zoly99sask

Added the deck beams and a support for them. Dry-fitted the false deck. To make planking the deck easier and to check proper alignment I draw a centerline from top to bottom to all false decking parts. Added stern filler blocks too but still have to do a lot of sanding there...

I welcome 
I thank Steven
Jan - Ketting .
 
 
Andrzej

I've started this kit, which was a Christmas present to me from the First Mate (although she's not terribly enthused!). It's similar to the Enterprize kit also by Shiptard, but the Mercury version is slightly more expensive and includes a laser-cut skeleton although otherwise identical as far as I know; laser parts are available as extra for the Enterprize and there are extra kits of masts and of pre-made sails for both kits. I'm intending this as a hull-only model, loosely based on Admiralty models.
 
 
 
 
I've previously done mainly wood kits, but also HMS Saumarez and Consul Pust in paper/card. This kit is considerably more complex and definitely not for beginners. It's 1/96 scale, and the skeleton is about 390mm with the kit claiming 660mm for the completed model
 
 
 
 
 
It's an impressive kit: 15 pages of printed parts (1 x A4, 14 x A3) well-printed on good quality paper, 3 A3 sheets of laser-cut skeleton, 11 A3 sheets of instructions and photos and a sheet of flags. It includes printed parts for the 1779 original (decorative) and post-1795 (Nelsonic black-and-ochre), although the choice doesn't have to made for a while. The printing looks good and sharp, and the laser-cut parts (on 1mm card) are beautifully precise; my only minor gripe is that the card on the coarse side and needs a bit of care to avoid delaminating. I didn't have to make any adjustments to the skeleton to get things to fit, which is commendable.
 
 
 
 
 
The instructions are non-verbal, with a series of photos of the kit being bullt and the instruction to add parts in the sequence shown, which is fairly clear with care, although the parts are clearly numbered but aren't in number order on the sheets so a lot of time is spent searching! Some also have to be doubled onto card of 0.5. 1.0 or 2.0mm.
 
 
 
 
 
I started after Christmas and I am expecting it to take me well past Summer.
 
 
 
 
 
Some photos: firstly the kit as unpacked (and I think keeping track of all the bits will be a major exercise in itself).
 
 
Secondly the spine, which is two thicknesses of the 1mm card, with a substantial overlap. Thirdly, I've cut in two brass tube for a mount later - I may not use them but they need to go in now just in case; not very neat as they will be hidden inside. Lastly for now the skeleton ready for plating. Note how small the horns are on frames I and II, and the fiddly small pieces for the stern framework. The instructions say to build this off the ship and attach when done, which I haven't got to, but again they look fragile. 
 
 
 
 
 
PS I started this as a simple kit review last week, in the Card and paper models section, but it's going to be a buildlog, so I've re-started it here.
 
 

 

I glued on some guards for the thin horns on frames I and II, with a spot of glue low down. This compartment is hidden when it's finished so any scarring on removal won't show!

I also went out of sequence to add the "plating" to the upper part of the bows, so that the horns were again protected. Also in the interests of safeguarding delicate bits I haven't attached the transom yet, it'll go on after the plating/planking is on.
 
I have done the plating slightly off-instruction, by leaving a tab on one side of each plate so that they are in effect vertically clinker-built, and not cutting to precisely deck level until after attachment. When the glue has fully set I'll knife and sand the joins smooth and remove the above-deck pieces. A bit labour-intensive but easier for me as my card skills are less than perfect. The instructions suggest using "putty" after the "longitudinal planking" is on - I'm not sure if this is the second, decorative, layer or this white underlayer (more likely), which suggests they expect some unevenness. We'll see!

Hi Owen,
 
Great progress so far; I look forward to following your build.
 
I agree about the laser cut forms, they are worth their weight in gold!!  I have used a few different ones now and they always fitted perfectly.  They are such a great time saver and set you up with a nice accurate hull to move forward with.
 
