Jerry's Admiral

Good morning Jparsley, Lawrence and Michael, I have a few minutes of break time here at school and found this time to answer you all. I appreciate your kind comments and i'm positive that Jerry will feel the same way. The model is beginning to take shape and I'm excited about it since I'm aware that we are getting close to the rigging phase. Jerry has been emphatic that the rigging is a must on my part or I 'll never learn anything about the true aspect of building a ship model. I know that when I started this project I bit off a lot more than I could chew and hence the reliance on my hubby. I'm looking forward to our Holiday break next week as I hope to find some decent time to get some work on the Bounty done. Lawwrence, you have been so kind with your periodic visits to my log and I want to thank you for your encouragement. I'm happy that you are nearing the finish of your household chores and will soon be back in your shipyard thinking about the "African Queen." Jparsley, thanks for looking in and, (Michael) ca.shipwright, I really am proud as to how the deck came out. It was actually the first time I ever attempted anything like that. At Jerry's advice, I use a black marking pen to coat one edge and one end of each strip to get the caulking effect. Jerry used the same method on his HMS Victory and was pleased with the results so he recommended it to me. And thank you all for coming to see us. Charlene

Hi crackers. Nice to hear from you. Yes, I intend to saty on MSW and to put a few hours when I can into the construction of the Bounty. I was able to add a little bit during the Thanksgiving break and of course spent some time observing jerry doing some of the work also. I learned to make coamings and found the mini size very difficult to handle. But i finally put it togethher and glued it to the deck. Jerry showed me a trick using a square corner on a piece of very thin plywood to square the corners of the anchor rope hatch. I am enjoying the progress and wish i had more time to contribute more to the build of this model. Hi Popeye. Good to hear from you again. Thank you for your visit and encouragement. I have attached some pictures of what we have accomplished during the past several days. Things are coming along well andJerry tells me that I had better start reading some of his books on rigging as we are getting close to that part of the build. I'm not sure i'm ready forr that but I'll do my best. I'm also planning to learn how to make the masts and yards using our drill press. Charlene

Thanks for dropping by, Chris..Looks like Per provided the information you needed. Thanks, Per, for the scoop on the chop cutter. Wish you all a great weekend. Charlene

Hi Lawrence, Grant and Brian... This is Jerry writing for Charlene and me. Much obliged for your visit and comments which I truly believe are encouraging and most helpful. Brian, You are absolutely right with respect to finishing the grating with whitewood edges. And I totally agree that it would have looked much better to do it the way you have suggested. The problem in this case was the dimensions. I was concerned that if I made the measurements shorter some of the deck opening would have been exposed. The grates just do cover the openings. Truthfully I'm not satisfied the way the gratings look and I may decide to redo them before starting the rigging. It's Charlene's boat and after an explanaion to her, it'll be her choice as to what to do. Many thanks for taking the time to express your thoughts and please let us know at any time you have some constructive criticism. Best, Jerry

Hi again, Everyone.. I just came back from school and opened the log today but asked Jerry to make the report as he did most of the work you'll see in the pictures to follow....So here's Jerry.. Hello.. Charlene has had some beginner's problems with this kit but it's perfectly understandable. The Amati Bounty is no beginner's kit and in addition much bashing had to be done due to what i call manufacturer's ignorance. For example the directions (in Italian) call for the belaying pin racks to be fabricated from 1 x 4 mm. wood strips. If one has ever tried to drill 15- 0.5 mm. holes in a 4mm, wide strip 3mm, apart from each other then you must surely know that after the third or fourth hole the strip will split lengthwise. So we used some 1.5mm scrap plywood and our scroll saw, sander and drill press to make the pin racks. We'll of course make all the other racks the same way. The cannon ball holders were also made as above as the directions called for the stupid method as earlier with the pin racks. And of course, Amati forgot to supply the shot for the cannon balls..I had a few left over from my Victory kit which we used. That's why the cannon ball racks alongside the grating looks so sparse. .Or maybe, Bounty just returned from target practise...When building the gratings no instructions were given as to how to hold the grating strips together. Of course past experience stepped in and I showed Charlene how to coat the gratings with a thinned out solution of white glue and water with a paint brush. These are the things that Charlene hopefully will remember as she continues to enjoy this wonderful hobby. I did some work this morning which will reflect in the photos. Have a great evening everyone and Best, Jerry

