wtimlen

Hello Folks, A quick post for today, I finally got over my mental block and dove in on copper plating (feels good!). Copper plating the Blue Jacket RC will definitely be a challenge and I am hoping to learn a lot from the experience. My patient is now taped onto the gurney (shoe box) for the long process ahead. I have come to the realization that this will be a slow and rewarding process. Also my photo-etching skills have benefitted already from this experience as well. Just learning how to handle the plates can be an art form! (Especially with me not being the steadiest of hands (Thanks Dad!)). Using magnifying glasses I find to be important is key for me on this part (5X glasses). Started at the stern post, not as clean as I wished. However, I will in all likelihood go back and clean this up as develop better plating techniques. Using the photo etch Jig and channel guide has been a blessing to achieve sharp corners along the false keel. Fairly happy with the progress on the false keel (so far). Tomorrow my plan is to work on the stem. Using thick CA now and that seems to do the trick. Using Q-tips to wipe off excess CA when needed. I am normally light on the glue to start with anyway. Some beginner pictures below (Ha-ha): Be well all, Bill T.

Hello Folks, One last post prior to plating, decided to fabricate a channel strip to ensure a uniform look along the keel. Planned steps to form plates on the stem, false keel and sternpost. Form the plate in the jig in my previous post to ensure consistent overhang on each plate. Place the plate in the fabricated channel guide and further form the plate by pressing it with scrap wood the same thickness of the false keel, stem and stern post in the channel guide. The glue the plates on with wax paper between the channel guide and the plates to prevent glue adhesion between the guide and the plate. Dry fitted it a few times with decent results. The channel guide was cut with an x-acto saw and the channel carved out with a file and razor, 1 hour of work.

Hello Folks, Perfect: Blizzard = Revenue Cutter Post. So on my last post I was gearing up to start copper plating the Blue Jacket Revenue Cutter with apprehension and uncertainty. Did a ot homework and now I have a good vision on how to proceed thanks to posts from MrBlueJacket, SJanicki and EricWilliamMarshall build logs. Originally I was going to plate the false keel with plate directing vertical (untraditional on the right) because I do not have the steadiest of hands and vertical plates are easier for my to fit and work to bend. I actually took a page out of Eric's build for a jig from my photo-etch kit which I showed on the previous post which works perfect for the vertical plates. Then I decided to make another jig from my same photo-etch kit for tradition vertical plates for use along the false keel, bingo worked perfect. I will copper plate now with vertical plates on the false keel because I will now I have a consistent bend with vertical plates on the keel without any warping on the bend, crisp corners. Then I saw SJanicki use vertical plates in his RC log for his sternpost which originally I made a jig for which I will incorporate into my build (Now a hybrid jig, I guess I am going "green" in my old age). And as MrBlueJacket recommends, I will use silicone gel as a adhesive for a majority of the remaining plating. So now I have a clear vision on the first step(s) of coppering after doing some dry fitting. I am confident it will not be perfect however I have learned a ton without even affixing a plate yet. Feel good about this now, finally. Vertical plating v Horizontal plating: I will now be doing horizontal on the false keel on the left (Traditional) v Vertical on the right. Vertical plating on the kell (dry fitted). And my hybrid jig below, Vertical Bends on the left, Horizontal on the right. Catch everyone soon! Bill T.

Hello Allan, That was a super kind response, I started to read the link and I am hooked. It heightens my interest in the R. Cutter which at times is needed as we all know. The detail on the plating was awesome! I am a little nervous on plating so I will forego the overlapping for a future build though. Most importantly thank you for taking the time and interest in posting on my build. It certainly motivates me! All the best, Bill T.

Thank you Brian for taking the time to comment, I will post on the weekend. Supposed to get a storm this weekend which is good for an excuse to work. Bill T.

Very nice, display with pride! Cheers, Bill T.

