GuntherMT

Hi all -
Walt, I think I have restored the missing photos.  Stuntflyer, thanks for dropping by and for your kind words.  I would encourage you to start a build log for your project.  You will get lots of helpful advice and encouragement.  And you should also check out the build logs from KenW and Rafine.  Both are excellent.  They use better quality wood with natural finish and their results look great. 
 
Its probably time for a progress report, although there has not been much progress.  I have been dealing with a carpal tunnel kind of wrist problem that limits what I can do.  In addition, I used a very old bottle of  Floquil "Swedish Oil" to varnish the masts... and it has taken WEEKS to dry.  I have attached some pictures.  The masts are stepped but not glued in.  They are not completed yet.  I need to do some painting and hang some blocks under the main top as well as other places.  The deck furniture is not glued on either.  I just placed it to give myself an idea of how she's looking.  The skylight is a "prototype" and will be replaced with something better in final.  I think the quartrdeck looks naked without it.  The stern lantern is just stuck on for now.  You get the idea.  But that's the progress to date.
<<Gary>>
 

Thanks Keith, I'm downloading that book now.  Luckily I don't need to read it right now, as they throttle free accounts to old-school modem speeds.
 
Thanks for the kind words Alistair.  Your build of the AVS was one of the ones I went through and will reference when I get to this a couple months from now, and I'm following your Fly build as well, it's looking great so far.

Some more progress with the gallery.




Next its the Brody Stove.
This is what it looks like on the real thing.



Will have a balsa centre block.
Like so.


foxy

...and you forgot
 
- wont be building this one to see if you like the hobby
 
It's funny, but as I read your list of requirements, I was going to suggest the exact boat you picked. I've only been at this hobby for 2 years this Nov. and I never expected to become so immersed in it. I'm in the process now of working on a shop more suited to making sawdust, as I do most at my desk now and that limits so much. I've recently been spending hobby budget on reference material, so if there a topic of interest, let me know and possibly I could direct you towards some of the best. Petersson's book on fore and aft rigging is a must, It will come in handy on this build also. Its nearly all diagrams and available for download.

Here:
http://www.libramar.net/news/rigging_period_ship_models_a_step_by_step_guide_to_the_intricacies_of_the_square_rig/2009-11-05-48

examples from petersson


Congrat's on the new acquisition and on finding a place in an interesting hobby.

davit built! Need to paint and rig. Really surprisingly strong assy.
 

 

 

The fun stuff.
Small details that were left unfinished earlier.  The chain from the spectacle plate acted to  secure the rudder when it was unshipped as well as provide another method for emergency steering.  The end was left free to avoid interference with the gun port lids.
 

 
A hook connecting the chain with the line (made from an eyelet).
 

 
Lashing the hook
 

 
28 G. dark annealed wire through a hole in the channel, to allow seizing the line at the eye formed in the wire, and to act as a messenger to pull the line up to the channel.
 

I spent a few hours building this waterline marker.  Seems to work well

I was able to get some time at the workbench.  Completed most of the cabin housing. 

Started work on the main cabin at the stern.  Quite a bit of work goes into each cabin.

Well, I finally completed the deck and have scraped it down.  Still have not decided on how I will finish.  Will start building the deck cabins now.

Right well checking the number of ladders needed and found I was a few short, Heller had sent me some replacements  but still not enuff.
 
So it was to wood I turned again.

Used Heller ladder as a template.

The finished article's

Used life color paints for this job, three in all.

Next came the buildings for this deck, the gallery, brody stove, officers quarters and cover for the tiller, that could be lifted off in an emergency to add another tiller arm.
First though its the gallery.
I used some etch from my model railroad day's, when I built loco's etc.
Plastic and brass for the main structure and wood for the top of the bench.
Have books that show the gallery and this made it a lot easier.

At the top of the picture is the start of the officers quarter's, below the start of the gallery.



Framed the outside with thin plastic strips(evergreen).
Made some pots, bottles etc for the top bench and lockers.



The officer figure is scratch built from one of the USS Constitution people, with a new hat and sword/belt.
 
More soon methinks.
 
Foxy

Ingenious switch / battery box combination.  I like it!

Next up in the instruction book, take that hull you've been painstakingly working on for who knows how many hours, and drill holes in it.  Wait.. what?  Nooo...  
 
Didn't get them quite perfectly aligned, but looks pretty decent in the dry test-fit.
 

 
After the 2nd coat of urethane dried, I took the steel wool to it, and I'm pretty content with how it turned out, and will likely leave it this way.
 

 
Now, on to..  drilling more holes in her.  Spent a lot of time measuring and comparing to the plan sheet to locate these, think they are pretty close to what all the pictures and plans show.
 

 
Time to assemble the dead eyes to the chain plates.  Per the pictorial instructions in the book, this is how  Constructo says to do it.
 

 
I'm sure there is a much better way, but for this build I'll stick with the kit components and they turned out ok.  Next I mounted them to the hull.  Another time to spend lots of time in measurements, and I think it worked out, they seem to be even, raked properly, and match up with the plans well.
 

