Jaxboat

Trouble is, I'm doing the boring stuff now, so nothing really changes that much. (I am not really one for showing every single insignificant stage, trenail by trenail...) I have just finished rigging the lower and upper shrouds (including the shroud cleats), added the footropes to the yards, and the next job is the dreaded ratlines. I think it's pointless taking pics of the yards, as once you've seen one set, you've really seen them all. I guess the next change will be once the yards are fixed in place, which will be in about a week's time. All of the parts are now assembled and in place, so only rigging left to do.
 
As for the paints, I think I have already stated what I used (and why) already in this thread - the Vallejo paints come into their own when painting the dark wood coloured parts, which seem to give a very good scale appearance, rather than simply staining the parts, which tends to accentuate the way over scale wood grain.
 
I have just taken a set of pictures (while it's still nice outside) - this is where I am up to. (still waiting for figurehead, though..)
 

That's funny, Ben. Many years ago my wife asked me what I wanted for my 40th birthday present. I told her I wanted to spend a few days in Harold Hahn's workshop. She thought I was kidding. I was not!

In the fine arts they think of painting over oil with acrylic as being akin to crossing the streams in Ghostbusters. Don't do it, they say. Thinking about what I know about wood and paint though, I bet you can get away with it if you follow the advice everyone is giving above. But if a guy from a museum wants to buy your model some day, NEVER MENTION this issue.

The keys are listed by the previous two comments. Make sure the stain is thoroughly dry and sand to provide a surface for mechanical adhesion of the paint. And if you have concerns you can always take a piece of scrap and apply the stain let it dry and sand and then then apply the acrylic paint. If it beads up or "fisheyes" you have a problem. To test adhesion, let it dry thoroughly a few days and then take a piece of painters blue tape press it firmly on the painted piece and pull. Should be little or no loss of adhesion
Jaxboat

Pretty nice result for basswood! A neat -looking model so far. As to speed of finishing the model, ship modeling is definitely not a sprint triathlon!

Cheers
 
I have since slightly altered the lanterns, as I realised that the aft panel (the one facing the poop) has no light frames, but is a door to light/extinguish the light. At the moment, they are simple concentric, but I shall see if I can change them further.
 
One thing I haven't shared - until now - is the way I designed the anchors. Some will hate me, but they are all laser cut, and no cast metal parts for the main part. I decided to go this way because of two reasons, the first is the sheer size and weight, and I can only imagine the shrinkage that would occur. The second reason is that it is simply much easier to apply a small dab of glue to the palm of the anchor and secure it to their respective palm block without worrying about the weight.
 
Sorry.....

Hi Guys,
 
Thank you all very much for the very kind words and encouragement, I really do appreciate them.
 
John, great to have you back mate and thanks for the good words.
 
Frank, thank you my friend, I reckon all our photography has improved since Sjors been around.
 
Mark, I'm really pleased you didn't bring up pies, cakes, marbles, buts, fishing and all that other stuff, and thanks for your kind words, I take that as a real compliment coming from you. 
 
Grant, thanks mate, that netting certainly has travelled, and it hasn't finished it's journey yet, some of it will be making it's way across the North Sea.
 
ZyXuz, I used to do my caulking before laying the planks but I found I was not getting an even cover, just have to ensure the pencil doesn't jump the plank or you can end up with a nice pencil line across the already laid planks, I use an HB lead.
 
Peter, Wayne, Andy, Adriek
 
I have made some small progress which I will show you:-
 
Upper deck bulwarks are now all lined and painted red ochre, all guns are fitted and rigged, gratings are fitted as are the ladders, mast bits, ships wheel, timberheads breast railings, barricade railing, cavel cleats and blocks, and lastly the pin rails are all fitted.
 
Some pics :-
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
That's it gents, as usual all comments and remarks are more than welcome.
 
mobbsie

Floyd I gotta agree with you on that. With scratch building - the project's your's - good, bad or anywhere in between.
 
With kit design it belongs to EVERYBODY! LOL!
 
Sam

Sam - I am a long ways from being an expert. but I gotta think scratch building would be easier than kit designing. Not that I am going to try either one.

Any news on this amazing new kit? I know I want it. Don't know if I will ever build it, but I want it!!!!

To follow up on Eric's post and answer a few questions that I've been receiving. 
 
