Sailordyl

Thank you, John. It is turning out to be a lot of fun. But also a lot of patience. The reward is great though. I started the build about a week and half ago. It is going very well. It definitely makes time fly. I have completed the planking and finishing of the hull. It has turned out a lot better than i expected. The difficult part is the final planking as that is the finish of the hull. It took me two days to do the final planking. Once you get the hang of it and know where and how to cut the planks it does become easier and quite a bit quicker. The first stage of planking was made a lot easier after soaking the planks in water in the microwave(I used the microwave oven at 220c for around 12 minutes), made life so much easier to bend and shape the planks. On the final planking stage i used the whole length of the planks and shaped and cut them before glueing them in. I dont quite like the look of the planks if the cut at different lengths and then glued in. This gave the hull a more neat finish. In some places it is very difficult to see the cut edges and where they were slotted in. The next step is to install the rudder and shape it. Looks like quite a tricky bit. Also install the railings on the gunnels. Here are a few pictures up to where i got so far. I still need to do a few more things on the hull before starting on the railings on the deck and other deck features. To me the hull seems to be the hardest part so far but i might be wrong as i progress. Regards Dylan

Good day everyone, I am a young delivery skipper out of South Africa. I have recently bought the Virginia 1819 model ship. I am very new to the model building. I have built a small aircraft but never a ship and never to this detail. I will be building the Virginia in my off time, between deliveries. At the moment I have assembled the false keel and supports along with the deck. I am in the process of laying the hull(a lot more difficult than I thought) . If anyone has any info on the bending and shaping of the planking, please feel free to comment. Any advice is good advice. I do not want to rush. Especially this step. Looking forward to hearing from everyone and I will post some pics along the way.