EJ_L

Welcome to MSW Craig! Good luck to you on your Titanic build! I hope nothing else is missing from the kit. You might want to do an inventory of the parts as best you can and see if anything jumps out at you as missing that way when you contact Amati you can ask them for the replacement parts along with the plans. Looking forward to seeing your build!

Very nice. I like the way you displayed the furled sail and the rigging lines look clean and neat. Now is when the last of that "open" work space quickly turns into a tangle of ropes to get snagged on. Best of luck to you on a smooth rigging!

A few more planks have been laid down though I am still not very far. To get to the first false gun deck I will need 26 strakes and I now have 5 completed with the 6th started. I thought I would take a few pictures to show a little more detail on how I am planking this ship. Also I included some pictures of the tools I use. Simple ones are really all you need: ruler, sanding block, electric plank bender, paper clips, hobby knife, miter saw and box, glue and a pencil. I also use because I have it, a small plane, and needle files. Of course you will need plenty of sandpaper when the planking is done. Note, this is a double planked hull and it is a plank on bulkhead build. Therefore, this first layer of planking will not done in the exact way you should do an exposed planking. The overall techniques are the same but there are a couple of differences I will note. Plus you can cover the imperfections with filler later. So in an earlier post I talked about finding the widths of the planks, number of planks and then laying that information out on the edges of the frames to act as guidelines. Now I can start fitting my planks. I do not lay one solid strip of wood from bow to stern but instead I cut individual plank lengths and install them that way. Why? First, it is more true to actual ship construction. On a large vessel like S.R., there would not have been lumber available in the length required to span her entire length. Second, I personally find dealing with shorter pieces easier. Less material to have to fit especially around the sharper bends in the hull. To get my lengths I start in the middle of the hull and lay a strip of wood across four frames splitting the first and last in half so another plank can share the frame. Once cut to length I will then use my guidelines and established widths to draw my taper across the plank. Cut and sand smooth the plank and I always taper the bottom (side against the frame) edges inward so the top is slightly wider. This allows for a tighter fit edge to edge. Once cut and tapered, now you can bend it to shape. There are many ways you can bend wood. Typically I just use heat from my plank bender but if the curve is going to be sharp, I will soak it in some water first and then use the heat to bend. This is basically trial and error of the various ways until you find a method that works for you. Just keep in mind when sing water that the wood expands when wet and shrinks when dry. If you install wet wood, when it dries you will have gaps. Once the plank has been shaped glue in place. I use a combination of wood and CA glues and a lot of modified paper clamps to hold the wood in place till dry. The rest of the planking is basically a repeating of the above steps. Remember that you should not have to force the wood into place. If tapered, sanded and bent properly, the plank should just lay in place with the only pressure just being that to keep it from slipping as the glue dries. The pattern in the joints is one of the deviations from the finish planking I will address. The pattern itself of a joint, two solid boards and a joint is correct however, due to the bulkhead spacing, the pattern is not even and the lack of uniform plank lengths is wrong. If all of the actual frames were in place then I could run all the planks the same length as they would have equally spaced frames to attach to the entire length of the ship. On a P.O.B. model, you are restricted to the few bulkhead frames that are there. The second layer of planking will be done correctly as then it will be similar to planking a solid hull ship. To achieve the pattern know that all your planks will stretch across 4 frames. 1st frame split in half. 2nd frame cross completely. 3rd frame cross completely. 4th frame split in half. As you move on to the adjacent strake, start the first plank one frame to either the bow or the stern. Which way you pick does not greatly matter, just be sure to keep going the same direction. I always set one frame to the stern. Each following strake should always start it's first plank one frame back. Every 4th strake should see the joints line back up to create a pattern of joint, solid, solid, joint. (If you are looking to be historically accurate, you will need to do some research on the ship, era and countries practices as they varied in all those categories.) When I plank the 2nd layer I will explain how I create the pattern then. On a final note, be sure to pay attention to your guidelines. They will help keep you on track with your planking so that they all fit correctly and evenly. However, do not assume that you did everything right. Periodically double check the remaining space available and make sure the planking layout is still accurate. It is easier and better to adjust in small increments over the entire hull than end up with one or two planks at the end that are extremely wider or smaller than the rest. More to come!