Cheers
Slog

a small step forward.....but this is big.   the boom winch is in place!   I added the brake levers and cemented it in place.....no more parts will be added to it.   the levers are actually parts that I did not use for the AmericA build........they are the light boxes.   painted up and affixed to the winch,  they serve the purpose well enough.   you may not readily see them in the picture.......I took it this morning before the camera decided that it needed to be fed {charged up}.
 

 
the holes for the shrouds are already drilled......eye bolts dry fitted at the moment.  I need to adjust the port side though, since I found that the gallow for the port side is a bit forward than the starboard side.  I'm sure there will be more parts added,  before this is said and done  
 
more to come  
 
 

Spent a little more time in the ship yard today and decided that it was time to start laying out the planking guidelines now that I know where my lower decks will be. As this is a double planked hull I know that I have room for errors in my planking but, I always try to do it right as this gets me extra practice. I will explain how I plank my hulls for anyone who is either still learning or looking for a new idea. As with most things, this isn't a right or wrong it is just my method to get the results I am looking for. This will allow you to have your planks laid down with uniform widths in a complete strake running the length of the hull with no drop planks or stealers.
 
So, to get started I established the lowest wale and marked it across all the bulkheads giving me a space to measure for planking between the keel and the wale. Next I measured the space along each bulkhead and wrote that dimension down on the wale at the intersection of the bulkhead. Repeat at each bulkhead. Next I measured the width of the planks that will be used. They are 6mm wide. I start with the widest dimension that I measured along the bulkheads. This was 155mm. I divided that number by 6mm and came up with 25.8 or 26 strakes. 155mm divided by the 26 strakes gives me a width of each plank at the widest point of 5.9mm or 6mm. Always round up as the sanding for tapers will eliminate that .1mm. Since this is my widest point, no plank will exceed that width. Once I know my plank widths I take a flexible tailor's tape measure and make tick marks down the length of the bulkhead from keel to wale line to establish guidelines for my planks. I am now in the process of repeating this step at every bulkhead on both sides of the ship. From here on out in both directions the planks will narrow. As you can see in the picture the spacing is shrinking, the number of planks stay the same and the plank widths decrease as the space shrinks. 
 
I will add more pictures as this continues. Let me know if there is something that should be shown as I can easily leave something out that I take for granted that someone may need.

Thanks Mike. It doesn't always feel very quick as I am rounding out the 700th hour probably tomorrow and I will be crossing the one year mark at the beginning of February.    In all reality, I have been fortunate with my build time availability this past year. The admiral is in a clinical internship for her master's degree and so she is never around to stop me! As long as I take care of the dog, house and cook food for us to eat, I can build to my heart's (or at least my hand's, eyes' and butt's) content. I'm sure when the internship is over and she starts to regain some of her free time I will not have as much for the shipyard but that is okay. Actually, she is also very much into crafts and now has her own hobby room in the new house so I may not see her that much after all.....
 
No picture tonight but I did start rigging the shrouds on the mizzen mast. Might get them done tomorrow evening depending on how things go. Then ratlines.

Good looking start, but on the stern frames it looks like you did the same thing as I did.  Look at the details of the stern on the plans, and you will see that the center parts #1 need to be beveled/angled in order to cant the windows in slightly.  I had to completely re-build my stern when I discovered this a bit later, you might be able to correct it easier if you do it at this point.
 
In my build this is mostly in this post I think - http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/8085-armed-virginia-sloop-by-gunthermt-finished-model-shipways-scale-148/?p=245091
 
Here is the key plan view, note the part #1 where I added a red arrow pointing to the top, and the red-boxed comment to the left which is on the plans (I added the red box around the comment).
 

 
Note that this angle means that the bottom and top of both #2 and #3 need to be beveled so that they 'lean in' to match the angle created with #1.
 
Good to see another AVS in the works, I had a lot of fun building it, and overall feel like it was a very decent model, even if I did end up replacing a lot of the kit wood and parts.

Thank you all for the likes. Only minor progress. I installed the stern frames next and used the window parts for alignment. Then sanded the upper edges flush with the bulkheads.

