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

[Beef Wellington]

Andy, Sjors - thanks for stopping by and the kind words

 

Hi Jason that looks excellent, I used a small bulldog clip along the bottom of the keel/rudder to hold the rudder firm whilst I worked on it, fitting the tiller etc; Do the Jotika instructions include any reference to the fitting of rudder chains/pendants? they would usually  connect to what is called a spectacle plate fixed just below the hancing on the rudder.

 

B.E.

 

B.E - the instructions are very limited, I went to the Jotika site and found that its possible to download the instructions for some of the newer kits (http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Manuals_Front.htm).  For comparison, the Pickle instructions run to 58 pages, the Snake instructions have only 6 1/2 !!  After a quick scan through I would definitley recommend this as even though they are kit specific, they have some nice pictures and more detailed explanations of some of the common steps.

 

I would like to install a chain, any advice on how to do this or pictures to show the spectacle plate and rudder hancing - can't find any info on these.  What size chain would be appropriate?

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Jason, not a very good photo but this is the spectacle plate on my Pegasus.

 

 

It is effectively just a metal band like the rudder straps, with  an eyebolt secured  on the outside corners to which the chain is attached.

 

As for chain I agonise over the scale every time I come to use it, but my best estimate for rudder chains at 1:64 for this purpose is is chain with 16 links to the inch. The chain is attached to a couple of eyebolts spaced along under the transom, to which the rudder pendant is attached and taken inboard.

 

Mostly models just show the chains.

 

B.E.

 

 

 

[Beef Wellington]

Thanks B.E. - that helps tremendously.  Think I'll give it a go if I can find some chain, will need to go shopping...

[Beef Wellington]

I think I'm rapidly approaching an 'ask lots of questions' phase, so please bear with me,  first of many I suspect to come.

 

I'm had thought about adding a false keel instead of coppering the keel bottom.  Based on what I've read and seen in AOTS series, the false keel was installed to protect the keel from inevitable damage, was easily replaceable, and would have been attached on top of the coppered keel bottom.  Pictures below show what I think this would have been like based on my research (I faked the scarf joints as they will not be very visible).  Is this a reasonable representation?

 

Edited March 8, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Jason, that's how I did it on Pegasus, except I didn't mark in the scarph joint, nicely done

 

B.E.

[Beef Wellington]

Small update, definitely getting a bit more comfortable working with some of the what I'm sure are basic skills to most!  Started to tackle the tiller.

 

1 - found that the tiller arm is too long, and the plans seem to contradict each other from side to top elevation in determining the length.  In the end I sort of averaged it, dry placed the wheel and adjusted for what I thought looked about right length.  Side note, the more I work with the plans the more I keep reminding myself that they are more "guidelines" in a number of respects.  After finding the right length, I shaped the end to the angel of the rudder and drilled a 1mm hole in the tiller arm and the rudder to accept some wire - this seemed a little more reliable (how you are supposed to work with the pre-cut square 'pin' I don't know).

 

SPOILER ALERT - You'll see there are two holes in the rudder, the top is a mistake which I'll explain

 

2 - Dry fitted tiller arm.  I'l probably round this off a bit before final fitting.

 

3 - Dryfitted the aft platform and found that the tiller arm was too high as the arm did not clear the support beam (again, despite using the plans as guidance) - simple to fix, but another example of where I'm learning its important to be 3 steps ahead.  It would have been a real pain to correct this after it was all rigged

 

4 - Threw some of the other in progress deck fittings together, looks like its going to be rather crowded back there even without the aft platform, and ladders still need to go in.  Need to assemble these and plan for where these will go prior to fitting the tiller rope otherwise it could cause problems later.

