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I had much less of a break after finishing the Alert than I had thought -- got the itch to start this kit, which I have been looking forward to. It's my first Caldercraft kit and I'm interested in the comparison with Amati and Vanguard -- my gold standards up to now. There are a number of build logs on this kit by builders with much better skills than mine, so I don't know how much added value I can provide, but I find these logs fun to share, and what I'll try to focus on (as in this post) are construction details and issues, and how I addressed them. So I've skipped the "what's in the box" opener, because what's in the box is what you'd expect. There are three manuals: one for the hull -- with pictures, one for rigging, and a third for parts -- which is great, as you don't have to wrestle multiple plan sheets up on the wall to figure out the wood panel and other cut sheet parts. I also bought some white posterboard to provide a better backdrop on my workbench for my pictures. I have finished the first phase of the frame: keel, bulkheads and lowest deck. This kit uses 5mm plywood for all of that -- in all of my other kits these parts have been MDF, and based on my experience with MDF where all the parts slide together easily without sanding, I found working with the plywood a challenge. NONE of the slots in the keel, bulkheads, or deck fit without some more-than-trivial widening. Regular sanding would take forever, and I tried a couple of times to use rotary tool sanding disks, but they get chewed up fast. So I found some 3mm rotary burrs on Amazon, and that did the trick. But with 18 bulkheads and 16 double-sided deck slots, it comes out to 68 slots to widen. Got it done, and everything fit together as you can see. This is a heavy ship because of the plywood and its size. I'm looking forward to digging into it. Regards, David -
Opened box and started before joining but here is the work to date. Have planked the main gun deck. Have been looking at other logs as I forsee the placing of the gunports will be an issue as the plans and guide not usefull. Appears they need to be adjacent to a rib for at least 8 of them. The plans say 30 mm apart but looks more like 33. IMG_4438 2.HEIC IMG_4439 2.HEIC -
Well, with the continued encouragement of Vane, I have decided to break the ice and start a build log for my efforts on the HMS Granado. I have ordered the AOTS reference and my wife was super kind and found a nice reference book on the builder.... Granado was ordered to be constructed on September 14th, 1741 and the keel was laid on November 18th, 1741. The construction of the ship occurred at St Clements on the River Orwell near Ipswich. The Granado's design was unusual in that she was to be used as either a sloop or a bomb vessel, being constructed with a conventional square stern. Launched on June 22nd, 1742, Granado was initially taken to Harwich, and fitted out and put in commission as a sloop. It was not until 1756 that Granado was fitted for the first time as a bomb vessel from an Admiralty Order on July 26th 1756. However, between the launch of Granado and her fitting as a bomb vessel, a number of changes had been made as compared to the original Admiralty plans, the most noticeable of these were as follows: 1. Two extra 4pdr carriage guns were added (Admiralty order of June 20th 1745) bringing the total 4pdr carriage guns to 10. 2. Two bow chaser gun ports were added allowing accommodation of the extra guns either under the forecastle as bow chasers or at the fifth gunports. 3. The mortars as shown in the Admiralty plans are two 13 inch mortars however when fitted as a bomb vessel this was actually changed to 1 x 13inch and 1 x 10inch mortar. This is confirmed by the provisions list on March 30th 1757 which details 50 large and 50 small shells. It was during its period as a bomb vessel that Granado was involved in her most active role. On January 22nd, 1759, Granado and the squadron under command of Commodore John Moore anchored off Basse Terre. By January 24th troops had occupied the forts of Basse Terre and Fort Royal, and the town had been devastated by fire caused by the carcasses discharged from the bomb vessels. On February 7th, the fleet moved to attack Fort Louis at the entrance to Cul de Sac Bay. The attack began the following day and by February 15 the bombardment ceased with the capture of the Fort. Granado remained as a bomb vessel until the Admiralty Order to fit her as a sloop on March 20th 1760. Granado was again converted to a bomb vessel in August 1761 and she remained as such until she was sold on August 30th 1763 for £575. During this period Granado was involved in the action of capturing Morro Castle and El Morro in the West Indies and the capitulation of Havana on August 13th 1762. . -
And so it begins. This is my second build, having caught the bug earlier this year. That makes me a novice, and I plan to show other novices the process of climbing the learning curve. Many have been here before me, and you can find build logs of their work. Those I have found are by @Beef Wellington, @Stone, @Vane, @mispeltyoof, @Davemc, @jim_smits, @peteri and @BenD. Should I be worried that none of them is finished? -
