Louie da fly

Hi James, and welcome to MSW! The Red Baron looks like a good kit to start off with. not too difficult, but with a few challenges to keep youfrom getting bored.
 
Exactly. I know (to my cost - see my latest post on my own build log) what comes of hurrying too much. I'm afraid I share your problem with rushing into things- but not as bad as it was. I do find ship modelling develops forces you into being more patient. Follow your own advice, take it at your own pace, and enjoy the ride. After (not too long) a while you'll find yourself with a beautiful model that you can be proud of.
 
Make sure you start a build log - it's the best way to get encouragement, help and advice. You'll find the people here are very friendly and helpful. And don't be afraid to ask questions - there's no such thing as a stupid one.
 
A very good strategy. It'll pay off in the long run.
 
And have fun with it! That's what it's all about.

Hi Doug, and welcome to MSW!
 
To be honest, I've found that model-building is like riding a bicycle - you might get a little rusty, but you never lose the ability even after many years away from it. And many of the skills you've developed from your earlier modelling are transferable to ships.
 
I'm not familiar with any of these kits - they're all very attractive - but on googling them the Lady Nelson and Polaris both have step-by-step video instructions available on-line, and apparently the Smuggler has a 96 page instruction book. I see that the revenue cutter is a solid hull (and there's at least one buildlog on MSW for it) - I couldn't figure out whether the Smuggler is as well - it says "Laminated basswod hull" - does that mean it's solid?
 
I think that any of these kits would be a worthwhile project. And while planking can be a pretty steep learning curve, that shouldn't be a reason not to go that route. There are plenty of examples and tutorials available, as well as lots of advice from people who've been there before. A methodical approach without rushing is probably your most valuable tool. And asking questions if you feel stumped. The membership here is very helpful and willing to give advice - often the problem you're up against has been encountered (and solved) before.
 
And yes, it can feel intimidating seeing the excellent work the best of us produces. I'm still awestruck by the stuff other people produce - things I feel "I'll never be that good". But MSW has every level of skill and ability among its members, and every member started somewhere. You will make mistakes, you can be sure of that. But not mistakes all of us haven't made at some time or another. And most of them can be remedied.
 
Down the track you'll probably look at your first build and think aargh - I got that wrong and that wrong, and I was too careless with the other thing. As we all do. It's a learning process, and as with anything else your skills (and your models) improve with each project you do. Each mistake gives valuable lessons for next time - if your second build isn't better than your first, there's something wrong. So don't get too intimidated, and don't let that be a reason not to start. 
 
When you've decided on the model you want to build and received your kit, make sure you start a build log. There are instructions here on how to go about it.
 
 
Best wishes, and I look forward to seeing your ship taking form.
 
 

Hi Pchem, and welcome to MSW. I'm looking forward to seeing your Lynx build log.

Hi Doug, and welcome to MSW!
 
To be honest, I've found that model-building is like riding a bicycle - you might get a little rusty, but you never lose the ability even after many years away from it. And many of the skills you've developed from your earlier modelling are transferable to ships.
 
I'm not familiar with any of these kits - they're all very attractive - but on googling them the Lady Nelson and Polaris both have step-by-step video instructions available on-line, and apparently the Smuggler has a 96 page instruction book. I see that the revenue cutter is a solid hull (and there's at least one buildlog on MSW for it) - I couldn't figure out whether the Smuggler is as well - it says "Laminated basswod hull" - does that mean it's solid?
 
I think that any of these kits would be a worthwhile project. And while planking can be a pretty steep learning curve, that shouldn't be a reason not to go that route. There are plenty of examples and tutorials available, as well as lots of advice from people who've been there before. A methodical approach without rushing is probably your most valuable tool. And asking questions if you feel stumped. The membership here is very helpful and willing to give advice - often the problem you're up against has been encountered (and solved) before.
 
And yes, it can feel intimidating seeing the excellent work the best of us produces. I'm still awestruck by the stuff other people produce - things I feel "I'll never be that good". But MSW has every level of skill and ability among its members, and every member started somewhere. You will make mistakes, you can be sure of that. But not mistakes all of us haven't made at some time or another. And most of them can be remedied.
 
Down the track you'll probably look at your first build and think aargh - I got that wrong and that wrong, and I was too careless with the other thing. As we all do. It's a learning process, and as with anything else your skills (and your models) improve with each project you do. Each mistake gives valuable lessons for next time - if your second build isn't better than your first, there's something wrong. So don't get too intimidated, and don't let that be a reason not to start. 
 
