HMS Cruiser by Wahka_est - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Wahka_est]

Hi all

 

Got HMS Cruiser from stock clearance sale few weeks ago with really good peice (excuse for Admiral). It has been standing there for weeks now and decided to start with it.

 

My first build was(still ongoing) Terror by Occre. Somehow Cruiser cought my eye with natural finish apperance-i really liked it. Also its advertised as so called simple build, so would be hopefully simple and fast build.  So plan is to just sand and varnish it. Maybe paint or stain cannons cause plywood edges are visible.

One other reason why i like it is that i seems big. Its little longer than Terror but a lot more wider.

 

About the kit.

Box is nice but inside is full of wood bust from cnc. Also the lines are still full of dust. First thing i used vacuum to clean most of it but eouting lines are now hardened and wont come out easily.

 

Cnc part are nicely cut, didnt notice any errors so far. 
Fitting seem a lot better than Occre.

 

Wood is good quality except planks-some quanitu has quite “hairy” edges after cutting. With little sanding it should come off.

 

Instructions at first seem scary-7 sheets of drawings and few pages of text. Photo instructions make it mich easier. BUT taken into account experience with Terror and also im civil engineer then after checking i realised that drawings have much more info than photo instructions. Only problem is that they are so big-hard to keep them anywhere when you dont have workshop(like me).

One problem with instructions is that none of the fittings have markings so it takes some time to find exact one and always double check to be sure.

 

This build will be easier and also harder than Terror. Easier cause not so kany deck fitting but harder vause there isnt finished detail build log. 
 

About the start.

 

Dryfitted bulkwarks on keel and they fit like a charm. Very little sanding needed. I also like that its 5mm plywood so it can bare little more handling.

Glued bulkwarks to place and used cnc cut deck to position eberything to right place.

With the experience from Terror i now look 3-4 step ahead and check how other parts fit also(keels etc).
Problems that other builds had havent occured yet.

[Beef Wellington]

Its nice to get a sense for the shape of the hull.  I suspect the Cruizer instructions are also rather meagre given this is an older kit, there are plenty of other logs to help you over a couple of the questions that seem to come up with all the Snake/Cruizer builds, so feel free to ask questions.

[Wahka_est]

Small progress-fasle deck glued. Some additional balsa pieces applied, will add more before sanding.

 I do not darw to start sanding yet. Last time whole room was full of dust. Waiting nice weather to do it on balcony-Admirals idea.

[Wahka_est]

Got clearance from Admiral to do some heavy sanding  so was able to move on - had to vacuum whole living after that.

Gunport bulkwark was the most complicated fit so far. Did it so that marked line on bulkwark where it should meet false deck. Fit isnt 100% perfect, some gaps, but 2nd layer will cover it.

 

Applied too much CA at bow so it ran on keel(heavy sanding awaits i guess). That was only way to get it to stick at deck.

As its my 2nd build i have learned a bit. Added some balsa filler blocks and intend to add some more before the planking. Some tore apart during sanding.

 

i know it dosent look nice at the moment but thats my style to make hull rock solid and it all will be covered.

 

Next is to finish with the keel and stren bulkwark.

[Wahka_est]

Bulkwarks were glued nicely.

 

In this build i educate myself more with books and other material. Will try to make a huge jump in general quality and techniques also.

As it came to my mind that this hull isnt like Terroe i had to remove false keel in order to sand down keel at the areas where there arent any bulkhead. Otherwise planking would be 2mm over the false keel when finished.

 

Installed 3 planks. 1st blanks under gunport bulkhead went in without tapering. Will start tapering from 2nd plank.

Got new toy-Amati clamps. Good investment. Bad is that i cant install many planks at once.
So i prepared filler blocks for each bulkhead (tried to avoid that and rush into planking) that i will glue on at next build day. This means at each bulkhead i can glue it with pva and fix with superglue as i have enough surface to work on.

 

i allready see that planks are meeting the gunport bulkheads line at bow area in one place. I will cover that area with extra planks and sand it down at later stage of the build.
 

Question-should i apply 1st planking to the area where there isnt any bulkheads and its just keel? I should be logical to put only 2nd planking there that would meet with the false keel(rabbet line).

the area is sanded down with dremel for now.

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Wahka,  I think I understand you question.  I believe you will need to install a walnut sternpost, which is 5 x 5 mm if memory serves.  Therefore you will want to have the external planking to be around 5mm thick where it meets the sternpost, so you have some options.  The most extreme would be to thin the bearding at the stern to around 1mm thick to allow for 2x 1mm lime wood strips, and 2x 1mm walnut 2nd planking.  Unfortunately the pictures from when I was at this stage are lost from my Snake log, but I believe that I thinned the actual keel to around 3.5mm, and then cut a notch following the same bearding line and sunk the first planking strips into it.  The bottom picture in post below illustrates this but on a different build.  That approach should save you some sanding, and is probably a little safer approach.  Once you have the first planking installed, you can then thin more and using the shape of the hull as a guide.   Hope this helps.

