UpstateNY

HI All,
 
Last few evenings I spent entertaining myself trying to learn to carve.  The idea of those stickers has been rather bugging me!
 
Process I used was to just photocopy the stickers and glue them onto a basswood sheet. I then just slowly chipped out the wood around the pattern until it released. Then using the sticker as a guide, I slowly added in some basic detail using my smallest knife and different shaped needle files.  Seems that the basic process will work, but I will need a lot of practice before I can make something that will be clean enough to use.  Practice makes perfect as always I guess!
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
  Continue to enjoy putting the decking furniture together. Large and small windlasses are assembled, with the next step being to drill the holes for the various bars.  Mizzen and main mast bitts were also assembled.   My first try at a ladder however leaves a lot to be desired! I’ve no idea how I got the fourth tread so badly misaligned after getting the first three to look reasonable, especially as the side supports had laser cut grooves. Some corrective surgery is called for!  At least the second ladder looks better…I now need to figure out how to add some handrails.   I also started to look at the ships boat which is just a piece of rough machine carved basswood w some plywood bow and stern end pieces  Um….so I've taken a couple of tries at making a small keel to learn how to build something from scratch. Not good enough yet, but still fun.   The other entertaining item is the bow and stern decorations are.....stickers! Looks like Iearning how to carve is in my future….   Enjoy your weekend everyone!    Cheers   Nigel.                      

Hi All,
  Most of the time this week has been spent scrapping all the surfaces to remove any residual glue. This residue seems to show up as a lighter film after the poly is applied and was especially noticeable on the darker walnut trim. Still seem to be a few lighter areas which need some work, but finish is looking a lot more even now. The bulwark and stern tree nailing was also finished off before a few coats of wipe on poly per applied w steel wool being used to lightly smooth down the surfaces between coats.   I then made a start on the fun decking stuff....nothing is glued in yet, they are just placed on the deck to see how they are looking. The deck supports for the masts and rear flag pole were sanded and poly’ed.  Deck hatch covers were made up and also poly'ed, but I’ll probably have to redo these as the planking lines look a bit uneven. Finally I made a prototype of the poop deck mizzen capstan. I still have to drill the dowel to attach the brass capstan bars. Looks like it is time to order the brass blackening solution now.   Thumbnails below and as usual thanks for reading and the likes.   Cheers,   Nigel.          

Progress this week has been slowing down as weather has been great so the outside was the place to be. The bosun was very happy about this given he now has his favorite ball back after it emerged from one of the final snow drifts so there's been a lot of ball throwing this weekend! 
 
That being said, the starboard side and final bow trim has now been completed. Next week there will be a lot of clean up before the final coats of poly are applied to the hull and decks before starting on all the fun deck items.
 
So the usual pictures are below and as always thanks for reading and of course for the likes.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 

 

 

Hi All,
  A small update this week as I continue to work on the starboard bulwark. The inboard and outboard planking has been completed and rear walnut trim applied to the stern. This then allowed the underside trim on the stern to be completed to finally link the port and starboard sides.   A small celebration here as the last of the winter snow in the yard has finally melted today and there is a new color appearing on the ground - I think it is called green! The outside beckons!     Thanks to all for reading and of course for the likes and comments.  All are much appreciated.   Cheers,   Nigel.          

Here you go Augie...couldn't resist doing the other rail!
 
Now I have to get to the point I can actually glue it on! Hopefully it won't completely spring back over the next week or so!
 
Back to planking! 
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi All,

A little more progress has been made to finally complete the port bulkwark. Outer basswood planks were first treenailed using the drill and fill method in the same way as the decking. The inside of the bulwark was then also planked with basswood to help hide all the treenail holes!

3x3mm walnut strips were then cut, sanded to match the waterway thickness and finally glued to the planking to make some dummy frames.  The dummy frames were aligned to the joints in the decking. Making these frames took me a long time as each frame had to be individually fitted to match the hull and deck shape correctly. I usually needed several attempts at sanding the angles correctly before each dummy frame fitted at least reasonably well.

Walnut strips were as usual heat formed to shape the fore and aft gunwales. The bow curves especially took repeated heating before I could match the hull shape. Some edge bending was also needed to get the strip to lay correctly on the frame tops. Aft gunwale was made in pieces in the end as even with heat, I kept breaking the strip at the sharp transition to the poop deck.

As usual a few thumbnails are below. After some final cleanup, the starboard bulwark is up next.

Cheers,

Nigel.
 

