JpR62

What a pleasure to have been able to follow this build. It is truly a remarkable work. A little beauty. Thank you for sharing !

Thank You to all the 'Likes'.

I put the 2 battens that will be used as a limit for the bottom planking of the boat. MarisStella, in its instruction manual, insists on keeping the keel straight during the installation of these battens because at this moment, the installation is still fragile and the keel being in plywood it can deform very quickly.

So I built a temporary work base that will keep the keel straight and facilitate the planking phase.

First step, adjust the slots that will receive the battens.
I start by gluing the battens from the bow and work my way up to the stern. Nothing too complicated, you just have to take your time.

Before installing the 2 battens at the top of the frames, I will proceed to plank the flat bottom of the Batelina. This will help stiffen the structure.

Thank You to all the 'Likes' and Thank You Captain Hook for your words of encouragement. I wasn't really lacking motivation but after my heart problems I was completely tired and it took a whole rehabilitation program to get back into shape. But fortunately, I am now much better and I can gradually resume all my activities.

All the frames have been covered with the walnut strips.

I really think that preparing them before putting them on the keel was a good idea. It makes the job much easier to do.

The frames are then glued to the keel, taking care to align them properly. My children's Legos were again put to use. Thank goodness my kids are past playing age...

All the frames are in place. I will be able to glue the 4 battens that will stiffen the frames before proceeding with the planking.

You can see the slots at the bottom and top of each frame. These slots will need to be adjusted so that the battens do not protrude from the frames. It will be my next task.

Thank You to all the 'Likes'

Work continues on the preparation of the various frames

Thank you to all the 'Likes'.

I worked on frame #5 and decided to anticipate the plywood covering phase. Indeed, as already indicated the frames are provided in plywood and to obtain a more interesting result, MarisStella recommends to cover the plywood frames with walnut strips of 0,5 x 5 mm.
Normally, this step should only be done once all the frames are installed on the keel. But I think it is better to do this before gluing each frame. In my opinion, it makes the task easier and gives a better result.

All strips are glued to the side of the frame that will remain visible.

The strips are cut to their final size and shape.

The frame can then be installed on the keel

All that remains is to repeat the operation on all the other frames.

Recovering from a health problem that kept me away from my studio since june, I decided to start a small project that will hopefully allow me to slowly find my feet.
I've had this little kit from MarisStella for some time now, and I decided to build it because it should perfectly match my expectations: a simple model without any headaches that should be a pure pleasure to build and yet give a nice looking model.

The kit

Batelina is a 4 meter flat bottom boat used since the early 1900's as a small fishing boat. The name "Batelina" is derived from the Italian word "battere" which means to hit, this was describing the sound of the flat bottomed boat hitting the waves. This vessel is now found throughout the entire Croatian coastal region. The kit is at the 1:10 scale.

The wood supplied is of excellent quality and can be used without needing to be replaced.

The box also contains a laser board with a precise cut and without too many traces of burn residues. There is also a base provided (which I do not think used because the laser board is plywood)

A 1:10 scale plan and an instruction manual richly illustrated with color photos describing the different steps complete the box. The manual is written in three languages (English, Italian and Croatian)

Rabbet

The rabbet is already drawn on one side with a small laser cut. You just have to remove the wood inside the tracing with a small wood chisel.
I photocopy the plan to simplify the drawing of the rabbet on the other side.

The plan is cut out and the rabbet area is removed so that the rabbet can be traced on the blank face.

A wood chisel will allow me to hollow out the rabbet.

Bow Filler

I photocopy the original plan again so that I can have templates to trace the part of the bow fillers that needs to be beveled.

Once the two fillers are beveled, they are glued to the keel with the first frame.

Time to move on to the next frames...

Thank you for your words of support. Indeed, an important point is to stay well.

On the advice of my cardiologist, I now attend cardio-training 2 evenings a week, physical activity being an essential point.
And this week, I was able to go back to my workshop 😁

No, unfortunately not.  😒

I had a complicated year in terms of health which unfortunately kept me away from my workshop since the beginning of June. At the beginning of June, I suffered a heart attack which required several hospital stays during the summer. From mid September, I followed a cardiovascular rehabilitation program, which lasted 10 weeks and allowed me to recover completely.

I will finally be able to go back to my workshop. ☺️ I am looking forward to it because I have missed it.

I hope that 2023 will be a less eventful year ! 😅

What sad news. From my first readings on this site, Bob has been a reference for me thanks to the excellence and precision of his work that he enjoyed sharing. We will miss him. Rest in Peace Bob.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Take good care of yourself and come back soon in good health.

Congratulations on this wonderful model.

It will undoubtedly be a reference for its historical accuracy and for the beauty and perfection of its realization.

Thank you for sharing this fantastic work!

A great pleasure to follow this beautiful build. A superb model, Toni !

