Ryland Craze

Thank you Alan, with the good fitting additional parts from MFH, it was relatively easy to assemble the engine. The most delicate parts were the clear tubes, which needed some 0,5 mm drilling and adding tiny brass rods for accepting the tube, but nothing too demanding in the end.

Cheers Rob

Oh man, how true. 😅 
 
Not much has happened since the last post. But I finally managed to finish the top row of cutters and the steam launch.
 

 
The oars have been distributed among the cutters.
 

 
Here are the details again.
 

 
I’ve distributed some more ropes.
 

 
And I packed a little bit of tarpaulin into the boats. That’s how I tried to make them a little more varied.
 

 
The barge has also been given a small anchor.
 

 
At first, I wasn’t quite sure how to secure the cutters. But then I found a picture showing that even the small boats were secured with a chain hoist.
 

 
And that’s how I implemented it.
 
  And I wish everyone here a Merry Christmas. 🎅

Welcome Rui! Looking forward to seeing that build log!

Your precision with hand tools is impressive Jacques, here I was thinking this kind of neatness was only achievable with machining, well done!

It's been a while since I last posted. I was able to make a bit of progress recently, though. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to make the barrel out of manzanillo, which required hand "milling" some of the planks down to size and, more generally, learning about the wood's working qualities. As part of learning how to handle manzanillo, I made a comb from it as a Christmas gift, with a cherry accent strip (placed to cover up some uneven sawing on the teeth--I think it would look better further back on the handle) and finished with shellac. The comb was a real challenge to make, and there's plenty of things I would do differently if I made another one, but it was a helpful experience for figuring out how to work with manzanillo.

 

 
The good news: the manzanillo hasn't caused any sort of reaction, allergic or otherwise, so I'm good to go with sanding and shaping it. It's a lot softer than I had initially realized, maybe close to basswood, but with somewhat more prominent grain. So, it may not be a fully ideal modeling wood, but I don't think it's a terrible option, especially if I'm looking for wood that's available here.
 
Milling it from the 3/8- and 1/4-inch thick boards into useable sizes was challenging given my total lack of suitable milling equipment. Thankfully I don't need very large parts, so I was able to handle everything with a razor saw and a mini-block plane. (The scrap at bottom right in the photo below is basswood, the more yellowish color of the manzanillo stands out).

 
Some of these will be used for thw barrel head, and others for the whelps. I made a card template for the whelps and stiffened it with superglue, and used that to draw the shape of the whelps.

 
I was then able to cut them out. I'm currently traveling for the holidays, so instead of using a saw, I only have access to a hobby knife, but the manzanillo is soft enough that I was able to cut it.

 
Soon I had all five whelps:

 
They need a bit of final shaping for consistency, the bevels added at the back end, and the notches for the chocks carved out. I'm not looking forward to trying to thin the manzanillo down to 1/16 and 1/32‐inch thick parts for the chocks, but I think it will look more consistent than taking the easy way out and using basswood.

Welcome to MSW.
 
Regards

Welcome aboard, Rui!

Hi, my name is Rui.
I’ve enjoyed building plastic model kits since I was a kid, although I stopped for a while in my late teens when my interests changed. Recently I returned to the hobby and also started working on wooden model kits, something I always wanted to try but never quite had the mindset for.
So far I’ve completed two wooden model ships, the Dory from Model Shipways and HMS Sherbourne from Vanguard Models, and I’m hoping to start a third project soon.

Finally finished my Conestoga. Not perfect but I'm proud of her. Working on the Chuckwagon now.

Hello @MintGum, the last few ships I was doing calculation manually... but like I say before this tool could both ease the process as well as provide more accuracy.  Now the PLEASE excuse the beginner question:  What is the purpose of the first page, the tick strip?  I'm not quite clear about it. I must be missing something obvious.
 
EDIT: To mark the frames... I knew it was obvious! A night sleep make wonder.
 

Thanks Roland, here are the details of the lamp.
 

 

Lovely work
 
Regards

Thanks. Yeah, after doing it I was thinking the same thing. 

If you end up being unhappy with the final result, you can always opt to fill, sand, and paint. This is how some of our Polish friends produce their immaculate hulls. Of course, most of them seem capable of producing immaculate hulls without the extra effort, so there's that. 😋

'Love the way its coming together !   'Looks like the wood fillers in the hull voids makes for both a sturdier model - and one with less kinks or dimples in the hull.  I'm watching with great interest.  Thanks, mate !     Johnny

Looks like a nice transition at the stern, Clare. Hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas.

And pressing on a little more to make progress while I have some time before Christmas, I decided to add some of the hull parts.
 
The only ones I can do at this point are the parts of the aft deck and hull.
 
I can't add the forward hull skin until after I get the forecastle deck mounted. And, I can't add the forecastle deck yet because it overhangs the main deck, and I need to fit some details underneath the overhang. 


Still not really being used to how paper models are supposed to handle curves, I'm not really sure if the underside of the hull at the stern looks okay. Not sure, but I think it does.

I test fit the forecastle deck and forward hull skins. I think everything should fit okay.
 
 
 

My last model finished (almost) for 2025. White Freightliner was lonely all by itself.

Yesterday I met up with buddy @Gabek, he made me these 3mm deadeyes  as well as some 3/32 ones for the upper shrouds. They are fantastic,  thanks my man.

Well I was spraying up the deadeye, might as well paint all the masts and booms, gaff all white. I will add black later.

The mast look great, ready for deadeyes. I have to clean out the holes but they are ready to go on.


So I put everything away, so no  upstrucktions for the lower deadeyes,  shrouds and ratlines next. 
  Every log for the Harriet Lane has something different to offer,  they are all just great, it hard to pick a color scheme.  I went with the old black and white scheme,  as apposed  to stained mast and yards. I hope I like it. My next build is getting  to hard not to start, lol. I have lots to do on the Lane, but she coming along great.
 Merry Christmas everyone  🎄 
 
Knocklouder 😁 
Kenny ⚒️ 

I finished up the rigging for the forward deck boom. It is nice to have more going on up front to help balance all of the eye candy in the back of the ship.

Also added the depth markers at the bow.

Made the cradles for the Avon dinghy and the small power boat tied them down. 

Nice start on your workboat.  I really like these Chesapeake workboats.

Nice start on your workboat.  I really like these Chesapeake workboats.

Capstan complete after many attempts. This was not a fun part of the project for sure. 
Steve

Poop deck stanchions complete. Same procedure as with the forecastle. The transom did need to be raised about 1/16” to accommodate the pre-planking. I noticed in Mike’s log that he had to do the same. More sanding was done on the bulwark templates to get them to 1/32” thick. One photo shows how I measured the thickness.
 
The smaller pre-planking pieces were custom shaped. 1/8” x 1/16” strips did not fit the space proper. One photo points to this area. Just like with the forecastle, there were many redos on this part. Forward progress still outweighs the setbacks. 
Steve

Looks like you're off to a great start! Very cool to be able to model something you have a personal connection with. Wye River seems to make some very interesting models.