Ryland Craze

Considering earlier discussion it should easily fall within 1501-1750.

There was a French 1st rate Le Fulminant built at Rochefort Dockyard 1691.
 
B.E.
 
 

So now all those detail pieces are painted and mounted.  Pictures below are five of the area around the large superstructure stern turret, and five of the area around the bow turret.  There are two more large turrets aft and fore of these respectively, yet to be built.
 
The little winders are finished with thread to represent rope.  On the sides you will also see paravanes.  I was not aware that large ships like the Bismarck had paravanes to do their own minesweeping, but apparently so.
 
Regards,
David

Thanks for the warm welcome everybody!

Thanks Ab, I've got something to look for now!

As to your second question:
In 2000 I published a book called 'De schepen van Abel Tasman' at Verloren Publishers (www.Verloren.nl), both in Dutch and in German and English especially for model builders. The Dutch version was sold out long ago, but probably you can get it second hands somewhere. A lot of what you need can be found in the book.

Thanks for the compliment Marcel.
I sent you a PM with the Dutch version. Too big to post here.
Good luck.
Ab

Post 4
The launch is completed.
 
The only modification to the provided kit is a replacement for the rudder.
I have also added the following:-
Lifting rings to the keelson.
A cap square for the mast
A brass etch grapnel from the Indy kit.
A turning bar to the windlass.
I have also utilised the boat chocks from the Indy kit to support the hull.
This has been an enjoyable little project and I am pleased with the result.

2284a

2287a

2290a

2292a

2296a

4828
Below is a comparison with the wooden 24’ Launch I made for Sphinx.

2283a

2273a

2279a
Both versions in my opinion look good and I think they represent the best available options at this scale.
 
The Resin/wood combo is a good match and almost fools the eye into thinking the whole is a wooden construction.
For those who may prefer to avoid the time and frustrations that can arise building the wooden versions, they are an excellent choice.
 
The wood versions have a slight edge for build match with the Main ship medium, and perhaps give a greater satisfaction in successfully completing these tricky little kits.
 
I don’t think I would mix resin and wood boats on the same build, but I am happy to consider either to enhance the ship kits.
 
You pays your money and takes your choice.
 
 
B.E.
26/05/2024
 

I'm seeing the dents. I’m getting most of them out. I’m able to bend the planks well with water. They hold there shape well, it’s the curve of the frame I’m struggling with. 13-1 it’s laying down nice so far. I’ve tried the heat, I can’t get the plank to stay bent/shaped. I’m struggling with the pieces staying springy. I can get some areas great and others spring up. I’m getting better with each plank. Maybe I’m not getting the plank hot enough. With the water I can break the structure of the wood and can’t feel it go limp. Kinda like a wet noodle. It becomes very ply able. Then I use heat to set the curve. I’m not able to reproduce your results with heat only, my lack of skill for sure. 
 

Pre-bending with heat and even wetting down the plank a bit using a hair dryer is the better way to go.  Force bending it dry makes it so much tougher to get a nice fit.   You will also get lots of dents and imperfections with all of those pins.   
 

The sides of the middle part of the wooden deck were finished by adding the Pontos brass strips and a fine wooden strip. The brass strips were layed between the wood veneer, and not on it. Thus no unevenness was created .  The shute covers were also glued in their place with PVA-glue.
 

 
Untill next update, enjoy modelling.

Thanks for the kind words and likes.  When photographing a couple weeks of work it doesn't really look like I made much progress!  I attached the rest of the cleats to the bulwarks, drilled all the holes for the cannon eyebolts, formed the 60 or so eyebolts needed, and then made and attached the side pin rails.  When attaching the eyebolts, I only glued in the top ones, and left the lower ones off.  I made a jig out of styrene to get the holes in the bulwarks consistent.  And being a perfectionist, the forming of the eyebolts themselves wound up taking some time.
 
I had a question regarding the inboard bulwark ladders for you Cheerful builders.  The instructions say, "You will find the template on the plans to cut the sides for the ladder.  But just to make life easier, print the next page as all of the elements are provided".  None of the 3 plan sheets have a template for the sides of the ladder.  And I'm not sure what the print the next page reference means.  There are no plans for the ladders in the written instructions either.  Does anyone happen to have a plan that shows the side shape of the ladder?  I guess I can make a good guess based on photos of the ladder pieces shown in Chuck's instructions, but it would be a little easier if I had a template to reference/print.
 
While still working on the Cheerful almost daily, my progress has slowed down a fair amount.  With the warmer weather and longer days, there's lots to do outside, so the path forward on the build will be a bit slower while I enjoy the summer.
 
Erik

That is a cant frame....its in chapter two....
 
Its cant frame #12 which is a half frame under the aft gunport.  You need to finish all the other square frames first.  The last square frame is 12F.
 
Chuck

Hi Shawn,
 
They seem to be scattered amongst several billets:

To scupper or not to scupper.
 
