palmerit

I've used Gorilla CA glue - gel for come applications, micro precise for others - and never had them dry up. I've also used Zap thin CA glue and haven't had a problem. I did have that happen to me "pre-modeling" with other brands of CA glue; I ended up just buying the small single use superglue tubes, which looked kind of like what you have. I treated them as single use and just tossed them after using them because they'd dry up.

I’ve seen people use CA glue or shellac. My understanding is shellac can be undone with alcohol and dries clear, so I think (?) it’s preferred. CA dries faster I think.

I got the rack turned around with some surgery. I had to paint it black because I needed to add some wood filler around the wounds. I also added the belay pins and a few other pieces.

I'd probably do another Vanguard Model. I actually bought the Duchess of Kingston and that's now in my stash because I decided to build some of the smaller Vanguard fishing boats - currently working on the Ranger. I wanted more practice on hull planking and want to make my mistakes - like I did yesterday - on a model that isn't as expensive and doesn't take a couple of years to build. I have the US Brig Syren in my stash - my sons bought it for me. The instructions are great and complete but it's certainly an "old school" kind of model as @ccoyle noted, where you need to build lots of things from scratch. I'm trying to add a few "scratch" things - or at least deviations from the instructions - on the models I'm building now. When I do the Syren, I'll probably buy a bunch of material and parts from https://syrenshipmodelcompany.com since the materials (and QA) in Model Expo / Model Shipways kits is kind of middling (certainly compared to Vanguard Models).

Oh, man, you're right. Thanks for pointing that out. That'll be an interesting fix. I guess I have a project tonight.

Added some more deck fixtures.

Added some of the deck pieces. Still some more to add. I added some trim to the companionway (and painted and stained) because I did not like the jig saw puzzle piece look without doing so.

The Philadelphia is apparently undergoing preservation (it's closed to public since January): https://americanhistory.si.edu/explore/projects/gunboat-philadelphia

Note that the instructions include some steps that aren’t needed. For example, cutting out a notch out of the cabin roof for the door and rounding the corners of the roof. Those are done in the laser cut piece now.

Yeah, I certainly don't blame these things on the designers. The folks at Model Shipways are always trying to put another challenge in front of you. I'm working on the Philadelphia, following Olha's build, and her kit and my kit (and lots of others) had this fun one (see photo) to try to figure out. Instead of asking them to send me a new part - assuming they have new parts that fix this - I'm going to follow along trying to see how Olha fixes hers. Figure I'll learn something from that experience. I don't quite understand the business model that doesn't do a better job of quality control, especially for what are supposed to be model kits aimed at relatively beginning modelers. I'm sure there are people who buy these kits and don't find a web site like this and get frustrated or think they made a mistake and just move on to another hobby. So they sell one kit rather than possibly dozens of kits to someone. I can see advanced models just giving you the supplies and having you figure things out for yourself, but beginning/intermediate models should show a little bit of care and oversight. This model lists at nearly $300 - though I got it for half that. You'd think they monitor these websites. I'm sure they weren't exactly pleased to see that in Olga's first video of the group build that Model Expo / Model Shipways has been advertising just about every day that their biggest parts don't fit together at all. They literally have a Creed Bratten running their QA department.owin

I think you’re right wrt paddle wheel boats. The Philadelphia is a very similar flat shallow hull, for the same reason as the hulls on paddle wheelers. You can often check the instructions online, at least for some kits, to see what kind of hull construction it has. The Philadelphia makes it hard to see what I’m describing because the illustrations are all on plan sheets, not in the instruction book. You can check Olha’s build when she gets to planking. I bet some paddle wheel kits have the pre-spilled planks, and the planks are probably wide and there aren’t that many. I understand your frustration with the strip planking. My Sherbourne was garbage - both layers. The hull ended fine, but that’s because of filler, sanding, and tons of layers of paint. The only thing the Half Hull really did for me was visualizing what edge bending is trying to accomplish with strip planking. My Vanguard Ranger was certainly better. But it was supposed to have some bare wood up top that was to be oiled/stained. No way on mine, so I painted the entire hull. I’m kind of surprised I stuck with trying to understand planking. It was pretty frustrating. I kind of “get it” now, and least to some extent. We’ll see if I ever get to the point of having a bare wood hull. I’m going Olha does a group build someday with a strip planked hull. Maybe she’ll pick a Vanguard model, but she seems to have some agreement with Model Expo.

If you haven’t done a model that requires faring the bulkheads, I recommend having the “printed” sides of the bulkheads pointed towards their respective ends of the ship (they can be put in either direction). These markings then show approximately (don’t take them as exact) how much of the bulkheads (at an angle) will need to be sanded off; a lot near the front and back, none at all (except to remove the char) in the middle.

If you’re not a fan of this kind of thin strip planking, the Midwest San Francisco Bay Scow Schooner I’m working on has no planking at all. I think the Model Shipways Philadelphia that I just started in order to follow Olha’s YouTube build has prespilled planks (like with the Dory, Pram, and Smack). I imagine there are other models of this style.

Adding the bulkhead pieces. I’m now caught up to where Olha is. Only took me 2x as long 😉

Good eye. If I was just building this on my own I’d have ordered a new piece. I’m treating this as a learning experience to learn from and replicate how Olha deals with this same grief.