_SalD_

Wayne, Thanks for the answers and as I mentioned on my build log I will mark the waterline on the hull using the cradle I made that keeps the keel at roughly the slope shown on the plans (4.5 d.) and use the kit plans to build the launch ways (3 d.) and in this case when the ship is displayed on the launch ways the waterline will not be horizontal. Hope I'm not over thinking this.

Wayne, Patrick Thanks for the answers. So I will mark the waterline on the hull using the cradle I made that keeps the keel at roughly the slope shown on the plans (4.5 d.) and use the kit plans to build the launch ways (3 d.) and in this case when the ship is displayed on the launch ways the waterline will not be horizontal. I can live with that. Thanks again.

Hello all, I am fairly new to this website and I am currently in the process of building my first ship. I am working on the New York pilot boat, ‘Phantom’ by Model Shipways. I have carved the hull attached the keel and was getting ready to copper the bottom of the hull. Before starting the copper I need to scribe the waterline along the hull. To do this I wanted to build the Launching Ways that the model is displayed on to get its correct position. Now, if I build the Launching Ways per the directions included in the kit the angle of the Launching Ways will be approximately 3 degrees, which will be the angle that the keel will sit at. However, if I measure the angle of the keel from the plans that also came with the kit, that angle measures 4.5 degrees. Please bear with me a question is coming. My cad drawing of the Launching Ways Profile of ship from kit plans Now I assume that the waterline on the ship should be horizontal when you have the ship on the display. Yes? No? Doesn’t matter? If so, do I build the Launching Ways per the kit’s directions and use that angle (3 degrees) to scribe my waterline or do I use the angle from the plans (4.5 degrees) and build the Launching Ways to that angle? I’m leaning towards using the angle from the plans (4.5 degrees) and reworking the Launching Ways, unless that’s totally wrong. I have one more question if you will allow me. I was planning ahead and I've noticed that the angles of the two masts are not quite the same. I don’t know if I’m being too precise here or are the two masts just parallel to each other? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Couple questions Before starting the copper I need to scribe the waterline along the hull. To do this I wanted to build the Launching Ways that the model is displayed on to get its correct position. Now, if I build the Launching Ways per the directions included in the kit the angle of the Launching Ways will be approximately 3 degrees, which will be the angle that the keel will sit at. However, if I measure the angle of the keel from the plans that also came with the kit, that angle measures 4.5 degrees. My cad drawing of Launching Ways Ship profile from plans Now I assume that the waterline on the ship should be horizontal when you have the ship on the display. Yes? No? Doesn’t matter? If so, do I build the Launching Ways per the kit’s directions and use that angle (3 degrees) to scribe my waterline or do I use the angle from the plans (4.5 degrees) and build the Launching Ways to that angle? I’m leaning towards using the angle from the plans (4.5 degrees) and reworking the Launching Ways, unless that’s totally wrong. Second question. I was planning ahead and I've noticed that the angles of the two masts are not quite the same. I don’t know if I’m being too precise here or are the two masts just parallel to each other? Thanks

Jeff, I have a flex shaft extension on my dremel. It gives you a lot more control. The picture below is my setup. I made a stand for the dremel from an old closet rod from one of those portable wardrobes that self destructed. I clamped the rod to the drafting table and used j-hooks held on with hose clamps to hold the dremel up. It works well but you need to be careful. I use it at very low speed (5 or 6) and don’t use a lot of pressure. The wood is very soft and comes off easy. And make sure you use something to protect the areas you don’t want to remove. I usually practice on a scrap piece of wood first. Patrick, Cad has certainly made drafting more efficient but the drawings have lost all their character. We used to have some real artists that could produce gorgeous drawings that had feeling. Now everything is so antiseptic, too sterile.

Thinning the bulwarks. I decided to deviate from Chuck’s practicum on coppering the hull prior to thinning the bulwarks for a couple of reasons. One, I thought I might damage the copper while handling the boat as I worked on the bulwarks and two, I figured that if I screwed up the bulwarks really bad I wouldn't need to spend all that time coppering the bottom of the hull. I used the drum sander on my dremel to remove the majority of the extra material. I laid the erasure shield on the deck so I wouldn't cut into it. I then used an emery board and sandpaper to thin them down to about 3/64”. I also squared up the corners at mid ship and carved out the stern and bow areas. I also sanded the deck to its correct profile. For all the youngsters out there, an erasure shield (see photo) was used on engineering drawings done by hand, in pencil, when you wanted to erase only a small portion of a line. You would place one of the slots over the line you wanted gone and the shield would keep the adjacent lines from being erased.

