Mike Dowling

She's looking great Boyd! Nice score with the sander. 

Nicely done.  This is the first Robert E. Lee that i have seen that is not white with red trim I like the natural look.  Though I rarely go that route.  Bravo!
David B

Well done Mike - a great job.  In reading your log I sense the same frustration that I felt with all the 'fiddly bits' and achieving the tight tolerances that the model requires.  You did well to finish it in four months as it contains a bit more detail than the Amati version that I built, especially on the hull.
There is more than you might think in building the RE Lee but I agree with you - it is well worth the effort.
Roger

Well folks, here she is warts and all !! I can't say I am sorry that she is finished but I do think she looks better than I expected her to. I am very glad I put on the extra railings as I think they make a big difference. The rigging such as it is, is rather minimal but there has been a lot about this kit which has been like that from the start.
 
Despite my best efforts the decks have continued to warp even after gluing and even managed to break some of the glue joints. Without doing a complete rebuild there is absolutely nothing I could do about it so I just have to live with it.
 
I really love the wood finish because of the colours and it does make it very different from the other Robert E Lee builds I have seen. Apart from the lovely pre warped decks etc the biggest challenge of this build for me has been the really tight bending of various kinds of wood and I have learnt a few lessons from it. The only painted bits on her are the windows, doors, railings and funnels,  otherwise it is all varnish.
 
It will not surprise any of you to know that I couldn't recommend Constructo kits to anyone. Having done two now I share others opinions about the poor quality of supplied wood. I had to raid my 'stores' on several occasions. I know Constructo kits are at the cheaper end of the market and now I know why. I shall not be doing another kit from that stable !!
 
My next effort will be another kit from my tried and tested OcCre manufacturer.
 
 

Here goes then, next update.
 
The ventilation deck is now on and in the right place !! I had a senior moment when I first glued it on and managed to get it off centre. So, more soaking to get it off before replacing it correctly.
 
I have also included a photo using a 5p piece to show the 'right angle' bends that this kit requires I can tell you my wood bending skills have been tested with these. I have tried several methods but the way it has worked out has been to soak the wood in really hot water but only for about 15 minutes then bend really carefully using a hand held mechanical plank bender - the one with the blade - very, very carefully. If the wood isn't soaked enough it just snaps, if left too long it gets too soft and the 'blade' goes straight through it. I am very glad to say that with this particular wood I only have four more bends like those to do.
 
Plenty more bending to come for hand rails though with 1mm square bass wood and if I can't do it I will have to resort to styrene. Anyway that is in the future.
 
I have also put in one photo of the 'invisible' paddle wheels !! Someone else said it was an awful lot of effort for things that don't show and I am very inclined to agree with them !!
 
 

Thank you Mark, George, Pat, Druxey, Daniel, Grant and Bob.
 
 
That must be what those guys in white coats knocking at my door want .
 
Well, here are the final pics - she's all complete. Apart from the accident with the mast the whole build went according to plan, and I am very happy with the result. So is my partner - after all, I built it as a present for her :
 

 

 

 

 
  Danny

Hi all, seems like a long time since my last post but thought i would wait till i had something to show . I wanted to make sure i had the deck finished before i fixed the masts so i revisited the cannons and decided to add a simple back tackle , just to take the bare look of it ,also added a few cannon ball racks and think i will leave it at that .
 

 

 
these are made with 2 mm blocks with a hook at one end and a 2mm ring on the deck end  
I now have the 3 masts ready for rigging , i left the top fittings off untill the shrouds etc are fitted which means a lot of the work can be done off ship 
I decided to go with the black seizing on the natural shrouds and am happy with the result but won,t tie anything permenantly untill later in case i need to make a few adjustments 
 

 
the next few pics are of the simple tool i used to keep the deadeyes a constant distance . I have seen several variations on many logs so nothing new ,but they are a must so worth mentioning.
 

 

 

 
Next pics show masts in place although not yet permanent or squared 
 

 

 
I,m sorry my pictures seem to be mixed up at least in the preview , the last 2 were supposed to be of my latest tool purchase , the Proxxon sander . I was thinking ahead to my next build which will probably be an attempt at a Triton cross section and am hoping this will do as a thickness sander as well , time will tell ? I haven,t used it yet but i think it will be usefull 
 

 

That looks really nice Mike. I have just seen your p.m from nearly 1 year ago! Sorry, I have not done any modelling for a while and have only fleetingly looked in on the site. The build looks very good.

Well folks, here she is warts and all !! I can't say I am sorry that she is finished but I do think she looks better than I expected her to. I am very glad I put on the extra railings as I think they make a big difference. The rigging such as it is, is rather minimal but there has been a lot about this kit which has been like that from the start.
 
Despite my best efforts the decks have continued to warp even after gluing and even managed to break some of the glue joints. Without doing a complete rebuild there is absolutely nothing I could do about it so I just have to live with it.
 
