HMS Unicorn by ZyXuz - Corel - Scale 1:75

[src]

Z, been following along quietly of late, very very nice!!! That was some work with the ladder, will have to rember that!

Sam

[The Sailor]

Very nice progress ZyXuz. Keep on the good work.

[ZyXuz]

Metal Fittings on Carriage Preparing
Corel provides some brass fittings and most of them need to be blacken. So, I started this part by cutting the brass rod as axles, and blacken all the brass fittings together. 

 

Using the depth ruler, I marked the length of axles on the brass rod, and cut them by using my power tool. Since my vise can't grab the brass rods real tight, so I used this method. Still slide a little bit, but didn't affect much.
 

 
The result... 
Total of 32 cannons, so.. 64 axles for the carriages.
 

 

Almost all brass fittings are in, besides the pump and bell. Yea.. Corel provides ready-made pump in brass.
 
I added a coiled brass wire in because the eyebolts provided by the kit seems oversize for me. I'll need to remake some eyebolts. For the cannons, they are in brown brass. I thought they can be still blacken, but they didn't work out.
 

 

After some minutes...

 

 
While waiting the blackening process, I continued on drilling holes for eyebolts. Here's the jig that I made to get equal position of the eye bolts. It took me almost whole night on this including adding the beds to the carriages (which I missed to take photos on the process).
 

 
The metals are left overnight in the solution , and the result looks satisfying.

 

 

 

I continued on the eyebolts making. To make them, I've made another jig. Just a hole beside a pin, pictures below show how I did them.

Plug the wire in the hole.
 

 
Coil it to the pin.
 

 
Cut at the end of the coil.
 

 
And then flatten it back.
 

The comparison.

 

 

Thanks for viewing

[ianmajor]

ZyXuz,

 

Gosh. You are making rapid progress. I like the carriage drilling jig. Good thinking.

[ZyXuz]

Thanks Ian,

It took me sometimes and trashed 1 jig to come up with this idea.. worth it tho

[ZyXuz]

More updates..

*I actually done these updates a week ago, only update them here when a section is completed. That's why I have a bunch of updates coming in lately 

 

Carriage Colouring

I am lucky to have a balsa board which is thick enough to hold the carriages, and it really eased my painting work.
 

A beautiful door frame?
Bottom and sides of the carriages after painting.
 

For the inner part, I painted them one by one. Here you can see the fake bed that I previously added.
 

To colour the trucks, I used this method (I can sure this is a strange one ). I put as many trucks as possible into the 'pool' to make sure they are full and don't easily move, so that when I brush them they can stay in position. 
 

 
The result is quite satisfying for me. Anyway, here's a problem that I didn't foresee. Since I didn't add a 'base' beneath it, I will need to turn them around almost one by one! If a base is added, I can just cover them with another piece of board, flip them over and start colouring the other side. 
 

 
For the parameter painting, I used a brass wire to help on.
 

Now the eyebolts are good to put on. And of course, I added only on those which will be visible outboard.
 

 

Cheers

[ZyXuz]

Putting All Together
To put the axles on easier, I've made myself another jig.

 

 
The two slots will help the axles staying in position. 
 

 
Then, I applied glue on the carriage, pushed it to the axles and let dry.
 

 
And then glued the trucks and barrels on.
 

Now, the major parts of cannons are basically done. I will add cap square to them when my copper sheet arrives, or perhaps some nails detail to them.
 

 
For the cannon rigging, Corel provides 3mm wooden blocks which are way oversize. Both blocks will be touching each other if they are made to tackle. 
 

Way Oversize Blocks

Now I'm stuck here on the rigging. I searched through the web and found that the Amati Xebec cannon rigging perhaps an example to follow with, which just securing the guns without any blocks, but not sure whether it is accurate? Hope anyone can help here. Thanks in advance

[RGL]

I just had a look at Frolich's Xebec Le Requin, it has the guns fully rigged, that is with tackle on each side of the carriages, breaching rope. From the look of the photo you've shown they didn't bother to add them to their model. You'll need some 2mm blocks for your scale of 1:75

[ZyXuz]

Thanks Greg for the fast reply.

 

Yea, Corel instruction mentions that modelers MAY add the tackles IF they want to.. I think adding the tackles is inevitable if I want my ship to be accurate.. I have 20 guns visible from outboard, each carriage need 4 blocks.. that makes 80. I'll try making my own using extra wood strips b4 I purchase from any manufacturers. 

[mtaylor]

That was a great production line, ZyXuz.  Cannons and carriages came very well.

