Matt H

Like mtaylor suggested a small lathe to turn metal if you want to stick with brass or a wood lathe for wood. In my build log for the 18th Century Longboat, I turned my own wooden pedestals out of walnut and then using a combination of a dremel and some files, I cut the grooves out for the keel to sit in.

This is the 12 month subscription model by DeAgostini from Model Space. It arrives in 12 separate packages spread over a year and each arrives with a color magazine with historical information about the ship and instructions. The packaging isn't anything special, just a normal cardboard box with various small bags and plastic packages of parts. At this point in time I have received the first two months. The first picture is the first month's supplies and the second is the second month deeper down in the same box for consolidation. Here is the cover and inside of the first months magazine. You can find these digitally on their website as well. I have to say I like the instructions and pictures, very well detailed and it might just make it possible for me to be successful with this ship at this stage of my experience. I will be bouncing back and forth between this and my Syren build, which also has great instructions. I just ordered some basswood blocks off Amazon and will get working on cutting them to size for my Syren when they get here. Here I have begun attaching various bow former supports and the first part of the false keel to the forward bulkhead. Here are the next two bulkheads assembled, but not yet attached. There is a step coming up that the instructions warn about a temporary jig setup to help hold the entire false keel and bulkheads upright and where these two bulkheads go is where that temporary jig sits. Each month comes with various small projects to break up the monotony of doing nothing but planking or making 100 cannons. Some projects are a longboat or cannons. This month includes the start of a longboat and 2 cannons. Here are the parts of the cannon assembly and the final assembly. Please let me know what you think of the bronze and red coloring. Some rope supplied this month. That's it for now. I am waiting on some paint to dry on the second cannon you see there. I will keep updating as I go along. So far I am very pleased with this kit and this 12 month program. It comes out to $20 more if you buy it monthly plus an additional $10 per month for shipping, so the price difference isn't much. It makes these $1000+ ships more affordable for some, and I don't mind the extra in shipping.

I haven't abandoned this project, I just haven't made much progress. I attempted to make some filler blocks out of some scrap alder I have at work and it is just to hard of a wood. I don't have the tools at home to get the blocks to the correct thickness so I get it roughly close at work with the planer. Once I get home though they are a little tight and I just can't plane it further or sand it well enough at home to get them to fit. The hard wood just doesn't sand down well enough to use sanding as a method to adjust the thickness. So I'm going to have to get some balsa blocks and I just haven't had a chance to get in to the city to go to a lumber store or hobby stores to find some. I may order online, but I'd rather look in person to see what I can get. In the mean time I have begun ordering the Sovereign of the Seas through DeAgostini Model Space, they offer a 12 months subscription service that breaks the cost down to 12 monthly payments and 12 shipments. I received the second month and so far I am pleased with the quality of the materials and the color magazine/instruction books. I will make a build log for that ship soon. I have begun assembling a few parts of the bow and false keel. I have also started putting together and painting up one of the cannon's. What's nice about this company is that each shipment has a few side projects to break up the monotony of some phases of ship building. I got 2 cannon kits and a longboat in the first month's shipment. I will get some photos up in a new build log soon. I will update here once I get a chance to get some balsa or basswood filler blocks.

I'm sorry to hear you had a poor experience. I recently subscribed based off your first post and I waited a few weeks until it went back on sale. I purchased it initially Sep 12th and received the first shipment, here in the U.S., on the 30th. I was disappointed however, to open the package and have no magazine/instructions as advertised. So I reached out through their contact page and didn't hear anything, so I made a post on their forums. The initial reply was that there are digital instructions online and provided a link to where they were located. I replied to that stating that I already knew about the online instructions, but that to me, a major selling point was this detailed, full color, and historical information contained in this magazine every month. I asked whether or not it is still included as advertised and if so how do I get one, and if not how can I cancel the subscription. I checked a few hours later and my post had disappeared, I was furious thinking they deleted a post that they didn't like. However I later found it in another forum, it was moved and I was not notified that it had moved. In the mean time I called customer service and explained what happened and he wasn't able to answer my question but put in a ticket to be forwarded to someone who could. Later that day or the next I got an email and he and I went back and forth and he cleared it up nicely and even called and spoke to me directly. It is still included in the product, but they were out and for whatever reason they ship the product without the instructions. He said he would get one mailed out when it was available and I just got it in the mail last week. I did hear, on this website I believe, that a lot of their newer products are switching to digital only instructions in the U.S. After reading your most recent post I was concerned for my own order because I was just charged the day after you posted, for my second month. I don't know why yours had such trouble getting sent to you in a timely fashion. I was charged on the 21st of this month and I have an email from UPS saying it should deliver tomorrow. I haven't started building it yet, but so far looking through the materials I am pleased with the product. I'm sorry you were not able to have a better experience, but I thank you for your original post for bringing this company to my attention. I don't mind receiving my parts spread out over time, I wouldn't build it faster than that anyway, and it breaks up the large cost of a ship of this size. Hope this helps some others in their decision of whether to use this company or not. So far they seem hit or miss from what I have read as to what your experience may be.

What I did when I faired the hull of my 18th Century Longboat was cut up short pieces of 1/2 x 1/2 square dowel and I have rolls of sticky back sandpaper. I wrapped these short lengths of dowels with the various grit sandpapers, and I write in sharpie on the ends what the grit is. Then used those blocks to sand and fair the hull. My understanding was that when you are sanding it down as long as your block you are using is large enough to go across 2-3 bulkheads at a time you will successfully make one faired with the next one in line. With all ships, but this one in particular the bulkheads are so thin take care not to get too carried away and go to fast, you don't want to catch one of the ends of the sanding block on a bulkhead and snap it. In this photo you can see the blocks of sandpaper I made and the beginning of my longboat. In the second photo you can see my build area as it is now with the rolls of sandpaper hanging off a dowel supported by hooks hanging off the shelf on the wall.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

I can also say that Model Shipways has good instructions, although I can't speak for every model, but those designed by Chuck Passaro have had good instructions. I made the 18th Century Longboat and am working on the Syren. They also let you see the instructions on their website. Go to a product page and there should be an Instructions and Parts list tab, you'll find .pdf files of the instructions there, at least for most of the models.

Hello and welcome.

Hello and welcome.

Are you actually building the physical model from your CAD work? Or are you just working on the 3D model in the CAD software? If there is an actual physical ship then probably scratch, but if it is just CAD work for now, probably the CAD section. I'd let a moderator chime in though.