Chuck

Once you get into a groove with this you will never go back to planking any other way!!! Enjoy the process.

Yes you should....double it up...

Remember....you dont have to assemble the deadeyes one at a time. They were made and aligned as a group. No pins needed. Although your method keeps the holes from clogging wwith glue. Very nice touch. You can glue the three layers of each sprue together and just use the surrounding bounding box as a guide to line them up. You actually made it ten times harder than it needed to be even though they look great. Or at least it looks like it took a long time doing it one at a time. It is also a good idea to file down those tabs on the deadeyes before you throw them into the tumbler. It makes them keep their shape better and it wont take as long in the tumbler is is a very violent process. It only takes a few seconds with a file before you throw them into the tumbler. Gluing up a whole row at one time with all three layers. Three layers all glued together Use a snippers to cut them free. Tumble them up....remember to modify the tumbler and NOT use the stiff wood flaps. Just add three sheets of sandpaper...220 grit to each side of the spindle to make a flap wheel. The three sheets of sandpaper are not glued together...they are left lose which make the flap wheel more stiff without obliterating your deadeyes and blocks. It works better like this in my opinion. Dont forget the read through the full set of instructions. I have also stopped making them with 13 deadeyes in a row as there were too many to glue up easily within a reasonable time frame...so instead I have cut them down to seven in each sprue...as its more manageable. I include four in a pack which actually gives you more deadeyes. Let me know if you have any questions at all. Download it here. I am glad you are having fun with it. They do look good. And remember...DON'T TUMBLE THE FIDDLE BLOCKS...they are not round but soon will be if you use the tumbler. Those must be shaped by hand. AND those are meant to be assembled one at a time and not in a strip of six as stated in the instructions. Chuck

Just checking in as we get get closer to the conference.....There is still plenty of time time to sign up. There will be plenty of vendors there (I will be one of them), great speakers and a riverboat cruise. Its always a great time. So if you are considering going please sign up to meet us all there. I am sure there will be quite a few folks from MSW there. Its a fantastic opportunity to meet them in person. I am also bringing my wife and son to the conference to help me work the vendor table while I do my workshop on ropemaking. I am looking forward to it and hope to see you all there. Chuck

You did a fantastic job on her. Almost done!!!

Remember that the MS line is actually Nylon so watch what you use. Dont use anything that will actually melt it. Chuck

I just wanted to let folks know that the hotel rooms are starting to fill up now. So dont wait to long to take advantage of the special room rate for the NRG. AND...remember folks, you are all associate members now and can take advantage of the NRG member conference discount when you register. I would love to see you guys in person and it will be a great time for sure. Chuck

Yes indeed......use some sewing thread to seize the line around the mast.

No....you should use smaller rope to seize the .021 rope around the mast. Use smaller .008 or .012 black for that. The rope is .021 because Expo doesnt have anything else other than really large rope above that size. My .025 brown line is perfect size for the shrouds. But for the kit they have to supply only what they have available. Chuck

Not wire....its Rope...........that was a typo which was never corrected.

Persistence and practice....I dont use any clips. I use CA which is fast setting to glue teh planking and make sure they are bent to fit without any force bending. Chuck

Just create another album....and let me know where the old one is and I will delete it. Chuck

Nope...it just rests against it. The only thing securing the chain is the small nail. Other than that it doesnt sit against the hull at all . It rests against the molding of the cap rail though so there will be a tiny space behind it that is not detectable. Chuck

Beautiful work...I am actually planning right now a larger version that is more detailed with floors and true framing practice. It will be double the size and represents a 30 foot longboat. This way the rig and details can be added without compromises for a mass produced kit. So you will just have to build it again!!!

Looking fantastic Rusty!!!

Dont forget that its not just for the time...the hair dryer adds heat. A lot of heat. This will make it very pliable and you can get a more drastic bend or twist. Probably another 20%. Chuck

Ok guys....can we get back on topic here. Just a friendly reminder...this is what we have talked about before. Please review the last dozen pages for build log content/ ship modeling content. You wont find any. Please take these conversations off list or to the shore leave section we set up especially for this kind of stuff.. Thanks for understanding. Admin Chuck

Its on sheet two!!!! The one that is in color. See attached

The good news is....nobody can see more than one side at a time. Seriously...It looks very good. Well done Rusty.

It looks really good Bob. I am glad you will have more time to make ship models. Your paint work just amazes me every time I see new pictures. Well done!!

As another alternative you could try using hard maple and that is available here in sheets and strips. Very inexpensive. the wood is much harder than basswood and I have in fact used it for another pinnace build. I used it for the frames and keel. After applying wipe on poly it looks very good and very similar to boxwood. It is not as hard as boxwood and you cant get as sharp an edge on teh wood but it is leaps and bounds better than basswood. http://www.nationalbalsa.com/category_s/232.htm Chuck

Yes I know....that isnt your fault...Take a look at the plans, It may be hard to tell on the paper plans at the actual scale but the bottoms were flattened during laser cutting. There is a tight curve there and the tolerances in the ME laser cutting is not tight enough to keep the curve you noticed with the pinnace. Those sharper points were just cut away. It happens. They were able to do so on the pinnace I suspect only because of the larger scale. Even though a tight curve doesnt exist for the reasons mentioned, it should be there. When fairing the bulkheads it should probably be sanded into the frames as much as possible. To mimic the tight curve - transition of frames, use the shape shown on the plans body plan. Depending on the consistency of their laser cutting it may be more pronounced and absent in some kits more than others. But the kerf they get while laser cutting is just too large to keep this detail. Here are some images of those last three frames as they SHOULD appear and the body plan from the plans enlarged.

Floyd I dont have pictures dead on for the longboat but I think I have one for the pinnace. Its very similar if not identical. No stealers or drop planks. They were not typically used on these small boats if ever. But if you will be painting the underside it really doesnt matter. Chuck

The plank should terminate at or just before/after the scarph joint if properly lined off.. The same is true more or less for the pinnace. That is the second photo. The last two are just general planking shots of teh longboat. Chuck

Yes I would....I dont have a photo of that but dont worry too much about it. Being your first model just examine the contemporary model as they are best pictures I have.