JeffT

My first model was a wooden kit of a Jaguar and it has never stopped,Even in Vietnam . Watched my father build the Revell U.U.S Constitution .Built my first wood ship in 1976 After 6 builds completed I have purchased the Mantua Sergal 1/78 scale Cutty Sark , And this is the reason I joined this site .

Update... somewhat.  I have the starboard side, sanded, filled, and I think ready for paint though painting is down the road a ways.    Starting the other side of sand-fill-sand-fill... ad infinitum ad nauseam. I'll clean up the stern all at once after the port side is done.   Here's pics.... 

Don't throw that one away...lol

I use a small hobby hammer. Never had much luck with pin pushers.

After years of building with equipment all over the house which I had to drag out and then store again, I now have a dedicated shop. Yippee! I replaced the original structure which was a shed attached to my barn with the new structure which has heat and air conditioning as well as exhaust fans. I split it into two rooms one of which is for sawing, filing and anything which creates dust. The other room is for metal work and assembly. I also included a fly tying table as I am an avid fly fisherman. I still have plenty of room left over to add tools. I'm thinking of a thickness sander but I don't need it yet.
Richard

That's little Nisha complete, thanks to Jim Hatch.
 
Just Erycina close behind....

I use a small hobby hammer. Never had much luck with pin pushers.

Welcome to MSW! 🙂

A case for Sphinx
I don’t usually invest in a case for my models this early in a build but earlier this year when my regular case maker delivered the cover for the Royal Barge, he announced his retirement.
He wasn’t making any more but he did  have one ready made that would suit Sphinx as I intended to build her.
 
Today he delivered that case as he was also doing a final delivery to the IPMS Scale model show at Telford.

1196(2)
The model sits well in the case, leaving adequate room for a stub Bowsprit.

1198(2)
The base already had a ‘tarmac’ finish,  a reference to its previous purpose.
I was prepared to remove or cover this but  I quite like the look.

1205(2)
Once I reach the detail stage it will be useful to have a cover to keep the dust off.
 
This is the eighth case Paul of Just Bases has made for me, he will be missed in the Model making community.
 
 
B.E.
13/11/21

When I glued the gangway deck patterns  to the waist gangway patterns I have the same problem as with the gallery cabin bulkheads. The photo below shows the problem, in that the glued parts have curled. The parts were well clamped after the glue was applied so I need to think about the best method to do this on the V2 build to avoid the curling issue. 
 

 
The parts have been soaked in water and clamped flat. I will leave the parts clamped like this overnight and hopefully this will resolved the curling issue as the parts cannot be fitted with a curl as they do not sit on the supporting knees.
 

 
In the meantime I have done a bit more work on the forecastle. The gunwales and catheads have now been fitted. I have also fitted the Forecastle Rail assemblies and ships bell. Looking at the photo below there is a gap between the deck and righthand side inner bulwark by the bowsprit. I did not notice this when the part was fitted, must do better on the V2 build. The fitting of the catheads took quite a bit of work and I need to think how I will do this better on the V2 kit. I just need to fit the deck hammock cranes, eyebolts, belaying pins and timber heads.
 

Welcome to MSW! 🙂

Don't throw that one away...lol

Work is progressing nicely on the V1 HMS Sphinx build, as can be seen in the photo below
 

 
I believe I have now completed all the work on the quarterdeck.
 

 
This is a close up of the quarter gallery and rail.

 
This shows the hammock cranes. I have also added the rope round the ladder hatch

 
This shows the capstan, binnacle and ships wheel

 
I have added the gangway knees, the gangway deck is only dry fitted at the moment.

 
I have done quite a bit of work on the forecastle. I just need to fit the catheads, gunwales, timberheads and hammock cranes.

So this piece is just a test to see if I could cut the parts properly.
 
I have some cherry coming on order and hope it will work for this ship but will not know until I see the pieces.
 
 

Welcome to MSW, Pierre.  I'm looking forward to seeing your models.

