HMS Fly by ccoyle - FINISHED - Amati/Victory Models - 1/64

[ccoyle]

OK, I'm going to try and recreate parts of my build log for HMS Fly.  I have been working on this model for so long that it has now gone through the deaths of two sites - once at the old Dry Dock Models, and once during the Great Crash of 2013.

 

First a little back story.  I bought this kit waaaaay back in 2006 - it was one of the very first production kits off the line.  It should be done by now, and if it were anyone else but me, it probably would be.  But that's not the way I build.  My modeling urges come in intermittent fits and spurts - periods of great progress followed by usually long spells of inactivity, at least on the wood front.  I also build card ships and 1/33 scale card aircraft, so sometimes when you see Fly come to a halt, it means I have some other project on the front burner.

 

During the ensuing years, many fine models of Fly and her sister, Pegasus, have been completed here at MSW, so I will not go back to the very beginning and show all the basic framing and planking, etc.  Instead, I will highlight some of the bashing I did to the basic kit, mostly to give other builders some hints about what can be done with it.  I'm not actually working on Fly at the moment, so don't expect updates in the very near future.  Mostly I'm doing this to create a placeholder of sorts.

 

So, on we go!

[ccoyle]

First off, I am using the Williams & Marshall paintings of HMS Kingfisher to guide my painting of HMS Fly.  The operative word is 'guide' (as opposed to 'template').

 

Early on I decided to add screen bulkheads to the model.  These were scratch built from scrap plywood and card stock.  The door knobs are brass nail heads.  This is the aft bulkhead - it is less detailed than the forward bulkhead, which is far more easily seen on the model than the aft bulkhead.  The forward bulkhead windows are properly glazed.

 

As you can see in this picture, the proper placement of the aft bulkhead is not between the existing kit bulkhead extensions, but slightly aft of them.

[mtaylor]

Nice to see this one coming back, Chris.  I've always liked your build of the Fly.

[ccoyle]

I also decided to purchase the available Fly upgrade kit, which basically consists of the extra stuff that was included in the Pegasus kit, but not part of the original Fly kit.  It is well worth the money, in my view.  Among the options in upgrade kit are wooden carriages to replace the kit's cast metal carriages.  The metal carriages are virtually impossible to drill, something that needs to be done if one wishes to properly rig the guns.  The upgrade kit also includes PE brass insignia and locks for the guns.  The kit guns are not entirely true to English guns of the period and already have a cast insignia on them; I made do with turning the barrels over and adding the upgrade insignia to the bottom (now the top) of each gun.

[ccoyle]

This lovely photo shows what happens when you think you've done an adequate job of planking, only to have the flash show up every ugly gap in the planking.  Next time...must do a better job next time.  Anyways, the stern carvings are a decent casting.  After painting with the basic ochre color, I brought out some detail with some washes.  Of course, the flash then proceeded to wash out all the wash detail.  The curtains are an idea I copied from another build long ago.  The period after 'FLY' is period-appropriate (no pun) and is not included in the PE brass set.  It's just daubed on with a brush.

[ccoyle]

Another couple of tweaks to the kit.  The cleats in the kit are far to large, so I cobbled together some smaller replacements.

 

The kit's binnacle is also very, very basic, so out that went, too.  I built a replacement based on some drawings and pics submitted by MSW members.  The binnacle lantern is made from a sacrificed CA glue Z-tip, the compass roses are some scaled-down images from the Internet, and the chimney is some part from the scrap bin.  The chimney should be black, but I haven't had much success blackening turned brass parts, so I left it shiny.  Don't tell anyone.

[ccoyle]

It took quite a bit of tweaking to get all the quarterdeck rails in place.  For one thing, the dimensions given for the stanchions along the break of the quarter deck (the square posts) were wrong; I believe they were given as 2 mm too tall, but my memory is fuzzy on that one.  The stanchions at the entryways were off-the-shelf turnings and were both too tall and too large in diameter, so those had to be cut down.  The entryway railings also had to be cut and trimmed to correct the angle of the elbow where those railings join the quarterdeck railing.  But in the end, it all worked out.