With your current tool selection I would recommend buying the wood from one of our sponsor sites that specialize in wood for ship building. They are on the front page, lower right. You can get milled lumber in any dimensions you would want as well as sheet material. This would be preferred as you do not have the tools to cut and mill rough cut lumber that could be obtained at a lumber yard. Starting a ship from a pile of lumber is a hard thing to do. I would start trying to modify kits and see what types of materials and tools you may want or need before diving into scratch building. This will familiarize yourself more with ship building and also allow a slower accumulation of tools which will make scratch building easier.

Mike, The build logs are actually the best place to start asking about questions on your model as we can see the model through your pictures which often helps in getting the answer you need. It does not hurt though to also ask it in the specific section as this opens up the question to other people who may not be following your build. There are no set rules other than try to ask in the right section. Often times the answer you seek can be found in the search feature but we will always be happy to help you out.

That is what I will do if they are needed. I always keep my extra wood that the bulkheads are cut from so I still have all the patterns needed. I have never thrown out any extra parts, wood or even the plastic spurs from plastic kits until the model is completely done and even then I keep a lot of that stuff. I have found too many uses for those leftover "trash" parts that I just throw them into boxes under the desk when I am done with the build.

Thanks Frank. Have not seen you around in a while. Good to have you with us on this build.

The spacing is truly horrible and yes very irregular. Fortunately this is a double planked hull so while I am attempting to stay true to proper planking, the spacing is presenting a challenge. I thought about adding more filler blocks but my first layer of planking is on the thicker side between 1-1/2 and 2mm thick. I think that once I have them glued in place, they will be stiff enough to provide a solid base for the second layer. The second layer is only .5mm thick. I am going to keep a close eye on spacing as I get further alone g. If it does not look like the planks will be stiff enough I will get some extra supports in there. The bulkhead spacing has always frustrated me. I always have to modify, adjust and add to them so much that I am really thinking more and more about trying to do a fully framed ship. That mite box has been around for a long time. Dad bought that for me over 20 years ago and it has served me well since. Not bad for a cheap miter box. Been through a few saws though over that same time. I have learned a lot about what materials can and cannot be cut well with them...

Not on this build. Planking will take me a while on her as she is a big one. I will keep updating with pics as she progresses. This is always a fun stage for pictures in my opinion as with each update you can see the hull take shape.

I keep looking at it and I still don't know how else they would fit in there. I think it is better to have them than not as at least there is a way to get up to the forecastle. Not the fist head scratcher I have come across in building model ships.

A lot of variation was in the details that at first glance are overlooked. Hull shape, displacement, planking patterns, rigging practices, materials used and the unseen such as framing like Mark said. To most of us these things are hard to pick out but to a ship's Captain, these details could be noticed at great distance. They were some of the features that allowed them to recognize an enemy ship in disguise vs a friendly. A lot of combinations of different countries building styles would cross over though. Like most things, builders would see a ship that worked well and try to copy it to make it their own. Limited by the resources available to them due to either geographical locations, money or war, they would adapt to make it work. For instance, if they were having a hard time finding large trees for planking, smaller planks might be used or a mast may be built of multiple trees cut and bound together. Even "sister" ships could have differences in details if the first ate up more resources than the second. Another factor was the architect. During a big build time, there would have been several architects who each would design and build slightly different. While staying true to the countries overall building practices, they would add their personal touches to the design in the ultimate goal to build the best ship. This is one of the more fascinating features about this hobby to me. Each ship has it's own uniqueness in design, usage and history. Some vessels we know a lot about and others, even famous ones, we are still learning. While most of these things do not need to find their way into every model we build and honestly would be impossible at the scale you are currently building, they are still worth reading about if you are interested in ship architecture. English ship building practices are some of the most and best documented around but there are some good articles on French and Dutch building practices also.

Planking has started!! I know, not much to look at yet, only a few pieces in place but I am off and running. More to follow soon.

Look around at the various builds that are on here. There are some huge ships with a lot of details and ornamental carvings or there are smaller ships with less decoration but, due to the design of the hull, rigging and colors it can be even more beautiful to behold. As said, this is mostly in the eye of the beholder as to what qualifies as "epic". As to a kit being "epic", it has already been said that that won't happen. However, any kit can be bashed into an epic model with enough patience and determination of the modeler. As with all projects I say, find the ship that you think is cool and sparks that passionate interest in. Then however you choose to build it, be it kit or scratch, go above and beyond what it called int eh instructions and push your skill past your comfort zone and into the next level. Then you will have an epic model.

