HM Mortar Vessel Convulsion by jonny.amy - FINISHED - Caldercraft

[jonny.amy]

I feel so much better having done that, she looks fighting fit again!

 

This weekend will see a few changes (hopefully), but I'm not far from finishing now! That Captain's is so tantalisingly close to being opened!

 

Cheers for the kind words guys, your advice and help throughout has been greatly appreciated!

[fnick]

Great job on the fix!

 

Nick

[jonny.amy]

Morning Chaps,

 

I got some time to sit down and work on Convulsion again last night, it was a bit sperodic because I was up and down all night looking after the Admiral. She's managed to get the flu, so she's been burning up, shivering, achey, and everything else under the sun! So I've not done a great deal on Convulsion this week! But I have managed to finish 99% of the Running and Standing rigging.

 

I've managed to rig the mainsheets on the Mizzenmast Spankerboom (Does anyone know how did it get the name "Spanker"??), and rigged the sheets on the Mainmast Gaff. Convulsion is looking great now! I'm really pleased with my efforts. It's been a real learning curve from President, and this is certainly the furthest I've managed to get with rigging so far!

 

I also read through Stockholm Tar's build log of Sherbourne last night, and liked how he tied off his tiller to "keep her straight and true", so I copied this idea! I'll be using his fine example on my build of Sherbourne later on.

 

Any way, here are some photo's:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I now have a fairly short to-do list on Convulsion, but from a kit build aspect, I only have one major task left!

• Tie Ratlines for Main & Mizzen
   
• (Additional Stock) Build & Rig new 12 Pounder Carronades (awaiting delivery)
   
• (Additional Stock) Build 0.5 Pounder Swivel Guns (awaiting delivery)
   
• (Additional Stock) Build 14 foot Jolly Boat (awaiting delivery)
   
• Fit new Jolly Boat - either on deck or hung off stern?
   
• (Additional Stock) Build up storage racks for cannonballs (awaiting delivery)

Seeing as the Admiral is ill, this weekend should be fairly quiet, so I should be able to make a sizable dent in the list! Fingers crossed!

 

Cheers,

Jonny

 

[Canute]

Good luck working thru the task list and I hope the Admiral feels better.

[jonny.amy]

Ken,

 

I've spoken with CMB and my kit will be sent off later on today, so hopefully I'll be building my new carronades, swivel guns and Jolly Boat tomorrow. Those seem to be the easiest things to crack on with, but it all depends on whether the Admiral is getting better! Fingers crossed she'll be feeling better by then!

 

Cheers

[DavidM]

I have to say that I'm very impressed with your Convulsion and you must be very pleased and very proud.  Well done!  As a total novice I'm still on with my first build (Ballahoo started March 2014) but hope to finish in a few(?) months time.  I saw your comment about joining me and Eamonn (who has been a brilliant source of knowledge and support to me and my Ballahoo) on our next nautical adventure (building the Sherbourne) so welcome aboard (if that's the right expression) but I have to say that given your excellent rate of progress of Convulsion you will probably have finished your Sherbourne when I'm still on first planking!!

Hope the Admiral is feeling better soon.

David

[jonny.amy]

David, thanks for the kind words. This has been very much a learning curve for me, as my first attempt on President was sullied by the lack of qaulity of the kit produced by Sergal / Mantura.

 

I'd like to say my speed of the build has been due to the fact the kit and instruction quality, all credit to Caldercraft & Jokita, is far superior than the Sergal / Mantura kits. With the lessons and mistakes I made on building President, and learning how to rectify them, has meant I have come in to this build with a slightly better understanding of how to throw these things together! You'll get there with Ballahoo, and the lessons you have learnt along the way with Ballahoo will be fresh in your mind! Before starting Convulsion I spent weeks or months trawling my way through MSW to gain tips and ideas on how to build a better kit! For example, cutting rabet-line wasn't indicated in the President "destructions", but it was a tip I picked up on here that has contributed to a really enjoyable build (thanks to Eamonn pointing that out to me)!

 

Thanks for having me on board, it'll be great fun!

Cheers

Jonny

[jonny.amy]

Hi guys, small update.

 

Cornwall Model Boats have sent through my kit, but there are bits missing, primarily the lime strip and dowel. They've also sent through items that aren't what I ordered. For example 5 sets of swivel guns instead of 4 (not complaining), and just carronade barrels, not the kit including the truck.

 

So I've now got to send it all back to get my replacement parts, and the parts that have gone awol!

 

Has anybody else had an experience like this with CMB?

 

Cheers

[DavidM]

Hi Jonny,

I've used CMB on three occasions and I haven't experienced what you have described.  My only negative experience was, on the last occasion, I ordered a number of items over the phone and during the telephone call it was confirmed that all the items were in stock and a delivery date was agreed.  Subsequently, however, the order didn't arrive as promised.  When I phoned the order hadn't been sent because some items were out of stock (despite what was shown on the computer at the point of sale).  It would have been nice to have got a phone call or email to explain that the goods were not going to arrive as promised.  Other than that, I have found CMB to be extremely helpful and accurate in the items ordered/packaged.

