Ryland Craze

Next came the oars...lots...and lots of oars.  I'm really okay with not doing oars for a few months.

The decking was pretty straightforward as was applying the shield rail.  However, a note of caution to others attempting this model, use one of the shields to check you spacing for the shield rail supports.  I did not and some shields fit perfectly and others did not.  

And... That step is done.  However, this is when I realized that things weren't all that great.  When I flipped it over, I could see how I did not place the planks evenly.
I have several theories as to how I got off track.  I'm not sure that it's just one but more likely a combination of a couple.  First, I know that I was hyper focused on making sure the ends of the planks matched up with the lines drawn in at the ends of the keel.  This led to the center shifting.  I think what I should have done was measure the center of the plank, positioned that and then moved out from the center.  I clamped my pieces in place; however, I believe I should have used the nails that came with the kit to hold the planks in place. 
The instructions never mentioned using the nails and I thought they were just decorative.  It wasn't until the planking was done that I saw a video of planking being held in place with nails as the glue dried.

Hello Folks,
This is a great day, I began working on my Revenue Cutter again. A lot of procrastination over whether to copper plate the model or not over the past few months. Well, I bought the plates with the kit and after reading the builds by sjanicki and EricWilliamMarshall and decided to copper plate the boat (Thanks Stan for responding to my message). This will be my first shot at this, I'm a little nervous as I am super happy with the paint job and I am not the steadiest of hands! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Current status is:
Cut all plates off the sprue and trimmed all the burrs off the plates with a Xuron Photo etch cutter (Very good cutter, a little pricey however worth ever penny). That took a long time, I also sanded and file some of the plates for learning purposes. Gave the hull two light coats of Clear Satin Polyurethane spray for better copper plate adhesion over the copper paint. Plan on using Medium CA for my plating. Made a jig from my phot-etching tool based on what I saw EricWilliamMarshall's post. I am a copy cat a little here. My plating will be little different along the false keel, I plan on bending the copper plates vertically versus horizontally as one can see a sample below. Once that is complete the false keel, stem and the stern post I will follow the traditional format for copper plating. I broke my Proxxon rotary tool thinking, I will need this to shape some plates along the way. I will post progress as I go.
 

 

 

Hello Folks,
After several weeks I made progress on the hull of Revenue Cutter:
I applied the final primer coat (Grey Tamiya Spray)
 

 

 

 
I applied Testors Enamel Flat Black spray paint, I really like this paint. I am usually a Tamiya & Vallejo person. I also applied several coats of Tamiya Flat Clear to protect the finish, I learned this on my Yankee Hero Build.
 

 

 
I then penciled out the waterline, I was concerned over using a pencil on the black hull, however it was a piece of cake. I could clearly see the waterline. The plans do a nice job at helping to determine where to locate the waterline on the hull. I needed to do the waterline on the only real level place in the house with a lot of natural light. Used my level to ensure the waterline was fair on both sides.
 

 

 
Then it was on to the masking, I used something new; Tamiya flexible masking tape. It worked great, I was almost able to mask the entire side of the hull with one piece of tape. I used regular masking tape to mask above the waterline. I then applied a coat of Model Master Flat Black on the edge of the tape to create a seal to prevent the copper paint from going under the tape. I found the adhesion of the Tamiya tape to be on the light side, so I took the additional step that I learned from Blue Jacket. It hasn't failed me yet.
 

 

 
I then sprayed the bottom of the hull with Model Master Enamel Copper with my Iwata Neo Airbrush. I am learning to get better with the airbrush, cleaning it is a drag however the results are well worth it I believe.
 

 

 
I then unmasked it carefully. I am looking forward to copper plating the hull, I think the copper undercoat will hide whatever gaps I encounter on that journey. I am somewhat intimidated of plating the hull, especially because I do not have the steadiest of hands. I will give it a shot, I followed sjanicki's build to help along, as well as the links he posted in his awesome Revenue Cutter build.
 

 

 
 
 

 
That's it folks for this post, onto reading about plating and checking some other builds with plating. I hope everyone out there in MSW world is doing well.
 

Hello Folks,
It's been a while from my last post, I primed, puttied and sanded the hull 3 times. The first priming was pretty painful, the second better and the third a charm. Pretty monotonous work for three times however corrected a lot wrongs along the way sandpaper grit used #400, #800, #1500, #2000, #3000.
Also I have completed painting several parts, prepared the transom and painted the rudder.
Next Steps:
Re-mask the deck again, the tape edges lost their edge during all the priming, sanding. Final Priming Affix the transom to the hull. Drill the holes for the for the channels and glue them in place. Paint the hull flat black with Model Master Flat Black Establish the waterline  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I will post again once I get though the above, enjoy the holiday weekend everyone!
Bill T.
 
