ccoyle

Then I wrap the few inches I let out keeping it tight as I go. Repeating this process till it is finished. Using Fray Check keeps everything in place but still very flexible. If you don't touch it it dries clear. If you rub your fingers across it as it is drying it gives the line a weathered look.  This process actually works pretty well & doesn't take very long.

Another good weekend at the bench!
 
My goal was to get in a spot to start the masts and rigging this coming week and I am just about there.   I did get into a bit of a groove again,  between football and building, time just moved along and I didn't get pics along the way as much as I wanted.
 
I do have to get better at that,  am trying to at least.
 
This weekends updates are all around rounding out the ship.
 
First the channels were painted, installed and knees added.  These, once in, really made the nearing of the end real to me - very exciting.  Odd how just a small thing can do that, but very cool!
 

 
 
Using some pear in order to continue the scheme of using peaer for accents and trim work I created the frame for the beakhead grating and some replacement grating I had to order from MS to finish up the kit.
 

 
And then very simply glued that in to place, added the walkway planks and pin rail with belaying pins and wallah!  The interior of the beakhead is complete!!
 

 
Then finished up the trim on the outside of the beakhead!  Again just went with the kit scheme to keep it simple.   ON the fence about the beakhead yellow decorations, may just leave them off - still undecided.
 

 
And here we have her, the mayflower - 99% ready to begin the masts and rigging.   I still have some minor bits and pieces to finish up before then, a couple of pin rails to add now that I have the extra belaying pins as well as replacing the railing on the poop deck (it snapped off ).   Once I get those all in place I am going to give it a once over with a nice semi gloss spray.   All I have is testors lacquer, which typically is not good to use over acrylics.  I think I need to go find some acrylic based tomorrow in anticipation!
 
Anyway, once it is sprayed with a couple of coats to even out the colors and sheen,  I will be on to the masts and rigging!!!  (even the ratlines ... )
 

 
 
So here she sits currently - ready for her touchups, dotting of the I's crossing of the T's and a nice shiny coat!
 

 

 
 
Until later... enjoy!

Lanyards and Main Topmast Backstays are complete.
 
I wasn't sure how tight to make the shrouds but I didn't put too much tension in them.   I had to play with the lines a little to get the deadeyes to line up but persistence prevailed.  The Pin Rails with the belaying pin were also tied to the forward shrouds.  I need to thank Modeler12 for his tip in one of his posts about applying some ca glue to the end of the lanyard that is inserted through the hole in the deadeye.  It made threading the line much easier.  I would also like to thank Wayne for his help with the proper way to rig the deadeyes.
 


 
For the main topmast backstay rigging  I started by stropping my block (pardon me if that’s not the correct terminology).  I twisted some 30 gauge wire around the single sheave block forming an eyelet on the top and a hook on the bottom.  This will be used with the running rigging on the backstay.
 

 
I then tied the backstay line to the top of the main mast and threaded it down through the outrigger eyelet.  Taking a measurement from the rigging plans I located the double block and tied it to the end of the backstay line.  Once that was done it was a simple task to reeve the running rigging line through the blocks.  One problem I ran into was that after rigging these lines you are suppose to tie it off to a belaying pin in the cap rail.  Not knowing exactly how these pins would be used when I installed them I unfortunately placed them to far outboard on the rail so I had no room between the pin and the bulwarks to get the thread in.  Fortunately  the aft deck scupper was right there so I passed the line out through the scupper and held it in place so I could glue the line to the bulwarks right next to the pin and then brought the line up and around the top of the belaying pin.
 
Then I tried my hand at making rope coils.  I think I spend as much time on one coil as I did carving the hull.  This one’s too big, this one’s too small, and this one’s unraveling.    I never got one that was just right but close enough.
 



 
 
 
I really enjoyed rigging these lines. With the rigging placed on the model I’m starting to get a better understanding of how they all work together.  When looking at a fully rigged ship, model or real, it’s hard to visualize where all the lines go and how they work.  By doing them one at a time you can see how they brace the masts and how by moving one point on one mast it affects the others.  Very structural, I like that.
 