 

Edited March 12, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[Beef Wellington]

Would appreciate some opinions here from my fellow Snake builders.  My worries about the fitting of the ladders have if anything have been amplified by a little iddling,  I decided to mock up one of the sets of ladders to see how they would sit and possibly get in the way of the tiller rope.  The instructions indicate to cut the boards to be 14mm, roughly 0.9m at 1:64 (roughly 3ft), the width of door.  This doesn't seem unreasonable.  However, looking at the plans the ladders are shown much smaller (varying 9-10mm), with the illusion that the ladders are much less of an obstacle both in the forward and aft areas which are really quite tight (the bits and guns for'ard, and the tiller rope and guns aft).  This doesn't seem to be wholly unreasonable either scalewise (roughly 2ft or 0.6m).

 

The question seems to be to follow the instructions strictly which will seem to require really careful planning, or alternatively follow the plans which may make things easier.

 

Thoughts anyone?  Real shame Normanh's excellent build log was lost!

[drtrap]

Can't help you for the moment Jason...

I'm many steps behind you....

[Beef Wellington]

I've maybe been able to answer my own question. I remembered seeing these pictures some time ago on MSW 1.0, and have been able to track them down on the NMM website.  (I hope its OK to re-post these).  The model is a Cruizer class, but shows that the fore and aft platforms were not limited just to the Snake. 

 

1)  I'm estimating that the ladder board width should be no more than 10mm based on estimating with ladder width and total platform width and scaling.  Equates to 0.64m or about 2.1 feet actual size.

 

2) Picture also confirms that the tiller rope definitely is an obstruction to the aft ladders and gun lines....care will be needed with placement.  Same true with forplatform ladders and proximity to the guns.

 

3) Steering wheel is quite a bit smaller than the kit suggests, and in my humble opinion looks too small.  Will stick with the Caldercraft ones

 

[mtaylor]

Jason,

I'm just catching up.. on the false keel.. it wouldn't have been like you have it.  It would have been what could best be called a slip joint.  The false was stapled and at the joints, the cut would been at an angle.  See my crude drawing below.  The reason being that if the ship grounded, the false keep pieces would have come off and slid over the one behind it easily.

 

-----------------------------------------

keel

-----------------------------------------

bow      \                                    stern

-----------------------------------------

 

Anyway, rather than rip your work apart, leave that way and save yourself some grief.

 

She's looking very sharp!!!

[jim_smits]

Hi Jason,

 

I have made a single ladder and went with the instructions at 14mm. The whole area is a touch crowded and I am only just able to squeeze in the steering rigging, the ladders and the rear carronades. Albeit with a slight rearrangement of where the ladders physically sit. Havent glued in place yet as I need to construct and extra carronade and rig it up.

 

I'll updated my log tomorrow as I have the day off work. Hopefully will be able get the whole area sorted by the end of the day.

 

That Cruizer looks great. Interested in copying the davits to add a couple of ships boats in as well.

 

Jim

[Beef Wellington]

Interesting Jim, I did the same, but decided to build with a 10mm board!  Think it all boils down to personal preference, I felt the proportions looked a little bit more like the NMM model, its funny how 4mm can be such a big deal.

 

I haven't fitted the fore and aft platforms yet (still (!) waiting for some Tanganyika wood) but it looks like the ladder is a little tall on the aft platform with the top step being slightly above the deck height.  Do you have the same setup?  I was thinking that it would make sense to reduce the height and remove the top board so its below platform deck level as per the picture.  This would mean only 5 steps, vs 6 on the model, but they seem to look to be made up using thinner wood.  Forward platform height seems just fine as is.

[Beef Wellington]

Anyway, rather than rip your work apart, leave that way and save yourself some grief.

 

Thanks Mark, I think I'll definitely be taking your advice and will probably leave as is, its not going to be very visible.  Good to know going forward if I ever get to a next build!  Appreciate the info and you checking in.

[Beef Wellington]

Not much of an update I'm afraid, more of a question.  Finally received the chain I've been waiting for for the rudder.  Its15 links per inch, which seems to be roughly just over 4" per link full scale.  Maybe its just because its all shiny and new, but worried that its a little overscale (?), but I suspect I'll just try to make this work.  I'll try to do a simple spectacle plate, maybe with painted card.

