palmerit

I'm jumping back on my post from before about paint to ask about staining (thought rather than create a new thread, someone might find this useful discussion as applied to paints and stains). I'm working on my first deck planking for the Scow Schooner I'm building and plan to stain it. I have a bunch of 8oz stains and I'll be experimenting to see which looks better on some scrap wood. 1. The first step will be sanding the deck with some fine grit sandpaper. 2. Then I'll apply the stain. I know stain needs to be applied before adding any kind of shellac or poly. Is it better to apply with a brush and then wipe it down with a rag or apply with a rag? Or doesn't it really matter? Is the number of coats of stain just a matter of how dark I want it? With my airbrush I always need to apply at least 2-3 coats, sometimes more. I don't know if the same applies to stain, where 2 coats is a minimum, more is for a darker stain. I know I can experiment. I just wanted to see if there was accepted wisdom. 3. Should I apply sanding sealer after staining? Or shellac? I think sanding sealer and shellac serve the same purpose, right? I have both. And then sand again with fine sandpaper? Then another application of sanding sealer or shellac after the first sanding? I'm guessing I could do a 0000 steel wool pass after the 2nd sanding (I have a magnet to pick up steel wool fuzz). Does that sound right? The wood is pretty soft and has a bit of a fuzz. 4. I will be attaching deck furniture and houses, so I may need to be able to glue things to the deck. My understanding is that PVA can cure like normal when applied to a stained piece of wood otherwise untreated. Would the same be true if it had sanding sealer or shellac? Would CA glue be a better bet? Is there a concern here that the glue is gluing the piece to the layer of shellac? 5. The matte varnish I have is acrylic (Vallejo). I'm guessing I should not spray on an acrylic varnish on top of sanding sealer or shellac (like I would on top of acrylic paint).

My first deck planking. After it dries I’ll trim the edges and cutouts, do a light sanding, and add some stain. I used the usual (standard) approach of running pencil lead along one edge (both one long edge and one shallow edge). From everything I've read, a dark sharpie or other marker is too dark and the ink bleeds and is not subtle enough for a ship of this scale. I've seen some people recommend India ink. But I think the pencil let works well. It's what I used on the NRG Half Hull. It's good to get in a rhythm with this. I think I only forgot to pencil the short edge between board a couple of times. I wasn't quite sure how to stagger the deck boards and whether they should be random or follow a rough pattern. I think next time I'll try to research the best ways to do this and mock out some possible patterns (or try to just do them entirely random). Note sure I quite like how the pattern turned out. I think I have blunt ends too close to one another in a few spots because I didn't fully plan ahead. I was trying to keep in mind what I learned by doing the NRG Half Hull, but keeping in mind didn't quite turn into execution. I should have created a pattern beforehand. I also wasn't quite sure what to do on the short sections in the middle of the hull. In the middle I had some planks butting together. In the rear end I had them all as full pieces. I wanted to see how the two options looked.

Slow assembly of the frame. So different from a Vanguard model. Need to align and clamp every individual frame piece. Glad I bought a set of 100 of these Lego-like pieces on Amazon a while back.

Need to write the part numbers on the sheets, following the layout map on a page at the start of the instructions.

I thought I had seen that some of those "battle station" kits might be available some time some place - I can't remember if it was on the NRG web site or Syren. But the kit says "limited edition" of 25 so maybe not.

Kind of frustrating that for a “new” 2024 reissue they didn’t get the laser cuts right on the keel.

In its new home in my office.

The instructions call for drawing on the deck planks with a pencil. I’m going to try adding actual planks. A first. And first deviation from instructions. We’ll see how it goes.

Inside the kit.

For my next model, I'm doing the San Francisco Bay Scow Schooner by Midwest (sold by Model Shipways / Model Expo). This is another example of a Midwest model that Model Shipways / Model Expo has reissued. It looks like this came out just last October 2024. I picked it up for a fairly cheap price, more than 1/2 off, during a Model Expo sale a couple months ago. It looks like it has been redesigned a bit. Someone online said that it does not look quite the same as the model they build in the 1990s. I found online a link to an article describing these scow scooners: https://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Files/scow-schooner-regional-context.pdf I'm continuing my approach of having multiple models going on at once. It lets me just let paint or glue dry on one model and work on another model. It also lets me work on something that I'm keen to work on rather than feeling like I need to plough ahead on a step that I need to think hard about, research, or that I need a break from. I liked how this model looked and it seems like a straightforward build. I might try on this model to do a few things that deviate from the instructions, which would be a first for me. I think this might be the first build log for this reissued model. I couldn't find any other in a search. It'll also be a first for me to go solo.

Well, the Midwest Dory is finished. It was a nice easy build with just a few hiccups. Pretty different in a number of ways from the Model Shipways Dory, and not just in scale.

What kind of knot do you have attaching to the anchors?

Have just a bit of rigging to do and need to add the beckets (ropes).

Argh. A mismatch between instructions and parts. The instructions describe and illustrate the ring bolts as double width cotter pins and have you drill a hole to accommodate that width. The actual parts are single width, so my holes are too wide. I could have tried bending over the end but instead I used some filler and superglue.

