palmerit

My new toy makes it easier to sand the char and keep a 90 degree angle (something I had trouble with using sanding sticks, even against a machinist square). It’s sibling chopper was really useful doing the NRG hull.

What’s a good cloth to use to wipe WOP? I tried using an old t-shirt but it left fibers. Maybe the shirt was too old? Are glass wipe cloths a good choice?

Next kit on deck in the Model Shipways Series. A few notes and lessons learned: Some folks put tables of contents on their opening post that they update. I thought I'd put some notes on key points folks might look out for if they work on this model. I did that post-mortem for the NRG hull. I'll doing this as I go for the Pram. - Definitely check out several build logs as you go along. While there are detailed instructions, sometimes they are a bit confusing. And in one of the first steps, the description of what to do is opposite to what they show in the photos. I decided to follow the photo, which was what a lot of the build logs do here. And one log that chose to follow the written instructions ended up having to hack things later. - I found another place where the photos do not align with the instructions. A photo shows the wrong part attached to the lower stern transom. - The build board is not very sturdy and it’s easy to break the holders on the building board for the bow and stern transoms. Just think of them as a surface for holding rubber bands and/or clips and to help set the spacing between the bottom planks. - It’s easy to misposition pieces that will support other pieces later. For example, I had too much space between the two forward-most bottom frames so when I tried to add the mast step several steps later I had to unglue (with isopropyl alcohol) the forward-most bottom frame and reposition it back a mm or two). - Another example is the positioning of the seat frames. It's not entirely clear from the instructions where these should go. It's more following the photos than anything else, unless I missed some key to unlock. I recommend skipping ahead several steps and getting the seats. You can figure out where the seats need to go and hence where the seat frames need to go better if you do them together than trying to position the frames and them hoping that things fit. You do need to (probably) sand and shape the seats to get them to fit, even if the seat frames are positioned perfectly. But doing the seats and seat frames together will probably result in a better final product, and a bit less frustration. - Model Shipways paint is not the best. It’s a bit thick and gritty. Definitely need to thin with water. I’m using it because it came with the three-kit Shipwright combo. Also, the basswood isn’t the smoothest wood so it doesn’t matter as much as it might if the wood wants “fuzzy”. - A heads up: when you get to using the copper tubing and copper rods, the instructions don’t seem to give the right thicknesses. There are three kinds. Use the one that fits for a particular step. - The instructions say to tape the sail material to a cutting board. They do say that it needs to be a clean one, which mine was. But it was a used one. Maybe it was my particular cutting board, but because it had been used, when I taped the sail down and then brushed on watered-down glue to stiffen it, when I took the sail off the green cutting board there were some green stains on the sail. I tried to airbrush paint the sails but that didn't work. So I'm having Model Expo sent me a new sail. Next time I'm going to try to first put some Saran Wrap down on the cutting board, then tape and water-glue the sail. Hoping the Saran Wrap won't stick. If someone has other suggestions, please let me know. - One challenge is rigging the mast. I'm gathering that on this kind of boat, the mast is just in place when using it since the mast just rests in a circular slot - it's not glued or otherwise secured (if you let go, it will just tip over). A challenge is that since the mast is not secured in place, you need to hold the mast and then try to figure out how long and how tight the rigging lines (one in front, two on the side behind it) need to be and secure the rigging line and knot them off. You're running out of hands unless you have someone helping you. The quad hands (from quandhands.com) are a lifesaver (I actually got a quint hands from them). Buy it directly from them because a lot of the ones sold on amazon seem to be knockoffs (same yellow base without the quad hands logo and seemingly poor quality based on some reviews - people thought they were getting a real one).

Nearing completion. Still need some final sanding and need to airbrush the trim to paint. I ended up adding some thicker trim on the stern than I’ve seen on other models to try to cover up some nasty parts. This is definitely a lot better planking job than I did on my Sherbourne and this is single planked. I guess this is technically my third planking, but I don’t think the Dory really counts. So I’ll say my second planking. The stern end is definitely the toughest part. I’ll know more what might be going on in a future model after this experience. I also didn’t quite fair the bow end quite right. There’s a bit of an elbow. And the rabbet/mortice probably should have been a bit deeper. It’s definitely tough getting the ends just right.

