HMS Alert [1777] 1:48 POF by serikoff. (Two hulls: skeleton and fully rigged)

[serikoff]

Today I was able to complete 6 spans at once...








...the logic remains basically the same: basically, all the lintels are 1.6 mm. In areas under the guns and where the spans are longer, they're 1.8 mm. Where the grates are, they're 3 mm, and near the pumps, they're 2.6 mm.

Here, as promised, is a diagram of my proposed layout for lintels of varying widths.



I was guided by anatomy and (naval) logic, but that doesn't mean I can't make mistakes. So, the decision is yours; here I'm simply showing you how I did it.

So, here's the almost finished deck. It's still missing the last two spans, but it already looks interesting!



P.S. Once again, I'm convinced I did the right thing by only making half the crossbars. The lower deck is clearly visible through the empty spaces, and another very positive aspect is that the work is going almost twice as fast, which is a definite plus.

P.P.S. @Kurt Konrath , I remember when I saw this kit and how I eagerly devoured all the information about this ship from this forum. There are over 25 reviews here, but unfortunately, most of them are still unfinished, which is sad. I hope my review will be helpful to other modelers who want to build this wonderful model.

 

[GIG1810]

Today I was able to complete 6 spans at once...

View attachment 555042


View attachment 555043

View attachment 555044

...the logic remains basically the same: basically, all the lintels are 1.6 mm. In areas under the guns and where the spans are longer, they're 1.8 mm. Where the grates are, they're 3 mm, and near the pumps, they're 2.6 mm.

Here, as promised, is a diagram of my proposed layout for lintels of varying widths.

View attachment 555045

I was guided by anatomy and (naval) logic, but that doesn't mean I can't make mistakes. So, the decision is yours; here I'm simply showing you how I did it.

So, here's the almost finished deck. It's still missing the last two spans, but it already looks interesting!

View attachment 555046

P.S. Once again, I'm convinced I did the right thing by only making half the crossbars. The lower deck is clearly visible through the empty spaces, and another very positive aspect is that the work is going almost twice as fast, which is a definite plus.

P.P.S. @Kurt Konrath , I remember when I saw this kit and how I eagerly devoured all the information about this ship from this forum. There are over 25 reviews here, but unfortunately, most of them are still unfinished, which is sad. I hope my review will be helpful to other modelers who want to build this wonderful model.

Hi Sergey,

As always, top marks with distinction! I'm always full of praise! Great work, and as always, I love how you document everything.

 

[AllanKP69]

Scaling the carlings and ledges properly is great to see. Very nicely done.
Allan

 

[serikoff]

Today I want to talk a little about material things...

Those who read my reviews know that I took a 10-year break from modeling, and I returned to the hobby a year after the war to take my mind off what was happening, but that's not the point...

I don't know about you, but I keep track of my budget, specifically how much I spent on the hobby (3 models) over those three years. And that amount is 1,650 euros (or $1,900), which is quite a lot by my country's standards...

This sum has piled up rather quickly. There are a lot of small purchases: sandpaper, thread, oils, paints, bitumen, patina, glue, drill bits, files, organizers, metal blackening solution, scalpels, saws, and more. There's also the making of stands and a display case, the purchase of wood, and more expensive purchases like a (cheap) engraver, an angle grinder, and a mini saw. And don't forget—the Alert kit!

And so, I'm slowly approaching my next purchase (probably the most expensive one). I've wanted this for a long time, and after we bought my wife an overlock sewing machine and a steam generator for her hobby, she approved of my future purchase as well.

I won't keep you waiting, I want to buy - Proxxon MF 70 (27110)
Well, and some consumables for it (milling cutters and drills).

I've researched this issue, watched several reviews, and I think it's time.
I'm tired of doing everything by hand. It's difficult and slow, but with a milling machine, I'm sure the quality will improve dramatically, and most importantly, the speed!

I want to buy additional drills for the milling machine (they will also be used for the dental micromotor for nailing).
Ø 0.5 мм Proxxon 28864, Ø 0.8 мм Proxxon 28852, Ø 1.0 мм Proxxon 28854, Ø 0.3 - 3.2 мм. 10 шт. Proxxon 28874.

