HMS Cruiser by Wahka_est - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Wahka_est]

Havent posted anything for a while.

 

Just moved to new apartment so hands have been full.

 

2nd planking allmost done-some fillers missing. Like the walnut look. Sanding will clear out the errors that are cause by novoce techniques. Hoped this to be super planking but i guess now yet. That is 2nd real planking after Terror. I dont count Polotsk as those was precut.

 

Deck planking done. Used limewood that was given as replacement wood from Dockyard Models by Jotika. Happy with lime when quality is good but to be honest provided Caldercraft replacement lime isnt so good. Sanding still to come.

 

Didnt cut opening in deck, instead i will paint them black.

 

Color scheme will probably be same as Thunders. All natural beaides some parts will be black.

 

As i dont like sanding so much i got muself Proxxon pen sander. Lets see how that works on deck as near the rail its hard to sand.

 

[Wahka_est]

2nd planking done and sanded.

Plan is to maybe use Osmo oil wax. Special product for exotic woods that would give constant “wet” look.

Will make some samples first.

Im after the sharpness and contrast that MK kits have due to laser cut pieces

[Wahka_est]

Small update.

 

2nd planking done.

Photos show a huhe ca but in reality its not so bad. Also it will be sanded off. General happy with planking but had to use few fillers. Hope to do better job next time.
Sanding will be done with delta sander and by hand. Hopefully this weekend as Admiral would prefer it to be done outside.

 

Deck planking done.

Probably will leave it natural and cover with Admiralty matt varnish. Im afraid to use Osmo exptic wood oil wax as it might not be perfect outcome. On test piece it brushed pen on planks.

 

Started planking inside of bulkwarks. Gunports will be cut out later. Tested it before with Dremel. Ordered special smallest Dremel i could find for precise work. Plan is to use Proxxon pensander for thight spots-lets see if its worth the investment.

 

Stern needs some corrections as planks there dont fit against hull planks. Will remove 3 and install new ones(keel isnt glued at stern).

Ordered some new tools also:

- Small Dremel as mentioned
- Dremel workbench to do better job with drilling. Handdrilling outcome isnt good at all.

 

 

[Wahka_est]

Hi all

 

Domt even know how to express my feelings other than truly dissapointed about major fault from CC.

 

I just noticed after finishing with 2nd plankkng that precut gunports are wrong size than plans. They are much higher-see the picture.

As ik newbie it never came to mu mind it should be different.

 

Only fix in my head would be to strip of those planks an install new ones but im sure i cant have good wuality. As i leave in allmost all natural the look would be terrible.

 

I would like to get some good advice please what to do!!!

 

edit:

 

i now came to conclusion that those are HMS Snake bulkwarks they have provided me with. Sry to say but really mad at them-truly unlucky with kit, first replace all wood and now this. Also i know other stuff that coming from Thunders blog.

 

I dont have other Snake parts to build it as Snake also i dont have the drawings.

How incorrect would it to leave them as they are?

[Beef Wellington]

Hi, yes you have Snake bulwarks!  Now that you show it, it should have been obvious from your prior posts (and I feel bad for not noticing!) but so easy to miss for those of us building Snake because it looks 'right'.  The larger gun port size is to accommodate the carronade armament rather than cannons, looking at your earlier pictures it seems they unfortunately, but correctly, supplied cannons.  What to do?  I think your options are limited to the following:

1. Simply install the cannons in the larger port.  If you look at my Snake log, you will see that I installed cannons in the first port which seemed to be practice at the time, this gives you a sense for how this would look.
2. strip off wood and redo, I completely understand how painful this would be (if its any consolation I had to do that partly on my 'Jason' build to move upper deck gunports, it can be done with patience, but would totally understand your frustration.  This might be messier if you used CA glue (which I think you did) rather than PVA glue which can be softened with isopropyl alcohol.
3. Strip off wood as per above and paint - this would give you more options to fix less 'perfectly' or comprehensively, but....you end up using paint....
4. Change the armament to carronades.  There would plenty of justification for this given this large class of ships would have only had cannons for a short period of time on a few of the very early built ships.  A carronade armed, 2 masted Cruizer class would probably be more historically relevant/accurate.  However, you would need to source some carronades.  It could be worth contacting CC and explain the situation, they may be willing to provide these, their customer service is typically good.  They also provide more upgraded turned brass aftermarket kits, however these are very expensive, especially for the whole ship.

