tlevine

Thanks, Tim.  We will have the costs determined shortly but one of our goals is to keep this well within anyone's budget.  The frames will be 1/4" plywood; the backbone and planking will be basswood.

The Guild is an educational organization, dedicated to providing our members with the knowledge to improve the quality of their model ship building.  One of the most frequently asked questions on MSW, from both novices and old hands, is "How should I plank my hull?"  With this in mind, I have developed a half hull project to teach even the first time builder how to properly plank a hull.  First, I want to thank Mike Lonnecker for help he has given me throughout the development process.  Later this month, the NRG will beginning selling the kit for this planking project.  It will include all of the wood and plan.  The manual will be a download to help reduce costs.  The photo shows the finished project.

As this was developed as a teaching aid, certain shortcuts and compromises to historical accuracy were taken and I will mention these along the way.  So I apologize in advance to the master modelers who will certainly find some of my technique unconventional.  But they work!

"How do I plank a hull?"  It is one of the most frequent questions posed on MSW.  And it comes from all levels of builders, from the total newbie to those who have several models under their belt but are afraid to take the plunge to learn how to correctly plank a hull.  No one wants to ruin an expensive kit by experimenting with hull planking, after all.  The Guild recognizes this; we have all been there!  We are in the process of developing an inexpensive kit (actually a learning aid) to specifically address the need to learn how to plank a hull correctly.  Our goal is to have this available to all regular and associate members of the NRG by Conference time next month.  I will be starting a build log in the scratch build area entitled Half Hull Planking Project and our intention is to turn this into a group build as soon as we start shipping.  The photo is of my prototype kit.

I also have the Vandalay duplicator and never had much success with it.

You only have until Sept. 30 to get the free download of the HMS Winchelsea by joining the NRG or renewing your membership for 2 years.  That's only 10 days from now.
 

Please remember also that the Moderators are all volunteers.  They resolve issues related to bad posting locations, spam, inappropriate behavior by members and removal of outdated postings.  They also do other behind the scenes work that the general membership is unaware of.  To also expect them to constantly sift through build logs, searching for the ones which have not been updated in over a year, is not realistic.  And as Mark said, the Moderators have no way of knowing if a build is abandoned or temporarily on the shelf.

Jack, does your set include the figurehead?

Mitch was a total Gentlemen and I am proud to have served on the Board with him.  He was also my friend.  He will be greatly missed.

I have the Ship Ahoy motor installed on my Preac.  It is a lot more powerful than the original equipment.  

Your model is too good to put on a flat decoration instead of a quarter gallery.  I compared the quarter gallery on Fly with Atalanta.  The only differences are the details of the carvings and the angle of the center bank of windows.  I assume you have TFFM Vol.2.  Follow David's instructions and you should be fine.  Also, take a look at Bill Maxwell's Fly on the Admiralty Models site.  It gives a good perspective of the depth of the structure.

Your best bet is to go to a place like FedEx that has large scale printers.  Then be prepared to experiment with the enlargement ratio, obviously for a price.  Enlarge all your plans on the same day, on the same copier for the most accurate results.  If your enlargement is off by a bit, all of the plans will be off by the same percentage.

Are you gluing this to deck beams or a sub-deck?  For beams definitely go with PVA.  I use Titebond II.  For a sub-deck, consider using contact cement.  It will handle the sheer and camber but once you put it on the sub-deck, there is no moving it around.

Install the plywood subject first, build up the bulwark and then plank. You cannot get a tight fit against the bulwark any other way.  (I assume with your kit there is no edge plank or waterway.  It is also easier to bend the plywood to get it into the hull prior to planking.

Please follow Jaager's advice and look at the angle between the pintle and gudgeon.  This needs to be a straight line.  Take a look at other longboat builds to see how it should be done.

I use these drills almost exclusively, unless I am using a pin vise.  That includes free-handing with a Dremel.  You simply need a steady hand.  No problem drilling through brass strips but I have never tried using them on bar stock thicker than 1/8".  Take a peak at the offerings from Drill Bit City.  https://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/index.html   They are in the Chicago area and I receive orders from them typically within 3 days.

For those members who have never perused the Database section of MSW, here are the links to the planking tutorials by Antscherl and Passaro.  

