Ahoy fellow shipbuilders.

I have finally managed to kick off and progress into my SotS build, well as far as Issue 6 anyhow (I am obtaining the issues weekly from the newsagent). I intend to build the cannons at a later stage. This is mainly for ease of priming and painting the parts in one hit. I am also searching the net to identify alternatives and techniques to using the wire for securing the blocks to the cannon.

Anyhow, the keel and bulkhead frames have been assembled and dry fit. On receipt of the final keel and bulkhead parts (Issue 7?) the intention is to construct the "dry dock" and commence squaring up the keel. I have an assortment of right angle brackets that I need to check and adjust as required so that they are square.

I will be leaving the bulkhead frames dry fit until receipt of the first decking. Looking at other builds it appears that there is a risk of the decks not aligning square due to bulkhead frames that are slightly off square. One step at a time, but keeping in mind the steps and planning ahead as well.

(Hopefully the pictures attach OK. Still have my training wheels on learning how to drive the forum posts).

Enjoy,

Adam

Nice start Adam, look forward to following this one, good luck
Steve

Thanks for the welcome. Much appreciated.

Regards,

Adam

Further progress has been made on the build over the past few days. With the aft keel section available in issue 7, construction of the dry dock began in earnest. First I had to check that the angle brackets were square. Of the four packets of brackets I had available and not one of the brackets were square.

Constructed a temporary jig to align the keel with the centreline pencil mark. The spirit level provided a straight length sturdy brace when clamped.

I started off fastening the brackets to the base board with the countersunk screws supplied with the brackets. I found that if the pilot holes for the screws were not dead centre, the brackets were unable to be positioned flush against the keel. I found this a tedious evolution and eventually used flat washers. This significantly sped up the process.

Now that the all of the keel sections are assembled, the sheer size of the ship is becoming apparent. She sure is going to be huge.

Regards,

Adam

Great start with the keel section. The solid pine board is of some concern as it tends to warp over time. Plywood or Melamine is a good alternative too.

Do not forget to fair the piece at rib #27 before gluing all in place.

nice clean build,well done,

Looks great Adam.

Like your meticulous work!

Michael

Some further progress with the launch. I applied some 1" x 1" square pieces of double folded Glad Wrap (aka |Cling Wrap) to the bow formers. This is intended to prevent the planks bonding to the bow former when glue is applied to the adjacent rib (well that's the plan). Prior experimentation with superglue gel and a plank off-cut identified that the superglue will not bond to the Glad Wrap. With this in mind, commenced laying the first pair of planks, the sheer strakes.

To avoid applying too much superglue gel directly from the squeeze bottle nozzle to the launch rib and the plank, I first squeezed a tiny amount onto a take-away container lid. Then used the end of a rounded cocktail stick to gather up the required amount and then applied the gel to the desired area on the launch rib. Working progressively from fwd to aft one rib at a time, particular care was taken not to open up the space between the plank and the rib when applying the superglue.

To avoid getting my fingers bonded to the superglue, a further piece of the take-away lid was cut out apply pressure to the area. A small amount of glue does weep out from the joint and can easily cause fingers to bond to the timber. I found that sufficient pressure could be applied to area and there was a certain degree of spring if too much pressure was applied. There were also no indentation marks evident on the plank once the glue has set the joint.

So, first pair of planks laid. Onwards and upwards with the remainder.

Regards,

Adam

Nicely done Adam, good clean work,,,,

Regards

Alan

Hi Adam,

Top quality! Very nice indeed.

Regards

Michael