scrubbyj427

Small update, I’ve added the upper laser cut planking panels to the model, these will be the ones used in on the final model, with a few slight modifications that I’ve overlooked but corrected on my model. To begin I placed a board across the beam to ensure the proper height of the panels and I clamped them as I went along, once I was happy with their location I ran a batten underneath both of them to ensure that the planking that will follow below will have a smooth joint and continuity with the laser cut panels, once the panels were tweaked to fit right I then glued them into place using CA. you can see below that I made some adjustments to the aft panel so the forward one would line up with the gun ports. You’ll also notice the grey primer, I find this necessary with MDF as it’s super porous and soaked up three coats of solvent based primer. The primer also will not swell the MDF and allows it to be sanded smooth in preparation for whichever red you choose for your port framing. The batten ensured that I could set them right back where they belong without losing the correct position. I kept the front one clamped in its location while I glued the stern one, this ensured that there was no lateral movement of the aft panel. The same process was repeated for the front panel. I also begin the lower wales, you’ll notice the same process where I used a batten I reference to the marks on the bulkheads “W1”. The batten goes on the lower side of the line, once the batten passes the eyeball test then it’s time to start the wales, now the wales on this model are over 1/8” thick so unfortunately they will have to be done in two pieces, the first layer I’m cutting them at .080” with a significant taper in the front to fit the rabbet and allow for another layer to go over it and fit in the rabbet as well. I’m not really concerned with the length or butt joints of the first layer of planks as they will be covered up, just get a smooth run with tight joints. Unfortunately I can not proceed any further until I complete the counters, I have a laser cut lower counter that I will be testing soon and from there I will plank the upper counter using the laser cut lower as a guide. I will be off for a month in the Himalayas, hiking to Everest base camp and beyond, so I won’t have any updates until about June, possibly one more before I go but will see. Thanks for looking in. JJ

Well done Chuck. Stunning model of speedwell you’ve created.

Hi Jason, thanks for looking in. I’m going to build my prototype with the printed ones, my goal is to make them indistinguishable from wooden constructed ones. I will paint the inside either a pale white or that olive green color we see on occasion. They will also have wooden floors inside them. The outsides will be covered with scraped boxwood moldings, columns, windows and carved wooden sculptures. The friezes will cover the lower QG followed by a carved boxwood drop and printed friezes as well as the lower roof. So everything will covered up quite well. Will be hard to tell they are even printed at that point. JJ

Thank you Yves, they were quite tricky to 3D model and then make them printable. I think they will work out well though. Will see in the coming months

I’ve faired most of the hull except for below the wales, the reason is that I want to plank the upper sides and make sure they are stable and epoxied before I turn the model on its side to fair the lower sides, so I’ve faired below the wales a decent amount. The bow and the counters are faired as well. The upper planking where all the moldings and friezes go is laser cut basswood, it has etched reference marks for the QG’s, moldings, fenders and chesstrees. The one you see on the model now is only a test piece and not the final design. The lower counter will be a laser cut piece of basswood that will also double as a fairing guide for the counter structure, you can see I used a paper template, I had to make about 6 of them before it finally fit right. So the wood one is coming soon. Now for the resin printed QG’s, this was an ambitious project but I thought why not give it a shot and so far I’m quite happy with how they fit. I wanted to attempt this because as I was designing laser files for a two deck QG out of wood, I just felt there were too many ways for it to go wrong if one isn’t careful and spoil the model, thankfully this is going to work and save a lot of trouble. Now once you fit the QG’s and everything lines up then they need to come off and be finished. You will have to paint them, add the roof tiles, friezes, scraped moldings, windows and a few other decorations and when complete they should be indistinguishable from built up wooden ones. I’ll go into more detail later about how to install them but they will require a little finesse, but not much. I have some boxwood on order and will start producing the laser files and testing for the windows. Also I’m going to begin adding the upper and lower wales, this will be important to get the planking right. Thanks for looking in. JJ

Thank you Fred, I appreciate it. Life has forced me to halt work on Portland, but I’m trying to get back into it shortly. Just received my 3D printed QG’s. Will be posting an update soon. JJ

Beautiful work Glenn.

Hi Jaager, I understand what you are saying and I’ve definitely considered this for production. I think for the current prototype that I am producing I will likely stuff balsa filler blocks in there and use the verticals as a fairing guide. I hope to resume work soon. JJ

Wow! Just amazing work you do!

Very nicely done! She looks incredible. Congratulations! JJ

Lovely work Dusan! I love the rich, warm look of your model.

Those look really good!

That is awesome. I take it your inserting separately cut panels that you have hand sanded? It looks very good.