Pierre, welcome to MSW. I look forward to seeing your Bonhomme Richard. 

Welcome, Pierre!
 
The information you are looking for can be found by clicking here and here. I look forward to seeing your work!

Hello everybody
 
I am french living close to Grenoble in France.
I apologize for my english.
 
I just wanted to let you know that  during the last year I have built a model of the Bonhomme Richard. It is a remenbering of the strong link established beetwen Louis XVI and the futur US
 
can I have instructions to create a new topic and to share 2 links to Google library showing what I have done
 
Regards
 
Pierre

Back at it. Hope you got a little AC time in 🙂

Thank you Bob, Chuck is the man to follow. 👍
 
Post Thirty-six
 
Planking - at last.
Planking of the first band begins with the strakes fitted in two halves at differing points along the hull. The first strake is covered by the wale.

1125
The first strake fitted, you can see how the tapering follows the tick marks on the hull.
I did decide to use ca for fixing .
 
Thinking About a Drop plank
This would sit immediately below the Wale, but with the post fitting of the wale pattern it would be tricky to acertain the right level with the risk that the wale would eventually part cover the drop plank set-up, and negate the effect.
With two planks fitted there was a  good match with the wale bottom at the bow, but an awkward narrow strip would be required further back to support the wale bottom. This would also throw out the planking run.
I decided that it was a fiddle too far so, like the plank I dropped the idea.🙄

1133
 Three strakes fitted, from this point on I will be below the wale  lower edge.

1130
At the stern I wet the plank for a short distance where it curves sharply down to the lower counter.
Clamps were used to hold the plank closely down until the glue set, altho’ this was fairly instant with the non runny thick ca I am using.

1138
Here you can see I suffered the issue of a ‘sprung’ plank. Not too problematic just needs cutting with a scalpel and re-gluing.
Soft or sprung planks  should be attended to they will come back to bite you later on.

1141
From the fourth strake  down  a degree of edge bending was required, and at this point  tick marks at the front half were already showing signs of running off.
 The band tape was repositioned and Fresh tick marks were re-drawn.
 The strakes have been divided up into individual planks, not a formal arrangements but roughly in sync with  scale lengths.
 
So after four days work the first band of eight strakes is completed.

1179
At the fore end the  plank run matches the band line.

1151
At the aft end which was unadjusted there is a slight divergence from the band line. I didn’t want a wider plank at the counter, so this is ok, and I will adjust the position when I re do the second band.

1171(2)
The run of the planks to the stern counter.

1169

1149

1177(2)

1178

1167(2)
 
Onto Band two and a repeat exercise.
 
B.E.
11/11/21
 
 

Here’s what mine looks like after 20 years. It’s been out of the sunlight in a dark closet and I used a light wipe of tung oil. The Alaskan Cedar really has a warm golden glow to it. Very pleased. Some day I’ll finish this project. Watching Chuck’s fine Winchelsea and Cheerful kits and tutorials are motivating me to start again. 
 
 

Just a quick photo of work that has been sitting in a dark corner for many years.  this is Alaskan yellow cedar on my cross section after mellowing and finding its aged color and tone.  It has been sitting on dark shelf for almost four years. No dents….just dusty but it has taken on a warm amber color after using only wipe on poly.  Thought I would post as I was pleasantly surprised.  
 

 

compare to the color and tone when I was building it four years ago.
 

 
 
 

I mentioned "Simulated wood carvings to P/E" in my last post. Here's what I use to turn the Vanguard's multilevel P/E into "wood:" 1. A base coat of Liquitex acrylic Raw Sienna and 2. a Citadel wash of Seraphim Sepia - both water soluble.
 
With Vanguard's "multi-level" P/E in the Sphinx kit (and I believe all other Vanguard kits with decorative P/E), it isn't necessary to add more than a paint and wash. However, on single level P/E, I simulate the thickness of a wood carving by applying a gesso - or a matte medium (both by Liquitex) - before painting. The gesso or matte dries fairly quickly and you may need more than one application.
 