Hi All, I just joined today after starting a build several months ago and would greatly appreciate any and all input. Questions for everyone: Would one or two of you be willing to act a as mentor for this build? Caldercraft seems to be a tad vague sometimes about when to paint what for example. Does anyone have any specific suggestions regarding hull treatments before I install the copper tiles? Do I need to apply a thin hand-rubbed coat of polyurethane first? If so, water-base or oil? I found an assembly guide for copper tiling DeAgostini's kit. They recommend using a glue from England. (Solvent-free contact adhesive.) What does this equate to here in the States? I'm looking for something in stock at my local Home Depot. Thank you Guys! -
I will be using the Caldercraft/Jotika kit of the Ballahoo schooner (Fish class) to build a model of her sister schooner Whiting. Why Whiting? Because she has an interesting history that I have researched in depth and I continue to study log books and other records. We are blessed with several drawings of the Fish class and their fore-runners at the National Maritime Museum and the drawings of Haddock in particular are excellent (ZAZ6116 and ZAZ6117 are the best two). I am now trying to interpret some features on the drawings and already have several questions about aspects that confuse me. I hope that some of the experienced shipwrights here can help. Height of the deck This is a big issue where the Caldercraft kit seems to make a major simplification. The kit has a level deck from stem to stern, but the drawings show that the deck is higher over the commander's cabin and the 'entrance lobby'. The side profile is a bit fuzzy but the deck planking and the sections through the deck beams show where the deck is higher. The plan view shows where there are pairs of deck beams at the steps, one at the low level and one at the high level. Is this something that Caldercraft and other builders have missed, or am I misinterpreting the drawings? (There are a couple of photos below that show extracts from the drawings.) Windlass and catheads The drawings do not show a windlass which is plausible for the size of anchor that this vessel would have carried. I have read that a couple of blocks would be set up in place of a windlass to raise the anchor, and then more blocks for the final lift because there are no catheads either. It all seems reasonable, if hard work for the crew, but an alternative explanation is that the drawing does not show the windlass or catheads but they would be fitted anyway. The builders might be expected to know to add these items, in the same way that they know about masts and yards even though the drawings do not show them. (There is an old saying that 'absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.) Any thoughts? Holes in the deck for anchor cables There are various names for these holes (Navel pipes?) which were used to route the cables from above deck down to the cable tier. The Haddock drawings do not show any and I guess that this is correct, the alternative being to cut away the fore corners on the grating over the main hatch. I suspect that the holes in the deck are later practice but have no real evidence to support this assertion. Does anyone have information from contemporary models or paintings? More to come later... George Bandurek (Previous model is Sherbourne, completed 5 years ago) -
After much thought I eventually decided to go for this ship. Mainly due to local interest . I was not planning on starting building until october when the nights start drawing in but could not resist the temptation on getting my hands on the kit and seeing what she would be like. I was quite surprised to see for such a hefty price compared to my first period build the Bounty by Amati there were no sails or flags within the kit. Fortunately I am not planning fitting the sails anyway but might of changed my mind later on. Upon opening the box and checking the contents I was a bit disappointed to find that all of the 5mm plywood boards are bent/warped to varying degrees. The main piece being the false keel the others which housed the bulkheads. I decided to remove these pieces from their boards so to determine the extent of the warping. I am happy to say when laying the bulkheads on a flat surface they seem to be ok . Unfortunately no so with the false keel. Here is a couple of photos with the extent of the warping, so let me know what you guys think. I have read a few different threads regarding how to put this right but first I thought I would contact Caldercraft and see if I can get the false keel replaced together with a couple of parts which are missing. Strange as it may seem this parts belong to a walnut board and a brass sheet which have other pieces as well. When I mean missing leaving holes, I mean I can,t find them but have numbered all the parts as per the drawing. I am now awaiting the reply from Caldercraft and hopefully they live up to their reputation and its not too long until I hear from them. Although I wasn,t thinking of starting the model until october perhaps I would be better of assembly the hull to the point of fitting the wales to ensure that the replacement keel doesn't warp before October. I also have lots of questions before I start in earnest. Best regards Dave -
