mrshanks

As if two builds are not enough here is my third. 
 I just received this last week, it is MarisStella's latest kit, and was going to wait for awhile but could not resist the temptation to start her. I wonder with the name Stefano is it a him? I won't go into the history but it is quite interesting and there is a book written about it.
 At 1121 mm long it is going to be a big build, it has copper plates and photo etched brass fittings which I believe is a first for MarisStella. As always with MarisStella the kit looks incredible, wood seems excellent and all laser cut pieces are on quality plywood (some of it being Finnish Birch) or  solid walnut.
 
Some features are:
 
double planked hull walnut/lime
double planked deck walnut/lime
over 260 m. of rope in five sizes
over 800 wooden fittings(blocks, deadeyes etc.)
38 brass sheaves ( 2 & 4 mm)
four different sizes of chain
34 sails
14 sheets of plans
 
 Clearly it is going to be a great build and I am pumped up to get started. I got a leg of pork in the smoker and all fridges are full of refreshments so come on over, it's going to be a long ride but a goodie!
 
Here is the contents:
 

 
 
 
 

Here is the start of the build:
 

 Pieces for the keel have been removed from billet and laying on plans. Notice how exact the plans are
 

 
Squaring of bulkheads, some very minor adjustments were required. Unlike other kits MarrisSella's bulkheads are not glued in place at this time. They are a tight fit, so are tapped into place and left at this point.
 

 
Installation of mast steps
 

 
 Here all bulkheads have been fitted and installed, no glue yet. The support dowels have been slid into place, there is a total of eight 14 mm walnut dowels. As far as I know this system is unique to MarrisStella, it adds considerable strentgth to the frame and also helps to properly align the bulkheads.
 Another check on the alignment of the bulkheads and glue will be brushed on to all joints.
 
 You may have noticed in the pictures the cloudy skies , well they since have parted and the sun is starting to shine so that means the shipyard will have to close down  .
 
See You All Later
 
 
 

John: I have never built a Mamoli or Mantua kit so I am unable to compare in that regards. This particular kit comes with a 36 page book of instructions which are easy to understand but it is really the plans that shine. The plans are very exact and are loaded with information, they include scale drawings and exploded views which are very helpful. The exploded views are marked as to what scale they are which is also an asset. Unlike other plans I have seen using these ones you can have every bit of confidence that by taking a measurement or laying a piece on them it is going to be correct. It is my opinion that with this build and the Trabaccolo the plans and instructions won't be the problem, it'll be me causing the problems.
 As for the sails I'm not sure yet what am doing I'm thinking probably furled we'll see as there is 34 of them
 Now for the important stuff, I agree with the dry rub, however I've never seen a white BBQ sauce or heard of Groisch. If you could bring these items you'll get a front row recliner beside Mike

Yep Mike lots of warm clothes would be a good idea. I have been running to and from my garage today  in a pair of shorts and it's -23 C. It is, although only about 20 m. from my house and garage is heated . 
 The plans are really something, they don't miss a thing it's just a matter of sitting down and looking at them. A problem I seem to still have

That is funny Mike, when I bought the kit I was real new to this hobby and I to promised myself I would not change anything. Heck I even said I was going to leave the photo etch plain and not paint or blacken it, well I'm very certain I will break this part of the promise to myself . As for the rest I'll see how things go  

I'm at a decision point regarding the stern of the ship.  I'm wrestling with the question of whether to add quarter badges or not.  Obviously "Halifax" had quarter badges with pretty elaborate carvings, but "Hannah" did not.  "Chaleur" had small parallelogram shaped lights, but no carvings, and even "Sultana" had quarter badges.  Any opinions on which way to go?

A bit more detail work. Most of the rough shaping is done with a dremel and then finished with files and sandpaper.

You certainly have accomplished lots in two months. Nice work

Here is the rough layout, with a phishing wire run through the table leg, for pulling through the LED when it came in.  For the LED, I chose a 1.8mm flickering yellow LED from Evan Designs Shipworks.  He has tons of stuff and different colours for different applications.  The flickering effect is awesome and completely random.
 
To create the candle, I ran the LED through the leg and shaved down what I could to get as small a profile as possible.  This is also why the table legs were so thick, to accommodate the wire and hole I had to drill.  Then I wrapped dental was around the LED assembly right up to the very tip.  I painted the whole thing white, with varying thickness of paint, to give the glowing effect of a candle with the wick burning down into it.  Worked great, and pictures really don't do it justice.  Very pleased.
 