 
I framed up the doors (windows?) in the two deck houses, and am about 75% through planking them.  Tomorrow should get them planked and trimmed, and hopefully they'll look much better than they do now, as the base structure is fairly ugly!
 
 

Except for the planking behind the screen, the deck planking and the margin planks (dry fitted) are complete. I have used a Stanley knife blade to scrape back the planks on the front deck (it gives a better finish than sanding I think), though there is still some work to be done on it.  I have not yet done the tree nails.  I will do those before I coat the lot in polyurethane.
 
This will be my last post for about 6 or 7 weeks. I am going on holiday on Friday, so the whole lot will stay as is. I just hope I remember where I put things when I get back.
 
The first few photos below show the margin planks on the rear deck. The margin planks  were very time consuming, but really make a difference to the finish of the deck.
 
The last few photos show the semifinished front deck.  I'm pleased with the result.

It's been a while, but I've been busy with the act of retiring!  I have been working on the model, but with fiddly bits.
 
Alert - expert help wanted - there's a question at the end of this post.
 
So, I assumed that the next step was planking the deck - wrong!  First you have to make some deck fixtures.  The practicum is very helpful, but does not explain or point you to the "whys" of each step, just the "hows".
 
Days were spent making hatches and so on:
 

 
 
The practicum method is to position these, then trim your planks around them.  I decided to use the basswood provided, in the absence of a simple source of better:
 

 
 
The planks needed a little persuasion, and I wanted to use PVA glue:
 

 
 
I couldn't see the point of the little steps out on the seventh planks from the midline.  I put them in, removed them, then finally put them back in:
 

 
 
For some reason, my centreline did not exactly match the centre of the keel.  I didn't register this until too late, but I think the furniture lines up pretty well with the whole shape:
 

 
 
For the margin planks, I tried to follow the instructions, but (once again) they seemed like gibberish.  So I fell back on simply what I understand is spiling, tracing along the area to be filled with my compass on to a section of the 1/2" plank.  I then trimmed the outer edge carefully until it fitted the waterway, then worked my way along the inner edge, fitting to the existing planks.  Here's the forward half of the plank in situ:
 

 
 
And here are the finished margin planks before sanding:
 

 
 
And again, with the bits and pieces resting in place:
 

 
 
Now it's time for steps etc to be planked, but first, the question.
 
Part way through I realised that some of these deck planks are overly long.  I see considerable variations in the decking plank lengths and nailing on other models.
 
What would you advise for me to make my deck look the best?  What length of plank, and how to to simulate this and the nails?
 
Thanks,
 
Brett

Next up in the instruction book, take that hull you've been painstakingly working on for who knows how many hours, and drill holes in it.  Wait.. what?  Nooo...  
 
Didn't get them quite perfectly aligned, but looks pretty decent in the dry test-fit.
 

 
After the 2nd coat of urethane dried, I took the steel wool to it, and I'm pretty content with how it turned out, and will likely leave it this way.
 

 
Now, on to..  drilling more holes in her.  Spent a lot of time measuring and comparing to the plan sheet to locate these, think they are pretty close to what all the pictures and plans show.
 

 
Time to assemble the dead eyes to the chain plates.  Per the pictorial instructions in the book, this is how  Constructo says to do it.
 

 
I'm sure there is a much better way, but for this build I'll stick with the kit components and they turned out ok.  Next I mounted them to the hull.  Another time to spend lots of time in measurements, and I think it worked out, they seem to be even, raked properly, and match up with the plans well.
 

 
I framed up the doors (windows?) in the two deck houses, and am about 75% through planking them.  Tomorrow should get them planked and trimmed, and hopefully they'll look much better than they do now, as the base structure is fairly ugly!
 
 

Originally Posted January 25, 2010
 
I have been working on my Armed Virginia Sloop and I can finally say that I have finished Chapter 5 of the practicum.
 
The first picture shows a side shot of my AVS. I have installed the swivel cannon posts and the channels. I pinned the channels to the hull and secured them with glue. I also elected to mount my AVS on pedestals instead of the kit supplied launching ways.
 
The next two photos show the deck details. I probably spent way too much time on them, but I was satisfied with the end results.
 
Here is a photo of the ships wheel, binnacle, elm tree pumps and the companionway. I replaced the cast metal ships wheel with a wooden wheel that I purchased from Model Expo.
 
This last picture shows the hatch and a close-up of the cannon rigging.

 
The completion of Chapter 5 basically finishes the hull. All that is left to finish is the masting and rigging. I have actually started Chapter 6 of the practicum and will post some pictures of my progress soon.

Originally Posted January 10, 2010
 
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2010 is the best year yet.

It has been a while since I last posted an update on my AVS Build Log. I have been working trying to finish up all of my deck furnishings. The part of the build I thought would give me the most problems was rigging my cannons and making the rope coils. Having never done this, I checked into the many ways of making the rope coils. I am using MoRope and did not want to cut my rigging line, so I opted to make the coils on the deck.
 