One footnote, I hope there are extra single blocks that came with the kit.  While trying to strop the wire around them I did launch a few across the room.

Right. Time for an update.
 
Channels are complete, so have moved onto to completing the last of the deck furniture.
 
Added the bowspirit post. It is drilled and pinned into the deck to add strength and ensure that the rigging does not cause any problems. Deck cleats are still to be added to the top.
 

 
Also put together the companionway housing. Spent a while cutting out all the separate parts and sanded smooth from 120 grit down to 320 grit. After dry fitting each part I added some small off cuts of walnut to the inside edges to aid fitting the pieces together.
 
To finish the housing, I stained with 50% light oak stain to bring out some grain and then very lightly sanded back and then added a coat of satin varnish.
 
Finally, drilled holes to insert 0.5mm brass wire to give handles on the doors and hatch lid. Hinges were added by drilling several shallow holes and using a blade to link the holes. Four small lengths of 0.5mm brass wire were then sunk into the gaps and fixed with a spot of cyano.
 

 
The build so far.
 

 

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

I have made some progress and finished the deck house.  Thanks for the tip.  

 
I started working on the 6" guns.  The first thing was to find and cut out the pieces and figure out how to assemble them.



One touched up they were put together.
So far so good.
David B
 

ASROC Launcher

 

The kit provides 2 resin pieces and a Brittania base.



Given the large size of this item I thought it would lend itself to some scratch additions, unfortunately I got a little carried away and added about 50 pieces which is a bit much at this scale

 

Here is what the parts look like after the addition of the scratch items to include:

circular and rectangular inspection and access plates on the sides of the base
curved ladders on the front of the base
perforated I-beam stiffners on the top of the box
cooling water channels on the top of the box
drilled out the access ports on the doors where firefighting applicators could be inserted in case of a motor ignition


And here’s the completed assy after painting:

I am a complete newbie to model ship building. I've built some plastic models long ago, have painted gaming miniatures and terrain to a good standard, and have some basic carpentry and woodworking skills and tools, so blending all that together into model ship building seems approachable. For my first build, I wanted something small and simple - small so that I could be absolutely certain I'd complete it in a reasonable time, and simple so that I could concentrate on learning the basic skills well. Some web searching brought me here and also turned up a detailed tutorial on building Midwest's Flattie at themodelshipwright.com. Even though that tutorial is basically just an illustration of following the directions, it's nice to have a few extra pictures and tips. I also attended college in Annapolis (St. John's) and have spent some time on the waterways of the area, so the little Flattie speaks to me a bit. So, the Chesapeake Flattie it is! 
 
Again, a big reason for going with a small model is to focus on a doing an excellent job of the basics. So I'm especially appreciative of suggestions for improving my technique for the future. 
 
Let's get to it... here she is, fresh from Amazon:
 

 
I lay the parts out for an inventory. Everything is here, and there are no obvious miscuts or damage. I read through the first few pages of instructions thoroughly at this point, and skim the rest. Nothing too surprising or intimidating here, and I'm comfortable with the flow of the build and how the various parts should fit together. Very newbie-friendly.
 

 
I cut out the frames carefully, sand the edges lightly, and do a quick dry fit and inspection:
 

 
Some problems show up right away. Frame F4's slot is too narrow to slide on. Frame F3's slot is too wide and allows the frame to wobble. Frame F1 rides a bit too high above the top of the keel...
 

 
The quality of the die-cuts varies. Some frames are fine, but some are clearly asymmetric. F4 is the worst of the bunch - though the pic is crooked too, you can see the cuts at the bottom clearly don't match.
 

 
All of these issues are resolved easily enough with a little time, either taking off extra wood with a needle file or adding a tiny shim with CA glue and filing that down. After those adjustments, the frames match the plans well and don't show any obvious asymmetries when examined against the grid on my cutting mat. (Link to a future post about Mastini's method.) 
 
