HMS Indefatigable 1794 by Nick 843 - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[Nick 843]

So I'll start a build log.  Just see my intro to the effect that I'm a beginner in wood ship models.

 

First remarks:  the kit arrived late Friday.  Unboxing, sorting and organizing Fri/Sat, and started to build yersterday/Saturday, and will continue today, although a good part will be organizing space, storage and access to parts, that sort of thing.  If anyone has a warehouse for rent, I might be interested.

 

The kit is just stunning/gorgeous; I could go on and on.  Awesome packing.

 

Nothing special to show at this point via pic.  I'm just through step 17 in the manual which has the first 12 or so bulkheads fitted to the keel.  As the manual says, at that point you really do start to get a sense of Indy's size.

 

More later.

 

Cheers/Nick

Edited October 13 by Nick 843

[Ronald-V]

Good to see you starting a build log 👌

[Nick 843]

Up to here today.  A couple of beers dictated quitting for the day in case the concentration not quite up to snuff.

 

Pool noodle supports idea from another build log, just adapted to suit me.  For now, the cut orange noodles enable support and can roll from side to side as needed.  The green and which is on the other side as well, keeps in position.

Nick

[Nick 843]

Up to here now.  Nothing especial to comment; pretty straightforward so far.  Fit is just excellent.  Most plugs need just a hair of sanding to fit easily but without compromising tightness.

 

Have been eyeballing (in addition to the manual of course) build logs by James H (the prototype), Glenn, Kevin, Blue Ensign, ECK and Delf both as I go and looking ahead to pick up any tips, points to watch out for etc.  Starting to think about paint steps and doing painting when accessible vs not.  Next up is going to be gratings and hatch coamings and orlop ladder, which have been thinking about painting and/or coating before they go on.  I don't think it's necessary, and none of the build logs mention this.  But I've been looking at HMS Victory photos which suggest some gratings may have been painted, but there doesn't seem to be uniformity on it.  The ladder seems to have been left plain wood.

 

 

[Nick 843]

May not be much if anything the next couple of days or so.  Reading and comparing various build logs on bow and stern pre-fairing.  I think I have enough 4mm mdf scrap now to knock up a rough copy of one or the other to practice the fairing on something other than the real parts.  This will be my first real challenge.

 

Speaking of comparing various build logs, I started a comparison table so that it's easy to jump to particular spots/topics in each log.  If such a thing is of interest to anyone, I'd be happy to provide it.  The native file format is OneNote, but it's easy to pdf or even copy to Excel.

 

 

[Nick 843]

Made some progress in the last couple of days.

Notes re pics below:

1. general pic; have put together bow and stern sections also.
2. overhead of lower gun deck installation with gratings.
3. I mention the gratings/hatchway as I gave those parts a couple of coats of thinned matte varnish (vop) to avoid paint bleed.  I then used (prior glueing the parts onto the deck) the AK Interactive paint marker.  I got the markers a couple of weeks before ordering Indy to use on my plastic and resin models.  I hadn't used them that much, but was already impressed with their ability to paint small parts in situ, highlighting, etc.  Anyway, they worked real well here and without the muss and fuss of a paintbrush.  I masked the edges and just drew the paint on; no drama.

[Nick 843]

So here's a question if I may.

 

In the last couple of days, I've been reading a fair amount about planking, and about fairing.  Not to suggest I actually know anything btw.

 

About planking first, in the course of it I came across the NRG's Half-hull planking kit.  I've ordered it to learn something hands-on vs theoretical before planking comes up.

 

My immediate interest was about fairing, because pre-fairing the bow and stern sections is up next.  So I've read a bunch, looked at pics, and in particular have gone through the instructions about the half-hull kit, which also speak to fairing.

 

My question is about the baseline reference point for fairing (and thus pre-fairing also of course) to get the required width of hull.  The half-hull instructions say at page 25 (pdf p. 27): "Begin fairing in an area that does not require much wood removal.  That is generally in the dead flat area."  There's a diagram to illustrate.

 

 

The diagram is obviously exaggerated, but I get the idea.

 

In the pic below, I put some styrene strip across Indy's hull at the level of the intersection of the frames with the sub-deck.  It doesn't show too well in the pic, but obviously the dead flat area is in way of frame 9 (the double frame) and it even extends to frames 8 and 10; then you can just about see that it starts to touch other frames at an angle, indicating what has to be faired to get flat contact with the planks.  And I know it becomes more accentuated if the strip is moved down towards the keel.

 

My question is this.  If frame 9 is basically flush (maybe with a hair of sanding to make it completely flush) with the intersecting sub-deck, is that my baseline reference point for fairing? i.e. little if anything would be removed at that point.

 

I'm not quite sure I've asked the question properly; let me know if more explanation needed.

 

 

[Thukydides]

The top of the sub deck should show you the faring line for that part of the hull, but the angle that the fairing occurs at will change depending where on the bulkhead you are sanding. The best way to do it is to have a test batten ready to hold against the bulkheads at various angles. When it is bent over the bulkheads there should be no space between the batten and the bulkheads. If there is then the hull is not faired enough.

 

In general the process for me is take a sanding stick and fair over multiple bulkheads at once. That helps to get the correct curve. The amount of char visible can also serve as an indicator. However the best check is the batten test. 

[Nick 843]

Got it. Thanks very much.

[Nick 843]

Orlop ladder in.  I also cut some small blocks from the 4mm mdf scrap and glued them under the sub-deck for added strength, and painted thinned glue over all joints under the sub-deck, likewise for strength.