HMS Vanguard by gbarlow - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - 1:72

[glbarlow]

My thoughts on 2^nd planking:  Spiling, or tapering, to fit a flat strip of wood on a surface that curves both front to back and top bottom is no small feat.  It defies the grain and natural tendency of the wood and is one of the more fascinating, though perhaps tedious, aspects of shipbuilding.  There are whole books written on this topic by modelers far more expert than me using precise methods that are far more exacting than what I do.  Nonetheless, I thought I’d share my process.  I did this for the lost log of the Pegasus and got some nice responses, so here it is again.

 

First and foremost for the 2^nd planking to look work you have to have had a good first planking, more than structure and shape it is the surface for the 2^nd planking.  If it’s wrong you aren’t going to make up for it with the 2^nd planking.  The first planking doesn’t need to look pretty, but it has to be shaped and sanded to be the hull you want the 2^nd planking to become. 

 

 

The photo shows my pretty simple set of tools used for planking.

 

For a strip of planking to reach from the bow to the stern, the bow portion (and in some cases the stern) has to be splined or tapered.  In order to have the same number of strips at the wider waist as you have at the narrower bow.  The key is how to make the math work and how to achieve the double twist to accommodate both curves, deck to keel, bow to waist to stern.  I don’t do scarfing or lay battens, I’m too lazy for the first and don’t find a need for the second.

 

With most ships as with the Vanguard the planks closest to the deck will fit full width, the key is not to take too much advantage of this, you pay for it later by not being able to get the lower planks to work out right. I first set the planks for the main wale as full width (actually the base, the wale is achieved by doubling up on those planks after sanding the fully planked hull), below that I tapered, above it I went full width.  I chose to go up from the wale first and then down, but either way works.  I cut and overlap lengths above the wale to show the butt joints similar to the decking, but choose to go the full length of the ship below the wale, just my choice.

 

The second thing I do is the garboard, a full width plank along the keel.  I usually cheat a bit and put a second plank here, tapering the bow side only slightly.  The garboard is historically accurate, but in the case of modeling ensures you have a good base and a consistent point to measure from for tapering the planks below the wale

 

 

The color differences are due to variation in the planks provided with the kit, since I'm painting the hull it's just the one I picked up next.

 

Measure what?  I use a piece of paper and measure the distance from the bottom of the wale to the top of the garboard at the waist and divide by 5.  Since I’m using 5mm wide planks I then know me how many planks I’ll need to cover the ship.  So if the measurement is 100mm, then I need twenty 5mm planks to cover the waist.

 

I do that same measurement at the bow and divide that number by the number of planks above.  If the length was 60mm I know the plank width at the bow has to be 3 mm to get those same 20 planks to fit to the stem of the bow. 

 

Pretty simple.  All I have to do is use my Exacto knife with a really sharp blade (I change blades a lot) and cut the plank from 5 to 3 mm wide.  Here’s the trick though, where to start the cut to begin the taper.  I’m sure there are much more methodical and mathematical ways to do this, but I just let the plank tell me.  I cut the angle required at stem, bevel it, then matching the end of the plank to the bow, lay the plank along the length of the one above it.  It fits snug along the waist and for most of the length of the ship, where it crosses the plank above as it closes in on the bow stem is where I mark with a pencil to start the taper.  I mark a 3 mm width at the stem end, lay my heavy steel rule across the two marks I’ve now made, and cut the taper. 

 

If the taper start point is too close to the stem, it will be very hard to get the plank to lay flat, if it is two far from the stem a S-curve will begin to develop with the distance between the last laid plank not being proportionately equal at the waist and bow.  If this happens I can adjust by where I cut the next plank or if I see it happening soon enough, toss that plank and cut a new one.  As long as I carefully locate my marks it doesn’t happen, its just when I get rushed or bored.  I re-take the measurements every 5 planks or so to make sure I’m still on target, it doesn’t vary much but its worth checking to avoid very narrow stem plank widths as you reach the garboard.

