reklein

OK , I think I have the gunnel framing finished. Instead of religiously trying to follow templates ,I referred to the text where he says to have the gunports evenly spaced and the sweep ports centered between them. Seemed to work out quite right. Visually it'll be hard to tell until the planking is on. I had a hard time keeping the stantions on and straight even with hardening the wood with CA. But I figure that all of them will be covered by planking so I made everything fit and made sure the gunports were square. Next is the stern framing which looks like it'll be fun. Nice to be back in the shop.

OK , I think I have the gunnel framing finished. Instead of religiously trying to follow templates ,I referred to the text where he says to have the gunports evenly spaced and the sweep ports centered between them. Seemed to work out quite right. Visually it'll be hard to tell until the planking is on. I had a hard time keeping the stantions on and straight even with hardening the wood with CA. But I figure that all of them will be covered by planking so I made everything fit and made sure the gunports were square. Next is the stern framing which looks like it'll be fun. Nice to be back in the shop.

OK , I think I have the gunnel framing finished. Instead of religiously trying to follow templates ,I referred to the text where he says to have the gunports evenly spaced and the sweep ports centered between them. Seemed to work out quite right. Visually it'll be hard to tell until the planking is on. I had a hard time keeping the stantions on and straight even with hardening the wood with CA. But I figure that all of them will be covered by planking so I made everything fit and made sure the gunports were square. Next is the stern framing which looks like it'll be fun. Nice to be back in the shop.

Update
 
all  24 boats mounted and with attatched falls. The collapsible boats (3 story) are a bit higher above deck, so those davits had to be made new
 
Nils
 

The first and the second boat get spacer lugs for mounting the boat on top
 
 
 

The supports for the oars, the seatings and the floor planks are mounted already (only for upper boat)
 
 
 

in total there are 4 boat types ( four large, open ones, two smaller open ones, twelve large closed ones, and six collapsible ones)

 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Actually, the stair support was floating. That is now fixed.
Completed the pilot house and stairway and attached. I didn't think that it made sense for the stove pipe to go through the roof in front of the door. So I moved it over to the opposite corner where it attaches to a small wood stove, not visible in the photo.  Also installed the stacks.  I still need to paint the shields at the base of the stacks and the stove pipe cap.

The hurricane deck is coming along nicely. I am using  strip styrene to make the bands on the stacks and sheet styrene for the decorative crown at the top of the stack. I also mitered the top railings on the stair rails rather then the butt and overlap joints shown in the plans.

This is the first I've looked in on this thread. I'm GOBSMACKED ! !. Incomparable modeling. You've take model building to a new height. Can't say enough. Thank you for your contribution.

Looking at pictures online from Bluenose II and how the foredeck is planked I started wondering if I could take another approach.
Bluenose II only has two waterways.
They are wider.
I don't know if the original Bluenose only had two or not. But what I recall, they build Bluenose II according to the original.
Don't know if it will be possible with the kit. But this is certainly something for those that are building the later version of her as this will be accurate.

@Thx edmay
 
I just started with the first planking. Also the sails and the strips arrived this week, which I ordered in England. I will use 0.5x4mm strips on the decks, because those prefab planks look ugly.
As you can see, I take my time with this build.....
 
 

@Donn and @Piet: thank you both for your kind words. Sure we can learn from each other. When I was building the HMS Agamemnon, I frequently looked at the buildings of other people and it kept me many times from making mistakes. And the same now with my SotS.
Allready made a mistake at the beginning as the picture show. Glad I could fix it. Also I noticed a difference between a model of Caldercraft and this ship from Mantua. Specially the way it all fits. The instructions are not as clear as I used to with my Aggy. So I will frequently as you all for help
Still it will become the most beautifull ship I ever build....
 
Some pictures:
 
 

Hi Hennie 
You will thoroughly enjoy building this ship.
I am currently working on my version of the SOS by De Agostini and am up to the rigging stage.
look up my Snoepert version if you are interested.
Gr,
eddie

Hi all!!
Finally my kit arrived yesterday evening. I had to wait for her for 8 weeks. I wanted to take a picture of all what is in the box but my hobbyroom is simply not big enough to show it all.
Sergal renewed the building inscription, now also in Dutch.
 
I putted my new topic on the wrong place and also dubble, so I had to delete it all, so:
@Jörgen and @Sjors, you both have to renew your follow and @Eddie, thx for the tip. I hope I did it right now
 
Some pictures...
 
 
 

I've wondered about the white metal castings too. They are so heavy, in the case of engine modeling ,that the supporting structure is too flimsy to adequately hold everything up making the model unduly fragile. I agree about the resin castings. Not being metal doesn't make the model any less valuable or accurate.

Hi Mates,
 
Continuing by installing the bowsprit mast. While deciding what size rope to use noticed my novice lack of rigging planning ahead. Easy fix (;-)
 
Also needed to decide if I should use tarred rope or not. There seems to not be a right answer with this.
The 1/10th installed tarred, and the 1:1 not. Clayton’s also did not use tarred. That said; the rope that I installed has a “shiny” tinge to it – not too comfortable with its look.  Here are some preliminary shots of the work so far.
 
PS: It would seem that these mast lashings, given the amount of moisture they receive, should be tarred?
 
Cheers,
 

Added the ships wheel that I built last year and rigged it up. Again I have borrowed from others research and made some adjustments to how the instructions showed it.
 
Jesse
 

Hi Jesse -
 
For my SYREN build, I installed the chain plate assemblies and lower deadeyes, then the hammock cranes and netting, and after that the shrouds themselves.  I found that there was sufficient space to work with the hammock cranes and install them as well as the netting when the lower deadeyes were in place.  I also found that the thin strip of wood that runs along the hammock cranes gives the whole assembly more strength than I previously thought.  I don't recall any problems tying off the running rigging to the pin rails.  The sequence I described worked well for me, but there is certainly more than one "right way" to do this.  Also, the hammock netting was easier to install than I feared, and it came out better than I thought it would.  The cranes and netting add a lot to this model.
 