As a new member and model ship building neophyte, I posted a couple of months ago, with the ambitious goal of having my first build be the Le Cerf. At the urging of others on this site, I took on a little less challenging project for my first build. So, I ordered HM Ballahoo, and after waiting a few weeks for it to arrive. I began the build and I am close to completing the first planking of my first planking. Will submit pictures in the next couple of days. Be gentle, LOL. Constructive criticism welcome. -
Hello all. I've been a member of this forum for many years, but have never posted a build log before. I'm a little late to the party here, as I started this build over 11 years ago. I actually took a few years off in the middle, and am now in the final laps of this journey. I had made two previous models, and this time I wanted one that had a lot of detail, and was authentic, so I decided on Caldercraft's Victory. It was, in retrospect, a good choice, because there are tons of sites and photos of the actual ship available on the net for research. At this point I have put in a little over 4300 hours in the build, not to mention the hundreds of hours spent in research, making spreadsheets etc. I'm posting here a few pix of the current state of the build, perhaps later I can add some earlier shots as well. I apologize for the quality of some of the photos, as the light in the workshop is pretty poor, and I don't spend a lot of time trying to make them look pretty - they are more for documentation's sake. My build process is a little unorthodox, I guess, at least for the rigging part of it. From prior experience I have learned that fragile pieces sticking out are disasters waiting to happen. Therefore my masting/rigging process went something like this. (Note that all masts and spars have been previously built and have the blocks, etc attached). Install all three lower masts with tops in place and the bowsprit, then add lower shrouds and bobstays. Rattle down all lower shrouds, then add futtock shrouds. Next step is to add all topmasts and the jibboom, then install the topmast shrouds and rattle them down. So, these pix show that the topgallant masts and the flying jibboom are still uninstalled. At some point in the build I had to decide whether or not I wanted to add sails. I was generally disappointed in other sails that I have seen in that the stitching that is supposed to represent the sail seams was way out of scale and was way too apparent and obvious. I spent a fair amount of time developing a procedure for making what I think are more realistic sails, I am happy with them, so I am going for a full suit of sails for her. I also had to make a decision on how to display the model, and after much thought decided to depict Victory as she made her turn to port in her run to break the Combined Fleet's line. Her courses would have been clued up to avoid catching fire from the weather deck's muzzle blasts, and she would have been sailing in a light wind on a port tack. Getting the sails right to suggest this scenario is my current challenge, and I am wrestling with getting the fore course to look right. Presently 3 of the 4 head sails, along with the spritsail and sprit topsail, as well as the fore topsail are in place. After I get the fore course to look right, I will go on to the main course and topsail, followed by the main staysails. Then on to the mizzen - driver and topsail, then the mizzen staysails. The final step will be shipping the topgallant masts and flying jibboom and their sails. Enough for now; I'll add some more pix later on. Thanks for looking -
Hi All, This is my first proper wooden boat build, I say proper because some time ago I began building the Bounty from those magazines that came every week (you may be familiar with them) and though she turned out reasonable enough (I'm about 80% complete, just the Rigging to finish) the instructions (there was no 'plan', just text with photos) left a lot to be desired and makes even the simplest task awkward. Last Summer I came across MSW and having read and followed many build logs I decided to buy a proper kit, in fact I bought 3 over the past few months! Sherbourne, Convulsion & Ballahoo all at 1:64 and all Smallish Vessels (This is just a personal preference) Anyhoo, I have decided to do Ballahoo first, and possibly stagger the others over the coming months. (The first time I opened the box and was hit by that pleasant wood smell, reminded me of those old wooden pencil cases from school Oh! and it was great to unfold 'actual' plans too!) Right lets begin.. Whilst the Keel and Bulkheads were still in their 'Matrix' (or whatever the wooden surround is called) I oriented the Matrix to the appropriate instruction sheet (in the Booklet) and numbered each