Haliburton

Well it's been a couple of weeks since my last post.  I haven't been able to spend much time in the shipyard, we have been enjoying our backyard, spending time meeting and hanging out with neighbours and the usual summer chores.  The quarter deck planking is almost done, perhaps one or two more planks per side for completion.  I'm hoping there isn't much on the calendar this weekend so I can finish the planking and start the upper bulwarks.  Will post progress pics soon.

Congratulations on a fine build Mike!  Please show us the cased model when you can.  Scott

You can definitely rig this one. Have patience. 
Steve

Wrapping up Arrow so it's back here to Niagara. I have have more deck work to do than I remember. Hammocks for one. I had also decided that I didn't like the look of ships boats hanging off the quarter davits. So there won't be any. I won't leave them stranded though - besides Commodore Perry needs one.  I finished one of the yawls early on and that one will hang off davits at the stern. I was about half way thru another one that I will place over the grates on deck. Will not build the third one.
 
Then there's rigging. Again, early on I actually finished all the spars. Made them all from squares. Joel was always after me to rig this build so I'm going to give it a try. The spars are all still separate so I am going to rig each piece and then assemble them. Yards are up first. Believe it or not the royal shown in the pic took almost half a day. I was all thumbs today - have been for a while. I imagine it will come to me soon enough.
 

Don't know if everyone has seen this yet. I have a heavy heart this morning.  I am dedicating the completion of this build to Joel.
 
Niagara was my first build and I joined MSW because it quickly became evident that I would need help. Joel was one of the first experienced builders to jump into this thread with comments and advice. He seemed to have an above average interest in Niagara and that piece of history. Joel was always there to help and add commentary for all Niagara builders.
 
I will miss him greatly.

Congratulations on a fine build Mike!  Please show us the cased model when you can.  Scott

Losing my mind. I could have sworn I posted this same info last nite. At any rate, I'm about to retitle this thread to Finished. I'm waiting a couple more days for spot painting and last minutes fixerups. But I have no more major tasks for this build. I ordered the display case yesterday, should look cool inside it.
 
Overall this kit was not too bad. The build wasn't overly difficult. Probably to the toughest part was the process for reading the instructions. The kit came with 2 pages of plans, 1 instruction booklet with pix in Italian and a smaller booklet in English that referenced the pix in the big booklet. So I really had to have both open. After I understood what they were trying to tell me the rigging plan made pretty good sense. I do wish they had labeled the various ropes - with the lateen rig I imagine there would be some new terminology.
 
The rigging was different. Shrouds were cleated rather than terminating in deadeyes & channels. As a matter of fact most all the ropes would feed thru an eyebolt on the rail or deck then tie off to a cleat on deck. This allowed for a certain amount of tightening of the ropes which I liked. So this was my first rigging and first sails. That was one of the goals of this build, so I get a gold star there. The other goal was to go along with the instructions - no bashing. One thing I tried & liked (maybe everyone does this) was painting the finished rigging with matte lacquer. I was hoping it might make the ropes shrink and tighten up a little. It did not do that but it did stiffen everything and I like the result.
 
Materials were good, I ended up a little short on some of the hardware - had to order some more. Also some of the sticks were shorter than they were supposed to be but I did manage. I would rate this kit slightly above beginner mainly because I was left to figure out a few things and prior experience helped there. But I will recommend it if you are looking for something a little off the beaten path.
 
This would have been a tough boat to crew. No room for anything. Probably even difficult to stand up and stretch. No wonder they had a hard time mustering a crew.
 
So here she is.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome back Scott. I appreciate the comments. Getting closer to completion - about half way thru with the last mast. Then anchor & paint.  Last weekend I was beginning to think about what to build next.

I'm still kind of bummed out over Joel. His loss really took me by surprise. He was quite a fellow. Always direct, honest with a sense of humor almost as dry as mine. He loved this hobby and this site as well as most things nautical. He was a teacher and I learned a great deal from him. Although I have never met Joel personally, I consider him to be my friend. I will miss his wit and style greatly here at MSW.
 
Moving on - trying to at least, I am going to order the display case for Arrow tomorrow!    I'm wrapping things up here. Rigging is done, as is the anchor. I didn't take any in progress pix mainly because it just looked like a bunch of ropes all over the place. Just need to finish painting and I'll call this one finished. Hopefully that will free up my time to focus on Niagara which I am dedicating to Joel.
 
I'll start taking some pix of Arrow soon and get them posted. I'll go into some details and observations about the build then. She has been an interesting build.

