HMS Snake by Beef Wellington - FINISHED - Caldercraft - Scale 1: 64 - First wooden ship build

[drtrap]

Well I think I'll try to reduce to 2mm the 3 mm blocks using my proxxon pern sander....

http://www.chippingaway.com/WoodCarving/SandingProducts-ManualandPower/ProxxonPowerPenSander.htm

[Blue Ensign]

That Carronade is beautifully finished Jason, and the rounded blocks are great improvement. The trick with side tackles is not to let them overwhelm the gun. I tend to use 0.1mm diameter line which provides a nice scale contrast with the breeching ropes.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Beef Wellington]

<sub>Thanks BE - I hope they look OK as I'm not sure what the alternative is, 2mm single blocks could work and I have some just in case, will cross that bridge when I come to it!

Quick picture of the fenders and the chesstree, found these to be a real pain to paint and makes me even more impressed with the larger scale kits going with the Nelson Chequer that has a lot more ornamentation than the Snake. The relative simplicity of the Snake's lines seems to highlight even very minor mistakes. These pieces did take quite a bit to fit properly as the hull does have slight curvature and it was important to avoid any gaps as they really show with the yellow ochre.

I've also drilled the hole for the mainsheet tack as this will be made much harder by the foremast channels getting in the way.</sub>

Edited May 31, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Beef Wellington]

Started to work on the channels.  The instructions indicate these should only require 'minor shaping', this proved to be the case for the main channels, however, the fore and aft ones needed a little more to ensure that the inner surface was flush with the hull.

 

To get the right curvature I used the following simple technique:

1. Used a profile gauge on the hull
2. Transferred the curve to some card to double check the fit
3. Transferred the curve to the channel and cut/filed/sanded
4. Final result after pinning, these fit very solidly even without glue

Overall, pretty pleased that this proved to be easier than I had expected.

 

Edited May 24, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Blue Ensign]

Those fenders and chesstrees are tricky little beggars to fit, but you have made a nice job of them Jason, well done

 

B.E.

[drtrap]

Absolutely precise work Jason!

 

Stergios

 

PS: Where did you get that profile gauge?

[Beef Wellington]

PS: Where did you get that profile gauge?

 

I think I just got it on Amazon.com, but pretty sure they are available in a lot of hardware stores.

[Ferit]

WOW... And great...

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks for kind words BE, Stregios, and Ferit KUTLU...

 

All channels are completed and ready to glue.  I did find that the forward channels needed little bending(very minor) to ensure that they followed the line of the capping rail which was very slightly curved, again was easily achieved with a bit of steam.   I've also drilled the holes for the various ringbolts that will need to be installed on these and seems to be easier to do this now than later.  I've purchased a copy of 'Rigging Period Ship Models' which illustrates these nicely and without which the instructions wouldn't be totally clear as the ringbolts are look more like accidental smudges on the plans.

 

Main reason for adding a photo was to illustrate a very handy technique that I wish I'd tried earlier, I think I may have read this from one of DanVads posts on the old site and wanted to pass on.  Attempting to show that the drillbit is set so that only 1.5mm of the bit is protruding from the pin vise, this allows the various holes to be drilled with confidence knowing that its impossible to go through the wood.  Simple and effective - thanks Danny.

 

Hopefully next photos will show attached channels which I think is the last bit of work on the hull that will require major manhandling so I can start to work on the carronades with a vengeance.  I've deliberately left a few fun items so that I will have a few productive distractions as I suspect finishing and rigging 18 carronades/cannons will be a bit monotonous.

Edited May 28, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Beef Wellington]

Channels fixed in place and painted awaiting chains which will be tackled soon

[Beef Wellington]

As mentioned, I wanted to arm her with the common armament at the time and deviate from the kit.  I ordered a pair of Caldercraft 9lbers which are pretty much the same size as the 6lb'ers which are commonly referenced.  These still need a bit of tidying up, and I'm going to try to simulate a bracket for the cap square as well as a chain for the cotter pin that I think should go into the front hole (the instructions simply call for two round headed pins) but I think something else would look better.  Not sure how to do the very small chain yet...The paint finish looks a lot smoother in person, I brushed rather than sprayed and they seemed to turn out OK.

