hamilton

It's exciting to try something new! I got into this hobby just after we had our first child - 16 years ago now....As a joke, I Googled "what do retired people do?" and this was the first hit that caught my eye. I started with the Model Shipways solid hull Phantom Pilot Schooner (1:96). They had a deal where they sold it with a rudimentary tool set (very basic but more or less what's needed for this kit - pin vise & some small bits, 2 hobby knife holders and various blades, a small saw) so I got that. I also got a dremel rotary tool after reading a bunch online. It took about 3 months of occasional work at my kitchen table to finish it. I did not concern myself too much with the results, but approached it as something to learn through and see if I liked it - turns out I did! Start with something small and easy - get a few necessary tools but no more and then level up as you go. That's my advice - this hobby can be pricey, but it also goes on for years so there's lots of time to acquire things along the way as you find you "need" them. hamilton

Just catching up on your build, Greg - was that Corel's La Couronne behind Phantom? She looks nice too!! You are sorely tempting me (and my pocketbook) with this build.... hamilton

Looks like an interesting approach - assembling in situ will likely give a more accurate assembly. 88 seems like a big number! hamilton

Looking really nice! hamilton

This is a great tutorial for what I imagine is a challenging task for many modellers! I have the MS Constitution under the bench, and I've book-marked this for when the time comes! Thanks for your generosity! hamilton

Yes - once you've looked in the box it's hard not to just keep on going! Looking forward to seeing another CAF model coming off your bench! hamilton

For me it was my mum - she is a kind of artist-scientist - always experimenting with new materials, methodologies, skills and approaches. Her art practice varies, but she done sculpture (large-scale metal), has worked with sausage casings to make garments (a wedding dress, a kimono), and lately she's gotten into taxidermy, mummification, tanning, etc. (She gave my son a taxidermied bat as a birthday present when he was 10). As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, she worked as an artistic director for a theatre company and also knows how to make incendiaries and pyrotechnic concoctions (Halloween was always fun, but slightly tense at our house...) - truly she is a Jill of all trades. She also paints, is a photographer, makes ceramics and jewelry - she can pretty much do anything! My dad is more cerebral and nature-loving - I followed him there, including in a passion for sailing. But the modelling comes from my mum, 100% - she seems to have a boundless energy and passion for making and building things and she has never been shy to help us and encourage us (the "kids" - I'm 53, so the term hardly applies anymore except when I'm feeling grumpy) in whatever projects we've had going on (except the pyrotechnics, which, for my brother and I as boys, was probably a good idea). Even now that she's in her 80s, she is still very active - she just received a medal (one of 30,000 handed out around the Commonwealth on the occasion of King Charles' accession) for artistic merit and achievement. She is my inspiration for sure - from her I learned just to go for it regardless of how difficult, complicated or just plain weird it might be. The one thing she can't do, unfortunately, is wood carving - otherwise I'd be commissioning her! Also cooking.....my dad is also the chef in our house and ruled the kitchen like a dictator - while my mum's love of experimentation is great for her creative work, it tends to produce uneven results in the kitchen.....no offence intended, mum! hamilton

Great question - my PhD was taken in social studies of science and technology and I have always had an interest in the processes of innovation as social processes - that is, how is it that social, economic, cultural or political priorities guide design and development decisions that result in particular types of technological systems or devices. This was not what primarily led me to model ship building, but it is a very significant aspect of what drives my continued interest in/pursuit of it. Also - I come from a family of visual artists among whom I stand out in having absolutely no artistic talent whatsoever. Model ship building has been the only way I have been able to to connect with this aspect of my family "culture", if you want to call it that, and I take great aesthetic pleasure - mostly in the work of others who are well in advance of me in terms of technical skill! - in the craft. Though I can't achieve the magnificent results seen in much work on this forum, it is fun to challenge myself in this way. Finally - when I started this craft (in 2009) I had just finished my PhD dissertation, bought my first home, had our first child, and was in the midst of building an academic department at a relatively new university here in Canada. All of this prompted me to stop actively pursuing what to that point had been my primary creative work - playing music in working bands. There was no time for this any longer, but I needed some form of creative outlet in my life - I grew up in the maritime provinces of Canada and spent much of my young life on boats - lobster fishing with my granddad in the Northumberland Straights and sailing in the Bay or on the lakes with my dad. I've always though that no product of human ingenuity was more crazy, beautiful, and awe-inspiring than the ocean-going vessels of the age of sail. I can think of only a handful of other technologies - rail, telegraph, printing press, sound recording - that are as significant in shaping and expressing the values and dreams of the modern world. It feels like a privilege to be able to investigate, explore and render that history in some small form. hamilton

