HMS Pegasus by Richard44 - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - 1:64

[Eugenio Treviño]

Excellent and detailed work Richard !!!

Congratulations !!!

[Blue Ensign]

Looks the part Richard, 👍 If you haven't done so make sure it fits between the standards of the Riding Bitts.

 

B.E.

[Richard44]

On 11/29/2020 at 6:31 PM, Blue Ensign said:

Looks the part Richard, 👍 If you haven't done so make sure it fits between the standards of the Riding Bitts.

Thanks for the comment B.E., and yes, I did check the dimensions - several times in fact 🙂.

 

So onto the wales and the second planking.

 

The instructions say to completely cover the hull with the second planking, then overlay a third layer to represent the wales. I decided to install the wales first, then run the second planks above and below them. The planks for the second layer are 1x4mm, and this gives an apparent thickness of the wales, if the instructions are followed, of 2mm, and as three strakes are applied, a width of 12mm.

 

In TFFM it shows that the wales consist of three strakes, the top one simple parallel planking, but the bottom two top-and-butt. Why not I thought.

 

All three strakes are 2mm thick, the upper one is 3mm wide and the lower two have a combined width of 9mm. Total width therefore is 12mm, the same as the kit instructions and agreeing with that in TFFM.

 

The position of the top of the wales was carefully marked, measuring down from the lower edge of the gunports as suggested. The actual positions at the stem and stern were a little tricky to get as there are a lot of decorations in these positions as shown on the plans. Tamiya masking tape was then used to show the run of the wales (the top edge). The hull was put aside for a while, then eyeballed again to see if the run was smooth. A very slight adjustment was made at the stem.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The top strake was glued in place.

 

 

 

The planks for the top-and-butt were shaped using a Dremel router table and a sanding drum. They were then cleaned up with a sanding block. The dimensions were taken from TFFM.

 

The router table with a simple jig for the first pass, blanks on the right and some after the first pass

 

 

A blank after the first pass.

 

 

Ready for the second pass using another simple jig.

 

 

The planks ready to be finished with a sanding block.

 

 

At the stem, the first couple of planks were individually shaped to fit the rather complex curves there.

 

Commencement of the first top-and-butt strake.

 

 

 

The port wale complete.

 

 

The last short plank of the lower strake was a little tricky to get right due to the compound curves there.

 

 

The completed wale and the start of the second planking - one strake done above the wale and two below. Scale length planks were used. Unfortunately, the details of the top-and-butt are hidden by the paint (but I know they're there 😊).

 

 

A drop plank can be seen at the bow, and there is a similar one at the stern.

 

 

 

 

At the stem, the wales were thinned to 1mm, the same thickness as the second planks, as on the actual ship, the wales and the hull planks fitted into the same rabbet. This is mentioned in TFFM and also by Chuck in his instructions for the Winchelsea.

 

At least one build log warns against allowing the wale to be too high at the stern, as if it is, the quarterlight won't fit. I remembered this warning after I had completed the wale, but as the photo shows, all seems good though a slight sanding may be required (just ignore the fact that I have actually put the quarterlight on upside down 😖).

 

 

That's it for now, cheers.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by Richard44

[Blue Ensign]

Looks good to my eye Richard, and the Top and Butt is worth doing as even through the paint, the lines can be seen as they catch the light.

They are also worth doing simply as a modelling exercise, there's a satisfaction to be had completing that curve at the stern of the final section.

 

B.E.

[Richard44]

38 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

Looks good to my eye Richard, and the Top and Butt is worth doing as even through the paint, the lines can be seen as they catch the light.

They are also worth doing simply as a modelling exercise, there's a satisfaction to be had completing that curve at the stern of the final section.

 

B.E.

Thanks for the comment B.E.

 

Yes, it was good modelling exercise alright - it took several attempts to get that last bit at the stern done. I also discovered after unclamping a glued plank at the stem, that it wasn't quite right and needed to be removed (using isopropyl alcohol as the glue was PVA, not CA). Inevitably, the adjoining plank was damaged and it too had to come off. So did the third one....

