HMS Surprise 1796 (prototype) by James H - Vanguard Models - 1:64

[James H]

Mini update. This is the rudder so far, minus a little PE.

 

The rudder comprises a sandwich assembly....a pear core with engraved external faces. Assembly of these is as obvious as it gets.

 

The assembly is then sanded and evened up. After this, black card is applied to the straps at the top of the rudder.

 

Plating this rudder is easy. Instead of using individual plates, parts are supplied to do it all in one. Note there is a tapered edge piece too, if you do indeed choose to taper your rudder. For the prototype though, no taper is applied, so regular plates are used, slightly pared down to 5mm width.

 

 

The rudder is first painted black and then the faces are applied. To do this, I use Gorilla Epoxy. This gives me plenty of time to manoeuvre the copper so I have it properly aligned. I used a 1kg weight to with each face supplied, left until the parts are thoroughly set. The edge plates are then added. For the inner edge, I used a length of copper tape which I formed around the various curves. You can use the plates, but this is me just saving some time.

 

I can now add the copper rudder straps. These are PE parts and simply glue into the engraved positions on the copper faces. 

 

 

More when I can show you something...