Granado by RMC - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64

[RMC]

Thanks Sam.  I think I will go with another coat of the polyurethane.  The stain/paint look too artificial.

[RMC]

Progress is slow.  The quarterdeck bulkhead is proving to be quite difficult and time-consuming.  Everything seems to fit now, but I have made a mess of two of the cutouts for the supports.  I have left the repairs as is for the time being, (see the first photo) but I think I can do a better job.  If all else fails I will fudge it - cover the whole lot as shown in the second photo, though I would prefer some lighter coloured timber.  Like Joe V I have used polystyrene for the panels rather than the ply supplied in the kit.  They will be painted light blue, but I will probably not use the transfers of the drum etc. but may have go at painting the pictures.  If that doesn't work (likely) I will probably leave them simply painted.  Every thing shown below is dry-fitted.

 

 

The windlass has another coat of poly on it and the ends are now painted.  I will forget about painting/staining it.

 

 

[flyer]

Hi Bob

Made exactly the same mistake. Finally I replaced the botched planks.

In Goodwin's book, on page 56, the bulkhead seems to stand directly on a beam while the planks end in front of it . However on page 54 the bulkhead seems to stand on the planks. On page 53 the model shows a vertical plank running across the bulkhead as lower edge of it and the deck planks ending at that plank.

3 different solutions within 4 pages: I think you have a certain liberty how to finish it.

Cheers

Peter

[RMC]

Hi Peter

 

It's all a bit confusing - but have a look at the photo on page 35.  I think that gives me an out.  The horizontal beam under the curved supports only needs to be a fraction deeper than that shown in the photo to cover my errors.  Replacing the planks doesn't bear thinking about.

All the best

 

Bob

[AlanDavison]

RMC

I have been following your log for a while now and I am impressed by your work. In your latest post you refer to the quarter deck bulkhead and its construction. It is my opinion that  these doors and screens are likely to have been straight and vertical, not curved, as they would need to be removed and stored when the ship was cleared for action - storing  curved partitions and doors would present a problem. Also consider how you might open a curved door! My advice would be to build the bulkhead  as a vertical structure. Finally regarding colour, our modern range of colours would not have been available in the 17-1800s, so bright yellows, greens and blues are best avoided. Likely colours are black, white, ochre and browns. Natural wood finishes are also unlikely as most wood would need protection from salt water, also only the most prestigious ships would have ornate decoration, but how you finish the model depend whether you are seeking to make a display model or an historic replica.

Alan

[RMC]

Hi Alan - I think it's likely you are right.  The curves of the screens do not appear to be functional  - particularly the curved door.  However at this stage I almost feel obliged to finish the damn thing consistent with the plans provided in the Anatomy of a Ship, and I can only presume they are accurate.  In doing so, I have discovered that an error I made earlier has come back to bite me. It has taken me some time to correct it - and I am still not sure yet that I have succeeded. Photos to come.  I have already said that I will probably not use the transfers of the illustrations on the screens. They look rather toy-like, but I am not sure how plain (light) blue screens alone will look either.  Perhaps a glass of wine will help.

[AlanDavison]

Hi RMC - Thanks for the response, of course it is unto you to finish the bulkhead as you wish and if you want it curved that's fine, however I would urge you try and make the door flat. Regarding colours there is an interesting article by Jonathon Kighorn in the 2011 Shipwright Annual entitled "The painting of ships 1750 - 1850" which is well worth reading. In it he says "an affordable blue was widely available from the the 1750s in the form of Prussian blue......and provides an intense deep blue colour". Hope this helps with your deliberations. I Agee that transfers are best avoided and it is unlikely that the screen was decorated anyway..The shipwright annuals are published by Conway Publishing which used to be Conway Maritime Press if you are interested.

[RMC]

When I dry-fitted the bulkhead it became apparent that the grooves for the side screens were out by about 1mm at the bottom and 2mm at the top.  It was not good news.  The error stemmed primarily from incorrectly installing the bulwark pattern.  Here is my solution to the problem.

 

First a groove was cut in the appropriate position.  The drill bits from the dentist have proved invaluable.

 

A piece of timber was cut to shape and glued in place in front of, and behind the groove.  This gave a far deeper groove for the screen and will, I hope make it easier to fit.  The grooves in the supports a very shallow.

 

... and here is the result.  At the moment the repairs only have one coat of paint and both need some further touching up, but it hasn't turned out too badly.  The photos exaggerate the roughness of the job, but it will better once complete.

Alan: I will try to get hold of a copy of the Kighorn (sp?) article.  Thanks for taking the trouble.  As an experiment I have painted one of the screens Admiralty paints French blue and another Tamiya mid blue.  The Tamiya covered in one coat and looks quite good.  The Admiralty paint has not covered well and may need at least two more coats.  I will post some photos when finished, but the French blue is, to my eye rather garish.

