vossy

Really looking forward to following this new project of yours Eric. Just love the picture of her at the beginning of the thread.
 
Chris
 

Really looking forward to following this new project of yours Eric. Just love the picture of her at the beginning of the thread.
 
Chris
 

Really looking forward to following this new project of yours Eric. Just love the picture of her at the beginning of the thread.
 
Chris
 

Really looking forward to following this new project of yours Eric. Just love the picture of her at the beginning of the thread.
 
Chris
 

Hey Mike, perhaps if you post a few pics and outline your problem we may be able to offer more help.
 
Cheers
 
Chris
 

Thanks guys for the explanation. 
 
chris
 

Hi all, hope this isn't a captain obvious question, but why are the river boats called packets?
 
thanks
chris
 

Hi all, hope this isn't a captain obvious question, but why are the river boats called packets?
 
thanks
chris
 

Thanks guys for the explanation. 
 
chris
 

Thanks guys for the explanation. 
 
chris
 

Hi all, hope this isn't a captain obvious question, but why are the river boats called packets?
 
thanks
chris
 

BlueJacket Shipcrafters seems to be under-represented in build logs on MSW, despite their reputation as a quality American model company that’s been in business a very long time. I recently completed their Lobster Boat kit and thought I’d write up a quick review, as there aren’t any build logs for this kit on MSW (I didn’t do a log myself as I wanted a break from documenting model work and intended this to be a relatively quick, relaxing build). Overall, I enjoyed building this kit, though there were a few things future builders might consider.

Above is my finished model, built and named for my mother, who has long loved Maine, especially the Schoodic Peninsula. The number boards commemorate this year's birthday, when she'll receive this model. It's finished in the same green and white color as my current house.
 
Positives:
Good-quality materials. All the wood was solid and easy to work with, and the castings were clean and straightforward. Clear and accurate plans. These matched the kit’s parts and were helpful as a reference. I could have used them to scratchbuild this without the instructions or materials. Not too complicated. The kit might be tough for a complete beginner as it assumes a bit of knowledge, but almost anyone could figure these bits out and it’s pretty straightforward overall. It doesn’t have a lot of detail, which I think is good as it keeps the cost down and lets you choose whether you want to invest the time and money into creating a more detailed custom version. Concerns:
The written instruction booklet is less than ideal. The black-and-white photos are very grainy and make it difficult to see any useful detail. For example, I was essentially unable to determine the planking pattern used because the photo was so blurry. Also, the text is presented in a long, linear block that could really use better organization and editing. Photos and drawings are often placed nowhere near their relevant text, resulting in lots of flipping back and forth trying to make sense of a given step. There is some "curse of knowledge" in places, where the instructions refer to a given part without defining what that is in real life or providing a clear diagram or label for the model. Bow design. The kit’s default is to use a large carved block at the bow, rather than planking all the way to the stem.  With no experience, I had a very hard time carving and shaping this properly and finally gave up and reverted to planking the whole hull, something I have more experience in. That may just be my own problem, but it’s something a beginner should consider. Also, the added material needed to plank the whole hull (rather than just up to the bow block) meant that I exhausted the kit material and had to use a few pieces of my own scrap to complete the work. Beware of this potential if you decide to fully plank the hull rather than carving the bow. A few oddities in the proper fit and size of pieces. For example, several of the hull frames really didn’t line up with the others, requiring me to add a 1/8” strip along the frame to match the flow of the planking or to carve/sand away material. Some of the cabin pieces also needed significant sanding or additions to form up properly. None of this was particularly difficult, but did mean that builders should be careful to check everything before gluing. For example, see the following two photos:
In the photo above, note that the run of lower planking really bows upward at the third frame from the stern. I somehow missed this when checking my fairing and planking run. It isn't really noticeable on the finished model because both the paint and position hide it from clear view, but this clearly needed extra material added to the frame.

In the photo above, you can see the thickness of extra material I needed to add to both sides of the second frame from the bow to match the natural flow of the planks. It's more obvious on the right side due to the shadow effect, but it's the same for both. The fourth frame from the bow has similar material attached to widen it, while other frames needed to be sanded down by a similar margin. Getting a smooth run of planking was more work than I expected, though not particularly difficult.
 
Here are two more photos of the completed model from various perspectives:


Overall, I certainly recommend this model as a fun build. True beginners should be cautious and would benefit from carefully thinking through every step, test-fitting everything, and doing some research on the side to understand certain aspects of kit-building that are taken for granted by the instructions. Although I mildly criticize the instructions and a few parts above, they were still far better than those of the Corel Ranger that I built before this. Overall, the concerns were minor and easily dealt with by common sense and careful work, and the result is a quite attractive model (in my humble opinion). It has a lot of potential for adding extra detail if you really want a realistic appearance; for my mother, I was happy with a representative model that captures the feel of these iconic American work boats without much fuss. This was my first BlueJacket kit and I would definitely purchase another.

Fantastic feature Dan. Very helpful. Thank you and the team.
 
Chris
 

Fantastic feature Dan. Very helpful. Thank you and the team.
 
Chris
 

Fantastic feature Dan. Very helpful. Thank you and the team.
 
Chris
 

This is really impressive mate! I have this kit along with all the PE. One day I will get around to doing it! lol
 
Chris
 

This is really impressive mate! I have this kit along with all the PE. One day I will get around to doing it! lol
 
Chris
 

This is really impressive mate! I have this kit along with all the PE. One day I will get around to doing it! lol
 
Chris
 

This is really impressive mate! I have this kit along with all the PE. One day I will get around to doing it! lol
 
Chris
 

Today I finally start on the super structure. and  A photo of some photo etch.
first I have to drill out the portholes and sand away all ladders and anything else the photo etch will replace.

Maybe not one for the developers or manufactures, but in this hobby as general, I for one would love to see more affordable display cases. We spend $1000,s on the model, only to find they can very easily become super dust collectors because we cant afford/don't want to, spend the same amount on a display case.
 

Well I've done my 25 posts, so I have earned the right to put my 2 cents worth in...lol
How about we modularize some of the big ships. We buy a stage 1 of, for example, the Victory.
It keeps the cost down, we can see how we go (less wastage if we crash & burn) and 90% into the build there is a red flag in the instruction: "Stop here and purchase stage 2 to continue with the kit" or finish it off with the last 10% of instructions.
The trick is to allow each stage to finish into a presentable model. People without space can decide to end up with a beautiful finished hull without full masts and rigging.
Stage 1 can be the basic hull, stage 2 adds deck furniture, more carronades, etc, stage 3, masts with basic standing rigging, stage 4, full rigging, stage 5 sails, flags, etc.
And most importantly, it keeps the admiral at bay when you only spent 25% of the ship per year. You can make it an annual birthday present....

Yeah these look good. Shipping to OZ is a bit expensive but I really want fancy ladies and dandy gentlemen strolling the uppers. Thanks for the link.
 
Chris
 

Eric, those are exactly the sort of figures I am looking for, however these appear to be in HO scale, which if I'm correct is a lot bigger than O scale??? If this is the case I reckon these maybe too large. Certainly O scale at 1:48 would be acceptable, but not sure about HO scale.
 
Chris
 

Hey Eric, your Bertrand is truly beautiful. Haven't actually read much of your log yet, just mainly looked at the pics. Am pretty sold on the idea of painting the hull white now. Bit of a shame to cover the lovely wood, but perhaps if I thin the paint a bit the grain will still show through somewhat. I really like your little people figures in your build. I have been trying to source some for this build in the right scale (1:50), and time period, but I haven't really had much luck. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
Chris