Revenge 1577 by Loracs - Amati - 1:64

[Loracs]

@Baker  a very good point...  🚯

[TurkSailor]

Hi Loracs,

 

You’ve done a wondrous job thus far. I can only dream of being this good!

I must ask, and apologize if it has been asked of you before. Can you share the details of that absolutely incredible building slip you use? I MUST have one! It looks invaluable. I find myself using drill press vices and various other things, but nothing compares to what you have. 
 

Thank you, 

[Loracs]

@TurkSailor  I look a long time for a convenient building slip... The one I like was out of order and manufacturer did not even reply about possible availability in the future.  Link here:  

 

SO...  I build a working table.  Not quite a slip to guide you in the build but mostly to hold the ship in place.  It was a lot of work to make and rather expensive.  I choose to do it for fun (I wanted a woodworking project to spend time on).  At the end NOT a slip... but a close second/third.  Beside that... nothing else.  You can get by with a lot cheaper alternative since it just holds the ship on place, nothing more.  Lastly, it is heavy, very heavy.  So, I place the table on a large Lazy Susan to rotate it.

 

Here the link for the table: 

 

 

Edited February 19 by Loracs

[TurkSailor]

@Loracs You are being very humble. This is quite possibly the best work surface for model ship building. 

 

Thank you for sharing the log and details. 

 

 

[Loracs]

22 ft Yawl (Vanguard Models): I'm adding a 22ft Yawl and 18ft Cutter (later) to the Revenge Build.  Both are made by Vanguard Models and of excellent quality and design.  Since we don't see those often, I'm adding pictures below.  The model has matte clear coat only (except at the bottom of the yawl because it has photo-etch parts - dark brown).  Wood choice (pearwood and something else) is excellent and the laser burn is very minimal.  Overall, a wonderful small kit, worth every single pennies.  Note: A few photo-etch accessories still need to be added.

 

[Loracs]

Yawl 22 ft completed...

[Loracs]

Taking care of the crew: I wanted to add before rigging.  It may be difficult to place later.  I have not painted miniatures in 40 years... so it was time for supplies.  I'm doing my own paint, since you can basically tailor it to what you need, either airbrush (new to me), contrast, washes, opaque or translucent paint of pretty much any color with CMYK primary.  I like ink because they are pigment dense so when you start mixing for colors, it does not get diluted much.  First time trying Zenital base coat (highlights and shadows) on such a small model... let's see later how it turns out with colors.

 

Not great quality miniatures... but hey!  I bought them to give a sense of scale (they are 1:64 too), and since I have it at hand, why not use them!

 

 

Edited March 8 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Cannon rigging at various stages.  It takes patience.  Two ropes, one to anchor the cannon to the ship (using 0.75mm rope) and the others to handle the cannon back and forth (0.25mm rope with blocks).  Looking forward to having this step done.  I'm running out of 2.5mm blocks so I may not do the one at the back.

 

Edited March 9 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Rigged Cannon: I must say that this took me a while.  They are so small.... not perfect but a step up for me since it is my first time.  I like Master Korabel blocks a lot, but they are so hard to find in any amount.

 

Glue is still fresh... it will be mostly gone when fully dry.  I used Fabric glue for the ropes.

 

 

 

Edited March 22 by Loracs

[Knocklouder]

That looks really good, and very difficult as well 

Bob M.

[Loracs]

thank you @Knocklouder, appreciate.   It took me 3 weeks to get the rigging blocks together. At 2.5mm, I had to wear a magnification glass... but only couple hours a day before getting a headache.  Not getting any younger.

Edited March 23 by Loracs

[Baker]

Beautiful rigging on the cannons.

Congrats 

[Loracs]

All Aboard!

 

Edited March 29 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Mats: A lot of shaping but everything fits well. Nothing has been glued so far. Slow progress but still moving along. Rigging next.

 

[Loracs]

Look nice with the shadow.

[Ian_Grant]

Beautiful model. The crew really brings it to life! Nicely done. I'll have some figures to do soon; I have some learning to do first.

[Ronald-V]

Lovely indeed! Love the natural wood colors

 

[Loracs]

Hello, thanks all...  indeed, the natural color was my go. I could not bring myself painting the hull or the mats. The reason for the inlays. It adds a little "design/oomph" while still be wood. Not quite historic though, but a display piece.

Edited April 13 by Loracs

[Loracs]

A few close-up pictures to show some of the details.

 

 

Edited April 13 by Loracs

[Loracs]

The mats are shaped and blocks are nearly all attaches.  That's already a lot of slip-knots and I'm afraid it's only the beginning.  Repetition is part of the game. 

 

 

[Loracs]

Sails: I wanted to keep the sails flexible... so no dipping in diluted glue.  A 2-3 mm border was glued around to reenforce them at the edge. The "cringles" were a pain to do as well as sizing them.

 

 

[Loracs]

Preparing ropes for rigging: Quite a number of ropes will need to have blocks attached one way or another. Sometime 2 blocks in a row like in the first picture.  At times, it is not the difficulty but simply having a method to tackle the tasks.

