Seventynet

Looking very precise and neat Dave. I would go with Tony's advice and add filler blocks at the bow and stern - of say basswood. Balsa is fine for in-between all other bulkheads since they would likely be used for shape only, unless you figure you will have plank butts attachments in some of those areas. Keep up the great work, Ian

The planking looks first rate Mark. Nice job. You may find that after a good scrape that the wood all of a sudden looks very nice. That's what I discovered with mine, even though I had a large percentage of really poor planks. The trick is to not go right through the planks, like I did once. Best, Ian

I scraped the hull of my Victory to great effect. I started by experimenting with razor blades but moved on to proper scrapers - the Lee Valley ones in fact. One thing I learned was how quickly the scrapers dulled. It is the burr on a scraper that does the work - in effect it acts like a plane. Here's the video that was so helpful to me: http://woodgears.ca/scraper/index.html Best, Ian

Thanks for the comments everyone. Marcus, thanks for looking in and the comments. It is my intent to use native wood on one of my builds. Last year I cut branches off our ornamental plum and our mountain ash tree. Sorry I should look up the Latin names. I dimensioned some of the plum tree and sliced a plank off. Incredibly beautiful wood and perfect tight grain with a little purple colour showing on some of the grain lines. It is still a little green (wet) so the plank quickly warped so I'll have to wait a bit. I know this is off topic but the role of wax on the end grain versus where it got sliced off during the dimensioning process is truly remarkable - if there was ever any doubt about how effective it is for the drying process. I hope Spring isn't too crazy for you and that we see your latest update soon. Best, Ian

Wow!! This is the kind of thing that keeps me going. I love your work! Best, Ian

Fantastic, wonderful, thank you so much Michael, that is just what I was looking for. Now I will redo how many planks I use. They have used 15, including the garboard and the sheer plank (if you call it that) to my 24 and it looks by sweet. It's funny, I searched the net for a long time yesterday looking for just this thing and only found one that got as far as the garboard strake. What a beautiful job they have done on that cat. Best, Ian

Hi Michael, thanks a lot for looking in. I really appreciate the suggestion. I think you think I plan six planks but what I tried to show was six bands with 4 planks (not marked out yet) in each band. So a total of 24 plank runs each side. But you're right a plank that is too wide is not going to mold around that bilge stringer very well. It is almost a chine so I tried to round it as much as I could. I wanted to say that I turned to your build a few times to figure out how I could copy your lovely center bow king plank to receive my converging pilothouse floor boards. I just couldn't make it work though, the angles would not allow me, so I just stuck a straight piece of walnut down the middle. I might be able to try it at the bow though, we'll see. Best, Ian

Hi all, I thought I'd start a build log for this little Cape Cod Catboat that the Admiral gave me for Christmas. I am following Marcus's excellent build log (http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/11964-cape-cod-catboat-by-marcus-botanicus-–-bluejacket-–-scale-¾”1’/#entry362573). I am using my own milled wood: walnut for the hull and deck, Padauk for the pilot house area, maple for the deck planks. I am not painting. I will not spend time repeating aspects of the kit and instructions as Marcus has already covered that. Except to say that you must be very careful lining things up, thinking things through and reading between the lines of the instruction book. I'll point out a few areas. A am still very much a novice builder and I hope that people will feel free to make suggestions to improve the model and to point out mistakes or help me head off mistakes. Anyway, on to the pictures: Box cover of Cape Cod Catboat: Centerbox construction, keel stringer assembly. Frame 2 is very delicate (they all are) but the instructions and plans could have perhaps done a better job of showing exactly where the keel stringer is to be located and therefore the frame location. In fact the temporary frame horizontal must butt against the top of the centerboard box. That may have been obvious to others but not me. Deck assembly: Filler blocks and fairing. Instead of using the kit supplied garboard strake (almost half the width of the hull, if you can call that a strake) and the limited planking and spackling approach I have opted to use balsa filler blocks between all the frames and basswood filler blocks at the bow and stern where plank torque and attachment are more important than just shaping. This took me about two days including the fairing so I don't consider that too much of a penalty. Defining Hull plank run bands: I have added plank run bands, intended to contain four, 5mm planks each at their widest point. I located the widest point on the hull using string measurement then divided that into 6 equal horizontal bands. I then divided the stern and the bow into 6 narrower equal horizontal bands. The trick was to find the correct run of one or two of the bands and the rest followed. The next step will be to mark out the port side then use my proportional dividers to define each individual plank. Does anyone see anything I may have overlooked or done wrong? Thanks for looking in, Best, Ian

Hi Alde, it looks like you are doing a fine job. I enjoyed reading through your log. Keep up the good work. Best, Ian