 

By the way, the lengths for all the breeching ropes and tackles were taken from a table in the Ship Modeler's Shop Notes published by the NRG.

[ccoyle]

This is the aforementioned forward screen bulkhead, along with a view of the two ladders that had to be built from scratch because the kit didn't include enough ladder material.

 

I also added some detail to the gallows, using a file and some scrap card and wood to add beveling, decorative panels, and cheek blocks.

[ccoyle]

This shot shows a number of things.  First, the careful observer will notice the absence of cast metal fashion pieces.  I simply could not get the kit castings to fit the hull properly, so I omitted them - on the Captain's orders.  Second, I had to rebate the back sides of the quarterbadges, because they overlap the wales.  Third, you can see where it was necessary to paint the lower railing posts to match the colors on the hull - black, yellow, red.  Same went for the forecastle posts, except they needed black-yellow-red-yellow again.  This was necessary to match the Williams & Marshall painting.  Fourth, you can see where I replaced the 1x1 mm hull trim from the kit with Bluejacket double-beaded molding -- much nicer.

[AnobiumPunctatum]

Really wonderful, Chris.

[ccoyle]

More recently ('recently' means last summer ), I decided to somewhat imitate the elaborate decorations seen on the stern counter in the Williams & Marshall painting.  First, I located some heraldic dolphins on the Internet, scaled them to the appropriate size, and then printed, painted, cut out, and edge-colored them.  It took me a couple of tries to find the dolphins and color schemes that I thought looked the best.  Here is the final result, with the dolphins swimming in some dappled foam.  Of course, since then I've learned that the artwork on Fly was completely different.  Oh, well.

 

Please note, that is what eighteenth-century maritime artists thought dolphins looked like - not what I think they look like.

[ccoyle]

So, here is what the hull looks like as of July, 2012.

 

Expect more updates on the hull on ... gosh, I don't know.  Sometime this year.  Maybe.

[ccoyle]

The last bit I worked on was the ship's boat, which also came with the upgrade kit.  The boat includes a cast metal hull and tiller, strip wood for building up the thwarts, and PE oars, boat hooks, and grapple.  Not wanting to have to attempt a scratch-built boat at this point in my modeling career, I crossed my fingers and hoped the metal boat would do the job.  I think it turned out pretty decent.

 

And that is where my build left off.  When I get back to it, I will soon be about the rigging.  I have Volume 4 of the Swan-class series to help in that endeavor.

 

Cheers!

[Jim Lad]

Nice to see the Fly back again, Chris!

 

John

[Blue Ensign]

Your colour scheme Chris holds great appeal for me, I like the combination of white, dark walnut, and pale blue topsides you have used.

 

A very attractive build.

 

Cheers,

 

B.E.

[aliluke]

Great stuff Chris. Your attention to lifting up the details is fantastic. A good guide for future builders = me!

 

Cheers

Alistair

[mathewp]

Looks like some tricky paintwork, but it looks a treat. I'm glad I dont have to do anything that difficult yet.

[Beef Wellington]

Hi Chris, she's looking very nice indeed, I've just managed to get to your log.

 

I 'think' you're the only Fly build here! I know you got the upgrade kit, I'm wondering if you have any idea on how the upgraded Fly kit compares to the Pegasus kit and whether there is a 'kit quality' difference between the two.

 

Looking forward to another update "soon"!

[ccoyle]

Jason, the upgrade kit consists in large measure of bits that were included in the later Pegasus kit.  There are a few minor differences between the two kits, one being the manner in which the quarterbadges are constructed, if I remember correctly.  It may be some time before I have any updates -- the main reason I'm not building anything at the moment is that it turns out my wife is allergic to many of the paints and adhesives I use.  Still working on a solution for this.

[petervisser]

Superb looking model thus far Chris. And yes your ship's boat turned out very well too!

 

All the best with the rest of your build.

 

Peter

[ccoyle]

Thanks, SG, for adding these early-phase photos.