 

 

[Wahka_est]

5 hours ago, Beef Wellington said:

Hi Wahka,  I think I understand you question.  I believe you will need to install a walnut sternpost, which is 5 x 5 mm if memory serves.  Therefore you will want to have the external planking to be around 5mm thick where it meets the sternpost, so you have some options.  The most extreme would be to thin the bearding at the stern to around 1mm thick to allow for 2x 1mm lime wood strips, and 2x 1mm walnut 2nd planking.  Unfortunately the pictures from when I was at this stage are lost from my Snake log, but I believe that I thinned the actual keel to around 3.5mm, and then cut a notch following the same bearding line and sunk the first planking strips into it.  The bottom picture in post below illustrates this but on a different build.  That approach should save you some sanding, and is probably a little safer approach.  Once you have the first planking installed, you can then thin more and using the shape of the hull as a guide.   Hope this helps.

 

 

Hi,

 

Thank you very much. Your proposed solution is really helpful and seems the best and safest way.

I checked Snake blogs and to be honest it seems that they dont focus on that issue. Many ships have coper plating and therefore it dosent matter to them.

I will try to do it like you said - thin the keel (allready done), cut a notch with same bearing line, sunk 1st planking into notch, 2nd planking would also be sunked a little but only so it would be same surface as fale keel.

This means i will install last pieces of keel when planking is done so i can sand it even so i dont damage the keel.

 

My plan is to leave this ship unpainted cause thats the reason i choose it - it looks really good (at least on pictures) without any painting etc.

[Wahka_est]

No photos but yesterday evening i sat down and read about planking from books i bought. Also today read NRG articles about planking. Would say i got much smarter. Books have some info missing or its just all over the book. 2-3 books together with articles might give 95% of the real picture (all depend what you are chaseing).

 

Glued balsa filler blocks to bulkheads and will cut extra off tomorrow hopefully. Then i can continiue with planking. I try to put special attention on tappering etc to master my skills.

 

[Wahka_est]

Progress on 1st planking.

Tried different approaches just to test them. Im still bad with tappering. Dont like how it looks but sanding will clear it out.

Somehow these wood strip dont fit it so well as Terrora did. These are also thinner and more fragile-im sure this is really old kit. But that should still affect the wood if its stored properly.

 

Near bow the gunport bulkwark didnt bend well so there was gap between blank and it-glued few extra pieces and will sand it down.
 

Decided to put 1st plank on keel also then i know i can sand it down and have right surface for 2nd planking.

 

Summary-planking needs still practice.

[Wahka_est]

1st planking done.

Needs some filler. Overall happy with outcome. Will pay special attention to area mext to keel so that 2nd planking would drop nicely next to keel.

Stern needs some balsa block for 2nd planking.
 

I would say that Cruiser has more difficult planking that Terror. 

Edited April 11, 2020 by Wahka_est
Changes

[Wahka_est]

1st planking done and sanded. Needed a bit filler. Started 2nd planking.

 

Huge problem with planks as they all are hairy on sides and dont have nice straight cut. I have no idea why its like that-maybe the kit is so old...

Still decided to continiue and did some testing with sanding-it will make it mich better and will fill the joints. But still....

Would say that drawings are nice but there are still so many blind spots where pictures would be helpful-thank god for one build here where hull is done.

But walnut is really nice-i love it. It also does not suck CA in so mich and marks van be sanded off.

Regarding future builds...Model Expo discount got me a little crazy and i got few years of kits coming in....

[Wahka_est]

So thought this walnut problem is acceptable but today i receveived an other kit from Caldercraft and walnut there is superb.

Im allready mad that i didnt send in request in to get new planks before. Problem with allready installed planks is that some are glued with CA....

I sent request to Model Dockyard to get new planks - lets see. I guess this is build is off the table until i get new ones. Taken into account i can get those in my country its waiting time about 2 weeks...

Guess i need to start a 3rd build. As i cant continiue with Terror also cause i dont really like kits chainplates and havent ordered new ones also yet....

 

[Wahka_est]

Contacted the supplier and i will het replacement plans. As i want to keep it natural the wuality of wood is really important.

 

As my Cruiser is waiting for replacement parts i got a nice excuse to open Master Korabel Polotsk kit and there is nice little lifeboat as a side project for me.

 

Have to say is a strugge but it fits really good together. Only problem is that its so small and its impossible to use pva.

Small details break easily and i repaired them constantly. 
Other than that a engineering masterpiece-hat off Master Korabel!

[Wahka_est]

Today i went trough kit more precisely. All eood is rubbish besides mast dowels-one 8mm is hardly bent. I have requested all new wood. I hope to get it soon.

For not this build is stoped if i cant get any walnut strips from somewhere.

[Chuck]

That wood is awful.....some of the worst I have seen put in a kit.   They should absolutely replace it all.  Walnut is a tough wood to use and its very dark.  Maybe consider changing to another wood....lighter perhaps or even cherry which is a bit dark like walnut.

 

Chuck

[Wahka_est]

9 hours ago, Chuck said:

That wood is awful.....some of the worst I have seen put in a kit.   They should absolutely replace it all.  Walnut is a tough wood to use and its very dark.  Maybe consider changing to another wood....lighter perhaps or even cherry which is a bit dark like walnut.

