Revenge by Emelbe - Amati/Victory Models - 1/64 scale

[Emelbe]

Famous last words, “should be straightforward”!  Firstly, the manual indicates that the hull second planking should be 5mm strip, in my kit, the supplied strip is 4mm or should I say 3.8mm to be exact. In fact there’s no 5mm strip-wood in the kit full stop, which isn’t very clever as the whales are 5mm wide.

 

Secondly the manual indicates that to set the lower whale you need to measure down from the gunports and pin a strip of 5mm and take the planking from there.  Unfortunately, in my opinion, that seems a bit ‘hit and miss’ especially as you have to manipulate the strip to take into account the excess curve at the bow, giving very little control over the lay of the plank.  Not a good start!

 

Have to put the thinking cap on and figure out how to do this taking into account the lack of right material, (it’s not getting 5mm strip, it’s the colour match that mainly concerns me).  More about that later.

 

Fortunately I did have some 1 x 5 mm walnut left over from a project which I could use to mark the location of the whales and make the actual whales, (the actual ones are glued on at a later stage after painting), and decided it was better to use the run of the gunports as a guide. 

 

First job was to plank the stern, the starting point being to lay a strip of the walnut above the gunports as a datum for the termination of the lower whale. The rest is according to the instructions.  

 

 

Following that I steamed the walnut strips to conform to the gunports, and also a shorter piece that would curve around the bow 10 mm above it (the second whale up is staggered).  The stern end is fit so that 4 planks - 16mm down it would line up with the stern datum (should really be 15mm, 3 x 5). Everything checks out with the plans so I’m not unduly worried so far, and at least I have something to butt my planks up to when planking down towards the lower whale giving better control (will still take a lot of steaming to lay correctly).

 

 

 

 

 

 

My main concern now is, if I can’t get hold of some 5mm strip there will have to be a lot of fiddling around to get the right widths as I plank upwards above the gunports, the whole thing is designed to use 5mm.  I have tried to e-mail Amati via their website but everything has bounced back so far, so if anyone knows an address or contact could you let me know please.

 

A bit of a disappointment, it’s not insurmountable but I would have expected better from a kit of this quality. 

 

A quick newsflash, I e-mailed Cornwall Model Boats to ask their advice this morning, they have just got back saying they have passed everything on to Amati and to the UK Amati supplier.  Watch this space.

 

[Apollo]

Hi, very good work thus far on your Revenge, quite impressed!

 

I recently acquired this kit and started it about a week ago myself. I'd like to know if your kit included the figurehead mentioned on page 83 of the manual because I can't find it. None of the completed model pictures show it either. Also, being a bit picky here, but Amati didn't include any boats or a stern lantern with this kit. Most likely neither of those items were ever speced for this particular model. Also, do you find there to be sufficient wood for the second planking to finsih the ship from the keel all the way up the sides? It seems a little sparse to me unless I'm not estimating correctly by eye.

 

 

 

[Emelbe]

Hi Apollo

 

Theres a figurehead in my kit, looks like a Griffon (or something like that), I haven't found the castings for the mast bitt  assembly though (p75).  There's no lantern or boat specified for the model, I'm guessing the reason for the boat omission is the facility to see the lower decks with gratings removed.  Regarding the second planking, there's plenty of material in my kit but wrong size, it's exactly the same as the bundle marked deck planking only narrower, it's around 3.8mm (what size is in your kit?, theres supposed to be 120 strips of 1 x 5 x 600mm Tanganyca according to parts list at back of manual).  

I'm presuming these may be teething troubles associated with the first run of the kit but definitely annoying. I've tried to contact Amati through their website but the messages keep bouncing back, I've also enlisted the help of Cornwall Model Boats to see if they can get some joy, but nothing back from Amati so far.  

I don't know what you think, but if it were my business and I had just released a new product, I'd be scanning the net for every review, build log or customer feed back and trying to resolve any issues.  It's a lovely kit just a shame there are a couple of issues regarding content.  I'll keep you informed if I get anywhere regarding my problem, think it's supposed to be called 'customer service'.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Apollo]

I believe the figurehead is a wyvern or drake although it may be a griffon, hard to tell from the illustration in the manual. I'm not certain what the figurehead on the actual Revenge was but all the illustrations I've ever seen show something dragonesque. I'm definitely missing the figurehead, but that's OK because I never intended to use any that may have been included with this kit. I'll probably adapt some of the fantasy castings I have in similar size, which are nicer and more detailed in any event.