 

Ah, that brings back memories.  Yes, I think I even still have this model around somewhere - oh, yes, there it is over in my display cabinet, still looking like it did three years ago.  Well, no need to comment much on the photos, as all the newer build logs chronicle these early steps of the build process.  The only things I will mention, for the sake of new Fly builders, are 1) notice the deck planks beneath the forward hatch - that deck shows on the finished model, and the instructions don't mention any deck planking; 2) the paper forward screen bulkhead template (no screen bulkheads are provided for in the kit); and 3) the scoring on the plywood gunport pattern - scoring the outside of the curve on the patterns make them much easier to bend.

 

Cheers,

[JohnB40]

Really beautiful construction work you have done,the painting is outstanding. I am looking forward to future updates.

 

John

[Brian100]

Hi Chris, how deep did you score the plywood gunport patterns.

 

Brian

[ccoyle]

Brian, the scoring is not deep - just through the outermost layer of ply.

[ccoyle]

Don't Get Too Excited

 

Yes, I have decided to resurrect this long-dormant and neglected build log. First, a little back story: I corresponded with Chris Watton during the development of this kit and was thus was one of the first to buy it when it hit the market all the way back in 2006. I got started on it right away and made pretty good progress at first. Now, even during my most prolific modeling outbursts, there are times when a kit just doesn't get the juices flowing like it used to and gets moved to the back burner. Being a square-rigged ship and all the work that entails, Fly has suffered a number of stints on said back burner, and the current spell has been very long indeed -- going on ten years. 😯  In addition, she has endured six moves (including one cross-country), and -- as might be expected -- she hasn't come through all of those moves completely unscathed.

 

So, why has Fly never got around to being finished? The primary reason is one that I'm sure some of you can relate to: I'm simply not satisfied with the way she has turned out so far, and that kind of puts a crimp on any desire to complete a model I know I won't be completely happy with. The two things that I particularly dislike about my work so far are first of all that I didn't do a good planking job, and as a result the model has quite a few gaps between planks. Second, I don't like the color. The kit came with dark walnut strips for the second planking, and for reasons that I can no longer recall, I stained those even darker. Since that time, I have decided that I like lighter-colored hulls better. Oh, well. Lastly, there is the not-insignificant consideration that a finished Fly would take up a lot of display space, and why devote precious space to a model that doesn't make you proud?

 

So, after much thought I decided I would eventually finish Fly as a hull model, and now seems as good a time as any to finally tick this task off my to-do list. The first things to do will be to dust the model off, repair the present damage (notably to guns and their rigging), figure out where I left off in the build sequence, and then decide how much detail I will add before finally deciding that Fly will be done enough to call done.

 

So, enjoy what is left of this journey!

 

[ccoyle]

First thing to do was to re-secure all the guns and tackles that had been knocked loose. Six of the eight guns in the waist needed repair of some kind. Fortunately, none of the other guns had come loose, because those would have been impossible to reach.

 

 

There were a number of holes in the deck for eyebolts that needed to be filled. These were originally left off because they needed blocks attached first. Since I'm not going to rig this model, I went ahead and added the eyebolts sans blocks.

 

[Beef Wellington]

Chris - for some reason I'm not seeing the photo (?).  BTW, I like your confessional, you are now absolved 🙂

[ccoyle]

1 hour ago, Beef Wellington said:

for some reason I'm not seeing the photo (?)

 

Fixed (hopefully)!

[Knocklouder]

Hi, I can't  seem to see the pictures  either 😕.   Also can't seem to see any mistakes as well, lol great model. As for space, put  grin on your face , build it , start a raffle  5 bucks for one ticket, 3 for 10 bucks. Donate the money to MSW.  I won't buy one because MSW would not stand for me getting  a free Pegasus  And winning  a Fly. LOL  😆 

 

[ccoyle]

2 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

Hi, I can't  seem to see the pictures  either 😕.

 

Check again. It's there for me.

 

3 minutes ago, Knocklouder said:

As for space, put  grin on your face , build it , start a raffle  5 bucks for one ticket, 3 for 10 bucks.

 

Tain't never gonna happen. The effort required would far out-strip my enthusiasm for the project.