Topic: HMS Illustrious.

[Troy Tempest]

Great progress Paul.
Seeing the openings reminds me of Curry lunches on the quarterdeck of HMS Hermes in the Med back in '77

[paul swainson]

Yes I must confess did love the military curry lunches on a Friday night.   Did not have the pleasure of a nice quarter deck in a nice warm country other then HMS Tamra in Hong Kong. 

[Troy Tempest]

Well a stone frigate is better than no frigate...and in Honkers too - very nice

[paul swainson]

At the moment I am planking the quarter deck and lower upper deck ready to confirm the measurements for these deck apertures before I cut them out. All the eight gun turrets have been completed and are now ready for primer and then top coat.  Got hold of some woven fiber cloth to see if it is OK and will do the job.
Photos to follow.

[paul swainson]

The quarter deck has now been planked and the lower upper deck is halfway through waiting on new planks to completed the work.  Once done will be able to measure the hight of all the deck apertures before cutting. 

[paul swainson]

All gun turrets have been completed and primed ready to be painted.  Question, when painting the gun barrels, would the whole barrel be painted gun metal or would it have the same as the turret its self.

[colin]

good question Paul... I have seen both variations.. on the real ships.. and on Models..
so I guess its the modeller's preference 

[paul swainson]

Colin, I was wondering if the ships of my period 1940,s would not have had painted gun barrels.  I have not been able to find a color photo of her during the period after she was built, still looking.  So it may well be up to me.

[paul swainson]

Having confirmed that the deck level on the lower upper deck was correct redraw the apertures and cut them out.  As they are spaced some distance apart the was no problem with cutting them out as long as you take your time.  Once the woven fiber cloths has been applied the support to the sections between the apertures will be stronger. 

[paul swainson]

However when it came to the quarter deck hit a problem when checking the deck high and the positions of the hull beams 21 and 22.  They fell in the middle or to one side of the deck apertures.  As these would have to be cut out and that would leave these sections hanging free and only supported by the planks and the stringers that run the full length of the hull.  Due to the rear section of the hull having a drupe section the strings also break at beam 21.  So had a wee think what can I do to add extra strength to these beams at the top and stop them collapsing down if any weight was placed in this area.  So added three extra support beams running across the under side of beams from 20 to 23.  Once in place have started to cut out the deck apertures.   

[paul swainson]

Quarter deck all cut out and the deck is more or less in place just one or two high spots to file down around the sides to let it lay flat ready for the deck items to be fitted and then varnished.  Think I will fit this before I lay the hull cloth fiber so that the deck is sealed in and water tight.

[paul swainson]

Well I bit the bullet and started to cut out each of the deck apertures.  So I started by laying the upper deck plans running the full length of the hull lining up with the stern and bow.  With the set square I lined up each of the scantlings to ensure I was correct.  With this set of plans in place I then laid the Port view plans on top and then lined them up with the upper lower deck plans so that I had the correct position of all the boat decks corresponding to the quarter deck.  Then with the aid if the set square I marked the vertical lines of each aperture.  Then using my digital Vernier gauge I measured the depth of each deck support beam I had cut out during the manufacture and cutting of each of the scantlings.  This then gave me the deck level.  With the aid of my dividers I measured the height and width for each deck aperture.  I then used a 0.4 mm drill and checked each deck level to ensure I was in the correct ball park.  The end result on the Starboard side is my achievement.  All the deck are just held in place not bonded yet.  Hope you like the end result.

[Troy Tempest]

Looking superb

[paul swainson]

Thanks Troy.  Was worried at first if they would cut OK, and so far they have worked out well.  Will look the part once GRP matting  has been applied.

Paul

[swiftdoc]

You are right Paul, she looks the part I wonder if after applying the matting the epoxy will not rinse into the openings. It might have been better to do the matting before opening the hull? Just a thought. Keep up the good work!