Problems and fixes
All problems from the build log, with cause, fix and who gave the tip.
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| Part | Problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Bulkheads # | After fairing the bulkheads, the gun deck projects slightly beyond them. | Do not take off too much; trim later. The deck is only sanded to size once the bulkheads are fixed. Forum post |
| Deck planking (practice run on the false deck) # | The 1x4 mm tanganyika strips splinter when the caulking seam is applied; some strips are rougher or narrower, and the rasp leaves scratches in the deck. | Sort the strips beforehand, lightly chamfer (break) the edges, blacken the edge over its full thickness and pre-sand the strips with 320 grit. Forum post |
| Bulkheads # | The foremost bulkhead turned out not to be pushed fully home and was already glued rock solid in the keel former. | Cut it free with a thin utility knife blade and reglued it. Forum post |
| Bulkheads # | Bulkhead 14 (Eduard's numbering) does not touch the fairing batten when it is laid across several bulkheads. | Press the batten against the bulkhead and only judge after fairing is complete; glue on material if needed. Compare port and starboard symmetry with a contour gauge. Forum post |
| Bulkheads # | A small bulkhead piece broke off while filing. | Reglued; the forum confirmed there is supposed to be a slight kink in the hull at that spot. Forum post |
| Stern # | Stern frames 26 and 27 stand proud of the last bulkhead. Eduard first built up the bulkhead. | Removed the build-up again and bevelled the stern frames towards the bulkhead so they run flush with it; set stern frame 24 square. Forum post |
| Bulkheads # | On the plan, bulkhead 15 does not touch the dotted planking line, and part 27 can never fit once bulkhead 17 is bevelled. Also a kit error | Do not follow the plan blindly; adapt the stern frames to the bulkheads. Forum post |
| Stern # | The section drawing shows the stern in a sort of 3D view, so the angle of the stern frames cannot be read off. Also a kit error | Used photos from pietsan's build log as reference. Forum post |
| Margin plank # | Cutting the margin plank from wood with a cutting plotter (Brother ScanNCut) failed: rounded corners, shifted cuts and ragged notches. | Made the margin plank by hand with hobby knife blades, finished on 30 March 2017. Forum post |
| Gun deck # | When the fully planked gun deck was put back between the bulkheads, it broke in two. | Next time saw the deck in half beforehand or plank it on the ship; the difference in colour and texture was disguised with oil. Forum post |
| Inner bulwark # | When fitting the inner bulwark pattern no attention was paid to the line of the bulwark, leaving a small kink at bulkhead 13. | Accepted; it disappears under the planking later. Forum post |
| Upper deck # | The upper deck does not fit and the foremost plank of the stern sits completely askew. | Shortened the inner bulwark pattern, after which the deck fitted. Forum post |
| Upper deck # | At the stern the upper deck does not meet the inner bulwark properly. | Can be built up; the difference disappears under the hull planking. Forum post |
| Balsa filler blocks # | In places the balsa filler blocks sit lower than the bulkheads. | Keep checking with a batten; glue the fillers in roughly first, then file them to fit. Forum post |
| Gunports # | Marking out the gunports at 30 and 31 mm spacing went wrong at bulkhead 5. | Measured at 1.2 inch (30.48 mm); fudged half a millimetre here and there. Forum post |
| Gunports # | Aft, the upper deck sits up to 4 mm too high relative to the ports; with the port linings in, the gun amidships no longer fits in the port. | The gun turned out to fit when turned round (the hole is off-centre); set the axletrees deeper into the carriage so it drops 1.5 mm; the top of the barrel at half the port height is right. Forum post |
| Gunports # | While sanding the ports the sandpaper occasionally touched the deck, leaving ugly marks. | Stick masking tape on the deck before sanding the ports. Forum post |
| Inner bulwark # | The Admiralty red ochre looks much browner in reality than in photos of other models; Eduard is colour-blind. | The colour is correct; apply two or more thin coats, the first coat does not cover. Forum post |
| First planking # | At the sternpost a few strips at the sides are slightly too short. | Solved later with stealers. Forum post |
| First planking # | The kit was two whole strips short for the first planking. Also a kit error | Made two new strips from four offcuts. Forum post |
| First planking # | On the port side there is a straight bit (kink) in the curve of the bow. | Disappears with the second planking, otherwise fine filler. Forum post |
