GuntherMT

Excellent tip, and it looks to me like it works great!

Ahoy Mates
 
Dragzz: Yes, the tool has already proved very useful in tests to position the mounts for the false cannons (part 31)  I have completely changed my approach to a much simpler way. I will cover this in another post 
 
BW: I have added some basswood and built out the bulkhead. I am actually quite messy with the glue but always clean it up. I use one brush to apply it and another larger one to mop it up. 
 
Augie: Thanks, I hope your somewhere nice with the Admiral, reading this on your phone 
 
Lawrence: Truth be told, had you not taken the time to post this in your log I may not have ever seen it, So Thank you
 
Julian: Welcome aboard. I would agree that starting with the Corel Vic isn't just jumping into the deep end but doing so from a cliff. It has been done with success but I agree that starting with something simpler is a good idea. I am following this build with my first one. Once I get this one to the planking stage;  please note construction will grind down. I really found I liked planking and want to start here before I forget what I just learned doing my Ratt. I plan to spend 6 months to a year perhaps even more planking this kit. This way I can sit back and really enjoy it; the right way, one plank at a time. Most of my build time will then go to finishing up my first kit.
 
 
Back to the build 
 
I am posting some pics to show my thinking and how I approached this stage of the build. I find rear fillers to be very challenging. I received a lot of help on my first build, THX MSW; which really influenced my work on these fillers. Hopefully I can share some of that information with my post here.  
 
I have also decided to post before I start on the port filler to show a comparison between the almost finished and untouched blocks. I am now at the point where the starboard side needs to be glued for the final sanding and want to use it to carve the port side. Doweling the fillers really worked out well for me and i highly recommend it. I did way to much sanding on this side but now with a confirmed shape I should be able to speed things along with more carving. In one of the pics you will see a round sanding tool. This was very helpful and is just a piece of PVC cut to fit between my thumb and pointer, split down the center to accept sandpaper. I also did a mock up of the stern area. I found that parts 50 and 51 actually show the final curve of the fillers. I need to give some thought as to how much more to reduce the upper part of the fillers. And how much to sand down the first layer of planking so the finished planks butt up to the keel where the rudder is mounted. I am wondering if it might also be easier to thin those planks before attempting to make that bend during planking too. The pencil marks on the bulkheads are my heavy hand alert and the yellow tape is my Oops prevent "er" . 
 
PS: Yes that is Pinkman putting out the generator fire. Netflix is a must for filler sanding. I started it from the beginning and yes it took me that long.  

Hey anyone,
 
Since I finished my Revell 1:96 Plastic Constitution in the spring, I've been wanting to get into wood modeling.  As I've only been a plastic modeler to date, I was a bit apprehensive as it feels like a whole new skill set (which I don't have).  I've done nothing with wood, other than trim a few tree branches along the way.
 
So, with that in mind, my first wood ship was the Midwest Peterboro canoe (at 1:12).  It took maybe 6 weeks to do (I never seem to do any of this fast), and here's the result:
 


 
Next up, I needed more experience.  I have a Syren kit "on deck", but don't feel ready to tackle that yet.  I felt a cross section would be a good next step up in complexity, as it involves some planking, some deck furniture, some masting, etc.  A little bit of everything and with a ship I know pretty well from the Revell model.
 
So, taking advantage of a nice sale by ModelExpo, I purchased the Mamoli USS Constitution Cross Section at 1:93, so very close in scale to my full ship plastic build.
 
I'll detail the build step by step and stick to the instructions as best I can.  I'll also be using some fine builds here on MSW to guide my progress.  Suggestions and criticism welcome - I'm a wood novice so I'm especially interested in tips, tricks, best practices, painting suggestions, etc.
 
Thanks for looking.
 
Andy.
 
 

Well, I have installed the shrouds/ratlines, and I think they look pretty decent (a lot better than the totally square ones from the 1/196 constitution that in picked up and never built anyway).
 

 

 
ANYONE BUILDING THIS KIT TAKE NOTE: However, the ratlines did not fit into the recesses in the boards, something Lindberg must have anticipated, as it suggested I cut them further open to fit right). The problem is, the boards were already installed, so I had to trim them while attached, a tricky practice at best. I knocked off a few rails and gunport lids in the process but eventually got them fit. I would recommend anyone building this kit widen the notches BEFORE installing the boards, and checking for fit.
 
