HMS Vanguard by marktiedens - Model Shipways - scale 1:72

[Old Collingwood]

10 hours ago, marktiedens said:

As I start adding the wales,I need to decide which paint scheme to use.  The plans show 2 different paint schemes - one has the black & yellow following the line of the wales,the other has the black & yellow following the line of the gunports.  The first would be relatively easy with the wales black & yellow between the wales.  The second would require a LOT of masking & trying to get a straight line over different thicknesses.  Since I am not the best at painting I am leaning toward the easier one,which seems to be the pre-1798 style according to the plans.

 

Mark 

Sounds like a plan mate,  I think painting across  different profiles  is very akward  even with masking.

 

OC.

[marktiedens]

Update - with the main wale in place I thought I would make the top & bottom caps of the side galleries.  I couldn`t quite make out the exact shape of them from the plans,so I just "winged" it & shaped them so they looked good.  They were given a coat of primer,but are not glued in place yet.  In the second picture there are  brass etched decorations that go on the lower cap,but I`m not sure which ones to use. Only 2 are needed,but 3 are provided with all 3 having the same part number on the plan sheet. All three are also different shapes & lengths.  Whichever ones I use they will need to be cut to length,so it`s not really a big deal.  The parts list actually showed a quantity of 4 for this part number (377),but I could only find these three.

 

 

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

.......And here is a shot of the main wale with 1 coat of paint - a few more coats will follow. The upper edge was painted before glueing on to get a sharp edge.

 

 

Mark

Edited February 8, 2020 by marktiedens

[Old Collingwood]

Nice and tidy mark.

 

OC.

[Retired guy]

Hi Mark I could look to see what’s in my box to see there is any difference 

As OC says very nice and tidy 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[marktiedens]

Thanks OC.

 

No need to do that Richard - from the size of the lower cap I may be able to just cut one in half & get by.  I am still a ways off from adding the decorations.  I don`t see anywhere else on the ship where these particular decorations would go,so they may just be extras.  I just happened to think - the Amati kit has parts for three different ships where as this Model Shipways kit only has parts for the Vanguard variant,so the extra decorations may be for the different variations of the Amati kit.  I think the etched brass sheets in my kit are from Amati,so that would explain the extra parts.  There is a sheet from Model Shipways in the kit that says they have updated the instruction book & clarified the text (along with a few other changes).

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Update - The middle wale is now in place & painted along with the yellow areas.  The black is Model Master paint & the yellow is Vallejo yellow ochre.  I also figured it was a good time to plank the upper counter.  Not sure where I`ll go next - maybe get the waterline marked & finish the black below the main wale.

 

 

 

Mark

[Retired guy]

Does look good Mark 👍

 

Regards

Richard

[marktiedens]

Thanks Richard.  Getting closer to that dreaded coppering.

 

Mark

[Landlubber Mike]

Really nice job Mark.  You're moving along quickly yet at your usual high modeling standard.  

 

Are you going to use the copper tape?

[marktiedens]

Thanks Mike - I am going to experiment a little with the tape before going full speed ahead.  If I don`t like it I have about 3000 copper plates I got from Jotika some time ago that I can use.  The only problem with the plates from Jotika is the "nails" are a bit out of scale.

 

Mark

[Landlubber Mike]

Reason I ask is that I have the MS Charles Morgan, and I'm getting close to the coppering stage of the build.  

 

For what it's worth, the copper plates that Amati includes in kits like the Pegasus seem really well done.  They aren't cheap, but I think they would look nicer and be more accurate that cutting individual plates from that tape.

[marktiedens]

Yes,I`ve seen the Amati plates & they do look nice.  One small problem is I just dropped a ton of money for hearing aids,so my bank account is a little thin right now.

 

Mark

[MartinB]

Mark, 

 

Your planking, always looks superb. A pleasure!!

 

Regards,

Martin.

[marktiedens]

Thank you very much,Martin.

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Continuing on......Using a laser level,the waterline was marked & a thin strip was added along it to border the copper.  Next, the rest of the black area below the wales was painted.  Then,I cut a couple pieces of copper (6mm x 18mm) & stuck them on some scrap wood.  Having bought a rivet tool some time ago,I figured it was a good time to try it out.  The rivet tool came with 4 sizes of rivet wheels & I thought the one with 1.25mm spacing looked good,so I ran it over the copper,which made small indentations in it.   The picture is a really close up,so the indentations look large,but at a normal distance they are tiny.  I know they are probably slightly out of scale,but this is the smallest rivet tool I could find.  Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark

[flyer]

Hi Mark

 

Great work again.

 

Good start on the copper plates although they aren't yet fully on the quality standard of the rest of the build.

