David Lester

I've added the deck planking, and it's a bit different than that of other models I've done.
 
The planking is square - it's 2x2 mm. The first step is two strips laid down each side of a centre line. Then the outermost plank and it's simply laid flush with the hull. From here it's a matter of laying the planks working toward the centre.
 
The planks were easy to install and they take the curve of the hull without any soaking or pre-bending. On one side of the centre line, the planks went out even and the last one fit in width perfectly. On the other side of the centre line, the last gap was just a bit too big and I finished it off by adding a last 3/64" plank from my stash. It went very quickly as the hull is only just over 17" long, so there really wasn't much area to cover.

 
Quite a bit of sanding was required. There was a lot of variation in the thickness of the planks, but with 2mm to work with, there wasn't much fear of sanding right through. This was a very easy deck to sand - it's flat and there are no sides of the hull to interfere. In fact I used an electric palm sander.
 
I applied one coat of shellac to seal the wood before adding the filler at the point where the hull meets the deck.
 

I have applied the first coat of wood filler ( or stucco, as the Italian instructions call it.) I think it will likely take at least one more coat before it's ready to paint.
 

So that's my progress so far. With a pre-made hull, it really doesn't take very long to get to this point.
 
Once the filling is done, then I think it's time to paint the hull
 
Thanks for looking in, comments and likes.

David

I've added the deck planking, and it's a bit different than that of other models I've done.
 
The planking is square - it's 2x2 mm. The first step is two strips laid down each side of a centre line. Then the outermost plank and it's simply laid flush with the hull. From here it's a matter of laying the planks working toward the centre.
 
The planks were easy to install and they take the curve of the hull without any soaking or pre-bending. On one side of the centre line, the planks went out even and the last one fit in width perfectly. On the other side of the centre line, the last gap was just a bit too big and I finished it off by adding a last 3/64" plank from my stash. It went very quickly as the hull is only just over 17" long, so there really wasn't much area to cover.

 
Quite a bit of sanding was required. There was a lot of variation in the thickness of the planks, but with 2mm to work with, there wasn't much fear of sanding right through. This was a very easy deck to sand - it's flat and there are no sides of the hull to interfere. In fact I used an electric palm sander.
 
I applied one coat of shellac to seal the wood before adding the filler at the point where the hull meets the deck.
 

I have applied the first coat of wood filler ( or stucco, as the Italian instructions call it.) I think it will likely take at least one more coat before it's ready to paint.
 

So that's my progress so far. With a pre-made hull, it really doesn't take very long to get to this point.
 
Once the filling is done, then I think it's time to paint the hull
 
Thanks for looking in, comments and likes.

David

Thanks Mike - the people I made it for picked it up this morning and they seemed very happy with it. They had been looking at the ones you can buy in gift stores, so they were surprised and pleased by the level of detail that this kind of model has.
 
I packed it up in a box with styrofoam, so it will travel safely.
 
They had asked me what I wanted to build it for them and I said only the cost of buying the kit and stand. I didn't want anything for building it. In fact it was a treat having the joy of building it and not having to worry about where to put it. They did bring me a gift however - a $100 gift certificate to the LCBO (provincial liquor store) so this was a win-win experience all around.
 
Thanks again,

David

Extra Grog Rations all around.
🤪

Hi Dave,
Good! Sorry, I called you Bruce instead of Dave. I mistakenly referred to the post directly above mine.
David

Hi Bruce,
I don't know if the technique I use is "correct" or not, but it gets the job done in a fairly tidy way.
 
First I seize the lift block in the centre of a piece of line.
 
Then I bring one of the free ends up, forming a loop and seize it to itself as well as the other line about 1/4" or so below the first seizing. This creates a gap in the middle for the sheet block and a loop at the bottom for the yard.
 
I place the sheet block in the centre gap and snug the second seizing up against it, then place the bottom loop over the end of the yard and pull on the two ends of the line to draw it tight around the yard.
 