There wasn't much room for the gunport lids so I had to move the "chains" around a bit. Furthermore, I didn't install them in the recommended way, which was inserting the lower ends into the holes in the side of the ship first, but the deadeyes seemed like they would be way too high above the boards, and it seemed too brittle to bend like that. So I just glued them on. The holes and results can be seen here:
 

 
It's not ideal, but it will do for this build. Personally, I think the chains look worse than the ratlines.
 
All in all though, I'm fairly pleased with the result, though the masts seem to have a slight take to them that I don't believe is correct for the period. The masts seem pretty well centered, I think (but am sadly ignorant of what is considered good or bad here), though the fighting tops aren't quite level
 

 
Next up, the stays.

My summer didn't go completely unspent...
 
(sorry for the quality of the pics, they were taken wth a not so goog cmera...)

All running riggin gof the bowsprit is more or less present. I 'only'' have ot belay the loose ends.
One of the problesm at this scale is taht the rope is quite springy, and the yards not heavy enough to prevent teh rope going everywhere.
 
I also redid the crowsfeet at the foremast, the rather whitish rope started to anoy me. Actually, I still think the crowsfeet should go altogether. It does look a bit out of place and period for this ship....

 
Jan

And today I did the othger side. Ratlines finally finished.
I secured the knots with white PVA (diluted), but as that is still drying, I did not snip off the ends.

 
Studying the rigging plan I discovered that two clamps on the bowsprit would be too few. So: destruction in a mild way, and replacement by four new ones. As there will ben loads of rigging line onto them , I didn't pay too much attention to the fact that they are not equal shaped. (and besides: the difference is below 1 mm)

 
And here the first part of the crowsfeet on the main mast. The block is made from a strip of wallnut 3x2 mm, about 1 cm long.

Problem is the same as usual with these "add-ons" to the stays: the rope with with the block is stropped has some resistance, so forcing the block into the right direction by tensioning the crowsfeet, results in a kink in the main stay (which is already is under some tension, so there is still some thinking to do....)
 
Jan
 

Hi.
Many thanks for your encouraging  Sometimes I need it.
 
As you can see we have started the rigging.
We started by adding the standing rigging then we added the rat lines.
 
This is the test run

 
I made a jig for the spacing of the art lines.


 
Then we painted pva glue onto the lines and placed the jig with the ropes spaced out.

 
This is what they looked like after removing the jig.

 
Then we started on making the sails.
 

We used a piece of scrap MDF board and placed a copy of the plans onto it. Then we covered it in Cling Film (Cooking Film).
 
Then the cloth was stretched evenly over the plans.
Then drawing pins were used to hold the cord taunt while pva glue was brushed onto the cord and the outer edge of the sail.

 
This is how it looked after removing the drawing pins.

 
Just cut out rough then trimmed with sharp scissors.

 
Will add the sails to the ship after marking the stitching and attaching them to the yards.
 
Thanks for following my build.
 
Alex S.
 
Posted using Antony's Computer...

Thanks to Bill, I'm taking a break from bowsprits and returning to hammock nets. Bill suggested tieing the nets in startegic places before gluing. I precision cut the four sets of nets after folding them to fit with clamps overnight. I inserted all four into the stanchions and I just finished sewing the first set. I'll trim and glue it next. Thanks to Bill, I think this will works.

Now some photos of the transom area being built up.  For this piece I planked the part that is not to be covered by the two cherubs holding the Vasa arms.  Even though most of the planked part will be covered by the six armored knights, parts will be visible and I wanted to see some detail behind them.
 

 
I am planking this part of the transom because it's visible on the deck side.  I'll paint it red, although I don't think it's red on the 1:10 model.  Just like the way it looks.
 

 
Planking the ceiling of this piece.  I'm using 3mm veneer for this and the detailing in the photos above; it seems to have a nice scale to it.  Here and in the next set of photos you see the ribbing that will form the supports for the hull planking at the rear of the ship.  
 

 
Here are the buttresses surrounding the two round gunports.  The kit seems to want you to simply paint two black round circles here.  I didn't like that idea, so I've made holes.  Also, it's not clear to me looking at either the actual ship or the 1:10 model whether the buttresses and their ceiling should be curved the way I've done.  I decided to leave it for a bit and see how I liked it. 
 
