HMS Winchelsea 1764 by glbarlow - FINISHED - 1:48

[glbarlow]

14 hours ago, Rustyj said:

hard work really paid off

Thanks Rusty, now I’m at it again, taking off those bow mouldings to fit the cat head support 😊

[scrubbyj427]

Lovely work Glenn! 

[glbarlow]

4 hours ago, scrubbyj427 said:

Lovely work

Thank you!  As is yours 😊

[westwood]

You did a great job on it, Glenn.👍

[baribeaujm]

Very well done, Glen.  Yes this part of the build is challenging indeed.  There are so many angles. Just eyeballing stuff just does not cut it. I found getting those timbers vertical and correctly spaced quite tricky. You did great! The cat head supports are also fun to adjust. Expect a lot of back and forth here. 

 

Jean-Marc

[glbarlow]

6 hours ago, baribeaujm said:

cat head supports

And just when I thought geometry class was over. I’ve managed one, let’s see if I can do two b

 

7 hours ago, westwood said:

great job on it

Thank you Dusan

[Stuntflyer]

Nice, Glenn! Just goes to show what can be done with a Syren kit when it's done right.

 

Mike

[glbarlow]

3 hours ago, Stuntflyer said:

what can be done with a Syren kit

Thanks Mike.  The design and laser cutting of Chuck’s models are definitely next level. 

[jfhealey]

The headrails are - at least I found them so - the trickiest part of the model. And, as others have said, they  matter very much in terms of the overall appearance of the model. You have pulled it off really well - but thats just in keeping with the remainder of your workmanship. Superb.

 

Best wishes

Fred 

[Trussben]

Congrats on getting through one of the hardest parts to pull off!

[glbarlow]

Please ignore the poor photography and messy work bench. 

 

My “big wood” artist friend has completed the stand and future home for my Winchelsea. Note how the grain imitates the bow breaking the water. He intentionally selected this piece of wood for that reason. The maple inlay compliments the cedar as does the African Wenge compliment the colors of the ship. You know the Byrnes thickness sander many of us have? He has the big boy version, he ran this piece through it multiple times, routed out the edges for the inlay then ran it through several more times. 

I wasn’t sure about the lacquered finish until we set the ship on it. It reflects the underside of the boat, so that bottom planking isn’t lost from sight after all, an extra dimension for viewing. We had multiple ‘fittings’ to get the brackets just right, they are a work of art by themselves, carved from the same Wenge as the base. 

I’m really excited by the time and expertise Bill put into this. Really nice to have a friend with these skills, far beyond anything I could do and a perfect home for my Winchelsea. Now I just have to get back in the workshop to finish it. 

 

Edited September 22 by glbarlow

[scrubbyj427]

Beautiful display Glenn! That looks awesome!

[Ronald-V]

That's a beautiful piece of art...they compliment each other really well!

[Thukydides]

That display is quite the work of art. Your friend is indeed talented.

[glbarlow]

Cathead Supports - Head Gratings & Poop Chutes

 

It’s been a minute. I have spent four months on Chapter 12, though the shop has been closed or not visited about half of that with travel and family time. It’s almost like I forgot the rest of model with my total focus on the small real estate forward of the bollard timbers for so long. Look, there are cannons back there.

 

Cathead Supports:

Tweaking. A word we modelers use a lot.  Not to be mistaken for Tweakers, which is a whole different thing. For me Chapter 12 has been a whole lot about tweaking. Tweaking taken to a whole other level.

Nothing much to add other than sand and shape, test fit, followed by more sand and shape, test fit, and repeat. I removed two levels of moulding at the bow to get a better fit. I so enjoy the trauma of removing it without destroying the hull finish or ripping up the friezes. Not to mention the fun of getting them back on inside what has become a tight space.

 

Head Gratings:

When I first saw photos of head gratings by those who went before me I wondered how it all fit together or more precisely how I’d fit it all together. More, a lot more, of the required tweaking is how. The gratings consist of 46 separate little pieces of wood, each and every one custom fitted one by one by one. It’s also when you learn just how important was the measuring, sizing, squaring up, leveling, and fitting done in Chapters 1-5.

There was a little variance I was able to account for by adjusting and sanding a few of the pieces, the goal is symmetry and visual match of the two sides, a little of here and there isn’t noticed. the important visual element being those first gratings either side of the bowsprit be equal-distant apart. It takes a great deal of time to make it all work, cutting each of those little pieces for a tight fit. It took a long while, but it’s worth it in the end.

 

Poop Chutes:

Speaking of taking time. While the forward two to just took a little squaring up to assemble I had to take care to center, align the height from the grating, and square them up to each other.

