Hi Graham for a first time build you have done a great job and she is looking very nice.
cheers
steve
cheers
steve
HMS Snake
- Thread starter Graham
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- caldercraft snake
Thanks for your kind comments, guys.
I've now finished doing the mizzen mast/back end, so that's Stage 1 of the running rigging complete. She now needs a good dust off and a close check over for any touch-ups before the final rigging. Not sure if I'll get anything else done over the next couple of weeks - a ton of leaves to rake up, a Christmas diorama to finish and She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed that our halls must be decked with boughs of holly. So that's me in the loft for a couple of days rooting out the Christmas decorations and smacking my head on roof beams. For me Christmas just isn't Christmas without a mild concussion.
I've now finished doing the mizzen mast/back end, so that's Stage 1 of the running rigging complete. She now needs a good dust off and a close check over for any touch-ups before the final rigging. Not sure if I'll get anything else done over the next couple of weeks - a ton of leaves to rake up, a Christmas diorama to finish and She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed that our halls must be decked with boughs of holly. So that's me in the loft for a couple of days rooting out the Christmas decorations and smacking my head on roof beams. For me Christmas just isn't Christmas without a mild concussion.
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Your ship looks great! Love what you did with the copperplates. I havent seen anyone do that before. Your rigging looks great aswell!
I mentioned above that I am working on a Christmas diorama and it's now finished, so I thought I'd share it with you. I've been off and on with this throughout the year.
Figures - bought last year off the internet. I think they came from Germany and are petty well painted, so minimal touch-up and a final colourwash. It's quite a comprehensive set and I managed to use all of the figures - apart from an elephant. Try as I might I just could not figure a way of blagging an elephant into the scene!
Base - MDF
Buildings - cardcoard from old boxes
Floor and buildings coatings - a tub of tile grouting slathered on
Lights - I dis-assembled an old candle arrangement
Thatching - grass from a flower arrangement, skillfully sewn onto card by my good lady.
Thanks for following this log and I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
Figures - bought last year off the internet. I think they came from Germany and are petty well painted, so minimal touch-up and a final colourwash. It's quite a comprehensive set and I managed to use all of the figures - apart from an elephant. Try as I might I just could not figure a way of blagging an elephant into the scene!
Base - MDF
Buildings - cardcoard from old boxes
Floor and buildings coatings - a tub of tile grouting slathered on
Lights - I dis-assembled an old candle arrangement
Thatching - grass from a flower arrangement, skillfully sewn onto card by my good lady.
Thanks for following this log and I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
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Best subject I have seen modeled here.
God bless and Merry Christmas.
Rick
God bless and Merry Christmas.
Rick
Very nice scene. Have a merry Christmas.
A belated Happy New Year to you all. I am pleased to say that Santa brought me the rigging book I was looking forward to - Rigging Period Ship Models by Lennarth Petersson. It is drawn from the model of the Melampus which is located at Bristol Industrial Museum - a 36 gun, 18 pounder frigate. Each aspect of the rigging is clearly and individually drawn on it's own page and I have found it very useful in clarifying a number of aspects which have not been immediately obvious to me. Also, since my build is also a frigate there are some very close similarities in the rigging vs the book and it looks like JoTiKa (the kit manufacturer) has done a reasonable job. The book is not a massive tome and if I can understand it then anyone can - I would recommend it.
Anyway, on with the Snake...........
Anyway, on with the Snake...........
Phase 2 of the running rigging and the foremast is first. As with Phase 1, I rigged the lines which tie off along the centreline first, followed by those which tie off at the sides of the ship. At this stage it's the cluelines, sheets and buntlines. I have decided that I will fit the topsail and topgallant braces last - these are the lines to the ends of the yards which keep things at 90 degrees but will stop me getting my hands in if I fit them now.
Since I got that rigging book I can now sound like I know what I am talking about, but don't worry, it won't last.
Learning points:
Do not CA the belaying pins into the holes early in the build (as I did) because there are more holes than pins and Sod's Law says you will need to tie off to a point where there is now no pin, so you will have to buy some more (as I did).