Superb realization! A new little gem! Thank you for sharing this beautiful build log.

Beautiful model, Paul. I really enjoyed following your great work with beautiful innovative details.

Many thanks for sharing!

Ohla, Thank you for this unboxing. I hope to follow its construction on this site 😉.

A 1:48 HMS Speedy, it's really an interesting model and moreover MarisStella produces very good quality kits.

Each time it is the same wonder! Thank you

Wonderful result. Happy to have been able to follow the different steps of the creation of this superb model. Thank you.

Superb execution. It's innovative and the result is amazing.
As Rusty says, you would never guess that it is made up of several layers.

Beautiful work Glenn and great tutorial. Thank you for taking the time to detail so precisely the different steps 👍

For both sides (port and starboard), I proceed in the same way. I first make a card template by directly taking its shape from the model and use this cardboard template to reproduce the pieces to be cut on the cedar sheet (leaving a safety margin of 1 mm on each side).

I decided to reproduce the cap rail in 2 segments, the joint being placed between gun ports 3 and 4.

The 4 segments are then ebonized and glued. I then protect (on both sides of the bulwarks: outside and inside) the planking with masking tape and sand to be level. Despite the masking tape, some paint was scratched and will need to be touched up.

The fancy moldings are prepared, ebonized and glued to the outer side of the cap rail. I protect the first part of the cap rail (the 5/32" wide strip) with masking tape so that I can fill the small gaps between the cap rail and the molding without getting too dirty.

This will also allow a faster sanding...
On the picture below, the cap rail on the port side is already sanded while the wood filler (tinted black) has been applied and dried on the starboard side

The cap rail is then painted black.

I'll be able to concentrate on the last details (drilling the hawse holes and bowsprit) and start the deck planking.

And always as much fun.

While preparing the two sides of the cap rail, I notice that there is still a small gap on each side. So I added a small triangular plank on the outside and inside to be level with the rear part of the cap rail.

Thank you to all the 'Likes' and thank you Will for your kind comment. I am also following your build log on the Erycina Fishing Trawler with attention. It is really a nice model.

Cap rail

I started by adding the cap rail over the transom.

A cardboard template was taken directly from the model and then reproduced on a 1/16" thick Alaskan Yellow Cedar sheet.

As I don't have a scroll saw, I preferred to work with Alaskan Yellow Cedar, which is perfect for making the cap rail and can be cut easily with a cutter.

For an easy installation of this piece, I first shaped it: the piece was moistened with water and clamped on a pan whose curvature corresponds to the desired shape.  I used a travel iron to keep the curvature of the piece.

The piece is then ebonized using my 2 miracle mixes.

Once glued, I sand the back part level with the stern. The 1/32" wide fancy molding will be added after the entire cap rail is in place.

Very happy to be able to follow the build of this new boat. Also, the theme looks more than interesting.

I feel like it's going to be exciting 😊

Small progress.

The hawse plates were cut from a 1/32" sheet of boxwood and put in place.

The holes for the bowsprit and for the hawse cable were drilled in the sheet before cutting the shape to avoid any breakage.

Once the cap rail is in place, the model will really start to look like a cutter.

Thanks to the people who follow my work. It's always motivating and reassuring to know that you can count on the support of others.

I like to try new techniques. I really liked the result of ebonizing to get a nice natural black color.
In his excellent log on the 'Fifie' produced by Amati, Tim Moore had shared his technique (see link below).

Fifie by Tim Moore - #19 - April 4, 2021

On 4/4/2021 at 1:58 PM, Tim Moore said:

Thanks Jean-Paul and G.L...Ebonizing is a piece of cake once you’ve prepared the two necessary solutions.  It is accomplished by the reaction between iron acetate and tannin.  For the acetate I submerge a clump of fine raw prewashed steel wool in a plastic container containing 10% (double strength) cleaning vinegar. Put holes in lid for offgassing and leave for a week and then filter using a coffee filter. For the tannin I steeped a dozen tea bags in a cup or so of water to make ridiculously strong tea. 
The tannin solution is the key to the process.

When you’ve concocted these two witches’ brews paint the wood with the tannin solution first, let soak in for a few minutes, then paint on the acetate. Let that dry, and then apply the tannin solution again and your wood will magically be dead black and ready for any finish.

I decided to use this technique to stain the cap rail before installation to make it easier to color.

After a week of soaking, the iron acetate preparation is ready. The tannin preparation is quicker to prepare, it is simply 12 tea bags in a cup of hot water. I made a first test on a piece of Alaskan Yellow Cedar and miracle it works perfectly. It's quite magical... and simple. Just apply the process described by Tim.

I cross my fingers and do the treatment on the front part of the cap rail. And the chemical reaction works again.

The result seems to me correct and I will be able to apply it for the other segments.

Again a great proof of the richness of this site and the wonderful sharing of techniques 👍.