8 minutes ago, Kevin said:

looking good, hope to do mine on sat

Thanks Kevin, good luck with it. I'm hoping to get the other side done tomorrow.

Glenn, you are making this look so simple and an unhurried afternoon build, stunning quality as usual.

55 minutes ago, Bomber_County said:

Glenn, you are making this look so simple and an unhurried afternoon build, stunning quality as usual.

Thanks 😊

POST 8 – COMPLETING FAIRING HULL, TEST FIT OF GUN DECK & FORE INNER BULWARKS

With careful manipulation of the hull the left-side of the hull was faired. Thankfully all the bulkhead ears are still attached. I mainly used 100 grit sand paper and various sanding sticks (80 to 220 grit) to complete this task. I also used my rotary sanding tool to remove the excess material where the gun ports and longitudinal pattern material were visibly proud of the bulkheads.

Next I did a test fit of the limewood laser etched gun deck pattern. The pattern was a good fit but I noticed it was not perfectly aligned with the base deck. After a little bit of light sanding of the edges all looked good. I then did a test fitting of the riding, topsail sheet and main jeers. They all located in their assigned slots on the lower deck. The fore, main and mizzen masts dowels were also test fitted.

Riding Bitts

Main Topsail and Main Jeer Bitts

Gun Deck

The two fore inner bulwarks were soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and then clamped to the hull. They will now be left for 24 hours to fully dry out. Their position can be adjusted as necessary once the patterns have fully dried out.

1 hour ago, Glenn-UK said:

Main Topsail and Main Jeer Bitts

Don't glue these into the decks !!- until you've sanded the ends of the six(6), 3mm dowel pieces and test fit the 3D printed pump bodies so they comfortably slide over them.

1 hour ago, modelshipdood said:

Don't glue these into the decks !!- until you've sanded the ends of the six(6), 3mm dowel pieces and test fit the 3D printed pump bodies so they comfortably slide over them.

Many thanks. I had noted this on your build log. I plan to build and test fit all the gun deck items before gluing the deck in place.

POST 9 – TEST FIT OF GUN DECK ITEMS

Before gluing the lime wood laser etched gun deck pattern, I felt it would be prudent to test fit all the various deck items.

 

The first items to test fit were the two aft rudder housing bench patterns. As far as I can tell there are no problems with the test fit. Photo below shows these patterns in place. I have not removed the laser char. I also need to decide on the internal panelling colour scheme.

 

Next the aft inner bulwark patterns were test fitted. The pattern does line nicely with the gun port opening which is very encouraging. The spirketting, when fitted, will cover any gaps between the gun deck and inner bulwark patterns.

 

When looking at the fore inner bulwark pattern I will probably need to modify to get it to fit. As can be seen in the next photo I was unable to get this pattern to fit in the gap properly.

My plan is to make a copy of the fore inner bulwark pattern using stiff card which I can then modify, as necessary to get a good fit. This will then become the template used to modify the fore inner bulwark pattern.

 

Photo showing the 3D printed stove sitting on the brick pattern base.

 

Photo showing the dummy foremast, stove, riding bitts, bowsprit support and manger walls

 

A very similar photo to the one above, but this time showing more of the inner bulwark pattern and deck hatches.

 

Final photo of the foremast area.

 

I then moved on to the main mast area. The 6 hand pumps were test fitted without any issues. The topsail sheet and main jeer bitts are test fitted.

 

Photo of the main mast area

 

Close up photo of the hand pumps

 

The lower capstan was then assembled. The dowel will be linked to another capstan which be located on the upper deck.

 

The next photo shows the capstan and dummy mizzen mast in place.

 

The final photo of this post shows the dummy mizzen mast and rear inner bulwark pattern

 

Looks great. I can’t believe how much progress you are making.

2 minutes ago, RossR said:

Looks great. I can’t believe how much progress you are making.

This first part of the build does is fairly quick to complete. My progress will slow down considerably very soon.

You do work fast but at the same time don't sacrifice quality of your build. Very nicely done.

30 minutes ago, Westport said:

You do work fast but at the same time don't sacrifice quality of your build. Very nicely done.

Plenty of test fitting before committing to glue is the key.

POST 10 – LEDGES and SPIRKETTING

It has been a quiet day in the shipyard. I started the day with a 1 hour 20 min run. On the 24th of April this year my wife underwent a major operation to remove her bowel cancer which resulted in her having a permanent stoma. She is now on the road to recovery. I am running 66 miles in support of bowel cancer research in July (Run 66 Miles Challenge for the Bobby Moore Fund) and to date I have run 53 miles, so just 13 more miles to go.

 

After the run I spent a bit of time in the shipyard. The fitting of the bow inner bulwarks has been sorted. I made a cardboard template which was trimmed to get a good fit, as can be seen in the photo below.

 

The modified left-side pattern is being test fitted in the next photo.