I haven't replaced a blade yet, but I probably need to - the last time I used it (a few days ago) it seemed like the blade was getting a bit dull. These blades don't seem to wear down as much as something like the scalpel blades I use, which I replace pretty often. Maybe because I don't use it as much but probably also because they're always cutting straight down, as opposed to my scalpel blades that get used in all sorts of angles that will wear the blade down and sometimes get glue or other matter on them or get rubbed against something metal and dull. I ordered a few packages of replacement blades when I ordered the chopper. They're 10 blades for 5 dollars. I'm not at home, but I think they came with instructions on the specific kind of upholstery cutter blade you need to buy. You could email them and ask what specific kind of blade it uses: info@ultimation.ca I just found it easier to buy from them when I ordered the chopper originally. I probably got two packages of 10 blades. I suppose someday I'll need to research where to buy replacements. But I'll probably just order from them. The shipping is probably going to cost more than the blades I imagine. I think they use these particular blades because they're (apparently) way sharper than a regular razor blade. When I ordered it I also got some of the replacement rubber disks that fit inside. Those do seem to be proprietary. They're pretty cheap though. The cutter is pretty small. And since it's light and easily moveable, I just keep it (and my sander) under my work table. With their sander, they tell you what kind of sanding disc sandpaper to order. To be honest, I wish they just sold replacement sandpaper themselves. It'd be easier just to order through them since it takes a bit to find the specific kind they recommend. It's available online, but it's not just something you can buy at a local store.

I'm in the midst of both the Vanguard Sherbourne and the Vanguard Ranger (one of the six fishing boats). Both of these would use some similar kinds of construction approaches to the Occre kits you mentioned (though the Vanguard hull skeleton is way more robust). You'll also see recommendations here of the Model Shipways Shipwright series (Dory, Pram, Smack), which I built and are fun beginner models in a progressive series (if sometimes frustrating) but they're also a very different kind of model (especially for the hull) - some of the Midwest kits are similar to these in construction. If you want a model before doing one of the other ones you mentioned, I think the Vanguard models would be a better option. You can see the full sets of instructions for Vanguard models (and Model Shipways and some Midwest models) on their web sites. Occre I believe has most of theirs too, which are often just photos and often Youtube videos with no commentary, which is a different approach. I'm pretty new to this hobby, having just started last summer. I remember being lost in a sea of options, not knowing how to pick one. If I hadn't researched suggestions people made here, I probably would have picked a model in the middle of the difficulty hierarchy assuming I could handle it, got frustrated quickly, and likely abandon the hobby. It's easy to make a false analogy to the ratings on plastic models or a Lego models. I'm sure most adults could build a middle-level plastic model kit or any of Lego's 18+ models. Beginner plastic models are for 8 years olds, beginner Lego models are for 5 year olds. Wooden ship models are different beast. Novice wooden ship models are challenging to most adults. Maybe since you come from a woodworking tradition, you'll find them easier than many of us. I’ve never seen someone post that they regretted starting with a novice model because they found it was too easy - to the contrary, most end up finding lots of challenges, and a lot of the abandoned build logs are from people who started a model beyond their skill level. One thing nice about a novice model is that you can complete it in weeks to months rather than years. Olga Batchvarov has a YouTube channel with group builds (and lot of other content) - she's about to start one for the Model Shipways Philadelphia (not a beginner model, but also not an advanced one): https://www.youtube.com/c/OlhaBatchvarov There are also a couple of YouTube playlists on building the Vanguard Sherbourne. Even with great instructions from Vanguard, and lots of build logs here, it's sometimes helpful to see a video of someone building the model and talking about the approach.

Vanguard Models has great kits, great materials, great instructions and plans.

Completed the oars and added the thole pins.

Making the oars. In the Model Shipways Dory, oars were in laser cut sheets that needed to be sanded to shape. In this Dory, they’re constructed from a dowel for the handle with flat pieces of wood for the blades. After the glue dries I’ll need to shape the oars per the instructions and plans.

Added the thwarts. I ended up staining them ipswich pine.

This the single sail for the fairly large scale Midwest Dory kit. The only effect I’m trying to achieve is “sail”. As in I’m still a novice trying to understand why I would use water+glue vs. shellac vs. nothing. I’m guessing the first two add stiffness. I’m don’t know why I’d pick one method over the other. Maybe it doesn’t matter?

I hadn’t thought of adapting other hardware. Sadly, no lathe. Someday maybe. I asked about options because I was looking to see if there might be something other than Amazon or Model Shipways. In a previous post I asked about pin vises and drill bits. Yeah, I can find a ton of cheap imports on Amazon. But some people suggested other places with a wide selection that I never found googling around.

The interior has you add faux timberheads. I tried to sand off the char but to get all the char off I’d have to sand these tiny parts pretty far down. So after installing, I decided I would airbrush the interior black. That meant lot of tedious application of Tamiya tape to protect the etched deck before I could paint.

I picked up a couple more stain colors (these are the small 8oz), gunstock and ipswich pine.

When I set mine on my green cutting mat, it stays in place for me. I can imagine if you had it sitting on a wooden table top it might move around.