gjdale

Sorry to hear that Mark - sounds like something I would do! The paint solution sounds like a good plan.

You may need to look further than a local hardware store HOF - specialist woodworking stores, or boat building supplies stores (or either on line) will likely be more successful for your search. Look for something that advertises “long open time” or words to that effect.

Do you need to be “fiddling” with all five or six sections at once, or can you focus on one section at a time?
 
I’d be leaning towards the white PVA myself but you can get this in different set times. If you go for one of the slower setting ones, you should be okay.

Hello,
it is done, the port side is ready!

 

 
And I got a new toy, an LED ring lamp. She is good for working , and taking pictures through it. But that I think only at a short distance. You could dim in 10 stages and change the white temperature from cold, white to warm. And she is amazingly light.

Do you need to be “fiddling” with all five or six sections at once, or can you focus on one section at a time?
 
I’d be leaning towards the white PVA myself but you can get this in different set times. If you go for one of the slower setting ones, you should be okay.

Thanks for the likes and the comments.
 
The next job was to build the boiler. The kit actually says the boat can be built in a simplified form if you want to, and the boiler is one of those  parts that can be omitted. I decided to build the boiler, even though when AlexA is completed it'll be barely visible.
 
(As an aside, I edge coloured parts using some artists felt-tipped pens I already had that were reasonable matches for the printed colours.)
 
The parts for the boiler are contained within an outlined box on one of the sheets.
 

 
The completed boiler. The hole in the side is for the shaft for the paddlewheels, though this is certainly not how it actually was. Not all parts of the actual engine are provided, in particular the cylinders/pistons that would have driven the paddlewheels are missing, but they wouldn't be visible in the model anyway.
 

 
The boiler in place. 
 

 
Cheers

Thanks Grant, that's quite a compliment!     And yeah - definitely have Dan's build's bookmarked.  And endless source of not only great builds, but no end to innovative jigs and ideas.
 

@druxey
Hello,
first of all I would like to thank you for the appreciation of my work.
Of course, I'll be happy to show you how I make the thimbles. I hope that the following pictures explain this as far as possible.
Should there be any unanswered questions, please don't be shy and just ask.

 

 

 

Love it Bug - my sentiments exactly! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve referenced back to Danny’s logs to re-read how he did something. That said, I’ve referenced your work on more than one occasion, so don’t sell yourself short. 😊

Love it Bug - my sentiments exactly! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve referenced back to Danny’s logs to re-read how he did something. That said, I’ve referenced your work on more than one occasion, so don’t sell yourself short. 😊

A video on your painting technique would be great Chuck. I’ve read your explanations before, but there is nothing like seeing it being done to make it really clear.

Love it Bug - my sentiments exactly! I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve referenced back to Danny’s logs to re-read how he did something. That said, I’ve referenced your work on more than one occasion, so don’t sell yourself short. 😊

I have cut all the planks to length and around the mast hole. Here they are dry fit to the beams.
 

 
I drilled holes for the treenails and glued them in. I also added two blackened eyebolts under the plank with the tiller rope guides to use to tie off the ends of the tiller rope.
 

 
I also pushed the nail from the barrel through the middle of the tiller rope and glued it back into the barrel. Next I will wrap the rope around the barrel and fix it with some diluted white glue to the barrel.

Halfway done - woot woot!
Also - I've tried at least a half dozen CA glues during this process, and this gorilla glue with the brush is by far the easiest.  It's liquid enough to spread on evenly with the handy brush but also enough of a gel to stay tacky and allow for a little bit of adjustment to the copper plate before it dries.  Really good stuff.
 