I hope this is what you are looking for.
David

Thanks Mike - the people I made it for picked it up this morning and they seemed very happy with it. They had been looking at the ones you can buy in gift stores, so they were surprised and pleased by the level of detail that this kind of model has.
 
I packed it up in a box with styrofoam, so it will travel safely.
 
They had asked me what I wanted to build it for them and I said only the cost of buying the kit and stand. I didn't want anything for building it. In fact it was a treat having the joy of building it and not having to worry about where to put it. They did bring me a gift however - a $100 gift certificate to the LCBO (provincial liquor store) so this was a win-win experience all around.
 
Thanks again,

David

Thanks Mike - the people I made it for picked it up this morning and they seemed very happy with it. They had been looking at the ones you can buy in gift stores, so they were surprised and pleased by the level of detail that this kind of model has.
 
I packed it up in a box with styrofoam, so it will travel safely.
 
They had asked me what I wanted to build it for them and I said only the cost of buying the kit and stand. I didn't want anything for building it. In fact it was a treat having the joy of building it and not having to worry about where to put it. They did bring me a gift however - a $100 gift certificate to the LCBO (provincial liquor store) so this was a win-win experience all around.
 
Thanks again,

David

Hello All,
Well, it appears that I have finished the Mayflower more quickly than I had anticipated. I'm afraid I haven't given many updates on the rigging, but really, there would be very little to be gained by anyone. This is a small model and the rigging couldn't be more straightforward. It was just a matter of working through it until suddenly it seemed to be done!
 






 
So, I have a few thoughts on this model. I think I mentioned at the beginning of this build log that I was building this model on commission for someone who wants the Mayflower specifically. I don't believe I would have chosen this kit otherwise, because it's not the era or type of ship that particularly interests me, but nevertheless, it was a really enjoyable kit to build and it makes up into a very attractive and eye-catching model.
 
I think this is a kit that deserves much more interest than it seems to attract on the forum. It has a lot going for it - it doesn't break the bank to buy it, it's not so big that it's difficult to display, it isn't too difficult and the instructions are foolproof. This would be an ideal kit for someone fairly new to the hobby; perhaps a second build for example.
 
It was designed by Chuck Passaro and his instructions are excellent; among the best I've come across. With most Model Shipways kits, you can essentially throw the instruction book away and spend all your time deciphering the plans - especially for the rigging. In this case, it was not nearly as necessary to refer to the plans because the instructions were that complete and clear.
 
I found this to be a fun change of pace and now with it behind me, I will return to my much bigger challenge, which has been on hold for a few months - the Agamemnon
 

 
 
 

... and for a moment I thought I had dozed off again!

Hi Bruce,
I don't know if the technique I use is "correct" or not, but it gets the job done in a fairly tidy way.
 
First I seize the lift block in the centre of a piece of line.
 
Then I bring one of the free ends up, forming a loop and seize it to itself as well as the other line about 1/4" or so below the first seizing. This creates a gap in the middle for the sheet block and a loop at the bottom for the yard.
 
I place the sheet block in the centre gap and snug the second seizing up against it, then place the bottom loop over the end of the yard and pull on the two ends of the line to draw it tight around the yard.
 
I hope this is what you are looking for.
David

I started in last night and am beginning to get a feel for this kit.
 
I noticed that the included stand needed quite a bit of tweaking to fit the hull correctly. I decided to tend to this first, rather than later after things are attached to the deck and the hull is painted.
 
Both the model and the stand are very light in eight and it proved to be helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of the keel and place a pin between the stand and the keel.
 


The first item in the instructions is the rudder, which is made from some kind of plywood with a fairly coarse grain on the outer layer. The rudder needed to be tapered. A little more fine sanding and maybe even filling will probably be required. I'm going to leave that until I get one coat of paint on first, to better see what is needed.
 


