Hi Folks,

It has been a few months since my last update, however, work has continued on the build (albeit at a slow but steady pace) whereby Issues 45 to 48 are now completed.

The forecastle deck piece required the inclusion of scrap from the templates to widen the sides to ensure a good fit. This was also necessary for the quarterdeck piece, but a lesser extent. I placed additional pieces of scrap to extend the widths of the support pieces to ensure that the ends were flush with the bulkheads of the hull. Additional pieces of bamboo strips were placed along the inner linings of the hull to increase the surface area for gluing. I had a huge gap between the aft section of the quarter desk and corresponding beam (about 3mm). This was reduced somewhat by shaving back some of the hull. But in the end, additional pieces of scrap were also applied to the quarterdeck support beams to ensure that the quarterdeck was sitting flush all the way along.

Alignment of the forecastle, quarterdeck and associated supports was fairly straight forward. A lot of cycles of dry fitting and trimming were required to get the fit just right. The bulwark sections were fairly straight forward to assemble, just needed to work from the outside inward to ensure an even fit. The gold supports were made from 2x2mm scrap, painted before assembly. I decided not to apply filler to the bulwark strips as I wanted the finish to be the same as the bow bulwark (which was not filled in with putty).

I deviated somewhat with the assembly of the grates. Whilst I used the parts supplied with the kit, I positioned them so that they would fit above deck level (rather than fit in the recess and be flush with the deck). Also extended the framework to include a row of cannon ball stowages on both sides (let’s face it – in the heat of battle you can’t not have enough cannon balls on hand).

The inner hull bulkheads were lined with the same sapele used on the outer hull. Caulking was simulated by using a permanent marker on one edge before attaching to the hull. I wanted the cannonball stowages to have the same uniformity as those on the grates. So I increased the width slightly and placed a filler piece as the base. Additional numbers of cannonballs were required in order to fill the modified stowages. To solve this, a packet of black ball chain was available at the local craft shop was used. The chain was easily compressed, came in black and made for a perfect fit.

Now it time to progress with the preparations for attaching the decorative bling to the transom.

Until next time, cheerio -and happy building.

Ciao,

Adam.

Very nice work Adam and looking great

Hi Folks,

It’s been way too long since my last post, so I thought it was about time to provide a progress update.

Forecastle and Quarterdeck are now planked. Also lined the curved bulwarks were lined with sapele (same finish as the inner and outer hull). To help achieve the required curve, I soaked the strips in warm water and using elastic bands I placed the strips on a piece of PVC pipe that I had sculling about in the shed). Excess deck strips were then trimmed flush with the hull and the edges painted black.

Started attaching the sections of metal decorations to the rear gallery. A good set of needle files is required for this phase of the build. This is to remove excess flash and also to make sure the pieces fit together. I discarded the supplied brass mesh and used insect screen, same as that used for the gallery windows.

I’m currently preparing and painting the metal decorations for the top half for the rear gallery. I’ve dry fitted the lantern sections and they don’t fit too well at all. Some serious sessions with the needle files is in order to make the lantern fit (and I guess a lot of putty filling on completion).

Until next time, cheerio and happy building.

Ciao,
Adam.

Impressive work Adam

Love the personal touches you're doing Adam, looks fab....

Regards

Alan

Hi Adam

Immaculate as always - love the finish on the curved bulkheads! Wish I had thought of that...
Model is coming along beautifully...

Cheers
John

Yet another long time between posts, but there has been slow and steady progress as I only have time for a few hours on the weekend to do any work on the build.

The gallery decorations are complete. The detail in the diecast pieces is impressive. Although they were a bit fiddly to make sure that they assembled together evenly. A lot of time was spent with the file to get the fit just right. Much prefer working with wood than metal pieces.

A considerable amount of time and effort was required with the file to make sure the lantern halves could be assembled, but nothing too difficult. Decided to do away with the mesh windows and instead kept the insect screen theme going. One minor point with the red acetate sheet, one side of the sheet has a protective film. I couldn’t recall this being mentioned anywhere. So, I removed the film and used this side facing outwards.

Placing the figurines on the fwd bulkhead was pretty straight forward. I used a offcut wooden strips as a guide for the height above the grates as well as the spacing between the figurines. Lego pieces make a great square. A gold frame is placed around the door as I thought that it finished it off a bit better.

That’s pretty much it for now. Thanks for looking in.

Cheers, Adam

Stunning work Adam the fly screen looks brilliant on the lantern. By the way your pictures look fine to me
Martyn

Beautiful work Adam, going to be a stunning build when you get her finished....

Regards

Alan

Hello all,

Thanks for looking in and your previous comments. Warmly appreciated, and good motivation to keep going. Still not sure what happened with the photo orientation on my previous post, just hope it doesn’t happen again on this update.

I have managed to squeeze in a couple of busy and fruitful weekends on the build. I decided to skip a few issues associated with the main deck guard rails and gun port holes in order to complete the poop deck section (Issue 65). Extra support blocks were installed to brace up the fwd section of the deck as there was a small amount of flexing when dry fitted. Also added some bamboo lengths on the inner port/stbd sides of the hull, again for extra support. One minor problem was identified when dry fitting the deck whereby the outer hull was not quite flush with the deck. A little time with a craft knife and file was required to ensure a flush fit.

Assembly of the vertical lengths for the poop deck was fairly straight forward. Although some pieces had to be reduced in width in order to achieve a symmetrical fit. Lined the exposed vertical supports with sapele strips.

Next part was to cut out the circular gun port holes (Issue 67). At first this appeared to be a daunting prospect, but slow and steady won this race. Started off marking alignment cross hairs and a 12mm circle at each location to be used as a guide. Starting with a 2mm drill bit created a pilot hole. I have a 24-piece drill bit set and with this increased the hole diameter drilling by hand. This is where I was very grateful for the sapele backing strips as these provided a strong reinforcement for the top most sections of bamboo strips. Fortunately – no breakages. I also superglued strips of sandpaper to a dowel and by rotating the dowel (not going fwd and back) this made short work of completing the gun port holes.

Now to go back a few steps and install the main desk guard rails.

Thanks for looking in.

Until next time, have a great day & keep smiling.

Regards, Adam