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Bob - that's a really well executed repair.  Looking forward to seeing your painted panels, think less than perfect painting looks better than the artificial perfections of decals.  Everything is really coming together nicely, very nice neat work.

[RMC]

Thanks Jason.  The bulkhead has become a bit of a nightmare - and it's still not finished.

 

Alan: I have had a very close look at the photos in the Anatomy book.  Sure enough on p.35 the doors are flat.  I am in the process of making a couple so we'll see how it turns out.  Thanks for pointing it out.  It wouldn't have occurred to me.

All the best

Bob

Edited November 14, 2018 by RMC

[RMC]

Here is a flat set of doors.  I'm not sure if it was worth the trouble .... It needs some touching up and the 'handles' are dry-fitted at this stage.  A coat of polyurethane is to come.

 

 

 

 

 

[SIDEWAYS SAM]

Morning RMC,    On my Granado I couldn't get my head around any of this.  I ended up with a vertical flat bulkhead including a proper vertical door.  I'm not saying the kit is wrong, I just didn't like the decals, colour etc.   Your door is a good way to go.

 

Sam

[RMC]

Thanks Sam. I've certainly decided not to use the decals.  On the colour - the photo exaggerates the blue.  In fact it is a far more restrained grey/blue.

[RMC]

It has taken me quite some time to rectify my errors with the bulkhead.  The fix is certainly not perfect, though I am reasonably pleased with the result and the doors have come out well. I would not care to do the whole thing again. I am hoping that eventually there will be so much stuff near it on the deck (ladders, pumps etc.) that any problems won't be noticed. 

 

In the next two photos a piece of wood strip has been draped across he bulkhead to give an idea of how things will eventually look.

 

 

This shows the small gaps between the strips between the bulkhead supports and the strip covering the gaps in the deck.  I may try to fill them.  The blue shown here is closer to the actual colour.

 

 

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Bulkheads have turned out really well despite the challenges and colors compliment very nicely.  I keep looking at the pictures and can’t see the gaps you’re referring to.

[flyer]

Hi Bob

 

Very well done!

 

Perhaps you could treenail the end of the planks at the bulkhead because the planks would probably run up to but not under the bulkhead construction. This bulkhead seems to be a permanent one which needs not to be removed to create a continuous gun deck in action: there are no guns aft of it.

 

Cheers

Peter

[RMC]

Thanks for the encouragement Jason.  The gaps (perhaps that's an overstatement) are between the pieces of timber between the supports and the strip in front which goes from balustrade to balustrade.  It's more obvious than I would like and draws attention to the faults in the bulkhead.  I think I can live with it.

 

Peter: thanks too.  I anticipated your suggestion regarding the treenails. It looked bare without them. They are now there.

[RMC]

The bulkhead is finally complete - treenails and all. I can't think of anything that has given more trouble (at least in building model ships) most of which is self-inflicted.   The obvious advice is to fit the curved supports before planking.  The spaces provided for them in the plywood decking are far too long.  As well I would advise using polystyrene for the panels.  The plywood panels supplied did not want to bend to shape. 

 

The quarterdeck is now in progress.

 

 

[RMC]

I am in the process of planking the quarter deck.  It concerned me that the front edge of the plywood sub decking would show.  This was my original solution: gluing a piece of 2x2mm timber to the edge once the decking was complete.  The timber would need to follow the curvature of the deck and would best bent before gluing. The following worked well.  Simply soak the timber, then clamp it to the ply from which the bulkhead was cut and leave it to dry.

 

I include it here as it may help those who may not be able to take advantage of a far easier solution I discovered while looking through a box of odds and ends - some L section timber.

 

Here is the result.  The L section covers the edge, and fits nicely onto the deck.  It, and the planking had not yet been coated with polyurethane.

 

 

.... now with a coat of poly.  Once dry, the treenailing will be done, and then another coat of poly applied.

 

Here is another problem to be avoided. The belfry is supposed to fit flush against the rear edge of the foredeck.  If you install the bell too low - as I did - it will foul the edge as I discovered.  Having tried unsuccessfully to reposition the bell, I eventually glued some 1mm thick strip to the bottom of the supports which raised it just enough to clear the deck.

 

Here are the belfry and windlass roughly positioned.  The 'modification' cannot be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jwvolz]

Good attention to some of the possible pitfalls Bob. I too edged the quarterdeck to avoid the visible ply. 

 

She's looking very nice!

[RMC]

Thanks Joe.  I forgot to give you credit for my using the polystyrene.  I would never have thought of it. Thanks too for the 'reactions' (what ever happened to 'likes'?) they always provide encouragement.

