HMS Indefatigable 1794 (prototype) by James H - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[allanyed]

As with so many things with these ships a lot depends on the ship and the era and possibly nationality.

  

Looking at the Ardent (64) 1764 plans below there are no gun ports in the Captain's cabin, but two in the Captain's stateroom starboard side.  I would guess the same layout would be appropriate for Indefatigable before she was cut down to a frigate in 1794.    Looking at the QD drawing of Indefatigable 1794 at the RMG Collections site, when she was razeed the layout changed and there were two gun ports in the Captain's cabin, one port, one starboard. (www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-82166).    

Allan

[Dave_E]

Guess I was to involved with the actors to see any background. 😶

[James H]

Another update as at least it's now looking a little different. 

 

Well, like it or not, the cabin areas now have to be decked over and here you see the beams in the fore cabin area, including the timbers for the original position of the skylight. This was likely moved rearwards when razed.

 

 

 

 

And here you see the new skylight position over the main cabin, which sort of does make much more sense as that area can now be subject to some direct down sunlight. 

 

 

 

 

With all beams in place, the 0.8mm laser-engraved ply sub-deck is now installed, notched into the protruding bulkhead ears that you can see.

 

 

 

With the poop deck now installed, it's time to turn attention to the quarter galleries. This always gives a hull some character and definition. Here you see the frames, now painted, being glued to the indents on the rear of the hull sides.

 

 

 

The inner stern panel can now be fitted, as well as the counter. 

 

 

 

As with Sphinx, the quarters are sheathed in two layers of timber with the upper parts creating a recessed frame. Here are the inner skins for the galleries.

 

 

 

And here is the stern up to this point.

 

 

 

Three MDF layers are used to create the roof, except for a pear caping piece that's fitted soon. These will eventually be painted black and covered with laser-cut shingles. The reason for the layers is that it makes it easier to sand to the correct angles as you temporarily sit them on the hull side.

 

 

 

After fettling, the finished roof will look like this.

[James H]

Before I glue the roof into place, it needs to be tested against the gallery once the outer skins are added. 

 

 

 

 

 

WIth those glued into place, the roof is finally trimmed to size and also glued to the model.

 

 

 

On top of that is the pear cap which will slightly overlap the shingles that will later be fitted. The pear parts that make the lower galleries are now shaped and fitted.

 

 

 

 

Time to fit the outer stern panel and quarters. I highly recommend you use CA for this so there's no curling of the parts.

 

 

 

 

These are then shaped and the gallery/stern area given a finishing sanding to even up all edges etc.

 

 

 

And lastly, the engraved upper stern is fitted and then also sanded into the rest of the hull. 

 

 

 

 

More next time...

[yvesvidal]

I wish the construction of the galleries was as simple as you describe, on the CAF  Model kits..... 😞

 

Yves

[Kevin]

dont that look great

[Blue Ensign]

That's exactly how Kit quarter gallery fittings ought to be, would've saved me a load of work on Sphinx.

You lucky investors in Chris's Indy. 👍

 

B.E.

[hollowneck]

1 hour ago, Blue Ensign said:

That's exactly how Kit quarter gallery fittings ought to be, would've saved me a load of work on Sphinx.

You lucky investors in Chris's Indy. 👍

 

B.E.

Here, here. I second that (e)motion! Really good improvements to the model engineering of this challenging part of any period ship build. Investment in Indy...we're getting very close to pounds for dollars. Us lucky Yanks!

[James H]

This update concerns fitting the inner bulwarks, finishing off the stern (for the moment) and fitting rails, gunwales etc. 

 

I alway find snipping and sanding away the last vestige of visible MDF from the model, to be very satisfying. This being the removal of the bulkhead ears above deck. Sandpaper is then used to properly level them.

 

 

 

 

 

As this model is being fitted with the optional maple deck, test fitting and trimming that is the next task. Finally, this is carefully glued into place, checking alignment as I go. Plenty of 2-inch clamps are used to make sure the whole surface is in contact around the various openings.

 

 

 

 

Before the forecastle maple deck can be added, I need to fit the foremast bitts. This is fitted at this stage to allow the lower ply sub deck to be fitted. This is now slotted through the deck beam frames and then the small deck section slotted and glues over it. With that in place, the maple deck can then be fitted. Deck test fitting is of course done before fitting the bitts.

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly, the gangway maple deck section are glued into position.

 

 

 

With the deck sections fitted, the inner bulwarks are painted in red and fitted. The forecastle ones were first soaked and clamped to shape before working with them. 

 

 

 

More gun port tidy up now, using the same homemade sanders I used for the main gun deck.

 

 

 

 

At this point, I needed to fit some of the external details, such as rails etc. These are a combination of strip timber and pre-cut parts. Firstly, a 1mm² strip is glued to the edge of a 3mm² strip, left to dray and the edges subtly rounded. The rail is then fitted at a position equidistant from the wale below it. 

