HMS Victory by gjdale - FINISHED - Mamoli - Scale 1:90

[MEDDO]

Hi Brian,

Warrior is still in the queue but I've got something else planned first. I'm keeping that under wraps for now though

Oooo a mystery. Can't wait to find out!

 

I always wonder why there are not more people building 74s though.

[mtaylor]

Sweet looking boat, Grant. 

 

In the lower pic, it looks like the lower riser is lower than on the left.  Could be camera angle/distortion though.

[foxy]

Yep sweet looking boat.

 

 

foxy

[gjdale]

Thanks guys.

 

Mark - you have a sharp eye. I think what you are seeing is camera angle distortion in this case, but there IS definitely a discrepancy at the forward end of one of the risers that will need to be adjusted. Thanks for checking - it can be easy to miss the obvious sometimes and I appreciate your pointing out what you see.

[Bindy]

Hi Grant,

 

I know many others have said it, and said it better, but it can't be said enough.  Your skills and work are truly amazing, and that is even before we get to see it in the "obligatory picture of a Cutter in that giant fake hand….."

[gjdale]

Thanks Bindy,

 

Always a delight to see you dropping by.  

[gjdale]

Cutters Ver 2.5 continued....

 

Only a minor update today.  I've been painting the hulls for the last week or so.  Decided to break out the airbrush for this job and after six coats of white paint on top of the gesso undercoat, plus one coat of clear Satincote (one more to come), here's a quick sneak peak at the outside of one of the hulls - just to prove that progress is being made

 

 

As soon as I get another coat of Satincote on the external hulls, I'll move onto the interior, painting that in yellow ochre before proceeding with the fit out.  This painting lark is a slow process! 

 

In between watching paint dry, I've been working on the quarter davits to carry these Cutters.  I've mainly been working from the diagrams and description in Longridge for these.  The basic structure is boxwood, with working brass sheaves held in place with a copper wire pin.  I also manufactured the cleat for the base of each davit by silver soldering brass wire into a T-section and then cutting/filing to shape.  These have been blackened and placed temporarily in place for the photo.  The davits will be painted black prior to final fitting.  At the base of the davit, I have manufactured separately some brass swivel/hinge plates to attach the davits to the hull - these aren't shown in the photo below, but will be fitted in due course.  So here's what they look like (only 3 of the 4 davits shown in the pic):

 

[alangr4]

 

Stunning davits Grant

 

Great stuff

 

 

Alan

[augie]

Really good stuff there, Grant.  You have the patience of a saint.

[Sjors]

Amazing......

 

Sjors

[mobbsie]

Excellent work on the davits mate, really looking forward to seeing them finished, they'll compliment your cutters wonderfully.

 

The paint job on that cutter has come out great, I don't know as I would have the patience for 6 coats though.

 

I'm enjoying the ride mate, thanks.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[ianmajor]

Grant,

 

Those davits are superb. Their quality match that of your ship's boats. I had to remind myself of the scale - I was beginning to think it was 1:32 rather than 1:90.  

[mtaylor]

Just beautiful on the boat and the davits and they have working sheaves to boot. 

[gjdale]

Thanks very much Alan, Augie, Sjors, Mobbsie, Ian and Mark, and also all of the "likes".

[mtdoramike]

Wonderful work, your attention to detail is amazing.

[md1400cs]

Beautiful work. A pleasure to look at your art.

 

Michael

[gjdale]

Thank you so much Lawrence, Mike, and Michael.

[gjdale]

25' Cutters Ver 2.5 continued

 

Some progress this weekend.  I have finally finished painting the hulls and am now able to get on with fitting out.

 

Today I managed to fit the footwaling, aft platform, forward platform, cap rails and thole pins to both boats.  While I've kept the same general colour scheme as the other boats, these cutters will be a little less 'fancy', having planked platforms instead of gratings and a generally more 'working boat' feel to them.

 

I got a bit carried away and forgot to take any progress photos, except for these few to show where I'm up to.

 

 

 

 

Next up will be to fit the thwarts, mast steps, mast support bands, and lifting eyebolts.  And that will just about see them completed.  Maybe next weekend.........

[Sjors]

Grant,

 

Just what John is saying......impressive work !

That looks very nice....

 

Sjors

[themadchemist]

Beautiful as always, Grant.

Remind me again, I'm sure its stated but I'm to lazy to read back, will you be mounting this on davits at the stern quarters?

5 models in one, Brilliant!  

[mobbsie]

Bet your glad you bought the Caldercraft kits now aint you.     :D  

 

Really smart little boats mate, paint job looks top rate and a nice touch with the duck boards.

 

The finishing line looms ever closer, enjoy what's left mate.

 

Be Good

 

mobbsie

[gjdale]

Thanks guys.

 

Keith - the two Cutters will be hung from davits on either side of the stern quarters. I showed the davits under construction in my previous post.

[rafine]

Those boats are wonderful Grant. A very tough act to follow.

 

Bob

[gjdale]

Thanks Bob, though looking at your Essex, you'd do an even better job I'm sure.

[mikec]

What an amazing model you are scratch building. I am tempted to have a go for mine... 

[gjdale]

Thanks Mike. You should dive in and have a go.

[gjdale]

25' Cutters Ver 2_5 continued

 

The next step for the cutters was to create some mast support bands to attach to the thwarts.  Each cutter has two of these.  I used some thin brass strap and bent them to shape by using a jig, the idea for which I "borrowed" from Ian Major's lovely Unicorn log.  Ian machined his in metal, however I cheated and used MDF for the pressing surfaces, with a brass rod inserted as the former.

 

 

After blackening, they were attached to the thwarts, which had been shaped for the other half of the "hole".  In this pic, the thwart hasn't been finished sanded yet.

 

 

After that, it was a simple matter of cutting the stern sheets, which I did using a paper template and cutting from a single piece of 1/32" pear stock, and then finessed to fit.  The remaining thwarts were cut to size and finish sanded, putting a slight bevel/curve on the upper outside edges.  The timber was left natural, only polished with successively finer grades of sandpaper.  I also installed mast steps under the appropriate thwarts - you can just make these out in the photos.  And here is a finished Cutter.  The macro lens is not my friend today!  I swear those blemishes on the cap rail aren't visible to the naked eye!!!

 

 

Here's a picture alongside the 28' Pinnace for comparison.  Note the very different hull shapes.

 

 

And here's both Cutters, with my usual "scaling" shot:

 

 

The Cutters (and all boats) are now FINISHED!!!!!!  Doin' the Happy Dance!      

 

To celebrate, I thought I'd take a few shots of my Lilliputian Fleet. I had to remove the Launch from it's home on the "mother ship" for these shots, and was surprised by how large it looks in comparison to the others.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, one last "scaling shot"

 

 

That's it for ship's boats.  I do not intend to make either the Barge or the Jolly Boat.

 

Next up, fitting the Quarter Davits, finish and fit the Anchors, and install rope coils throughout.  Almost there..........

 

 

[GuntherMT]

Beautiful job on the ship's boats, and I love the scaling shots.  They seemed much larger until those pictures.

[Remcohe]

That is a lovely set of boats Grant.

 

Remco

[trippwj]

Fantastic work on the mini-fleet!