Moonbug

Planking the hull is always the most difficult aspect of a build for me. Not only is it tedious, but it's a challenging and precise endeavour that tolerates few mistakes. Which isn't great because quite honestly - I never really got the hang of it - even after go through all the wonderful tutorials available here. To this end - I'm a pretty big fan of anything I can do to facilitate the process for myself. That means filling the spaces between bulwarks with balsa wood so that I have more solid footing with which to form and mount the planks. I started out by marking and sanding down the bearding line, then filling the spaces with chunks fo balsa. As most of you know, there's just a lot of carving, cutting, and sanding until you get a smooth consistent surface. Inconsistencies are filled in with wood filler, then more sanding. This is always one of the messiest parts of the build (probably next to sanding the hull itself), and I kind of wish I'd taken a couple of photos of the hobby room and garage during the process. Once I got a surface I'm happy with, I remounted the keel. I've always had some difficulty with a keel staying in place with just glue (regardless of the type of glue used - especially as the model is moved around and put in and out of a vise) so in recent builds I've developed a technique where I drill a small hole all the way down through the keel into the hull, then use straight pins as mounting nails in addition to wood glue. This seems to work pretty well, and is an important strengthener. This last photo is just a fun little sidebar - I don't even remember where I got this soft styrofoam tubes, but they work perfectly to protect the deck when I have to have the ship upside down to work on the hull. An example of using whatever's handy during these builds.

Thanks Bob & BE, much appreciated. Contrary to the plans (and consistent with other Pegasus builds here), I found it much easier to plank the lower deck after it was mounted to the frame. I followed the pattern I laid out on the false deck, keeping in mind I had to cut and shift the planks as I got near the edges. I briefly mulled over the idea of creating a waterway/gutter along the sides, but ultimately ditched the idea for the lower deck as it's a fair amount of work that isn't likely to be seen and would prove challenging based on how the frames are put together. Perhaps for the upper deck. After the deck was fully planked I gave it a light sanding w/ 200 then 400 grit, then gave it a very light layer of wipe on poly to check and see how the trenails would pull out. The lighting on the photos isn't great - but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. A little crooked on some of my butt marks, but that was part of the reason for experimenting on the lower deck - I'll refine the technique for the upper decks and hopefully have a cleaner look. Overall, I still love the color and feel of the Swiss Pear even though it's obviously not an accurate representation of the decking of the time. I really think it's going to make the deck fixtures and accessories pop.

Great job as always BE - I'm always happy to pick up some additional nuance each time I see your work. - Bug

Mounting and letting the frame dry gave me an opportunity to plan out my deck framing strategy. I'm using 4 plank stagger based on Mondfeld's book, as well as Danny's planking example on the lower deck of the Vulture. Since I tend to get easily confused - I like to draw out the lines on the false deck so I stay consistent. I'm planning out 90m planks based on the scale, then I color code the stagger. I have a fair amount of Swiss Pear left over from the Confederacy build, and jus loved the way it looked. It smooths out so beautifully and just adds a touch of class in my opinion. So I'll be using it on Peg as well. As far as planking itself - I'm going to run a 1/8" centerline King plank, then mirror each side with 1/16" planks that run the length of the deck. It's much easier to plank the length, then simulate the end butts with a few taps of a razor blade. The trenails are always a bit of an issue and very much a personal choice in terms of methodology. This time, I'm going to mark them with a thumb tack - double nails on the butts, and a single nail across the beams based on the size of the planks. Planks less than 10" were singled and not double nailed. Numbering the end of each plank allows me to lay them out and cut/mark all of them before I glue them down to the deck. I'll finish simulating the trenails by laying down some of my old school scene glue (from my train village building days) and filling it with fine sawdust. I've always made a habit of collecting and saving the sawdust as it can serve a variety of purposes, including making a convenient filler.

Well here we go - after a long hiatus (and a half dozen or so planes, trains, & automobiles) I'm back in the shipyard with the HMS Pegasus. I won't spend any time on the history, etc - since Victory's Pegasus is pretty prominent throughout the forum. However, I will add a little background why she's my current project. I have four adult children (3 girls and boy) and three ships to go around. So I let the youngest pick out what she she wanted to be built for her. Nice choice kiddo. As with my previous builds, I tend to mix somewhere between 70% accuracy and 30% artistic licensed - which will be the case with the Pegasus as well. Meanwhile, I'll be leaning pretty heavily on Blue Ensign's build (which I believe sets a benchmark for Pegasus..es... Pegasi? in terms of accuracy) as well as Danny Vadas' spectacular work on the Vulture. As always - I thank you all in advance for your encouragement and support. It's good to be back. Here's the typical start to the build. I've gone ahead and added the rabbet even though the plans say it's unnecessary. As I've perused other builds, it looks like it's probably going to come in handy.

Good morning - I debated on whether or not it was appropriate to add another introduction, since I'm not a new member by any stretch. However, since I've basically been out of sight for a good four years - I thought it prudent to at least say hello to all the new members as well as my old comrades. I'll be setting up a build log for a Pegasus journey, upon which I am about to embark. Hello again everyone - and as my wife is fond of saying - "It's good to be back."

Very nicely done Danny! Great little project.

Great looking metal work Danny! I really need to learn to silver solder....

Love the molding Danny... I seriously started looking up mini table saws again because of it... Oy.

Mike - I had plenty of room under the seat. But I also pre-measured so that the "hatch" was a little further forward.

Hey Eddie, FYI - on the wiring, I gave each lamp it's own 9-volt (so they'd have plenty of power) but then wired them in quasi-parallel to a single switch mounted under the front.

Nice work on the doors Danny. The doors on the AL kit ended up being so thick that it took quite a bit of work sanding and maneuvering to fit them somewhere between being able to function, and having too much gap between the door and the door 'jam'.

Beautiful painting Sjors - that's an unbelievable amount of patience...

Hey Eddie, Welcome to the Wagon Train! Looks like we're onto a new trend here for the Sailors who hit the shore leave. Good luck with the kit! I've pointed out some challenges over in my build - my biggest advice would be to soak just about all the wood if it needs to be bent, even it just slightly. It's pretty brittle (to say the least). Also, keep an eye on inventory, not all the quantities, etc, seemed to match up and I've had to dip into my back stock for few pieces. Good luck!

Hey Dan! I just noticed the build in your link. Ack! Can't believe I didn't see it. Glad to catch up though. Definitely liking the look of this kit's quality over the AL kit - that's for sure. Having fun doing something of such a different scale?

Brilliant work, obviously B.E. A very richly earned Congratulations. You must be extraordinarily proud. I look forward to milking your log and the knowledge contained therein when I pull the Peg down from the shelf and get her underway. Thanks for sharing your journey with all of us.

Yay!! Very nicely done my friend! Congratulations!

Dude - that's just ridiculous.

Very nicely done. Those of us who have been around for a bit are used to your re-works - and the always improved result they produce.

I'll echo what the other folks have said - looks good so far. Nice job on making the necessary adjustments early on. Well done.

Welcome back Michel - glad you've returned!

Welcome aboard Dan!

Looks great Sjors! spaghetti sure - but well coordinated spaghetti!

Thanks Thomas, I appreciate the words and the look-in!

Congratulations john, really nice work! (I missed the "finished" post - still figuring out how to find content on the new update.)