HMS Indefatigable 1794 by Glenn-UK - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Glenn-UK]

Gun Deck Planking – Left-Hand Side Started

Before I start planking towards the left-hand bulwark, I need to complete the infill areas around all the hatches. Using the laser etch line on the gundeck base as a guide the first I added a set of planks from the bow to the stern. The first two planks that were cut and glued in place are shown in the photo below.

 

The next task was to cut and glue the various inner infill planks. The completed first hatch infill area is shown in the next photo. 

 

The next hatch infill is soon completed as there was not much work required.

 

The next section required a lot more work, but with careful measurement and accurate cutting the infill was completed and the bitts were test fitted.

 

The final hatch to infill was straightforward and one of the deck beam support was test fitted.

 

The infill to the stern was the final task. I decided it was unnecessary to open up the area for the final hatch, but I did mark the area where the hatch would be located and then did a dry fit as can be seen in the next two photos

Next is a photo of the stern area with the deck support beams test fitted.

 

 

To ensure the eyebolts are correctly positioned I am using a simple jig and the one shown has been set for the first pair of eyebolts.

The supplied boxwood planks do vary in colour so before I start the planking toward the left-hand bulwarks, I will try to sort out the best colour matched planks. 19 planks lengths will be required to complete the left-hand side.

[allanyed]

Hi Glenn,

At your scale it is a very nice change to see a fine job of planking that has not been ruined with stark out of scale trennals as seen in so many build logs.  Less is more, and none is probably best.

Allan

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by allanyed

[Glenn-UK]

32 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Hi Glenn,

At your scale it is a very nice change to see a fine job of planking that has not been ruined with stark out of scale trennals as seen in so many build logs.  Less is more, and none is probably best.

Allan

 

Many thanks. Also much of this planking will be hidden by the upper decks and gangways.

[allanyed]

1 hour ago, Glenn-UK said:

much of this planking will be hidden by the upper decks and gangways.

Glenn,

What of the upper decks?  😀 If you do go with treenails, they really should be barely visible.   Bamboo is easy to draw to very small diameter and is subtle in color. But, for 1:64 they should be about 0.011 to 0.015" (0.3mm to 0.4mm)    Drill bits that small exist, but making treenails that small can be an exercise in futility.  It is easier to just drill the holes then fill the holes with watered down white or yellow glue then sand the deck while the glue is still wet which will fill the holes.  Small sections at a time are called for.   Alternatively you can drill, sand and then spray a clear coat to keep the dust in the holes.   Testing scrap pieces is of course a good idea if you have not done this before.  Cheap bits are not worth the trouble, but good jobber bit prices may be prohibitive. 

 

It is easier for the hull as they have bigger treenails closer to 0.6mm diameter at 1:64.  The downside is that there were well over 100 frames that would have been be treenailed so even if only in the areas not painted or coppered there are several thousand needed.   Fun times!!!

 

Allan

[Glenn-UK]

18 minutes ago, allanyed said:

Glenn,

What of the upper decks?  😀 If you do go with treenails, they really should be barely visible.  

No treenails with any of deck planking😀

[allanyed]

4 hours ago, Glenn-UK said:

No treenails with any of deck planking😀

A wise decision!!!  

 

[Glenn-UK]

I have done a little bit more on the deck planking. I have found it necessary to use plank off cuts to hold some of the deck planks in place as the glue cures to ensure the planks are nice and snug to the adjacent planks.

 

I will be AWOL for the next 9+ days as my wife and I take a nice train journey to Basel (Switzerland), via Paris (and the riots) and then will enjoy a 5 star cruise up the Rhine to Dusseldorf, with plenty of places to visit, including:

a) Lucerne and Bernese Oberland

b) The Black Forest

c) Strasbourg

d) Speyer

e) Rudesheim, Rhine Gorge and Koblenz

f) Cologne

 

[Thukydides]

it is looking good glenn, enjoy your holiday.

[Rustyj]

Enjoy your trip Glenn. That trip is high on the admirals bucket list. 

[Glenn-UK]

As I cruise down the Rhine, bathed in sunshine do I get envious of the excellent progress the other Indy builders?, such as @Kevin, @ECK and @Blue Ensign

 

A picture is sometimes better than words

I should return to the shipyard sometime next week

[Kevin]

enjoy the break

 

[Matt D]

That looks like a fantastic trip!  I’ve seen the Rhine River cruise ships in Cologne and thought it looked Interesting.  I hope you have a great time.