The results for "carved wood" simulation are so much better looking than just sticking on a flat piece of P/E. I realize not all this P/E was actual carving on some ships but it is a good approximation of a hand painting technique which is difficult (to say the least) at modeling scales below 1:48.
 
Ron


The arrow points to the column decorations on the beautiful HMS Bellona model in the U.K. This also shows very clearly the colorations of these elements. I have chosen to paint my HMS Camilla gallery and stern light columns in white and the window sash and mullions in brown to simulate varnished wood, the reverse of the chosen colors in the kit's manual. I believe this choice creates a more historically accurate rendering. The frieze decorative painting on this particular model (trompe -'loeil - "fool the eye") is stunning; I want to do this someday - either directly on the finished bulwarks or by painting off the model on a piece of paper and then applying it. This won't happen until I build my first 1:48 model!
 
A correction: actually, the Sphinx manual shows that the decorative columns for both the galleries and the stern in gold, the window sash in white. Similar to this model of the Bellona, I'm using the gold color (Vallejo Liquid Gold as recommended) very sparingly and predominately on the stern where the color will act to highlight the one-piece, detailed resin casting; you can see the edge of the model's stern carvings finished in gold.
 
 

Continuing with work on the bow of HMS Camilla. Affixing the cathead and support knee. Delicate P/E application tool. Filling the "GG" the Gunwale Gap. Pics first, commentary to come. I know, I know: there's char on the edge of the gunwale pattern: see the next photos.
 

The sticky bit on the end of this handy tool is wax and it's a lifesaver for applying tiny stuff like P/E decorations. It can also help for placing tiny wood parts in hard-to-reach places. It rarely happens, but If a bit of residual wax is left from the "Pulp Dent" tool, no problem, just wipe it off. These plastic sticks come in packs of two dozen (see other photo). A couple will last the better part of a single build.

You'll need to remove the lower portion of the curved molding in order to get a proper fit for the cathead support knee. As can be seen, I just used my X-acto to slice off the offending bit and then it popped right off, clearing the area for the subsequent mounting of the knee (to a flat surface!). I could have hacked all the other molding pieces away to mount the knee directly to the hull, but this degree of surgery is not called for with this model ... wait!..I changed my mind.
 

...This detail is still slightly awkward; On reflection and seeing this enlargement, I'll do something to fix it. I'll carefully slice off the leftover bit of the upper curved molding and paint the area blue. This, indeed, is small stuff to think about; unfortunately for me, I often sweat these details... There is more touch-up to come: CTBR, the residual char on the knee (aaarrrgh) and adding some paint to the simulated wood carving of the decorative P/E.
 
Note Bene: If for no other reason, I'd recommend to all my colleagues to take good close-up photos of your model as it's being built (like this and others logs); you'll really see where future problems can crop-up and you'll undoubtedly discover how much more time you need to invest to sharpen your skills (and eye)!🤣
 
 

Described previously, the handy applicators. A dental practice staple I'm told. I think I got them from a dental supply company: Google it.
 

Love that stainable wood filler! It won't be stained here however since the gunwale is painted black. But the gap, even at .3mm, would have been awful looking.
 

The "spikeys"...The spikes show why the holes are important (should you choose to rig/prep her anchor rigging). The little nails run through the cathead pulley holes are just a reminder to test fit the size of the rigging rope for the anchor tackle - before  I get too much further on the build.
 
With this kit, it pays to look WAY AHEAD of where you are in the moment. This is a good rule-of-thumb, of course, but it's especially important with a high-calibre model like this one.
 
I think it's important to mention at this point in my log that I am only loosely following the sequencing of steps outlined in the (well done) manual. I have departed from the step-by-step approach for a number of reasons. Generally speaking, if you do follow the manual page-by-page you'll be fine.
Ron