6ohiocav

Mike,
I see that somebody got some quality work done in the shop after our meeting. Great stuff.
 
 

Mike,
I was ready to crown you a modern day Michelangelo. See and hear you this Saturday?

Great progress. Good decision on the ladders

Jason,
 
I can empathize with the challenge of picking up the reins after a long break and having to hone old skills. We are in about the same boat (pun intended). We stopped at about the same time and about at the same stage of our first builds. Your model is outstanding.
 
Let's encourage each other to finally cross the finish line. I am trying to convert my State's order to "shelter in place" to "park my butt in the shipyard."
 
By the way, rigging from forward to aft and lower to higher is definitely the approach. It will keep your standing rigging taught as you continually pull the masts back to the stern and gives yourself as much room as possible for your hands and tools.  Good luck.

Paint looks great Mike. 
 
 

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

Elijah,
 
Glad to see you are back at it. Your gunboat is exquisite.
 
The staining looks spot on. I get nervous when I apply any finishes since a lot of hard work can be ruined in short order. You have met the challenge. I will follow along if you don't mind.

Elijah,
 
Glad to see you are back at it. Your gunboat is exquisite.
 
The staining looks spot on. I get nervous when I apply any finishes since a lot of hard work can be ruined in short order. You have met the challenge. I will follow along if you don't mind.

Mike,
Looks great. I was just getting interested in your build report at our Shipwrights of Central Ohio virtual meeting when the feed shut down.
 
Glad to see you are making steady progress

Looking good Tom.
 
I agree with Mike on the breech ropes, and fully understand the challenge of replicating the weight. There does have to be more slack to allow the gun to recoil after firing.

Thanks Johnathan. I think I will take a drink.

All,
Thanks everyone for all of the comments. I know I have said this many times before, but I attribute the success of this project to the many build logs that I reviewed and the suggestions and recommendations of my fellow modelers
 
Mike,
I think the key to photographs of model ships fall into three categories. Granted, I have no skill in photography and took my shots with my I Phone 8. But these things helped I think.
 
1. Paint choices. The key to authentic photos is the paint choices. I read somewhere on this site years ago that we should avoid bright colors. I muted all of the paints I chose. I added drops of flat black paint to my reds and greens. It does not take much, but it dulled the sheen and I believe gave the ship a more realistic look. I used flat black for the hull. I strongly recommend all modelers to consider doing the same.
 
2. Lighting. The close up shots of the deck were taken on my bench with a single soft bulb light. I turned off all of the other lights in the shop. The light was set up behind my left shoulder. The single light in a darkened room dulled the light and created more life-like shadows. The photos in the display case were taken under LED strip lighting, with the shop completely dark. I used the soft light option on my lighting system.
 
3. Zoom. I zoomed my phone in as far as I could, which allowed me to take the photos from some distance. That allows more of the shot to be in focus.
 
I would like to think I planned all of this in advance, but honestly, the photos just turned out pretty good. Trust me, the photos make the model look better than it is.
 
Mike M.
I have not yet decided what's up next, but I have some choices. I have a partially completed Corel Wappon Van Hamburg that I acquired from a family in the area after the patriarch and shipwright passed away. I have to repair some of the planking and deck, and will de-mast the ship and start over with the masts and yards and rigging. The many carved figurines need stripped and re-painted (Yuk) as well. Unfortunately, I only have the plans, and a loose box of parts that I am not sure even go to the Wappon. So there will be a lot of scratch work. This thing at 1/50 scale is a monster. I will have to build a larger bench. I plan on starting a restoration log on the project.
 
I also have a few kits on the shelf to chose from as well. My son is begging me to build the MS Constitution. Plenty to keep me busy.
 
I am getting ready to transport my Niagara and its display case to my office for its final destination.
 
Again, thanks all.
 
 

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

Thanks Johnathan. I think I will take a drink.

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

NAMEPLATE
 
I put the nameplate together. I scanned the image from the original rebuild plans from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, manipulated it on my computer and added my name, scale and date. I sent it to a trophy shop who burned the stainless steel plate. I made the base from some tiger maple I had in my scrap pile.

APPLYING THE SHIP'S NAME AND RIGGING THE SHIP'S BOATS
 
I spent the last couple of days experimenting with "painting" the ships name on the stern and bow. Thought about decals and letter stencils but in the end, took the simple way out. Since the hull is painted flat black, I printed out the name in gold letters on a black field from my computer. I used Book Antique font. It turned out ok.
 
Then I rigged the ships boats to the davits. That was terribly tedious.... of course so is everything else I have done on this build.
 
Here are some photos.
 

Outstanding craftsmanship all the way around! Beautiful ship with exquisite detailing. Congrats!!
 
         

All,
Thanks everyone for all of the comments. I know I have said this many times before, but I attribute the success of this project to the many build logs that I reviewed and the suggestions and recommendations of my fellow modelers
 
Mike,
I think the key to photographs of model ships fall into three categories. Granted, I have no skill in photography and took my shots with my I Phone 8. But these things helped I think.
 
1. Paint choices. The key to authentic photos is the paint choices. I read somewhere on this site years ago that we should avoid bright colors. I muted all of the paints I chose. I added drops of flat black paint to my reds and greens. It does not take much, but it dulled the sheen and I believe gave the ship a more realistic look. I used flat black for the hull. I strongly recommend all modelers to consider doing the same.
 