 

 

 

 

A 12-inch steel rule is now wrapped in sandpaper and used to level the gunwale positions for later.

 

[James H]

....continued.

 

Now, those laser cut rails. These are now glued into the engraved positions on the outer bulwarks. Some extra parts are added to these to create a 3D relief.

 

 

 

 

What we believe is the remainder of the original second wale from her 64-gun days, is now fitted. The position of this is crucial. Here you see the area around it masked off and the wale sanded.  

 

 

 

 

The timber which is obstructing the gun port is now carefully snipped away and sanded flush with the gun port edges.

 

 

 

More gunwale position levelling, and the parts finally glued into place.

 

 

 

The gun port positions on the forecastle gunwale are also prepared.

 

 

 

 

Now it's the turn of adding rails to the stern of this beast. These are all laser cut and engraved. All you need to do is to make sure you fit them all in alignment. 

 

 

 

 

At this point, I glue in the second set of foremast bitts.

 

 

 

 

And here is Indy so far.

 

 

 

I have actually done more than this in preparing other assemblies, such as binnacle, ship's wheel, catheads etc. At this point, it's not long off adding some colour to this hull.

[KentM]

Nicely done.  Looking forward to the release date.  Kent

[CaptnBirdseye]

This just looks to get better and better! Think Chris has a winner on his hands here 😍

[Kevin]

Brilliant, Christmas gets closer every day

[yvesvidal]

18 hours ago, KentM said:

Nicely done.  Looking forward to the release date.  Kent

Well, we know for sure that Vanguard Models releases their kit infinitely faster than Amati.... Time to start saving !!

 

Yves

[James H]

Here's a small update...very small!

 

This is Indy's figurehead, albeit still needs some touching up. Again, this was done by my friend, Mark. He's far more patience (and ability!) than I have. 

[James H]

Having a new figurehead painted with bronze coloured armour. 

[hollowneck]

40 minutes ago, James H said:

Having a new figurehead painted with bronze coloured armour. 

Good idea. The reddish hue of bronze will better complement the warm wood colors.

[James H]

1 minute ago, hollowneck said:

Good idea. The reddish hue of bronze will better complement the warm wood colors.

 

The hull is entirely painted/coppered 😆

[hollowneck]

2 hours ago, James H said:

 

The hull is entirely painted/coppered 😆

Ah-Ha! Then the Legionnaire's armor will match her bottom...

[Seb Martingale]

Does Chris Watton have a planned date as to when he will be taking orders for this kit?

I think I read earlier in this thread that the kit might be finalised at the end of this calendar year?

[chris watton]

2 hours ago, Seb Martingale said:

Does Chris Watton have a planned date as to when he will be taking orders for this kit?

I think I read earlier in this thread that the kit might be finalised at the end of this calendar year?

I am hoping to have the first 50 kits on pre order in 3-4 weeks, and the first kits being sent out in early Feb.

 

Everything is ready, material wise, all I am waiting for is the finished hull, so the instructions can be completed.

[James H]

I will have an update here by weekend. 

 

Prepping and painting the hull has taken an inordinate amount of time for me, and I want it under poly varnish before I post my WIP.

 

Just a couple days or so now. 

[James H]

Time for an update here.

 

The hull was varnished and sanded back a couple of times, helping to seal any open grain before applying paint. This was instead of using a primer, which you can of course use. Yellow ochre was then applied. I used Humbrol Linen as I wasn't in possession of the VM acrylic paint at the time. This paint was airbrushed over the hull and rubbed back successive times over a week or so, to make sure I'd got it right and it looked reasonably homogenous. The reason for painting all of this in ochre was that it's easier to see any fault areas that needed fixing up, before applying black paint.

 

 

The hull was then painstakingly masked off before applying black. It's always tricky cutting a mask line across the longitudinal rail, and this took a few bits of touching up to get right. The effort is worth it though. The rails were also then painted in ochre and the gun ports touched up again after ochre overspray. 

 

 

I used a Prismacolor silver pencil to add a waterline on the hull, and made sure this was a few millimetres below the eventual one. The plan is to then use that as a guide and copper above it. Once coppered, I'll add another regular pencil line at the correct height and score a line along it before removing the copper tape above the waterline.

 

 

 

A 50m roll of 6mm self-adhesive copper tape is included. This is reduced down into 18mm lengths. It sure does take some time, so I recommend a tool like this for making them. Each plate is exactly the same length and with perfectly square ends. 

 

 

Ok, it's about time to start coppering this hull...

 

[Oldsalt1950]

Very smart looking. Once the copper plates are attached it will really set off the black hull.

 

Jim

[chris watton]

Nice update!

 

OK, I can now finally give hard details about release dates and costs.

 

All of the production for Indy is now fully complete, photo etched brass, all castings and laser cut parts. Production started at the start of this year, but I have had to produce a lot of our existing kits in between.