[petervisser]

Very nice work ZyXuz! I remember doing my own cannon during my build of the Unicorn. I rigged the guns fully in the waist and quarter deck where they were visible, but simply afixed the breeching tackle to the guns that were under the deck. It saved a bit of time and effort.

 

Keep up the excellent work!

 

Peter

[Jeff-E]

Hi ZyXuz,

 

Great work on your cannons and their carriges. The jigs you made are fantastic I will make a note of  this page aas it will be a great help when I start building my guns.

 

Thanks for sharing your method.

[ianmajor]

ZyXuz,

 

Great work on the guns. The additional detail is very nicely done.

 

Re rigging the guns - have you seen Dafi's Victory log? From page 28 there is description of rigging his cannon, making the items used for loading cleaning the cannon and positioning the crew. It is an interesting read in its own right and covers several pages. <Link>     

[ZyXuz]

Thanks all for the kind words, that really encourage me

 

Peter,

Thanks for the tips. Anyway, I missed out one point on my other modification.. I'm planning to remove the gangway, and made it like the Pandora's main deck which fully exposed. The rigging should be fine, my main concern currently is the tiny little rigging blocks. Buying sounds bit over budget for me; while making them sounds too challenging

 

Ian,

Yea, thanks for link I clicked it, and watched his build log at least 20 pages more (like what I did when I first saw his post ).. just awesome

I've also just noticed that the tackles are actually double sheaves!! OMG now I really wonder I can make it lol

[md1400cs]

ZyXuz,

 

Nice update. You cannon jig idea is excellent. I will make one as well. Thanks for the idea.

 

Regards,

 

Michael

[ZyXuz]

Some quick updates of recent works before Christmas. 
 
Rudder & Deck Modification
 
Rudder 
I've done the rudder together with its hinges over the weekends, and also the painting.  The rudder was done by using three 5mm x 5mm walnut strips, and tapper the last one to get into shape.
 

 

 

 
Then, I continued to the hinges. 

Due to my silly mistake on the hull planking, I had to widen the hinges so that they can fit to the hull. Pictures below show the thicker hull compared to the rudder, not so noticeable from both sides; but from behind, it's really obvious.
 

 
Here you can see the mistake of the planking... the sunken keel 
 

 

 

Deck Modification
For the deck, I've decided to remove the gangways at the waist area. I also had some times to put some planking on, and cut the skylight portion off.  Anyway, I've a little bit concern on the ladder position of the quarter deck.. My current plan is to locate the ladders facing towards bow direction and end between 2 guns, but I can't find any ship has similar design. Or should I make a jog plank like the HMS Pegasus (or Ian's modification)?? Hope anyone can help
 

 
As previously mentioned, the bow of ship as shown on the box is different from the instruction. There are two gun port lids instead of just the ladder. I'm following the box's version  and this is how she looks like now

 

 

This should be the last update of this year and since I'm going off for a short vacation in Thailand again tomorrow (actually in few more hours ).. so, wish you all have a Merry Christmas in advance!!

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice work!  The color scheme is working out very nicely!

[ianmajor]

ZyXuz,

 

That looks fabulous. A really nice job.

 

Re the steps from the quarter deck - have a look at page 63 of Dan Vadas' HMS Vulture log  (link).. He shows how the "step down" from the quarter deck should be along with the steps (go to the bottom of the page for the steps - they are very impressive) .I believe the steps on the Unicorn would have pointed inwards as per Dan's construction.

 

One thought - your quarter deck looks to extend too far forward IMHO - the upward steps of the bulwarks show the extent of the quarter deck. If I understand the construction of the real ships correctly the raised part of the bulwark was made by the deck clamps which held the deck beams in place. Of course I may be totally wrong in this!  

 

Season's Greetings and a prosperous New Year to you and your family - and happy modelling.

[Salty Sea Dog]

Merry Christmas ZyXuz!

 

I just got caught up on your build and really like the modifications you are making. Nice!!

 

Best wishes,

[ZyXuz]

I've just came back from Thailand and only able to read all your comments now ^^ Internet connection there was bad, and I didn't even login my fb page for 3 days!! lol

Thanks all for the kind words! They really encourage me 

 

Ian,

I must say you're like an encyclopedia for me, very resourceful Thanks for the link on Dan's step down and the notice the extension of my quarter deck, I'll certainly make my ladder pointing inward direction. Anyway, trimming the quarter deck will easily affect my main mast area, I can't think of any good way now on the modification (after 7 hours of sea and land travelling  ). Hope I can have a clear mind on this this weekend. 