 
 

Hello Folks,
I have a short post for the Revenue Cutter:
As usual I strayed away from the kit manual, as stated in the past I will never win any awards for accuracy. I trashed my Blue Jacket wales by splitting them, so I hit my basswood wood shed (Model Shipways Niagara Kit abandoned 10 years ago). Pulled out two strips of 1/16 by 3/16 strips for the wales. In addition, I  busted out my never used before Micro Mark plank benders (steam based benders) for the wales to bend for the bow portion. I was very happy with the results (see below), also it added I believe a more prominent set of wales for detail purposes. The small gap between the hull and the wales at the bow portion will be addressed when affixing the toe rails to the hull, no worries there. I then stained the top portion of the wales once affixed to the hull to match the deck color. After that I did my usual, added thinned down Finishing Resin to the wales to prevent denting and splitting. Next steps:
The punishing first coat of priming to find the dents. Filling dents with putty, sanding for two/three runs until I get it right. Finally painting with Model Master Enamel Paints supplied with the kit. I need to look up the paint to thinner ratio for airbrushing for Model Master Enamels as I am usually a Acrylic Paint fan. I am thinking probably a 2/1 or 3/1 ratio, I am a rookie at Enamels with airbrushing. Any help would be appreciated.
 

 

 

 
Thank you all,
Bill T.
 
 

I use ZAP for my finishing resin because it is readily available, however there are others available that work just as well.
Make sure you thin it with denatured alcohol. Mix the 50% Hardener and 50% Resin, once you have that mixed then mix it 50% Resin mixture and 50% Denatured Alcohol (Use a "Solo" cup, it doesn't melt). Also when mixing the denatured alcohol the mixture should fog up, don't worry about that it will subside as you continue to mix. Remember, one coat the penetrate the wood (let dry completely) and another to fill in small imperfections. Than I prime and sand down, look at my build post (Yankee Hero) for specifics. I hope this helps! Onto my Revenue Cutter!
 
Bill T.

Hello Folks,
Finally I was able to accomplish some important steps to prior to copper plating the hull:
Added all of the keel portions to the hull. Added a small piece wood the stem the ensure the bowsprit will sit directly on the stem. Added 2 coats of Finishing Resin diluted with Denatured Alcohol to harden the wood and fill in minor dents. I needed tape off the hull close to where the deck meets the hull to unsure no resin penetrated the deck. This would prevent stain from penetrating the deck which would have been problematic. All good there. Next Steps:
Sand down the hull again. Add putty to appropriate areas of the deck. Sand hull again, prime the hull, finish the hull, stain the deck with Miniwax Cherry stain. Some Pics below:
 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
 

 

 

 
Stay safe folks,
Bill T.
 
 
 
 
 

Hello All,
I hope this post finds everyone well. So I finally caught up to where I left off when I received a new hull from Blue Jacket after trashing my original hull. I am very pleased with the result. Some observations:
Believe in the stern and bow wooden templates to the shape of the hull. Getting the "bulkhead" templates to an average 90% accuracy worked well for me. Next steps:
Apply the keel which fits well, already dry fitted it. Apply 2 coats of finishing resin to harden the wood and prevent dents moving forward. This is an extra step that I like to do, not only does it prevent dents and scratches while working on the hull, the capillary action of the resin fills in several minor scratches and dents. It worked great on my Yankee Hero, a little more work though. Below please find some pictures,
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 

 
Thanks everyone,
Bill T.

Hello Folks,
After pondering whether or not to add another piece of basswood to the stern to the RC (Revenue Cutter) I decided to move forward extend the stern to have the rudder whole closer to the stern to be safe. It added about 3 hours of work to the build however thinking about it for 4 nights before sleeping and on my way to work for 4 days (we all do that I believe) it was well worth it.
I am now very pleased versus my prior post with the results (even though my stern looks like counting years on a open tree trunk) three years to be exact if one looks closely at the "after pictures" (LOL). It's part of problem resolution that I imagine we all experience on builds!
Before (& Sleepless):

 
 

 
After: (Now I can sleep)
 

 

 

 

 
Much better, now on to the bow and move towards the stern. Learned a lot here including never compromise and follow my gut. 😉

Hello Folks,
Short post for today:
Finished marking the template lines and the hull outline as per the manual. I noticed I do not have too much room for error on the hull sides. That's why they make putty I guess, that is if I take too much wood off the hull.
I also completed the stand, not pretty however it is going to need more work because the hull is going to be copper plated. It will make a good working cradle for now. Once the center-line was located and drawn I used a push pin with string attached and ran it along the keel to locate a fairly accurate line that coincides with the center line on the deck. Drilled the holes as per the manual, could not believe I broke one of my #75 drills. Those break easy!
I just received a mini-grinder from Proxxon, and I have some rotary tools as well to work on the stern.
 
