Mumin

For those working on this kit, the catheads should be fitted in earlier then the instructions state. I suggest doing that work after attaching the bulwarks but before adding the rails. Otherwise, if you’re like me you will find it difficult to cleanly cut the correct angles without damaging the delicate curved bulwarks and breaking the rails. Note: the instructions state to paint the catheads black but everyone (including the writer of the instructions) has painted them white.

Hello! Just ordered my first build, the Lady Nelson by Amati. I spent quite a bit of time researching a good first build, and heavily debated going with the 3-ship kit from Model Shipways. I certainly see the value of scaffolding your skills with different levels of practice, but at the end of the day none of the builds excited me. I'm also a competent woodworker and figured I could handle a bit more on the first go. The history behind the Lady Nelson was the final tipping point for me, as I love the stories behind a ship just as much as I love looking at them. 
 
I've seen many build logs have already been completed, and I plan to start taking notes on these throughout the next few days as I wait for my order to arrive. As far as tools, I was wondering if there were any other woodworkers out there who then went into model building. My wood shop is adequately equipped, both power and hand tools, but are there model specific tools that I'd likely not have?
 
Thanks for reading and thanks in advanced for your support! This forum was a big factor in taking the plunge! 

This 26 foot long was designed based on a contemporary model in the National Maritime Museum shown below.  This longboat was used circa 1750-1760 and was typical of this type of small craft. Plans for this model and MS kit prototype were drafted based on the contemporary drafts from the period.  The longboat has been decorated to match the NMM model that inspired it.  Even though this model was inspired by another, many other color schemes are possible. 
 


There are many more contemporary models that show various decorative themes.   Another very good
source of information on these small boats is “The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War” by Brian Lavery. This book discusses the many details you sometimes find on these Longboats. 
 
Another good reference is "The Boats of Men of War" by W.E. May.  
 
Some references to these book will be mentioned throughout this project.
 
This scratch project was the prototype for the Model Shipways kit. An image of the finished model is posted below and can be compared to the contemporary model above.  I Also below you will find the PDF instructions for the kit which has more details.
 
 

To prevent this you can impregnate the paper with undercoat (primer) varnish. Just cover the whole sheets, before cutting out individual parts. In Poland the brand of choice is "Capon" (nitrocellulose based), but I guess any will do. Just test on the scrap paper (e.g. cutouts with the part numbers) -- the varnish can dissolve the printing ink.

Actually it's "home of paper [models]". "Paper house" would be "бумажный дом" (bumazhnyi dom).
 
The model looks promising and with all other options available maybe you will have the full battle of Tsushima diorama?
 
Mumin

Mike, that's immeasurably better than "every single part fits too loose"
 
Great job on the build!

Oh, I suppose you'll sell twice as much from preorders on this forum alone

Oh, I suppose you'll sell twice as much from preorders on this forum alone

Oh, I suppose you'll sell twice as much from preorders on this forum alone

Hi,
 
It has been a long time, but thought I would update you all.
 
I no longer work for Amati, I finished in May this year (No animosity involved).  I currently work part time for a prototype model company and also do some work for Sergio Marletti, the man I connected with so well when he was design manager at Amati.
 
After some thought and a five month break, I am thinking about designing my own model range of period ships under a new kit range name. I will only design what I think people will like (and me, of course), and will make them as detailed as possible. I have received plans from the NMM for several subjects that piqued my interest, so very early days.

Installed decorative keel "tabs", that was easy:

 
Drilled the rudder hole (this was too scary to give to Daria), but she filed that hole to shape:


 
And she made an "eye"

 
Previously I was filing all tabs for her (they are oversized in the kit), but now she is doing it herself. Though I am keeping an eye on a file angle, this is quite tricky for her, so far. But improving slowly. This is also the only photo in this update done by me

 
Stem and stern dry fitted. Note the ebony piece, fantastic quality!
And she is proud of the composition of this photo  Will go pretty far on Instagram!
Quote from the author: "I wanted to make a fun photo for you , to have a photo with more colours. Other photos have very few colours - brown, black, that's it. This one has more!"
 

 
 

THE GENERIC EAST COAST OYSTER SHARPIE – LATE 19TH CENTURY
 
The plans and monograph are now available to build a late 19th century, Generic East Coast Oyster Sharpie.

 
The eleven sheets of CAD plans and the 277-page, step-by-step monograph are designed as an introduction to scratch building a small workboat in a miniature version of a full-size board for board build.     This project was created primarily for modelers of intermediate level of skill or experience with special instructions for those with limited access to power tools.  This project will also appeal to all workboat fans and those wanting a change from long-term projects. 
                   
