Landlubber Mike

Last night while recovering from becoming cross-eyed from adding the sweep port linings, I did some planning and research for the upper hull. Part of the trickiness is the fact that I'm using two different colored stains, one for the upper hull planking in brown, and blue for frieze background. I was hoping that the planking lines would generally line up with the changes in colors, but no such luck of course. So, the plan is to install the brown planks first and stain them, then install the blue planks, and cover up the seam between the two color changes with the various rails. Should work I hope - just need to be careful that the blue stain doesn't bleed too far onto the brown planks. I'm considering adding a super thin gap between the two sets of planks which will be covered by the rails. Fingers crossed. Fixed blocks. It looks like I also need to install fixed blocks in the waist of the upper hull (one single, one double). Tricky, because one side will be the color of the hull planking, and the other, which faces into the bulwarks, will have to be red. So, I think I'll be making the blocks with redheart on one side and pear on the other. Extra sweep port. Quick question on the extra sweep port for you Swan Class builders. From TFFM and the NMM plans, it looks like there is an extra sweep port in front of port 7. The kit has sweep ports fore and aft of ports 3-5. I'm a little confused because I see that BE on his Pegasus and Dan Vadas on his Vulture added extra sweep ports in front of ports 6 and 7, and Martin only added an extra sweep port in front of port 6. I'll probably go with just adding one in front of port 7, because the steps along the side of hull (I forget what they are called) seem to be right in front of the port 6. But, whenever smarter people than me take a different approach, I always try to take a step back and figure out if I made a mistake - which is usually the case!

Thanks very much guys, really appreciate it. Ian, you get along just fine with the tools you have so the Byrnes saw isn't necessary. Plus, less chance for you to lose a digit or two - it always makes my posterior pucker up when I turn it on I need to get better pictures. I have resorted to using my iPhone as it is easier than my Sony camera (which has a bigger light sensor) to move pictures to the computer. I'm trying to be very careful on exposing the ship to sunlight because the redheart has already started changing to more of an orangey-brown color. The redheart that is sitting in my basement is as bright red as when I got it from Hobbymill, but over time working on the ship upstairs, the redheart has slowly started turning. I'm not too concerned as I knew that would happen anyway - apparently, even adding a finish to the wood won't stop that process. Everything should mellow into a nice color at the end I would hope.

Wow John, congratulations on a gorgeous model! I'm a few years from starting my Morgan, but your model is a great inspiration. I love the base - I'm wondering if I should inquire now about sourcing a piece of the actual Morgan to incorporate in my build somehow... Thanks for sharing the journey with us! Do you have a next build in mind?

Made a little more progress on the Pegasus the last few evenings. I stained the wales and upper hull below the wales using General Finishes Black Stain. Martin, the stain actually maintained a lot of the definition between the planks, which I was very happy to see. For my Lyme, since I'll be using pear for the bulk of the model, I'll probably go with GF Ebony Dye Stain. It goes on thinner than the Black Stain, which is interesting as I would think by the name that the "Dye Stains" would actually be more like paint when the opposite is actually the case. I went with the Black Stain here because I'm going to be using the stain on a mixture of woods, including the kit walnut for some pieces and the MDF (e.g., the stem), so I needed something that would give an even color across different woods. I also installed the port linings for the gun ports and the sweep ports. I used redheart for the linings, with 0.6mm for the gunports and 0.30mm for the sweep ports -- all cut with my Byrnes table saw which continues to amaze me with its precision. Because they are inset relative to the upper hull planking, I figured I would install them now and then butt the second planking up against the linings. The linings are on the bottom and sides only, so I used General Finishes Cranberry Red for the upper part of the ports. Took quite a while, but it's a nice little touch I think. Probably won't be able to see much of them when the second planking is on, but I figured I would try anyway. I feel like I'm a bit cross-eyed working with such small strips! Next up is to install the upper hull second planking. The drawback of using redheart for the bulkhead extensions is the fact that it's a weaker wood, and a few of them snapped during the hull construction. So, right now my gunport patterns extend out laterally more than they should near the center of the hull at the quarterdeck area. I'm hoping that if I clamp the gunport patters with the quarterdeck support beams while adding the second planking and bulwark planking, hopefully that planking will hold the upper hull in the proper shape. If not, tightly clamping the upper hull planking against the quarterdeck support beams with some epoxy should hopefully get things right (fingers crossed).