Most contemporary models do not show the scuppers.   In fact the contemporary model of Speedwell doesnt show the scuppers. I didnt add the scuppers on my Winnie build which was typical.  But I am going to show them on my speedwell.   Nothing fancy.   These arent too crazy to do.   Not like the hawse holes will be.  But you do have to be careful.  You need to carefully measure them inboard and outboard so they look like they line up.  You can actually use the deck planking templates because I have marked the inboard locations for all of the scuppers.
 
When I drill my scuppers I dont even try to drill them all the way through.   That adds unnecessary difficulty.   I drill shallow holes only about 1/16" deep or slightly more.   Inboard, I start with a small pilot hole with a small drill bit.   Then in this case, I used a #47 drill bit afterwards to make them larger.   Finally I used a round file to smooth out the hole’s insides.   I lightly sanded the inboard bulwarks over the scuppers with some 400 grit sandpaper to smooth out any fraying.  This will require some paint touch-up later when they are all done.  The scupper holes were made flush with the deck level or just a hair above.
 
I prefer to use a soft pencil to darken the inside of the holes.  I made sure to cover the entire inside surface of the scuppers including the back of the hole.   Then I touch up the red bulwark paint.  On this model I drilled the scuppers before I added the waterway.  I just wanted to try something new.  It worked out really well for me.  No chipping or fraying of the water way at all.  You can do it whichever way is more comfortable for you.
 
The picture below shows the holes drilled and darkened with the pencil.   They are nice and dark.  I touched up the red paint as well on the bulwarks afterwards.  You can see the waterway strip also prepared in advance and ready to be glued into position.
 

The waterway is a 3/64" x 3/64" strip of cedar.  I sanded one of the four corners of the strip down its entire length.  I used an Emory board or sanding stick.   Basically I made it triangular in profile.  Then I held it in position so I could mark the positions for the scuppers along its length.  I really tried to get these exactly where they should be located.  I used a round mini file to make the half round openings along the length of the waterway where the scuppers were marked out.  Once in position this really looked good.   I used the same soft pencil to darken the round notches I made along the waterway as well.   Below you can see how the scuppers inboard turned out.  I made the waterway in two pieces for the gun deck rather than use one long strip that spanned across the whole length.
 

I also prepared the waterway for the poop deck, port and starboard.   This was easy...no scuppers, LOL.   Just make the strip triangular.  Dont worry about trying to make it concave or anything fancy.   
 
Here is a photo.
 

Finally to the outboard side.  No difference here really.   I used those outboard templates we used way back when....remember those.   If you have to shift the template fore and aft a bit to line them up with the inboard scuppers you made on the opposite side of the deck/hull its no big deal.   But this template will give you a really good start and can be rested atop the wales.
 

 
I drilled with a small drill bit first and again made the holes larger using the #47 bit.   I cleaned them up a bit and darkened them with a soft pencil.  Once again...no need to drill all the way through and hope you meet the same scupper hole you drilled on the inboard side.  Fake it ...till you make it .....I always say.   I drilled part way through once again.   Make sure you really darken them inside the holes nicely and completely.
 

Dont add the waterway on the fcastle deck yet.   I think it best to drill the hawse holes first.   I will be doing that next me thinks.
 

So I replaced the floorboard cleats and replaced them with more appropriate sized wood. I had to trim down the closest I could find at the hobby store.
 
Worked on the dagger board. Installed the thwarts. Those took a lot of trimming to get them to fit well.
 

 

 
 
Started on painting. Trying to really improve this step of my process. So I am open to any help you can offer. I have a couple of other threads going about that...
 

 
Filled a few ugly spots and such. I think this was just the first coat.
 
Then started working on the inside. That was a chore getting into all the nooks and crannies, but I enjoy painting in general. It's very zen for me.
 

 
You can still see many brush marks and glue marks. I'm not sure why I think those will just go away....
 
Here's a closeup of the edge. Is this finish good or at full scale would it look like a 5 year old, a bucket of paint, and a rag? The shine on the bottom corner of the rowlock is reflection.
 

 
Thanks again for all the kind words!

Chris

There was an error marking them. The longer ones should be 10A.

Chuck had me second guessing myself if I used the correct floor for frame OX.  Because I never break up or throw away the billets, I was able to put floors 1a and Af  back into the billet and confirmed I used the correct floor. 
 
 Best Regards …. Rick

The parts are the correct parts, must be camera angle. I did like Jean-Marie and placed each of the frames into its own separate baggie so there wouldn’t be any mixup of the parts. That was a great idea. I’ll add a few more frames and see how they seat before making a decision. If I do trim, it’ll be from the floor. Thanks for chiming in, Chuck. 
 
Best Regards …. Rick

Question: I had a little time this morning to mess around and decide to assemble the frame with the O and X thru it. Assembly was easy and gave me an idea of how much sanding is in front of me. But me being me, I had to fit the frame on the keel. Small adjustments were needed as it was a very tight fit. Once fitted, I noticed the  bottom of the frame didn’t quite seat to the top of the rabbet, in other words, flush with the rabbet. Is this an issue? The plans clearly no space from the bottom of the frame to the top of the rabbet. So, question is, if the frame is to be flush with the top of the rabbet, do yo adjust the notch in the frame, or the notch in the rising wood?
 
