EJ_L

Looks like you are off to a good start with your planking. A little advice I will give is to consider putting filler in front of the first bulkhead if not the first two bulkheads at the bow. The extreme curves that the bow has combined with the thinness that planks get reduced to in this area makes having a solid surface to secure them too a nice thing. You also may want to consider doing the same at the stern as well. These two areas have tricky planking and the fillers definitely help to make it easier. Keep up the good work! You are doing a great job!

I will follow along on your journey and try to help you out when I can. I would plan on not using those decals and either making or painting your self depending on what they are a decal of. I cannot think of any model ship I have seen to use decals of any sort but as you said this is an older kit so that was probably more normal when it was made. As to the sails, I have used artificial sails on my plastic Constitution models, see link in my signature if interested, and although they were fine at the time I built those models, my skills and personal standards have grown since then and I no longer really like the look. Sails are a tricky part to model right. A lot of builders leave them off completely as bad looking sails can ruin the overall appearance of a model. Also not having the sails allows for a better showing of the ships extensive rigging. You have plenty of time to decide what you wan to do for that so I would spend the time reading through the site to see what others have done for sails. There are a few great models with them. Take your time and plan several steps ahead as you go. Make sure there are no hidden parts or pieces that need to be installed before a certain point or that are fragile and should wait a while longer before installation. There is no rush as we all understand the time it takes to build these ships. We want you to succeed in your build and to be satisfied with it when done. Best of luck and I look forward to seeing your Flying Fish come together.

I think to that part of the reason that the testimonies given sound so up beat is partly due to the honor of the sailors to tell a truthful account and also of the respect for good seamanship. They felt confident that early on they had if not a clear advantage then at least an equal opportunity to prevail in this fight. Disabling the Constitutions navigation was a confidence builder for them and they had that momentum to carry them forward and ready to board till they became out maneuvered and then lost their forward rigging. The tide had turned and they lost. I think that although they were surely unhappy about their loss, they still respected the enemy enough to give them the respect of an accurate report. Also, what advantage would there be to lying if they ever wanted to improve? The downfall of any military is to ignore the truth behind a loss or the abilities of a superior enemy. If self image become more important than the truth then the war has already been lost. During that time the British Navy was no fool. They would not have wanted a false report to make them look good and ignore the facts. That being said, they were not just going to tuck tail and be shamed. They fought with honor and bravery and they were going to show and tell that to the superior officers questioning them. A defeat was bad but an honorable defeat could be stomached and paid. To admit cowardice would be the end of the officers on that ship and likely any pay the sailors had coming to them. Regardless of the rules of combat, respect for an enemy and personal honor that the officers were required to live by no sailor in his right mind would say anything but how great their crew was and how they did everything exactly as it should have been. They wanted their money and a place on another ship.

Excellent job on the planking. Once you get her all sanded out and smooth and the finish applied she is going to be one sharp looking boat. I can see her shining already!

Been working on the ram this week with a lot of good progress made. A little touching up here and there and then on to the 50 gun port lids that I have to make and install. Went ahead and used the cast griffin and rider provided. This is another piece I would like to replace one day but that day is still a long way off. Till then, this one will work. Enjoy the pictures!

Rob welcome to MSW! I won't repeat to much of what has been said here as they have given you a lot of great advice. Also I am more of the exception rather than the rule when it comes to starting on difficult ships and finishing them. My first ship was the Constitution but it was the 1:96 plastic version by Revell. I built a few plastic ships before switching to wood. My first wood ship was the Rattlesnake by Model Shipways. I did complete the Rattlesnake and I am proud of it being that it was my first wooden ship and I did it largely without any guidance as I did not know of this place yet. However, while it does sit proudly in a case I am not happy with a lot of the way it looks. Particularly my planking job is simply horrid. So while I do not discourage building whatever ship peaks your interests, I do encourage starting with simpler ships and progressing. Even if all you build is one simple ship first, you will gain many valuable skills that you can then apply to a larger build and a smaller one may only take a few months and done vs. a few years and then you have a crappy looking model or burnout. Something else to consider is double planking. I would actually recommend this for learning. On a plank on bulkhead build, the bulkheads are spaced far apart, much more so than real frames on a ship. This makes it harder to create a smooth curve with your planking as you tend to get flat spots between bulkheads. Also the lack of attachment points makes securing each plank harder. Often this creates a very rough planking job. With a double planking, wood filler and lots of heavy sanding can be applied to smooth out that first layer and create the true shape of the hull. Once that is done, the second planking can then be applied much neater and easier than the first making a beautiful hull that would have been very difficult to achieve otherwise. Plus you get double the practice on planking which is always a benefit! Best of luck to you on whatever you decide to go with. I look forward to following along in your build log.

