Sovereign of the Seas by Dominic - Deagostini - Approximate Scale 1:84 - 12 Month partwork

[fifthace]

Hello again folks. I've been away for a while, life and work gets in the way sometimes.

 

However, Fathers day has just been (UK) and I got a pleasant surprise. A new subscription to Deagostini's Sovereign of the Seas and a new Dremmel to go with it

 

 

Some of you might recall me mentioning I was building this particular one before. I was, as a 3 year part work. Things didn't go according to plan and...well we won't go there. The advantage of that though, is for a good portion of the series I know what is to come, what to avoid, where to correct my first attempt...not to mention a lot of spare parts

 

The first thing I wanted to do before actually commencing the build was to correct the way I made supports in the keel for attaching to the base further down the line. (Remember me saying we won't go there...). So a quick visit to the hardware store I picked up some steel threaded bolts with square nuts. There are easier to fit into the keel.

 

 

Before starting on the main build, I wanted to build up the two cannons that came with the first months pack. Previously, I collected the cannons to make them in batch. However I found, personally, that I ended up focussing on the overall project of making 10 or 20 cannons at once, instead of looking at each individual cannon as a project. I am hoping the results this way will be better.

 

Not really a lot to say about this, sanded/smothed/painted the sides whilst still in the fret. I used Ensign red instead of Red Ochre as I found it a brighter colour. As there is no hard and fast historical data on the ship, I used artistic licence and will continue to do so throughout the build. I also primed and painted the cannon itself and the wheels. Strictly speaking the cannon should be bronze, as per cannons of the era, but I stuck with a satin black.

 

 

Then it was simply a case of removing the truck from the fret, sanding the edges and then assembling it before giving it a final coat. Another advantage of having previously built this/having a 12 month sub is again, being able to skip ahead and see what is to come. I knew I would be having to drill holes for the eyelets, and would rather do this before the truck was assembled.

 

Finally, I put everything together and made the first parts of the tackle to go with them.

 

 

With pack one came the first parts for building the ships launch. I always like these from Deagostini as they are almost like mini kits. The first time I did this didn't turn out too bad, but I knew I could improve on it by tweaking the order in which I did things. The first change was sanding/smothing/painting the ribs before fitting to the assembly jig. I've started on assembling the frames...and that's where I am upto so far

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

 

 

[WBlakeny]

Hi Dominic and welcome back.

 

I'll be following your build as I'am also on the verge of starting mine.

[fifthace]

Thanks.

 

Fabby, are you doing the 12 month one as well then ?

[WBlakeny]

No, here it comes out in 130 issues, i've been saving them up now. 

[fifthace]

Ahh ok. Yes that was the original partwork I had got part way through previously. If you need any pointers let me know, as there are a few things they didn't point out in the build instructions, particularly with the frame for the launch.

[fifthace]

Good afternoon.

 

Continuing with the Launch. I finished assembling the frames onto the jig, and after some rather delicate fairing, (and only breaking one rib), I started on the planking. Pretty straight forward job.

 

I did give the inside of each plank a light sand first just to make things easier further on in the build. Once finished, I brushed on 1:1 diluted PVA to help seal the planks, and then a light coat of Admiralty matt white so make seeing the area's need filling easier to see.

 

 

Today, I applied white wood filler over the entire hull, and begun the process of sanding/filling/sanding...and repeat. Still have some work to do around the Bow, but will know more once I've been able to apply a light undercoat.

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

[fifthace]

Good afternoon.

 

More progress on the launch. After removing the launch from the jig and sanding down the ribs, I began work on the outer hull. I started by giving a light coat of grey primer to help me see the areas that needed work first, then began the process of filling and sanding and filling and sanding.

I didn't want to go for a perfectly smooth finish, these boats were made of wood not fibreglass. The final coat of filler was diluted and brushed on.

After I was happy with the hull I began with the colour coats. Started with a mist base coat and gradually added very very light coats to build up the paint. Took about 4 very light coats in the end, lightly sanding between them.

 

I've not put the final topcoat on yet as I needed to fit the stabilizers.

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

[fifthace]

Good Morning from a non-EU Scotland.

 

More work on the launch.Had another coat of white after the stabilizers were added. Then masked off for the upper colour. I lightly brushed this on and then used an airbrush for the rest. I did end up with a slight bleed so had to mask the top off once it was dry and redo the white.

 

That's it for the launch for now as I have gone as far as I can with the parts available.

 

[fifthace]

Good afternoon.

 

Before starting on the main build, I wanted to get another of the smaller tasks out of the way. The first of four Anchors.

 

I won't write much on this, the photographs tell the story quite well.

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

[fifthace]

Hello again.

 

Finally made a start on the main build. I was trying to leave this as long as possible to reduce the amount of time between waiting for parts, but an eagerness to make a start got the better of me.

