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Posted (edited)

Hi,

 

It's time to start my second build log on ModelShipWorld.com.

 

As I won't be starting this build from scratch, I guess a little explanation is in order.

 

My father started this model, and built it to the point shown below, where the hull decorations were mainly in place, and the deck furniture was mainly built, if not fitted. He passed away in January 2013, and I felt it would be a terrible shame for the model to be left unfinished. The challenge was to get some of the skills necessary to attempt to finish such a kit, so I started with something smaller.

 

For those interested, you can see how I got on here with Caldercraft's HM Schooner Pickle (HM Schooner Pickle.)

 

Anyway, I finished that kit a few days ago, and now I'm ready to begin work on Caroline.

 

Here's a picture of Caroline before I started work (except to go over her with a soft brush to get the dust off)

 

20150805_194736_900.jpg.93a966ac2ae9fd3b35c904f495c3e685.jpg

 

You can see a number of the fittings next to the bow.

 

The first evening's work was to go through the plans carefully and try and get my head around what had been done and what hadn't. I was immediately struck by how sparse the instructions are. Compared to Pickle which guides you through the rigging step by step with great care, the instructions for Caroline stop once you've put the deck furniture on, and just point you to the plans. Thankfully I'll be able to draw on the many excellent resources on this website, and my experience with Pickle.

 

Secondly was that the plans are printed on both sides, and so some time was spent sellotaping the plans back together where they had worn so thin they were in pieces.

 

Once this was done, I was ready to start fitting deck furniture (which had been pre-assembled off the model by my father). An emotional process, but it's lovely to see it start coming together.

 

Photos of progress so far are below:

 

Cleats at the bow, fitted:

 

20150805_211307_900.jpg.6c5c759729a7e75030176a9331d51360.jpg

 

Capstan, fitted, although I'm not very happy with the gap between the capstan base and the deck, so this will be gently refitted...

 

20150805_211424_900.jpg.3e74913f07f8fe79e6a040aca96a2466.jpg

 

The support for the flag pole...

 

20150805_211455_900.jpg.a2c0064e02dce79a40393048a50df81c.jpg

 

Steps...

 

20150805_211527_900.jpg.305aac303a25a5ec60620c11c0f0335c.jpg

 

And then, just for the fun of it, I dry-fitted some of the other fittings just to give me an idea of how they would fit onto the deck side by side... (cannon, ships-boat supports, etc..) - all of these are dry-fitted (and now I look at it, the sled for the ship's boat is upside-down!)

 

20150805_220614_900.jpg.9f9c6126e56d5bf6decb44201b97b095.jpg

 

Sorry about the state of the photos, but it will give a rough idea.

 

Anyway. Happy building, thanks for looking, and I hope to be back with an update very soon.

 

Rob

Edited by robdurant
Posted

Hi Rob

 

What an excellent job your Dad did.  Once finished it will be a great keepsake and will be bring back fond memories of him.

 

All the best

Jack

Posted

Hi Rob

 

I think I might have sounded a little bit insensitive, I looked at the pictures before reading that your late father built this.  I agree with Eamonn and Jack that your Dad has done some excellent work, and it will be a great keepsake.  Best of luck with this project.

 

Regards

 

Martin

Posted

Hi Robdurant, Your Dad's given you a cracking start to Royal Caroline, I'll be watching your build with interest. 

Posted

Hi all,

 

Emelbe: I certainly didn't pick up anything insensitive in your post, so please don't worry :) - I agree it's a lovely kit, and I hope you will have the opportunity to build it at some point, too.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind comments and likes. I'm already absolutely smitten with this boat! Do feel free to pull up a chair, and if you have any helpful hints along the way, please do chip in.

 

Rob

Posted

Hi,

 

A small update... I've got some more of the deck fittings in place, and spent some time working on the starboard staircase. I've also started rigging the cannon (using some left over bits from Pickle. Given the larger scale of Caroline (1:47 rather than 1:64 for Pickle), and the larger size of the cannon (over the tiny carronades on Pickle), it seems a shame not to rig them fully. Anyway, here's how it's going so far. I made a jig, and so far I've only got two rigged up - it's amazingly time-consuming. I haven't tied off any of the ropes yet, so there's a certain spaghetti quality to the whole thing, but hopefully the pictures make sense.

