JSGerson

The grating was precast metal as well which I initially painted and initially used. However, the more I looked at it the more I disliked it and by this time discovered that one could order wood gratings online that I could assemble into a much nicer structure. As you look at the images, at some point you will notice that the painted metal grating changes to wood. I regret I didn’t take photos of that process. The ship’s wheel presented a problem. According to the instructions I should have had a precast structure to hold the wheel. No such casting was included in my kit. According to the instructional image shown, the casting looked like an upside down letter “Y” with the axis of the wheel going through the bottom of the stem of the “Y”. However when I looked at the image on the box, the wheel was attached to a single short dome topped column. So, I just guessimated the dimensions and made the structure out of a piece of stock wooden dowel. I worked. Thus, I created my deck structures.

The ship’s boat was precast metal which I just painted.

The forward cabin was even simpler

The result wasn’t too bad.

Deck Structures The first structure I attempted was the stern cabin. It was simple enough – a precut block of wood, a few items of wood I had to fabricate, and some cast windows and a door. I quickly realized that the door and windows appeared to be too thick, out of scale to be realistic. I decided that I would recess the parts into the wood block.

Deck Planking The instructions next indicated that I was to add a strip of wood along the side of the deck to form a low hull extension above the deck around the boat and then add the deck planking. This would mean that I would have to create fitted pieces of the deck planking where it met the hull extension. Instead, I set aside the hull extension and planked the deck first. It was then a simple process to cut and sand the decking till it conformed to the hull shape.

The instructions stated to glue the rudder to the hull. That is what I initially did. All that was holding the rudder to the hull was a line of glue along the thin edge of and irregular shaped flat piece of wood to and irregular shaped surface of the hull. It didn’t take too long before it was knocked off. I set that aside for a while.

Rudder - First Attempt At this point I was supposed to add the rudder. There were 2 images of the rudder in the plans, but they weren’t exactly alike. I made a cardboard template based on the 2 types and then trimmed the best fitting one till it fit to the hull.

Painting the Hull After sanding and prepping the solid hull for painting, I added a coat of white primer and then added the green and white paint with a black stripe. The pictures were taken before I touched up where the colors bled through the masking tape.

The Boat Stand The kit did have a nice boat stand that you had to build which also aided in the construction of the boat itself. So that was the first thing I built. Basically you cut up big pieces of stock wood into little pieces and reassemble them to make the stand. Simple!

This is not only my first wood model sailboat I’ve built, it is also my first build log so bear with me. I had always been fascinated with models and built numerous plastic ones as earlier as ten years of age. In fact my very first model, a B-36 “Peacemaker” was built by my father and given to me when I was just 7 or 8 years old. I think that was his first and only model he ever made. I suppose that’s when the bug bit. I always chose the more complicated ones so I ended up making WWII military ships. The cars and planes seem to me to be too simple. I usually never looked at the instructions and was able to put them together without too much of a problem. I think all I had was a pair of tweezers for tools. My models neat and clean but weren’t painted. I let the color of the plastic provide all the realisim. As I got older I started to paint. As I look back on it they probably weren’t great models but I had fun. Most if not all ended up being blow up with firecrackers. Hey, I was a kid! I graduated to the Guillows scale balsa and tissue paper planes and built them as static models. They were fragile and over the years they too met their demise. All this is leading up to my very first adult build, the Model Airways Albatross D.Va, a WWI German fighter; a “museum quality model.” It’s the plane that the Red Baron got most of his kills in. I chose that kit because it had the most number of parts for the fighter plane kits being offered. To build the kit, I started to accumulating materials, tools, etc., and a lot of what I purchased I bought from Model Expo. During one of those buying sprees, Model Expo had a deal whereby if you spent X amount of dollars they gave you a free model kit. I received the Mini Mamoli schooner Evergreen. According to the box cover this is a circa 1920’s British racing yacht. This particular kit was offered to customers by Model Expo for around $30 in 2006-7, but I haven’t seen it since nor have I been able to find anything about the actual boat on the Web. After completing the Albatross, I was a novice when it came to knowing the ins and outs of a sailing craft. I didn’t know the nomenclature, nautical terms, the mechanics of how a sail boat operates, etc., but I jumped into the water so to speak and started the kit January 2008. This would be my training wheels project for I had spied my next project even before I started this one. I wanted to build the Mamoli Rattlesnake. The Evergreen kit had the bear minimum of instruction and in some cases the picture on the box did not match what was in the box. Even some of the instruction illustrations contradicted each other. The final product as shown on the box cover left something to be desired which I shall explain in the build log.