On to working the hull and making a mess!
 
Take care all, stay cool and safe,
Bill T.

Hello Folks,
Although posts have been few and far between doesn't mean the Revenue Cutter has been ignored (I kept up with my pictures though). I believe I am finally finishing up with the hull/fixtures and ready to move on masts and spars. Then my favorite part rigging. This post is as follows:
I decided to color the stanchions black, I colored them using the Blue Jacket Brass Black #52. Then I sprayed them with Tamiya Flat Black (XF-1) and Flat Clear (XF-86). Pleased with the final result. Drilling the holes on the deck for the stanchions was slow process. I needed to bend a few stanchions to make the 90 degree angle. (I wish I knew a way to make a jig to ensure the holes were all the same 90" angle). All is well though. I test drove the stanchions prior to coloring them to ensure no roadblocks occur at the point I need assemble them onto the deck. I also rigged them at that time as well, just as a test. This portion was completed prior the coloring of the stanchions (FYI). Then it was onto the carronade, this was more challenging than anticipated. (This part was a "mini-kit in itself). Attaching the pigtails to the frame of the frame was challenging for me (especially for the 3/16" blocks!). I decided to use leftover eyelets from my previous rigging classes (which I highly recommend for anyone with rigging challenges) to assist me in affixing the blocks onto the carronade frame. It is now complete and placed aside for placement onto the deck. A lot of touch up work done for such a small piece on the deck. Thank god for my magnifying glasses! 🔍




Time to clean up a little bit and onto the mast and spars (I hope). Excited to try my Proxxon Lathe for the first time! Be well folks.
 

Moving right along today. I noticed that the deadwood wouldn’t align correctly with the red vertical lines on the build board for the frames. Seems like either I didn’t glue the keel absolutely level or the bottom edge of the deadwood wasn’t flat.  When I laid it in place it was obviously off.
 

In order to correct this I added a thin shim then sanded it so the shim became a wedge, thickest at the aft end and tapering to the thinnest edge where it meets the keelson.


 
This corrected the problem

 
I was a bit confused about the location of the beard line but looking at figure 34 of the instructions quickly cleared that up.

 
I’m lucky enough to have a Byrnes saw and, setting the blade shallow enough; I was able to cut a 90 degree bevel along the aft side and bottom edge of the deadwood, much like a router. Sanding the deadwood was much like cutting the rabbet (as explained by Toni in the instructions). The further the distance from the edge of the deadwood to the bearding line the mote gentle the angle. The closer the bearding line to the edge of the deadwood, the steeper the angle.
I’m sure you can also see my mistakes in these images; mainly, my mistake of extending the rabbet to the aft end of the deadwood and the sternpost. As I move along Ill see how much of an issue this causes.
I then glued the deadwood, sternpost and “L-shaped” piece onto the build board after rounding the top a bit. I would like to know the proper term for the “L-Shaped” piece.
 

Camping coming up this weekend so not sure how much I will get done in the coming days.

The Stove
It is nice to finally move on from my cannon production line and work on something there is only one of.

So instead of that I started on two things there are only one of, the stove and the capstan, thereby creating a complete mess on my work bench - fun.

I cut some correctly sized blocks from scrap MDF to help keep things square. There are other ways, but this one was easy, in fact one of them is still inside the stove.
 

Not as silly as it looks, there is an indention on the bottom of the weight that perfectly fit the chimney top. Nice tight glue seal, and yes it is a bit silly. I was constantly checking levels, there aren’t a lot of main parts to the stove but the ones there are need to be kept both square and level.

I sent this photo to my two sons explaining it was the ship's stove - one questioned the wisdom of cooking with a wooden stove. 
 
The instructions are clear, not hard to assemble, attention to detail is important though, and this little jewel has a lot of detail to pay attention to. Those little racks on the front are very very fragile. Getting the pulley installed correctly required a little planning and dexterity, but really fun stuff.
 
One addition I did make was to plane a small rectangle of wood matching the height of the six tiny little legs and glued it to the bottom center.  It can’t be seen and I’m a lot more comfortable with it there than completely relying on my not breaking a leg and something more substantial to ultimately to be glued to the deck.