2. Lighting. The close up shots of the deck were taken on my bench with a single soft bulb light. I turned off all of the other lights in the shop. The light was set up behind my left shoulder. The single light in a darkened room dulled the light and created more life-like shadows. The photos in the display case were taken under LED strip lighting, with the shop completely dark. I used the soft light option on my lighting system.
 
3. Zoom. I zoomed my phone in as far as I could, which allowed me to take the photos from some distance. That allows more of the shot to be in focus.
 
I would like to think I planned all of this in advance, but honestly, the photos just turned out pretty good. Trust me, the photos make the model look better than it is.
 
Mike M.
I have not yet decided what's up next, but I have some choices. I have a partially completed Corel Wappon Van Hamburg that I acquired from a family in the area after the patriarch and shipwright passed away. I have to repair some of the planking and deck, and will de-mast the ship and start over with the masts and yards and rigging. The many carved figurines need stripped and re-painted (Yuk) as well. Unfortunately, I only have the plans, and a loose box of parts that I am not sure even go to the Wappon. So there will be a lot of scratch work. This thing at 1/50 scale is a monster. I will have to build a larger bench. I plan on starting a restoration log on the project.
 
I also have a few kits on the shelf to chose from as well. My son is begging me to build the MS Constitution. Plenty to keep me busy.
 
I am getting ready to transport my Niagara and its display case to my office for its final destination.
 
Again, thanks all.
 
 

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

Tom,
 
I will be following along if you don't mind and look forward to seeing how you decide to finish you plank project. Good luck.
 

Tom,
 
The cannon assembly line.... I remember it well. I built some jigs to help to speed up the process and give the carriages and eye bolts on the bullwarks some uniformity. I love your choices of blocks and rope. Syren is the best, and your scale is spot on.
 
If I remember, I think I installed and rigged the base carriages for the cannonades onto the deck first, then installed and rigged the slides. Give that some thought.
 
Best of luck.
 
 

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.

MOUNTING PEDESTALS
 
I worked on a method of mounting my ship to its display base. And yes, like experienced model ship builders, this was something I should have done long long ago. Kudos to those that incorporate mounting bolts and threaded nuts to their hulls before it is planked. Being my first wooden ship model, when I started this project years ago, I was a lot younger, but not wiser. Just finishing the project was too much to comprehend let alone that there would be a time when I would have to actually mount it to something.
 
I ordered some brass pedestals with long wood screws. But screwing wood screws into a quarter inch wide plywood keel with no backing was not going to do it. So I opted to mortise a notch and glue in a stainless steel nut that would accept a two inch machine screw. The diameter of the screw was wider than the hole in my brass pedestals, so I would have to create new ones. I opted to turn them on my lathe from some spalted maple.
 
This was a long process, and a scary one as well. Working on the bottom of the hull of a finished rigged sailing ship is ridiculous. Taking a drill to the hull, while sitting on the floor, with the ship hanging off the edge of the bench is not for the faint of heart. I paid for my ignorance.
 
Here are a series of photos that show how I did it.  In the end, the ship is stable enough, as long as it is not hit with any rough seas.

FINISHED!
I spent the weekend cleaning off dust and touching up paint in preparation of placing the Niagara in its glass enclosure. While I designed the case with an option of removing the ship, it will not be an easy process, and I don’t have plans on doing so. So sealing it away knowing I will not be able to work on it, or tweak something, was a tough moment.
This was a great project. I give credit to the folks at Model Shipways for putting together a great kit. This was my first wooden ship build, and I would recommend the Niagara for any first timer.  There are easier kits out there (and a lot more harder ones) to cut your teeth on, but the Niagara is a good choice. It is reasonably priced (I bought mine at a half off sale). The instructions and plan sheets are good overall, and if followed, will produce an end product you will be proud of..
The kit lacks expensive wood, and some critical parts, but again, for the price, it is still a good purchase. With the exception of the hull planking, I swapped out all of the basswood lumber and laser cut parts with hardwoods (cherry and holly mostly). Those parts that the kit requires the builder to engineer and produce tested my model skills and have made me a better builder. I have seen the term kit “bashing” when someone “goes off the plan.” I guess I did this with this kit, but I can’t say I bashed it, I would rather say I enhanced it. Thanks Model Shipways.
I also have to give credit to Chuck Passaro and his Syren products. I used his rope, blocks, hooks, and hearts for all of the rigging. These products make any ship look great, even for us amateurs.
I also give credit to Model Ship World and my fellow Niagara builders. I would never have purchased this kit, let alone make the effort to build it, without the wealth of information and full color pictures available on this site. Builders like Bahamas Diver, Xken, Patrickmil, Greatgalleons, Mikiek, and others who sailed the lakes with their Niagara Builds were inspirations and great teachers. My project would have sunk to the bottom of Lake Erie without their guidance. They had my back.
I can't forget my fellow members of the Shipwrights of the Central Ohio modelling club. The long drive to our monthly meetings is always worth the trip. Great knowledge, experience and fellowship. Thanks Bill for everything you do for our club
And finally, to those of you out there that stopped in to see this project and lent advice and words of encouragement. As I am sure you all know, getting an “atta boy” from an experienced shipwright is energizing.
Here are some final photos as I mark my build log officially FINISHED.