Ian, that's a real tough dilemma. I would lean towards inserting a brass pin and probably using something stronger like epoxy to glue everything together. I pinned some of the model components on my Badger which seemed to help stabilize things. Could you insert the pin on an angle and drill the corresponding hole into the bulwarks on an angle? Will be tricky, but I'd worry about things popping loose. A dowel could work too, but I think you still might have to angle the insertion piece if the bulwarks splay out as much as you say. In terms of the order in which to install the cannons versus the rail, that's another really tough call. The Badger instructions had you install the cannons too early in the building my opinion - at least for modeler's like me who tend to hold the model in their laps while gluing things to the external hull I had installed the cannons ahead of the various rails on the outside hull, and when it came time to glue on the rails, I popped off the cannons probably close to two dozen times (no exaggeration). I think of myself as a calm, patient guy, but I came very close to turning the model into a flying vessel more than once. I'm sure you've already done this, but think about what kind of access you need to install the cannons and rails. I think I would do as much pre-drilling for both in the beginning, then install the cannons, then the rails. For my Pegasus, I'm planning to do all external hull work, then work my way from the middle of the hull out, saving cannons for as close to the end as possible. Taller things like the bitts I'll probably do after the cannons to give myself as much room to work to set them up. Even though you can do a lot of the cannon assembly off model, they are still a real pain in the posterior.

Thanks Ian. I just realized that Perspex is acrylic glass I tried cutting sheets for my Badger case, and had a rough time with it (including slicing open the palm of my hand when I went to crack it along the scored line!). I think if I used a thinner piece of material I'd have much more luck with it. For my Badger case, I ultimately went to an online glass shop to get custom pieces of acrylic sheets cut for me. For scratches, I think you're right that you need some kind of light abrasive to buff them out. I used a spray for acrylic mostly to clean the glass, which picked up a ton of dust electrostatically after peeling off the protective plastic wrap. I think it could buff very minor scratches too, but otherwise you need a special powder as you suggested. The stern lanterns would be another very good application if you can shave down the plug to meet the tapered design (which I believe is either a hexagon or octagon). At that size, it must be much easier to add the wood frame to a plug than try and build the frame and then add windows. I think I shared with you that another option I'm exploring is using the glazing compound used in model railroads and other hobbies. The nice thing is that I think you just add a little dab in the window pane area, and then it flattens and dries. It dries a little cloudy though I think, which is a drawback relative to using something like glass or acrylic.

Wow Ian, that came out fantastic! I sorta followed along when you broached the perspex idea to me a few weeks ago, but now I see how brilliant your plan was. Very very nice job - another idea for me to "borrow" Is perspex difficult to work with? I'm intrigued as to whether there are other applications such as windows - it might be easier to start with perspex and glue the window sills, mullions, etc. to the perspex, rather than build the windows, and then glue some sort of glazing material to the window frame. One thing I've seen in models is that the windows always seem to be slightly off as they get installed relatively to one another. If you had a long enough piece, you could do a row of windows and make them all line up and orient precisely.

Looking really great Frank - your weathering techniques are superb! Very nice job. Since you're on the home stretch, have you thought about your next build?

Hey Herb, welcome back and happy new year. We all take breaks from our build at times Look forward to following your progress!

Oh, dental drill bit would be a good option wouldn't they. Mark, thanks for the link to the Lumberyard site - lots of good tips there. I'm not too worried about carving. Larger three-dimensional carvings like figureheads would of course be more complicated, but i think with a little practice and the right tools, the little details that can be made from relief carvings shouldn't be that bad. Frankly, there have been a number of things in this hobby that seem really difficult and too intimidating, but after trying, they aren't all that bad. Spiling, sails, top and butt planking, etc. are some examples.