I also want to order cutters right away, and here is the question of which ones to take, but I’m thinking of these for now:
Proxxon 28710, Proxxon 28726, Ø 1.0-2.0-3.0 мм Proxxon 27116, Ø 2.0 мм Proxxon 28750.

So, if anyone has experience with this agriagate and has any advice on consumables, I'm open to hearing your thoughts. Since the original vise is quite expensive, I'm considering ordering these.

Uh... I have a New Year's gift planned now... now I just have to buy it... I'm so excited.



P.S. @GIG1810 , @AllanKP69 , Thank you, friends, for your kind words. I'm trying my best.

 

[serikoff]

Today I finally finished the last two spans...



(Here, all the bridges were 1.6 mm except one, 2.4 mm)

... and now the deck consists of 207 parts...



...and at the moment the first hull consists of 790 parts! *Don't ask me how I know this









And that's it for now, work on the first hull is complete, and I'm starting on the second hull.

First, I smoothed out all the corners on the slipway, and in the aft section, I completely cut off the section that would interfere with installing the second hull.





I also adjusted all the holes so that I could install the locking wedges.





Upon completion, I was able to install the second (plastic) hull into the frame from the first hull without any problems.



Now, I can work on the beams for the second hull.

I used the blank left over from cutting the beam blanks for the first hull as a template...



I outlined the internal profile and cut out the pieces I needed.



I sanded the top profile onto which the rough deck sheathing will be glued using an angle grinder.



And since the lower part of the beams will not be visible (as well as everything below the deck boards), I don’t see the point in cutting out this lower surface.



Then I placed the required beam under the same one (from the finished deck) and marked its edge.



After which I ground it down using an angle grinder.



After that, I cut off part of the beams using the template so that the height at the end was 3 mm...



... this is necessary so that the beam fits into its bed and fills only this space, which is 3 mm high.



This way, all the beams will be about ~2 mm lower than they should be! This space will be used to glue the subdeck to the beams, which will fill this space.

This is all necessary so that the deck can be removed from the hull and is strong and stable. Afterwards, the deck planks will be glued to this base outside the hull. But more on that later.

For now, it all looks like this:





So far everything is going according to plan, so what are we waiting for... let's go!

 

[serikoff]

While I still have access below deck, I decided to make a place for attaching the mast.
The implementation will be almost identical to the Victory.

First, I need to make a template for the mast angle. The hull is raised at the front, and the mast is already slightly raked back, but its angle is even greater. First, let's take the full-size drawings I made for anatomy. I shared them in the review.



You need to draw several lines: one parallel to the keel, one perpendicular to the keel, and one along the mast axis.



If you draw a perpendicular to the keel and a line along the mast axis, their intersection will be the angle of inclination of the mast.



This angle is 5 degrees. (This is approximate; since I'll be creating a template for this angle, I'll have a precise value, but the instrument shows about 5 degrees.)



I traced the angle between the two rulers onto a piece of cardboard, creating a sort of template. We'll need it later.



I then cut out a mast stop from the printed plastic body and filled the bottom of the CA gel.



Then I installed the beams and cut a piece of aluminum tube using their level.



Then I made a connector so that the two pieces of tube could be connected without bending...



... and tried everything on without glue.



After that, I temporarily secured the beams to CA gel (so they would stay in place, but could be removed later). I stretched a string along the hull axis and marked the beam centers.



Then I used a 12mm jig to simulate the tubes and glued some sort of "carlings" to the edges.



Then the conductor is removed and a tube is placed there, and now it can move back and forth, but the "carlings" do not allow it to move to the sides...



...but the lower part is still movable. And after leveling the mast perfectly vertically, I glued in the lower stoppers.



The tube itself is NOT glued and can only move from above and only forward and backward.



After that, I fixed a 5 degree angle template on the tube and by tilting the tube (mast) back I achieved that the level showed verticality.



This method maximizes the correct position, but you need to take into account the fact that in the future the mast will still be adjusted by shrouds and stays, so an error of 1 degree is acceptable even if you do something not very precisely.



As a result, I've removed the top section, and all that's left is to securely attach the bottom tube without connecting it to the beams, since my deck will be removable. I'll show you how to secure it next time.