Good luck with whichever sequence you select.  Its great to have you back at work again.  Your quality of work is supurb!
 
<<Gary>>

In a little conflict about the belaying pins. Would prefer to have wood ones but It would take so long to try to turn all of them. The brass ones are all uniform and the same so I'm trying painting them with one thin coat of Testors Wood color then 1 thin coat of flat tan over that. I will see if this works ok seeing how most of them will be covered up with the rigging tie-offs and coils. If it does not work I will try to turn them from toothpicks or something. The brass ones will have the most strength.
 
I'm making sure the anything secured to the deck (especially where there will be additional pull or pressure from rigging being tied off has metal pins underneath for additional security.
 
Overhead look at the progress so far...
 
Jesse
 

I've wondered about the white metal castings too. They are so heavy, in the case of engine modeling ,that the supporting structure is too flimsy to adequately hold everything up making the model unduly fragile. I agree about the resin castings. Not being metal doesn't make the model any less valuable or accurate.

I've wondered about the white metal castings too. They are so heavy, in the case of engine modeling ,that the supporting structure is too flimsy to adequately hold everything up making the model unduly fragile. I agree about the resin castings. Not being metal doesn't make the model any less valuable or accurate.

I've wondered about the white metal castings too. They are so heavy, in the case of engine modeling ,that the supporting structure is too flimsy to adequately hold everything up making the model unduly fragile. I agree about the resin castings. Not being metal doesn't make the model any less valuable or accurate.

This is the first I've looked in on this thread. I'm GOBSMACKED ! !. Incomparable modeling. You've take model building to a new height. Can't say enough. Thank you for your contribution.

I've wondered about the white metal castings too. They are so heavy, in the case of engine modeling ,that the supporting structure is too flimsy to adequately hold everything up making the model unduly fragile. I agree about the resin castings. Not being metal doesn't make the model any less valuable or accurate.

This is the first I've looked in on this thread. I'm GOBSMACKED ! !. Incomparable modeling. You've take model building to a new height. Can't say enough. Thank you for your contribution.

I understand Tor, I got halfway through an Alb. D.V before it got killed in a move and I decided not to re-try as they are just not that great kits and even someone just trying to build something reasonably good out of the box has problems, as you have had.
 
The up side (which is pretty big) is no one offers anything like it. But they've always looked like airplane models designed by ship modelers who don't know much about flying and they would do themselves a big favor by hiring an experienced RC aircraft designer to redo them for higher accuracy. Then there is the inexplicable obsession with white metal, it's inexplicable as you can see the masters were reasonably good, so if they'd just taken that master and cast the part in resin it would have looked nice and been easy to work with if you want to add detail. Instead they use white metal and it's pitted and bumps are everywhere and they take a ton of effort just to get in basically usable state.
 
But I doubt they have much impetus to do a redesign when no one else is competing, so there's room for someone to step in and do better.

This will be a rant, if you do not like rants, do not read it..
 
I´m very frustrated and annoyed and plain angry for the moment as things do not go even close to plan. 
 
I started on the front mount accessory. It is molded white metal with little "nubs" on it. You are supposed to put a short "tube" of heat shrink tubing on it and put a wire inside it. All very well thought out but it does not work. The nub is too short to hold the heat shrunk tubing. Even supergluing afterwards is not enough. So what I recommend is to take the part EC 10 front mount accessories and snip of the nubs with a plier and sand flat. Then drill holes and insert a short brass rod. Maybe 10mm long. Then put the heat shrink tubing and wire on it and now it will work. Now the tubing have a longer "pin" to stick to, so to speak. The original nubs on the part are just too short.
 
I also replaced the wires that run from the mount with either black rubber rigging thread or a thicker round rubber band (for the MG:s). The metal wires supplied in the kit will work but are fairly stiff and is therefore very difficult to work with. (see picture below, after redoing it with the rubber rigging thread)
 
First I followed instructions and used the wire but it was stiff and got tangled in the fuselage of the aircraft and was basically a pain to try to use. Now it is much easier as the thread is more like string and therefore easier to "guide" through the maze of the aircraft with all its wires and stuff.
 

 

Then the control yoke is supposed to fit on the stick in the picture below the one below this text. Trouble is where to two pieces meet is very difficult to glue. the control yoke is about 2 mm in diameter and the stick is also 2mm in diameter. So it is impossible to drill a hole in the yoke to slip it on the stick. Sanding the stick to a thinner diameter is very very difficult as it is already mounted in the cockpit and is very difficult to get a file or sanding stick in there. Just gluing it on won´t work as the contact area is too small for the glue to form a strong bond. If I hade been made aware of this much earlier in the building process I could have fixed it quite easily but now it is difficult as the stick is already in the cockpit with lots of things in the way. If you have some heat shrink tubing you could slip it over the stick and the end of the yoke and it is done but I do not have it.
 
Finally I cut off the stick from the cockpit and replaced it with a 1,6mm brass rod (so I could drill a hole in the square part at the end of the stick, where it joins the rest of the assembly) and drilled a corresponding hole in the yoke. But it was a pain doing it as getting the drill into the cockpit area was a difficult.
 
All in all today have been a bad day with lots of frustration and troubles. Lots of it could have been avoided if certain things had been pointed out earlier in the building process. For example to make sure that the control yoke fits the stick. Or basically sand the stick to a thinner diameter before putting it in the cockpit, then there would have been no problem.
 

 

Spent cartridge can added. These pictures show the wiring before I redid it. Long stiff wires that are extremely difficult to work with.