 
I could not imagine this rudder adhering well to the resin hull with some pinning -
 


Next was the sub deck which just gets glued directly to the hull. There's a hole in the hull for the mast to sit in, so it was just a matter of putting the mast in place through the sub deck to line them up.
 
The sub deck fits the hull beautifully. It was just ever so slightly oversized so that it could be sanded to perfectly match the profile of the hull.
 

Centre line drawn and ready to begin the planking.

The planking on this one is different than I've seen before. It's 2mm x 2mm basswood (or lime) and the planks are supposed to curve following the curve of the hull, not run straight. Because of this it's going to be necessary to work from the outside in, rather than from the centre line out.
 
 
We'll see how that goes.
 
David

Good Morning Everyone,
So here's an update on my progress -
 
I have pretty much finished the hull. The last things I added are the deck furnishings, the lower deadeyes and chainplates and I've located all of the eyebolts on the hull. Depending on how they will be used some are installed now and others just have their holes drilled at this point. The eyebolts on the deck are not glued in yet; it's often best to wait until their lines have been attached.
 

 

 

 
I have also been working on the masts and yards. I don't have any machine tools, so I rely on an xacto blade, sandpaper and calipers to taper the yards and I square up the ends of the masts freehand by eye. I know my results are never perfect, but I always enjoy this part of the build and I find the results are acceptable (to my eye, at least.)
 
One detail that I almost always omit is shaping the yards to an octagon at the centre. I have never been happy with my results and by the time I sand out the imperfections, it pretty much ends up round anyway. So I save myself a lot of aggravation and just skip it. (I haven't heard any complaints yet.)😄
 

 
I love using this cartridge paper for the iron bands on the mast. I always think it looks very realistic and the scale always seems better to me than using a brass strip. In the past I have used black construction paper, but this time I used the supplied cartridge paper.
 
I often have a bit of trouble getting the bands to wrap and stay level and if they are glued on, it's a bit messy relocating them. This time I first wrapped the mast with masking tape immediately below where I wanted the band to be and made any necessary adjustments with it. Then I glued the band on right next to the masking tape. This worked quite well.

 

 

 

 
Here's my "cheat" for attaching the line around the ends of the stunsail booms in a tidy way.
 
I drilled two holes in the bottom of the yard. The first one just went part way in and the second one right next to it went right through to the top.
 

 
I inserted the line into the first hole, wrapped it around the yard a couple of times, then pulled it taut from the top through the second hole. A dab of glue holds it in place and I snipped it off.
 

 

 
There is a tricky bit of rigging on the bowsprit. It's this loop with four deadeyes. I thought about how to do this quite a bit and studied how others approached this. In the end here is what I did -
 

 
I wrapped a piece of masking tape around the bowsprit and marked the locations of the four deadeyes -
 

 
Then I placed the masking tape on a piece of paper and extended the four location marks -
 

 
I seized the top deadeye in the centre of a line -
 

 
I then located the location of the other three deadeyes relative to the first one - two to one side of it and one to the other side -
 

 

 

 
Then I wrapped the whole thing loosely around the bowsprit and simply seized the two loose ends together. Once the seizing was tight, I just pulled on the two ends, snugging it up to the bowsprit. A dab of glue holds the seizing in place.
 
It took me two attempts to get it right. The first time my spacing was off a little bit, but I could tell that the system was working, so a second attempt with a little bit of tweaking did the trick.
 

 
Many thanks for looking in, "likes" etc.
 
We're all shovelled out now here in southern Ontario; I hope you guys in the eastern US are managing ok after your heavy snowfall.
 
David
 
 
 
 
 

I started in last night and am beginning to get a feel for this kit.
 
I noticed that the included stand needed quite a bit of tweaking to fit the hull correctly. I decided to tend to this first, rather than later after things are attached to the deck and the hull is painted.
 
Both the model and the stand are very light in eight and it proved to be helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of the keel and place a pin between the stand and the keel.
 


