HMS Winchelsea by cdrusn89 - FINISHED - 1/48th

[cdrusn89]

Glenn - I have nothing to do but travel and work on the Winnie. And yours looks considerably better than mine. I attribute that to my advancing age and increasing lack of patience. And by the way I built the hull structure twice.

Edited April 18, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

I am trying to get Chapter 5 completed before Saturday as Friday is my last day "working" until after Memorial Day.

 

So I added the eyebolts and split rings on the deck.

And the sills under the aft windows - one coat of WoP, may have to do it again.

I put the windows in before I put the decking on and I used both the acetate and Micro Crystal Clear for the windows. The acetate is on the inside of the windows and the Micro Crystal Clear is on the outside. Although the windows are not really clear they look better in real life than in the picture. I am pretty sure they did not have perfectly clear, flat glass like we are have back in the late 1700's. And I doubt the Royal Navy would have paid extra for really clear glass since it was mostly for lighting. If you want to see what is outside GO ON DECK! would be my guess at the RN's position.

 

Now for the hair brackets and cheeks (starboard side). I ran into more than a little difficulties mounting both the cheeks hair brackets. I tried to use a joint that did not have all three pieces of each item joining at the same place. Unfortunately that meant using the very fragile 1/32" pieces on the top and bottom extending beyond the center piece on the cheek. Turns out that was a pretty bad idea as both those small pieces broke off on the upper and one on the lower while trying to get everything in place. Here is my "repair" job on the upper cheek. No WoP on the repair yet.

Pretty ugly - However I think much of this is made much less visible as the rest of the bow details are added. At least that is my hope. On the port side I will make the joint all in one place. Hopefully it will look better than on this side.

 

Here is what the starboard side looks like now - I have the bolster ready for WoP and am unsure about actually drilling the hawse holes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

I have completed the starboard side hair brackets/cheeks.

The decorative piece seems to get in the way of the slot for the bow spirit gammoning. I am using the boxwood figures which I got from China. By my measurement the boxwood decoration is about 1/16" longer than the resin one from Chuck.

 

Here is the resin one in place of the boxwood one.

Better but still not completely clearing the gammoning slot. I cut off the aft most curlicue and now it appears to clear the slot with some judicious "wiggling".

 

Since the gammoning has to clear the hair bracket I would think that as long as you can see through the slot that it would be "okay".

I am not sure I am ready to do that with the boxwood decoration - I will see what happens on the port side; something very similar I would hope.

Edited April 18, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

I so thoroughly messed up the port side cheeks that I ordered a new set of material that is due here tomorrow.

 

So with no cheeks to work on I decided to drill the holes for the gun tackle.

 

I built two templates that fit against the bottom and one side each of the gun port. I used the plans to locate where the tackle eyebolts should be relative to the bottom and side of the gun ports and as best I can tell the measurements are the same for every port, even though the distance from the deck to the port sill varies (not much but some) from port to port.

 

Then I used two of the Model Expo foam cradles to carefully lay the Winnie on her side to mark and drill the holes. I used a cordless chuck from a cordless screwdriver to hold the drill bit with just enough exposed so I could not drill through the bulwark.

 

In the picture below are the two templates, the chuck and drill and the eyebolts in place at gun ports 1 and 2.

 

Hopefully more cheeks tomorrow. In the meantime I am going to work on the guns/carriages since they will be "coming up next".

[cdrusn89]

Last day at "work" on Winnie until after Memorial Day.

 

One thing I have gotten accomplished is moving Winnie out of the "graving dock" and onto what I assume is her final resting place. I used the flat top stand-offs because I could not find any of the slotted variety with the necessary 1/4" wide slot. You can get 3/16" all day long and I do not have the tools (hard to imagine I know) for removing 1/16" of brass without making a mess of things. I thought about making some wooden stand-offs but without a lathe that might prove as difficult as trying to widen the 3/16" brass ones. If anyone has a source for brass stand-offs with a 1/4" wide slot I would appreciate the info.

The masking tape is there to keep the five coats of WoP in good condition as construction continues "above".

 

Trying to get Chapter 5 done so I can start on the wonderful"  gun carriage assembly task.

 

Looking to that I have ordered gun carriages/cannon (the 1/64 scale 24 pounders) from Vanguard as I find the carriages easier to assemble (fewer parts) and the wheels have more detail than the plain ones you find in most others. The cannon are resin and very similar to others except these come with the barrel opening pre-drilled. I had a terrible time getting others drilled out consistently. Anyway they should be here by the time I get back.

 

One other decision made is to follow Chuck's lead and leave the guns un-rigged. I have rigged the guns on my previous models (the armed ones anyway) and believe that doing so here is certainly within my capabilities, it is just a great deal of effort that I think takes away somewhat from the "Admiralty Model" emphasis on the structure and layout of the vessel rather than trying to provide every possible detail.

