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

[chris watton]

I can now tell you that the overall length of this model will be around 1350mm, with flying jibboom and Mizzen driver taken into account. 

[DelF]

34 minutes ago, chris watton said:

this model will be around 1350mm

Yikes! I think lying about the size will be the only way I'll get this one into the house ("Honest, it's not much bigger than a rowboat!") 

 

I'll probably have to lie about the price as well, but that'll be easier to get away with.

Edited May 29, 2022 by DelF

[chris watton]

1 minute ago, DelF said:

Yikes! I think lying about the size will be the only way I'll get this one into the house ("Honest, it's not much bigger than a rowboat!") 

Without the flying jibboom, it makes the length a paltry 1245mm - or just mention the hull length only! Or just the deck length...

[Kevin]

so overall length will be about the same as the 1/72 Jotika Caldercraft Victory

 

[Oldsalt1950]

Just tell the Admiral "somehow I thought it was smaller". 

[thibaultron]

1350mm, I'm sorry dear, I thought the catalog said 135mm! Must need new glasses! Why do you have that gleam in your eye, and why are you holding a knife?

[Kevin]

i broke the news to her this morning that this would be the next build, the compromise took less than 10 seconds, the 1/200 Titanic and KA mk1 will have to go

[mtaylor]

At that size it would seem that it's "furniture for the living room".  Maybe that explanation won't work.. but then, I'm single so any excuse works for me.

[thibaultron]

This was posted on another thread, but I think it fits.

 

[James H]

Another update.

 

Not too much to show this time, but there was a lot of work in terms of sanding and waiting for soaked parts to dry before gluing etc.
Before I could proceed, I needed to sand the inner bulwarks. This isn't too bad of a job...just time consuming. Despite my pic, you're best rolling the hull onto its side on a towel, and applying pressure downwards when sanding. This is done until everything is nice and even.

 

 

 

 

 

Each 1mm interior bulwark is split into four easy to manage sections. To lessen any load on the frames, so as not to cause any spread in them, all inner bulwark parts were soaked for 30 mins before clamping into place until dry. These were left 24hrs so they were entirely back to their normal size. Pear swells a lot in water, so it's vital you know, beyond doubt, that there's no swelling left. Once dry, all parts were carefully aligned to the port frames, glued into place, and clamped until set.

 

 

 

 

Provision now needs to be made for the eventual deck beam positioning. This is done using some 2mm MDF frames which slot into the bulkhead beams, above the inner bulwarks. There are two per side. These fit with a nice, reassuring push, but at this stage I don't glue them.

 

 

 

A good number of the 6mm pear deck beams and 5mm boat beams are now sotted/hooked over the MDF parts I just installed. This is done to check that the position of those MDF parts are absolutely in the right place. These beams are NOT glued in yet, obviously. At this point I've also reinstated the MDF temporary beams across the quarterdeck bulkheads. Again that's just to make sure every dimension is exactly as designed.

 

 

 

 

Once happy with everything, the MDF deck beam mounts are brush glued into place.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, the pear beams are removed and carefully put away somewhere safe. The temporary MDF beams remain in place to help me with the hull fairing, and that's the next job.

 

 

That's all for now.

[DocRob]

Started reading the Pellew bio today. He's still on HMS Juno but it seems to be a good read. I'm definitely interested into the Indy kit, but with that size, I'm not so sure. It's not only about displaying when ready, but also handling in the cave, I'm a bit afraid of. Maybe this changes with the Duchess of Kingston finished in a while. On the other hand, I can't stop savouring your log, open end...

 

Cheers Rob

[James H]

1 minute ago, DocRob said:

Started reading the Pellew bio today. He's still on HMS Juno but it seems to be a good read. I'm definitely interested into the Indy kit, but with that size, I'm not so sure. It's not only about displaying when ready, but also handling in the cave, I'm a bit afraid of. Maybe this changes with the Duchess of Kingston finished in a while. On the other hand, I can't stop savouring your log, open end...

 

Cheers Rob

I build my stuff in a tiny box room which can barely fit a single bed and a wardrobe. Unless you're working smaller than that, you'll probably be fine. Even a kitchen table would be easy enough.

[chris watton]

All my model work is done on our dining room table, and that includes the 1.6 metre long Amati Victory.

[wool132]

Chris's dining room table:

🙂

Jonathan

[Chuck]

That is a nice start.  Yes she is a big boy!!!  Its literally almost the same size as the Winnie in 1/4" scale.   The winnie is 930mm long.  You will love working at the larger scale.  Its a luxury really.

 

Chuck

[James H]

Just now, Chuck said:

That is a nice start.  Yes she is a big boy!!!  Its literally almost the same size as the Winnie in 1/4" scale.   The winnie is 930mm long.  You will love working at the larger scale.  Its a luxury really.

 

Chuck

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it 🤣

[yvesvidal]

14 hours ago, Chuck said:

 You will love working at the larger scale.  Its a luxury really.

 

Chuck

 

Oh, how much I agree with that. I could not do the BELLONA in 1/64th scale. I just love the 1/4 inch scale.

 

Yves

[hollowneck]

On 5/31/2022 at 4:03 PM, wool132 said:

Chris's dining room table:

I believe Indy's main topgallant mast would get entangled with the crystal chandeliers at the Watton's residence.

[James H]

Just for some info, Indy will be approx 880mm tall.

 

Ok, onto business.