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Planking primer.pdf

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/Lining Off your hull for planking.pdf

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/NailPatternJig.pdf

http://modelshipworldforum.com/resources/Framing_and_Planking/plankingfan.pdf

Great Naval Battles of the Ancient Greek World is written by Owen Rees, an editor for the digital magazine My History Digest.  He is also the author of the book Great Battles of the Classical Greek World.  Published in 2018, this book focuses on Greek naval history during the period 394-494 BC.  The book starts with a basic introduction to the vessels and military tactics utilized by the warring countries of the Mediterranean Sea and Persia during this era. 

The sections, representing the major areas of conflict, are then broken down into individual battles.  The reader is provided with historical background for the battle, followed by a description of the battle itself and its consequences.  Maps are included to illustrate the troop locations and movements.  There are also maps of Greece and the Aegean Sea and Sicily.  The book would have benefited from the addition of maps of the entire eastern Mediterranean and Middle East/Asia Minor as well as the inclusion of modern names for the locations some of the ancient cities and civilizations.

The author is passionate about ancient Greek military history, both on land and sea and almost 40 pages of references and suggested readings are provided.  Unfortunately, he also assumes the reader is knowledgeable of the history of ancient Greece and Asia Minor and the relationships among the various cities on the Greek peninsula.  Without that knowledge, it is difficult to follow the background descriptions preceding the battles.

In summary, Great Naval Battles is an academic book which describes the Greek naval battles of the fifth century BC, including the circumstances which led to battle, the troops and ships involved and the consequences of the actions.  It is available from Pen and Sword Books www.pen-and-sword.co.uk in both print and Kindle formats.

"Advancing Ship Modeling Through Research"  That is the motto of the Guild and it is the primary purpose for MSW's existence.  Every one of us started in this hobby for various reasons.  Personally speaking, although I had made a few small Scientific models in high school, I had started doing more "girlie" things in college.  After about ten years I was walking past a hobby shop and saw the large Revell Constitution on sale.  Something in me snapped and I have never looked past.  I knew absolutely nothing about ships.  It was only by doing research that my modeling knowledge and skills advanced.  And with every project I do more research to expand my knowledge base and hopefully improve my technical skills.  

Should we paint?  It does not matter.  What matters is that, through research the modeler knows whether paint would have been applied and what colors would have been historically correct.  It is the same argument that we see regarding Hahn-style construction.  It is not prototypical...but it sure looks pretty.  And as long as the modeler knows that she/he is building a simplified exposed-frame model, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. 

Thanks, guys.  It is nice when people who were not members at the beginning of this journey get to follow me through the build.  This is the beauty of having a community of model ship builders.  

Griphos, I have never tried using more than four strands when laying up rope.  For very large ropes I will take three or four smaller made-up ropes and put them in the ropewalk.  I prefer to use ecru as this has not been bleached.  I have tried many different things to dye the rope, including Minwax, Rit fabric dye, shoe dye and India ink.  They all color the thread.  It becomes a matter of personal preference as to the appearance one is after.  You simply have to experiment on small batches of heavier thread (don't waste rope for this) to see what works for you.  Currently I am using Minwax Jacobean (two dips a day apart) for the standing rigging and Minwax Fruitwood (one quick dip) or gray diluted artist acrylic for the running.

I did, Griphos.  My post suffered from auto-correct.  That is a wide range of scales.  For 1/8 scale (1:96) I use size 60 for 4" rope and size 50 for 5"rope.  The larger sizes are made up from three or four strands of size 60 to 100.  Keep in mind that everyone lays rope a little differently.  In fact, I can use the same thread on both of my rope walks and get different sizes of rope.

I use resharpened carbide bits with a 1/8" shank for all my fine drilling.  https://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/restool.html  The Foredom has an optional 1/8" collet so that would work out for me.  Thanks for bringing to my attention.  I still have to figure out an excuse to buy another expensive tool.

As I am in between projects, I was encouraged to rig my 1:96 Mantua Victory that I abandoned 10+ years ago.  Thus the concern about  rigging supplies.   I only have the lower and topmast standing rigging completed, so there is still a long way to go.

Thanks for the bad news, Chuck.  This will be another reason to avoid rigging any more ships.

Thank you for the information.  Those Foredoms with the battery packs are very tempting.