ccoyle

Welcome aboard! Some of my European friends will certainly be better acquainted with this product than I, but I believe that Gerhard Schmidt kits were simply rebranded kits made by other firms, such as Billing Boats. I believe it is this same design that is now being manufactured by Dusek Ship Models, though Dusek has been bringing such older designs up to current manufacturing standards before re-issuing them (we have a review for the Dusek L'Etoile here on the forum). Whether the current Dusek instruction manual would provide any assistance for your older kit I can't say for certain, but perhaps someone else has a better idea on this.
 
Cheers!

James, if you're not acquainted with them yet, you may be interested in attending a meeting of the South Bay Model Shipwrights. They meet in Los Altos.

So much happening.
 
First I've added cyclone separators to my shop vacuums... more on that later.
 
Got everything ready to begin the square frames... hoping they will be easier especially when I can see clearly.
 
Tomorrow I go for surgery on my left (worst) eye.  Then in about 5 weeks I get the other one done. I can't wait to see clearly again.  Possibly I will be able to see the royal cypher on my 3D printed 9 pound gun barrel in the dark display case after all!?!

Ships small boats started 

Now I have completed the things I can do on the underside of the boat. A sacrificial keel strip has been added together with a "deadwood" area under the stern.

 
The next step will be to cut the fore and aft transoms above the glued section so that the boat can be removed from the plug.

Hi, I think I’m finished now so here are a few pictures.  There were a couple of things I figured out along the way that I was tempted to go back and change but I think I’ll leave that for the next one 🙂.  

My build of Will Everard was declared finished yesterday, so now I can focus on this build instead.
 
Today I completed the drawing of lines on the frames for the plug and glued them to plywood. Twelve frames for a hull that will be less than 30 cm means less than 2.5 cm between each frame. This will give ample support for the planks.
 

Port side is fully planked sanded and has had first application of filler. It really does hide a multitude of sins!
I had to improvise a bit when I got to band C and D. I didn't end up with enough room at the stempost so I had to do a drop plank, and I had to do some patchwork planking at the stern. She'd sink for sure if this was a real ship, but sanded and filled it doesn't look bad.
I think I'll try to do my sanding outdoors in the sunlight in the future. It shows up small defects really well. I've read that applying primer does that too; what kind of primer do you folks use?

On to the days 20 to 23, which is the current state of work,
 
As a start, I painted the rear of the cabin in its final colours:
black for the windows with golden frames, decorations in gold and red. The heraldic shield received its white background, but I haven't found the courage to try the brandenburgian red eagle 🤪 The lantern was scavenged from my old Constructo Santa Maria (as are some parts of the rig). I carved some wannabe mermaid statues for the sides of the cabin and some kind-of fishes for the front 😆 the galleries recieved their third dimensions, but are still missing the windows. But I just had an idea, how to make them.
 

 
On the deck I installed the guns, which recieved a nicer carriage in red and a barrell in golden/brass-colour. The stove was painted black and recieved a silver dry-brushing. In retrospect it would have been better to use a dark grey base colour instead of the black. But mistakes need to be made to prevent them being repeated.
The "deck house" - which is just an upward extension of the dining room, I think - was finally installed. It was just the same procedure: glueing the template to 0,5mm paper, cutting out the windows and glueing it to normal paper, which was later painted black.
It still needs its roof, but after that, the deck is - almost 😁 - done! The mast is also glued and ready for yards and rigging - I hop, I am, too.

 
For the only stay on this ship and for the many more coming with the next projects, I decided to build my own ropewalk. That was before seeing, that there is a section in this forum just dedicated for ropes and so on. I just watched some videos on Youtube about how ropes were made in ye aulden days, took some Lego stuff and gave it a try. It took my only one and a half hour to come up with something, that could more than to pretend to be working as intended.
The only problem is, that it is too leight. I can't put both stations on the table and work, because they won't just stay on their position. I put two bars between them to hold them in place - but they are working way too good. As the rope shortens, the hole apparatus comes under tension like a bow, that is drawn. This time, I was able to work around it and received a rope, that even stayed in shape - after I put glue all around 🤦‍♂️😆 Maybe I had spun the threads in the wrong direction...
For now, I don't need any more stays, but the spanish frigate is ship-rigged, so I will need multiple stays of various length - but that is a problem for my future-me.
 
That's all progress, that has been made up until today. I don't know, when I will post another update, but by now, saturday seems like a good day to resume work.
 

