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sideliner

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Everything posted by sideliner

  1. Hello out there As an afterthought I decided to take a shot at building the Latham Seine Boat. I don't believe I have seen anyone recently trying this. What I finished with is probably like no seine boat on earth. The instructions are limited and somewhat difficult to follow. Instructions say to cover hull former with water soaked( 24 hours) basswood 1/32x1/16 in. If I built again, I would use wider strips to keep glue from sticking to hull former. No way to clamp such fragile wood pcs, so had to use instant adhesive for entire model. I need training on applying this stuff. Unfortunately I accidentally erased my build log, but have included a few shots of finished boat. Trying to decide if I should mount it with the ship itself.. Getting ready to start on Xebec
  2. Thanks for the encouragement. I will not put this one in a case because of lack of space and , I believe, not of sufficient quality. This was my first serious venture into plank on hull modeling.. This was a difficult model to build. The gentleman I purchased it from said that he had had several purchases returned for an easier build. I am waiting for my next kit, Cazador(Xebec) by Occre. I plan to use knowledge gained on Latham to do better. I have seen an excellent build log on the Xebec, so I am not sure if I should do a build log. Any opinions of multiple build logs on same model? Sideliner
  3. Hello folks Well I am posting a few pics of, what for me, is the completed Benjamin L. I deviated in a lot of areas for several reasons. Limited illustrations, confusing drawings, missing metal parts, and just stuff I thought looked better. For me the hardest parts were the rigging, especially the chain plates and pin rail lashings. Some of difficulty was because I did not follow the build schedule closely. For instance, lashing the pin rails is deadly if you have to work around the mast shrouds. Many thanks to builders that preceded mine, especially Gary Kapp.. I found a photo on Heritage Auctions web site of the Benjamin L and used it as a guide for rigging.
  4. Well here it is in Feb. 2017. Just a note to say I'm back on build. Finding rigging very tedious and constantly referring to research to find out "how to" article. I'm working on shrouds and chain plates. I have been obsessing about trying to make every thing look like showroom fit. Looked at old pics of schooners and saw that their dead eyes are not all even and Bristol neat. Doing the best I can until I get more experience. Main booms rigged and laying on deck. Gaff booms built and waiting to rig.
  5. Just a short update. Have not posted since July but have made some progress. Raised the masts and constructed booms and gaffs. Slowdown due to trying to hand make chain plates. Have had some good suggestions but not satisfied with my work. Finally found some ready made chain plates at www.hobbyworldinc.com. Perfect for 1:48 scale. Now installing them and preparing to start rigging. Will post pics as I progress Mel
  6. dgbot, submarinechief, robinbill Thanks for suggestions. I will try all and see what works for me. Mel
  7. Currently have Benjamin Latham 48:1 under construction and am stymied at chain plates. Plans say mfg from 1/16 brass strip but I cannot drill holes in this small strip with table mounted Dremel. I have searched for ready made chain-plates but have had little success. Currently have some on order with Hobby World but am afraid they are out of scale at 7mm. Any suggestions on how to make them would be appreciated sideliner
  8. Thank, all for comments and encouragement. Anyone know where to find a good primer on making ironwork for scale models?
  9. Well, a month later and I am ready to tackle the construction and shipping of masts. Evidently I must take mast dim. from drawings. Also looks like cross tree and spreader assembly is mostly made from scratch. Instructions say that chain plate assemblies are included in kit. They are not. I must practice my tiny metal working skills . There is a comment in the manual that I have taken to heart. Page 24 encourages building and rigging this vessel in "Bristol" fashion, but reminds us that this was a commercial fisherman and was most likely outfitted in "Gloucester" fashion. Not being greatly skilled in modeling, I chose to make it look like a fisherman with all the splinters and dings suffered by such a rig. Also allows me to cover many of my mistakes .
  10. Matt.s.s. Please excuse this wordy reply but it might be helpful for someone just stating out like me. Welcome to my struggles with the Ben Latham.. I am currently working on the wheel house and preparing to finish up the aft railing. I caution you to not necessarily do all the things I have done. I have made many mistakes and have corrected most but the ship you see in the log is a variation of the actual ship. Here are some of the mistakes I made 1. I wish I had taken more time to select the hull planking from the wood furnished in the kit. It seems to vary quite a bit in thickness and width. I will seek out a better grade of wood on my next build. 2. When planking the deck, I darkened the edge of each plank to simulate caulking, but left too much space between planks(there should be none) I corrected by wiping with HobbyLite filler and then wiping with a very diluted mix of black paint and grey paint wiping off excess. 3. Made the cabin wrong with hatch at front. I misread location of cabin on deck and did not see my mistake until I had planked around it. I removed it from deck, planked in the gap and glued it over the planking in the correct position. When you see my next pics you will note that I mounted it backwards so the hatch faces the wheel. I could have rebuilt the cabin but decided I liked it that way. 4. As you may have noted on other forum builds the stern build up is not clearly defined in plans and you just have to wing it by looking at pics of real Latham. 5. Also when planking the deck, I cut the planks to scale and aligned the butt ends every 3rd plank. Looks good but if using 1/16x1/16 planks it is not necessary, plus it's tedious gluing that many planks. Next time I'll use longest planks possible and scribe the butt ends with an exact o knife. I am enjoying this build and am learning so much about modeling and what tools to use. I feel that my next effort will be more professional looking. Sideliner
  11. Thanks! I have tightened up the gaps and almost finished the aft deck. Finding thin bass wood planks very inconsistent in dimensions and difficult to make deck absolutely smooth. Maybe more sanding?? Working on wheel house and more detail in deck furniture. Debating a deck finish that will simulated weathered oak as I doubt these commercial fishermen daily sanded their decks snow white as did the Royal Navy. Thinking something along the lines of a light grey wash over even lighter black wash. I'm going to make a simulated deck section to test.