| Building cradle # | The cradle supplied by Caldercraft is far too big for the hull. | Made his own cradle from the bulkhead offcuts, lined with felt. Forum post |
| Bow bulwark # | The manual repeatedly calls for 1.5x5 mm lime, but there is none in the box. Also a kit error | Used 1.5x6 mm; according to pietsan perfectly fine for the low bow bulwark. Forum post |
| Counter planking # | The manual does not say how high the counter planking runs or how big the helm port should be. Also a kit error | Followed the profile of the keel; found pietsan's answer in an earlier post. Forum post |
| Transom # | The transom does not meet the counter planking: following the instructions leaves a wide gap between the planking and the underside of the transom. | Built up the planking underneath with a curve and lowered the transom until the false deck edge was hidden; did not alter the transom plate or counter piece themselves. Forum post |
| Second planking # | The joint between bulwark and planking coincides with a plank seam and becomes a weak spot. | Cover the transition with a full plank width so the joint falls halfway across a plank. Forum post |
| Second planking # | Because of the sheer at the stern, Eduard came out so badly amidships that he was left with splinter-thin planks. | Removed the planks, tapered earlier and used an extra strake. Forum post |
| Second planking # | Here and there very small gaps between the planks of the second planking. | Sanding dust plus PVA thinned with water in the seams (Henk van Luinen's trick); it really works well. Forum post |
| Garboard strake # | The keel former is thicker than the garboard strake; with the copper plating that seems to give an odd angle. | The underside of the keel (false keel) gets no copper plating. Forum post |
| Second planking # | Despite early tapering and drop planks, a clinker effect remains and strips have to be forced into place. | Prepared a drop plank on the English system, left the adjacent plank wider and divided the hull into three belts with battens. Forum post |
| Wale # | The black strake should be half as thick as the rest of the wale, but the kit supplies 0.5 mm against 0.7 mm strips; after light sanding the difference in thickness is gone. CA glue was not a success. Also a kit error | Painted the black strake slightly thinned to make the difference visible; back to PVA and short separate strips. Forum post |
| Wale # | The manual says six 3x1 mm strips below the black strake, but the height on the profile view is only 18 mm. Also a kit error | Black strake plus five strips, as in pietsan's build log. Forum post |
| Transom # | In the dry fit of the transom there is a clear kink in the middle. | Filed the centre stern timber; kink gone, it now fits everywhere. Forum post |
| Quarter galleries # | The first quarter gallery does not fit; the other sits much better. | Turned it through a half turn, which luckily was still easy. Forum post |
| Quarter galleries # | The kit contains two identical (left-hand) decoration sets for the quarter galleries. Also a kit error | A right-hand set was sent on, arrived 22 December 2018; the left and right sets turned out not to be exactly the same size. If you do not want to wait: Stephan Kertész and *Hans* cast a missing or mirror-image ornament in a silicone fondant mould or a home-made mould of silicone sealant, with white clay; you do need an original, and with a duplicate set that is exactly what you have (modelbouwforum, 'Ornamenten maken witte klei', 12 July 2019, forum post and *Hans*, 20 July 2019, forum post). Lesson: on receipt, count everything that comes in sets. We were missing ornaments, HMSFly counted 11 instead of 13 iron knees per side, pietsan was two guns short and got a broken topgallant crosstree. Cornwall and Jotika send replacements free of charge, but allow weeks. Forum post |
| Transom # | While painting the galleries the transom was painted as well, although walnut panels still go on it. | None; 'that was a bit of a waste'. Forum post |
| Transom # | The windows cannot stay transparent because the stern frames behind them would be visible. | Tested five methods; chose a grey haze on clear plastic. Forum post |
| Painting # | Knocked over the pot of black paint while painting. | Use a hole saw to cut a hole the size of the pot in a board as a sturdy base. Forum post |
| Stern mouldings # | The yellow ochre of the moulding looks distinctly orange. | Thin coats (two to three), metal primed thinly first; later all mouldings were made gold. Forum post |
| Quarter galleries # | Every drop of CA glue leaves marks on the small gallery windows; everything had to come off again. | Frame method (cut out the outline, plastic in, white frame on top); ordered UHU Hart and bought Pattex Extreme Repair. Forum post |
