Really looks the part love all those extras you`ve added regards Phil

brilliant job Garth love the lights
Martyn

Lovely work Garth. Doing a great job.

Chris

Superb work Garth, she's looking great.

Gaeme

Hi All,
I removed all the pins and neatened up the edges. I gave the hull a quick sand with my trusty mouse sander. This really does make life easier.
I did have a couple of gaps between the planking around the bow. I am not to concerned though as these will be covered again later, but I decided to fill them regardless.
Unfortunately, the filler that I used on my Victory was rock hard. My Dad did his trade as a Shopfitter and he taught me to mix the wood shavings with white glue to make your own filler.
I did this, and it worked a treat!!!The good thing about this is that the filler is exactly the same colour as the timber being filled.

Kind regards,
Garth

Hi All,

I fitted upper parts of the sides. After that added the strengthening bits 149 A7B to part 78. The Dremel was a great help here.
I used 2 part epoxy to attach the keel. Everything went pretty much as directed in the instructions.
This completes Issues 42, 43, 44, 51, (2 Hours)

Kind regards,
Garth

Love this build Garth glad you sorted the problem great stuff regards Phil

This is coming along a treat Garth, looking forward to your next update
Regards
Paul

Hi All,

Looking through the instructions, there is quite a lot of detail required on the lower gun deck. Lighting, barrels, detail etc and of course, the guns themselves. I decided to tackle the guns first.

Some thoughts on the guns:

1. The kit provides 12 guns, 9 on the Port side and 3 on the Starboard (Section) side. I suppose that they have omitted these so as not to obscure viewing through the section. I decided to make a full compliment of guns on my Pearl. This requires extra Issues 37, 38, 39 & 40.

2. The instructions suggest painting the gun carriages red. After checking on one of the movies, the guns and carriages are grey – so grey it will be.

3. I will be building all the guns, both Lower and Upper gun deck together. Hopefully batching the job will make it go faster. There are 18 of the larger guns for the lower gun deck and 14 of the smaller guns for the top deck. That’s 32 guns in total.

As I have some extra guns on hand, I decided to make a tester first – hopefully to iron out my method fix any issues that may come up with the batching.
Below are a series of pics and the description of my method.

Apologies for the bad Macro shots – I really need to revamp my lighting so that I can use a smaller aperture.

1. The gun carriages are pretty bland. To give them a little extra, I cut grooves into the sides and then gave it a good scrub with a wire brush to bring out the grain.

2. The gun carriage is then assembled according to the instructions. I made the axles 2mm longer. There is an opportunity to pin them as well. (although I decided not to)

3. Primed and painted matt black followed by a dry brushing a series of greys.

4. I glued the gun to the carriage, note that the muzzle must be 13mm from the deck. My sanding block to the rescue.

5. Lastly, I made a strap that will simulate the trunnion band. Fortunately, my favourite brandy has, I’m assuming aluminium and not lead, foil around the cap, this, cut into strips, will make the band.

I must admit that after looking at the pics, my paint job isn’t that great!!! But I have 32 guns to improve.

Kind regards,
Garth