Finished the planking. Still need to add trim pieces, add the 2nd layer of the wale, and do final sanding. There’s some glue/sawdust mixture in a few last gaps. Turned out ok overall. I decided not to add the quarter deck molding because of how my planks were laying. I’m deciding how to finish it. I’m thinking I’ll do just sanding sealer and WOP on the bare wood. I’m planning to tape off most of the wood to air brush the black trim and wale. I’ll also be painting the inside black (so taping off the entire hull will also prevent the paint from the inside coming out to the hull).

You want to glue wood to wood, not wood to paint. That’s probably why.

Water-based wood filler is nice because it’s easy to thin. I first had Minwax wood filler but it seemed a bit too gritty - a sandy texture with pretty large grains. I like the Elmers wood filler better because it’s a lot less gritty. A saw a few people recommend it here.

Got the lower part below the wale planked.

These work well (lots like them): https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01E3PAM9Q?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title They have some flex to them (with the foam-like interior).

Use Tamiya tape. Regular masking tape is going to be garbage. Frog tape would be better. Tamiya tape works great. It's more expensive, but you don't use much. Here's blind comparison:

One nice thing about the hull on this being painted is that you can use tons of filler. Look at my 2nd planking. It's garbage. Absolute garbage. Yours looks way better than mine ever did. I had to do tons of filler and sanding. (Make sure you get some good Tamiya tape to cover up the parts that aren't sanded - the keel, the bulwarks.) After a first coat of paint, more filler and sanding. I probably ended up doing 10-12 passes of painting, filling, sanding before I felt it was okay. There are still places I probably could have fiddled with. In general, after adding paint, you'll see things you didn't see before. I also struggled at the stern end. Also had to use some filler and do some sanding (almost sculpting). Definitely look ahead in the instructions to get a sense of how things will look later, what pieces will be added later. Avoid the temptation to add things like the photo etch to the hull until you have the hull exactly the way you want it (from filling, sanding, painting). I got impatient, added the rubber pieces, and then realized I needed to do some more filling and sanding. Well, I ended up hitting some of the PE pieces and they flew into the ether. I ended up kind of hand crafting some replacements from the PE scrap I had, which worked okay.

A few more planks and shaping the wale.

I faired all by hand, mainly using flexible wide sanding sticks (along most of the hull) and 100 / 180 grit sand paper by hand at the stern near the counter. I wouldn't trust myself with a Dremel. I used my Dremel a bit on my Sherbourne because the faring lines were marked and those pieces could be fared before being installed (I didn't Dremel right up to the mark, but near it). Most of the hull doesn't need a Dremel. I suppose the stern end could have been fared a certain amount with a Dremel since you need to remove quite a bit. It's just that the Dremel can sometimes bounce around and I could imagine inadvertently damaging something like the sternpost. I protected it and the keel etc. with tape, but tape won't protect those pieces from a Dremel. As I noted, as have others, the stern end near the counter really needs a lot of work to get right. I actually printed out some photos of what it should like like to have on hand nearby. Faring took an entire weekend, lots of hours. I recommend doing a bunch of faring before gluing in the counter. But get the counter shaped right (both so it takes on a curve and so it fits) so that you can fit it in and you can mark where to fare the last frame pieces (then remove and set aside so it doesn't get in the way of faring the last frame pieces). I ended up faring the last frame piece too much because I misread the instructions and then had to add wood (and wood filler) back and start over. Definitely take your time on the stern end, look at a bunch of photos, and put some marks on the limits of the faring.

I just matched the line on the plans, using a square to mark the position (just like I did with the wale). I think one of the frame pieces was too short so I adjusted everything down. Ultimately, I was more concerned about have a nice line than perfectly matching the plans. I used a Dremel to cut down but then switched to 100/180 grit sanding sticks to fare the top of the frames to maintain a (hopefully) nice line. I might need to adjust again when I get close to finishing off the top of the hull.

Made more (slow) progress with the planking. I found that I needed to drop a plank early at the bow and don’t need to seem to need to use a stealer at the stern, opposite to the instructions.

Oh, and I read not to use water with Vallejo paints. It's some kind of combo of Vallejo product that works best (some just use thinner, a lot recommend some combination of also flow improver and retarder too). Some say water is fine - and it's cheap. But I've seen folks do comparisons and the products work a lot better.