 

 

Measuring in this way gives me a good looking bow, doesn’t require battens, is simple enough to do, and is made possible by using cyano, not PVA glue.  The cyano can be a bit messy, I may be a little over generous with its use, but this comes off easily with sanding and allows the process to move along more quickly.  I’d be more careful with the cyano to avoid staining if I was leaving the hull natural (as I did using cherry wood with the Pegasus) but since I’m painting, smooth is all that’s required.

 

This same process applies to the stern for some but generally not the majority of planks. Here is more important to let the plank follow its natural flow.  This will create triangular gaps that are filled with stealers.  Simply cut triangles cut to fit the length and width of those gaps unless you want to go all  out and scarp them in.  Again, I’m painting and scarping the hull, this would be wasted effort for me (unless you enjoy knowing and doing it then by all means).

 

 

I do all this knowing that no matter how careful I am, I have always had to fill in some area at the waist with partial and oddly cut planks that don’t reach stem to stern.  This fill is on the bottom and won’t be seen once its on the stand so I don’t worry about it, the perfectionist in me adjusts and accepts.

 

So that’s my two cents.  I’m sure as always there are better, more precise, and more expert ways to plank.  But this way works for me and for what its worth I share it with you.

 

Edited November 7, 2013 by Glenn

[glbarlow]

An update for the 2 or 3 people that look at this log.  I guess I should give it up, there are better logs out there that go over each step of their build.  I've been trying to show something a little different in an effort to possibly help others as I've been helped so much by logs I've read before and continue to do now.  Oh well, I guess I'll keep posting updates.

 

Six of one, half dozen of the other so the expression goes.  The instructions say to copper then paint, I chose to first paint the hull before turning it over to copper the bottom.  Easier to touch up paint than it is to not mess up copper was my reasoning.  I always finish my paint work with a coat of Satin Water-Based Poly to protect it and harden it up.  That creates a bit of shine, but it is far less noticeable when I'm not shooting a photo with a bright flash attached.

 

 

I couldn’t get behind the Nelson Checker pattern of lining up the yellow stripes with the gun ports.  I wanted to, even started taping it that way, but it just didn’t look good to me so I chose to follow the wales with the gold and black paint.  Oh well, no museum quality historically accurate model for me this time I guess.  But I’ll like it better sitting wherever it winds up setting.

 

 

Tamiya masking tape is the best thing I ever discovered (by looking at logs on this site).  Far more than standard blue painter’s tape it allows clean crisp lines to be matched up with no over-run.  I have to do very little touch up work when I match up two colors like this, and where I do it is more likely my error than the tapes.  Good stuff.  You can get it on Amazon.

 

To break things up I also chose my colors for the stern decoration, again ignoring instructions. I’m the captain of this ship, Nelson has moved on to bigger things.

 

 

I also started on the cannon, the 12 pounders are done, the 9 pounders are still in progress, all sitting in my construction hanger, otherwise know as a cabinet. That's it for now.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Glenn

[ASAT]

Glenn, make that 3 or 4  I am really liking your approach to this build - kind of laid back and enjoying the ride vs. sweating out all the details. I plank pretty much the same way you do, except I do try and use scale length planks but probably would not if it was going to be coppered. I have at times thought that I lacked discipline to do it absolutely correct but I have come to realize that it's just ship modeling and I do it cause I like it -  and to relieve stress, not create more.

I like the paint scheme - it seems more natural and flows better than the Nelson scheme and your finishes always make me envious... I have not painted a model yet but I am getting closer to trying it, it gets stressful trying to do everything in different colored woods. Did you use an airbrush? How did you paint the cannon? Someday I really hope to do a ship of the line....  Keep posting Glenn, I always enjoy your work.

 

Lou

[Rustyj]

Hi Glenn, Well done on the planking and painting. If you hadn't told me the paint scheme was different I wouldn't

have known. Everything looks really nice and I enjoy your descriptions. Thanks. 

[ZyXuz]

well done on everything!

And I love the the color selection on the decoration 

[aliluke]

I'm still following Glenn! Your work is great and I really liked your planking tutorial. Having nearly finished planking the Fly I can't imagine doing a hull this size - in fact I probably won't. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop following your progress though. Please keep posting.

 

Small question - an opinion? - you paint the trucks on your cannons black. Many leave them natural. Is there a right way from a historical point of view?