As you pull the lines down towards the deck and tie them off do not put too much heave-ho on them as it is easy to throw the yards off the horizontal. Keep checking for horizontal as you progress.
Since I got that rigging book I can now sound like I know what I am talking about, but don't worry, it won't last.
Learning points:
Do not CA the belaying pins into the holes early in the build (as I did) because there are more holes than pins and Sod's Law says you will need to tie off to a point where there is now no pin, so you will have to buy some more (as I did).
As you pull the lines down towards the deck and tie them off do not put too much heave-ho on them as it is easy to throw the yards off the horizontal. Keep checking for horizontal as you progress.
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Rigging looking great!!
Zoltan
Zoltan
Time to fill in the gap between the fore and main masts with some rigging - this will be what braces the yards on the foremast. The necessary blocks are tied on to the stay which runs forward to the bowsprit (see photo) where the thick one is the main stay and the thinner (uppermost) one is the preventer stay. For some reason I still do not understand I initially tied everything to the thinner preventer stay and then when I tensioned it all it pulled out of shape badly to the point where the stay looked like my dog's back leg. I took a photo of it to show the error, but did not have the memory card in the camera! Have you ever had one of those days? So, all was cut off and re-done properly (below) with only a moderate amount of swearing and grumbling. In my defence the plans do not clarify which stay to attach to, but it's obvious that it's the lower and thicker one when you think about it. Ah well, it was fixable, so ever onward.
Learning point: Some days you really do need to get your act together.
Learning point: Some days you really do need to get your act together.
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We all have those days. After we conquer the problem though, we feel the better for it.
A little late commenting here -- I love the ship and the diorama - very nice touches !!!
Donnie
Donnie
Second anchors now tied in place. The end is almost in sight (bit sad about that) but there are still some jobs left to do:-
*Eyeball the whole thing very closely (in both artificial light and daylight) and do any touchups.
*Paint the water barrels which came with the kit and decide if I want to fit them.
*Glue on the rearmost hatch cover. I have searched for figures I might use (or even chop around) and haven't really come up with anything. 1:65 railway figures might be OK size-wise, but really I need to hold them in my hand to see what is the art of the do'able. Any last minute hints on prospective figures before I glue that cover on are most welcome.
*Have another look at the copper plating; there are still some bright edges I am not happy with so I think another colour wash is in order there.
*Have a look on Youtube and bone up on how to build a display case - that should be a laugh.
*Eyeball the whole thing very closely (in both artificial light and daylight) and do any touchups.
*Paint the water barrels which came with the kit and decide if I want to fit them.
*Glue on the rearmost hatch cover. I have searched for figures I might use (or even chop around) and haven't really come up with anything. 1:65 railway figures might be OK size-wise, but really I need to hold them in my hand to see what is the art of the do'able. Any last minute hints on prospective figures before I glue that cover on are most welcome.
*Have another look at the copper plating; there are still some bright edges I am not happy with so I think another colour wash is in order there.
*Have a look on Youtube and bone up on how to build a display case - that should be a laugh.
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Model expo has cases and there are people on the internet that build cases. They may not be cheap, but the ones I got were made well and protection is the real key.
Thanks Gary. For the size I am looking at it is anything up to £900 - that's a lot of cash. At the moment I am pricing getting the individual pieces cut to size and building it myself. How hard can it be (famous last words)? Will keep you posted. Regards
Barrels. These are turned boxwood (I think), and what I did was:-
1. Groove them with the back edge of a knife blade to represent the staves -
2. Drill the bases and fix them to toothpicks - makes them easier to handle. Coat with enamel matt lacquer -
3. Paint the banding with matt black enamel. When dry, apply a couple of coats of colour wash - very thin black acrylic to get some definition of the staves -
4. Break off the toothpicks and glue in place -
Almost there with this build now.
1. Groove them with the back edge of a knife blade to represent the staves -
2. Drill the bases and fix them to toothpicks - makes them easier to handle. Coat with enamel matt lacquer -
3. Paint the banding with matt black enamel. When dry, apply a couple of coats of colour wash - very thin black acrylic to get some definition of the staves -
4. Break off the toothpicks and glue in place -
Almost there with this build now.