Hi Mike, it's been a long time since I dropped in on your build, wow it is looking great!  I love your detailed photo narratives!   Scott

Hi Mike, it's been a long time since I dropped in on your build, wow it is looking great!  I love your detailed photo narratives!   Scott

I threatened to show you guys what I did for the rear sail when I did the fore sail. So I'll hold true to my word. This is just one way of hundreds so I'm not suggesting you follow my lead but maybe there will be something you can use someday.
 
The sails with the kit come with stamped markings - edges, strips, etc. I decided I was going to just work with what was there.
 
Preparation - Cutting the material is not difficult with a new blade and a straight edge but the material can fray some and leave threads hanging loose. The fix for that is to starch the heck out of the material before you do anything with it. Problem is starch can burn under a hot iron, so you can't just soak the material and then iron. You have to spray lightly and iron, then repeat this 4-5 times. The material needs to be able to stand up on its own. Same goes for the scraps. Some of that will be used for cutting thin strips for the sail.
 
The sail marks show a border all the way around the sail edge, and 2 strips running diagonally for the telltales. These strips were all cut from excess material and were about 1/8-3/16 inch wide.
 

Strips were glued in place with Elmers. I will say I was impressed with the way it held the strips to the sail, even with a little rough-housing.
 
The next step was to put eyelets in the appropriate places. I had a thread about what would be grommets in this day & age. It was noted that reinforcement stitches would have been added but no sort of metal grommet. In that same thread someone suggested poking holes for the eyelets then using some dyed Elmers with water place some of that around the edge of the eyelits. So I mixed Elmers & water 60/40 and added walnut crystals for color. I'm sure brown paint could have been used as well. I dipped a round toothpick in the glue and then slowly stuck it into the eyelit hole and twirled the toothpick aroundso that all the edge of the eyelit picks up some of the mixture. I had to do this on both sides of the sail.
 

 

 

 

Now time for the teltales. I found it was easier do use a pin vise and drill holes into the material and then use a needle threader to pull the lines thru.The lines are about 2 inches with a halfhitch  tied in the  middle to hold the line in place on the sail.
 

 

 

Next you have to give these boys a haircut.
 

 
I applied a spot of CA where the knot in the telltale meets the sail. This keeps the telltale in place. I had to hold the telltale in place while gluing because some of them ended up glued in funny directions.

 

 
And finally I have to get them to lay flat against the sail. Once again Elmers come thru. Just white glue and water. And you start painting the telltale.
The result.
 

 
Then there is the rope that goes around the sail edge - don't recall the nautical term. I glued that again with Elmers. I had to do that in small chunks. The material tended to shrink up for some reason so I would glue about 3-4 inches and then put a weight on it while the glue set.
 
One thing, with all the Elmers being applied it did give the sail a good stiffness that I liked.
 
Then I laced up the sail to the yard. Don't know what this lashing is called but it was easy and worked well.
 

 

Now to get the rigging up....
 
 

Here are the latest pics of my Bluenose build.  In the second pic you can see some wood filler I've added to try to fill in some gaps.  I'm not too happy how the boards line up at the aft end but I think most of it will be hidden by the rails.
 

Hello Everyone,
I've been feeling a bit embarrassed about my build log for some time now which I've allowed to become virtually non-existant. I became very lazy about taking photographs and making updates, and then the more time that passed the less inclined I become to update. Nevertheless, I finished my Constitution in April, so if I upload photos of it now, I hope you'll forgive me for the huge gap in the middle. I pretty much had the hull and its details finished when I last checked in, so it's primarily the masts and rigging that I haven't reported on.
The rigging end of things went quite well generally. Making the masts and yards was very enjoyable and not particularly difficult. I didn't find the rigging too difficult either, but at times the shear volume of it and its finicky nature were a bit daunting. It was very frustrating to stop for lunch (and a quick fix of CNN) only to return to my shop and discover that I had tied a whole set of lines on the wrong side of something. I'm sorry to report that this happened to me more than a few times. However, every time it did happen, I tore it out and redid it. I am certain that there are many errors in my rigging, but at least I can say that none that were apparent to me went unaddressed. 
This was my second build and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. It was the model I wanted to do from the outset, but I chose to build the AVS first as a practice piece and I'm glad I did. I didn't find the Constitution to be especially difficult (although it had plenty of challenges), it's really more a matter of the volume of the work it requires that might be overwhelming as a first kit.
I used Bob Hunt's practicums for both the AVS and the Constitution. The one for the AVS is excellent and as a complete novice, I don't believe I could have worked my way through the model without it. For the Constitution, the first half of the practicum is also excellent and I found it an invaluable resource. However, when it came to the rigging, it was quite a different matter. This part of the course is so full of errors and omissions and with a confusing approach that in many ways it hindered rather than helped. I did buy the Lennarth Petersen Rigging Period Ship Models and it was a very helpful resource.
 