There are some mistakes and format issues that developed at the printers from my original manuscript of the ESSEX manual. Eric and Model Expo being the company that they are have asked me to immediately address these with the printer which I am doing currently.
 
Eric has also asked me to work with the casting people to address some inconsistencies that are occurring with the castings.
 
Be assured we'll get these cleared up ASAP.
 
Sam

All,
 
As with any newly released kit, we had a few missteps on this one that we're working through with Sam (e.g., misprint on label, few pages of instruction manual, etc.). As usual, if you have ANY issues with the contents of your kit, please do not hesitate to contact us - we'll ensure we make it right just like we've always done!
 
Thanks and enjoy the kit!
 
Eric

Thanks Brad. If it wasn't for the plank ends I probably could have lived with the transom as is, but it was bothering me too much, so I decided to bite the bullet and replace it.
 
I used alcohol to loosen the white glue and acetone to loosen the superglue in the few spots that I used it. I was able to gently pry the top planks off the transom, then used an X-Acto knife to get under the remaining planks. For the stern piece, I used an X-Acto chisel to pry the transom loose after loosening the glue with alcohol. The transom then popped out with no damage to the planks.
 
Here is the old transom with the wording showing through:
 

 
Here is the outside of the old transom as the alcohol was doing its work:
 

 
Some pictures during the removal process:
 

 

 
Success:
 

 
I scraped and sanded the insides of the plank ends to remove the old glue, then used the old transom as a pattern on some basswood sheet. I used a thicker piece of wood for the new transom so that I could get all the plank ends close to the edge. After I glue them down, I will sand the whole transom thinner to the correct thickness, which will also sand the ends of the planks to be flush with the outside of the transom. After sanding the transom to fit, I glued it to the stern piece and the bottom two planks on each side, forcing the plank up to the transom with clamps and scrape wood pieces. I adjusted the angle of the transom to be more perpendicular to the keel, so the plank ends fit better on both sides. I will let this dry overnight, then I will glue the rest of the plank ends to the new transom.
 

 

 
I am quite pleased that I was able to perform this exchange without much trouble and I feel much better now.
 

The new transom looks good.  Sometimes we just have to bite the bullet and correct what we don't like.  Nice job.
 
Bob

A real problem in having a model kit in such an odd scale, 5/32", is that you will have a hard time finding replacement twelve and six-pounder cannon in 1:76 scale if the kit guns are done poorly, which apparently they are. Had MS designed the Essex kit in the more common 1:64 scale, the same scale as Portia Takakjian's classic Essex plans and booklet, then you could use a commercial set of 1:64 Essex cannon already available.

The keys are listed by the previous two comments. Make sure the stain is thoroughly dry and sand to provide a surface for mechanical adhesion of the paint. And if you have concerns you can always take a piece of scrap and apply the stain let it dry and sand and then then apply the acrylic paint. If it beads up or "fisheyes" you have a problem. To test adhesion, let it dry thoroughly a few days and then take a piece of painters blue tape press it firmly on the painted piece and pull. Should be little or no loss of adhesion
Jaxboat

The keys are listed by the previous two comments. Make sure the stain is thoroughly dry and sand to provide a surface for mechanical adhesion of the paint. And if you have concerns you can always take a piece of scrap and apply the stain let it dry and sand and then then apply the acrylic paint. If it beads up or "fisheyes" you have a problem. To test adhesion, let it dry thoroughly a few days and then take a piece of painters blue tape press it firmly on the painted piece and pull. Should be little or no loss of adhesion
Jaxboat

Paddy, S. Coleman's suggestions are spot on. I've painted over with acrylics, stuff where I've used Danish oil or oil-baed Minwax. If you can, don't stain that area but if it can't be avoided or etc., then make sure the oil-based finish has completely dried, then give the area that you're going to paint a light sanding with some fine grit sand paper.
 
Jay

You truely have a work of art. What a great job. Thanks for posting your build.

Final installment on the rebuilt log. The yards and running rigging and the final details:
 
The yards, like the masts, were made from dowels with the eight sided sections built up. The blocks were commercial items with some shaping. Specialized blocks such as long tackle blocks were made from strip wood. The rigging line is tan linen line that I have had for some years. The sequence of construction and rigging was fore to aft ( opposite to how I do the standing rigging, but also to give the greatest access), and lower to upper on each mast. The most difficult task was running the main jeers through the jeer bitt sheaves and attaching to the bitts. In hindsight, it wold have been much better to have made that attachment at a much earlier stage of construction before the bitts became very difficult to reach.
 
