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FlounderFillet5

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Everything posted by FlounderFillet5

  1. Mark, I get what you are saying, and it makes sense. I think I am going to do at least a few more kits before I get into scratch building but I feel like that is where I am headed. I want to get some more experience working with wood before attempting anything scratch. I will likely do a bit of kit bashing with my future kits as well but I don't know what will be of the most use for me. So far on my Phantom build, I have planked the deck and am doing many things like deck houses and whatnot to have more detail than Chuck's practicum that I am using. A disc sander probably would have made the deck planking much easier and more precise but I did what I could with the tools at my disposal. Also, I built a table saw for my Dremel tool in order to cut a new, and much closer to scale, grating for the cockpit which worked well but I figured an actual table saw would have been MUCH more precise. I have also used the saw for cutting strips of boxwood for the bulwark stanchions, ect. Eventually I would love to be able to buy roughly sawed wood or even just a limb of a particular type of wood and be able to mill it to what I need but that will require a band saw and thickness sander and those will come later. The other tool I was thinking about was a lathe because every project will use it for at least the masts, if not other items on the ship and I think it would be cool to make really detailed items like the captain's wheel and whatnot. I am going to edit the opening post to add a lathe to my list. By the way, it is a really tough thing to put the checkbook away! I won't be buying these things until next month anyway but I am just trying to get an idea of what to buy.
  2. Hey guys, So the wife just bought a $900 sewing machine which means I have my own $900 to spend on my hobby. I am trying to decide on what to buy. I am thinking the best way to go is a few tools but am not sure as to what I will get the most use out of. Do you guys have any suggestions? So far I have thought about a combination of a few of the following: Byrnes table saw Byrnes disc sander really any Byrnes tool A cheaper disc sander than the Byrnes one Dewalt 778 Scroll Saw Rattlesnake kit from model expo(currently $136 with paints I think) Proportional dividers( micro mark has what seems to be a nice one) Maybe a drill press to replace my dremel workstation A lathe(probably only a wood turning one so that I am getting more than just one tool like I would probably only get if I went with a metal turning lathe) Can you think of anything else that may be worth looking into? Which items would you buy with $900? I am open to suggestions and would really like to hear some. Also something to note, I just recently aquired an iwata airbrush but I dont really have any power tool other than a dremel and some accessories. Thanks guys!
  3. Just thought I would post an update. I bought a 20 gal craftsman compressor and a separate in line filter to capture water. The setup works quite well with airbrush paint but I am still experimenting with the model expo paint thinned with distilled water. I was able to spray the black paint quite consistently but the white seems to clog constantly. After a little bit of practice I gave painting my Phantom hull a stab and the exterior came out very even despite my less than ideal tecnique. I have yet to pull the tape off of the cockpit where I painted white with the paint that was very difficult to spray but it looks like it isn't bad, probably at least as good as I could expect with a brush. Next I will be painting the inside of the bulwarks but I have to mix some paint to get the cream color and whatnot. Please let me know if you guys have any tips on spraying the model expo paint, I would really appreciate it!
  4. Ok, so I built a little table saw for use with my dremel 4000 to make the grating. I found the plans online, if anyone is interested you can find the instructions here: http://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Tablesaw-Router-Shaper-for-Dremel-rotary-/ Its no Byrnes saw, but it did the job ok. I cut a piece of 1/32" boxwood. Then cut channels doing my best to keep them a consistent distance from one another. Each cut is about 1/64" deep in the wood. Next, cut strips in the other direction. Here is a comparison of the difference in size. The kit supplied strips are up top, and the bottom two sets of strips are mess ups that I was testing stain on, trying to match the color of the accent strip which will be used later in the project. The stained and glued grate, just needs to be cut to size but I will wait a little while before doing that. Will need to repaint the cockpit area and apply poly to all the planked surfaces. A reference for size.
  5. Ken, thanks for the idea, I will try that when I get some time. Richard, were you under the impression that model shipways only did solid hull? Here is a link to all of their plank on bulkhead kits, they even have some plank on frame ones in another section. http://www.modelexpo-online.com/search.asp?SKW=cat1_SW%20cat2_b0
  6. Understood. I am sure they were Model-Expo kits. Those are the only ones I look at on their site. The general consensus seems to be that they are single planked, that is what I was trying to find out. Thanks for the info!
  7. Planking Progress: Done! Finally, the planking is completely done. The sunken cockpit is planked. I mistakenly didn't cut individual planks for the cockpit so I had to go in and cut small lines in the planks to represent plank ends. I then tried to work some lead into the cracks. Here is the cockpit scraped and smooth. As you can see, I accidentally cut into neighboring planks on a couple of the cuts. I am a little disappointed with the results of this fix but I think it will likely not be too noticeable once the model is complete, though I will know the errors are there. Test fitting the aft deck house to make sure everything fits well and it does. Next, I will be trying to cut new strips for the cockpit grating. The kit supplied grating is grossly over-sized.