The kit supposedly provides false "glass" for the two gallery windows, but mine doesn't have it.  I found some plastic window screening at the hardware store and used it instead.  For what it's worth, it looks like the number of panes is almost exactly what's on the 1:10 model.  Odd coincidence.  I like the way it looks - not too thick.
 

 

 
Finally some hull planking, although just a small part.  It's horizontal, and the planking below it will be diagonal, as I'll show in some upcoming pictures.  The wood is 5mm wide by 1.2mm thick mahogany.  That works out to a scale width of maybe 14 inches or so, which seems reasonable.  The kit provides 7mm wide planking which looks too coarse for my liking.  
 
The red color doesn't reproduce well in the photos - too much of a pinkish cast.  In natural light it looks better - quite close to the museum model, which I like.
 

I started to place the second planking ....
Mauro

As I wait patiently for my HobbyMill order to arrive to complete my outer planking, I continue with some detail and deck work. I completed the quarterdeck bulkhead/screens which is a very fiddly little assembly with number of components that need to be dry-fitted and all squared up. I think it is a bit over-engineered, but so be it...
 
Instead of the fragile ply provided for the actual screens I instead used styrene (oh, the horrors, plastic!!). It flexs better in the curved frames and provides a nice smooth surface for paint. 
 
After an initial coat of blue (Polly Scale B&M Railroad Blue) I decided to try my hand at hand painting the designs in more "period like" colors, as opposed to the black decals provided in the kit. I shamelessly took the method from Timmo's wonderful effort to hand paint them. Thanks for the brilliant example!
 
I started with a base coat of Polly Scale CP Yellow (the railroad colors are very useful...) and then once fully dry used mixes of white, yellow ochre and raw umber oil paints to shade and highlight the designs. Although I'm no artist, and these are attempt number three, I think they pass the test, though I may do a little touch-up here and there. I did some slight modification to designs for aesthetics and to better fit the design on the panel. 
 
The panels still need their final trimming to shape at the top, and are merely dry-fitted in these photos. It will probably be a week before the oil paints fully dry. 

I got a lot done over the past two weeks and am just getting around to posting some pictures. 
 
Latest developments:
 
Inner bulwark sheer rail and spirketting installed and trimmed to shape Sweep ports drilled, filed and shaped Bulwarks painted red ochre Trim for galley flue installed Forward hatch constructed Main hatch constructed Deck reinforcement planks installed on stern side of forward mortar housing First mortar housing cover constructed I am not at all pleased with the walnut strip that makes up the top of the mortar housing cover; it is very flaky and splinters easily and no amount of sanding will leave it smooth.It is also not the same color as the rest of the walnut in the kit, being much redder, as you can see in the pictures.  I will likely re-make that with some spare walnut strip I have from a previous build.
 
The bigger issue is this is the same strip material used to plank the hull. My plan was to only use below the wales, and my pending HobbyMill order of boxwood above. I will need to re-think below the wales as this garbage wood will never be acceptable. Luckily most of the other strip wood and all of the CNC-cut material is much smoother and looks fine. 

As I mentioned in the post above I completed the wales over the weekend.
 
Three planks wide, by two layers (1x4mm) per the instructions, using boxwood. They were then painted with about (I lost track...) 10-11 coats of Polly Scale acrylic Engine Black, each coat highly thinned with my  "home brew" thinner, which consists of 70 percent water, 30 percent isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of Liquitex flow-aid. Light sanding between coats with 400, then 600 grit, with the final coat being finished with a Squadron tri-grit fine sanding stick, to give it a very fine sheen. It's hard to pick up the finish well using my phone camera. 

The quarterdeck bulkhead screens were permanently installed, and the trim work, hinges etc... completed. Quarterdeck planking and treenailing was done in the same fashion as the main deck. I also made the grating up as well.
 
On to the guns now so I can get the forecastle installed. One issue though; Caldercraft has shorted me one cannon. I have sent them THREE e-mails, which I know they received, because I got read receipts, but they have acknowledged nothing. I'm starting to get a little peeved, and wonder if anyone else has had to deal with their customer service. Expo would have fixed this weeks ago...
 