Hi Folks,
 
The last of the three ’Victory material’ challenges is the construction of three ‘pedestals’ on which the finished model will be mounted. Final completion of the model is still a considerable way off – but retirement is probably going to strike before this and it makes sense to tackle the task while access to the workshop equipment is still possible. (well, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it…)
 
There are a number of unknown factors that could affect this mini project: Will it be possible to turn the metal in the first place? – I’ve come across some metals in the past that have a skin so hard it knackers the cutting tool in seconds, and what kind of finish will it be possible to achieve? Only one way to find out.
 

 
The rod as supplied…..pretty uninspiring, about four inches long and a little less than an inch in diameter.
First job is to face off the ends of the bar.
 

 
…..then skim the bar to remove the corrosion. First question answered – oh yes, it will machine. It cuts in a similar way to mild steel and is relatively soft ….
 

 


The finished billet is then cut into three blanks…
 

 
I’ve made the decision to turn the base of each column down and thread them M10 x 1.5 initially to enable each piece to be mounted on a mandrel for further machining, meaning I won’t have to hold the blank directly in the lathe’s chuck, and eventually to fix the pedestals to the wooden base.
 

 
Mounted between the mandrel and a revolving centre, each blank is machined to profile with a round nosed tool. The final finish is achieved using emery cloth followed by 600 grade ‘wet and dry’, and finally the same grade of abrasive paper lubricated with a light oil.
 


 Just like turning legs for Windsor chairs, the first one is quite straight forward – its’ getting the others to match that provides the challenge!
 

 
Last task is machining the slot for the keel to fit into, using a universal milling machine fitted with a 4mm slotting bit. The final slot was 6mm wide. The pedestals have been previously been drilled on the lathe to take the 1/8th” silver steel rods that will extend up into the tubes set into the hull structure (see my first ‘post’).
 


Done and dusted….
 

 
Cheers for now,
 
 
Graham 

Hi folks,
 
I set myself two short term goals a couple of weeks ago;  to get this build log up to date by editing and uploading previous material, and to finish planking the upper gun deck including tree nailing.  It was a close thing but both of these objectives were achieved. 
 

 

 
The planking and tree nails have now been refined to a smooth finish with a scraper and given the first of several coats of mat varnish.
 
These photographs show the second planking of the hull.  
 

 

 

 
Unfortunately I omitted to photograph this work as it progressed.  I decided to go the route of using short planks (127mm / 5”) as opposed to longer lengths and found this easier, gluing them in place (CA glue) and shaping the profile of any planks as required. Any minor gaps and imperfections were dealt with using a little wood filler. The hull has now been sanded to a good finish although I am expecting to have to give it a final going over once it’s been primed with grey primer once the wales have been completed.
 
 
There’s plenty to do in between adding coats of varnish on the deck. Cannon barrels and carriages need assembling, plus preparing the various different styles of plank for each of the wales ( jigs made but not yet tested). This will keep me busy until the final coat of deck varnish has dried.
 
 
Not until this is done can I tackle the problem of the miss-aligned inner gun port patterns. Note to self – read the excellent build logs produced by others more carefully!  When I fitted the inner patterns they were carefully aligned horizontally. The patterns slipped so nicely into the spaces in the bulkheads, with the top edge level with the outer pattern that I assumed all was well ……WRONG!  
 

 
 
As these photos show, the inner patterns need to be dropped by almost 3mm before they can be lined. My plan is to cut out the excess from the bottom edge and then graft a new piece into the top. This will be easier than pulling the whole pattern out and re-fitting it, and the final planking will hide the evidence!
 
Cheers for now,
 
Graham.

Happy New Year! While the holiday was a busy one with family in town I still managed to find some time to work in the ship yard. Told myself that I wanted to have all the lower masts stepped in place with shrouds ratlines and stays before starting the planking on S.R.. So with S.R. having reached a point where I will be starting planking soon, I gave her crew a much needed vacation and got La Couronne's back to work.
 