 

 

 

 

Hi All,

So, continuing to add the detail to the outside of the port bulwark. I am using walnut which I hope makes a nice contrast against the basswood planking. Much this work is not actually in the plans, but it is a lot of fun adding it in. Heartstopping moments  were as I cut in the entrance using a fine razor saw, but all went well with only some fine scratching of the decking I can easily finish out. I then detailed the entrance using various sizes of walnut strips. I thought I was done on the entrance, but the macro shot shows I have a lot of clean up still left to do! The underside of the port bulkwark is also completed with the last strip now glued on to finish the bottom surface of the ply bulkwark. All the strips were as usual heat formed to shape.

Next steps are to treenail the bulwark outer planking (you can see my setup pencil marks in some shots) before starting to finish the inside of the port bulwark.

As usual thanks for reading and for the “likes”. They are much appreciated.

Cheers,

Nigel.
 
 

Hi All,
  So over the weekend, I managed to attach the bulkwarks. Once more Chuck’s heat technique helped to preform the bulwarks, but I found I needed to slightly overbend the ply to hit the needed shape as it wanted to spring back more than the solid walnut I used for the main deck waterways. Port bulwark was then planked on the outside in basswood using the same 4 shift pattern as used for the deck, trying to match up the joints to the decking lines. Finally, I added the poop deck walnut rubbing strakes and waterways again heating them to preshape. Feels good to be finally starting to add some of the deck details.    Thumbnails attached below and as usual thanks for reading.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Hi All,
  Only a quick update, but here is my first attempt at using Chuck’s edge bending technique as demo’ed in the video in his awesome Cutter Cheerful build log. Link below.   http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8131-hm-cutter-cheerful-1806-148-scale-by-chuck/page-22   The waterways (2x3mm walnut) on the Dragon need to be edge curved to match the deck shape. I used the cutoff from the laser cut deck sheet to draw out the shape of the deck and then clamped the strip to form the needed shape. As the Admiral’s hairdryer was off limits ( ), I used the Captain’s embossing heat tool to heat the walnut gently for about 5 minutes, keeping the heat tool moving all the time. After allowing the strip to cool for 30 mins, I released the clamps and the strip matched the needed shape pretty well. A minute of light pressure until the wood glue tacked up and done with no clamping needed.   Wonderful tip…thank you Chuck!   Thumbnails below. Apologies for the image ordering...uploads aren't working correctly for me right now.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Thanks Augie!
 
So, I made a little more progress this weekend on the Dragon.
  The cabin has been assembled, planked and treenailed.  I then skipped ahead of the instructions to complete the rudder. This allowed me to use the rudder assembly to set the correct angle and placement of the rudder post holes through the main and cabin decks. I did this now as didn't like the idea of drilling these large holes with the model largely assembled. I also marked the gluing location of the cabin on the main deck while I had the rudder clamped in position. The cabin was then glued onto the main deck.   She is slowly starting to take shape and some photos are below. Next step is now to start assembling the upper bulwarks.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Hi All,
  Firstly thanks to John and Carmelo for the kind words and to all for the likes…much appreciated.    Carmelo, there was no worry on my part about your picture…I am looking forward to seeing your progress on your Dragon!   As for my build, I’ve managed to finish the hull tree nailing. I used a dark walnut filler to try to get the treenails to stand out against the sapelli planking.  They don't show up strongly, but in the right light they are visible.   I also finished planking the underside of the deck and added some walnut strips to look like support beams, lining them up with the planking joints. The plans don’t call for this and almost none of this work will be visible after the bulwarks go on.  For reason I feel better knowing the underside of the deck is finished to match the top!    Anyway thumbnails below and next up is attaching the cabin and the upper bulwarks.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Hi All,
  Well, been busy learning how to treenail on the deck! I used my Dremel with a #74 bit in the small Dremel drill press. I had a lot of problems with consistency as I found it hard to see the tiny bit as it approached the deck. I then found I could hit the pencil marks more consistently if I also watched the shadow of the drill bit approach the mark using a light shining at an angle from side.    The holes were then filled with a light colored filler, sanded smooth and then several coats of WOP were applied with steel wool being used to lightly smooth the finish between each coat.  The final treenail effect is quite subtle at normal viewing distances. Hopefully most of my errors will be hidden under the different deck fittings. I’ll just have to make a few buckets, barrels and boxes to cover anything that is still visible!    One fun item is I’ve started on replacing some of the rough laser cut wood plywood pieces that will be very visible. Below is my current effort to build the forward brace in walnut. I still have to completely match the depths of the small cutouts on the top surface, but getting close.   Pictures and below and as usual thanks for reading. Next up..hull treenailing!   Cheers,   Nigel.  

