HMS Vanguard by RMC - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - scale 1:72

[RMC]

The mizzen shrouds are finally finished - though towards the end of the rather painful process I had it more or less under control. Progress has been rather slow with a couple of smallish household disasters taking up quite a bit of time over the last couple of weeks.  Belatedly I found saturating the Syren thread for the lanyards made it behave reasonably well.  The thread for the shrouds is fairly stiff, and with serving, the thread becomes very stiff indeed.  A fair amount of tension (not too much) is needed to straighten it out.  The results are acceptable, though again one of the deadeyes is a mill or so lower than it should be.

 

The port side came out quite well.

 

 

 

The starboard, not quite so well.

 

 

 

 

The catharpins are yet to be done and that's something to look forward to.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2015 by RMC

[donrobinson]

Looks great, very nice work. When you say that you saturated the rope  do you mean with just water or a 50/50 solution with glue?

[RMC]

Don: Just water applied with a small brush.  After everything had dried, I then applied 50:50 water: white glue.

[RMC]

The catharpins for the mizzen are now finished. I could only fit three, rather than the four that seem to be specified. I have no idea how four could be fitted without drilling a hole through the mast. As it is, the three barely scrape in.

 

 

The mizzen topmast has been dry-fitted. All the topmasts line up quite well

 

 

and this is how things look at the moment.

 

Edited December 12, 2015 by RMC

[RMC]

The futtock shrouds for the mainmast are complete. It was another quite fiddly job where competent knot-tying is required. Unfortunately this is not my long suit. There is very little room between the shouds and the thin thread went everywhere but where I wanted it to go. Finally the only way I could make it behave was to apply 50:50 PVA:water to it as I bound the futtock shrouds to the main shrouds. The result is just acceptable.

 

I used a small bulldog clip as a weight on the futtock shrouds to maintain tension while attaching them.  The Syren thread I have been using also provided some thrills.  The sizes of the thread are specified in imperial measures .  For the futtock shrouds, the plan specifies 0.75mm thread. The nearest Syren thread converts to 0.88mm - not much difference. When I went to thread it through the holes in the hooks which are attached to the deadeyes, it wouldn't go through. I then put a drop of CA on the end of the thread to keep it from unravelling (something it does tend to do if you are not careful). This then made the thread fractionally thicker! I tried trimming the CAed end to a point.  No joy - again it unravelled..  By this time I was certainly not rejoicing. The answer was of course, an inspiration . Apply medium CA to about the last 5 or 6mm of the thread. While still wet, twist the end of thread so that it becomes tighter and thus. smaller diameter. A bit of CA on your fingers is neither here nor there; the CAed end went through the holes, and once through, the thread followed, though it was a close thing.

 

The following two photos  show the bulldog clip weighing down one of the futtock shrouds.

 

With threads going all over the place, I found it difficult to see what was going on. Some white paper placed behind the shrouds made things a little easier to see.

 

 

Finished.

 

 

 

PS: Len -thanks for the like. I hope things are going well for you.

Edited December 16, 2015 by RMC

[RMC]

Having had enough of futtock shrouds for the time being, decided to start finishing off the masts.  The futtocks etc can wait for the new year. I am not at all happy with my tying off the futtock shrouds and will try to make them a bit more civilised. The problem has been the 01mm thread I have used (at least that's my excuse). It's very difficult  to control even when wet and that combined with the significant contours of the Syren thread, make things even more difficult. It is almost impossible to move a knot once tied, up or down the Syren rope.

 

I have now decided to buy some 0.2mm Syren thread and attempt to overlay the bindings I have already made. The Syren stuff is more managable. If it works I will use the Syren stuff on the remaining shrouds from the start. If it doesn't nothing is lost, but redoing the whole lot doesn't bear thinking about.

 

Finishing off the masts has had its own problems (my, this is a really good whinge).  Here I blame the plan (of course).

 

The cap into which the main topgallant mast fits would would 'grab' the topgallent mast around the octagonal section, rather than the circular section above it.I have measured and remeasured the masts and their dimensions are correct. Consequently I have repositioned the fid to be about 3mm higher than specified.  I found the  same problem with the mizzen.  The foremast was OK.

