Ryland Craze

Making more progress, although it's small stuff.
 
I got the holes drilled for the eye-bolts in the cap rail, and trimmed them to size and placed them.  They are chemically blackened, so don't show up in the pictures very well at all, so I didn't bother why photo's specific to them.  I still have the eye-bolts in the outside the the hull to place, and the ones around the base of the mast.  I am going to wait on those until I have the mast made and can test fit it so that I get the bolts placed correctly rather than relying on the plan location.
 
I permanently place the eye-bolt with rings on the deck for the gun haul-in tackle.
 
I stained the cleats with red oak stain, and placed 18 of them on the bulwarks and bow cap-rail.
 
I opened up the bow-sprit opening to fit the bow-sprit, and to do that, I cut down the dowel for the bow-sprit to the proper maximum diameter where it goes through the hull.
 
I cut the hawse holes, but still need to paint them.
 

Pretty sure I'm going to like the results of replacing the kit blocks with hooks, blocks, and rope from Syren.  If working with these doesn't make me go blind first.
 

 
The two on the far right were stropped with 28 gauge wire.  The wire was a pain to work with and the block are so small that they are quite easy to crush, so I switched to stropping them with .08" rope.  I think they look better, and it lets the hooks 'float' much better as well.  Very time consuming though, I'll be working on these for a while, and will probably work on other stuff rather than just sit down and try to finish all the blocks at once.  The single blocks are barely more than half this size, so they should prove pretty interesting, since I also have to attach a rope to them!

Haven't posted much- have been plugging away at the upper planking around the gun ports. This has been going slow for me. I can only work on it so long & my pain sets In & I have to stop. Anyway I noticed that there was too much of a dip in the planking curve on one side. The planking wasn't lining up at the same height on both sides. A little alcohol & a thin blade got this corrected. Re-glued it & continued on.
 
Oh, almost forgot to show the method of caulking I ended up using. I tried to do the pencil but I kept indenting the edges of the planks because I couldn't seem to maintain an even pressure as I marked the edges. I also smudged it all over the place. I experimented with a few things & settled on this. I use a makeup sponge applicator thingy my wife dropped on the floor & paint the edge with some black paint. I smear this with my thumb to keep it thin. This seems to work well for me.
 
Every day as I work on the ship one of our dogs, Lucy, faithfully lays at my feet as long as I work there.
 
 
 

Thanks guys for the good wishes and welcome aboard.
 
Chuck, I really don't want to catch you -- so I guess that you're going to have to work faster.   
 
Bob

This will be my version of Chuck's Cheerful. In addition to Chuck's prototype build log, there are already a couple of other logs started, and I'm sure there will be many more. It should be fun to work along with the others.
 
While waiting for the lantern parts that I needed to complete Essex, I decided to jump the gun and begin Cheerful. Since I lack power tools, and am reluctant to cut all of the framing by hand, I chose to use Chuck's laser cut bulkhead and former set. They are as near to perfect as you can get. The ply is uniform and the fit is precise. It was a simple matter to assemble the structure. Being a creature of habit, I added bracing at the bulkhead-former joints, as I've always done. Chuck didn't do this, and I'm sure that it wasn't necessary.
 
Before adding the bulkheads, but after adding the rabbet strip, I assembled and added the boxwood stem and keel.
 
I will be doing the hull planking and fixtures and furniture in boxwood and the decking in holly. I obtained the boxwood from Crown Timberyard, and it looks great. I chose not to get the offered package, because it is entirely composed of wood sheets from which the strips must be cut. Once again, my lack of tools caused me to get the wood mostly in milled strips, with some sheets.
 
I'm now starting to fair the hull.
 
Bob

Humble beginnings.  The keel and false keel glued together.  Though there is glue evident on the false keel, the keel itself is sanded clean and blemish free.
 

 
Erik

My 18th Century Longboat kit came from Model Shipways yesterday.  I double checked to make sure everything that should be in the box was, and snapped a couple of photos.  Though I consider myself a fairly accomplished modeler with other materials, this is my first wooden boat model.  I'm excited to jump in!
 
Being new at this, I welcome any input and advice you seasoned veterans have to offer, so please feel free to offer a critique/constructive criticism of my work.
 

 

 
Now, it's time to break out my modeling supplies and tools, and get started . . .
 
