Overworked724

Okay. Not much progress this past weekend. Scratched my eye...recovering.  But I did manage to make the galley stack. Once again, pretty much eyeballed it based upon measurements from the plans. Looks much better than the kit supplied one. 
 
Also got the pawl made. Need to paint and trim down the copper tongue.... but looks ok. 

Got the bitts done. Used 2.4mm square dowel. Cut and gently sanded the pieces, cut the notches and ensured good fit. Stained and glued. 
 
Celebrated with a beer and toasted my mad genius and awesome skill as a novice ship kit builder. 👍🏽 🍻 
 
Moving on...to the galley stack.  

Got the port side channels/deadeyes installed. No pins for the channels...will simply say a prayer and hope the carpenter’s glue holds. 😁🙏🏼  Fairly lined up and not a bad result. 
 
Touch up paint is in my future. But if I only mount it with port side facing out, then I only have to do half the rigging!!!
 
 
 
 

Happy New Year, Lou!  Your kind support is always welcome!  Sometimes it helps to vent my frustration...and I truly hope I give more opportunities for you to enjoy the build...slow as it is!
 
Cheers
Pat

Got the port side channels/deadeyes installed. No pins for the channels...will simply say a prayer and hope the carpenter’s glue holds. 😁🙏🏼  Fairly lined up and not a bad result. 
 
Touch up paint is in my future. But if I only mount it with port side facing out, then I only have to do half the rigging!!!
 
 
 
 

Happy New Year, Lou!  Your kind support is always welcome!  Sometimes it helps to vent my frustration...and I truly hope I give more opportunities for you to enjoy the build...slow as it is!
 
Cheers
Pat

Got the port side channels/deadeyes installed. No pins for the channels...will simply say a prayer and hope the carpenter’s glue holds. 😁🙏🏼  Fairly lined up and not a bad result. 
 
Touch up paint is in my future. But if I only mount it with port side facing out, then I only have to do half the rigging!!!
 
 
 
 

Well. Where to start. Server went down when I was gaining some Holiday traction. 
 
Progress report:  Great cabin windows, stem post (and massive deviation from plans), mounting screw arrival. 
 
Great cabin windows:  (Metal fittings suck) Like a more earthy tone so scrapped the historic yellow. Looks too gaudy and garish. Does not match the natural wood warmth I want to portray. Painted a desert yellow with white window frames. The window frames needed some thought. No...no more trim tape as referred in Chuck’s practicum. Opted for a 3x5 note card, a black Sharpie pen, some stick glue, and scissors. Turned out beautiful!  Wish I had done the same on the transom windows. 
 
Stem post:  Ok. Let’s be honest. Chuck is a professional modeler and I’m NOT. So...tossed the practicum and deviated from the plans. Handshaping/sculpting wooden sections the size of a mouse turd is neither fun nor easy for me.  Decided to enjoy my model rather than fret over historical inconsistency. 
 
Decided to scrap the ‘knees’ altogether...and put in upper and lower ‘cheeks’ (sorry if I’m screwing up the nautical terms) with cross braces connecting them. These tiny bits actually ARE the size of mouse turds! Cannot truly describe how difficult it was to place these things without spreading glue all over. In short...focus on maintaining symmetry as much as possible...I mean I simply eyeballed it since there was simply not opportunity to be precise at this scale. 
 
Mounting screws came. Yay!  Got at least 1.5” of screw to set the ship. The Admiral simply asked, “Aren’t the screws too long?”  Too funny...wish I had longer screws. But what the hell...I won’t be playing football with the model after it’s under glass. 🙄
 
Pics below....moving on!  
 
Happy New Year!!!
 
Cheers, Patrick 


















 
 

A bit more perspective in the bow/stem section. Yes, I omitted a LOT!  But this was not without a considerable amount of forum searching and assessment of other builds.  In short...the Sultana is a small kit, and trying to create the same level of detail as described in the plans is simply beyond me capabilty at this time without some consideration for a beginning level modeler.  Seriously...hey Model Shipways!  Ever hear of laser cut parts?  No?  Well you should...21st century modeling....how about you people get with the program and get some laser cut parts for your old kits?  Who knows you may actually attract some NEW MODELERS to the craft.  😤🙄
 
Ok.  Chuck’s practicum gives the perfect tips to do this, but it is simply time to move on....so I did.  Made appropriate adjustments to make it look nice (but probably not very nautically accurate) and it is what it is...
 