 

[Wahka_est]

2 minutes ago, Beef Wellington said:

Hi, yes you have Snake bulwarks!  Now that you show it, it should have been obvious from your prior posts (and I feel bad for not noticing!) but so easy to miss for those of us building Snake because it looks 'right'.  The larger gun port size is to accommodate the carronade armament rather than cannons, looking at your earlier pictures it seems they unfortunately, but correctly, supplied cannons.  What to do?  I think your options are limited to the following:

1. strip off wood and redo, I completely understand how painful this would be (if its any consolation I had to do that partly on my 'Jason' build to move upper deck gunports, it can be done with patience, but would totally understand your frustration.  This might be messier if you used CA glue (which I think you did) rather than PVA glue which can be softened with isopropyl alcohol.
2. Strip off wood as per above and paint - this would give you more options to fix less 'perfectly' or comprehensively, but....you end up using paint....
3. Change the armament to carronades.  There would plenty of justification for this given this large class of ships would have only had cannons for a short period of time on a few of the very early built ships.  A carronade armed, 2 masted Cruizer class would probably be more historically relevant/accurate.  However, you would need to source some carronades.  It could be worth contacting CC and explain the situation, they may be willing to provide these, their customer service is typically good.  They also provide more upgraded turned brass aftermarket kits, however these are very expensive, especially for the whole ship.

Having done it once, and been glad I did, I'd suggest option 1 which will be biggest short term pain/frustration but likely to get a model you will be happy with.  Of course, you never know what CC might say if you contact them.

Thank you for ideas-really needed it!

 

I will contact CC tomorrow. As i have really bad experience with the kit on terms of quality, depending on their answer it might be the last kit i do from CC(not that i have done any finished yet  ).

But yes frustriation is big for a newbie. 
luckily its most done with aliphatic resign, some poimts with ca.

[Beef Wellington]

I edited my reply after you quoted it.  Just want to make sure you saw updated option 1 which would still look very good, and be by far the least painful option.  I wish you the best!

[Wahka_est]

I have contacted Jotika and requested carronades for my kit as i want it to be correct.

Have spent many hours on building it so far and will spend many more so I want it to be correct.

Lets see how they respond.

 

Until that time i continiue with the build.

[DavidG]

you made a nice job so far. your planking looks really good.

re the gunports, certainly the decision of yours, but let me share my experience. I build on Occre kit for many years. During the time I tried to raise the quality of my work, which many times resulted to take apart what I did and redo it properly.

What I recognized, I usually spent excess time on planning before executing a change, because 1) I feel uncomfortable to deconstruct the model 2) I'm not sure what's the best way to do it 3) I'm uncertain if I can reach the results I want. I can't tell how much time I spent issues like this. 

Regardless, sooner or later I started to cut into the wood (or thread). And usually recognized, that actually doing stuff is not that difficult. Once started, I felt all previous uncertainty superfluous. It's just about cutting a new piece. Or glue a new plank. Simple steps. 

So, if you wish to build the Cruiser, than strip down the planks and adjust. It seems more frightening than it actually is. 

But whatever solution you choose, you will build a great model. 

[Keith S]

On 6/18/2020 at 5:21 AM, DavidG said:

you made a nice job so far. your planking looks really good.

re the gunports, certainly the decision of yours, but let me share my experience. I build on Occre kit for many years. During the time I tried to raise the quality of my work, which many times resulted to take apart what I did and redo it properly.

What I recognized, I usually spent excess time on planning before executing a change, because 1) I feel uncomfortable to deconstruct the model 2) I'm not sure what's the best way to do it 3) I'm uncertain if I can reach the results I want. I can't tell how much time I spent issues like this. 

Regardless, sooner or later I started to cut into the wood (or thread). And usually recognized, that actually doing stuff is not that difficult. Once started, I felt all previous uncertainty superfluous. It's just about cutting a new piece. Or glue a new plank. Simple steps. 

So, if you wish to build the Cruiser, than strip down the planks and adjust. It seems more frightening than it actually is. 

But whatever solution you choose, you will build a great model. 

 

I agree very much with what David says here. My "HMS Terror" model is my first ship model. At first, I was satisfied with my work. But because I have no experience, my work improves. Then I look at my work from before and I am not satisfied with it. I would say that every part of the ship other than the basic hull, I have made at least two times. If you look in my rubbish bin you would find enough broken parts almost to build TWO Terrors: one nice one, and one very ugly one. Every time I replace something with a better one, I am happier in the end. It is no good having a part of your model that bothers you. It will never stop bothering you. Better to replace it. You can't really do any damage that isn't repairable.

 

[Wahka_est]

2 hours ago, Keith S said:

 

I agree very much with what David says here. My "HMS Terror" model is my first ship model. At first, I was satisfied with my work. But because I have no experience, my work improves. Then I look at my work from before and I am not satisfied with it. I would say that every part of the ship other than the basic hull, I have made at least two times. If you look in my rubbish bin you would find enough broken parts almost to build TWO Terrors: one nice one, and one very ugly one. Every time I replace something with a better one, I am happier in the end. It is no good having a part of your model that bothers you. It will never stop bothering you. Better to replace it. You can't really do any damage that isn't repairable.

