HMS Winchelsea by rafine 1/48

[Gahm]

Excellent work, Bob! What a beauty!

 

Thomas

[rafine]

Thanks so much Glenn, Ben, Rusty and Thomas for the comments, and thanks also to the "likes". Always greatly appreciated.

 

Bob

[Mirabell61]

Wow !

congrats, what a beautiful build Bob....

I love those open quaterdeckes enabling view to the many wooden joinings and the lower decks, all is neat and accurate indeed

 

Nils

[rafine]

Thanks so much Nils. Always good to have you look in.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rafine]

Working my way through chapter nine.

 

First, I made up the belfry from the laser cut parts. This involved some very fussy work, particularly with the really tiny bits of molding. I finished it with a coat of Wipe-on poly and added the bell and brass handle. The belfry was then pinned and glued in place.

 

Next, I added the breasthook. It required some shaping to fit the contour of my bow and was painted red and glued in place. I also added the two ringbolts and two spanshackles to the deck. The spanshackles were bent around a piece of 1/4" stipwood as a former to get uniform size and shape.

 

Lastly, I made up the belfry rail, using the laser cut  rails and timber heads. The timberheads were filed to shape. The assembly was painted black and glue in place.

 

This leaves the catheads and forecastle rail to be done.

 

Bob

 

 

[TBlack]

1 hour ago, rafine said:

 

First, I made up the belfry from the laser cut parts. This involved some very fussy work, particularly with the really tiny bits of molding. I finished it with a coat of Wipe-on poly and added the bell and brass handle. The belfry was then pinned and glued in place.

 

 

Bob,

Excellent work! You must have very steady hands and good eyes!

Tom

 

 

 

 

[dvm27]

Love the belfry with all it's molded detail Bob. Just curious - did you ever consider blackening it to match the rail and timberheads? Obviously that would hide some of the lovely detail work but the entire breastwork area might flow better.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Tom, Greg and the "likes".  

 

I only wish that it were still true Tom.

 

I seriously considered it Greg, but it did seem a shame to hide the detail, and Chuck had left  it natural so I foiiowed suit.

 

Bob

[rafine]

First, a disclaimer: all shortcomings in the work are the result of my failings, not the kit parts. Aging and the deterioration of my hands (a small tremor in one and arthritis in the other) have taken a toll. Handling and manipulation of small parts is getting progressively more difficult and redoing is less and less successful, because the third try isn't likely to be any better than the first. Having said all of that, a word of caution, particularly to those still in early stages of the build. As Chuck has warned, the parts in this chapter have very little wiggle room, meaning that even small deviations  in shape and position in early stages can make life difficult later on (no need to ask how I know). Notwithstanding all of the foregoing, I still greatly enjoy building generally, and this build in particular.

 

With that overlong introduction, I have now completed chapter nine. This last work includes  the catheads and the forecastle rail, with it's cat blocks, spanshackle cleats and inboard cleats. While most of the items should be relatively straightforward, for the reasons set out above, I found many of the tasks got fussy and difficult. Cutting the slots for the catheads and getting the rail to align properly were the most problematic.

 

Bob

[glbarlow]

It all looks good to me. What could have been done different at the beginning?

[BobG]

It sounds like this was very challenging work, Bob, but from the looks of it, you've done a beautiful job!

[rafine]

Thanks so much Glenn, Bob and the 'likes".

 

Glenn, I missed the shape of the bow by a little bit, but it was enough to cause a lot of grief in fitting the rails. Perhaps, having the templates back then would have helped.

 

Bob, it was made a lot more challenging by my prior small errors.

 

Bob

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nunnehi (Don)]

Looks great, Bob! I’m about a month behind you and got all the parts for Chapter 9 a couple of weeks ago but have been working on another project. I appreciate your comments on fairing issues early in the build and the problems they create at this stage - I have some of my own to work out and Chucks right, not a whole lot of wiggle room. 
 

Anyway, you’ve done a great job, I hope mine comes out half as good!

 

Don

[FrankWouts]

Bob,

The result of your build is simply beautiful, despite your "small tremor in one and arthritis in the other", you show great talent and perseverance and to me that's what I admire most. I'm not looking for small deviations or some corrected errors in a model, but simply admire them as a whole and in the details and enjoy them. And yours is certainly an example to admire and enjoy looking to for hours.

I simply hope to get as far as you with the same quality and beauty some day.

Then I've proven to myself that I can do this: you've already more than proven that to me!

Frank.

Edited February 6, 2022 by FrankWouts

[rafine]

Thanks so much Don, Frank and the "likes".

 

Don, I have no doubt that yours will be at least as good as mine.

 

Frank, your comments are overly generous, but greatly appreciated. My disclaimer was merely an acknowledgement and recognition of the effects of aging and my intention to not allow that to prevent my enjoyment of a great hobby. Thanks again.

 

Bob

 

 

[Mldixon]

1 hour ago, rafine said:

Frank, your comments are overly generous, but greatly appreciated. My disclaimer was merely an acknowledgement and recognition of the effects of aging and my intention to not allow that to prevent my enjoyment of a great hobby. Thanks again.

Yep, old age is a bear, my body has become a barometer, and I spend as much time researching my aches and pains as I do ship details. But I agree the hobby keeps you sharp in both mind and body. 

[rafine]

I have now begun work on chapter ten. The outboard deck planking had already been done, so it was time to do the center planking. This required that the hatch coamings and gratings be done first. I used the laser cut coamings and the boxwood grating kits. The planking was fitted around the coamings, using 3/16", 1/4",and 5/16" strips, which were shaped, tapered and bent to match the planking templates. After the planking was done and finished with Wipe-on poly, I added the coamings and gratings, the upper capstan, the ladder, the mizzen bitts, the mizzen mast coat and the ring bolts for the scuttles at the fore end of the quarter deck.

 

Next up will be the wheel, the binnacle and the breast rail.

 

Bob

[Vladimir_Wairoa]

pretty fine  work Bob. congrats. 

[glbarlow]

Nice work, enjoy seeing where I hope to be someday. 

[rafine]

Thanks so much Vlad and Glenn for the comments and thanks also. to the “likes”.

 

Bob

[Rustyj]

Wonderful work Bob. 

[rafine]

Thanks so much Rusty and the "likes".

 

Bob

[mtbediz]

Very clean work as always.

[Landlubber Mike]

Superb work Bob as always.  Very nice!

[rafine]

Thanks so much for the generous comments Mustafa and Mike and thanks also to the "likes".

 

Bob

[rafine]

In this update, I have added the capstan pawls, the ladderway railing, the quarterdeck breastrail, the wheel and the binnacle. In doing this work, I made some choices: I decided to paint the entire breastrail black, rather than leave the uprights unpainted; I chose to do the ladderway  railing with wire stanchions and rope, as shown on the plans and as  I had done on the gundeck; I left the entire wheel bright, rather than paint the rim red; and I left off the friezes on the binnacle. All of these choices were a matter of personal preference except for the binnacle friezes, which were not used because the red color on the printouts could not be used with the red paint color that I have been using throughout the build, including on the binnacle.

 

Next up will be the quarterdeck railings.

 

Bob

[scrubbyj427]

Your Winnie looks great Bob! She’s turning out very nice!

 

JJ

[rafine]

Thanks so much JJ for the kind comments and thanks also to the"likes".

 

Bob

[glbarlow]

I enjoy seeing what I hope mine will look like some far distant day, we’ll done Bob.

[rafine]

Thanks so much Glenn. Your comments are greatly appreciated..

 

Bob