Landlubber Mike

I didn’t want to find out. I suppose if you’re very careful everything out be fine but I preferred having more stability. It was pretty easy to do, so why not.

Very nice Don! They are going to be a really nice touch.

Take a look at my Pegasus log. I added additional support for the deck along the centerline to be on the safe side. The bulkheads don't adequately support the deck.

The veneer saw is a great tool. I bought one to saw the bulkhead extensions after BE’s recommendation. Not a necessity, but makes things very easy!

Don, let me add my admiration to the others. Really nice job! I’m not aware of other kits that take this temporary approach, but makes a lot of sense to me. Another creative feature of these MarisStella kits.

I believe I did get smaller cannons for the swivel guns. Don’t remember if they were RB of not. I believe they were. I also have some Caldercraft ones that could work. For hull planking, the planking runs were certainly made up of multiple planks. TFFM (I believe volume 2) has a sample hull planking diagram. Shorter planks, especially if you spile them, will be less prone to clinking.

Micromark has some "Age-It" products that will cause and aging effect. I think they come in brown and gray tones. I tried them out and they have a nice effect on various woods.

Figurehead In my hull prep work, I cut out a portion of the first bulkhead and a bit of the false keel and filler blocks on either side to help seat the bowsprit. I figure that rather than having the bowsprit sit on the gun deck, it would be a little more secure if it went through the gun deck and then the gun deck and planking could serve as a sort of anchor just like mast slot blocking on for the masts. In doing so, I decided to test fit the figurehead and discovered a few problems. As you can see, the figurehead doesn't sit squarely on the stem. Even if I squared the figurehead's, uh, bottom, a bit (or filed down the stem) so that it would sit flush, the problem is that the figurehead still will sit too high on the stem for the bowsprit. In the second picture, you can see the problem, even with the figurehead sitting at the front edge of the bowsprit. I went back to the plans to see if perhaps the rake of the bowsprit as set by the false keel and stem (two parts of which matched perfectly) was off, but the rake was in the range of both the plans (oddly, plan 7 specifically says 29 degrees from the waterline when plan 17 shows 32 degrees) and Chapman's Architectura (which was about 31 degrees). The false keel is around 31 degrees, so the problem is not with the false keel. So given that the rake of the bowsprit as set by the false keel is correct, the figurehead needs to sit much lower, as the bowsprit should clear the top of the figurehead by around 6mm. As you can see in Chapman's Architectura, the figurehead pretty much sits way back on the stem against the curly piece of the stem, and the line of the curly piece to the top of the figurehead is roughly parallel to the line of the bowsprit. Interestingly, in the few pictures I've found of others working on the kit, it seems as if the builders chose to increase the rake of the bowsprit to accommodate the figurehead. I think I'm going to stick with the current rake, and instead figure out what to do with the figurehead itself and the stem. For this stage of the build, I just needed to ensure that the rake of the bowsprit and seating was set up correctly, so I don't have to make any decisions at this point. My guess is that I will at some point have to lower the seat on the stem. It might come down to carving a new figurehead too if I can't modify the kit figurehead to sit squarely on the stem.

I made some good progress over the last week or so. Nothing particularly interesting, but I've installed all bulkheads except for the last, added blocking for the masts, and added some filler blocks at the stem. I also epoxied in some nuts into the keel to take the screws for the pedestals when I finish this build in 10 years I forgot how long all this prep work takes! So far so good. I did have to open up the slots in the deck pieces a bit to accommodate the bulkhead tops. When I had dry fitted the bulkheads and decks as a test early on, everything seemed to fit ok. I think after squaring up the bulkheads, adding the stem and keel, etc., that things shifted a bit and so the deck slots needed slight adjustments. Things probably fit on the dry fitting because there was a little flex with the parts. When glued however, particularly with the bracers in between the bulkheads, things were locked in. Some people have seen issues with the slots not lining up with the plans, and in some cases, being misaligned between the starboard and port sides. Others have thought that some of the bulkheads were not properly shaped. I also had a very slight wave in the keel around bulkheads 8-10 which probably didn't help (part of the reason I wanted to install the stem and keel at this stage). The upper part of the false keel around affected bulkheads leans about 1mm over to the port side. I think this should be fine because at the stem and stern, and along the bottom of the keel, the keel is perfectly straight. I'll just need to be mindful when fairing and planking the hull in that section.

