Ship’s launch

The Sovereign of the Seas has a launch which is proving a bit of a challenge,

The launch came with part 8 and the first part involves gluing the ribs into an assembly jig this bit was easy.

The seccond part involved gluing the timber strips (0.6 x 3 x 250mm) to the form the hull of the launch. This was a bit trickier and was quite time consuming as it really required each strip to be held in place until its firmly glued and at most you can only do about 2 strips at a time depending on where on the hull they sit. It also required the strips to be cut to length and quite a few of the strips also had to be shaped either by filing or cutting. Mostly I cut them to shape with a craft knife as this was easier than filing. The instructions show a strip being filed while in a tiny vice. I don’t have one of these.

The final result is really not bad for a first attempt although I can see that with practice it could end up a lot better. Hopefully once its painted it will look better. It’s supposed to now have the gaps filled with glue and then be sanded. I’m a bit cautious about the sanding as I’d hate to damage it.

Apparently at some point the launch is removed from the assembly jib. This should be an interesting process as its currently glued to it.

Launch ribs on assembly jig

Ship’s Launch with strips completed

Stringers and beams of the lower deck

Latest effort was the stringers and beams. This also gave me a chance to try out the mini mitre set that came with Issue 2.

Well the mitre box is fine and the saw blade does the job, but the saw handle is not great and it took a bit of effort to loosen the fitting so that I could insert the blade handle bit. Doubt that I will be taking it apart again so storage wont be as convenient as I had hoped.

Cutting the strips for stringer was no problem but it was a bit daunting cutting grooves so that the strips could be bent to shape at the front and back of the hull. Also its just as well that I have 4 smallish clamps already as the strips had to be clamped to the ribs in order for them to stick together in the right places.

The 2X4mm strips that are cut and glued for the beams between the ribs were easy to measure and cut.

Looks like I’m making a bit of progress now.

Clamping stringers

Stringers and beams

Beams

Sovereign of the Seas. And so we begin!

A little while ago I got really brave and decided to give the Sovereign a go. I’ve always loved sailing ships so it seemed like a good idea even if its somewhat daunting.

Its very detailed and even though it comes in nice weekly (or if you subscribe monthly) chunks with all the parts you need, its still scary, especially since I’ve never made a model ship before, although I image that making the dolls house probably gave me some useful experience.

So many really small parts, and having to  bend and sand and nail bits makes this project a real challenge.

So far I’ve tackled the first 8 parts and built a basic rig to hold it all together.

I’ve also bought a few tools to make things easier. Things like a pin vice and some tiny drill bits, some small files, and also a heating rod thingy for bending the planks, when I get to to that bit.

Luckily there is, a great blog on the Sovereign where people put up their progress, problems and share tips. No doubt I’ll be making good use of this eventually. Official Build Forum

See also Sovereign cannons, Ships launch

Hull and ribs

Hull and ribs 2