 

As for Chapter 5 I got the new set of "pieces" yesterday and got the upper cheek and hair bracket installed per my liking but then thought better of the lower cheek/bracket I decided I had to redo it as well.

 

So here are the port side cheeks/hair brackets - one coat of WoP (not yet dry) on the portions on the hull. The hair brackets have a previous coat. Will get another coat on tonight and maybe in the morning (we are supposed to be at Port Everglades at 1130) I can get the frieze on. Bolster for the port side still needs to be fabricated but will have to wait until "later".

[glbarlow]

I didn’t know Vanguard had ¼ scale carriages, I thought his were all 1/64. 

[cdrusn89]

Glenn, - they are 1/64 scale but their 24 pounders are almost exactly the same size as Chuck's largest carriage. And their cannon are just a hair longer than Chuck's 1 29/64" but are not as "thick".

 

Chuck's on the right below

 

 

[cdrusn89]

Back from 32 days on the Jewel of the Seas. Won't do that again anytime soon. 32 days is just too long to be gone.

 

So back to the Winnie.

 

I decided to not paint the stem flat black as shown in the monograph. I am going to leave the stem the natural cherry color. I did paint the bollard timbers and the hole for the bowsprit black and while I was at it touched up the red paint in that area.

 

I also added the hawse holes on the inside and the timbers above them. as mentioned in the monograph it will be next to impossible to see the inner hawse holes so I just drilled them deep enough so I could get them the necessary diameter.

 

Here is a view of the bow from inside the hull.

You can just barely see the inner hawse holes.

 

I added the bolster, the decorative piece on the cheeks and the decorative molding in front of the figurehead legs so I think this just about completes Chapter Five in this area.

 

Here is the starboard side.

And here is the port side with the figurehead in place  although I have not put any finish on it yet.

 

I am building a new rudder out of Cherry this time. I did not like to look of the cedar rudder with the stem and keel in Cherry. I am not sure what I was thinking when I built the cedar one.

 

Anyway, that and building the cannon it what is on the agenda for then next "little bit".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 29, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

The first cannon completed.

 

I am using the 24 pounder carriages and guns from Vanguard. They are supposed to be 1/64th scale so I used the next size up from what Winnie carried. They are within a few hundredths of the size that Chuck sells (see my 4/21/23 post above).

 

I chose the Vanguard cannon/carriages mostly because the carriages have only five pieces and after I built a little jig they went together very quickly. Here is what the carriage looks like before assembly

I also like the wheel design. I have my doubts about whether they are historically correct but since the armament is not the principal feature of the model I choose the path of least resistance (again) - no cannon rigging and an easier carriage assembly.

 

So here is the first assembled carriage. I added the ring on top of the barrel in case I decided to rig the breeching line but in the end decided no rigging.

I decided to leave the laser char on the wheels since they would certainly not be clean very long. I did sand the char off where the wheel attached to the carrier sheet. I plan to glue the wheels on with that spot at the bottom to help keep them glued down to the deck, when that time comes.

 

Only 25 more to go.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

The first ten cannon/carriages in storage container.

 

I read through all of Chapter 7 and it will be awhile before any of these are needed for permanent installation.

 

And all will need one last pass with the red and black paint and some WoP on the wheels. No matter how many times I have touched up the paint/blackening so far I am always finding places where the red is missing or the blackened brass ain't so black anymore.

Edited June 2, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

The second twenty completed.

 

I have to stop here as I am out of the Vanguard cannon (I thought I had enough but I guess I flunked counting In kindergarten).

 

It will be "quite a while" before I need  more than 20 cannon.

 

At the moment I am building the chain pumps before starting on the deck beams. That promises to be much "fun".

[cdrusn89]

Cherry rudder fabbed and installed. It was considerably easier the second time building the rudder.

 

I think it looks better than with the cedar one but then...

[cdrusn89]

After what seemed like forever sanding laser char off the deck beams I started to "fitting" process.

 

I am going to use a combination of Cherry and AYC beams. AYC in the cabin area and Cherry elsewhere. I have the AYC beams cleaned up and cut for the cabin area. Before going any further I thought it wise to see if there were any issues with a beam too high or low. So I took a 3/64" X 1/4" batten about 9" long and laid it across the deck beams in the center and on each side.

 

No obvious problems as far as this test goes. I will run this again when I get the stern most beam in place. I soaked the two pieces of the stern-most deck beam in hot water for 20 minutes than clamped it to one of the AYC deck beams to try and get the correct camber. That seemed more likely to yield accurate results than the instructions

[cdrusn89]

All the aft deck beams have been cut and fitted and I got all the lodging knees off the carrier and the laser char cleaned off - between the deck beams and the knees it seems all I have done for two days was sand off laser char. But that is considerably faster than having to fab the deck beams/knees from a drawing.