Mizzen mast is the last one to build and so construction began a few days ago on the top. Finished it up today with the deadeyes for the mizzen top mast ready to go and stepped it in place. I plan on running the shrouds this week after I finish placing a couple of blocks on the deck for future rigging. As I only have 5 pairs of shrouds on the mizzen, I may even get started on ratting them down by the end of the week. 
 
My plan is to finish the lower masts then start the planking on S.R.. I will set a goal of so many strakes and once I reach that I will stop and come back to Couronne to start working on her top masts. Here are a couple of picture updates.

(Returning Preamble)

Whew.  Hey all.
 
I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus.  I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes.
 
It has been one heck of a year.  Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing.  The first, for security the second for health reasons.   That, very quickly, became my life for the last year.   If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things.  It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time.  Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued.

My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into.  This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels.

I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up.  Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw.  As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie.  That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news).

Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it.  I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds.  I have decided to put that to the side.  After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have.  Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =)

So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =)

Good to see you all again!
(Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition).

Onward and upward!!



Part of the reassessment process was looking over the builds I have going.   The mayflower is the closest to finished but sort of contributing to taking the wind out of my sails a little bit, okay - quite a bit.  While starting the rigging I damaged some of the deadeyes.  Struggled for a bit trying to figure out how to repair them and how much work that would take and really did not have a solid plan.  Still don't. So, that one is sitting aside and I will give attention to the ones I can continue on with some level of confidence =)

When we last left the Santa Maria - we had replaced the decking.   So I picked it up and dusted it off - cleaned it up and went to putting together the second planking layer.   My planking skills proved to still be mediocre at best so I did my best to learn what lessons i could as I moved forward.

Here we have the initial second planking on the port side
 

 
Really needed some clean up, errant glue and some ragged edges.  In going over it I also found a couple planks that had splintered.  So, I bit the bullet and with much trepidation attempted a repair...
 

 
It went well - thankfully!
 
Moved over and did up the starboard side
 

 
Cleaned it up as best I could and added a few coats of poly on it.  Each layer of poly helped expose areas that needed addressing, I think it turned out relatively okay.
 

 
Moved to the transom and luckily that went quite well.  Was able to plank it and clean it up much easier than the sides.  Applied the same amount of poly to blend it all together.
 

 
Then, once again, came the scary part.  Needed to cut the rudder linkage hole in the transom, so - outlined the shape with a sharpie and carefully rough cut it with the exacto and file/sanded it to final shape.   MAN is that stressful!
 

 
So there is where we stand with the Santa Maria.  I have started on the next bit which is the trip pieces, so that will be the next update once that is in a good spot.
 
Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling!
 
Enjoy!

thanks for the kind comments and to those look'in in.       part #21 is cemented in place now.......I beveled it a little,  but now I can do it the rest of the way.
      I can finish faring the frame now.
 
I envy you Piet..........if you want to do a wood deck for her,  the kit is a spin-off of the Revell Cutty Sark.   you can find wood decking here:
http://www.scaledecks.com/our-story.html
 
yes Hof.......you plank the hull,  and then trim off the bulkhead posts, before planking the main deck.   I read that the inner wall of the bulwarks has to be planked with walnut strips.   it is always best to fare all of the bulkheads.......should one of them be off,  it will show after the planking is done.   it also insures the smooth run of the planking,  as they follow the contour.  for any novice or first timer,  that would be a bad habit to be teaching them.  .....and a manufacturer telling them this to boot.........I'm not being overly critical,  but I just want to advise newcomers to the hobby,  to be through with this......it's important.   to not do this will result in a chunky looking hull......the bulkhead edging will show in a very undesirable way.  another reason for this,  is to match the deck platform to the bulkheads.   when the planking is run,  there won't be a nasty gap along the edge,  should the platform need to be painted, rather than planked.
    there is never a dumb question Hof..........just the ones that are never asked  
 
thanks Zoltan......a happy new years to you as well      now that you got your shipyard back together,  I hope to see more on your Santa Maria  

