Jump to content

ccoyle

Moderators
  • Posts

    9,527
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by ccoyle

  1. Been epoxying seams -- first step is to "tack weld" between the stitches. Instructions said to make the epoxy the consistency of hollandaise sauce -- big help. 🙄 First batch was too thick, second was too thin. Still have about a third of the tack welding left to do, but I ran out of steam for the evening.
  2. Mike, you always do a nice job of fixing up these adopted models.
  3. With the exception perhaps of Vanguard Models, the R&D wheels at most model kit companies turn slowly.
  4. First allow me to express condolences for the passing of your father. Such things are always hard. This next part will also be hard, but for different reasons. It is difficult to sell even moderately good ship models, and if they do sell, I think you'd be surprised to find out how little they fetch. Your father's models, though, are simply not built to a standard that would make them attractive to knowledgeable ship model buyers. They have too many issues in terms of general appearance, workmanship, materials, and fidelity to subject matter (but hopefully he enjoyed building them, which is the main thing for a hobbyist). In all honesty, I think you would be hard pressed to get more than a few dollars for them, if anything. Wish I had better news for you.
  5. So, I made further progress, but you don't get any pictures -- because I botched it. 🤨 I thought I had the consistency of a batch of epoxy correct, but in reality it was too thin. Made a bit of a mess, and I have to re-do part of the task. Pics later ... maybe.
  6. Agree!
  7. Welcome, Mark! The wooden Mary Rose kit you are speaking of is no doubt the Caldercraft kit. As nice as it is, it is a bit dated in terms of design philosophy and is certainly not beginner-friendly. Happily, there are many exciting new kit products that have come out in recent years that are easier to build and have far better instructions. Have a look through our kit reviews section to check some of these out. Cheers!
  8. Except for our standardized naming conventions, there are no particular hard and fast rules for build logs. It's pretty much a freestyle thing.
  9. Welcome! Your models turned out nicely.
  10. The seams will be epoxied inside and out. The entire hull also gets coated with unthickened epoxy resin inside and out, and the bottom panels will also be fiberglassed inside and out.
  11. The putty typically used in wood models is wood filler. But regardless of whether you use wood filler or drywall compound (spackle), it's essential to get most of the hull form in place beforehand -- fillers and spackles are not intended to fill in large areas. Your idea about using paper strips is a good one -- if you check some of the card model builds, such as those featuring Shipyard kits, you'll see how paper is used both as the outer skin and for forming an underlayment, or base layer. Paper is a very versatile medium -- don't be afraid to experiment and see what works well for you.
  12. Yes, that's correct. Those years include the period generally considered to be the Golden Age of Piracy.
  13. Yep, this I knew -- we call them "zip ties" in these parts. I thought about these many times while twisting various wires. Of course, using them would have required drilling out all of the holes larger.
  14. Ugh. Tightening the stitches has so far been much easier said than done. First of all, I have broken a fair number of stitches during the process and had to replace them. Second is the issue with getting panels to seat into their rabbets properly. Here's one side of the canoe showing properly seated and stitched panels. The exact opposite side of the boat refused to cooperate. I eventually hit upon a solution, but it involves removing about a half-dozen stitches and re-doing them. The unstitched panels want to create a roughly 1" wide gaping maw between them. I can squeeze the panels together -- I just can't stitch them at the same time! Which is what I attempted the first time around, and of course it didn't go to plan. To finish this correction, I'm going to have to wait until an extra pair of hands becomes available this evening. Much of the problem with the bending is due, I believe, to the stiff 1x1 rub rails. In retrospect, I think it may have been better to stitch the panels first, then install the rails, but hey -- I followed the directions. Cheers!
  15. Everything wired together. Next step is to flip it over and tighten all the wires. You may notice some red and white wires -- the bare copper wire supplied with the kit ran short by a substantial amount. I made a trip to the hardware store, but the only 18 ga wire I could find came in the form of two-strand thermostat wire. Happily, I quickly discovered that I only needed to remove the outer covering from the wire and not the individual insulation on each of the two inner wires, hence the red and white bits in the photo. I actually like the insulated wire better, because I find that it twists together easier and more neatly. The top panels with the pre-glued 1x1 rub rails are under a considerable amount of tension. I hope the epoxy will hold everything together! 😬 The instructions called for wiring the ends of the top panels together, spreading them with a temporary spacer, and then slipping the pair onto the hull before wiring. I tried this, but found it incredibly difficult to subsequently bring the bottom edges of the top panels together with the lower panel to wire them together. So I disassembled the top panels and stitched them on separately. I still needed some extra hands (one set for bending, one for wiring) for the part of the process, but it worked out.
  16. So, when we last saw Mr. Coyle in action, he had just finished reinforcing the temporary bulkhead that he'd inexplicably managed to somehow break. Here's the repaired bulkhead wired in place (again, done with no help, since my "extra hands" always seem to have an excuse for why they can't come at the moment). This, on the other hand, is one of the two permanent bulkheads wired in place. These will form compartments to create some reserve buoyancy. They will also have drain plugs installed. Construction proceeds with stitching the side panels together. The whole thing begins to more and more resemble a giant porcupine. So here we are with the bottom panels, bulkheads, and first pair of side panels wired in place. Onward!
  17. Check your local fabric store for any material that might be passed off as netting.
  18. Very nice indeed -- congratulations!
  19. Disaster struck! Well, a little one -- manageable, too. While trying to tie in a temporary frame, it cracked. What to do, oh, what to do? Happily, I had two pieces of 1x1 cedar strip leftover from trimming the ends of the rub rail I glued up yesterday. So, I made a brace for the cracked frame, glued it in place, and clamped it. As a prophylactic measure, I made one up for the other frame so I could glue and clamp both at the same time. Hopefully the only pain this causes me is a slight production delay.
  20. A fabulous model and a testament to some real perseverance!
  21. Work continues. All strakes glued together and joints sanded. The camera makes the joints look messier and rougher than they actually are. Except for the bottom planks, each plank has a rabbet cut into it. The gain, or taper, at each end of the rabbet must be created by removing some wood with a rasp & a sanding block. To add some rigidity to the floppy top planks, the outboard rub rails are attached. They must be bent as they are clamped along their length. The instructions say to brush the epoxy onto the rail and then clamp it to the plank. This seemed to me to be a potentially very messy way to do it. Instead, I dry-clamped the rail to the plank and then ran a pencil along the joint to mark the width of the rail on the plank. I removed the rail, brushed the epoxy onto the plank, and then clamped the rail back on. This went well and didn't make too much mess. I also pulled this task off by myself, even though the instructions recommended having a helper. 😁 That shot shows every 2" spring clamp that Home Depot had in stock on the day I made my supply run. I'll have to do the other side tomorrow. I started stitching the bottom panels today, but no pic. That's all for now.
×
×
  • Create New...