 

Tying rope in a figure eight, all tied using a slip knot is very useful for all kind of attachments, either to another rope, mats, spars, etc... For those new to this, let me share my simple how-to (pictures 2).

 

1: cut two ropes of appropriate diameter.

2: insert the elements you need (here a hook and a ring) and form a figure eight with the rope.  Hold in place with a lock hemostat.

3: Tie a slip knock around the figure eight.

4. once done, you can just simply pull one or the other end to adjust the length of the loop.

5. insert the block in one end-loop... and cut all excess ropes.

Edited May 9 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Main Mast Tackle: Attaching those under tension to side racks is a little challenging.  One mast done, three more to go.

 

Note: Initially, I used MARA 30 thread directly for the lower part of the tackle... the one that runs through the block (since it was roughly 0.25mm as is).  It was a BIG mistake.  The tread by itself is slightly elastic and unwinds/twists crazily under tension.  It had to be replaced.  The same diameter rope was built from 4 MARA 120 treads for the same final diameter.  IT WAS so much better.

 

As expected, couple crews got knock over in the process  LOL.

 

Edited May 9 by Loracs

[Knocklouder]

That looks amazing,  nicely done.!!                              

[Loracs]

Thank you...  so much more to be done. ;_).   I still need to find a way to clean up the slip-knock better for elegance.  

Edited May 9 by Loracs

[Loracs]

Amati Revenge Kit Comments:  Frankly, Amati will need to significantly up their game before I ever consider one of their kits. From what I seen, Syren and Vanguard is leading here by offering quality design and supplies, and they should be commented for it.

 

EDIT: This is mean to bring awareness, not a deterrent at all. 

 

The good:

1. Overall design:  Excellent, top notch

      Note:  paper template ok, but seriously this is NOT a paper ship. Wood inlays please or change the design.

2. Documentation: Excellent, top notch

3. Accessories (cannon and others): Excellent, would definitively use

4. Frame quality: good... nothing seen anyway

Edit: the sails seen quite nice material but have not seen other.

 

Now, with the bad:

5. Wood strips:  sub-par, cheap wood, need significant improvement.  I had to replace a lot. Frankly, I would change everything if I was doing again.

6. Wood laser-cut accessories:  Very brittle and cheap, not usable without significant re-enforcement

6. Masts:  ok, at least try to supply the same type of wood. Need staining for consistency (I prefer natural wood). 

7. Rope: very low quality, no one will use that

8. Blocks:  very low quality, disintegrate in your hand. Did anyone ever use that?

 

 

Overall: B-.   I'm sorry not worth the price as is. This is a shame BECAUSE the design and look are FANTASTIC.  You are basically paying for just that.

 

Be ready to spend at least the kit price or more in improvement for a good finish.  As a kit manufacturer, I would ask myself this:  Would the consumer, who will spend a thousand+ hours building a kit, be whiling to have sub-par end-result at a premium cost?

Edited May 17 by Loracs

[GrandpaPhil]

What went wrong?

[Loracs]

Hey GranpaPhil, nothing really wrong.  Just a little frustration on the supplied materials that more often than not as to be fixed or just replaced.  Still moving along though.  

[GrandpaPhil]

That’s why I don’t generally buy kits anymore (except card kits, which are an exception).

 

If there is something that I like, I usually just buy the plans, because I found that I replace most of the kit anyway.

 

Then, once I found Ab Hoving’s card scratch building tutorial on this forum, I never looked back.

 

Having said that, Vanguard’s kits look very nice.

 

They are produced by the gentleman who designed the model you’re building right now, but they are produced according to his standards, which are absolutely excellent.

 

From what I hear, the materials and fittings are superb.

 

[Loracs]

Ratline slight modification.

 

1. The triangular blocks are, well, needed some love.  The side grooves are just too shallow as is.  Got some miniature files and got to work on them (I should have bought some earlier... too late now).  

 

2. The blocks are fine with a metal brace but don't really work with 1.3mm rope.  The block just slips out easily. A no-go for the ratline if you want to have some tension.  In addition, it is really hard for me to tie them strongly on the ship directly.

 

3. Adjusting the height was difficult: hard to do without a second pair of hands. The rope just does not slip well around a triangular-shaped block.

 

I had to come up with a plan (see pictures below).

 a. I used a 1mm rope to tie them.  Using a slip-knot in a figure-eigth.  This allows me to tie really strongly so they don't slip.

 

b. next I slip the 1.3mm rope through the eye-lid open at the other end of the block.  After tying firmly, it does not slide freely BUT can still be adjusted later on.

 

c. I can then move it to the ship and tie.  Only 41 more to go.  Time will tell if the approach holds on.

 

Lastly, I served the ropes on top as well. I'm reading that the first line of the ratline is served for the full length too, which I did.  Hopefully it is appropriate for 1577.  Things will get busy up there soon.

 

Edited May 15 by Loracs