Ronald-V

Personally don't have problems with it. Did have ply with my HMS Pickle build, and now MDF with the Sphinx i'm building. The MDF is very easy to work with regarding sanding. For the very fine pieces, use very fine tools with little pressure. I can not much more say about it.

That's great! Everyone has his own preferred method...it's just what suits you, no wrong or right. It comes down to experimenting and practice 👍

I think it would be handy to line the hull off with some tape/string of to determine the run of the planks...at least that's what I have experience with. Not sure if you can do that without this and just calculate the total width. I've used the method that Chuck Passaro outlined in his youtube videos. But I'm curious if there are people who work without bands, and can shine their light on this

That is becoming a very handsome ship!

Thanks for your compliment! I built the HMS Pickle from Caldercraft as my first model. I was certainly satisfied with the quality and e.g. the manual. (as a beginner, later you begin to understand what's wrong with it ) It is true that the newer kits from Caldercraft such as the Pickle, Badger etc. have these more extensive manuals. The older ones not, they are much more basic But it cannot be compared to Vanguard models. That is really a step up in terms of manual and quality of materials. So you also have to ask yourself... what do I find a nice subject to build? Is the quality of the kit and manual good enough for me? Am I prepared to replace parts, which can be a nice challenge. Or do I not find that so important, and do I just want to build something nice. You can find interesting challenges in all the kits you mentioned.

Here you go! The manuals of the Badger, Pickle, Granado, Victory and William are to download from the site of Jotika/Caldercraft http://www.jotika-ltd.com/Pages/1024768/Manuals_Badger.htm

Or something from Syren Ship model, like the Cheerful or Winchelsea...they are a nice intermediate step, where you can choose what you want to build scratch and/or buy pre-made.

I also really like furled sails, and am considering it for my Sphinx (although it seems almost too difficult for me) Have you had a look at how @Landlubber Mike did it with his Brig Badger? Technique how he did it: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/3944-landlubber-mikes-technique-for-furled-sails/ Final result: https://modelshipworld.com/topic/604-badger-by-landlubber-mike-finished-caldercraft-164-brig/page/5/

Congratulations on finishing! She looks fantastic! Very well done, also the display of the ships looks really nice 🙂

Fine looking stealers 👌 Personally I never really cared about color difference, because it gives a bit more life in my opinion. But some people like to make it as flat and perfect as possible, it's a matter of taste. I like to see individual planks, as long as it's not too much of a contrast, but that doesn't seem to be the case with you. Plus you have to take into account that e.g. staining as you did the top, connects the planks with each other in terms of color

Good luck on your new journey, and have fun!

Great work! You make Corel kits look really good!

Congratulations! That's a nice looking ship , you can be proud of her!

There is also the mental aspect in such a large project. It will take a lot of time, patience and challenges. Just work trough your list and view it by ship. I think you feel automatically when you are ready for a challenge/project like the Winchelsea

Congratulations! Beautiful result, I also really like the color combination of the upper hull pear and lower hull copper.

That's quite a big ship! Wish you all the best with this build

Indeed what Andrew said...I find every log helpful of the particular ship that i'm building...because everyone approaches problems slightly different and it's nice to look for different solutions in other people's logs.

Looking good! We are at the same point in the build now, I will also start with the decorative rails now 👍

Your deck is looking great Cisco! Nice pictures also of the conference.

Thanks Glenn! Thank you very much for your kind words Ron! 🙏 And everyone else, thank you also for the likes, I really appreciate it!

Thank you! Yes the models designed by Chris Watton are a lot of fun to build 💫 Thanks Thukydides!

Thanks Nearshore! I'm glad this step is done...felt quite difficult at first with all the modifications going on, but once tackelt it's quite satisfying.

Lovely flow of the planking! Nice

Thanks B.E.! Your build log helped me a lot!

New update: Finishing the lower part of the quarter gallery. First of all some support for the lower part. Again made from boxwood and of course the dimensions taken from the original kit parts Then I copied the "berthing patterns" but with larger dimensions so that I have room to make a seamless connection with the top and bottom of the quarter gallery. Maybe it would work with the original part, but personally I find this easier. And with a table saw and sanding disc it is almost no extra work A bit of bending with the original MDF parts glued to a piece of scrap wood. It's not all super precise but that's not a problem. I noticed that with a plank nipper from Amati I did get the final curves that were needed Fits nicely! Here and there I cheated a bit with some glue and sanding dust. I try to make it very precise, but it doesn't always work out as intended. Beyond my skills haha. Then it was time for the "lower finishing parts". Again a piece extended at the front with a piece of boxwood, so that I could get a reasonably close connection with the "stern upper counter pattern". I placed these parts loosely on the wales and glued them there on each other (so not on the wales, but on each other). This is because the wales have a vertical curve and you also need this in the "quarter gallery finishing patterns". Especially the "drop shape" must be sanded at a slight angle on the top so that it lies flat against the wales and pieces 29 and 45b. Most of this rough shape sanded away with the sanding disc and the last with some sandpaper. Of course left something so that when glued to the hull it can get its final shape Just glued here but not yet in its final shape The final shape was obtained with a mix of small files and sandpaper. As you can see the wales are a little bit damaged in terms of paint, but that can easily be touched up. I used a little bit of filler on the front of the finishing pattern, where it flows into the "berthing patterns". This is because the berthing patterns are lower because they are lying against the wales and the finishing patterns are ON the wales. So I had a bit of a strange transition there..solved with some filler. By the way, I think this should be approximately the shape that the whole thing should have. I didn't find it the clearest and it seems that there are some differences between many builders. The most important thing I think is that it should look aesthetically pleasing, so a nice flow with the rest of the quarter gallery. I chose to place the drop shape at the bottom a little forward (towards the bow), a small millimeter from the upper counter. This is because the PE decoration that comes on top had exactly the shape of this drop. So it was important to keep the shape (this also answers the question I asked myself in post #280) Hadn't shown a photo of the stern yet. Here too all the seams have been worked away with filler, so everything looks nice and tight. By the way, I thought the view over the deck through the windows was nice in this photo. (quality of the photo is a bit bad because I had to sharpen it quite a bit) Oh yes...a nice glimpse into the "seat of ease"