| Stern carvings # | One of the two white-metal female figures has an arm that is too short (a straight stump). Also a kit error | Built the arm up with solder and shaped it with a small file. Forum post |
| Stern carvings # | In the photo the antique gold on the large carving turns out not to cover. | A yellow ochre base coat under the gold makes it fuller. Forum post |
| Stern mouldings # | The upper moulding ran through to the shoulder of the figure. | Adjusted the line to match pietsan's photo (and the box art): the moulding rests on the hands. Forum post |
| Stern mouldings # | Yellow mouldings and gold carvings do not form a whole. | Checked in Masefield (Sea Life in Nelson's Time); masked the mouldings and painted them gold. Forum post |
| Quarter galleries # | The upper moulding of the quarter gallery is too long because the planksheer still has to go on. | Deliberately left long to trim later; pietsan finds that illogical since it is metal, and fitted the planksheer first. In the kit order this does not arise: there the planksheer (20.2) is already on when the galleries are finished (21.8). It came from our reversed order (coppering first). Forum post |
| Stern mouldings # | The red line in the profiles of the mouldings is hard to apply. | In the end the brush (size 0) after all, rather than fineliner or acrylic marker. Forum post |
| Build sequence # | The manual puts the mouldings (12) before the coppering (15) and the planksheer only after that (20.2); we wanted to copper first because the ship still has to go upside down for it. Also a kit error | Coppered first, mouldings after, planksheer last; as a result the gallery moulding had to stay long until the planksheer was on. Pietsan kept the kit order, otherwise built from the plans, and trimmed the gallery moulding only after the planksheer. Forum post |
| Coppering # | Three questions before starting: copper the false keel or not, the difference in keel thickness fore and aft, and which glue. | No false keel; sanded the sternpost down at an angle to keel thickness and tapered the rudder; underside of the keel not coppered. Forum post |
| Coppering # | The plates on the underside of the keel were not centred, so port comes out lower than starboard. | Took everything off (came away easily) and started again. Forum post |
| Coppering # | The plates followed straight lines instead of the sheer of the strakes. | Marked out rows following the sheer of a plank, stealer plates at stem and stern, keel and posts horizontal. Forum post |
| Keel # | At its shallowest point the keel is only 1 or 2 mm deep. Also a kit error | Glued on a piece to about 6 mm, exactly one copper plate wide. Forum post |
| Sternpost # | Unclear whether the sternpost should be bevelled and how high the rudder should hang. | Brought rudder and post to the same thickness; rudder level with the keel (Henkl corrected himself). Forum post |
| Coppering # | After restarting several times, well over half the kit's copper plates are used with one side finished. | pietsan sent plates of the same size free of charge (confirmed 16 March 2019). Forum post |
| Waterline # | The first plates along the waterline looked like a 'wave pool'. | Plates off, induction hob as a level base, line drawn crisply with a mechanical pencil at equal distance from keel and wale. Forum post |
| Coppering # | Cutting plates to size with scissors bends them. | Cut with a knife instead of scissors. Forum post |
| Coppering # | At the bow the waterline went crooked after Eduard tried to even out the distances between wale and waterline. | Took the plates off and relaid them along the original waterline. Forum post |
| Coppering # | Port needs nine straight rows to reach the bow, starboard eight. | Not ripped off (that would cost eight layers over half a hull); starboard eight rows at the bow and nine at the stern. Forum post |
| Coppering # | Considerable colour difference between the copper fore and aft. | No varnish, let it age; only remove the glue residue. Forum post |
| Channels # | The chainplates would run across the front of the gunports. | Aft it is correct (they sit above them); forward, shift the channels slightly or angle the chainplates. How to see it beforehand: pietsan put the mast temporarily in its step and stretched a thread from the top to each deadeye slot; where the thread crosses the wale goes a pencil mark, and that is the position of the chainplate (modelbouwforum, 27 April 2015, forum post). Another way out: rameijn bent the chainplates for his Friesland himself from black iron wire because the kit ones ran across the ports (modelbouwforum, 'Stappen om de puttingijzers zelf te maken', 16 March 2025, forum post). And DaveBaxt found that the fore channel on the kit drawing sits slightly too far forward relative to the mast (Model Ship World, 3 March 2023, forum post), which explains why that channel in particular did not work out for us. Forum post |