piece, as some of those bulkheads may end up in the wrong slots on the Plywood Keel (am sure it would be easy to spot, but why take the chance) I then removed the Ply Keel and all the Bulkheads using a Jewellers Saw (tried using a craft knife but ended up having to apply pressure, which didn't sound like a great idea) All items once freed got a light sanding and were then 'Dry' Fitted (see Photos) So Far So Good.. I shall cut a Rabbet and Bearding Line etc (as per Jim Smits and his Ballahoo) though the Plans/Instructions do not call for them, it seems logical when you take the Ply Keel dimensions and 2 layers of Planks into consideration. Should anyone wish to offer advice, please feel free to do so.. it all helps and I would be very grateful. Take Care Eamonn- 908 replies
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Hi everyone, I’ve been semi-active on the site for a while now but this is actually my first build log. I’ve previously completed one prior build, Endeavour’s Longboat. Onward as they say. I’ve selected Chatham Yacht as a level up in complexity. I’m attaching some initial kit photos for reference. Scott -
Hello all, And yes, another Victory build! Welcome all. My apologies to Amati, but I couldn't wait any longer for their Victory. So I ordered the Caldercraft / Jotika instead as a present to myself on the occasion on my upcoming 40th work anniversary in August. And boy, she is big and heavy. A box filled with 15 kilo's (33 lb) of all kinds of goodies. -
I started my first ship, HM Cutter Hunter about 25 years ago and left it on a shelf. A couple of years ago, when I finally retired, I decide to finish it. I really enjoyed doing that so I looked around for something else and settled on HMS Fly but first as a refresher, I built the Brig Scotland by Corel. When I began the build, I discovered that unlike when I started Hunter, there was now lots of help and ideas on forums like this one and I must pay tribute to all the Swan builders on this forum who gave me the inspiration to add a few more features my build of Fly. I will post some photos when I have finished some final tweaks to her. I looked at various options as a follow on from Fly but finally settled on HMS Diana. This will be my first build log, so please bear with if I make any silly errors. The ply keel and bulkheads, though not quite as easy to work as the mdf in the Amati kit, I haven't found it too difficult to work. The keel and bulkhead slots needed quite bit of cleaning up to get them to fit together, as did the false deck but I think all is looking good now. I am using AOTS Diana as a reference plus all the good information from previous builders on this site to help me. I started by drawing the waterlines on the keel and bulkheads to help with chamfer angles and planking. I marked out on the keel where it will be visible through the hatch openings on the gun deck and although they may not be clearly visible, I'm thinking of cutting these away because I don’t think that it will compromise the structure. I have also marked up the angle of the bowsprit. As noted by Beef Wellington if placed as per the kit, it will interfere with the figurehead. Strangely it seems that the angle in the top drawing of sheet 1 is correct while the drawing below has it at a shallower angle. In the end I may replace the stem with a piece of boxwood so that the edges of the ply don’t show. I have marked out and cut the rabbet and am have started to shape the bulkheads at fore and aft but have left #17 because I’m not sure if it needs any shaping. -
I needed to keep my mind occupied during the long covid lockdown in the Melbourne area from June to October 2020 so I thought model ship building would be good. I built a few balsawood and tissue paper model aircraft when I was a kid (a long time ago) but nothing since so thought a kit would be best and looked for one suitable for a novice. The Jotika website stated "The kit of H.M. Brig Supply has been designed with the Novice builder in mind" so this looked OK. I also like the history of the Supply, linking Britain with Australia, as I also migrated from Britain to Australia later in life. Knowing what I now know, having progressed well into the build and struggled numerous times, I would not describe the Supply as suitable for a novice and thank goodness I didn't start with a more advanced kit. I ordered from Cornwall Model Boats and the kit took about 3 weeks to arrive, which considering the logistics during covid was pretty good, and started in late July 2020. I hesitated to start a build log as I was not sure if I could complete the build but as it progressed and each difficulty overcome, step by step, I slowly became more confident of finishing the job. I also realised after completing the hull that I would need some help when it came to the rigging. Anyway here goes with some photos of the early stages.- 22 replies
