HMS Snake by BenD - Caldercraft - 1:64

[BenD]

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

[David Rice]

I bought Caldercraft HMS Snake 3 years ago.  You have better looking wood than I received in my Kit. My lime wood strips were in poor condition. Chipped and cracked.  I also had broken castings. Mostly the  Caronades. I presume my Kit had been on the shelf for awhile, and had been bounced around a lot.   The same large excellent plans. The same "weak directions".   My HMS Snake is about 60% finished. Currently it is up on the shelf.  I wanted to begin working on the US Brig Syren.

[BenD]

Hey David, Wood seems to be a problem in a lot of kits, I see you had some problems even with the wood on your Syren.

[Heronguy]

You're doing well on the Sherbourne so I get the feeling you're ready for the Snake!  It's one of the ships on my "wouldn't it be fun someday" list.  

 

 

[Steve 12345]

Nice looking kit thanks for sharing 

[Beef Wellington]

There are a number of pretty well documented Snake builds on this site so you should have plenty of reference material.  This was my first build (and still not quite finished), but its a great kit and you should have lots of fun.  There are definitely some challenges with the kit and options for improvement.  Good luck.

[BenD]

It Begins

 

With my Sherbourne finished and out of the way I begin The Snake with some confidence.  With some experience in the craft I hope to build up to the standards of the other Snake builders on this site.  

 

The bulkheads fit very well right out of the ply sheet.  The plywood is really hard and surprisingly heavy, Feels like quality stuff right there!    

 

 

After dry fitting the deck I realized how large this ship really is going to be,  My desk is almost to small.  I'm also looking into getting a better light source.  As you can see this monster is casting a huge shadow.

 

 

Here is my outdoor/balcony work space that has plenty of light.  It also is a good place for sanding and generally keeping the wood dust and shavings outside.

 

Here I'm carving the rabbet and Bearding lines into the keel.  The plans don't show this at all but I suppose in the end there will be lots of copper plates and paint covering these areas, Still I'm going to do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2017 by Duncbe

[BenD]

I have seem to come to a halt with planing out my deck.  I have checked the Plans for the Snake (1798) on the Royal Museums Greenwich website and see that I might have made a mistake.  On the plans highlighted in red are I think the crossbeams for supporting the deck, Correct me if I'm wrong.  This is where the deck would end up butting and have treenailing.  I counted 22,  wouldn't that make the deck on a model look strange and a bit crowded?  What I did originally was just picked a spot and measured every 4cm and put a line.  Don't know what to do now... 

 

[glennreader]

The deck on the model is about 55cm long, with 22 beams, if they are evenly spaced, that gives about 2.4-2.5cm between beams. I do not think that looks crowded. Turn the false deck over and add lines for the 22 beams and see how it looks. Try and take their positions off the RMG plan, that should ensure that the deck fittings are in the correct places with respect to the beams. Then you can compare and decide if it really looks to crowded and if you think it does, just stick with 4cm.

 

I have started the Snake, but put it aside when I got given my current build. With a favourable wind I will be returning to it in about 6 months time. I had only got to about where you are now.

 

Glenn

[BenD]

Deck plan finalized

 

After looking over the snake plans and a few other brig deck plans it seems the beams were not equally spaced apart.  For sanity sake I just chose to have 3cm spacing with a four butt planking layout so I can cut 15cm planks.  some day when I'm scratch building I'll go all the way I promise.

 

 

Chamfering

 

I started fairing the bulkheads and I've found some spots that need shims.  I'm going to take my time and make sure I have a nice run for every plank.  You can see that No13 bulkhead was raised 1.5mm to fit properly and No12 still needs the shims.  interesting.

 

 

The plan is to fill in the first two bulkheads with basswood but without power tools it will be a lot of work.  You can see where I added some lime wood strip on the top of the keel to aid positioning of the bulwark strips.  It can come off after second planking if it gets in the way. 

 

 

Lots of sanding to be done!