Hi Per.. The chopper has been a must. I never even knew what it was before. I have seen it in Jerry's office and for some reson I thought it was a paper cutter. I never thought about it again until I planked the deck and used it for the first time to cut the deck planks to length. I have also found out that the chopper must be treated with much respect as I badly cut a finger a few months ago and I was very scared of it after that. But I used it again upon Jerry's insistance when building the rudder cabin. Jerry has since used it to make the grating coamings, etc. I hope all is well with you.. Regards, Charlene

ZyXuz.. Many thanks for the visit and thoughts. The "chopper" has been around for awhile. Jerry had it when he built the Cutty Sark 18 years ago. This is the second one because the first one was slowly destroyed by tightening the stop screws too much and the razor eating into the surface of the board. Hope your day went well. Charlene

Hello Everybody... This is Jerry writing...Charlene has asked me to do a little more work as she has little time available these days for model ship building. So, I made her a deal: I will do a little more of the work if she would at least take a few minutes to observe the different operations as progress is made. She agreed so I took over for a couple of days while she was at work and the accompanying pictures show what has been done and where we are presently at. This by no means is to imply that I am going to complete the build without Charlene's help and contribution. She has all next week off from school (Thanksgiving holiday) so I expect she will get some work done on Bounty. In the meantime here are some pictures of our progress. Reminder: place mouse pointer on picture for caption.. Best, Jerry (for Charlene)

Hi JP.. Looks like I'll be doing a little less on this build for awhile as I am being swamped with work at school. But I do appreciate your visit and remarks and hope you have a great day. Charlene

Hello everyone.. Before I take it easy for the rest of the evening I thought I might post some pictures of my work from the weekend and yesterday, a day off from work. I was very disappointed with Amati's method to build the belaying pin racks as their suggestion to use 1mm x 5mm strip wood was ridiculous. For one thing they're too narrow and too thin. As soon as I tried to drill the holes for the belaying pins, the wood split lengthwise. Jerry told me not to worry and that he would show me how to scratch build the racks from left over 1.5mm plywood he had. So I got another lesson on the scroll saw and drill press and together we made the racks, painted and installed them. The pictures follow:

Hi Chris.. Yes, I have your Bounty build site bookmarked in my favorite section and did refer to it as I began the build. It was certainly useful and I thank you for posting it. I must admit I was disappointed that it didn't go beyond a little more than a page and I'm happy to hear that you plan to continue on. Thank you for the information on Roman's work; I'll certainly check it out when I can. At this time I have been trying to get as much done while I was on a holiday from school but it was only one day so I'm back at the grind again. I just walked in the door from school and I'm very tired. Thank you very much for your visit and information; I appreciate your contact. Charlene

JP.. By the time I complete a model, the kids will be finishing their sophomore year in high school. Nice thought, anyway, Have a great evening, Charlene

I appreciate your visit, Nils...Come again and watch my mistakes. Nice to meet you. Charlene

Good morning, Per.. Today's a hjoliday, Veteran;s Day, so I'm home from school. I appreciate your suggestion but here's the problem: None of the 8th graders are interested in model boats.. The girls are interested in the boys, and the boys are interested in the girls.. Fat chance to get them to change.. LOL.. Charlene

Hi Chris.. It's good to know that someone else on this site is building the Bounty. Are you making the same Amati kit or some other version? And have you created a build log so I can see your work? The copper plated bottom is more accurate to the original Bounty as noted by McKay in his book. That's where I got the idea. And many thanks for your positive opinion of my work; it helps to know that others like my progress. But, in all honesty, there's quite a bit of Jerry's touch in this build. Thank you again. Charlene