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Hi all, I started the build of HMS Jalouse sometime late in September 2019, but took the first pictures only in March 2020 because my Olympus camera broke and I have currently only my old smartphone available. Therefore the quality of the pictures is not too good. The kit is of the usual good Caldercraft quality and standard, with the exception of the strips provided for the deck planking. The strips were not precisely cut and the width varied up to 2mm (per strip) on some of them. The plans and basic hull construction are also as known from Caldercraft (planks on bulkhead). The plywood parts in turn were cut so precisely that some sanding was necessary before they could be put together. The advantage is of course that such a tight fit facilitates the proper alignment of the bulkheads to the keel. The kit is provided with copper plates for the underwater part of the hull. Since I had some "interesting" experience with coppering when I attempted to build the schooner Pickle I decided against the plates and thought it a clever idea to cheat a little bit and paint the Jalouse's hull with copper (Caldercraft supplies a bottle of copper paint for final correction and touch-up of the plates). So, after I had the second planking completed and nicely sanded to a smooth surface I was quite happy with what I had achieved and started painting. After the paint had dried a shockingly brutal surprise was waiting for me: the highly glossy appearance of the copper paint shows you every single minor scratch and unevennesss you would hardly or not at all detect on the unpainted wood! This idea was rather a desaster than clever. After I spent some time swearing 🤬 I grabbed the sander from the shelf and removed the shine from the hull. Finally, I decided to paint the underwater part in the traditional white colour. On the pictures you may notice paint stains here and there, these have been or will be touched-up. You may also notice that the deck planking shows a few gaps. These gaps look worse on the images than they really are (modern cameras can be so cruel 😧, even my old smartphone). The main channel and belaying racks on one of the pictures were dry-fitted for adjustment purposes. Next steps will be the guns, boats and spare spars. Uwe -
HMS Snake As requested by a user on this forum I will show all the contents of this kit, The other snake builds do not have this it seems. I ordered the kit with some extras (cannon balls, Snake paint set) and a few other things. I will start work on it in a few weeks, Just need to finish up the running rigging on the Sherbourne and make her a display case. All of the fittings are good quality and even the blocks seem to be of highers quality that what came with the Sherbourne. The Caronades are rough looking but the cast is aligned they just need a some work. The bag of copper plates is surprisingly heavy! The wood strips are so much better than what I had on my Sherbourne, they are all well milled and don't look like a dog chewed them. The dowels are mostly strait. The Tanganyika strips are a bit weird as in one side is darker that the other on most of the strips so I will have to keep that in mind while laying the deck. The plans are just huge and there are 7 sheets! The instruction manual is just a few pages though as it is one of Caldercrafts older kits, it's not to bad because it makes you reference the full size plans. The cutouts are one of the highlights I feel. The CNC cuts are good they just have a bit of fuzz in them but I think it beats laser cut char any day. The keel has just a slight bend which will be easily adjusted. Everything else is solid. And finally the paint set plus some extras I bought. I thought they would have been smaller given the price so I'm pleased. -c -
As I'm slowly approaching the end (or at least the beginning of the end) on HMS Snake, I gratefully received what will be my next installment for my birthday. Don't expect much progress as I want to keep working on HMS Snake as time permits, but I wanted to have the kit in my hands so I can start to do some planning ahead, and most importantly, get my order in for some upgraded wood. I also want to take advantage of the warm weather to get the larger sanding jobs done outside if I can. I plan to take the first planking slowly to avoid repeating errors and to hopefully ensure I can get the lines as close as possible to the plans. I had a great experience with my Caldercraft Snake, and after trying to evaluate other kits out there, decided to stay in the family due to the expected kit quality, interest in the subject matter and availability of aftermarket items. I've been vacillating between HMS Agamemnon and HMS Diana for some time, but what finally swayed me was getting a copy of the AOTS Diana book which I'd like to follow as closely as possible as skills permit. Initial thoughts on the kit and approach: I'm going to build her as HMS Jason, the 5th of the 9 built Artois-class frigates. Don't think this will mean any significant deviations, but I have downloaded the plans from NMM, and there is of course the narcissistic additional interest for me . This will require me to change the figurehead, I have thought through options. While not quite a beautiful as the Diana admiralty models with open quarterdeck