Landlubber Mike

It's been a little slow going, but I've planked the next section of the hull (the area between the plankshear and the wale) with ebony. So far, so good, no issues really. I decided to complete the second planking at this stage, because the wale on this ship isn't a separately defined row of planks - instead it's just thicker planks from the top of the wale down. For the next section, I'll be using a thicker first planking, which I'll sand back to the thickness of the planking above, and then add the ebony second planking so that there is a clear definition. I won't be planking the rest of the hull in ebony because I'll be coppering the hull. So, at some point below the copper line, I'll probably just feather the ebony planks into the first planking rather than add a second planking to the entire hull. We'll see how it looks, as I can always throw on a second planking, not caring what it looks like since it will be covered anyway. Speaking of the copper line, the plans how two levels for the copper line. A higher line which seems to be the historical line, and a lower line from the 1983 restoration (which appears to still be the copper line for the ship currently): Most models of the Morgan that I've seen go with the lower line. A benefit of the higher line is that the hull would need a lot less ebony for the planking - I think midships there are only three or four strakes above the copper line. On the other hand, I wonder if the higher copper line would overwhelm the ship. I think I have enough ebony sheets for the higher line, but not the lower line, so I might just go with the higher line. I'm curious what others think. The first picture is of a model with the lower line. The next few are with the higher line. I really like the oxidized green copper look of the second model below - I'm wondering if i can achieve that with the copper tape that came with the kit.

I like doing ship models, but I've always thought this model would be a fun one to do. Your work is absolutely fantastic John - definitely a good marketing piece for this kit!

Wow, this is really beautiful work. Very impressive!

Really nice work Ken. Amazing you can work so quickly yet with pristine results. Beautiful!

Wow really great stuff there Don. Are you using paints? If so, mind me asking what kind/brand?

BE, I can't believe I've missed your log. Really great work so far, and I know I'll enjoy watching where you take this one. Your planking looks great as usual. I'm not a big fan of MS' use of basswood for the keel and bulkheads, as I've said on my Morgan log. It's an easy wood to use as the first planking if you're double planking, but the softness, fuzzies, etc. make it not a great wood in my opinion for outer planking. Good move on your part to go with boxwood.

Really nice work Daniel!

The Morgan has lettering on both the upper hull near the stem in gold and on the transom in white. The printer option is a bit awkward in that white doesn't print on paper, and either way, you are adding a strip of paper to the hull (and the blacks might not much up). I certainly can't paint the letters either. I've been thinking about these dry transfer letters from Woodland Scenics. Has anyone used them? They have Roman font in gold and white, which I think could work nicely. I'm considering applying the decals prior to installing the various wood pieces to the model which should make things easier, though I'd have to be very careful not to accidentally rub them off while continuing work on the model. DecalsGraphics

I've completed the outer hull first planking to the edge of the wale. Nothing too difficult, but I did use a little filler here and there to address any low spots. The one thing to note is that the plans, as well as the actual ship, show the area between the plankshear and wale as seven rows of planks. This comes out around 14mm of space to plank, or 2mm per plank. The planks given in the kit don't seem to match that width, so what I did was end up using five wider planks and one narrower plank for that section. Once I get to the second planking, I'll cut the ebony planks in the widths I need to get seven rows of fairly equal widths. This ship is different than a lot of ship kits you see out there as there is no independent row or rows of planking for the wales - instead, the wale line is demarked by a thicker line of planks that extend at the wale line and lower. I've been taking my time in trying to get the stern right, as I think the stern tends to make or break a lot of models. You can see from these pictures how curvy the stern is, and how the planks tuck around the transom and up into the counter. The European kits I've worked on tend to use stern extensions and a counter piece to frame this area. This kit (and it looks like other kits in the Model Shipways line), require you to create a framing block with a number of curves into it. The plans are good in this regard, but it still is a little complicated if you're a relative beginner like myself and are working through it the first time. To help others that are building the kit, here are top and bottom pictures of my block: Here is how my stern looks at the moment. I think I've managed to capture the curves pretty nicely, and the wale will run into the middle of the name board as you can see on the plans and on the pictures of the actual ship. I used filler to help get the lines right, but being able to sand down the first planking should help as well. Thanks for looking in!

Slightly different hull shape, and no pesky gunports or cannons. On the other hand, you've got 7 whaleboats on the Morgan and lots of different deck items relating to the whaling operations. Nice change of pace for sure. In particular, it's nice to not have to rig the cannons with 2mm blocks 😳

Hey Martin, thanks for looking in. We haven't hit 100 yet here in DC, but it's been close with lots of humidity. Not a good sign to wake up and see condensation on the windows. Not sure of the reason for the planking pattern. It does seem pretty unique as you say. I'm curious if others might know the reason. I've been spending the last few nights fairing the bulkheads to get a smooth run of planks. Even though I'm double planking the hull, spending the time now should make things easier down the road - particularly since the kit has you working with thinner planking than I've seen in other kits. It's taking some time too because I've found I've needed to add shims on some of the bulkheads to avoid low spots. Big temptation to throw on planks, but hopefully after the first planking goes on, I'll only have minor areas to correct.

Best wishes Denis - hang in there!

