place, and allowed to dry overnight - again - and then glued in place... 
 


Then - having allowed it all to dry again - it was time to start the planking... 

And that's where I've got to so far...  Thanks for looking in. I'm really pleased with how things are going
 
Rob

Time for an update. The sub-deck has been put in place. It clips in nicely, and once glued provides a good solid structure,
 

Once in place, the doublers at the stern can be glued in, and I added some slightly watered down carpenter's glue to give these areas some strength before continuing with some fairing to get ready for the bulwarks. This area is quite vulnerable, but with a little care and attention it hasn't caused me any problems.

After getting the fairing near to where I felt it should be, the keel parts are glued into place (thus saving them being sanded away unintentionally... 


 
I like this way of doing things. It gives you the double benefits of good access to sand, and a neat finish. Kudos, Chris!
 
Now the bulwarks can be fitted... They aren't glued above the sub-deck, but can be clamped... Again, it all seemed to go very smoothly.


Having waited again for things to dry overnight, the sub-counter was soaked, clamped in place, and allowed to dry overnight - again - and then glued in place... 
 


Then - having allowed it all to dry again - it was time to start the planking... 

And that's where I've got to so far...  Thanks for looking in. I'm really pleased with how things are going
 
Rob