HMBV Granado by Vane - Caldercraft - Scale 1:64

[Martin Amy]

Good evening all,

 

about a year ago, I inherited a part-built 'Granado' from my deceased son.......I've got into the model over this past six months and am a few weeks away from Masting & Rigging. I'm currently finishing the deck details, such as fitting the canons to the main deck. My first question concerns the rigging of the 10 x 4Ib canon - looking at contemporary illustrations online, a lot of canon are shown fitted with detachable tackles, fitted with a hook at either end of the tackles - does anybody replicate this or do most simply tie off the tails of the tackles to the eye-bolts on the canon/bulwarks?

 

Secondly, my son had bought a couple of scale ship's boats - I suspect that he was planning on creating a diorama rather than installing the boats onboard.........but it raises the question, where would the ship's boats be stowed on 'Granado'? there are no davits that I can see and certainly no chocks [or space] on the deck - does anybody know?

 

I have to say, the Caldercraft kit is superb with some really nice, detailed components. For a beginner, it's been a steep learning curve, but very enjoyable [so far!]. I suspect that the masts & rigging will be a trial as I have hands like Hams!

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[GrandpaPhil]

I’m very sorry to hear about the loss of your son.  You have my family’s greatest condolences.

 

The amount of rigging for a cannon is a personal choice.

 

I personally tied the rigging directly to the eyebolts in my last couple of builds (I’m still learning and getting better).  I have never tried to make my tackles removable.

 

There is an Anatomy of the Ship published for Granado.  I would strongly recommend it for detail information, including positions of davits and ship’s boats, which may not be readily apparent from the plans that come with a kit.

[tom kinglake]

Dear Martin,

My condolences to you as well, along with Grandpa Phil's.

I didn't use hooks on the tackles on my Granado, but Peter Goodwin's illustration on p. 91 of his book in the Anatomy of the Ship series clearly shows them, at the gun end and the bulwark end of the tackles.

Mr Goodwin also says that no information exists as to what boats were carried on Granado, but that she was possibly equipped (when serving as a bomb vessel) with a 16-foot longboat, and with an added 24ft pinnace when serving as a sloop.  He goes on to say that a boat could have been towed astern, or possibly stowed above the after mortar housing, to be swung out when needed, by a tackle from the lower yards.

I agree totally with Grandpa Phil's recommendation of this book. It's a great shame that it's not more readily available at a reasonable price - however, I see that amazon have a few copies at present , at around £80.  This is a lot to pay for a single volume - but for detailed guidance on everything belonging to Granado, it's worth every penny!

Best wishes,

Tom.

 

[HardeeHarHar]

On 7/2/2019 at 2:48 AM, Vane said:

Making progress with the planking...

Vane, I wanted to let you know that your photos show the tapering you did from the bearding line to the keel very nicely.  Did you use a dremel or was that all hand carved out, if you don't mind sharing?  Also, you didn't make and use filler blocks in the bow and stern, as some have done previously....did you consider using them and decide against?  Did you miss them?  I am just starting the build and want to make sure I put my best foot forward....

[Vane]

I doing several build at the same time so I might not remember it exactly right. But I used the blocks in the kit in the front but did not add any extra balsawood that some do in the front. I did a annoying mistake at the stern and glued the end piece before the tappering so I had to carve/dremel it out… it would had been easier to follow the intructions and just sanded it down first. :-P 

[Vane]

I dont think the first planking is that important since its only about getting the shape right. But in the second you really need to pay attension to details, especially if you are not going to cover it all with paint. I hope to be able to do some work on this later this summer but I have too many Projects going on so I will try to finalize some before going back to this ship.

  

[Witte De Wit]

Hi Vane, here is a pic of my walnut planked Granado.

just finished the 2nd planking and coated it with mat polyurethane to seal and protect it. Still not decided wether i will use the white for the waterline or leave it as it is now.

 

Yoir build looks very nice, different with that  Tanganyika. 

