HMS Agamemnon by Chris_P - Caldercraft - Scale 1:64 - My First Build Attempt

[Chris_P]

Hi I acquired my Agamemnon kit from Jotika a few years ago. They are actually only 10 minutes away from where I live in Droitwich, really useful when looking for replacement bits and pieces. John is really good and has helped me out. Quite often taking the time to show me around the factory and the new products and improvements they are bringing in. And taking a look at the completed models in the showroom gives one a feeling of awe.

 

Well initially me not not being totally prepared to be honest the build struggled or should I say I struggled. Now a few years later having a major declutter in my hobby shed I have reinvigorated my initial passion to build a scale model ship. I know it’s not the easiest kit to start with but with perseverance and help I am sure I will finally get there, even if takes a few more years.

 

What has helped is the fantastic members and their build logs, without these the kit would still be in the box. I can only thank the members for their time and commitment it must of taken to compile the posts. I only hope that my meagre attempt might help another builder.

 

Well the sunshine has spurred me on and I have now second planked  one side and about a quarter of the way through the other. The hardest part has been the gun ports as you can see I still have a little making good on these. I would like to suggest to Caldercraft that they look at pre formed ply section  like the Victory kit. It would make the build a lot easier for us newbies ! 

 

Sorry if I have blurbed on a bit but but I hope my log will help someone who has been going through the same issues as me, well here’s a few pics to start. My only hope for the next few weeks is to find the stand as this has disappeared from my shed or no doubt as the norm been thrown out by mistake.

 

Thanks all Chris

[robdurant]

Welcome Chris!

 

Looks like you've made a great start Looking forward to seeing your progress on Nelson's favourite ship. There's so much knowledge and a real willingness to help, so this is certainly the place to find encouragement and the knowledge to keep going. I'm building HMS Diana - the heavy frigate also by Jotika, and I wouldn't have got as far as I have if it weren't for all the help and encouragement I've been given.

 

Rob

[Chris_P]

Just now, robdurant said:

Welcome Chris!

 

Looks like you've made a great start Looking forward to seeing your progress on Nelson's favourite ship. There's so much knowledge and a real willingness to help, so this is certainly the place to find encouragement and the knowledge to keep going. I'm building HMS Diana - the heavy frigate also by Jotika, and I wouldn't have got as far as I have if it weren't for all the help and encouragement I've been given.

 

Rob

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement Rob ! Hope I can offer something back Chris

[EJ_L]

Nice start indeed and while no, she is not the easiest build to start with, you appear to be doing quite well! I look forward to watching this one come together.

[Chris_P]

6 hours ago, EJ_L said:

Nice start indeed and while no, she is not the easiest build to start with, you appear to be doing quite well! I look forward to watching this one come together.

Thanks, I know it’s goung to be a long journey and has been already but I’m full of optimism and hope I’ll get there in the end !

[Chris_P]

Had a great day yesterday as it was chucking it down I spent most of the day until early evening finishing off the second planking. What a feeling ! It’s like a major milestone I didn’t think I would get to. It will need a little tidying up, filling etc. I have learned so much and on my next build will definitely be better.

 

What do most if you use to fill the walnut ? Be interested to know.

 

Mext will be the round house’s for the front. 

 

Thanks Chris

[BenD]

Hey Chris, You can buy walnut wood filler or you can use the wood glue method.  You just sand off a lot of walnut into wood glue until you have a thick walnut paste. It works quite well.

[Chris_P]

44 minutes ago, Duncbe said:

Hey Chris, You can buy walnut wood filler or you can use the wood glue method.  You just sand off a lot of walnut into wood glue until you have a thick walnut paste. It works quite well.

Ahh thanks for that Ben, I didn’t think of that approach. I’ll try that out on a few imperfections around the gun ports. Been mithering me a bit to be honest as I wanted something which would be quite hard and most fillers I have used have been a little soft.

[donrobinson]

Hi Chris, many find the planking the most difficult part of a build, you seem to have done a real good job for your first attempt. For filling gaps the glue and dust method has never worked that well for me others seemed to have mastered it. Depending on the size of the gap slivers of wood can be used, or even shavings from a plane for the smaller gaps.

[Chris_P]

Hi Don, thanks for the kind comment. It’s a little rough in places but I am sure a little filler and sandpaper will sort it out. It’s all a learning curve. The second planking was a lot quicker than the first but I am sure that’s to be expected. 

[Chris_P]

Spent the last few days making up some of the deck fittings, grates, ladders. Didn’t use the suggested 3x1mm walnut for the ladders as I thought it was too thick. Used some 0.5x2mm instead. 

 

Think I am going to stain the deck as I am not too happy with what I have done for the ‘nails’ I used Indian ink, have any of you any suggestions ? I am going to try a watered down walnut on the fittings to finish.

 

Looking at the quarter gallery next, I have temporarily pinned the rear as the instructions, does this look about right ? Just before I trim the two top edges. The cables are for a set of candle flicker bulbs. Thanks Chris

 

[ETNZ]

Hi Chris, you appear to have caught me up and I’ve been building mine for nearly five years now. Well done,the planking is a job and a half. I’m saving the coppering for the recuperation period following my coming surgery. Keep going and you will get there. 

[ETNZ]

Chris you mentioned staining your decks. I did mine with tea, vinegar and steel wool. It has come out quite nice on the decks if a little dark perhaps. The smell dissipates, so don’t worry about that. Lighting your first build is very adventurous. I like the idea. I hope it goes well for you and I look forward to following your build log further.