 

It all turned out well in the end though.

 

Cheers

 

[mugje]

Looks great!! My intention was also to use the "top and butt" planks for the wales, but with the curves in the bow it looked a bit daunting...but good to see you managed it well...gives me also a bit of confidence to tackle it  

[Richard44]

18 hours ago, mugje said:

Looks great!! My intention was also to use the "top and butt" planks for the wales, but with the curves in the bow it looked a bit daunting...but good to see you managed it well...gives me also a bit of confidence to tackle it  

Go for it Mugje, you've got the skills 👍🙂.

[Richard44]

Just a short update.

 

The second planking above the wale has at last been completed.

 

With the wale in position, I measured from its top edge up to the top of the gunport pattern amidships. This was exactly 24mm, and given that the supplied wood for the second planking was supposedly 4mm wide, I thought six planks will neatly go here. However, after five strakes it was obvious that the last 4mm strake was going to be far too wide. I guess I should have measured the supplied wood, but I didn’t think of it. The wood is actually 4.2mm (or thereabouts) wide, meaning that the last gap is actually only 3mm. Fortunately I had some 1x3mm walnut strips, so this is what I used for the remainder of the strakes. I can’t see that using 3mm rather than 4mm will cause me any problems later.

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now,

 

Cheers

[TimC]

Looking great!  Planking is so smooth...beautifully done Richard 

[Sooty]

Your first planking is absolutely gorgeous. Keen to see how your build will progress!

[Richard44]

On 1/10/2021 at 2:31 AM, TimC said:

Looking great!  Planking is so smooth...beautifully done Richard 

 

4 hours ago, Sooty said:

Your first planking is absolutely gorgeous. Keen to see how your build will progress!

 

Thanks for the comments guys. I've been following both of your logs with much interest. My progress has been slow recently, but I hope to have an update soonish.

 

Cheers

[Richard44]

The second layer of planking is finally complete!😊. It took quite a while with numerous interruptions including making two small boats (link below). Scale length planks were used below the wale to just below the waterline, and full length planks below that as I intend to copper the hull. The planking below the waterline is not as neat in some places as I would have liked, but it will be covered.

 

There is still some sanding to do, and quite a bit of touching up of the painted areas. A moulding has yet to be fixed between the lower counter and the planks.

 

A few small jobs first then onto coppering - should be fun 🥴.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

[Eugenio Treviño]

Great work Richard!

 

Looking forward for your coppering of the hull.

 

Best regards.

[Richard44]

As I mentioned in my last post, I had a few small jobs to do before starting the coppering.

 

The first involved the anchor cables about which I have been puzzling for a while. These are fed from the anchors through the hawse holes, but then what? The kit plans and instructions are no help at all. The TFFM gave me the clues I needed, and I should point out here that I have the original Practicum, not the more recently published books which may contain more information. Antscherl says in the TFFM text that there are stopper bolts on the deck which secure the anchor cables by using short lines called “stoppers”. The deckplan shows five of these from the fore hatch to the main hatch, and these also do double duty as attachment points for the relieving tackle of the guns. The kit plans show only three in the same area, immediately behind the guns, just for the relieving tackle. So the cables come aft from the hawse holes, past the fore hatch and as far as the main hatch. They then need to be fed below decks for storage, presumably through the main hatch. The TFFM says the grating for the main hatch is in three parts, and I have therefore assumed that the foremost section of the grating is lifted free to allow for the cables to be run through the hatch and stored below.

 

Out of curiosity, I checked the build logs of others that I had bookmarked to see what they had done. Only one of those I looked at did what I have described above - Blue Ensign’s build.