[tom kinglake]

Very nice looking wood work - congratulations. I'm trying to get a similar effect with my Mercury brig at the moment, using only a minimum of paint when necessary.  

I white painted my Granado below the waterline, but wish now that I'd taken more care at the 2nd planking stage in order to be able to leave it visible.

[Witte De Wit]

And oh, i used Bison contact glue for the second planking, the type that shoemakers use. I know, a lot of negative comments on contact glue, just hope it lasts. It worked fine for me, using the rear and of a teaspoon to exert pressure.

 

[Vane]

Nice woodwork there. Its all about preference: if you want to paint or not, what kind of wood that has the best colour and texture for you. The best material to work with is boxwood but hard to get and expensive.  I have built a couple of hulls in walnut. But those I painted. I dont mind the dark colour of walnut. My main problem with it is the variation in colour and tones so I would have to carefully select the planks to work with so the all are basically the same.   

[tom kinglake]

Yes, the colour variation in walnut is a problem.  Even similar looking pieces can change colour slightly when varnished.

Another worry I had while aiming at a bare wood finish for Mercury was the effect that glue marks can have on untreated wood: whether using  CA or PVA, if you get glue on the surface of the wood (and it's impossible not to), it won't take the varnish (or dye) properly at a later stage.  So to try and avoid this, I varnished all the planks that I'd selected for the second planking before I glued them on. This seems to have worked fairly well so far.

[HardeeHarHar]

Hey Vane, Tom, Grandpa Phil, and anyone else with an opinion or tip for the Granado build I am attempting:  I was wondering if there would be any merit to "transferring" the oar port patterns onto the gunport patterns and cutting those little suckers out BEFORE I even glue the gunport patterns onto the bulkheads?  What do you think, inspired or imbecile idea?  Also, when fixing the gunports to the bulkhead frames, I was thinking I would soak them (again) so they can best conform to the bulkheads.  Good or bad idea?  Finally, what glue would be best to use, and do you ABSOLUTELY avoid glue on the bulkhead extensions that get removed, and just allow the clamps to shape the gunport templates?  Sorry for all the questions, but us newbies need as much advice as from you experts as possible.....and thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[Vane]

You can do things in various order. I guess its just preference. Cutting out the holes in advance might work well. The only thing is that you still need to cut holes from the second planking. Avoiding planking the gunports is one thing but its more difficult with small holes. I use both CA and PVA. Depends on what drying time that is most suitable. 1st planking which is not visable, I prefer PVA and pins. But if you are not going to paint the 2nd planking, you need to use CA to avoid pinmarks.  

[HardeeHarHar]

Thanks Vane.  I might try the oar ports as I mentioned, but I get the point you made about getting to cut it out again after 2nd planking.  Most importantly, no glue on extensions, right?  

[tom kinglake]

As far as I remember, I glued the extensions to the bulkheads when I was making Granado -  you're sure of a tight fit if you do that - and they broke off easily enough when needed (I used pva and clamped the gunport patterns on), although some sanding was needed to get the last of the glue & wood off. 

 

I would rather use pva for this job - you have to get the fit right, and CA can grab too fast too allow this.  As advised in the instructions, I used CA for most of the 2nd planking on Granado, but for Mercury I've gone over to pva, using CA only to stick the plank to the stem and first bulkhead. I find it's easier to manage and doesn't mark the wood as badly.  

 

And I soaked the gunport patterns, but just once.  Are they plywood? (can't remember) - mind you don't over soak them and make them buckle up.

 

I have wondered sometimes whether gluing thick paper to the bulkhead extensions before gluing on the gunport patterns would be an idea - maybe it would hold the patterns in place properly but would make removal easier - but I've never tried this.

 

Yes, I agree with Vane that cutting out the oar port holes could be a good idea at this stage - in fact I don't know why they're not pre-cut in the patterns as supplied.  I didn't think of this issue until it was too late and had stuck the oar port lids on!!