David

[egkb]

Hi Jonny, The only issue (and really it ain't a biggy to be fair) that I have with CMB is pretty much like David's in that they show items in stock which patiently are not, reference the time taken to deliver (once I was waiting 6 weeks for an order..  ).. my fastest delivery from them was 3 days (but that was the exception it must be said)  it is usually around 1 to 2 weeks.

 

Every package received was as ordered though!  ... I just wish they stocked Holly and Basswood !!   

 

Eamonn

[Beef Wellington]

I've ordered quite a bit from CMB and have always been happy...until my last order a few weeks ago.  Items were missing,and multiple wood strip sizes ordered were the wrong dimension (e.g supplying .5mm thick rather than 1mm, or 5mm vs 6mm).  Rather annoying, but they seem willing to fix the issue and I won't hold one mistake against them.  Wonder if they've had some staffing issues, seems my issue was not isolated.

Edited March 15, 2015 by Beef Wellington

[jonny.amy]

Jason / David / Eamonn - CMB are usually very helpful, in the past they've been on it straight away if theres's any issue with the order, and I can't fault them for that! But I was waiting a week for the Caldercraft parts to turn up, and I haven't even got the right parts, I'm not sending them back, I'm just using what I've got. But it's quite annoying.

 

Like Jason has said, I'm disappointed that my timber has not been delivered, it may not be their fault, it could be Royal Mail that's lost the items, but it's more faffing about to find the stuff! Next time, I'll UPS the delivery, at least I get a tracking number.

 

In other news, I've built up eight Swivel Guns, and placed them on the model, added the Stern light to the transom, and built gun carriages for the two 18 pounder carronades, they just need rigging up, but are in place. The construction of the Jolly Boat has been trickier than I thought, CA glue doesn't work on the resin, so I've used PVA wood glue for the cartridge paper ribs, and painted the hull with a coat of white. I hope to finish it off tonight. I have to add the stern sheets, and benches. The one thing I've noticed with the Jolly Boat is that the rudder when shipped is too short, so I've cut away some of the transom, and added a tiller to the rudder to make it more realistic.

 

I'll post some pictures later on tonight. By the way the Admiral is feeling better now and she's back to her usual self, moaning that I've taken up too much of the Dining Room table with my shipyard! Haha

 

Cheers

Jonny

[Canute]

Jonny, surprised the CA didn't glue the resin parts. Wonder what kind of resin it is, to be impervious? I usually try to get resin parts positioned with a tacky glue, then wick some CA into the joint via capillary action. The tacky glue won't glue resin; it just gets the parts lined up. I've also used some real sticky glues available here in the US . One named Goo, the other is Barge Cement. Both are sticky, but very smelly. Now I use a brand called Aleene's Tacky Glue. Kind of like the glue on a Post-it Note.

[jonny.amy]

Hi guys,

 

Sorry for the late update on progress. It's bern a very busy week.

I discussed with the Admiral about building a display case for Convulsion, and after pricing it up, buying all the materials would be in excess of £150, so I decided that endeavour was a no go! So thinking on my feet in the DIY store yesterday I found a length of 25mm THK oak stair tread, with the ends squared off. They cut it in store to the 600mm length I required, and I paid £18 at the check out. I then swung via the local model shop, and bought model railway ballast in a sandy brown colour. Using my existing surplus of PVA glue, and masking tape, I masked out the area of oak around the edges of the board to make a 36mm wide boarder. Using the 6mm Square cut lime CMB sent through, I made a series of keel blocks to sit convulsion on to.

 

 

 

 

I'm having a bit of trouble uploading the rest of the photos, so I'll add more later on. But I think you get the idea of wher I'm coming from with my display board! I think it looks neat, slightly different to what everyone does. The great thing is that I now have a stretch of oak left big enough to show Sherbourne on as well.

 

Cheers

Jonny

Edited March 21, 2015 by jonny.amy

[egkb]

Great Stuff Mate.. I'm planning something similar (but without the 'Ballast' ) for Ballahoo.. Glass Cases are mental expensive, I was even thinking about Fish Tanks.. but I may be able to knock something up myself (I do framing as part of my job, so plenty of glass in various thicknesses and timber around)

 

Lookin' forward to the next batch of photos!

 

All The Best 

 

Eamonn

Edited March 21, 2015 by egkb

[DavidM]

Nice bit of creative genius going on there Jonny.  Your build-log has inspired me to put Convulsion on my to-do list, after the Sherbourne (and I know Eamonn's got a Convulsion sitting on his shelf so that's an added incentive for me).  Keep up the good work!

Kind Regards,

David

[Beef Wellington]

That look great Jonny, good thinking and very creative solution!

[jonny.amy]

Cheers for the kind words guys! I must admit I wasn't too keen on having the model on the stand supplied with the kit, it did the job for the build and will come in handy for working on it still, but I thought I could present it in a better way.

 

The Admiral isn't too keen on it, but it's my build and my choice! I just think it looks a bit different.

 

The oak was a real find as I was looking for cabinet pieces, and I was racking my brains trying to figure out how I could do it cheap, so this solution works well for me.

