Well the move took far longer than I hoped delayed in part by the 12 weeks wait for local searches. Had to put all the modelling gear plus furniture and belongings into storage. Spent months living in a static caravan.

But now I am back on the forum

so to continue with the build

issue no 144

I decided to go with hammocks on both sides. Rather than use the 2mm dowel supplied for the supports I used some 2mm square strips which I rounded off on one side. This left a larger surface to glue onto the beams and it was easier to cut the required slots to support the hammocks.

I had a minor problem with hanging the mess tables as if I followed the build instructions the tables seemed to hang at the wrong angle to the hull. The problem was the table was not under the central beam. I was able to get the result I wanted by using the support beam I had already install for the hammocks. When installing the Hammocks/Tables you will need the recommended needle threader. This is a useful bit of kit for anyone who is building sailing ship models. If you do not have one you can pick up 10 for £1.99 from EBay.

Fitting the second elm tree pump - No problems here

Fitting the mast and mast collars - Fiddly due to lack of space and some adjustment to the collar parts will be required to get a good fit

Fitting the gunners tools
As I had opted for hammocks on both sides I skipped this part

Planking the middle gun deck

Similar to previous decking apart from the area around the mast. The instruction are clear here. I did find that when planking the area around the mast (Page 12, 1 - 10) I needed to complete the last two planks at the centre of the raised deck using some 5 mm wide planking to fill the remaining gap.

Once the decking was completed I stained the deck with oak stain.

Pictures attached

Nice work, love the colour of the decking.

Graeme

Great to see you back with us Gil, great looking update too....

Regards

Alan

Issue 145

Planking the bulwarks, Lining the gun ports, fitting the mast collars

Similar procedure as for the lower decks. The mast collars are easier on this deck as there is more access

Fitting the mess tables

The only minor problem here was that I did not allow enough of the hooks to extend past the edge of the table which made for a tight fit and some additional bending to get them to fit into the rings.

Deck beams and knees:-

As with previous decks so straight forward. I did make a couple of minor changes.
1) The vertical slot that need to be cut out for the elm tree pump left the beam with a weakness so I added an additional bracket between the fore-and-aft beam and the half beam to give some additional support, painted white. It will not show once the deck has been added but will I hope avoid and unfortunate damage as the build progresses
2) I added two addition supports where the smaller of the gratings will be installed. This gave me a larger support surface to glue on the grating

With the support pillars (Page13) I added the cross pieces to the pillars before gluing them in position. Found this easier.

Issue 146

No hammocks on this deck

Fitting the mess table supports - As with the hammock supports on the lower deck I used some 2 X 2 mm strips and not the dowel provided, gives a larger area for gluing. In order to ensure the table support was vertical I glued on the support rails first and painted them white. Once the paint was dry I lined up the table thread with the support and drilled a small hole in the correct place. Pulled the thread through with my trusty needle threader and glued in position.

Once painted the elm tree pump can be glued in position

Planking the upper deck

Follows a similar procedure as for the lower decks

Once completed can be stained and the bulwarks painted yellow ocre

Next job for me is to fit the knees and add the 12 pounders

Great build, looks excellent

Mark

Lots going on in this build and expertly done.

WTG

Regards
delboy271155
(Derek)

More great work from you Gil nearing the end now.

Al

Great work Gil, looking superb.

Graeme

Very nicely done Gill

Rgd Martyn

Hi Gil.
Looking fantastic very well done.
Ian