 

Good Morning All, I trust and hope you all had happy holidays and are now back to the reality of life once again.
 I took the last five days off of my Trabaccolo build to do a little work on my neglected Pegasus, she was very happy to be in the shipyard once again.
First up was fairing the hull, sorry no pictures, then was to install the plywood gun deck. Before doing this supports were required as per so many other logs such as Mike's(Landlubber Mike). So you can see in the pictures how I accomplished this using some 3 x 3mm posts and 1.5 x 5 mm planks.
 

 
Next was the infamous plywood gunport pieces, I had little problems with these which still worries me  . I soaked them for about an hour then bent them using a curling iron. I needed to move them approx 5mm forward as one of the oar holes was being blocked by a bulkhead, but other than that it went smoothly.
 

 
While waiting for glue and paint to dry I thought I would put together the cannon carriages. Many have complained about the Amati carriages , mostly about the quality of the plywood. I am thinking they must have changed their stock as I found these ones to be quite durable and easy to work with, you can be the judge as to how they look. Amati does include 18 carriages and 16 cannons, I'm thinking these extra carriages will work fine as stocking stuffers next Christmas or even mount some chocolate in them and they could be a Easter bunny thing, at any rate they will not go to waste.
A point to note is Do Not paint the bulkheads black above the deck if you wish to paint red later    . Mine took a minimum of ten coats to cover then I just quit.
Here I am using the mill with the sensitive drilling attachment to drill the axles for the pins that hold the trucks on, then it was on to assembling.
 

 
A little out of order but here you can see the result of moving the gun port sides ahead by 5 mm. The stem post and bowsprit are not glued in place, looks so good I feel like making the real bowsprit now.
 

 
And here she is ready for a battle, well kind of, and loaded up for next stage of deck planking
 

 
Here the planking has started using the kit supplied planks. I decided on a four plank shift using 120 mm planks. I built the aft bits as they are noted for not fitting properly mine required minor adjustments and fit perfectly. So with the gunport sides causing no problems and now the bits fitting good I am really getting concerned about my usual not so good luck.  
 In my excitement to start planking I forgot I should have built the hatches first, I don't think this will pose too much of a problem, I will carry on as is and see what happens later with the hatches.
 

 
Have a Good Day

Next is the two 13mm machine guns that go on the tower. Thank god there are only two as they are flat out the smallest things ever with a lot of bending and very tiny barrels which are hard to align. You can see the Tamiya offering in the last photo.

Cog, the answer is no, I also have the old tool which I bought second hand to practice painting, and the new tool does not need them as the detail is a lot better. The time spent in making the corrections would be saved with the new tool.
 
Mr Taylor,
 
Nothing is impossible but at this scale you use such tiny dabs of glue, they are very fragile and break very easily, not to mention that if you bend some etch the wrong way then bend it back they snap off.
 
The designers have to be engineers to make it all work, and still do it economically. My biggest issue is the instructions seem to make perfect sense once you have finished making an assembly. I dare say it is the language barrier as well and lack of decent photos. I would be happy for Pontos to give me free stuff and I would do their instructions for them. There is a fantastic build on another site which I have been following,and the bloke from Pontos seems to drop in and out of their forum in the way of marketing his wares.
 
Working rigging blocks on a tall ship are feasible but given the amount of crew they require, not possible for the single modeller to represent. If I hadn't made some wooden ships first I would never have the patience to do this one.

Thanks, Don.  My inclination is to just skip the quarter badges altogether.  This is a simple ship!

Hey Dave, all is looking real nice. Without any carvings on the transom I think I would skip any quarter badges. Some lights would probably look good, and would be interesting to watch you build and install them    . If you were thinking of carvings possibly the ones Chuck(NRG) is offering could be fashioned to fit, obviously not the crown but the viney things. At $5 a set it may be worth a try, and if they don't work at least you have gained a little carving experience. 

Next is the 25mm single(portable) guns. Thanks goodness I only have to do 6 of them. They are tiny, and whilst not perfect, will do and I expect they are a little too big.
 
As you can see from the Pontos instructions, you need to be a bit of a mind reader, but keep referring back to the reference materiel. About a full day's work.
 
The brass pedestals have four 1mm support struts each, and a base which the pedestal penetrates through which will go into the deck.
 
Then lots of folding (some of the bends are <1mm). then throw it together.