 

The hull is now faired. This isn't really a task you can sit there with a piece of sandpaper and hope to achieve inner calm. Chris finally talked me into getting a palm sander (mouse), so I splashed out on a Black & Decker one. Even with this, fitted with an 80 grit pad, this job still took me a total of about 5 hours, along with the final task of wrapping some sandpaper around a 12 inch piece of thin ply to absolutely ensure the curves were right....plus the joyous task of blending those last bulkheads and fairing blocks into the keel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a lot of regular planking on Indy, but the inner core of the outer bulwarks are laser cut. So as not to stress out the forward bulwarks and those temporary gun port sections, these were first soaked and clamped in place. These were left for a full 24hrs to dry out and shrink back to their normal size. Pear has a hell of an expansion, even when soaked for 30 mins in hot water, so you really need to find a book to read, guitar to play, or TV to watch while this dries.

 

 

 

 

 

Now that the parts are completely dry, I draw around the forward position of the bulwark so that I have my positions for the flow of the first plank that runs below the gun ports, and also the extent of the planks above this. It's important to know here that this pear part sits along the top of the gun ports on the main deck.

 

 

 

The pear bulwark is now removed and the first 1.5mm thick lime strip laid along the bottom edge of the gun port sills, and along the lower line I've just drawn. On the prototype, each plank is 500mm long, and they meet up on the double thickness bulkhead #9. We're not yet sure if that will be the case on the final product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back end of the same plank run is now installed. These planks are pinned until dry. If you pin all the way through, they will penetrate through the inner bulwarks, but that doesn't matter as any holes will be in the area covered by the spirketting. 

 

 

 

 

 

The pear bulwark sections are now temporarily clamped into position so the bottom edge runs along the top edge of the gun ports. You don't need top do this but I just considered that it was good insurance that the plank that runs directly underneath these pear parts, would be properly installed and a snug for in that area.It also gives you something to finally sit these parts onto later so you have a much better chance of both sides being exactly equal. Care is taken not to get any glue on those pear bulwarks. The spaces between the gun ports are now filled up with lime strip. This doesn't need to be neat at this stage. They'll be cleaned up later.

 

 

 

 

 

A razor saw is now used to cut away the lime strip in the top row, that is partially obscuring the gun ports.

 

 

 

 

 

The pear bulwarks can now be reinstated, but before this happens, you need to know a little bit about the side framing of the rear half of Indy. Not all of it will become a part of your finished project. When it comes to gluing the rear sections on first, the area in red here WILL NOT have any glue applied to it as that section will later be cut away. You can see the area with glue covers the the lower area just underneath the red area and for the rear section, it terminates at the point where the longitudinal strips were installed in sections. When you look at the model and my previous photos (without red marks), you can see that split in the strips, denoting the two areas.

 

 

 

 

 

The rear bulwarks are now finally glued into position after some final measuring, ensuring both sides are in exactly the same position. This isn't too difficult now that this part sits upon that lime plank. Other factors also help too, such as the two rear gunport frames on the quarterdeck and the quarter gallery doorway. Just check at the back end to make sure things align with the stern timbers. Of course, you don't need to worry about gun port alignment on the rest of the quarterdeck gun ports as those frames will later be removed, as discussed. 2 inch clamps are very useful here to make sure the bulwark is squeezed into the hull curvature, as they can hook through the gun ports. 

 

 

 

 

 

The mid and fore pear bulkheads are now glued into place.

 

 

 

 

And for the last part of this update, here's how she currently looks. Next job is to cover that lower real estate in lime planks. Remember, this is the same size as Agamemnon!

 

 

Until next time....

[Kevin]

so the top of that ist lime strip is flush with the top of the lower gunport sill, thats clever

great update thank you

[James H]

27 minutes ago, Kevin said:

so the top of that ist lime strip is flush with the top of the lower gunport sill, thats clever

great update thank you

 

...and the top of the upper strip (directly below pear) sits along the top edge of gun port. Scrap material fills the gaps between. Works a treat.

[Wacom]

Beautiful work James. Do you mind if I ask what brand of razor saw you used?

[James H]

8 hours ago, nzreg said:

Beautiful work James. Do you mind if I ask what brand of razor saw you used?

 

Those are now unfortunately out of production. If you do want some excellent razor saws, try ASK, but they aren't like the one I've shown. We have reviews of those tools here. Tell them I sent you  

[Wacom]

Thanks James, I have one of those saws but find the area of blade available for cutting is not always sufficient.🤔

[paul carruthers]

James, can you include a few shots of the full hull with your hand adjacent for size comparison, thanks.

[James H]

4 hours ago, paul carruthers said:

James, can you include a few shots of the full hull with your hand adjacent for size comparison, thanks.

Here you go. There are some other shots in this log showing my hand too.

 

 

 

[paul carruthers]

Thanks, gives a real image of the size.

[Blue Ensign]

Hand of an Artist.

 

B.E.

[hollowneck]

2 hours ago, Blue Ensign said:

Hand of an Artist.

Love the bench towel. So far, no apparent signs of blood, the true sign of an artisté...

[James H]

3 hours ago, hollowneck said:

Love the bench towel. So far, no apparent signs of blood, the true sign of an artisté...

 

I have already sanded my fingertips off, twice. You never saw the bloodied sandpaper. 

Annoying as my Mac is fingerprint activated and I've had to scan my pinkie to make it work.