Hi guys,
 
Thanks for all your likes and nice comments!
responding to mtaylor: That's a nice idea, I'll think about it.
 
on with the progress of the days 18 - 20:

I did finish the rear of the ship including the roof of the cabin and some smaller things, so that I could start priming. For the roof, I just cut some 1,5 - 2mm strips of 0,5mm paper and glued them right to the bullwarks. The produce a nicer looking edge, I folded strips lengthways and glued them just along the corners.
For priming, I used Ammo by Mig's One shot grey primer. It is to be used with an airbrush, but as I don't have one, I use it with a brush - and it still works just fine.
All paints, I am using, are by Ammo by Mig, except for the golden paint, that you will see later. That's Humbrol 54 Brass

 
The mast is not yet glued in, but the bowsprit and the rear flagpole are. I also drilled the holes for the guns (four on each side) and the mounting point for the swords. (behind the first three gun ports).
After the primer had dried over night, I applied the first coat of colour - more out of curiosity, how it changed her appearance than by being convinced that it was the right time to do it 😁

I've run into problems while uploading this picture. The upload was interrupted and I received a warning message, which reads "-200"... Nothing more was shown 🤨 After completing this post, I retried the process and this time, the upload finished and all was fine.
 
After painting the hull, I added some stuff to the deck (stove and all the other parts don't know the english terms for, let alone the german ones 😁) and primed the rest of the ship.

 
I then built cabin's side galeries. They are built up by glueing three pieces of rocket sticks together and sanding this piece into shape. I am not quite satisfied with the result, as they still look quite rough and boxy, especially the galeries' roof has the wrong angle, but I tried and tried and was not able to achieve perfection 🤔

 
Much later, I added some strips of paper to give it a more threedimensional and interesting look, which helps a bit, but not a lot.. Maybe they are not done yet.
 
While I was in the mood to do some details and smaller parts, I decided to try the cannons. I cut a piece of toothpick to a little less than 1cm length, tapered one end and glued it to a two-layer piece of coffee stick. As I had no more building time left, I left the completion of the guns to another day. I also cut some strips of paper to act as iron reinforcements on the swords.

 
Also some words about the swords:
I glued the template to my 0,5mm heavy paper, cut it out and glued some coffee sticks to it. I then glued the top end's reinforcements to it and drilled a hole with the size of a toothpick as diameter. The piece of toothpick was then glued in and cut to length. This was, I can stick the swords into the corresponding hole in the hull for comparison or a more complete look or painting the waterline on the swords (the black line, that you can see on the picture above). After I glued the iron paper strip reinforcements on, I let the glue dry thoroughly, before I cut the excess paper off from both sides.
 
Next time, you will see that last summary of multiple days and a have a look on my current stage. Theoretically, I could finish her in a couple of days, but I haven't found anyone, who could help me with the sails and flags. Well, there is still a lot more to do than sails and flags and those things CAN be done, I just need to move my lazy a** into my workshop.

Welcome aboard! Some of my European friends will certainly be better acquainted with this product than I, but I believe that Gerhard Schmidt kits were simply rebranded kits made by other firms, such as Billing Boats. I believe it is this same design that is now being manufactured by Dusek Ship Models, though Dusek has been bringing such older designs up to current manufacturing standards before re-issuing them (we have a review for the Dusek L'Etoile here on the forum). Whether the current Dusek instruction manual would provide any assistance for your older kit I can't say for certain, but perhaps someone else has a better idea on this.
 
Cheers!

Welcome, Doug. You've been given good advice above. Make sure to choose a kit that "speaks" to you.

Hi msw, yet another update. 
 
The hull is nearly finished, just need to add two more poles on the foredeck to secure the bowsprit. 
The first "rigging" part, constructing the bowspirit, went really well. Better than anticipated. This, http://www.animatedknots.com/knotlist.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com , helped a lot! I'm actually looking forward to the rest of the rigging now. 
I ran the thread through wax because I read that this helps with manipulating it. Most recommended are beeswax and microfiber wax (eg renaissance wax). I didn't have any of these so I used Mr Zogs sex wax (surf wax). It didn't do any harm but it also had little effect on the thread, besides making it smell good, so I ordered microfiber wax instead. It is still due to arrive but next time I'll be able to share my experience with this. Btw, do you have to wait inbetween wax layers or can you just pull the thread through a few times in a row?  
 
I will put the masts on the ship one of these days, but I have no clue about what ropes to tie first and the manual doesn't mention anything about this. What order would you guys recommend? 
 
