aliluke

Hi Basic

I agree with all that Floyd has said. However, looking at your photos I can see laser char on almost all the bulkheads. There should be none if your bulkheads are properly faired and I think this is your undoing - but that is for next time. The fairing should be full length of the hull and only the bulkheads in the middle should be square to their breadth. Even then the char should be gone. 

Use fill like mad next then sand and then lay the second planking on a well formed hull. Everything underneath that will disappear! As Floyd says, for that second layer, get the garboard plank in parallel to the keel and the waterline or wale plank (depending on your instructions) in and then work down and up. Always keep the planks rising, follow Floyd's half plank tapering rule and you'll be OK.

I like double planking - it gives me a sense of what is next and you can break all the rules in the book on the first layer and still make a good job on the second!

Cheers

Alistair

Looking really good Ollie. Your nibbing is superb - nice and tight. I like the smaller nail holes and I reckon 1 hole per plank rather than two, except at the butts. I know there is historical evidence to tell you the correct way by I go by what my eye likes. I stagger my single holes (have a look at Fly to get what I mean by that). Another trick is to use masking tape across the deck to get the hole alignment right. Anyway, good to see you experimenting with this, I think it is worth it.

Cheers

Alistair

Great deck Bob. I use the wood paste method as well but made mine even paler than yours by mixing in neutral paste with the palest other colour that I could find. Kind of crazy as the nails become almost invisible - yours might be the better choice but too late for me.

Cheers

Alistair

Just caught up with this log Dan. Great work - it looks fantastic. Spotted your question about mounting it on a base - for something as fine as this I'd go for brass rods rather than pedestals. These make the boat look like it is afloat. The finer the rods the better but just two straight rods and you are sorted in my opinion.

Cheers

Alistair

I said "Stunning" before. I now add "Brilliant". Amazing work Ron - be proud.

Cheers

Alistair

Looks good Ron. I'm guessing you are going to use solid plugs for the bow and stern? A clever method to complete a difficult hull, if that is so. Look forward to updates.

Cheers

Alistair

Amazing and nice touches on the base board Mike. How many years went into this? However many they are all worth it!

Cheers

Alistair

Hi David

I think 1:64 will land you the most parts. This is the scale of many Amati and Caldercraft kits so spare parts and upgrades are abundant. RB Models and Syren do plenty of cannon barrels that adapt to this scale too. You could probably getaway with 1:60 with some of those parts as well. I don't know of many wooden kits at 1:72 (a lack of knowledge as opposed to any research!!) though it is, of course, a very common scale for many other things.

My two cents.

Cheers

Alistair

and Happy New Year!

Worth much more than a "Like This". The colours are fantastic - black, red and contrasting naturals. It gives the ship a look of purpose both as sailing vessel and a ship of war. Great work!

Cheers

Alistair

Looking good Pat. [Whoops loaded that with a mistaken button press...] I haven't seen your log for a while and Endeavour continues to a favourite to watch. You are doing a great justice to this fine ship.

Cheers

Alistair

Great work Gary. I particularly like the contrast between the white, holly?, decking and the darker frames. Your rhodings on the pumps are great. Being power toolless makes making such things a task for me. Beautiful work - I'll keep following and learning.

Cheers

Alistair

Stunning!

Nice work on that stove - they are a fun little model. I especially like your copper lids. One thing I found from the FFM was that the stove can be turned the other way around if it helps you with clearances under the deck beams. The capstan looks very sharp too.

Cheers

Alistair

Thank you for your very thoughtful answers Gary.

I was thinking about laying the anchor cable along the deck and running it through stoppers? then around the capstan but I guess if the anchors are stowed then the cables would be stowed as well. That sounds like a safer visual option for me and won't leave me tangled in ropes that I don't quite understand.

I will probably do deck coils for the gun tackles - it actually looks easier than frapping and I've done them before with success.

Cheers and I look forward to your updates,

Alistair

Hi Gary

I saw you popping up on my Fly log so had a look at your work. Amazing!!! You are in a whole different sport than me that is for sure. Alfred is incredible and I hadn't seen this log before (I tend to shy away from the scratch build logs as they intimidate me).

With that I come up with some questions if you'd indulge:

- Would a ship such as the Fly have a messenger cable? The capstan is well aft and I have never been able to figure how the ropes from it connected to the anchor cables. I haven't seen a Swan model with this element added. I'm equally perplexed by what ropes would connect to the upper capstan and where they would actually go.

