HM Bomb Vessel Granado by jwvolz - FINISHED - Caldercraft - 1:64

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Joe, very nice work.  Looks like the gunport patterns are in the right position and with the right curvature.  I remember having a few choice words for the gunport patterns on my Badger 

 

I'll be following your decision on the drill and fill method for the treenails closely.  I went with the bamboo skewers through the draw plate approach on my Badger, which probably takes much more time than the drill and fill method.  The Byrnes draw plate worked very well, but I can't tell you how many times the skewer wood broke at or just before the final hole in the draw plate.  Toothpicks probably would have been a step easier.  For the drill and fill method, I worried that the paste would flow into the wood grain leading to streaks in the planks, but it seems like most people don't have that problem. 

[jwvolz]

Thanks Mike. Glad to be past the gunport pattern phase...

 

When I did my test pieces of the deck off the model I did see the paste/filler get into the grain a bit. That's why I think I'm going to varnish before I apply it. I'll likely put another coat on top as well. 

 

I did try the toothpick method as well in my testing and it also looked good, however I worried about sanding everything flush with the many treenails hard up against the mortar surrounds. 

[jwvolz]

I lined gun ports 2-6 per the instructions with the 1x4mm walnut strip and trimmed it back even with the gunport template over the weekend. I had to make minor adjustments to a couple of them height wise and all looks good. I also got the treenailing of the deck done using the filler method and I'm pretty pleased with  how it came out. I did put down two coats of matte varnish before hand to keep it from getting into the wood grain and that seems to have done the trick nicely. The spirketing is dry-fitted and clamped in place after wetting to take the curve at the bow.

[Timmo]

Nice work Joe. Starting to wish I'd done the same there with the treenails

[jwvolz]

Thanks for the likes all.

 

I'm glad I took the time to treenail Timmo, and I'm pretty pleased with the putty method. I'm looking forward to my Hobbymill order to get to it on the outboard planking. 

 

I pre-painted and installed both the port and starboard spirkeiting. Easy job that went without issue. Next up will be the inboard sheer rail.

 

 

[WackoWolf]

Nice work/ The decking is very nicely done. Keep the pictures coming. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

[HIPEXEC]

Nice carpentry!

[jwvolz]

I got a lot done over the past two weeks and am just getting around to posting some pictures. 

 

Latest developments:

 

• Inner bulwark sheer rail and spirketting installed and trimmed to shape
• Sweep ports drilled, filed and shaped
• Bulwarks painted red ochre
• Trim for galley flue installed
• Forward hatch constructed
• Main hatch constructed
• Deck reinforcement planks installed on stern side of forward mortar housing
• First mortar housing cover constructed

I am not at all pleased with the walnut strip that makes up the top of the mortar housing cover; it is very flaky and splinters easily and no amount of sanding will leave it smooth.It is also not the same color as the rest of the walnut in the kit, being much redder, as you can see in the pictures.  I will likely re-make that with some spare walnut strip I have from a previous build.

 

The bigger issue is this is the same strip material used to plank the hull. My plan was to only use below the wales, and my pending HobbyMill order of boxwood above. I will need to re-think below the wales as this garbage wood will never be acceptable. Luckily most of the other strip wood and all of the CNC-cut material is much smoother and looks fine. 

Edited July 9, 2014 by Joe V.

[Landlubber Mike]

Hi Joe, looks really great.  Sorry to hear about your problems with the walnut.  Hopefully Caldercraft gets the message with all these complaints about the thin laminated walnut that they include in their kits.  I loved my Badger kit and would give it perfect marks but for the walnut.

Edited July 9, 2014 by Landlubber Mike

[Beef Wellington]

Joe - looking good despite the walnut challenges.  I had ordered some additional walnut strips through Cornwall Model Boats as I needed additional materials to help with some of the customizations I made on Snake.  I found that the colour of the walnut provided by CMB also varied a lot (especially between strips cut to different sizes) and was not dissimilar to the quality of the kit supplied walnut.  However, it was pretty cheap and I was able to mix and match to get as consistent a colour as possible.  I'm not sure how much of the issues with the walnut is down to CC and how much of it boils down to the original suppliers of the wood and quality control around that.  Of course, I recognize that doesn't help you much 

[jwvolz]

Mike/Jason,

 

It's odd, because the only wood that is an issue really seems confined to the 1x4mm outer planking walnut strip wood.When you sand it it just flakes and splinters and just won't take a nice finish at all. On the other hand as an example, the 2x3mm walnut that makes up the hatch coamings finishes up just fine, and looks good as you can see in the photos. 

 

I can't see how I'm going to get acceptable hull planking out of it in any way shape or form. I think I'll have to get more boxwood ordered from Jeff for below the wales. It really does get frustrating having to toss what you paid good money for. 

 

Thanks all for the "likes".

[jwvolz]

As I wait patiently for my HobbyMill order to arrive to complete my outer planking, I continue with some detail and deck work. I completed the quarterdeck bulkhead/screens which is a very fiddly little assembly with number of components that need to be dry-fitted and all squared up. I think it is a bit over-engineered, but so be it...

 

Instead of the fragile ply provided for the actual screens I instead used styrene (oh, the horrors, plastic!!). It flexs better in the curved frames and provides a nice smooth surface for paint. 

 

After an initial coat of blue (Polly Scale B&M Railroad Blue) I decided to try my hand at hand painting the designs in more "period like" colors, as opposed to the black decals provided in the kit. I shamelessly took the method from Timmo's wonderful effort to hand paint them. Thanks for the brilliant example!