 

As I mentioned above I am using the AYC beams in the paneled area and the cherry beams elsewhere. I also decided to forego the red bottom and sides of the beams. I know that is the contemporary model "motif" but I think it sort of takes away from all the other neat details on the model. Maybe too much of a good thing IMHO.

 

So here are the aft beams with a second coat of WoP on the tops and a single coat of the sides/bottom. I probably will have to sand some of this off when it comes time to add the knees but that is a ways in the future.

[cdrusn89]

I have 2/3rds of the "Great Cabin" bulkhead installed.

 

I used the "Window Maker" rather than the acetate sheets as I have done throughout.

 

I had the opposite problem to what is described in the monograph - the bulkhead pieces were not tall enough, rather than too tall. I had to add a 1/32" filler piece on the top of all three pieces and then sand it down to a "snug" fit. In addition to not being tall enough the provided pieces had to be narrowed considerably to fit across. I guess I did not do a good enough job thinning the inner bulwarks.

 

I also glued the two doors together and added them as a unit. I probably should have do them separately so I could thin both sides of each door - a lesson for the next (and final) bulkhead.

Edited June 9, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Aft bulkhead installation completed. looking for a way to reduce/eliminate the light comes through from the great cabin. It will. not be so obvious with some portion of the q-deck planked over but...

 

To avoid issues with pieces being too wide (if in fact that comes to pass on the next (and final) bulkhead) and not getting the seams as "seamless" as one might like, I may resort to leaving one door of each pair (or maybe both) open rather than closed.

 

I could argue that it would give a better view of the guns in these spaces or ...

Edited June 9, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

As threatened I decided to leave the doors on the forward bulkhead open. As it turns out the laser board hinges are pretty strong. The doors are still glued to the deck but they hung there by the hinges until the glue set.

 

I measured and would have to remove a bit less than a total of 1/8" from the doors and starboard side bulkhead to get the doors to fit closed. So the other pair will be open also.

 

Here is the forward bulkhead with one set of doors completed.

And since there will be knees between the deck beams over this section I fitted them and added the simulated bolt heads. I used .40mm fishing line for these bolt heads. All the previous bolt heads on the cannon carriages, rudder, etc. used .52mm fishing line. Both are supposedly 20lb test line. I used the smaller line because I suspect the bolts used in the knees were probably somewhat smaller than those used in the larger items (and I am running out of the .52mm stuff).

 

Depending on how the quarterdeck is planked the knees and especially the bolt heads could be invisible. When I built Confederacy I planked just one side a bit past the centerline to give all the centerline equipment a solid resting place. That exposed the knees on the other side. may do the same on Winnie.

 

Herre are the AYC knees shaped, Polyied and "bolted".

 

[cdrusn89]

I am ready to stick a fork in the paneled section of the gun deck and call it "done".

 

Since there are no knees in the Great Cabin I have left the deck beams and cannon there unglued and covered to reduce the amount of "stuff" that will find its way in there and have to be cleaned up later.

 

The section forward does have lodging knees (but no hanging knees) so the deck beams have to be glued in and then the knees installed. That was the last step once all the "stuff" (mizzen mast coat, the cabin divider and the two cannon) was installed.

 

I will get the knees in the paneled section later - as I am doing them in the aft part of the next section. Do not want to start that "process" with only three sets to install.

 

While waiting for glue to dry and for an occasional break I also built the main and jeer bits. Nothing really difficult here - installation with the pumps looks to be a different matter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Moving forward the next item is the railing around the aft companionway. Per the monograph I used 1/16" X 1/16" boxwood to fashion the posts using the "poor man's lathe" a Dremel tool. It was surprisingly easy to make one post. The challenge is making four that are identical enough to keep the railing horizontal.

 

I decided to make eight to start and then pick the four that were the closest to the same. I pegged them to the coaming with .025" piano wire and thin CA. I like piano wire because it is very stiff if somewhat difficult to cut in short lengths.

 

For the railing I used .025 phosphor-bronze wire (painted black after installation) secured with thin CA. All in all it went more or less smoothly.

Edited June 13, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

So I started to install the lodging and hanging knees forward of the paneled cabin. I need another set of the AYC knees since I mistakenly (obviously) installed the first set backwards - the long side facing forward - arrrrg.

 

Anyway the lodging knees seem to be going great, they fit with very little adjustment. However, when I got to the first hanging knee I noticed a problem.

 

The problem is the appearance of the lodging and hanging knees next to each other. On the lodging knee you are looking at the grain running athwartships while the hanging knee the grain is running fore/aft. Not really a big problem except it is very hard to get the two pieces to look the same. See picture below:

That is the hanging knee behind deck beam 9 (by my numbering scheme) and lodging knee #6 (Chucks numbering) behind it (aft is up).

