aliluke

Brilliant BE. Reminds me that I have to get back into my models after a long summer break. Your standards are well beyond me but it doesn't mean I can't have fun trying to emulate them! Thank you for another fabulous log.

Alistair

Almost wants to make me redo my AVS...but...no. Stunning work and incredible commitment to detail!

Awesome! Your work is, as always, inspiring and wonderful to behold. I have got a spare shelf here if you need somewhere to put it...😁

Yeah, I'm going to have get into soldering. Some reluctance but it is skill you need in this ship building fun. I'm curious about how you are going to reconcile the walnut rudder to the holly planking?

Hey Chris

I recommend a two part epoxy glue. It takes ages to set - 24 hours - and you can rock around with it for fifteen or so minutes at the very least. I use Epiglass Epiglue. You can change the setting times by the ratio of the two mixtures Downside is, that when it cures you'll never get it apart again but it gives you plenty of time to adjust pieces. It doesn't smell very nice but it is seriously strong when it sets. Standard wood glues will set much quicker. Epiglass gives you a lot of time to adjust things but then they can't be undone...I use it often. Toss a coin? But with epoxy you get all the time you need to adjust.

Nice fix. And as others have said, if your pinnace is anything to go by, the overall results should be amazing. I did the VM pinnace for my HMS Fly but yours is a master class! I'll be following your Flirt log while I battle the enormous size of the MarisStella trabaccola.

Thanks Bob and the likes

As I delved into the kit I realised that I had to scratch build the windlass. Hmm, I don't have a lathe as Don Robinson had for his windlass, and my attempts at carving the dowel for this piece were rubbish. So I built a 3D model of the windlass and will get it 3D printed. Being summer here and most people on holiday, that might take some time...We'll see how it turns out. If any one wants a model of a windlass at 1/32 for a trabakul feel free to ask.

I have made a small start on the trabaccola by Maris Stella. Also known as a a trabakul, it is a coastal trading ship from the Adriatic - specifically Croatia. Maris Stella are based in Split, Croatia and I bought the kit directly from them. The support  from Zoran at Maris Stella has already been amazing.

I chose this ship for its likeable and unusual shape and for being, well, different. Plus being a freighter there are no cannons - yay! It is also a ship type rather than a specific vessel so I can paint it whatever colour I like and they came in many colours. There are existing trabakul, so plenty of photos online. The kit set looks beautifully made and comes with pre-sewn sails - whether I install these remains to be seen. Its not a common subject here with one log for the kit by Don Robinson, who did an amazing job, and one scratch build by Mfelinger (Matija from Croatia). There are lots of photos of the real thing on Matija's log. At 1/32 it is a large scale and a big model at 876mm long. It has plenty of challenges including a fully lined interior and single planking for a very bluff, rounded bow and stern. Nothing is as normal...

To start, I examined the need for building the ships boat from a balsa wood plug which you have to carve. I was not really up for that, so I bought a Quay Craft resin 1/32 boat through Cornwall Models. It is almost exactly the same size as the kit version but with a slightly different seat configuration. It is also clinker built which I like. The Quay Craft kit comes with a huge number of parts i.e. four - one hull and three seats. The casting is a bit rough but cleaned up okay. You detect more roughness when you paint and it is hard to get a really good finish and even lines. I added oars, a rudder and bolts. I'll also add an anchor and rope at some point. I like to start with a smaller kit part to get my head around the scale and this is really big! It also gives me a chance to play with my basic colour scheme which will deviate from the box lid. In my case a pale blue grey with very dark blue trims but mostly natural timber (the boat seats and floor is just painted resin made to look like timber).

I haven't given up on HMS Fly - I just got bored with it for the time being.

The box - big!

Inside the box - there are plenty of descriptions of content on the Maris Stella website.

Inside the box 

The plug for the boat - no thanks...

The Quay Craft alternative - more or less completed.

Size comparison with the Vanguard Models launch and pinnace at 1/64.

Keen to watch this one. MK has long been on my list of intriguing kits. 17 years though...not sure if I have that many left in the tank.😁

Brilliant! Congratulations!

Superb!

Hi Bob

Key point, you're enjoying yourself!!! That's all that counts! I enjoy your log for you having a laugh, at times, at yourself, and always look forward to your posts. 