The first item in the instructions is the rudder, which is made from some kind of plywood with a fairly coarse grain on the outer layer. The rudder needed to be tapered. A little more fine sanding and maybe even filling will probably be required. I'm going to leave that until I get one coat of paint on first, to better see what is needed.
 


 
I could not imagine this rudder adhering well to the resin hull with some pinning -
 


Next was the sub deck which just gets glued directly to the hull. There's a hole in the hull for the mast to sit in, so it was just a matter of putting the mast in place through the sub deck to line them up.
 
The sub deck fits the hull beautifully. It was just ever so slightly oversized so that it could be sanded to perfectly match the profile of the hull.
 

Centre line drawn and ready to begin the planking.

The planking on this one is different than I've seen before. It's 2mm x 2mm basswood (or lime) and the planks are supposed to curve following the curve of the hull, not run straight. Because of this it's going to be necessary to work from the outside in, rather than from the centre line out.
 
 
We'll see how that goes.
 
David

I started in last night and am beginning to get a feel for this kit.
 
I noticed that the included stand needed quite a bit of tweaking to fit the hull correctly. I decided to tend to this first, rather than later after things are attached to the deck and the hull is painted.
 
Both the model and the stand are very light in eight and it proved to be helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of the keel and place a pin between the stand and the keel.
 


The first item in the instructions is the rudder, which is made from some kind of plywood with a fairly coarse grain on the outer layer. The rudder needed to be tapered. A little more fine sanding and maybe even filling will probably be required. I'm going to leave that until I get one coat of paint on first, to better see what is needed.
 


 
I could not imagine this rudder adhering well to the resin hull with some pinning -
 


Next was the sub deck which just gets glued directly to the hull. There's a hole in the hull for the mast to sit in, so it was just a matter of putting the mast in place through the sub deck to line them up.
 
The sub deck fits the hull beautifully. It was just ever so slightly oversized so that it could be sanded to perfectly match the profile of the hull.
 

Centre line drawn and ready to begin the planking.

The planking on this one is different than I've seen before. It's 2mm x 2mm basswood (or lime) and the planks are supposed to curve following the curve of the hull, not run straight. Because of this it's going to be necessary to work from the outside in, rather than from the centre line out.
 
 
We'll see how that goes.
 
David

Hello Again,
Well, I certainly didn't expect to be building a J Class yacht until yesterday when a friend called and asked if I'd build his Shamrock V for him. He has had the kit collecting dust on a shelf for many years and doesn't anticipate ever getting to it, so asked me if I'd build it for him.
 
I have learned that Amati makes a range of America's Cup yacht kits, but the Shamrock V is one that has been discontinued.
 
Since yesterday I have been poring over the kit. It will prove to be a relatively simple build, but appears to be a high quality kit. The fittings are excellent and the instructions and plans are very clear and easy to understand. (I do have a question about the rigging, but I'll ask that in a separate post under the right topic.)
 
This kit has a pre-cast hull ( a type of resin, I guess) which will cut down on the amount of work needed considerably.
 
I have never added sails to a model before, but I think this is one model that definitely needs them, so I'll be reading through everything I can find on making sails. The fabric provided in the kit is very fine and I don't think it will need to be replaced.
 
Here are a couple of shots of the kit:


So, an unexpected change of pace.
 
David

I started in last night and am beginning to get a feel for this kit.
 
I noticed that the included stand needed quite a bit of tweaking to fit the hull correctly. I decided to tend to this first, rather than later after things are attached to the deck and the hull is painted.
 
Both the model and the stand are very light in eight and it proved to be helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of the keel and place a pin between the stand and the keel.
 


The first item in the instructions is the rudder, which is made from some kind of plywood with a fairly coarse grain on the outer layer. The rudder needed to be tapered. A little more fine sanding and maybe even filling will probably be required. I'm going to leave that until I get one coat of paint on first, to better see what is needed.
 


