drobinson02199
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Everything posted by drobinson02199
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All of the deck detail is now complete. Pictures show bow area with capstan, life preserver containers, small tables, hatch covers, ladder, boarding walkway and stern seat. That's it for the hull -- now on to the masts and rigging. Regards, David
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Back to work on the Bruma after a couple of weeks in Florida. Finished the cabin exterior details including handrails, vents, horn and light, and fire extinguishers and life rings. Tricky paint work on the extinguishers. Regards, David
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John -- Yes, it does angle back just a bit. Just the way it came out when I drilled the hole for the mounting. Regards, David
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Assembled and mounted the cabin structure. Building this takes some forward planning, to get the subassemblies right and square, and then paint and assemble things in a workable order. The instruction sequence isn't the best. Regards, David
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Bob: It works better than a brush to get a really smooth surface, but the main way I avoided lap marks is to use 5 coats. That's what it took to get a uniform color. The paint was just a good quality hardware store flat acrylic interior paint. Regards, David
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I've painted the hull. Two boats ago, I got fed up with spray paint because of the unavoidable mess it makes in my workroom (spray particles out from the spray area and onto the floor), and problems with tracking it out of there and into the house. Can spray outside in summer, but not in winter (which is much of the time here in Boston. So this is brushed on with a foam brush and 5 coats of white and 5 coats of red. Looks good up close, and no mess! Regards, David
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Started on the propeller shaft housings. I've done one. Here are pictures of the unfinished one, and the one I've done. Regards, David
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I've now finished the second planking -- the picture here shows it sanded with a coat of varnish. Next step is to build the fairings over the propeller shafts, which are made of wood strips. Then some painting. Regards, David
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Cornish: I'm now building the Bruma from Mantua. Here's the log. https://modelshipworld.com/topic/22550-bruma-by-drobinson02199-mantuapanart-scale-143/?tab=comments#comment-670233 Regards, David
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Working further on the second planking, at the bow the planks hold pretty straight, but as the hull curves under, I couldn't hold that at the stern and had to shift to a "lay of the plank" approach. You can see that in the stern detail below. Not sure how much more I'll do on this before leaving for a two week trip. Regards, David
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Bob: Here's a picture of it. The brand is "Steam Genie". If you look closely at the area coming out of the nozzles, you can just barely see steam. The steam flow is pretty strong, and one of the nice things about this is that you can aim it -- so if you have a piece of wood that's partly mounted and the unmounted part won't sit properly, you can steam it on the model. With these basswood planks, which are soft, I just hold sections in the steam jet and bend gently until I get the amount of bend I want. Regards, David
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Now working on the second planking and using my trusty steamer to pre-bend the planks. With that done, they really sit down nicely. I like a steamer much better than a mechanical plank bender, because the benders leave crimp marks on the underside that can "leak" out at the seams and mar the smooth finish. Regards, David
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After a couple of weeks away, I have finally finished the first planking. What you see is wood filled, sanded and varnished. Next is second planking, which is the same wood since this hull will be painted. Regards, David
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Cornish Pirate: As I mentioned in my post, Ages of Sail in California, from whom I bought the kit, always honors shortages and did for me. I know that Mantua UK has a physical shop in Windsor. Since you are in the UK, I wonder if they were the seller of your kit, and if so, you could contact them to make up the shortage. My log might serve as support that the kit is under-supplied. One thing to do is not go by the 2,400 count, but instead measure your "empty" area and calculate what you really need -- might trim the cost if you have to pay. But if https://www.mantuamodel.co.uk/ is where you bought it, they should honor it and make it good. Even if you didn't buy it from them, here's what they say on their website: "Mantua Model UK Ltd was formed in 1997 as part of the Mantua Model group of Italy, one of the largest model manufacturers in the world. Mantua Model manufacture all types of boat, ship, aircraft and car kits, and are renowned for their wooden model ship kits." So according to them, they are part of Mother Mantua -- and therefore I would think they should honor the shortage regardless. Good luck! Regards, David