 

 

Just as an aside, all of the mast caps are laser cut lengthways.  This results in the 'round' holes in the caps being not round at all. To solve this problem I CAed some very thin wood strip to both halves of the caps, which resulted(with some filing) in a nice round hole to receive the upper mast. The square hole in the completed cap shown in the lower picture is for the top of the lower mast.  (I have squared the larger hole for all the caps - which seemed like a good idea at the time.)

 

 

 

Here, finally, are the three topgallant masts all dry-fitted.

 

 

 

 

I am not sure if it is a good idea to complete the masts now.  Advice is welcome.

Edited December 17, 2015 by RMC

[AON]

advice?

We are always our own worse critics

and this is as it should be 

I like what you've done and anxiously wait to see how the small changes make huge differences.

 

My first thought with the above photos was "OMG she's tall"

 

BZ

 

Alan

[RMC]

Hi Alan: looking at the height of the topgallant masts, I now wonder what on earth I'm going to do with the damn thing if I ever finish. I really had no idea how big the thing would turn out.  At least it keeps me off the streets for the time being I guess.

[donrobinson]

No advice here either, but what a beauty! She is going to be big and real sweet!! Great job so far keep it up,  I enjoy following along.

[RMC]

Thanks Arthur. I'm glad I asked for advice -and thanks for the help you have given me (and others) during the year - it's much appreciated.

 

I will be spending Christmas and most of January down the coast south of Sydney. (I hope the weather is better than yesterday which was really quite amazing. We were fortunate to see the blackest cloud I have ever seen pass over, before hitting a nearby suburb as a cyclone.)

 

Among other things  I will try to finish off the yards between visits from invaders.  Now, having looked at the plans there are a few things which are not clear to me at least.

 

Above the octagonal centre section of the main yard (and a number of others too) there appears to be a piece of woodstrip above the preliminary drawing. It then disappears in the drawings of the finished yard. Does anyone know the reason for its appearance/disappearance?

 

 

The cross section shown below suggests the octagonal section has been built up

 

 

as does the illustration from Petersson

 

 

Is this the case? I had just assumed that once the centre section  was filed to be octagonal, that was it - at least I hope so.

 

On the positive side, I found quite a good way of positioning the iron bands around the yards, though I'm sure someone will have got there before me. 

 

Tape the yard to a cutting mat.  Put a dab of medium CA on the end of the cartridge paper band. Glue it at right angles to the yard (the cutting mat makes it easy). Wait for the glue to set, then coat with CA the remaining length necessary to circle the yard. Then firmly pull the paper around the yard to meet at the beginning. The result is a very good finish.

 

 

Finally it seems a good time to wish anyone looking at this the best for Christmas and the new year. To those who 'liked' some of my stuff, thank you for the encouragement. To those who were kind enough to make comments/give help, thank you indeed. Among others Allan, Brian, Jason and Mort - - for anyone I've missed, please put it down to age.

 

Bob

Edited December 20, 2015 by RMC

[RMC]

I decided to try my luck with the slings. The thimbles were made using Arthur's method (AEW p.23).  As a result of an earlier mishap I had a comparatively  short length of thread already served for which there was no obvious application.  Well, waste not ....

 Both ends of the thread were sealed with a drop of medium CA. The thimble was then tied off  to the thread using a couple of overhand knots,  The were secured with dilute PVA and left to dry (actually I used my wife's hair dryer to speed things up).

 

Two or three mm from the end of the served thread, the serving was threaded though with a needle.

 

 

The loop is closed so the the two ends of the served thread butt against each other, then the whole lot is seized up to the thimble. The method is fairly easy and the result is quite acceptable, though not nearly a elegant as Arthur's - which is really beyond me.

 

 

This gives an idea of how it will look on a yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 22, 2015 by RMC

[J T Lombard]

RMC

 

What is (AEW p.23) ?

 

regards

 

J 

[J T Lombard]

 Arthur:

Thanks for the link. What an amazing build!!! I'm decades off from my Vanguard but so much of your craftsmanship is still applicable to a beginner's build.

