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

[Dan Vadas]

Main Topsail Sheet Bitts

 

The Pins for the Main Topsail Sheet Bitts were made and temporarily fitted for alignment purposes :

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Main Jeer Bitts

 

The Main Jeer Bitts are of similar construction to the Riding Bitts with differences in their sizes and upper "decorations". They have similar Cheek Blocks :

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Forecastle Deck Beams

 

The Forecastle Deck Beams were made the same way as the Upper Deck Beams, except they have a 6" roundup instead of a 5". Here they are all temporarily fitted into place to draw the centre line :

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Hawse Holes Finishing

 

The Hawse holes were now filed out to their finished dimensions. Both sides needed to be filed out to accommodate the Hawse Linings :

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are lined with Oak (dark pear on the model) in Barrel Stave fashion - this protects the surrounding framing from damage and is relatively easy to replace when they wear. I'm showing this feature on the port side, and "lining" the starboard side with poly tubing to simulate copper sheathing :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The appropriate size drill bit came in useful to check that the angles were correct :

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Fore Topsail Sheet Bitts

 

The Fore Topsail Sheet Bitts house the Bowsprit Step. Angled rebates have been cut into the lower parts of the pins for the Manger boards :

 

 

 

 

The position of the Step was determined using a dummy section of bowsprit :

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Bucklers

 

The Bucklers are covers for the Hawse Holes to minimise the entry of water. There are two types - "blind bucklers" which were used when no anchor cable was in use, and "riding bucklers" which fit fairly tightly around the anchor cable.

 

They are supported by removable Cants each side, which are morticed into the Bolster below and the Upper Deck Breasthook above :

 

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Upper Deck Breasthook

 

Fairly self-explanatory .......

 

 

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Bowsprit Partner, Hanging and Lodging Knees

The Bowsprit Partner is made from a single piece of timber 24" wide and 2" thick. I started out by using a card template, cutting the hole a little undersize. To finish off the angled hole I used the same sliding sanding tube as for the hole between the knightheads and bowsprit chock, but I placed the end of the guide dowel into the bowsprit step :

 

 

 

 

The Hanging Knees for the second beam needed quite a bit of sanding to get them to sit flush with the spirketting :

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Manger

 

The Manger performed the task of draining off most of the water as the anchor cable was hauled in. There is a scupper in each forward corner to let the water back out.

 

It consists of two removable planks each side which are held at their forward ends by two rebated cants and a rebate at their aft ends in each of the two fore topsail sheet bitt pins :

 

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Riding Bitts part 2

 

The Riding Bitts were now finished off and the Crosspiece made. This is held in place by two hooks and eyes, which I made from flattened brass wire. The riding bitt Standards (the horizontal knees) have also been fitted :

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Galley Stove 1

 

Choosing the method of construction of the Galley Stove caused me a few sleepless nights - I wasn't confident enough in my brasswork and silver soldering techniques to attempt to make it from brass sheet like some others have, so I decided to go with a medium I was comfortable with - Wood. I've used English Box for the flat sheets, with Swiss Pear for other pieces.

 

The first parts I made were the angles for the corners. These were cast iron and have a foot at the bottom which bolts to the floor. I used Pear which I first ran through the Thicknesser to take off the majority of the waste, leaving a foot for the bottom. This needed a little work with a round file to get to the correct radius. Then I cut each leg on the table saw with a few extras in case I needed them :

 

 

 

 

 

Next I cut a rebate into each leg to accept the sheet sides :

 

 

 

 

 

The lids were made from Box, the hinges from half-round pieces of the same, and the latches are paper :

 

 

 

 

The supports for the Spit were filed from brass strip :

 

 

 

 

 

The Cowl was sanded to shape from a single piece on the disc sander using the tilting table :

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

Galley Stove 2

 

The Pot Arms were filed from brass strip :

 

 

 

 

There are two Boilers - a large round one and a smaller oval one. The lids for these were made from Box :

 

 

 

 

 

The inside was painted Matt Black and the 0.5mm Grating Bars were fitted :

 

 

 

 

Paper Pot Lid Handles and Spit Support Brackets were added, also all the rivets which were made from rounded brass wire. The dowel on top of the Cowl is a support for the Chimney :

 

 

 

 

Finally two small hinges from the PE set were added for the dummy lid :

 

 

 

 

The whole stove received a coat of Matt Black :

 

 

 

 

The Ash Box, Side Rails and Spit :

 

 

 

 

The Lifting Rings have been fitted and the stove has been dry-brushed with silver to highlight the various components. The brasswork has also been added - this will be left as brass for a little contrast and better visibility :

 

 

 

 

[Dan Vadas]

This post concludes the "Resurrection" of my Build Log.