While following the instructions for this beautifully designed mini-kit I became so absorbed with the work I failed to take any more photos until it was done, so here it is. The pulley system is so realistic I might think its actually metal fly wheels and a fan belt rather than laser cut assembly of 5 separate tiny little pieces. I'm not really clear how it would work though, what caused the meat to be turned on that spit and why does the upper pulley go into the vent....

I first painted it with my Admiralty Ironworks Black, finally using this paint on actual ironworks. Then as Chuck suggests I heavily coated it with Grimy Black weathering powder from the O’Brien set. I almost left it at that but went back with a light application of Rusty Red. I opted to brush and buff it in to an even appearance and will likely use the buff brush further.
 
It’s a bit of a shame very little of this will be visible one the forecastle deck is installed, but I know its there.
 
And now for the capstan. Thanks for stopping by, your likes and comments are always appreciated.

I completed the first ‘set’ of frames that include a gunport.  The frames are for the central port and include the two frames shown in my previous post plus a spacer that is the width of the gunport.  A lot of sanding was done, and of course a lot more will be done when the hull is assembled and the sides are faired.  So far so good.

By the way - does anyone know if the original boat was painted?  The photo in my first post looks like the wales are black.  But if that so - and what about the rest?
I’m trying to decide if I want a model completed in uncolored boxwood or paint it to show how the boat really looked.  Thanks.
 

Hello!
 
Been pushing steady on this Mogami the past 9 months, starting to feel like a need a break.   When I start feeling impatient, it’s better to put it down for a bit, so I’ve been messing with a side paper model of the Koln.   I intend to create a build log for that soon.   Since our last discussion, I focused on finishing all photo etching details on the aft deck to be painted the spray can lacquer IJN Gray I’ve been using on the rest of the hull (Tamiya T-69).   I started by determining the placement of the plane carrying carts by modeling out the configuration.   It was neat to see all the planes on the model, it was a feature that initially attracted me to this subject.     Then I taped off the aft deck and hull portions to be painted, shot that section.  
 

Here, I have laid everything out, labeled the pieces, traced on the line where the planking abuts.

Being new to this, I wasn't sure to expect apon opening the box.  It all looked good and everything was there.

The Revenue Cutter looks like a nice kit for your second build.  You are taking the right approach as you advance your ship modeling skills.  When you are making the hull station line templates, a good material to use is picture frame matting material that you can get from Michaels or any frame shop.  It holds a good edge and is better than cardboard.

Guns! Guns! Guns! At least two guns anyway.
 
The kit included a bonus set of two guns which were optional.  I pondered long and hard to decide if I wanted to include them.  They would take up most of the midship if rigged completely as was shown in the diagram they included.  I watched several videos on gun assembly and installation and after finding another place to mount the barrel, I decided my ship would be strapped and got to work.  The guns were a kit in a kit.  I would have to get more blocks since two guns would use up 18 blocks if rigged completely so I ordered some 4mm blocks, slightly larger than the 3mm blocks that came with the kit.  I ended up using the kit supplied blocks on the guns and the 4mm blocks for the ship’s rigging.  First, I stained the wooden cannon stand dark walnut.  The wheels and axles were on piece plastic parts, soft plastic.  When test fitting the frame on the axles, I discovered they would be far too high off the deck to even fit through the lower gun ports I would cut above the aft scupper.  I both filed the slots deeper into the bottom of the frame and tried to reduce the diameter of the axles to  make the guns sit lower on the deck.  I thought maybe I could cut the wheels off the axles and just glue them to the side but decided not to.  I would keep thinning the axle which was difficult because it was soft plastic and didn’t take to filing or sanding very well.  Next the brass parts of the guns would need to be blackened.  I realized I was going to run out of kit supplied eye bolts so I ordered some 0.6mm brass wire so I could fabricate my own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Had to wait to get the blocks to continue so I started on a block buster. I saw on YT how to make a “block buster” from a plastic nut jar, a long bolt, nut and washer and sandpaper. So I made one and it worked great.  I also needed more eye bolts so I got some wire and made some.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 Thanks for reading, this post is getting too long so I'll continue in another.  This gets us up to March 5th, 2023 so we’re slowly getting this log caught up.  Next, finishing up the guns and rigging them.  Model on!

Thanks, I'm having a great time modding things.
 
The dory is nearly done!
 
Given my difficulties with finding good sail material, I decided that I can live with the too-thick sail for now, and it wouldn't be all that difficult to change it out if I want to in the future.
 
I attached the new cleats to the mast after a little shaping. This time I was happy with how they turned out.

 
I got some new thread that's closer in color to manila rope. As practice, I tried a cleat hitch from memory (as can be seen, I messed up). In any case, I think this thread will work better for the running rigging.