 

thanks again

 

J

[RMC]

I have made a little progress over the holidays. The basics of the yards are now complete. The fore and main topsail yards were not all that straightforward, but all seemed to come out acceptably in the end. I hope the following photos will help those who come after. The tamiya tape is invaluable in assisting to get the correct spacing of all the bits and pieces. I'm afraid the photos are a little out of order but .. there you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the 'metal' bands have been added.

 

 

 

What looks to be damage in this photo is paint from the underside of whatever the two 'things' are called.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2016 by RMC

[J T Lombard]

RMC

Where did you find those narrow clamps? Would come in handy in tight spots.

 

regards

 

J

[Beef Wellington]

Bob - very nice work on the yards and the batton things (not sure what they are called).  Hope I'm not throwing in a hand grenade, and forgive me if I've misinterpreted the photo, think that the cleats on the front of the yard (forget their name as well) should attach directly to the yard itself and protrude between the battens which are offset by 45 deg either side.

[RMC]

Hi Jason

Having just had a small heart attack, I checked the plans. They show the cleats(?) on the battens as I have them. Whether the plans are wrong .... It would be no big thing to re-do them, but I would prefer to keep them as is.  Do you have a picture of the arrangement you have suggested?

 

J: I bought the clamps at my local hardware store. I use them often -  they were cheap and are very effective. Unfortunately my hardware store is in Sydney, Australia which is probably a bit out of your way. (I'm sure you will find Home Depot would have something similar.)

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Bob - I don't.  I re-looked at a number of AOTS books that I have and they all seem to differ (none at all, through to battens on all 8 faces with cleats on the battens).  Bottom line, think I'm completely wrong and looks like you've built exactly to the plans.  My apologies for having caused any panic, all my fault!

Edited January 19, 2016 by Beef Wellington

[RMC]

Jason: all is forgiven.

 

I have now painted the oars (there seem to be a lot of them). Unfortunately I didn't have the suggested colour scheme with me while away, so mine look a little different - wooden (brown) bodies and dark grey handles - to the specification. I'm quite pleased with them so I will leave them as is.

 

 

 

It also occurred to me that putting a crew member or two on the model may give a better idea of the actual size of the the ship. I bought a few figures from Cornwall Model Boats and have painted them to see how they look. I then realised that I didn't know the details of the appearance of the captain's/admiral's uniform, so in the photos Nelson (?) has silver trousers - which is perhaps a little gaudy. Since taking the photo he has been properly dressed (off white pants) and is no longer the subject of snide remarks. (I haven't really yet decided if I will any of the figures on the model.)

 

 

 

 

 

Just for the record this is the 2015 photo of sunset on the summer solstice (not as good as 2014 - but not bad). As I wrote earlier in my log, the mountain on the right is Pigeon House Mountain, named by Captain Cook in his voyage up the east coast of Australia.  How he saw a pigeon house is a mystery to me, but then he had been at sea a long time.

 

 

And just for the hell of it here is a sunset 4 weeks later. Reminds me of Lord of the Rings.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20, 2016 by RMC

[RMC]

Arthur: thanks for the picture of the dovecote. I think I have (dimly) heard the term, but have never seen one. It now shows that Cook still had his marbles when he saw the mountain. I always thought it bears a resemblance to something quite different, but that's just me.

 

The figures are remarkably detailed and I'm quite pleased with the result. (The black eye that Nelson appears to have is a shadow) When you get around to painting them, do give them a very good clean before painting (I forgot to) as the (Humbrol) paint was not keen on adhering.

Edited January 20, 2016 by RMC

[RMC]

Having  painted a couple of dozen oars for the ship's boats, the question then arose, how to fit them all into the boats? It seems to me you can't without the boats disappearing under a pile of oars. I have placed 4 oars in two of the boats and this seems to work reasonably well. If anyone can suggest how to fit in the remaining oars I would certainly be grateful. If not I have a heap of painted oars if anyone wants them.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2016 by RMC

[AON]

Back in the 70's we use to store the sweeps (oars) of the 27' whaler's and 32' cutter's under the thwarts on the floor boards. Not sure if you can manage to slide them in but we could.

