Philthy

First off YIKES! I really need to clean up my work station. It just goes to show you how crazy the past week has been. I am starting the first layer of planking. After reading and rereading a bunch of different methods on planking I have decided to got with the "just wing it method". The first plank is bending to shape right now and as you can see by the photos I am going to have a interesting time getting all the planks to line up just right. I decided to let the first plank lay naturally since it seems like all the planking methods call for this. Hopefully this will prevent the planks from bunching up too much at the bow.

Welcome back sports fans! I haven't posted any updates in awhile because work has been crazy busy the past couple of weeks. During this time I finished up the inner bulwark. Im very pleased how this section turned out after a few days of scratching my head on how to go about this step. The funny thing about this step is I found an alternative source of scrap wood to use on the model. Coffee stirrers found at the coffee shop! I measured out the scale length of about 20 feet or under. Same length I am going to use for planks when it comes time to deck. So I glued and trim to fit my converted coffee stirrers, cut to shape with my exacto blade, then sanded down. Presto-change-o the inner bulwarks are set.

Hi John, Good call with test fitting the bow sprit before moving along. I decided not to cut out the half circles on the scratch made bulwarks as seen on the original ply wood pieces. I figured they wouldn't line up (nothing else has) and decided to wait until the bulwarks are set then cutting out the guid holes. As for the scuppers I also decided to wait since they were not lining up with the deck properly. I am still planning on doing both waterways and scuppers to add some details to a rather vanilla kit. I am currently installing the inner bulwarks and when this is set I can add the waterways and scuppers. This seems like a logical sequence the make things easier.

Gunther you seem to be a Master Jedi Wizard when it comes to this stuff lol. I shouldn't need anymore thin CA glue for awhile but now I know another location to look for a deal.

Made a little progress last night with installing the second bulwark and am pretty happy with the results. One side is a little higher than the other by about 2 mm but I should be able to even this out with some sanding to make it hardly noticeable. I am really glad I decided to ditch the stock bulwarks in favor of basswood pieces I made. They simply look and fit better which should improve the over all finished look. I wanted to mention the CA glue I have been using from Model Expo. This product is top notch in my opinion. Your probably saying so what it's just CA glue. I get it, but what I like about it is how thin the viscosity is. Just a touch on a seam and it spreads on out and gives a solid bond in a few seconds. This really helped out in giving me the initial tight bond to the sub decks while I added PVA glue on the insides for more strength. Up next installing the stern post. I want this piece on before I start working on the transom so I can get a better idea of the overall look. Since this is more or less a imaginary kit I'm going to explore some transom photos of schooners from the period.

I live just down the road from model expos office. Took the grand tour and sadly they are in the process of moving from Hollywood down the road to Miami if I'm not mistaken. Long story short my back ordered fair American took about 2-3 weeks to arrive due to a tool issue that delayed the order. I was not upset in the least since I am busy with my Independence build.

Hi Gunther, After thinking about it I am planning on making a waterway for only the main deck with an edge plank as shown on your AVS. The other decks will have an edge plank as well with nibbing. I realized that prepping for working on the deck is a little premature at this time since I have other tasks I would like to finish up before moving on. The plan for this week is to install the starboard bulwark piece and start work on the transom. The kit provides a metal cast transom piece that looks plain awful in my opinion. So it looks like I get to learn how to make a transom, windows, and decorative trim! I will be sure to post some pictures when I get both of the bulwarks glued on if free time allows in a day or two.

Ok so I have a question for the forum. Should I do any decking work i.e. waterways before I install the bulwarks? I have been snooping around some other build logs and it doesn't look like waterways are found on decks other than the main deck. This kit does not provide parts for this so it would have to be scratch made. Unfortunately the plans and instructions only call for a basic deck planking layout and I am tempted to add upon this in the form of waterways, hook and scarph at the bow, and staggered planking with treenails. I am a little hesitant about doing the extra deck detailing since this would be my first attempt at this, there is no clear how to for this kit, and all the parts would have to be custom made. Here is my thought process on this. Before I install the bulwarks I would use a template to cut out the waterways from a sheet of basswood. I can then sand them down to reduce the thickness since my deck planking is very thin strips about 1mm thick. By installing the waterways and perimeter deck planking I can ensure there is minimal gaps when its time to install the bulwarks.

Woohoo I figured out how to make the deck walls That single piece of basswood worked out pretty well and looks a lot better than the ply wood. Now that I have figured this out I am starting to do some research on waterways. I think it would be a lot easier and look better if I can get the waterways installed before I attach the deck walls. lionfish: about your question on how I bent the wood a few posts ago. Its a bit complicated and scientific lol I soaked the strip in a wine bottle with hot water for about 5 minutes. I then clamped down the piece and held it in place with some modified binder clips till dried and its shape can be retained.

