Royal William Euromodel 1:72 by Vince P. -- FINISHED

[Vpirozzi]

I finished cutting out the gun ports for the lower gun deck. Using plan sheet #8, I was able to locate the ports fairly accurately.
Next up was to place the false gun blocks. Since I already had ports cut out, centering the blocks was easy, and I had only 2 dimensions to deal with. The first was to measure the height of the gun barrels from the deck, and the other to determine how far back from the deck edge to place the blocks so the barrels protruded the correct distance. In the Euro notes, Peter had provided these dimensions, but I decided to make my own calculations using the plans and the gun barrels. It just so happens that Peter's figures were almost exactly what I came up with, so I used his, The holes in the blocks were drilled 13.4mm from the bottom and the blocks were located 11.7mm inward from the outer edge of the deck. There were 4 ports on each side that will remain closed, so no blocks were placed there.
Next up will be placing the middle gun deck.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Having secured the middle gun deck, the gunports are marked for cutting out. I decided to cut the gun deck in half again making 4 quarters just like the lower gun deck. It is much easier to manipulate being it was so long only cut down the middle. The cross sectional cut was made across the center of bulkhead "1". Also, since these gunports are smaller at 13.0mm square, I just shaved down the 14.0mm jig I made for the lower ports.
Also, now that the decks are getting stacked, it is a good time to make sure the mast holes line up. Inserting a dowel for the base of each mast and checking the alignment is easy now, but will be a nightmare once the planking is done. I did have to make slight adjustments. Doing this after each deck is placed will save some headaches. Some of the masts go through as many as 4 decks.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Middle gun deck ports cut out and false cannon blocks in place on deck.

Vince P.

 

[Pat71]

Nice progress!

 

[Vpirozzi]

Working on completing the first layer of planking below the main deck. Very slow process on a ship this size. You will notice many glue spots. I want to make sure the planks are very secure as the basis for the final planking. This will get all covered up with the pretty second layer. I use CA glue because it is strong and fast drying.
I pre-bend and taper the planks before laying them. Since pre-bending is required at both ends now, it is difficult to measure the distance between the starting points of the two bends. To simplify this, I cut the planks in two pieces and only have to pre-bend one end. I stagger the joints so it looks realistic. On real ships the planks were in several sections and the joints were staggered for strength. This is where marking the frame locations comes in handy. On the first layer of planking it is not critical as how the run of the planks looks since it be all covered up. I do however use a system for calculating the tapers needed at the ends. Later on I have photos and a good description of this when doing the second finish layer of planking. A quick explanation however: The planks are 6mm wide to start, so at midships measure how many it will take side by side to cover the total space from the existing last plank to the keel. Planks are laid in bands of 5, so divide the total by five and this is how many bands there will be. Place a mark at each 30mm along the edge of the midship bulkhead to the keel. Starting at the top lay a plank on the first mark and run it so it bends naturally to the stem and pin it. Do the same to the stern post. Mark each bulkhead where the top of the plank sits. Do this for all of the bands. Now to find the width of the taper for each plank in a band, just divide the total width of the band at each bulkhead by 5. Sounds complicated but it is not. The photos will make sense.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

ARGGHHH!! I am in the middle of planking the hull and my electric plank bender burns out. Murphy's Law strikes again. I am bending them by hand until a new one gets here. Can't really complain, I got about 25 years out of it.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Completed one side of first planking layer below main deck. Sanded it down and filled in any low spots and small gaps between planks.
Before completing the other side, I made sure the masts would seat properly in the slots of the false keel and upper gun deck. It is necessary to mill the lower end of the main mast to a flat of 10.0mm in order to fit in the slot of the keel.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Still working on the first planking. Almost finished. Also constructing the main deck staircase. This has to be made from scratch and I am getting an education in the process. This is an example of the Euromodel scheme. If you are just building the basic kit, the staircase can be omitted since it is not visible after the upper decks and fixtures are put in place. It was a challenge so I am building it and will place it on the ship. Photos coming soon on this and the finished first planking.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Construction of the main deck staircase from scratch. This is included on the plans but not supplied in the kit. Even though it will not be visible once the upper decks are placed, it was a nice touch and a challenge to build.

Each step is made up of 2 parts and needs to be beveled at 45 degrees. I jig was made from lumber and the steps placed on top of each other. Once the whole thing is completed, it can be lifted off the jig.

I did find some nice stanchions at Model Expo that were pretty close to the correct size, and only had to be cut down a little and beveled on the tops.

I finished the whole thing in red walnut and weathered it to look old. Once the main deck is installed and planked, the staircase hole will be cut and the assembly placed down into the deck. A "C" shaped bannister will have to be constructed to match the staircase and attached to the outside wings so it encloses the opening in the deck on 3 sides.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I have finally finished the first layer of hull planking below the main deck. This took over a month and a half. Considering the size of this hull, that was a whole lot of planking. This is definitely the most difficult of the planking. The planks above the main deck are nice and straight, and the second finish layer has a bottom surface to lay it on. The only thing about the finish layer is that it has to be precise and pretty.
Next up is to install and plank the main deck.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Before placing the main deck, it calls for slicing off the top section of bulkhead "B" to accommodate the forecastle later on. When to cut this is not clear, but it does help support the main deck bulwark planks. I decided to add the 4 planks that will make up the main deck bulwarks first making sure not to glue the planks to this bulkhead, and then cut it off. The plans call for an 18.0mm height at the lowest point of the bulwarks, but it should be more like 20.0mm to allow placing the decorative siding later on. With 4 planks it came to about 24.0mm. It can be shaved down later on. Also, the planks need to be longer at the bow by at least 15.0mm past bulkhead "F" and flush with the last bulkhead at the stern. I still need to trim that.

