Landlubber Mike

Mark, sanding while wearing mittens must have been an adventure The temps are supposed to hit mid-40s this afternoon and the sun is out, so it should be a little warmer. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until next weekend as I prefer to do it in the daylight and it's dark by the time I get home from work. I just want to get the majority of the sanding out of the way so that I can do the spot areas at home - when the Admiral is asleep Ian, gluing sandpaper to my hands is almost as crazy an idea as wearing mittens, but I'll keep that in the back pocket as a last resort measure SpyGlass, I think you're right that I don't need to fill every gap. There is one slightly low plank at the bow that I have to fill, and I'll have to fill that area near the gripe and likely up near the stern counter and stern post. Otherwise, the planking is very smooth without bumps and dips. At 1.5mm planks, there is plenty to work with to sand back to which is very nice. On my Badger, the lime was 1mm, and in some areas I came very close to sanding through the first planking because I didn't do as good a job laying the planks naturally. I have the Bob Hunt practicum, and he covers the entire first planking with filler, whether needed or not. To me that really seems like overkill, with the potential that the approach possibly could disrupt the some of the curves that the bulkheads give you. Based on the practicum, it looked like he didn't spend much time fairing the bulkheads, as he used a drum sander for most of them so maybe his approach is necessary. I spent probably close to 6-8 hours fairing the bulkheads, constantly laying test strips to make sure a smooth run - based on my results at least on the port side, I don't think I need to cover the entire hull with filler.

Well, the first planking is complete! Here are the pictures before sanding: Looks pretty rough, but things got much better after some sanding. I spent about an hour sanding the port side this afternoon sitting on my porch steps, but at 40 degrees (F) outside, it started getting hard to feel my fingers at the end (the Admiral just shook her head at me, but I reminded her that it was better than having the dust inside the house). Hopefully the weather will be nice enough tomorrow so I can get some work in on the starboard side. Spending the time I did in fairing the bulkheads seemed to pay off, as I don't think I'll need much filler. I mostly need some to close the gaps between the gunport patterns and the first plank, and a bit at the bow and stern. I cheated a bit on the garboard plank by simplifying it, so I'll also need some filler in the area that feeds into the gripe. Overall, I'm very pleased with how it's coming out. The Swan class hulls are very shapely, which are borne out in the Amati models.

That's a nice really space Joe. A beer fridge, speakers and a flat screen TV and you'll have the perfect man cave.

Hey Carl, just stumbled across your log too. Last year I started on the same kit and am at about the same stage you are. I'm planning to put "sea" into the bottle, which has been a little challenging to say the least. It's a fun kit, though I had issues trying to get the wrap-around photo etch around the hull.

Hi Jason, looks great. I like how you stopped the first planking at the bearding line near the stern. I ran the planking to the stern post, but I have a feeling that I'll be sanding a lot of that off I also ran into similar issues planking my Pegasus. It was a little easier on my Badger where there were fewer curves, but I think spiling is the way to go where there are more complex curves in the hull (unless one is comfortable with pointed or up curved planks at the bow). I'll probably try it out on my Pegasus - Frank and others have assured me that it is not as difficult as it seems, so I'm going to take their word for it - and if it is too difficult, I'll send them my hull to plank If I mess it up, most will be covered with the coppering, so I might as well practice (I'm not coppering my Lyme, so it would be good to get some free practice in now).

Looking great John. Did you color the chains at all? I love the bronze look on some of them. How do you like the serving machine? I was thinking about getting one, as doing the serving with tweezers and clips on my Badger was not very fun at all.

Thanks Nick! I'll definitely check it out. I love your Le Mirage by the way

Coming along beautifully Flyer, love the sails. The spanker came out very nice. I remember making the jib traveler on my Badger. A very small detail that most wouldn't notice, but was a lot of fun to make.

