BobG

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!

I used the glue stick method on my Medway Longboat and it worked very well. I found it easy to remove even after I had applied it also. I didn't like how the frieze looked on the stern the first time I glued it on. I didn't have it with equal symmetry around the edges so I pulled it off and cleaned the stern up with a moistened cloth. Then I printed another set off patterns and was more careful in my application of the frieze and trimming it to get it centered nicely. I did forget to spray it with fixative before I applied it and now I'm wondering if there is a way to seal it without masking it all off and spraying fixative on it...brush it somehow with fixative...??...or just leave it be?

Thanks, Chuck, for the encouragement. I've been learning a ton building the Medway Longboat but it hasn't been without some errors on my part even though I've been trying my level best. When I look at the photos of your Winnie build, it simply looks perfect. I can't imagine it could be any better and I have a hard time imagining that I could come close to that level of craftsmanship. It just looks so beautiful that I worry that I just wouldn't do it justice or, at least, wouldn't be able to do it as well as I would like. I think I'm my own worst critic, which can serve me well in striving to get better but it can get in the way of me being satisfied also. I'm working on it though! Bob

Unbelievably beautiful, Chuck! There is no doubt that I will have to have a go at the Winnie someday. You've set the bar so high it's a bit intimidating though! Bob

I'm building the Medway Longboat and it's AYC. I found that I need to wear a dust mask when I'm sanding it especially when I'm sanding with very fine grit. The very fine dust gets me coughing. I think it's probably wise for us to wear a dust mask regardless of the wood we are sanding since even the dust we aren't so sensitive too can't be good deep down in our lungs. Bob

Hahaha...too true! The bars in Kodiak could get quite rowdy quickly back in the late 60's and fights were not uncommon once some of the fishermen got juiced up. I've watched quite of lot of the Deadliest Catch just because it brings back such vivid memories. Safety onboard the Alaskan fishing vessels has improved so much since then and the safety requirements and enforcement of those requirements are immensely better than back when I was stationed aboard the Storis. Unfortunately, quite a few of our rescue operations ended up being recovery operations because of the lack of safety equipment and enforcement back then. Heck, we didn't even have dry suits or survival suits onboard the Storis then either. I'm sure that has all changed for the better now. Thanks for the welcome, Jack. Bob

Thanks very much, welfalck and vaddoc. Vaddoc, do you apply a protective finish to everything you paint with acrylics? Bob

While we are on the subject of acrylics I have some questions about obtaining a high gloss finish with acrylics. I prefer using only water-based paints because I hate the fumes that oil based paints give off and like the satin or flat finish that I get with acrylics but how do you go about getting a high gloss finish using acrylics? Also, since high gloss finishes expose the tiniest defects in the surface, what are the steps you take in preparing the surface to be painted for a high gloss finish? The Pen Duick by Artesania Latina and the Venetian Gondola by Amati are two models I have in my stash that will require a high gloss finish. My wife gave me a complete Grex airbrush set for Christmas but I haven't begun learning to use it. I would assume that airbrushing would be the best application method for obtaining a high gloss finish but I also think that the surface preparation will need to be free of the smallest defects and 100% smooth to be successful. I used a rattle can on my Indian Canoe model to spray gloss green but I hate the spitting globs that you can often get from rattle cans. When that happens I have to prime and sand again and then hope the rattle can doesn't spit any globs again.

I picked up some Vallejo Retarder recently but haven't tried it yet. I'll have to test it out soon.

The information on this thread helped me a lot with my painting on my current Medway Longboat build. I tested 4 different shades of Vallejo red and decided I liked the color of the Vallejo Model Air RLM23 paint which is formulated for airbrushes but I brushed it on and still got good results. It comes out of the bottle a lot thinner than the regular Vallejo Model Color paint but, even so, I thinned it a bit more. I must have put 20 coats on the cap rail and cockpit seats. I just kept adding coats until I was pleased with it. The challenge for me was being able to keep a wet edge so I didn't end up with noticeable lap marks since the acrylics dry so fast. The advantage of the fast drying time though was that I could add another coat after about 15-20 minutes.

Thank you for the welcome, Bossman. I had a bit of a wild streak in me as an 18 year old. The Coast Guard provided a foundation for me to that energy into something meaningful and I grew up a lot during those 4 years. Bob

Thank you, Patrick. I took a look at your Wasa and Golden Hind. Amazing detail and craftsmanship! I hope to be able to scratch build at some point too. Bob

Thank you, Mark. I noticed that you are up in Medford. My wife and I go to Ashland for a week or more each year to go to the plays and explore the area. We rent a place in the hills outside of Talent while we're there and really enjoy the area. We'll up there in late April this year. We have even entertained the idea of moving up that way now that we are retired but it's hard to move away from our son and friends in northern California. Bob

I'm afraid I'll be showing off a few of my more egregious mistakes also! Bob

She looks beautiful, Rich! I'm just now working on the rudder and have made the mast, boom, bowsprit and gaff. I'm clueless when it comes to the rigging so I'm going to start a build log. Bob

Would Port Orford cedar be a good choice for model ship building also? Is it readily available? Bob

Thank you, Joe. Yes, the Vietnam Era was a tumultuous time for the country. I remember vividly hearing an announcement on the radio that the United States had begun bombing raids in North Vietnam. I had been hanging out with several friends at a local gas station and standing by our cars when the announcement was made and one of my friends said, "I guess we'll all be going to war in the jungle pretty soon." All of a sudden, life got very real for a bunch of us 18 and 19 year olds. Bob

Hi Don, Thanks for the compliments. There's something about the simple lines of a canoe that makes them so beautiful. I nearly ruined mine though. I had carefully sanded and primed the hull several times because I wanted to get the smoothest surface I could before spraying it with the gloss green. After several coats of green it looked fantastic. It was cold in the garage so I brought it into the house to cure and, wouldn't you know it, I managed to drop it and ruin the paint job. I had to sand it down again and start over! Maybe I'll post a couple of photos of some of the didgeridoos I've made that we talked about. I guess it would be ok in this thread. Any more progress on your Medway Longboat? Bob

That's a really interesting build and she's coming along nicely. Bob

Thank you, Allan. The Coast Guard has a lot to offer. It certainly launched me in the world beyond the flatlands of central Indiana. We had frigid weather in Indiana but nothing like it was in Cape May or Alaska in the winter. The Coast Guard has come a long ways since I was in it. The new ships and aircraft are so much more technologically advanced and the even the personal equipment for individuals is so much better. For example, we only had 1/4" wet suits to wear under our orange flight suits in Alaska when we were involved in a rescue from our small boats. I remember just freezing and my hands and feet going numb from the spray we would take. Now they have dry suits for situations like that and advanced training for the rescue swimmers. Best of luck to your Coastie family members! Bob