Moving on...and for those going to attempt this kit, I would say that this kit comes with a lot of potential for doing your own thing...and if so...then just do it.  Don’t be afraid of doing something different.  The plans are good for accuracy vs the Sultana, but Who says you can’t just do your own thing....
 
We we will see where this goes....but I know the Bob Stay hole is too far behind the figurehead base....so there will be some interference there....all about accommodations at this point...adapting to previous errors....ugh.  But that’s thwhat fun of this hobby....always something!
 
Moving on.....to the chain plates and swivel gun mounts.

Well. Where to start. Server went down when I was gaining some Holiday traction. 
 
Progress report:  Great cabin windows, stem post (and massive deviation from plans), mounting screw arrival. 
 
Great cabin windows:  (Metal fittings suck) Like a more earthy tone so scrapped the historic yellow. Looks too gaudy and garish. Does not match the natural wood warmth I want to portray. Painted a desert yellow with white window frames. The window frames needed some thought. No...no more trim tape as referred in Chuck’s practicum. Opted for a 3x5 note card, a black Sharpie pen, some stick glue, and scissors. Turned out beautiful!  Wish I had done the same on the transom windows. 
 
Stem post:  Ok. Let’s be honest. Chuck is a professional modeler and I’m NOT. So...tossed the practicum and deviated from the plans. Handshaping/sculpting wooden sections the size of a mouse turd is neither fun nor easy for me.  Decided to enjoy my model rather than fret over historical inconsistency. 
 
Decided to scrap the ‘knees’ altogether...and put in upper and lower ‘cheeks’ (sorry if I’m screwing up the nautical terms) with cross braces connecting them. These tiny bits actually ARE the size of mouse turds! Cannot truly describe how difficult it was to place these things without spreading glue all over. In short...focus on maintaining symmetry as much as possible...I mean I simply eyeballed it since there was simply not opportunity to be precise at this scale. 
 
Mounting screws came. Yay!  Got at least 1.5” of screw to set the ship. The Admiral simply asked, “Aren’t the screws too long?”  Too funny...wish I had longer screws. But what the hell...I won’t be playing football with the model after it’s under glass. 🙄
 
Pics below....moving on!  
 
Happy New Year!!!
 
Cheers, Patrick 


















 
 

Hi Patrick
Glad to see you back at the very first of the new year and hope that your's goes well for you.
 
As for your Sultana I personally think that you are doing a fantastic job and need not make excuses for anything you have done OR anything you have not done. If you feel you have modeling limits and chose not to attempt to exceed them on this build then it is far better to keep the kit at your level and nicely done, (Which you have done) rather than exceed your abilities and blotch your beautiful model up with junky looking work, (Which you have not). 
 
Besides not everything suggested by the kit manufacture is gospel. They obtained their information from the researcher/designer and his work could be both inaccurate and have included best guesses based on what was available to him and then Model Expo kept what they could use in a kit and skipped over what they could not. So by the time the kit got to you it already had been hashed over by many people and limitations accepted for a number of reasons. If it was a newly designed and researched vessel and manufactured using up to date equipment things could have been different if the effort was made. As you have noticed neither are true in this kit. This is considered to be a moderately easy beginners kit and concessions have been made all the way down the line. 
 
I further support your KISS decision on the fact that this was a small relatively unimportant vessel at the time it existed and according to Hahn didn't cost all that much when purchased in 1768 and as such it would be sensible to assume that many elaborate embellishments would be missing or not replaced if damaged or rotted.
 
Just a view of one who is enjoying your build immensely.
 
Lou   

Well. Where to start. Server went down when I was gaining some Holiday traction. 
 
Progress report:  Great cabin windows, stem post (and massive deviation from plans), mounting screw arrival. 
 
Great cabin windows:  (Metal fittings suck) Like a more earthy tone so scrapped the historic yellow. Looks too gaudy and garish. Does not match the natural wood warmth I want to portray. Painted a desert yellow with white window frames. The window frames needed some thought. No...no more trim tape as referred in Chuck’s practicum. Opted for a 3x5 note card, a black Sharpie pen, some stick glue, and scissors. Turned out beautiful!  Wish I had done the same on the transom windows. 
 