[ECK]

Hope the back is recuperating with the fresh air and scenery.

 

 

[davyboy]

Enjoy your Rhine cruise,I like your photo on board ship. I assume that was taken on Lake Lucerne. Been there a few times,beautiful area.

 

Dave  

[Glenn-UK]

1 hour ago, davyboy said:

Enjoy your Rhine cruise,I like your photo on board ship. I assume that was taken on Lake Lucerne. Been there a few times,beautiful area.

 

Dave  

Hello Dave. We had left Lucerne earlier in the day and taken the cog railway to spend the afternoon at Schynige Platte.

[Glenn-UK]

2 hours ago, ECK said:

Hope the back is recuperating with the fresh air and scenery.

 

 

Thanks. The back in much better but the waist is much fatter with all the fine dining

[Glenn-UK]

Gun Deck Planking – Completed

I have now returned from an amazing European holiday, as can be seen from the three photos I have included in the post. We were there during a red alert heatwave, which suited me as I love the sun.

 

The Eiger (Left hand side of photo with the summit in the clouds)

Strasbourg (Very scenic) 

Lucerne (A fantastic covered bridge)

As my back is now much improved, I have been able to spend a bit more time in the shipyard this week and I have finally completed the planking to the gun deck this afternoon. The gun deck planking will now need to be cleaned up. I plan to use a blade to scrape the gun deck planks. As there is some colour difference between the planks I have ordered some different water based wood stains so I experiment with some different colours (on scrap wood samples) to see if I can get a nice pale wood stain finish. If I am unable to find a suitable stain finish I will simply add a WOP finish to the planking which I know will look good.

 

Whilst I wait for the wood stains to arrive, I might turn my attention to painting and assembling the cannons so I check how they will look when placed in their locating slots. As each cannon locating slot was added during the planking process I did make sure the cannon tab would locate in each slot.

 

I have added a selection of photos of the completed planking.

As can be seen in the final photo I did manage to damage one of the bulkhead ears. The ear can be glued back in place without any difficultly.

 

[Blue Ensign]

Glad you enjoyed your hols Glenn, and that your back is improving.

 

A good scraping will make a world of difference to the deck, but I would be very cautious about applying wood stain, you may find it results in patchiness, beyond the natural colour tones of the wood.

With Boxwood (which I always use for decks) I use a water based matt varnish following scraping. Admiralty paints used to do a flat matt varnish, but on Sphinx I used Vallejo Matt Acrylic Varnish.

 

ps nice job on relocating those gun securing slots around the margin.

 

B.E.

[Glenn-UK]

11 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

A good scraping will make a world of difference to the deck, but I would be very cautious about applying wood stain, you may find it results in patchiness, beyond the natural colour tones of the wood.

With Boxwood (which I always use for decks) I use a water based matt varnish following scraping. Admiralty paints used to do a flat matt varnish, but on Sphinx I used Vallejo Matt Acrylic Varnish.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

I do have some Vallejo Acrylic Varnish. I am interested to know why this is applied before the scraping.

 

I was really pleased with how the cannon slots turned out. 

[Blue Ensign]

 

I do have some Vallejo Acrylic Varnish. I am interested to know why this is applied before the scraping.

 

Read the post again Glenn.

 

B.E.

[Glenn-UK]

53 minutes ago, Blue Ensign said:

 

I do have some Vallejo Acrylic Varnish. I am interested to know why this is applied before the scraping.

 

Read the post again Glenn.

 

B.E.

Dooh! I read that as followed by, chalk that up to a senior moment

Edited July 15, 2023 by Glenn-UK

[Glenn-UK]

Spirketting and Upper Ledge Patterns

After giving the planked deck a good scrapping, I am now reasonably happy with the end result so I more inclined to add a WOP finish rather than a wood stain finish.

 

I decided that I would paint the inner bulwarks red after the spirketting and upper ledge patterns had been fitted. With the laser char removed from the top and bottom edges of the spirketting and upper ledge patterns it was a relatively easy task to glue and clamp the pattern in place. I have ordered some additional material with a view to adding a waterway between the gun deck and spirketting, therefore any paint seepage under the masking tape can be covered up.

 

I have added some photos of the spirketting and upper ledge patterns in place.