 

Also wanted to see how these will likely sit on the deck.  I plan to mount these in the foremost gunports as seems to be commonly described.  You can see that its going to be pretty crowded up front as well.  Its also interesting to see the lack of real difference in size between the 32lb'er carronade and the 6/9lb'er cannon.  Its easy to see why the admiralty started to equip these ships with carronades given the increase in broadside weight and manpower reduction possible with the carronades.  The fore ladders need some final shaping but its clear there is not a lot of room to position these.

[j21896]

You're really moving right along Jason!  She's looking great.

 

Robert

[Blue Ensign]

It's all looking very good Jason, you really do neat work.

 

Re the  capsquares on the long guns:-  I used a small eyebolt with a small portion clipped off the eye to  represent the hinge that fitted on the rear of the capsquare. The shortened stem of the eyebolt fitted in a hole drilled immediately behind the capsquare and the now open eye  fitted into the hole in the capsquare. At the scale involved I think it does a fair representation of the hinge.

 

I searched for a while to find chain that was sufficiently small for the capsquare securing bolt. I eventually found some at Jotika at 42 links per inch which is what I used.

 

Here's the link to their online shop.

 

http://www.shipwrightshop.com/shop/contents/en-uk/d59_Thread-Chain-Wire_02.html

 

For the bolt I just used a squeezed together 0.3mm brass etched eyelet, also from Jotika.

 

http://www.shipwrightshop.com/shop/contents/en-uk/d58_Mast-Detail-and-Rigging-Fittings_01.html

 

Incidently those etched eyelets sold in packs of 250 are always worth having, they come in handy for lots of modelling jobs where tiny eyebolts are required.

 

Regards,

 

M.

[Kevin]

Jason - that's beautiful work

[molasses]

Model Expo has the same chain of 42 links per inch.

 

On my Esmeralda build I made eye bolts from 32 gauge (.008 inch/0.2 mm) wire that looked like cotter pins. Substitute whatever wire seems appropriate for hinge, eye and bolt.

Edited May 30, 2013 by DFellingham

[drtrap]

Hi Jason

you drive us crazy every time you demonstate any extra-purchased item like the carronade carriage!

I'm lloking forward for your next steps.

Cheers

 

Stergios 

[Beef Wellington]

Robert, BE, Kevin, Dave, Stergios - appreciate the kind words and great advice.

 

I have run into a bit of a dilemma, that I somewhat knew was likely to be a problem from the get go.  I'm trying to install the chains and have found that the PE chain 'loop' is nearly 3-4mm too short - I've re-measured the wale position against the against the plans and its not that far out (<1mm), a not unreasonable tolerance.  Anyway, it is what it is so I'm trying to figure out how to address, and I can't believe I'm the first to have this dilemma.  Basic geometry implies each of the chains should be a slightly different length anyway given the different slope of the shrouds and all the PE pieces are the same.

 

Seems I have two options:

 

1) rework the PE piece to lengthen it, but this will mean a relative large 5mm gap in the piece which would prob look odd and stick out a mile

2) make my own loops from wire - likely most time intensive and fiddly but I suspect would give a more satisfying result

 

Would love to hear how others have tackled this, and other possible alternatives...

[drtrap]

Jason, I;m currently seeing the rigging of the wheel and tiller.

Have you use wire or black rope to strap the blocks (3 mm)? The white rigging rope is of 0,25 mm?

Thanks

Edited June 6, 2013 by Stergios

[Beef Wellington]

Jason, I;m currently seeing the riging of the wheel and tiller.

Have you use wire or black rope to strop the blocks (3 mm)? The whire rigging rope is of 0,25 mm?

Thanks

 

Think it was .25mm lin, it was the smallest I had at the time.

[mort stoll]

Hi Jason,

 

Should  you have used smaller line say .10 or.15mm?

 

Thanks,

Mort

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Jason,

 

Should  you have used smaller line say .10 or.15mm?