Edited January 27, 2016 by AON

[RMC]

Alan: I'm not quite sure what a thwart is (actually I have no idea), but I'll look it up and see if I can queeze a few more in.

[Fam]

Thwarts = seats for the rowing sailors

You might also consider alternating the oar blades and packing the oars in tight bundles seized with ropes

 

Cheers

Fam

[RMC]

Fam: Thanks for that. I had tried alternating the oars, but I thought it looked a bit odd.  I'll certainly try bundling the oars up to see how that turns out.

[AON]

We didn't bundle them but then again we weren't flopping about on the deck of a warship!  I can imagine things being kept tiddly (tidy / organized) by lashing them together.

We also kept all blades in one direction, forward.

Edited January 27, 2016 by AON

[RMC]

Well at least my keeping the blades facing forward turned out to be right. I'll see what I can do about lashing, though it does seem a little extreme in the 21st century.

[RMC]

I have now finished the futtock shrouds for the fore mast.  This has been a very fiddly job and the results are just adequate.

I used a bulldog clip and later an alligator clip hung on the end of the shrouds too keep them taut as I tied them off.

 

 

 

Finished.

 

 

I have substituted Syren thread for the kit-supplied stuff and it has come back to bite me in a small way. The quality of the thread is excellent, but it comes in  Imperial measurements (seems odd, for a republic. ) In each application I have taken the nearest metric measurement of the thread specified.  In the case of the shrouds for the mizzen I have used 0.88mm Syren thread which is specified as 1mm in the kit.  (In fact, if you actually measure the Syren thread it is indistinguishable from 1mm.)  The futtock shrouds for the mizzen are specified to be 0.75mm thread. Alas, I only bought the 0.88 stuff (which is of course quite close to 0.75.)  However to use the 0.88 for both the shouds and the futtock shrouds would not look 'right', so I am now waiting for delivery of the Syren thread which measures at 0.63mm.

 

If there is a lesson in all of this, be careful of measurements if you specify non-kit thread.

Edited February 5, 2016 by RMC

[RMC]

I have put one of the figures in to one of the ship's boats as an experiment. Aside from the overload of oars, the same seems to be the case for the boarding pikes (there are a couple of dozen of them) and the anchors (half a dozen). I think in this case, less really is more. At the moment, nothing is glued down, but it does seem to me that putting all the stuff provided for the boats would be considerable over-kill. Comments are welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

This photo shows in the lower boat, four oars, two pikes and an anchor ( I hope eventually to do something a little more stylish with the anchor) - there doesn't appear to be much more that can be fitted in without appearing overly cluttered.

 

 

Now I have to think about where to put the Admiral ....

Edited February 6, 2016 by RMC

[RMC]

The lanterns are a bit of a problem. The castings for the lids are about 1mm in diameter smaller than they should be. Partially mitigating the problem I suggest filing the ends of the brass lantern frames. While this improved the fit of the casting over the frame, the frame still was fraction  too large.  So once bent to shape and glued, the exterior corners were then lightly filed, and the interior corners filled with a dab of a water-based white gap filler (For Australians, Selly's No More Gaps)

 

Incidentally,  do not paint the frames before bending as I did. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but as soon as the fitting was bent, most of the paint came off.

 

 

Here are the frames filled, filed and painted.

 

 

The (almost) finished lanterns. The next two photos show the frame still slightly proud of the cast lid.

 

 

 

The following photo shows a slight gaps between the castings and the frame. I have filled the gaps with the gap filler diluted with a little water. I little on the point of a pin put on the gap, then immediately wiped off with a dampened tissue - and ... No More Gaps.

 

 

 

The results are just acceptable, but the yellow and white colour scheme specified tends to highlight any small defects.  With hindsight I would have blackened the castings, and perhaps the frames as well.

 

In a day or two, once the fumes of the CA are gone, I will use Krystal Klear to make the windows for the frames.

 

I have just noticed that photo 379 has been repeated, and I can't get rid of it for reasons which escape me.

Edited February 10, 2016 by RMC