MEDDO

I am busy until Mid May but maybe I will create some new designs to offer along with those initially offered.  And try to breath some new life into this group on beginner carving... 

I'm excited to share some news that I think many in the ship modeling community will appreciate—Ships in Scale magazine is coming back!
 
SeaWatch Books has worked out an agreement with the Nautical Research Guild (NRG), who owned the Ships in Scale brand after the magazine’s original run. We're now relaunching Ships in Scale with the goal of honoring its rich tradition while expanding its reach for today's modelers. We'll be featuring a wide range of articles for all skill levels, detailed build logs, kit reviews, and broader maritime topics, supported by a new digital platform as well.
 
If you'd like to learn more about the plans for the relaunch, I’ve written a short article that you can read here:
 
Read More →
 
We’re looking forward to building something that supports and celebrates the incredible craftsmanship, creativity, and passion in the ship modeling hobby. Thanks for taking a look!
 
— Mike Ellison
Publisher, Ships in Scale
SeaWatch Books

Thanks everyone for the comments and likes.  This was a great kit to build and I learned a lot building this model.

wonderful!

When repeatedly test fitting these pieces, care had to be taken in order to maintain consistent placement of the two articulating planks against their stanchions.

For this reason, I drilled a couple of holes in the aft plank and its underlying stanchion, large enough to accommodate a T-pin. One was also placed in the forward plank. These ensured that the planks were landing against the stanchions the same way every time.

The forward end of the forward plank was shaped to meet the filler block.

But besides the filler block, this end of the plank currently has nothing to land against.

So, it’s time to model the visible portion of the knightheads, the solid gray pieces of wood on either side of the bowsprit. The hawsepipes for the anchor chain travel through these pieces.
 
It’s worth noting that this picture exemplifies a difference between my model as built to the original builder’s plans and how it exists today. During the refit in 1999-2000, additional stanchions were added toward the bow that were not part of the original design. Those stanchions are visible in this photo but are absent from my model.

 

The knighthead pieces were built up from a couple of pieces of scrap, and their surfaces sanded down to accommodate their angle against the deck and the area of the bowsprit.

There is a small hole for the anticipated location of the hawsepipe where it emerges from the planking, previously estimated by eye.

However, this photo from 2024 suggests that my initial attempt is located too far aft.

So the position was adjusted and marked with a pencil mark.

Then the old hole was filled with a dowel and cut smooth, then painted over.

I placed a small pin in the bottom surface of the knighthead and drilled a corresponding hole in the underlying covering board, to give it some strength.

 

Now it is fitted in place. This piece will be trimmed down in the future to accommodate the width of the 8-inch-wide bowsprit. The beginnings of a hawsepipe have been started in it; the hawsepipe will not be brought to its outer surface until the overlying planking is installed.

Now it’s time to dry fit the first of the four bulwark planks, again ensuring that there is no gap between it and the covering board, but also ensuring that the plank is pressed up against the stanchions.

I made these little things to sit on top of the plank so that a clamp could push against them and the underlying plank, forcing the plank down against the covering board.

After a lot of dry fitting, and after purchasing many more clamps, the glue-up was performed and left to dry overnight. But first I attempted to reach any squeeze-out of glue between the clamps that would be visible inboard.

Here is the next morning, with the clamps removed and showing the various support pieces of scrap that enabled a proper grip of the clamps on the plank.

The scrap pieces on the stanchions ensured that the grip of the clamps on the plank was directly inboard and not on an angle.

Voila!!

No gaps!

There are some areas on the inboard surface of the plank that will require some touch-up painting, but the overall result is really nice.

 

These pictures remind me to say that the inboard surface of the plank was pre-painted, and any paint drifting into the areas where the plank meets a stanchion had to be scraped away before applying glue.

Here I am dry-fitting the forward plank; I have not yet glued this one in place.

 

Let’s have another look at that scarf joint area! (This one is actually for the opposite, port, side.) Very pleased with how that looks.
 
So, once the remaining 3 planks are installed, then planking of the rest of the bulwarks should go pretty quickly, followed by installation of the rail.
 