I did manage to separate most of the fittings........too bad there isn't a parts list to compare it to.   I figured that I might want to scan the English instruction part,  so I wouldn't have to play with the big sheet every time I need to look up something {for what there is of it}.  with sheet #1 pinned to the wall,  I can't even look at sheet #2,  unless I take it down.   I did read though that all of the :  "blocks are all of the same dimension and one-hole."  quote.........unquote.  I don't care.....like I said,  I can fix that.   
     I did do a couple of things for right now........first,  I filled in the gap left by cutting out the broken bow bulkhead.   the gap is not needed,  since the center spine piece is supposed to slide in the slot.   I thought though that leaving it like it was would make the bow weak,  and apt to break off if I got too rough with it.   if I would have thought of it,  when I cut out the bulkhead,  I would have traced the part with the gap filled in.......all I would have had to do is shim it to the center spine and cemented it.    roughly 3.5 mm filled it in  
 

 
as I began to fare the frame.........oh,  here's a funny......in the instructions,  it says to fare only bulkheads #1,  #2,  #12,  #13, and  #14.   ehhhhh,  shouldn't you do them all?!?!?!   if for no other reason,  to get the char off'em.   told ya this would be a fun kit  
     anyway.......as I started,  I kept thinking that the deck platform should be in place.   I would have liked to plank the deck before this is done,  but they're instructing me,  that between the fore castle and the poop deck,  the bulwark posts need to be removed.   this will be the first kit that I've ever had to do that to.   the deck platform is the likes that I've never dealt with, it's made from some really rough thin plywood.   I've already cracked one of the appendages between the posts,  in the aft section.   it wouldn't have mattered if I broke it off.....it would not be seen after the poop deck is put on.   I heard another cracking sound,  as I cemented it in place.......I'll have to check it out after it dries.
 

 
this deck is hard to conform to the curvature,  tried my best to keep rubber bands and clamps from pushing down too hard on these appendages.   I wanted to take the sheet off the wall,  so I could see how some of the sub assemblies go together.....haven't taken it down yet.   pictured is part #21.........it needs to be beveled around the outer edge.   I did it,  but you might not be able to see it.   the poop deck must also be cemented in place,  in order to plank the stern transom and shape the counter.   the fore castle deck doesn't though.......the windlass is involved with it,  so best to do it later when the main deck is planked.
 
I mentioned somewhere on one of my logs that I had gone to Hobby Lobby,  to spend some of gift card money,  I had gotten for Christmas  {where I get my wood from as well}.   I got some more of those gears that I used on the Syborn and Andrea Gail builds.   I saw these other ones too.......a few of them would make great ship's wheels.
 

 
I saw those rings too.......thought about using the larger ones on the Flattie........but I'm thinking differently now.   the admiral showed me these.....my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree!   they look so cool!
 

 
these are made of wood.....as the name implies.   it'll be interesting to see what I'll be able to use them on.   then,  I got a spool of smaller size chain.   I can see if it can be used on the Syborn,  but as I recall.......I don't remember seeing the martingale......or the typical rigging that these clipper ships possess.  ya gotta have chain man.......not just rope {thread} rigging     I might have to go for an even smaller size....I can get it...not a problem.   

welcome Professor,  Philo426,  and to you as well Nigel     it's still very early in the build as you can see.......as a mater of fact,  I have the fitting on the desk at the moment........I was going to separate them.   there are so many tiny metal parts,  that I'm thinking it best to do it according to their assembly.   you are right Nigel.......this model is very small.........I wish it was larger,  like the 1:96 Revell kit.   she's a beauty Philo426........and you added the studding sails, which really fills her out.   I have the Cutty......my second build of her.
    I began to fare the frame,  but I haven't gotten much further that that.   I was looking through my planking strips,  and I do have a good supply of 1 x 4 mm strip stock.   the kit supplies 0.5 x 2 mm strip stock......not sure how contorting the 4 mm planking is gonna go.   a second planking,  I feel,  might not be needed,  since I will be painting the outer hull.   still up in the air about coppering the bottom....if this was a larger kit,  it might not be as big a problem.   I see things that changes will benefit:
 
