reklein

This is an old build,maybe around 2011. sorry. Someone had asked weather I sanded off all the laser char. If you're interested I could PM you a few photos of the build.

I lived in Sitka Alaska for 30 years and I been tryin to tell you guys to try Alaskan yellow cedar. You have to select your wood carefully as not all of it is carving quality. It will also stand up to Steaming if you want to bend it. That"s a really nice carving there Chuck.

My wife found the photos as she is the designated archives keeper. Looks like I only sanded gluing surfaces. Here's the pic.

Its been a few years since I built the model,maybe even as much as ten years. Probably I sanded the ribs as there were small bumps left after removing from the fret. I'll see if I can find photos.

Dry fit the spar and compare it to the holes in the ribs to get the right configuration.  Have fun with this kit. I built the Jenny and it was a fun build although time consuming. Which is what its all about anyway.

Welcome aboard SGT Mac. This is indeed the place to get info on a model ship build. Use the search feature and you should be able to find a ton of pics of the connie.

Good solution. This is an old model airplane trick for making rounded wing tips and control surfaces. When one is thinking ships sometimes different techniques fade into the background. 

 AHHH ,with the horse trailer. Be sure to clean em out  good,before hauling your household goods.

I've found that a nice big horse trailer is very handy for moving furniture. They're low and have a ramp. 

Model Railroaders have a paint remover  product called ELO Easy Lift Off By Polly S paints but unfortunately I don't think they're in business any more. I've used it for removing lettering etc. on train models. However you're probably done with this part by now.

Nice work . Almost looks like you could make it operable.  

Fun Stuff. I admire folks who can see usefulness in the odd stuff. I had a freind here who built a homebuilt airplane. His ignition module was enclosed in an old cookie tin,with the brand name still on.  Bill

I don't know what chucks instructions are but it probably wouldn't hurt too put a coat of sealer on before applying the copper.   Bill

I have quite a bit of experience with AYC as I lived in Sitka Alaska for 30 years. Its quite common there but large clear trees are hard to find. Its also the area Sitka spruce comes from and has supplied the aircraft and music instrument busines probably since WWI.

 AYC is very nice to carve but it is fairly hard. The growth rings don't have that marked hardness that some types of red cedar do. A problem with it is that the dust from sanding can be a real irritant to the skin and mucus membranes. It used to raise little blisters on the sides of my fingers. It takes detail really well. Also because ts a little oily it doesn't stain well and some types of paint don't adhere well.

The plywood mount is a clamping device. See the screw heads exposed in the end view? That birch plywood is very good material for jigs. Its much more dense than construction grade ply and it has no voids. Weighs twice as much or more than the same thickness of const. grade. This seems to be a pretty good idea. I need to make a similar device to hold one of the small slow turning screwdrivers to use for drilling styrene as a Dremel is so fast that it melts the plastic at high speeds and has a lack of torque at slow speeds.

Nils, how did you cut the rims from the eyelets for your ports?  Bill in Idaho

The thing about building a large passenger ship is that when you are finished you have become a master craftsman because of all the repetition required to complete the job.  

Bill in Idaho

One of the Vasa builds has a great antiqe finish ,but I dont think he explains much about it. I'll give you a link if I find it.          check out md1400cs Vasa build or Moonbugs Santa Maria with a good antique type finish.   

Bill in Idaho

I'm a fan of making masts from straight grained square stock. Its the only way you can get a predictable taper. Mark the center of you spar on the end with a dot. Then taper the spar equally on four sides keeping your center dot in the middle. Then carve your tapered square stock into an octagon, again keeping your dot centered. Once you have an Octagon its easy to sand it round,and did I say keep the dot centered. Its pretty toough to taper bamboo although its true that its strong. Id recommend basswood just be sure of the straight grain. As you care the wood ,you can use a knife or a small spoke shave. There will be some grain direction so if the blade wants to dive into the wood revserse the direction of carving.   Good luck anyway, and replacing weak plastic aint a bad idea but proper rigging can strenghthen it just as on a real ship.   Bill

I like the ships from that era,they all have a nice traditional shipshape look to them. I spent 9 months on the USS Intrepid,Aircraft carrier and mustered out of the Navy after another year on the USS Yosemite AD-19,destroyer tender. Basically a floating machine shop. Something about haze gray.  Bill

Really nice job you are doing here. Its great you have the luxury of visiting the prototype. I built Bluejackets Victory ship in the military configuration and had a tough time documenting the details. I'm happy with the results but could have done better.   Bill in Idaho

I'd recommend  CA  also. You'd just be going round in circles trying to solder and resolder joints However you should be able to find a 12 watt soldering iron online. Used for soldering tiny LEDS. Things would need to be jigged up to hold while soldering which you probably know already.   Bill

Hey Nils, Nice work. My wife , a business secretary calls those "bagfeet" , brads. In her business they are used to fasten the pages of a multi paged document together. Thats a pretty clever use you have made of them for your bowls.  Bowels are our intestines. Sorry to be so picky, I speak about 6 words of German so I can only wish my language skills were as good as yours.   Bill in Idaho

You can knock down the shininess of you decals by giving them a coat of Testors dullcote lacquer. Better try a sample piece first.  Bill

Stickers eh? Well all bets are off on the dullcote, I have no experience with trying to dull stickers. A guess, maybe a sanding with 400 grit paper.  Bill trying to mind his own business in Idaho

You can knock down the shininess of you decals by giving them a coat of Testors dullcote lacquer. Better try a sample piece first.  Bill