 

Cheers

Alistair

[glbarlow]

Well it was nice I must admit to get some replies.  Thanks guys.

 

Alistar:  In the case of the Vanguard kit, they are cast bronze trucks, so natural wasn't an option.  I did find research when building the Pegasus that they were painted, but I'm sure many were left natural as well.  Painting was largely the captain's choice and often depended on how personally wealthy he was since the admiralty provided little in that regard.  This captain likes the trucks black (I'm thinking its a good thing I didn't decide on blue).

 

Zyzut:  Thanks, the stern color choices just came to me as I did it, in fact there was more white and I decided it needed more red so I repainted the white.  The detail work with an 18/0 brush whiles a way the hours, I kind of enjoy it until I realize I'm obsessing over every tiny brush mark.  At some point, its "put the brush down and go to bed dummy."

 

Rusty:  Thanks man, I appreciate hearing from one of the world's best modelers.

 

Lou: I had very precise goals before; the Pegasus is as historically accurate as I could make it, the Fair American was built with exotic woods and not a single drop of paint, painting with wood I called it at the time.  Your right, this time its just for enjoyment.  No goals, while I'm naturally precise and detail oriented I'm not obsessing about it.  I did a model with scaled planks, but worked so hard on the finish I couldn't see them after I painted it.  Actually the Vanguard is scaled planks above the main wale. I did use an airbrush on the cannon using a jig I made for the barrels.  I had paint day and also air brushed all the etched pieces white, yellow, red, or black depending on where it goes later as well as the cannon.  However the hull, the stern decoration, and all wood parts are done by hand.  I think the hull and wood in general really needs the brush strokes to look good.

 

I wanted to build a ship of the line, but honestly this will be the last.  I like frigates, both the lines and from a scale perspective.  Frankly this is a cannon platform, not a ship.  Plus its really really big, I still don't know where I'm going to put it when its done.

[freewheelinguy]

Hi Glenn,

 

Looking good.  Always enjoy reading your updates.  I get to the same point as you.  Unless I can show a different aspect there's no need for posting.  I'm at the rigging stage and there's many marvelous details in other logs already.  

 

This is an accurate paint scheme before it was converted over to the Nelson Checkerboard.  

 

I do the same as you after painting.  I find this prevents later maring and lowers touchups.  I also now use Vallejo matt medium over the Admiralty paints to tone the shine down.  

 

I also agree about doing another ship of the line, unless the Victory is released before I croak.  This model is big.  I just set in the masts and had to raise my overhead light fixture.  Rigging this beast isn't going to be easy.  My space is limited.  You're making a smart choice not to.

 

Happy modeling,

Len

[glbarlow]

Been a while since my last update and while it doesn't look like a lot has changed, it sure has taken a while to get here.

 

I call this work "Copper Plate Avoidance" I'm doing everything I can to avoid turning the ship over and starting the copper plating.  Thing is I've now run out of those things so the next step is to start the plating process, a process I would gladly outsource if I could.  I wonder how it would look if I just got some aluminum foil out of the kitchen and...never mind.

 

 

Putting the name on the stern would seem to be a simple task, but it isn't.  It takes time and meticulous planning to get the letters on in a straight line and both equally and proportionately spaced all the while not putting down any excessive glue or messing up the yellow ochre painted brass etched letters.  Its worth the time I think to get it right. I used the strip of brass I removed the letter from for the spacing.  I used the attachment points on the strip and lined them up on the letter where it was detached from, it worked great as a guide, letter by letter, to keep them spaced properly.  It doesn't help with the straight-line aspect though.

 

 

As you can tell I’ve elected to close most of the hatches.  My ship is under no current enemy threat and is buttoned up for making headway in heavy seas.  While I know the crew with hammocks on these lower decks would like the fresh air, it is very cold in the North Atlantic so its best to keep them closed.

 

So, 42 little boards cut for port hatches later along with 84 brass hinges and 84 eyelets first soaked in ‘Blacken It’ and 84 clove hitches tied on the eyelets and fitted into 84 hand drilled holes above the ports later – this is what it looks like.  As I said last entry, no more ships of the line for me, too much repetitive work.  However I must admit it looks pretty sharp.  Tedium or not I still have to deal with the perfectionist in me, it’s a constant struggle .  The silver line you see is the waterline marked, the last row of copper plates will cover the hull up to this point.

