ccoyle

Next we'll add the searchlight (parts 45a-g).

 
First, I'll show you how to replace the paper lens (45e) with an optional clear lens (key word: optional).  Start by rolling 45 into a tube.  Next, dab one end of the open tube into some white PVA, so that a film of glue covers the entire opening.  Set that aside to dry.  In the meantime, cut out the back of the lamp housing (45b). We'll use the resulting hole in the parts sheet as a guide for cutting out a small circle of reflective material for the inside of the housing.  I used the foil-lined seal from a vitamin pill bottle - the foil is backed by paper, making it easy to glue the reflective liner to the back (interior) side of 45b.  Make sure the liner is cut slightly smaller than 45b, because 45b will sit on the tube, but the liner must fit inside the tube.  Here's the lamp housing with the optional clear lens, the foil-lined seal, and 45b with the foil liner cut to fit.

 
I didn't add louvers.  If you want those, you're on your own.
 
And here's the finished lamp housing.  I know -- exciting shot, isn't it?

 
The searchlight mount (45a, c, f, and g) is a straightforward assembly, although once again it has some pretty small parts.  Just work patiently and make sure you hold the parts over your work place.  Up to this point I have dropped a couple of the smallest parts on the floor, and during the ensuing searches I found dirt particles on the floor that were larger than the parts.

 
Attach the lamp housing to the mount (the sides of the brackets, 45c, should reach slightly past the small box, 45e, and up onto the sides of the lamp housing), and then glue the mount to the top of the bridge.

 
Let there be light!
 

The first thing you need to ascertain is which Herreshoff kit are you building?  The Boy's Boat is one of the designs BJ acquired when they purchased the old Laughing Whale company years ago.  Since then, BJ has updated some of the Laughing Whale designs, but (to the best of my knowledge) not all of them.  The old Laughing Whale kit was not true to the original Herreshoff design, in that the kit uses the typical POB construction method (like in your Midwest lobster smack), and this will be plainly visible on the finished model.  I used to have the Laughing Whale version years ago, and the only thing I can dimly remember that might have been caution-worthy is that the number of bulkheads was on the small side, with extensions that could probably be snapped off somewhat easily, but this is true for many small boat kits.  Other than that, the materials were good.  The instructions were sparse - nothing like what you would get in a Midwest kit, for example.  BJ do have a good reputation for customer support, so if you ran into difficulties you could most likely get help from them. 

The first thing you need to ascertain is which Herreshoff kit are you building?  The Boy's Boat is one of the designs BJ acquired when they purchased the old Laughing Whale company years ago.  Since then, BJ has updated some of the Laughing Whale designs, but (to the best of my knowledge) not all of them.  The old Laughing Whale kit was not true to the original Herreshoff design, in that the kit uses the typical POB construction method (like in your Midwest lobster smack), and this will be plainly visible on the finished model.  I used to have the Laughing Whale version years ago, and the only thing I can dimly remember that might have been caution-worthy is that the number of bulkheads was on the small side, with extensions that could probably be snapped off somewhat easily, but this is true for many small boat kits.  Other than that, the materials were good.  The instructions were sparse - nothing like what you would get in a Midwest kit, for example.  BJ do have a good reputation for customer support, so if you ran into difficulties you could most likely get help from them. 

And finally, a few dabs of touch-up paint here and there, and a careful separation of the model from its working base (sliding mono-filament line between the two does the trick neatly), and V108 is done, done, done!



 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I have enjoyed creating it.  I really, really hope that at least a few of you will be emboldened by this little treatise to step out and try a card model of your own.  Let's see what you can do!

I love the barkentine rig!  It's one of my favorites.

Thanks everyone for the comments!
 
Kevin- I am using the KA Models Mk1 superset and Eduard PE; there are plently of duplicates but they do compliment each other fairly well; the Eduard set contains many details KA missed and vice-versa.
 
Foremast- I am airbrushing the superstructure with Model Master "Lichtrgrau" acryl and steel decks with Tamiya medium grey. The hull above the waterline is rattlecan Model master "Navy agressor grey" and below is Tamiya Guards Red (I think).
 
