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myxyzptlyk2003

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Everything posted by myxyzptlyk2003

  1. It is now very obvious that the instructions included with this kit, for the most part, do not correspond to the actual kit. At some point in the past, maybe Mamoli had a different HMS Prince kit but they failed to update their instructions for this one. This build was always going to be difficult due to the size but the lack of correct instructions will make it that much harder. In the 2nd to last picture above you can see the plywood side strips that are to be applied. The instructions make no mention of these strips. And the cross section diagrams would seem to make this a traditional double planked model. while totally ignoring those plywood pieces. The parts list does not mention those plywood pieces. There is only one diagram showing the plywood strips applied. There are definitely not enough strips of any type of wood to allow for double planking. I am now soaking those plywood strips as there is a severe bend at the bow. A dry fit of those strips does show that notch on the bulkheads is indeed the beginning of using the regular wood strips for planking the lower section of the hull. I am disappointed in Mamoli over this. In the past I had built many Mamoli kits and never had any issues.
  2. I don't use them. My ship modeling area is only used for ship modeling. The counters have kitchen counter type coverings. In over 20 years they still are clean and without significant cuts.
  3. Now that was interesting. Started gluing all the bulkheads in place and then noticed that the pictures and the instructions did not match what I was actually seeing. It seems the instructions and pictures may have been created when the central framework was all one piece that incorporated the stem, keel and sternpost???. Those features are not on the piece provided in the kit. Nor are they mentioned anywhere in the instructions. (see the picture above). I did find those 3 structures laser cut on a separate piece of walnut. I was able to install those pieces without any further issue. Another note. On each bulkhead about half way down there is a "notch". Again, no where in the instructions or illustrations is this mentioned. But it looks to me that as the upper half of the hull is covered in pieces of plywood and not in wood stips, that this notch may be where the first planking actually begins??? The instructions now state to start the first planking and then add the plywood sections. I think I am going to reverse that and see what happens.
  4. My Vanguard Cutter Trial is almost finished so I have dry fitted the bulkheads for the HMS Prince. You can see the relative size of this model against that Cutter Trial. I do have a lot of concern about building in this scale. My biggest issue is probably going to be the painting of the metal fittings. That appears to require some very fine painting. We'll see.
  5. Starboard side wales and railings are now completed. Lots of touch ups to do. Now it's on to the port side. So far, I am very pleased with how this is going and looking. Very nice kit with the exception of the digital only instructions.
  6. 3 wales have been applied to one side of the ship. Here is where the lack of actual plan sheets is a huge negative. The middle wale is the first installed. The only way to determine its position for the whole length is to closely look at the pictures and approximate the location relative to the gun ports. If I had a plan sheet I could measure of the plan. In this case I hope I estimated the location accurately as the other wales are measured from this middle wale. Overall, I think I should be pretty close as the location of the upper and lower wale appear to be equivalent to what is pictured on the box and in the instructions.
  7. Just noticed that you can see the blue difference just below the lower gun port line. A wale goes just below these lower ports and then there will be a strip of black below that wale.
  8. Definitely will be using Royal Blue. Royal Blue appears to be much closer to the box pictures. Not sure if you can make out the difference in these pictures but royal blue is much more "blue". There is now going to be a LOT of painting at this stage. Lots of wales require paint before applying plus I I have the whole port side to do. At least two coats are needed to get it to the point I want.
  9. Although the actual NUMBER of shrouds would be the same the length of them will be much decreased. If I remember right the length of the main mast shrouds on the HMS prince 1/64 was something like 10 inches?? On the 1/`144 they look to be about 6 inches.
  10. I decided to deviate from the instructions again. For the place I am at now, the instructions state to add all the wales and then do the painting. As there are a several rows of wales, for me, it would be easier to paint the wales first and then apply them to the hull. At 72 years old, my hands are not as steady as they once were. Once I am satisfied with the base hull paint, I will add the wales and other outer strips of wood. I now have to decide if I like that deeper blue. The instructions call for Prussian blue which I did use here. But my thinking is that a royal blue would be more pleasing to the eye. I'll think about that for the next week or so before deciding which way to go.
  11. Presently, I am about 1 month out from finishing my Vanguard Cutter Trial. While waiting for any new Vanguard model I was looking for my next project. Note I always have two models going at the same time. My AL Soleil Royal is proceeding nicely but slowly. I've always liked the seventeenth century warships and the Prince would be one of my favorites. I have the old Amati HMS Prince (1/64 scale) in the box. Having built that one in the distant past I know how big it is and given space limits in my house, this 1/144 scale model caught my eye. It looks like the size of the hull is someplace around the Vanguard Duchess model. Given the small scale I do have some concern about working with such small parts. But on the plus side there will be a LOT LESS rigging of shrouds and ratlines! I started my wood modeling hobby about 30 years ago and built many Mamoli and Corel kits. I always found them to be pretty easy to build. This Mamoli kits looks to be pretty similar to what my experience was back then. The wood supplied looks very good as do the laser cut parts. The metal castings are OK. Given the small size the detail on the castings does not come close to the detail on the larger Amati kit. Note the picture of the two figureheads for comparison. It will probably be a month or two before I can add any pictures for this build. Once I get going I will provide more pictures of the kit.