 
Next I marked where the sail will be lashed to the mast with pencil. Punching the holes in the thick, heavily glued sail material was difficult. I ended up putting a needle in my pin vise and using it as a punch with scrap balsa beneath, which worked.

 
Even still, it was hard getting the needle and thread through the sail to lash it to the mast. But it was doable.

 
This time the cleat hitches were done correctly!

 
The fact that the sail is thick enough to stand perfectly upright without the sprit definitely shows that it's too thick... oh well, I'll learn for the future.

 
The sprit was a little tricky to tie off. I used a rolling hitch on the mast, which turned out ok. There was very little space to tie off the line around the sprit, though, that I just did a simple knot. 

 
Finally I tied the sheet at the clew. A few drops of glue rubbed into the line, and at the bolt rope loop around the end of the sprit, served to make sure everything would stay together.
 
The boat is nearly done now, I just have to figure out what to do with the dangling rope ends and rearrange the fishing gear into a configuration that makes more sense with the sail. Some of the excess rope, like around  the snotter, can simply be trimmed a bit close to the knot. Any suggestions for what to do with the excess below the cleats, or for the sheet? It seems like a few too many lines for each to be a neat rope coil.

 

 
(And, of course, I need to actually make a base. Given my difficulties finding thicker basswood, I want to keep the big basswood sheet for other purposes, but I need to figure out something else for the base then.)

After gluing the keel, keelson, stem and stemson to the build board I deepened the notches for the frames, per the instructions, to the top edge of the rabbet.  If I was to do this over I wouldn’t place any glue between the red lines of the build plan which mark the location of the frames. It would have made deepening the frame notches a bit easier as I wouldn’t have had to deal with the dried glue which was holding the keelson to the build board.
 

 
Then I glued in the frames, using a square and clamp as suggested in the instructions. I’m using Titebond  Quick and Thick and allowed an hour between gluing each of the 10 frames. In order not to disturb the frame I previously glued in, I rotated from the left side of the first frame to the right side of the first frame and so on.
 

 
After all the frames were glued in, and allowing 24 hour dry time for the glue, I glued in the spacers between the frames.
 

 
Now it’s on to the next step, which I believe is the deadwood.

Starboard side first planking went on just as easily. 
I had some spare stubs of dowel which  I stuck in the mast holes, almost an Admiralty style model, these are helping provide some protection to the gun port arches when I’m working on the planking on the upside down hull.
 
After sanding and filling there is a really good firm base now in place for the second planking. 
Outer lower counter fitted, glued and clamped. 

Second planking went on well too. Port side complete below. 

The only area I found at all tricky was the more complex curve around the “Y” of the stern. The white filler lines show a little clinkering. Clearly my edge bending skills need further development! 

Grecian will have a black painted and coppered hull so I can be liberal with white filler. 
 
I also applied some Danish oil to the engraved deck to darken it a little. Usually I leave it until later when I’ve smeared glue in places from deck fittings and it leaves the oil blotchy, applying it early should reduce blotches.

I need to start thinking about armament soon. I’ll be fitting her out as an American ship with Vanguard’s period US ensign and green inner bulwarks, but the US privateer armament of 2 x 6-pounders and 2 x 4 pounders is a bit meagre for a ship pierced for 16-18 guns. Even the RN complement of 2 x 6 pounders and 8 x carronades will leave the model looking bare. I suspect I’ll do something more similar to the plans with 12 carronades and 4 cannon. 
 

Continuation: Equipment of the fore yard - Bream blocks - Poulie de bras
In the context of the production of the brace blocks with stroops for the fore yard, I would like to go into more detail here as well.
The length of these blocks is 24 cm in the original, which corresponds to 5 mm in 1:48 scale. With this block size I do not use extra sheaves, but work them out of the wood.
The served strops for the blocks of the fore braces on my corvette were connected by thimbles, which was commonly called "dog and bitch" connection (see drawing).

Source: The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships - Longridge, C. Nepean - Spritsail yard of HMS Victory
 
The following picture shows a brace block with the prepared strops and the thimbles already connected. The connections of the strops can be seen by the dark color of the super glue. These areas will be covered later by the lashing and will then no longer be visible.

  
The manikin is to show the scale of the block with the strops.

  
The next picture shows how the lashing is applied around the gluing area.  

Here you can see the finished rigging element.

The next picture shows the port side yardarm of the fore yard.  

In order from the inside out, the following rigging elements are already in place:
- Grommet strop
- Jackstay
- thimble strop for clew
- footrope
- Strop for yard tackle
- Strop with brace block
 
Finally the lifts and the fore yard sheets are missing, as well as the studding sail booms
To be continued ...