gsdpic

Thanks for the likes and follow. Here's a bit more detail about my current step. I have the outer profile of the frames pretty well done now, I think. I have been going through them again, comparing frame "N" to frame "N-1" and frame "N+1" and tweaking as needed. I then drag the point of a drafting compass along the outer edge of the frame to draw a line to define the inner edge, and repeat that on the other side of the frame. That provides a guide for carving the frame down to size, and to make them all consistent width. The first picture below shows the line drawn on the rough frame; the second is after the frame has been carved down to the line. I have this done on 20 of the 32 frames. After that, final sanding of the frames and carving the timberheads at the tops of the frames.

Progress So Far As mentioned above, I have worked about 30 hours so far, including spending a fair amount of time reading through the instructions a couple times. I cut out and glued together the keel, stem, and stern pieces, and I made my first mistake. I cut the notches in the top of the keep trusting the lines, instead of making sure the notches were the right size for the frames. They are all too large, so I have added a shim piece to every notch to narrow it. As for the tabs on the bottom of the keel....the photos in the instructions show all the extra wood at the bottom of the keel left in place until well into the building of the hull. I thought it would be difficult to cut off at that time. But the bottom of that piece of wood does provide a reference for "level" and reference to which the frames are perpendicular. I compromised and left those two tabs to give that reference and to give something to hold on to, but they will also be easier to remove when the time comes. Otherwise, all the time has been spent on shaping the frames. The pre-cut and pre-bevelled frames were not necessarily symmetrical, and they were too thick from the outside toward the center line. I spent a lot of time carving them to shape and trying to make them symmetrical. At times I felt like I was turning the 1/48th scale model to 1/50th! To make the frames symmetrical, I attempted some techniques involving scanning them into the computer and flipping the image in Photoshop. But it was easier to just trace the frame on graph paper and count squares. I have made several iterations of trying to get them symmetrical and trying to get frame N to flow nicely to frame N+1, and trying to get the shape to match the lines on the plan. Once I felt like the outer shape of the frames was good, I started working on making them constant thickness by carving away at the inside. I have done the latter task on about a third of the 32 frames. After that, the timberheads are to be carved out of the top little bit of each frame. Below are several more pictures of the frames during this process. And that's where I stand today on this project.

Decisions, Decisions There are a few other decisions I'll need to make as the build progresses.... 1. The kit is supposed to be a more realistic plank-on-frame kit, though as I understand it, the exact construction of America is unknown. But it sort of begs to have some of the planking and decking left off to show the work that was done on the inner structure. But I am more of a "complete looking model" fan. And, the kit makes no provision for the sub-deck.....if one were to leave some of the planking and decking off, it seems like the subdeck should be represented as well. For now I am leaning toward completely planking and decking the boat but we'll see. 2. The other decision is how to finish the model. I generally like the looks of models that are left with a natural wood finish...stain or oil rub or whatever...but also like a more realistic finish. I see some of the builders of the Mamoli kit used actual copper plates on the hull. The Bluejacket instructions advise against that, indicating that the makers would have tried to make the hull as smooth as possible with tiny gaps between the plates and no protruding fasteners, so any embossed plates that have such features are out of scale. But real copper would look nice. I suspect I will wait until I see how well the planking goes and at that point decide if I need to hide any mistakes with paint or copper. 3. As mentioned, I may or may not use the supplied blocks and rigging line. I also will need to decide how to rig, but the common thing seems to be the unrealistic but more pleasing method of having the spars positioned as if sails were present, with the rigging providing something of an outline of the profile of the sails. Again, plenty of time before I get there.

Thoughts On The Kit The kit is interesting and appears well made. In the picture above, you can just see bits of a few of the frames. The kit comes with a set of pre-cut frames. They actually carve a hull, slice it like a loaf of bread, and (I presume) make two kits from it, giving each kit every other frame. The keel, stem, and stern are printed onto one quarter inch thick basswood, but must be cut out, and there are no other laser cut parts. There are pre-carved bow and transom pieces. Overall the quality of the wood seems very good. The kit also comes with quite a few metal components, both brass and britannia. They look good, but I am unsure about some of them. In particular I am not crazy about the britannia metal blocks instead of wood blocks, though I can see both pros and cons, and the plans do indicate that the blocks were painted white. The brass ring mast hoops also seem questionable. I have plenty of time to decide if I will use them or replace them. Also the rigging line is black and white, instead of the more traditional tan. Again, I have plenty of time before I decide to use or replace that. But overall, the kit leaves a good impression.

Hi All. This is Gary from Austin, Texas making my first post. I have recently acquired the 1/48th scale America kit from Bluejacket and hope to log its build here. I have been lurking here a bit, very impressed by the knowledge and craftsmanship shown in many of the build logs. And frankly I am a bit intimidated as well. But I did not find any other build logs for the large Bluejacket America model so I hope my efforts add to the community, if only because of that. I have seen several build logs of the Mamoli version, and I am sure I will reference them more in the future. Over the last many years, I have built a handful of wooden boats and ships. The most ambitious project was Model Expo's Niagara. Sadly while building that I realized two things: 1) I do not enjoy rigging 2) I am more interested in small work or pleasure boats than warships. The Niagara has spent maybe 8 years in my closet with the standing rigging half done while I went on a boat building hiatus. Then in October, 2015, completely by accident, I drove by Bluejacket's HQ/Store/Gallery in Searsport, Maine while making my way from Boston to Acadia National Park. I made a quick U-turn and stopped in. I guess I left there inspired, as since then I built their Swampscott Dory and their Lobster Boat. Around the beginning of this year I decided to challenge myself a bit and ordered their plank-on-frame America. And yes I realize it requires some rigging, but it is minimal enough that I should get through it! Don't expect quick progress. I still work full time and have too many other hobbies. I've had the kit for about 2 months and have worked on it less than 30 hours so far. Progress will appear to be quick initially as I'll make posts to summarize those 2 months of work. But first here is a picture of the freshly opened box when I got the kit: