Overworked724

Quote:  "A little time today spent on the build. Taking it slow and carefully.... Placed the simulated lower deck in place today. The edges of the planks are rubbed with a pencil graphite at a 45 degree angle. This tends to slightly reshape the long edge of the plank and show some darker edging nicely. Once glued in place, the planking was stained with Golden Oak. Funny thing, though, my golden oak looks less golden and a bit darker than others'... I wonder if my stain is old or something. M'eh. ;-) "
 
OK.  A couple of things. 
 
- I have Golden Oak, too...and it is also very dark after drying...almost like is was aged antique oak.  It's quite beautiful, but much darker than I supposed based upon pics from Chuck's practicum on the Sultana.  It's not you....it really is the stain and the type of wood.  Not certain whether other woods might come out looking slightly less darker...but worth a short search.
 
- Pencil lines for deck planks.  I love that effect!  But I tried multiple ways on scrap planking until I realized a truism...no two seams will be the same, and the effect or darkness of the plank lines (tar lines) may in fact be too much or too little based upon your desire.  As for me, I found that taking a #2 and rubbing a single side of the plank joint (i.e. only marking one 'facing' side of only one of the two planks which form the seam) provided me with a fairly consistent and effect across the entire deck.  Also, when sanding, you run the risk of rubbing the graphite into the wood grain if you leave too much residue.  So I found that coloring one side (one the flat of the face, and not at an angle where I could bruise the soft basswood strips I was using) gave me consistency, without too much reside which would 'bleed' out of the seam upon sanding once I went the even out the deck.
 
Take my two 'pre-school' tips at face value.  I'm just learning myself but like you, I am always doing a lot of 'trial and error' before I pull the trigger on the build itself.
 
Loving your build!
 
Best
Pat
 
 

Ok. The Admiral is in transit to Tokyo. I am on my own for the next week and my ship was calling me. 
 
Progress. Made my first yard. Tapered by elbow grease, sandpaper, sweat, sheer guts, and my drill. Yes, I finally just stuck the dowel in the chuck, and simply squeezed 120gr, 240gr, and 400gr around the barrel of the yard as I spun the wood in the drill until desired taper achieved.  Easy. Carved the ends using a #11 and shaved off bit by bit. One yard took about 10 minutes. Don’t know what I was so fricken afraid of!!!!
 
Mounted the hull on the wooden balls and board I prepared. Had to see if my preparations were even worth a fig. But...TaaaaDAAA!!  The flat keel sitting on the wooden balls, mounted on the stained board...was curvy and smooth and makes you wonder if the ship will fall over!!!  The effect I wanted!  Really happy with the choice of mounting on balls. Neat effect. Cannot see the screws at all, and the hull is trim and level with the keel.
 
Heart attack moving the ship to the mounting board. Ugh!!!
 
Moving on. More yards to make before I go to Japan next week. 
 

and I just saw the post above mine which basically said the same thing...LOL.  Sorry John.

Thank you for your commentary and suggestions, Jim. I am not going to place the filler blocks out to edges of the bulkheads, as I am prepping to get to the planking in as difficult a way as possible. I find that the challenge helps me with later builds. I totally appreciate your methods, though, and accept them as useful. I also like your choice of woods for an un-coated woodwork view.... adjectives fail me, I am afraid... maybe "unpainted" is a better term? Anyway, nice work. 
 
Today I continued with the filler block gluing process. I am taking it one day at a time, and one or two bulkheads at a time. Not much to show for that, so no images. Syren builders have seen this a lot on the forums here, so I am saving some bandwidth.  It came to my thoughts today that I am unlikely to present very much of anything new to Syren builders on MSW, but my log will be a series of "HELP I am stuck" kind of situations ;-)  I hope that is ok with everyone. This is my first PoB build, so I am likely to get into some messiness as I move forward. With a new semester coming up in a few days, I am also going to slow down a lot on the build, as I pick up on getting back to teaching astrophysics (my profession). Such is life.... then again, the holidays are coming up... :-)
 
Cheers All,
 
~john
 

Ok. The Admiral is in transit to Tokyo. I am on my own for the next week and my ship was calling me. 
 
