Dollburger

Thank you! I'm opting not to find any pore filling lacquer, but I did use matte varnish on the seats. Next step is to start sanding; hopefully I'll get some time today.

2 hours ago, Rambo said:

Good day. nice build I just ordered this kit. was part 57 pre shaped? if not how hard was it to file to shape?

I'm not that far yet, but I'm also building this kit. Part 57 comes as a raw piece of wood so it'll need shaping/carving.

I've had this kit sitting in my shop for almost a year with minimal work done. I'm finally motivated to jump into it and I'll try to post updates to this log as I go. All of my modeling experience is with plastic or resin - mostly Warhammer 40k stuff; I'm excited to work with wood but I'm out of my element a bit. I've already encountered a few instructions I'm unsure about, and I'm hoping to receive some guidance. 

Test fitting the first pieces.

Glued and stained.

Decking is cut, stained and glued in place. The parts list is tough to follow because the parts listed aren't actually what's included in the box. I had just enough wood for the decking when I was originally thinking I was short. Makes it harder for a newbie to inventory parts and figure out what's what.

Seats are test fitted but not attached yet; thwarts are added for mainmast and foremast.

My first questions are already happening in steps 1 and 2 unfortunately. I'm in the US (Menards and Home Depot nearby) and I'm not sure what products to get for "pore-filling lacquer" and varnish. Does anyone have product recommendations? In the first step - do I really coat the frames, false keel, and decking with pore filling lacquer? What's the purpose of this? Second - for varnish I'm just varnishing the seats but it doesn't appear that I'm supposed to stain them a more realistic color. Does that sound right? I'm wondering if maybe I should stain them the same "maple" color as the false keel and frames instead, and then apply varnish. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

That's all I have so far. I'm at a bit of a pause until I figure out the lacquer/varnish questions and then I'll keep going. These steps have been quite simple and I'm glad now I took people's recommendations and started on an easier kit. I know the real problems will start once I get started on planking.

I'm not sure why most of my pics are showing up in portrait orientation. They're all landscape on my PC.

6 minutes ago, puckotred said:

Here -> Occre missing parts

Thank you! I have a screenshot of that page in the instructions; I wondered what it was.

5 minutes ago, Hartron said:

The planks are probably longer than neccesary? Will the ends you cut away be enough to fill the missing area?

 

My experience (partly by an occre kit, but also kits by three other manufacturers) is that in this hobby, you have to improvise.

I was actually just measuring, and I think I can get 3 of the 4 shortest planks from one piece, which will give me just enough to make it work. I just have to not screw up lol. Worst case I guess I just end up having wider gaps between each board. Nothing like starting to improvise while still on step 1!

I'm finally jumping into my first model - the Bounty launch by Occre. Unfortunately I'm stuck on step 2 already with missing parts. I'm supposed to have 11 2x3x200mm walnut planks for the deck, but I only have 8. Is this something I can usually fix with an email to the company? Are there other suggestions? Now I'm also wondering what else might be missing too.

13 hours ago, Roger Pellett said:

Stain is supposed to penetrate into the wood.  How well the mass market semi-transparent stains do this can be debated at length.  Applying a wood sealer prior to staining will prevent the stain from doing its job.  

Hey Roger, yep I know that sorry if I was unclear. I've done some testing with my pre-stain and stain I picked up yesterday and it seems to be working well. I was curious if I should use a sealer or not at the end of the process like other wood projects.

Hello from Minneapolis

Sounds good, thank you! In all my reading up so far I hadn't really given much thought to the stain side of things, and of course it's in step 1 of my instructions. I have plenty of pre-stain from other wood projects so there's no troubles there; I'll check what I bought with regard to sealers/varnish/etc.

awesome thanks! I'm running to the store now seems like there are plenty of 1/2 pint options. Do you generally use a sealer as well? Or just leave it with the stain.

55 minutes ago, Jaager said:

I will guess that your kit is not from a boutique supplier based here, so the quality of the the wood species is questionable at best.

This makes using a dye relatively pointless, since the basic material does not warrant quality treatment. So, using an actual stain (semi-transparent paint) would be an improvement.

Checking on WoodCraft's site, you can get 1/2 pint cans for ~$12.00.  A local hardware store may do as well.  If the stain company has a shade that the store does not stock, one that rings your bell, they can probably special order it.  I would go with solvent based over water based.  The water will raise the grain.  You can get around this by pretreating with 10% PVA in water and refinishing after it dries.  Test on scrap.  But good ventilation and latex gloves and oil based will save the step.  Ignore the supposed waste, it may last longer that you think if you seal it well. Paying 10x's more per volume for a smaller bottle may not really be wise economy.

