James H

Nowt wrong with that! 👍

Very soon I'm just adding sails and finishing her now.

Really looking forward to seeing more of this one!

That really is looking beautiful. Every single aspect....

When I worked with plastic models for magazine work, I rarely primed.....whether I used lacquer, acrylic or enamel. My only reason for primer was because I was using MDF for some parts, so I just blanket airbrushed all parts in that assembly.

1:64 Fifie Fishing Boat, 'Lady Eleanor' - KIT PREVIEW Vanguard Models **Coming soon** To be released at the same time as the Vanguard Models' 1:64 Zulu fishing boat, reviewed HERE, will be the traditional sail version of the Fifie. Again, this kit is aimed at the beginner, but with materials and detail that will appeal to the more experienced modeller too. Having more or less built the Zulu, I can tell you that I had great fun doing so! The kit will be supplied with lime planking for the first layer, and pear planking for the second, as standard, plus pear for the keep and numerous other elements such as inner bulwark facings and superstructure parts. Timber quality is excellent throughout, as are the fittings etc. As with Zulu, this Fifie was shipped to me without the plan sets which are currently being worked on, and without the box or instructions. This kit I have here will be built for the instruction manual you will be provided with. The Fifie contains: 2 x 3mm MDF sheets 2 x 1mm pear sheets 1 x 2mm pear sheet 1 x 3mm pear sheet 1 x 2mm acetate sheet 1 x 0.8mm ply (single part) 1 x 0.7mm maple or lime wood laser cut/engraved deck (lime is standard) 1 x 0.4mm PE sheet Timber strip Rigging cord, parrel beads, rigging blocks MDF sheets Two 3mm sheets are supplied, and as you can see, these also include engraved bearding lines etc. All parts are laser engraved with numbers too. Cutting is clean and it won't take more than quick knife cut to release the various elements. You will also see parts for the winch, temporary clamps for the keel, and superstructure core parts. Note that the bulkheads have a recess into which the deck will click, meaning no pesky nailing down at the edges. 2 x 1mm Pear sheets These sheets contain superstructure external facings, inner bulwarks in two parts each, and also keel facing parts. After the main keel is fitted, these sit on top, with tabs to locate them. This creates a rebate into which the second layer of pear planking will set. It's a neat idea and worked great on my Zulu. Note the 'Lady Eleanor' plates that fit on the boat's bow. 1 x 1.5mm pear sheet This small sheet just contains the timberheads for the inner bulwarks. 1 x 3mm pear sheet Like Zulu, the Fifie has a single sheet of 3mm pear. Here you will find the keel parts, foremast step and crutch, rudder, and elements for mounting the boat's wheel etc. 1 x 2mm acetate sheet This model also comes with a clear acetate display stand. Just peel off the protective blue film and slot together! 1 x 0.8mm ply (single part) The deck is supplied in two layers with this ply deck being what you glue to the hull carcass. Like my Zulu, this will just click into place nicely. I even added glue after this was fitted! 1 x 0.7mm maple or lime wood laser cut/engraved deck My kit was supplied with a maple deck which is at a slight extra cost to the standard kit. A laser-engraved limewood deck is standard. 1 x 0.4mm PE sheet One sheet of PE is included. Here you will find parts for the winch (plates, mechanism box and whelps), rigging points, boat wheel and keel plate for the bow. Timber strip All timber is high quality. Here you will find both layers of planking and the rubbing strakes. Rigging cord, parrel beads, rigging blocks 0.25 and 0.5mm natural cord is included, as are the various blocks and fittings etc. Please excuse the inaccurate number of blocks in these photos are my Zulu blocks are also in there and not yet separated. Optional sails If you want to finish your fisher with sails, and they do look great on this type of model, then they will be available as an optional extra. These are cotton-based and pre-made with a bolt rope etc. Lastly, here's a photo of Chris's prototype Fifie. I'll be starting mine tomorrow.

Welcome to MSW, Romulus. You'll love the Santa Maria. That was one of the first models I built and you shouldn't find it too difficult. The Lady Nelson and the other Amati/Victory Models kits were designed by @chris watton so hopefully you'll be able to follow this up with one of those too, or one from his new range. Time to hunker down while this virus thing is raging. Hope you have plenty of toilet paper 🤣

If you mean on the winch, then you don't really need to. I rarely prime metal, but as I was also wanting to seal/prime the MDF discs, I also sprayed the brass parts.

You should give it a try. You'll love it.