I have still been puttering along with her; I got the docking wings on along with may other details (with plenty more to go!)
 

 

 
I also am about 2/3rds through building all the AA guns:
 

 

 

There are two types of sellers....
 
1. Model Builders who just have some second hand tools, kits, etc and wish to sell them to other hobbyists.   You must be a member in good standing at MSW to post stuff for sale if you are in this category.....You must have 25 or posts on MSW as a member in good standing to post stuff for sale.
 
2. Commercial business....online stores  No advertising/self promotion is allowed on the forum.   If your business is interested in posting about your products or services, please contact admin (Chuck) about becoming a sponsor of this site.  As a sponsor you will be able to promote your products and services here in the the traders and dealers area as well as have a banner linked to your website along the right side of the forums main page.  Unless you are a sponsor of this site, All commercial business promotion is forbidden without permission from the administrators.
 
 
Those in category one......Please read.......If you wish to sell something here on MSW, please read and follow the rules given. We're not, by nature, a suspicious bunch. But over the years here and in other forums, people with something to sell have come in and offered various and sundry items. Not all have been honest. So please, follow these guidelines so that everyone has a pleasant experience.  You must have been a member that has 25 posts before you can post a topic in this forum.   
 
1) Post some pictures of the item.
2) Offer to give your phone number via PM.
3) Offer Paypal or some other secure transaction method.
4) Provide a price (given the different currencies, put the price in your currency).
5) Be sure to post your real name, location by city and country.
6) Do not post personal data such as addresses, emails, etc.  You will probably get spammed, etc. as this forum can be read by anyone including miscreants. 
 
Lastly, expect questions and do answer them.

Norman - although I found them to be the devil to assemble and paint, I'm glad I tried.  Next ship I'd like to do a few more cannons which I enjoyed making up quite a bit more.
 
 
Stergios - the deck blocks were the first thing I glued, sliding beds were then attached to these (with supplied painted brass wire and CA glue).
 
Little bit of progress on carronades, prob won't post more until I've made some progress on slide tackles.  Planking under capstan is made from walnut strips rather than the ply part supplied.  Mizzen pinrails still need a fair amount of tidying up and not fixed.  Not much deck space left at the stern!
 

Hello friends,
 
Good news, the Admiral, Gwen, made it back home safe.  She left at 05:50 from Coraopolis, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh) and pulled in dockside at the shipyard at 18:40, 13 hours on the nose for 900 miles.
Needles to say I had very little time to devote on ship building in the last few days, lost of little chores and talking.  She wanted me to cut off the nut branches of our queen palms.  A messy job.
Even so, I managed to do some work on the O 19 sub this afternoon.
 
So this evening a like to add a few more pics of the sloop.  I have only one picture of the planking, I figured all y'all know how to plank boats and ships and besides, there is a great tutorial right here on MSW.
I used a little unorthodox method as you'll see but it worked for me.  The white strings you see are aircraft rib stitching cord, left over from my previous life as antique aircraft restorer.  Yes, I also used clothe pins clamping the planks to the ribs and large C clamps.  The cord also ensured a nice close seam.
It's obvious that I didn't really follow the planking tutorial, I wanted the hull closed quickly and was not too concerned in following the standard practice, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a bad boy     
I figured that it's going to be painted anyway so why "wasting" so much time.  I learned enough for the next planned project, the VOC ship "Surabaya."  Which btw worked out just fine.
 
Oaky, the pics will tell the story.
 

One of the stages of planking in progress.  
 

Starboard view of the planking completed.  Some sanding was started.  Here I had not yet lowered the tops of the cabin bulkheads.
 

Port view of the completed planking.  Some sanding was started and you can see that I added some wood filler in spots.  
 

Top view of planked hull. I also completed gluing in the cabin deck planks.  The forecastle access door is clearly visible and I framed the forecastle hatch and mast holes.
 

Bow view of planked hull.  You can see that I added a little filler where the planks met the rabbet, it was a little rough.  This and the following picture were taken after I cut down the tops of the cabin bulkheads.  It proved to have been the right decision.  
 

