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David Lester

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Everything posted by David Lester

  1. David Lester
    Wow, if I was from Newfoundland and saw only that first picture, I'd say "that's some shockin' b'y!" It looks good in the end though Don and that's what matters. Looks like it will be a terrific base for the planking. David
  2. David Lester
    Hi Frank, You're doing really beautiful work and I'm enjoying watching your progress. I am still just getting comfortable with POB kits so I am greatly impressed with the complexity of a scratch build POF model. David
  3. David Lester
    Hi John, I've seen different build logs for models that employ those pre-cut plywood panels for the gunport area of the hull and they always look to me as though they're a bit tricky to bend and position correctly. It must feel good to have that particular task finished. Your gunport liners look great. David
  4. David Lester
    Great work on the capstan, and have a great party on Sunday. Those family milestones are very important. David
  5. David Lester
    Hi Matt, My experience with the two MS kits I've had is that you can literally throw the so-called instruction booklet away. (However I don't believe that's the case with MS models where Chuck Passaro has written the instructions.)Pretty much everything you need seems to be in the plans, but as a very inexperienced modeler, the problem for me is how to read the plans and what is the best order in which to do things. This is where I have relied on my Bob Hunt practicums. I know there are two schools of thought on his courses, but from my point of view they have been fabulous. The primary advantages for me have been following the logical sequence they outline and confidence building. There are many elements that are common to all POB models and with a couple of builds under my belt following Bob's practicums, I feel quite confident that I could tackle almost any POB model on my own now and get a half decent result. I know I couldn't have otherwise. So while I'd like to take credit for the idea of holding off on installing the topgallant rail, really, I must give credit where credit is due and tell you that it's Bob's suggestion and it's proved to be a good one. I also learned that once that copper is in place you need to get the model in a stand or cradle right away and not move it any more than you have to as the copper plating is very fragile. You are doing a beautiful job and braver than I would have been. David
  6. David Lester
    Hi Matt, Everything is looking pretty good to me.(I'm not expert of course, but I think it's looking good.) You mentioned the topgallant rail. Do you mean the actual rail itself, because if you do, you might want to consider adding it at a much later point. I still haven't added mine and I've almost finished all the upper hull details and deck details. I have found that the model undergoes quite a bit of manhandling up until this point and I was concerned about bashing it too much, which almost certainly would have been the case if it were in place. It's going to be the very last thing I do before adding the horse blocks, davits and anchors. Just a thought. David
  7. David Lester
    Matt, that looks like a great way to address the bolt/rivet issue, but it's a big job to undertake and once started, it pretty much has to be finished. It's a subtle detail on the actual ship and needs to be subtle on the model too. It looks as this should achieve that effect. It also looks as though you've hit on a good colour for the bulwarks. The green on the ship is actually quite a bluish green rather than a bright Kelly green. Yours looks pretty close to the real thing. What are you using? I'm sure I broke every rule in the book by buying sample sized containers of house paint from a hardware store. But it seemed like an acceptable approach for this bit of the model as I knew there would be a fair bit of experimenting. My options for model paint are either order on line and wait for it to arrive or drive about 45 minutes away - neither of which seemed practical when I knew there would be multiple stabs at it, and there were because with every attempt to match it, it seemed to come out too turquoise. I'm happy enough with my final colour, but it's not quite a dead match. I don't recall now where I stumbled across that link to the Google maps tour of the ship, but I'm glad you're finding it helpful. You can really zero in on many different details. I use is almost constantly. We toured the ship a couple of years ago and I took some pictures, but they're not particularly helpful as I didn't take them with modeling in mind so they seem to never show what I need to know. David
  8. David Lester
    Hello Frank, This will be a very interesting model. I don't believe I have seen any other models of an Irish famine ship or coffin ship. Have you seen the bronze memorial at Westport in Ireland? It's a moving sight and very interesting artistically. Here's a picture I took when we were there a few years ago. Notice how the "rigging" and other parts of the ship are represented by skeletons. Like many others, I'm of Irish ancestry - County Cavan in my case. I'm looking forward to following your build log.
