Agamemnon by Trunkmonkey - Caldercraft - 1:64

[TrunkMonkey]

This forum has been a fantastic help as I've gotten back into model ship building after a good 15 year break!  I purchased the kit from Modelers Workshop just after Christmas and figured I would post my progress to share the build and all the various mistakes and success along the way.  First, I highly recommend Rick Shousha from Modelers Workshop.  He was a tremendous help in getting the kit and all the basic supplies in the time of COVID where everything seemed to be scarce.  His customer service was outstanding!  In addition, watching others build logs was fascinating and extremely helpful.  Special thanks to Henke, Ooglee and Kusawa2000 Aggie builds that were particularly helpful so far.  Thanks for all the shares and ideas from the forums and happy to be doing the same along the way.  

 

[TrunkMonkey]

[TrunkMonkey]

Bulkhead prep to on the front to get some nice bevel was some guesswork and working one plank along the surface but it seemed to work out ok so far.  Guess I'll know for sure when I start the outer planking!

 

 

My wife was unimpressed by the new use of her colorful clips raided from her office...

 

 

Lower gun deck planking.  I decided to split in two halves to lay the planking down.  Used CA glue to lay the planking and made a few mistakes on getting it square.  Used a Sharpe for calking and pencil for the treenail marks.  Used a Honey Maple stain on the deck.  A little darker than I had planned but it worked out OK.  

 

 

Final varnish and stain

 

 

Here I how is did the attachment of the lower gun deck.  I wasn't thrilled with how I got the final deck as the fore and aft sections came gapped out a bit.  But as they were being covered over by the upper gun deck I didn't loose any sleep over it.  I'll probably loose some sleep when I do the upper deck!

 

 

 

Now that I'm posting these pictures it occurred to me what a mess my workspace is.  I'll 5S it up and post more of my build tomorrow.  Thanks!

[allanyed]

Well done.   As  a fan of Aggie, I think you may be interested to know that there is a project in the works to produce a television series about Nelson and Trafalgar in which of course Agamemnon took part.  The writer, Adam Preston, is working on getting folks to sign on to show the TV studios he works with that there is significant interest in seeing this project come to fruition.  I hope you don't mind that I am posting this here..  Please take a look at the New Podcast/TV series about Nelson and Maritime Britain during the Trafalgar Period post in the Nautical/Naval History forum here at MSW and sign on board.  I believe that the vast majority of the members here would love to see this series happen, especially students of any of Nelson's ships such as Agamemnon.

[TrunkMonkey]

Thanks for the information.  Following the history of the Aggie has been fascinating.  Now that CGI is getting so good, I think making these productions will be more in reach than they used to.  I'll for sure check out that Podcast!

[TrunkMonkey]

Progress from last week.  Got the internal planking done and painted.  Use the diluted PVA on the outside of those planks to hopefully help when I cut in the gun ports.  

 

 

And now with the decks pinned into place.  You can see at the fore section of the lower gun deck a slight split when it seated.  As I mentioned above this bothers me but will not be visible once the upper gun deck is in place.  The middle visible section turned out well.  I'm putting this on the list to do better next time!  

 

 

Starting to get the outer hull planking this week!  It's a beast of a ship so that will take me some time.  Honestly just think I'll get 3-4 per side each day if work and family allow.  Thanks!

Edited May 22, 2021 by TrunkMonkey

[Bill Morrison]

Great job so far!  I looked hard but cannot see any split in the forward part of the gun deck.

 

Bill

[ERS Rich]

Hello, like this ship and decided to follow along....thanks....

[TrunkMonkey]

Got some planking done this week.  Working bi-laterally so moving along slowly but surely.  One thing that I found that was critical is some balsa forms on the first frames to guide the planking.  Not included in the kit but really needed to get some good shape to the bow.  How she's looking so far:

 

[Sjors]

Memories……..

 

Sjors

 

[TrunkMonkey]

Been a while since I updated, work always getting in the way of my hobbies! But finally here is the first hull planking progress.  

 

 

Marked the Lower Gun Deck to help me cut out the gun ports next

 

 

 

And the laying of the last inner hull plank!!!  I felt like opening Champagne after that but will settle for a beer...

 

 

Now for the sanding and filling!  Happy building all!

[TrunkMonkey]

Sanding and filling done!  I don't know how many times in need to learn this lesson:  Less filler is better than more.  Doesn't matter if it's drywall, Bondo or wood filler I always seem to use too much, then spending a delightful afternoon sanding!

 

[TrunkMonkey]

Been a while since I updated the progress.  

 

Using the provided template to line up the gun ports.  

 

Drilled 1mm holes and then used the ol' fashion sharp knife to do the rest.

 

Used the 1mm balsa box method to frame the gun ports.  First time I used this process and it was pretty straightforward and the results were pretty good considering how difficult this would have been to frame using the kit recommended planking.  Special thanks to other builders passing this process along!!!

 

Painted up and a fresh coat of Matt varnish.

Left the hardware brass for now.  I like the contrast of the colors for now, maybe paint them black later if I change my mind! 

[Oldsalt1950]

Looking good. I'll just stand in the back and watch.