Chuck

No moving......you can create an album. Just click on the gallery and enter "scratch Built" category. Then set up an album for your images and follow the prompts.

Moxis......put it in the gallery. Those forums you mentioned were just links to the gallery. Unfortunately I can not add them to the forum list any longer since the last upgrade.

Snowy...please place the appropriate title when starting a topic. Dont just write "Snowy". You must indicate what the topic is in your title. Chuck

I am glad you found them.... The flags and ensigns are now complete. The dowels were tapered and painted red. Then I added the trucks. The flags are made just like on Cheerful. They are printed on tissue paper and shaped on the staff. The ensigns are the English flag from 1710 and Queen Anne's royal standard from the same time period. Next up will be the oars. Chuck

Thank you guys. I am really getting excited to be back on this project. Hope to have more updates really soon.

Welcome to the Winnie project. Yes I am starting over again. Many of you might wonder why I would do such a thing. There are several good reasons actually. Let me explain. - About 3 years ago during a flood in my workshop, the 1st Winnie was severely damaged. Although not submerged the humidty and moisture cause the planking at the bow to open up like a banana being peeled back. I did fix it as best I could but I will never be as happy with it now. - It has been a long time since I first designed the project and I have learned a great deal since then. In fact, I have already made numerous adjustments to the design which will make this model easier to build this time around. After watching so many folks build the Confederacy kit, the Syren and yes even watching Rusty build the Winnie alongside me....I was able to identify several key areas as trouble spots. I have since developed new design concepts to make constructing these areas less troublesome and easier all around. - Over the past several years...5 or 6 actually, I have discovered more info and facts about the Winnies appearance appearance. This includes finding the original draft of the Winnie herself. I originally used the drafts of her sisters to make the design. Although very very close, there are differences and I have made all of the required updates. I found this plan in Sweden of all places. I probably could have just continued and nobody would have noticed....but I would have known what the differences were. Better to do it right!!! - Lastly, as all of you know, this will be a commercial project of some sort. Probably like Cheerful with a starter package and many mini-kits. This project is so much larger than Cheerful and a frigate of this size would be very expensive to model. I wanted to ensure that as many folks who want to build her can give it a try. To use Boxwood or Pear for a project of this size would run into the thousands possibly and be very costly to manufacture as laser cut parts. I still do really want to. But some close friends talked me out of it for good reason. Anyway....the new version will NOT be made of Boxwood or Swiss pear. Instead it will be made out of less expensive materials where I could write about the techniques to finish the wood etc. I think it would benefit others to see a scratch model built from something other than costly boxwood and with some care it can look wonderful.

The rudder ...the tiller and the thole pins are now complted. The thole pins are made in two pieces as shown below. This looks simple but these pieces are very small. They were painted red after being glued into position. The rudder is not a working rudder. I mean its not done with working gudgeons/pintels etc. I always find it works its way loose that way and I often pull it off and the parts are damaged. So for simplicity the kit is designed with a non-working hinge that is simulated and the rudder doesnt work. It is glued and fixed in position but you would never know. Before starting on the pintles and gudgeons I cleaned up the rudder and tapered it towards the bottom of the rudder blade. You can see the profile on the bottom of step 1. This was possible because the rudder and stern post was designed with small tabs initially. The simulated laserboard straps are simply glued onto the rudder and each side of the stern post. Then the rudder is glued into position... This drawing may help explain... The tiller was turned from a 1/16" x 1/16" strip in my dremel rotary tool. And finally the images of the model once the work was complete. I am quite happy with how well the set up simulates pintels and gudgeons. It made the process of installing the rudder easier since the flying transom makes it tough to work in such a confined location.

That is looking very good indeed. Mike you are moving all very quickly. Well done!!

Interesting you should mention the build. I am making preparations to begin working on the Winnie within weeks. It is very much alive. Chuck

Absolutely beautiful work. Very inspiring!!! Looking forward to seeing more. Chuck

I buy from them (Cherry) on a regular basis. Their cherry is quite good. They have limited thicknesses on their website but if you need something not shown send them an email with what you need and they will send you a PayPal invoice. Delivery is timely and milling is quite good. In fact, I just ordered several hundred dollars worth of Cherry to start mfg barge kits. Chuck

I usually use a satin finish wipe on poly after letting the stain dry for a day. But remember test it out on some scrap first. Prepare a planking sample. Prep sand the wood with 220 grit sandpaper and try the stain....it will be slightly darker. Then try some scrap planking with 320 sandpaper and apply the stain...it will appear lighter because you have left less "teeth" so-to-speak and with a smoother surface not as much stain will penetrate. With gel stain you apply and let sit for ten minutes and then wipe it off. Then allow 8-10 hours to dry if not over night. The next day lightly sand and apply the satin finish wipe on poly.