rails, I do plan to build her as she was when completed with the build up quarterdeck bulwarks. My reading indicates that most, if not all, would have had this feature when actually launched as it was back in fashion. Wood - The supplied walnut does not look great, not a surprise and this seems to be a (sadly) common factor in CC kits. I have decided to upgrade/change the wood, and will probably go with boxwood for the external hull, and maple for the deck as I'll try to replicate the decking in the AOTS book which Ray so successfully handled on his build. I'll keep the walnut below the waterline where possible to save on cost as this will be coppered . Instructions - Poor, but as expected. I hope this won't present too many challenges, and hope my initial experience on Snake will get me through OK. Copper plates - The CC plates get a bad rap, and I don't think they are as bad as commonly perceived when looking at a completed hull. That being said, I would like to try to replace them with Amati ones which look very authentic if finances allow (on a "cost per year" basis, this is easier to justify given my slow pace) Armament - The HMS Jason plans show her with 6 identical ports on her quarterdeck, suggesting the original 9lb'er configuration. The kit provides a mix between carronades and cannons with differences in the gun port configuration and size. I may change this but we'll see. Quality - Overall, I do like the quality of the kit, CC do provide some high quality parts that are correct scale. Where I know the kit provided items will not be up to it, I'll replace/upgrade those (pumps, blocks, rigging line etc). The keel and bulkheads are very solid. I have plenty more thoughts, but will keep those to myself for now. Onwards and upwards! The box, manuals and part identification Frames and pre-cut parts The wood strips Photo-etch All of the really small bits still in box until inventoried -
hi guys and gals, after many many to many years of following i have decided to post a build log. i bought this kit in 2006 along with the snake and diana. i finished the diana last fall and started the victory in march after completing the duke william. to date i have lower gundeck, dummy barrel strips, stem, keelson and frames attached to the keel. i am working on beveling bow and stern frames. as soon as i figure out how to post some pictures i will and once i do please feel free to comment on any and everything you wish. thanks, mort -
Hello to everybody. Finally started the long voyage. I ordered HMS Victory Caldercraft from CMB and received it just a few days later by UPS, very well packed. I was a bit busy and could not start on it right away. Apart from that I was still undecided whether to install lights on it or not. In the meantime I prepared a rotating board to build it on and did some research on available led’s. I was also browsing HMS Victory Caldercraft builds on MSW. Very nice builds going on, congratulations to Gil Middleton, Seventynet, Rob G, Heinz746, Robert22564 and Dominic. I enjoyed going through their builds and tried to absorb some ideas. So my first decision to make was ‘lights or no lights’. If I opted for the lights I knew it was going to delay the start of my build as I had to do some planning beforehand. After some research on lights available and on builds with lights, I decided to go for it. I think the end result will be worth the extra effort. I sourced small 3mm yellow flickering led’s, candle effect and ordered some of them together with the resistors to see their effect. I dry fitted the keel and bulkheads and literally spent hours looking at it trying to plan how to put the lights in the lower and middle deck gunports. I don’t want the boat to look like the Titanic lit up for its maiden voyage. I decided to put a led in each gunport. I experimented a bit and tried to put the lights in a position where they give a very subdued light, as of course there is nothing to see in the lower gunports, except the dummy rails for the cannons. I wanted to create the effect of a very dim light where the gunports are still a bit dark but you can still see a very dim light with a candle effect. Finger crossed the final result would be what I am hoping for. I also planned from where to pass the wiring for them and for the upper decks. Another thing which was bothering me was the power supply for the lights. I do not want to use batteries as in the future I intend to put it in a glass case and it would be very inconvenient to have to remove the glass case each time you want to switch it on or off. On the other hand I do not want any cables showing coming out of the model. I decided to take out the cables from under the keel and through one of the mountings and base board of a future glass case. I drilled three holes under the keel, two to take the mounting rods and the middle one to pass the wires through. Now that I have visualised more or less how to install the lights for the lower and middle deck gunports I prepared the holes for the wiring in the bulkhead as it is much easier to drill them at this stage, painted the inside of the