- The joint in the messenger cable is very bulky. If this is run around the capstan as a part of a continuous loop does it cause problems with binding and tangling?

- Does the messenger cable also have a forward roller?

- Your cannons and their rig look superb. I understand why the tackle ropes are frapped but would they be so when the gun is run out? I thought frapping was only done when the gun was stowed. I understand your reasoning for showing them so but I'm curious as to whether the two - frapped and run out can go together?

Sorry, a lot to ask on my first visit to your wonderful log but your photos tempt these questions that I have already puzzled about.

Cheers

Alistair

Beautiful work there Slog. The lantern addition is great and everything looks incredibly crisp. A winner all round.

Cheers

Alistair

Hello Johann

I don't often go to the scratch logs here because they intimidate me and make me feel that my craft is so poor compared to those that post here. However I have looked at your log often and while I cannot ever reach the heights of your craftsmanship, I realise that I should applaud it and aspire to it. Your work is extraordinary and I look at your log for the pure pleasure of admiring your art. I'll plug away at my kit knowing that much higher art is available to be seen right here.

Thank you for sharing,

Alistair

Hi Bedford

Just had a look in here. A very nice ship you are making with precise finishing. On an odd note, my uncle used to make working ship models and used the bath to set the waterline. He would add ballast to the ship, as you did, until he got the settlement just right. He would then sprinkle the bath water with flour and this would leave an exact impression on the hull for the waterline. It's probably a well known trick but your bathtub photos reminded me of Uncle Sid and his amazing working models.

Cheers

Alistair

Very nice work Collingwood. I'm intrigued that the main deck does not seem to be planked when the upper decks are already installed. Or are those upper decks just dry fitted?

Where are you that gets a violent storm? There are so many these days you could be anywhere...

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Brett

Good choice on the AVS - it is a sweet ship.

I would glue the stem and keel to the false keel before fitting the bulkheads (you can see this in my brief AVS log). The stern post can be left off until later but I also fixed this first. The advantage of the early fix is that you fix the pieces on a flat surface and assure alignment. I applied the same thinking to the Fly but left off the sternpost to ease the plank sanding there - a lesson learnt.

The instructions for the rabbet are correct in both cases but don't fret about it. The trick is just to shape a groove so that the planks dress into the keel, stem and stern posts. At the stern you need to sand back the false keel from the bearding line so that that planks flow and dress into the stern post. The very particular angles that the instructions - kit or practicum - suggest are a detail beyond the needs. Just groove the point between the lower edge of the bulkheads to make the planks dress into the keel and stem. I had to recut a rabbet for the second planking and this was no big deal.

My best advice is that if you have the full practicum and the kit instructions choose one over the other. They are not compatible and will confuse you. I went with the practicum and virtually never looked at the written kit instructions. The sequences are completely different and I think the practicum follows a better method.

Look forward to your updates - the AVS, as my first completed model, is a favourite.

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Ollie

Very nice looking deck there. I wouldn't discount tree nailing though. Have a look at my Fly log. The deck is holly which is very pale and I mixed a wood paste of 4 parts neutral to 1 part pine (the palest colour I could find). The tree nails are only visible at certain viewing angles and certainly don't leap out at you. I think it is a nice detail if kept really subtle.

Cheers

Alistair

Well you made it and well done mate - it's a bugger that a ship has two sides . Port, starboard or whatever.

Have a good Christmas and I look forward to your new year updates.

Cheers

Alistair

Hi Hamilton

You're nearly there by the looks of things. Have a great Christmas and all the best to you and your family for 2014. I look forward to seeing the end of this build and the start of the next.

Cheers

Alistair

Ollie

Looking good in all respects. My only recommendation about scuppers is to not try to drill them all the way through the hull. Drill the outer location to suit and the inner to attempted alignment. You can then falsify the penetration going through. It is very difficult to get the alignment right by drilling all the way and you'll likely get misalignment internally or externally neither of which looks good. Flyer's Pegasus log has a cool little piece for lining scuppers but I have yet to find such a thing here.

Cheers

Alistair

Have a good one Larry - Christmas and 2014. I look forward to your updates and you getting that pesky planking all shipshape and done.

Cheers

Alistair