palmerit

Added the bulkhead frames and built the transom.

Thankfully I saw this in the @Bryan Woods build. I was very confused.

Adding reinforcing pieces. Never enough variety or number of clamps and clips.

After clipping the spine overnight, it had a pronounced bend. I wetted down both sides (just bushed with water) and then placed a heavy book (wrapped in plastic wrap) on it. Tonight, when I removed the book, it was fairly flat and straight.

The hole was actually just the right size. It's that if you don't treat the ends of the braided twisted rope (like I did) and just try to push it through and grab the end from the other side with tweezers (like I did) it's easy to get a "traffic jam" of rope on the other side (like I found). Pushing through with something like the sharp end of a needle file works, but was tough on the rope (and tough on my fingers when the needle file slipped past the rope pushing on a small grate). Seems either clear nail polish or CA on the ends (them trimming them) might be a good solution to making a narrow point to slide through a tight opening.

The central spine of the boat is composed of several pieces that need to be glued and clamped together. There is an option to have the centerboard moveable (up and down) but I chose to keep it stationary (glued in place).

To make progress on my Pram and Sherbourne, I needed a small miter box (to cut copper tube for the Pram, to cut masts for the Sherbourne). It came in but it turned out the narrow saw I had would not work with the miter box, so I had to order another saw. While I ordered the saw on Amazon and have Amazon Prime, it'll be another week or so before the saw arrives. While waiting, I decided to start on the Lobster Smack, the third kit in the Model Shipwright Series. Some notes and heads up on this one: - I chose to keep the centerboard glued into place. A challenge of doing so is that the centerboard then becomes an easy thing to crack or break (it’s terribly thin basswood) and it gets in the way of banding and clamping pieces after gluing. I think there’s may a 50% chance it survives the build. It might end up being in what appears to be its raised position by its absence. - This model has lots of thin basswood. That makes it easier to shape pieces (and some pieces have to be shaped quite a bit). But it also means it's pretty easy to sand through the planks when finishing the hull (I did not do that because I learned from my half hull build when I did it). - Like other Shipwright Series models, do not assume any “to scale” drawings are actually to scale (I don’t know if other Model Shipways models have the same problem). I had to zoom to around 103% to get something close, at least when I had a point of reference. It’s frustrating for the price they charge these models that they don’t have better quality control. Drawings to scale should be to scale. - I was completing the Pram and Smack before completing the Sherbourne because I wanted to get some practice on rigging before doing it on the Sherbourne. It's not necessarily that the Sherbourne is more challenging (in some way it's less challenging because the instructions and plans are so complete), but because I'd rather make a mistake on the Pram or Smack than the Sherbourne. One bit of frustration with the Smack (and Pram) compared to the Sherbourne is that the rigging instructions for the Smack are incomplete at best. I ended up having to turn to the instructions on the Pram to figure out how to rig the sails (they end up using a similar technique which is explained more completely for the Pram - so if you're just building the Smack, open up the instructions online on the Model Expo site for the Pram when you get to the rigging section). Unlike the Sherbourne, there are no rigging plans for the Smack. There is a sheet, but it's more to know how to shape the sails and part out the masts. There's maybe one drawing of a bit of the rigging (really more about passing line through some blocks), but that's it. When reading the instructions, I've learned that you need to keep track of the name of a particular line that might be tied off somewhere and named in one paragraph and then the description of where it goes might be explained several paragraphs later, just using the name of the line. Just follow the name of the line through the instructions to follow where the lines is supposed to go. I'm sure this is obvious for people with lots of experience working on boats or building models, but it's a little frustration when this is supposed to be an "instructional" model kit to have the instructions so confusing. I suppose compared to many model kits (not including Vanguard's) these are more complete than some models, so in a way if you can't get past these fairly complete incomplete instructions, maybe you won't do well on a non-instructional model kit with few instructions at all. I've seen some kits that seem to only have a bundle of material and a set of plans to follow. - One thing to make note of is that the metal - I think it's called Britannia metal (which replaced lead in old models I believe) - is pretty soft and kind of lousy. The rigging line supplied with the kit and the holes in some of the metal parts the rigging needs to go through are not quite lined up with each other (the line is way thicker than the hole). As a result, I had to bore out some holes a bit to even hope to get the line through a part. Well that then structurally weakened the metal (way more so than I would have thought given how much thickness remained). And just when tightening a piece of rigging (just a tiny bit so it didn't sag) the metal failed. Be careful. - For future builders: This kit does offer opportunities for kit bashing since some of the details are pretty basic (e.g., doors and hatches that are just square pieces of basswood with no detail at all). I thought for a second about trying to mimic some builds, but I bought the Shipwright Series just for some extra practice and I have other models in the queue I want to get to. Here’s one build that’s really nice with lots of added details someone might try to emulate: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/37380-muscongus-bay-lobster-smack-by-desertanimal-finished-model-shipways-124-moderately-bashed