bulkheads black, and started gluing the bulkheads in place, taking care to have them all at right angles with the keel. Here goes a few images of my working table I prepared and the start of my build. It is going to be a slow start because of the lights. HMS Victory Kit arrived by UPS very well packed. Prepared a rotating working table for the model. Cut a tick MDF board, fitted a tv turntable to it and fixed to the table. The table is on wheels as well. Glued the walnut Stem and the front keelson to the main keel. Prepared and numbered the bulkheads. One of them was not pre-cut properly and repaired. Drilled the holes in the keel for the mounting studs and the hole through which the power will be supplied to the model. Fitted a nut inside the keel to take the mounting studs, and also reinforced the sides of the holes. Dry fitted the structure, sanding and making sure the joints fit without needing to use force. This is the method I used to bend the dummy barrel strips. I steamed the strip in a pot then put it on a flat surface and while rolling a jam jar over it, pull up at one end, repeating this process until the desired bend is achieved. Immagine there are better ways to do it, but for the moment worked fine. Started work on the lights. I cut small squares from a circuit board on which I mounted a led, resistor and a pair of wires. I drilled a whole in each gun port on the dummy barrel strips through which the led’s protruded from the back. This way I did not have to do all the soldering on the model, all I had to do in place was to loop the pair of cable to the next one. Each time I soldered one in place I checked all is lighting up so I don’t find any surprises later on. On the led’s if you switch polarity, it will not light up. Painted black and started gluing the bulkheads to the main keel making sure they are perfectly square. The middle gun deck is only dry fitted for the moment. I have to do the wiring for the lower gun deck first. Installing the lights. The red and black wires are to supply the upper deck lightings, which I still have to plan as I go along. Will appreciate any comments where I can improve, change or am doing any tasks the wrong way. Robert -
HMS Snake was launched in 1797 as the only member of her class of brig-sloops. She captured or destroyed two French privateers and one Danish privateer. She also captured numerous small merchantmen, but spent time escorting convoys to and from the West Indies. She was sold in 1816. Scale: 1:64 Length: 910 mm Width: 350 mm Height: 910 mm And now the build begins.
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This is my first post to try and recreate my old build log from before the great crash of 2013. I'll do my best to find what I have from the old log and will resurrect what I can. Unfortunately, if this can be believed, my PC had a hard drive failure around the same time so I'm still int he process of trying to recover what I am able(I hadn't been too studious keeping photos assuming that once posted they would be safe and backed up - never assume!). My commiserations to all the others out there who have lost so much work, it really is a big loss, I hope that we can collectively get the knowledge capital back up to where it once was.
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This forum has been a fantastic help as I've gotten back into model ship building after a good 15 year break! I purchased the kit from Modelers Workshop just after Christmas and figured I would post my progress to share the build and all the various mistakes and success along the way. First, I highly recommend Rick Shousha from Modelers Workshop. He was a tremendous help in getting the kit and all the basic supplies in the time of COVID where everything seemed to be scarce. His customer service was outstanding! In addition, watching others build logs was fascinating and extremely helpful. Special thanks to Henke, Ooglee and Kusawa2000 Aggie builds that were particularly helpful so far. Thanks for all the shares and ideas from the forums and happy to be doing the same along the way. -
Hello. I am comparatively new to modelling. I have made a few kits in the past: HMS SUPPLY by Caldercraft being the most adventurous, however I felt it was time to stretch myself a little and thus I have scaled up to the DIANA model: bigger, more complex (thus new skills required) yet also one that should give lots of fun. I have joined the site and been encouraged to start a build log so that if...when...I become stuck, I can seek advice from members much more experienced than me. This is the aspect I am most grateful for as I will inevitably drive myself up a modelling cul de sac and need help to get out! I have read all of Ray's log which gave an excellent blow by blow account of when he built a DIANA model a few years ago, what an impressive end result and this has spurred me on although sadly some of the photos wont display so I'll have to use my own nouse. I know can't replicate that quality but I am up for the journey; wish me luck as I head out on what will probably take me 18months or so; I have a busy job so have to fit in an hour or two here and there. I have already started so this log skips the first two months of work. 'Here's one I prepared earlier' as they say; I have kept some photos so I will add these int o give some of the back history and then some observations of my approach highlighting the bits that didn't go so well. OK - the first major step was to set the frames and chamfer the edges - first snag was the quality of the cutting which was a bit hit and miss. The team at Caldercraft kindly replaced them all. -
