mrshanks

The large boats now added to the ship.
 
And the breakwaters.

Thanks, small boats finished, just have to finish the Davits besides the bridge, half of them will be slung outboard on removable Davits as that's where they sit 'in harbour' not against the superstructure, and as I'm doing the torpedo nets they'll have to be done that way. Next will be making up chain for the anchors.

Now, there are a LOT of ships boats. The kit provides some aftermarket and I've added a bit more just to be silly.
 
The row boats need to be hollowed out and some grates and planks added,
 
And finally the davits. The loop shown is supposed to be canvas strap which I'll remove and rig properly (to a point).
 
I am in the process of painting these now.

got some more work done.  Put a coat of poly on the topside surfaces.  Also did a lot of finish work on the hatches.  Those things are small little models in their own right.  I have the larger of the two almost done.  I kept the rounded corners of the roof, which made it a bit of a task to curve a strip of wood around them to cover the plywood.  I got it figured out though finally.
 

 


 

 
 

That would be a great idea, I'm sure it would be much appreciated

I assembled my keel clamp.  The first task was to drill the holes for the carriage bolts which form the pivot points.  They are 5/16", except for the keel clamp itself which has four 1/4" carriage bolts.  The two knuckles that form the 2 axes of rotation were glued and screwed together, and the lower axis piece was glued and screwed to the base.  All the parts were given 3 coats of water-based polyurethane.  There are washers between adjacent wooden parts and where the through star nuts tighten down.  I had most of the hardware on hand, but if you went to purchase it, it would be about $20 as I've built it.  If you substitute plain old metal thumb screws, the hardware should be under $5!
 
The clamp is very stable, even with a model in place due to the large base, but one might consider clamping it to the table top for safety.  It is a little top-heavy!

I'm getting ready to plank the hull.  I need to establish the wales first, but before that I needed to plank the counter.  I used 1/32" thick swiss pear, 7/32" wide.  Because I need to establish a waterline for my "two-tone" planking of the hull, I decided I needed a keel clamp.  Rather than buy one, I spent the afternoon today cutting out the parts out of some 1/2" hard maple I had on hand.  I'll assemble it tomorrow.  I have most of the hardware on hand, but you can build this for less than $5 if you have some 1/2' hardwood around.  I'll post photos of the finished keel clamp tomorrow.

Dozens upon dozens of parts went into constructing this part of the superstructure. Still need to add some small assemblies (guns, range finders, masts, and search lights) before this little sub section is completed.
This was my first foray into the adhesive backed wooden decks. The ones seen here came with the Art Vox deck set. Everything else is right out of the kit box, including the photo etch pieces. It's amazing and at the same time tedious how they have broken down the smallest parts into multi piece assemblies. Even the little doors are separately molded plastic.
 

 

 

 

Hello all, Thanks for stopping and adding your likes and comments it's always a good thing.
 Since last I have finally finished the lower planking, all went good and I was happy with the results. Then things went a little south on me as I decided to stain her and applied a couple coats of wipe on poly. You can see the results below, after looking at her for sometime I decided it was too dark and sanded it all off. After approx 8-10 hours later the pictures show what I am staying with, yup, a natural finish. This is not the normal way to finish a hull but it does end in a real smooth hull . After sanding with four different grades of sandpaper ( up to 320) I applied one coat of wipe on poly. I applied this with a brush, I know it's wipe on, then sanded in a circular motion with 600 grit until almost dry and starting to ball up then wiped off with a clean rag. I found this method really helps filling the small gaps in and leaves a great finish. This part of the procedure I would repeat again the first part I think is kind of a waste of time    and will not recommend to be used
 
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 Until next time

Looking wicked good, Elijah.  Nice start on the coppering.  You may not need to do too much to get the patina on the copper tape - about 6 months in, if not treated, the tape starts to take on a dull and seasoned look.  I'll try and get you a picture of how it has come on out my Harriet Lane 9using same brand of copper tape).
 
Alternatively, look for the builds by riverboat (Frank) to see weathering to a high level.  There are also some threads around how best to weather your copper that may have some helpful advice. 
 
Enjoy your vacation -

Elijah,
 
I just saw your thread, and I am most impressed!  Does this seem like a hobby that you would like to continue?  If so, what would you like to build next?  Again, great job!
 
Bill

I chose the continental gunboat Philadelphia.

I have the Pontos set for the USS New Jersey so I know exactly what you mean.  The instructions look pretty good but you do hear complaints from time to time that they are insufficient.  I just finished Tamiya's new Yamato kit using the Pontos wood deck plus Tamiya's AM railings, degaussing cable, and 18" guns.  I have never drilled so many holes in my life.  Took me a couple years but after finishing and taking a break I'm ready for my first wood project.  Yikes.

Looks like you are off to a good start. Smart decision to wear the gloves.
 
A person usually tends to learn more from a mess up than a success. Mostly because they happen a lot more frequently!
 
Nothing wrong with collecting future projects ahead of schedule. I think we all have a few sitting in the boat yard waiting their turn. Which one did you choose to do next?
 
Have a good vacation! Look forward to seeing more on your Phantom when you get back.

Well, after a few restarts, a bunch of wasted copper, and a few lessons learned, I have started the task of coppering ! I just hope I have enough copper, but I can always get some more from model expo for free, as they have a great replacement parts policy. Anyway, this is going to be a great learning experience! I am using the rubber/plastic gloves to keep from getting finger prints on the plates.


That's all for now. Thursday, I am going on an 8 day vacation, so I will be gone for a while. I wI'll come back with me next ship, and will start building that after my phantom. I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I? It will give me some incentive to finish.
Until next time!