Great job on the gun ports and sill placement Sjors! I know what that is like to have some out of place and that is always a nervous feeling until you know they are good.

Very educational reading. Those captains had to be some of the smartest and bravest men to sail when you think about having to keep their heads while canon shot was flying at them and parts of their ships were raining down on them. Knowing how to keep your ship fighting while it was falling apart around you was no small task. On top of that having to stand tall and strong for your crew's morale and as honor demanded takes a special kind of person. I am currently reading Patrick O'Brien's books. I will be thinking of this now when I reach that book and the Java.

Her beauty is indeed showing through now. Good job on that deck planking. Once you have her all polished up that will look great!

Nice job on the coppering. I'm sure you are glad to have that stage behind you and on t the next. I've never had to do that on a ship as the ones I have done with copper hulls have all been plastic so it was just a matter of a couple coats of copper paint and done.

Cats are the bane of model builders everywhere. Glad to hear nothing major was damaged. Hopefully you can get her put back together and continue on without too much lost. If you have a small vacuum, empty the canister of any previously vacuumed debris and vacuum the area. That is haw I have recovered many a lost block and eye bolt from the floor.

Incredible work Johann! Your details are simply amazing and everyone you add just increases the awe of your ship.

Robin it looks like you have got all your stuff together and are doing some excellent research while you wait to get started. I am looking forward to following along on your build as I have a feeling I am going to learn a lot about biremes which is exciting as I love learning something new.

Mike, I may need that help myself! It seems no sooner than I purchase one then another grabs my attention. My wish list grows longer, the shelf space shrinks and my bank account looks smaller all the time. Now if I could just get that clone to go to work for me so I can find the time to build them all!

Thanks for looking into it and going through all the tests. It may indeed find it's way into a few parts, especially on a larger scale model. Good to know what it's limits are and what we can expect if we choose to work with it.

That is awesome Elijah! Never a bad thing to have extra ships and ones that just fall into your lap are even better! Looks like you have nice future ahead of you on ship building.

How is the weight? I guess if it was only a few pieces it would not be very noticable but if you used a lot of it, say if you were to use it make canons on a 100 plus gun ship, how much weight difference do you think there would be? I am familiar with Corian as my wife sells it at her work but I have never worked with it personally and she is not familiar enough with model ships or the scales we deal with to give me an accurate estimation on the weight ratios.

Rudder is installed. I do have a question for anyone who can help. Every model ship I have built has always been supplied with a gold chain for the rudder and sometimes the anchors as well. On a model I like the color as it adds an accent to the ship but from a realistic perspective wouldn't the chains have been black or dark grey in color? I just have a hard time thinking that they would have gilded the chains. In any case, rudder is done. Next up is completing the bow and ram details.

Yes it will. Do not paint the surface that will be glued or sand the paint back off before glueing. Painted parts can be glued together but it is best if they are raw surfaces as the glue will bind better. On wood, if the wood is sealed with paint or another finish, the glue will not penetrate the wood and therfore the bond will not be as strong.

If the model is for yourself and not for competition or museums then really it is completely up to you what materials you use in its construction. I would be interested to see what all could be done with different materials. Corian is interesting and the company my admiral works for deals with it on a regular basis. Might be something I could look into though personally I would not put it on my wooden ships as I prefer to keep those all wood but I may have a use for it on the railroad.

Happy belated birthday and congratulations on the birthday present! I think that will be a great one to progress into after the Phantom. I will be sure to follow along when you start that one but till then I am looking forward to seeing your ship yard open back up and more work resume on the Phantom as she is coming along nicely.

As always but can never be said enough, thanks for all the kind words and likes. It is always a good feeling to see others enjoying a build as much as the builder.

Thanks for flipping the pictures, I was starting to get a blood rush to my head from being upside down. Seriously though great job. The colors on her are great. Everything is nice, crisp and clean.

Switching to wood is a good idea but instead of laminating it over the plastic just do away with the plastic all together and build them completely from wood. That will look a lot better as the laminated wood on plastic will make the carriages look too thick. Scale wise the wood should be fine. The sides of the carriages were made up of multiple pieces of wood that were nailed or bolted together. If you have to use multiple pieces to make them that will be fine or if you have a piece wide enough to get it in one, at 1:100 scale you will be just fine too. Build a test carriage and see what you think. For what you are trying to achieve I think that would be a good solution.

I too am a fan of natural wood. Nothing wrong with a good paint job but if I am going to go through all the trouble of making nice wood look good then I want to show it off to it's best which means just clear coats to bring out the natural colors and that is it. I even prefer to use either a flat or at most a satin finish as I've yet to see a glossy tree.