I’ve had a kit of HMS Snake barely started for several years, during which time I’ve struggled to get back in to building, what has caught my imagination is a conversion using the Snake kit as a starting point. My plan is to convert the Snake kit into a Cruizer class ship sloop of 1828, also named HMS Cruizer, which may seem odd at first sight as there already is a Caldercraft kit of HMS Cruizer of 1797. Confused? Stay with it a moment and I’ll just put things in to context. HMS Cruizer (name class) of 1797 was a two masted brig sloop, which spawned over 100 ships predicated on the same basic design. HMS Snake was a 3 masted ship sloop based on the Cruizer design also of 1797, only 2 ship sloops were initially completed, although several of the brig sloops were later converted to ship sloops as the lessons of war, particularly those of 1812 showed the ship sloop rig to be more resilient to battle damage. In 1826 5 more of the Cruizer class were ordered, 2 of which were to be ship rigged, but the changes weren’t merely in the rig, the ship sloops were to be lengthened, as demonstrated on the plans still held by the National Maritime Museum (http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/83740.html): Plan ZAZ3949 (attached) “Scale: 1:48. Plan showing the body plans, sheer lines and longitudinal half-breadth for building Childers (1827), Cruizer (1828), Favorite (1829), Hyacinth (1829), Racehorse (1830) and Hazard (1837), all 18-gun flush-decked Ship Sloops similar to the Cruizer (1797) brig. The plan was cut in two along the midship section and a new piece inserted for the proposed (and approved) lengthening for the last four ships and the alterations to the mast positions as a result. Signed by Robert Seppings [Surveyor of the Navy, 1813-1832]” So, all I need to do is to cut the model in two and slap a bit in the middle! Or there may be more to it than that, not only lengthen it, but also re-position the gun ports, and add raised forward and aft platforms (similar to those flush platforms found on some of the earlier Cruizer models). Then there is the raising of the hawse holes, fashioning a new rudder, raise and re-model the stem, add 2 more Elm Tree pumps (4 shown on the inboard profile), and fabricate a bowsprit bed. After which there is the fitting out, I’ll be going with Stud anchor chain which will mean adding chain stoppers, and for the rig adding Trysail masts which are evident on HMS Pelorus - converted in 1826 from a brig sloop to a ship sloop so the rigging and masts are contemporary with the 1828 Cruizer. As to her career, Wikipedia states: “HMS Cruizer was a Snake-class ship sloop launched in 1828 for the British Royal Navy. The ship was built as a revival of the retired Snake-class ship-sloops. The Navy converted her to a brig in 1831, back to a ship in 1840, and sold her at Bombay in 1849. In 1839 Cruizer participated in the Aden Expedition along with the frigate HMS Volage and the two British East India Company (EIC) vessels, the sloop HCS Coote and the schooner HCS Mahi. Cruizer saw extensive service during the First Opium War. She participated in the Battle of Whampoa, the Second Battle of Chuenpi, the Battle of Canton, the Battle of Amoy, and the Battle of First Bar. During the Battle of Whampoa, Maj. General Hugh Gough, commander of the British army during the First Opium War, personally directed the land assault on Whampoa island from Cruzier's deck. In January 1841, Cruizer recaptured the whaling brig Pilot. The local inhabitants in the Nicobar Islands had captured her in December 1840 and murdered most of her crew. Pilot was taken into Singapore.” I’m going to swap-out a lot of the kit supplied wood and use Swiss Pear, Box and Ebony, I won’t be double planking, but will infill between the bulkheads with balsa. Painted components will be kept to a minimum. Fittings are from Cladercraft, Syren and RB Models. For reference, as well as the basic Snake instructions, and the excellent Snake and Cruizer logs elsewhere on the forum, I’m using the NMM plans and profiles, as well as the book by EW Petrejus - Modelling the Brig-of-War Irene: A Handbook for the Building of Historical Ship-Models. There are then a number of models and paintings available at the NMM and elsewhere to tap into. So the first job – strip off the few planks I’ve got in place and cut the carcass in half. But that’s for the next log instalment. All welcome to follow along, just don't expect a fast pace, I've taken early retirement and am starting the travel bucket list. Gary
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