Progress. Made my first yard. Tapered by elbow grease, sandpaper, sweat, sheer guts, and my drill. Yes, I finally just stuck the dowel in the chuck, and simply squeezed 120gr, 240gr, and 400gr around the barrel of the yard as I spun the wood in the drill until desired taper achieved.  Easy. Carved the ends using a #11 and shaved off bit by bit. One yard took about 10 minutes. Don’t know what I was so fricken afraid of!!!!
 
Mounted the hull on the wooden balls and board I prepared. Had to see if my preparations were even worth a fig. But...TaaaaDAAA!!  The flat keel sitting on the wooden balls, mounted on the stained board...was curvy and smooth and makes you wonder if the ship will fall over!!!  The effect I wanted!  Really happy with the choice of mounting on balls. Neat effect. Cannot see the screws at all, and the hull is trim and level with the keel.
 
Heart attack moving the ship to the mounting board. Ugh!!!
 
Moving on. More yards to make before I go to Japan next week. 
 

I started off the week by making the gaff and two yards for the foremast. I then mounted and rigged the gaff and did the rigging for the headsails.
 
The gaff was made from a dowel, tapered and shaped at both ends. Cleats were added, made from strip wood. The jaws were cut from strip and shaped to fit the mast .The parrel is made from beads strung on a piece of wire and glued into holes in the jaws after mounting (not correct, but a good simulation and the best I can do at this point). None of the gaff rigging is finally tensioned or permanently tied off at this time. 
 
The plans show rigging for a forestay sail and a jib, and reflect the halyards and downhauls, and those are what I've done. As with the gaff rigging, these lines are not finally tensioned or permanently tied off.
 
Next up will be mounting and rigging the two foremast yards.
 
Bob

Ah Family!
 
Yes we probably do have the same Admiral. Mine trusts me about as far as she can throw me! She is leaving to visit kids and grand kids as well except I won't be meeting her there. I get to stay home and finish the bathroom rebuild and be chief cook and bottle washer  for the two grand kids we are raising, (15 going on 30 and 10 going on 3).I have been doing this pretty much five or six times a year, (The kids not the bathroom) for years and she still calls me up and makes "suggestions." She has no problems with me in the kitchen unless we are in there together! She keeps reminding me about how tired she is of cooking!
 
Now you have me worried! I have no childish cuteness! She may not come back and I will be stuck with these two Velociraptors all alone! 
 
Good luck on your trip and vacation, and I still think your work on the Sultana is turning out perfectly.
 
Lou  

Lou!  You and I have the same Admiral I swear. Distance is relative nowadays. She doesn’t trust me much, especially in her kitchen!!!!
 
She is Japanese. So we have quite a bit of family there. But she is traveling for family, I’m traveling for work. We’ll meet up in Tokyo. 
 
And to your our first question...no. I’m not adult enough to be left alone.  But my childish cuteness seems to keep her coming back.   

Are you adult enough to be left all alone for a full week? What's in Tokyo?
 
When my Admiral leaves for her almost three weeks next week she is only going as far as California! She doesn't trust me enough to go any further away, (Even though she would probably like to, further away that is.) 
 
Lou 

Ok. The Admiral is in transit to Tokyo. I am on my own for the next week and my ship was calling me. 
 
Progress. Made my first yard. Tapered by elbow grease, sandpaper, sweat, sheer guts, and my drill. Yes, I finally just stuck the dowel in the chuck, and simply squeezed 120gr, 240gr, and 400gr around the barrel of the yard as I spun the wood in the drill until desired taper achieved.  Easy. Carved the ends using a #11 and shaved off bit by bit. One yard took about 10 minutes. Don’t know what I was so fricken afraid of!!!!
 
Mounted the hull on the wooden balls and board I prepared. Had to see if my preparations were even worth a fig. But...TaaaaDAAA!!  The flat keel sitting on the wooden balls, mounted on the stained board...was curvy and smooth and makes you wonder if the ship will fall over!!!  The effect I wanted!  Really happy with the choice of mounting on balls. Neat effect. Cannot see the screws at all, and the hull is trim and level with the keel.
 