Hello Folks, This is a great day, I began working on my Revenue Cutter again. A lot of procrastination over whether to copper plate the model or not over the past few months. Well, I bought the plates with the kit and after reading the builds by sjanicki and EricWilliamMarshall and decided to copper plate the boat (Thanks Stan for responding to my message). This will be my first shot at this, I'm a little nervous as I am super happy with the paint job and I am not the steadiest of hands! Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Current status is: Cut all plates off the sprue and trimmed all the burrs off the plates with a Xuron Photo etch cutter (Very good cutter, a little pricey however worth ever penny). That took a long time, I also sanded and file some of the plates for learning purposes. Gave the hull two light coats of Clear Satin Polyurethane spray for better copper plate adhesion over the copper paint. Plan on using Medium CA for my plating. Made a jig from my phot-etching tool based on what I saw EricWilliamMarshall's post. I am a copy cat a little here. My plating will be little different along the false keel, I plan on bending the copper plates vertically versus horizontally as one can see a sample below. Once that is complete the false keel, stem and the stern post I will follow the traditional format for copper plating. I broke my Proxxon rotary tool thinking, I will need this to shape some plates along the way. I will post progress as I go.

Looking good. Good luck. I am following. All the best! Bill T.

What's next on the list?

Hello Stan, That is some accomplishment, it looks beautiful. Congrats! Bill T.

Hello Folks, After several weeks I made progress on the hull of Revenue Cutter: I applied the final primer coat (Grey Tamiya Spray) I applied Testors Enamel Flat Black spray paint, I really like this paint. I am usually a Tamiya & Vallejo person. I also applied several coats of Tamiya Flat Clear to protect the finish, I learned this on my Yankee Hero Build. I then penciled out the waterline, I was concerned over using a pencil on the black hull, however it was a piece of cake. I could clearly see the waterline. The plans do a nice job at helping to determine where to locate the waterline on the hull. I needed to do the waterline on the only real level place in the house with a lot of natural light. Used my level to ensure the waterline was fair on both sides. Then it was on to the masking, I used something new; Tamiya flexible masking tape. It worked great, I was almost able to mask the entire side of the hull with one piece of tape. I used regular masking tape to mask above the waterline. I then applied a coat of Model Master Flat Black on the edge of the tape to create a seal to prevent the copper paint from going under the tape. I found the adhesion of the Tamiya tape to be on the light side, so I took the additional step that I learned from Blue Jacket. It hasn't failed me yet. I then sprayed the bottom of the hull with Model Master Enamel Copper with my Iwata Neo Airbrush. I am learning to get better with the airbrush, cleaning it is a drag however the results are well worth it I believe. I then unmasked it carefully. I am looking forward to copper plating the hull, I think the copper undercoat will hide whatever gaps I encounter on that journey. I am somewhat intimidated of plating the hull, especially because I do not have the steadiest of hands. I will give it a shot, I followed sjanicki's build to help along, as well as the links he posted in his awesome Revenue Cutter build. That's it folks for this post, onto reading about plating and checking some other builds with plating. I hope everyone out there in MSW world is doing well.

Hello Folks, It's been a while from my last post, I primed, puttied and sanded the hull 3 times. The first priming was pretty painful, the second better and the third a charm. Pretty monotonous work for three times however corrected a lot wrongs along the way sandpaper grit used #400, #800, #1500, #2000, #3000. Also I have completed painting several parts, prepared the transom and painted the rudder. Next Steps: Re-mask the deck again, the tape edges lost their edge during all the priming, sanding. Final Priming Affix the transom to the hull. Drill the holes for the for the channels and glue them in place. Paint the hull flat black with Model Master Flat Black Establish the waterline I will post again once I get though the above, enjoy the holiday weekend everyone! Bill T.

No, it is always clean. Regarding the toe rail, same thing happened to me. I applied the toe rail fore to aft, and I just made a small piece of triangle basswood at the stern. I noted it in my build. It was a simple fix, barely noticeable. Good Luck, Bill T.

Hello Mike, A trick I learned from BlueJacket that work great for me is to apply a few coats of Flat Clear over tape edge of line you are painting. This will create a seal between the tape and the hull. It works flawlessly for me, I rarely have paint leak under the tape. It is an extra step however for me well worth it. Good Luck. Bill T.

Looks good to me, this is representation of some fine work. Can't wait to see the final pictures.

Hello Nic, I appreciate the time you took to respond. I will hopefully see you shortly (you know what I mean!) Thank you, Bill T.

Thank you, The comment is appreciated! All the best! Bill T.

