ccoyle

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!

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!

Thanks Alistair. I'll see what I can do about the pictures. Now I'm struggling with the cap rails. The little bent pieces are made of tanganyika. It still was not easy to do, but it was possible with a bit of patience. Now I'm thinking about the top of the transome and what to do with it. Is there also supposed to be a cap rail?
 
 

 

 

 
 
EDIT: Missing photos reuploaded

The bowsprit..
 
The bowsprit was made from the 1/8” square stock that came with the kit.  Took the length from the plans and shaped the rounded portion by first carving the corners off and then using my portable drill as a lathe and some sandpaper to finish rounding it.  I drilled the two sheaves as described in the practicum.
 

 
 
Next I cut and glued the two jackstays to the bowsprit also as described in the practicum.   A template was made to locate the holes for the gaskets.  I decided to try and use the heavier rigging thread for the gaskets instead of the 28 gauge wire.  This is kind of hard to explain (should have taken a picture) but using just the wire from a needle threader, I first laid the thread in the threader, I then inserted the two loose ends of the wire through the bottom of the hole in the jackstay and pulled the thread through the hole a tiny bit, just enough to slide the wire off the loop.  I continued this for each hole trying to keep the loops as equal as possible.  Then repeated the procedure on the other side.
 

 
For the iron band at the outboard end of the bowsprit I made a brass band using the technique described in the Ear'd Bands - Masts, Booms, etc. post by azzoun.  After making the band I temporarily positioned it on the bowsprit and drilled two holes on either side of it for the eye bolts.  The stretching screws were made similar to what was described in the practicum.   First I drilled a hole through the toothpick, then I cut the toothpick to the length of the screw; I used 3/16”.  Next I shaped the screw with an emery board, inserting a wire through the hole to make it easier to handle.  Once the shape looked somewhat reasonable I glued the eye bolts in each end.  Three of them were made.
 

 
Once all the pieces were either blackened or painted the bowsprit was installed.  I attached the iron band and glued in the outboard eye bolts and attached the stretching screw.  I then made the gammoning iron out of brass and positioned it around the bowsprit and connected it to the stem post.  I also glued the two cleats to the inboard end of the bowsprit whose holes I had previously drilled.
 
 


 
Next I decided to try and replicate the iron fittings at the bow of the ship for the bowsprit guide, bobstay, and jib and fore stays.  I cut the pieces out of brass and filed them to a size I thought was appropriate.  To install the pieces I drill small holes in the stem post and hull and inserted nails similar to what was done for the chainplates.  The remaining stretching screws were connected to the bowsprit guy fittings on the hull and small shackles, made from 28 gauge wire, were insert in the bobstay fitting.
 
 


 
I then tried my hand at tying my first rigging line.  The footropes were simple enough, tie two knots, done.  Then I tried the bowsprit guide, OMG, whose idea of fun is this anyways, the Marquis de Sade!  One thing for sure, I now have much greater respect and admiration for all the model makers who do all that rigging.  After numerous attempts I was finally satisfied with how the bowsprit guy looked.  I’m not sure if the way I did it is "historically accurate" but in order to keep my sanity this is how I did it.  I first tied the rigging line to the eye bolt at the outboard end of the bowsprit using a simple knot.  I then threaded the other end of the line through the stretching screw and pulled it taut.  Keeping the line taut with an alligator clip holder I seized the end closed (being a glutton for punishment I figure why not try tying tiny knots while I’m at it).  I seized the line in two places, securing the knots with a little glue.  I did this for the other bowsprit guy and the bobstay.  I figure, as soon as I grow three more hands I should be able to do this with some amount of proficiency.
 


 
One question I have is that after I trimmed the line my ends were frayed.  Is this normal or is there a way to prevent this from happening or fixing it?