Thanks Jaager. The kit is from OcCre - it's just the beginner Bounty Launch kit, but the MDF wood calls for stain prior to construction.

My first kit has finally arrived, and now I'm wondering where to buy small bottles of wood stain. Would anyone have recommendations on brand or vendor (US preferably)? I won't need a lot of stain, so I'm hoping to find small bottles somewhere, maybe even locally, but I'm not having any luck.

So far I've found these: https://modelexpo-online.com/wood-modeling-stains-and-finishes

Is this what I should go with?

18 hours ago, Cathead said:

Sounds good. When you start a build log for the launch, let us know here so we can be sure to follow you over.

I'll do my best! I'm terrible with progress pics on any project in general.

Thanks all! I did end up staring with the Bounty Launch by OcCre. I went that route with the thought process that my 2nd ship would also be OcCre, so maybe staying within one model line might help me learn at the beginning. I won't get it for a few weeks, but I'm excited to give it a try!

Thanks! You're right, I probably should start with something like the launch boat, and it certainly has plenty of history behind it.

Do you happen to know the differences between OcCre's Bounty Launch and MSW's? OcCre's is on sale for only $52.

I know these types of questions probably get asked too often, but I'm wondering if anyone decided on this Beagle kit as a first model, or has insights on the difficulty level for a first timer? I'm still searching around for that first kit - I had originally decided on a MSW Baltimore Clipper (Dapper Tom) and have since been persuaded away. My career is in the natural resources field, so naturally the Beagle is an historic ship that I've always been interested in, but I'm wondering if it's too much? My current modeling experience is more on the painting side, building and painting Games Workshop models.

I've looked at OcCre's Polaris as well, but it just isn't as appealing to me, even though it's probably a wiser choice. Ideally I'd like to build a ship from the Napoleonic era, a couple of cannon (sloop, brig, clipper, etc.). The beagle is currently listed for $136 USD from Premier Ship Models which certainly seems reasonable as a first ship gamble. 

Any thoughts or advice? I've been looking at various kits over a year now, so I'm really not trying to just dive into the deep end on a whim. From what I've read, it seems like the OcCre kits provide a decent quality for the price.

Edit - I think I could also consider the Albatross, also by OcCre if that's maybe a good in-between starting point? That kit is only $89 at the moment from the same website.

Thanks for the suggestions! With Vanguard - do you know what the difference is between versions? It looks like they have multiples available for each ship. 

Model ships have fascinated me for a while now, and I’d like to try building one for display. The catch is I honestly don’t see myself building multiple ships, and because of this I’d like to build a small sloop or similar and I’m wondering if the Model Shipways Dapper Tom Baltimore clipper might be ok for a newbie? I haven’t built wood models before, but I have built plenty of plastic. I build/paint Warhammer 40k if you’re familiar with that.

Does anyone have experience with the Dapper Tom? Would there be any others in the beginner range that still have cannons? 
 

Thank you!

Wow thanks everyone! I have been looking around more, and will keep looking through all of your suggestions! 

In thinking about solid hulls, I do like the look of the Dapper Tom from model shipways - and a price of $119 is certainly reasonable for my first attempt. It looks to be back ordered, does anyone happen to know if that's a permanent back order, or if they do make more still? 

*edit typo

Thanks for those links! I was searching around for something just like that without any luck. 

My my name is Adam and I'm from the US. 

Hey everyone,

I've been browsing through some builds on here and wow - you guys (and girls) are good! 

I'm new to model ship building, but have always been fascinated by the models. I have built plastic models in the past, mostly cars, and for many years I've built and painted miniatures for war games like Warhammer 40k where I've done some basic customization. 

I'd like to try my hands at ship building but I'm not sure where to start. I originally looked at the Rattlesnake, but after looking at some builds on here I'm wondering if that's too complex for starters? On the other hand, solid hulled models sound like they're aren't going to give me the challenge I'm looking for unless I'm not understanding what all goes into the construction. 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I really like the Napoleonic War era, and I'd really like to stay on the warship side if possible, but I couldn't track down something simpler than the Rattlesnake.  I'm also curious what type of tools are considered a must for me. I have simple things like pin vices/small bits/Dremel, etc. but not much for wood working since I've always worked with resin. I definitely don't have any hull shaping tools that I've seen sold on websites. 

Thanks for any advice you may have!