HMS Sovereign of the seas (Steves)

[farrabass]

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE
This will probably be the last update for this year!! doesn't time fly? The railings have been tackled this time, more or less as the magazine directs. Seeing that I have kept everyone aware of my grievance with Deagostini' due to the delay with the refund, I thought it only fair and proper to let you all know that the £2 has been paid back to my account
It appeared in my account dated the 12 December, no sign of an apology for the ridiculous delay. I am still £5.99 out of pocket due to having to buy a replacement issue for the sake of one cast part, but hey-ho the saga has finally come to an end.
Back to the build update.........


That's one set of rails finished, just the cast parts to add. Those will be attached after the next set of rails are in place, I can see that there could be one or two small issues of getting things to line up and of course it will be very easy to knock the parts and send them to that netherland that exists on the floor.
The next deck level has been started and for that step I will deck the parts before planking the bulkhead! I think it will be easier to get a nice snug fit with the planks rather than planking the bulkhead first?.

As with the previous decks I prefer to use single planks pre-caulked with black marker and then cut out the holes for grates and masts after everything has dried, personal choice it suits me and no doubt other builders will have their own preferred way!


The bulkhead has had a few strips of masking tape applied and is now ready for the holes for the cast decorations to be cut, not looking forward to that part of the build! I can feel the need to build a Bf109 before I start all the drilling, filing and sanding that is going to be involved
That's it for this update, best wishes, Steve..

[Darron]

Hi Steve!

I'm very pleased to hear that you got your money at last! RESULT!!!

You've getting a lot done this year mate and the Sovereign is look great here is a 'K' for your hard work.

Darron

[farrabass]

Hi Darron! Thanks for the "K".
With the conclusion of the overcharge sorted and everything back on track, with the exception of the newly acquired small plastic kit addiction. My workspace has been sorted and I can now alternate between wood shaping and plastic sticking! (technical modelling terms).
With the end of the Christmas break and my new addiction to small scale modelling I have done a teeny bit more.


The big decision now is do I keep with the SOTS for a couple of weeks or do I start another plastic kit???? I have got the 109 to finish, then who knows?
Cheers, Steve..

[farrabass]

Even though the plastic kit bug has not been shaken, I have still managed to add a little more to this build!.
Nothing too taxing just the addition of some more rails and a bit more deck planking.

Nothing much to comment about regarding the rails and planking the deck! for the rails the magazine instructions are quite precise on how to proceed and with the deck I have continued the theme of a three shift system rather than the magazine direction of two!!

Again the magazine instructions were easy to follow and the parts were a perfect fit The bulwarks were painted and glued in place and once a slight chamfer had been given to the back edge of the deck piece another very good fit was achieved. I have to comment that some of the parts lately have been of a very good quality

Just a couple of my signature blared photos showing the finishing of the last set of rails still in the process of drying after the last coat of varnish.

Just to help support the floating joint between the rails I glued in a small section of 2x5mm wood strip and painted it black, this also provides a bit of substance for the metal cast part to stick to! it also covers the joint of the lower cap rail.

A bit of filler gets rid of the gap between the wood and the curved casting and the base rail has been extended ready for the uprights. I am enjoying this build at the moment, but, I still have a few more plastic kits to keep me going whenever I need a break from this.
That's it for this update, thanks for looking in, Steve..

Just remembered, Andy and Johnny, I did email you both with the photo sequence, would it not be easier just to join here and I can post whatever you need within my build diary ?

[jim]

what gold are you using have tried several different ones, Humbrol enamel, tamiya acrylic, caldercraft acrylic, gold powder mixed with clear varnish, can't get a satisfactory gold colour

[farrabass]

Good afternoon all!
Jim, I presume the undercoat was the base of the bad paint result? I have had a go at the very nicely cast lions head motif!, a small amount of green stuff and a bit of sculpting turns the nice moulding into a very nice moulding

A bit of work is needed to the rudder and associated pieces before the lions head can be mounted, in the meantime some more of the rails have been done.

The plywood strip has been prepared and stained as the magazine instructions direct but, I have then gone my own way slightly for the next stage. I cut the small columns at 5.5mm as suggested, then I added a plank to the top of the plwood strip which stops the columns poking through when offered up for gluing plus it leaves a nice unblemished finish to the top of the cap rail.

The two longer pieces are glued in position first and the spacing's marked for the rest of the bits!