Next up is tp place the main deck and plank it.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

The main false deck is glued in place. I did not cut this deck in quarters like the others. Clamping it down on the bulkheads using wedges was ok, but in the middle where there are no overhead bulkheads, there is nothing clamp it to. I nailed it to the underlying bulkheads using tiny brass nails which will stay in place and be planked over.

Next up is to cut out the square opening between the mainmast and the forward edge of the quarter deck for the main deck staircase. The opening needs to be 24.0mm across, but I have not yet calculated how long to make it.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

The wood supplied for the deck planking is walnut and it is nice wood but different colors and too dark for realistic deck planking.
I soaked the wood in bleach for 20 minutes and dried it. It came out perfect and will give the deck an authentic look.

In the photos, the wood on top is the walnut as it came with the kit. All 6 pieces were cut from the same strip and you can see the color differences from one part of the wood to the next.

The lower strips in the photos are the bleached wood. The color is good and it bleached out all of the strips to the exact same color. It has a weathered look like a real deck would appear.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

Working on planking the main deck. I am really pleased with the color of the bleached walnut wood. Using Peter's research, it appears that at this scale, the length of a real ship's deck planks should be no more than 102mm. The kit calls for 180mm. I chose to go with 100mm. Rather than plank with one continuous strip and simulate joints with a marker, I chose to do it the actual way with the 3 plank shift. The first line at the center was done with all 100mm strips and the next started with a 75mm strip, the next with 50mm and the next with 25mm, then back to a 100mm and so on. One long edge and both ends of each strip were darkened with a black marking pen to simulate the black caulking that was used in between planks to seal the deck. I also tried to mix up the grains of the planks to give it more a realistic look since real decks were planked with lumber that did not match the flow of the grain.
All this may seem to the extreme, but I said I would try to take this build to a more extreme level of reality than my last.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I finished the main deck planking and applied one coat of a clear satin finish. I also simulated the trenails at all of the joints, but you can't see it in the photos. I need a really good camera with a closeup wide angle lens.
Next up is to prepare and add the frames around the square openings and place the main deck staircase.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I just bought this new tool from MicroMark. It is for cutting mitered angles on wood strips. I have a cutting block for this, but this tool is much easier to use and makes clean accurate cuts. I will be posting a few photos soon on the frames and the staircase of the main deck. All of the cuts were made with this tool.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I added the framing for the main deck gratings and staircase.
The grating frame was made with 3x2mm walnut standing up on the 2mm side.
The staircase frame was made with 5x1.5mm walnut laying flat. Both frames were stained with one coat of red oak.

**note: The plans call for an opening of 32mm square for the gratings. Make sure to leave a small lip of planking on the edges running along the ship's length for the gratings to rest on. Also, keep the square openings at 33mm or less because the gratings when assembled are just a pinch over 33mm. They will fall through anything larger than 33mm.

Next up: Placing the main staircase and constructing the bannisters.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I am reiterating a point I made earlier about this kit because I feel it is very important. Although this model is called a "Kit", it really is not a true kit. They call it a kit because it comes with a complete set of plans (a very nice set), and the materials needed to construct it. It does NOT however come with an instruction manual, as most true kits do. When building her, you are working off the set of plans only, just like with a scratch build. Without a detailed instruction manual, you have to plan ahead before doing things so as to avoid problems. Case in point: I stated in my last post that the next thing to do was place the main deck staircase and build the banisters. In looking ahead I also noticed that the main deck decorative bulkhead needed to be placed soon as well. Because of the concave shape of the hull sides where the bulkhead is placed, it is necessary to lay it flat on the deck and slide and wiggle it into place and then stand it up and attach it to the wood frame. However, with the staircase in close proximity to this bulkhead, if you place the staircase first, you can not slide the bulkhead along flat on the deck to get it in place. So I had to change the order of things and prepare and place the bulkhead first, before working on the staircase. In the photos, I just placed the staircase into the hole without securing it yet.
Most experienced builders would know these things, but others could get into trouble. I am far from an expert and just want to help those that might want to build this ship.
The decorative bulkhead is the first cast metal piece of many to install. It has to be cleaned up, burrs removed, shaped, and painted first.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

I am working on the main deck staircase. The staircase is secured in place and the upper and lower banister rails are cut. Since both the lower and upper rails have to match perfectly, each was cut and matched into a pair. The lower are secured to the deck and the upper sections are laying next to them. Next up is to place the stanchions and then the upper rail sections.

Vince P.

 

[Vpirozzi]

The main deck staircase and banisters are completed. Everything was constructed from scrap lumber since they are not included in the kit.

Next up: The ship's stove.

Vince P.