Jump to content

EJ_L

NRG Member
  • Posts

    2,227
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by EJ_L

  1. The Couronne shipyard has resumed work after an extended break. We took time off to mourn the passing of my first mate Brinkley. He developed cancer unexpectedly and had to be put down last Tuesday much to the Admiral's and mine sorrow. This, combined with having to take time to finalize plans for the new shipyard which has started construction today we had a busy and rather stressful week that did not allow time for ship building.

     

    However, now I'm back at it and so here is a quick picture update of the work that I have managed to do in the past couple of days. She is slowly climbing upward and starting to flush out some details. I think I will have lots of good build time this week so I will see what more I can get done and also take some better pictures of the whole ship soon.

     

    It feels good to be building again!

     

     

     

     

    post-22933-0-99843500-1467079941.jpg

    post-22933-0-80916800-1467079954_thumb.jpg

  2. That is a tough call. I agree that the drawings do look like the decks are at the same level. I also agree though that I think it would look better and was probably lower down in side the cockpit. With a solid hull that might make for some carving out of the deck to make it work.

     

    I would do some research on other build logs or even google images and see if you can find what others have done. Ultimately like Bob said, it's your ship and decision. Which ever way makes you happy.

  3. The garboard is wider than the other planks though I do not believe it was 2' wide as that would be a hard piece of lumber to find. I believe about 1' give or take a couple inches would be more accurate. It's width can change also as it goes from bow to stern. It will be narrower at the bow, widest in the middle and narrow again at the stern. This is to create a straight edge to run the rest of the planking off of. Make sure the garboard does not curve up at the bow.

  4. I apologize Chris as I am probably one of those members who misunderstood what you were trying to do with the thread.

     

    I think another big issue that causes the new builder to get in over there heads is how they are introduced to the hobby or ships in general. They see the Constitution, Victory, Cutty Sark etc. and want to build them because those are the ones in abundance and available to see in person. The inspiration is set to that level of wow! and it is hard from that point to want to build a much simpler ship. Many of the simpler starter kits are of less famous ships and as such they get fewer people who even know about them much less want to build. Then as I have seen others say, "canons are cool!" As a kid inspiration is going to come from that 100 gun man of war and not a small 0-4 gun vessel.

     

    I think that to help encourage first time builders to choose a simpler ship to start from is that we need to find ways to promote those smaller, simpler vessels. Just in the 6 month I have been apart of this community my knowledge and exposure to other ships as expanded immensely. I'm not completely sure the best ways of doing this but perhaps one idea would be to somehow find ways of featuring beginner kits and make them appealing. Possibly by listing their history or significance to a particular country by talking them up much like we see on the more popular ships. Even perhaps create a section on here that is specifically for beginner ships so that new comers to the hobby can see other first time builder's work so that they feel more comfortable sharing their work and not feel like their skills are sub par when all they see are some of the great works that are on here.

  5. I am guilty of not finishing some of my kits. In fact there are a few of them listed in my signature as unfinished. One of them I do not feel bad about as it is a joint projects with a friend while I was still in the Navy and is now awaiting his retirement. The others either had issues with the kit, the instructions or I just lost interest in finishing them. The fact that they are plastic kits also has something to do with it as I have grown to love wooden ships more. I still may sit down and finish them one day. 

  6. This has always been a tough decision whit model building in general. My first ship build was the Constitution. It was Revell's plastic 1:96 scale kit. Granted I had been modeling for about 15 years at that point so I was not new to model building, nor complicated builds. I do admit though that there were times when I thought I had bit off more than I could chew with that kit. Even with the kits two piece hull and very good instructions, it is still a very daunting kit to someone who had never built a ship before and maybe more than I should have undertaken. That being said, it came out beautiful two years later and sits proudly in my dad's house as it was him I built it for.

     

    Now that being said, I was not interested in building other ships at the time. That one was undertaken as a gift for my dad as he was not able to finish his model of the Constitution and it had become too badly damaged to salvage. Had I started building a simpler ship but without the motivation to build it other than "this looks fun" I may not have wanted to push through to completion when I hit those hard places. I learned a lot on that first build and every time I managed to struggle my way through to completion of a part I would (and still do) sit back and admire it for a long time. This is where my love of ship building was born. Seeing that majestic ship come together and knowing that I made that happen created a love of this hobby and filled that void that other models were not able to do.

     

    I know my story is in the minority of first time ship builders. I also know that models are put on hold for many reasons other than burnout. My dad's had to stop because he had me, was going to college, working 2 jobs and then my mom died. He has built models since but never had the time to complete his Constitution before the ship got ruined. A friend of mine from the Navy has a great model railroad layout that never got completed since he was constantly getting deployed and now is getting ready to retire and move so he has to disassemble it. Just recently my own build has stopped as I found out last week my dog of 11 years has cancer, no way to fix it and we had to put him down yesterday. My wife and I are still devastated over this loss.

     

    I think it is wise of us as a community of experienced builders to encourage first timers to choose easier kits as it is a shame to see so many unfinished builds out there. However, I do not think we should discourage them if they choose to take on a harder one to start. Instead, be sure to constantly follow their builds and try to offer help and suggestions on how to get through those tough areas when they are reached. We do not always know what outside circumstances may cause a build to stop.

  7. I am also new to wooden ship building, this being my second build, but I have not sealed my first planking and have not had any problems gluing the second planking to it. I do have some filler but it is minimal and after sanding the hull down I have not had any problems with glue adhering to either plank. I do not know about longevity of planks coming loose over time as the hull on my first build has only been complete for about two years.

     

    I will agree with Don in that it is probably not the surface issue but instead either the type of glue or the application of it. I rarely glue sealed areas of wood to each other even in my regular wood work. I will sand off any sealer as I prefer to keep connecting wood surfaces raw. This is my preference as I have seen it go both ways to the same results so I do not believe there is a right or wrong just personal preference combined with the instructions on the glue being used. Application is important so you might double check the instructions on the bottle just to be certain. Sometimes it is a simple mistake that frustrates me for days till I stop and read. :P

  8. That has always been a pet peeve of mine in model building. The instructions/plans may show the part but not tell you what it is or name a part but not show you where it goes. The latter is easier to figure out thanks to google searching or posting the question on here. The former however bothers me because I want to know what I am building and why. I build ships to learn about them as much as to enjoy building them. I want to know what that piece is for, what the rope does, where they go and why they go there. Most of that I can figure out through reading other books and minor research but not if they do not tell me what the part is to begin with.

  9. I was also thinkimg that they were probably the containers for the powder bags. Would love to find out for certain. In any case they, along with the rest are looking quite good. I too am excited to see you start on your endeavour model but push through and finish as you are near the end!

  10. That is almost unbelievable in that it came that way in a kit. In my experience there is usually at least some sanding, trimming or filling that has to happen to get a good fit. Says a lot for the quality of DeAgostini and as someone who has not had an opportunity to try their products, this is very encouraging. I hope the rest proves be of the same standard.

  11. Hahaha! I've done that a time or 20! I once spent probably close to ten minutes looking for an eye bolt that I thought I dropped only to find it glued to the side of my finger. Though, when it comes to leaving DNA behind on a build it tends to be blood for me. Never fails that I will cut or poke myself with a carving tool or knife, shrug it off then later look at the piece I was holding and there will be smears of blood on it. Maybe I should take up a safer hobby. :D

×
×
  • Create New...