 
I could not imagine this rudder adhering well to the resin hull with some pinning -
 


Next was the sub deck which just gets glued directly to the hull. There's a hole in the hull for the mast to sit in, so it was just a matter of putting the mast in place through the sub deck to line them up.
 
The sub deck fits the hull beautifully. It was just ever so slightly oversized so that it could be sanded to perfectly match the profile of the hull.
 

Centre line drawn and ready to begin the planking.

The planking on this one is different than I've seen before. It's 2mm x 2mm basswood (or lime) and the planks are supposed to curve following the curve of the hull, not run straight. Because of this it's going to be necessary to work from the outside in, rather than from the centre line out.
 
 
We'll see how that goes.
 
David

Hello Again,
Well, I certainly didn't expect to be building a J Class yacht until yesterday when a friend called and asked if I'd build his Shamrock V for him. He has had the kit collecting dust on a shelf for many years and doesn't anticipate ever getting to it, so asked me if I'd build it for him.
 
I have learned that Amati makes a range of America's Cup yacht kits, but the Shamrock V is one that has been discontinued.
 
Since yesterday I have been poring over the kit. It will prove to be a relatively simple build, but appears to be a high quality kit. The fittings are excellent and the instructions and plans are very clear and easy to understand. (I do have a question about the rigging, but I'll ask that in a separate post under the right topic.)
 
This kit has a pre-cast hull ( a type of resin, I guess) which will cut down on the amount of work needed considerably.
 
I have never added sails to a model before, but I think this is one model that definitely needs them, so I'll be reading through everything I can find on making sails. The fabric provided in the kit is very fine and I don't think it will need to be replaced.
 
Here are a couple of shots of the kit:


So, an unexpected change of pace.
 
David

I started in last night and am beginning to get a feel for this kit.
 
I noticed that the included stand needed quite a bit of tweaking to fit the hull correctly. I decided to tend to this first, rather than later after things are attached to the deck and the hull is painted.
 
Both the model and the stand are very light in eight and it proved to be helpful to drill a small hole in the bottom of the keel and place a pin between the stand and the keel.
 


The first item in the instructions is the rudder, which is made from some kind of plywood with a fairly coarse grain on the outer layer. The rudder needed to be tapered. A little more fine sanding and maybe even filling will probably be required. I'm going to leave that until I get one coat of paint on first, to better see what is needed.
 


 
I could not imagine this rudder adhering well to the resin hull with some pinning -
 


Next was the sub deck which just gets glued directly to the hull. There's a hole in the hull for the mast to sit in, so it was just a matter of putting the mast in place through the sub deck to line them up.
 
The sub deck fits the hull beautifully. It was just ever so slightly oversized so that it could be sanded to perfectly match the profile of the hull.
 

Centre line drawn and ready to begin the planking.

The planking on this one is different than I've seen before. It's 2mm x 2mm basswood (or lime) and the planks are supposed to curve following the curve of the hull, not run straight. Because of this it's going to be necessary to work from the outside in, rather than from the centre line out.
 
 
We'll see how that goes.
 
David

Hello Again,
Well, I certainly didn't expect to be building a J Class yacht until yesterday when a friend called and asked if I'd build his Shamrock V for him. He has had the kit collecting dust on a shelf for many years and doesn't anticipate ever getting to it, so asked me if I'd build it for him.
 
I have learned that Amati makes a range of America's Cup yacht kits, but the Shamrock V is one that has been discontinued.
 
Since yesterday I have been poring over the kit. It will prove to be a relatively simple build, but appears to be a high quality kit. The fittings are excellent and the instructions and plans are very clear and easy to understand. (I do have a question about the rigging, but I'll ask that in a separate post under the right topic.)
 
This kit has a pre-cast hull ( a type of resin, I guess) which will cut down on the amount of work needed considerably.
 
I have never added sails to a model before, but I think this is one model that definitely needs them, so I'll be reading through everything I can find on making sails. The fabric provided in the kit is very fine and I don't think it will need to be replaced.
 
Here are a couple of shots of the kit:


So, an unexpected change of pace.
 
