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palmerit

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Everything posted by palmerit

  1. palmerit
    I had the same confusion over the round file. I bought a 3/8" one on Amazon and after starting filing realized it was way too big. It was probably supposed to be 3/16". I don't know why Model Shipways doesn't issue a ver 2.0 of their Shipwright Series. I wonder how many builders don't find a web site like this for answers, get hopelessly confused over the instructions, incomplete parts, and the wrong parts, and just give up. You'd think they'd see the benefit of doing a review and update of their entry-level kits and make sure the instructions are clear (and correct) and the parts are the right ones. Model ships are already challenging. They shouldn't make it avoidably harder, especially for their kits that are supposed to be a beginner series. I can't imagine having been able to complete these without reviewing other build logs. I ended up using some thinned wood filler on the transom to fill in those lines (which I also didn't sand/file down to), sanding them down, and painted.
  2. palmerit
    Definitely recommend Vanguard Models. I’m working on the Sherbourne and have a couple other Vanguard Models in the queue. Wooden ships are really challenging, even “simple” ones. A Constitution or Victory scale of ship seems to require a lot of experience and can take years to complete.
  3. palmerit
    Sure thing. I thought since you were doing the Sherbourne you might be a relative novice like me (you might have said you weren’t elsewhere in your build log).
  4. palmerit
    I’ve liked having multiple builds going - though now having four (including the Lego Endurance) might be a bit much. There is a bunch of time waiting for wet wood, glue, or paint to dry. And with both my Sherbourne and my Pram I’m now waiting for some parts to arrive (with my Sherbourne I didn’t plan the cutting of some yards properly and had to order a new walnut dowel, with my Pram I broke one piece and the kit didn’t supply enough of some other pieces). Also, there have been some times when I knew I needed to think about a step or read some other build logs and it was nice to have another model to turn to when I just wanted to do some physical, not mental, model work. I know others might disagree. It’s also nice have one more “complicated” model going (not that the Sherbourne is complicated, but it does have more steps and pieces) and a simpler model going (like the Dory, Pram, or Smack).
  5. palmerit
    When you get to making the cannons, make sure you test the fit before gluing the “wedge” in place. That piece sets the angle of the cannon. It wasn’t clear to me where to place it so I placed it so that the cannon would be horizontal. It turned out the cannon needed to be pitched up a tiny bit so that the barrels would point out the ports and all four wheels would sit on the deck. A few of my cannons have the two front wheels elevated off the deck by a fraction of a mm. No one would see it but me, but it also means those cannon are only glued in place in two spots rather than four.
  6. palmerit
    Adding the toe rails around the top edge of the deck was a real challenge because there was nothing to clamp it to and because it was a thicker piece and was harder to shape. I had soaked it in hot water, shaped it, and let it set for a day, and it still wasn’t quite right; in retrospect, I probably should have soaked again, and let it shape for another day. I used rubber bands and some clips in the open sections and used a couple quick grips. I did use the titebond speed set so it would set up a bit more quickly. I still need to shape the ends of the toe rail.
  7. palmerit
    I’m not sure if I’m misreading what to do or the wrong parts are included in the kit. I’m adding the oarlocks. Each is (I think) supposed to be made from the oarlock piece itself, the brass base with a hole for the oarlock, and two holes for two pins cut short (simulating bolts). Unfortunately, the pins supplied were too wide to fit through the holes. Instead of trying to drill the holes larger, I simulated bolts using a drop of copper paint.
  8. palmerit
    This was a great learning experience. When you get to sanding, don't make the mistake I did. These 1/32 basswood sheets are really thin. I ended up sanding all the way through. But I turned it into another learning experience trying to figure out how to remove planks and replank.
  9. palmerit
    I was looking at some build logs of other ships and saw on some that the anchor rope was looped (at least once, sometimes many times) around the winch - I'm guessing it would need to be wrapped around if the winch (is this winch called a windlass - and a vertical version a capstan - I'm still learning the language) is actually used to raise and lower the anchor. I haven't attached the anchors (I just have the anchor rope pulled through the holes at the front). I followed the photo in the instructions (attached), which doesn't have it wrapped around. I suppose if I do wrap it, I'll need to make sure the anchor line is long enough.
  10. palmerit
    Finished planking my Smack and now I’m doing some filing and sanding. Heeding the caution in the instructions - and my experience with the half hull - that 1/32 basswood is pretty thin and it’s easy to sand through.
  11. palmerit