 

 

 

So my next post will be of a coppered ship and with the holidays and the time it will take to do it plate by plate, it will be a while…

 

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Glenn

[Rustyj]

Hi Glenn,

 

She’s looking very nice. Your work is as nice as it always was. The aluminum foil may be quicker but

I don’t think it will have quite the same look. I do feel your pain though after cutting and placing the

copper on the Constitution a few years ago and I still have a twitch from it.

 

I really like the closed hatch look and thanks for continuing your posts too. I will use it as a reference

once I get mine out of the closet.   

 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!  

[aliluke]

Hi Glenn

Very nice work and the closed port decision is a good one in my opinion. Len has done the same and as much as saving more grief than 84 x cannon rigs or whatever the depiction is correct for a ship at sea and unengaged for battle. There is a lot we can learn from your meticulous work and I look forward to your updates. As I said in an earlier post, I'm downsizing and up scaling for my next model after Fly - smaller ship at larger scale. That said, Vanguard will be a mighty achievement when you finish and it's lines look damn fine on your rendition of it.

 

Have a great Christmas! And all the best for the new year.

 

Cheers

Alistair

[Ray]

Hi Glen I am another one to add to your 2or3 followers, I followed your Pegasus log and used it as a reference when building my Pegasus. Great work on this build I look forward to the updates, your photos are as always excellent.

[Morten]

Hallo.

I am following Your build log too.

I have started building the Vanguard and I am about a week or two behind you.

I think I will stay there.

 

Happy New year and thank you for a interessting build log.

 

Morten in Norway

[glbarlow]

Just one photo to show for this update; the work though in this one photo represents a whole lot of hours to get here.  I decided that since I’d have the ship in odd positions (e.g. the bow into a large cushion on the floor and the stern held between my knees), I’d go ahead and finish the stern before flipping it over to do the coppering, or maybe I was just delaying the tedious coppering a while longer.

 

 

I don’t know about everyone else but the stern has been a challenge for every ship I’ve built.  Somehow the clever plans from the designer don’t seem to quite work out exactly as drawn for me.  I’ve had to do a few modifications, design alterations and planning of my own to make the ship come together back here at the stern.  Not a lot, but enough to make it interesting.  As careful as I build the frames and keel and align gun port patterns, its here even a millimeter or two off shows up.  I’m making more of it than it is, but for those taking any guidance from this log I’ll just say this: Patience, thinking it through, and not worrying if the designer’s plans don’t quite make sense or work out as drawn, is required on your part. Because you can make your own adjustments to make it work and be just fine. 

 

First up in the “it’s my model I’ll do what I want” was following my own whimsy on the painting, I like Caldercraft’s French Blue so aside from yellow ochre it’s the primary color.  I’m sure there is much more detail I could have done to painting this; flesh tones, more colors, etc.  But frankly at some point I’ve had enough of 18/0 brushwork plus as Captain I decided the crew had better things to do that make my stern work too “fancy.” (Really though, I just used up my eyeball allotment for close-up work.)

 

I may have said this before, but I love Caldercraft paints.  I use an airbrush for the brass etchings but brush paint everything else, the black covers in one coat (though I always use two) and the yellow ochre, red ochre, French Blue or matt white never require more than two coats.  Plus I think the red and yellow ochre are so spot-on for the right shade for my tastes, and finally it covers so easily for the teeny tiny touch up work I invariably have to do.  I like it so much I order it from the UK since I haven’t found a US source for it.

 

As for ignoring the plans:  They call for using the cast metal, below the columns, below the name plate, and even attached to the top of the handrails, that looked so heavy and so out of scale to me I ignored it choosing to put 1x1mm trim below the columns, left over side-hull molding below the nameplate, and nothing on the hand rails, I like it much better than the cast metal, which also would have shown a seam had I used it since the provided pieces aren’t long enough.

