UpstateNY

I focused most of my attention to the Tree Boat hull today.   I'm using narrower planking,  so it's taking a bit longer than planned.  I had done more to her,  from the last pictures I showed.........I got her planked up to this point.
 

 

 
the port side is my trouble side........I think my bow trouble was that side as well.   planking continued first thing this morning. I got to the point of closing her up.
 

 
fitting the last bits of planking.....the job was done.
 

 
we are finally warming up around here.......I was able to take stock in the garage and set up a sanding table.   I did some sanding as I went along.......now the real sanding can take place.   I can let the sawdust fly!
 

 
the first thing I did though,  was clean up the keel.   the height was also knocked down.......something I probably should have done with the other two {a bit too late now}.
 

 
the bow was refined,  giving it a good edge
 

 
there is a low spot just after the bow section........I'm thinking a bad cut for that particular bulkhead.   this frame was the one made with the 1/4 plywood........not only was it hard to fare and sand,  but it was the one that I expected mistakes to occur.   I will have to build both side up with filler........
    I use a drywall sander to do the major sanding.   the one bad aspect to this tool,  is that it has a soft rubber cushion between the sandpaper and the tool.   wood is not uniform.......it has hard spots and soft spots.   sanding in long strokes along the hull {with this sander},  allows the hard spots to rise above the soft spots,  creating valleys in the hull.........it comes out all wavy.
 

 
you might see a little here.........it's really noticeable around the scuppers,  where I repaired them.   the best thing to do at this time,  would be to sand it a bit more.....concentrating on the high spots,  getting a coat of primer on the hull,  and then go over it with a solid sanding block  {I have a couple}.  then I can see where I need to do corrections.   the filler work is coming up anyway,  I can do some then.
 

 

 
I'm already looking at what I did to the bow...and not liking it.  I have something else in mind
 
necromancy 101................>in progress<   

Thanks Nigel. Yes I use a pencil on one edge.
 
Thanks Chuck. Oh it's sooooo much more fun although I think knowing now what you've
taught me I would have done a much better job on the Confederacy.

Looks beautiful Rusty...the planking pattern shows up really well. Do you use a pencil on the edges or another trick?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Looks beautiful Rusty...the planking pattern shows up really well. Do you use a pencil on the edges or another trick?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Canons look great with the red trucks as does of course the breech rope!  Looking forward to learning how you rigged it.
 
Thank you for the info about the paints you use as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Canons look great with the red trucks as does of course the breech rope!  Looking forward to learning how you rigged it.
 
Thank you for the info about the paints you use as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi John
 
If you are going to use a pencil I would go for a 6B or higher like a 9B depending how dark you wish to have the caulking lines.
The only thing with using a pencil is when you sand the planks down some times the pencil will rub into the plank making them look grey.
If you use a pencil some times you can make the edges of the plank uneven by pressing on the edge.
 
That is why I use a Zig felt tipped marker pen, it is quick and because it has a felt tip it will not damage the edge of the plank.
 
 
Denis

Denis, thanks for that info. At the moment I have finished the lower deck but plan to wait until tomorrow after the glue has some time to cure before I begin to clean it up. I'll see how it works out and implement your suggestion for the next deck.
 
Here it is still in the rough on my plate of 1/2" glass with weights on it overnight.  I'll see how it looks when I clean it up. How do I keep the felt tip pen from bleeding  too much ink into the wood and seeing it spread.
 
Would it work to tightly clamp several planks together and blacken the combined edges with the felt tip pen? Would you anticipate too much bleed away from the edge?
 

 
I went back into all my previous posts and added "Total Time" entries. I'll continue the tally going forward.
 
Respectfully,
John
Total Time 36 hours

Looks beautiful Rusty...the planking pattern shows up really well. Do you use a pencil on the edges or another trick?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi John,
 
Your paint finishes looks very even and I like the color...be interesting to see it against the decking.
 
Enjoying following along....I really like how this model looks and goes together.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Thank you!!!
 
Here is a first crack at a breech rope.  I am using my .035 light brown rope.   I think it looks pretty good.   This was just a first attempt to go through the motions and now I will detail how I did it.    You can spend endless amounts of time tweaking how this rope falls so it looks natural.  After a while one has to say it look good enough.    Four more to go and then the tackles are next.
 
Note to self.....paint the underside of that cleat. LOL
 
Chuck
 

Hi All,
 
Well I've completed the hull planking and the square tuck. Taking ones time,
using the planking fan, planning out the belts and run of the planks actual
makes for a very enjoyable experience. No more forcing planks and getting
an uneven planking job. Follow Chucks description and methods and you won't
be disappointed.
 

 

 

 
Also you'll notice that a work area cleaning was recently completed!
 
I'll be out of touch for a couple of days so I'll apologize now for any late response.
 
 
 

The dreaded ratlines turned out to not be so dreaded at all. Primarily, this was because there was only the lower shrouds on one mast to do. It just never seemed the endless task that I had encountered on Essex, for example. Like riding a bike, tying clove hitches is something that just comes back to you, once you start doing them again. Having said this, I'm still glad to be done with them and moving on to the topmast and it's rigging.
 
Bob

Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement! I look upon this rework not so much as a mistake, but a lesson in ship building and an opportunity to hone my wood working skills. It should also be a warning to add the gunports first, take care with the rework of the transom framing (page 12) and only add the transom extensions (page 13) after the gunports and align the bottom edge with the gunports. The extension parts are laser cut too short (1-5/8") by about 1/8" the difference of 1-1/2" on plan rear view; versus the side view of 1-3/4" (angled).
 