    All of the masts and yards have some kind of a taper. None are glued together. The full mast in the photo is of course made the several parts, but any yard or mast will be made from a single piece of wood. I can’t imagine a model doing otherwise. I made photocopies of sections of the plans for each mast and yard and first cut them to the appropriate length with a micro miter box and razor saw. All of these are one piece. Then using my digital calipers, I measured the width on the plans in several places (the plans are all 1:1 scale) and wrote the measurements on the plan copies. Some taper gradually and consistently, others taper differently. So you don’t want to just go from the widest to the narrowest part. I mounted the dowel in my drill. I did wrap the end several times with a strip of paper because the first time I tried I saw that the drill chuck left marks. I used a clamp to keep the drill running. I've seen people mount their drill in a bench vise, but that doesn't seem necessary, at least for this kind of work just using sandpaper. Then it was using 80 grit sandpaper to really taper away. I’d do some, then lay the copied bit of plans with the measured marks under the dowel and measure in the marked places. I’d also just look at the shaped dowel to make sure it was tapering consistently. I always was moving the sandpaper up and down the spinning dowel to maintain a consistent taper. I’d move the sandpaper slowly with pressure on sections that need a lot removed, faster with less pressure on sections that needed less removed, all in proportion to the amount of taper that was needed. Key was doing a little at a time, measuring with the calipers, measuring, sanding. I suppose without calipers you could eyeball the dowel with the plans (which is why making a photocopy of a small section of the plans helpful). When in was close to being done, I used higher grit sandpaper. I finished off with 320 grit to smooth. I had posted a while back asking if I needed a lathe to do this kind of work. Thankfully a bunch of people said to use a drill. One nice thing about the drill method is that I can just do it all at my regular work area. I don’t need to move someplace where I might have to keep a lathe. I’m sure a lathe is essential for other kinds of work, and certainly might make shaping quicker and easier (I might get one someday). But the drill worked fine for me.
  12. palmerit
    I’m waiting for the extra parts (broken yards, missing PE) to ship from Model Shipways to finish my Pram. I’m sure with the holidays that things are a bit delayed.
  13. palmerit
    Shaped the oars for my Pram; similar to what was done for the Dory. I added the “leather”, paper that I painted with Vallejo Leather Belt. There’s a wide (3/4”) single layer of paper for leather against the oar locks. There’s a thin 1/16” strip wrapped around several times that’s to prevent the oar from slipping out. I first painted one layer on a sheet of paper. Then after it dried I cut into strips (3/4” for the single layer, 1/16” for the other). For both, I first glued just the end of the paper to the oar and let it dry. For the thin one that goes multiple times around, I glued a little at a time. After they were all glued and dried a bit, I protected the bare wood on the oar shafts with Tamiya tape and added another layer of paint. You really need the second layer of paint for the sides of the thin strip that’s looped multiple times.
  14. palmerit
    Bag 4: building out the bow
  15. palmerit
    Bag 3:
  16. palmerit
    Bag 2:
  17. palmerit
    Needed to shape the end of the driver boom to accept the jaws (I think that’s what it’s called). I did a tiny bit at a time after some initial shaping, sanding a little, checking the fit, sanding a little more, checking the fit.
  18. palmerit
    I shaped the bowsprit using the drill and sandpaper. It has a narrow slot at the end to tie off blocks at the end. To make it, I marked the location of the slot with a pencil and made the slot using my square narrow file with the drill rotating.
  19. palmerit
    More progress on the yards. The drill trick works. Can’t imagine glueing on those tiny little wooden pieces (blanking on their name) without an optivisor. I accounted for all the masts and yards by taping them to their respective plans.
  20. palmerit
    Had some gaps with the third strake. It was either reshape the strake or install the strake and have gaps. Since I’ll be using filler, sanding, and painting, I decided to fill the gaps. We’ll see how it looks when I’m done filling, sanding, and painting. (One gap had to remain for the rudder.)
  21. palmerit
    Bag 1:
  22. palmerit
    The book has 6 pages (in English, French, and Spanish) on the Endurance, its voyage, and the discovery of its wreckage.
  23. palmerit
    Starting on the Endurance. 28 bags of parts plus an envelope of sails and a thick instruction book.
  24. palmerit
    It might be nice to see a new section under "Shop Notes, Ship Modeling Tips, Techniques and Research" on "Tutorials". These could be organized by particular "How-to" topics. These could be posts with new member-generated How-tos. It could also be links to build logs (parts of build logs) that show particularly detailed How-tos on particular techniques - these could be links posted by the people who wrote them, or from people who found them in a build log and found them useful. It could also be link to YouTube videos and other external sites. It wouldn't be posting questions on "how to" but posting solutions members wrote or found, even if just links to possible solutions. I know there are lots of build logs that show different techniques for different elements of ship modeling, but unless you read through 100 build logs it is really hard to search for them, and doing a google search will often not find them. I posted a question on my own build log on how to seize a block (I didn't even know that was the name of the technique I was asking about) and someone said "do a search" (which I did and did not find something complete) and said that there are some on videos YouTube (without a link). If I find some good things, I'll post them on my build log, but unless someone is building the Sherbourne, or reading 100s of build logs, few will find what I post. I know there is some great materials in the NRG Articles and How-Tos page, which is linked on the Articles Database, but there are certainly some great tutorials on existing build logs, on YouTube videos, and that some members could generate that could supplement what's there. I've found some build logs where people take a wonderful tutorial approach (and some that were suggested to me) but they can be hard to find and will not come up as "tutorials" in a google search (and certainly not from using the search bar). I know there are some of these tutorials posted in other sections, but they're often mixed with dozens of other posts. Just a suggestion.
  25. palmerit
    I find using Google is a better search option than using a search bar on a web site (any web site). In addition to the search term add on the same line site:modelshipworld.com and that will limit to posts on this site.

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