This is what I used:

Ok, this is the last update before I start making the masts. The hull is now complete. First up, I fit the roof to the main superstructure. This is a single, laser-engraved piece, and I glue with CA gel because of the slight curve across the grain. This takes about 10 seconds with Gorilla Glue CA gel. This isn't too bust a deck, but the details are very nice. Aluminium tube is supplied to make the two stacks. One of these is cut and glued back together at an angle before they are both airbrushed in satin black paint. I don't know what the other little item is, but it was fun to make! Whilst the pear and maple deck look great, it has a real warmth to it when a light coat of matt polyurethane varnish is applied. I do the first layer mostly with a brush, but them an airbrush is used for the final couple of light coats, especially in those areas where things are a little hard to reach, like the areas around the timberheads. I'm also careful not to get any varnish into the foremast step as this is suited to fit the mast quite tightly. The bow also has this plate. I could've blackened it for more realism, but for the purpose of this build for the kit box art, I thought I would leave it bright as it's quite attractive. Nails are also cut down somewhat and applied into the holes I marked and drilled. The last of the MDF core is now hidden under the superstructure as it's now finally glued into place with CA gel. I have also added the PE eyebolts to the cargo hold lids, plus other roof details such as the mast crutch. Some edges have been left in char simply for the contrast with the rest of the timber. One thing (amongst many) that I like about this kit is the superb winch! Two laser-cut discs hold the whelps, and these are flanked with PE discs. The winch box is a PE-plated piece of MDF. The whole lot takes minutes to build. Tamiya paints were used to paint this. The rudder is now rigged to the steering box and the wheel added. Here's the finished hull. Onto masting and rigging now!

What a beautiful vessel. I like that very much.

What a great looking vessel. I like that system of deploying the gun.

About 2 months, give or take. you shouldn’t have tax problems with Brexit as the UK’s transition period is until the end of year. All current arrangements stay in place until at least then.

Hi Richard, You'll find this one a dream, and there will be plenty of help for you here with it. Any questions, then I'll do my best to answer them for you.

That's pretty much where this is pitched, but interesting enough a subject to appeal across the board. Nice to see such a kit with pearwood as standard too. The maple deck will be an option, and lime is standard.

No, that's just the 10s timer mode. Cheers. It's a lovely kit. Very intuitive.

A busy couple of days in the workshop, but taking full advantage of the government's new isolation rules. First up, I slotted the stand together but left the protective film on it so I didn't scratch it. I really don't recommend you do this as it was extremely tight and I don't know how breakable this is. The reason for slotting this was because I wanted a cradle that would hold the hull evenly whilst I added the waterline. The waterline also doesn't run parallel to the bottom of the keel either. My Amati waterline tool was now given its baptism of fire. Masking tape was cut into thin strips and laid along the outside of the waterline. The rest of the model was then totally covered so no overspray could happen. Plastikote's Red Oxide primer was not applied to the underside of the model, in several light coats, building it up gradually. It's pretty important that you make sure that the planks aren't popping out with their gaps with this on, so I used some wood filler first and sanded back, checking the hull against the light to make sure as few lines as possible could be seen. I left the primer to cure overnight and then carefully masked off the whole area. From there, more thin strips were used to create the bootstrap. This took a few attempts to get it even on both sides. A couple of whisky were definitely needed after that! Again, the remainder of the hull was masked to protect it before matt white spray was applied to the bootstrap and in thin coats. The whole hull exterior was given several coats of interior matt polyurethane varnish which is pretty tough (Ronseal). That was left overnight and when the hull could be handled, I snapped off the tags on the top of the bulkheads, and sanded their remnants flush with the ply deck. This kit will come with an option for a laser-engraved maple ply deck and this is gorgeous! This was now fitted using CA gel. Very little fettling needed to be done for this. I could now move onto adding some detail, and this starts with the timberheads. These are all laser cut, and there are almost 100 of them, added with around 300 spots of CA gel. All these needed doing was a small bevel added to the deck edge to conform to the curve. These are just glued in over the laser engraved bulwark positions. You'll note a few that are shorter. These are to accommodate some platforms which I'll added later. With the timberheads fitted, a sanding stick is used to level them to bulwark height. The laser marks on the timberheads themselves are for the rail which will be fitted in a moment. The timberhead rails are fitted in halves and these perfectly match the engraved marks. It's a real no-brainer! A few clamps are used to hold them whilst the white glue dries. Now the construction of the foremast step/well is built, all in pear wood. I've left the dark laser edge on many parts as I think it really lends itself to the colours of the timber, and breaks things up nicely. That's it for today. More soon!

That looks incredible Can't wait to see this one.

That is impressive! If you haven't uploaded any gallery images, you should definitely add some of your finished images of her.

I seem to remember that I took it to work to use a pillar drill for the main axle of the catapult part. The netted bags with stones are a little tricky and I used quite a bit of PVA on them and repainted the stones in grey.

This is a great kit! Built one myself, many years ago.

You are a brave man taking this on for a first build, but your work looks simply amazing! I am definitely following this one.