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Robert: Instructions are fine. Materials are OK -- the main thing is not to let the mahogany second planking get too dry and brittle. I used a steamer on it for the bends and found that it did get brittle when it dried. You should buy the finishing kit they recommend -- and use it as recommended. I found that I had to mix small batches of the brush-on as it firms up quickly. The whole point of this boat is the look of the mahogany, so it's all in the finishing. One thing I did was to warm the bottles of finishing goo before mixing them, using a box and a light bulb. Also, you should definitely build a box larger than the boat and use it with a light bulb to cure the finish. Temperature is important and my workroom is cold-ish. Finish the smaller pieces of mahogany and then mount them. I tried to keep a good log, so you can see some of what I did in the log. Regards, David
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Working the first planking around the prop shafts. It's basically an improvizational act, and what I did was to create a "floor" of short planks on top of which I could mount the first planks under the shaft. What you see in the finished picture will be dressed with a housing over the prop shaft to hide the rough area where it enters the hull. That goes on after the second planking. I am about to go away for a couple of weeks, so won't fill and sand this until I get back. Regards, David
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I use a steamer when I'm planking, which gives these basswood planks a lot of flex. I had too much bulge at the stern, so to adjust it I did the following as shown in the picture: Used a rotary cutter to make a shallow "V" so that I could bend the whole structure down Installed the next plank, steamed the "V" area, and then used reinforcing ribs behind to attach the "V" area to that next plank Installed a short length of planking behind the "V" to hold the wood filler I'll need. Then all of this will be sanded down and filled with wood filler to smooth it out. Fortunately, it's the first layer which is more forgiving. I think I'll follow the "run of the planks" on the second layer vs. steaming to bend them. Regards, David
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Klaasvg: If you look above to the picture from Puctored, it shows the shape of the bow with the original uncorrected frames. At the end of this log or in my gallery pictures of the Titanic, you'll see my bow and can decide if the difference is worth it to you. If it is, then if you go backwards in time from the post I referenced above, near to the beginning of this log, you'll see how I used laminated strips to correct the frames. I suspect you could try that on the frames you have mounted -- but looking at Puctored's picture above, I doubt that it would be worth it. I'd just go ahead and use the frames you have. It's certainly NOT critical. You may need to soak the first layer planks to get them to bend at the point where it narrows. Regards, David
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Klaasvg: Not sure from here, but it looks like you need to taper your bulkheads a bit more. Use a sanding block or sandpaper on a block of wood -- or you can use a Dremel rotary sanding drum if you take it carefully and check. When I do mine, I take a piece of planking and lay it flat at the center of the boat (no glue), then bend it around to see how it lies, and then take the bulkheads down on gradually increasing angles, checking my work with the dry plank as I go until it aligns and there is a good flat fit with the angled bulkheads. Hope this helps. Regards, David
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Klaasvg: OK, I looked back in my Titanic log and remembered how this ship is planked, and I think we've been miscommunicating. The section of the manual you are referring to deals with the FIRST layer of planking. For those, when I needed to taper, I used a planking vise. Marked the start and end of the cut and then put it in the vise that way and ran a knife along the vise. If you don't have a vise but you do have a steel ruler, you can use that and run the Stanley knife along the ruler -- you just have to keep it from slipping, which is harder on long cuts. Clamping the ruler onto the strip can help. The scissors part refers to the second layer, which really isn't a "layer' but is strips cut out of the large piece of thin board. You paste the template onto the board (I used Gorilla spray rubber cement), and then use sharp office or kitchen shears to cut the strips out. To see my first planking, go back to my October 20, 2018 entry in this log, and then follow from there to see how the second layer strips go on. Regards, David
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If you mean the hull strips that you cut out, I think I used some CA medium and instant setting spray to help that process. Use a sharp set of scissors (good kitchen or office scissors are ideal) to cut them out. Regards, David
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Klaasvg: Not sure what you mean by "bow shelves". Have you looked back through my log to see what I did for the part you are concerned about? Regards, David
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