BobG

Bob, thanks very much for taking the time to write this detailed and thorough reply. It's really excellent information. Much appreciated! Bob

Thanks very much, Ryland. I've really slowed myself down and am taking my time trying to be more precise. I'm about done with the rudder and then the rigging starts. I'm really unsure about that whole process but I'm determined that this boat will be my first rigged boat. Bob

Your daysailer is a great example of well a "simple, little boat" can be built. You did a fantastic job on this beautiful little model! Bob

You are building a really beautiful model! The America is most definitely on my "to do" list at some point. I have always loved this yacht. I wonder how the Mammoli kit differs from the Constructo kit of the Yacht America? Bob

Thanks, Bob, for this great information. Will Wipe-on-Poly essentially do a similar job of sealing as the shellac you talk about? I'm not sure how they are different in what they do. Can you give me an example of the shellac and sanding sealers that you find useful? Also, in regards to gloss finishes, racing sailboats would have a high gloss finish on their hulls wouldn't they? I ask because I have a Pen Duick kit that I will build at some point and I thought the hull would be a gloss finish. Bob

Thanks very much, Don. Yes, the scrapping of the Storis was very controversial and happened rather surreptitiously by the General Service Administration even as the efforts to save her as a dockside museum in Juneau was well underway with plans and fundraising efforts in place by a group dedicated to preserving her. There was a public outcry by Alaskan legislators but it fell on deaf ears in Washington. Another little known fact about the Storis was that she was the first US flagged vessel to circumnavigate the North American continent in 1957 after she navigated the Northwest Passage along with the Coast Guard Cutters Bramble and Spar. She also received 47 unit service awards in her long and storied lifetime of service. Here is a link to an article recapping her history and her final days: https://www.militarytrader.com/military-vehicles-news/former-coast-guard-cutter-storis-goes-to-scrap-yard Bob

After achieving a nice, smooth finish by sanding I have been applying Satin Wipe-on-Poly to seal the bare wood which can then be left natural or painted over with acrylics. I've also been using Elmer's Wood Filler for small nicks and cracks and that seems to work pretty well also and, if the imperfections are a bit deeper, I apply the filler is small layers allowing each layer to dry before adding another. I like the Elmer's Wood Filler that changes color from lavender to yellowish-white when it has dried. It sands nicely. This method has worked for me so far. My question is, is it best to apply sealer or something like Wipe-on-Poly be over the wood filler before painting or is it ok just to paint directly over the bare filler? Bob

This looks like a very interesting build of a ship with beautiful lines. I'll be following along. You have a very sweet looking dog also! Bob

Hahaha...too true! Bob

Beautiful job, Bob. She's really wonderful. Bob

It's looking great, Dave. I used medium viscosity CA and it worked well for me. That hull will sand up nicely. It looks like your cat has had a long day and is out for the night! Bob

I'd say first of all, finish the ones you're currently working on. While you're doing that take a look at each of the other kits you have and ask yourself if that kit it special enough to you that it is indeed a keeper. I've found that even "easy" models take quite a bit of time to build well and I'm not willing to put a ton of hours into a model that isn't that special to me. In the end, I'd rather build fewer models that are special to me and, because of that, I'll do a better job on them and be ok with investing a lot of time into them. I've got a few models on the shelf that I bought that I'm not so sure about anymore so I think I'm going to put them up for sale pretty soon. It will make it much simpler for me to decide on my next build also. Bob

Thanks, Don. I was careful to position it so you couldn't see a couple of places where the planking could be much better! I had some difficulty knowing just exactly when and how to correctly bevel the edge of a plank when there was a gap. Oftentimes, I could see that a plank would be tight in some sections a have a gap in other sections while I was test fitting it. So I tried only beveling those sections on either side of the gap thinking that, if those sections are a bit too wide, then by making them narrower it would help close the adjacent gap. It worked sometimes and yet there were other times where I just couldn't get a plank tight all the way along it and there would still be small gaps. I'd be happy to hear what's the best way to overcome those small gaps that appear when you are not going to be using filler and painting the hull. Bob

This is the first time I've seen those photos of your Midwest models and they're all very nice. At some point, I want to build a small, working boat and attempt to do some weathering on it and make it look like a real, hard working boat that been through the wringer but still going strong. Bob

I love the smaller, working boats and you've built a beauty! Bob

Yikes...talk about model ship acquisition syndrome! I pulled my eyes away from the most recent Model Expo sale. I've decided that I need to focus on completing my Medway Longboat before I add more stuff to the stash! Oh well, it appears that you're young enough to keep yourself busy building for a very long time. Me...I'd be pushing up daisies before I could complete all those kits! Bob