On go the rails!!


The rails have been sanded to shape and stained and varnished.


Some grates and ladders are now in place as is a covered hatch, not quite as the magazine instructs but just adding my own personal preferences!

A couple of photos of where I am up to at the moment finishes this update. Back to the plastic now for a couple of sessions and then the mind numbing task of attaching tiny rings to tiny eyes to glue into a tiny predrilled hole X LOTS.
Steve..

[number1]

Looking very very good steve, tried once to build a wooden ship (hms badger) but wasn't at tall happy with my planking so its still lanquishing in the dark corner

[farrabass]

Thanks for looking in Number 1! Glad you like my build. The planking can be tricky to start with but, like most other things perseverance is the key, especially if it is a double planked build.
If the base planking isn't up to scratch then the second planking should hide all your earlier mistakes. In the meantime I have dragged myself away from the plastic kits and added a few more bits to this.



That's quite a few rings and eyes applied this side and of course the other side is just the same as this!! I think I have the rings in the right positions, it can be a bit difficult to tell when comparing to the magazine photos.


The rudder has been prepared just as the instructions direct!.


I have used solder to secure the hinge parts! far better than glue especially as the hinges wont turn black using the blackening solution that I have. Either my solution is no good or the hinge parts aren't brass? The parts will now be painted black instead.
Some more of the cast ornaments have been prepared and painted, for these smaller parts I find it easier and less wasteful to brush the parts rather than spray them. They still get a spray-on primer though, it leaves a far smoother surface for the top coat.
That's it for today the steps need to be done next, I will be using my own materials for those the provided one's are pretty dire
Cheers, Steve..
Thanks for the PM Kev!!

[farrabass]

Back again to bore everyone with another of my updates!!
This should really just be an edit to the previous entry, as all I am doing is updating the cast parts that finish off the gun ports. After painting the metal parts as directed by the magazine these parts have then be stored for a few weeks until required for the build. When the parts where asked for it was then that I realised that these parts needed reducing to fit as instructed or, take the easy way and apply them whole with a band of black paint disguising the excess of the casting?
After cutting one of the castings (very hard) and then snapping it I then became short of a part? I didn't want to order a back issue for the sake of one small part so the thinking cap was donned and I decided to cast some replacements in plastic The replacement parts are so much easier to handle than the hard brittle metal ones' and they have come out very well indeed, with them being cast in quite a soft plastic they also cut and sand very easily and can therefore get a very smooth surface to glue to which is also a bonus over the metal ones'. Painting follows the same as the metal cast fittings with the exception that I have used a piece of double sided tape to stop the parts blowing away when sprayed, instead of brushing these with liquid gold I have gone for a black spray primer and sprayed them with a metallic gold top coat.

A piece of 1.5x1.5 wood section has been used as a sense of scale, to my eye these look to be about the right size but, with a little more sanding can be taken down further if required.

A couple of photos of a few of the finished castings.
If anyone building the SOTS would like a few of the plastic replacements let me know and I will cast a few more, I wont be casting a lot as the silicone that I use wont last too long and that is the most expensive part to pay for, I have made a mold for my own use and once that becomes un-usable I wont be needing another one? the plastic resin is relatively cheap so the cost of postage and a first class stamp to cover my costs will be plenty. I am not here to make a profit out of fellow members, just giving a helping hand if needed!!!
Cheers, Steve..

[Mark]

Good thinking casting your own parts Steve. They look a lot thinner than the originals

[Voytek]

Wow Steve !!!!!! K !!!!!!

[Eric]

Well done Steve, an excellent solution to the problem.

Your SOTS is looking very very nice.

K.

[farrabass]

Thanks for the very kind comments chaps!!
Mark the plastic cast replacements have made the fitting so much easier! the metal ones' were just so hard! and so brittle!!, but with the metal castings being so crisp they made really good molds. All the cast parts have been very good so far, I just hope the quality continues to the end of the series? If anyone is interested I have 18 plastic rings left up for grabs for whoever may want them??
Glad your still dropping in Voytek and thanks for the "K"!!. Eric thanks for the "K" and I appreciate the feedback.
Here is a bit more, this time I have added the rudder and chaser gun port lids.

Instead of adding the gun port lids piecemeal to the hull, I have made the 4 covers away from the build and glued them in p[lace once they were dried.


As can be seen in the photos above, the rudder has been fixed in place along with the lions head motif, the rest of the rings and eyes are now in place and the shields with their decals are now where they should be!!