I definitely splurged on the glass version. Definitely worth it. I also got the little add-on jewelers eyepiece thing for one eye (for further magnification) for the times I really need to get in close (not often but useful when I need it). My wife catches me walking around the house with mine pulled up still on my head. https://www.ottofrei.com is a good place to get them. I’d avoid Amazon because it’s quite likely you’ll get knockoffs sold by unscrupulous resellers. I in general never buy from an Amazon reseller unless it’s from a reputable source (e.g., ModelExpo is a reseller).

What’s especially nice with the airbrush is that all the engraved (laser etched) details on a Vanguard model pieces stay perfectly sharp. I suppose if you have a deft hand and really thin down the paint you could do the same with a brush. I couldn’t. Here are the paints I used (I also used copper for the PE used along the hull) - they were recommended by James H, who builds the Vanguard prototypes. I bought some regular (not airbrush) versions of the same paints for when I need to paint or touch up with a brush (I found the airbrush paints often too thin for a brush). I found https://www.scalehobbyist.com to have a good selection and the best prices (at least in the US). Also https://andyshhq.com. The resellers on Amazon often charge 3-4x as much. I have restocked things like Vallejo thinner from Amazon, taking advantage of the free shipping, but you can find that sold by Amazon instead of a reseller. Vallejo acrylic primer doesn’t work on PE (unless you treat it or sandpaper it). I bought Tamiya non-acrylic primer to use with PE instead based on recommendations online (it’s in a spray can because I didn’t want to mess with non-acrylic in my airbrush). The formula I found online is 70% Vallejo Flow Improver, 30% Vallejo Thinner, and 10% Vallejo Retarder. Yeah, I know it doesn’t add up to 100%. The guy online I saw recommend it maybe failed his middle school math classes, but the formula works (if you just translate to a 7:3:1 ratio). I put the mixture in a dropper bottle. A mix of 50% this brew to 50% Vallejo airbrush paint works for me. I run my compressor at about 25psi. If using Vallejo primer, I add more of the mixture relative to paint and increase the pressure to 40psi. I also use Vallejo Matte Varnish. I tried to use Vallejo non-airbrush paint with something like a 10:1 ratio and it was a mess and I needed to take the airbrush apart to clean it. Mine is an Iwata and I have the Iwata airbrush cleaning fluid. After airbrushing, I first clean with warm water, then run through with thinner, then with Iwata cleaner (I’ll just use water and thinner if I’m just changing paints). I’m a novice but that works for me. I’ve also done a little bit of plastic modeling and I didn’t see much of a difference. Wood doesn’t need primer like plastic or PE does. In terms of coats, probably 3-4. I did way more than that on the hull because after painting I saw that the hull needed more filling and sanding. It’s often the case that a coat of paint will really highlight the blemishes. It was probably 10-12 times on the hull because I really couldn’t stand some of the obvious blemishes. It’s not perfect by any means but way better than how it started.

If you're talking wooden model ships, I highly recommend the Vanguard Models. They're well-built with very clear instructions and lots of build logs here. I just started this hobby myself. The first model I bought was the Vanguard Sherbourne - still working on it. I also bought the Vanguard Duchess of Kingston to start on. But I got cold feet since it was a pretty expensive model and I wasn't sure about my skills. So I bought the Model Shipways Shipwright Series (I've finished the Dory, still have the Pram and Smack to do). To be honest, if I really first started on the Dory, I don't know if I'd still be in the hobby. The engineering of it is a bit fiddly, the basswood is not the greatest, the instructions are not always as clear as they could be (they were clearer after having done one model, and after reading a bunch of build logs). I appreciated it after having started the Sherbourne - and could see that it was giving me a different set of skills, including how to work with a model that doesn't fit together like a Vanguard model does. I've since started the NRG Half Hull because I wanted some more planking experience before starting on the Duchess. I'll work on the Model Shipways Pram and Smack before I start the Duchess. Take their "Novice", "Amateur", etc. ratings seriously. Before taking a lot of time reading the posts here, I probably would have picked a model "in the middle" and have been way over my head. The Sherbourne is a "Novice" model but still really challenging. The Vanguard models are more expensive than others, but you get what you pay for in terms of their engineering, their quality, and their instructions. Unless you're a skilled wood worker, don't underestimate how challenging wooden model ships are and how long they take to build. It's easy to see why lots of people here steer new folks away from trying to take on really challenging builds. There's a lot of different skills involved and even simple models take a long time to put together right. You'll get a lot of recommendations wrt what you need, what you don't need. I started small but quickly bought way more stuff than I ever thought I'd buy, and certainly more than I really need. I don't have a hobby desk, I just use a large, long fold-up table in my younger son's bedroom (which I'll need to pack up when he comes back for winter break from college). I did buy some Dewalt TSTAK modular toolkit pieces to store things in (I have a bunch for my "real" tools in the cellar). I think an airbrush is worth it, but lots of people paint with brushes only. Buy blades for your knives (hobby, scalpel, x-acto, whatever) in packs of 100 so you can change them often. I bought a cheap set of files to then get frustrated and buy a more expensive set. If you're in your 40s or older, definitely consider something like an Optivisor. I also ended up splurging recently on the https://ultimation.ca package (sander, repeater, slicer); I know it's (expensive) overkill, definitely not something most people need, but the slicer makes beautiful (tiny, precise) cuts and especially if you are not doing the work in a dedicated shop, having a small desktop (non-powered) sander works great, at least for small things.