For the TFFM books, depending on how much you want to kit bash the hull, volume 2 will help a lot. Volume 1 has good tips and some information, but I think you could get by without it. Volume 4 is really, really great for rigging and sails - I used it for my Badger build. It consolidates a lot of information from Lees and other primary sources on rigging and masting. Volume 3 is nice too if you'd like to see the steps of a scratch built Pegasus hull come together. For the NMM plans, I have to say that at least with respect to the Pegasus, the kit plans and decorative elements are pretty much dead on. There is a very slight modification when it comes to the some of the aft-most bitts and hatches. On the NMM plans, one or two hatches are in a slightly different location, with one of the bitts going through one of the hatches. Also, the cross bar on one of the bitts is facing aft on the NMM plans, while the kit has all cross bars facing the stem. The NMM plans also show a more decorative figurehead than the kit one (which is still nice), though I understand that sometimes the plans were more aspirational than what ultimately went on the ship. These are very minor deviations from the NMM plans, and my sense is that in cases like the hatches/bitts, these differences were made to simplify things a little for the builder. If you look at my Pegasus log you can see how I handled the hatches/bitts. It's been a while since I looked at the Fly plans, but from what I remember, they were really nice, and very detailed when it comes to the decorative elements on the stern, quarter galleries, and maybe even include the decorative friezes. I think they were spot on with the kit, whereas the Pegasus differed slightly with respect to some elements of the stern decorations. One other thing I should mention - the cannons seem to be a bit oversized, at least that is what Pegasus and Fly builders have found in the kits we got (maybe newer kits addressed the issue). I ended up buying RB Model cannons, and others have bought Syren model's cannons. To sum it up, the Pegasus kit was really well done and pretty much spot on when it came to matching up with the NMM plans. I think the Fly is the same way, and I would say that you can build a very accurate model of the ships straight from the box and don't need TFFM or the NMM plans. I bought them as for me, I really enjoy the learning that goes along with building.

Thank you Joe!

Nice kit - I’m working on the Pegasus and think Amati did a really nice job with them. Cant help you with the Fly drawings. Maybe Martin or some other Fly builders can be a more help? The TFFM books (and maybe Admiraltymodels.com) have s list of the plan identifiers for each Swan Class ship. Maybe try there? Good luck with the build!

Can someone PM me his email address? I’d love to get a set as I’d like to start carving. Just out of curiousity, any recommendations on which kind of handles to get? I assume the palm handle ones are better if you don’t have enough hand strength? I would think I would have an easier time with the ones that are more pencil like in shape, but I’ve never worked with the other type except in the case of a ball handle pin vise. Thanks!

Marc, just spent time going through your log. Wow, so much work and research! Very informative and your attention to detail is really impressive. You should consider writing a book given all that you have compiled. 👍

Really nice work Ferit, glad to see you back. Sorry about the shrouds - at least they can be re-done!

They look really nice - I like the weathered look too. Kit seems to have very nice materials 👍

I have the Dewalt and love it. One tip is to look at Craigslist (how I found mine). Many barely used scroll saws on there because dad’s and others use it once or twice for school projects for kids, then never use them again.

I voted for the Boeier, with the Chebacco a close second. I’m not all that interested in cross sections, though the pictures you posted are beautiful - and it would look nice next to Swan class models a bunch of us are building. At 1/4 scale, how long is the Boeier? I’d be interested in a larger scale model if there was a lot of interesting detail that could be added. Also wanted to add my voice to those commending you for looking at novel subjects. These are all quite interesting and different.

Don really great stuff there. Your planking looks fantastic! I too love the look of the beech. These kits seem very nicely done. Just out of curiosity, what do you think about the copper plates? How do they compare to the Amati ones? My MS Charles Morgan uses copper tape that you have to punch for the rivets. I think it’s easier to apply, but the Amati plates look amazing.

Thank you - I remember now seeing this (sorry, old age). Now I know who to send my models to for similar work - you did a fantastic job! The Pegasus kit has PE pieces for the frieze decorations (as well as the name board). I think I'm going to try the paint route with both using your technique, which I think I recall seeing something similar in the TFFM series. Thanks again! Happy new year to you!

Happy new year to you BE! I haven't been on much lately, but missed your Cheerful project. Great start already, and even better, you have extra toys to play with Hope you don't mind if I follow along, it's always a treat and a learning experience.

Just wanted to echo Geoff - the counter block is really tough to do, having done one myself for my Morgan. Really nice job.

Really beautiful work Jason. Do you mind me asking how you did the stern lettering and filigree design on the red areas? They came out absolutely superb.

Patrick, your work is incredible. Your work with Ebony is really impressive. Thank you for sharing with us this work of art and your techniques.

Hey Mark, happy new year to you. She's coming along really nicely, beautiful work! I think you always tell this to others -- you're the captain For me, when facing these kinds of decisions, I always try to think ahead and consider whether I will regret not adding an element or taking a particular approach. If there is any possibility of regret, I go ahead and do the item.