| Instruction manual # | The manual refers to parts that are nowhere to be found. Also a kit error | Followed pietsan's build log. Forum post |
| Side steps # | The steps of the side ladder are actually half a centimetre longer than measured on the full-size plan. Also a kit error | Removed the rails and shifted the fenders to the right. Pietsan fitted the mouldings first and only then the ladder and the fenders, so nothing needs shifting; the kit (12.2) does it the other way round. He extended the ladder to just above the waterline and painted the steps in the colour of the surface behind them, as the manual (20.5) also says, but afterwards between fenders and mouldings: 'it would have been easier to paint the steps first' (modelbouwforum, 8 April 2015, forum post). Forum post |
| Channels # | The channels had to be moved several times relative to the positions measured from the plan. Also a kit error | Do not follow the manual: first dry fit the mouldings at height, then mark the channels, cut out the moulding and glue it, and only then the channel. Forum post |
| Coppering # | The 1 mm walnut strip above the copper is far too light in colour and catches the eye. | Quickly gave up darkening it (vinegar and steel wool); sawed new strips from the same wood as the hull planking. Forum post |
| Mouldings # | The laser-cut moulding piece along the sternpost is too long: joined to the curve of the rail it sticks out a long way. Also a kit error | Shortened the moulding to match photos in Anatomy of the Ship; the top of the rail still to be trimmed. Forum post |
| Mouldings # | The walnut supplied for the moulding is much darker than the laser-cut moulding. | Made short pieces from offcuts of the laser-cut sheet; one piece went into bleach 'just because it can'. Forum post |
| Head # | There is a gap between the bow and the head grating. | We did not like it and made a new grating anyway that runs through to the bow (two attempts). For looks, then, not to correct a fault. Forum post |
| Head # | The bowsprit gammoning has to be able to pass through the grating. | Made two elongated holes in the grating. Pietsan only discovered it on his own build when fitting the bowsprit and then cut a strip out of the grating, with two tiny strips beside it for strength (modelbouwforum, 20 August 2015, forum post); hence his advice to make the holes straight away. Forum post |
| Catheads # | The five pieces for the catheads mentioned in the manual cannot be found anywhere in the box. Also a kit error | Made them from 5 mm walnut. Forum post |
| Catheads # | Catheads fixed with glue only did not sit well. | Took them off, drove in three nails, a drop of CA on the nails and fixed with PVA. Forum post |
| Head # | The kit specifies 4 mm dowel for the seats of ease, but the hole in the grating is well over 5 mm. Also a kit error | Sawed discs of just over 5 mm from 5 mm walnut, drilled a 2.8 mm hole. Forum post |
| Head # | According to the plan the bumkins run over the seats of ease. | Made a third grating with the holes moved towards the centre. Forum post |
| Head # | The kit only supplied the right-hand decorative pieces for the head and too little decorative strip. Also a kit error | Emailed Cornwall Model Boats; replacement by post, arrived 23 December 2019. Lesson: on receipt, count everything that comes in sets. We were missing ornaments, HMSFly counted 11 instead of 13 iron knees per side, pietsan was two guns short and got a broken topgallant crosstree. Cornwall and Jotika send replacements free of charge, but allow weeks. Forum post |
| Finishing # | Unclear whether hull and deck should be varnished and with what. | Not done yet; the hull is still unvarnished. What we take from it: only varnish once everything that has to be glued is on, because PVA takes badly on varnish (pietsan put his hull in thin water-based matt varnish early and sanded everything above the wale again, modelbouwforum, 5 December 2018, forum post); if you copper, there is no need to varnish below the waterline and never the copper itself; as many thin coats as needed and never one thick one, first on a test piece (Marc w, 23 April 2018, forum post); and try a test piece first, because Admiralty paint and water-based varnish do not always go together (walter de bouwer, 28 September 2015, forum post). Brush, no spray can. Forum post |
| Rudder # | The pintle pins do not stick to the copper and leave too little room. | Cut holes in the copper the size of the pins. Forum post |
| Rudder # | According to the kit plan the bottom of the rudder slopes upward, so a whole copper plate will not fit on it. Also a kit error | Extended the rudder with a small triangle of the same thickness. Forum post |