I did a bit of spiling on my planking and wales at the bow. I have become very comfortable with the tape method and used a pencil to mark the tape - a sharpie made a mess when I used it. The tape was Scotch (3M) Matte Finish - about 3/4 inch. I have the Staedtler 971 but hardly use it. While I used my mini-band saw for cutting some of the planks it would not have been hard to use a blade. The nice thing about the tape method is that you can put the tape right onto the plank you're going to cut and sand. No matter what method you use to transcribe the curve to the board, there will always be fine tuning to fit the shape to the adjoining surfaces. Ian

Beautiful pictures of a beautiful model Sjors. Thanks for sharing. Best, Ian

Beautiful work Ulises. Thanks for sharing. Best, Ian

Off to a great start Don. Best, Ian

Rob I hope the artilliary fire hasn't been too taxing. Look forward to coffee when you get back. I've decided to plank the upper counter with the piece you gave me of the real Victory. Best, Ian

Nigel you are right, it looks like the poly will bring out the diferences just enough to contrast the planks - although I wish I had planned this a little better. I think that my tastes and appreciation for this kind of thing has matured since I started this hobby. Up until now I have treated this as just one more thing that my skill level needed to catch up to. Best, Ian

Thanks Nigel! Is white spirit the same as what we call mineral spirits?

Heinz, I struggle to find suitable words of gratitude for your kind words and taking the time to make suggestions to improve my model. One thing I can say is that yours is the Victory model that has given me the most inspiration to try different things, including the wales. Along those lines your suggestion to create a narrow gap between the wale stock hit me right where the regret has been mounting since I started the operation. I should have applied a pencil line or something. But I will try a little experiment with a fine file to see if that will work. I will be slowing down on the Victory for a month or so, but not stopping, while I build a little boat on the side. It's a Bluejacket Cape Cod Catboat the admiral gave me for Christmas. It will be a nice distraction and will allow me to discard the first time builder collar. This little pause will also let me gather what I need for my surprise. Best, Ian

Hi Joe, I very much appreciate your kind comments and the likes. The rigging seems so far off I haven't even given it a thought but I like your assurances. Best, Ian

I'm loving it Chris. The poly is going to make it look spectacular! Ian

Thanks Aviaamator, Sjors and Chris for looking in and the encouragement and others for the likes. It really keeps me going. Ha Chris, no such hidden experience believe me. I must not be showing enough of my screw ups. You know Chris after experimenting with some scrap I'm not sure I like the look of the black stain on the walnut. I'm going to think on it for a while. I have an idea for another way to contrast the wales. We'll see. Best, Ian

Hi Harvey, I can't believe I hadn't seen this Victory build before. What a nice surprise! It will be a long time before I catch up but I shall follow along from now on. Thanks for sharing. Best, Ian

Good Day Shipmates, Thank you Robert and others for the likes and following my build efforts. It is greatly appreciated. Please let me know if there are areas you think I've missed or can improve on. This update shows the three wales completed. Anchor stock for the main wales, top and butt for the middle wales and 3 straight planks (3.5 mm each) for the upper wales. I have deviated from Longridge by using wider stock for the middle wales but the total width is the same (10.5 mm as in CC manual). Anyone thinking they might want to attempt the anchor and top and butt approach should know there is a bit of controversy about which wale is anchor stock and which is top and butt - and you may want to settle it to your own satisfaction before you proceed (Edit: link to literature that supports anchor stock: here). It would be good if someone in the know advises us. A last note, as you may recall I milled my own [thicker] walnut for the wales. I have a plan that will be revealed sometime in the future. Lots of gun port fussing ahead. Best, Ian

Paul, thanks so much for the speedy reply. So this is good news for me, it appears maybe there is no precise answer! I see Alexandru has adopted the approach you have followed as has Heinz, at least partially. At the end of the day all that really matters is that we are happy with our model. I have pulled up a chair to your build as I know I'll be borrowing some of your ideas and expertise. Best Ian

Hi Paul, Lovely work. You sure seem to be motoring along nicely. I want to ask you a question regarding your wales, not that I have the option of changing mine at this stage...but it is a somewhat confusing area. I can't help but think that I have been working with old information that has since changed. Both Longridge and Ed Tosti used anchor stock for their lower (main) wales and top and butt for their middle wales. You have switched that order, as I see others have also done, but I cannot fiind any sources that discuss this change. Can you tell me what your reference is? McKay? Thanks, Ian

Job well done! Sit back and admire your hard work. Can I suggest that you leave your options open with respect to coppering? To do so you only have to do as great a job as you did with your first planking - and, I suggest, use defined plank lengths. I think you will find that a plank length of say 85 mm (20 feet) or 100 mm will allow you to adequately edge bend and pseudo-spile around the bow. ​Best, Ian