Thanks for your post Iutar. You are correct and this has been discussed a few times lately here at SoS. Your photos are more pieces of evidence that this is how it was done. From the build logs it seems more than half the hulls are incorrectly coppered from the keel up instead of how it was done on a real ship, from the water line down, for the reasons you explained very clearly.
Sorry, I do not have primary sources, but found a lot of different information in my books. I don’t copper my models because I like to show the frames, so I didn’t any further research for this.
Thank you for your reply.Frank
my question is to ask if you have more any information about it.Thank you for answering me.Frank
I am in agreement with you regarding coppering. It is not so much the work that is required, but I personally am not fond of the look. Open framing or planked I hope I will not be building another model of a ship from 1780's and beyond unless the client requires such.
I cover from the bottom up because it simplifies the task and to achieve horizontal correct lines. Imitation of nails is done by the drawing on the copper facing. And since I glue in a butt and not in an overlap, then it makes no difference how the copper is glued, the correctness of gluing in this case will be shown by the drawing of the nails. But if you glue in an overlap, then there are no options, only in the right way. I wrote about this at the very beginning.
Very nice progress, Sergey! Copper hulls aren't my thing, but I would affirm that for this ship it must be done. Not overlapping the plates has done a nice job preserving scale. Bravo!Copper... and ones more copper.
With experience, the work is progressing faster. The same routine continues: rough sanding on the inside, polishing to a shine on the outside, cutting into strips, taping them with scotch tape, and then fixing them in place.
View attachment 490432
To press the copper strip against the hull while the glue sets, I came up with this tool. It’s made from air-drying plasticine (available in toy stores). I rolled it into a “sausage” and pressed one side flat against the table to create a flat surface. After it hardened, I applied tape to the flat side to prevent glue from sticking to the plasticine.
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On the other side, I made indentations for my fingertips to better grip and stabilize the tool when pressing the copper strip down.
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This way, I apply even pressure across the entire surface, not just at the points where my fingers touch. I replace the tape occasionally when it accumulates too much glue.
I’m working symmetrically and alternately. First, I glued half of a sheet on one side of the hull, and now I’m applying the other half to the opposite side. So far, I’ve used one of the six sheets of copper plating. The downside is that every sheet has defects. One strip not only lacks the row of nail details but is also wider than the others. Because of this, I set aside one defective and one normal strip (from the other side) to use later for the triangular sections.
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I really hope the six sheets will be enough for the entire hull.
I also wanted to demonstrate the correct alignment of the nail pattern and reiterate that if plating overlaps, you should start at the stern and work downward toward forward the keel. However, if the plating is applied edge-to-edge, the nail pattern alone determines the proper orientation, meaning you can start from anywhere as long as the nail pattern aligns correctly. Starting from the keel is simply more convenient for maintaining horizontal lines.
View attachment 490439
Another time-consuming part is cleaning the edges of each copper strip after it’s glued, to ensure the next strip fits seamlessly edge-to-edge. The glue seeps out from under the copper when I press it down, and I have to remove the excess with a scalpel. Some of the glue, stained with paint, also seeps through the seams, but this will be cleaned up after the tape is removed and the final polishing is done.
View attachment 490440
So, 1/6 is complete...
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...and there are five more rounds of this dance to go. But for now, this is the easy part. Things will get more interesting when I start dealing with wedges and triangular sections!
P.S. A big thank you to everyone who has shown such great interest and attention to my build, as well as for all the numerous likes from you!!!
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I then tried it on a sample, it was possible to do it with an overlap, but I can imagine how difficult and longer it is. That's why I'm glad that I started doing edge to edge. One thing I'm worried about is that the surface is smooth, otherwise, if it's bumpy, then I'll definitely have to patinated it in any way.
For me, the use of computer design and then 3D printing as well as laser engraving is a modern evolution of modeling.
Good afternoon Sergey. Thanks for sharing your process. I always learn a lot from your posts. Good progress with those plates only a gazzilion to go
. Cheers Grant
Wow, that's really cool!! Not only do you live close to the places where you can find it, but the find is also very authentic! How long could it have been lying there, and what is the history of this vessel, very interesting! Thanks for showing.
Thank you for your understanding and your point of view, I fully support it. To speed up the process of completing the project, I am going to all options... I have been building this ship for a very long time. I am not in a hurry, of course, and I do not do it just to finish, but where there is an opportunity to speed up the process, I do it. I already have an idea for a new ship... I am clearly fired up by the idea, but for now I need to weigh all the pros and cons and make a decision. Thank you for your comment.
Thank you for your words! It's very nice that it's useful to someone. There's still a lot left, of course, but thank you for encouraging me)))Good afternoon Sergey. Thanks for sharing your process. I always learn a lot from your posts. Good progress with those plates only a gazzilion to go
Thank you)) I try))
When I printed out the Mantua plans, I changed the size a little, and when I recalculated the scale, it turned out to be 1:79. This is really very close to 1:78. And at the time of construction, I only needed those views from McCoy's plans that I compiled on these 4 plans. Unfortunately, there is nothing else except these 4 sheets. I was glad to help. If necessary, I can post a file from Photoshop, where I scaled it all. And if you have scans, you can add them and scale them to the finished ones.
