Pic 52:    The tenon cannons have now been fitted. If you were careful drilling the mounting holes, the cannons should all be in the centre of their ports and pointing in the same direction. I positioned mine pointing up slightly as it seemed to look better. Spend some time sighting along the ship's side to make sure they're all at the same angle and projection. Remember to align the gunport lids too, as small discrepancies really show.     

All the deck fittings are now on, and I'd suddenly realised that some of the deck cannons don't fit through the ports. Doh! The front four ports were too low, whilst the rear six were too high. If this happens to you, there's nothing for it but to butcher the carriages you have just lovingly made and adjust them up or down. To lower the carriage, slice off the top step and cut replacement steps into the remainder so there's still the same number of steps, but shallower. To raise carriages, pull off the axle/wheel assemblies, fit a piece of walnut plank underneath and re-glue the axles under that. If it's still too low, as some of mine were (the slope of the deck doesn't help) raise the top steps with walnut strips.

12 carriage-mounted guns, six per side, sit on the main gun deck and have to be positioned to aim squarely through their ports. In some cases the formers were right next to the sides of the ports, and thus obstructed the carriages because their wheels project. The only fix was to remove the front axles and wheels so the affected carriages could fit against the formers. This lowers the front of the carriage, but the gun can be tilted to correct this, and from outside no-one would know.

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