HMS Vulture 1776 by Dan Vadas - 1:48 scale - 16 gun "Swan" class sloop from TFFM plans - Finished

[michael mott]

Danny it is great checking in on your build, I like the way you solve the little details.

 

Michael

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Aldo, John, Aitch, Pygothian and Michael, and welcome to the two "newcomers" to my Build Log, and a special welcome to an old friend .

 

Quarterdeck Hanging Knees

 

TFFM show a total of 14 pairs of Hanging Knees for the Quarterdeck on the plan view. This is (I hope) a mistake, as the ones above the Quarter Light on Beam 14 would only be a couple of (real) inches high . I will be omitting these.

 

There are three hanging knees on beams 3, 6 and 9 which are above gunports - I've made a shortened version for these :

 

 

All the knees are that close to the same size and shape that I could mass produce them - what a bonus . There are only minute variations in the side bevels, which will be sanded in as they are fitted. These are all straight from the scroll saw, and still require a fair bit of work to finish them :

 

 

Here's the first one I made, all completed with "bolts" and lacquer. I used it as a template for the rest, after first checking it on various locations :

 

[Jim Lad]

Quite  production line, Danny!

 

John

[rdsaplala]

Ah yes, the knees, just the thought of having to shape each and everyone of those to make them fit the adjacent structures gives me the creeps, but you make it look so easy Danny, very elegant work  

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you John and Aldo .

 

My girlfriend brought up a pertinent question today - "Why do they call them Knees when they have two Arms. Shouldn't they be called Elbows?"

 

Continuing on ......

 

Somewhere down the track I'd forgotten all about fitting a strake for the lower part of the quarterdeck hanging knees to sit on the starboard side. I decided on the upper of the two rows of Spirketting.

 

Fitting them was a little more difficult than it should have been if I'd done so before gluing in all the quarterdeck beams, but it wasn't too hard. First I made up the two pieces of Top and Butt Shifted planking, complete with treenails which would have been impossible to fit after the strakes were in position :

 

 

Some pics of the strakes being fitted :

 

 

 

And with the foremost knee glued in place :

 

 

  Danny

[popeye the sailor]

that's some tedious work Danny.........but it looks super! 

[Jim Lad]

Bit of a squeeze in there, Danny - but it worked!

 

John

[Kevin]

lovely work Danny, the more and more i see of your work the more i would like to give it a go

[gjdale]

So, your girlfriend already has you on your elbows and knees Danny!

 

Very nicely done, as usual, though!

[rdsaplala]

Now that's a very nice fit Danny, perfect shaping work on those structures!

[clipper]

Hi Danny, good grief mate lots of patience and breath holding to position everything just right. I take my hat of to you.

Tony

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Popeye, John, Kevin, Grant, Aldo and Tony.

 

Bit of a squeeze in there, Danny - but it worked!

 

 

Not as hard as it looks John and Popeye - the strakes could be inserted from each end (they meet behind a bulkhead   ).

 

So, your girlfriend already has you on your elbows and knees Danny!

 

 

Been like that almost since "Day 1" Grant . But I'm not complaining .

 

I've finished and fitted all the port side hanging knees. A few need their tops sanded slightly to match the tops of the beams. Most of them will be almost invisible when the deck planking goes on, but I'm not sure which ones can be caught a glimpse of so I detailed them all. The three in the middle of the pic will DEFINITELY be invisible, but hey ..... we all know they're in there :

 

 

 

A view through the port side stern light. The glue is still wet on the last one I fitted :

 

 

From the waist :

 

 

And through a starboard gunport :

 

 

  Danny

[gjdale]

[SkerryAmp]

The diligence and attention continue to amaze me.  The frame is so busy and complicated and looks fantastic.   Would love to try one myself but i think I will live vicariously through you for a while

[Jim Lad]

Very nice, Danny.  She's looking first class!

 

John

[Maury S]

just beautiful

Maury

[Dan Vadas]

Thank you Grant, Adam, John and Maury.

 

Cast Knee

 

There is a knee alongside the aftmost sweep port that needs a bit of shifting to clear the port. This is achieved in a similar manner to the much earlier "Casting" of some of the Frames :

 

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

Cast like a true fly fisherman, Danny!

 

John

[rth385]

Hi Dan,

It gets better and better. That knee is a work of art.

Regards,

Russell

[pianomanpj]

That's a beautiful piece of work on that knee, Danny, but why wouldn't they just have put a "regular" knee on the other side of the deck beam instead?

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks again John and Russell.

 

why wouldn't they just have put a "regular" knee on the other side of the deck beam instead?

 

 

Hi pianomanpj, and welcome to my build log .

 

The hanging knee can't be placed on the opposite side of a beam as it would interfere with the Lodging Knee - you'll see what I mean shortly when I start fitting those.

 

  Danny

[Dan Vadas]

"My name is Danny, Look on my works, and despair!"

 

 

Thanks Spyglass :D .

 

Lodging Knees

 

Work has started on the quarterdeck Lodging Knees. I've made these using the same techniques as earlier lodging knees, using card templates to get their shapes :

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[Jim Lad]

More lovely joinery work, Danny!

 

John

[mtaylor]

Sweet work, Danny.  Moving the bar a bit higher, I see.  That cast knee is proof.

[Pygothian]

"Jaw drops"

[Pygothian]

I envy your workmanship

[Dan Vadas]

And thanks again to John, Mark and Pygothian .

 

All the quarterdeck lodging knees are now completed.

 

 

 

As Beam #14 couldn't be supported by a Hanging Knee due to being only 5 (scale) inches above the quarterlight opening, I came up with an alternative solution. I've made a 5" x 7" Angle Bracket which bolts through the frames and into the lodging knees either side of the beam.

 

I used two pieces of 0.040" brass to which I soldered 8 "bolt heads". These were then blackened and epoxied in :

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Danny

[druxey]

Interesting solution, Dan. I suspect that, as the quarter deck does not carry much weight, the hanging knee would have been simply omitted entirely. Only the lodging knee would be installed.

[Jim Lad]

Thanks, Druxey.  As I was reading Danny's post I was thinking, "I wonder how it was done on the actual ship!

 

John

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for the input Druxey and John. Point noted about the small amount of weight the beam would have carried.

 

The problem I could see was how they would have bolted the Lodging Knees to the beam. Maybe I went with "overkill", but that's the way I would have done it if I were building the ship   .

 

Quarterdeck Hatch Coamings

 

I've made and fitted the Coamings for the quarterdeck hatches and companions, along with the "packers" for the Capstan Step (pic 2 below). The hatches taper slightly in width from fore to aft.

 

 

 

 

All the coamings have a 2" roundup except the aftmost one. This one will have a clerestory light fitted above it and is therefore straight on top, although the bottom has a roundup to match the beam (as they all do).

 

 

The foremost coaming hasn't been finished yet - I took the pic now to show my method of ensuring a perfect fit in the corners. Each lapped joint has been cut slightly oversize, the pieces glued in, and then trimmed to align with the sides of the head ledges and coamings. This coaming is slightly wider than the others.

 

 

  Danny