Welcome aboard Jeff. Like yourself I am new to this forum and it's my first try at model ship building. For my first attempt I also chose the 'Phantom' kit. Hope you enjoy it as I do. Good luck Sal

Had a productive weekend. I cut the 'step' in at the top of the hull, laid out and installed the stem, stern post and keel and craved the rudder. To layout out the location of the 'step' I used my drafting compass. I set the distance between the pivot point of the compass and the lead to 1/8". Then by resting the compass's point on top of the bulwarks and using the bulwarks as a guide I was able to scribe a line completely around the ship's hull 1/8" down. I tried craving the 'step' as described in Chuck's practicum but found it to be too labor intensive. So I gave up the knife and tried my dremel. (have the toys, might as well use them) I used a sanding drum and my old drafting metal erasure shield as a guide so I wouldn't remove any material below the line. As I went I kept checking the width of the 'step' with my dividers. Used an emery board to get the 'step' to its correct width and depth. Next I laid out the stem as described in the practicum on paper to get the proper angle to glue the 1/8" wood strips to and to form a template I could later use to trace on the wood strips. Once the strips were glued and dried I traced the stem on the strips and cut it out. The keel I cut the little lip at the end and scarfed a joint between the stem and keel. The stern post was fairly easy. After gluing everything in place and letting it dry I used some filler to fill in the gaps. For the rudder, instead of gluing three pieces of the 1/8" wood strips together as in the practicum, I used the 1/16" x 1/2" stock. I cut two pieces approximately 2" long and glued them together to make one piece 1/8" thick x 1/2" wide. I then printed out a copy of the rudder from the plans to use as a template. Used the dremel to get a rough shape and then used files an the x-acto knife to get the finished shape. Used sandpaper to round the front edge and taper the sides. Finally I drilled the hole in the hull and did a test fit. Also spend a little time making my own waterline marking jig.

Wayne, Thanks for following my build and for the comments. I actually made a second copy of the ships profile template so I had one that was in two pieces and one that was whole. I used the two pieces like you said to get the rough shape of the hull and then used the one piece profile to make sure the bottom of the hull was level with the correct profile. And don't give up on the boys, it only took me 63 years to start my first wooden ship. Patrick, Thanks for the encouragement. As far as the dent goes maybe I should just stop looking at the ship through my visor magnifier. It looks perfect without them. Sal

Patrick, I just wanted to say that your work is magnificent and I'd like to thank you for taking time to look at my first build log of the Phantom. You've must have done this for quite some time. I'll be following your build in hopes that I can learn from a master. Sal

Day 4: Started carving from station 5 to stern. Actually starting to enjoy this. Need to remember to keep chisel sharpened. Finished rough craving and sanded hull. Came out better than expected. Have one dent but nothing real noticeable, may try filler to even it out.

Thanks for commenting patrickmil. Day 3: Well, I've read Mr. Passaro's guide and the directions that came with the kit for about the fifth time trying to work up enough nerve to start carving. Finally started reducing the keel width and carving the hull at station 5. Slow going, first time jitters, don't want to remove more wood than I'm supposed to. Using 1/4" wide wood chisel and x-acto knife. Carving continues. Getting more confident. Finished rough carving from station 5 to bow. D.W.

Day 2: Using an x-acto knife I cut out the hull profile and station templates. I wasn't sure if I should leave the line or cut the line off the template; I went with removing the line. Next I adjusted the ship's profile by sanding the bottom of the hull and removing a portion of the stern. One question I had was why do you need to cut the profile template in half? To me it makes more sense to leave it as one piece to give you better control of shaping the keel. Next I marked the centerline and offset that line a 1/16" on both sides to mark the keel. It took me a while to decide where to mark the centerline because I realized that this line needs to continue all the way around to the deck. After trying a few different locations I picked the one that visually appeared to line up along the center of both the top and bottom of the hull. I should probably mention here, like so many others have pointed out, that these drawings and templates are, as we say in the profession, N.T.S. ( not to scale). Being a structural engineer and working with scaled drawings everyday these drawings are not at an 1/8" per foot.

Hello all, I am new to this website and also to model ship building. I have built other types of models in the past and have always wanted to try a wooden ship. I've been putting it off for a number of years now but have finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a try. After researching the different types of ship models, solid hull, POB, POF, (and keeping my ego in check) I decided on the entry level, solid hull 'Phantom' by Model Shipways. I've read a number of the 'Phantom' build logs and have found them to be ever interesting. I've downloaded, printed, and read Chuck Passaro's guide for this kit and hope that together we can build something that somewhat resembles the picture on the box. Day 1: Received kit, took inventory and everything in there, a good start.