 

Eamonn, I agree with you, the ballast is a bit hit and miss, a bit like Marmite! Personally I think it looks good, but I probably won't do it with Sherbourne. It's just too messy - I've been ordered by the Admiral to tidy up the whole house today to compensate for the mess I made with the ballast! Haha

 

Cheers

[Jörgen]

Nice build Jonny!

[bigcreekdad]

Great looking build!!

[egkb]

I think the Ballast makes the whole Diorama come to life Bud (I can picture your Convulsion waiting for the next High Tide to slip back into the water) my Ballahoo has a very pronounced 'slope' on the keel from Bow to Stern, so to show her deck 'level' I'll have to build up a kind of angled slipway, with support timbers etc just as per yours.

I hope I didn't make you think I wasn't a fan of the Realistic Diorama Style you have achieved with the Ballast..

I'm with you on this one..We can gang up on your Admiral over it     (I'm one of those weirdo's who doesn't mind Marmite  )

 

All The Best Mate

 

Eamonn

[wilspaul49]

Jonny

 

I received the all clear a few weeks ago re some health issues I was having and thought that I would get back into my convulsion build

but instead it seems that i had lost all motivation and interest in it. The kit has sat exactly as i had left it months ago, and until a few hours ago I thought it

likely that it would sit unfinished for evermore. HOWEVER for some reason or another i decided to catch up on your Convulsion build on MSW

and I am so impressed with your Convulsion build that I feel reinvigerated and now cant wait to get back at it. Thanks for the inspiration and congratulations for a great looking build.

cheers mate

Paul

[jonny.amy]

Jonny

 

I received the all clear a few weeks ago re some health issues I was having and thought that I would get back into my convulsion build

but instead it seems that i had lost all motivation and interest in it. The kit has sat exactly as i had left it months ago, and until a few hours ago I thought it

likely that it would sit unfinished for evermore. HOWEVER for some reason or another i decided to catch up on your Convulsion build on MSW

and I am so impressed with your Convulsion build that I feel reinvigerated and now cant wait to get back at it. Thanks for the inspiration and congratulations for a great looking build.

cheers mate

Paul

Paul, I'm so pleased I've managed to inspire you to continue on with your build! That is great news, good luck with the rest of your build.

 

Cheers

Jonny

[jonny.amy]

Hi guys,

 

Progress on Convulsion has come to a complete standstill over the last few days, as the Admiral's Grandmother was admitted to hospital after a fall, and our combi-boiler (supplying heating and hot water) conked out on us.

 

So we're waiting on news from the hospital to see when she will be released (back in to wild?!), and waiting until Friday for the new boiler to be installed! Then the shipyard can open up again! The Admiral said she didn't want her workers freezing to death to complete the ship, so the project is on temporary hold until the heating can be restored!

 

On the to do list still are the ratlines, and finish off the Jolly Boat.

 

Cheers,

Jonny

[jonny.amy]

Morning All,

 

Last night I gave Convulsion a bit of attention whilst the Admiral went to visit her Grandmother at the hospital (She's still awaiting release from hospital, it's looking like a further 2 days at the pleasure of the NHS), and I managed to burn dinner in the process...

 

I added a few more timber support members for the scenic aspect of the build. I have tomorrow booked off from work so the boiler can be replaced, so I'll probably start tying ratlines with my time off. I must admit, this is not really how I wanted to use my annual leave, but if I'm house bound then I might as well do something productive.

 

Cheers

Jonny

[Canute]

Hope the boiler folks gave you a good start time. We get companies that give you an 8 hour window for their work.

Look at it as Unintended consequences, you're getting work done on Convulsion.

[jonny.amy]

Provisionally, the boiler repairman will be rocking up at 9.00am. I'll assume he'll turn up earlier, as he's and independant contractor, and will probably want to squeeze in a job after us! Even so, he said it will be a 6 hour job, so I've got 6 hours of Convulsion time! Woohoo!

 

Cheers

Jonny

[jonny.amy]

Morning All,

 

Today's the day I can have hot water and heating again! I'm really excited because I'm bloody cold!

 

I managed to get so rat lines on to Convulsion last night. I found some white card it the Admirals art box, and borrowed a sheet or two. I've put the rat lines at 10mm spacings. I managed to tie 8 rat lines in an hour.

 

I've now realised this is a task I should have done way before rigging the yards and gaffs, but I will solider on until the job is done!

 

Right I'm off for a cold shower!

Jonny

[jonny.amy]

Heating and hot water now running smoothly! Had no space to work on the model, all the contents of the utility cupboard had to come in to the lounge/diner, so I popped out a bought some 1:64 scale Royal Marine figurines.

I'll treat myself to modifying them this weekend to look like naval personnel.

 

When the boiler repair men have gone, I've got to mop the floors where they've made some mess, then it's back on to rat line duty!

[Beef Wellington]

Jonny, I'd double check the spacing on the ratlines, 1cm at 1:64 would be 64cm at full scale which seems a little much, think it should be closer to 4-5 mm. Easy solution would be to add a ratline between your existing ones.