Thanx for watching and possible answers,
your friend Halfdan
 
 
 
        
  


 
I tried making the cross section on the bowsprit as firm as possible so I added a little pin and adjusted the cross section so it would fit on the bowsprit better. (I do apologize for my poor terminology, it's a work in progress  )
 

Thanks to all of you for the warm welcome!  I’ll be starting a build log very soon Glad to hear I picked a good boat
 
@Chris- yes, Silicon Valley it is. I’ve been here 10 years, with two years in San Diego before that. Speaking of SD, The Star of India is a very cool iron hulled sailing ship that has been turned into a museum. That boat, along with the Mayflower II, are really what peaked my interest in old sailing ships.
 
@Tom- I hope you are not leaving because of the cold! I am considering moving back and the though of winter frightens me. I guess I’d have plenty of time to dedicate to my new hobby.
 

I'm new to this forum and new to posting in general.  I started a wood ship model about 36 years ago and have just come across it in my attic.  The hull is planked and I'm getting restarted.  About 51 years ago is started and built 3 ships and started this 4th.  Life changes caused me to stop.  Now life changes are getting me to begin again.  I'm looking for any information on I can find on my current build.  Kit is Maquettes gerard schmitt, L'Etoile.  I have all the hardware still in bags and I think all the wood components. I only have 3 sets of plans and I'm wondering if there was an instruction book of if I just build from the drawings.  I have attached photos of L'Etoile and also my previous builds.  Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, Tom

Thank you Chris, MSW is a fantastic asset in expanding on the kit instructions with all the posts on construction methods, materials and abundant tips to assist me in completing my schooner with the best results possible. I'm delighted having been referred to MSW by the kit manufacturer.
 

All contour templates cut out, filed smooth, and hull ready to be worked and sanded.

Welcome, Doug. You've been given good advice above. Make sure to choose a kit that "speaks" to you.

Welcome aboard! I am a California native transplanted to the East Coast, so I guess the two of us balance things out. Sounds like you must work in Silicon Valley somewhere -- I last hung my California hat in Mariposa.

Welcome, Doug. You've been given good advice above. Make sure to choose a kit that "speaks" to you.

That's sage advice for any modeler and helps prevent the accumulation of projects that later never get built.

As a beginner and a retiree, I am in the contemplating stage of the hobby, trying figure out what I need in terms of workspace, tools to acquire, and which model for a first build.  Before moving to Texas, I lived in CT (Stamford, Ridgefield and Monroe) and always enjoyed taking the kids to Mystic, the Norwalk Aquarium and down to the docks in Milford to ogle all the beautiful sailboats.  As a kid I build quite a few car models, a couple fly by wire balsa planes, and many scratch built slot cars, but all of that was more than 55 - 60 years ago. So my skill level today, given less than perfect close up vision, is questionable.  I have been thinking about the best kit to start with and have narrowed it down to these four: Lady Nelson by Amati, Polaris be Occre, Revenue Cutter by BlueJacket or the Smuggler by BlueJacket.  While I love the look of the Smuggler, I am not sure if that would be too much to bite off as a first build and whether a solid hull would be preferable over a POB type of construction.  I am looking forward to learning and just want to get off to a good start and therefore am proceeding slowly. I am really impressed with the in-process and finished projects from the members and frankly it's a bit intimidating in seeing the quality of workmanship on the numerous builds.  I hope I don't pull down the quality of the model ships that appear on the forum.    

I temporarily installed the motors so that I could get the drive train lined up with the motors and the struts so that I could epoxy in the stuffing tubes for the drive shaft. Once the stuffing tubes were epoxied in, I applied some bondo over the stuffing tube channels as well as the base of the struts. Then I will sand, apply and sand and apply until I can get a decent smooth surface to apply some fiber glass cloth and epoxy it in over the stuffing tube channels as well as the bases of the struts. I hope this make sense. I know it looks like crap now, but It will beautify shortly.     

Day 3 frame completed, started keel
 
i never realised just how many items make up the keel, and each item is made up from 2 half 
 
i bought some recommended glue titebond quick thick it is not so wet as my normal PVA glue
 
the two half's are glued back to back after having a very light sanding 
 
the plan sheet has been covered in tracing paper to protect it, and allows me to put the items in a rough position, as they need to be sanded, to square the ends off 



one of the boats will be put away tomorrow

day 3 building frame complete
 
well the frame is complete, and the top level is removable to allow access to the build
 
no glue has been used other than on 4 connection strips 
in the end i was happy the way it all fitted, after my initial problems