I think it was the camera playing tricks as well as how I holding the wood strips. I checked and rechecked a bunch of different angles and the strip seems to have good coverage on the last and second to last bulkheads. When I did the final shaping of the blocks I used one of my little flat files so I shouldn't have and bumps in the back.

I wanted to do a separate posting for this part to keep things in order. For the past week or so I have had in the back of my head the problem of how to approach the top section of planking that makes up the deck walls (not sure of the name). As posted earlier in this build log I have the kit provided piece of ply wood that is meant to be the wall for all sections of the deck (except for the poop deck). I am not entirely thrilled at how this piece fits though. The top most angles of this piece is off that will mess up pretty much everything i.e. wall hight at each deck, scuppers height, and height of the gun ports. Im still not sure the best approach to this so I am doing a little experimentation. In the photos I have a piece of scrap planking forming the bend around the forecastle. The plan is to build upon this bent piece until the deck wall height is reached as well as the angle. I feel this will make achieving the correct angle that goes the entire length of the ship difficult. Maybe if I install the wall support pieces cut to length will help? The other option I am kicking around in using one solid piece of basswood instead. I am thinking of cutting out a piece about 1 inch thick that runs the length of the ship. I can then draw the deck levels on this piece based on the 1:1 plans and finally cut to size. One way or another I am going to focus on resolving this little issue tomorrow. If you guys have experience with something like this please feel free to chime in. Im sure both options are feasible but maybe there is a better way. As a side note thank you all for the likes and comments as well as following the build log It has been a real pleasure keeping it up to date with the progress being made

I believe the stern filler blocks are all set and were a success. This is my first experience using filler blocks at the bow and stern and used scrap wood that I had laying about to boot This is just one of those little problems I had to figure out that will get better in time with following kits in the future. I also fixed the little issue I had with the deck heights being a little off. This was actually a lot easier to fix than I initially thought. I cut out about an in or so on the high or low side of the deck, adjusted accordingly, then secured with fast drying CA glue. Easy peasy. I still want to do a little bit more sanding on the false decks but I will leave that for tomorrow. The poop deck in particular looks a bit screwy but I am hoping some attention with a sanding block will do the trick.

Made some progress today on the stern section by adding some filler blocks. This is already helping me out in visualizing how the transom will go together as well as the ending points for planking. No real issues in making or shaping the stern blocks after cutting my teeth on the ones made for the bow. I also installed all the false decking and sanded the sides down so the are inline from the bow and back. I did mess up the "leveling" of the decks. I under stand there needs to be a slight curve outboard however on some of the decks, one side is higher than the other side. I am hoping a sanding block on the high side will correct this. The difference is maybe a millimeter or two and the plywood should be thick enough. Im really glad I went overboard with the bracings since I have been putting some stress on the hull during the standing and filling steps.

Good catch on the picture guys. Like a dummy I grabbed the wrong sheet when I took the photo lol. I have some 1/16 thick sheet basswood that should work. I have to do some looking and thinking on it. Audios!

Looks very sleek! Sharp work thus far

Hello again! I decided to take it a bit easy tonight since I got home from work a bit late. I soaked a piece of planking that I broke earlier and it is currently bending to shaped as shim for one of the bulkheads that sits a little shallow in comparison to its neighboring bulkheads. Once the shim dries I can easily glue it to the side of the bulkhead and then file down the angle in preparation of planking. My mind is still going back to the plywood piece for the side rails. I am thinking about replacing both pieces for a number of reasons. I have done some test fitting and the sucker will simply not line up to the many decks as it should. To fix this I am thinking about taking measurements from the deck height to the to height of the top rails as presented on the 1:1 plans and then re-cut the kit pieces to fit. I would also have to fix / re-cut the gun ports and scuppers. Or my second option that I am leaning towards is using the existing piece that is not working as a rough template and making new ones from scratch. I can then measure out the correct distance from the deck to the top rail (taking into account the top rail trim piece). I am trying to think it though and here is what I have came up with: 1. It will actually fit and look better than the existing laser cut pieces of plywood. 2. The gun ports can be cut at the correct height (as of now the opening is way to high) 3. I can recut the scuppers when I scratch build the waterways when it comes time for decking. 4. Why the hell not? Im gonna think about this some more while I take care of other items in order. I still need to fair down the starboard side bulkheads for planking still (hate that part), paint the sub deck sections black before installing the main deck and quarter deck (figured it would be easier), then finally instal the rest of the false decking. Oh wise and powerful shipwrights of the forum, if you think this will work please let me know or if you have any tips. Again I am in uncharted waters when it comes to modifying a kit. Also thanks for taking the time to read this, I know I can be a bit long winded.

Lots of experience and knowledge on this forum!