When you've decided on the model you want to build and received your kit, make sure you start a build log. There are instructions here on how to go about it.
 
 
Best wishes, and I look forward to seeing your ship taking form.
 
 

Beautiful work Jeff. Very crisp.
 
Steven

Agreed.

Making some slow progress, now have four strakes on each side, but want to point out a problem in case it helps another beginner some day. Kind of related to my shim question above. After the 4th strake I dry fitted the bow and stern deck pieces and they didn't fit. The strakes were bent in to far after the last frame. So I'm having to sand a bit off each of the decks. Now I'm planning to glue these pieces before adding any more strakes, which should help reestablish the proper curve to the hull.
 
The circles show where I had to sand to get the deck to fit.
 

 
 
Here's Captain Aegir, in authentic Viking garb, checking out the hull. He wishes Floki was working on it instead of me, but so far he's not planning to cut back on my ale allowance.
 

 

A very fine job on the crew Steven, the model is looking superb (even close up).
 
I have been refraining but just can't help myself - the crew may have been 'armless' but at least they weren't 'legless' - quite the sober lot!
 
cheers
 
Pat

Hi guys,
 
Thanks for all your likes and nice comments!
responding to mtaylor: That's a nice idea, I'll think about it.
 
on with the progress of the days 18 - 20:

I did finish the rear of the ship including the roof of the cabin and some smaller things, so that I could start priming. For the roof, I just cut some 1,5 - 2mm strips of 0,5mm paper and glued them right to the bullwarks. The produce a nicer looking edge, I folded strips lengthways and glued them just along the corners.
For priming, I used Ammo by Mig's One shot grey primer. It is to be used with an airbrush, but as I don't have one, I use it with a brush - and it still works just fine.
All paints, I am using, are by Ammo by Mig, except for the golden paint, that you will see later. That's Humbrol 54 Brass

 
The mast is not yet glued in, but the bowsprit and the rear flagpole are. I also drilled the holes for the guns (four on each side) and the mounting point for the swords. (behind the first three gun ports).
After the primer had dried over night, I applied the first coat of colour - more out of curiosity, how it changed her appearance than by being convinced that it was the right time to do it 😁

I've run into problems while uploading this picture. The upload was interrupted and I received a warning message, which reads "-200"... Nothing more was shown 🤨 After completing this post, I retried the process and this time, the upload finished and all was fine.
 
After painting the hull, I added some stuff to the deck (stove and all the other parts don't know the english terms for, let alone the german ones 😁) and primed the rest of the ship.

 
I then built cabin's side galeries. They are built up by glueing three pieces of rocket sticks together and sanding this piece into shape. I am not quite satisfied with the result, as they still look quite rough and boxy, especially the galeries' roof has the wrong angle, but I tried and tried and was not able to achieve perfection 🤔

 
Much later, I added some strips of paper to give it a more threedimensional and interesting look, which helps a bit, but not a lot.. Maybe they are not done yet.
 
While I was in the mood to do some details and smaller parts, I decided to try the cannons. I cut a piece of toothpick to a little less than 1cm length, tapered one end and glued it to a two-layer piece of coffee stick. As I had no more building time left, I left the completion of the guns to another day. I also cut some strips of paper to act as iron reinforcements on the swords.

 
Also some words about the swords:
I glued the template to my 0,5mm heavy paper, cut it out and glued some coffee sticks to it. I then glued the top end's reinforcements to it and drilled a hole with the size of a toothpick as diameter. The piece of toothpick was then glued in and cut to length. This was, I can stick the swords into the corresponding hole in the hull for comparison or a more complete look or painting the waterline on the swords (the black line, that you can see on the picture above). After I glued the iron paper strip reinforcements on, I let the glue dry thoroughly, before I cut the excess paper off from both sides.
 
Next time, you will see that last summary of multiple days and a have a look on my current stage. Theoretically, I could finish her in a couple of days, but I haven't found anyone, who could help me with the sails and flags. Well, there is still a lot more to do than sails and flags and those things CAN be done, I just need to move my lazy a** into my workshop.

You are turning a very old and crude kit by Airfix, into a little marvel!!! 
 
Yves

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Wonderful work, Hellmuht. The sewing gives it a completely different look from most models.