Me thinks Mark needs a new avatar picture - something like this:

Long overdue update, but spring is a busy time for me with kids, yard stuff, etc. I've been making progress over the last couple of weeks, planking the section of the hull between the main rail and planksheer (which is in yellowheart). It really wasn't all that bad using ebony. It's not as easy to work as pear or boxwood, but it cuts very cleanly and sands to a beautiful sheen. I'm cutting strips about 0.7mm in thickness, so they are pretty flexible. It's probably hard to tell from the pictures, but the first section of the bow to about the third bulkhead is comprised of 10 rows of planks (approximately 1.2mm in width). The remainder is six rows. In looking at pictures of the Morgan, the planks in the six-row section of the hull are beveled at the edge. With the ebony planks only being 0.7mm in thickness, beveling was out of the question. So, what I ended up doing is taking a scalpel and slowly working it between the plank rows to add a little more definition between the planks. Seems to have worked out ok, I'll try to take close-ups soon. After that, I sanded the planksheer back to the edge of the ebony planking. This will ensure that when I put the holly molding along the planksheer, it will be a uniform thickness along the hull. I also planked the transom with some thin basswood strips, and added wood filler to the filler block areas since I did a crappy job with the filler blocks in sanding back certain areas too much. Thanks for looking in!

I've been focused on my Morgan build the past few months and haven't turned back to my LAR. In part I'm still considering what kind of color scheme, and whether and to what extent I will use paints or try to paint with wood. Given the castings and the quality of the materials, I'm considering just building the kit as is, with maybe some minor replacement of the wood with better modeling woods. I might actually try using weathering techniques, not necessarily to make the ship looked aged and beaten up, but to add highlights and lowlights, etc. to approximate more of a patina'd look. So I managed to get my hands on the Ancre monograph of La Belle Poule (1765) for a good price on eBay. The monographs have so much detail they are fun to look through. Flipping through it today, I noticed a reference to a La Renommee of 1767 and the Chapman 'Architectura.' The version I have is in French, and not speaking French I need to use Google translate which does a pretty good job. Here is the translation of the discussion which is summarized above regarding the provenance of the ship. The monograph has plans for the 1767 La Renommee, which don't look like they match up with the kit/Chapman plate. Anyway, here it is. The Fame 1767. Among the hundred frigates of 12 of our navy, there are two that will be (pierced to fifteen) being designed by the engineer Nicolas Groignard man of great reputation, notably author of the three-point ship Brittany. These frigates, by their great length and strength, are special cases. The Renommee had been preceded by the Terpsichore, built at Nantes in 1757, we do not possess the plans of this frigate. The Fame, was theoretically pierced on each side of fifteen ports, but on the number two were not open being masks by the curling and the linings. It was only planned to open them in the event of hostilities. The plans of the Fame are preserved in the Danish archives and there exists at the Museum of the navy in Paris, a fairly complete numerical estimate of this frigate. The Fame, presented the singularity for a French frigate to have the big bitts on the false bridge, the hawks being pierced between the jottereaux. In the methodical Encyclopedia Vial du Clairbois (see Monograph of Dawn, page 18, footnote 1), the model of a Swedish frigate, directly borrowed from the The great work of Fr. DE CHAPMAN: ARCHITECTURA NAVALIS MERCATORIA ... In his text Vial du Clairbois warns the reader of the foreign model of his example and indicates that only the frigate Fame, has big bits on the false bridge and consequently the Lower capstan bell is at this level. Admiral Paris, in his (Preserved Naval Memories), took again the plate of the Methodical Encyclopedia, but without taking notice of the text, and presented this frigate (born Swedish) as being Renown; But this is only to be found in detail in the considerable mass of information gathered by Admiral Paris.

Your Fly is looking really nice. I really need to get back to my Pegasus one of these days.

Wow Jason, amazing work! Did you paint those letters free-hand, or with a stencil or some other way? They really look perfect.

Don, this is turning into a real beauty. Love the finish you put on the model - it really makes the wood come alive.

These are a lot better than what I do, which is spread them on my kitchen table, kitchen island, or even the floor

Wow Jason, just catching up with your log. Very nice work!

Really amazing work Greg. Your woodworking skills are truly master class. I'll be happy if I can ever reach a tenth of your skill level 😊

Hey Bob, just getting caught up on MSW after being away for a while. Was happy to see you start on a new build - looking really great! Hope all is well.

Hey Martin, thanks for looking in. I didn't do the exterior hull planking yet - I'm going to be using 0.5mm or so ebony for that. It's going to be tough for a number of reasons, including (1) using very thin ebony around a curved surface, (2) needing to squeeze 10 planks between the plankshear and one of the railings, and (3) did I mention I'll be bending 10 strips of very thin ebony around a curve? Now I remember why I took a break for a bit to try and plan out how I would plank this section.

Hey Martin, great to see you back on here. I agree with finding some way of securing the cannons. I can't tell you how many times I busted them off my Badger. Thankfully, there were only a few cannons, and they were all accessible. I think BE's approach makes a lot of sense - sleeves or no sleeves Weather is heating up here too, and I too end up with more modeling time in the refuge of my cool basement.

Hey guys, I haven't been on much lately with a family vacation, setting up a fish tank for my kids, the warmer weather coming on which means my other hobby (bonsai) starts up and gets very busy, etc. With this model being a heavy kit bash for me, it takes a lot of time just to plan out how I'm going to approach certain things. This makes me lean towards starting up the La Renommee and build it straight from the box. I don't know, we'll see. Anyway, I'm at the point where I have free time again, so I've been trying to remember where I was with this build and my other builds. Last I worked on the ship, I had planked the bulwarks with yellowheart. Interestingly on this kit, the inside of the planking serves as the inner bulwark planking, so you have to take your time and get it right as there is no other planking for the inner bulwarks. It ended up coming out pretty nicely I think. I've already pre-cut and curved the pieces for the log rail and topgallant rail, but I think I might wait to install those until the hull planking is completed as those two rails might be a bit fragile on the build (and I tend to be a lap modeler). So, next up I have to start thinking about the outer hull ebony planking, which should be interesting. There's a section of the outer hull near the stem where the run of planks goes from 6 to 10 strakes. So, the planks will be very narrow, and hopefully bend ok. Here are a few pictures of where I am at the moment. Thanks again for looking in.