Thanks Martin, that's really helpful information. I'll have to think a little more on how to proceed with the linings. I'm going to use redheart, so at least I won't have to worry about staining such tiny pieces. I like the look of the GF stain but I think you're right that some of the detail is obscured. I'll have to take another look at it. It's tough to do it like the pros if you spile the planks tightly and then try to sand everything back so that it is smooth. I imagine that the pros spile each plank perfectly, so that there is very limited sanding that needs to take place afterwards. I saw one technique from a master who added a very slight bevel to the edges of the planks to keep that tiny bit of separation between them. Anyway, for the upper hull planking, I'm hoping that using a brown stain will darken the borders of the planks to help highlight the planking. Thanks also for the link to Alistair's build. I forgot he modified the quarter badges. Doesn't look like it's too difficult to modify things there - tricky part will be whether do carve the decorations into the stools as one piece, or carve them separately and add them to the stools after. Given that I will likely stain the stools black and use boxwood for the decorations, I'll probably end up doing them separately. If thin enough, hopefully the decorations can be molded around the contours of the stool. I'm trying to figure out when these should be installed, as I want to get clean joints between the quarter badges and the hull, as well the quarter badges and the rails. For me, at times this hobby seems to be 90% planning and prep work, and only 10% actual work. I bought Bill Short's practicum also, and need to go through it. I bought a number of different Dremel bits, but like you, I'm thinking that they might be too large for some of the ultra-fine detail work. I bought some carving bits from a bonsai outfit to use on my bonsai trees, but they also are a little larger (thankfully, i can use the bits from both hobbies interchangeably). What is holding the most promise for me right now is that my brother, who is a dentist, just sent me a number of picks and probes and I think some scrapers. For the kind of detail work he does (he is a root canal specialist), these tools seem to be perfect for very fine detail carving. It's great to be at this stage of the build where I can actually start thinking about and working on the details!

Thanks Mark, it's always good to bounce things off other people with more experience before starting something I'm inclined to agree with you on doing the ports and blocks now, especially given that there is a lip for the port lids. Seems easier to install the lining now, sand it back on the exterior hull and bulwarks sides, and then line the exterior hull planking right up to the edge of the port lids. Less fussing about getting clean lines on the port lid linings. I spent some time yesterday looking at the quarter badges. The kit displays them as flat, built up a bit with the decorations that involve 2 or so layers of photo-etched parts. The end result is really nice, but I'm thinking of making the quarter badges a bit more three dimensional, with the upper and lower stools popping out a bit more. The plans don't show whether the quarter badges were flat or not, though TFFM suggests that perhaps only the Vulture was that way. Flat would be much easier, as I think I would have to custom carve the upper and lower stools, especially to add the decorations, and possibly change the windows a bit to account for more of a bow window configuration. The badges don't extend past the edges of the stern transom, so I could probably get away with carving the stools using 5mm pieces of wood. Realworkingsailor did this to nice effect on his Pegasus which you can see here: http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/24-hms-pegasus-by-realworkingsailor-victory-models/?hl=%2Bpegasus+%2Brealworkingsailor The next question is what to do with the kit decorations. I'm very tempted to go ahead and use the photo-etched parts as templates for carving the decorations out of wood (mostly using boxwood). I'm leaning that way because like Blue Ensign, I'm inclined to not use the photo-etched "Norman knights" on the edges of the stern transom and come up with something else. If I'm stubborn enough to not want to use paint (nice thing about paint is that it would keep colors consistent despite differences in materials), then all the decorations should end up in wood. I think with some practice I should be able to carve most of the pieces, especially having the photo etched parts to serve as templates. Further complications though as to what to do with the friezes and figurehead. I might actually go ahead and paint the friezes. I'm really worried about gluing on the friezes and messing up the finish on the wood underneath, since I would be able to cover the extra glue spots with paint. Painting shouldn't be too bad, and TFFM has some helpful tips on what to do (e.g., paint the base color, then accent the highlights and lowlights using other colors). I could also use the transfer paper technique, which I was thinking of using the the name of the ship at the stern. Then of course there is the question of how good at carving will I be when it comes to the figurehead Lots to think about - going down the road of avoiding paints certainly makes things more complicated. Ultimately, this might end up being close to a mostly custom build.