 
 
 

Sharpie, Thank you for the excellent Trireme web link. Richard's (an UK naval architect at Plymouth) trireme build log clearly demonistrated how the Trireme bow and ram are constructed. By following his research and build method, I believe the finished model will be greatly more accurate than the completed model shown on the deusek web site/box top picture (especially in the ram & bow area)
The kit calls for the first top 6 rows of planking to be the 2x2mm, while the rest of the hull planking downward to be the wider 3X2mm stock. Both are not long enoguh to cover bow to stern. Also they are hard to bend (even after soaking in water for a while) due to the the thickness.
 
Few things to remember:
Make sure to bevel slightly the top edge (inner side the plank that face to the bulkhead) of the plank to be install (except for the first plank), otherwise because of  the plank thickness it will leave a gap on the outer hull against the previous installed plank. I also found it was easier to glue the front half of the plank from the bow to the mid-ship, wait after it has dried, then continue to test fit, adjust the hull bulkhead sharping to align toward the stern then glue in the remaining half from the mid-ship to stern. In this process, the most challenging part is the cuvring and shaping of the plank at the stern (make suer alot of clamps are on hand), As the supplied planks are not long enough, I decided to to a shorter curve(which looks right), and using lower hull planking extensions (which is not as visible) to complete most of the stern curve tail. The trireme is one of the few ship model where the intern hull are visible after completion, So make sure that the internal hull are free of glue overrun, excessive trim marks and that it is reasonable in "appearence". This is apparent on the fifth plank toward the bow, I notched the plank in 2 areas to make the bend, I should have notch more areas and smaller notches so it wouln't be so obvious. BTW- I temporary removed the ram section to make the planking process easier,

You have done a lot of work in 4 days Brian, your first hull looks great and the thing is the next hull will look even better, that is simply the way it works. I would guess that there is not a soul on the website that has not got a box of scrap wood from various builds, the scraps come in handy later.
 
I look forward to seeing the rest of the build.
 
Michael

Some good looking work there Rich.  I really like that top piece that ends in the stop for the 2nd section, very nicely done.
 
I'm not overly impressed with the Constructo plans now that I have another kit to compare them with (Armed Virginia Sloop by Model Shipways).  How many sheets of plans does the Victory kit come with?  The Constructo Carmen has a single plan sheet, while the AVS, which is a similar size model has 7 sheets!
 
On the other hand, with how nicely you are doing with that kit, think how easy a kit with proper plans will be in the future!

First I would like to thank all those who liked my previous posts
 
I finalized today the stairs, I used the originals from the kit which have been sanded to make them smaller
 

 
further I made the hings for the doors
 

 

 
oops I do not like the macro on my camera

finally i got time/permission to continue with the paintings work

 

 
furthermore started with finalizing the railing
 

 

 

and a dryfit for the first canon to mark the correct point for making the opening.
noticed that I also have to paint the canons

continued with the painting work
 

 

I have made some progress and finished the deck house.  Thanks for the tip.  

 
I started working on the 6" guns.  The first thing was to find and cut out the pieces and figure out how to assemble them.



One touched up they were put together.
So far so good.
David B
 

Yep your right Keith, but its been fun making it.

Set come cover for tiller coming together.

Needed to make some more grates hatchs etc.

Scratch built these.




More soon me thinks.

foxy

Brian,
 
You answered the question!  A quick bond is the answer for gluing items which would be hard to clamp, as with the spray shields with their rounded shape.  Often I will use CA and wood glue together.  I will apply CA at both ends and depending on the length of the item to be glued along the middle section, just using a drop in these areas, then I will follow with wood glue between the CA,  The CA gives a quick bond and the wood glue when dry gives a stronger bond.
 
Tim

hello yeah david I am not sure yet. I think I will not do it.
 
thank you mark, now I feel shy because I have seen what you are able to build It is my first wood ship. I only build three other for my modelrailway but from plastic and years ago
 
yesterday it was time to clean up my workingplace. It was important because I was to confused and I was not sure what to do next.
After that I worked on coils for the coffienägel (sorry do not know the english word - is there somewhere an overview for the nautical english terms?????? help please !!! ). Also I read in my book that a ship needs a stove pipe. So I did one by myself. And I build an own rudder because the one from the ship is not realistic. But the rudder is not ready yet. So enjoy the pictures and thanks everyone for following. A nice sunday to everyone. It is time for formula one - Monza

I was able to spend a bit of time on the ship this weekend.
I made the cat blocks and I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't figure out a way to simulate the wider centre of the iron band around the block where the sheave pin goes through.
I started making the second anchor as well.