 

20150810_204149_900.jpg.58343a47b76f74cb0bae276e3397ad52.jpg

 

20150809_214158_900.jpg.b7672a4aa5845692c194918cbdee3ee4.jpg

 

20150811_144000_900.jpg.3a32b34de922e29fdc17bf55c6f7b205.jpg

 

Eyelets in deck ready for rigging cannon

20150811_205646_900.jpg.ac72c1c68f01a52317e8cdb636eea0a0.jpg

 

20150812_211959_900.jpg.034a173007c07d58890bbc6db48d9224.jpg

 

20150813_095725_900.jpg.5b6a42e4db3fec6ed14b40e4ca6a6747.jpg

 

20150813_220450_900.jpg.9fb201b4950ac9b56d0083d203f80485.jpg

 

20150813_223142_900.jpg.9618dae579abf32ba93501a81e7754e7.jpg

 

48 x 2mm blocks, 56 x eyelets, 24 x hooks, 16 x rings later and it's just a case of finishing putting them together... More pictures soon :)

 

Happy building

 

Rob

Posted

Hi Rob

 

I did the Royal Caroline too and I really liked the build. I will come over time after time to watch your Progress. Can you tell me where you did find These Little hooks that you use on the gun-rigging? Wish I had them too... :)

 

Cheerio

 

Max

Next: Friedrich Wilhelm zu Pferde by Euro Model 1:47

 

Finished: Half Moon Corel;  HMY Royal Caroline Panart; HMB Endeavour Occre 1:54; Fregatte Berlin, Corel, 1:40

 

 

A life without dogs is possible... but worth to live?

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hi Max,

 

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you, I've been on holiday camping with the family.

 

I've read through your build log and it will be a fantastic resource for me as I follow in your footsteps... I only hope I can achieve something of the results you've had.

 

The large eyelets I made myself from 0.8mm brass rod. The smaller eyelets and hooks are leftovers from the HM Schooner Pickle kit by Jotika / Caldercraft. It's etched brass. They're brilliant for this sort of thing as they really are fine.

 

Hoping to get a bit more done on the cannon this evening :)

 

Happy building

 

Rob

  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Hi all,

 

Just a little update. I've finished rigging the cannon (minus coiled rope that will be added right at the end of the build to keep the deck tidy while I do the rigging...

 

I've also been working a little on the starboard staircase. It's a fiddly little blighter, and I haven't decided whether I can live with the colour discrepancy between this one and the one already in situ - I think I must have used a different wood as it's much darker once varnished :S (see last picture)... I'll sleep on it and see how I feel about it in the morning. I suspect it's going to mean another re-work...

 

20151001_120507_900.jpg.f26848388382ee553adefeadaf726784.jpg

 

20151001_122150_900.thumb.jpg.94860fa0763a83c9d965211656b80ac9.jpg

 

20151001_135808_900.jpg.df102fae07a937ff142a7d179d359979.jpg

 

20151001_193156_900.jpg.daf322b6cd90058877e4e0e04508ba61.jpg

 

Happy building :)

 

Rob

Posted

So, another week, and a little more done.

 

I started the launch, which posed a few interesting questions.

 

Mainly, the part no. 7 is shown on the plans as extending from frame 1 right back to either side of the keel, but in practice it stops some way short. Hopefully the pictures will make more sense of this than my description. (It's all dry fitted at this stage):

 

20151008_093306_900.jpg.371938a61433a9e23141a4244e245e8c.jpg

 

I wasn't quite sure whether it was the keel (8) or the former (7) that was the wrong length, so I thought I'd take a look at AOTS (Anatomy of the Ship book), and see what it showed. It's worth pointing out at this stage that this kit is over 15 years old, so it is quite possible that Panart have fixed this is more recent versions. Some of the other Caroline builders may well be able to answer that question :)

 

Well, looking at AOTS was a revelation. It turns out that the launch in AOTS is just over 18cm (even taking the 1:47 (kit) - 1:48 (AOTS) conversion), whereas, the model is only 14.4cm or 13.7cm if you cut out the spare keel... The picture  below gives some idea of the difference... model placed on top of AOTS:

 

20151008_093702_900.jpg.15d4d14eab0681500ad955fcbc47054e.jpg

 

That being the case, it seems that this is simply an area where the kit differs from AOTS, but it does help to answer the question should the keel be shortened... I certainly don't want to make the model differ any more from AOTS by shortening the boat even more, so I've decided to leave the keel as is, and accept that the former (which will be disposed of later in the process) is simply short.