 

I started with a base coat of Polly Scale CP Yellow (the railroad colors are very useful...) and then once fully dry used mixes of white, yellow ochre and raw umber oil paints to shade and highlight the designs. Although I'm no artist, and these are attempt number three, I think they pass the test, though I may do a little touch-up here and there. I did some slight modification to designs for aesthetics and to better fit the design on the panel. 

 

The panels still need their final trimming to shape at the top, and are merely dry-fitted in these photos. It will probably be a week before the oil paints fully dry. 

[Timmo]

Nice work Joe. They've come very nice indeed. Good move replacing the screens with styrene.

[Landlubber Mike]

Very nice paint job!  

[Littlebob]

You have a nice clean build going, but I really like those bulkhead screens.

[jwvolz]

Thanks Timmo, Mike, Robert and the "likes".

[Beef Wellington]

Thats a really nice paint job Joe, great effect - the blue you picked seems to be a good choice, may try to find some myself to try out.  The blue recommended by Caldercraft just doesn't seem to look right to me.

[jwvolz]

Thanks Jason.

 

I like that blue because it's more muted, and to my eye is more "period-like" to coin a phrase. You can still find some of the Polly Scale RR colors out there, and for my taste they have always been some of the nicest acrylic paints to be had. I'm still not sure why Testor's in their infinite wisdom discontinued them. 

[jwvolz]

Well, a nice package from HobbyMill was waiting for me when I got home today. Jeff went above and beyond when I added extra planking strips to my order late in the game, when I realized there was no using the walnut planking in the kit. Tremendous customer service, and the wood looks beautiful!

[fnkershner]

You won't be disappointed in Jeff's wood.

[Timmo]

I'm so jealous

[Landlubber Mike]

Nice Joe  Just out of curiosity, what are you planning on using the walnut for?  I am thinking that I want a darker, more wood-grained look to my Pegasus, and thought about upgrading the kit's walnut to Jeff's walnut 

[jwvolz]

Thanks Mike, I'm thrilled with the wood. I did the wale over the weekend (photos tonight) and it was such a joy to work with. 

 

I had ordered the walnut originally when I planned to plank below the wales with the kit walnut and just use the boxwood above the wale. Those strips are 7mm vs. the kit 4mm and the plan was to use them for the garboard and first broad strakes. Even though I am now doing everything in boxwood (planking wise), I'm still going to use those wider strips as all of that below the waterline gets painted anyway. Jeff's walnut is beautiful, nothing like the kit planking. I do have to say that the remaining kit strip wood is OK. I don't know what they used for the 1x4mm planking strips, but it's bad. 

[jwvolz]

As I mentioned in the post above I completed the wales over the weekend.

 

Three planks wide, by two layers (1x4mm) per the instructions, using boxwood. They were then painted with about (I lost track...) 10-11 coats of Polly Scale acrylic Engine Black, each coat highly thinned with my  "home brew" thinner, which consists of 70 percent water, 30 percent isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of Liquitex flow-aid. Light sanding between coats with 400, then 600 grit, with the final coat being finished with a Squadron tri-grit fine sanding stick, to give it a very fine sheen. It's hard to pick up the finish well using my phone camera. 

[aliluke]

Joe

Spot on with Polly Scale Engine Black - it is my favourite "black". Apparently they don't make it anymore  and I have only a little bit left - alarm. I certainly didn't go to your lengths in terms of coats - probably only 5 - 6 coats on my wales. I read in Chuck's log that he went to up to 30 coats!! I use tissue paper to impart the final sheen.

 

With Jeff's wood in hand and what you have done to date you are on your way to a very fine model. I enjoy your updates.

[Timmo]

Some very crisp wales there Joe. You are moving at lightning speed on this build and I'll keep watching to get some tips when you pass me at some very near future point.

[jwvolz]

Thanks Wayne. I've stolen an idea or two from you, so I'll do my best to reciprocate!

 

Alistair, yes, Polly Scale is no more.Their railroad line had some great colors in it.  I'm going to have to come up with a plan for a new acrylic paint. I've never been a big fan of the Model Masters line. Vallejo is one I've tried a bit, and so far pretty good. 

[Landlubber Mike]

Very nice work Joe.  I'll have to ask Jeff about his walnut as I'm looking for something a little darker than his swiss pear for the hull planking, coamings, etc. on my Pegasus.  Glad to hear that you're impressed with the quality.  

 

Not sure what Caldercraft is doing with their walnut.  The ply crumbles, and their strips were very prone to splintering.  Everything else about their kits, or at least the Badger kit, was really nice to work with.

[egkb]

Am well late coming to this party Joe.. but am loving what I see, I have just read through your log and would deffo consider Granado as a future build she is beautiful and you are doing a cracking good job on her!

I too chucked away the hull planking walnut from my build, would have to wonder why it is included at all, compared to the costs of our various kits it isn't as though decent stuff is going to add significantly to the price (if at all)

 

I also noticed issues with my Ballahoo Bulwark (gun port template) as it didn't reach the tops of various bulkhead extensions or indeed sit against some of them.. perhaps a glitch common with CC kits in general ? 

 

Looking forward to more updates.

 

Stay Well

 

Eamonn

[jwvolz]

Thanks Eamonn, much appreciated. Glad to have you on board!

 

It's a great kit, other than the outer hull planking walnut. I highly recommend it.