In looking over your last set of images, I took particular notice of the stern and have two questions. First, how did you create the "Constitution" nameplate with such fine lettering detail. Is this self made decal, part of the kit, or what? Second, what is the purpose of the rudder chain? Obviously it's not part of the steering mechanism. The only thing I've been able to hazard a guess is, it is some kind of fail safe to catch the rudder should it fall off during battle or storm. If that is the case why are there three chain loops. Are they decoration or do they serve some sort of purpose like a shock absorber to prevent breakage should the chain suddenly become taut due to a falling rudder?

Not having ever made a "bread and butter" or "toaster slice" formers, boat, what did you do the first time that was wrong, that you had to do it over again? I don't know what to look for in your images to compare. I've been watching you, Modeler12, Geoff, among others to learn as much as I can before I start my attempt at the Conny sometime in a year or so. I'm still working on my Bob Hunt kit bash of the Rattlesnake and still have a ways to go.

Actually the carving is in relief, as shown in the attached photo, but when brought down to scale, your method is perfect.

Hey, if it works for you, go with it. Then of course there is the ropewalk manufactured by Brynes Model Machines (http://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com/ropewalk1.html?id_mm=0329MM396435). I own their table saw and thickness sander and they are beautifully machined, but $450 for a tool you only occasionally use, I'd stick with your homemade one.

I too am building the Mamoli Rattlesnake as bashed by Mr. Hunt. You however are much further along than I am, so I will following in your footsteps as you solve the problem we all encounter. This is my 1st plank on Bulkhead ship not counting the one I tried 20 years ago. I've made a lot errors, and learned a lot by my experience as well as following Mr. Hunt's guidance I look forward to your future posts.

I've just discovered your build log and plan to follow it among others I've found on this Website. I plan to start my Connie project in a year or so soon after I finish the Mamoli Rattlesnake following Bob Hunt's practicum. Yours is the first I've found where you plan on deviating from the MS kit plans and revert back to the way she looked prior to 1812, that and having electrified. I look forward to your future posts.

I plan to build the Conny in the next year or so and I am getting very envious of the skills I see displayed on all the build logs on this web site. I'll be following your log among the others I've chosen to teach me how it's done. Beautiful work!

"I must also point out that I jumped around a lot and did not always follow the order of things." You too? I've following Bob Hunt's Practicum for the Rattlesnake and learned (sometimes the hard way) that the order in which he built his model does not work for me. I too have jumped a bit. Sometimes I should have zigged when I should have zagged but that's the learning experience we all have to go through. I have also been watching Geoff's build as well and I hope between all of these (and other) wonderful sources to produce a model approaching the quality I see being displayed on this site. Thanks

I plan to build the MS Conny in the next year or so and have been following your log. I purchased Mr. Hunt's Practicum also and am glad you are pointing out the pitfalls and tips you have encountered. I look forward towards future updates. Present and first build: Manoli Rattlesnake

You're back! Yay!

Glad you are back. I'll be following Mr. Hunt practicum as well and your experience with it starting in about a year or so. I'm half way through the Mamoli Rattlesnake using Bob's practicum. So as soon as I take a small breather from that when it's complete, I'm off to the races again. Watching you follow him should help me. Keep up the wonderful work and photgraphs