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mikiek

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Everything posted by mikiek

  1. mikiek
    Working off vossiewulf's suggestion I am using the same old filler I always use and adding the walnut crystals to that. I also add a splash of water to thin out the filler - it ends up about the consistency of a milkshake. I then use a paint brush and paint it on. This works well as I can apply a thin layer or pile it on where it needs it. My first attempt at coloring looked good mixed up and wet on the hull, but it lightened up when it dried. After sanding, I went ahead and rubbed on a pre-stain and then the natural stain. Sadly it came out like I figured - the lighter colored filler was lighter colored after the stain. I decided to give it another shot, this time making the mix darker. This one is still drying in the garage but it looks like it might be a success. You can compare the color of the mixing jar. The first attempt looked like coffe & cream. The second more like milk chocolate. Poor Arrow is becoming a testing ground. I guess if I can learn something it will be worth it. Besides the hull below the waterline is supposed to be painted white. That will cover up some of the evil. In the end, I think this method for a walnut hull with the walnut crystals can work. Not sure about woods with a different tint. Maybe the universal tints vossiewulf mentions could work.
  2. mikiek
    Fantastic accomplishment young man! I hope you are proud - you should be. It's been a real pleasure watching you grow during this process.
  3. mikiek
    Maybe after I get my 24 channel transmitter Per. Lights, a horn, hydraulic rescue arm
  4. mikiek
    Went thru the instructions for mounting the deck to the hull. I'm going to have to dry run that a few more times. You gotta mix a whole lot of epoxy for this step. There's just a couple of pages of instructions left. I'll need to decide on a paint scheme pretty soon and get started on that. I did put a thin coat of varnish on the deck structure this evening. First of many. On the sailboat build I lost count, 7 or 8 I think. You can begin to see how nice the wood looks. It'll be difficult to decide paint or varnish. Probably some of both.
  5. mikiek
    Thank you Matt. Kits are hit or miss. Some brands seem more reliable than others. I just finished one where the instructions and the plans did not match up. Both on positioning and dimensions. Plus they were in Italian. If it was me, I would work on the rudder. If it gets hosed up it's pretty easy to make another. Another option might be to extend the stern post. Looking at the last pic you posted (I guess from the instructions) and your one from earlier, The upper end of the SP is not landing in the same spot. Maybe the ticket is to do all of the above. That way no single part gets enlarged too much. That's what you have to watch out for.
  6. mikiek
    Thanks Elijah. This is the 2nd kit from Tippiecanoe Boats and they are both well designed. Even the instructions are great.
  7. mikiek
    My suggestion would be to cut a completely new rudder. Welcome to the world of kits! Should you choose to add on, you might do a little research on rudders. Quite often they were not a solid piece. Rather several pieces that fit together. See post 194 here. You might take that approach. Take a chunk out of the current rudder and have your new piece fill it back in as well as add more material. Just keep in mind you will be wanting to round off the inner edge and sand to sharper edge on the outside so your addition needs to stand up to some sanding.
  8. mikiek
    Hi Per - with the RC joystick I can slow the motor to where it's barely turning.
  9. mikiek
    Hey Bob - it was mostly plug & play. I'm no expert but it appears that the components are quality stuff. I was actually glad to get the motor off my workbench. All sort of tools and the like were sticking to it. A fairly beefy magnet inside.
  10. mikiek
    Thanks Mike - I have a pear wood replacement set for this build. I gave up during planking - Just couldn't get the wood bent correctly. I'm thinking of trying again with the kit basswood. Should bend and shape a lot easier. Seeing your build come together is making me want to get back to it.
  11. mikiek
    Sounds a little like what I was trying to do with the walnut crystals. Maybe I need to try some crystals directly in some filler. However your suggestion may cover the multitudes of other colored wood.
  12. mikiek
    Chazz - it turns out on my current build that the stern post and stem are not installed until after the hull planking. For a variety of reasons I ended up going against that and installed those parts about half way through planking. There is also no rabbet called for in the plans so the planks (while glued) just lay on the stem and stern post and there is a bit of a gap there. Plus the plank edges look a little rough. I've been considering whether to live with it or try to fill it. If I do fill I think it would call for a layer of filler starting at the plank ends and going back maybe 1/4". So that's where I am headed with these last few posts. Also, I probably should have been clearer in my OP. When I stain I normally don't try to color the wood. I use a natural stain to enhance whatever color the wood happens to be. So while many fillers claim to be stainable, with the natural stain if the filler dries to a white, it will still be fairly white after the natural stain is applied.
  13. mikiek
    Matt - I've no idea what your plans call for but many rudders on later period ships don't go outside the transom. A hole is drilled right next to the stern post and the rudder ends up inside and comes out on the aft deck. It almost looks like that is what yours should do. Also, is it still a problem if you turn the rudder around - so the edge we see in your pic faces the boat? One more thing. Your pintles & gudgeons will extend the rudder out from the stern post a little, giving you a bit more clearance.
  14. mikiek