Nice tip, Thanks for sharing

Keep up the work and showing us what you are doing - we are all very interested.
Kind regards
 
OC.

I have this kit in my closet but have been patiently waiting for Pontos Model to produce a PE detail set to start it.  It's a daunting kit even with adding PE and a wood deck.  But it's a beautiful ship with graceful lines (at least after they added the Atlantic bow).  I'll be following along with interest!

I probably won't use this technique here with this model, but there is something else you can do with blue tack that's interesting.
If you are doing an airbrushed camouflage on a model... flatten, shape and use the blue tack as a masking. Then when you paint, sort of spray the paint where it comes over and across the blue tack mask and applied to the surface to be painted. If done properly, you will get a blended mask separating the colors rather than a hard line you would get with masking tape. I don't know if the way I am explaining it does the technique justice. On another day and subject, will share the technique with photos and step by step if anyone is interested. Another good feature of it is that it will not peel off paint as sometimes masking tape has a tendency to do. However, you don't want to leave it on a painted surface too long. I usually remove it as a masking as soon as my paint is dry to the touch so as not to spoil any paint under the mask.  

Great idea with the sticky tack. That looks like a great way to hold those small parts for painting. I will have to remember that one for later use.

Right up front with this post, let me apologize for being such a lousy photographer. I tried to get some closeup shots of these small AA and secondary guns before I painted them, but just couldn't get the correct distance to focus properly. 
Maybe I should mention how I handle the painting of small parts like these as someone asked how I kept from obscuring small details. First, the parts are all airbrushed and not painted with a brush. Second, you want to use a good quality paint with fine pigment. I happen to use Vallejo paints but there are other equally good alternatives. Vallejo are readily available for me and they offer a large range of color choices.
I buy a handy product at WalMart (in the office or school supply section) I call "blue tack", but it is known by a trade name as seen in this picture. It only costs a couple of dollars and it lasts a long time.
 

What I do is cut a small little 1/4" square piece of this "blue tack" and place it on the end of a toothpick. The small part can then be set down on the blue tack and held in place for airbrushing. The part is easily removed when painting is finished. Here are some photos of just some of the guns and gun turrets. Many more besides these. It's quite a chore getting all the little pieces prepared to go onto the deck.
 

 

weather kept me indoors this weekend, so i got my gunwails finished, as well as the stern. i also started assembling the cabins.  I'm very pleased with how the cap on the stern came out after i decided to make it flush across.
 

 

 

John
You are doing some really great work. Looks like all your effort is paying off.
At the rate you are going your planking job is 1st rate.
Joe

Wow, thank you for the LIKES and increasing number of viewers.
 
Mike, an appreciation from you is meaningful - thank you.
 
Joe, it is frustrating trying one thing after another and failing, isn't it ? <smile> Winning is easy - it's hard to  be a good looser.
 
Doc, Mark got it for you. I must have been misleading on the third video. I used the line out method and fan from the other section of the forum. I think it is clearly presented. I still have to expand my line out to include all areas of the hull.
 
Doc, I hadn't thought about a diagonal grain. That is however, the culprit! All my failures are diagonal. The clues, though obvious, didn't rise to my level of consciousness until you asked. You've got it .  .  .
 
Apropos of that, I did an additional bow area strake today. It is a long process so even one or two pieces is time consuming. First though, I experimented with the edge beveling process  by setting the table on my Byrnes saw at 75 degrees and with the wheel stationary, I moved the plank back and forth trying to achieve a uniform edge.
 

 
For me, edge bending remains a challenge. I wanted to bend over a slightly longer length than previously so I tried boiling the piece for about ten minutes then bringing the pan to my bench and rewetting a couple of times. Is ten minutes long enough? The wood mass is minimal .  .  .
 
I bent only one bow piece today. It matches the other side that was installed a couple of days ago.  Today, for some reason, bending was more difficult than previous pieces. Once bent,I used Chuck's heat gun for about ten minutes and because of the size of the bend I did it a second time. About an hour later I removed the piece and it had zero spring back. I've got to emphasize again, getting it bent was a challenge .  .  .  . I sure wish someone could point me in a better direction. I don't have enough wood to spile. Am I negligent for not getting more? Chris managed readily, but he is smarter than me.
 

 

 
By the way, to mitigate why I am having more issues than Chris, it is to a large extent due to my desire to have the strakes parallel the wales and keel rather than have an upsweep at the bow. Maybe that makes me a bad person .  .  .  . smile.
 
I continued the bow planking rearward in sections. I have separated the hull length into six sections so that I can have a staggered butt scenario resembling what Chuck did with CHEERFUL.
 

 

 

 
Not much to show for two days of five or six hours each is it? The brown shadow shows the extent of my abandoned initial attempt and then sanded off. One of the things that displeased me the most was black seams and seams that were not quite tight. This time around I am spending significant time to prep where each plank is about to go on the hull, no edge glue and a uniform edge bevel on each one.
 
I take heart with out mutual hero, Remco: "Treat each part as if it is a model on its own, you will finish more models in a day than others do in a lifetime."
 
Respectfully presented,
John Maguire
Seattle
 
 
 

John,
 
Looking good and well worth the effort.  One question, since the wood is splitting, is the grain straight?  Many times the kit wood is cut at an angle to the grain.  I think we've all had our moments with wood splitting.. and then the air turns blue.  
 
Doc,
There's no other video that I know of.  As for lining off the hull, use his tutorial in the article database.  He also includes a planking fan for the process in a separate PDF.