It has been a while since the last update. The real world has been intruding a bit and I've also been spending a lot of time working on teh final layout of the ship. I had decided earlier to move the funnel back to nearer its position on the real modified corvettes. This had the knock-on effect of shortening the distance between the funnel and the aft gun bandstand. The deck aft of the engine room is also too spacious. It was the only place on the ship where the whole crew could gather but it wasn't that big. So I felt that the only solution was to lengthen the engine room which would also address the other problems. 
I implemented this by cutting back into the aft deck and printing a second copy of the forward parts of the port and starboard engine room walls and cutting about one and a half panels from the new pieces and joining them to the front of the engine room walls. After cutting the parts I put the new port piece on the starboard wall and vice versa on the other side. This kept the flow of whole panels with the half panel out of sight under the upper deck.

The engine room was reassembled 

The modified engine room was dry fitted to determine the make-up piece of decking forward of the bridge.

 

The new deck piece was cut from a sheet of styrene (and I have to say it was pleasure to work with after the PLA parts) and is test fitted.

The revised engine room has had the ventilators and the skylights added and then a first coat of primer. It now needs a little filler before moving on to the paint coats.

The recessed area on the side decks will take the wooden decking.
I think this is the end of the major decisions on the layout of the model and now each deck section can be worked on to add detail and paint. This should all be enjoyable after the rather unwieldy activity getting the elements of the model to come together.
Much as I am continuing to be impressed by the potential of the concept of a printed ship there are a couple of issues that I find difficult.
The PLA material is horrible to work with. It is very hard and cutting and sanding it is hard work. Filing seems to be a bit easier but modifying parts is tedious
I find the epoxy glue is messy and difficult to use with precision. That probably mainly me being clumsy. It is also not a great choice for some of the thinner areas or where there is flexibility. The glue sets very rigid and if the part is flexed it just cracks back apart. I now roughen each part (the texture from the printing is not adequate and clean with alcohol before gluing and get rather better results. I would probably do better and get stronger and cleaner joints with the appropriate solvent, but the fumes worry me. Its all a learning experience.
Thanks for looking in. I may take a break having reached what feels like a milestone to me and then come back to tackle the deck sections as mini kits after Christmas.
Alan

Nice to see you back with a build log Andy. Looks great so far - had a chuckle over the doggy incident!

I assume you are talking 6:00am Brisbane time Richard, so 7:00 am for the rest of the east coast….
 
Works for me. 😊

Post Forty-nine
 
Gallery-Part three
A seat of ease is constructed using Box and Pear and is fitted to the Portside Gallery.
Brian Lavery (Arming and Fitting)  suggested that only one gallery was fitted out as a head, the other used for storage and observation of the sails.

1652

1657

1658
I can now fit the top Qtr gallery pattern (45) followed by the outer stern facia pattern. This now protects the somewhat flimsy inner pattern.

1672(2)
On the kit version inside the gallery is painted black to hide construction detail. On my open gallery style I have painted the  insides Vallejo Ivory which will help light the interior.

1665
At this point I’m not sure about fitting the Upper outer counter pattern as I’m not a fan of the raised etched Name lettering provided in kits.
My favoured approach is to use dry-rub lettering which has a more authentic and period look to it.
 
I had a play around (with Chuck’s permission)  using the decorative friezes and panels applicable to Winchelsea.

1689

1677
The name was replaced using Photoshop and Paint, only mock-ups at present, and the letter style needs adjusting, but I’m rather drawn to the paper frieze approach.
I will return to this much later in the build.
 
The next post will hopefully see completion of the gallery assembly.
 
B.E.
07/12/21
 
 
 
 

A bit more today,
Constructed Port and Starboard Hangers, no PE as yet.
I decided to place the main Deck pieces on ostensibly to check the fit and alignment as it has been a few years since I constructed the Hull and False Decks. (I must have done something right.... 🙂)
(I'll retract my initial comment regarding "Printed" Decks, this one anyway. Really nice detail!!)
 