More metal castings have been added to the build along with some wooden moldings formed from wood strips using the provided tool to shape the profile (a very useful tool), the wood was then primed and painted in a similar fashion to the metal parts.

The cast spearman has been glued into his alcove but for some unknown reason his spear doesn't quite fir inside the alcove, I have managed to fit some of these parts wrong somehow? I certainly wont be adjusting anything for the sake of a spear tip!!

In went the steps, these are not issue parts but ones from my own stock. The issue steps were awful, the steps wouldn't line up and as soon as a bit of wood stain touched the ply wood they went totally floppy as the wood stain was absorbed like a sponge, needless to say out they went!! I also deviated with the instructions given to form the foremost bulkhead! instead of gluing 2mmx2mm strips of basswood soldier fashion to the form the two front corners I instead cut two pieces of plywood and shaped them to fit instead.

As an be seen the plywood forms a nice seamless look to the finish?.

I felt compelled to make a change to the look of the cap rails? as the rails on the poop deck looked so much neater and tidier than all the others I decided to do something about it. Off came the little squares that were on top of the cap rails and on went a strip of basswood! this was then sanded to shape and stained the right colour.

The little squares that had been cut off were sanded smooth restained and reattached to the rail, a small finial was then added to the square bits to give the build a more personalised look.

All the caprails now have a more uniform look to them and I am much happier with the look
Cheers, Steve..

[Mark]

Love what you've done with the hand rails. It's turning into a very nice model Steve.

[farrabass]

Thanks for the compliment Mark!
The rails just didn't look right with the "inlays" of the wooden struts showing through the plywood rails. There was nothing wrong with how the rails were constructed, and in fact all the materials and the instructions provided for the construction were really quite good!! It was just me ! I couldn't help but see the difference in colour all the time, especially with doing one of the rails differently. But now that the little finials have been added it looks as if they should have been there all the time.
I have added the next set of wales to the build just as the magazine directs.

All the wales were glued in place and then sections were removed were required.

All the gun port rings on the side of the hull are the plastic ones' that I cast and certainly look far better than having the full size metal ones' protruding out from the hull. I have a few issues in hand at the moment due to the distraction of doing a few plastic kits recently. The handful of issues that I have deal with a few fighting tops and some more cast figures, so they will be dealt with as a batch the next time I get round to adding a bit more to this collection. I must add that this is turning out to be a very good quality kit even with the past problems I've had with missing issues and being overcharged . The metal castings deserve particular praise for there crispness and minimal cleaning required, hopefully the quality will be maintained through to the end of the series. I cant guarantee the builders ability though
That's it for this update, thank you for looking in! all the best, Steve..

[farrabass]

Good afternoon all!
I'm back with a little more.

I have started to tackle the tops! the Heinkel has been put on hold for a few sessions whilst I catch up with the SOTs. The tops are nice little models in their own right, the frets are well cut and fit together very snugly. I stained the fret first before liberating the parts as I find I can get a more even cover with the stain than trying to stain all the parts once they've been assembled.



The above photos show the sequence of how I assembled the parts.


A couple of photos showing the finish article, a coat of red paint has been given to the outer surfaces that matches the red on the hull.



The gallery supports have been added, I opted to veneer the plywood parts rather than painting them. Spare planks left over from the hull were used, the parts were then glued into position before being varnished and then had the gold painted on!!


More gold ornamentation has been added to the stern and the first of the prow decorations have been painted, the eagle eyed among you will notice the tip of the sword is missing. The sword was quite badly bent went I opened the packet, when I tried to straighten it the tip broke off!! I don't know if its worth trying to add a new tip or not? its certainly not worth the hassle of buying a replacement issue for such a tiny fault.
That's it for this update, nearly reached 100 replies for this build Do I get a "K" when I get to 100?
Cheers, Steve..
12169/1704

[Experten]

Oh, I'll give a K right now! It is your build that prompted me to subscribe to my own.

[Darron]

Hi Steve!

It's a K from me too mate! The ship is looking great!!!....

Darron

[number1]

Looking superb, K given.

[tom1992]

Awesome work Steve! she's looking great! Nice job on the handrails and that gold paint really looks the part!
With the mounted swordsman, have you thought of adding a bit of green-stuff to the tip and moulding it into a nice edge?

Keep up the excellent work! all the best,