  8. I thought they may all be single planked as well but I noticed some of the comments on the website say they received the kit and it is double planked. I noticed that on a couple different models but don't recall specifically which ones.
  9. Hey guys, I was just wondering which of the model expo kits come with double planked hulls? I am currently building the Phantom and will buy a POB kit next but I would prefer if it was a double planked hull so I can cover up some of my mistakes that will surely be plentiful. I have the Benjamin Latham on my shelf waiting to be built but I don't know if it is double planked or not, does anyone know? Thanks in advance for your help guys!
  10. Build update: The aft deck is scraped and looking good. Last bit of planking is the sunken cockpit which should not take too long. Then, it is on to something different. I know what you are thinking... "Thank God, the repetitive planking updates are almost over!" lol Pictures!
  11. Thanks guys, Frank, great link! I am learning a lot for that site already. John, I am excited to start playing around with it. I am in the middle of a Phantom build and might just have to repaint the hull or something... lol Jay, that is good to know, I will be sure to practice a bit before spraying anything important. Do you know if the Model Expo acrylics are decent for airbrushing? I imagine they would take a great deal of thinning because they are often quite thick.
  12. Hey guys, David, Tom, Adam, and Richard: Thanks for the kind words and thanks for following along. The aft deck planking is done, all that remains is the sunken cockpit decking and it will be done. The aft deck still needs to be scraped but I think it turned out well, although not without its flaws.
  13. Hey everyone, So I just purchased this iwata HP-C airbrush from a garage sale. I paid $40 for it and they claim it has been used once. Looks to be in great condition and came with an air hose and some solvent for cleaning. I was just wondering if anyone can shed any light on this airbrush as I have never used one before, in fact, I still have yet to purchase the compressor which I have been meaning to buy. Here is the brush in its box. The markings on the brush are: iwata HP-C JAPAN CJ What can you tell me about this brush? Is it single or double action? What do these normally sell for new? I could only find the HP-C PLUS online, not the regular one. Is this a quality airbrush? Are there any major limitations? I'm sure there is other useful info that I don't even know to ask about. Thanks in advance guys!
  14. A quick update: The aft deck planking has been coming along nicely, though it is time consuming. The planks have been bending easily without the need to do anything extra to them, thankfully. Below are a couple pictures of the progress so far. Now is the time to decide whether a king plank is the way to go or just have the planks meet in the middle in a criss-cross or zig-zag fashion.
  15. Hey guys! Hamilton, welcome to my build log and thanks for the encouragement. So far I have been happy with how the build is turning out, although I am probably one of the slowest ship builders around haha. If you have pictures of your Phantom, I would love to see the finished product. Also, if you do end up restoring yours, start a build log as I would be very interested in seeing a model come back to life after needing some TLC. In case you aren't already aware, there will be a POB version of the Phantom coming out sometime in the, hopefully near, future. I finished scraping the fore deck and the boxwood is really showing its colors now. I need to repaint the inner bulwarks but I will wait until I am done with the aft deck planking before doing that. All the decking will be getting a coat of polywipe satin(I think I have the satin version). I test fit the deck house again and it still fits. A photo of the scraped deck.
  16. Progress update: The fore deck planking is done and it has been partially scraped with a razor blade to smooth it out and get rid of lead and extra glue. The area that has been scraped already looks really nice with the nice boxwood color. Although the planking job isn't perfect, I am satisfied with it as a first attempt at any kind of planking. I plan on just covering up some of the imperfections later with decorative items like rope coils and the like. Here is a photo of the completed fore deck planking. Once the deck scraping commenced. This is one of the errors in the planking. At this scale, any gap is significant and quite noticeable, at least to the builder... lol Next up will be the aft deck and, thankfully, that will not require any plank joggling. Instead, the planks will be bent so that the follow the lines of the waterways. Hopefully, this will prove easier and less time consuming than plank joggling, I cringe at those words!
  17. Welcome to the forum! If you are looking into a POB model as your first kit, I would recommend the Willie Bennett, it is currently going for $79 on ModelExpo-Online.com if you use code BANG13. That is one I have been eyeing for my first POB kit because of it's relative simplicity. Another one I could nudge you to do is the Benjamin Latham but that is only because I have that one on the shelf and am dreading doing it because there are almost no build logs or anything of it, just some photos of the beautiful completed model. With regards to the kits that come with paint and tools, in my opinion, stay away from them. The tools were sub par at best; I think you would be much better served by purchasing a good set of exacto knives and a set a tweezers and go from there. I have just been purchasing tools as I need them and it has filled out my collection slowly over the course of this build. As for the paints that come with the kits, they are not the full paint sets that you can buy in the paint section, at least not for the Phantom. For the Phantom, the kit came with 4 different paints but the paint set in the paint section comes with 6 different paints, just thought I would point that out. Whichever model you choose, keep at it and start a build log, the members of this forum are very knowledgeable and willing to help. Not to mention we could use more build logs at this early stage of the rebuilding process of this forum.