 

From now on it's back to my more "normal" style, with comments from other members and more "in-depth" explanations of how I build certain things. All MISTAKES will also be documented from here on  .

 

,  Danny

[Dida]

Perfect idea how to restore the build log in an organized way. I like it! Maybe I should do the same way.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Dida

[gjdale]

I know that many of us have admired Danny's Vulture and appreciated his detailed posts here before.  Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Danny in person and the privilege of seeing Vulture "in the flesh".  The former is a mild mannered, modest guy who seems to enjoy nothing better than helping other modellers.  The latter is a beautiful lady!  We enjoyed a wee dram or two as Danny showed me his work and his toys.     

 

If there was just one word to describe Danny's work on Vulture, it would have to be, "exquisite".  While Danny has posted (and will re-post) some excellent photographs, as good as they are, they don't do justice to the real thing. It really is a work of art!

 

Like everyone else here Danny, I look forward to seeing the resumption of Vulture's journey. 

[Dan Vadas]

 

Gee Grant, thanks a lot - it was a pleasure meeting you too . And rest assured the rest of the bottle of Glenfiddich certainly won't go to waste .

 

Cheers, Danny

[captainscott]

Hello Dan, glad to see your build log again.  Your work is very impressive, a master craftsman at his finest!  I spent a couple of weeks reading through and admiring your work. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have learned from it. Thanks for taking the time to reconstruct the log.

Scott

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks Scott . I hope the Rebuilt Log won't be a disappointment, but I've had to leave out a lot of the details I put into the old one - I'm trying to do the job in THIS lifetime .

 

I've finished the first 9 posts (ONLY 110 to go   ) and I'll be doing as many as I can each day until I get back to where I was before the Crash. Click on the "HMS Vulture" Link in my Signature to get to my Index.

 

Cheers, Danny

[mtaylor]

Danny,

 

What a monumental task.  I know we'll all appreciate it.  I do already.

[WackoWolf]

Danny,

 

    Thank you for re-doing the post, I know it a job that is going to take quite a bit of your time, so I wish to say Thank you for doing it for us.

[Alex M]

Hi Dan, I was impressed by you build log and by you Vulture in old MSW, now I'm impressed by you re-build! Marvelous work you do here, Hats off!

 

Alexander

Edited February 20, 2013 by Alex M

[tlevine]

I like how you are rebuilding the log.  This way you can keep everything in order and still keep building.  I am very glad that I am so far behind you.  There is a lot less to reconstruct.

[Sjors]

Hi Danny,

 

That's a lot of work you are doing.

But great to see it all back again!

That's again hours of reading fun….

 

Sjors

[Kevin]

Thank- you Danny 

 

it is very much appreciated what you are doing

[riverboat]

Hi Danny........ let me just say it's so nice to see you getting your log back together again.

 This and your Supply  logs were just Classic works. I'm sure there are many here that have taken advatage of your expertise in putting

these logs together. I for one have used  your Supply log constantly, and it  has helped me better my work. I don't know what your plans are for that log,but I'm happy that I had the chance to take advantage of it when it was available. Thank  you so much for your help Danny!

Frank

[geomac6305]

 

Dan, so sorry, it was a grand site/build and I enjoyed watching
your model come together.  I too, lost
everything; however, nothing compared to your entries.  Oh well, my only consolation......I hadn’t placed pictures
of my two completed projects on the old site.

 

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Dan, thanks for the whole work for recreating your fantastic log. I appreciate this work very much.

Gregs book and the logs of Remco, tlevine and you are my primary sources to find my way through the cliffs of builing my Swan class sloop.

[Dan Vadas]

Thanks for looking in Mark, Joe, Alex, Toni, Sjors, Kevin, Frank, geomac6305 and Christian. I hope you all continue enjoying the Log as it starts to fill up .

 

I am very glad that I am so far behind you.  There is a lot less to reconstruct.

 

Toni, you're doing a GREAT job on your "reconstruction" - that's a huge amount of re-typing compared to mine .

 

I for one have used  your Supply log constantly, and it  has helped me better my work. I don't know what your plans are for that log,but I'm happy that I had the chance to take advantage of it when it was available.

 

 Sorry Frank, but the Build Log of "Supply" won't be re-surfacing (I'll post some pics of the Completed Ship in the Gallery though) - I only have ONE lifetime left to do the things I want to do .

 

Hi all,

 

Further additions to my Build Log have been completed - nearly finished Page 2.

 

  Danny

[WackoWolf]

Page 2. Dam you got a long wayto go if I remember the numbers right LOL. Wish you the best of luck with getting the log up to date.

[Dan Vadas]

Build Log Reconstruction Update :

 

I have attached all the Pictures up to the start of Page 6. Text still needs to be added for Pages 3 to 5, that will start happening when ALL the pics have been attached up to Page 10.

 

  Danny