I plotted out where the planks should go, following the instructions.

I adjusted a bit. Probably going to follow the recommendation and sleep on it and check again tomorrow sometime.

The next step is to divide in 1/3s between the top of the broad strake and the bottom of the wale and to check the lines. I think it’s okay.

I'm new to this hobby. I made models as a kid in the 1970s, and really liked doing it, but I grew up in an era where you needed to put childhood passions behind you. (I also grew up loving video games - as simple as they were back then - but I had to put that aside too because of similar societal pressure to "grow up"; it wasn't really until a generation later that adults playing video games really became a thing. I eventually got back to playing some video games.) I've always been intrigued by models and dioramas. I would seek out sections of museums and get lost in the details. I also have a friend whose father was an artist and one of his media was hand-crafting small detailed dioramas on a variety of subjects. I'm a busy university professor - scientist, educator, department chair - and never really had time for hobbies. My wife is also a professor, but she has for a long time been a quilter, since our days in graduate school. I think it was a combination of our youngest finally going off to college, many of my childhood friends starting to retire, and considering my own retirement in a few years, that I started to think about things I could spend what little free time I have that wasn't just trying to do needed work around our house. (I also decided to learn to scuba dive recently after learning that it's something you can do with a head full of gray hair and good health apart from some creaking joints - it also helps to finally have a bit of disposable income with the kids out of the house, and it makes for a nice way to get the kids to want to spend some time with you on vacation, especially when you pay for part of their trip.) I think I'm drawn to models also because I've long been passionate about history. I almost majored in history in college but then realized I was more interested in reading about history than doing the work of history. People are often surprised when they come to my house and see the bookshelves filled with history books and not (my field) psychology and neuroscience books (the same is true of my audible library on my iPhone). Over a decade ago, I inherited an old (1960s or 1970s) unbuilt model ship (solid hull) and was intrigued at possibly working on it, but like many models of that time, it basically was just a set of plans with no instructions. At that time, I found this forum and poked around a bit, but did not have the time - or the money - to really be able to pursue it. (I may someday get back to building that solid hull model now that I think I know what to do.) It was actually a trip we took this summer to Maine that got me back to thinking about this hobby again. In addition to seeing all the boats around Maine, we stopped at Bluejacket Shipcrafters on the way to Acadia. It was there and then that I decided to just get a model to work on, hooked back onto this forum, and decided to buy the Vanguard Sherbourne. With my youngest in college, I also now had a place to work on models more easily (well at least until winter break when he's back home). Now I've seem to have gone "all in".

Got the broad strake on. Some of this might go a bit quicker from now on. I am rubbing a pencil along the bottom edge and stern edge of each plank (and the front edge of the ones going into the bow). I read that if you do all the edges of all the planks then it’s too dark. This makes a subtle line. I also followed a tip to have the back of the plank facing you while rubbing the edge - that way if you slip you mark the back of the plank rather than the front. I also (after a mistake) followed the advice to make the planks a little too large (higher and longer) since it’s easy to remove (cut or sand) but you can’t add. Also trying to add a bit of a bevel where planks come together.

Here’s the garbourd strake. I wish I could have gotten the stern end a bit better.