This is the procedure that I went with. I started with Elmer’s White glue thinned with water (75% glue to 25% water) and added a couple of drops of dish detergent to help absorb the glue into the rigging line. I placed a piece of double sided tape next to the cannon and then cut a small square of wax paper and laid it on top of the double sided tape. This is where I would construct my rope coils. I took and stretched out the line to be coiled and give it a good coating of my glue mixture. I then coiled the line around an Xacto aluminum knife handle and keep working it on the wax paper. Eventually the rigging line would lay right, but you have to keep adding glue. When the glue dries, you will not see any evidence of the glue residue. I gave the line a heavy coat of glue where I was going to cut off the excess line. MoRope will unravel quickly if you do not have the area glued where you cut the line. Here is a picture of the rope coils drying on my deck.
 
After the rope coils dried, I carefully removed them from the wax paper. I then discarded the wax paper and tape that was on the deck. I placed an old Xacto knife blade under the MoRope where I was making the cut so that I would not damage the deck. I cut the excess line off and placed some undiluted glue on the underside of the coils and positioned them on the deck.
 
This was the first time that I have made rope coils. I felt I had better practice making them, as I did not want to mess up my cannon tackle rigging. I practiced making many coils using the kit supplied materials, but was not having much success. I finally practiced with the same thickness of MoRope and this worked great. After two practice coils, I was ready to go live.
The first coil on my AVS took over an hour, with the last coils taking about 20 minutes each. I am happy with the outcome. Here is a picture of all of the cannons rigged.
 
I used 0.6mm MoRope for the train tackle and rope coils and 0.8mm for the breeching rope. I think that the 0.6mm line may have been slightly too heavy of line to use as the kit supplied line came out to 0.5mm. However, MoRope only comes in either 0.4mm or 0.6mm line as they do not make 0.5mm line. I also used 3.5mm Warner Woods blocks, which I think was a good fit for the 0.6mm MoRope.
 
I finally feel that I can now move forward on my AVS build. I have completed all of the deck furnishings and only have to install them. I will post some pictures when I complete this step.
 

This will be the last lot.
 
Cheers
Alistair
 

Just a couple more...
 
Cheers
Alistair
 
 

I think I may be approaching the "home stretch". All the sails are hung and filled with wind to the best of my abilities and the colors are aloft.
Now is time for coils and more coils, what a messy crew leaving all the lines everywhere!
 
I stiffened and shaped all the sails with dilluted white glue. I attached the flags to the halyards with a tiny bead of CA.
 
I think all thats left to do are the coils, installing the swivel guns and any final clean-up and touch-ups.
 
Ken

Complete! The armed privateer "Emma" is ready the become the scourge of English merchant shipping.
2 1/2 years to complete, who knows how many hours?
Below are a couple quick shots, I plan to setup a better photo shoot when able, right now the next couple weeks are really busy with moving to a new house, so I finished her just in time.
 
Ken

The Gaff's running rigging. whilst it will be bare poled, l've decided to add as much running rigging as possible.

Good Evening all!
 
Put the programming and gaming and what not aside for the last two days (today and yesterday) and spent a nice relaxing quiet time in the hobby room with the admiral.   She spent it working on her beads and looming and I with my ship.  Good times.
 
I will apologize however,  kind of got in a groove and just started going at it and didn't realize until it was far too late that I hadn't snagged pictures along the way
 
So,  a breif written description of what was done.
 
My goal is to be rigging end of this week / beginning of next week.  So I have to keep moving on the deck fixtures/fittings etc and get that all wrapped up.
 
The last two days were spent building ladders and railings and belaying pin racks and rudders OH MY!!
 
Everything has been pretty much by the book.  I used basswood for the belaying pin racks so they would match the overall color of the ship and the kevels.  Those were straightforward.  Cut them all up with "the chopper", drilled the right number of holes and placed the pins.  The only bit of drama with this came when I realize I was shorted on pins .  That was okay, needed some more blacken it anyway for future projects so ordered more pins and blacken it and will return to the missing pin racks when they show up.
 
The rudder was also straight from the plans,  the laser cut part was fantastic and after a bit of fidgeting with the brass for the pintel and gudgeons (?   Still learning my Terminology) I got that part all hooked up, painted up and purty like!
 
The ladders were a bit of a fight.  Got them cut to shape and again using the chopper got the steps all the same size,  just getting them all lined up, straight but at the right pitch, glued to both risers... ugh.
 
Finally it was the railings and the bell housing.  I used the bell that came with the kit, gave it a base coat of dark gray metallic and then painted over it lightly with acrylic gold.  The railings were all Pear to go with the other accented wood parts.  Epoxied into place to give them some strength then stained all over with the same 2:1 Golden Oak to blend it all together.
 
All in all I think it was a pretty good couple of days.  Now to work on the knightheads (?), and the pumps and await the incomming pins.  Once those are all set just need to finish off the beakhead (a grate and a pin rack and the outer fixings) and I will be ready to start the fun fun fun stuff (I think).
 
Here is where she sits at the moment, drying and awaiting the next round!
 

 
Enjoy and thanks for stopping in!!
 
 

well i'm over happy with this ship.Thanks to every ones input, comments and likes.. Glad there is no Dislike button. :S
 
Also there..