A few questions before tackling the upper hull. 1. I was going to cut out a hole in the bulwarks for the quarter badge windows to add a little depth. I also saw on the TFFM plans that there are blocks midway along the hull in the bulwarks. Does it make sense to cut those holes now, and then add the planking around them to get an even finish? 2. Does it make sense to make the holes for the scuppers and anchor cables now, or is it easier after the the final planking is on? Unlike the blocks above, it seems like the holes for the scuppers and anchor cables are easy to drill all at once when the planking is added. 3. Should I frame the gun ports and sweep ports now? Like the blocks, it seems like I can get a cleaner finish around the hull if I start them now. 4. Anything else I should consider at this point? Thanks in advance!

Many thanks guys. I spent yesterday finalizing the sanding job. It was 25 degrees F yesterday here - for whatever reason, I seem to always be sanding the hull on the coldest days of the year. Ian, I'll have to give more thought to gluing sandpaper to my mittens to avoid frostbitten fingers Martin, thanks for the tip on the Lee Valley mini chisels. I used them to chisel better definition for the wales at the stem to really great effect. Then, I sanded the hull back with 320 and then 400 grade sandpaper, and the hull is as smooth as a baby's bottom. The moment of truth came last night when I used General Finishes Black Stain for the wales and lower hull. I'll post some pictures later, but it really came out beautifully. I was a bit concerned that the black might be a little different between the pear and the stem (which is MDF), but everything came out perfectly even. The GF stain was very quick and easy to apply, and doesn't bulk up like paint - instead, you get a very nice smooth finish. The nice thing about the GF stains is that they seem to have paint-like qualities in full, even coverage, yet apply in a thin coat like stains. I'm very excited to add stains to the rest of the build. Speaking of stains, I tried out GF Blue Stain on boxwood and compared it to the pear. As expected, it came out a little lighter, but not as bright as when applied to the maple. I'll have to figure out what combination of brown and blue stains/woods to use for the upper hull, but I'm getting excited to see the model take shape.

Finally finished the second planking below the wales! I still need to clean up and define the edges of the wales at the stem and stern, but I'm pretty happy with how things came out. I got better with spiling as I went along, but the early planks finished nicely. Next step will be to stain the wales and the section of the hull to the copper line black. Above the wales I'll have pear stained a darker brown, pear stained blue for the friezes, and then a line of redheart planks at the top of the hull. So, I plan to stain this section black first, as I don't want to get black stain on the planks above the wales. Thanks for looking in!

Hi Thistle, thanks for bringing up the Corel Unicorn. Timely, as I'm close to the point of taking a break from my Pegasus to restart work on my Unicorn/Lyme build. I had a nice trip down memory lane going through my build log. Ian, John and others and myself have taken a close look at the kit relative to the Chapman plans, as well as the Lyme plans from the NMM - the Lyme was the sister ship of the Unicorn, and almost exactly the same except for the fact that the Unicorn has a beakhead bow. Overall, the general shape of the hull is fairly accurate, but I think if you go through the various logs, you'll find a laundry list of inconsistencies between the kit and the various plans that are out there: -- closed waist is wrong, layout of gratings, etc. also probably not correct -- at the bow, the stem is too low, the figurehead is too low, the forward bulkheads flare out at top (which doesn't seem correct) and the cheeks don't match up -- masts I think are slightly off -- wales should be thicker by a full plank width -- wrong lines for quarterdeck and upper deck, number of port holes doesn't match Chapman -- the stern area is really off, with no stern post, wrong angle of stern post area, stern tuck is incorrect, flag locker not correct, Lyme plans show the tiller above the quarterdeck A very good model of the Unicorn is this scratch 1:48 build - this model seems to be very accurate relative to the plans that are out there: http://shipmodeling.net/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=1318&page=1 I give Corel some slack as this kit is an older kit that I don't believe has been updated in recent history. It's reasonable for kit manufacturers to take shortcuts or not be completely precise. The folks at Corel were very nice too in sending me additional port holes free of charge after I sent them an email asking if I could buy extras. However, one thing that I think is unforgivable is the fact that the various plan sheets do not match up (at least mine don't)! . At the very least, the plans should match up. Anyway, I think the Unicorn kit will build into a very nice model, whether you kit bash it or build it straight from the box. It's unique in that I don't think I've seen any other beakhead kits out there, and the Unicorn and Lyme have been said to be the first "true frigate." I've kinda gone down the rabbit hole of trying to build an "accurate" model (whatever that means), but as you've seen on here, others have built very nice models without making many modifications.