 

Chuck

I have requested new wood. I really like walnut and so far i have managed with 2nd planking. So i hope to get it soon if they approve.

I know these requestes put suppliers to tough spot cost wise but i hope they can turn the costs to manufacturer.

Honestly - if you pay 250-300eur for box of wood and drawings then the quality should be there.

[Vane]

The quality of Wood in Caldercraft kits can be very different which is not acceptable.  A kit mostly contains drawings, some pre-made stuff and alot of wood. Without quality in the wood the whole point in buying a kit disappears. 

[davyboy]

I had the same problem with a Cruiser kit I bought some years ago. Most of the walnut was rubbish,I just bought replacement wood from a modelshop here. My reasoning being I would maybe have been sent more of the same. After this I went into scratch building,once bitten twice shy so to speak and much more satisfying.

 

Dave  

[Wahka_est]

I received ised CC Bounty kit and wood was super there. I have requested new wood also for masts as its bended. 
Hope to get to get it soon as i really like the kot and walnut apperance.

 

[Vane]

The thing I cant understand with Caldercraft is the variations. I have 3 kits from them and its just no consistency. Excellent walnut in one box and totally rugged in the other. Big problems with maple as well.  

[Wahka_est]

New wood from Model-Dockyard arrived-much better. Edges are sharp and not falling apart-good.

 

Started with planking but noticed that stern but will not fit properly. Ingiess i didnt tapper as much as i was supposed to(not every plank).
 

So i got an excuse to rip that old bad wood apart and start again with tappering and better wood.

 

Planks are sitting well now. I taper almost half each plank and i think it goes like that until the mid part.

 

Only thing with new wood is that it has many different colors-photos show that really well. Still decided not to start sorting it. As it will give a vharecter and also sanding will equal it a bit.

[Wahka_est]

Progress.

This project is much harder planking wise. When i started it i made agreement with myself that planking must be good...

but im happy so far-not th best result but good for 1st proper planking. 
As Terror had 0,5mm mahagony strips that bent really when then Cruiser has 1mm walnut that is stiff.

But i really like the waltnut look even tho every plank is different color.

 

Did my forst drop plank-good job!!!

Really happy how it looks. Now when soing these techniques the theoretical part of planking becomes more and more logical.

 

As its 1mm plank i dont worry about some irregularities in surface as sanding will correct it.

 

 

[jwvolz]

Nice job so far on the planking. 

 

Do you plan to paint or leave the wood natural?

 

 

[Wahka_est]

7 hours ago, jwvolz said:

Nice job so far on the planking. 

 

Do you plan to paint or leave the wood natural?

 

 

Tnx.

 

I plan to keep it natural. Only wales and railings will probably be black.

[Wahka_est]

Some progress with planking.

 

I have messed it up by not tappering at stern and also coming to far with planks. Should have started moving to the middle from keel also.

Now the curve it the middle is too big.

I guess only way to fix it is to start coming from keel and last filler plank is what it is?

 

Really hoped that this would come out right-guess not this time.

 

Positive part is that now i understand the reason why to mark out plank positions and then you can see where to tapper etc.

The ca stains that you see can be sanded off. Did some test and planking looks good after sanding.

 

About deck planking-what would be correct plank legth and formula for this model?

[Beef Wellington]

Planking is definitely something that you can only learn by doing, and you're doing just fine, keep going.  Everything can be solved.  Regarding planks, there is some variety here but I was guided to go with planks around 150mm long, but these would have varied somewhat for the following reason  that was not obvious to me at the time I planked mine.  The planks should terminate on a beam in practice and the position and spacing of these vary from ship to ship.  Most obviously, beams would go between the hatchways, not mid way through them.  Not a big deal at all, but just as easy to follow practice.

[Wahka_est]

Yeah thats true - trough experience is the way. Final outcome will be visible after sanding.

[Vane]

We are all different and spend various amount of time on our Projects so planking can look very different. On my first model i just used pins, hot water and PVA on my walnutboards. It looks decent with paint on. After several hulls i have improved alot. Now I replace the walnut with much higher quality Wood, I am prebending with heatgun, CA, tappering and alot of sanding. And no painting over the final result. Way better but i still dont come close to scratchbuilders like Sloane and his HMS Bellona.

[Wahka_est]

3 hours ago, Vane said:

We are all different and spend various amount of time on our Projects so planking can look very different. On my first model i just used pins, hot water and PVA on my walnutboards. It looks decent with paint on. After several hulls i have improved alot. Now I replace the walnut with much higher quality Wood, I am prebending with heatgun, CA, tappering and alot of sanding. And no painting over the final result. Way better but i still dont come close to scratchbuilders like Sloane and his HMS Bellona.

Its really hard to reach to those levels (oldtimers as i call them ). My goal is also to have natural finish - also for this Cruiser.

At least bow tappering looks pretty ok, now learned hard way about the stern :).

 

[Wahka_est]

Decided to solve the error the hard way-massive tappering. Almost done with that side of the hull.

Biggest challenge now is to make other side identical...good luck..