AHOY! During the night the damage control teams (baby clothes pins) were hard at work and the Skipper should award them with an extra ration of grog for their efforts. This morning I was scrambling to get ready for work and out the door in time but I wanted to see how the repairs turned out and both look great! First of the split ply wood that was in 3 pieces is now one single piece and the bend at the bow is still holding true! I did a quick test fit against the port side bow filler block and it looks good to me. Since aligning the 3 thin pieces was a bit tricky, there is a tinny shift where the edges, scuppers, and gun ports line up. A little filler and a few passes with the little file should clean these guys right up. I am not too worried about this though since I was thinking way ahead in expanding the gun ports a little to make room for added trim pieces. Always thinking a few weeks down the road. The false deck risers look good as well. I did a quick dry fit with the false quarter deck piece and she lines up spot on. Since the trim pieces followed the existing curve of the bulkheads thanks to the binder clips, the decking has a nice curve to help with shedding water on deck. Lastly the forecastle false deck piece was successfully glued on without any issues (for once lol). The kit had pilot holes and pegs to align false decking however, I decided to adjust it some. When I say adjust I mean I took the dremel tool and grinded it off so the decking lines up and not on a crazy upward angle. At the previous angle the deck would have been flush with the top rails at the bow which didn't look right to the eye and didn't match up at all with the 1:1 blue prints.

Let the repairs begin! I first tackled fixing the split plywood piece that is to be the rail section at deck level. I watered down some PVA glue and "painted" it on. Use dang near all my baby clips to hold the 3 layers together. I will see if this works tomorrow. If not it looks like I will have to get creative replacing this. Next I set out "fixing" the false decking. I think it's called the quarter deck section was a little messed up. The only supports the kit had for this was at the front and back of the deck with nothing on the sides. It also did not have the right angle based on what I think are accurate plans. I added some scrap strip wood laying around to raise the deck some to reflect the plans and not look all messed up if left alone. I will have sand the added wood some to create the curve in the deck. I'm not sure if these are regular repairs or if I'm venturing into the kit bash realm. This is really a learning project still being a novice builder. Not so much the general construction aspect but the repairs and modifications needed thus far. I have a feeling many more lay ahead

Hi Lionfish, thanks for the info yet again. It makes sense not to soak plywood since the water can dissolve the adhesive binding the layers together. I didn't think about this issue when I was prepping this part for the bow bend. I will take a look at scoring the starboard side piece. This might be a bit tricky since its not very sturdy or thick. As long as I clamp the soaked plywood when forming the bend I should be able to just glue the layers back together. Hopefully I can get some time after work today for repairs.

Well after my mini stoke and or temper tantrum I think this is fixable. It's just gonna take some more time and effort. There's no time line on a model well at least not this one. The bend held up pretty good after being clamped but all 3 layers of the plywood split apart. I plan on gluing them back together using some diluted PVA so it doesn't bubble up and hopefully dries flat. This part calls for trim planks on both the inboard and outboard sides so any blemishes will be covered up. So this weeks plan / goal is to bend the other side and prepare for the worse. I need to go back and fair the bulkheads some more. Then maybe after this get to preparing the false decks. This means evening the tops and fixing the curve in the decks (can't remember what that is called. Counter maybe?)

The piece that split is the sides of the ship and top section for the planking. Might be tricky but doable to use something different. When I'm not so pissed at her I will go back and try to fix it

More happy fun times to be had. I hate to seem like I'm whining here but this kit seems to be a piece of junk made with the crappiest materials around. This piece of laser cut plywood has a pretty significant bend at the bow section so I soaked it in some hot water for about 5 minutes to help out with the bend. The part literally went to pieces after a few minutes. So my options are to probably snap it in half at the bow dry or soak it and have it still fall apart. Really wondering if its worth wasting my time on this POS kit. Seriously considering putting her in a box and forgetting about it for a few years lol. I have another kit on standby so we will see.

Well I think I am pretty set on shaping the bow filler and let me tell you it was not very fun lol. I think I matched up the shape somewhat close on both sides. Sadly I am going to have to wait until planking to find out for sure. I really fear the bow is going to look really messed up but fingers crossed.

Well the port filler block is glued on and I want to say about 90% shaped. I have been using some test planking (and ended up breaking it DOH!) and I think it's about the right shape. So now I'm chewing at the starboard side filler block and trying to match the shape. This should help me out since the bow looks to be an abrupt round curve. I am pretty certain I am going to need to shim the 3rd bulkhead since it looks like there is a noticeable dip and bend but one thing at a time. I will post some pictures shortly and get the expert opinion if the blocks look right since I hardly have a clue lol. I realized too that the dremel is good for the rough stuff but as far as fine tune shaping I feel more comfortable with the good ole flat file. Time to make some more saw dust fly.