 

I decided to have a look at the ledges and spirketting. The bow area is shown in the next photo. You will also note I have test fitted some of the upper deck beams and painted the gun ports red.

 

The next photo shows the aft section.

 

I have been thinking about the colour scheme for the internal panelling. In the prototype build @Jim H used a white / yellow mix which does look nice. This is keeping it in line with the film noting there were also some wooden coloured panel edging in the film..

 

In a couple of my previous builds, I used AK Interactive RLM65 (1938), as can be seen in the next photo, taken from one of my previous builds. I am tempted to use this colour for my Surprise build.

 

Build is coming along great 🙂

I am sorry to hear of your wife's illness and very well done for taking on the 66 mile challenge. Running is no easy sport!

3 hours ago, Glenn-UK said:

In a couple of my previous builds, I used AK Interactive RLM65 (1938), as can be seen in the next photo, taken from one of my previous builds. I am tempted to use this colour for my Surprise build.

I like it. Nice color. For the aft cabin I decided to use the black and white checkerboard floor canvas that was printed on one of the plans. I trimmed it to fit and have mounted it with a spray glue and will not do anything more to it. Congratulations (in advance) for your 66 mile run in support of your wife.

Bravo! on nearing the completion of your run. Indeed a very worthy cause.

POST 11 – PAINTING INNER BULWARK PATTERNS

I decided to opt for the colour scheme used by @Jim H for the rudder bench and rear cabin panelling. I felt this was the way to go as it closely matched the colours noted when looking at some on-line photos of HMS Surprise.

The colour is made up by mixing white paint with a dash of yellow ochre which creates a nice warm ivory colour. The painted rudder bench assembly is shown in the photo below.

 

With regards to the spirketting located in the rear cabin I found the following photograph of HMS Surprise. As you will note the spirketting has been painted red. I will follow suit with this colour scheme and will probably paint all the spirketting red as it will make a nice constrast with the yellow ochre used for the inner bulwark patterns. The upper ledge patterns will be painted to match the yellow and ivory white colours however.

 

Before fitting the inner bulwarks, they need to be painted. I thought it would be a good idea to to mask off and to paint the inner edges of the gunport cutouts red. The next photo shows some of the masking, prior to painting.

 

The next photo shows the completed red painted gunport openings. Sadly I forget that, when spray painting the bulwark patterns, I would have to redo the gunport edges.

 

In the next photo I am taping the patterns to some scrap cardboard so they can be spray painted. I am using a fine white surface primer. This was recommended to me by @Jim H. Once the primer has dried I will be air brushing yellow ochre for the bulwark pattern and the warm ivory white for the cabin panelling. I masked off the areas where the ledge and spirketting pattern will be located.

 

The next photo shows the rear cabin pattern in place (but not glued).

 

The inner bulwark pattern in place (but not glued). The gunport cutouts have been repainted painted.

 

The next photo shows the left side bow inner bulwark pattern in position. It will a very require a slight adjustment (bottom aft edge) before it can be painted. I did take a tad too much off the aft edge of the right side bow inner bulwark pattern. It is not an issue as, once the upper deck is fitted, the joint with the main bulwark pattern will not be visible.

 

The final three photos were taken with the ledge and spirketting pattern test fitted.

Aft area, noting the ledges were set a bit low.

Midships, not perfectly positioned. They were tested fitted to make sure they would be no issues.

Deck View

POST 12 – Spirketting and Ledges paint and fit

The spirketting and ledge patterns have been painted. The spirketting patterns were painted flat red. I had intended to paint the ledge patterns yellow ochre, but I ended up painting them flat red, apart from the rear cabin area which was painted ivory white.

 

Plenty of clamps were used when adding these patterns to the inner bulwark patterns. Pins were used to align the ledges, using the central eyebolt holes above the various gun ports.

 

The next photo shows spirketting pattern fitted to the rear cabin area. The red spirketting matches the photo of the actual rear cabin. Please see my previous post for this photo.

 

The next photo shows the aft ledges and spirketting patterns in place. I really like the yellow and red colour scheme.

 

The next photo shows the midship section after the ledges and spirketting patterns had been added.

 

The next two photos show the bow section.

 

And now a photo point showing the ledges and spirketting patterns toward the aft.

 

A photo showing all the ledges and spirketting patterns

 

I decided that I would prefer a black / white diamond floor pattern for the rear cabin rather than the light brown coloured pattern provided with the kit. Initially I made a photocopy of the pattern provided on the plan sheet. Using the diamond shape option, with a black infill, in Microsoft word I was able to make a pattern. I have attached a PDF copy of the floor file.

Deck Pattern.pdf

 

The floor pattern was printed on to some stiff card, and then cut to shape and test fitted. The next two photos show the floor pattern in place. It has not been glued in place and is not sitting flat to the deck.

Looks terrific. Many thanks for the deck pattern.

Nick

5 hours ago, Nick 843 said:

Looks terrific. Many thanks for the deck pattern.

Nick

Thanks.

that looks fantastic glen