Hms Investigator, 1800, 1/48 scale built by neptune from plans by Robert Sexton.

[neptune]

I made a moulding for the break of the quarter deck, ( I think that is the right terminology ), so I cut a profile into a piece of stainless steel, see pic.



Moulding in place



next were the hancing pieces for the side rails, I cut and filed these to shape out of a piece of hardwood.



Hancing pieces and midship capping rail in place


.

 

[neptune]

The four hand pumps, I eight sided some wood and drilled down into them for approx one inch,
in the bottom end I drilled them and inserted a dowell for securing to the deck



I made up four brackets for the pump handles, these I made from an old umbrella they were the
hinges for the folding part.



Pumps with the bracket glued with CA



Pumps nearly ready, just have to fix the pivot pin in place




.
Inplace

 

[neptune]

Just finishing the bow capping rails



All the capping rails in place and some of the ports lined.



another View

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[neptune]

I decided to have a break and make the cannon and carronades, I was going to cast them from pewter so I needed masters to cast from, here I am turning one of the masters from aluminium.



I needed three sizes of carronade, this is one with the plan.



a smaller one



I buy lead free pewter mugs from the charity shops, you can pick them up for a couple bucks each and they are easy to melt down


The three masters

 

[neptune]

this is the three masters in the Plasticine waiting to be covered with the silicone rubber to
complete half the mould, you can see that I've added wood to the aluminum barrels, the
reason I do this is that it is easier to drill the mounting holes and the breaching ring hole
in the cast piece after thecasting is done,



the carronades and cannon and swivel guns after casting and drilling,



another view,



mounted on their carriages



close up of the two cannon,



all mounted and the two swivel guns,

 

[neptune]

I decided to do the windows in brass, this pic shows the transom windows pinned over a copy of
the plan ready for soldering,



starboard side pinned over plan,



Port and Starboard after soldering, the one on the right still has to be cleaned up,



Transom windows after soldering,



all the frames after clean up, they have to be trimmed back yet,



after the interior framing has been added,



Starboard side over the plan,



transom over the plan,

 

[neptune]

copper plating, I started off with a roll of thin copper shim,



I then used a dress makers ponce wheel to mark the nails, I opted to only show the nails
around the edges,



another view, I cut a piece of copper 40 inches long and pinned it to a board, I decided the depth
that I wanted the plates to be and I put a pin at each end to hold the ruler, then ran the ponce
wheel across. then I lowered the pins by the depth I needed and ran the ponce wheel across,
then just kept doing the same till I reached the end of the copper.



after doing the horizontal lines I then used a square to mark the vertical nail lines at the width I
wanted them to be,


this shows a complete section,





I then sliced off the the horizontal strips, I used the ruler again to do this, pinning it in place just
below the nail impressions, to make sure there were no slips. this photo shows how when the strips
are joggled into position they show the brick style of pattern,



this was a separate strip for going over the keel I used contact adhesive for attaching the copper,



closer view,



shows the starboard side finished,



shows the belts of copper on the port side,



shows the finished port side, once again any questions just ask,

best regards John.

 

[GaryM]

What did you use to clean and seal the copper once it was in place?

 

[neptune]

G'day Gary, after I had finished the coppering I just wiped it over with a cloth witha little bit of white spirits on it to clean off any surplus Contact Adhesive and then I put some acrylic copper paint on a rag and wiped it over all the copper to get into any joints that were showing through, then I buffed it with a clean cloth and sprayed it with Estapol Incralac which is especially made to go over copper items, hope this helps, thank you for viewing my log,

best regards John.

 

[Aussie048]

John

I am enjoying watching your build logs. The best part is telling and seeing spinets of how a part is made.

That is much better than here it is, it is made. It is more educational.

Cheers
Geoff

 

[neptune]

John

I am enjoying watching your build logs. The best part is telling and seeing spinets of how a part is made.

That is much better than here it is, it is made. It is more educational.

Cheers
Geoff

Thanks Geoff, I'm glad you are enjoying the build, thanks for following along,

best regards John.

 

[Donnie]

Ok, so this make me not to ever want to build a kit again. It is quite obvious the amount of skill you put into this ship. A skill that I do not have. Or I should say at least, the knowledge of how to do things. All I can say is beautiful work.

Donnie

 

[neptune]

Ok, so this make me not to ever want to build a kit again. It is quite obvious the amount of skill you put into this ship. A skill that I do not have. Or I should say at least, the knowledge of how to do things. All I can say is beautiful work.

Donnie

G'day Donnie, thank you for the kind words, they are much appreciated,

best regards John.

 

[Canoe21]

Hello John

Found your HMS Investigator build log last week on my I Phone but those little keys are rather a nuisance to try and type with my fat fingers. We are back home now and thought that I would drop you a line.

You sure do possess a huge amount of skills and I sure do thank you very much for sharing them with your Ship Mates. Just love that old plank bender of yours as it sure does put my old Gin to shame, it's almost a steam bender at the same time giving you great blank bending curvatures, sure does work well. Sure do like your approach to cutting a Keel Rabbit, so nice and neat and also so east to do.

I have been looking at one of those Mini Lathes for a long time now and after seeing yours at work I just may take the jump. How do you like yours compared to your full-size lathe?

You sure did a great job on your Hand Railing Trim that sure do add a great deal to your ships beauty and along with the great skills of your Old Ship Yard and also that of your little fellows, ENJOY.

Regards Lawrence

 

[neptune]

G'day Lawrence, I hope you both enjoyed your trip, you are far too kind with your words about my shipbuilding, but it is much appreciated.

The red lathe in the pics is one that I had back when I build the Investigator, it is a great lathe and we can also buy one now that has the milling machine attached, I sold the red lathe only because the bed was a short one and I bought a long bed Sherline Lathe which is currently the only one I have, I find the Sherline very versatile and it will probably see me out, thanks for viewing my build, I have to catch up on yours and a few others,

best regards John.

 

[neptune]

attaching the straps,






rudder in place,



One of the few things I did buy were the anchors, they are Caldercraft. I shaped the stocks
and bound them,




Another view,




Blackening the brass pins,




I used some of the blackened pins on the cat arms,



For blackening the brass pins I used Cloudy Ammonia and Copper Carbonate,



Adding the Copper Carbonate,



after mixing,

.

 

[neptune]

view of hull with undercoat,



cutting the cheek rails,




cut out at double the depth so I could cut in half and get two rails out of each one,
I did the same for the other side,




checking for fit,



cut in half to get two rails for one side,





strb and port,








marking out the lower one




lower one in place,





both fitted






both sides fitted,




shows the upper rails fitted along with the timber heads,


.

 

[neptune]

making the gunport lid hinges, first I soldered strips of brass to a brass tube



then I sliced them of the tube and trimmed them to size,



next I made a small jig to hold them on my Proxxon milling machine,




then I drilled the holes,



drilling the holes,



completed hinges,

.

 

[neptune]

various views of the painting and the stern gallery windows fitted,











.

 

[neptune]

Breeching rope I made for the carronades,




carronades in place, bulwarks to be cleaned up,



a view from the stern showing gun port lids attached, for the voyage of discovery and charting
she only carried two cannon in the waist, one each side and all the after gun positions were
converted into cabins and had windows fitted,




port side view,



from midships to aft,



view of the transom the trim around the side gallery windows and the transom is two pieces of
brass wire twisted together and painted,



port cannon,

.