At the same time, I am working on marking out the waterline, plus I am continuing to work on the miniature carving of the trailboard. So much to do!
 

If the $8.50 shipping charge I paid helps support NRG/MSW, it's the best $8.50 I ever spent.  

I am always amazed at how clean neat and tidy your work is.

Since the last post, the deck planking has been finished. Here are some overviews of how things look. The open areas along the centerline will be covered by cabinhouses.

Plus an opening for the foremast and the foc's'le hatch.
 

The aft end of the planking will be covered by the lazarette.

Details of this process included leveling of the interface between the deck planking and the margin plank. There is a little stepoff in this area.

Here this has been cleaned up.

Another detail includes little gaps where some of the planks terminate in a fine point. These areas were filled with wood glue.

Then the excess was scraped away.

Still a little gap, but at distance it looks very clean.
 
Not detailed in these pictures is the process of first sanding the deck planking with sandpaper up to 220 grit, then scraping the deck with the edge of a scalpel. After doing so, the deck feels wonderfully smooth!

The area between the fore and main cabinhouses needed planking, which includes an area of planking that extends forward in the area of the companionway for the fore cabinhouse.
 

Here the planking has been put in place.

Then the edges were pared off using this very sharp chisel.

One consequence of the finshing process for the deck is scrape marks on the paint on the bulwark stanchions.

Fortunately this was really only present in the bow area.

Everything is masked off, ready for touch up painting.

 

 

After several coats, things are looking better.

Here is a preview of upcoming work, in which I am working on a form that will be used to construct the fore cabinhouse. I don't plan on making this from a solid block of wood, but rather 3/64" thickness sheets. I also need to do touch up painting of the exposed deck framing. More to come!
 

Thanks everyone for the likes and the comments.  I really appreciate them. 
 
Robert - next up is finishing the two projects I have on the bench (longboat and Halberstadt airplane).  The Halberstadt is close.  Once I finish the longboat, I will start the fully framed Echo that I have been planning for a few years.
 
Thanks!
 
Dave

Captain Sir Edward Pellew in command.
 

HMS Winchelsea model is now finished, 5 years to the day after starting the project!
Thanks to Chuck and Syren Ship models for the incredible effort that was put into this model kit, Thanks to all that followed my build log and the “likes” and comments that were very much appreciated.
I have the case on order and it should arrive next week, also some cleaning and dusting of the model will need to be done before she is locked away safely.
Here are some pics as she stands today.
 











 

Its going to be a very big adjustment....My current view just six miles out of NYC.   From my upstairs bedroom.   Its a very different vibe.
 

I am gonna feel like Oliver and Eva gabor, LOL
 

 

The trim looks wonderful.I am looking forward to the next steps

Looks great!
 
It is definitely in the works but I am only "allowed" to get one power tool for the shop a year I wanted to go with some better dust control this time.  The thought of cutting all the frames by hand seemed a bit much.  Next one up will be a scroll saw of some type.

It’s really coming together. Are you using the liver of sulfur stuff or some other product?
 
 
 
think I am going to try the Cheerful next

Great progress!  

Ouch Dave. I know you have moved shop a few times in last few year hope this is the last time

Wow seems like a complicated problem.  Will like to see how you overcome it.

Great to see a part in the flesh so to speak.  Lots of prep work to get here.  Is your plank bender one fo those soldering iron thingies (technical term)? 

Dave, great to see you at least have some time in the shop.  Looking forward to this build as you have said not too many others have posted about it.  I did consider this one seriously as my next but still think it will be the Cheerful...then who knows echo cross next maybe a kit bash... All depends on the work requirements 

love the cross section  will wait as long as it takes

Excellent progress. Look forward to seeing your next steps. 