I cut the square stripwood according to the plans, trace the extended lines from the plans onto the frames, glue them in place with wood glue (applied with a paintbrush), and clamp with a micro-clamp to dry:
 

 
The frames prepped to go:
 

 
They look pretty good. You can see a jaggie at the bottom of F4 - I didn't cut the shim to the full length of the edge because it was only the outside corner that was short. I should have just done the whole length, but I think this will be fine. 
 
F1 fits the keel correctly now:
 

 
The braces on F3 and F4 are close, but not quite flush with the keel where the cabin floor will sit:
 


 
The brace for F4 just needed to be glued a tiny bit higher, but I wasn't seeing clearly at the time how the brace was going to fit with the keel. The F3 brace, on the other hand, is dead flush with the side slots, but the die cuts for those slots don't quite match up with the center one. I could try to clean this up by sanding down the keel line between those frames, or by using a shim to shorten the center frame slots. Bbut I'm not sure if it's going to matter or if that could throw off the fit of any other pieces. Suggestions welcome.
 
That's all for now. I probably won't be able to get back to building until next weekend.

Found this link Etian to another model of Annie if you have not already seen it., and thanks for the comment about my pilot cutter, I will be back working on her soon enough.
 
Michael

Thanks Dave,i think all of the kits and replica are different.I put my wales on before the second planking.

Mark, great call! Thanks. I stopped in at my favorite LHS and they didnt have any but Hobby Lobby did. $8.00/pair. They are nowhere near the quality of my "good" pair but out of the box the smallest point (they are not consistent) was 0.037" A bit of reworking and I should be good. Of course if I grumble enough the better half will get santa to bring me the good ones. 
 

 
I real quickly made one hook with the pliers straight out of the box and it looks pretty good. Maybe just a tad large. but I think I can "live " with it.
 

 
Thanks
Sam

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

David,
 
The part you are confused about is the inner superstructure wall.  You actually have the part upside down in the photo - the small panel on the far right goes to the left of the 6 in gun mount.  The second panel must be curved to fit in front of the gun mount.  Here are inboard and outboard pics of the area in question - hope these are of use to you.
 

Well, that is mixed news, to be sure. Glad to hear you survived the storm, though - coping with natural disasters can be a pain in the *** (we had to evac for a wildfire last year). Good luck on your next project!

Gentleman,
 
I have deleted Igor's hijack of this log.  And all of his posts which seem to be reflecting a pirated kit.  I'll continue to monitor just in case.  
 
Thanks for your forbearance.

If you truly wish to step back a bit, take a look at some of the kits from Midwest Products.  Their beginner's kits are designed with absolute beginners in mind, and the instructions are some of the best in the business.  Each kit includes a complete list of necessary tools.  They build into very nice models straight out of the box, but can also be super-detailed if one wishes.  Doesn't hurt that Midwest is having a 25% off promo right now, along with free U.S. shipping, making some of their kits under US$20.00.  The Chesapeake Bay Flattie is a particularly good first model.
 
Cheers!

Since I couldn't find a kit of a military Victoryship I decided to build one based on the Bluejacket kit. So far the hull is done and I'm now beavering away on the super stucture. The armament is by HR products, and the PE is by Toms Model works and Bluejacket. Have a look.   Bill in Idaho

A relatively simple, but tedious, job underway. I am making and installing the remaining gunport lids (earlier, I had done a few just to see how they would look and fit). As can be seen from the photos, I added the PE brass hinges and eyebolts only  to the lids that won't be covered by the channels. For whatever reason, the tight tolerances under the channels wouldn't allow for them (they will be completely covered and invisible in any event).
 
The lids are made from boxwood strip matching the hull planking with an inner piece painted red. The PE hinges are from the kit. The lids are pinned as well as glued for strength.
 
Next will be the channels.
 
Bob

Hey Shipmates!
 
Still at it. Tons o stuff going on round here. Sorry for the delay.
 