As a moderate to advanced builder You can spend $1700 dollars on the full Winchelsea build and have a fully authentic model of an English frigate that is not only authentic but perfectly to scale and almost indistinguishable from a contemporary model or you could buy the Indefatigable kit from vanguard for even less than $1700 and still have a better more authentic scale model that accurately represents a 44 gun heavy frigate. As a new builder I’d be looking to cut my teeth on sub $500 models that I wont sweat if they turn out poorly. This model makes no sense to me at that price.

Looking good Gary.

Looking forward to seeing your stern develop, Mark. I really like your drawing of how you plan to lay out all the details. I wasn’t aware that Bellona was refit from the original design. That looks really good.

Magnificent!!

Exquisite work Chuck.

Finishing up the stern structure, there is just 4 more pieces I need to add these are here to help with planking, the lower pieces have a fairing reference line as you can see below the horizontal pieces get installed first and after you have sanded the lower pieces they can then be installed. You can see the notches cut into the top, these just fit right under those frames and should line up with the bottom Of frame 25. now I will completely fair out the stern and prepare the counter for planking. A .25”x.0625” rabbet strip will also need to be added to the stern. Happy sanding! JJ

Hi Allan, I’ve carelessly painted cast metal figures in the past with decent results from 10’ away, but I know there is a whole niche of the hobby out there that involves these figures, that with the right camera are almost convincing enough to be real humans.

Thank you Siggi. I’ve had to build two models, one complete on the computer and one that’s at my workbench. The goal is to get them as close to exactly the same as possible!

This will be my first shot at painting a figure like that, so there may be a couple do overs. I do plan to remove from the base and build a thin one out of AYC. The current base puts him close to an additional 6”+ taller at scale. These figures really put the models in perspective.

Incredible work of art!

So I have been fairing the hull up the last week, I’ve mostly been working on the top sides with the model remaining upright. My plan is to fair the hull to the lower wales and start planking upwards on both sides before I move the hull from its stands and flip it over. Once all the frame extensions are planked I will coat the inside with epoxy, this will make everything rigid and allow the removal of all internal jig structure, from there I will begin planking from the wales down. As mentioned earlier there are some remaining structural parts to add after initial fairing has been completed, this is all centered around the stern as you can see below. Below you can see some additional pieces that further tie the stern frames together and define the upper and lower counter. These pieces can now be added, they are quite simple. You’ll notice that one of them has decorative panels on it, this is one of the first attractive parts that needs to be added now and I’ll cover this shortly. We will begin with the two pieces etched with upper and lower, these tie the frames together and define both counters as well as where the windows will be placed on the gun deck. adding the lower piece, I did heat it a little to help it conform easier as it needs to have the proper round up on it, the frames and the jig will hold its shape but it was just easier to install with a little bend to it. Be careful NOT to glue it to the jig! You can see above that I only added glue to the frames. You can add a rubber band to it and utilize the pegs above on the jig to ensure it’s held tight. Go ahead and repeat the exact same process with the horizontal frame marked “upper”. Now we move up to the balcony area, this is made of two parts with help tie the upper structure together by also define the balcony and act as a sub deck, fancy mouldings will also attach here. You’ll notice the two little notches in the outboard stern frames as well as the notches in the middle frames, these notches line up the balcony pieces. We will begin with the lower piece that has the panels etched in. Before installing the paneled piece I finished sanded it and gave it a nice coat of WOP for protection. It will be awhile before it gets attention again. The upper and lower balcony pieces look very similar but they are not and will not interchange so pay attention. The etched panels need to face down, the panel slides into the slots in the frames, make sure it fits the frames and is angled the same as the slots. This should be easy but be sure, this also defines the angle of the upper deck. You can now install the upper piece, they will be laminated together and should line up perfectly I clamped them together carefully with some small clamps hanging off the ends to help maintain the correct round up. You can also see I put a support piece under the center clamp just to make sure the clamp weight didn’t pull the balcony down to the wrong angle below you can clearly see the deck angle on the 3D model. Once this is complete we have some filler pieces that need to be added, these will define the outside of the lower counter. Starting with the larger one and working outward this just glued to the outboard stern frame and the gun port framing structure. I only used two per side. There will be a template of the lower counter that you apply after it is all faired up. This will give you the shape of the counter that can now be shaped/sanded from the sides. You can see below I already started fairing the frames in preparation for the counter template. I will cover this next. Ive also hired Horatio Hornblower as a project manager from @chris wattonand the staffing agency at Vanguard models. Amazing detail on this resin print, now I need to attempt painting him. So far he seems pleased with the progress and I wouldn’t dare argue with an armed Captain. Thanks for looking in, JJ

Nicely done Ron! I see some sanding in your near future.