Thank you to all the 'Likes'.
So my work continued with the manufacture of the two boom crutches.
This stage was a bit scary for me, as the parts to be made are quite complex, with a multitude of angles to be respected...
I based myself on the working method used by Glenn (glbarlow), which is described in detail in his build log dedicated to his superb Cheerful.
More and more often, I take each element as a small project in itself and look for the method that suits me best to try and achieve a good result.
As usual, I start by making a small sketch of the part to be made. For the boom crutches, I first make a drawing (scale x10, simply replacing millimeters by centimeters) of the final part. This allows me to sketch the starting piece, leaving a nice margin of wood. It's a matter of estimating the starting size of the piece of wood that will contain the final piece...

To try and get two symmetrical pieces, I start with a common piece of wood. I roughly trace the first cuts to be made with the saw.

The big cuts are made, and I find myself with the two starting pieces ready to be shaped.

Then began the long process of shaping the boom crutche, working on one angle at a time. I followed the sequence described in the instruction manual. I used a variety of small files and gouges, and often placed my workpiece on the rear cap rail of the stern to check the various angles.  For this phase, I only worked on one of the pieces at a time, as the angles are different between the port and starboard parts. In the photo below, the first piece is finished. You can clearly see all the material that had to be removed...

Once the two boom crutches have been finalized, they are glued to the cap rail as an extension of the fashion pieces that have been shortened beforehand. To reinforce the bonding, I inserted a small metal pin into the boom crutches and drilled a hole in the cap rail.

In the end, with a bit of method and, above all, a lot of time (don't rush, test and retest as you go along), I was able to get the job done, and it gave me a lot of pleasure once again.
To be continued.
 

Thank you Glenn and Gary for your kind words and thank you to all the 'Likes'.
I'm lucky enough to have more time for my hobby and to be able to share my work again 🙂.
The work continued with the assembly of the two interior ladders. Once again, there's no need to reinvent the wheel, so I used Rusty's build method (see his build log, post #134).
Just a little planning beforehand to determine the lengths of the parts (uprights and ladder treads) and the angle at which the ladders will be installed. I've decided to use two different thicknesses: 3/64" for the uprights, while the steps will be made from 1/32" boxwood. The only slight difficulty is that the ladder is not quite square (the steps are not square to the sides, but must follow the slope of the deck from bow to stern). With little confidence in my visual sense, I preferred to build a small jig from a copy of the plan. The copy of the plan is glued to a plywood board. Two strips are glued to the plan: one along the line of the ship's deck and the second along the outer edge of the left-hand ladder side. A small piece of transparent self-adhesive paper is then stuck to the plan in the work area to prevent the ladder parts from sticking to the plan. All ready for ladder assembly.

Six small grooves (one more than necessary) are engraved in parallel on a 1/32" boxwood board using my MF70 mini mill. The ladder uprights are then cut with my mini table saw, respecting the installation angle and mirror finish. All that's left to do is glue the steps to the sides using the jig. The result is a ladder that conforms to the plan.


Sides are cut to the right length, ladder tops are rounded and the ladders are tested on the deck.

Finally, I colored and glued the ladders onto the deck.

Next element: the winch.
 

Hello everyone!
 
I was able to complete the fairing today.
 
Here are all the tools (except for the painters tape) I used to fair the hull.

 
Firstly,  I need to stress how important it is to protect the stem and keel pieces.  I'm glad I put on 2-3 layers of painters tape.  It really saved those pieces from all the sanding.
 
This is after I faired the hull.  Notice the tape on the stem.
 

 
Now after removing the tape, the stem looks just fine.

 
Sometimes, I would find bulges like this.

 
It might be hard to see,  but that middle bulkhead is bulging out a little bit.
 
The bow was the most time consuming.  Using a strake becomes mandatory to make sure you faired enough.  It takes more fairing that one would think!
 
Here is what my Cheeful looks like after fairing.
 

 

 
As you can see, I also was marking the gun ports.  After placing the tape (which is easy to move around)  I would place a batten on it to make sure I can match the tape shape with the wooden strip.
 
Next up is putting on the gunports!
 
Lastly,  I 3D printed a storage container to hold the milled strips of wood.  This was the first time I made something like this,  but it really helps to clear off my table!
 

 
I can add labels to each section so I know what sizes are in which spot.
 
Thanks for reading!
 
Jeff