 

Concerning the planking, I also have a second bundle that looks identical to the deck planking. I measured the strips and they appear to be the same width as the deck planking (1x4mm) but I can't measure in increments of a fraction of a mm, unfortunately, and my sight isn't the best. I'll take you word for it that they're slightly thinner. So, it seems that we have a problem unless the manual is in error about the width of the planking. How difficult would it be to find or order proper planking at a shop if need arises?

 

I can't find the mast bit castings on p 75 either.

[Emelbe]

Hi 

 

I don't think it's a problem getting the strip, it's the colour match that worries me, most of the Tanganyca strip I've worked with is a lot lighter and generally used only for decking.  As for the width it does say in the manual 5mm for second planking, as I said in my earlier post, it's not the end of the world, just might make planking above the whales a little more difficult. Having said that, I have approached setting the whales a little differently to indicated in the instructions, you'll probably see better when I post next with some pictures.  Think that bit is quite critical as it determines the whole run of the planking.  Still waiting to see if I get a reply from Amati but I'm not holding my breath. 

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Apollo]

I ordered my kit from a local shop and the owner had expressed past grief over wooden ship kits which more often than not had missing parts. He related how difficult and frustrating it was to order the missing parts from manufacturers. If retailers have frequent issues one can only imagine the ordeal customers might go through. I don't know what I'll do when it comes time to plank the hull. Honestly, I thought the second bundle was additional deck planking since it looked the same.

 

I'm just past the beginning stages of the build, having planked only up to the main gun deck that's divided into two halves. In retrospect, I should have done what you did and planked that section as a whole unit (my initial thought was to do it this way), with a plank on the centerline rather than proceeding by manual instruction that states doing each half seperately. It didn't come out well at all because it still looks like two seperate parts, and will need lots of work to get it even barely acceptable. Also, by planking in sections as was done on real ships, it not only looks better but you probably had less difficulty due to the much smaller strips handling easier even if took more time. I had difficulty getting the full deck length strips to align well and glue simultaneously. Fortunately, most of it will be covered by the upper deck.

 

Regarding the non-included ship's boats, if I were inclined to add them to this model, are there boat kits or complete boats in similar scale that I can order?

Edited July 31, 2015 by Apollo

[donrobinson]

Hi Martin, I just checked my kit and the two bundles that appear to be the same(other than the one is marked deck planking) measure out to be .85mm x 4.3mm. and I also have a figure head included in my kit.

 Anyway watching your build is interesting and educational I 'll be watching closely and let you get ahead before I start mine. Maybe by that time I'll have figured out how to start a log and post pictures!!

 Enjoy your build

 

Don

[Emelbe]

Hi Apollo

 

I think the planking issue will remain one of maritimes great mysteries, as I have said earlier it's frustrating rather than crippling.  My guess is that they gave the apprentice the wood to cut!  Don't let it spoil your enjoyment.  With the lower gun deck, you really can't see too much once the upper deck is fitted, and if you intend adding a ships boat, or even the gratings you wont see any.  The boss did say why go to the trouble of all that deck planking when most of it will be covered up (typical female logic), so I told her that a model ship is like a beautiful woman, it's the bits you don't see that make them more interesting (my apologies if I sounded sexist).

With regard to commercially available boats, I know JoTika have a range of ships boats in 1/64 scale which could be adapted.  My own personal feeling is that with all the decoration the hull will be busy enough and probably look better without.  That's why I've decided not to treenail anything, it will look like a circus act with measles.

I think I might use the thinner strip for the upper deck planking and use the deck planking for the second planking, or at least the visible areas above the waterline.  

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Emelbe]

Hi Don

 

It seems the planking issue is across the board, still, if it were easy anyone could do it!  Hope you do start a log, I would be interested to see how someone else approaches the build, besides, you can probably learn from my mistakes.  Regarding posting photos I found that more difficult than building the model until I got the hang of it.

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with this model, especially if you are like me and don't believe in sleepless nights and self flagellation as part and parcel of modelling.  Best of luck.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Emelbe]

Another quick update.  That’s the lower whale position set and planked.  I took my time over this job because I felt it was critical to make sure the lay was correct to the lines of the ship.  It did get a little tricky the closer I got to the lower whale position as the planks were having to bend way out of their comfort zone and needed quite a bit of gentle persuasion with my steam iron to conform.

