Royal Caroline by Bedford - Panart - 1/48

[Bedford]

Well folks I've been sitting on this one for a few years now. I had always planned to build it for my daughter, Caroline.

Before I got anywhere near buying the kit I lost my beautiful girl in a horse riding accident, that was in 2005 and she was 13.

 

I've had the kit now for about 6 years but haven't been in the right place (on a lot of levels) to do it but the time has come. There will be a few special little things done during the build and eventually my son will get the model.

 

This is the first kit I've done in a while as I prefer scratch builds but we'll see how it goes. Bear with me, this may take a while.

 

The keel was laid on 13/1/2021

 

 

 

 

[ccoyle]

That's a touching tribute. I wish you well on your project.

[Bedford]

Thanks Chris

[Danstream]

I am deeply moved by the story behind your build. I am also a father of a daughter and I cannot think of what you went and still going through. I wish you all the best for this build that I will be following surely.

Warm greetings,

Dan.

[Bedford]

Ok, this will be a tad long winded.

 

Several years ago I was googling this model and stumbled upon a build on this very forum (that's how I came to join this little group) where the builder had taken the time to research and draw up the floor of the Kings cabin on his computer and the pics where beautiful so I asked him if he would be so kind as to send me the artwork and given my reason for building this he was more than willing to help. I don't remember who he was and as far as I know the build thread was lost when the site crashed a few years back.

 

Anyway, I am proceeding with my plans to fit out the Kings cabin. I cut out the centre of frame 7 and traced the floor beam at that station to put one on the back of 7 and another on the front of 8. To align them I just clamped some scrap to the existing floor section between 6 and 7 and used them as guides for the two extra floor beams.

 

I then cut a template for a new floor to cover the existing half floor and the new section aft of station 7 and cut the new floor from some 0.8mm ply and glued that down followed by the floor image.

 

I then lined the interior timbers with some 6 x 0.5 planks I had. There will be more in that cabin as time progresses.

 

On the subject of lining walls etc I differ from the kit manufacturers in that they recommend applying the facing planks AFTER doing the hull planking but it is so much easier to do all the surfaces that can be done prior to hull planking because you can just slap the planking on then with a sharp chisel trim to an exact fit without any drama.

 

[Bedford]

The planking begins, you'll note that I glued the "negatives" of the bow molds to the stem to provide proper placement and wedging facility to keep the planks held properly at the bow. They will be easily removed later with a sharp chisel.

 

I've got 6 planks on each side but here it stops for a while because I don't like the alignment of the mast holes.

 

The fore mast will lean forward like an older VOC ship, the main will be vertical and only the mizzen will have a gentle rake aft like it should so now I have to take the angles off the plan and work out how to make it all work. This is the first kit I've had which doesn't include the mast angles. 

 

[Bedford]

Well I did my due diligence and determined that the mast holes are not as badly aligned as suspected, we're only talking a degree or 2 so I can easily rectify that when the time comes to step the mats, there was a bit of an optical illusion going on apparently.

[Bedford]

First layer of planking completed but the material provided for the second layer was so bad I threw it out and am waiting for better stock to arrive. Meanwhile I've painted the bulwalks red, and made the guns so I could make sure the gun ports were correctly placed

 

[Bedford]

I've been working on the second layer of planking, so much nicer than the wood provided in the kit. I've planked the quarter deck but am working up the enthusiasm to do the main deck because it's going to be challenging to fit the margin boards and joggle the deck planks in but I'll have to get into it soon

 

[Bedford]

I've finished the second planking layer and it's looking really nice.

 

The kit didn't have anything to line the ply keel with which is disappointing because it would leave the edges of the planking proud which is just wrong so I lined it with left over deck planking wood from a larger scale model. It will be more accurate scale wise because at 1:48 scale the 4mm keel only comes out to 192mm which is way too thin for a keel on a ship this size, it's now scaled to 240mm which is still too thin but will have to do.

 

[Bedford]

The waist deck has been planked. I'm happy to get that behind me because joggling the planks into the margin boards is always fiddly.

 

All that's left to do there is to scrape it with a sharp chisel.

 

[Bedford]

The fore deck is planked, it was much easier to joggle the planks on this deck due to ease of access. I've also done the kings cabin with two of my favorite pics of my little girl. I milled some flat brass bar into the picture frames and added a little furniture just for the heck of it. Now with the cabin top on you can't really see much in there but I know it's there.

 

[Bedford]

The final deck is done and it was the easiest of all. However the ply false deck seems to be 3mm short because the stairway walls don't line up like the diagrams. I have to say I'm not impressed with the quality of the kit so far!

 

The plans show a sliding hatch above the gangway down into the cabin but there should also be doors, I'm not sure how I'd do them so I'll leave it for now and see what, if anything develops.

 

[michael mott]

Wow! your dedication to the memory of your daughter is very moving! I am guessing that you are not doing much else, not even sleep even looking at the speed with which you are building this ship.

Lovely work and for a wonderful cause.

 

Michael

[Bedford]

Thanks Michael. I retired a few years ago, partially because I can't handle the stress and pressure of modern business anymore, I'm sure you can appreciate that I've had a huge overload in that area. Thankfully I was able to afford throwing in the towel.

 

Unlike your hemisphere where people are too cold to go into their workshops it's too hot and humid here to go out doing anything else so I'm utilising the air con and building the boat and it's a labour of love which is at the same time cathartic.