 

So my immediate problem now is that I made and installed the grating of the main hatch in one piece quite some time ago. If I want to run the cables through to and down the main hatch, there is only one thing to do - remove the grating and build a new one. Time for a deep breath and trust that I can remove the old one with minimal damage. I used some isopropyl alcohol to soften the PVA, being aware that this will cause some bleeding of the permanent marker that I used to simulate the caulking of the deck planks (I tried it on a test piece). The grating came off relatively cleanly with only some minor bleeding.

 

The old grating still in place and its replacement.

 

 

The old grating removed.

 

 

The new grating in place.

 

 

 

Whilst looking at one of the rigging plans, I noticed that the foresheets were led directly across one of the gunports on the outside of the hull, then were belayed to a cleat on the bulwark which meant that they were again led across the gunport, this time on the inside of the hull. This didn’t seem like good practice to me, as there would clearly be a risk of the sheet being severed when the gun was fired. On the model, the sheet is led through a hole (a fixed block in reality) in the bulwark then goes forward to the cleat. Importantly, in the TFFM, the block is located on the other side of the gunport, so the sheet is completely clear of the port.

 

The rigging plan showing the locations of the gunport, the foresheet running across the port, and the fixed block (the hole through the bulwark).

 

 

The positions on the kit plans of the hole and the eyelet are shown in red and the new positions in blue.

 

 

The inside of the bulwark showing the new location of the fixed block (the hole through the bulwark) and the run of the foresheet across the top of the gunport, if the fixed block was not moved.

 

 

That's it for now.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[Richard44]

Onto the coppering. Slow and tedious. You can really fix only one plate at a time, instead of a string of three or four. The limiting factor being a race between you positioning the plates and the CA going off without the plates being where they should be - I tried to do this and lost. So plate-by-plate, although there are some places where there is time to position two plates that are still linked. Scissors were used to trim the plates when required.

 

The white patches on the plates in the photos are pieces of rubber gloves, CA bonds to these with a speed that is unbelievable. No attempt has yet been made to clean the plates, I'll do this when the coppering is finished.

 

The white circle in the photo below is the scupper coming from the manger. It will be painted when I get around to touching up the wale.

 

The tape marks the waterline.

 

 

 

Back to the coppering. 🙂

 

Cheers

[TimC]

Looks very even and uniform to my eye Richard.  I especially like how nicely the rivets/indentations came out.  Did you do this with a jig or were the plates pre done that way?  
 

keep up the great work!

Tim

[Richard44]

7 minutes ago, TimC said:

Looks very even and uniform to my eye Richard.  I especially like how nicely the rivets/indentations came out.  Did you do this with a jig or were the plates pre done that way?  

 

The plates came that way Tim.

[Blue Ensign]

Your copper is looking very good Richard.

I found it useful to have a small pot of Acetone handy and a supply of cotton buds or similar, to clean the worst of the ca staining as I went along.

It meant the final cleaning up was a lot easier.

 

B.E.

[Richard44]

Thanks for the comments Tim and B.E. and for the “like” Kurt.

 

The starboard side has been completed and cleaned using acetone and very fine steel wool. There is still some cleaning up to do. The stem will be finished once the port side is done. The waterline (tape) looks to be way off at the stern, but it’s simply the angle at which the photo was taken. It was actually difficult to get a decent photo due to the glare off the newly cleaned copper.

 

I didn’t have any real problems doing the coppering, though there were quite a few plates removed and scrapped as they didn’t go onto the hull correctly. Even so, I have 100 plates left over.

 

A bit of a rest and then onto the port side.

 

 

Cheers

[starlight]

Looks great, Richard.

 

I wish I had done scale length planks for the 2nd planking as you did... they look quite nice.

 

-starlight

[Richard44]

Not much to comment on. The coppering is finished. I don’t know that I’d copper another hull. I did copper the Bellona (link below), but I cheated for that.

 

The white tape is in place ready for painting of the hull. The wale is showing definite signs of needing touching up, which will be done shortly. The rudder is in place but not mounted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers

[Blue Ensign]

All turned out very well Richard, this is the point in a build  where the fun part starts for me.