Hello Folks, I have a short post for the Revenue Cutter: As usual I strayed away from the kit manual, as stated in the past I will never win any awards for accuracy. I trashed my Blue Jacket wales by splitting them, so I hit my basswood wood shed (Model Shipways Niagara Kit abandoned 10 years ago). Pulled out two strips of 1/16 by 3/16 strips for the wales. In addition, I busted out my never used before Micro Mark plank benders (steam based benders) for the wales to bend for the bow portion. I was very happy with the results (see below), also it added I believe a more prominent set of wales for detail purposes. The small gap between the hull and the wales at the bow portion will be addressed when affixing the toe rails to the hull, no worries there. I then stained the top portion of the wales once affixed to the hull to match the deck color. After that I did my usual, added thinned down Finishing Resin to the wales to prevent denting and splitting. Next steps: The punishing first coat of priming to find the dents. Filling dents with putty, sanding for two/three runs until I get it right. Finally painting with Model Master Enamel Paints supplied with the kit. I need to look up the paint to thinner ratio for airbrushing for Model Master Enamels as I am usually a Acrylic Paint fan. I am thinking probably a 2/1 or 3/1 ratio, I am a rookie at Enamels with airbrushing. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you all, Bill T.

I wish I had a nickels for how many times I did that to my builds, I busted my door too (LOL) on the Yankee Hero. With all the fine work you have done to date it will be lost in the finished build I believe. The stand looks great, I added felt from Michaels too lessen scratches on the hull once painted. Also, I forgot I applied 2 coats of Tamiya flat clear spray onto the hull to prevent chips later on the build. Also I used Acrylics (Tamiya) versus enamels, enamels I read have better adhesive characteristics. I am trying enamels on my current build Revenue Cutter (Model Master) shortly, I will learn as we all do moving forward. Bill T.

I use ZAP for my finishing resin because it is readily available, however there are others available that work just as well. Make sure you thin it with denatured alcohol. Mix the 50% Hardener and 50% Resin, once you have that mixed then mix it 50% Resin mixture and 50% Denatured Alcohol (Use a "Solo" cup, it doesn't melt). Also when mixing the denatured alcohol the mixture should fog up, don't worry about that it will subside as you continue to mix. Remember, one coat the penetrate the wood (let dry completely) and another to fill in small imperfections. Than I prime and sand down, look at my build post (Yankee Hero) for specifics. I hope this helps! Onto my Revenue Cutter! Bill T.

Also on the stand I added felt to where the hull meets the stand to prevent scratching the hull after painting.

Hey Michael, Don't sweat the rigging, make sure you use the correct diameter thread (unlike I did) for each step. To facilitate my rigging I take a lot of time to make sure my blocks are set to my spars and mast prior to affixing them to the boat. Also make sure the holes in the blocks are 100 clear (nothing worse than clearing block holes when already affixed to the boat), I run the ends of my lines through some thin CA to produce a needle affect, I also cut the end on angle so it is a little sharp. The other step a take is I do not secure knots on my Running Rigging with CA until all rigging is complete to make sure all appropriate line are proper tightness. Also as noted above, I always set my standing rigging first witch is only 2 lines. Check out Blue Jacket, they offer a rigging class that I have attended twice, worth every penny and pretty fun as well! Hopefully they will have another class once it is safe to do so.

Hello MichaelW, A little pricy, however top notch quality. I find I get what a pay for, the belt sanders already has saved me hours of sanding. Especially since I take an extra step to harden the wood with thinned finish resin to prevent dents from occurring once painted. The Proxxon tool I use the most is the Pensander (PS 13), it is fantastic. If you decide to get the Pensander I recommend you order additional sanding pads. Good luck, your build is coming along well. Bill T.

Looking good my friend, you got this. The rudder looks good as well.

Hello Folks, Finally I was able to accomplish some important steps to prior to copper plating the hull: Added all of the keel portions to the hull. Added a small piece wood the stem the ensure the bowsprit will sit directly on the stem. Added 2 coats of Finishing Resin diluted with Denatured Alcohol to harden the wood and fill in minor dents. I needed tape off the hull close to where the deck meets the hull to unsure no resin penetrated the deck. This would prevent stain from penetrating the deck which would have been problematic. All good there. Next Steps: Sand down the hull again. Add putty to appropriate areas of the deck. Sand hull again, prime the hull, finish the hull, stain the deck with Miniwax Cherry stain. Some Pics below: Stay safe folks, Bill T.