 

You can clearly see the difference in the grain direction and appearance. And yes I added the bolts even though it will be hard/impossible to see them.

 

Not sure what (if anything) I might do about this. I have satisfied myself that continued sanding is not going to change the grain direction so I am in search of another alternative.

 

I have decided to plank one half of the q-deck (rather than that suggested in the monograph) so I only need to find a solution for one half of the deck - and that would be the port side since these are already glued in on the starboard side.

 

 

 

 

 

[cdrusn89]

A solution to the "knee edge grain problem".

 

Not elegant but workable, especially if I only have to worry about the ten hanging knees (i.e. only one side of the non-waist hanging knees).

 

I took the knees carrier sheet and was able to rip three pieces from the non-cross grain side at about 3/64". I then sanded them down to 1/32. I then carefully (using the Byrnes disk sander) took 1/32" off the top of the hanging knee and glued an appropriate piece onto the top of the knee. Trim it up a bit, a coat of WoP and install.

 

Here is what the port side looks like - significantly better than starboard IMHO.

Edited June 13, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

A minor milestone, the first lodging and hanging knees installed (correctly).

[cdrusn89]

Proceeding down the deck toward the waist per instructions.

 

Three lodging knees and two hanging knees done.

 

I forgot the stanchion just forward of the paneled bulkhead so managed to get that added without undue difficulties.

 

More cannon, deck beams and knees coming up...

[cdrusn89]

So I installed the lower capstan and fabbed, painted and installed the pawls.

 

Speaking of the pawls, the only mention of them is in the instructions. The are not shown on any drawing that I can find including the capstan instructions from Syren. I did the best I could based on the one picture and a few words in the instructions.

 

Having installed the lower capstan I am starting to have second thoughts about the upper being painted red. Which it is since I assembled the capstan what seems like a very long time ago. I have the cherry capstan kit and I think I will assemble the upper capstan a see how it looks without the red paint. I might also consider an unpainted AYC upper capstan.

 

Anyway, working my way forward one beam/knee combination at a time.

[cdrusn89]

A word of caution for those who may build the Winnie in the future.

 

The knees for Chapter 7 come on a single carrier sheet (both lodging and hanging knees). And the knees are in various locations on the carrier to minimize the amount of wood required.

 

This results in the some of the hanging knees having the grain running in a direction that is "sub-optimal" when trying to carve out the shape to fit the bulwarks and deck clamp. See below

Note the direction of the grain in this piece.

 

After this happened a second time (I am a slow learner) I adjusted my technique to make a very small mark at end of the required "slot" and cut a sanding stick just a bit smaller than the slot and used that to deepen the slot rather then run the risk of breaking off an even larger section.

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

While we are reviewing "mistakes" I managed to mess up the main mast coat by failing to recognize that the layers had shifted when I applied the clamps to set the glue.

 

With a new set of pieces in hand I decided to try and NOT replicate the mistake. I took advantage of the fact that all three layers have the same internal diameter. Thus if I could find a dowel the correct diameter I could stack the pieces one atop the other on the dowel and thus at least reduce the possibility that the pieces might shift out of alignment when clamped. Unfortunately I did not have a dowel of the correct diameter but 5/8" was just a bit too large.

 

I used the disk sander and some sanding sticks to reduce the dowel to a bit less than the internal diameter of the pieces and then, to alleviate the possibility of gluing the coat to the dowel I wrapped the dowel with a single layer of Scotch Tape.

 

And here is the old coat and the pieces of the new one along with the dowel "template"..

I rounded the top edge of the middle layer and glued the first two layers together.

And then the top layer.

 

And here is my new main mast coat on its way to the hull - after a coat of WoP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by cdrusn89

[cdrusn89]

Another problem in search of a solution.

 

The AYC knees supplied with the Chapter 7 package seem to have a problem with a "too hot laser".

 

As you can see below the identifying number has burned through a bit from the other side. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a solution (other than they will all be covered by qdeck planking - assuming you follow the planking plans in the monograph).

 

Since I am not following that planking plan I need to find a way to "cover-up" the burn through - sanding only makes it worse - don't as me how I know.

[glbarlow]

1 hour ago, cdrusn89 said:

As you can see below the identifying number has burned through a bit from the other side.

Sand them before removing them. It’s not uncommon.

Here’s an example cannon carriage half sanded, half not. 

[cdrusn89]

Glenn - the number has burned through from the other side on the interior of the knee not from around the edge as your example shows. I agree sanding off what you show is "no problem".

 

Trust me sanding just makes the burned through area more obvious as more of the unburned material is removed.

[cdrusn89]

Glenn - in case it is not clear what burn thru I am talking about see below - and this is not the most worst example of this phenomenon on the carrier sheet I have. On some it only takes a little imagination to read the number (the mirror image of course).

Edited June 17, 2023 by cdrusn89