| Rudder # | Unclear whether nails should go into the pre-punched holes of the gudgeons and pintles. | Nails in; went surprisingly easily. Forum post |
| Coppering # | White marks on the copper despite cleaning with steel wool and white spirit. | Scrubbed everything with fine steel wool and treated with copper polish. Forum post |
| Transom # | The rail on the transom (not in the manual) was hard to clamp. | Bent it with the plank bender and 'sneakily' used CA glue. Forum post |
| Aft port lids # | The aft port lids are missing from the written manual; they only appear on the plan. Also a kit error | Made a template for the openings, made the lids, cut the opening out all round. For the eight port lids on the sides (66), still to do: pietsan was two guns short and therefore kept the aftermost port closed on both sides, with a lid in it (modelbouwforum, 9 February 2015, forum post, and the distribution of the lids on 24 August 2015, forum post); so count your guns before deciding which ports stay open. And his trick for the port lid lanyard without a thick knot: a 12 cm thread through wax, through the eye of the lid, the two ends twisted together, lightly coated with PVA, cut to length after drying and pushed into the hole with a little PVA (modelbouwforum, 'Vaardigheden, tips en weetjes', 3 January 2020, forum post). Forum post |
| Aft port lids # | Unclear whether the hinges belong on the hull or on the lid. | Chose option 3 (hinge entirely on the lid) with small brass pieces against the hull; in hindsight would rather have had them half on the hull. Forum post |
| Gun deck gratings # | A deck beam is in the way of the ladder at the middle grating. | The ladder turned out to belong on the other side; in the end removed the carrier beam and covered the sides with a thin plank. Forum post |
| Gun deck hatches # | The carrier beam under the hatch is in the way. | Removed the beam after all (pietsan advised leaving it and hiding it with veneer) and covered the sides with a thin plank. Forum post |
| Shot garlands # | Unknown how deep the shot garlands should be and how to fix the shot. | Lay the shot in wet varnish; once dry they are held fast. Forum post |
| Head # | The white-metal middle rails are not in line with the upper rails on the hull side. | Accepted: 'All in all still quite pleased'. Forum post |
| Hawse holes # | The hawse holes are below the gun deck, so no cable or messenger can pass through. | Drilled the holes one level higher, made the black hawse piece lower. HMSFly ran into the same thing five years later: his lower rail also came over the hawse hole. Iutar pointed to the dockyard drawing for six frigates including Diana, on which the middle rail also runs over the hawse hole and the cathead is attached to the rail with a curved bracket (the kit's 'lower rail extension' 340, 14.2); HMSFly adopted that solution (Ships of Scale, 27 October 2024, forum post and forum post). So the kit is at odds with itself here, not just us. Forum post |
| Messenger # | Confusion about what a messenger is and how it runs relative to the anchor cable. | Extensive explanation with a drawing and the Victory build log; messenger fitted later after all. Forum post |
| Rope # | The kit only supplies right-hand laid rope; messenger and anchor cable were left-hand laid. Also a kit error | Ordered left-hand laid rope from modellbau-takelgarn.de (2.6 mm anchor cable, 1.6 mm messenger). Forum post |
| Gun deck capstan # | The pillars on the gun deck are in the way of the capstan. | Pillar stays removable (as it was in reality); capstan bars only on the upper deck. Forum post |
| Gun deck guns # | After identical treatment with blackening solution the barrels are uneven in tone. | Left as is; 'in reality they will not all have had the same tone either'. Forum post |
| Gun deck carriages # | The kit nails are ugly (no proper head). Also a kit error | Received 6 mm round-head brass nails from pietsan for the visible parts; kit nails reused as bolts and linchpins. Forum post |
| Gun deck guns # | The guns lack a ring at the breech for the breeching. Also a kit error | Rings of 0.7 mm wire wound round round-nose pliers, later cut into half circles; tip: wind the wire round a drill bit. Forum post |
| Breeching # | The breeching rope ordered (1.2 mm, then 1.3 mm) is too thick and right-hand laid. | Reordered: 1 mm left-hand laid. Forum post |
| Gun deck guns # | Unclear what the flintlocks in the manual are and whether they belong on a ship of 1794. | Only on the visible guns; after Herby63 explained (already in Royal Navy use in 1794) Eduard is considering fitting them everywhere after all. Forum post |
| Tackles # | The standard 5 mm Caldercraft hooks are completely out of proportion for the gun tackles. Also a kit error | 20 sets of Futtock Strop hooks from Cornwall, later even smaller photo-etched hooks from Germany; all 'still a bit large'. Forum post |
