mtdoramike
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Everything posted by mtdoramike
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Is the Caldercraft HMS Victory still the best?
mtdoramike replied to yangliyuan's topic in Wood ship model kits
Rick is dead on. Most people think the more expensive the kit the better the kit. But I don't buy into that. No matter who the manufacture of the kit is, they all have their faults and they all have their good points. I just finished the Artesania Latina Victory kit and am very pleased with the results. The Sergal/Mantua Victory kit was touted to be the best Victory kit or most accurate back in the 70's and 80's. But to me accuracy is something that you the builder must insure or add to any kit because if you want accuracy, you must do your research of that particular model and be willing to make any adjustments to the kit as needed. I look at a kit and only the shell and most kits can be built straight out of the box, but if you want to make it your own, research, research, research. So your question really should be, which is the most accurate kit. mike -
I've started the refit of the cannon mounts side boards. When I added the 1/8th spacer around the gun port openings, I created additional problems such as like 5 of the bulkheads had to be cut back because by the time you add the 1/8th spacers and then the 1/8th backer board for the dummy cannon mounts, it created an issue that the side boards would not lay flush. But wait, the same thing will also have to be done with the lower side boards with the gun openings as well if I want the gun barrels to be even when viewed down the side of the model. A bit more work added to the build and I've just gotten started. Sometimes I have to ask myself, like self, what difference would it have made in the big scheme of things. hahahahahaha. BUt in the end, it comes down to my preference. mike
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I started looking at the prefab sides for the guns and the way the pictorial shows is gluing a piece of wood to the back side of the wooden strip or glue wood pieces in the gun port opening before applying the wooden side panel on. I don't particularly like either Idea. So I'm going to use 1/8" wood spacers between the wood strip and the wooden piece the false gun is mounted to. See Pictures for clarification. I prefer the guns to be a bit more recessed and not sticking out so far. mike
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Isn't it a sweet day when UPS or FedEx swings by and drops off a big box addressed to you and when you open up the box, there she is, a magnificent ship model kit just waiting for a little attention and love. Then you crack open the ship model kit box and peer inside to see all those wonderful things inside. This is what I love about ship model kits and after all the graphic describing, I'm fighting the urge to order a kit. You wouldn't think I would still get this quiver going up my leg for a ship model kit after building about 25 or so. But I guess I'm an addict. mike
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Your right, the Dragon looks like a baby compared to the Confed. You have a great start on her and I can't wait to watch her take shape and 16 bulkheads WOW! mike
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Upper deck planking finished and added a little bit of detailing to it, then clear coted it with a few coats of satin water based poly. mike
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You can't deal with a better company than Model Expo. They make every attempt at correcting any issues that you may have with a kit that they manufacture and will even assist the best they can to short comings of foreign manufactured kits as well. Try dealing with Artesania Latina or Constructo or Mamoli, I have on a few occasions and what a real pain in the butt it was on each occasion. I have built a number of Model Shipways kits and have yet to be missing any parts. The Constitution is one fantastic kit so I don't doubt for a minute that it's popular Marc. I have built a few Constitution kits and the Model Shipways version is by far my favorite and quite realistic too. Way to go Model Expo. mike
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The older you get, there is always an issue with shrinkage. mike
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Well it appears you need a hammer to break it so...........Also, thanks for making me hanker for some baked chicken. mike
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I know what you mean Mark, back when Ship in Scale had there chat room up and running back in the late 90's there was a big discussion on that aft portion of the Constellation being accurate or not. There was discussion about the stern being square like the Connie, but without plans, or some type of documentation, how would anyone know this and why would the stern galley have been changed is what I find to be the interesting question if it had been. mike
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WOW, now you see, an old dog like me can still learn a thing or three. I didn't even think of that option when deciding on what to do with the metal windows, I just decided to chunk them and scratch build some new ones. I wish I had thought of doing it your way, it would have saved a few hours of work for sure. mike
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Thanks for the link to the article Mark, this is the first time have seen this and yes, it does lay some misconceptions to rest I think and one heck of an interesting read. I still love the history of this ship. mike
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Thanks Don, the planking is growing on me especially since it seems to be laying great and the odd sizes of it works pretty well also. mike
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Tom, I'm very Impressed with your accomplishments on the Constellation. I love this ship and the history of it. They call her the sister ship to the Constitution. She was used in the war against slavery of the coast of Africa and was supposed to have captured quite a few slavers once slavery was outlawed in the states. There has also been some discussion about the stern section of the Constellation actually being squared off like the Constitution at one point, but then changed to the rounded version later on. I have to ask, did you use the cheesy metal rear galley windows on the stern? I tried those blasted metal windows and never could get them to lay flat and when I tried to add a bit of curve to them I broke a couple which I thought at the time was no great loss. So I scratched those myself out of wood and wood grating and the looked way better than the cheesy metal windows. I didn't do any painting to the Constellation, all natural wood and no copper plating either and no sails. I sold it shortly after finishing it to a fellow on the East coast of Florida, who still keeps in touch with me. I can't get over how fantastic the sails on your Const came out. They look great and so real looking. I have found with most sails, they are either too small or too big, but yours is just the right size. Great work and for a first time build, I can't believe it. The Const was like my 3rd or forth model. mike
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Planking is still going. I'm pleasantly surprised that the planking has worked out and is even at the sides of the openings since the planking isn't quite uniformed in width. mike
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Since you have the kits Tom, I wouldn't hesitate. So far a pleasure to work with. mike
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I have used it to plank a hull with and thought the contrast was beautiful. It's about the same as most other woods to work with that I have found. But I bought some wood planks about an inch thick and 4-5 inch wide and about 4 feet long and cut them down with a table saw and thickness planer to get the desired plank size I needed. mike
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By the way, I'm now building the OcCre Montanes, which is the same size as the Victory, so I will be ordering another display case from Abordage. This time I will have to add in the display lighting kit to accompany the display case. I think it's like $100.00 more for the lighting. mike ps: I'm hoping that some nice person or company will step up and donate the display case so that I won't have to be out of pocket for that as well as the actual model and the time involved in building it. We'll have to see how that goes. But this will more than likely be my last model unless I can find a Sovereign of the Seas kit that someone is willing to part with for around $500.00 or so. That might tempt me into building another.
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Yeah and even though $900.00 sounds steep, by the time you buy the wood which will probably be either poplar or red oak if bought from your local hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot and then the Plexiglass, it would have cost me close to $650.00-$700.00. So once I found Abordage and their quoted price of $900.00 for a case that size which included almost $200.00 for shipping cost was a no brainer especially when I could get mahogany. I would not hesitate to buy another one from Abordage. mike
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That could be true. But either way, I'm going to stop whining about it and get on with it.
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Yep, pretty much a lifelong resident here. I was raised in Mount Dora, went to school here, most of my kin from grand parents forward were residents here as well. mike
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That is my point exactly George, I figured with the model being the size it is, the planks would have been a bit bigger. mike
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I got a little planking done on the top deck, but it still just doesn't seem to be the right size planking for this size ship. I now kind of wish that I had replaced the deck planking which is 1mmx3mm strips to maybe 1mmx4mm strips. But, maybe it will grow on me. But with planking this small, there will not be any need to really go crazy about detailing because it will not be that noticeable. But we'll see on that issue.
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