 

 

Don’t want to tempt providence but I think that’s the hardest bit of the planking (around the bow) over with.  I didn’t actually intend to put butt joints along the planks but the plank above the lower gunports wasn’t quite long enough at 600mm provided, so I decided to stagger the planks where they looked reasonable.

 

 

 

 

I have sealed the planking with sanding sealer, mainly because it helps stop those nasty annoying little areas of planking which haven’t quite glued springing when sanding.

 

So where next? Do I give myself a little treat and build a bit of deck furniture or something, or is it straight on with planking the lower hull?  Let’s go for it!!!!!

 

[Emelbe]

That’s the second planking below the whales completed.  I decided to use the 4mm strips intended for the deck, and use the slightly less than 4mm to plank the remainder of the decks (the ones you can see).  There is plenty of wood provided as I’ve around 20 strips left after the 2nd planking and the already completed decks. The other bundle of is about the same in number which is more than plenty, and probably enough left over to plank another smaller model.

 

 

The actual planking itself is fairly straightforward, starting at the lower whale, allow the strips to follow the natural curve at the bow, and then hold your nerve as you plank towards the area below the waterline if you don’t want to add stealers to the visible planks at the stern. The rest is a matter of filling in using the underside of the hull to fit fillers, and adding stealers as necessary.

 

 

 

 

I have temporarily dowelled (good old toothpicks) the sternpost and rear section of the keel so I can remove them to make fairing in the planking in easier.  The keel itself is in two sections which join with angled scrarf? joints.  To make these joints tight I needed to sand a little off the tips which resulted in the keel being slightly too short by a couple of millimetres, I’ll add a small piece at the end rather than lose width on my sternpost.

 

 

 

I was in a bit of a quandary as whether to paint the hull below the waterline or not, but after consultations with the First Lady of the Admiralty, a.k.a. Head of quality Control, and comparisons with similar models on the net, we, (that’s the royal we) decided, aesthetically it would balance the heavy upper decoration out if it were painted, so I have my orders and painted it will be.  At the moment the hull has its first coat of sealer ready to be rubbed down and then I’ll matt varnish it before attempting to mark out the waterline, masking, spraying, filling etc.  Has anyone any good tips how to avoid the mandatory paint bleed?

 

I think the model has now reached its interesting stage and I’m really looking forward to the remainder of the build now as all the ‘hard’ work is done.  My earlier reservations about MDF bulkheads were founded, a couple of tops at the forecastle didn’t survive, but they come off anyway so it’s really no big deal.  

 

The next logical job on the hull will be to fit the rudder, I’ve had a quick look at the hinges and they don’t seem too bad, always a good sign, maybe I might not have to make my own for once.  Will update as to progress.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[GuntherMT]

For paint bleed prevention - first, use good tape, I prefer the Tamiya masking tape.  Second, after you have it masked off, spray along the tape edge with the color that you are masking off (clear if you have no color being masked off).  That way any bleed that occurs will be the same color as what the masking is covering, and that coat seals the edge and prevents further bleeding.

 

Great looking planking by the way!

[Emelbe]

Hi Brian

 

Many thanks for that, it makes sense when you think about it!

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[RichardG]

Hi Chris

 

Know what you mean, I've had a quick look on the net for Elizabethan ships cannons but not a lot out there.  I'm sure if I do more digging something will turn up.  Still, it's quite a way off yet, so in the meantime I'm concentrating on getting the hull right, then I can tweak things a necessary.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

 

The BBC did a program Queen Elizabeth's Lost Guns:

 

"A mile off the coast of the channel island of Alderney lies a shipwreck that could rewrite English naval history. Presenter Saul David joins a team of divers and experts as they attempt to find and raise the ship's four-hundred-year-old cannons. By recasting and firing them, they hope to demonstrate how Elizabeth I became the mother of British naval dominance."

 

It's available on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzWtPe1TkgA

 

It's been a few years since I watched it but I think it was interesting and you might get some information from it.

 

BTW, your model is looking good 

 

Richard

[Emelbe]

Hi Richard

 

Many thanks for the link, looking forward to watching.  Will be interesting as Alderney isn't a million miles from where I live, and diving was my occupation for many years.  There was a lot of interesting stuff on a series the BBC did on the Armada not so long ago about how the British had improved their cannons, not sure if it's on youtube yet though.  Just checked and it is  it's called Armada 12 days to save England, well worth a watch.  Many thanks again

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Bobstrake]

Your ship and woodwork are quite beautful.