Erik

In order to position the top head rail correctly I needed to install the catheads.  These I made as described in the instruction using the 1/8” square basswood.  
 
Assembling the cathead and cattail.  Pieces held in position with double sided tape (my new best friend). I also pre-drilled all the holes for the eye bolts.  For the cathead stopper pulley I cut a small section of a toothpick, glued it to the cathead first and slowly sanded it down to the required height.  Then I glued the other two pieces as shown in the instructions.

 
Catheads in temporary position.  I added a pin to to the bottom of the cattail for additional support.  I also notched the waterway and cap rail so it would sit closer to the bulwarks.  I have to apologize for the inboard hawse holes, not one of my better efforts.  The difficulty with drilling the holes I found was trying to keep the holes parallel to the keel.

 
 
Painted prior to installing in place.

 
 
Installed catheads and hawse holes cleaned up a bit..      Front view with figurehead (she looks a little scary)

 
 
The shipyard will be closing down for a few weeks as we are going on vacation down to the Sunshine State.  We're doing something a little different this year in that we are flying down and then driving one of Mr. Hertz's cars back to Connecticut.  Planning to stop and spend some time along the way in Savanna, GA and Charleston, SC, so far.

Bob,
 
SULTANA is a great model. It is sufficiently basic so as not to bog you down, but includes all the stuff you will eventually have to learn; planking, rigging, swearing and throwing things. I don't recall if Chuck's practicum discusses planking the hull, I believe it does, I know the original kit instructions do not. I would strongly recommend planking the wale (the thick planking right around the waterline) and above the wale. This part is a lot easier than the area below the wale and makes for a very nice model. I did this while leaving the area below unplanked but painted a cream white color. I am very happy with it.
 
You can't go wrong following Chuck's practicum. I think you will enjoy the build.

Thanks to Chuck Passaro's supreme practicum on this kit, I have no worries about finishing (maybe not museum quality) but respectable for a first build..

Several weeks ago, I picked up some 3M sanding supplies (for home and hobby) at Lowe's, and in my sandpaper pack was a bonus item to try --
 
I can't call it sandpaper, because it is not paper, but rather abrasive material on thin flexible plastic.  This is GREAT STUFF!
 
You can roll it, bend it, fold it, crease it for tight edges,... and you can do it over and over.
 
For fairing a solid hull, put the material in the palm of your hand, spread your fingers slightly, and the flexible material will sand exactly where you need it.
 
Very handy stuff -- thought you guys might be interested..   

Started my 1st ship kit this weekend. The Sultana in 1:64 scale by Model Shipways.
 
This a solid hull kit, so I had some sanding and carving to do so that the supplied templates fit properly.
The carving was required on both the inside and outside of the bulwarks to achieve the correct scale thickness.
At an early stage, my "carving" turned into something more akin to gouging, so I turned to my xacto knife with a #11 blade
and actually found it easier than using my chisels, which I couldn't seem to get a sharp edge on, even after minutes
on the honing stone.
Note the repaired area in the front (sorry- still don't know my nautical terms)...I had already sanded the outside of the hull
up to my stopping point that I had marked, THEN I started carving the inside of the bulwarks to the required thickness. 
That is when I cracked the thin basswood in a couple of places.
At least the breaks were clean, so I salvaged the pieced, used thin super glue, and carefully and quickly put them back
in place.
I dared not try sanding the area yet, but it will be my next step now that the glue has had a day to dry.
 
Hopefully, my damage control will not show up later, as this hull will be painted. 
 

Let me also be among the first to congratulate you on a job well done.  As Dirk said, it's hard to believe it's been 2 years.  
 
Having been on board since the beginning, I'm aware of the frustrations both you and Sam went through to make these last incredible photos a reality.  I applaud both your perseverence and skills.  It's been an adventure and a pleasure at the same time.  I'm glad you were the first to tackle her.
 
I'm hoping we hear some good news from Sam in future.
 
Can't wait to see you tackle some projects at a larger scale.  I'm not far behind you.
 
Once again, well done, mate!

DONE!! Essex is now completed. The last item was the lantern kit from Caldercraft that just arrived from the UK. Etched brass with a white metal top and base and brass rod support. A fussy little piece to do, but correct in size and shape.
 