eye bolts:    I see an abundance of the larger brass colored eye {I forget the size}.    I can substitute copper colored smaller eye bolts wherever I can, to make them more scale-like.
blocks:    there is a package of what looks like 2 mm single blocks supplied in the kit.   from what I can see,  these are the only ones in the kit......how in the heck can you make decent vangs,  back stays,   and pulley assemblies,  with just single blocks.   I have some 3 mm doubles kicking around some where.......we can fix this  
railings:   I'm looking into getting some decent railings for this kit........bent wire just doesn't cut it.   Nils has been a great help with the places he gets his from,  but 1:124 scale is hard to find.......I may have to settle for the next size up.....like 1:200,  or 1:350.   I saw the photo etch for the Academy Titanic.... that might even do the trick.
Shrouds:   I know this is a small scale.......but the fore and main mast should have a wider shroud spread than shown.  I'll see what I can do with this.
Life boats:   where?   there are none in the kit.   something to look into........
studding sail booms:   don't recall seeing anything like them in the kit either..........again,  something to look into.........
 
a lot of this,  I have time to research.   I appreciate your look'in in and coming aboard.   just got the badger.........got to take Gibbs out {he's scratch'in the heck out of my leg}.   enjoy and hope you folks had a great holiday season!

Thanks Michael and Zoran and others for the likes. Very much appreciated. As far as overall progress I have not come very far in the last month or so. A half hull is it.  But I will not be in the shipyard much over the next month so I thought an update would be appropriate.
 
In summary, I spiled all bow and stern planks. In doing so I achieved a relatively level/horizontal planking line and avoided stealers or drop planks.
Best, Ian
 



 

This is a fun build, and you will enjoy it. I substituted a lot of wood in the kit and chose not to paint the model. That was a big part of the enjoyment for me. Good luck! I'll follow this with interest.

I added the mast mortise and sanded all bulkheads flush with the false keel, so the false deck will fit on properly later. Next: Adding filler blocks and stern wing transom... Due to the curvature of the deck I made myself a tool, consisting of three layers of spruce, watered, bend to curved shape and glued. Then some sanding paper is attached with double adhesive tape, so the tool can be used again after the sanding paper is no longer of use.

I started to make some replacement keel parts out of boxwood. The kit supplied walnut parts are not bad, but I find boxwood much better to work with. It is much easier to paint, holds edges very well and doesn't have the tendency to split especially when it comes to planking. And in my opinion dark walnut makes shipmodels often look like old furnitures. And it is good practice for future scratchbuilding too. I decide to add the keel parts later as I did with the sherbourne before and to glue the bulkheads in place first. The AVS kit is designed with a lot of bulkheads to install, that should make planking much easier in comparison to the sherboune. The Caldercraft sherboune and also the ballahoo which I did before are labelled as beginner kits but both have only a few bulkheads so I ended up spending as much time for the first planking, filler and sanding as for the second planking. Maybe a lot of people starting this hobby will soon get frustrated with planking because of this and never build another model. So good kit-design is surely a nessesary thing to avoid frustration and to provide motivation for the long time usually spend to build even a kit.

Dear Administrator and forum members,
 
Today I started my cross section project. I want to build my model in oak and in scale 1/24.
Making the keelson and keel is not such a big deal, just sawing the pieces to the right dimensions. To make the rabbet in the keel, I made a scraper out of an old iron saw blade. First I sawed a groove on the location of the rabbet in the keel, afterwards I sharpened it with the scraper.
 

Only 3 more strakes on each side to complete and the hull planking is done!  No joggle planks (drop planks) were used at all, and I only needed one stealer per side at the stern to start the rise of the planking to match the shear.  This was a difficult hull to do, but I learned a lot.