It's weird that my memories, from when I got to go aboard the Calypso back in 1969, was that she wasn't as big as she appears in these photos. I'm not sure why but, over time, my memory of her overall size had shrunk! So I looked up her size: she was 139 feet in length, 25 feet at the beam, had a draft of 10 feet and a displacement of 360 tons. Thanks for all the photos! Bob

O'k, I'm finally getting around to making my first build log after encouragement by some the members here. I've been reading the forum since the fall of 2014 but only began posting recently and I completed my first model boat two years ago. To date I have built a small dory by Artesania Latina, the Indian Canoe by Midwest Products and the Batelina by Maris Stella. I began working on the Medway Longboat about 3 months ago and I am about to start the rigging. None of my previous builds had any rigging so this will be completely new to me and I'm sure I will be able to use some good advice as I attempt rigging for the very first time. Even though I'm pretty far along in my build I thought I would go ahead add some photos and brief comments from the beginning. Perhaps in reading my log someone might find something useful for them. I've certainly benefited from reading build logs by others and, at least for me, photos can often be more helpful than words. I'll try and point out some of the stumbling blocks I encountered along the way and how I tried to overcome them. None of these difficulties had anything to do with the kit itself, they were all self-made by me and were just part of the learning process for me. As you probably know, the kit itself is simply fantastic in every way. This build has been a big step forward for me from my previous builds and that's been a very good thing. It has challenged me just the right amount for my continued growth in ship modeling. I'm learning so much and my confidence is growing with each completed step. Chuck describes the skill level for he kit as intermediate/advanced and it's certainly been that for me. It's been the perfect next step in the evolution of my ship building knowledge and skills and continues to be a pleasure to build. Any comments whatsoever are whole-heartedly welcome 100%. Thank you for reading if you got this far. I've completed the interior and am currently working on the rudder. Here are some fairly recent photos of where I'm at on my Longboat build: Bob

I started beveling the edges once the planking started to get "step-like" a bit. Quite a bit of it will be less noticeable once you sand the hull. My hull got pretty thin in spots from my sanding but the filler primer I sprayed and the paint toughened it up along with the Wipe-on-Poly I used on the insides. You'll need to be more careful though if you're not painting your hull. Bob

Holy smokes...have you got the entire Midwest line up? Did you find the operational Laughing Whale steam engine they used to make that goes in their Fantail Launch? I don't think I've ever seen one on eBay. You've got a bunch of fun ahead! Bob

Oh, thanks very much, Dave. I've looked at some of the little gems you've built and your canoe will be wonderful when you're finished with her. I must of had to prime and repaint the hull 4 or 5 times before I got to where I was happy with it. I had a great paint job on it the first go around and then I managed to drop it while it was still wet and ruin it. So I primed it again and sprayed it again when I pulled the masking tape off the cherry rail it left a ragged edge and had bled onto the cherry. So I carefully pried the rail off but managed to snap one of them. So I sanded it again, sprayed it with a filler primer and sprayed the finish coats again. Then I was able to mend the broken cherry rail with some CA and glue them back on again. It never goes as easy as I think it's going to go that's for sure! After you mentioned the Midwest kayak you have, I went looking on eBay and bought Midwest Chesapeake 17 Kayak kit. These little boats really appeal to me! Bob

Here's a photo of my Indian Canoe Bob

Great to see another canoe being built, David. These are truly wonderful, little kits. This kit is almost exactly like the Indian Canoe by Midwest that I built. I ended up using CA almost entirely on my canoe. I realize that many modelers do not like to work with it but I have found that, if you are careful, it can save time and a lot of complicated planking. I painted the hull but I did have to be careful not to have glue stains in the interior since that was left natural. When planking, I would begin by gluing the end of the plank with a spot of CA and then place a few, tiny spots further down the edge of the previous plank and hold the plank down on that area and just kept repeating this until I reached the other end. It worked great for me and I used it on all the the interior frames as well. The one problem I encountered while planking was that I began to get steps and some small spaces between the planks as the hull began to curve more toward the keel. I was lightly beveling the planks but still had trouble getting them to fit perfectly tight. I did end up using a very tiny amount of Elmer's Wood Filler in those cracks and then sanded the hull quite a bit. I was afraid that would show up on the inside but, after sanding the interior of the canoe, you couldn't really see those filled cracks. I'll be following along. She'll be a beauty when you're done!