Stem post:  Ok. Let’s be honest. Chuck is a professional modeler and I’m NOT. So...tossed the practicum and deviated from the plans. Handshaping/sculpting wooden sections the size of a mouse turd is neither fun nor easy for me.  Decided to enjoy my model rather than fret over historical inconsistency. 
 
Decided to scrap the ‘knees’ altogether...and put in upper and lower ‘cheeks’ (sorry if I’m screwing up the nautical terms) with cross braces connecting them. These tiny bits actually ARE the size of mouse turds! Cannot truly describe how difficult it was to place these things without spreading glue all over. In short...focus on maintaining symmetry as much as possible...I mean I simply eyeballed it since there was simply not opportunity to be precise at this scale. 
 
Mounting screws came. Yay!  Got at least 1.5” of screw to set the ship. The Admiral simply asked, “Aren’t the screws too long?”  Too funny...wish I had longer screws. But what the hell...I won’t be playing football with the model after it’s under glass. 🙄
 
Pics below....moving on!  
 
Happy New Year!!!
 
Cheers, Patrick 


















 
 

A bit more perspective in the bow/stem section. Yes, I omitted a LOT!  But this was not without a considerable amount of forum searching and assessment of other builds.  In short...the Sultana is a small kit, and trying to create the same level of detail as described in the plans is simply beyond me capabilty at this time without some consideration for a beginning level modeler.  Seriously...hey Model Shipways!  Ever hear of laser cut parts?  No?  Well you should...21st century modeling....how about you people get with the program and get some laser cut parts for your old kits?  Who knows you may actually attract some NEW MODELERS to the craft.  😤🙄
 
Ok.  Chuck’s practicum gives the perfect tips to do this, but it is simply time to move on....so I did.  Made appropriate adjustments to make it look nice (but probably not very nautically accurate) and it is what it is...
 
Moving on...and for those going to attempt this kit, I would say that this kit comes with a lot of potential for doing your own thing...and if so...then just do it.  Don’t be afraid of doing something different.  The plans are good for accuracy vs the Sultana, but Who says you can’t just do your own thing....
 
We we will see where this goes....but I know the Bob Stay hole is too far behind the figurehead base....so there will be some interference there....all about accommodations at this point...adapting to previous errors....ugh.  But that’s thwhat fun of this hobby....always something!
 
Moving on.....to the chain plates and swivel gun mounts.

Well. Where to start. Server went down when I was gaining some Holiday traction. 
 
Progress report:  Great cabin windows, stem post (and massive deviation from plans), mounting screw arrival. 
 
Great cabin windows:  (Metal fittings suck) Like a more earthy tone so scrapped the historic yellow. Looks too gaudy and garish. Does not match the natural wood warmth I want to portray. Painted a desert yellow with white window frames. The window frames needed some thought. No...no more trim tape as referred in Chuck’s practicum. Opted for a 3x5 note card, a black Sharpie pen, some stick glue, and scissors. Turned out beautiful!  Wish I had done the same on the transom windows. 
 
Stem post:  Ok. Let’s be honest. Chuck is a professional modeler and I’m NOT. So...tossed the practicum and deviated from the plans. Handshaping/sculpting wooden sections the size of a mouse turd is neither fun nor easy for me.  Decided to enjoy my model rather than fret over historical inconsistency. 
 
Decided to scrap the ‘knees’ altogether...and put in upper and lower ‘cheeks’ (sorry if I’m screwing up the nautical terms) with cross braces connecting them. These tiny bits actually ARE the size of mouse turds! Cannot truly describe how difficult it was to place these things without spreading glue all over. In short...focus on maintaining symmetry as much as possible...I mean I simply eyeballed it since there was simply not opportunity to be precise at this scale. 
 
Mounting screws came. Yay!  Got at least 1.5” of screw to set the ship. The Admiral simply asked, “Aren’t the screws too long?”  Too funny...wish I had longer screws. But what the hell...I won’t be playing football with the model after it’s under glass. 🙄
 
Pics below....moving on!  
 
Happy New Year!!!
 
Cheers, Patrick 


















 
 

Ok. A bit of progress mixed with procrastination. Painted the knight heads with decent result. Decided to put together my channels before putting them on the ship. (May sound odd but I have my reasons. We shall see)  Also tried a couple of different size square dowels (basswood) to see a sense of scale for the swivel cannon stocks.  Will go with the smaller stock.  But the metal fixtures are crap. Model Shipways should be ashamed.  However, I think that putting on the stocks/cannon will be best done as one of the last finishing touches for the ship.  I will prepare them, and ensure good fit...but putting them on before the rigging doesn’t make sense to me.  They will simply get in the way  and
 
Also put on a couple coats of natural finish to the wooden balls and mounting board.  Muuuuuch better. 
 