Just an idea: Didn't somebody in MSW use a stamp to make all rivets on one plate together? This would mean you would have to fabricate a stamp made of a piece of plastic (wood would be too splintery) with about 30 to 50 tiny nails or perhaps better pin-tips in it, protruding all the same length. This would be tricky work but if it is possible I think the making of the 2000 or so plates would go faster and you would have a regular pattern.

 

For info: My Amati plates are 17 by 5 mm and have 2 rows of 9 rivets after 1 and 2 thirds of the width and a row of 18 rivets at the edge. This makes a distance of about 1,7 mm between the rivets, but only 0,9 mm distance along the edge.

 

Good luck!

Peter

[marktiedens]

Hi Peter - I have seen the stamp ,but I don`t think I could make one to my satisfaction.  I  cut the plates a little larger because the copper tape supplied is 1/4 inch wide (6.35mm).  I think I can line up the rivets  a little better using a straight edge.  I may try the 1.5mm rivet wheel & see how that looks.  Although I didn`t press hard on the tool,a lighter touch might be better also.  The points on the tool wheel are very sharp,so it doesn`t take much pressure to make an indentation in the copper,which is only .025mm thick.  The hard part seems to be getting the paper backing peeled off the copper!   I`m not really that concerned about how many rivets are on each plate ( I`m not a rivet counter),just that it looks fairly even.

 

Mark 

[fmodajr]

 

Hi Mark,

 

great job!

 

Can you give me a little more information on the laser level you have? Looks like a very nice tool to have in the workroom.

 

thanks,

Frank

 

[marktiedens]

Thanks Frank - I got the level from Sears several years ago before they closed their store here - a really nice unit.  It is self-leveling as long as it is within 4 degrees of level.  It also has threads in the bottom so it can be mounted on a tripod.  It can project either a horizontal,vertical,or cross beam.  It uses 3 AA batteries,so there is no cord to trip over or drag around.   I don`t remember what I paid for it,but I`m pretty certain it was well under $100.  It really works well for hanging pictures,mounting shelves,etc.,etc.

 

Mark

 

Mark

[marktiedens]

Hi all - I think my experiment with the copper foil tape is over.  This stuff is awful to work with!  By the time I get the backing peeled off it`s all curled up & nearly impossible to flatten it back out without wrinkles.  I also couldn`t get a consistent pattern of nails on it,plus I had a hard time laying it in a straight line.  By the time I pulled it off several times & repositioned it the glue on the back didn`t want to stick very good.  It is also way too shiny & a lot of the edges had some sort of dark stain on them which I couldn`t get off.  On top of that,I totally ran out of cuss words trying to work with this stuff!   I am therefore going to use the plates I have from Jotika.  The "nails" may be a bit out of scale,but they still look decent plus they are easy to work with.  I have 3000 of them,which should be plenty.  The picture shows some of the copper tape I tried along with one of the Jotika plates.

 

 

Mark  

[Old Collingwood]

I see what you mean mark,   fully agree with you  about the tape tiles,    the individual one does look a lot better   and look to be so much more square.

 

OC.

[JeffT]

I went with the copper plates on my constitution. It looks much better in my opinion.

[marktiedens]

Thanks guys - yes,OC - the edges are not that even.  They actually have a little curl in them which I could not fully flatten out.   What makes it so hard to work with is it is only .025mm thick - it bends over just by blowing on it.   At least I can say I tried it!    Before I continue with the copper I think I will get the stand put together so I can drill a couple of holes in the keel for mounting it.

 

 Peeked in on your Constitution,Jeff - I hope my copper turns out as good as yours.

 

Mark

Edited February 25, 2020 by marktiedens

[marktiedens]

Hi everyone.  Not a lot to show,but I have started the coppering.  I decided to cover the keel first - I have some copper plates that were just the right width to cover the keel without a lot of cutting & fiddling.  They had some really large nail detail,so I flattened them by squeezing them in a vice.  The rest of the plates I will use as-is.  I should be farther along,but I`m not overly motivated with all the bad news lately.  The keel plates are from Model Expo & the rest of the hull will be covered by plates from Jotika (Caldercraft).  Thanks for looking in.

 

 

 

Mark

[Retired guy]

Got this to come Mark so will be watching. good start, you might have said what glue are you using CA?

 

Regards

Richard

[marktiedens]

I am using an odorless medium viscosity CA.  It`s a bit pricey,but doesn`t seem to have the bad reactions of regular CA,so worth the extra cost to me.

 

Mark

[Snow]

Nice work  mark what is the name  of the  glue  

Keep up the great  work Cheers snowy 

[zappto]

Now this is a build!  A huge ship construction, a pleasure to watch! Keep up great work!

[marktiedens]

Snowy - Thanks.  I will add a picture of the container.  It`s made by BSI here in the states.  It says it`s an eye irritant,but I haven`t noticed any irritation - unlike regular CA,which makes my eyes water among other things.

 

Thanks zappto - yes,it is quite the project.  I don`t know where I am going to put it when finished.

 

 

 

Mark