The Deck lines up very nicely with the edges of the False Deck, interesting as the instructions show a 1 or 2mm border around the printed Deck, not the case in mine anyway.... 🙂
The Main Deck stanchions are all individual and there is a template for the spacings around the Deck perimeter. (300 + Stanchions)
 
The printed Decks, Inc. Superstructure Decks will be permanently attached quite some way down the track....
So, for the mo. the printed stuff is set safely aside.
 
I am unsure what tasks will be next, either:
Finish prepping the Hull Continue with Superstructure PE I'll do one of these regardless, of course!! 🙂
The only issue with the Part Work thingy is that you don't want to "Bounce" too far forwards or backwards, otherwise you end up with lots of bits out of sequence.
(I used to think that Part Work was a dirty word but it's Amati through and through!!)
 
Criticism, constructive or otherwise most welcome.
 
Cheers....HOF.
 
Photos:
 
 

Well I’m certainly interested Richard - and for a change, I’m in the same time Zone as you (almost). 😊

I've been both anticipating and procrastinating this next bit for a while now - but it's come time where I've got to get it done before I can move on with the build.  I'll be honest - I'm kinda freaked out by coppering the hull, mostly because I've never done it before, but also because it seems like an area that has little tolerance for mistakes.
   That said - I've done a fair amount of research and looked and looked and looked at build logs so I can go into it with at least a little confidence.  I started by using a couple of different levels to get the ship straightened out before marking the waterline with my home-made waterline marker tool derived from one of the weird tripods I have sitting around. Once the line was marked, checked, marked, checked, adjusted and checked again on both sides, I taped it off with Tamiya masking tape.
 
 
 
 
 
  I also checked the different set of copper plating about four times before labelling them as Port and Starboard.  As others have mentioned, then bolt patterns are different. I started at the stern and worked my way along the keel. I'm glueing down either one, two or three plates in a row depending on the situation using CA glue.  I put a couple drops on the back of the plate, then spread it out with a toothpick before putting it in place. With the CA spread out that thin, it dries super fast so it's a quick and sketchy process getting the little buggers in place properly.  I'm glad others have mentioned that there are a handful of extras... cuz I've definitely mangled a few.
 
 
 
  For the keel - I remembered that I have this snazzy roll of copper tape sitting in a drawer from when I acquired a bunch of Augie's supplies after taking over the Confederacy.  I'm using the copper tape to cover the bottom of the keel, then as I plate along the sides, I can trip the plates nice and tight and get a clean look. I'll go through and mark a bolt pattern on the tape later.
 
 
 

 
  After looking at a handful of different builds, I decided it was appropriate to overlap each layer the very slightest amount as I worked my way up from the keel.  This provided much cleaner lines, and also gives me just the tiniest bit of wiggle room to adjust as I go along.  Which was totally necessary as I got near the bow. I also decided to work down from the stern so I could plan out and visualize the path of the rows; knowing it's going to get a little wonky as I work across the middle of the hull.  In the meantime - slow and steady and hopefully minimize mistakes and/or fixes.
 
 
 
 

I wasn't happy with the way the wheel was sitting on the barrel so I carefully removed it with some isopropyl, did some filing on the inside of the barrel and re-glued the wheel on. It looks much better. I also removed the stanchions and re-glued them back onto the beams so the mizzen mast hole was centered under the planks. I milled slots in the plank piece that will go under the barrel with the tiller rope guide piece on top, then glued them together and added treenails to the corners. I couldn't find my draw plate (it may have been lost in the move three years ago) so I made the treenails by chucking some small dowels in the Dremel and turning them down with a pin vise.
 

 
This worked really well. Here they are installed on the plank.
 

 
These are just decorative so I can add them before installing the planks. I think I an finally ready to put all the pieces together.
 

Hello,
all the deadeyes and the first chainplates are installed. It takes so long, because the paint doesn't dry really good now.
Here are all parts together

 
And there some of them now

 
I did install also the chain-painter chain. What a funny name! I hope it will fit later with the anchor

 
And the whole ship. So for the next weeks I think, I'm busy to install the rest of them.