Stern view of the planked hull.  This shows the cut down bulkheads really well.  I had to use just a little filler on the transom.  Overall I had to use very little filler, Everything flowed quite nicely.
 
Cheers,

Thank you all for your like votes.
 
I shall not bother showing the temporary placement of all the frames, you've seen one then you've seen all    There were two frames I had to remake because I found out later when putting the shear batten on I must cut them on the wrong pencil line.  
 
There are several pictures I forgot to make in the build op to this stage.  At this stage I had made the forecastle bulkhead and all the other cabin bulkheads .  As mentioned in a previous post that I made my own plywood from cherry veneer.  I made 1/8 inch for the bulkheads and 1/16 inch plywood for the interior paneling and bunks. 
 
I also made an access door in the forecastle bulkhead to the sail locker where the generator with the fuel tank and potable water tank are.  The door works.
 

View from the stern with all bulkheads installed.  The cabin deck planking was also glued in and you may see part of the forecastle door.  looking at this pic and the next one from the bow I thought that the cabin roof seemed to be a little too high.  It just didn't look right to me.  You'll notice in future installments that I cut them down a little.   Oh, there were a few other changes I made like adding small cupboards in the galley where the oval openings are.  
 

View from the bow.  This pic really shows my displeasure with the hight of the cabin bulkheads.   
 

An aerial view.  Here you can clearly see the door in the forecastle.  The head, cabin and galley deck are on the same level.  Right behind the forecastle bulkhead is the head and wash room.  There will be a curtain for privacy.  The opening in the deck framing ahead of the forecastle bulkhead is for the sail locker hatch and the mast.
 

Port side side view.  In retrospect I could have made the stern deadwood a little higher but it worked out okay with the frames extended.  If or when I'll remake this model in a larger scale I'll certainly will do that.
 
Cheers, 

Hello my friends,
 
I made some progress again  
 
The galion is finished. I had to make some improvements because of dimensions of parts, but it quite fits.
The rest of wales on upper parts is glued also ( so all of them are there finally  )
As the next part I´ve just started balcony - it will be reconstructed - I don´t like the graphics used by shipyard on this parts ( and, by the way, there is something different on the picture at the front of the kit  ). As surface finish I used strips of foil. Now I have to produce all of ornaments ( letters E and R, fleurs de lis and flowers ). Why do not complicate some things.    I tried to check dimensions of it with the ship - it fits.
 
 
Jan

 

Matti: yes, it looks
 
I glued the keel on the ship finally. Now I can to do some color improvements on the hull. Momentary I´m working on handrails
 
Jan

I've started making treenails, using cut off and sharpened at the end hypodermic needle. Needle needs to be only gently pressed to the veneer and twisted several times.

     

And finally, a few dabs of touch-up paint here and there, and a careful separation of the model from its working base (sliding mono-filament line between the two does the trick neatly), and V108 is done, done, done!



 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I have enjoyed creating it.  I really, really hope that at least a few of you will be emboldened by this little treatise to step out and try a card model of your own.  Let's see what you can do!

Thank you very much for your kind words B.E., Ferit and Bob.
 
This afternoon I've painted the masts.
 

 

Just fabulous Chris. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to post this excellent tutorial.

And finally, a few dabs of touch-up paint here and there, and a careful separation of the model from its working base (sliding mono-filament line between the two does the trick neatly), and V108 is done, done, done!



 
I hope you have enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I have enjoyed creating it.  I really, really hope that at least a few of you will be emboldened by this little treatise to step out and try a card model of your own.  Let's see what you can do!

ccoyle, absolutely fantastic.

Regards,
 
Alexandru

Generally speaking, card model parts are numbered in the sequence in which the designer intended they be assembled, but it doesn't always make sense to follow this sequence.  For example, if we follow the part number sequence on this model, the forecastle deck (13) would be followed by the hull side skins (14) ('skin' is the card modeling term for any large outer part that covers the internal frame 'skeleton'), and finally the stern skin (15).  This is a bad sequence for several reasons.  First, there are parts that go under the forecastle deck, and it makes more sense to install these before adding the deck.  Second, the stern should be skinned first, for reasons I'll explain later.  Stuff like this is why the diagrams and parts sequence should be studied and pondered before doing any assembly.
 
