Beautiful job on the paintwork, those lines are really crisp.
Graeme

Hi Folks,
A bit of a change of scenery in the dockyard. Now that the colour scheme of the ship has been sorted out and applied, it was time do some serious catch-up with the launch. I decided to paint the inner areas in Raw Sienna. I thought that the Burgundy would be a tad too dark. Also applied some minor changes to the deck by slightly widening the space between planks.

I also shelved the brass gratings and made replicated the shape with spare strips that I had on hand. I was finding it way too difficult to file the brass into the required profile to fit. There was also the challenge of painting / blackening the brass (to be honest, I wasn’t prepared to fork out the expense in purchasing different chemicals to blacken two small pieces of brass). I also included a thicker strip that acts as a step for these deck pieces. This was extremely beneficial in achieving a level fit.

A minor issue was encountered with the curved piece that goes at the bow. The keyway was far too big compared to the keel piece where that attach. Also, during dry runs to check the fitting, I found that this piece was very fiddly to keep in place come time for applying glue. So, I filled the gap with a small wedge and this helped stabilised the bow piece. Once glued into place, a touch-up with paint and you can’t notice the difference.

Now it’s time to return to the main build and crack on with the gun port lining and the gunwales.

Regards, Adam

Hi Folks,

Issue #40 is finally complete with the installation of the Gunwales and Gun Ports. Some minor variations to the supplied materials as explained below.

Instead of the bamboo for the Gunwales, I used 5 x 1.5mm strips purchased from a hobby shop. I wasn’t too keen on using the bamboo mainly because it has rounded edges. My preference is for the Gunwales to have square edges. This was on top of trying to find suitable strips of bamboo having a flat surface finish along the length without knots. The Gunwales for the bow require a fair degree of bending to ensure that they are sitting flush with the red band as well as have an even contact with the hull for gluing. I tried three times to use the 5 x 1.5mm strips that were supplied in Issue #39 without success. I must say, the strips supplied in Issue #39 are made from some fairly hard wood and for me, not easy to cut with a hobby knife or bend to shape to the hull contour. Each attempt using these strips for the bow Gunwales, resulted in the piece splitting, despite soaking them in water and using an electric plank bender. Probably due to my heavy handed technique. By this time the enjoyment levels were rapidly decreasing. Hence the trip to the hobby shop and change in materials.

To help secure the Gunwales, I cut the strips to approximately 16cm and tacked them into place using map pins. It was easier to work with shorter strips rather than do an entire length. As the map pins left holes in the Gunwales, I used black model railroad track nails (used for HO & N scale).

For the Gun Port frames, used the 3 x 1mm strips that are supplied in Issue #38. In my opinion, the 3mm width provided a finer overall look compared to the recommended 5 x 1.5mm strips supplied in Issue #39.

Now it’s onwards and upwards and commence assembly of the stern gallery.

Cheers. Adam

Lovely work on the gunwales Adam very nicely done

Rgd Martyn

Your patience has paid off Adam, you're doing a great job with her.....

Regards

Alan

Hi Adam.
Fantastic looking build. very clean. Ian

A beautiful build you have on the go there Adam.

Everything looks so neat and precise a really impressive model.

This is going to Be an awesome model when finished.

Mark

Hi Folks,

Just a quick update on progress with the beak platform area. I had a long hard think about resolving the gap that I have between the platform and frames 36 to 38. Thanks Alan for your suggestion on fairing the frames. I attempted to sand down the fwd most frames (39 to 41) but I found that the bowsprit was flexing sideways in the process. In the end I decided to shim the gaps with planking offcuts. The frames are now running level with the base of the bow bulkhead.

I skipped ahead a step and assembled the grates to the beak platform. This was mainly to assess whether the frames that I shimmed would impact on the mounting of the completed platform. So far, so good, as all of the assembled components dry fit together rather snug.

The quality of the supplied grating pieces isn’t exactly ideal. The spacing between the notches in the joists are irregular and many pieces were tapered. Thankfully, there are more than enough joist pieces that are supplied and not all were used (about 18 left over).

Great care and attention is required not to apply too much pressure when cutting the gratings with a mitre saw in order to avoid splitting the area being cut. I ended up switching to using a photo etch saw to cut the smaller grating pieces. The teeth on the photo etch saw are finer resulting in a smooth cut, but the blade is prone to bending if not careful.

So, gratings are assembled and complete. I need to go back and paint the bow bulkhead and beak black, attach the beak platform and then tackle the installation of the side panels.

Thanks for looking in.
Cheers, Adam

Really neat work and a great result on solvong that gap problem.

Your build looks fantastic.