| Tackles # | The coiled rope on the deck is too neat as a spiral, and too messy in earlier attempts. | Own method with masking tape, tweezers and diluted PVA. Pietsan rolls such coils on tape sticky side up, coats them with half-diluted PVA and then glues them on the deck (modelbouwforum, 'Vaardigheden, tips en weetjes', 3 January 2020, forum post); on his own site he notes that on English warships the falls of the gun tackles were usually coiled neatly (pietsan.nl, 'vaardigheden 4'). That puts our dislike of the flat spiral in perspective. Forum post |
| Blocks # | Accidentally ordered 2 mm instead of 2.5 mm blocks from Syren; 2.5 mm is sold out. | Self-assembly blocks from model-shipyard.com via Cornwall, put together with his daughter's old craft glue. Forum post |
| Tackles # | Beeswax on the rope ruins the colour of the rope. | Left as is on the gun deck; lesson for the upper deck. Forum post |
| Messenger # | The two eye splices of the messenger had been passed through each other and were jammed. | Redone: eyes separate and joined with a lanyard (two half hitches, alternately through both eyes). Forum post |
| Waist cleats # | Unknown 'riders' or kevels in a photo from pietsan; the supplied material does not look like the cleats. | Pietsan's explanation: the riders are the standards for the kevels on which the main tack and the fore brace are belayed; the rope comes inboard through a sheave in the side, and the kit leaves those sheaves out (modelbouwforum, 6 December 2020, forum post). According to Lees (via AllanKP69) kevel cleats have two sheaves and sit horizontally, kevel blocks vertically (Ships of Scale, 15 December 2024, forum post). Fitted the kit cleats (114 and 115). Forum post |
| Upper deck # | Once the upper deck is glued on, the gun deck is no longer accessible; dust and debris from planking land on the gun deck. | Plank the deck loose first and fit it afterwards (tip: transparency film to cover up). Forum post |
| Upper deck # | The oil-based pencil for the caulking seams has run out and the shops are closed. | 0.15 mm thread as caulking seam (real seams 7 to 9 mm). Forum post |
| Upper deck # | Risk that the loose planked deck warps. | Temporarily glued bulkheads with the correct camber under the deck. Forum post |
| Upper deck # | Because the planks were let in symmetrically, the lines at the waist and forecastle no longer line up. | Accepted as the only drawback. Forum post |
| Upper deck # | The oil for the deck turned out to have gone off. | Ordered Rustins Danish oil; apply a thin coat and rub in. Forum post |
| Upper deck gratings # | The manual prescribes a 2x2 mm coaming, which makes the gratings unnaturally high. | Gratings 1 to 2 mm high with a subtle camber. Forum post |
| Planksheer # | The kit strips for the planksheer (2x4 mm) are too narrow and the walnut strips for the forecastle too short. Also a kit error | Bought bendable 5x2 mm beech strips; bent his own strip in a PVC pipe with water. Forum post |
| Aft rail # | The first self-turned stanchions for the rail were not pretty. | New version modelled on the supplied waist pillars, black. Forum post |
| Upper deck capstan # | The first scratch-built capstan in oak was 'a botch job'. | Redone in walnut after Anatomy of the Ship; the third version of the drumhead with square bar sockets was chosen unanimously. Forum post |
| Upper deck capstan # | The kit's walnut plate under the capstan is a different colour from the walnut of the capstan. | Made his own plate from oak, like the edges of the grating. Forum post |
| Ladderway stanchions # | Stanchions from satay skewers failed ('cheap soft wood'); the kit stanchions are brass pins without any shape. Also a kit error | Thinned down round sticks; later turned walnut stanchions (three attempts). Forum post |
| Ladderway stanchions # | The first stanchions came loose halfway through the model builders' day in Hillegom. | Attempts two and three in walnut, with brass rings from the smallest Caldercraft hooks; a pin point underneath to stick them in. Forum post |
| Ladderway stanchions # | The rope between the stanchions is taut and does not hang realistically. | Wet the rope and put a small weight on it; 'just some water and a weight was indeed enough'. Forum post |
| Mast coats # | According to zu Mondfeld the mast coat consists of separate wedges covered with tarred canvas, so the kit ring is not right. | Trimmed the ring and stretched black fabric over it; later a version with folds modelled on the Victory. Forum post |
| Ship's wheel # | The 1x1 mm walnut spokes break easily and are hard to align. | Ordered cherry, pear and boxwood (edelholzverkauf); method with a pre-shaped blade on the lathe. Forum post |