David

Hello Again,
Well, I certainly didn't expect to be building a J Class yacht until yesterday when a friend called and asked if I'd build his Shamrock V for him. He has had the kit collecting dust on a shelf for many years and doesn't anticipate ever getting to it, so asked me if I'd build it for him.
 
I have learned that Amati makes a range of America's Cup yacht kits, but the Shamrock V is one that has been discontinued.
 
Since yesterday I have been poring over the kit. It will prove to be a relatively simple build, but appears to be a high quality kit. The fittings are excellent and the instructions and plans are very clear and easy to understand. (I do have a question about the rigging, but I'll ask that in a separate post under the right topic.)
 
This kit has a pre-cast hull ( a type of resin, I guess) which will cut down on the amount of work needed considerably.
 
I have never added sails to a model before, but I think this is one model that definitely needs them, so I'll be reading through everything I can find on making sails. The fabric provided in the kit is very fine and I don't think it will need to be replaced.
 
Here are a couple of shots of the kit:


So, an unexpected change of pace.
 
David

Thanks for the input, guys (and the stories too.) That's pretty much what I guessed to be the case. I don't think I'll try using wire for the standing rigging however; I'd never get it lay straight and even and I imagine just a slight touch might put a slight bend in it. I'll probably just end up using black line, but maybe I'll experiment a bit with a metal-like colour.
 
Allan, thanks for the information about the NYYC model collection. I had a look at their website and I think That would certainly be a great place to visit, however, I don't see a New York adventure in my near future (let's be honest, I rarely leave the basement!)
 
Thanks again,
David

I am launched into a new project building a J Class yacht for a friend (Amati Shamrock V) and I have a question about the rigging that maybe someone knows the answer to.
 
The kit provides only natural coloured line (ecru, tan, off-white or whatever you want to call it) and the picture of the model on the box shows all of the rigging (both running and standing) done in this colour. Somehow this doesn't seem right to me. Since this is a 1930's era yacht, would it be correct to believe that the standing rigging would actually have been wire cable. Somehow that seems likely to me. Does anyone out there know?
 
On my Bluenose model the plans stated that all the standing rigging on that vessel was wire cable and had serving. (I didn't have a serving machine at that time, so just ignored this and simply used black line.) If the rigging on Shamrock V is wire cable, is it likely to have been served as well? Somehow that seems less likely to me. Again, if anyone knows, I'd be grateful.
 
If the standing rigging is wire cable and is not served, what do people think would be the best colour line to use for it. Simply black, or stick with the ecru line provided or would you do something unusual, such as gray. (I'm not going to try my hand at using actual wire.)
 
Anyway, any thoughts you have would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
David

Hello Again,
Well, I certainly didn't expect to be building a J Class yacht until yesterday when a friend called and asked if I'd build his Shamrock V for him. He has had the kit collecting dust on a shelf for many years and doesn't anticipate ever getting to it, so asked me if I'd build it for him.
 
I have learned that Amati makes a range of America's Cup yacht kits, but the Shamrock V is one that has been discontinued.
 
Since yesterday I have been poring over the kit. It will prove to be a relatively simple build, but appears to be a high quality kit. The fittings are excellent and the instructions and plans are very clear and easy to understand. (I do have a question about the rigging, but I'll ask that in a separate post under the right topic.)
 
This kit has a pre-cast hull ( a type of resin, I guess) which will cut down on the amount of work needed considerably.
 
I have never added sails to a model before, but I think this is one model that definitely needs them, so I'll be reading through everything I can find on making sails. The fabric provided in the kit is very fine and I don't think it will need to be replaced.
 
Here are a couple of shots of the kit:


So, an unexpected change of pace.
 
David

I started this build about 2 years ago then took a long long break. I had planned on logging my progress so I took lots of photos but never got around to writing up anything about them. I've just  started back into the build today and I hope to log my progress from here on in. So here's what I've done to date.