The project was designed and written for the NRG by William “Bill” Strachan with the plans done by Al Saubermann, both members of the NRG and the CT Marine Model Society.
Bill Strachan is a retired Enrolled Agent and an avid miniaturist.  Early in the 1980’s he was the Comptroller for an architectural firm and had the opportunity to build all their architectural models.  In the 1990’s he joined the SW FL Shipmodeler’s Guild.  He served the Guild as Bosun and Newsletter Editor. Retirement meant moving to CT, and he became Secretary and Newsletter editor for the CT Marine Model Society he also served as Vice President of CMMS until last fall.  Bill and his wife Sue live in Wolcott, CT.    
Al Saubermann is a retired physician whose career in academic medicine spanned 45 years.  He's been building model ships for over 35 years including scratch building for the last 10.  He recently completed a board model of the USS Peacock (1813) built from the original plans conserved in the National Archives. He currently serves as Secretary for the Connecticut Marine Model Society.  Al and his wife Olga live in Deep River Connecticut.
Plans from Mystic Seaport and the Mariners’ Museum and books by Howard Chapelle and others are the reference sources for this 3/4” = 1’0” scale model, and presents three options to choose from to complete your model. 
The 277 page, monograph contains 441 color photographs and diagrams to guide the builder.  Referenced and quoted sources are footnoted for the modeler and a bibliography is provided. The monograph is provided as a free download from the NRG web site.  Ordering information is on the NRG web site.
The plans are shipped rolled in a sturdy box.  The monograph is also available on a USB flash drive for an additional charge.
 

Aaaand....they are upside-down (check my October comments and numbering of the Left and Right parts). Those longitudinal groves are for forming only and should not be visible. Not a big deal however, on Russian forum some people do it on purpose   (they like the effect)

I didn't start mine yet, just read the Russian forum

Hello Mike!
I'm glad to meet mutually
However, I'm not a designer of this kit "Polotsk". 
Peter Sergeyev - our chief, the founder of the company "Master-Korabel" - designer of this kit.
 
And I'm working on the design of other new kits...
 
By the way, we are trying today or tomorrow to post on our official website
the latest version of the instructions  with the best translation into English
 

Aaaand....they are upside-down (check my October comments and numbering of the Left and Right parts). Those longitudinal groves are for forming only and should not be visible. Not a big deal however, on Russian forum some people do it on purpose   (they like the effect)

I did manage to get the other side Wales done and mounted and started on the gun deck . I got a good amount of it dry fit . I hope to be able to get the rest fit and get it sanded and glued together over the coarse of the week. Here are a few pics of how she is looking at this stage of the build .
 
Thanks for checking out my progress 

Derek C

Hi All, I thought I had better bring this log a bit up to date. Well I am nearly, but not quite ready to resume the
build log. Having followed the other builds on this forum, I do realise I will have to improve my build standards!  So I
have started again!! I will post as soon as I have something worth showing, as really it is just a repeat of my prior posts.
So just to re-assure that I am not deserting the post! Regards, Nick.

Aaaand....they are upside-down (check my October comments and numbering of the Left and Right parts). Those longitudinal groves are for forming only and should not be visible. Not a big deal however, on Russian forum some people do it on purpose   (they like the effect)

Aaaand....they are upside-down (check my October comments and numbering of the Left and Right parts). Those longitudinal groves are for forming only and should not be visible. Not a big deal however, on Russian forum some people do it on purpose   (they like the effect)

Aaaand....they are upside-down (check my October comments and numbering of the Left and Right parts). Those longitudinal groves are for forming only and should not be visible. Not a big deal however, on Russian forum some people do it on purpose   (they like the effect)

I got  #5 frame  ready to glue and half way through #4 at this rate I may have them glued by the end of the weekend.

 
 

Eric, I understand what you mean! Stockholm has quite a number of old wooden ships, but getting into the right group of enthusiasts is not easy.
 
Daria is now a master of clamps!  It is one of her favourite parts of the build process. She struggles with parallel machinist-style clamps, but quickly installs more traditional clamps. Which is really valuable when the glue dries and the strip is long.
From now on, she is also the one taking photos, so you can see the model from her angle.
 
The build is in a pretty repetitive phase - gluing thin veneer. It is double layered in many places, so the visual progress is very slow. And we only have enough clamps for one piece at a time.
 