Nice job on the deck furniture! Those out houses came out great. Very impressive indeed. I do feel bad for the sailors though having to climb up over the edge of the forecastle deck since the ladders tuck so far underneath it. Is that simply due to the limited room behind the out houses or was there another reason I don't know of? I have seen a lot of strange designs when it comes to the placement of ladders, and other deck furniture so I am mostly curious.

There were differences in English and French construction in many aspects. For the purposes of this model though I would not worry to much about it.

Oh no!!!! Reasons why I am glad my Admiral stays out of my shipyard. We each have our own spaces that we do not mess with the stuff in there. At least this time you know how to make them so it is just the time required to build and not to design. As horrible as that is, the story did make me laugh a little. Forgive me though as I do feel your pain.

After completing hour 705 today La Couronne has her mizzen mast in place with shrouds ratted down and the forestay in place. She is starting to look like a proud tall ship sitting there now. Next up will be the top masts. I am going to take a break though from her for a little while to work on S.R.'s planking. The top mast's rigging starts to get more intricate with the way the stays are run on ships of this era. Fortunately as a trade off the ratlines get fewer as you go up. I want to give the eyes a break before diving into the first set on the fore topmast. So back under the plastic she goes for a week or so. Till then....

Welcome to MSW Len! Good luck to you on finishing your Emma C. Berry and on the Chaperon!

Welcome back to ship modeling and welcome to MSW! Having a place like this will be night and day difference in how you model. I did a few ships before finding here and while all my models improved through the natural course of experience, since being here those skills and knowledge has grown exponentially. Now only having access to research and techniques but just being around a community of people that are sharing in the hobby makes a huge difference in the way I feel about modeling, not to mention the support to get through those frustrating times when quitting sounds good. Good luck to you on your new build! I look forward to seeing your work!

That is a common problem with working with small wooden parts. See how your grain is running the short way across the top of the bracing. Wood most easily splits along the grain and so it does not take much effort to cause the part to break. This can and does happen regardless of if they are laser cut or saw cut. This is why choosing the right type of wood for the job is important especially for tiny details. Still, you recovered those pieces well and the completed railing and ships bell look great!

Call them what you want it's your log! I do like to try to use the proper word for a part both for my education and that of who ever is reading my post. That being said, I still don;t always do that. Often times I am trying to explain something that either I or my readers do not fully understand and therefore common wording must be used. I run into that a lot on facebook when I am sharing with my friends and family. If I use wording like abaft, gunwale, bulwark, even port and starboard they can easily get lost. At that time I have to decide how much typing I want to do. Do I explain every term or do I just simplify? Simplify usually wins. Anyway, welcome back to your build! As you said, it may not be much but it is another step forward and a little closer to finishing.

I think that I would run them a solid plank the entire length of you model. To try to cut short planks for something that size may be more difficult than it's worth. You can always score the planks to make individual ones if you wish later. As for the pictures, I do not know for certain what that is. To the best of my knowledge there wasn't a double planking at the bow. My best guess is that is reinforcing and protection for the anchor. A lot of ships had strips of wood where the anchor would rub against the hull when being hoisted up. These strips would protect the actual hull from damage. It is possible that on this ship, those strips were built into the hull and blended better. Or it could be a whoops in the model. Hopefully someone knows better than I do.

Veneer would be a very good option but, it will require more exact fitting as like you said, there is not much room for sanding out errors. I would give it a try especially since you already have some on hand.

Planking something that small, definitely a challenge! You can get 1mm x 1mm strips of wood and use those. I do not think you could get anything that would be to scale but 1 x 1 would at least give you several rows of planks to simulate the planking and I think would look good. Once in place, you can sand down the thickness so there is a better definition between the planks and the wales.

Good news! I may have some drawings that could help. They are too big for my home scanner though so I will take them into work in the morning and scan them there. They are from Corel plan sheets and are clear enough to read the numbers. How accurate they are, who knows but, I will be using them for mine so we can both be wrong together!