HMS Fly by Martin W - Amati/Victory Models - 1/64

[Martin W]

Hello folks -- Too much time has gone by since I last posted an update.  I wish I could say that I've secretly made great strides during the silence, but, alas, I have not. 

 

I spent a fair amount of time trying to work out some sort of decoration for the end of the catheads.  After tracing the star pattern shown in FFM, I tried cutting it in with a small chisel, then with a micro burr on the dremel, and then with an exacto.   Here's the pattern traced onto the stock:

 

 

 

 

In each case, the detail just proved to be too small for me to cut any detail.  The best I managed was this:

 

 

 

The possibility of getting eight points in, or even six proved to be beyond skills and visual acuity, so I took comfort in the fact that the NMM plans show that FLY is one of the Swans without decoration on the cathead, and moved on.

 

 

Next I debated whether to include the gangways, or to leave the waist guns exposed.  I had always pretty much assumed I would include gangways, but then began to think that it might be nice to see the guns clearly.  But then there's that nagging issue of the ladders to the fo'c'sle.  The kit plans show them bang up against the #2 gun, and there really isn't any other place to put them.  Nor is there a ladder way in the fo'c'sle deck.  The logic here was killing me, so I've decided to go with the gangways. 

 

That means I need to install the waist guns, which means I need to finish their rigging -- just the frapped side tackle, which does require the somewhat tedious process of frapping 16 tackles, seizing the eye bolts and the blocks.  I'm almost finished with that process (and when it's done, I plan to open a beer, sit back, and say to myself, "Whew, at bloody last!").  And then I'll epoxy the guns in place.  I tried BE's method of setting the guns in with pin through the deck, but just couldn't figure out where to place the hole for the pin, so I'm using epoxy.

 

Once the guns are in, I'll post pictures of the little darlings, and then start on the gangway, gangplanks, and q-deck ladders.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Dfell]

Martin - good to see you back 🙂

 

[Blue Ensign]

Your thought processes re the gangplanks mirror mine Martin.

I couldn't get over the awkwardness of those Foc'sle ladders, and fitting the gangplanks also provided an opportunity to differentiate the model from the basic kit layout, something I  am prone to.

 

Re pinning the guns; even at this fairly short interval my memory starts to dim, but I believe I set the carriages in place on the deck, and micro drilled thro' the carriage  bed into the deck. I then c.a.'d the pin into the deck, trimmed so that it would just fit up to the level of the bed. With the gun completed I just coaxed the assembly over the pin, adding a spot of c.a. before I  pushed the carriage to the deck. - but epoxy sounds good too. 

I await with interest your next update.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[Martin W]

Hi guys -- thanks for checking in, and for the encouragement. 

 

BE -- I do recall that you drilled down through the carriage (it's been a while since I read that part of your log).  And I recall that when I set the guns in under the quarterdeck, I realized too late that I should have taken that step before putting the barrels on the carriages.  Hence the epoxy.

 

The bigger problem with the guns has been that I keep nudging the protruding barrels while I'm working on something else.  One of them has already worked loose, and I haven't figured out a way to secure it back.

 

The temperatures are rising steadily down here on the prairie, and summer will soon close in to keep us house-bound.  That's traditionally been the time I make my biggest advances on Fly. 

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[flyer]

Hi Martin

 

 

Why fix the guns immovable in place at all? On my last 2 armed projects (Granado and Pegasus) the guns are only hold in place by their rigging, by breach ropes and tackles. Thus they have a little sideward and longitudinal play of perhaps 2 respective 1 mm. Having some play and being not too rigidly fixed I think they take the occasional nudging quite easy. So far none broke loose despite some quite hard knocks.

I know it's too late to consider for the already fixed guns but you could try it in the waist.

 

 

Keep up the good work.

Peter

[Blue Ensign]

First rule of shipmodelling never wear sleeves😉

 

B.E.

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Hey Martin, great to see you back on here.  I agree with finding some way of securing the cannons.  I can't tell you how many times I busted them off my Badger.  Thankfully, there were only a few cannons, and they were all accessible.  I think BE's approach makes a lot of sense - sleeves or no sleeves

 

Weather is heating up here too, and I too end up with more modeling time in the refuge of my cool basement.

[Martin W]

Thanks for the suggestions, you guys.