Coming along very nicely. Thanks for sharing your build with us

Very nice work Mark! Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family Frank!

Hi everyone, happy holidays and new year to all my friends out there Quick update on where I am with my Pegasus. I'm just about done with the section of the hull below the wales that will be above the copper line. I've decided to do that section in pear, and stain it black. Rather than waste a lot of pear that will ultimately be covered in copper plates, I'm using the kit walnut for the non-visible section. I've completed the pear planks for the stem, and am just about done with the pear planks at the stern. I have one more plank to add up to the stern counter, then a few more planks down stern post that will be above the waterline. I'm following the planking pattern in TFFM. It's amazed me at how precise the kit is relative to TFFM and the NMM plans. Also, the walnut planks used in the Amati kit are world's better than the planks used in my Caldercraft Badger kit, which was very splintery. Walnut might splinter more than a tighter grained wood like pear, but the Amati walnut is nice and tight. It's too bad that the variation in the color amongst all the walnut pieces (especially between the walnut ply pieces), as I would have just used the walnut rather than go with pear. I'm getting a little better at spiling, as the later planks are tighter against the planks above. The pictures above are with the planks pre-finished, but I think after some sanding and a couple of small areas that can use a drop of glue and some sanding dust, the planking should come out pretty well. Spiling certainly takes a lot of time, but I think the effect is really nice. I won't lie and say that it hasn't been nice to lay long planks of walnut down to cover up big sections of the hull at a time though

Happy belated birthday my friend!

Gorgeous planking. What kind of wood are you using?

I dabble in bonsai as another hobby, and this Japanese vendor came very highly recommended by folks on the bonsai boards that I frequent. Great quality tools, excellent customer service, and very fast delivery from Japan (on the order of less than a week). http://kaneshin.shop.multilingualcart.com/index_en_jpy_9.html While on their site, I noticed that they offer a full line of various types of tweezers. It's been hard for me to find good tweezers for modeling. I think I've bought and otherwise gone through about a dozen tweezers, and really only have one pair that seems to do it for me. So, I bought a few from that website figuring I would try them out. Wow, the quality, feel and fit are fantastic on their tweezers. Much better than what I was trying from vendors like Micromark. A good chunk of their tweezers may larger than what we need building model ships, but they have a few shorter ones that work very nicely. Anyway, just thought I'd pass their name along in case there are others that use tweezers a lot and have had a hard time finding good ones. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, just a very satisfied customer.

Hi Ian, we haven't done one of these Corel strategy sessions in a long while, I miss them For the ship's wheel, I would consider putting it behind the mizzen, especially if you are going to add the tiller. I'm not sure that you could add the tiller and its rigging if it was in front of the mizzen. I like the idea of integrating the tiller cover into the flag lockers and getting rid of the skylights. I don't know where the binnacle would go, however. I can take a look at the AOTS Pandora book tonight and give you more specifics on the binnacle style and location. Interesting - take a look at this amazing model of the Pandora. The ship's wheel and binnacle are ahead of the mizzen. I don't recall whether the Pandora had an above-deck tiller, however. It was probably below deck given the location of the "Pandora's Box", a holding cell for the Bounty crew. http://www.shipmodell.com/index_files/0PANDORA3.html The Pegasus, however, had an above-deck tiller - here, the ship's wheel and binnacle are behind the mizzen. http://www.historicships.com/TALLSHIPS/Amati/Pegasus/PegasusV7.htm

Interesting seeing the responses here. I have a Dremel but rarely use it. On my current builds with lots of scratch building, I found myself using the scroll saw quite a bit in the beginning cutting out curved parts for the hull. Now I am using the table saw a lot to cut planks along with other things requiring a straight edge like the various deck items (frames for gratings, bitts, etc.). Above all else though, I think I have used the disc sander the most though. I could never get straight lines by hand, even using those sand-it type jigs. So, if building from a kit, I'd probably lean toward a disc sander.