[Bedford]

I've added the hand rails to the waste deck bulwarks and again drawing on my knowledge of Endeavour which is very much a contemporary of this ship in size, era and navy I opted to use squared posts for the handrails rather than round ones. If they were round they would have had turned details which can't be done at this scale but if it was Endeavour I can almost guarantee they would be squared timbers. Also in using square posts I didn't have to drill through the top rail and then add the cover strip which I didn't like the look of. Also based on Endeavour I have left the hand rails on both sides short to allow boarding because there is generally access from both sides of the ship.

 

I've also done the stbd aft window which was a challenge too. the plastic window molding was not great and again the timbers included weren't up to the job so again I used wood left over from other models. It's a fiddly job and now I have the port window to do.

 

A question  Has anyone had experience removing the wax from castings? How did you do it?

 

[ccoyle]

Quote

In the que :-    S.T. Waratah, maybe!   

 

Just noticed this in your signature. HMV beat you to it. 😉

[Bedford]

12 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 

Just noticed this in your signature. HMV beat you to it. 😉

 

That's really interesting, it has the life jacket boxes and the square plastic drinking water tank under the original cylindrical tank on the boat deck, the side awnings on the wheelhouse and even the carley floats, all of which are modifications made by Sydney Heritage Fleet. I know the boat extremely well because I crew her and the model has most of it pretty right.

[Bedford]

I've made a bit more progress with the side windows done, and wasn't that a fiddly job!

I've also fitted the side rubbing strakes, I was originally going to paint them black but decided against it reasoning that black would be somewhat overpowering and the hull will be pretty heavily decorated so too much detail I think.

 

The downside of not painting the strakes is I had screw clamp holes to fill and try and hide. I used a hole punch to cut bungs from scrap walnut which I have glued into the holes and after a good sand they don't look bad. We'll see once I get some varnish on.

 

[Bedford]

I've got a bit ahead of the instructions because, one - I needed a break from woodwork, two - I'm finding more and more that the castings, plans and dimensions rarely match so I'm laying out all the exterior decoration now so I can make sure everything will fit properly before putting woodwork in the way.

 

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Steve

 

Best wishes for this build, the connection to your daughter will no doubt make it a powerful time.

 

I will be following this with great interest. What period was the ship?

 

Mark

[Bedford]

Thanks Mark, she was built in 1749 for King George II.

 

That puts her 15 years ahead of Endeavour and while the replica Endeavour is clearly not the original it is regarded as one of the most accurate replicas around so I'm using my knowledge of her to guide my thinking on this build, same country, same era, same navy and basically the same size so there are bound to be many similarities and that thinking has helped me understand and in many cases change what the drawings and instructions say to do

 

[Bedford]

A little bit more progress 

 

[Bedford]

I've got the decorations done on both sides now, more frustration because the opposite castings were different lengths and sizes so it made fitting them a bit of a puzzle and I had to re-arrange them a bit on the starboard side to make them fit but they're on. I've also finished the stern decoration, the hardest part there was fitting the lower two either side of the rudder. I found the radius of the curved section of the transom and drilled a hole through some hard wood with a 32mm speed bore which was the closest to the correct size then cut the wood through the hole to give me a mold to hold in the vice. Then I annealed the castings, laid them in the curved mold and tapped them into the curve of the mold using another piece of wood as a drift so as not to mark them. A little bit of adjusting and they fit beautifully. Unfortunately they are now a slightly different colour but I can't do anything about that, I tried gold paint but couldn't find one worth spit!

 

[kirill4]

Good day,

Nice job !!!

To "even " colors , You could use  artificial gold leafs for all decor You made ... they are quite chip and easy with applying, and could be find in every artistic shop I guess... 

Than they need to be covered with gloss acrylic varnish and finaly touch with deluted to desired consistency , bitum varnish to give somre patina effect, and hilight relief...

In your case, thus deluted bitum could be applyed to the entire model,not only to decore alone...check youtube for bitum applying technique...

I first time try this technique on my midel, for the decor, and found it works very well !!!

[Mark Pearse]

Hi Steve

 

I hope you're managing ok with the water. 

 

The difference in colour makes me wonder exactly how bright gold leaf have appeared on a ship like that - not suggesting the leaf wouldn't have been gold in colour, but given the surfaces are carved wood & so constantly changing angle & shape.

[Bedford]

Thanks for the input kirill, I might have to do some investigating on that.

 

Mark I'm high and dry but there's a hell of a lot of water going down the Nepean through Camden and it's all joining the spill from Waragamda Dam and head for Penrith & Windsor.

 

I agree that there would be various tones in the finish, there are 3 distinct tones at work here but I'm hoping that with all the handling I've given them and their exposure to oxygen they will become less different over time. 

[Bedford]

I've got the rudder hung now, not real happy with the chains hanging below waterline but that's where the plans put it.

 

[Mark Pearse]

On 3/27/2021 at 10:13 PM, Bedford said:

the chains hanging below waterline

perhaps they grew mussels on them, the captain was fond of seafood chowder.....

[Bedford]

4 hours ago, Mark Pearse said:

perhaps they grew mussels on them, the captain was fond of seafood chowder.....

I would imagine that would be preserved for King George and his queen, Caroline.