You asked me to be free about pointing out errors - these are for future reference rather than change what is now:

- Your anchor stocks are the wrong way around. The tapered sides should face the flukes, the straight side should be on top. Yours are the other way around.

- The Amati anchors have the wood grain running in the wrong direction on the stocks. It should be along the stock, not up and down - which makes logical sense. An up and down grain is going to see the stock snap. Blue Ensign captures this       in his Pegasus log.

- Your wheel rig is incorrect and the rope size is better, to my eye, in photo "One" than the next. The right rope size is about 0.4 mm. I'm amazed that you re-rigged this as, blimey, that must of been hard.

Plus sides, and lots of them, your model all comes together and the details mesh. Your anchor cables are of fit size to my eyes and lots of people underestimate their scale. From TFFM, I reckon them at 1.4 mm.

If you're going full hog on rigging I urge you to look at Blue Ensign's log. There is a hell of lot of stuff going on around the main mast that is going to be really fiddly later but can addressed now to simplify.

Look it doesn't really matter, there are things you can improve and there is always someone out there who knows more than you do. I'm only halfway there and I get pulled up on things that I didn't know - planking widths on ship boats - who would know? Someone does. The trick is enjoying it and you are motoring through this and clearly enjoying it!

Fantastic - looks like it is made of bone.

Add that Chris Watton designed it, And that's why it is a quality kit and why you should try his ship boats from Vanguard Models or anything else they make!

You're one crazy guy. Fast as. I won't point out any mistakes or issues from here on because I just like that you are having fun and that's what it's all about...Manitoba - been there, Winnipeg at minus 15C - on Monday I go to Brisbane - looking at 35C, 90% humidity and I hate heat. Give me frozen streets. Rock on mate.

Good on you for looking for a fix and wishing you the best of outcomes for that. I posted on Knocklouder's log before re-visiting yours. Otherwise your ship is looking very fine. I definitely recommend the copper plating and you can probably just plate over the copper paint rather than removing it?

Ah - okay. Maybe the instructions are different between the kits. For HMS Fly page 6 says Remove the exposed bulkhead tabs above deck level when 2nd planking is complete. Sand the remaining stub flush with the deck. There is a drawing showing this and it is done before you plank over the false deck. The next drawing shows no stubs above the planked deck. But perhaps, like Bob, you just paint the stubs black and the issue kind of disappears? It'd otherwise be very hard to correct and who's going to really notice?

No the instructions are fine - I'm effectively building the same kit - HMS Fly. Anyway, Bob, they kind of disappear now that you have painted them black. And good on you for fixing up the cannons.

Hey Knocklouder

You are ripping through this at high speed and doing really well. Couple of thoughts though:

- There shouldn't be any frame ends penetrating above the decks. This may be difficult to change?

- You have gouged some of the bulwarks to fit the cannons. Why do the barrels sit at different heights? I'd correct this and fill the gouges - it isn't too late for that.

Up to you of course, but those two things stick out to me as worthy of correction. Otherwise you are rocking and rocketing.

Extraordinary the way that life flows. My admiral invited me back into the kitchen to build as she missed me disappearing downstairs.

Ed Harris! What a great actor - 'The Right Stuff'. I could tell you stories about ship model making for Master and Commander and King Kong here in Wellington but that diverts.

Wow - an amazing thing to come out of your amazing dedication and your amazing work.

The planking looks fantastic, almost like ivory or bone. I look forward to seeing it after sanding and finishing. I didn't pay much attention to pedestals - just plain brass on a plank of kauri ( a beautiful NZ native timber) but I like your leaning - makes it more 'period'. Keep it up!

Always good to see another AVS underway. Looking good so far and I'll keep looking in.

Like you, Richard, I'm picking up my kit from years ago. I also got the RB barrels to replace the kit guns which were hideous, all-in-one things. The replacements might not be spot-on historically but they are miles better than the kit supplied product back then and only the very best ship historian is going to spot the inaccuracy, whatever it might be. Keep it up - it's a challenging build but a very sleek little ship. If you want a boat for it, I definitely recommend the Vanguard Models pinnace which I've just finished.

It's looking good. Will be a benchmark for this kit when finished I reckon. Your very good efforts make me glad I painted my rendition - planking was easy as it was all covered up at the end!

Stunning! Thanks for sharing your great log. I'd love to try one but shipping puts it out of reach...