 

[serikoff]

A few words about securing the mast stopper. There's nothing complicated about it—the tube was firmly and securely secured with plenty of safety margin.





The upright fasteners will be secured in the same way, but more on that later.

Next, I glued the beams together in pairs using something like carlings. I tried to lay them so that the boards fit snugly against the beam plane and ensured that the sides were of uniform height.





Then I glued all the pairs together into a single piece. I did this quickly (speed is more important here than "beauty," which will be covered by the boards anyway). The main thing is that everything is precise; accuracy here is detrimental to speed.



Let me remind you, the whole idea is to make sure the deck can be removed until the last moment!



Now it's time for the deck base. The first layer of planks (rough). And again, everything will be covered here, so I work quickly (sometimes messily), but the main thing is precision!

I glued the planks with liquid CA, pouring it under the plank. The key is to press firmly so the glue flows by capillary action between the plank and the beam. A couple of seconds and I move on to the next beam. The excess must be trimmed before each new plank to ensure a perfect fit.





Several central belts and the front and back can be reinforced.









At this point, we can now glue the boards outside the body (since before this we needed to trim the front and back).

To strengthen the structure from twisting, I glued a couple of boards along the inside.



I also filled all the gaps between the boards with liquid СA to prevent them from bending during sanding.

These are the insects I got:





In the end it turned out like this:



After scraping and sanding...





... I sanded down all the excess around the perimeter.



This is the base we got for the deck, which turned out to be very durable.





The dark spots were pits; I filled them with glue and sanded them down to a level surface instead of using putty.

I liked the surface finish; everything was smooth and free of any irregularities or unevenness.









I really wanted to insert the deck into the hull, but there were no holes to pull it out with.

I made the beams and basic deck in four days... but I can imagine how long it will take to finish the real deck...

 

[Peter Voogt]

A few words about securing the mast stopper. There's nothing complicated about it—the tube was firmly and securely secured with plenty of safety margin.

View attachment 556961

View attachment 556962

The upright fasteners will be secured in the same way, but more on that later.

Next, I glued the beams together in pairs using something like carlings. I tried to lay them so that the boards fit snugly against the beam plane and ensured that the sides were of uniform height.

View attachment 556963

View attachment 556964

Then I glued all the pairs together into a single piece. I did this quickly (speed is more important here than "beauty," which will be covered by the boards anyway). The main thing is that everything is precise; accuracy here is detrimental to speed.

View attachment 556965

Let me remind you, the whole idea is to make sure the deck can be removed until the last moment!

View attachment 556966

Now it's time for the deck base. The first layer of planks (rough). And again, everything will be covered here, so I work quickly (sometimes messily), but the main thing is precision!

I glued the planks with liquid CA, pouring it under the plank. The key is to press firmly so the glue flows by capillary action between the plank and the beam. A couple of seconds and I move on to the next beam. The excess must be trimmed before each new plank to ensure a perfect fit.

View attachment 556967

View attachment 556968

Several central belts and the front and back can be reinforced.

View attachment 556960

View attachment 556969

View attachment 556970

View attachment 556971

At this point, we can now glue the boards outside the body (since before this we needed to trim the front and back).

To strengthen the structure from twisting, I glued a couple of boards along the inside.

View attachment 556972

I also filled all the gaps between the boards with liquid СA to prevent them from bending during sanding.

These are the insects I got:

View attachment 556974

View attachment 556975

In the end it turned out like this:

View attachment 556976

After scraping and sanding...

View attachment 556977

View attachment 556978

... I sanded down all the excess around the perimeter.

View attachment 556979

This is the base we got for the deck, which turned out to be very durable.

View attachment 556980

View attachment 556981

The dark spots were pits; I filled them with glue and sanded them down to a level surface instead of using putty.

I liked the surface finish; everything was smooth and free of any irregularities or unevenness.

View attachment 556982

View attachment 556983

View attachment 556984

View attachment 556985

I really wanted to insert the deck into the hull, but there were no holes to pull it out with.

I made the beams and basic deck in four days... but I can imagine how long it will take to finish the real deck...

Working on the deckplanking separate from the model gives you a big advantage, Sergey. I did it also with my two latest models.
Regards, Peter