 

Cannon Assembly Jig

It is probably a bit OTT but I ended up making a jig to aid with the assembly of the cannons this afternoon. Starting with a base I cut a slot for the front axle gundeck locating tab, as shown by the blue arrow in the next photo. The yellow arrow indicates where the rear axle will be positioned. I added a side stop to ensure the rear axle is centrally positioned. This is not strictly necessary as I also added to side supports for the cannon side patterns.

 

In the next photo the front axle has been added to the jig. I added a back and front to ensure the front axle is not leaning forward or backward.

 

The rear axle is now positioned in the jig.

 

Next the first side pattern is added, making sure it is fully seated on the two axles.

 

The other side piece is now added to the jig.

 

In the above photo’s the cannon shown has only been dry fitted. I will try a test glued cannon assembly in the morning, and fingers crossed I will be able to release the assembled from the jig. As each cannon is in the jig the next cannon parts can be removed from the sheet and the laser char removed to allow time for the glue to grab. Once I have built the 26 off cannons they will be painted.

 

In the build manual a short length of 0.8mm brass bar is linked between the two side panels. Having checked the fitting I believe this should be a 1mm copper bar, has any of the other builder noticed this?

Edited July 17, 2023 by Glenn-UK

[Glenn-UK]

24lb Cannon Production (26 to make) - The Start

As detailed in my last post I built a simple jig to aid the assembly process of the 26 off 24lb cannons. With the front and rear axles loaded in the jig glue was applied to the joints and the two carriage side panels were added. The carriage sides were clamped to the front axle as the glue was curing.

I am really pleased that I invested time in building the jig as it has really helped me with the assembly process. In a short space of time the first 4 cannon carriages were assembled and they are now ready to be painted before the wheels can be added. I have found the ideal storage area for the assembled frames.

It was then time to book another river cruise along the Blue Danube from Budapest to Salzburg, via Vienna, departing middle of next month. After a spot of lunch the next cannon was added and the 6th cannon was assembled in the jig.

Production is going to stall due to family birthday celebrations (not mine) and visitors coming to stay for a few days. I am hopeful I can still sneak a few hours in the shipyard.

[Glenn-UK]

24lb Cannon Carriages

I have now completed the basic assembly of the gundeck 24lb cannon carriages. They are ready to be painted along with the gun port openings, inner bulwarks, spirketting and upper ledge patterns. As can be seen in the two attached photos the cannon carriage tabs all locate in the slots created when planking the deck with boxwood. Although the manual suggested using 0.8 brass rods to support the carriage stool bed and quoin assembly and I opted to use 1mm brass rod as it a better fit for the holes provided in the gun carriage side patterns.

 

 

 

[James H]

Sweet 😍

[Kevin]

very nice

[Glenn-UK]

Painting Preparation

I am not going to rush the next stage which will be to paint the cannon carriages, gun ports  and inner bulwarks.

 

Using some balsa wood strips I made a couple of bases to hold the cannons in readiness of the painting. My painting plan fpr the cannon carriages is start with applying a WOP coat. Next I will spray paint with some Plastikote Red Oxide Primer. Finally I will add a couple of light coats of Tamiya Flat Red.

 

The cannon carriages are now ready and waiting!

I also inspected the gun port openings to made sure all looked good before painting them. As can be seen in the next photo one gun port opening required a bit more work.

I added a bit of wood filler, but as can be seen in the next photo there is still a little bit work required.

 

The next photo shows another gun port that requires a bit of wood fill attention.

Looks much better with a bit of filler added.

Once the wood filler has been given time to dry I will give each gun port opening a final sanding with some 400-grit sand paper and assuming all look good to my eye I can start painting.

 

 

[chris watton]

I always end up smearing on a little diluted wood filler in the frames, had quite a few for the Victory!

[Glenn-UK]

32 minutes ago, chris watton said:

I always end up smearing on a little diluted wood filler in the frames, had quite a few for the Victory!

I remember doing the all the gun ports and adding linings on Caldercraft's victory, it was quite a task.

[Glenn-UK]

Painting Commences

I have been debating if I should invest in a airbrush system which will probably yield much better results. However for the time being I will continue with using paint brushes.

 

I applied a coat of WOP to the all cannon carriages, gun port openings, inner bulwarks, spirketting and upper ledge patterns. Once the WOP had dried out it was time to start the painting process.

 

The cannons are looking OK after the first coat. One or two more coats will be required.

Next it was time to tape the Indy hull.

I started with painting the gun ports.

The Indy hull looks reasonably OK after the first coat of paint. Some more coats will be required however.