Hi Brian.. Good to hear from you. No, I haven't mentioned my hobby yet to the kids at school. I don't know why not but I guess the thought never came up. Besides teaching 8th grade American History I am also in charge of creating the annual yearbook for the school so you can probably understand what occupies so much of my time. But it may be a good idea to let the students know at some point, hopefully when and if I can not only tell them,but show them too. The problem is they'll probably graduate long befroe the model is completed at the rate I'm going. I have also asked Jerry if he could do a little more work on it as I think he's about to make a decision to get another kit. I need to get him to hold off and spend more time working on Bounty. Charlene

You are most welcome JP...and.. I was able to get a little work done over the weekend even though Jerry didn't help me too much because of all the football games he wanted to see. But his favorite team (The Giants) won so he happily taught me how to make the bulwark stanchions which weren't too hard because I had a little experience using the chop cutter when doing the deck planking. I decided to color the gun port framings red just for the fun of it. Now it's another week of school and 8th grade kids. Charlene

Hi JP.. I used Model Expo Clear Satin, MS4972. Thanks for the compliment and I hope the info helps. Have a great day. Charlene

Good morning, I didn't give my kids any homework assignments so that freed me up for a couple of hours last night to work on the Bounty. (No papers to grade) I used the time to highlight the hull's walnut planking by applying a couple of coats of satin finish. I hope you like the way it looks. Have a nice day, Charlene

Hi J, Thank you for your visit and encouragement. The blue paint is Model Expo, "True Blue", MS4964. I hope this is helpful. Have a good night. Charlene

Hey Popeye: Thanks for the visit. It's nice to know that there are other builders who get help from their spouse. I do know that Lawrence gets assistance from his admiral (Bernadette) when it comes to making sails. I was standing next to Jerry one day when I heard him talking to Lawrence on Skype about his admiral sewing the sails. So we're not the only builder/admiral team on this site. And Hi everyone else.. Yep, I'm finding it very difficult to find the time to make steady progress on this build. Too much work at school these days...So, with great reluctance,I asked jerry to step in and do a little more than I originally wanmted him to do. I caught him with his nose in a model ship catalogue as he had been talking about starting another kit. Since I have ways to convince him to do things it was real easy to get him to agree to spend more time on Bounty. LOL....In the following sequence of photos, I manged to get two wales done and Jerry did the rest. I wonder if ayone can tell which wales I applied? So after a bit of sanding and hull varnishing we'll be ready to begin fitting out the deck. Even though the directions call for hinging the rudder to the hull next, Jerry says that it's been his experience that we should wait to do this later as the rudder and its chain only gets in the way. So I agreed to move on to do something else. Here are some pics of what we have done and where we presently stand: Charlene

Hi Lawrence, Jerry and I are waiting for your next project to begin. I know from what Jerry told me that you're going to build the African Queen. I think that's a good idea because it's so different from all the typical models I see on this site. I wish you the best and look forward to your progress. Say hello to your Admiral. Charlene

Grant...Jerry's a good "contractor" but he charges too much. Charlene

Hi Don.. Thanks for the good words. The copper plating looks nice but it's difficult to handle. There seems to be a lot of pointy pieces that catch my fingers when holding the model. I'm now getting ready to do some more work on the hull and need to talk with Jerry about how to shape some of the pieces that fit the bow. I hope he still has patience. Charlene

Thanks, Brian, So that you know, Jerry realizes what side of his bread is buttered. LOL. (Hope he doesn't see this) and, J, we both agree to let the metal finish change naturally. Jerry's Cutty Sark is about 17 years old and the copper plates are all very dark; the HMS Victory's hull is still light but not as shiny as when it was finished last year. They're both in display cases Thank you both for writing.. Charlene