I fed the thick rope anchor line through the grating, which was a bit of a challenge since the holes are about the same thickness as the rope. I created a separate post asking for tricks on how to feed thick rope through a small hole and one recommendation was to use CA glue on the end, let it dry, and the cut the end to a point. I’ll try that next time. I ended up pushing the rope through the hole with the pointing end of a small file. I glued the hatch (with the anchor ropes) to the deck. I also had glued down the guns. I think all the deck “furniture” is done (one of the guns needs to be glued down again) and the masts and then the rigging are next. I also assembled the anchors. I wasn’t quite sure how to add the black strips of paper (supplied in the kit) to the anchors. I glued an end to the anchor. I’m planning to let the strip dry and then wrap around the anchor and glue in place. We’ll see how it goes. NOTE: One pointer for folks doing this model (or any model). When you create your guns, check that all four wheels will lay flush to the deck before the final gluing. There's the part at the back end of each gun that looks like a shim - I read that it was used to raise and lower the barrel. I placed that shim either to far forward or too far backward on some guns (I'd need to play around with the geometry) and so some of the gun barrels would not raise enough to poke out of the gun ports while keeping the four wheels flush to the deck. One of those (many) small consequences I guess you learn to keep an eye out for when building these models.

Pointers on how to do that? Is that a standard technique?

First time working with rope (on my Sherbourne). 1) What's the best way to cut it to get a crisp end? Scalpel? Scissors? Clippers? Recommended kind? I suppose that question goes for other kinds of rigging when I get to that step (soon). 2) What's the best way to feed thick rope through a narrow hole? I had to feed it through the holes in the grates and the ends kept coming undone. I ended up pushing it through with the sharp end of a narrow pin file. But it took a long time and a lot of tries to finally get it through (I had to cut the rope a few times to get a fresh end to try again). 3) How can I fix / finish the ends of rope like this? And should I have fixed / finish the ends before cutting the rope? And before trying to feed through the narrow holes? I've seen 60% water / 40% PVA recommended by some. Should I use CA glue on the ends instead? Should I treat with CA (or water/PVA) before I make a fresh cut? 4) Should I treat (have treated) the entire length of rope with water / PVA?

Placed the floor boards and seats (thwarts and stern sheets). I definitely had to narrow some of the floor boards to all fit in place. I had narrowed the seats in an earlier step.

Painting is done. Starting to add hardware. I used the (somewhat gloopy gritty) Model Shipways paint because it came with the three-kit Shipwright combo. I thinned the paint a bit with water. While this paint wouldn’t be great for a ship with a smooth hull or with other kinds of wood, I think it works fine for a 1:12 fishing boat like the Pram. After a few coats of paint and letting it dry I added an airbrushed coat of Vallejo matte varnish.

And the hole on the smaller piece of the tiller assembly is 1/32, not 1/16.

I’m working on the tiller assembly. The instructions say you need 1/16 brass rod but it’s the 3/64 brass rod that fits.

Can I ask what pin pusher? I don't like mine at all.

First bit of painting of the hull.

As Chris said, just use a brush to paint over. If you're using a shaker paint can, you can spray some paint onto a paper plate and then dip a brush into the paint. I worry most about inadvertently getting paint on wood that's supposed to be left bare, like the deck. I mask off (using Tamiya tape) a lot, even when touching up. It just takes one slip or a paint drip from a brush to make a mess that will be more challenging to clean up. I bought some really tiny 00000 or smaller brushes to do tiny touchups (using my Optivisor to be able to zoom in).

A ton of sanding of the dagger board. It needs to slot into the dagger board case after it is painted.

Added the “Rub Rails”. It wasn’t entirely clear from the instructions where they go and there were no photos. I put them on the outside attached to the upper sheet plank flush with the inwale top.

I had to remove the forward-most bottom frame and move it back a mm or two because the two frames were too far apart to support the mast step.

Are there particular widths that are useful? I saw a bunch on Amazon and Otto Frei, but I'm not sure what size(s) might be useful to have around.

Thanks. I have several needle nose pliers. Never seen round-nosed pliers.

I saw this tool illustrated in some Model Shipways instructions. Seems to be used to shape metal. What is it called and what is it used for?

There are Black Friday sales going on now at Model Expo, Occre, and Age of Sail. Best prices I've seen since summer. Probably will end on Monday. You need to shop around. I saw Vanguard Models on some of the sites you listed a good bit more $ than what was on Age of Sail. And while Model Expo sells on Amazon, the prices on Amazon are not the sale price you get on their Model Expo web site. Not sure if there's a best place to find the best prices. Age of Sail seems to have the widest selection and good prices. Model Expo is mainly for Model Shipways and Midwest (though they sell some others).

@DB789 or @James H (or others), I'm thinking about building a couple of the Vanguard fishing vessels before beginning the Duchess that I bought. Which two of them would you say are the most different from one another? I was thinking about getting the Erycina as one of them. What would be the most different in terms of look and (especially) model-building experience (hull, deck furniture, rigging) from the Erycina? What two would be the pair that was most different from one another? Thanks in advance.