  9. David Lester
    Hi Matt, I mitered my waterway at the transom, though I think it could also be coped. Bob Hunt suggests mitering the waterway in his practicum and it seemed to me the best way to go. Do you have the link to the Google Maps "tour" of the ship. Even though some of the details are different than in the kit, I still find it to be an invaluable resource. Here's the link if you don't have it already. https://www.google.ca/maps/@42.3724197,-71.0564018,3a,75y,96.03h,75.28t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sY3hsBHFmwkkAAAQZN-nfoQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en&hl=en It includes a clear shot of the waterway corner at the transom, but it's still a bit difficult to tell how it was done, although my guess is that it is a coped joint. David
  10. David Lester
    Hi Dave, That's great looking work and attention to detail. David
  11. David Lester
    Hi Matt, Your transom is going to be just fine. I didn't think I had any pictures of mine at that stage, but I took another look and found this one. It's a bit blurry, but it shows how mine looked. I installed the four interior transom frames first, just as you've done and then I tilted the two outer ones inward in two planes. You can see where I added a filler block on the outside of the frames and sanded it into a smooth contour. I know I worried about this aspect quite a bit, but it actually came together fairly easily as it turned out. The only real discrepancy I found and I think I mentioned it in an earlier post was the length of the galleries from fore to aft. They needed to be a bit longer than the plan indicates to line up where they should with respect to the first gunport on each side. What I'm finding as I gain experience, (this is only my second attempt at a model) is that the aspects of the build that I worry about and approach with trepidation, I don't need to and the things that I don't give a second thought to tend to jump up and bite me in the behind, such as my chainplates. So in a sort of convoluted George Costanza-style logic, I think I'd be wise to start only worrying about the things I don't worry about and stop worrying about the things I already do! I'm not sure I quite fully understand yet your plan for the bolt heads on the bulwarks, but I will be very interested to see how it unfolds. I would love to have done something on mine, but I think the plastic rivet heads seemed a bit overscale and I didn't think the benefit outweighed the effort and I couldn't come up with another alternative, so just left them out. David
  12. David Lester
    Hi Matt, Thanks, but you're being a bit too kind. The biggest problem is controlling their length, because you don't want to cut off the end with the hole in it at the bottom, but once you cut off the top end and solder it to the deadeye, it's pretty much a done deal if it's too short. For my future ones, I'm going to actually pin the strap in place without glue to measure it rather than just holding it up to the approximate location on the hull. Then remove it, solder it and then put it back in place permanently. If I have enough left over when I've finished them all, I'll redo the most egregious ones. I used small nails to attach them with a small dab of glue. There are a number of small brass nails that came with the kit, but as I alluded to in any earlier post, I don't know what the heck they're for. They're way too big for this application. So, I ordered a bunch of steel pins from Blue Jacket which are just the right size. (If they're of interest to you, they're the ones identified as corresponding to a #75 drill size.) The small head on the pin looks like a bolt head. The only problem is, I ordered them ages ago and only ordered 100 of them which seemed like a lot. I hadn't actually counted the number needed and I have discovered that it's well over 100. I don't really have need of anything else from Blue Jacket right now and ordering more of these and nothing else is just not cost effective. The shipping costs to Canada for a minor purchase are staggering. This morning I went in to a local sewing store and it appears as though they can help me out. They have pins in many different sizes, including ones small enough, but those ones had big round heads, so they won't work. They offered to order some for me with the small flat head which I should have by next week. So that should solve my problem. Now that I know I can get them easily, I think I'm going to add another detail that's not in the plans, but I saw someone else do and I kind of like. Have you found this build log? http://www.knightdreamers.com/HomePage/Ships/00.htmThis guy, Greg Meyer, using pictures of the real ship as a guide, added pins to represent bolt heads to the outside of the hull which secure the breach lines on the gun carriages. You'll be able to find it in his log. David
  13. David Lester
    Hi Everyone, I have only a minor update today. I haven't been working on my model much over the past week. My daughter and son-in-law listed their house for sale yesterday and I've spent the last week helping them to hide all its flaws... er, sorry, I mean helping them to get it ready to show! I'm off the hook for the time being, but their new house suffers from much deferred maintenance, so it looks like I will have a lifetime of home improvements ahead of me. On the Constitution, I've finished all the gunport lids. I opted for thread instead of wire. At first I thought wire would be best, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get the two pieces of wire to join at the "Y" without a large ugly mass of twisting. The thread however worked quite well; I coated each piece in CA glue first and it was easy to handle and I got a decent join at the "Y". I used one size for the piece that attaches to the lid itself and a thinner piece leading back to the hull. I doubled that piece around the first piece which gives a smooth joint and glued it tight to itself. I've started the chainplates and am finding that this is very difficult and finicky work. I have the ones for the main mast on the port side finished. They are less than perfect, but I'm hoping for better results as I go along. As of my last post, the starboard side was going against the wall. As of now, the port side is going against the wall. I'm thinking of running a betting pool for members to guess which side wins in the end. David