| Ship's wheel # | Dilemma: the prettier spoke is not to scale (10 cm thick at full size), the spoke to scale is less attractive. | With practice more detail can be worked into the thin spokes; chose the thin spokes. Forum post |
| Ship's wheel # | When freeing it from the faceplate the wheel rim broke in three places. | Next time glue it completely first, then free it with heat (heat gun or hairdryer). Forum post |
| Binnacle # | The binnacle in walnut came out too coarse. | Redone in boxwood with walnut stain. Forum post |
| Ship's wheel # | The wheel in the kit is brass, which Eduard finds 'a bit odd'. | Scratch-built two wheels with ten spokes each, after the Syren PDF and the NRG articles. Forum post |
| 9-pounder carriages # | The kit carriages are veneered walnut and not crisp enough. Also a kit error | Scratch-built in Castello boxwood, milled on a cross-slide table. Forum post |
| 9-pounder carriages # | Milling the first block, the steps came out too deep and the proportions were wrong. | Started again with the necessary precision. Forum post |
| 9-pounder carriages # | Rings of about 0.65 mm diameter for securing the pins are hard to make. | Wind wire round a drill bit and cut; tip: watchmakers' supplies. Forum post |
| 9-pounder carriages # | Because of the higher front axletree the carriage tilts backwards. | Left as is; on the deck the gun should sit roughly horizontal. Forum post |
| 9-pounder carriages # | The chain for the cap-square pin (about 8 mm) is still slightly too big for the scale. | Accepted; a smaller chain could not be found. Forum post |
| Belfry # | The belfry in the kit 'made no sense at all'. Also a kit error | Scratch-built after Anatomy of the Ship, with a moving clapper; version 2 a size smaller and turned a quarter turn. Forum post |
| Belfry # | With its feet the belfry just does not fit on the deck and the beam runs fore-and-aft. | Notched the grating; later made version 2, smaller and turned so the bell can be rung from the deck below. Forum post |
| Carronades # | For the carronade trucks the kit contains a white-metal blob, not real trucks. Also a kit error | Trucks made from two brass tubes (2.4 mm) slid into each other on a 1 mm axle. Forum post |
| Carronades # | On the carronades, rope and blocks one size larger than on the guns were used. | Accepted: 'At least this holds them in place'. Forum post |
| Hammock cranes # | The hammock cranes from the kit are so fragile that almost all of them are broken. Also a kit error | Made his own from 1 mm brass tube around a wooden former. Forum post |
| Plans # | The dog ate sheet 5 (with the belaying plan) and sheet 3 (spars). | Emailed Cornwall Model Boats; sheet 5 was sent on, sheet 3 no longer. The belaying plan is on sheet 5, the braces on sheet 6; both sheets have since been re-photographed and all belaying numbers checked. For sheet 3 we work from the scan of July 2020. Forum post |
| Kevels (kit: cavel cleats 114 and 115) # | It is impossible to tie a rope to the kevels as supplied in the kit. Also a kit error | Modified so a rope can be tied to them. Rigging does indeed lead to them: according to the belaying plan (sheets 5 and 6) the topsail halliards, the main yard lift, fore sheet, spritsail sheet, main sheet and the main brace. HMSFly solved the same thing by gluing the kevels 1 mm off the bulwark so the rope can pass behind; not historical, but workable (Ships of Scale, 17 December 2024, forum post). Forum post |
| Hammocks # | There is no netting in the kit for the hammock cranes, only rope. Also a kit error | Used mesh from a kitchen fly screen; 'I am not that happy with the kit anyway. Most of it I make myself.' Pietsan sewed his netting to the cranes with needle and thread and knotted one himself when his starboard net turned out too small (modelbouwforum, 20 May 2016, forum post). Forum post |
| Hammocks # | No method for attaching the nettings to the horizontal rope. | Used a small whipping and pulled the thread through with a loop. Forum post |
| Hammock cranes # | Dilemma between flat and round (larger) rings in the hammock cranes. | Still under consideration, based on the Victory. Forum post |
| Pin rails and bitts # | The pin rails and bitts will have to take the pull of some 150 belayed lines; we glued them as the manual says, with two 0.7 mm pins per pin rail (20.17). | Checkpoint before rigging. Pietsan fixes bitts with a headless pin in a drilled hole and pin rails with two or three pins plus glue, 'you do not want to think of a pin rail coming loose with all the belayed lines on it' (modelbouwforum, 'Vaardigheden, tips en weetjes', 21 March 2020, forum post); HMSFly drilled 0.7 mm through every pin rail (1.5 mm thick) and pinned them while he could still get at them (Ships of Scale, 16 and 17 December 2024, forum post and forum post). |