  12. If it is like a number of their other kits, their instructions include only computer generated pictures. Never actual pictures of the model. I had to put the one I was working on back on the shelf as it was impossible for me to figure out what goes where.
  13. Finished the front portion of the ship. It's nice to work on these little details versus the relative monotony of planking.
  14. 2nd planking is now completed and the upper railings are glued in place. Next step will be some more fine sanding. I am now starting to go back in the instructions and complete a few steps that I skipped. I still strongly disagree with AL's order of instructions but it's not hard to mix things up as long as you think ahead to future steps and what can and cannot be changed. I also really like the AL "scraping" tool that you can use to make all kinds of different mouldings as illustrated in the last picture. That moulded piece will be on the front of the ship.
  15. I have the port side finished with the second planking and a light initial sanding. You have to be careful with the sanding as that second layer is soft wood and only 0.5mm thick. But it definitely gives the whole hull a nice smooth veneer. As you can see the port hole defects have been corrected with some more correction coming when the port hole lining is installed. As you can see it worked well to add the stem and keel pieces before this second planking as it allowed a nice tight fit of the planking. Now it's on to the starboard side which will probably take me another 2-3 weeks.
  16. I thoroughly enjoyed building this model. Those Vanguard kits are the best. As you can see from the pictures I have not coppered the hull. I really don't like copper tape. In the past I have coppered the hull of the Caldercraft Victory and that turned out very nicely. In the future if I choose to copper a hull I would use the individual, embossed plates that Caldercraft supposedly has in stock. The ship is presently sitting on top of the case for my HMS Flirt. I have the case on order from Model Expo. Note that case and glass end up costing more than the actual model! (but worth it!)
  17. I've spent the last week opening up all the gunports. I am so glad I opted to do this now rather than after the 2nd layer of planks had been applied. Given all the sanding that I did before this step some of the planks were quite thin and did splinter upon cutting open the port. Now I will be able to correct this when I apply the second layer. My next step is to do the second planking on the forward part of the hull and the stern. Then on to the overall second planking taking special care to get the gun ports correct.
  18. Thanks for the review. Coming from you, I can put total faith in your comments. I am currently building AL's Soleil Royal and the two kits are so very similar. Although I do question why AL chose to make the ST a single plank model whereas the SR is double planking. For me with my modeling skills a single plank model almost puts it off my list of kits to do.
  19. The first planking has been completed, filled and sanded. As stated above I am now going to deviate from the plans and place the gunports by using the template and carefully drillilng/cutting out the openings. Upon further reflection before adding the second layer of planking I will need to finish off the forward bulkhead. After that is completed I will add the stem, keel and sternpost before starting the second planking.
  20. Looks like I have about a week of getting the first planking completed. As I review the instructions I think I need to deviate some from them. After the first planking they show a few deck pieces and railings installed but once I start the second planking I am sure I would be knocking those off a number of times. So I will avoid adding any deck structures until all the planking is completed. The instructions also show a lot of the second planking being added and THEN you take the template for the gunports and cut those out. I am going to finish the 1st planking and THEN I will cut out the gunports before any second planks are added. It seems to me that I can correct any minor issues with the ports with the second planking. Plus I won't have to cut through two layers of planks. Also prior to the second planking I will add the stem and keel pieces and then do the second planking. That will allow a snug fit of the planks against those structures. The instructions state to add those pieces after the second planking is completed. Once I get the first planking completed and sanded and smoothed down I will add some pictures.
  21. The attached photo shows a VERY rough first planking of one side of the model. There has been minimal sanding at this point with a much more complete sanding to follow. It's a slow process even using superglues. There are a LOT of planks to install. While going over the many, excellent build logs I see lots of people struggling with the laying out of the first planking with many attempting several bands of planks and doing all kinds of measuring. I know there are many methods to planking but I see that AL in their illustrated instructions does their planking without all the calculations and positioning others attempt. The instructions just state to work your way down and once the curve of the hull becomes excessive you go down to the keel and work up. The last plank requires a fair amount of shaping but it works. It's possible that AL does it this way since the whole model will be painted and there is no need to show planking details.
  22. The 1st third of the initial planking is completed now with some rough sanding done. To my eye, it's looking really nice. According to the instructions I should be able to get 9 or 10 full width planks to go around the bow before I have to start tapering. After the first planking the instructions state to start adding the deck grating even before the second planking is done. Not sure I will do that at that time. So far, the quality of this kit is right up there with the best. I do not look forward to having to cut out all the gun ports. This first planking is a fairly hard wood. Looks like I need to buy another 100 knife blades.
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