Essex has now sat for her completion portraits and it is time for some reflection on the past almost two years that I have worked on her:
 
1) This was a great challenge. Those who have followed along from the beginning will remember that I almost gave up in frustration at the problems that presented themselves. I'm very glad that I didn't. It turned into an enjoyable and rewarding experience. I had my doubts about how things would turn out and some of my fears were realized --  for example, the placement of the quarterdeck gun ports turned out wrong when I did the rigging. This was my fault for not having thought it through well enough when I was making the various structural changes that were required. I thank everyone for kindly not pointing out the errors  when they appeared.
 
2) I will not do another model at this small a scale again. The problems of aging eyes and arthritic hands made some of the very small work and particularly the rigging in very close quarters a pain. This probably also means that this may be the last large complex ship that I will model. My current plan is to stick to smaller vessels in larger scales. Chuck's Cheerful is next.
 
3) Some words of warning and encouragement to those wishing to build the "new" Essex kit. I have not seen it, but I've read the posts from some who have. If the drawings have not been changed, you will have problems. The drawings have scale issues, inconsistency issues and, according to Sam Cassano, were not his final drawings. Using the AOTS Essex as an additional reference is a help, but care will still be required to make it all work. Having said that, I think that anyone with moderate skills and some experience can turn out a creditable model. I would love to see some logs started, and I would be happy to provide any help that may be desired.
 
Thanks to all for the interest, the generous thoughts and comments and the help and encouragement throughout this project. It is always appreciated and is what makes this site so great. A special thank you to Sam for all his help and a wish for his good health.
 
Bob

Speakers and Tech Sessions........more to come so check this topic often

 

Friday Morning

 

Steve Wheeler – Modeling Clinker-built Boats

Michel Mantin – Modeling 20th Century “Grey (Steel) Navy” Vessels Fuso & Dunkerque

Douglas Brooks – Japanese Boat Building & Models

 

Friday Afternoon Roundtables

 

David Antscherl – Rigging Tips & Tricks

Kurt Van Dahm – Airbrushing Basics for the Modeler

Chuck Passaro – Serving Rope

Steve Wheeler – A Jig for Making Oars

Nic Damuck – Making Scale Silkspan Sails

 

Saturday

 

Paul O’Pecko – Library Director, Mystic Seaport – Conducting Primary Research

Melbourne Smith – Modeling 1:1: Building Seagoing Replicas

Grant Program – Short Updates – Future Releases

Grant Walker – The Rogers Collection: In Print at Last!

Copied the frames and printed in order to get front face to frame #7, applied to 1/32" boxwood sheet, cut out and sanded.
Having a nice and tight fit over the keel, sits a little to much over the risers only light sanding and glue into place.
Pictures reveal to much, I had the pictures resized and found several  with part flaws during the editing.
But here is the pictures.
How Chuck did this is a mystery to me......

Chapter 10 - Head Rails & Figurehead
 
Prior to removing the laser cut pieces for the head rails I cleaned the char from the outside surfaces with my dremel using an abrasive buff .   I just recently discovered that these buffs work very nicely to remove the char by applying very light pressure.
 

 
After a few failed attempts at trying to carve two grooves into the cheeks and deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, I settled for doing one groove.  The groove was made basically the way Chuck describes in the instructions with the exception that I needed to darken the groove with a pencil.  This was done because the old eyes ain’t what they used to be and I needed a little contrast to help tell how deep the groove was.  After making the four pieces they were glued to the ship.
 


 
Two pieces of basswood were then cut and glued in between the cheeks.  Then things when downhill a bit.  Drilling the hawse holes proved to be a challenge and lets just say ‘they’re done’.  I’m not really happy with them so I may go back and try again.
 

 
I started the top head rail but stopped because I wasn’t sure how it frames into the hull.  Do I attach it to the edge of the cap rail so the rail sits away from the hull planking or do I notch the cap rail and sheer stake so that it's up against the planking, similar to the middle rail?  In the mean time I started painting the figurehead.
 

 

I've installed the cap rail and sanded it to size.

Some progress was made today.  I wanted to get this crappy part of the project over with.  The bulwarks inboard were faired and thinned down.  I use the sanding drum on my dremel.   What a mess. Then I touched it up with some sandpaper after chiseling some areas away where the bulkhead extensions met the deck.   The bulkhead extensions were thinned down to about 1/16" thick.  I may take them down thinner still.  Maybe 3/64" thick.  You can see them in the close up image below.
 