  14. David Lester
    Hi Matt, Those two outer transom frames are quite tricky to locate, however I don't recall having to scribe theminto place when I did them. They do sit at a compound angle. They lean inboard at the very top of the extensions and they lean inboard at the rear. I believe the distance from outside edge to outside edge of the two outer frames is just shy of 4" at the very top and the distance is about 4 1/4" across at the bottom. I made my lower forward corners meet the last bulkhead (R I think?)flush. As the two frames move inboard at the rear, some of the length of the frame was taken up. Moving them inboard in the two directions left an irregular shaped void on their outsides. I glued a filler block on the outside of each frame and sanded it to create a smooth flush surface. Before I installed them, I tacked a piece of wood across the two extensions at the right distance apart and another one at the bottom. I then set this unit in place and skewed it back and forth until it was sitting correctly and then glued it (and of course removed the two temporary braces. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures that show all this but hopefully you can get my meaning nevertheless. David
  15. David Lester
    That's interesting Matt. Getting paint to stick to those castings has been a real pain for me too and even priming doesn't seem to help all that much. I'll tuck this gesso idea away for the future. On my cannons for this build I bought a can of flat black spray paint that the manufacturer calls "camo coat." It's not acrylic; it needs solvent for clean up. They told me at the hardware store that hunters use it for a non-reflective surface. It's dead flat. It actually adheres extremely well and is quite satisfactory where flat black is called for. David
  16. David Lester
    Hi Ken, I was just kidding about my hometown - I couldn't resist the urge to use the pun, and to reference my extended family would have been too mean, so I said hometown. Wow, Marathon - that's really up there. It's about 1200 km (750 miles) northwest from where I am. I've been there, driving through on a road trip to western Canada but I haven't made it to California yet. It's on my list. David
  17. David Lester
    Hi Ken, Looking very nice. I prefer boomkin too; bumpkin reminds me too much of my home town! David
  18. David Lester
    I echo Mike's words. David
  19. David Lester
    Hi Ken, This is amazing. I've been a little remiss in not commenting sooner, but I am hesitant because it feels to me a little like my telling Michelangelo he's not a bad sculptor. You're in a different league than I am but it's a pleasure to follow along. David
  20. David Lester
    Thanks for the comments and likes. And Thanks Tom and Ken for the offer of cannons. I appreciate it but I think I'm ok as it is. David
  21. David Lester
    Happy Friday Everyone, A little progress to report: I've all but finished the deck details and started on the upper hull details. I've installed the dummy cannons and the gunport lids on the starboard side and am about to do the port side. All is moving along with almost no problems. I say almost, because I did have one moment of panic when I was installing the dummy cannons. Their diameter is wider at the end than it is throughout the rest of the barrel. As you insert them, they fit tightly at first and then all of sudden they don't anymore. I lost control of one of them and it fell right through and into the hull. And I thought things were lost for good when they hit my basement floor. This cannon was gone. Of course, they don't give you any extra, so I was short one. They give you thousands of those little brass brads which I never use - (I tend to think of getting them with a model kit like getting all that extra white rice with an order of take out chinese food - you don't really use it, but they seem to think it needs to be there nevertheless,) but the things you really do need are doled out like they were made of gold. So I had three options. Either order a replacement(s) from Model Expo and wait forever and pay an exorbitant international shipping charge, or order from a Canadian supplier but it wouldn't be a match for the others, or make one out of wood which is what I did. It's in the last picture below. You can most likely tell which one it is, but the casual observer won't be able to detect it, especially when I place this side of the model against the wall. David
  22. David Lester
    Hi Everyone, Here's an update of where I'm at at the moment. The deck is refinished and most of the details have been added. Missing from this picture are the skylight, capstan and wheel, all of which are all ready and just need to be added. I'm going to build the horse blocks too, but will wait until the rail has been added, because they attach to it. I'm still undecided about the flemish coils. I might make a few and set them in place without gluing them before I decide. David
  23. David Lester
    That looks really beautiful Dave. I also took a good look at Clare Hess' build log which you referred to. It's a very nice build too. I'm probably a good year away from finishing Constitution, then I have the Rattlesnake waiting in the wings and now you're causing me to think about my next one after that. Oh dear. David
  24. David Lester
    Looks like you're in great shape. Those chisels (and the skill to use them) are ideal for this job. David
  25. David Lester
    Hi Matt, The notches on the bow blocks are a pain to do, but there is another approach that I discovered and it works well. Make the blocks about 1/8" too short, then make a new piece 1/8" thick with the same profile as the top of the block and cut the notches into this separate piece. After the notches are cut, just glue it on top. That way you'll get very crisp edges on the notches. The picture below shows what I mean. David

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