 

Thank you Keith and all others for your support.

i have decided not to redo ot as i not sure about my abilities. Wuality of my builds isnt so hreat that im confident about redoing this for now. 3 build that i have ongoing i concider learning processes.

I will push Jotika to give me carronades, they offered 40% discount on them but dosent seem fair to pay 60eur extra for their mistake.

[Wahka_est]

Not sure where to share my visit to Estonian maritime musem so i do it here.

we have submarine Lembit thats fully accessable for everyone-yes you can go inside also.

 

 

[Wahka_est]

As i havent really uploaded any progress then heres some.

This i how i made gratings:

1) put pieces together

2) mix white pva with water and apply with brush

3) mark size and cut with saw

4) Proxxon mini vise for 1st sanding

5) sandning on flat surface for sides and on top

6) glue frame

[Wahka_est]

Havent been so active about updates but here they are:

1) hull is coming along nicely. Really happy with paintwork. Paintowrk scheme mostly accoring to Thunders build.

2) started with the masts

3) gratins allmost done

 

As i have some Snake parts then its a little challenge. The bos does to sit together as it should so i have to go out of plans there.

 

Anyone has good tips to make gunports sanded nice and sharp? I got get them to be that.

[Wahka_est]

Realised i didnt put any pictures about finished 2nd planking so here they are.

 

i had some gaps in stern and fixed those but result isnt the best. Maybe more sanding will do the work.

 

2nd planking has some gaps in it, no idea how to fix that-any ideas?

 

Also i still dont understand how to get gunport opening sanded sharp-help there?

[BenD]

For the gun ports some needle files will sharpen that up. Cheap ones with do fine but diamond grit ones are pretty amazing. Or just get a fresh blade and carefully chip it away.

 

The method I used for filling gaps is adding sanding dust to pva glue and rub it into the gaps. But honestly I don't see many gaps mate. 

[VTHokiEE]

46 minutes ago, Wahka_est said:

Also i still dont understand how to get gunport opening sanded sharp-help there?

Do you have any files? They might be able to do the job there.

46 minutes ago, Wahka_est said:

2nd planking has some gaps in it, no idea how to fix that-any ideas?

I have seen some people collect the sawdust from sanding the 2nd layer down and then mix that with glue to create a wood filler. Hopefully someone else has a suggestion there, or a better description of how to best apply it.

 

Edit: looks like I had the same thoughts as BenD 🙂

[Wahka_est]

Small but steady progress.

 

Decided to paint deck fittings red ochre to give some contrast. 

Still wondering if i should paint hull also cause different shades in walnut. Close look seems wierd but from away it looks nice and i like it.

 

Ships wheel-didnt like photo etched one in kit so ordered new made by Caldercraft. Not exatly the same size(slightly smaller) and also not with 10 points but much better i think.

 

Fittings wise i see that the quality has boosted compared to my Terror build. Focused more on sandning and also got Mantua sanding stick that work like a charm(no idea why i didnt do those myself).

 

Gunports-will leave them as they are. But will get myself diamont files that should turn them better.

 

Also got bunch of Proxxon tools(saw ks239, mini lathe, delta sander, 125 disc sander and additions to them). This should boost the wuality even more. Only problem is having a wood shop in appartent  (Admiral isnt pleased at all). Havent tried out all the tools yet but discsander is a heavens gift.

 

Allready thinking about rigging and knots. 
Tried to find info about right knots for blocks attatched to yards etc-suprisingly i didnt find any. Any help?

 

[BenD]

Thinking about painting?  I personally like the natural wood you have going on. 

 

The ships wheel that comes with these kits are kinda crappy and flat. The one you bought is better.  I just ordered some wheels myself, got 2 sizes.

 

Thinking about rigging already? You can get a lot done with just a few knots like a slip knot or even an overhand knot. The real game changer for me was learning how to make lashings, I'll link a video from a really old guy on YouTube. 

 

 

[Ronald-V]

Everything looks really nice and neat! And yes...the disc sander is one of the best tools you can get!!   

[Thunder]

Hi Wahka,

 

The walnut is very flaky that Caldercraft provides, It might be worth considering a sanding sealer or varnish to seal the grain before sanding.

 

Can i just check the photograph of your mast. It looks like the top and the crosstrees for the topmast are the opposite way round. Have you got one of them facing the wrong way? Looks to be the crosstrees judging by the mast cap.

 

Build coming along really nice. Would be a shame to paint over that planking of the hull when gone to such efforts.

 

Adrian.

[Wahka_est]

Adrian thank you for noticing that and you are correct. Checked drawing once again and it should be facing the other way.

