Royal William by pirozzi - FINISHED - Euromodels - 1/70

[pirozzi]

Working on planking the main deck. I am really pleased with the color of the bleached walnut wood. Using Peter's research, it appears that at this scale, the length of a real ship's deck planks should be no more than 102mm. The kit calls for 180mm. I chose to go with 100mm. Rather than plank with one continuous strip and simulate joints with a marker, I chose to do it the actual way with the 3 plank shift. The first line at the center was done with all 100mm strips and the next started with a 75mm strip, the next with 50mm and the next with 25mm, then back to a 100mm and so on. One long edge and both ends of each strip were  darkened with a black marking pen to simulate the black caulking that was used in between planks to seal the deck. I also tried to mix up the grains of the planks to give it more a realistic look since real decks were planked with lumber that did not match the flow of the grain.

All this may seem to the extreme, but I said I would try to take this build to a more extreme level of reality than my last.

 

Vince P.

[pirozzi]

Nice start. I noticed that you planked up to the open deck areas. Usually, grates ladder areas, deck houses, etc. had mitered surrounds. If the plans do not show this, I guess this ship didn't have them. Just though I would mention this.

Hi Gary,

Yes the openings will have mitered frames. Once the planking is done the frames will be added as the gratings, staircases and such are added.

Vince

[md1400cs]

Vince,

 

Your planking work will become the "go-to" model for the rest of us. Brilliant. a real pleasure for the eyes.

 

PS: How did you simulate the caulking so Perfectly (:-)??

 

Michael

[pirozzi]

Vince,

 

Your planking work will become the "go-to" model for the rest of us. Brilliant. a real pleasure for the eyes.

 

PS: How did you simulate the caulking so Perfectly (:-)??

 

Michael

On the caulking, I used a black marking pen and lightly darkened one long side and both ends of each plank. I tried both long ends but it came out too dark.

Vince

[pirozzi]

I finished the main deck planking and applied one coat of a clear satin finish. I also simulated the trenails at all of the joints, but you can't see it in the photos. I need a really good camera with a closeup wide angle lens.

Next up is to prepare and add the frames around the square openings and place the main deck staircase.

 

Vince P.

[DenPink]

Hi Vince

 

Just love you deck planking, the slightly different colours make it look so natural .

Nice work my friend.

 

Denis.

[pirozzi]

I just bought this new tool from MicroMark. It is for cutting mitred angles on wood strips. I have a cutting block for this, but this tool is much easier to use and makes clean accurate cuts. I will be posting a few photos soon on the frames and the staircase of the main deck. All of the cuts were made with this tool.

 

Vince P.

[realworkingsailor]

I have a similar cutter. They're great for stock thats 0.5mm or less in thickness. Much thicker and you start to get an angled edge due to the cross section of the blade

 

Andy

[pirozzi]

Hi Andy,

I actually cut stock that was 2.0mm thick and the cut was not beveled enough that you see even under a magnifier. The blade is strong but quite thin.

Vince

[DenPink]

Hi Vince

 

I have the same cutter.

 

I have only cut 1mm and it looks OK to me.

 

Denis.

[riverboat]

Very nice work....... really like your decking.

 

Frank

[pirozzi]

I added the framing for the main deck gratings and staircase.

The grating frame was made with 3x2mm walnut standing up on the 2mm side.

The staircase frame was made with 5x1.5mm walnut laying flat. Both frames were stained with one coat of red oak.

 

**note: The plans call for an opening of 32mm square for the gratings. Make sure to leave a small lip of planking on the edges running along the ship's length for the gratings to rest on. Also, keep the square openings at 33mm or less because the gratings when assembled are just a pinch over 33mm. They will fall through anything larger than 33mm.

 

Next up: Placing the main staircase and constructing the bannisters.

 

Vince P.

[DenPink]

Hi Vince

 

Nice workmanship once again.

 

The cutter worked very well nice job.

 

Denis.

[Mirabell61]

I just bought this new tool from MicroMark. It is for cutting mitred angles on wood strips. I have a cutting block for this, but this tool is much easier to use and makes clean accurate cuts. I will be posting a few photos soon on the frames and the staircase of the main deck. All of the cuts were made with this tool.

 

Vince P.

 

Vince,

 

I like that tool, and bought one straight away (Ebay find)

Thanks for sharing...

 

Nils

[Ulises Victoria]

Excellent work Vince. I will be following closer from now on, as you are a bit ahead of what I'm doing on my Royal Louis. Although not the same ship, some of your ideas are universally applied. Thanks for sharing.

 

That cutting tool is one of my favorites and most used cutting tools. Nice buy.