The final details included the anchors and their bouys and rigging, the entry ropes and the installation of the swivel guns and the elm tree pumps.
 
In summary, this kit, although it had numerous shortcomings, provided a unique opportunity to build a fully framed boxwood model without the necessity of cutting all of the framing. For me, without power tools, that was a critical plus factor.
 
Bob

Time now to move on to the making and installing of the masts and the standing rigging. This installment will go through to the rigging to the lower masts. The kit contained neither materials nor plans for the masting and rigging. The work was done with reference to TFFM Vol. IV and to Lees, "The Masting And Rigging Of English Ships Of War".
 
The bowsprit and the masts were all made from dowel, tapered and shaped as necessary. The square sections of the lower masts were cut in and flats filed for the addition of the cheeks, hounds and bibbs. On the top masts, the square heads were cut in and the other square and octagonal sections were built up. Lacking a lathe, I have found this easier than working from square stock. The caps and tops were made from boxwood.  Having now seen the work of Remco and Blue Ensign, my list of "I wish I hads" includes the detailing found on their masts.
 
The deadeyes used were all commercial, but all of the hearts and the long tackle and sister blocks in the standing rigging were made using boxwood strip. The standing rigging was all done with black Morope. As is my habit, I started with the bowsprit and then proceeded to the lower mizzen and worked forward. 
 
 
The rigging started with the bowsprit gammoning, bobstays and shrouds and then proceeded through the pendants, shrouds, stays, preventer stays, catharpins, futtock shrouds, ratlines and  crowsfeet for the lower masts. I also added various lead blocks including those for the upper stays and the jeer blocks and pendants. I had never done crowsfeet before and found them to be a considerable challenge.
 
Bob
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks, Grant and Martin.
 
Now it's on to finishing off the work on the hull portion of the build. The first item was the deadeyes and chains. The deadeyes are commercial. The chains are wire bent around simple nail jigs. The chain plates are brass strip. I also added the preventer bolts shown in TFFM. 
 
I then turned to doing the work on the head doing the knees, head rails, head timbers, gratings, seats of ease and boomkins.  The cathead supporters and eking rail were not shown in the kit and were made in accordance with TFFM. I also painted and installed the figurehead casting from the kit. The fore outer hull was finished by making the anchor billboard assembly as shown in TFFM and added the remaining moldings and the eyebolts needed for the rigging.
 
Last was the work in the midship area. This included the remaining cannon, the fixed gangways and their ladders and railings, the gangboards and their knees and and the gangboard railing. I also finished work on the chain pump handles and their supports.
 
Two items were made but not permanently installed at this point: the elmtree pumps and the swivel guns. The guns were from the Lumberyard, like the larger cannon  At this point, construction was suspended for about a year, waiting for the publication of Vol. IV of TFFM on masting and rigging.The last photos attached to this post show the completed hull prior to masting and rigging.
 
Bob

Bob -- this does look good!  I think one of the finer qualities of this kind of build is showing the beauty of the wood fitting tightly together.  Your photography brings out that wonderful quality very nicely.  Fantastic!
 
Martin

I don't like the term "old age" anymore, John. These days, I like to think of it as maturity.
 
Bob

This installment will also cover a wide area of work. The first is the quarter deck, which included a limited amount of planking; the hatches and gratings; the companionway ladder and railing; the skylight; the upper capstan; the breastwork; and various eyebolts.
 
Next was the stern, which included the transom; mounting of the rudder with it's hardware and chains; the rudder head housing, tiller, wheel and rigging; and the quarter badges. The kit transom didn't come close to that shown in TFFM, so I chose to scratch build something at  least similar to the book. The same was true for the quarter badges. With some work, I was able to use the kit's lantern parts and I also used the kit's castings, with some modification, for the transom carvings.
 
I then moved on to adding the main and mizzen channels, gun port lids, moldings, timberheads and blocks, swivel gun mounts and the quarter deck rail.
 
After that, I moved forward to do the forecastle. This included the catheads, some planking, the hatches and gratings, the belfry and breastwork, the galley cowl, the fore jeer and topsail sheet bitts and various eyebolts.
 
Lastly, I made and installed the fore timberheads and blocks, the fore channels, the fore swivel gun mounts and more moldings.
 
Bob