 

Thanks,

Mort

 

Mort - I checked when I got home, it was the .10mm line - think I'd bought it separately as there wasn't any in the kit.  You're definitely right, the .25mm would be way too big.

[Beef Wellington]

Have been working/tinkering with the "chain problem".  Decided to just plow ahead and have a go at making my own from wire. Pictures are pretty self explanatory, these are yet to be finally fixed but seem to indicate that this approach will work just fine.  It illustrates the issue because the chainplate brackets have no room for movement as they are exactly the same length/width as the wale to which they attach.  The lack of a gap in the chain loop looks much more authentic to my eye - the downside is that it will take much longer to complete.  Photos are of the starboard fore chains.

 

Edited June 6, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[hamilton]

Excellent work Jason - very precise and clean

hamilton

[druxey]

Nice neat work and well worth the extra effort!

[mort stoll]

Hi Jason,

 

Ment to ask, did you use a smaller block since you used smaller line to rig the tiller?

 

Mort

[The Sailor]

Excellent job, Jason! She looks fantastic.

[Blue Ensign]

They look fine to me Jason, I also had to jigger with the chain lengths on Pegasus to get them to look right.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[Beef Wellington]

Hamilton, druxey, Richard, BE  - appreciate the support guys

 

Mort - I went with the block size in the instructions (don't have them in front of me).

[ModelBoatMaker]

Started to tackle what is really the last task to be done before I can safely keep the old girl permanently on her keel and start getting the deck fitted out...installing the straps.

 

The instructions are very light in this area and it took me quite a while to figure out a system. I only have one side of the rudder complete at this point, but started on the rudder as I thought it would be easier to handle and build skills before tackling the hull straps. I was concerned with the pins protruding too far as I assume that these would probably have been flush, but I'm not sure its possible to achieve that with the supplied materials. I was pretty pleased with the result, the pins don't seem to be any more noticeable than the nail heads on the plates.

 

Heres how I tackled it...hopefully I haven't made any newbie gaffs:

 

 

• Prepainted the straps with metal primer and copper paint
• Marked the center point of the rear of the strap and pre-bent on a piece of 3mm dowel
• Spot glued the strap to the pintle only
• Once I'd ensured the strap was perpendicular to the forward edge of the rudder, drilled a small (0.6mm) hole in both of the end holes (found the smaller bits drilled through the copper more easily). This seemed to secure the strap sufficiently to be able to work on the rest
• Enlarged the hole to 0.8mm (If positioned correctly, the hole from opposite sides will meet)
• Enlarged the strap hole further to 1.0mm to allow the pin head to be countersunk to some degree
• Using the brass pins supplied (couldn't find any others I should use), I cut these down approximately half the thickness of the rudder, put thick CA glue on the bottom of the pin and inserted into the hole

Repeated this step for all the other holes and painted. Of course, my small diameter bit broke so will need to find a replacement.

 

Early stages.JPG

Progress.JPG

Port side finished.JPG

mounted rudder.JPG

Hi Jason, I know that when you attached the straps to the rudder, you did not file down the rivets in on the tiles underneath the straps, however would you recommend doing that so that the straps lie more flush? I was also wondering if you painted all of the ships wheel brown including the stand, and was that in walnut brown from caldercraft? Thanks very much,

 

 

 

Pete

Edited June 13, 2013 by ModelBoatMaker

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Jason, I know that when you attached the straps to the rudder, you did not file down the rivets in on the tiles underneath the straps, however would you recommend doing that so that the straps lie more flush? I was also wondering if you painted all of the ships wheel brown including the stand, and was that in walnut brown from caldercraft? Thanks very much,

 

Pete

 

My humble opinion is that there is probably little to be gained by filing down the rivets, you can get a pretty close fit as is which is really not noticeable - hadn't even really thought about it until you asked the question!  Interesting idea, would love to see how you tackle it if you decide to go down that path.  I think I'd be more worried about getting scratches on the copper plates.

 

The colour I used is Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth - unfortunately my local store doesn't have much selection.  I tried the Admiralty walnut but thought it too bright, and I'm not very good (I found) at mixing colours.