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

[BenD]

Very well done! 

 

I hope my Snake turns out half as well 😆

[cog]

Well worth the wait, Jason, a mere 8 years ? I thought it was faster, how time moves by quickly. I would still be working at mine if I started one. She turned out a real nimble lady, polished and dressed for the ball. I have thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and all the things I've learned from you and your build. I hope she'll get an eye catching spot to show off.

Bravo

[egkb]

Cracking Good Looking Model You Have There Mate .. Has been a pleasure to follow you and Snake along ! 

 

8 Years to build ..  We must be related somewhere   

 

Cheers Bud

 

Eamonn

 

BTW Lovely set of photos too !

[Mike_H]

Truly exceptional Jason.  The quality of the final model, and your well-documented journey of learning and discovery, are inspirations to anyone, like me, following in your footsteps.  And while I have already learnt a lot on technical matters, I think the biggest point is your patience, and obvious enjoyment of small, individual pieces of progress.  I have no real expectation of replicating either the technical proficiency or the patience, but I know I'm already doing a better job for trying.

 

A final point: this won't be a final point!  I do hope you are still active on the forum so I can ask many questions in coming months and years.  Perhaps you might like to fully rig your Jason - that will keep you active on the site.

 

So, many congratulations - for finishing a project started in pre-history, and doing it in such style.

 

Mike

[Vane]

An amazing build and I am happy you finalized it. Your HMS Jason will be even better but this one is definitely one of the better Snakes I have seen on the forum!
Congrats!   

[ccoyle]

Smashing result! Great photo set, too!

[JpR62]

Superb realization. What a magnificent HMS Snake. Well done.

[Robert29]

Congratulations,  a very beautiful model.  Although I am building a different model I still visited your detailed work to admire and learn from.

 

Robert

[Martin W]

Congratulations on a fine build, Jason.  As I and others have already said, the quality of your work is most impressive for a first build -- it's even hard to believe that this is your first one!

 

Your photos show off the many nice details that will give viewers lots to look at.  You'll definitely want to get some kind of case, or the dust will coat the rigging in no time.  Such a beautiful model deserves a proper display.  (And if you find a place nearby to help you build a case, let me know!!)

 

I can absolutely agree with you that the journey is the more enjoyable part.  Figuring out how to solve the problems posed by each detail is a delight matched only by researching the 18th century when these magnificent ships really did get built and sailed.

 

Do you have plans for the next build?

 

All the best,

 

Martin

[Landlubber Mike]

Congratulations!  One of the nicest models ever posted on these boards.  Beautiful work!

 

Forgive me if I missed it, but did you say what your next project was going to be (if any)?

Edited January 28, 2021 by Landlubber Mike

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks for kind words Walrusguy, Joe, Chris, Jean-Paul, Robert and all the likes.  I hope this log is useful to others, just as I've benefited from so many others.

 

@Carl - know you've been there from the start, so congrats on hanging in there

@Ben - I have no doubt looking at your 'mockups' that you will end up with a fine model, seeing other models with upgraded rope made me green with envy (that is one of the things that I would have done differently)

@Eamonn - maybe I'm being unfair to myself, maybe closer to 7 1/2 years, you'll get there as well buddy, the Ballier is looking outstanding

@Mike_H - not going anywhere and will continue to follow your great work.  I will be getting back to 'Jason' at some point but there are some decisions I need to make now, I'll make updates in due course.  What my "vision" is probably the biggest

@Vane - I'll be keeping up with your many builds, and will certainly be interested to see more progress on Snake

@Martin - I have on the shelf a case I had ordered from BlueJacket, all I need is the glass I think and someone to put it together because I have no idea how to do that.  Definitely open to recommendations here as I haven't clue who to ask!

@Mike - There are some key decisions I need to make on 'Jason', most notably the decking and how to approach some of the detailing (e.g. scrolls etc).  I have been having a horrible time trying to get my hands on some decent material for the deck (unfortunately CMB have been less than consistent there...).  so I'll probably be moving forward with the Queen Anne Barge primarily

Edited January 30, 2021 by Beef Wellington

[Sjors]

She’s finished!

And i try to keep your words in my mind that i should be finished before you.

But you are quicker then me.

But no problem.

I can use your log😃

Oh, btw....Great job!!!! Congrats.

 

Sjors

 

[md1400cs]

Jason,

 

Concur with ALL all the superlatives posted above - and as a minor thought your flag also came out Fantastic!!

 

Sincerely,

[Blue Ensign]

Well done Jason, she looks great, and you should be well pleased. 👍

Thank you for your kind references to my Pegasus build.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[mort stoll]

Well done sailor, very well done.

 

Mort

[drtrap]

Absolutetly fabulous, Jason.

All the best

[GrandpaPhil]

Congratulations!  Nicely done!