 

B.E.

[mugje]

Really nice coppering job!

[Richard44]

58 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

All turned out very well Richard, this is the point in a build  where the fun part starts for me.

 

B.E.

I totally agree 🙂. Though the next somewhat drawnout job will be the cannons, thankfully only 16.

[Richard44]

15 minutes ago, mugje said:

Really nice coppering job!

Thanks Mugje. Good to see you back.

[TimC]

That looks very nice, Richard

[Richard44]

Progress has been slow, partly because I keep thinking about what to do, rather than doing it.

 

I masked the hull, mainly to provide bare wood to which the trim strips will be glued - I have a dislike of gluing anything to something that has been painted. I’m never confident of the glue adhering well to the paint. The hull was painted and the trim strips glued in place.

 

 

The two lengths of bare wood can be seen.

 

 

The strip that runs through the gunports was applied in one length then trimmed where it was in way of the ports. (The patterns visible on the copper are reflections, not tarnish).

 

 

 

 

Also visible in the photo is the quarter light, in place but not yet fixed. This was previously located using a card template, and two holes for thin dowels were drilled to ensure later accurate positioning. I didn't notice at the time, but the quarter light is slightly too high - so much for accurate positioning - and had to be moved down a couple of mm.

 

 

The next major job is the guns. Like many, I was dissatisfied with the barrels that were supplied in the kit, and I bought new ones from RB Models (thanks B.E.). The kit barrel and the RB barrel.

 

 

These were dressed with monograms from Syren. The monograms came in a sheet of black laser board (I believe it’s called), and the scrap was cut into small squares and glued to the barrels to represent the touch holes. Admittedly neither the monogram nor the touch hole is visible from any sort of distance, but I know they are there (they're not on the barrel in the above photo).

 

The carriages were built as per the kit with some additions. At the moment the cannons are still being assembled, so no photos yet. Except for the trial cannon, that I have been using to sort out various things. I’m going to rig the cannons with breech ropes and I’ve decided to rig the training tackle as frapped. This will be done off ship. A simple jig was used to hold things while I seized the breech ropes to the ring bolts. The photo shows the trial cannon with the breech ropes, and my first attempt at frapping. It also shows the monogram and the touch hole (somewhat off-centre, unfortunately). The breech rope is 0.88mm from Syren (no longer available of course), the training tackle rope is 0.10 (Amati), the blocks are 2mm from Vanguard and the hooks are 2.5mm from Crafty Sailor.

 

 

 

So that’s it for now.

 

Cheers

Edited April 24, 2021 by Richard44
Edit. Photo was in wrong position.

[Richard44]

Thanks for the likes.

 

The quarterlights. These were assembled as per the instructions. I decided to glaze the windows, but was not especially happy with what would have been a black background behind them. So I decided to put a coloured backing behind the glazing. I tried pale blue and pale yellow, and settled on the pale blue. I then had a happy thought. Instead of a piece of coloured paper, then the acetate glazing (supplied in the kit), I would print the colour onto gloss photo paper and just use this, the gloss finish giving the appearance of glazing.

 

The painted, brass, window frames glued in place on the wooden patterns.

 

 

The quarterlights with black, pale yellow and pale blue backgrounds. The latter two were trialled with pieces of paper, there is no glazing in any of the three.

 

 

 

 

The completed quarterlight in place.

 

 

 

Cheers for now.

Edited May 15, 2021 by Richard44

[Kyak]

Hi Richard,
Very nice job so far. What colour of blue are you using? I like it very much...

 

Gr.

Tom

[Richard44]

10 hours ago, Kyak said:

Hi Richard,
Very nice job so far. What colour of blue are you using? I like it very much...

Hi Tom,

 

Thanks for the comment. The blue on the hull is Humbrol #96, RAF matt blue, lightened slightly with some white. The blue behind the windows was just selected on the computer.

 

Cheers