 

I had hoped to finish the treenailing today, but gardening got in the way.  Here's a tip.  Don't plant bougainvillias.

[RMC]

The treenailing is finished.  Here are some photos of the process. 

 

A pencil line is drawn on Tamiya tape as a guide.  A pin then marks the appropriate places for the nails.  This provides a guide for the drill bit, and makes it less likely for mistakes to be made.  The first two photos show both the pinpricks and the drill holes.  Not shown, the tape is then applied closely to either side of the rows of drill holes and the filler scraped along the gap between the two strips of tape, filling the holes.  This is done so that not too much filler needs to be rubbed off (by a dampened piece of kitchen paper) in the finishing process.

 

Finished.

 

 

[RMC]

I am now working on the capping rails.  Fitting the main rails is quite a demanding little project.  They have to be level and accurately follow the curvature of the inner bulwark.  The rails are plywood, already shaped, and there is very little 'give' in attempting to bend them to the actual curve of the bulwark.  Fortunately the bulwarks are fairly accurate and not much adjustment is required - just a slight bend of both near the stern.  I will be away for a few days and I will leave them bent to shape, dry-fitted, and hope that at least part of the bend will remain when I return.

 

This is how things look.

 

The eyelets shown here are pushing the rail inwards towards the edge of the bulwark.  I use balsa to cushion the clamps.

I have stolen another of Joe's ideas in using the paper clips as clamps.

 

[RMC]

The main capping rails should now be bent to shape a little more easily.  Leaving them in place over the weekend worked quite well.  The trim for the rails does not look to be an easy job.  Rather than the brass wire, I have found some profiled walnut with the right dimensions.  I will try to fit it in three pieces:  the first around the curve of the bow to the beginning of the main capping rail; then another break near the bulkhead.  The timber was well soaked and then left to dry in the gunport shaper supplied in the kit.  Despite this the curve in the timber was not quite right and the photos show them dry fitted and clamped where I will leave them overnight.  They will be painted before being permanently fitted.

 

 

Here is a suggestion for shaping the stern fascia capping - a good soaking, then fitting the timber strip into the hole from which the fascia comes.

 

 

 

 

 

[RMC]

This is how I propose to finish the trim for the capping rails.  The profiled timber strip is 'P' -shaped in cross-section.  I have run a piece of 1x1mm blue painted strip along the lower part of the P.  Here  is how it has turned out for that part of the trim which curves around the bow.  Elsewhere, he blue Tamiya paint is proving to be a problem: it is very reluctant to stick.  Dragging a brush over the surface to be painted is just as likely to take the paint off as put it on.

 

 

[jwvolz]

I've always found Tamiya difficult to brush paint Bob. It does exactly what you mentioned. When I built plastic models I only ever airbrushed it. '

 

Try to thin it a bit and if you can find flow aid (made by Liquitex in the US) that can help slow the drying too. Art supply stores generally have it. 

 

Good plan on the profile strip. I didn't use the brass either. 

[RMC]

I have found the Admiralty paints only slightly less unfriendly Joe.  I have thinned the Tamiya and that improves it a little.  I am painting the bit just below the fore capping rails and it isn't going well, though better than yesterday.  One side now seems to be OK, but the other is still a bit of a disaster. I think in future I will stick to enamel.  It gives a better finish, though of course it takes far longer to dry.

[AlanDavison]

I thought I might just chip in and say that I find Mr Color paints by Mr Hobby to be excellent. They have a fine pigment, good covering capacity and are in my opinion one of the best hobby paints on the market. They are readily available on the web in the Uk but not sure about your neck of the woods in Australia. If they are available to you, buy a jar and test them out and let me know what you think.

Alan

[RMC]

Thanks for the suggestion Alan.  I will have a look on the net.  I'm hoping that I won't have to use any more blue on this project as I'm rather stuck with the Tamiya - but NEVER again.

[RMC]

While waiting for paint to dry (really) there are a few bits and pieces that may be done in the meantime.  The molding connecting the fore and main capping rails needs to be adjusted to fit properly and to blend with my the edging of the fore capping rail. I am hopeful the following method will work

 

The fore cap with edging is 8.5mm wide. The molding supplied is 5mm (top of first photo).  I have shaped a piece of 2mm strip (painted black), and a piece of 1mm strip to conform with the molding.  The 1mm strip has been cut through to follow the curvature of the molding (bottom of photo).  The last two shaped strips will then be glued to the side of the molding showing the black painted sub-surface ( last photo, dry-fitted).  Since the photo was taken, the cutout has been tidied up.

 

In the photo below, the cutout is just laying on top of the other pieces to give the general idea.