 

So tested some tools for short period. And conclusion:

 

Proxxon ks230- overall good and quiet. Good for making general cuts. Only issue is see is that sled on table isnt stable enough. 
Will save time in cutting and also wualitybis better than done by hand(at least for me).

 

Proxxong discsandet TG125/E - also good. Quitet until you connect vacuum to it, then its like rockconcert in house. Helps to sand away bigger parts of wood but would not recomend it for last final sanding as it might sand off too much.

Would recomend as it helps save the time and quality wise will sand straight (wind hand i usually have some bend).

 

Proxxxon mini lathe DB250 - highly recomend. Its quiet. Made 2 mast with only 30min fully finished. Has “tubes 2-10mm” for inserting wood. Also you can use longer pieces than 250mm as you can put it trough. It will save a lot of time and also it made a huge jump for me quality wise. 

Only problem in my view is that tool support is too low and you cant adjust the height(at least i could find a way). For making tests pieces i used Mantua sanding sticks that worked really well to give that even change in diameter.

 

I know old timers will prefer doing stuff by hand. For a newbie its a real help if you can afford some of these tools. They will boost quality and also shorten the building period as newbie(like me) is so unpatient to finish its first ship.

[Vane]

Just got myself a Proxxon too. I really like it. Just a bit tricky with the plastic tubes but i guess its better with plastics than a steel chuck when working with sensitive materials.

[Wahka_est]

There was little problem with vibratin but i got that solved when i adjusted plastic tube a bit and also releases pressure from back end.

But still really happy with that machine specially, see you are also.

[Thunder]

Hi,

 

I have the 250m lathe and the tool slide will lift by simply raising by releasing the clamp that also does the angle. I made a new piece that was longer so didn't have to move along whilst doing the mast.

 

It took me a while to understand what you meant by plastic tubes as purchased 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks for mine and a tail stock drill chuck that replaces the rotating centre.

 

The circular saw I wish had a bed to alter the height of the blade as then you could make gratings with it or cut slots in wood without penetrating all the way through.

 

My disk sander has really been abused, it has been used for DIY as well as I find powerful for many tasks. I did all the metal beading for the edges of the tiles when doing the bathroom.

 

The Proxxon tool i love most is the TBH post drill. With the KT 70 Micro compound table it is good for drilling holes at precise spacings. I have also pushed its limits using it to perform the square sections at the top of masts.

 

[Wahka_est]

2 hours ago, Thunder said:

Hi,

 

I have the 250m lathe and the tool slide will lift by simply raising by releasing the clamp that also does the angle. I made a new piece that was longer so didn't have to move along whilst doing the mast.

 

It took me a while to understand what you meant by plastic tubes as purchased 3 jaw and 4 jaw chucks for mine and a tail stock drill chuck that replaces the rotating centre.

 

The circular saw I wish had a bed to alter the height of the blade as then you could make gratings with it or cut slots in wood without penetrating all the way through.

 

My disk sander has really been abused, it has been used for DIY as well as I find powerful for many tasks. I did all the metal beading for the edges of the tiles when doing the bathroom.

 

The Proxxon tool i love most is the TBH post drill. With the KT 70 Micro compound table it is good for drilling holes at precise spacings. I have also pushed its limits using it to perform the square sections at the top of masts.

 

Why did you have to mention that drill. I didnt take it cause tought i can drill with others also. Now i thinkni should have bought it as tou ooened my mind about different ways to use it  

[Thunder]

I have it shown with a jacob's chuck fitted but the collets are actually better.

 

[Wahka_est]

Small progress.

 

Bulwark too/railing

As i really wanted to have that clean straight black line i prepainted the part and fixed with glue. Also i fix it with nails, sand even, filler if needed and then paint.

That eay i can have clean straight line of paint. 
From other builds also i allready knew that back part will be totally off so i cut that off. Used my new proxxon ks230 to cut a 6mm wide walnut ply, worked like a charm. Made back 5% of spent money  

Bow

You can see my so called own design cause i have HMS Snake bulwark. Didnt have any better idea  

 

Im started wondering about maybe painting keel totally black and also keel in from of bow. And so valled figurehead yellow. But then again maybe it will cause too much contrast? Any thoughts? Maybe figurehead black to make it more visible?

 

Dont look at mast leghts, scrap needs to be cut off.

 

 

 

[Wahka_est]

Sanded too of the railing after fixing with nails. Applied first coat of paint.

At one place the nail kicked off 2 planks that i have to fix. Overall im pleased.

 

Will make some better pictures later with better light.

[Wahka_est]

Capstain.

Mini lathe was huge help with sanding.
 

Also decided to unmount details at bow and paint them black. Photo progress soon.