Welcome back, Jim. Now....time to open the shipyard for business again

Perma-Grit Tools Perma-Grit Ltd. For purchase and enquiries, visit www.permagrit.com We all know the old adage when it comes to making purchases, ‘Buy well, or buy twice’. That is especially true with regard to buying tools. We’ve all bought things for our hobby which looked great at the time or looked like a bargain. I know that in my case, very few of those purchases were actually money well spent. One area, working with wood, that we all need to buy for, is the sometimes-onerous task of sanding our models. Over the years, I’ve learned that buying good quality aluminium oxide paper is probably a better deal than cheap silicon carbide paper. However, when it comes to specific tools to do the job, one of the best names on the market, and one of the most respected, is English firm, Perma-Grit. This company has built its reputation up over a period of almost 30yrs now, manufacturing Tungsten Carbide grit tools of different grades, by bonding it to steel under extremely high heat, in a furnace. Perma-Grit have sent us a sample of their tools which a modeller could find very useful on the workbench, and I have taken the opportunity to use a small number on my current Zulu fishing boat. Needle Files (different size shafts) In my sample pack were these four needle files. These are the 18cm/5mm shaft, and 14cm/3mm shaft. All Perma-Grit tools are packaged against a card backing and shrink sealed in clear plastic. The rear of the packet also has information relating to the specific product range. The tools you can see here are: 18cm Large Needle File (Round, fine), # LNF-ROUNDF 18cm Large Needle File (Half round, fine), # LNF-HROUND 14cm Needle 3 Square, (medium), # NF-3SQUARE 14cm Needle File, Hand (medium), #NF-HAND Firstly, a little about the grade of grit with these needle files. Files with ‘fine’ grit are classed as an equivalent of UK 320 grit sandpaper. Those with ‘medium’ grit as classed as UK 220 grit sandpaper. The surface of these files is densely packed with grit, and I can’t see any of this coming away readily. Whilst Perma-Grit don’t supply a lifetime’s guarantee, if you feel that any tool from them hasn’t met your expectations, then you are always welcome to let them know of this. Cleaning the surface of these has also been thought of. These files are pretty impervious to most chemicals, so you can use acetone to remove any CA, and Nitromors/paint stripper to remove general debris. Whilst these tools can be used ‘as is’, some modellers will feel more comfortable using a handle, and I’m also one who would feel that I can exercise more control with a handle fitted. To cater to shaft size, Perma-Grit offer these two handles: Handle 3mm collet, # NFH Handle 5mm collet, # LNFH These are simple to use. You just twist the knurled ring to loosen the collet and then slot the file in before retightening. Of note here is that the red handle is hollow and can accommodate quite a lot of the file shaft so you can adjust the file to what suits you best. Sanding blocks, angles, and flat files Sanders come in all shapes and sizes, and so they do from Perma-Grit too. We have three types here, all very different and with a wide range of roles in our hobby. For your info, tools classed as ‘coarse’ have an equivalent UK sandpaper grit of 180. Angle 75 Degrees (coarse), # R-201C Flat File (fine), # F-101 Wedge Block (coarse, fine), # WB140 The Angle sander is an unusual thing. It’s very easy to hold and manipulate, with two sanding faces. This one has a coarse grit, but can also be bought with a fine grade, which, given the shape and possible modelling uses, would perhaps be a safer bet. The Flat File is simple in approach. This is long length of steel with a fine abrasive coating on one side. This could be used for getting the squareness of a freshly planked hull, removing a lot of that waste until you switch to a sanding block or just manual sanding paper. With the Wedge Block, you get something more akin to a traditional sanding block, except in metal of course. Where this differs is that one side of this is fine grit for some nice finishing work, and the other side is coarse. As I’d already done the rough work on my model hull, I took the opportunity to do some fine sanding. The grit on these sure takes off material superbly, and I went very gentle with this. 6.5m Round File (fine), # R-204F If traditional style files feature in your workshop, then this one is very similar to that, being a regular looking round file with an integrally moulded handle. The whole shaft on this is coated in Tungsten Carbide and the handle is very comfortable in the hand as well as being nicely weighted. Rotary tool bits Perma-Grit sent me a small number of their most commonly used rotary tools. All of these have 3.1mm shafts and are compatible with Dremel rotary tool products. The ones I have here are: Rotary Drum (fine, 11mm diameter), # RF3F Rotary Rod (coarse, 4mm diameter), # RF6C Cutting Disc (32mm diameter), # RD2 The Drum tool is as you would expect and very similar in appearance to Dremel except that this doesn’t need to be assembled, nor will it wear out as quickly. Being fine grade, this will be perfect for the hobby, when bevelling bulkheads etc. The Rod tool is exactly that. Tungsten Carbide has been fused to the shaft, enlarging its diameter to 4mm. The one I have here is coarse but can also be purchased in a finer grade. Of course, the Cutting Disc does need a little assembly. All that’s involved is slipping the disc underneath the nut and spring washer, tightening with a small spanner. It MUST be noted the rotary tools running speeds are anywhere from 5000rpm to 20,000rpm, and they are NOT recommended for metal Whilst these tools have been supplied as separates, they can also be bought as sets. If you already have several of these tools, then the sleeves (tool rolls) can be purchased separately. I have two such sleeves here. One is designed for the larger tools, and the other for smaller tools. These are made from red canvas so are rugged, and they are secured with a Velcro fastener. My sincere thanks to Perma-Grit for sending these tools out for me to take a look at for Model Ship World. To buy these and check out the rest of their extensive range, visit www.permagrit.com