 

Ulises

Edited June 28, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[pirozzi]

I am reiterating a point I made earlier about this kit because I feel it is very important. Although this model is called a "Kit", it really is not a true kit. They call it a kit because it comes with a complete set of plans (a very nice set), and the materials needed to construct it. It does NOT however come with an instruction manual, as most true kits do. When building her, you are working off the set of plans only, just like with a scratch build. Without a detailed instruction manual, you have to plan ahead before doing things so as to avoid problems. Case in point: I stated in my last post that the next thing to do was place the main deck staircase and build the banisters. In looking ahead I also noticed that the main deck decorative bulkhead needed to be placed soon as well. Because of the concave shape of the hull sides where the bulkhead is placed, it is necessary to lay it flat on the deck and slide and wiggle it into place and then stand it up and attach it to the wood frame. However, with the staircase in close proximity to this bulkhead, if you place the staircase first, you can not slide the bulkhead along flat on the deck to get it in place. So I had to change the order of things and prepare and place the bulkhead first, before working on the staircase. In the photos, I just placed the staircase into the hole without securing it yet.

Most experienced builders would know these things, but others could get into trouble. I am far from an expert and just want to help those that might want to build this ship.

 

Vince P.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Vince P.

[DenPink]

Hi Vince

 

Wow that is looking very nice my friend .

 

Thank you for the tip will keep that in mind .

 

Denis.

[pirozzi]

I am working on the main deck staircase. The staircase is secured in place and the upper and lower banister rails are cut. Since both the lower and upper rails have to match perfectly, each was cut and matched into a pair. The lower are secured to the deck and the upper sections are laying next to them. Next up is to place the stanchions and then the upper rail sections.

 

Vince P.

[mtaylor]

Nice catch on the bulkhead.  You saved yourself some angry words that turn the air blue. 

[pirozzi]

The main deck staircase and banisters are completed. Everything was constructed from scrap lumber since they are not included in the kit.

 

Next up: The ship's stove.

 

Vince P.

[fnkershner]

Wow! nice banister.

[HIPEXEC]

Love that staircase!

[DenPink]

Love that staircase!

Hi Vince

 

I second that.

 

Denis.

[Keith_W]

You are doing a great job, Vince. Thanks for posting a detailed build log. Although I haven't made any comments before, I am actually following your progress very closely and learning from your mistakes. Thanks to you, I have avoided making quite a few mistakes already!

[pirozzi]

Constructing the ship's stove. Like the main deck staircase, this will be covered up with the upper decks. The kit provides drawings for these things, but no supplies, in case the builder desires to add as much detail as wanted. This is one of the main reasons why I bought this kit.The stove is a nice touch so I built it out of bits and pieces from my lumber stash. I placed it on the deck temporarily to show where it goes. The chimney stack comes up through the forecastle deck.

 

Vince P.

[gjdale]

Nice job on the stove Vince.

[Sir Charles Edward]

I have this kit myself, on the bench with the carcass finished but not yet planked.  That project is on hold until I finish a couple other kits.  I look forward to see how you will do the circular staircases.  Since the kit did not supply material for this, or the stove either, it is an advanced kit.  I really want to make those curved stairs so I will be watching this build now.

 

Looks very nice so far, keep it up.

[Sir Charles Edward]

That is true, but we both know the satisfaction of actually building those parts and WE know that they are there, perhaps unseen by all, but the same goes for that main stairway that you made so well.  Most of that will be under the deck, if I remember the plans, but just knowing that you did that part and the stove leaves you with that good feeling inside.

 

How do you plan on making the circular stairs?  THAT is what I have been considering since my first look through of the plans and realized that those pieces were not included with the kit stock either.

 

I have looked around for about two years or so for any type of circular stairway to use as a model, and just can't find the right one.  I believe that I have seen similar circular stairs on other models, but I have never been  to the point yet of downloading those pictures and trying to build them.

[pirozzi]

That is true, but we both know the satisfaction of actually building those parts and WE know that they are there, perhaps unseen by all, but the same goes for that main stairway that you made so well.  Most of that will be under the deck, if I remember the plans, but just knowing that you did that part and the stove leaves you with that good feeling inside.

 

How do you plan on making the circular stairs?  THAT is what I have been considering since my first look through of the plans and realized that those pieces were not included with the kit stock either.

 

I have looked around for about two years or so for any type of circular stairway to use as a model, and just can't find the right one.  I believe that I have seen similar circular stairs on other models, but I have never been  to the point yet of downloading those pictures and trying to build them.

Hi Charles,

I have thought about the circular staircases for many hours and lost sleep over it. Not that I am scared, but eager to find a solution. I have done some research and have some drawings and photos of staircases. The key to building this will be in creating a jig, just like with the main deck stairs. I have some ideas I am throwing around, but I have not decided yet. It will be challenge to be sure. As soon as I come up with something satisfactory, I will post it for anyone interested. I do know that Peter Coward has something in the works as well, but have not seen it yet.

 

Vince P.

[pirozzi]

The main deck gratings completed and in place. If you are going to use PVA glue to construct them, dilute it to at least 50/50 glue and water. It makes it much easier to work with and still holds everything in place. I just dunked the little slots in the glue and pressed each piece into place. I did not immerse the entire grate after construction. Each is finished in one coat of a natural oil based finish, since I think the natural wood color is perfect. When placing the gratings, the ribs running along the top of the grate should run in line with the length of the ship.

 

Next up: Construct a main deck gun so I can set the height of the main deck ports and cut them out.

 

Vince P.