 

Cheers!

[md1400cs]

ZyXuz,

 

Nice update. Looking so excellent. 

 

PS: Love Thailand, spent many years traveling in Asia when I was working. We always stopped in BKK first, then went on into other countries after a few days of rest, golf, great food, amazing people.

 

Michael

[src]

Z,

Looking good! Like the colors. Are you going to clear coat?

Sam

[Landlubber Mike]

ZyXuz,

 

I agree with Ferit (I usually do  ) on both counts.

 

My view is the quarter deck is too low on this kit. When you start at the waist area the deck should step up twice rather than be at one level. The kit gives a scale 5 feet headroom under the quarter deck, whereas if you look at the plans of the Lyme held by NMM at http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/385550.html  the headroom would actually be about 6 feet - I can't see the senior officers being happy to crouch in the main cabins.  This extra headroom would also give your furniture a better chance of being seen.

 

It also looks as though you are getting rid of the locker to the rear of the quarter deck. Good move - it is very much a Coral invention on this ship!

Hi ZyXuz and Ian, 

 

I was reading the Gardiner book "The Sailing Frigate" last night (an excellent book on the development of frigates using ship models from the NMM), and came upon a passage on the headroom between the decks that reminded me of Ian's post above.  Here is an excerpt from page 49:

 

"The Unicorn and Lyme were a great success, and eventually twenty ships were built to this design during the next war, including five experimentally built of softwood . . . . The prototype pair followed their French model [the Tygre] quite closely, but proved too cramped internally for RN purposes, so the second pair were modified to add about a foot of headroom between decks - ironically, as this was one of the features that had made the French formula so attractive in the first place - but it meant better conditions for the men berthed on the lower deck, and increased the main battery freeboard from its barely adequate 5ft."

 

So maybe Corel actually got this right?

[Landlubber Mike]

HI again ZyXuz, 

 

Just out of curiosity, did you get the CMB order in yet?  I was wondering how the coat of arms replacement part that you got worked out.  I had to place an order for more rigging thread on my Badger because I needed a bit more 0.50mm thread to do a tie on the main topgallant yard (the last bit of rigging requiring that size thread, very frustrating!), but that gave me an excuse to order other goodies for my Unicorn.  I ended up ordering the smaller coat of arms as I forgot that you had placed an order for the larger one.  Just wondering how it worked out.

 

Thanks!  Hope all is well my friend.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ZyXuz]

Hey Mike,

Sorry, I was so busy these few days and I only read your reply now.

 

There's something wrong in my order placed.  and there was no receipt sent to my mail... I realized it right after I paid the money and hope nothing goes wrong... but it does... I still remember that I ordered some wood strips, a wood board, few brass decoration and the coat of arms.. well, the wood strips and decoration arrived correctly, but when I opened up the other packages they were something else! They arrived just yesterday... I think CMB mistaken my coat of arms and wood board as Amati Planet Work Bench http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/amati_7396.html and a holding attachment. Anyway, it looks useful to me for my build and the price is around the same too (£18 in total), so I did not complain this to CMB. Well, the bad thing is... I'll have to on hold my stern gallery again.

 

Anyway, now I've a good excuse to place another order too  Will certainly order coat of arm again, and more wood strip, and.. oh ya some black threads too if possible. They should fit better to my colour scheme compared to the kit ones. Can I know which brand did you choose?

 

My progress has been slow recently, and I don't think will be regular also till next month because Chinese New Year is around the corner.. and I've my future career plan to work on (really hate my current job  ). From your sharing, I think Corel is right in the deck height. just that the windows are too tall for it. For my case, I think I'm now too late to alter it. Currently, I've only 10mm height of  bulwark along the deck. So, opening the gun port is inevitable now. I'm still thinking to follow the Unicorn plan that you shared last time, which the gun port opening is wider towards the bow. Can be done by just adding one tapered strip. Anyway, cutting the brass port sounds a bit tough, I might use wood instead.. by drilling hole on a dowel? Hope it works

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi ZyXuz, sorry to hear about the issue with your order.  Sounds like you can use the stuff they sent by mistake, so I guess all is not lost.  When my package arrives, I'll let you know how the coat of arms works (I'll post a picture so you can see if you need to go with the bigger or the smaller one).  My hope is that I can use either of the Amati coats of arms, and reconfigure the stern to look like the Chapman plan.  That would take making a curvier design to the top of the stern, and I'll probably sculpt or carve figures on the side of the coat of arms.  At least that's the plan 

 

For the thread, I just ordered the Caldercraft thread.  I didn't want to mix and match threads at this point on my Badger.  I'm not super impressed with their thread - it's ok, but can be a bit fuzzy, especially some batches.  I might go with Chuck's thread for future builds, but looking at the other kits on my shelf, the Amati thread looks pretty good.