Gel stains have no shine at all. Its a pigment. It just colors the wood. Then you apply a protective finish over it which can be satin. Chuck

Lovely job on the exterior and interior planking. The basswood looks great. How do you plan to finish it. You could use a wipe on poly with no stain. Just to finish it. But if you want to apply a stain to give it color I recommend minwax gel stain. Its a great product and I have had good success with it. I prefer the honey maple color gel stain as it gives only a slight darkening to the basswood and leaves no blotches. Just test on some scrap planking first. Chuck

Progressing with carved details....

What you need to realize is that the practicum was originally written for a classroom project and NOT for home use. Several new builders were working on the Phantom with my help and we met twice a week. We worked on the model together in a classroom environment. I was asked to also allow the MFG to place it on their site and I said it was OK. Folks thought it would be useful. The references to drawings in my guide were pointing to the actual instruction manual which came with the kit at the time...about 12 years ago. My guess is that the instructions have changed or at least the pagination. It is what it is. Still worth every penny....free. But if you have a question...dont be shy, ask your question in the appropriate forum or start a build log. Chuck

Thank You!!!

Thank you very much guys... Moving right along I added the syren figures at the stern. You can see how I dont have the acanthus leaves carved for the port side yet. Not enough time in teh day !!! I am gonna try and get the bust of queen Anne done next which goes on the outside of the tombstone transom. These two Syren figures were the smallest I have made to date. I could only merely suggest the details and hopefully your imagination will fill in the blanks. At least that is what I hear is supposed to happen. Almost forgot...these are once again resin castings. I will keep my sculpted originals as masters. Chuck

Slowly moving aft and getting more carvings completed. Actually I am concentrating on the sculpted parts now and I will finish the carvings once they are all completed. Rather than use my master boxwood carvings for the model, I am using resin castings instead. So all of the carving details you see below are resin. I will keep the original carvings as masters for when the molds wear out. Chuck

Unlike brigs and frigates in other countries, you would not likely find any lanterns on American vessels. Not like you know from other English ships like Bounty or Victory. For example, If you were to look at any contemporary info.....paintings and models, you wont see any that show a lantern on Constitution or similar vessels. Its just not something you will see.

I continue to carve and sculpt the remaining decorations. This will take some time. I know you guys have seen these three carvings I did for the port side before. But while carving the new ones I have been pouring molds of the ones I already made and making resin castings. I will never paint a casting again. One of the photos shows the boxwood carved masters and another shows the resin castings colored with weathering powders as described earlier

Wonderful work!!! Beautiful!!!

I got them at Micromark years ago. They were the earth tones set. There is no writing on each container so that is teh best I can do. Railroad guys use this set. Chuck

Yes...the resin is already tan but very light. The weathering powders really finishes and its a darn close match and much cleaner than painting. Its also very quick.

...Back to the barge. I completed the sculpting for the two bow pieces. Then I made a mold and some resin castings. Resin castings will come with the kit. In the photo below you can see two rows of resin castings. The bottom row is the raw resin casting. Rather than paint them as I typically do, trying to make them look like wood, I thought I would try something new. Rather than paint, I used weathering powders. I applied them directly to the resin castings with a brush. The three colors are shown. I continuously used differnt layers of the three colors and eventually it came out really well. The color matches wonderfully Its better than paint in my opinion as the powders dont build up and the detail remains crisp. You cant really chip or scratch the paint ruining your piece. Once done I sprayed with matte fixative. Below are the pictures showing the castings test fit on the model. I notched out the molding to accept them. You can also see the laser cut iron strap that runs on the forward face of the stem. It goes all the way under to the keel stopping just ahead of the scarf joint. There are holes pre-drilled along the top of the strip which were later filled with 22 gauge black wire. I pre-drilled the holes using the laser cut holes as a guide with a #71 bit. Then I stuck the wire into each hole with no glue. After snipping off the excess, they were filed down but allowed to stand proud. This creates the nice decorative detail you see on these barges. The strip was put on the stem in three sections. The top and aft side of the stem first as they were short pieces, then the long strip down the front. The seams are almost noticeable. You can get a tight fit between pieces and the laser board sands well. I think it simulates a piece of metal quite nicely.