[Emelbe]

Hi Bob

 

Many thanks for your kind words.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Emelbe]

Fitting the rudder is a matter of cutting down a couple of the hinges and drilling the holes for the sternpost, and then shaping them to conform to the hull.  The hinges are supplied pre-blackened and look quite nice.  Once I’d finished fiddling around with them I dipped them in Birchwood Casey Brass Black to get rid of the shiny bits, I also blackened the brass nails. I’ve not permanently fixed the rudder yet, but it does actually work with the whipstaff. 

 

 

After all I was saying earlier about painting below the waterline, once I’d rubbed down the hull and applied a thin coat of matt varnish I’m not sure at all.  I’ve looked at it on its pedestals and to be honest I now think it will look nicer just varnished plain wood.  The jury’s out for the time being, any comments would be welcome.  In the meantime I think I’ll start on planking the main deck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UpstateNY]

Looks great to me!

 

My 2c is no paint as why cover up all that wonderful planking!

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel.

[Emelbe]

Hi Nigel

 

Having looked at your excellent work on the Red Dragon I'll take that as recommendation, wood it is! 

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[GuntherMT]

I'm absolutely biased towards natural finish, I love the look of the planking without paint.

[Apollo]

Hi Martin,

 

Your planking work is flawless and beautiful. I agree with the other replies not to paint the hull. I decided even before embarking on my own project not to paint any planking. I am not aiming for full realism on my own model, and always prefer a balance of the aesthetic and authentic.

[Emelbe]

Hi Brian, Apollo,

 

Many thanks for your input and kind words. I think it's safe to say that so far it's unanimous to keep things 'au natural', so who am I to argue, definitely wood.  

 

Cheers

 

Martin 

[Emelbe]

It was my intention to crack on and plank the main deck, but unfortunately ‘The Devil’s Cat’ a.k.a. Pudding had other ideas when she decided to take up residence on my kit (no pun intended) box. It’s not a case of not having the heart to move her, I just don’t have the bottle, so time to think of something else.

 

 

I decided I’d start work on the stern which involves planking the stern gallery bulkhead and painting the gallery windows, which would normally be straightforward if only I had the eyesight I had twenty years ago.  On the prototype the windows are painted all white, but correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think they had double glazing in Elizabethan times and window leading was lead coloured.  I did a bit of research on Blackening Brass and came up with soaking the parts in white vinegar for a while to clean before putting into the solution which worked well.  After blackening I buffed them up with a soft cloth and although I say it myself, looked pretty good, all that’s left now are the frames to paint!!!  As it happened painting wasn’t too painful with the aid of a magnifying lamp, the relief on the etchings been pretty good.

 

 

The stern bulkhead was planked with 0.5 x 3mm strip as I don’t really like the grain on dibetou, it’s OK for smaller areas but the black flecks in the grain can be a bit too much in your face on larger areas in my opinion.

 

 

I’ve fitted the bits for the helmsman which I made earlier and made up the cannon carriages for the lower decks.  Being a hoarder has its advantages (I hate throwing offcuts etc. away),all the bits that push out of the sheet parts I have kept, and there are two very nice pieces of 2mm that fit perfectly to make a platform for the two carriages at the stern rearmost gunports which are pretty low.

 

 

Next job is to set up the decks and bulwarks to be sure everything lines up properly before planking now I’ve managed to retrieve the parts as the moggy’s gone for dinner, so will update soon.

 

[Emelbe]

Hi All

 

The main deck was my next step, with one deviation from the manual instructions.  The instructions recommend partially planking and fitting before removing the bulkhead tops, but I prefer working off model wherever possible and didn’t see any reason why the deck couldn’t be fully planked at this stage.   The manual also recommends removing the bulkhead tops by twisting them with a pair of pliers, but a much easier and cleaner way is to use a pair of snips and clip them off which is easy due to the softness of the MDF.

