sbrewer

I didn't black these like I'm supposed to.  I didn't want to paint them, and I'm not sure where to get the chemicals to do the blacking.  Oh well, my daughter things they look really cool!

I have never painted one of my builds before.  I was daunted to say the least.  I put this off for a long time because I wasn't sure exactly what to do or how to do it.  I saw Sawdust Dave's Mayflower builds on here and he did such an amazing job that when I look at these photos I still cringe a little.  

Deck grates.  Not sure if I liked how these turned out or not.  

Tricky bit of work here.  

Remember that bent area that I posted about earlier?  Well the fixes that I used seem to have worked out well.  I can still see the bend slightly, but someone who is looking at the ship would have to have me point it out to them before they would notice it.  Pleased with the outcome.  

Treenails.  I didn't take many photos of this but the ship looked like a porcupine for a while.  

Adding the exterior mahogany strips.  You can see how I used the blue tape to place each plank in place.  In the end it all looked better than ships I have built in the past where I didn't really know what I was doing with the planking.  

Proceeding with the clamps.  This was kind-of hard because the clamps didn't have anything to grab.  I made some of my own with cord and sticks.  

I attempted to remedy the bent plywood seen in the previous photo by using some pieces of planking and some wood filler to smooth it out.  I am hoping that when the mahogany planks go on top, it will not be as noticeable.  

Here's a problem that some of you have talked about on the site.  When I was separating the early parts including the false keel, I noticed a very slight bend in the plywood.  I didn't think much of it; I figured it would correct itself as I proceeded.  Not so.  I am now faced with the dilemma of junking this build and starting over, or trying to "fix" the problem as I go forward.  Buyer beware, check your kits before proceeding with assembly to make sure your foundational parts are not warped or bent.  

Years ago I needed to bend 1/8X1/4 stripwood edgewise around the rim of a model warship deck (1/144th scale). I made a tube out of PVC with a screw plug on one end. I filled it with water and then stuck the wood in, and screwed in the plug. A couple off days later the wood bent nicely. Used the same method on 5 additional ships. This immerses the entire surface of the wood, and doesn't spill if knocked over.

The wood rim held the deck in place securely so that the entire rest of the deck could be removed for access to the RC equipment. A couple of screws held it down.

I just built one of these too!  I didn't get the screw plug though, so my wood floated up out of the top until it became more saturated.  I'm going to go get a plug for the top!  

Thanks for the encouragement Dave.  I'm learning a lot and it is very fun along the way.  

I bent a piece of wood this weekend using ammonia (or tried to).  I soaked in an ammonia/water solution for around 20 minutes and then applied an electric bender.  The wood snapped.  This has not happened to me using hot water.  Guess that answers my question as far as I'm concerned.  Thanks to everyone for the comments.  Happy bending.  

Thanks everyone. Good tips. I will try a few methods and see what works best. I'm using mahagony so I hope I can find a way to deal with the brittleness.

This is just incredible.  I have been through your log this morning.  I'm currently building a Mayflower kit from AL.  Your build makes mine look like I picked it up off the shelf at Wal-Mart.  This is inspiring.  Thanks for sharing this amazing log.  

Hello All-

Can any of you comment on the advantages and/or disadvantages of soaking planks etc. in ammonia before bending vs. just water?  I have heard amazing things about bending with ammonia, but have not tried it.  When using ammonia, does one then use an electric plank bender like with water, or is a jig better?  Any thoughts would be welcome!

Thanks,

Stu

Hello All-

I will be using this spot for my build log for my AL Mayflower kit.  My daughter asked me to build this for her to take with her when she moves out on her own because my wife has an ancestor who sailed to America on this ship in 1620.  I began working on this kit over a year ago, but then put it away on a shelf for nearly a year while I worked on other projects.  Now I have it back out and am progressing slow and steady.  I will post some pics below.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pics of the very early stages of construction so I don't have those to show you.  

In particular, you will see that I started planking the hull before I knew what I was doing last year.  Since then I have read a lot and looked at a lot of pictures and I am making corrections.  Any advise would be welcome!  

Stewart