Heart attack moving the ship to the mounting board. Ugh!!!
 
Moving on. More yards to make before I go to Japan next week. 
 

Ok. The Admiral is in transit to Tokyo. I am on my own for the next week and my ship was calling me. 
 
Progress. Made my first yard. Tapered by elbow grease, sandpaper, sweat, sheer guts, and my drill. Yes, I finally just stuck the dowel in the chuck, and simply squeezed 120gr, 240gr, and 400gr around the barrel of the yard as I spun the wood in the drill until desired taper achieved.  Easy. Carved the ends using a #11 and shaved off bit by bit. One yard took about 10 minutes. Don’t know what I was so fricken afraid of!!!!
 
Mounted the hull on the wooden balls and board I prepared. Had to see if my preparations were even worth a fig. But...TaaaaDAAA!!  The flat keel sitting on the wooden balls, mounted on the stained board...was curvy and smooth and makes you wonder if the ship will fall over!!!  The effect I wanted!  Really happy with the choice of mounting on balls. Neat effect. Cannot see the screws at all, and the hull is trim and level with the keel.
 
Heart attack moving the ship to the mounting board. Ugh!!!
 
Moving on. More yards to make before I go to Japan next week. 
 

Ok. The Admiral is in transit to Tokyo. I am on my own for the next week and my ship was calling me. 
 
Progress. Made my first yard. Tapered by elbow grease, sandpaper, sweat, sheer guts, and my drill. Yes, I finally just stuck the dowel in the chuck, and simply squeezed 120gr, 240gr, and 400gr around the barrel of the yard as I spun the wood in the drill until desired taper achieved.  Easy. Carved the ends using a #11 and shaved off bit by bit. One yard took about 10 minutes. Don’t know what I was so fricken afraid of!!!!
 
Mounted the hull on the wooden balls and board I prepared. Had to see if my preparations were even worth a fig. But...TaaaaDAAA!!  The flat keel sitting on the wooden balls, mounted on the stained board...was curvy and smooth and makes you wonder if the ship will fall over!!!  The effect I wanted!  Really happy with the choice of mounting on balls. Neat effect. Cannot see the screws at all, and the hull is trim and level with the keel.
 
Heart attack moving the ship to the mounting board. Ugh!!!
 
Moving on. More yards to make before I go to Japan next week. 
 

Order received and understood, Sir!
 

Hi folks.
 
Since work will take a bit of a front seat at this time...I will take a short 4 week sabbatical from the Sultana as I am caught in some excessive project activity which also requires some travel. 
 
Nice thing is that now I am in the position to work ‘off the ship’ a bit as I prepare the spars/masts/gaffs/booms/etc. So will reconnect with my log again soon. 
 
My goal is to finish by no later than end of April of this year — which I think is very achievable. 
 
Happy Modeling to all!!!

Thanks so much, guys.  Very kind support. But in truth, I am still just finishing the body of the ship....I have not started on the rigging....I hope I make a decent job of it!

Order received and understood, Sir!
 

No reason to believe you will not do an outstanding job just as you have done so far. I just thought it went without saying.
 
 
Now get to work and show us more or I will be forced to send a horde of Rigging spiders to your house!
 
Lou

Hi folks.
 
Since work will take a bit of a front seat at this time...I will take a short 4 week sabbatical from the Sultana as I am caught in some excessive project activity which also requires some travel. 
 
Nice thing is that now I am in the position to work ‘off the ship’ a bit as I prepare the spars/masts/gaffs/booms/etc. So will reconnect with my log again soon. 
 
My goal is to finish by no later than end of April of this year — which I think is very achievable. 
 
Happy Modeling to all!!!

Some slight progress.
 
Got poop rails on and the overall effect is certainly better than I’d hoped. The stanchions made from the toothpicks added a nice ‘splash’!!  
 
Attached tiller and pumps. (Running out of furniture...soon I’ll have to start working on the masts!)  
 