  18. My gosh, this deck planking is slow going! I'm not sure if I approached it the right way by doing the easier inner planking first and then leaving the planks that joggle into the waterway for last, but it is working out okay. It is just very mentally straining because every plank requires a ton of concentration to cut right and then get a matching notch in the waterway to accept it. Like I said, it is VERY slow going. Here is where I stand currently. I would say I am about 1/3 done with the planks that require joggling.
  19. More deck planking progress... It's time consuming but enjoyable! I am waiting to put in the waterways and the planks that will joggle into it. Hopefully I'm not shooting myself in my foot by leaving that for the end but I have it in my mind that I will be able to just drop in the last planks like puzzle pieces... we will see.
  20. Hey guys, I started the dreaded task of planking the deck... It has been going pretty well, but it hasn't been without hiccups along the way. Overall, I am pretty happy with the result. It is definitely time consuming though! In this picture you can see some error between the top two planks. Basically I installed the plank on the top but there was a bit of a gap between it and the plank to its left. I tore that plank out and installed a new one, but while taking out the original plank, I slightly damaged the planks below it so now there is still a little bit of gap there. It might be something I will be able to cover up with ropes or something later on. Or actually, it may be mostly covered up by the fore mast and the ventilator. Time will tell. Now to go start smoking a brisket for tomorrow's dinner... yum!
  21. By the way, I wanted to mention that the boxwood I am using for this project is from HobbyMill. Everything came very well milled and precise. Jeff offered great customer service and really helped me choose the best wood for the project and I can't speak highly enough of what good customer service he provided, which is extremely difficult to come by these days. Just to be clear, I am not affiliated with HobbyMill in any way other than being a very satisfied customer, I will definitely be using them again for future projects. I started playing around with different options for adding in caulking between the planks. First, I tried using a sharpie to color one long side and one short side of each plank. The results weren't bad, but the marker ink seeped into the wood a little causing it to be a little less than ideal. I was going to go with this method originally. A photo of the sharpie boards (top) vs boards with no simulated caulking. At the time, I thought it was an acceptable result and tried to mark the boards five at a time. The results were really sloppy and the boards definitely needed to be tossed. I have seen this method work quite well for others but not so much for me. I'm not sure if it was because of the small scale of this project or what. I then tried using my wife's sketching pencil . This produced good results but the lead or graphite or whatever this pencil is made out of it quite hard so it takes a good bit of time to get each board well marked. The sharpie boards are on top in this picture and the penciled boards are on the bottom. I think the pencil makes for cleaner lines and there is no seepage. I expect the pencil to be a bit messy when laying the planks but a razor blade slid across the surface should clean things up nicely and quickly.
  22. Hey everyone, checking in. Thanks Richard! Welcome to my build log. I built a jig for cutting the deck planks. It has produced nice, repeatable planks. Each plank is 1/16" x 30mm and 1/32" thick (Sorry for both US and metric measurements lol). That roughly scales up to 6" x 9.5' which I thought would be reasonable in real life, although I have no idea how long deck planks ran on average. Also, each strip of boxwood that I have produces 20 full length planks and one 11mm plank which I bet will come in handy when I need to add shorter planks for the joggling in the waterway or when I run into the baseboards for the deck fixtures. Guide lines for laying the fore deck planking. For some reason I could not get a good clear photo of this.
  23. Nice, I just changed my camera setting... hopefully it will be a similar size and not require editing or compression.
  24. Thanks Wayne! I'm glad that a lot of the guys I followed before are still around and came over to this new site. Let us help build this forum into an updated wealth of knowledge!
  25. Hey Adam! Good to see you lurking like the old days haha. I got a little bit of work done. I painted the hull and deck fixtures again and for the most part, everything looked good after one coat so it wasn't too bad. I was happy that I repainted the inside of the bulwarks too because I got a more desirable cream color that the first time. I mixed some white paint (MS4831) with a tiny bit of bulwark brown (MS4817) and it came out nice. I didn't take a photo of the paint job since it looks almost identical in pics to before and you will see it in other photos. I installed the baseboards for all of the deck fixtures and I will lay the deck around the baseboards. I can't remember where I found it but I recall reading somewhere that on real ships this is more or less the way they did it. Hopefully it won't prove too difficult to get nice fitting plank boards that fit snugly against the baseboards. I was test fitting the deck fixtures to make sure everything was nice and snug and it also gave me a good idea what it will look like once installed. You can also see the hull paint job in this photo... just standard black (MS4830). A closer view. The skylight might need a little work because that photo really accentuated the flaws in the paint on that one. I think I can easily use a razor blade or exacto knife to trim the wood smooth and then paint over it. Hope you guys like the pics and progress! I think I am going to have to start the deck planking next which is something I have been dreading since before I stopped working on this build months ago. Btw, I found the camera so hopefully these pics are a little better than the smartphone ones.
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