Beautiful work Nils, those sails are gorgeous. Seeing the Pegasus in full sails has made me decide to put mine in full sails as well

Martin, good question about the bleeding and using polyurethane. That might actually work quite nicely. I'll have to check ChrisLBren's Confederacy log, as I think he did something to mitigate the effects. I think taping helps, but isn't perfect. I was originally thinking of pre-staining planks, and then touching them up very carefully if necessary, but that might be not be foolproof. For seams between planks that will be covered by the rails, I was thinking of leaving a very small gap between the planks using very thin brass sheet. The gap might help the bleeding, particularly if I leave the brass sheet in while applying the stain. Then, I can just cover the seam with the rails and call it a day. Thanks for looking in Mobbsie. I plan on using the push pin method for the second planking for sure. I thought it was going to be a little tough on the first planking as the bulkheads are in MDF and pretty strong, so my push pins won't work unless I drill holes (which I didn't want it to do). To get it to work with the kit pins, you need to push the pins all the way down so the head sits on the plank - I wasn't sure how easy it would be to pull the pins once the glued dried. Thanks for the tip on Chuck's tutorial. I'll have to take a look, thanks!

I needed a good camera for indoor kid shots, but wanted a point and shoot. The problem is the small cameras have a very small light sensor. Some of the newer cameras (more expensive) put a much bigger light sensor in, which improves picture quality considerably. I bought the Sony RX-100 a year or two ago, and it's been great.

Thanks Joe and Martin, I'll have to check that book out. I'm always amazed at people that can perfectly plank with one layer, and not use an under layer. I didn't mark out battens on the first planking, but certainly plan to on the second. The second planking is going to be interesting for other reasons. I am planning on four colors for the upper hull planking - redheart for the red strip at the top, pear dyed with General Finishes "Blue" for the blue area, pear dyed brown for the natural area, and black for the wales and possibly the section between the wales and the coppering. I have to think about bleeding effects, so I might pre-dye some of the edge planks. I think I also have a little safety with the rails which will cover up the seams between colors and any possible bleeding. Fun times

I've managed to get some planking time in, and have 12 rows in per side. The ship probably needs about 16 per side when all is said and done. The kit lime strips are very good to work with. They are straight, and take bends well. The only tricky thing is that it can split if you try and pin it towards the ends, as you can see in the bow and stern shots. Man, the close-ups make things look really rough and messy, so it's a good thing that this will get covered up It's been a while since I planked my Badger, but a few things from that build are coming back to me. This time around, I decided not to use CA, as it just made a mess and sometimes it seemed to adhere, and most times, not. For this build I am only using PVA with pins, the planking screws I showed earlier, and clamps. That has gone much better. It also reminded me to lay the planks as naturally as possible - but, with the upturn into the stern counter, I forced the planks a bit leading to a bit of a sharper edge and clinker effect. The lime is 1.5mm thick, so plenty of material to sand back to a nice curve. The planks at the bow need to be tapered starting with the second plank, and probably the first. I probably didn't taper them enough in the beginning rows, so the planks started to turn upwards at the second or third bulkhead without forcing and clinking them. Since I'm trying to get the planks to lay as naturally as possible, I am going to have to add a drop plank/joggle plank as you can see in the picture below. I'm a little confused as to whether stealers and drop planks are "permissible" in models. I might try to spile the second planking, but I need to sit down and try to understand exactly how that technique works. Since the the bottom of the hull will be coppered, I might try it out since it will be covered up

Jim, your Ballyhoo came out great, congratulations! I really love that case, wow! Very creative and well done. I was thinking of doing a diorama type case for a later build with a fake sea, but your approach is very simple and elegant.

Thanks, that's very helpful information! Looking forward to your update!

Good to know Martin. I'm hoping the pear I plan to use bends ok. It's a pretty tight curve those first few planks. What did you do in the corner between the first plank and the second? Is it supposed to be a rounded curve, or is it more of a sharper corner?