I know for a fact that my family is glad this project is done. They seem to take great delight in teasing me about how much I tend to talk about it and at what great length. At Christmas, my sister-in-law innocently asked "how's the model coming along?" at which point my son jumped in with "Oh my god, whatever you do, don't ask - do not engage - do not make eye contact - do not show fear!" But their respite is to be short lived as I have now started on the Rattlesnake.
 
Here are some pictures of my completed Constitution.
 
 

This old 1:350 Tamiya 1:350 King George V kit has been in my possession a long time. Maybe 20 years or more, I forget. A short while back I took it out of storage from my attic and decided I would build it. Discovering that Pontos made a conversion set to build this model as the HMS Duke of York gained my interest because I had already finished the Scharnhorst and it's in my display cabinet. As you probably know, these two ships have significant combat history against each other. In December of 1943, the HMS Duke of York along with other British ships sank the Scharnhorst off the coast of Norway. In one salvo, the DoY destroyed the front main gun turrets of the Scharnhorst and everything went downhill from there for the ill-fated German Battleship.
 
Here's my starting shot of what I'm working with. Even as old as this kit is, it's a testament to how well Tamiya kits are engineered for good fit. I am hoping it's going to turn out to be a nice model in the end. 
The Pontos set comes with five nice photo etch sheets, a heavy bag of turned brass gun barrels and ship's masts, and a large number of resin parts. In addition, it brings a wooden deck and a small sheet of dry transfers.

Ofc I am also in Love these 1:350 kits. Have self started on the Revell Bismarck but it is little on hold while I build other things... 

looks fun!

Hi Craig, great stuff, I'll be following also.
 
its good to see more and more of these type of ships appearing on the site.
 
looking forward to more.
 
cheers
Slog

It doesn't look like much, but spent several hours cutting away unwanted raised detail, sanding and smoothing out the deck pieces in preparation for the wood deck.
 
Finding color call outs or pictures of the 1943 configured HMS Duke of York is turning up rather empty. Best I can tell, the colors are pretty basic...a white-gray on the hull, turrets, and superstructures, a dark gray on top of the turrets, and a black-gray on the hull armor belt.
Does anyone have any information that either agrees or disagrees with this? The ship went through several or more paint schemes, but the December 1943 scheme is what I'm after.
 
 

Craig,
 
 Count me in to watch this one .
 
 The book King George  V  Class Battleships by Roger Chesneau is a must have is a must have for the DoY. At page 55  he describes the March 1943 refit colour scheme  as being dark grey hull and horizontal surfaces and light grey superstructure, the colours are uncertain but were probably AP507A and 507C,  and it appears that the dark grey paint was also applied to the weather decks, although the wooden plank in forward of the foremost breakwater seems to have been left in natural wood.
 
I also have DoY on the stocks and this is one of the best books by far describing her details.
 
Gary
 
 

I am in  awe of the details achieved with these naval kits......and look forward to checking in for the updated progress. The last few  plastic logs I've witnessed with all the photo etch details may have started in irresistible itch that I cannot resist.... damn!!!!

I thought the planking was going remarkably well but then of course it soon took a turn for the worse.  I truly don't understand how to add sealers or belts or how to properly taper a plank so I ended up with a lot of tapered planks that tapered to a point.  I really need to get this down pat because one of these days I'm going to do a single planked hull and it will definitely test my ability. I calculated that I had over 25 hours in planking the hull.  Once done I gave it a light sanding then added body fill.  I plan on adding fill and sanding a couple of times then sanding with finer grits until I have a smooth hull.

Continuing planking the deck and started with the nibbing.  Once I had a close look at it, it turns out that's it's not that difficult.  It's just hard getting clean precise cuts.  And of course it's a slow process but I'm progressing non the less.
 

Mike, this is coming together really nicely - great work!
Scott

It's amazing what pets know about our health, the Boss is just recovering from a major health issue knocked her down now for approx 14 months. The cat had not left her side except to eat. They do help with recovery,  and you have to keep the right ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE. Our prays go with you.
 
Syren is top notch!