Hi All,
  Slowly getting back on the wagon after a long break for work and family, but with the New Year starting, it seemed like the right time to try and make a fresh start. Amazing how fast time goes by...   So, picking up where I left off on the beakhead, the first step was to paint the interior and the doors crimson. I found it hard to get an even paint finish even using multiple thin coats. I am wondering if I got some glue deep into the planks as the finish was really uneven. Unfortunately, I can’t recall which build now (my apologies!), but I remembered someone using gesso.  By applying a thin gesso coat, followed by a very light sanding, I finally got a more even finish using many thin coats as Chuck recommends.   Exterior deck planking followed and then I tried to treenail the front bulkhead  I used a 0.65 drill per the instructions and Elmers natural filler to fill the holes.  Unfortunately, after sanding them smooth and then re-staining,  the treenails look too obvious and also rather uneven. I am going to think about it for a couple of days and start to run the battens for the gunport sills, but I may have a redo coming!    A few pictures below...doors and frames are just press fitted.   Good to be back modeling again!   Cheers,   Nigel.          

Thanks, Keith!
 
I finished two of the four lights I need for the transom.  The technique is pretty simple.  here's a link to the page in my AVS log that explains it: 
 
 
http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/10979-armed-virginia-sloop-patrick-henry-by-docblake-finished-lauck-street-shipyard-scale-132-pof-admiralty-style/page-15

Thanks, guys.
 
Charlie:! I haven't thought about a name yet, only it won't be Independence". I'm open to ideas and suggestions. If I choose a real historic vessel name, I may have to deal with the nitpickers who'll point out inaccuracies in my build compared to the actual historic ship!

I started work on the transom.  I photocopied the horrible metal casting that was supposed to be the transom and rubber cemented it to a piece of 1/64" thick plywood.  I was able to cut out the outline with a simple pair of scissors!  I carefully removed the lights from the plywood and then removed the template and residual rubber cement.  I planked the transom in swiss pear.  next up are the lights (windows).  I'll make them out of boxwood as I did in my AVS build, 

Howdy,
 
This is my first build and thought I would share the experience on here as I am sure there will be lots to share with others new builders and lots learn from you folks. I know the forums suggest going easy with the first build, but I inevitably regret not getting what my heart is set on with these types of projects, and will all of the online support and my own commitment to doing a good job and researching plenty, I just jumped right in with the HMS Surprise kit. These were the main reasons(for those new builders grappling with the same situation)
 
-I wanted something in as large a scale as possible and 1:48 was appealing
-I wanted something imposing, artful and sentimental to display in the home
-I thought the Surprise was very visually appealing and had enough detail and accessories to be interesting, but wasn't as daunting as 100+ HMS Victory cannons for instance.
-The kit had very good reviews, online support, build logs and INSTRUCTIONS:)
-I wanted the kit to have a full complement of rigging and sails.
 
So that's it. On to the build.
 
Note: I started the build 2 months ago and took tons of pics along the way in case I decided to do a build log. I'm currently finished with the upper decking and inside planking, and starting the many upper decks accessories. I'll post pics and comments in chronological order until caught up, then it'll slow down significantly to real time progress lol.
 
I appreciate any comments and tips...thanks.

Next nomination for most complicated i the ships crane. The tower was removed before the final mission so it is a bit easier.
 

 
As you can see there is one fret and a few bits of brass rod.
 

 
Comes together quite nicely, but I I had to do it again, I would use the individual wheels and rig it later as it would go together a lot easier.
 
I have placed it in an elevated position as I ant to sling a float plane from it eventually.

So far I've invested approximately 4 hours over the last few days in this build. I started with the main turrets ... still going on turret number 1
 
1st clean up the plastic base

 
2nd add the brass (1 piece of railing has not yet been glued, 2 pieces more to add)

 
All the brass on top, and at the fore, are not in the Pontos set. So far it is just FlyHawk PE
 

I finished treenailing the hull.  The pattern is stylized with treenails only on the bulkheads where butt joints in the planking occur.  I'm still not sure whether to try to treenail the bulwarks, because they are very thin, and the risk of drilling through the inside surface from the outside is real.  I'll have to think about it.  I'm now planning my rebuild of the transom

Cog, hardly mastery, just slow and steady and lots of study, as the instructions are poor and I would like Pontos to buy a decent camera to show their assemblies. It's beautifully designed but poorly explained. I think their primary engineer is now at Infinty Models which might explain why their after sales service has dropped off.
 
Mike, I pretty much built my entire Endeavour with CA, it's just applying the principal of less is more and using the adage of never bring the bottle to the model.
 
Like a wooden ship, just keep making up jigs to hold stuff.

You are a real PE-master. I know the sizes and how fragile these Pontos parts are for the Yamato (got a box full of more or less the same) and it is stunning to see how you manage to put them into shape ... astonishing!!!
 
 Best wishes, and a steady modeling hand for 2017
 
Cheers