Luckily, I was able to justifiably procrastinate by building my last bit of furniture...the two steps on port and starboard which lead from the main deck to the quarter deck. I know Chuck’s awesome practicum shows an actual single step ladder, but after a few attempts I was certain the things were going to come out sub-par.
 
So...opted for a less challenging option. I was thinking if I HAD to put a step there, I’d rather put a milk carton!  So I thought, why not simply put a small step on a block. So I did....then stained them and glued in place. Not too shabby of a result for a cheapie sidestep. 
 
Moving on...

Installed binnacle. Started prepping the stanchions. As an afterthought, I also stained the upper part of the rudder above deck level to match the bitts/pawl/windlass.  Once the rudder arm is installed (after poop rails are in), it should be a fairly nice match. 
 
I am getting a newfound respect for harder/tight grain woods. The toothpicks were a unique idea but the wood is crap...like basswood it gets very thready. Good to know for future!!!
 
moving on...
 

Needed to stop and back track a bit. The pawl looked like a stick of butter and the bits were askew ever so slightly. So removed and restained pawl with darker stain, and reset the bits. 
 
Much better...and yes, the foremast is off center by about 1mm. My eye sees it all the time, but I have learned to accept this little ship with all its (my) errors. She’s still looking mighty handsome!!!
 
moving on...to binnacle and poop rails.

Made first mast of the Lexington, to bad no flag included for this mast! give you few photos.
 

 
 

 
 

 

Hello, i was dreaming to build wood ship model for some time, but did not start for long time, i thought i will never finish it, as it is so delicate work. But i got for present a model kit USS Lexington. I got all the tools and started to work. Now it is 5 months of work on this model, it is taking a lot of time, it is my first model. Show you few photos.
The_Lexington 1776.
 

The_Lexington_1776 
 
In anticipation of the war against England, the merchantman Lexington was armed and converted into a Brigantine in 1775 to become part of the continental Navy. On April 17, 1776 she captured the tender Edward, the first British ship to be taken at sea by the Colonists. The following year she fought in the Bay of Biscay, the English Channel and the Irish Coast. On September 20, 1777 during her return trip from France, the Lexington was overtaken by the English cutter Alert. After a fierce gunbattle, Lexington ran out of ammunition and was forced to surrender.
 
 
 

 

 

 

To make nice gun holes not an easy task!
 

 

 

Life boat is painted.
 

Steering wheel is working.
 

 

 

 

 
Work is on progress, now rigging the ship.
 
 

Some slight progress.
 
Got poop rails on and the overall effect is certainly better than I’d hoped. The stanchions made from the toothpicks added a nice ‘splash’!!  
 
Attached tiller and pumps. (Running out of furniture...soon I’ll have to start working on the masts!)  
 
Luckily, I was able to justifiably procrastinate by building my last bit of furniture...the two steps on port and starboard which lead from the main deck to the quarter deck. I know Chuck’s awesome practicum shows an actual single step ladder, but after a few attempts I was certain the things were going to come out sub-par.
 
So...opted for a less challenging option. I was thinking if I HAD to put a step there, I’d rather put a milk carton!  So I thought, why not simply put a small step on a block. So I did....then stained them and glued in place. Not too shabby of a result for a cheapie sidestep. 
 
Moving on...

Some slight progress.
 
Got poop rails on and the overall effect is certainly better than I’d hoped. The stanchions made from the toothpicks added a nice ‘splash’!!  
 
Attached tiller and pumps. (Running out of furniture...soon I’ll have to start working on the masts!)  
 
Luckily, I was able to justifiably procrastinate by building my last bit of furniture...the two steps on port and starboard which lead from the main deck to the quarter deck. I know Chuck’s awesome practicum shows an actual single step ladder, but after a few attempts I was certain the things were going to come out sub-par.
 
So...opted for a less challenging option. I was thinking if I HAD to put a step there, I’d rather put a milk carton!  So I thought, why not simply put a small step on a block. So I did....then stained them and glued in place. Not too shabby of a result for a cheapie sidestep. 
 
Moving on...