 

Spy --  those all look like good strategies, except that my barrels are all in place on the carriages, so there's no way forward but to deal with the gun in its entirety.  (Mem to self:  for future builds, leave the barrels off till later!!!!!)

 

Peter -- That's an intriguing idea.  Like Spy, I have to confess that my boatyard can often develop rough seas in which the vessel under construction goes through wild rolls and turns.  If the guns aren't cemented into place somehow, wouldn't they end up looking uneven, with some sticking out all the way, some pointing forward, some aft, and some -- who knows?  Maybe I'll experiment with one or two and see how they go.  Hey, I'm always eager to try out something.

 

BE -- Don't even ask about me how I learned the truth of that rule (hint:  it involved a handsome sweater knitted by Mrs W OTP, and a top gallant yard).

 

Mike -- I think DC is just about one or two degrees north of my own latitude.  The summers I spent in Middleburg, VA let me know that the weather there is HOT, HOT, and HOT.  I'm planning on heading over to your Charles P Morgan log right now -- see you there!

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

The problem with retro fitting the gun barrels, except perhaps for the 'hidden' guns is that how do you then get to fit the trunnion cap squares, tricky little beasts to fit at the best of times, let alone the keys and chains.

.... but if perhaps you're not over bothered by such fripperies then the issue doesn't arise 😉

 

B.E.

[Martin W]

YIKES!  I tried out some chain way back when I first built the carriages, couldn't find any that was small enough, and gave up (ok, maybe I was a touch eager, but I knew I'd met my match).

 

One gun left to get the side tackle on, then I'm moving on to the gangways! (Actually, I've already started shaping the knees.)

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Martin W]

I promised that I would post a picture of the guns when I got them rigged.  I had thought I would have them all done by Sunday, but they took a bit longer.  I tried finishing off the rigging of the first two while leaving the carriages un-cemented, as Peter suggested.  What I found is that the gun would move as I tried setting the eye & ring bolts in the bulwark, and pull the bolts out (blame my unsteady hands).  That served as more evidence that I saved many lives when I decided not to be a surgeon. 

 

So, here they are: 

 

 

I've started on the gangboards, simply planking the kit-supplied thin plywood:

 

 

These will need some kind of molding along the edges to finish them off (and to conceal the plywood base).  You can also see that the wider end is lacking the tab that would fit under the quartedeck beam.  I'm following BE's lead here in cutting the tabs off in order to abutt the gang boards a bit higher.  The purpose is to keep the forward ends a bit above the covering board in the waist, to allow the gangway to sit under the gang board.

 

One question I've asked myself involves the support of the gangboards.  FFM shows a knee -- either metal or wood.  These knees would be right up against the first knees of the gangways.  I am thinking of departing from that structural arrangement and supporting the forward inboard corner with a post.  Logically it would be an interference for the gun crew;  but in my mind's eye a post seems more elegant.  And it would follow the line created by the newel post above.

 

The knees for the gang ways will go in, however.  I've cut and shaped all eight of those.  Here is a sample of three:

 

 

The tops are angled in order to accommodate the shape of the bulwark.

 

I do wonder if I should perhaps hold off on the gangboards until I've taken care of the pumps and other details.  Hmm, I'm not sure.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Blue Ensign]

Nice sharp work on the Gangboards and brackets Martin, not too sure about a support post for the Gangway,  - aesthetics over practicality, hmmn, I'll await developments.

I believe I got around the problem by having one bracket that supported both the Gangway end and the gangplanks end that finished beneath it.

I wouldn't sweat it tho' once everything else is in place, you'll be hard placed to see anything of the fine detail.

B.E.

 

 

 

[Martin W]

BE -- You've called my hand, and I'll come clean:  the main reason I'm thinking of the post is that I'm dying to use my lathe.  Maybe all that will come of it is that I'll make some posts, look at them, admire them, and then lay them aside.  Dunno how it'll work out, but it's part of the adventure!

 

Thanks for checking in.  And thanks to all who clicked on the like button.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[aliluke]

Hello old friends!

It is good to check back into your wonderful logs. My Fly is marooned but very safe and will float again.

 

Wonderful work Martin -  it is looking the part. You are well past where I got to when I put it on hold.

