Usgecko
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Next stage of my build - having read that everyone seemed to have issues with the stern timbers breaking I decided to replace these with plastic I photocopied the sheet of wood with the stern timbers on them, then used the photocopy (glued to plastic sheep using white glue) as a template. Needed three cut out from the sheet plastic for each timber. Fun! These are the timbers before final cleaning and tidying up. That was accomplished through frequent comparison to the wooden originals. It seems whenever I start something with this model I start with a larger piece of wood plastic, then many hours later end up with a really big pile of sawdust/wood shavings and a much smaller finished piece!
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Mike & Steve, Thank you for the comments - food for thought for sure. Given lack of historical detail I am possibly inclined to build as per instructions maybe with reduced number of cabins - choice of this ship to build was down to my wife being from Erie PA and she is familiar with seeing the Niagara on Lake Erie. Please keep any comments/suggestions coming. I was planning on getting rope from Syren - suspect that will be a hit to the wallet. I want decent rope because it is the rigging stage I am aprehensive about so investing in better quality rope may help! Stuart
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Hi Mikie - appreciate the input. Do you have any suggestions for good readings on the historical background to the Niagara. My initial inclination was to build per the instructions but info on how to backdate it to the original ship would be great to review. Thanks Stuart
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Installed all of the bulkheads Additional bracing between bulkheads just to keep everything in alignment and remove any flexibility, figured it would also help if I need to make additional adjustments to the edges of the bulkheads to smooth everything out. Also added are the additional fillers between bulkheads B - C and C- D. Hollowed out notches for timbers in the filler in front of bulkhead A Next - moving on to the stern where I am going to replace the timbers that everyone says breaks with laminated plastic sheets
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Working on bulkheads and shaping the front filler block attached to bulkhead A before attaching this to the hull Plan is to add additional filler blocks between bulkheads B-c and C-D also. These will be from balsa wood sourced from hobby store
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On to attaching the bulkheads. All were shaped, according to the plans, before attaching. Following someone else;s suggestion I had some L shaped aluminum extrusions laying around and I sawed those up to provide a right angle to try to keep the bulkheads square. I also marked the center line of each of the bulkheads to try and get them aligned correctly. Had one misstep which required used of vinegar to soften the wood glue before re-attaching it more precisely.
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On to the hull. Following a lot of advice/suggestions/good ideas I have seen on other builds - thanks to all those that have provided logs on the Niagara! Decided to cut the rabbet before gluing the keel parts together A little filler over the joins. The rabbet may be made a little deeper after I have attached the bulkheads
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First I decided to work on the stern boat: Found some great Dremel attachments to hollow out the bread and butter kit parts - held them up against a light frequently to make sure I didn't go too far in removing material. Used Bondo car filler to smooth out the hull Decided to use plastic strip for the ribs etc on the inside Instructions indicated that the hull of the stern boat was of lapstrake plank and I elected to use thin plastic strip for that - below is painted And the completed stern boat (aside from oars that I will build later)
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Good day! This build log will cover the second wooden model ship I am tackling, after the Drakkar Amati. Unlike the Drakkar I decided to do a build log of this. Why the Niagara - two reasons: My wife is from Erie PA where the reconstructed Niagara can be found, and thought that this should be my next build - who am I to disagree especially as she purchased the kit! I like the lines of the ship and it is simpler than other multi deck models out there Pictures of in progress build to follow - I have been working on it for a few weeks now making steady progress as work and other things allow - happy for all comments/suggestions Stuart
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The fit of the head timbers (hopefully that's the right name - was from the instructions 🙂 ) was, umm atrocious! No problem that's why they call it modelling. I attached the head timbers in the middle first, let that dry thoroughly then the front, then the back. Drilled a hole at the back and slid some plastic rod in before gluing to give some stability to it. Would be curious if earlier boxings of Revell's kit were a little ;cleaner".
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In the process of trying to tidy up a couple of areas at the bow where the molds on each side of the hull were a little mismatched. The white areas are plastic tubing I had inserted where the original molding holes were. Then drilled to get better alignment between the molding on both sides.
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USS Constitution - alignment and rake of masts
Usgecko replied to Usgecko's topic in Nautical/Naval History
Thank you both -
I have tried to find an answer online but to no avail. my question is are the three masts on the Constitution parallel to each other. Follow up would be is there a rake to the angle of the masts. Thank you for any insights. Stuart
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Is there any documentation of the Captain’s Quarters in its 1812 configuration. What I am curious about is paint colors, if there was any covering on the floor etc. Thanks Stuart
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As I am building the Constitution as depicted in Corné's painting I had to do something about the Revell kits window panes. The model has simple 2 * 4 panes in each window frame, Corné clearly shows 3 *2. To remedy this I cut out the horizontal bars in the kit widows leaving only the vertical bar in the window. I then gently open up the height of each window frame at the top and bottom, while avoiding damaging the vertical bar. Two thin plastic strips were then glued across the back of each window frame, and to give more depth to the newly added bars 4 pieces of the same size of strip were cut and glued to the outside of the added bars. Pictures below of inside view (partial only to show haw the added bars are glued to the inside), and outside view.
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Well, after something of a break, and with colder weather I have resurrected my building efforts. Wanted to get my head back into it by working on something fairly small so I decided to scratch build the Brodie stove. Somewhat pointless maybe because I will never really see it when it's installed!
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Minicraft 1:350 Plastic, Centennial Titanic kit.
Usgecko replied to S.Coleman's topic in Plastic model kits
The quality of the moldings isn't great. But it is the most accurate starting point if you want to go nuts with photo etch and some scratch building. Grimes suggestion theTRMA website is an excellent one there is a wealth of information there. -
Thanks Markus - work is held up by a move - will get back to the serious matter of building as soon as I can
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Another vote for Tamiya
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Looking real good!
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Finally got the scribing of the spar deck completed. As with the gun deck this one got of to a false start - hence the white lines - Tamiya filler.... Thought about adding joggling of the planks but decided against it. Not sure how obvious it will be anyway. Thanks for looking. Stuart
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Completed thickening the bulwarks on the starboard side And the gun deck will sit snugly under that - will be closer fit once glued
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Thank you Lukas Started work on the hull. Closed off the gun port at the bow (will be modelling the Connie at the time of it's victory over HMS Guerriere, as depicted in the Corne paintings) Work on thickening the bulwarks, starting first with framing in the gun ports. Next step will be add a layer of plastic on the inside over this framing. The horizontal lengths of plastic are to provide additional support for placing the gun deck. Thanks for looking, Stuart
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