Anyway I am back on track and here are pictures of the stained rework and some of the wood definitions can still be seen along with rework joints which will be blinded up with molding and decorations.
 

 

 
Now I will add the new molding I made while waiting for stain to dry using 1/32" half round to the angled side surfaces first and then to the transom. After they are in place then the rest of the transom will be addressed.
Again thanks for your words of encouragement.

Its an interesting discussion.   Well,  I think we have a winner.  Here is the model with the trucks painted red.  I do in fact like this much better than the bright trucks.   Thanks Greg!!! 
 
I know its just a matter of personal tastes but I think I will pursue this approach from now on.  I think its more pleasing and less distracting actually.  Although I will leave the black trucks to someone else to experiment with.
 
I see the bulwarks are very dusty...much touch up to do.   I will wait until after a rig these which is what I think I will do next.   It will be a nice break from building another five carriages.
 
 

 

 

 

Thanks guys.  I have actually switched to Grumbacher paints for this model.  Just to try them out.  They are from a tube and acrylic.  I am using Mars Black and Crimson.  Thats it.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Hi Jack,
 
The ice yacht Storm King is up at the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennese and on display.  She look great when I saw her this summer and I expect they would be happy to let you take measurements if you called ahead. They were all very friendly when we visited and there are many other interesting exhibits as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

HI Chuck,
 
Build is fantastic and I love the finish on the guns.  Thanks for yet another great tip!  On the truck colors, I am glad ivory is out, but for me any of the other colors could look great so a test would be very interesting!
 
One question if you don't mind...what are the brand and shades of the paint you use on the Cheerful please?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

HI Chuck,
 
Build is fantastic and I love the finish on the guns.  Thanks for yet another great tip!  On the truck colors, I am glad ivory is out, but for me any of the other colors could look great so a test would be very interesting!
 
One question if you don't mind...what are the brand and shades of the paint you use on the Cheerful please?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

HI Chuck,
 
Build is fantastic and I love the finish on the guns.  Thanks for yet another great tip!  On the truck colors, I am glad ivory is out, but for me any of the other colors could look great so a test would be very interesting!
 
One question if you don't mind...what are the brand and shades of the paint you use on the Cheerful please?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

HI Chuck,
 
Build is fantastic and I love the finish on the guns.  Thanks for yet another great tip!  On the truck colors, I am glad ivory is out, but for me any of the other colors could look great so a test would be very interesting!
 
One question if you don't mind...what are the brand and shades of the paint you use on the Cheerful please?
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.

Keith, thank you for looking in and commenting. Your thoughts on MDF mirror all the others ahead of me building this kit. I have no background to qualify making my own statement. I will say, as have the others, that they have had no complaints once they began working with it. The density is greater than normal MDF that I have seen at Home Depot so it handles similar to wood - at least to me. The high extensions on the frames are to temporarily stiffen the large thin ply that supports the colorful decorative patterns. Once those are in place and their supporting  upper decks, the delicate pieces are cut off and thrown away so they are not a permanent structural feature. I have only built one other kit and the quality of both wood, parts and particularly the way they fit with such precision in this kit impresses me, albeit I don't have a notable background.
 
Denis, I am using a pencil for the plank edges. When I dry fit them to establish the pattern prior to glue, I photographed it and have been using the picture as a guide, which of course is patterned after your and Martin's work with the one for four layout.  During the dry fit, I had a slightly unequal port to starboard width issue. As a result of that, as I work away from the centerline using my photograph for guidance, doing the full length front to back runs I am qualifying the width of the port/stbd planks before fitting, then after installation measuring with my digital caliper the distance from the outboard edge of each row to the frame notches to ensure port/stbd symmetry. The plan is that this will bring the outermost planks port/stbd to the identical relative positions to the frame notches. So far, so good. Wordy, but having done it yourself I'm sure you get the drift. Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful inputs - I need them. Your description for a half round file to chamfer the stern concave frames was perfect. I have previously used sandpaper on a rounded block. The file is so much better.
 
This planking is old hat to all of you but fun for me doing it the first time after reading your hundreds of builds.
 

 

 
Nigel, thank you. I do not have an artists eye for color. I think my limit is generality only. I looked at colors on the shelf and picked the darkest opaque brown that I have thinking it reminded me of walnut.  Inexperience with the airbrush caused me to initially think I was not covering grain patterns in the wood frames but successive applications of fog thick coats of paint eventually did the trick. The coverage of the brass hatches was very much to my satisfaction, again the result of perhaps a dozen coats of what I am calling fog thick. Particularly satisfying to me was that this was the first time I have been really pleased with the air brush experience.
 
Doc, I love the kit. The laser cutting precision is breath taking. Then, consider the retaining tabs that are so tiny that a razor blade is all I have to use to free even the largest 5MM thick pieces. There is a world of difference between this and what I have recently been working on. I am in love .  .  . As far as the contents of the glass, Doc, I'm not sure if I was drinking some of my four hundred year old cognac or if it was Charles Shaw merlot .  .  .
 
The last couple of days have been spent studying the manual and Martin & Denis's work and using that to begin planking the lowermost deck.  As you all know having brilliant pathfinders out front who create museum quality models to look at and study is an asset.  
 
Working on the lowermost deck I had two rows each side of center when the shipyard workers headed for the pub after work tonight.
 
Thank you to the many kind souls with their "Likes". I am really enjoying this build,
 
Respectfully,
John Maguire
Total Time 30 hours
 
 

Great work on the rudder coat Jesse....my best wishes for a fast recovery as well.
 
Cheers,
 
Nigel.