 

That decision having been made, I cut the notches into the frames to allow them to be snapped off once the planking is complete, put electrical insulation tape on the edges of the frames above the notch, and glued the frames on to the keel (putting the former in place, but not gluing it, as it will need to be removed later... Then I began the first planking...

 

20151008_135420_001_900.jpg.59729a53405accf236e2f91a67c7026b.jpg

 

It did occur to me that with a picture like that, someone could get the wrong idea about my hobby :S

 

Anyway - suffice it to say the pins are only for the purpose of keeping the planks in place and flat to the frames as they glue. You can see the red insulation tape sticking out - that's simply to stop any glue sticking the planks to the frames above the notches... Hopefully it will keep life simple when the time comes to remove those later.

 

20151008_135451_900.jpg.a92f29cd2d757c8d087b4caab7414234.jpg

 

That's it for now.

 

Happy building

 

Rob

  • 5 weeks later...
Posted

Time for another update. Thanks for the kind comments :)

 

Still working on the ship's boat:

 

20151105_103638_900.jpg.528881b97b465180f9faad18c79cd73d.jpg

 

Planking completed...

 

20151105_135522_900.jpg.0270ec14b75c6cbf610b1f68f489931d.jpg

 

I decided one planking would be sufficient, as I wanted to try and get the thin-ness of the hull, and I wasn't planning on varnishing the wood, but painting it... I bit the bullet and put some wood filler on it, ready to sand down...

 

20151105_202343_900.jpg.6c643150ecb3998453f7160ba3902c49.jpg

 

Then the first sanding (I suspect it'll take a couple of turns to get a really nice finish.

 

20151107_161939_900.jpg.e125d2c0b2c7895065f73508ac9fed62.jpg

 

20151107_162002_900.jpg.2d6fe08dbc354b6ccc45319fd9ad5d1b.jpg

 

And then it was the most scary bit... to remove the upper frames... I was really pleased how that went. Now I just need to trim the transom back and get tidying up.

 

20151107_162012_900.jpg.6ff4eb24a79686b2d5effa0573fd1cde.jpg

 

Happy building!

 

Rob

Posted

I am sorry to hear of your Father's passing.Completing the model is a very nice tribute.He has given you an excellent start B) .

Regarding the ships launch,it is still the same one in the kit now.I built mine from scratch but it was a bit of a compromise as I wanted to use the kit's brass decoration.It looks more like the book version,just not as long :D .

I think if you try to follow the book too closely like myself and Janos tried to do,you realise there is alot amiss.Even the hull is the wrong shape,so I just used the book as a guide for some of the smaller details.My build is currently on hold as we are hoping to move house.I am at the stage where it is the fragile bits,so would rather wait until after the upheaval.

Is that a Flower class as your avatar?

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Currently working on Royal Caroline

Posted

Hi Nigel,

 

Thank you for the kind words. I've looked through your build log for Royal Yacht Caroline - wow, it's going to be a cracking Caroline! a level up from mine, but I'm glad to be pottering along doing the best I can, and I think my dad would have approved so far :) 

 

It's interesting to hear about your solution for the ship's launch. It confirms what I'd suspected - that there's a can of worms (a delight to some, and a horror to others) waiting for the person who takes a ruler to the plans and compares them against AOTS. Your way through this maze sounds like an excellent one, and certainly seems to be paying dividends. I hope in years to come I shall have the skills and confidence to follow suit. I'm hoping to attempt HMS Diana next, and I have the AOTS ready so I have all the materials to cause lots of double-checking and head-scratching!!

 

I hope your house move goes well. I remember with my schooner, Pickle, that there was definitely a moment where it went from being relatively robust to being a very fragile thing that caught or snagged on everything that went near it. I moved house with Pickle and she survived, I'm very glad to say! Although she did go to stay with someone else during the move to avoid the big day!

 

The avatar is of my interpretation of Revell's Flower Class Corvette HMCS Snowberry, although I made it up as a generic Flower class a good few years ago. It's stand-off quality at best, but it does look the business out on the water, and it's fun to sail. I've got a MCMV sat on the shelf that's never gone further than a paddling pool, so when that gets wet, I'll update my avatar :)

 

Thanks again

 

Rob

Posted

Thank you very much indeed Rob :blush: I had a suspicion you avatar was based on the Snowberry kit,but sometimes size is hard to judge on the water from a small pic :D .