Now, look carefully at the parts sheet where the hull skins are printed (parts 14-16).  Parts 16a and 16b are optional rubbing strips; these features are already printed on parts 14 and 15, but by adding the optional strips, you give your model a little hint of depth.  This technique is called 'doubling', because you're doubling the thickness of the part.  You need to decide now whether to add parts 16, because adding them later will be a huge headache.

 
Either way you decide, there is something very important to take note of in the way the parts are laid out on the page.  Notice that if you cut out the parts in the numbered sequence, i.e., parts 14 first, parts 15 and 16 will be left on a narrow strip.  If you then continue to cut out part 15, parts 16 will be left on even narrower strips.  This is very bad.  If you then continue to cut out parts 16, the narrow strips will want to splay away from your blade as you cut, and this makes cutting long, thin parts from narrow strips of parts sheet unnecessarily difficult.  To do the job right, ignore the numbering sequence and cut out the parts from the outside edge of the sheet and work towards the center.  Thus, the cutting sequence should be 14L, 16b, 16a, 15, the other 16a, the other 16b, and finally 14R.  Work carefully and note that some of the edges are not entirely straight, but slightly curved.
 
I'm going to show you the assembly sequence with the rubbing strips included.  These need to be added to hull skins before the skins are attached to the model.  Start by coloring the edges of all the hull skin parts.  Part of the inside of 14L and 14R will need to be colored where the bulwark extends slightly aft of the forecastle -- this inside portion will be visible on the finished model.  I also color the top inside edge of each hull skin just in case it extends ever so slightly higher than the hull frames. 
 
We're going to start skinning with part 15 and work forward, and here's why: If you start with 14L and 14R and work aft, if any error creeps in, the resulting gap will be somewhere amidships.  If you start with part 15 at the stern and work forward, any error creep will be at the bow, and fixing that problem at the bow (if it occurs at all) is easier than fixing it amidships.
 
Here's part 15 and one of its two rubbing strips (16b):

 
Use a fine-tipped paint brush to apply a thin layer of glue to half  the length of the rubbing strip, and then carefully fix it to part 15; when that's completed to your satisfaction, repeat the process with the remaining half of the rubbing strip.  In the following picture, you can see part 15 with the rubbing strip added on the left, but no strip added yet on the right -- you can judge for yourself whether the extra effort is worth it or not.

 
Next we'll tackle applying a skin to the hull!

Fantastic tutorial Chris, I've really enjoyed following your progress.

Chris,
 
As ever your log is very informative and interesting. This is producing a superb model.
 
Love the reflection of the ship in the glass in the first photo of posting number 10 - could almost be on water.

So, how do our thread railings look on the model?  Judge for yourself:

 
Adding the railings consists of measuring off the right length of railing to add, adding any extra stanchions that might be needed due to cutting to length, and gluing the railings to the model.  I use PVA for straight sections and CA where necessary to tack down any sharp curves.  I brush the PVA onto the deck where the railing goes, not to the railing itself - these springy railings are a great way to spread unwanted glue on your model.
 
Here's the finished forecastle railings:


 
The forward flagstaff is a short length of wire.
 
Anywhere there are angled bends in the railings, I prefer to cut the railing at the joint and glue down two separate panels.  Unlike photo-etched metal or card, thread does not like to make nice, crisp bends.

So, how do our thread railings look on the model?  Judge for yourself:

 
Adding the railings consists of measuring off the right length of railing to add, adding any extra stanchions that might be needed due to cutting to length, and gluing the railings to the model.  I use PVA for straight sections and CA where necessary to tack down any sharp curves.  I brush the PVA onto the deck where the railing goes, not to the railing itself - these springy railings are a great way to spread unwanted glue on your model.
 