I made a simple jig to manage this, it worked out quite well. The lid sits above the jig side pieces to create a total height of 5/16. It, along with the front piece, squares it on all four sides and with its partner. I still have to think how challenging it would have been to use these on the high seas, I think I’d wait on the back, more sheltered two myself.

 

Good time to point out I elected to use Titebond II for all the head gratings and poop chutes. I needed the setup time it provides to adjust positioning and holding power, not too short like CA, not too long like white PVA. Plus it’s stronger than the wood once it’s dry.

Although only two pieces the rearward two seats take a lot of time and patience to fit with the various angles. Like the forward two they need to appear identically aligned with the gratings and false rail, a few adjustments creates that look.

The reward, as with the rest of the model, is the historical accuracy and detail that Chuck has built into this design.
Now to remove some of the dust. Can’t say I want to fit head timbers again anytime soon, though I sure do like the way it all ties together. 

 

Also I’m not taking much time with my iphoneograhy. The glare is bad lighting, the model in reality does not have the shine seen in the photos, the white balance is all over the place.
 

Thanks for stopping by with your likes and comments - I’m ever closer to the completion, only the bumpkins and lantern to go.

Edited October 21 by glbarlow

[Trussben]

Superbly done Glenn.

 

[Chuck]

Looks beautiful indeed.  That looks nothing like a kit and really tops off a wonderful looking model.  Well worth the effort.  It says a lot about taking your time to get the best results.

[glbarlow]

2 hours ago, Chuck said:

taking your time to get the best results.

Thanks Chuck. Doing my best to do justice to a great design. 

[glbarlow]

3 hours ago, Trussben said:

Superbly done Glenn

Thanks Ben, much appreciated from a fellow builder. 

Edited October 19 by glbarlow

[westwood]

It was definitely one of the more difficult parts of the build.
But you did a wonderful job with it, Glenn!

[glbarlow]

Bumpkins, Completed Headworks

 

I’m nearly at a the finish line.

The bumpkins, were they drunk when they named these…, are completed and installed. Like a few others I couldn’t bring myself at this stage and in this tight area to drill thru and/or remove moulding, so I faked it as best I could. The brackets are added using black masking tape.

The figurehead, the young man, patiently waiting, playing his mandolin, in my cabinet for three years, is now permanently installed along with the extensions of the hair brackets that have waited with him

 

The model is now sitting on my pool table, temporarily on its soon to be home. I’m working on the lantern, not sure if I will include it or not, we’ll see. I’ll also dust, touchup, paint and buff where needed before the final photos.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

[Rustyj]

Outstanding work on the headrails and bumpkins. Your journey is almost over! 

[glbarlow]

Yep.  Not sure what I’ll do with myself…

[Rustyj]

I'm sure you will come up with something interesting! 

[Gregory]

Surprise!

[glbarlow]

12 minutes ago, Gregory said:

Surprise

Definitely, but that’s going to be a bit of a wait. 

[Gregory]

I’m looking forward to your next project, whatever you decide.  
 

 

[glbarlow]

Finished

 

With this my 66th post and three years since I began I have finished my HMS Winchelsea. I’ve included a few final photos, in each I am reminded of the time and effort I put into that section of the model. It was important for me to get it right, I was never reluctant, or better said even if I was reluctant, I’d take it apart, tear it off and do it again, often multiple times. I like to think my hull has three sides worth of planking.

 

Like those before me I commend, thank, and appreciate Chuck for his outstanding design and quality parts from beginning to end. I appreciate his patience in answering my questions and his unfailingly providing replacement parts when I exhausted the included spares. Thanks Chuck for giving me the experience of building this amazing model.

 

While many smaller parts were provided in boxwood, the majority of the model is Alaskan Yellow Cedar. It is beautiful wood, my Cheerful completed 4 years ago continues to age into a pleasant golden tone. The AYC is just right for its color and woodworking properties, it and the boxwood blend well together.

 

In the end I decided not to include the lantern, sorry. I built it and it’s fine, my “candle” even turned out great. However, the stern with all its intricate figures, friezes, and combination of small parts is likely my favorite part of the model. I just couldn’t bring myself to deflect any part of that view, let along drill into the boxwood crest. So historical accuracy is set aside this one time, I built a little stand for it to sit on a shelf and there it will stay.

 

So here are the photos without further commentary:

My thanks and appreciation to those that have followed my log these past three years, I hope it was helpful or at least entertaining. I’m not sure what’s next, I’ll take some time to think about it. If on the other hand you’re wondering what your next project will be, Winchelsea is a great challenge to take on. It sure was for me.

 

[Stuntflyer]

Glenn,

 

You should very proud of the really nice work that you have done on Winchelsea. Looking forward to seeing your next project.

 

Mike

[glbarlow]

Thank you Mike, much appreciated!