 

I’m going to finish off the side galley’s next and then I’ll really be out of things to do before the coppering phase.  I realize I set myself up for possibly damaging some of this work while in the ship is upside down, but I was more concerned about damaging the copper.  My objective (we’ll see) is to put the model on its final stand once the coppering is done and finish the ship from there. 

 

So there you have it…

[glbarlow]

Last update before the coppering – really I’m serious this time.  Unless I go off book again and build the ships boats….

 

Here is the completed stern including the galleys.  It takes a lot to get to this point.  I think the design and plans support the work, though glad I don’t need to rely on instructions anymore, they are pretty thin on description here.  Fortunately there is an extra booklet that comes with the Vanguard laying out the hull build.  It is far more valuable than the instructions.  For any new builders my advice is learn now how to use the plans and don’t depend solely on the written instructions, in the end its far less frustrating and more rewarding.  Also while I'm offering unsolicited advice, invest in good quality paint brushes.  I use Loew Cornell http://www.hofcraft.com/loew-cornell-3000-series-comfort-grip-brushes.html brushes, my multiple 18/0 and 10/0 spotters got a lot of work in the building of the stern and galley.  I like the spotters and shaders more than the round sizes for detail work.

 

 

Something I didn’t mention n the last post but is worth passing on.  As careful as I was with the gun port pattern alignments on both sides, they did not wind up even with the center keel and bulwark structure across the back.  They were even with each other, effectively that meant a slight curve of the stern.  This is reinforced by the multiple small pieces that make up the side galleys having a bit of angle to them.  That would be no problem for the walnut ply piece that makes up most of the stern, it bends easy enough, however the stern decoration is cast from a molded plastic, it has absolutely no bend at all.  I ended up having to fit a shim to bring the rear portion of the galleys near equal to the center point of the center keel portion of the stern so as not to break the plastic decoration, meaning flat across the back, not curved……….ok I did that after I broke the plastic decoration trying to get that slight bend.  Fortunately it was a clean break and I easily (if angrily) fixed it and touched it up to be invisible.

 

 

I was impressed with how 30+ brass etched and ply parts come together so wel to form the galleys.  The alignment of parts all look right when its done.  I had to make two changes to the plans for it to work – which probably are my fault somehow and not that of the plans.  The wood trim below the “rails” is supposed to be 1x1mm like the other three.  I had to use 1/x2mm otherwise the lower columns would not have line up with the windows.  I also placed the three little decorative pieces differently, they wouldn’t fit where the plans call them.  That’s minor stuff – overall the designer did well with this subassembly.  Also, the soft cast metal pieces I didn’t use on the stern did come in handy as the two lowest trim pieces.  Wood trim wouldn’t have made the both front to back and top to bottom bending required to fit here.  

 

Off to do the coppering…unless I can figure out some way to avoid it once again.

[Ray]

Great work Len, the stern detail looks spot on, and I think we all have to make small adjustments, and the point being they were only small. Coppering, one thing I would say is that with this type of tiles you can overlap,  and they look ok I did this on Pegasus, and it gives a better look than trying to fit in cut wedge shaped ones.

[Rustyj]

Well done Glenn. I find the stern can be even more challenging then the coppering of the hull. You did a

great job of adjusting to make it look really fantastic and the pictures will help tremendously when I

eventually crack the box open and start on her.  

 

I look forward to seeing the hull completed whenever you finally succumb.  

[glbarlow]

Thanks Rusty.  I've started the coppering, I really don't like it.  I will take me a while.  I can't quite sort out how to account for the curve of the hull, not quite as simple as tapering planks.  I still may go for the aluminum foil route I joked about earlier, not I'm think it may not be such a bad idea.  This is my 8th model ship, but the only one I coppered was the little HM Pickle.  It would take 10 of them to equal the amount of copper needed for the Vanguard.

 

Oh well, one plate at a time...

Edited January 15, 2014 by Glenn

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Glenn I recall your informative log and beautifully finished Pegasus from the old site and have Just picked up on this your current build.

 

Vanguard is coming along very well and looks impressive; nice job on the broadside painting, and useful and relevant comments in your log, one to follow I would say.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Rustyj]

Hi Glenn, I don't know if these help but here are a couple of pics of my coppering

the Constitution. If you need more let me know and I will get it out of the cabinet

and take more.