I was able to spend a bit more time than usual in the shipyard over the past week or so and so made a bit of progress. 
  The walnut keel, bow and stern pieces have been attached. Plans and photos in the kit didn't seem show a stern piece, but the model looked a bit odd to me without it.   The deck was then attached and I drilled some holes into the plywood keel through the mast holes and made some mast support rods from some small nails. I thought this would be easier now before the decking was done. I am hoping these rods make attaching the masts at the correct angles easier down the road.   Finally, the deck planking was completed. This went faster than I expected. I used an HB pencil to line one side of each plank to simulate the caulking. After the first light sanding, the planking pattern seems to be standing out fairly well.    Thumbnails below.  May be time to dig out the SLR rather than just use my phone camera so the details are clearer.   Cheers,   Nigel.

Another small milestone as the second planking is now done. Hull was sanded down with 320 sandpaper and then finished with some wire wool before cleaning things up with a soft cloth which also put a bit of shine onto the hull. Planking pattern is now a bit more visible.
 
Next time I’ll use 400 sandpaper to do the finish sanding as I found the thin walnut veneer was very prone to light splintering at the edges. Not sure if this is a normal or just because the wood had been in the kit drying out for years. Anyway time for a small celebration with a large single malt as I am rather happy to have completed the planking!
  Next steps are to attach the keel pieces and then treenail once my small drill bits arrive as my smallest 1/32in bit looks too big. Will then put a few light coats of wipe on poly on the hull to protect it during the decking work to come.   Anyway, so far so good and thumbnails are below. As always, thanks for reading.
  Thanks,   Nigel.  

A short update as one side of the Dragon now has the second walnut planking layer completed and lightly sanded down. Taking my time as the walnut strips in the kit are so thin, I am worried I could sand through them if I leave any rough spots during the second planking.
  Overall pretty happy with the results other than the planking shift pattern isn’t very visible in spite of cutting each plank from a different strip to avoid matching the grain patterns. I  am hoping a few thin coats of matt polyurethane with more sanding will give me a nice finish and hopefully show the planking pattern more clearly.    Cheers,   Nigel.  

I spent some time planning the decking and 2nd hull planking layout. General theme in many logs is that looking ahead a few steps can help avoid problems down the road so taking that on board.
  I like the idea of using a 4 shift pattern on the deck and hull using 4in planks. I realized the Dragon doesn’t come with frames that extend above the deck to help me set the decking pattern. I will need to add these false frames and measuring things off it seems spacing them at 1in intervals should work, while still avoiding the cutouts for the cannon’s and so on.    The next question was how to transfer this frame spacing down onto the hull.  Took some trial and error, but best method I found was to transfer each frame position using the deck marks onto the top plank and the keel. I then traced the frame line along some string stretched tightly between the marks on the top plank and keel to follow the curve of the hull.     I expect there is an easier way to do this (please let me know!), but the resulting lines don’t look too bad to me. They will at least let me cut each plank to the correct length. These planks will often be longer than 4in due to the hull curvature.
Thumbnails below and thanks for reading.   Cheers,   Nigel.  

Thank you Augie and Theo for the kind comments. We actually dodged most of the storm up here, only got about 6 inches. Hope everyone further east in New England is doing OK.   So, a small milestone as the first planking is now complete and the hull sanded. Elbow grease was applied per Augie’s recommendation so things are a bit dusty in the basement right now!  There is still some work to even up the bow and stern so the second planking will flow cleanly into the walnut false keel.
  Next step is to decide the hull and deck planking pattern. I will be using 4in long planks so perhaps a 3 or 4 shift pattern? Model is pretty small so a 5 shift pattern may not show enough repeats to make sense. I am also thinking about getting a draw plate as some treenails would be fun to do.  As usual, thanks for reading.    Nigel.  

So planking continues on the Dragon.  It took me ages to work out how the planks needed to run and then work in the drop planks, but I finally managed to get the port side closed up. I broke a couple of planks along the way as I had to notch one plank from both above and below. As Brian suggested, I start to thin down the final planks to avoid a very thin final plank to close the hull. The final few shots show the hull after sanding. You can see a few places, especially on the bow, where some gaps opened up as I sanded so seems I need to chamfer the planks more carefully next time. Overall I am pretty happy with how the port side turned out as the hull lines seem to run smoothly from bow to stern so I am hoping I am in decent shape for the final planking. Thumbnails below.

Now, it’s back to the basement to close up the starboard side! Just hope I have enough wood left to complete the job after my breakages. Will be close!   Thanks for reading and of course for the replies and likes which are much appreciated.    Cheers,   Nigel.