I really love the wood finish because of the colours and it does make it very different from the other Robert E Lee builds I have seen. Apart from the lovely pre warped decks etc the biggest challenge of this build for me has been the really tight bending of various kinds of wood and I have learnt a few lessons from it. The only painted bits on her are the windows, doors, railings and funnels,  otherwise it is all varnish.
 
It will not surprise any of you to know that I couldn't recommend Constructo kits to anyone. Having done two now I share others opinions about the poor quality of supplied wood. I had to raid my 'stores' on several occasions. I know Constructo kits are at the cheaper end of the market and now I know why. I shall not be doing another kit from that stable !!
 
My next effort will be another kit from my tried and tested OcCre manufacturer.
 
 

The rest of the photos for now

Yes, I know what you mean, there is 700 little men below deck but the planking hide them too. Funny though, make an error and everyone sees it. Which to be honest for me is very helpful, somethings you don't notice when your working on it, until a third party points it out. Then its oh yes, of course 
 
Just a pic or two to help anyone out.

If it is of interest, OcCre do a cross section of the Santisima Trinidad (which I am building at the moment) and also a full size model at the same scale of the same boat. I am a big fan of OcCre kits as their quality and instructions seem better than most. Hope this is helpful.

You may find in quite a few cases that some of your best work will be covered up at a later stage ,remember this when rigging the cannons ?Only consolation is you know it,s there . Still lookin great !!!!!

If it is of interest, OcCre do a cross section of the Santisima Trinidad (which I am building at the moment) and also a full size model at the same scale of the same boat. I am a big fan of OcCre kits as their quality and instructions seem better than most. Hope this is helpful.

If it is of interest, OcCre do a cross section of the Santisima Trinidad (which I am building at the moment) and also a full size model at the same scale of the same boat. I am a big fan of OcCre kits as their quality and instructions seem better than most. Hope this is helpful.

If it is of interest, OcCre do a cross section of the Santisima Trinidad (which I am building at the moment) and also a full size model at the same scale of the same boat. I am a big fan of OcCre kits as their quality and instructions seem better than most. Hope this is helpful.

Sorry. It seems I missed the balsa part. Both Boyd and Keith are right about its strength, or lack of it. 
It sounds strange to me that you say plywood is not available in your town, when it is a product so widely used in an enormous amount of projects. 
 
Anyway, if you are going the double plank method, my I suggest you put the planks underneath running from port to starboard, running the width of the ship. This will increase the strength when you put the upper planks perpendicular to them, running the length of the ship.
Am I clear? 

Hello GG. I think this will do. Remember that all the imperfections can be covered with the planking. 
Believe me... I know what I'm talking about. 
 
Best regards
 
Ulises

Hello. You can glue all the frames you want, as long as you have enough tools to keep all of them properly aligned.
 
Wait at least overnight BEFORE removing the alignment tools, though.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Ulises

Welcome GG to the A.L. Bounty club.  I'll be watching your build and maybe from time to time can offer some good advice.  At this point all I can add is that you've gotten great advice from the others and I agree with it all.

Good to see you started a build log.
 
This is a critical step in the build as others have said, so take your time making sure the frames are square to the keel as well as checking the vertical alignment.  Then check the top of the frames for being level across the width of each frame (use a level).  
 
Unlike the stronger bulkhead type, these frames are very flexible as Keith mentions prior to laying all the decks so special care must be taken. 
 
Once I had the whole frame dry fitted (all the frames prior to gluing) I set both the lower and middle decks in place to help check alignment of the frames.
 
As I was gluing each frame up I continued to check the tops of each frame with my level.  This is important to be sure your main deck will flow evenly over the top of all the frames.   I also laid the main/top deck across all the frames to see how it looked to my eye. 
 
I totally agree with Keith that you can use the lower deck to help align the frames (and use the middle deck as well).
 
Good luck with the build   
 
 
 
Here is are a couple of pictures of my frames as I glued them up (using squares and blocks, as well as a level across the tops of each frame as they were glued up.  

Hello.
This was my third wooden ship. Unfortunately the old log was lost. 
As mentioned before, get a metal square like in these photos (of another ship, but the procedure is the same), so you make sure all your frames are exactly at 90' deg. against the keel.

It was a long time since I built this kit, but I seem to remember that the frames were very flexible until the lower deck was installed. I suggest you dry fit the lower deck and see if it pulls the frames into alignment. Use it as a guide for further frames. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT that the frames are aligned, all sorts of trouble awaits you further down the build if they are not! 

Thank you for your Interest Antony!
 
Well, due to usual summer activities not much happend in the shipyard since the last update, but now the Bounty is back on the work bench.
I'am still busy with hull fairing and sanding, although the Frames were preshaped it is a lot left to sand.
A few Frames are undersized, don't know why, might be paper distortion from the copys or carelessness from my side. Anyway, got to fix those spots  with adding woodstrips and sanding.
 
Hopefully it will be done in a few days.....

Hi Udo.
Any updates on this amazing build.
I am getting withdrawal symptoms
 
Regards Antony.