HMS Snake - Caldercraft - 1:64 - by BenD

Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
211
Points
213

Hello All,

I started the HMS Snake in 2017 eagerly after completing the HMC Sherbourne. I worked on it periodically through the years while also working on other projects. The hull is finished and just needs masting and rigging. I even worked over the plans have changed some of the rigging sizes and blocks to be more accurate. Around 2018 I became obsessed with making rope and faster ropewalks. That became a whole thing on its own.

Let's start with the kit contents. The wood and CNC cutouts were really good in this kit. The fittings however are mediocre and I replaced most. In the newer version of this kit, I've seen brass carronades which would have saved me many hours of work. In the instruction booklet, it claims this model will only take 3 months of evening work... ROTF

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Hi Ben. It is great that you are sharing your Snake build with us. I will be tagging along!
 
your first planking is looking very good - it will be a good basis
Many Thanks for starting this building log of this high quality kit - I will follow with big interest
 
Second planking

I used binder clips to hold the bulwark planks. Then below that, I used head-bent planks with CA & PVA glue. The method of laterally bending planks with a heat gun works very well! I stopped planking carefully below the waterline because it gets covered by copper plates.

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Very good work on the hull planking with chamfer the edges along - looking very good
Great to see your detailed preparation works wiith defining the location of the beams (on the contemporary drawing) and based on this marking the locations of butt joints and I guess some treenailing -. this will also fit very well with the location of the deck coamings / gratings and deck houses etc.
Very good work :cool:
 
Coppering

The tiles were glued on with CA glue. The fumes from that stuff is nasty but I did have a window open the whole time I was gluing. Cutting the tiles with a hobby knife wasn't working so I used a pair of cheap scissors. The scissors are now destroyed but they did a nice job of cutting the tiles and leaving a clean edge.

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Carronades

The cast metal guns in this kit needed a ton of work. I eventually got them into shape with some filling, filling, and drilling. Mounting them to the edge of the gunport was just not going to work so I mounted them on deck with a small platform.

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New Desk!

Having all this space is great. Two years have passed since this picture, It no longer looks this tidy...

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It was around this time I took some pictures with some of the deck fittings and guns in place.

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Platforms and rails

I dreaded making and fitting the fore and aft platforms but they were easy compared to the cap rail. I had to use nails and clips, I also cut the rail into two pieces to make the job easier.

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Up to date progress

I still need to drill some holes in a few places before I start gluing all the parts in. I plan on rigging the guns soon. I have all the blocks and hooks for it but now I also have some new rope to try out. I'm not looking forward to adding the chainplates to the channels... soldering is probably needed.

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