Tim Curtis

I wonder if you should ask Bluejacket for a replacement hull. I dont think this is up to their standard. The ensign kits are meant to be for first timer. These are problems you should not have to deal with. 

I finally found some time for modelling. I managed to finish installing all the ribs and added some floor boards.
I used some scrap .028 wire that came with the kit to use as spacers between the floorboards. I just bent them until they friction fitted over the installed floorboard. It proved to work well.
 
Also I made the tie down hooks and the hooks that will go on the davit blocks for my jolly boat.
 
Richard
 
 

And the grating...

Made of 1x1mm walnut strips. This also helps me with the "no staining policy". 
A dry fit...

I think I'll somewhat reduce the width of the cap planks...a tad bit too massive to my liking now.
 
More soon, planking the deck.
 
Robin 

Stepping Forward
 
I have continued to work on the deck beams....more on that in a future post.
 
But first I took a step forward.  The plans show a mast step on the keelson, but the instructions do not talk about it until they talk about the masts.  That would be fine for someone who leaves large parts of the deck or hull unplanked, but for those who completely or nearly completely plank the hull and deck, it seems it would be problematic to get the mast step in there, and without the step, it seems it might be difficult to secure the masts.  So I decided to go ahead with doing the mast steps now, which also meant cutting a tenon in the end of the masts.  The old hands here probably have their own (much better) techniques for this, but I'll describe what I did.
 
The masts on the America have a fairly significant rake (2.75 inches per foot), so one needs to cut the bottom of the mast dowel at an angle, then cut again to form a tenon across the width of the mast.  Of course after I did this, it struck me that it would have been much easier, and probably just as good, to cut the mast at an angle, then glue on a short 1/8th x 1/8th basswood strip for the tenon.  Instead I cut it.
 
To do the cut, I used the 3/4ths square poplar sticks that I had used to hold the keel earlier.  They were screwed together to hold a mast, and the end was cut at the proper angle.  I used that as a guide to cut the dowel at an angle.  I then slid the dowel down the clamp an eighth of an inch or so.
 

 
I then made two more cuts from the front and back of the mast (from top and bottom of the picture above), along the same angle.  Finally I made two cuts up from the bottom of the mast, keeping the saw perpendicular to the angle at the bottom of the mast to form the tenon.
 

Finally I made a couple mast steps to be glued on to the keelson once I know exactly where they go...which depends on the placement of some of the deck beam assemblies shown above.
 

(oops, I see now the mast is a little chewed up, I guess from the screws in my clamp.  I hope that is below deck...if not I can fill and sand).
 

Some more metal work.
Mainmast top

 

 
 
Bowsprit/Jib boom collar

 
Soldered

... with lugs

Experimenting with bulwark angle iron (er, brass)
 

 

A bit more progress as the remaining fore cants are now installed. Two machinist squares and a Q-tip hold things steady while cant #5 sets up.

Mike

Slow, but steady progress still happening.
 
Worked on a bit more deck furniture. I also have some of the other deck boxes built but not fully painted yet. I think have three or four more to install.
 

The fuzzies you see were cleaned up before installation.

 
And as she sits today. Still needs a bit of touchup on the black on the hull to cover up the yellow smudges. I will most likely be painting the windows onto the various furniture as  I did on the forward most one. I need to make some templates first. I'm still unsure if I'm going to install the cannons since they are so out of scale. I may just close the ports and call it done.
 

There isn't a huge amount of work left before the deck is fully furnished. Unfortunately I'm only working on her at best a couple hours a week.
 
A couple of older pics as well. These were taken before I worked on cleaning up the hull paint. I switched the black to a different acrylic and it made a HUGE difference in the quality.

More pix with a different camera. Not a lot better, but I still get to flood this thread with pix.
 
I'm at a point where I am having to think up things to do. I believe all the tasks are done. Added the rudder chain. Got the tiller and boom rigging done, although I kinda bashed the design in the plans. I just couldn't do it that way. I even started the boat name using dry transfer stickers but I ran short one "A". More on order and I will probably paint over what you will see in the pix and try again. Those decals ain't easy.
 
Got out the compressor and began blowing as much junk as I could off. Found that some make up brushes are very good at brushing lint/dirt around without doing damage to things. They are very soft and come in all sorts of shapes & sizes. Got quite a set at Walmart today.
 
Also ordered the display case today. This one is going to my dad's. Back a few months when Joel passed I said I was dedicating the completion of the build, particularly the rigging to him. So at some point I will put together a few words in his memory. If you have anything you'd like to add on his behalf be thinking about that. We'll figure out how/where to publish it.
 
Well here's a few more pix.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Well after the shroud debacle I'm back on track and all of the pesky ratlines have been added to the shrouds.
 
Also all the lines were re tightened prior to adding the ratlines. Now I have to remove the excess and add the rope coils.
 

 
 
 
 

I'm trying to make the small decorations of the false bottle:

Hi again folks.  It has been a while and I have been busy doing small parts in preparation to fit prior to starting to airbrush the model again.  I have still to make and fit the chainplates, and the common service lifebuoy before I can paint but I think I should be able to start in the next week or two.  
 
I have added the rails to the cheek pieces.  These are made from 0.5mm brass wire (stiffened); soldering these was not so difficult but drilling the holes in the top of the cheeks was a little daunting as they are only 1.2mm wide.  They still need a little cleaning up and blackening (or etching) so that paint will stick.  

I have also made the cable stoppers.  I forgot to add a scale, but these are only 11mm long but I was able to place a forelock pin and retaining chain on them; and the lever works.  The second is half complete.  Unfortunately, the old one, made by a club member, was too narrow so I had to redo them.  The anchors are being made at the moment, so much of the forecastle equipment can be added when the airbrushing has been done.  