  12. Thanks, Elijah Yes, you are right some of them are actual gaps in planking. I am in the process of filling them in with Hobby lite filler and drawing a pencil over the filler.It was a bad idea and will take a little effort to fix. Won't being trying this again. Live and learn. Sideliner
  13. Elijah Thanks for the response. I have attached a pic of finished fore-deck. I like the looks of the 1/16 planks. I think it's more to scale. If my math is correct that would make the planks about 3 inches wide. I read somewhere that in later builds of the actual ships they did widen the planks to improve water tightness. The picture really doesn't do the deck justice. It is pretty level and dragging an exacto blade backwards between planks gives them more definition and cleans out junk. Moving on to the after deck looks more difficult because of angle. sideliner
  14. Attached 3 pics related to last post. Still need a little work on cabin roof. I think color of planking on roof of cabin is a little dark???? Would it be a good idea to try and sand the deck planks some?
  15. Sorry about my last rather dour post. My solution to a couple of irritating issues I've had. Where the 1/16x1/16 planks look too jammed up, I've CAREFULLY run a new exact blade between said planks. Also I corrected the sloppy planking of cabin roof. Then, as a test, painted planking of cabin roof with highly diluted black paint, wiped any excess and when dry, painted with watered down grey deck paint. Looks much better..pics in next post please feel free to critique before I paint main deck. sideliner
  16. Here is a little more progress. Painted the hull using brush and 1/16" automotive detail tape. Great stuff. Had trouble figuring where to put waterline. Finally just took dimensions from drawing and applied tape in two stripes. Painted white {3 coats)between tape. Painted copper on lower half over two coats primer and black above waterline. Then removed tape and laid a 1/16 wide tape on top of painted waterline, touched up black and copper to the tape and removed tape. It did not pull off paint. Big Mistake was scribbling the cove line and then trying to paint it. Finally used yellow 1/16 wide auto detail tape. I'll do better next time . Second mistake was putting hatch on fwd end of aft cabin. Will anyone care? Started decking. Plan calls for 1/16 x 1/16 planks. That's what I'm using. Taking black colored pencil to one side of plank to represent caulking. Also alternating plank ends. Very tedious since I am planking around hatches and cabin. Live and learn! As you can see I got the initial planks too close together. Debating ripping and redo. Using instant glue when planks don't lie flat. Cannot use leggo solution with deck furniture installed. I am going to experiment with lite(thinned) grey finish for deck to see if caulk and plank ends will show. After looking at french guys beautiful deck job I'm some what depressed with my efforts. But I don't guess the real ships were perfect
  17. Elia Thanks for info. As you will see as soon as I figure out why pics didnt post, I've made some progress with transom. sideliner
  18. Sloopjohnb I totally removed transom and rebuilt it based not on plans but what fit and looked right. As noted in one other build log the angle of transom on drawing on page 13 of manual will not work. I took new measurement from sheet 2. Don't know if I got it right but it looks better You can see in attached pics that I still have some finishing to do on the stern area. I could not find anything in the kit that looked like it belonged to the transom of this build. So I cut the transom piece from sheet stock on my jigsaw. Like other models Ive worked on, I used the illustration in the plans to make it look right. I have also become quite expert at "un glueing and re doing errors. I am convinced that the kit manufacturers purposely leave little things out so more of a challenge is presented to the builder. I went ahead and finished up most of the deck furniture prior to deck planking. There is nothing that tells you how to build the various hatches and trunk cabin. Just took dimensions off drawing and built them the way that made sense.
  19. Eddie I'm late to comment on your excellent build, but just wanted to say that I am also building the Latham as a first build and your pictures are helping greatly to get me through the transom and main rail construction. Mel
  20. Have just finished putting decking supports under plank shear for butt ends of planking. Have torn out the transom and am trying to establish correct angle for re install. Have been looking at G. Kaps build and hope to get a respectable transom on and bulwark planking done this week. sideliner
  21. Bob Appreciate the input. I have pretty much reached the same conclusion. Every time I run into an issue on this model that is not clearly pictured in plans or instructions, I have reviewed similar builds and just forged ahead and tried to put my self in the place of the real shipwrights trying not to put a square peg in a round hole. Reminds me of tightening the connecting rods on my old 1950 Chevrolet...Take a shim out, re-tighten the bolts till it feels right, start it up and if the piston doesn't knock, it's fixed. Thanks again Mel
  22. I have reached the bulwark planking stage on my Benjamin Latham fishing schooner. Would appreciate opinion on the rake of the transom and position of aft main rail. I have a recently posted a build log that will show my progress so far. Please take a look at attached thumbnails. I have viewed all appropriate build logs for this model but am still unsure as how to proceed. This is my first serious build. I appreciate that this transom has been a problem for others. Looking at plans, instructions, build logs and actual photos of this ship I cant see how the bulwark planking fairs into the transom. Mostly due to my lack of experience I suppose.
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