 

 

 

[glbarlow]

Thanks Rusty, it's the bow that's giving me fits.  Did you work from the keel up the whole way, or come from both bottom up and top down?  Yours looks great, it looks almost as though there were three distinct "belts:" the top 2 rows, a middle straight, and a bottom curved?  

[Rustyj]

I started from the bottom up to a designated point where you see the plates merge. Then a second belt up to the water line area and a third belt to finish it off. At least that's what I remember. When I get home tonight I'll look and see if I have more information.

[Moonbug]

Boy Glenn, you're sure not giving me warm and fuzzier about competing. My next build will be an 18th century HMS, but I may leave the hull wood. Coppering scares me. :-/

[glbarlow]

No worries, I'll sort it all out.  I started today by tearing off 5 rows at the bow area.  It's going better already, just have to figure out the curves.  Now I have to hope the kit included plenty of extra plates, I've definitely wasted more than a few.

[glbarlow]

I broke the code, at least for me anyway.  My trick was to quickly "acknowledge" the change from straight on the keel to the upward and inward curve of the bow by laying in a short row trimed to allow for the taper.  I had done that the first time but one I waited to after the third row to adjust, and two I tried to match the trimming to the space and was not happy with the results (the perfectionist in me again).  The tiles are so thin its easy to overlap the tiles a little bit, the key there being to overlap the upper row over the lower which is trimmed to be larger than the space required - then you don't even see it and it looks like a good trim job.  Just takes some planning (Iused and index card and pencil to determine the natural flow of the lines, "stealer" length and width and curve) to get the trimming right.  I rebuilt the 5 rows (just the bow, not the whole ship, its all good 3-5 inches back from the stem) I tore off earlier today so I should be good to go from here.  I get a little nuts about these things, but in fairness, though 7 ships completed, this is only the second I coppered, the Pickle being the first and a long time ago and a lot smaller. 

 

Pictures to follow, I want to make some more progress.  Thanks for the encouragement and help.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Glenn

[glbarlow]

It's been a while since I've had an update, and this isn't much of one except to celebrate a small victory, not the big HMS Victory, but a small HMS Vanguard related victory.  I've finally managed to complete the coppering...of the starboard side...

 

 

I was fortunate to have enough plates to finish, earlier in is this log I noted I ripped off 5 rows at the bow to do it over, glad there were enough extra in the kit to allow for mistakes like this.

 

I'm not excited about turning it over to see the bare port side I now have to do, so I procrastinated by completing the rudder.  Interestingly the brass straps provide in the kit do not appear to be designed to fit over a coppered rudder, the folding points for the two 90 degree turns to wrap around either side are 5 mm wide, the width of the wood, but not with two copper plates attached to the sides.  Doesn't matter for me anyway as I always choose to use thick black paper, easier to do and frankly for me it looks better once I glue it on and finish it with water based poly painted lightly on to harden and season it a bit.

 

Ok, off to the port side.  Until this is done I can't get back to the wood working part I like to do.  I have to admit though, as big a pain as it is to do it does look pretty nice on the ship.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Glenn

[glbarlow]

I'm back after a 2 year absence.  My model has been just sitting in the work room with me looking at the copper free port side.

 

I finally got back to it, got all the way to the last two rows of copper plate....and ran out.  I don't understand this.  I had plenty of extra for starboard but not enough to finish the port side.

 

Anyone know where I can get about a half sheet of port side copper for Amati's Victory Model Vanguard?

[glbarlow]

This is depressing, just noticed a lot of my photos are gone and I can't find my Pegasus build log - it was the best thing I've done. Admittedly it was a while ago, but still sad to see it gone.

[mtaylor]

Glenn,

 

What Zoltan said... welcome back.  There was crash back in 2013 that completely trashed the site.  What you're seeing here has been done since the site started again.. from scratch.

[ccoyle]

Glenn, we also had a software glitch just over a year ago that affected some photos -- some lost, some not. There's nothing for it but to re-upload. I had to do a bunch myself.