Edited March 6, 2019 by ETNZ

[Chris_P]

Well, first of all apologies for not updating my post. Last was September 2018 ! 
However I have an excuse as I moved home which has been the most stressful thing I have ever done.

My Agamemnon suffered in the move and it’s taken me a while to repair and get sorted, mainly surface damage but nothing which can’t be repaired. 
I have added the qtr galleries and both wale lines. However I think I have added an extra line of 3mm walnut so might remove ? 
I have missed working on my Abby soo much but I am looking forward to continuing.

 

 

[mort stoll]

Welcome back sailor.

 

Mort

[James H]

Nice to see you back and working on Aggy 🥰

[Bill Morrison]

I am watching this progress with great interest!  I have been interested in this kit for years!

 

Bill

[Chris_P]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:27 PM, mort stoll said:

Welcome back sailor.

 

Mort

 

On 4/8/2021 at 9:36 PM, James H said:

Nice to see you back and working on Aggy 🥰

 

On 4/8/2021 at 9:50 PM, Bill Morrison said:

I am watching this progress with great interest!  I have been interested in this kit for years!

 

Bill

Thanks all for your kind comments, it’s not until i started back up that I realised just how much I missed this great hobby. Already started painting the gun ports and applying the hull details getting ready for plating. I’ll update some pics later

[Chris_P]

Just started the coppering ! Well what a disaster it’s been so far. It have removed circa 60 tiles and started again. Below is the result of nearly 8 hours. They seem uneven but the hull is as flat as I can make it. Any ideas or do you think I am going in the right direction ?

I was going to finish with a satin clear laquer ?

[Will Ferris]

Hi Chris,

Gil Middleton has a fantastic build log for his Caldercraft Victory build.  You can find his coppering technique on the first page.

It looks like he used tape instead of tiles though.  Perhaps LucienL has some tips for the both of us.  He recently coppered one of his builds.  I'm sure you have seen it, but DaGostini has a basic Instruction sheet for this. (See attached.)  Please let me know how you fare as I'm going to need to copper tile my build one day.

HMS Victory Copper Tile Instructions.pdf

[Will Ferris]

Found this video to be very helpful as well: (from Rob in Calgary 2014 - Username Robipod)

 

[Chris_P]

12 hours ago, Will Ferris said:

Hi Chris,

Gil Middleton has a fantastic build log for his Caldercraft Victory build.  You can find his coppering technique on the first page.

It looks like he used tape instead of tiles though.  Perhaps LucienL has some tips for the both of us.  He recently coppered one of his builds.  I'm sure you have seen it, but DaGostini has a basic Instruction sheet for this. (See attached.)  Please let me know how you fare as I'm going to need to copper tile my build one day.

HMS Victory Copper Tile Instructions.pdf 3.37 MB · 3 downloads

Will, these are really useful. I like the idea of the  straight line of tiles at waterline. I think it will really make a difference to finishing off. The main issue I have found is some stick straight away with no chance of adjusting! Others seen to take a while. Some adhesive has over spilled but I’ll clean this up when I am nearly done. I am going to add a gore line today as suggested also. I have found that a pair of brass etch snips are best for cutting and trimming opposed to a knife. The way I have found the best so far is with a pair of tweezers and a pick. Slightly bending the tile and pushing to the edge of the existing, then releasing the tile they seem to “spring” down. I’ll post an update later showing this method.

[Chris_P]

Lovely day in the sun, think it’s finally getting there with the coppering ! 

[Will Ferris]

Chris, That looks fantastic!

[Chris_P]

Well another week and a great couple of days in the great British summer I have completed the first side ! I have learnt soo much so my port side should be even better ! 

[Will Ferris]

Excellent job Chris!  Care to drop any pearls of wisdom on me before I start messing up mine?

[Chris_P]

7 hours ago, Will Ferris said:

Excellent job Chris!  Care to drop any pearls of wisdom on me before I start messing up mine?

Will, honestly i have learnt soo much ! I found the suction pen quite useless as it wouldn’t pick up the copper sheets. I am still waiting for the powered one !
I used thin cyano and a very small tip which I changed every session. three small drops on the hull or for the awkward tiles direct.

I found that for cutting and trimming to a fine detail were these Xuron XUR2175B cutters. Extremely sharp ! 
Generally I picked up each tile with fine tweezers and applied a small amount of cyano, positioning the tile and holding in place with a sharp pointed pick. 
Another useful purchase was some cyano debonder with some q tips which I used for any over spill from the cyano. 
I used a piece of spare wood the same thickness as the tile and temporarily pinned onto the hull and marked a line to follow after the first 7 rows. I followed this and used a few stealers at each end. 

Edited May 3, 2021 by Chris_P
Spelling

[Chris_P]

Little update to show how I tackled the coppering on the next phase.

after 5 rows I temporarily pinned a piece of spare lime allowing it to follow the hull naturally. It also helped to match up the rows to the stern and bow. Leaves me a few stealers to fill in. 
 

 

 

[Chrisp]

Well after many months of painstakingly applying each copper plate, then removing, adjusting I am finally nearly there ! I learnt so much and after some great advice from the members I am somewhat pleased with the outcome. I am going to apply a gun oil polish to remove the surplus ca glue and it will also fill in the small areas. There are a few more little areas which I think I will touch up with copper paint. I am still undecided whether to age or not. 

[GrandpaPhil]

It looks really good!  

The copper will age itself naturally over time, even if you clear coat it. It will develop a natural patina.

 

The coppering on both my Victory and Prince de Neufchatel models aged within a few months and developed a very nice patina.

Edited September 3, 2021 by GrandpaPhil