 

For the Unicorn deck, the height is probably correct but the slope is probably off given that the Chapman plans show the portholes opening up as you go forward.  I think you're right that all that is needed is to build up the frames of the fore end of the quarterdeck a bit   before the planking is added.  I am going to try and modify it to match the Chapman plans, but not sure how easy it will be to open them up.  CMB sells the Corel portholes in packets of 10, so I placed an order for them (they were sold out the first time I ordered).  I had to guess on the size, as CMB sells them in 9mm and 12mm (diameters I assume), and of course when I measured them, they seemed to be 10mm in diameter 

 

I had some time this week to do some thinking about the color scheme as well.  I think I'm going to go with a thick black wale, and black for the background of the stern and possibly the stern galleries.  I have a feeling that I'm going to want to scratch the stern galleries as well, as I'm not all that impressed with the cast parts.  I plan to open the waist as well, and I'll probably also add ships boats to that area.  Interestingly, the Pandora had four boats of various sizes - three across, and the smallest nested inside one of the other three.

 

If I don't talk to you before then, hope you have a good new year and good luck with your future career plan

Edited January 11, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[ianmajor]

"The Unicorn and Lyme were a great success, and eventually twenty ships were built to this design during the next war, including five experimentally built of softwood . . . . The prototype pair followed their French model [the Tygre] quite closely, but proved too cramped internally for RN purposes, so the second pair were modified to add about a foot of headroom between decks - ironically, as this was one of the features that had made the French formula so attractive in the first place - but it meant better conditions for the men berthed on the lower deck, and increased the main battery freeboard from its barely adequate 5ft."

 

 

 

Mike,

 

That is an interesting bit of info that you found. I must admit I was previously looking at the deck headroom of ships from about 20 years later. So decided to go back to the Lymm plans held at the NMM and measure up.

 

I found that the height between the upper deck (the main gun deck) and the quarter deck measured out at just over 6ft. The height between the upper deck and fore deck was slightly less at about 5ft 6ins. The height between the lower deck and the upper deck (not modeled in the kit) was 5ft. In the waist area the headroom for the gunners was about 5ft. This does not include the depth of the deck beams which would lose a few more inches of headroom.

 

Clearly the Corel supplied windows at a scale 6ft 6ins height are wrong being taller than the height of the main cabin!  

So ZyXuz's windows are excellent replacements.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Ian,

 

Good to know about the windows.  I'll have to take that into consideration when scratching the stern and stern galleries.

 

If you look at the Chapman plans, they do indeed show windows with arches at the top.  I'm wondering if these arches were decorative, rather than part of the actual windows?  It's a bit hard to tell from the Chapman plans whether the arch served as part of the window panes, but take a look at this stern from model SLR0461 of the RMG.  The windows here are rectangular, with decorative arches at the top.  The ship is from 1741, so fairly close in time to the time of the Unicorn.

 

 

Here is the link to the RMG site.  It's a bit hard to tell whether the stern gallery windows are constructed this way as well, but it looks like it could be the approach taken.  It might be a bit odd to have rectangular windows at the stern and arched windows at the gallery.

 

http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/66422.html

 

After seeing this model in the Gardiner book, I was thinking that this would be a nice approach when scratching the stern - particularly since it would be much easier to create rectangular windows without arches    Given your research and calculations on the window size, then maybe this approach would not only make more sense, but also be true to the Chapman plans.

 

So, should we contact Corel and tell them to fix their kit?  Think we can charge a consulting fee for all our research?  

Edited January 11, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[TheDutchShipBuilder]

Hi ZyXuz

 

Nice progress you have made there

Your making on the cannon's are very helpfull for me, and I'm probably going to use your method or similar to it

I will follow your built (which I already did )

 

Cheers

Nick

[ZyXuz]

Mike,

Thanks for the info. I think I'll go for the Amati's thread then Regarding the windows, I'd vote for the rectangular ones too.. you can save a lot of times on the carving instead of the arc frames and the harder part is that the angle of the windows are different with position, which you might need few jigs to help on

 

Nick,

Thanks for your kind words!