Very impressive job with all those oarsmen — looks like this model could be a museum piece!

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Beautiful job, Jeff. Not only the paint job under the waterline (which looks really good to me), but the rest of the hull as well. A seriously attractive model.

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Thanks, Bigpetr. I don't need it at the moment (too busy manufacturing arms!), but I'll keep your kind offer in mind for later.

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

That's beautiful crisp work, Peter. She's really starting to look like a ship. 
 
As far as motivation goes, little steps. Just do a bit as you find the time (and motivation). We're all our own worst critics, but from where I sit that's a very cool and beautiful model, and getting better all the time.

Another three oarsmen complete and two more started.
 
When I began I put the first few oarsmen in place somewhere amidships and worked both forward and aft from there, so I was able to add four new oarsmen each time - two (one each side) towards the bow of those already in place, and two aft. But now I've filled all the forward benches right up to the bow, so the only empty benches are towards the stern. So I can only add two oars and oarsmen each time. But on the bright side, there are now only 6 left to do (sigh) including the two aftermost guys who don't have their arms yet.
 

 
In between times I've got back onto adding the ropes which hold the oars to the tholes - it's a tholeless task.
 
Here are the larboard ones with a dab of glue holding each rope to its thole.
 
 
 
I got a bright idea of how to pull the rope into its correct position across the oar, without having to sit like a twit holding each rope in turn while the glue dried. Whack a peg on the end, pull the rope taut and hang the peg from something convenient, so its weight keeps the rope taut and in position, and add another dab of glue to hold the rope to the oar at that point.
 

 
And then once that's done, loop the rope right around the oar and repeat the process.
 

 
Once all that's done I'll trim the hanging ends of the rope so it just looks like a loop around the thole and oar.
 
I can only do a few at a time because the pegs get in each other's way. But once one set is done and glued in place, I can move on and do another set.  
 
Six more to go. I'm looking forward to it all being finished!

Attaching Bulkheads:
 
I've glued on the 4 bulkheads, started working on the pieces that attach to the sides of the bulkheads and started test fitting the sides and making the adjustments that I'll have to do for them to fit properly. Everything is going pretty much to plan and I'm really enjoying this part of the build as things start to come together.
 
As I've been test fitting the sides I have wanted to see how the last stern bulkhead will fit together with the sides so I've started working on it and as I do more test fittings I'll decide if I want to glue it in place before the sides. The instructions put the sides on first and then the stern bulkhead but for some reason it seems like it's working better for me if the bulkhead is in place first so I'll see as everything comes together.
 
The rather large gap on the sides between the frame and side pieces is one of the things I'm correcting as I'm test fitting the sides and I've managed to pull it into place with some regluing and careful trimming. Hopefully it will all work into place.
 
The picture includes some test fitted parts as it really helps me to visualize everything a couple steps ahead plus it's nice to see how it's starting to look.
 
 

Sides Installation and planking:
 
After getting the 4 bulkheads in place I started working on the sides. There was a lot of small adjustments to be made to get the best fit I could and there's about a 1.5-2mm gap horizontally between the two side pieces in what seems like the correct positions for them to me but I've decided to go with that. I suspect that this is at least part of the reason why the provided 5mm strips weren't long enough to cover bow to stern without splicing, in several places it's just the tiniest bit short so the extra length and possibly a bit of extra width where I didn't get things tight could explain it. I did decided to order some longer 5mm strips from the same place I bought my ship hoping that they'd be close enough to match once stained and I ended up needed those for several planks if I didn't want to splice. Since the other planks would be continuous it seemed to me that just having a couple with splices would look out of place, it's also hard to keep the curves of the planking even with a break in the plank so I'm glad I ordered those longer planks.
 
Once I had the longer planks the planking itself was pretty straightforward. For some reason when I started I thought I'd just use pieces between the gunports but it was immediately obvious that the preferred solution for me was to run a single plank across the length of the gunports and then trim away. A lot of that has to do with keeping the consistency of the curve and just being smooth. Since I had all the extra planks that made the decision simple. 
 
Once the planking was done and the gunports trimmed out I gave the new planks their first coat of stain. I'm pretty sure it'll get at least one more and immediately after staining it I can see a little difference between the lower areas I stained earlier and the new areas. I'm hoping that will be fixed as the new coat dries and going over everything with another coat.
 
Lots of detailing in the deck and railings areas coming up and I really enjoy that part so looking forward to it.