Here's the finished forecastle railings:


 
The forward flagstaff is a short length of wire.
 
Anywhere there are angled bends in the railings, I prefer to cut the railing at the joint and glue down two separate panels.  Unlike photo-etched metal or card, thread does not like to make nice, crisp bends.

The Digital Navy V108 kit does not, with a few exceptions such as the bridge wings, include railings for the model, nor does it include any templates for railings.  But hey, it's a free model, so we won't complain too much, right?
 
But that doesn't mean you can't add railings.  Railings add a lot of subtle visual appeal to a card model, and there are four ways you can add them: 1) made from paper, much as the bridge wing railings (these create the illusion of open railings); 2) after-market laser-cut railings (to my eye these are overly stout-looking, but they come pre-cut obviously, and that's worth something); 3) photo-etched railings (the best-looking and also most expensive option); or 4) thread railings.  I'm going to show you how to do option #4.
 
Start by downloading the free railings template at Paper Shipwright.  You'll have to go through the whole checkout procedure, but relax - you don't get charged anything for the transaction.  The Paper Shipwright template is in 1/250 scale, so you'll need to scale it up for 1/200 by printing at 125% of the original.  At that size, you won't be able to print the template on one sheet of paper.  What you do absolutely need is both ends of the template; I managed this by printing two copies of the template in landscape mode. 

(L to R: full-sized template, middle portion enlarged 125%, two copies at 125% printed in landscape mode.)
 
Next you'll need to glue the templates onto some heavy-duty cardboard.  I found that a case for liquid fabric softener worked well -- it's very rigid, because of course liquids are heavy.  Use spray adhesive to glue down the templates.  In this picture you can see that I've spliced the two landscape-mode copies together to make a single template.  There's also a thread ladder template, which I won't be demonstrating, but which works in principle exactly like the railings template.

 
Next, remove the center portion of the template.

 
You're now ready to start wrapping thread.  I use quilting thread, but regular thread will also work.
 
The template works like this:  At each end are tic marks labelled two rail, three rail, and four rail.  These are the marks you will use to align the railing threads.  Notice that the two-rail marks actually consist of three marks - the bottom 'rail' is actually used to mount the railing to the model and doesn't count as one of the real-life rails.
 
On opposite sides of the template are drawn railings with the stanchions spaced at different intervals.  The smallest interval is about 5.5 mm.  The stanchion locator marks on the model are 6 mm apart.  I don't know about you, but I'm not going to nit-pick over 0.5 mm, so I used the 5.5 mm spacing.
 
Start by wrapping the rails first.  Use some tape to secure the thread right on top of the tic marks.  Go ahead and use all four sets of two-rail marks - you'll get four lengths of railing as a result.

 
When the rails are done, cut the thread and secure the end with tape, taking care to ensure the thread stays taut and properly positioned.  Next, add the stanchions in the same fashion.  You have to kind of train yourself to concentrate only on the stanchion interval you want to use, otherwise you wind up with irregularly spaced stanchions.  You can cut off the other stanchion spacing guides if you find them too distracting.


 
When all the rails and stanchions are wound, it's time to secure the joints by giving the entire railing set a coat of diluted white PVA glue.  You can also try medium-cure CA, which will make the railings stiffer.  I didn't use CA this time around because my bottle of medium-cure is on the old side and is more like medium-slow, which is too viscous for this job.  Before brushing on the glue, I find it helpful to add some tension to the railings by sliding a piece of dowel or strip wood under the rail threads at either end of the template; this will push the rails up and against the stanchions.  After the glue dries thoroughly, you can paint the railings in any manner you choose.  I use gray spray primer.  One thing to take note of here is that any thread will have some fuzz on it.  Quilting thread has less fuzz, but it still has it.  Spray painting causes build-up on the fuzz, and too many coats can make this build-up unsightly.  It helps to pick off as much of the fuzz as you can before and/or after painting.
 
When the paint is dry, you can remove the finished railings from the template.   Here's my set:

 
At this scale and template length, I got about four feet of railing, which should be more than enough to do the model, even if I mess up on some and have to try again.