[David Rice]

2 hours ago, Duncbe said:

"I've found some spots that need shims"

Interesting. I also needed to add shims on my Caldercraft HMS Snake.  Nice wood.  Sure better wood than what I received for my Syren.

[KenW]

Looks like you are off to an excellent start.  This looks like a great kit.  And you're right, fairing is an extremely important element of a model.

I'll be following along.

Cheers.

[BenD]

I had to add shims on bulkhead No9, both sides again so at least it wasn't because I glued it on crooked.  I was fairing down the bulkheads for hours and no mater what way I ran the planks in this area had a dip so I raised it.  I would hate to have a lumpy misshapen hull on my hands.

 

I might skip using filler blocks at the bow and stern because every time I run the planks over the bulkheads it feels like it's taking the proper shape.  The bulkheads are 5mm wide and the lime wood planks are 1.5mm thick, feels pretty solid to me.   

 

[jim_smits]

Best of luck with the build! There are a few of us with Snake builds on the forum, as Beef Wellington mentioned. 

 

Feel free to ask any questions!

[BenD]

Thanks Jim!  I've found a few builds in the site, Yours is on my list.

 

I have yet to hit a real snag where I need advice,  but this is definitely a more complex build.  Questions will be coming at some point. 

[BenD]

Bulwarks

 

The bulwark strips are in place.  I soaked them in warm water for 30 minutes then binder clipped the bow ends to a bowl and left overnight.  The next day they fit on with very little bending.  Instead of lathering glue all over them and attaching them in a rush I took a slower approach.   I took my time and got all of the gun ports where I wanted and the bow fitted just right then I brushed wood glue along the critical areas.  It seems to be quite strong for now at least.

 

 

One side at a time.  It was easier this way for sure, I could also match the next strip in shape. My Sherbourne's Bow was lopsided because I rushed...

 

 

Both strips on and trying out the bow and stern platforms. 

 

 

I'm making a deck section of the ship for trying out varnish and paint.  I tried some penciled on treenails, It looks awful up close but at a distance it looks ok.  I may work on some jig for nicely aligned nailing.  The cannons are from my first failure/unfinished disaster the Amati Adventure.  I will be using it for setting up my Carronades before they are installed on-board the Snake.    

 

 

I'm using my sailors Ditty bag for holding planks and the like.  I've been told it was made from sail canvas, it is really stiff and durable.

 

 

 

[BenD]

Part #55 Stern Facia and #104 stern counter don't match the plans at all.  The Facia is fine because it can be cut and sanded to fit. The stern counter is not really what is shown in the plans but after looking at some other Snake builds on this site it seems that's what everyone gets.

 

 

This is what I ended up with.  I had to cut off about 3mm off both sides.  On to planking!

 

[BenD]

The planking has begun.  I think it will soon become a hot mess but for now it looks ok.  It's only the first planking so it doesn't have to be pretty.  I never seem to learn anything from the resources on this site .

 

 

I got a delivery from Cornwall model boats today!  I received some sailors, Belaying pins, Rope, Blocks for the Carronades, And a Launch boat.  The belaying pins look so much better, I can't believe Caldercraft didn't add them automatically given the price of the kit.  The launch is going to be hard given the weak instructions, I'll give it another read I suppose. 

 

 

The Sailors are very neat!  The Captain and his Boatswain... I think

 

 

[robdurant]

Hi Ben,

 

What a great start!

 

As far as the ship's boat goes, it looks very similar to the launch on HM Schooner Pickle (also by Caldercraft) - and that was one of the most recent kits, so it has the downloadable manual here: http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Manuals_Pickle.htm . Take a look at pages 53-56 for details and photos of how it all goes together.

 

All the best

 

Rob

 

 

[BenD]

Ahh yes thanks Rob!  I had completely forgot about that manual. 

[Beef Wellington]

Ben, planking looks good.  You're right that the plans are a little misleading in this respect but you look to have handled that tricky tight curve at the lower counter nicely.  As long as you have a good bond between the top plank and the gunport pattern you should be set- nearly all the bulkhead extensions will come off and I know I was concerned with strength, but once the second planking goes on it's remarkably strong.