Okay now LEE is moving along slow but sure.  I made my first grating from walnut and cherry. I found a 4 inch table saw and I used the blade kerf and a small rip fence to make the slats. Turned out nice, not perfect but nice.
 
  As I was fairing my frames.....ugg, I would take breaks and build this or that for the ship.  I went with an older style windless as LEE was built hastily and by folks who did not have all the proper tools. I turned the barrel from maple. The pawls are of walnut as are the supports. I made the rings by sawing thin slices of brass tube then sanding to the proper size.
 
Although there is no record LEE may have had a small boat.  I almost went with a canoe but found no evidence of any involvement of local Native Americans. I did do some looking in to boats built around that time. This is an educated guess as to what it might have looked like. Fast to build and able to navigate shallow waters.  I used thin cherry to build up a bread and butter hull.  The keel, stem, and stern post are of Walnut and the interior is maple, as are the oars. Again I wen to brass tube to make the oar locks.
 
More to come my friends!!  Having a blast.  I think once LEE is built I will have acquired the needed skill to attempt a kit,,,,but we shall see.
 
 
Chief Going Deep!!     
   

Finally finished planking the deck, couldn't get hold of the same wood - annegre-, got absolutely no response from Billings, so I gave in and used the off cuts to make up the required planking. Fortunately once sanded down the joints are all but invisible.
From there I've fitted the deck trim.
 
Whilst that has being going on I have been tremendously lucky to stumble upon www.monkmanfoundries.com, spoke to a chap called Steve, who said they could cast brass propellers for me. Talk about service, sent the wooden version to them on Monday, just received today (Saturday) not one, but two castings, for the same price. Steve said that this was in case anything went wrong whilst I was polishing the finished product. What a player

It is virtually impossible to generalize about the overall quality of one kit manufacturer versus another, due in large part to the fact the kit lines are continuously evolving.  For example, Caldercraft are usually highly recommended, and, generally speaking, their kits are good.  But there is a huge difference in the amount and detail of the instructions included in Caldercraft kits between early designs, like Sherbourne or Convulsion, and later offerings such as Pickle or Badger.  Similar situation at Victory Models, where Chris Watton has gradually been able to get Amati to include more kit-specific fittings and details with each successive design.  As another example, not all of Bluejacket's offerings are in-house designs; some are older kit designs purchased from now-defunct operations (e.g. Laughing Whale).  BJ has made efforts to update some of those kits, but there are still plenty of them out there carrying the BJ label that are essentially Laughing Whale kits.  Other manufacturers (Corel comes to mind) have some kits that are regularly raved about, and other kits that are abominations (ask me about their Flying Fish kit sometime).  So, you really can't single out any manufacturer and generalize by saying their kits are good or bad.  It's usually a case of some of their kits are good, some not so good, and perhaps some are terrible.  Kit quality is almost an issue that has to be taken on a kit-by-kit basis.
 
Cheers!

It is virtually impossible to generalize about the overall quality of one kit manufacturer versus another, due in large part to the fact the kit lines are continuously evolving.  For example, Caldercraft are usually highly recommended, and, generally speaking, their kits are good.  But there is a huge difference in the amount and detail of the instructions included in Caldercraft kits between early designs, like Sherbourne or Convulsion, and later offerings such as Pickle or Badger.  Similar situation at Victory Models, where Chris Watton has gradually been able to get Amati to include more kit-specific fittings and details with each successive design.  As another example, not all of Bluejacket's offerings are in-house designs; some are older kit designs purchased from now-defunct operations (e.g. Laughing Whale).  BJ has made efforts to update some of those kits, but there are still plenty of them out there carrying the BJ label that are essentially Laughing Whale kits.  Other manufacturers (Corel comes to mind) have some kits that are regularly raved about, and other kits that are abominations (ask me about their Flying Fish kit sometime).  So, you really can't single out any manufacturer and generalize by saying their kits are good or bad.  It's usually a case of some of their kits are good, some not so good, and perhaps some are terrible.  Kit quality is almost an issue that has to be taken on a kit-by-kit basis.
 
Cheers!