The mast partners still need to be drilled out to the mast size, but I am hoping the net effect is that the remaining parts of the central triangular shapes will look like wedges.  Again I for the scale, but this is 12 mm x 13mm.  I took the dimensions from the Arrow Class Gun Despatch Vessel plans I have from the NMM, as they were roughly the same size vessel and contemporary.  I had several attempts at assembling the various parts but could not get a neat fit, so I cheated and resorted to inscribing them.

cheers
 
Pat

Thanks all for the likes.   Two more assemblies done.  The top one has the pads for the foremast and skylight; the bottom one is the pad where the capstan goes.  I have one more like the bottom one in this picture for the main mast, then i need to figure out the framing around the companionway and cockpit, which looks more complex.  These little things are fun to figure out and make, though I am sure progress will slow during the week.

Here's part 2/2

continuation
 
Glad I'm almost done with the rigging part

Deck Beam Assemblies
 
In some places, the deck beams cannot go all the way across the deck, because of hatches or masts or whatever.  So you make assemblies that link several beams together.  I've created two of these assemblies; I have 4 or 5 more to go.  Below are some pictures of the construction.  The only mildly clever thing I did (which I'd recommend) is to leave the middle beams intact until the assembly is complete and the glue is dry, then cut them out.  It just seems like that makes it easier to put together and to keep things in line.

Thus ends a fun little project.  Just as enjoyable as a much larger build and good therapy during recovery. As in real boating, there is as much satisfaction in harbor hopping in a small boat as an ocean passage. It keeps the dreams alive anticipating the next voyage or the next model.  In my mind, the Dragon is still one of the most beautiful boats ever designed, and now I've had the pleasure of working on one.  Cheers, Gil
 

Long absence and limited progress.  Tonight I finished the coppering.  Learned a bit about how I want to do it next time!  Nevertheless I like the overall look and I'm pleased to have done it.
 
 




 
 

Thanks Clare. Will let you know when I start. I have to finish my current model first! 
Tim

All of the guns/gunport lids are now finished. This is how it all looks, including it seems, a crewperson.  Hope all the photos don't overdo it.
 
I have now ordered a Granado.  It will be interesting to see how the quality compares with Vanguard.
 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 
 

It's been a while again but I look at it as I have a permanent Dr.'s note!
Progress on the tops. Made the rails. Began tapering/shaping the top masts. This is how I mark pieces that are eight sided like these are in places. Shows me exactly where the edges need to be. I started out scraping them with a razor blade. Just getting this far causes me to have excruciating pain throughout my body especially in my back and shoulders. I intended to keep going a bit longer but our cat Izzy decided she wasn't going to let me. She got right on my lap and would not stay down and out my way so we retired to my chair for the evening.
 
More to come soon,
Jesse
 

Good Morning All, A big Thanks for all the compliments, for stopping in and for all the likes much appreciated.
 After 32 strakes and over 160 planks the starboard side is completed. I completed this with all strakes going from stem to stern with no drop planks or stealers . The use of short planks made the job much easier to complete. Other than the sheer size of this hull it has so far been the easiest one to plank for me to date. This could have been completed much faster by not tapering the planks and just slapping on planks. But then what would you learn from that. My process was to measure each bulkhead calculate how many strakes required and the widths of the planks at each bulkhead, After three or four strakes I would measure again then adjust as required then just repeated this until finished.
Enough of all this here are some pictures and a few explanations:
 
In this picture I'm showing the jig I used to keep the garboard strake straight

 
This picture is showing the taper required on the garboard strake as there is no rabbit line

 
Showing the last few planks, although it does not look like it in the picture the space left is quite even

 
The tools I use for sanding and scraping, nothing fancy but it works for me
 
 
And how she looks now before any filling

 

 
A little more fine tuning and it will be ready for some filler, but now it is on to the port side which has been already started
 
Have a good day, and Thanks for stopping in
 
 

Thanks so much Doug. A couple of good days work on the Trabakul and she will be finished at that point I will be spending most of my time on Stefano hoping to make up for lost time. You will really enjoy the planking and seeing the lines of this ship appear, it truly is a beauty

Thanks Clare. Will let you know when I start. I have to finish my current model first! 
Tim

Hi jct,
 
The laser-cut parts do help a lot. I don't have to cut or laminate the parts. The only issue is that the card stock sheet isn't as sturdy as laminated thin paper. So, I'm finding that I have to be more careful with them. 
 
Tim, 
It's been fun and challenging, but it's hard to say if it's really quicker or slower than an equivalent wooden kit. If I were working in wood, I'd spend more time thinking about how I want to approach each step. Also, since I've been a wooden ship modeler for over 20 years, I'm more concerned with how to get the details right. The paper model kit pretty much does what it wants and I probably don't spend the same kind of time getting a detail just right when I'm working with paper – I'm just happy if things fit together well. 
 
Technically, I think building a paper ship model kit is easier than building a wooden ship model kit, at least this type of build. It's a simpler skill set: laminate, cut, fold, glue, etc. But, there is a LOT of it to do, and you have to be okay with that. Masting and rigging should be about the same.
 
If you're scratch building or modifying, then that's an entirely different story, which I can't really comment on. At least not yet.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing you start a build log. Then, maybe you can show me how to build this thing correctly!
 
But, this is fun. I'm really enjoying it (the laser-cut GPM detail set helps). It's mentally much easier than working with wood, takes up much less room, uses few tools, and is less messy than working with wood. 
 

Clare,
I recently purchased this kit, so I am eagerly watching your build.
Like ýou I will have to build mine as a side project, while working on other things.
 
I am intrigued...is the process with a card model quicker or slower than an equivalent wooden kit?
 
Thanks,
 
Tim