I would recommend to anyone who wanted to build a model of Caroline that accurately followed the book,they would have to scratchbuild.It is worth mentioning though that the book itself is a best 'guess' by the authors.Many details are not proven historical fact.Whichever route the builder takes,she builds into a very attractive model and I do feel the kit is one of Panart's better offerings.

 

Kind Regards

 

Nigel

Currently working on Royal Caroline

Posted

Hello Rob, sorry to hear about your father. I agree with Nigel , he has given you an excellent start. As far as i can see, you continue doing a great job. The Royal Caroline is one of my favorite ships.. I keep it on the shelf  from my next build. Surely i can learn some things from you.. I will follow along .. :) :)

 

All the best

Dimitris

Current Build: Amerigo Vespucci -Mantua- 1:100 scale

 

Completed Build logs: Bluenose II AL 1:75 scale

 

Gallery: Bluenose II AL 1:75 scale

 

Future Build: Royal Caroline -Panart- 1:47 scale

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted

Thanks Dimitris

 

A small update on the ship's launch. It's starting to come together a bit better now:

 

I ditched several ideas along the way here... The .5 x 3mm strip for the ribs is far too grainy to bend, and seemed to me to be too thick to look scale, so I used some veneer instead. I also decided to use ply from the pickle kit for the wales, as then I could cut and sand it to shape rather than trying to bend a 2mm strip (again, too thick?) against the widest dimension. By my reckoning the ribs end up about 6mm apart. I also ditched the former at the front and the "bench"? at the back as being way too thick. I've just planked the front with walnut, and I'll do the same at the back for the "bench".

 

20151112_195218_900.jpg.236da506a56295dc3b3c9e5add3f621d.jpg

 

20151112_195229_900.jpg.e5f4ca081e58c06066653acab9f63187.jpg

 

 

20151112_210215_900.jpg.3177b63ef2668d457acb08ff27df1a01.jpg

 

The wales need a bit more sanding to make them more uniform, but otherwise I'm pleased with the progress so far. Next step, the "bench" at the back and then the 1x1mm strip and the brass decoration with the blue behind. Soon be onto the masts and spars :)

 

Has anyone turned the masts and spars for RYC on a Proxxon DB250 - I'm considering buying one to replace the mantua lathe I have (which really isn't man enough, and is dying slowly: not least, because the home-brew power supply I've been using has been providing too many volts to the motor - 14 instead of 12), but I'm wondering whether it's the best way to spend the money :)

 

Rob

Posted

She looks good mounted there Rob, nice work

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hi all!

 

Thanks for the kind words Don.

 

I've done a little more work on the launch:

 

I added a tiller from brass rod (painted with Caldercraft Walnut acrylic paint)... I also used this walnut paint to paint along the edges of the ply wales. I added the wale strips (4mm below the wale) from 1x1 walnut strip. Then painted in the 4mm band with blue acrylic (Humbrol 25), and added the brass etch gilding.

 

20151123_112756_900.jpg.e60b94118f6bd423dbfced888e927646.jpg

 

20151123_112809_900.jpg.c566c97981280f2863d76bfdf4e8df79.jpg

 

You can see a small spot on the rear corner where the blue needs touching up. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the results :) I'm planning to put some matt varnish on the brass to stop it tarnishing.

 

Still to do: I need to add the rowlocks, oars (waiting for my new lathe to arrive - yes, I finally took the plunge and have bought a Proxxon DB250 - and "benches".

 

I've spent a couple of hours drawing up individual plans for each of the mast sections ready to start shaping them. I'm creating these from the plans, and then I'll take a look at AOTS and see if there are any changes I want to make. They're not to scale, but they do give some idea of how those masts are going to be built up. It also begins to give me some idea of where caps, crosstrees, tops and masts meet, and how they're going to go together.

 

20151123_114739_900.jpg.1b49cac0d1eb76e6d880313947eb3559.jpg

 

20151123_114801_900.jpg.b096f24220bea295b2a3077aada294b8.jpg

 

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

 

Happy building

 

Rob

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

Hi all,

 

Thanks so much for the likes. Always an encouragement.

 

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

 

20151217_134008_900.jpg.797c985c8c6c70e04c4197595523efd7.jpg

 

20151217_163322_900.jpg.74b2829180ef5fe40953b1698790060c.jpg

 

Once the masts are turned and dry-fitting okay, I'll take it all apart again and add the detailing onto the tops, and make sure all the holes are drilled ready for rigging.