 
Then I took the template for the false deck from the plans.  I cut it down the middle so I had two halves port and starboard.  You could also make four pieces but I made two and it was fine.  The important thing is to use the center line on the template to line it up with the center of the bulkhead former.  I wanted to try something new with this project.  I intentionally made the template drawing about 1/8" smaller than need on the sides of the hull.  Trying to get a perfect match for folks is tough.  It all depends on how much someone thins down the bulwarks etc....how they fair the hull inboard and its tough to get a perfect match for everyone's model.   
 

 
So basically I took each half one at a time...lined it up with the center line and the mast hole.  I taped it along the bulkhead former.  Then I used thin strips of blue painters tape to find the perfect size and shape for my false deck template.  I just rand lengths of tape along the bulwarks as shown in the photos.   When I peel it up I will have a template that is the perfect match for making my false deck.  It will be cut from 1/16" basswood.   I will get that done tomorrow and post some new pics.   Once the false deck is in position I can plank the inboard bulwarks.
 
Chuck

Planking above the wales has proven to be a rather time consuming process as a lot of time was spent getting a good fit between the gun ports. At one point I realized that I had the wrong curve, aft of the last gun port, which required a more upward sweep. Rather than replacing the whole plank I just added a filler piece after the curve was corrected. The filler piece is small and will eventually be covered by the fashion piece.
 
Photo showing one side completed above the wales and the small filler piece at the stern.
 

Risers in place and moving forward.
Took the following two pictures outside, at the temp of 95°F /  35°C and rising.

Thanks. Next up I had to work through the waterline. I use an old 'trick' for this which is a coving laser.
 

 
Next up datum marks are added to the hull. In this case at the bow and stern on both sides (where the measurement is simple)
 
Then the key  is to setup the hull firstly upside down and secondly even on either side so Horizontally (vertically does not matter). The laser is then lined up to the two known datum points and using a pencil (though since I am painting a marker pen would do just as well) the waterline is then marked on with this being repeated on the other side. What is nice about this is that as long as the hull is even on both sides the coving laser can adjust to hit both datum points evenly and it should generate a straight waterline.
 

 
After the pencil mark is made masking tape is added as pencil lines will wobble slightly and this evens out any discrepancy. Once done check the two taped lines are around the same distance apart on both sides of the hull and that looking at the ship head on and from the bow the waterline looks straight. I always find this is the best check as it takes out any visual distortion from the curve of the hull and gives a good indication of the two sides hopefully matching. 
 
Then a layer of paint started going down...
 

The stem platform is also in place while only sections of the risers has been attached(glued)

I am happy to announce that the Amati Revenge is no longer on the horizon. It's HERE! At Ages of Sail, the first kits shipped out to customers today. 
 
I had a chance to look at one of the kits and the first words that come to mind is: BIG! This is a really heavy kit in a large box. I would say that in terms of size of the kit packaging, it's on par more with Amati's Vanguard kit. 
 
This is an incredible looking kit... 19 sheets of plans. Instructions are in perfect bound softcover book format, 96 pages, full color. Lots of photos. Multiple sheets of photo-etched brass (they're in a sealed bag, so I didn't get a count, but it seems to me to be more than 7 sheets. No dummy cannons because it pretty much has a full-length gun deck. There's even a ladder up to a raised steering platform, and the whip staff is linked to the tiller.
 
I was looking forward to seeing this kit's release, but it's not a subject that I was super interested in. I've completely changed my mind. This is such an Awesome looking kit – I want one! This is the danger of having such easy access to ship model kits...
 
If you pre-ordered this kit at a discount, I have to say, I think it's a REALLY GOOD DEAL. Even at the full list price that Ages of Sail is listing it for, it's a GOOD DEAL. And I'm not just saying that because I'm doing some work for Ages of Sail. I'm not sure why this kit isn't priced higher than the Pegasus. I think someone screwed up and I suspect there's going to be some kind of a price adjustment in the future. 
 
Now, I can't speak to how well this kit goes together, so these comments are just about looking through the kit.
 
 
Everyone who bought or is planning on buying this kit, all I can say is "congratulations" I'm extremely envious.
 
Chris and Amati Model, you have outdone yourselves!
 
Clare

Not much of an update but here is the (first) run of red paint. Needs touching up in places. Plus the lower white rail with its first glue on.