 Best Regards …. Rick

Last night May 24,2024 I open the box of my latest build. The king of the Mississippi  by Artesania Latina. I was hoping that the instructions were better than the last several ships that I have done. But in fact, they are worse 😕.  You only get a CD to install on your computer. It does show you how but with no part numbers, and three bundles of  wood, you have to figure out what size and separate them all.
The C D comes with a paper that says there are mistakes on it. And you have to go download the correct way.  Plus no part numbers makes it hard to follow along. I found this  diagram for the wood planks.  It helps.  I almost put it all back in the box and said I am selling this and buying a Dutchess of Kensington by Cris Watton of Vanguard Models. I just have to finish this one and I can buy it lol.
 If it was not for the fact that I will get lots of help here on MSW,  all the King of the Mississippi logs here show how it is done. So I decided ,I want a river boat to add to my collection and I am up for the challenge.

But if anyone wants to send me some info on part numbers, I  will gladly appreciate it. Even the  instructions  as well. 
 And for my first change to the plan , I have lots of walnut planking left from previous builds that I am going to plank the bottom with that because no one will see it but it will look nice. Then I will have enough planks for sure. 

So now it is time to start glueing the hull together.  I will square up all the bulkheads and flip it over and start the planking.
Tally Ho on to my next build, wish me luck, I am going to need it on this one. Lol 😆. 
Bob M.

Well, 12-2 took just a bit longer than I planned.
Because of all the curves and bends for this one, I glued the bottom side and left the top run loose. Glued on both ends. I’ll pull it down on the top to shape it. I’ve tried water and heat, I just can’t make this one stay formed. I tried to use super glue and I clearly don’t have the technique down for that. The Titebond works good the way I work, it gives me just a bit longer work time and holds quick when not loaded.  
 
Sometimes life just doesn’t cooperate. 
 
I have learned if I don’t want to do something I shouldn’t force myself. Parts of this wonderful kit looks nice with my work and other parts look like I should take a belt sander to the whole thing. I’m learning and having fun. 
 
Let’s see if I can string a few days together with work on the Medway. 
 
Thank you for the likes and the follows in this project. 
 

Thank you to all for the likes and for following along.
 
 Maggie update.....her progress has slowed these past two weeks due to an infection but hopefully once that clears she'll continue making strides in her recovery. Thank you again to each of you for your prayers and thoughts for her,
 
 I've been able to make some limited progress on the Tennessee's main shrouds. I look back with envy at those days when when I was able to devote eight hours plus at the worktable. I should have worked longer hours back then as now my eyesight for close work is diminishing. I've always been a bit of a perfectionist and so naturally my mindset when I first started working on the Tennessee was get it done as perfect as possible. Because the grains of sand drain ever faster my mindset now is, better quit messing about and get it done. It was never going to be perfect, I no longer have the luxury of tilting at windmills.     
 
 Notice the loupe among the tools used for running the shrouds. I had to start using the loupe to check my work on the deadeye lashings as on one pair I ran the line through the same hole twice. I didn't catch this till after the deadeyes were glued in place and the shroud line attached. Once upon a time I would have redone it, now, I let er fly. I don't think anyone will ever notice and I really can't tell and I know which pair it is. But it nags at me, so be it. 
 
I went back through the log and I couldn't find where I explained the how and why I lash the deadeye pairs off ship. The reason being the deadeyes are too small and there just isn't the room. 
 
 The main's channel shrouds requires the measurement from one deadeye top the the other deadeye top to be 0.70 inches, same size as a US penny. To keep the size constant I've superglued the rotating adjust balls of the third hand to keep the distance fixed. That way I don't have to use a ruler to check each pair though I do spot check to make sure the adjustment is still set correctly. 

 
Starboard side. Try as hard as I might, I can't seem to get em perfect aligned. Oh well, more shadows in the wind.  

 
 Port side. The second pair in from the left is the pair where I ran the line through the same hole twice, top deadeye, top hole. I've always intended for the model to be viewed from the starboard side so it was pretty easy 'let it fly' rationalization.
 
 Nine more pair of deadeyes and shroud lines and I can set about with ratline weaving.
 
 Again, thank you to all.  

The hull is nearly complete. Just have to add the rudder and then start installing the deck furniture. FYI the blue tape is to protect the white hull from damage while it is being handled going forward. Don't ask me how I know the precaution is necessary.
 
FYI - I used blackened brass belaying pins instead of the PE ones included. They are actually round like the real ones.
 
As I mentioned previously I decided to paint the entire hull above the wales green.

Hi Ab, I think you're how to is very inspiring! As a Dutchman I can quite easily read English, but with all the shipping terms it gets quite hard to understand sometimes. Is you're Dutch version of this article still somewhere available?
And another question, is there a book or guide for me to learn basic (vintage) shipping basics/terms? Preferably in Dutch.
 
Thanks