Ryland Craze

Thanks everyone for the "Likes". I finally finished installing the simulated nails using 10LB black monofilament line. I cut a short length of the line, dipped the end in some titebond glue and then inserted the glued end in the holes that I had previously drilled in the planks using a #77 bit. Once finished and the glue dried, I trimmed the monofilament line close to the plank using a sharp blade. I then gave the hull a light sanding and applied a light coat of Wipe On Poly. Here is a picture of the line before I trimmed it. Here is the hull with the monofilament line trimmed and a light coat of Wipe On Poly applied: I then sanded the inside of the hull and applied Wipe On Poly. Next up is to paint the cap rail and then install the friezes and the molding. That will complete Chapter 3 of the instructions.

You will find the instructions for the Syren much more detailed than the Fair American. You should be able to view the instructions for both kits on the Model Expo website. The Syren kit was designed by Chuck Passaro, who is an administrator of MSW and who would be more than willing to answer any questions you may have during your build. Your Virginia turned out very nicely.

Congratulations on completing the hull of your Medway Longboat. You have done an excellent job building the hull. I look forward to following your masting and rigging of this model.

Your work looks great. I am glad you redid your bollards and I look forward to following your build as you get into chapter two.

Another nice model to start with is the Colonial Schooner Sultana by Model Shipways. It is an inexpensive kit when on sale by Model Expo and builds into a very nice model. Chuck Passaro has written a detailed set of instructions on how to build this model. It can be found in the MSW Database of articles by following this link: http://modelshipworldforum.com/ship-model-build-and-practicums.php . It is the last article listed on the page and has eight chapters.

Thanks Michael and Rich and the "Likes". The model is very strong while being very light. Jim, thank you for your comment on my health. I am doing great and it seems like a bad dream as to what happened to me a couple of months ago. I will be looking forward to seeing you at the NRG Conference later this month. I have installed the cap rail and the bolsters since my last post. The cap rails need to be thinned down quite a bit and I have started this on the starboard side of the model. I have done a lot of sanding on the cap rails and frames and still have a lot more sanding to do. Here is a photo of my progress to date on the Longboat: I worked on the bolsters for the past three days. I was lucky to have made the starboard side on my first try. The port side took me two tries. I left about an 1/8'' of wood on the forward part of the bolsters after carefully fitting the rear part of the bolsters to the hull profile and glued them to the stem. When I sanded down this excess wood, some red grain appeared from the middle of the port bolster. The more I sanded, the more grain appeared. I am not happy with this as I feel it will look like a bit of red paint got on the bolster when I paint the cap rails red. I will have to live with it as there is no way to replace this bolster. You never know what is hidden inside a piece of wood.

CE, I used nail file sanding sticks (See my build log link in my signature) that you get from Walmart or a beauty supply store to fair my hull. You have to have a light touch when you do the fairing. I would strongly advise that you glue some scrap wood on top of your bulkheads. This will stiffen up the assembly and prevent the bulkheads from flexing. I have attached a link to a build log that shows this method. I wish I had done this on my build as I had bulkheads come loose when I did the fairing process. Good luck on your build.

Very nice job on your Longboat. I will be following your build log.

Welcome to MSW CommodoreErie. It is nice to see another 18th Century Longboat being built. I look forward to following your build.

Congratulations on the completion of your Armed Virginia Sloop. You did an excellent job on building this model.

This is the adapter that I use. It can be found at Lowe's and Home Depot for under $10.00. I cut off the large end (right side in picture) flush with the flange and insert it into my dust port on my Byrnes Saw. It makes a tight fit.

Thanks Michael and also for the "Likes". I am glad to see the Longboat off of the build board. With the bulkhead centers removed, the model is extremely light. I have to be careful as I sometimes seem to be too heavy handed when handling the model.

Thanks Michael and Rusty for your comments. I am doing great now and should make a full recovery. I completed the planking and it was time to remove my Longboat from the build board. I removed the supports at the stern and the masking tape that I had used to tape the bulkheads to the build board. I removed the fore section first and then the aft section. A few slight twists of the build board and the Longboat was free from the build board. Next came the removal of the bulkhead centers. I used a razor saw to cut the bulkheads free. Chuck's design made this an easy process. I used my razor saw to cut the bulkhead at the top down to the laser cut line on both the port and starboard sides, gave the bulkhead a slight wiggle and the centers popped free. This was an easy process and I had no issues removing the centers. The model is now starting to look like a boat:

I was shocked to hear of the passing of Mitch, especially at such a young age. I always enjoyed the conversations I had with him at the NRG Conferences. He was a true gentleman and will be missed.

Michael, I appreciate your comments. The emergency room personnel were great and I have the utmost admiration for their skills. They diagnosed my problem quickly and got me comfortable very quickly. This was a Friday night and I got to the emergency room about an hour before four shooting victims came in. It was quite a scene, but they continued to check on me while there was chaos in other areas of the emergency room. They handled everything in a truly professional manner. I just wished that I had come in sooner and ignored those that said my difficulties were normal. I have registered for the NRG Conference and fully expect to be at full strength by Conference date. I had a milestone today as I have had my driving privileges restored by my Doctor. I was getting tired of being a back seat driver as my wife has been chauffeuring me around. This to me is a step to returning to a normal life.