And I agree with Vane also about the difficulty of getting small holes to look good - I'm not 100% pleased with the results I've got with my Mercury brig, but there it is.  At least with the Granado kit you only have to worry about the appearance of the oar ports on the inboard side (assuming that you're going to fit the port lids in the closed position).

[Vane]

Regarding the extensions, i put PVA on mina. No problem breaking them of later and with some sanding.

[HardeeHarHar]

Thanks my good man, I appreciate it!  Best regards!

[Vane]

Small update... a first layer of hull white added!

 

 

[tom kinglake]

Looking good.  Months have gone by since I did anything on my build (Mercury brig) - maybe  I'll get round to posting something before too long.

[HardeeHarHar]

I was wondering when some new pictures would be showing up....  Keep up the good work, otherwise, how am I supposed to learn from you if I catch up to your build!?!?

[Beef Wellington]

With the waterline in place , it really shows that you nailed the line of the wale.  Very nice, you've got a beautiful foundation to build on.

[HardeeHarHar]

Vane, did you/are you going to use any treenailing?

[Vane]

My Granado is not the top priority for the moment. I never done any treenailing yet, but for every model I try to raise the bar so we will see when I get there. 

 

[Vane]

Finally started to do some work on my Granado. I want to deckplank her so she dont look so rough. However, things need to be done in the right order so I had a crack at the mortar houses.  Its abit fidelly work but now I have the basis in place. These are not supposed to be glued so you can take them apart and get ready for battle. I didnt read the instructions so did some mistakes. I also had to level out the deck so it is the hight to the gunports where the same. 

 

 

 

 

 

[HardeeHarHar]

Looking good Vane!  I agree with you that those mortar housings are a LOT fiddly to deal with, that is for sure.  I see you also lined the cabin lights, and are preparing the quarterdeck bulkhead.  It's really great to see your Granado build log back in action!!!  Wishing you smooth sailing ahead.

Brian

[Vane]

Thanks, very fiddely especially the tops. 

 

 

Trying out something new now... usually i paint everything but this photoetch burnishing fluid might save me some time fot the small stuff. Just clean carefully with aceton first and the dip a few minutes in the fluid. 

 

 

[HardeeHarHar]

Let me know if it rubs off when done, I have had a lot of issues with that.  I have gone to painting, because of that issue, where it ends up more on my fingers than on the part.  By the way, your mortar housing look fantastic.

[Vane]

Finally, time to start with the deck planks!

 

 

 

[sticker]

Hi vane   ive been following your build for sometime now and i reckon she's coming along nicely  .I myself am building a granado but not the caldercraft kit  mine is the amati victory ( chris watton ) version  im at a similar stage to you  but looking over the kit details there seem to be a lot  of differences in styles ,  by the way  i think i must be the only person doing this version   so unfortunately i have non to compare / check with ,  So a couple of  differences  that apparent to date  are the mortar bays  yours are fully built up then dropped into cut out of the same shape where as mine are boxes dropped in then the outer frames built around   ,the fore deck is different  , the aft deck section with the small doors looks very different , the amati model has bill boards from the wales  has yours?      Please dont think   that i consider mine any  better than yours  in fact when i ordered mine i thought i was buying the caldercraft kit  ( i didnt check )  and when it arrived  i was a little dissapointed to find everybody else doing the caldercraft kit    So the kits may differ but i reckon that they will run parallel at some point soon so i will continue to Follow your build     and try to get some photos up this weekend          cheers sticker

[Vane]

Sorry Sticker, I just noticed your message. Thanks for the kind words.

Yes I have noticed that there are two 1/64 kits on Granado. When I bought mine I didnt know about the Amati version which seams to be slightly cheaper.  Chris has designed much of the Nelson Navy kits for Caldercraft but I think he moved on to Amati before they finished the Granado (which is one of the last new kits Caldercraft has released). I dont know much about the differences between the two kits but the mortars look somewhat different. 

If you are looking for accuracy you can always buy the book on Granado which gives alot of details on its construction. Otherwise just follow the instructions and I am sure it will look great.