 

As I've already posted, I'd already secured the mounting bolts and given plenty of time for everything to dry, so time to join the 4-part keel together and mount it on my crude but effective slip.

 

Whilst that was drying, I took a note from previous experience and decided to pre-paint the frames where the dummy gun decks will be. It just made things easier doing this off ship, and the advantage of knowing where everything is going to be helps too. None of the ribs protrude above the external decks (and those that do get removed later anyway), so I simply painted the entire outer sections of the ribs black using a rattle can.

 

When fitting to keel, I made the decision to use some 2cm x 2cm Pine as braces, to help add strength and make sure they are at perfect right angles.

Next step is the first false deck, which I will post about separately.

 

 

 

[fifthace]

Final post from me today.

 

With the deck, I prepped them and marked the lines of the ribs first, and pre-drilled holes for the pins. I did drill 2 holes per half per rib, but in the end I only used 1 for each as they were a superb fit. Much better than the first version of this. There was only actually two slots I needed to file, and it was the bare minimum needed. They all lined up almost perfectly, except for the Port side middle section; it seems as though that was cut just a little too far right, as the photo below shows.

 

It made no difference to the fit in the end though, and only needed a minor alteration.

 

Before fitting, again I painted off ship the sections for the dummy guns, and once dry, proceeded to fit to ship. I'd also fitted the bow frame and bow formers. Not shown here.

 

 

Thanks for looking in...again.

[cobra1951]

Looks like a nice kit, good luck with it

[dgbot]

I have never heard of this kit/series before.  Should prove to be an interesting build.  Question why did you smooth the hul of your launch instead of plaking it?  At the scale you are woking in I think it would have added a little life and character.

David B

Edited June 26, 2016 by dgbot

[fifthace]

Hiya David.

 

I think it is a UK/Europe series...You can have a look here . (I assume it's ok to link to it here).

 

Re the Launch...I am not quite sure I follow you?

 

 

I also have a bit of a conundrum and I am not sure how to solve it. Again, from my previous experience with this series, the gratings supplied was quite poor in cut/quality, as can be seen below:

 

 

Also, the hole size was 2mm, the scale is approx 1:84, the holes seem a little big for this scale. (I would imagine Sailors getting their feet caught if they were this size).

 

The problem I am faced with, the width of most of the gratings is just over 50mm, and I can't find smaller sized gratings that would be wide enough. Caldercraft's gratings for example are only 33mm for a 1mm hole and 45mm for a 1.5mm hole. They do make 2mm holes up to 60mm and the quality would be much better, but I still question the size of the holes at this scale.

 

Any suggestions?

Edited June 26, 2016 by Dominic

[dgbot]

If possible you could probably get the graitings from Syren or make your own if you have a small tablesaw like a Preac or Byrnes Saw.

David B

[cobra1951]

CMB have 52mm x 52mm gratings with 1.5mm holes made by Amati 2nd one down on the page link

http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/amati_gratings.html

Edited June 26, 2016 by Cobr@

[fifthace]

Thanks hadn't seen those.

 

They seem to be out of stock at the moment...but the plastic one below caught my eye as well...but, well, they're plastic

[cobra1951]

Give them a ring to check because if they have been busy with orders they are a bit slow updating their site as it's not a live stock site which update themselves

 

Euromodels do the Amati 52mm ones too but it doesn't say if they are in stock or not

http://www.euromodels.co.uk/index.php?CATEGORY=20&SUB=2&THISPAGE=1&RADIOSORT=4&PICFILE=6766&STKNR=6766&STRH=2618&ORDN=4794&RNZ=357101

 

Personally i would wait rather than go down the plastic route   also they are only 40mm wide

[fifthace]

I tend to agree, and am highly put off with it being plastic.

 

I've a month or so before I need to worry about them yet anyway, so plenty of time for CMB to restock.

 

Thanks

[fifthace]

Hello.

 

Just a very quick update before I move to the back bench for a few months.

 

I just tested out my mounting bolts on a test base. (A spare section of floating shelf I had laying around) Seems to be a very solid and stable mount.

 

I will be leaving this now for a few months to stock up on parts, in the mean time, I will be starting a new project to tide me over: AL's Bluenose II.

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

[cobra1951]

Looks good

[fifthace]

Helloooo.

 

Now that I've had to halt on my Bluenose II, I decided to do a few small bits on this.

 

I've this time added the lower gun deck dummy gun support beams, after cutting to fit and pre-painting matt black.
I've also done a few bits on the launch, the deck and duck boards.

 

Not really much to report on this as I am still wanting to gather a few months worth of parts before I crack on with the planking...

 

 

[EJ_L]

Just found your build and will have to follow along. You are off to a great start as both the launch and the framing are shaping up nicely. I will be looking forward to seeing you progress on this build.