Now jumping on the cheeks...sigh. Will need to adjust considerably from the plans. 
 
anyhow....moving on.

Well. Where to start. Server went down when I was gaining some Holiday traction. 
 
Progress report:  Great cabin windows, stem post (and massive deviation from plans), mounting screw arrival. 
 
Great cabin windows:  (Metal fittings suck) Like a more earthy tone so scrapped the historic yellow. Looks too gaudy and garish. Does not match the natural wood warmth I want to portray. Painted a desert yellow with white window frames. The window frames needed some thought. No...no more trim tape as referred in Chuck’s practicum. Opted for a 3x5 note card, a black Sharpie pen, some stick glue, and scissors. Turned out beautiful!  Wish I had done the same on the transom windows. 
 
Stem post:  Ok. Let’s be honest. Chuck is a professional modeler and I’m NOT. So...tossed the practicum and deviated from the plans. Handshaping/sculpting wooden sections the size of a mouse turd is neither fun nor easy for me.  Decided to enjoy my model rather than fret over historical inconsistency. 
 
Decided to scrap the ‘knees’ altogether...and put in upper and lower ‘cheeks’ (sorry if I’m screwing up the nautical terms) with cross braces connecting them. These tiny bits actually ARE the size of mouse turds! Cannot truly describe how difficult it was to place these things without spreading glue all over. In short...focus on maintaining symmetry as much as possible...I mean I simply eyeballed it since there was simply not opportunity to be precise at this scale. 
 
Mounting screws came. Yay!  Got at least 1.5” of screw to set the ship. The Admiral simply asked, “Aren’t the screws too long?”  Too funny...wish I had longer screws. But what the hell...I won’t be playing football with the model after it’s under glass. 🙄
 
Pics below....moving on!  
 
Happy New Year!!!
 
Cheers, Patrick 


















 
 

Ok. A bit of progress mixed with procrastination. Painted the knight heads with decent result. Decided to put together my channels before putting them on the ship. (May sound odd but I have my reasons. We shall see)  Also tried a couple of different size square dowels (basswood) to see a sense of scale for the swivel cannon stocks.  Will go with the smaller stock.  But the metal fixtures are crap. Model Shipways should be ashamed.  However, I think that putting on the stocks/cannon will be best done as one of the last finishing touches for the ship.  I will prepare them, and ensure good fit...but putting them on before the rigging doesn’t make sense to me.  They will simply get in the way  and
 
Also put on a couple coats of natural finish to the wooden balls and mounting board.  Muuuuuch better. 
 
Now jumping on the cheeks...sigh. Will need to adjust considerably from the plans. 
 
anyhow....moving on.

Ok. A bit of progress mixed with procrastination. Painted the knight heads with decent result. Decided to put together my channels before putting them on the ship. (May sound odd but I have my reasons. We shall see)  Also tried a couple of different size square dowels (basswood) to see a sense of scale for the swivel cannon stocks.  Will go with the smaller stock.  But the metal fixtures are crap. Model Shipways should be ashamed.  However, I think that putting on the stocks/cannon will be best done as one of the last finishing touches for the ship.  I will prepare them, and ensure good fit...but putting them on before the rigging doesn’t make sense to me.  They will simply get in the way  and
 
Also put on a couple coats of natural finish to the wooden balls and mounting board.  Muuuuuch better. 
 
Now jumping on the cheeks...sigh. Will need to adjust considerably from the plans. 
 
anyhow....moving on.

Ok. A bit of progress mixed with procrastination. Painted the knight heads with decent result. Decided to put together my channels before putting them on the ship. (May sound odd but I have my reasons. We shall see)  Also tried a couple of different size square dowels (basswood) to see a sense of scale for the swivel cannon stocks.  Will go with the smaller stock.  But the metal fixtures are crap. Model Shipways should be ashamed.  However, I think that putting on the stocks/cannon will be best done as one of the last finishing touches for the ship.  I will prepare them, and ensure good fit...but putting them on before the rigging doesn’t make sense to me.  They will simply get in the way  and
 
Also put on a couple coats of natural finish to the wooden balls and mounting board.  Muuuuuch better. 
 