[BenD]

First planking complete

 

After the first 3 planks I gave up on shaping and spilling.  There is another layer of planking so none of this going to be seen on the finished model.  I'm going to put lots of effort into the second planking at least until the water line as the coppering will cover bellow that point.  One thing to point out is that if I didn't put shims on bulkhead No9 and 12 it would have turned out really lumpy

 

 

the last picture is with a bit of sanding done. There is quite a lot more sanding to be done and I don't think I'll need very much filler.  I have to say working with 1.5 mm lime wood was a bit difficult but it makes for a strong hull.

[BenD]

Second Planking

 

I've started the second planking and added planking to the stern facia Part 55.  The instructions show it not to be planked which I found strange.  I planked the inboard for strength though the inboard will not be seen with the stern platform.  Yes it looks rough right now as it's just after rough cutting, sanding will commence shortly.  I used 1x4mm strip for the planking and a 2x2mm strip for a boarder between the facia and stern counter.  

Edited February 7, 2018 by Duncbe

[BenD]

The Second planking is coming along well enough. I've gone past the point where I can use clips to hold down the planks so its going to get harder. Also the lateral bending of the planks becomes a problem. 

 

 

My test section turned out alright. I tried to keep it as clean and consistent as possible but it's just really hard. My hats off to all of you with clean edges and good paint jobs

 

I tried to make the planking and wood grain noticeable through the paint, lucky enough the Yellow Ochre was really thin. That's 6 coats! 

 

Edited June 18, 2018 by Duncbe

[drtrap]

Nice and clean work, Duncbe

[BenD]

I took a break in the planking to work on the Carronades to see if they could be turned into something acceptable.  They seem ok but I wont really know until I paint them.  It took 30-40 minutes per gun to get them to this stage so about 10 hours total.  I would have liked to buy the Caldercraft 32-pounders but it would end up being over $200. 

 

[drtrap]

Nice try Duncbe.

 

Edited August 5, 2018 by drtrap

[BenD]

This setup right here is paying dividends!  I set them up like this then use a blow dryer... 4 minutes later you have a laterally bent plank.  this needs to be known by all.  This is Chuck's method... Thank you man!

The three last planks I put on were laterally bent.  They went on without the slightest of issue and I hope it continues this way.  The stern needs some work

Edited August 8, 2018 by Duncbe

[BenD]

Back to the Carronade problem.  As you can see the first two pictures are with the gun mounted on the gun port sill... the dam thing doesn't fit.  The cutaway section's port is 1 mm short in respect to my ship.  I could sand the bed down and sink the bracket but that would only give me 2-3 mm of extra space. I don't think 4 mm is going to fix this problem.

 

Mounting the Carronade from the deck is probably the way to go.  It instantly looks better and when I move the gun to my ship for comparison it looks even better.  I will have to make some adjustments to the Beds and figure out what height to make the wheels but that's all fun to do anyway. I will add 1 mm of material to the bottom sill on the ship to make up for there not being a shelf there.

 

Question! 

 

Where can I find info on the positioning for the Yellow Ochre band the Nelson checker?  I've seen paintings and pictures but every ship seems to have something different going on. All of the builds on this site seem to have a different orientation for their band.  I don't think what I have planed is very good or accurate.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Duncbe

[Beef Wellington]

That's a nice mock up you have going there.  I think you've already found the solution, to mount on a deckblock.  Mounting outside seems to have been of the earlier practices once carronades came into use.  If you look at other's logs, you'll see that this problem has been experienced by every Snake builder so you're in good company 🙂  As for the chequer, down to captains orders and what you think looks good.  On Victory the proportions are a little different on each row of ports.  The consistency seem to be to roughly hit the top of the ports for the upper line, but extend slightly below the bottom.  One contemporary and earlier practice was to paint a similar pattern, but following the line of wale which looks subtly different.