 

The time for each kit for laser cut parts is nine and a half hours. This is only for actual laser cutting time, and does not include removing and setting up each batch of material on the laser table (plus laser/extractor maintenance etc.), so the real time would be more like 11-12 hours dedicated to each kit for laser cutting. There are a total of 51 individual laser cut sheets, and with the (very limited) engraved deck option, 53 sheets and an hour added to that overall cutting time. This is all done on my large laser machine, and for the main construction parts, materials twice the size of Sphinx.

 

Pricing:

 

VM/12               HMS INDEFATIGABLE - £1350
VM/12/PB         HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Machined Pear block and deadeye set - £140
VM/12/Box        HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Boxwood Planking set -£450

VM12/D1          HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Laser engraved deck set -£120

VM12/CP01      HMS INDEFATIGABLE  PE copper plate set  -£150
 

I have stock for 50 kits. (Complete kits with all masting and rigging materials, as usual)

 

For the pearwood block and deadeye set, I have 30 sets in stock.

 

The boxwood planking option includes all hull planking strip, including deck planking, in boxwood. Right now, I have ordered enough for 5 kits, but 2 of the 5 have already been pre ordered. If people want this, I will order more. This is due in January

 

The laser engraved deck option is very limited, due to the sheer amount of scrap wood not suitable for the job. I was meant to have at lease 30 sets, but only have 8.

 

The PE copper option will be available by the time of the kit launch, but is now quite expensive, and did not include in the kit for this reason (copper tape is included, and is what Jim will use). I was not sure I could even get this until a week ago.

 

The kit will be available for pre order next week, with the actual release being mid-late February

[Oldsalt1950]

The VM/12 kit comes in a bit less expensive then I had estimated. I had thought about 1500. Will have to see how hard I get hit on taxes before ordering.

 

Jim

[Mike_H]

Now this is very exciting news.  Time for some serious conversations.

[Seb Martingale]

11 hours ago, chris watton said:

Nice update!

 

OK, I can now finally give hard details about release dates and costs.

 

All of the production for Indy is now fully complete, photo etched brass, all castings and laser cut parts. Production started at the start of this year, but I have had to produce a lot of our existing kits in between.

 

The time for each kit for laser cut parts is nine and a half hours. This is only for actual laser cutting time, and does not include removing and setting up each batch of material on the laser table (plus laser/extractor maintenance etc.), so the real time would be more like 11-12 hours dedicated to each kit for laser cutting. There are a total of 51 individual laser cut sheets, and with the (very limited) engraved deck option, 53 sheets and an hour added to that overall cutting time. This is all done on my large laser machine, and for the main construction parts, materials twice the size of Sphinx.

 

Pricing:

 

VM/12               HMS INDEFATIGABLE - £1350
VM/12/PB         HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Machined Pear block and deadeye set - £140
VM/12/Box        HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Boxwood Planking set -£450

VM12/D1          HMS INDEFATIGABLE  Laser engraved deck set -£120

VM12/CP01      HMS INDEFATIGABLE  PE copper plate set  -£150
 

I have stock for 50 kits. (Complete kits with all masting and rigging materials, as usual)

 

For the pearwood block and deadeye set, I have 30 sets in stock.

 

The boxwood planking option includes all hull planking strip, including deck planking, in boxwood. Right now, I have ordered enough for 5 kits, but 2 of the 5 have already been pre ordered. If people want this, I will order more. This is due in January

 

The laser engraved deck option is very limited, due to the sheer amount of scrap wood not suitable for the job. I was meant to have at lease 30 sets, but only have 8.

 

The PE copper option will be available by the time of the kit launch, but is now quite expensive, and did not include in the kit for this reason (copper tape is included, and is what Jim will use). I was not sure I could even get this until a week ago.

 

The kit will be available for pre order next week, with the actual release being mid-late February

Hi Chris,

 

Other than the plates being pre-cut, what are the differences between the PE copper plate set and the copper tape?

[chris watton]

5 hours ago, Seb Martingale said:

Hi Chris,

 

Other than the plates being pre-cut, what are the differences between the PE copper plate set and the copper tape?

The differences are that copper photo etched tiles are on a sheet, required breaking off like a chocolate bar and each glued into position, whilst the copper tape is tape, on a roll, which you need to cut to length, but due to it being self adhesive, you need no glue to fix them.

 

One other small difference is cost. I had always meant to include the PE copper as standard, but due to lack of availability and massive price hikes, I had to change this. If it were included as standard, the kit price would be £1500. I know some will not copper the bottom anyway, especially those who have the boxwood planking option. (The copper plate PE option will have a rudder pattern, though, so there is a port and starboard pattern as well as outer edge).

[Kevin]

22 hours ago, Mike_H said:

Now this is very exciting news.  Time for some serious conversations.

i have already had those conversations