Now jumping on the cheeks...sigh. Will need to adjust considerably from the plans. 
 
anyhow....moving on.

Ok. A bit of progress mixed with procrastination. Painted the knight heads with decent result. Decided to put together my channels before putting them on the ship. (May sound odd but I have my reasons. We shall see)  Also tried a couple of different size square dowels (basswood) to see a sense of scale for the swivel cannon stocks.  Will go with the smaller stock.  But the metal fixtures are crap. Model Shipways should be ashamed.  However, I think that putting on the stocks/cannon will be best done as one of the last finishing touches for the ship.  I will prepare them, and ensure good fit...but putting them on before the rigging doesn’t make sense to me.  They will simply get in the way  and
 
Also put on a couple coats of natural finish to the wooden balls and mounting board.  Muuuuuch better. 
 
Now jumping on the cheeks...sigh. Will need to adjust considerably from the plans. 
 
anyhow....moving on.

Yes...the knight heads seem high. I may need to trim them a bit more but will wait until I have a better sense once the bow sprit is seated. 
 
Sigh...always something. 🙄

Carved out the knight heads. Used square dowel, 0.1-in (2.4mm). Same technique as the timber heads. Pics below are useful if you are still fuzzy from chuck’s practicum. It’s actually fairly easy once you get the hang of it. Will paint tomorrow and attach at liesure after the bowsprit is on. 
 
Moving on... 

Ok. Moving on. Decided to tackle the ship display board and mounts. 
 
Display board was was chosen for sheer cheapness. Pine board from Hobby Lobby. Width of the board is same width as the main yards. 
 
Mounting holes match the holes already drilled into the ship currently used to mount hull on the keel clamp. So, easy enough to match those up. (Note that I have a spare mounting board I used to double check the holes I drilled into the display board! 👍🏽)
 
Decided to try to mount the ship on wooden balls. (Also a Hobby Lobby special buy...what can I say...the Admiral is a frequent customer and she likes me to use their daily coupon!). Lined up on the board they look like little wooden snow men...my intention.  The keel will sit on top of the balls.  I always hated those metal chess piece mounts...wanted something more elagant and simple/rounded/without edges.  Ships are all curve, so why thrown jagged metal at it for mounting?
 
The mounting screws are #6 zinc wood screws.  Need a bit longer screws than those pictured to ensure the screws are well set into the meat of the hull...final mounting should put ~ 1.5” of screw depth into the hull. My objective was to give a viewer a full and unbroken view of the keel...the ship would have the appearance of balancing on two wooden balls ‘a la bubble balancing’. 
 
Yes...many of my club members will frown upon this...but it’s my model! Besides, if I can get this thing completed and under glass I will be happy! 
 
Moving on...

Carved out the knight heads. Used square dowel, 0.1-in (2.4mm). Same technique as the timber heads. Pics below are useful if you are still fuzzy from chuck’s practicum. It’s actually fairly easy once you get the hang of it. Will paint tomorrow and attach at liesure after the bowsprit is on. 
 
Moving on... 

Ok. Moving on. Decided to tackle the ship display board and mounts. 
 
Display board was was chosen for sheer cheapness. Pine board from Hobby Lobby. Width of the board is same width as the main yards. 
 
Mounting holes match the holes already drilled into the ship currently used to mount hull on the keel clamp. So, easy enough to match those up. (Note that I have a spare mounting board I used to double check the holes I drilled into the display board! 👍🏽)
 
Decided to try to mount the ship on wooden balls. (Also a Hobby Lobby special buy...what can I say...the Admiral is a frequent customer and she likes me to use their daily coupon!). Lined up on the board they look like little wooden snow men...my intention.  The keel will sit on top of the balls.  I always hated those metal chess piece mounts...wanted something more elagant and simple/rounded/without edges.  Ships are all curve, so why thrown jagged metal at it for mounting?
 
The mounting screws are #6 zinc wood screws.  Need a bit longer screws than those pictured to ensure the screws are well set into the meat of the hull...final mounting should put ~ 1.5” of screw depth into the hull. My objective was to give a viewer a full and unbroken view of the keel...the ship would have the appearance of balancing on two wooden balls ‘a la bubble balancing’. 
 
Yes...many of my club members will frown upon this...but it’s my model! Besides, if I can get this thing completed and under glass I will be happy! 
 
Moving on...