I started the first planking, and got four rows completed per side. It's going pretty well so far. There are some areas between the gunport pattern and first plank that will need to be fixed with filler and sanding, but overall, the time I spent fairing the bulkheads to get a smooth run seems to have been well worth it. The nice thing about this kit is that the lime planks are 1.5mm thick, giving you plenty of material to work with when it comes to sanding. The lime takes soaking pretty well, and even at this thickness, the planks do bend and twist pretty nicely. The planking at the stern is always the tricky part. The first plank seems to run relatively vertically, and then the next plank starts the horizontal twist up to the stern counter. I don't know that I faired the last bulkhead appropriately, but I figured I would get the planks on and then use filler to get the proper transition between the two planks. I think there is a slight rounded curve to the bottom corners of the stern counter, but once I get the planks on and start fitting the stern counter, I'll have a better idea of what work needs to be done. It's great to get the planks on and see the nice curves of this class of ship come together. The planking screws have been very helpful to get the ends of the planks to sit at the bow and the last bulkhead. Otherwise, I have only been using PVA and two nails at each bulkhead to fix the planks to each bulkhead - I have flashbacks of trying to use CA on my Badger, which was a real pain. I just wanted to share one thing I'm using that has made the pin work very easy. It's the pin insertion plier from Micromark, which is model number 85282. On my Badger, I used the Amati pin pusher (which only lasted that build), but these pliers work much much better. I forget whose log recommended these, but they are fantastic. You have much more control, and you don't need much force to push them through the lime planks and into the MDF bulkheads (no starter hole in the MDF is necessary). A picture of them is below.

I ordered the ensign for my Badger from BECC flags as well. They are cloth, so I think they end up looking a little more realistic.

I'm only on my second build, but I kinda agree that in some cases, using the filler blocks seems overkill. As Pete says, two big considerations are the widths between the bulkheads in the more difficult areas, and whether you are planning to double plank or not. I can certainly see at the very front of the bow though that you might need something to attach the planks to. I forget whether I used filler blocks on my Badger build, but for my current Pegasus build, I decided not to. The kit has a fair number of bulkheads, with a good number spaced closely together at the bow. The kit also had inserts that went between the bow bulkheads (and between the first bulkhead and the stem) to help give you something to rest planks on. Since I'm planning to double plank and use filler, I think I can get away with not using them. I also spent many hours fairing the bulkheads, constantly checking and rechecking things as I went along. If you have the bulkheads faired appropriately, it probably lessens the need for filler blocks.

Hi John, happy new year! Wow, that's really great work, nice job! Very clean build, and love the improvements. Looking forward to what you decide on the quarterdeck. I'm hoping to get through the first planking on my Pegasus, and will turn back to my Lyme - your pictures are giving me an added push to get that planking done!

Thanks SpyGlass, if you happen to have the pictures handy that would be great but don't kill yourself looking for them. If not, I think this gives me enough to go on that I can take a stab at it tonight. The stern is definitely one of those places on the ship that is important to get right!

Thanks for looking in SpyGlass. When you say "the last bulkhead needs to very steeply faired, are you referring to bulkhead 13 (on which the stern extensions sit) or bulkhead 12? From my tests, it looks like bulkhead 13 needs a good bit of fairing, especially close to the stern post. At the outer edges, however, it looks like there's sorta a rounded curve as the hull planks move from vertical to horizontal.

Hi Martin, thanks for looking in. I probably have at least 8 solid hours of fairing the bulkheads. It's an easy job to do while watching TV at least. I've been using a dust mask, as that MDF dust can be some nasty stuff. To fair them, I've been using these carbide files from Micromark which have worked fairly nicely (I think i'm using the coarse set, and not the fine set): http://www.micromark.com/5-piece-carbide-needle-file-set-coarse-80-grit,7526.html The stern on my Badger was a bit nerve-wracking process, but eventually I just went with it and it turned out ok. The tuck up and into the counter seems to be a lot more acute than I originally thought. I need to play around with the test planks a bit more more, but it seems like I need to fair bulkhead 12 some more, and then put in a pretty decent bevel onto bulkhead 13 so that the planks not only run into the stern counter ok, but also so that there is enough area to fix the planks to it. Right now my planks seem to hit the fore edge of bullhead 13 ok, but I think the planks on the bottom of the bulkhead need to follow the curves of the planking run leading up to it.

Looking great Bill. Thanks for the tutorial on making the small boats. I'm thinking of doing the same on all my builds from now on, rather than using the kit resin or cast metal hulls. Results look much nicer!

Very nice build Caroline, glad to see you are back. I was following your log during my Badger build to get ideas for my future Pegasus build. It's looking really great.