 

It is great to reconnect to your log,  B.E's finished work - what can be said but "amazing" - and I'll hunt out Landlubbers next.

 

My Fly hull with deck fittings complete is in the corner of my eye on a spare shelf every time I work with plastic kits. No guilt - plastic is really unforgiving compared to wood.

 

Sorry just a brief visit back - I'm rather addicted to WW1 plane models at the mo and the turn around time is very fast. But as a longer journey - HMS Fly will, by my hands, be finished one day. I'll start checking into your logs again in the meantime to re-light my juices.

 

best regards,
Alistair

[Martin W]

Ahoy Alistair -- Great to hear from you!  I often wonder how your work is going, so it's good to hear that you're doing some modelling.  Airplanes were my focus as a boy and up until I left home, so I can understand their appeal. 

 

Your Fly log continues to provide me with answers to the many, many questions these Swans pose.  And I fear that one reason I'm still at it is that I'm probably the slowest builder out there.

 

On another note, you might be interested in the fact that the trees in my neighborhood are filled with Orioles, who have a very distinctive song.  They generally stay for about 6 weeks, but in the past few years have hung longer and longer.  I see them only seldom, but they definitely make their presence known.

 

Thanks for dropping by, Alistair -- you're always welcome!

 

Cheer,

 

Martin

 

 

[Martin W]

Finishing up on Gangboards and Gangways --

 

Setting in the knees proved to be both easy and tricky:  the three that go in the open area of the waist were the easy ones, and the two that sit under each side of the fo'c'sle deck were the tricky ones, since they required angling the tweezers in just right way and then getting the glued edge of the knee up against the bulwark in the perfect alignment.  It took several goes, but I finally got them in (and forgot to photograph them in plain view).

 

Setting the gangboard on top of the knees was cause for a bit of anxiety, since that would be the test of how accurately the knees were lined up. . . .

 

 

Ah, success.  -- You can see how much the gangboards had to be shaped to fit the curvature of the waist.  It would have made sense to have used a scarph joint to accommodate the curve, but that seemed somewhat elaborate for a structure that was in theory just tacked up.

 

The next step was to set the gangways in.  The forward edge of these sit just on top of the aft-most bit of the gangboards.  And I've been considering putting a support post under the gangway.  I turned a pair of posts out of cherry, and offer these views of the starboard gangway & post dry-set just to give an idea of how they might look (if glued they wouldn't be askew as they are here):

 

 

 

 

So, I'm still not sure about the post (and I apologize for the blurry pictures -- they looked a lot sharper in the MS Picture Manager, really).  So I hope you guys will offer your honest views.  If I put them in, it'll be because they make a nice decorative touch.  If I scrap them, well, at least I enjoyed the opportunity to use my Proxxon lathe.

 

Meanwhile, here's the latest addition to my neighborhood:

 

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[rafine]

Nicely done on the gang boards and gangways Martin. I like the posts and would vote to keep them if you were putting it up for a vote.

 

Bob

[Blue Ensign]

Nice job on the Gangboards Martin, but I'm still a little unsure about the support post.

There is a Newel Post that will sit directly above your post to support the Gangway hand rail, and before I made a final decision I think I would fit that first to make sure that the combination didn't look too heavy or awkward.

if I had to come down one side or the other my inclination would be to leave the post off.

 

ps: beautiful white tails, but how do you keep them out of your garden.

 

Regards,

 

B.E.

[flyer]

Hi Martin

 

 

Nice progress on your flying horse. Just one question: Why don't you support your gangways with the same type of knees you use for the gang boards? That way you wouldn't have to plant those somewhat out-of-place pillars.

Nice picture of the new neighbours too! BTW, I had a running fight against the deer over my garden for the last 30 years or so. Fence, electric fence, higher fence just to keep a little bit of the vegetables for our own (and give some flowers a chance to bloom before being eaten). And I absolutely don't like fences (or walls) along borders. Trying to train our housecats to hunt deer didn't impress neither cats nor deer. Good luck!

 

 

Take care

Peter

[Martin W]

Cheers Guys, thanks for the input, it will help me decide which way to go, though I'm still brooding on the matter.

 

Bob -- I've promised myself that this weekend I'm going to take the time to go back and look at your gangway.