So, I started the first planking this week. Garboards are on as well as the first 5 rows starting from the deck level on each side. Progress is a bit slow as each plank has to be sanded and chamfered individually as the planking how-to's warned! It is taking me about an hour to fit each plank right now so it's a good thing I am not in a hurry! I did need a drop strake on the bow to move from five to four rows and I expect I will need at least one more drop strake before the bow is done.
  To get the drop strake to fit smoothly, I had to put in a joint between 3rd and 4th frames on both sides as otherwise the planks tended to split. The hull shape seems to be running smoothly, but I am wondering if I made a fairing error or possibly should have put the drop strake on row 3 rather than 4. Inputs would be welcome so I understand this properly. Fortunately, by shaping the planks, I’ve been able to avoid using any steelers at the stern so far.    Hull will need a fair amount of sanding to fully smooth things out, but I'm pretty happy with the results so far.   Thumbnails below.   Thanks for reading.   Nigel.

No worries Simon..stop by any time!   
  There has been a little progress on the build. Keel and frames are now sanded down and test planks seem to follow the hull smoothly. I’ve dry fitted the deck to check the fit to the top of the frames and took the chance to also dry fit the masts. I wanted to make sure I can hit the mask angles required from the plans, the foremast is angled forward quite noticeably on this model. Dowels are a bit warped and will need straightening.   I am now starting to work on the planking and did some tests to try and make the garboard plank by soaking a plank and then clamping it past the needed angle.  When the pressure was released after a few hours, the plank relaxed back to give a decent 90 degree bend that actually followed the hull line reasonably well. There seems to be very little room to rabbet this plank into the false keel as some articles recommend, so I will probably just gently sand this plank to chamfer it so it butts up tightly against the keel.    Thumbnails below.    Thanks for reading.   Nigel.

Hi All,
  Quick update.  Keel, frames  and deck supports are now glued and things seem pretty straight. Photos below.   Now reading up on hull and deck planking  from the articles posted in the Ship Model Framing and Planking section. Great list of articles...just wish I’d seen these 20 years ago!     So after some reading, next step will be to gently sand the frames to shape before starting the planking fun.   Thanks,   Nigel.    

Hello All,
  This is my first build log as I am returning to this hobby after many years as I was lucky enough to be given the Red Dragon as a Christmas gift. I am looking forward to building this model and will certainly appreciate any and all comments along the way!  Thanks again for all the kind welcome notes after my first post last week.    Opening the box was actually a pleasant surprise as I found a neat, shrink wrapped package containing all the items, including a plastic box with all the fittings. Very different to the box mayhem that I remember from over 20 years ago when all the components were mostly left to freely roam around the box.   The instructions were disappointing, being nothing more than a basic listing of the build order complementing a nicely printed, but detail-limited plan sheet. On the plus side, there was a nice set of photos of the model at different build stages. Even though the box was unopened, I still did the inventory that many of you mention doing in your logs and happily I found nothing missing.  The laser cut parts seemed accurately done when I checked what I could against the plans, but keel and frames seemed rather thin. Fitting quality overall was OK. On to the build!   After making a build stand, the first step was to check the false keel against a straight edge and surprise (!) there was some warping. Fortunately, soaking the keel and gently clamping it for a couple of days seemed to correct the problem. The frames were pretty straight and quite symmetrical, perhaps a nice benefit of the laser cutting. As the keel was so thin, I glued bracing strips along each side to reinforce it and also increase the frame gluing areas. After cutting the frame slots in these strips, I spent a few hours sanding out the slots until the frames fit snugly. A dry fit showed things to be lining up well as far as I could see in both vertical and horizontal directions, so the next step is to glue them together.   Attached a few photos. Thanks for reading.   Nigel.

A short update as one side of the Dragon now has the second walnut planking layer completed and lightly sanded down. Taking my time as the walnut strips in the kit are so thin, I am worried I could sand through them if I leave any rough spots during the second planking.
  Overall pretty happy with the results other than the planking shift pattern isn’t very visible in spite of cutting each plank from a different strip to avoid matching the grain patterns. I  am hoping a few thin coats of matt polyurethane with more sanding will give me a nice finish and hopefully show the planking pattern more clearly.    Cheers,   Nigel.  

Hi All,
  To provide a little break from turning the multitude of posts I need for all the railings (rather slow going right now ), I decided to assemble the cannons. The macro shots are very unforgiving, but at normal viewing distances, they don't look so bad. I am thinking about trying to drill out the mouths and perhaps try to smooth out the cast lines to clean them up a bit.  Chuck has replacements if I mess up as I certainly doubt I can turn my own right now!  Casey’s brass blackening solution is also now on its way so I can add the brass hardware to the carriages and the other details like the windlass bars to the other deck furniture.    Thumbnails below as usual and thanks for reading. Slowly, but surely she is taking shape  .   Cheers,   Nigel.