    Thinking outside the box for a sec. I think we all agree that trying to stain wood that has some filler (any type) on it could result in inconsistent coloration. So what if you stained first and then filled? That would mean the filler color would have to match the wood. What I just tried might only work on walnut but it might be a start. And walnut is a popular wood for planking. I bought this product to try to dye white linen material for sails. It did a pretty good job but it has been sitting on a shelf since then. On the left started out as Elmers 50/50 with water. Then pinch by pinch I added the crystals until the color of the mixture matched the wood. It didn't take much. I painted it on a plank. This is still wet. This is dry. I could have but did not add some walnut dust from sanding. That would have thickened up the mixture some and allowed it to fill a crack better. But it is a start. And like I said this would go on after the staining. I'm going to stay with this effort. We'll see where it goes.
  15. mikiek
    Hey Mike - going back to your post #78 - did you have to bend that riser plank(s) before you put it in? Also how did you get the risers positioned correctly on the frames?
  16. mikiek
    Planking and associated tasks are finished. I have mentioned before that the instructions say to plank and then add stem and stern post. I tried that but it just wasn't working. You've no idea how long to leave the strakes at each end, the long ends were getting in each others way and several got broken throughout the process. So about half way down I installed the stem and stern post. It was much easier after that except for the fact that I didn't have a rabbet to stuff the ends into. A close look shows that the ends just lay flat on the pieces. Not overly attractive but I'm not sure I'm going to do anything to fix it. Lesson learned. Afterwards I glued the keel. It's a little taller than it needs to be so I will have to plane it down and then everything should be ready for some stain. As much as I harp on the proportional dividers, I must say it's nice to put them away! Stern platform and cap rails are next.
  17. mikiek
    As promised I got to install the electronics this weekend. Motor, receiver, speed transformer, battery pack and rudder servo. Most of it was very easy. The only problem was positioning the motor on its platform and getting its shaft in line with the prop shaft. I thought I did pretty good but it's making some racket when I power it up. But at least it's all wired and running! The motor. Rudder column and shaft tube (slathered with epoxy) The works. Rudder installed. Gluing the deck to the hull comes next. Then a lot of sanding and decisions about finish. This mahogany plywood looks gorgeous with only a lacquer coating (several really). But every little spot where I got some of the thickened epoxy shows up really bad. So I may paint some areas.
  18. mikiek
    I might have to argue the age thing with you Steve Along the same line I was thinking of tying a pencil to a string and dangling it from the ceiling over the workbench. Right about nose level.
  19. mikiek
    Steve - while planking Arrow this evening, I have been thinking it all over. For smaller scales Joel is probably right. Super dark lines between strakes is overkill. A rookie mistake on my part. Now you're saying the pencil will darken up with some stain - that may be all I need. I do prefer to see the 'caulking' and I like it to be fairly uniform. But that's just personal preference. My biggest problem at the moment is remembering to do SOMETHING! Can't tell how many times I forgot to make a caulk line at all on Arrow's deck.
  20. mikiek
    Joel - on my gun station build (1:23) the instructions actually said to insert walnut veneer strips between each strake. The kit supplied them. I didn't like the idea at first but it did grow on me. Looking at it now, it looks good. And I think that's about the only thing that won't get destroyed or damaged by moisture, liquids, sanding, etc. The walnut color is not too bad for a caulking look. Of course I would not want to have to make them by hand. On the other hand, that method is only good at the larger scales.
  21. mikiek
    Mike - it kinda looks like the seat back would make it difficult to add a cap rail at all. Particularly if there is to be some overhang on the inside. Does the rail pass behind the seat back?
  22. mikiek
    Joel - I will revisit that idea next build. I tried it once and seem to remember that I didn't get the darkness I wanted.
  23. mikiek
    re: using alcohol to dissolve PVA type glue. Please be smarter than me. Take a minute to assess the items around where you will be applying the alcohol! It is almost inevitable that it will run/drip beyond where you will be applying it. Case in point, I was applying alcohol to the bulwark plank to remove it. This plank sits on the outer edge of the deck. When I applied the alcohol to the plank, some ran on to the deck. Not a big problem in theory, however I used a Magic Marker on the deck plank edges to simulate caulking. You can probably see where this is going... The alcohol liquefied the marker ink which in turn soaked into and saturated the adjacent planks leaving some black spotting on the deck. It appears that I may be able to sand this out - I got lucky again.
  24. mikiek
    A lot of epoxy action this evening. I had several components ready to go inside the hull so I decided to glue them all at once. In addition, the instructions said to clear coat the entire inner hull. The hull plywood is fairly thin so the clear coat will beef it up some. It was the usual routine (clear coat, thick stuff) except for the amount of epoxy I was mixing up. That's where it gets tricky. Epoxy doesn't set by air exposure. It's a chemical reaction that does it and a fair amount of heat is released during that reaction. Heat speeds up the curing. In fact if you want epoxy to set quicker you can hold the mixture container next to a incandescent light bulb for 30-40 seconds and it will thicken (cure) noticeably. So the problem is when the 2 parts are mixed in a small container, heat generates in the confined area and the epoxy hardens much quicker. In the intro to epoxy at the beginning of the instructions Will states the way to beat the problem is to (obviously) get the mixture out of the container and on to a surface quickly. The heat can dissipate into the air that way. Then you can work the epoxy wherever you need it. So tonight I was more concerned with speed than with neatness. I actually walked thru my entire process 3 times so there would be no issues during the live run. The parts I glued are not terribly interesting, but the good thing is I can start installing the electronics next. Here's what it looks like, please excuse Arrow in the pic.
  25. mikiek
    Looks just like the real thing. Nice touch!

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