 

I have to admit I’ve had to reign myself in a bit, I think I’ve reached the stage where psychologically I think all the hard works been done and it’s all downhill from here, but I had to remind myself that there’s a long way to go yet, slow down!!!.  It’s a bit of a dangerous stage where one can think nothing can go wrong now and tend to start rushing things, I don’t know whether anyone else has experienced this.  Still, another 2 weeks, and it’s a week in Crete for a bit of sunshine, we certainly aren’t getting any here in Jersey!

 

 

Anyway, enough of me rambling on, back to the build log.  I did mention earlier that I intend leaving the grating off the hatches on the main deck so you can look down through the hull, and I thought it could do with a little bit more interest (although you can’t see much). It’s not worth going to the trouble of rigging the guns as you can’t really see them so I thought it might be an idea to make some cannon ball racks to run along the gun deck hatches, and in my opinion they don’t look too bad.  If anyone’s interested I’ve put up an image of how I mark them out and keep the holes aligned, just glue some graph paper along the wood and mark with a bradawl before drilling.  For some reason Amati have included ten barrels in the kit, they don’t give any indication where to put them, but I thought I could put some of them to use at the end of the hatch and made up a simple rack as stowage, you can probably see better in the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did remember to clean every thing down and blow out all the dust before fitting the deck, it’s a shame really ‘cos theres a lot of work covered up, you can see bits of it now if you look through the gunports etc. but when the models finished I think your in great danger of getting your eye poked out by a yard or mast to see most of it.

 

Although I’m absolutely gagging to start on the fancy bulkheads, I think the logical way to go is to complete all the decks first, so it’s on with the quarter deck and forecastle deck next, then I can think about turning our ‘Plain Jane’ into the ‘Belle of the Ball’.

 

 

 

[Emelbe]

Hi All,

 

Back again with another progress report.  I’ve spent the last week working on the Quarter Deck and Poop Deck both of which were planked off model.  Before planking the Quarter Deck, I made up the hatch surround and cut away the beam crossing the opening and added two support posts as in the other decks.

 

 

I was surprised that the poop deck blank provided was made from 2mm MDF, it’s far too rigid to conform to the camber, so I cut a blank from the left over ply sheet and planked that.

 

 

Now to my favourite part of the build, the deck fittings and bulkheads.  The cover for the helmsman I made up pretty much as per instructions apart from adding the curved roof which I made from an off cut of ply before planking, I also planked the walls and added some relief from the ‘L’ shaped walnut included in the kit.

 

 

  The bulkheads I also decided to plank below the decoration, as I said earlier, I’m not too keen on having the dibetou on show as the colour and grain patterns are pretty inconsistent, plus I’m pretty sure it would have been planked anyway.  I was pleased the way the paper decoration went on, and, after a coat of matt varnish look pretty good.

 

 

I haven’t permanently fixed the poop-deck or bulkheads in position yet, I want to add some planks to the rear of the poop side patterns where the openings for the swivel guns are, I know it’s a minor detail, but if I don’t, that little voice in my head says I’ll regret it later.

 

 

 

All in all, a very pleasant part of the build, Revenge is starting to come together now, which leaves me a couple of days to work on the Forecastle before the boss begins her pre-holiday stress and panic week, but that’s another story… 

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[juancar]

Hi Martin,

Greetings from Spain.

 

Another one starting the Revenge kit (I have received it today). I'm new in this forum, and this will be my second boat, but with the manual and your very detailed log,it's sure it will be very easy.

[donrobinson]

Hey Martin, it is looking great. I like your idea of pre-planking the decks I have always been a bit leery of this thinking the decks would not bend to the camber of the bulkheads, obviously you had no problems. Nice work and enjoy your time in Crete.

[Emelbe]

Hi Juancar

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy this build, I'd be very interested to see how you progress with it.  I'll be putting up another post tomorrow (got to tidy my workbench first) as I've got all the sides on now and most of the finished planking done.  Up to this stage, in hindsight, I don't really think I would have done anything differently.  The only tricky bit is setting the whales to get the lay of the planks right, but hopefully I've covered that in my log how I went about it.  If you need any help just give me a shout, best of luck

 

Cheers

 

Martin

[Emelbe]

Hi Don

 

Thanks for the comments, in truth I was actually surprised how easily the decks went on, must be good quality elastic bands.  Does make life a lot easier working off the model though.  Looking forward to a weeks break, be nice to see the sun (I hope), better have plenty of Ouzo to calm the planking withdrawal symptoms after the amount I've done over the past few weeks!!!!

 

Cheers

 

Martin