 

The keen-eyed amongst you may spot that the main topmast is a little too long. I made it oversized, and haven't cut it down yet... it's probably about 2cm too long, but I guess, that's almost a metre on the real thing... Being my first three-masted model, I'm not quite sure whether it looks right or not... I'll cut it down and forge ahead as per plans and we'll see how it turns out. I'm planning on following Panart's option with the mizzen-top-gallant, hence the long mizzen-top-mast. That's as high as that mast gets now.

 

Happy building

 

Rob

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the likes.

 

A little progress on the masts, tops and crosstrees:

 

Fore top detailing (I ran out of the walnut strip, but I've got some more on order from Cornwall Model Boats)

 

20151226_203901_900.jpg.c2555342e32c199aad0bec343b0ae513.jpg

 

In the meantime I started making up the crosstrees:

 

20160102_162231_900.jpg.82a292f477ab7186c75adb0e162beee6.jpg

 

20160102_162643_900.jpg.23884388f4fc38717a75a9112970f4f5.jpg

 

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

 

20160102_203217_900.jpg.5e8f8d6f482f91e6ca3cf86987f1f5f4.jpg

 

And the progress so far...

 

20160102_222617_900.thumb.jpg.9d2853308e4d39e5d3a0c8fad6c1f548.jpg

 

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

 

Happy building

 

Rob

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Hi all,

 

Thanks for the likes.

 

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

 

Detailing on tops:

 

34576659966_6bc7abc7c9_b.jpg

 

Jibboom and bowsprit:

 

34456270712_50fa291d16_b.jpg

 

Yards ready to be turned

 

34576660236_5bcd4ecd3c_b.jpg

 

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

 

33808251563_27349c47e7_b.jpg

 

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

 

Detailing the yards...

 

33775167564_4c7a5eeb2d_b.jpg

 

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

 

Take care

 

Rob

Posted

Hi John,

 

It's hard to see in the pictures, but each of the yards has been tapered down at each end to the dimensions specified on the plans. I used a proxxon lathe to do it.

 

On the picture of the whole ship the middle yard on the foremast still has the stubs on each end which are the full dimension of the dowel - those ends will be chopped off before the yard's attached.

 

Rob

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Hi all,

 

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

 

20160311_111111_900.jpg.d8583b9b8e7db2ac37e7ff5e501bd888.jpg

 

20160313_212629_900.jpg.4234137a617df99a890e4fcf8d19b4ca.jpg

 

Happy building

 

Rob

Posted

Rob,

I just found your build log of Caroline,  I am very certain your father is smiling and looking forward to the stage when Caroline is all done and in display.

It's a true honor to your father of what you are doing.

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
593661798_Keepitreal-small.jpg.f8a2526a43b30479d4c1ffcf8b37175a.jpg

Finished: T37, BB Marie Jeanne - located on a shelf in Sweden, 18th Century Longboat, Winchelsea Capstan

Current: America by Constructo, Solö Ruff, USS Syren by MS, Bluenose by MS

Viking funeral: Harley almost a Harvey

Nautical Research Guild Member - 'Taint a hobby if you gotta hurry

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Thanks Per,

 

I had a look through your builds - just beautiful :) I think my dad would have approved. It's certainly making Caroline look more like I know he would have intended.

 

Thanks to everyone who looks and 'likes'!

 

I've made some progress since my last post. The mainmast shrouds are complete, I've added various stays, and begun the topmast shrouds. Along with the topmast shrouds come the futtock shrouds... Not my favourite thing I have to say, but perhaps I'll like them more as I get more used to doing them.

 

Anyway - here are some pictures of the shrouds and ratlines going on...

 

The foretopmast shrouds and ratlines

 

20160408_213759_900.thumb.jpg.331640ed953494ff6f54e90b9e6ef226.jpg

 

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

 

20160416_223119_900.thumb.jpg.e5f54c851f2bea0cf5c373388fc031ed.jpg

 

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

 

20160416_223153_900.thumb.jpg.a090b04655ca60627028bc5af3cc6130.jpg

 

It's all progress, as long as I can straighten up those deadeyes... a target for this evening, I think.

 

Finally, here's a picture of progress so far...

 

20160416_223408_900.thumb.jpg.f1d01ffcd396143fa8747a5949a234e1.jpg

 

Thanks again for all the encouragement.

 

Happy building

 

Rob

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