 

BE -- My idea was that the lower post would complement the upper newel post, especially if I shaped the newel into a lovely and elegant () shape creating an upwardly moving line. Hmm.

 

Peter -- The key phrase in your comment is "somewhat out-of-place."  The reason I asked you guys for your opinions was that I realized my objectivity had faded with the desire to make the posts.  If to the non-builders' eyes they look out of place or awkward, then that tells me plenty. 

 

As for the deer, well, I've given up having any pink dogwoods in my yard (let's see, I think I tried around 5 or 6 times to get one through a summer).  And every year the peaches mysteriously disappear the night before I plan on harvesting them (I think the squirrels might be playing a role in that prank).  The curious part, though, is that the weeds remain untouched -- haven't those ungulate ever heard of "Symbiotic Relations"?  I grumble, but then end up saying, but they're so very pretty.  The raccoons on the other hand . . . . 

 

Thanks again for your comments, they really matter.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[flyer]

Squirrels conspiring with deer to steal the peaches and some racoons lurking in the background -

you live in a treacherous neighbourhood.

Perhaps you could try to pick the peaches one day earlier. If they will get them again you may also have a mole in your house

Don't give up the harvest!

Cheers

Peter

[Landlubber Mike]

Your Fly is looking really nice.  I really need to get back to my Pegasus one of these days.

[Martin W]

Thanks for the compliment, Mike, it makes my day.  And, hey, we've all had to take time away from our ships for one reason or another.  Pegasus has patience.

 

Enjoy your bonsai!

 

Martin

[Martin W]

Well, a mere two months have passed, and the wildlife in my yard have become oddly quiet (a pair of red-shouldered hawks were lurking about for a few weeks).  In my usual desultory fashion, I've filled the lull by doing some work on the entry steps, and thought I would take a shot at the winding stairs depicted in both FFM 2 & 3.

 

The first step (so to speak) was to determine the length & angles of the stiles.  In order to accomplish the curved appearance, the top of the fore stile sits further inboard against the curve of the gangway, while the bottom of each will need to line up along the same line (easily determined by the deck planking).  I simply cut some templates from card, and after lots of trimming, found the basic angles:

 

 

Then I traced the templates onto some 1/8 inch castello stock, and rough cut them with the jeweller's saw, and then fine-tuned them with files.

 

Greg Herbert, in FFM 3 shows his technique for cutting the dadoes with a wood mill, and that's the strategy I followed.  The stiles simply get glued to a piece of scrap with outer frames along the X-Y axes:

 

 

The braces and the outer frames need to be the same thickness as that of the stiles.  And the lines along the Y axis represent the spacing of the dadoes.  On the mill these lines enabled me to set the cutter as well as test the depth of the cut.  And the result looks like this:

 

It doesn't matter that the stiles will stand at different angles, the treads will all be parallel.  Here's a view from afar:

 

 

And here is the port-side version (my second effort, and therefore the better of the two):

 

 

I decided to use holly for the treads, both to contrast the stiles and to match the deck.  In this close-up the stiles look overly thick, but they do look right in real life.

 

Next, I plan to start on the breastwork for the Quarterdeck, which will then enable me to finish the fancy curved rail along the gangway.

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[Jim Rogers]

Great looking ladders, well done.

[Blue Ensign]

Nice touch Martin, they look good.

 

B.E. 

[Beef Wellington]

Martin, those steps look fantastic, those twisting steps look very pretty but must be a real challenge.  Its almost as if the ship builders were deliberately making it hard by placing the curve in the gangboards where they did.

[Martin W]

Thanks guys.  Jason, the steps were a challenge indeed.  The treads themselves were mostly guesswork -- I tried to follow the curve of the gangway, but still had to do lots of adjusting to make everything look right.  And of course, putting the thing together -- ay yi yi!

[flyer]

Hi Martin.

 

Especially the shot depicting a birds view shows how wonderfully those steps fit your Pegasus. Great work.

 

Cheers

Peter

[Martin W]

Thanks Peter, I appreciate it.  I'm afraid though that that same bird could also show how my boatyard could use some tidying -- with my optivisor on, staring at the top of the workbench, I don't see the clutter until I step back. 

 

Thanks as well to everyone who clicked on the like button!

Edited August 25, 2017 by Martin W