 

Frustratingly, I'm still waiting for new drillbits, specifically a 0.8mm size for the ringbolts, ModelExpo who I got this from suddenly cancelled my order because of lack of availablility so will need to look elsewhere...

[cog]

Jason,

 

When/If yo stain the links dark they'll suddenly turn out smaller It does look good, but a bit long ... I would expect the chain to be attached below the stern.

[Beef Wellington]

 I would expect the chain to be attached below the stern.

 

Yup, I'll try to blacken the metal and cut to length and try to attach to the bottom of the transom with eyebolts...need my drillbits

[cog]

I've got an extra set ...

[Blue Ensign]

Hi Jason,

 

The chain may be a tad overscale but not excessively so and will look better once blackened. If it keeps drawing your eye  you could always invest in a length of the next smaller available size and decide between the two.

 

Re: micro drills, over here I don't buy them from model suppliers, I tend to use Ebay or from other internet sources which are often cheaper. The same goes for scalpel blades, which are more expensive  from model suppliers in packs of 5. I buy them in boxes of 100, much cheaper.

 

Cheers, B.E.

[ccoyle]

Try widgetsupply.com for wire-sized drill bits.

[Beef Wellington]

Carl, maybe you could get into the supply business :-)

 

BE, Chris, appreciate that, great ideas.  I may just bite the financial bullet (this time!) and get some more chain (21 to the inch) and some drill bits so I can move on - definitely agree it would be nice to have plenty of spares on hand by buying in bulk.

[cog]

Maybe I should supply you :D

[mtaylor]

Jason,

 

Check with MicroMark for the bits.  I use them as a back up supplier when ME is out of stock.

[Beef Wellington]

Mark, thanks for the tip.

[Beef Wellington]

Have managed to get a few more drill bits in the mail (hopefull).  Found the metric bits much harder to get hold of, but came across a useful calculator in the site download section that showed the respective #xx number, should work just fine.

 

Spent quite a bit of time working on the companionway, I just couldn't get happy with the one supplied so after seeing Robert's (j21896) wonderful Mars build it definitely inspired me to give it a go to customize it a bit.  I had to shorten the length from the plans to fit the modified deck grating plan I'm following, but otherwise kept the slope the same, but reduced the max height to be more in line with proportions shown on the HMS Gannet plans .  I really struggled with making it look functional, especially the sliding top as I struggled to find any decent references.  I'm going to give it a bit of a break before adding some 'doorknobs' and to see if I want any additional changes, but think I'm good with the way it is.  Its far from perfect, but I like it a lot better than the kit stock walnut ply version, even though it did take an embarrassingly long time to pull together.

 

Unfortunately I stuck with walnut (both because it was all I had and wanting to keep the wood consistent), which as most know (and I'm learning fast) is a bear to work with, the grain and the splitting make getting a good edge very challenging.  If I ever get to another model, I will definitely replace the stock wood with something else right from the start.

 

Edited April 1, 2013 by Beef Wellington

[mort stoll]

Nice work. It looks great.

 

Mort

[Timmo]

She's looking good Jason, nice work.

Wayne

[hamilton]

Great job on the companionway! And on the build on the whole.

hamilton

[j21896]

Hi Jason,

 

Okay,maybe I'm a bit biased, but I love that companionway!!  

 

If you'd like, I can send you some pictures to show how I made the hatch and doors functional on mine (which is based closely on the design of the companionway sliding hatch I observed on the actual Charles W. Morgan in Mystic).

 

Just let me know.

 

Cheers,

Robert

Edited April 1, 2013 by j21896

[edmay]

hello Beef Wellington,reading,digesting your excellent blog wih a Newcastle ale in hand(liverpudlian living on Vancouver Island, Canada(ex army),your build is very neat,clean,a very good modeler to be sure. Following your blog with interest. Ex chef, a good rare beef wellington is hard to find unless you make your own,cheers Edwin

[Blue Ensign]

I also think that your companionway looks very good Jason, and very neat work on the gratings.

 

Cheers,

 

 

B.E.