HMS Surprise by Mamoli

I sanded like a madman today and the transition from what 2nd planking I did below the waterline and the first planking is the thickness of, like, a human hair or less. Two more coats of black for above the waterline then I'll start laying down copper.

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Starting with the coppering. I still have 2 1/2 rolls of pre-stamped copper tape I ordered from China which translates to almost four ship's worth of copper bottoms. It's the standard roughly 1/4" copper tape that comes standard in kits like Syren and Flying Cloud but it's already been stamped with a credible pattern of nail/spike impressions. I can remember fashioning a jig per the Syren practicum for stamping the impressions and I was indeed proud of myself for doing everything essentially from scratch, but once is enough for me. It's enough to spend the time cutting each copper plate out then adhering them to the hull. I'm enjoying this part because it really is starting to look like a ship now. Once I finish with the coppering the hull will remain upright for the remainder of the build.

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I misjudged the size of Surprise's hull versus the other two ships I've coppered. I previously said 2 1/2 rolls would cover roughly four ships. HMS Surprise is considerably bigger than either Syren or Rattlesnake and I'm finding that 2 1/2 might just finish Surprise, that comes to about 1,250 individual copper plates. I'm crossing my fingers that this will be enough plus enough to do the rudder. I'll know by tomorrow I think.

Larboard side complete, moving to the port side.

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Port side coppering complete. My fears have been put to rest, I have barely enough copper plates left to do the bow capping, rudder, and false keel straps. That saves waiting for 2-3 months for a new shipment from China.

False keel, etc. is on the docket for tomorrow.

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TKAM said:
Port side coppering complete. My fears have been put to rest, I have barely enough copper plates left to do the bow capping, rudder, and false keel straps. That saves waiting for 2-3 months for a new shipment from China.

False keel, etc. is on the docket for tomorrow.

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That shines better that a new copper penny! Well done. Rich (PT-2)
 
PT-2 said:
That shines better that a new copper penny! Well done. Rich (PT-2)
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It looks so pretty! Syren after two years of sitting with her copper bottom has settled into a nice light brown turning to dark brown patina. I like both the shiny and the darkening. I wonder if I'll have the stones to purposely weather a copper bottom ala the statue of liberty. I know the methods but I'm not sure I have the guts to actually do it. Time will tell.
 
Now here is the problem facing me right now. Just how pedantic am I to be? The bottom two cannon are kit supplied cannon in their kit supplied carriages. The top cannon is the upgraded cannon barrel and carriage I purchased from Caldercraft. When I compare the cannon to actual pictures of the [fake] Surprise tied up in San Diego I can't help but think that the kit supplied cannon are much to small. The upgraded cannon barrel seems an exact match for the 9 pounders that the real Surprise carried on her main gun deck. So, lay down another $75 for 26 additional brass gun barrels for the main deck or be happy with what was supplied......

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TKAM said:
Now here is the problem facing me right now. Just how pedantic am I to be? The bottom two cannon are kit supplied cannon in their kit supplied carriages. The top cannon is the upgraded cannon barrel and carriage I purchased from Caldercraft. When I compare the cannon to actual pictures of the [fake] Surprise tied up in San Diego I can't help but think that the kit supplied cannon are much to small. The upgraded cannon barrel seems an exact match for the 9 pounders that the real Surprise carried on her main gun deck. So, lay down another $75 for 26 additional brass gun barrels for the main deck or be happy with what was supplied......

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Choices, choices, choices. . . .so much candy in the store case and only so many coins in the pocket. I know that you will make the best match for your ship. Rich (PT-2)
 
DonRobinson said:
Will the purchase of more cannons hurt the malt whiskey budget?
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Naw not really. And even if it did I'd give a nod to the Gods and swig down another single malt anyways. I'm starting off with an order of 26 brass cannon sight unseen at $1.04 each so no real damage. They'll either match my caldercraft cannon or they won't. I'm convinced now that the kit provided cannon are not the correct size, I kept comparing with not only Surprise tied up at San Diego but other frigates of the era and clearly the kit provided white metal cannon are too small. I have some time as I'm heading off to "work" for a few weeks and I'll work on Rattlesnake some more at my other residence while I wait for the post to deliver my order of (hopefully) the correct sized cannons.
 
With the hull right side up again I've gotta finish all the below deck cannon so I can lay down deck planking. About half finished with the gun carriages. Five guns on either side will have in-haul tackle only and I doubt you'll see those but it's a simple matter to get that done. All the rest of the gun deck cannon will only have the gun barrel, and the very front of the gun carriage viewed from the outside. Nothing of the rear of the guns nor any tackle will be viewable. Of course all the guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck will be fully rigged.


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TKAM said:
With the hull right side up again I've gotta finish all the below deck cannon so I can lay down deck planking. About half finished with the gun carriages. Five guns on either side will have in-haul tackle only and I doubt you'll see those but it's a simple matter to get that done. All the rest of the gun deck cannon will only have the gun barrel, and the very front of the gun carriage viewed from the outside. Nothing of the rear of the guns nor any tackle will be viewable. Of course all the guns on the forecastle and quarterdeck will be fully rigged.


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Looking very consistent with the carriages. Hard to wait to see them fully armed and ready to fire. Rich (PT-2_
 
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