 

 

 

HMS Mercury's Cannons
Before I can put too much of the interior detail into place, I really need to add the cannon carriages and probably the gun tackle too. The main reason is that if I am going to add any amount of gun tackle, I need some room to add ringbolts and blocks and such in the tight confines of the model's interior. This will be more difficult if I try to do this after adding other interior furnishings.
 

 

Now, if I built this as a real dockyard scene with launch flags flying, as I've been considering, the cannons wouldn't be on the model at all, as this was something done after launching. Of course, I could take some artistic license and create the launch scene, even if I do add cannons.
 
I'm still a little torn about the whole idea of the dockyard scene, because it feels a little like cheating since I'd be avoiding all the masting and rigging. But, I've seen some beautiful models built in this style. And who's to say that I won't build a fully rigged paper model next time? Yes, of course I'm rationalizing.
 
In any case, I think I've decided that I'll add the cannons regardless of the final model type. I can go ahead and get started on the carriages first. I will then give some thought to the barrels and the gun tackle. I think it's common to build a ship model where the cannons have no tackle or just the breech ropes rigged. But, a serious ship modeler would  most certainly fully rig the cannons, and I expect I will do just that.
 
And the barrels? I used brass cannon barrels on my HMS Alert model, which look absolutely great, but I may just put some effort into making them out of paper this time. Anyway, I don't know of good sources of small enough pre-made carronade barrels, of which I'll need several for the quarter deck. But, first things first. Time to make carriages.
 
Building the Carriages
The task of cutting all the parts to make good looking gun carriages can be quite intimidating, particularly the trucks or wheels. Luckily, this step is simplified by the fact that the GPM HMS Mercury Details set I bought includes all the gun carriage parts all neatly laser cut.
 
 
 
I've generally been pre-painting the laser-cut parts before removing them from the sheets. The Shipyard printed parts are a natural wood brown color, but if you look at a lot of dockyard models the gun carriages are most commonly painted red, and this is the way I've decided to go with this model. It's easy enough to choose the desired color since the laser-cut parts need to be painted anyway.
 
I painted the carriages using Renesans brand acrylics from Poland, specifically the Renesans Colour 08, Cynober (Cinnabar). I've written about my hunt for this line of paints in another post. As an alternative, I had initially tried to use Blick Matt Acrylics, Deep Red, but it was just a tad darker than I wanted. My desire was to match the color of the printed bulwarks as closely as possible, and the Renesans paint is a better match.
 

 
 
 
Since I painted the parts before assembly, once the carriages are completed, I'll have to go over them one more time to color the edges. Also, I'm going to try a little gloss medium in the final paint coat to make them less dead flat.
 

My second wooden ship model build...
De Duyfken VOC verkenningsjacht (scouting yacht) 1595-1608, a pinas. From Kolderstok  scale 1:50.
Lenght about 65cm, height 55 cm, width 25 cm. 
Armament: 10 cannons and 4 swivel guns.
 
Link to the Duyfken replica foundation

Being Dutch, I'm proud of our maritime history and achievements.
I'm well aware and of course not proud of the many horrible things our exploring forefathers did to gain power and wealth.
Nonetheless, their exploring achievements were remarkable and it's almost unbelievable such a tiny country managed to become a powerhouse.
 
I'm excited to start this build, still so much to learn and I think this is a good choise for my second build.
I got the kit last year as a Christmas gift from the Admiral. 
 
Since I believe this is the first Kolderstok Duyfken on this forum, let's have a look at what you get....

From Kolderstok...the kit, the extra gun set (4 guns) and a resin name plate.
I was happy to find the (out of print, Dutch translation) National Geographic book about the building of the replica ship. Superb photo's...very helpful.
There's no ship's boat included, but since you can't discover the world without one...I bought a suitable resin one.
 
And inside the box...

Wow!...a lot! 

Very nice step by step manual with good colour photo's. In Dutch, there's an English version included also.
 
Wood...


Good quality planks and dowels, the laser cut parts look really sharp. The larger parts are pre-cut to make life easier.
 
Bits and bobs box...

Looks good...resin and thin laser cut ship decorations, white metal anchor and 4 small swivel guns, brass cannons, neat looking blocks, brass nails, several types of rope and cloth for the flags.
The printed flags (good colours!) can be ironed on this cloth.
Also included is fabric for the sails. Fine quality, cream colour. 2 large plans, a part list and a seperate manual on how to build the grating.
 
Well...I guess that's all nice and fine. Now let's see what I can do with it. 
 
I can start when I cleared my workspace, so...the usual: More soon!
 
Robin