[drtrap]

On 12/14/2020 at 1:43 AM, Beef Wellington said:

About time I caught up with myself...

 

@Ben - I'm going to have to stand guilty as charged!  Appreciate your post, this was something that I have been wrestling with for some time and fully recognize that the approach taken is a compromise.  My thinking has been as follows, and I suspect that every model builder will arrive at a different place.  Your coils are certainly excellently executed!  

• Quality of rope used:  Having used the Syren line on 'Jason', there is just no comparison between good quality custom rope and the 'stuff' supplied in kits.  My skill levels are just not up to achieving consistent coils following a seamanlike practice (that look anywhere near acceptable).
• Scale:  This seems to be a variable from modeler to modeler, but to my eye many of the coils using this technique just do not look right at scale, especially when many pins are used on a rail adjacent to each other. Much of the rope used per kit instructions are much thinner than your prototype - mostly kit supplied 0.25mm line which is not very substantial and subject to gravity making floating 'ovals' distracting
• Quantity of rope (on the actual ships):  Looking at many older photographs of ships, the one thing that stands out to me is that the quantity of belayed rope used on contemporary working vessels just looks far more voluminous for whatever reason than that seen on modern 'museum' ships, maybe because of longer working lengths, necessity to be worked by many hands etc etc.

The bottom line though is that there is enough on this build that continues to bother me (both mistakes and things that I have since learned) to push me to continue  with an eye to completion.  I'll apply for parole at the duly appointed time...

 

Rigging (almost) complete:

After nearly 7 years, with all the main rigging elements in place, I can start to smell the scent of completion.  The only outstanding rigging feature (in addition to some remaining decorative coils) are the spritsail sail sheets which will be added when I'm confident that the anchor placement won't cause problems.

 

Braces:

One of the bigger challenges were the braces, mainly because many of these are bent onto various stays.  At this scale the rope doesn't behave well, and preventing the stays being pulled into all sorts of unnatural alignments by the much thinner braces, and keeping the braces taught, meant taking this very slowly, ensuring line had time settle into place and in many cases using dilute PVA while attempting to keep the stays in position.  This proved to be especially challenging for the fore and fore topsail braces which bend to the main stay in one rather tight spot.

Sheets, tacks and cluelines:

Petersson was a big help here to illustrate how these worked in practice as the instructions are simplified.  Given that both the main and fore require these, with 3 belaying points for each, some planning is needed to ensure sufficient working room as once in position access is even more severely limited.  The tack is the most substantial of the running rigging used and 0.75mm rope was used as per instructions.  At this thickness, it proved necessary to coil rope on the deck after belaying to pinrails.

 

I took the same approach to BE on his Pegasus build in having the sheets and tacks go outboard of any standing rigging, although the sheets are yet to be finally secured.

And finally, some overall shots..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Jason could you please be more specific about the above mentioned technique with the diluted glue to keep the alignment of the lines the best I can?
I understand there is a technique to stabilize/fix the best I can those rope lines, but so far I haven't discovered i to make things easier…

Thank you

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Stergios, hopefully I can answer your question.  The problem is that at real world scale, the lines that are secured to the braces would not pull the stays out of their natural position because they are so much more massive.  Without dealing with this at this scale, the braces would pull the stays out of their natural line which is what I wanted to avoid.  The approach used weighted the stays down enough to keep them in their natural position while the braces were given a little tension, then dilute PVA was brushed onto the braces so that when dry, they retain a 'taught' profile, even though there is no longer any real tension.  Seem to recall I just used plastic clips or simply tied other thread around the stay to counteract the force of the braces.  In the situations where the brace goes through 2 blocks on the stay, these were handled sequentially, waiting for the PVA to fully dry before moving on.  Good news, if it doesn't quite work out as you'd like, you can re-wet the line and repeat the process until you're happy.

[drtrap]

12 hours ago, Beef Wellington said:

Hi Stergios, hopefully I can answer your question.  The problem is that at real world scale, the lines that are secured to the braces would not pull the stays out of their natural position because they are so much more massive.  Without dealing with this at this scale, the braces would pull the stays out of their natural line which is what I wanted to avoid.  The approach used weighted the stays down enough to keep them in their natural position while the braces were given a little tension, then dilute PVA was brushed onto the braces so that when dry, they retain a 'taught' profile, even though there is no longer any real tension.  Seem to recall I just used plastic clips or simply tied other thread around the stay to counteract the force of the braces.  In the situations where the brace goes through 2 blocks on the stay, these were handled sequentially, waiting for the PVA to fully dry before moving on.  Good news, if it doesn't quite work out as you'd like, you can re-wet the line and repeat the process until you're happy.

Dear Jason, thank you for replying so promptly!

 

[Jobbie]

S t u n n i n g  build, there, Jason. Very well done indeed. Congratulations.