Thanks for all the likes everyone! Yesterday evening I made a trial of making a template for one of the hanging knees and I can already tell they are going to be a challenge for me - especially in the joint with the inboard hull planking....Their shape is not difficult in and of itself, but fabricating them to fit nicely - notched into the lodging knees at their upper edge and fitted along the uneven thicknesses of the foot waling - is going to be very tough....I'm at the tail end of a very intense period at work (as the flurry of activity over the weekend indicates), but it'll probably be another week before I can turn to this seriously... hamilton

Beautiful work! Alert should be a breeze!! hamilton

Ok - so the deck framing is now done except for the hanging knees. These will have to be fabricated before the deck assembly is installed, but i won't install them until after that. The current deck frame needs some sanding and I'll put a few coats of wipe-on poly, but you can get an impression of what it will look like. This work has been a good tutorial for the upper deck framing - though that is a bit more complex with the beam arms and accounting for the deck camber - can anyone tell me whether I need to craft the ledges of the upper deck to include the deck camber - I'm assuming yes, and am planning on fabricating the upper deck ledges out of thicker stock so I can sand it fair with the rise of the deck towards the centre lines. The final photo here shows the pillar dry fit between the forward deck beam and the keelson (taken before I finished the deck framing) - I will need to remake this part as the one I initially made is about 1mm too short. Next steps - the hanging knees, blanks for the pump casings, bitt pins and main mast (for alignment of these vertical elements through the decks), the lower deck waterway and spirketing, plus inboard hull planking between upper and lower decks. I think I can also make the forward hatch on the lower deck without building myself into a corner...after that I'll have to turn to the upper deck framing both as a project in itself and to check vertical alignments. Enjoy the photos and happy modelling hamilton

Snuck a bit of time to make & install a couple of lodging knees, plus some more ledges. Here are a couple of photos - no further commentary for the moment, as I'm being pulled into a game of Uno with my son..... hamilton

Nice work! Really like the blend of woods on deck and superstructures - brings lots of life to the model! hamilton

Thanks Dave - I do have the Swan plans from Admiralty models, so will consult those as reference - though a different class of ship I'm assuming that the arrangement for the sheet and jeer bitts would not have differed so significant since the vessel's were of the same rate, I believe....I don't think I would have been able to get so far on this were it not for the practicum (supplemented with the first two volumes of the Fully Framed Model) - there are (as mentioned above) some details that aren't covered there, but the clarity of the explanations of process are extremely helpful to a novice like myself hamilton

Some progress on the deck framing - I've now finished the carlings and inboard run of ledges between the centre and forward lower deck beams. Still remaining - the lodging knees, ledges between the outboard carlings and lodging knees, and the hanging knees. Before installing the deck framing permanently, I'll also make up some blanks for the chain and hand pump shafts, a stub dowel for the main mast and blanks also for the bitt pins - and I'll need to commence on the upper deck framing, as well - this is to test and ensure good alignment of the verticals through the decks. There's so much to be considered here!! It's a bit mind-bending the first time around as I'm just kind of feeling my way around the process. The practicum is good, but some details (like where the bitt pins are positioned) are not clearly spelled out. So I feel like from this point I'll be fabricating a lot of parts without necessarily installing them. But I think that once I finish the lodging knees and ledges for the lower deck and making templates for the hanging knees, I will permanently install the well, the pillar in the hold and the lower deck framing, then add the hanging knees. Anyways, enjoy the photos! hamilton

Nice work Ronald - you can never have too many clamps, eh? hamilton

Just for fun I tried dry fitting the deck framing assembly on the cross-section - I think it looks good - the gap for the pump shafts is still a little narrow for my liking, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes.... hamilton

Well it's been almost a month since the last update - and though I haven't made much progress with construction, I did finally take the dive yesterday (after much humming and hawing and fretting) and started to notch out the carlings to receive the ledges. My main worry here was that without a chisel smaller than 1/8" (the carlings are 3" wide or 1/16" at scale) I would need to try to improvise some kind of cutting implement. Initially, I made a little tool out of some 1/32" x 1/16" brass strip - sharpening the end and fixing it into a wooden handle made from 1/8" x 1/8" beech. This proved ineffective. So I decided simply to use the 1/8" chisel in conjunction with a very sharp #11 x-acto blade. This worked ok, but as explained below I took a short cut with the middle carlings on each side.... The first step was to mill some 1/16" x 1/16" boxwood strips for the ledges themselves. I took a long strip, laid it across the carlings installed on my deck framing "jig" and marked out the width on the carlings to locate the notches. For the middle carlings on each side, I filed out a section, even though technically there should have been individual notches on each side - the short cut mentioned above. This saved me quite a bit of time and pains, though obviously it is not correct as per ship building practice.....At least one side of the deck will be planked and the cheat largely masked by other features, so I'm not too concerned. To cut the individualised notches, I laid my 1/8" chisel at a roughly 45 degree angle in the centre of the notch as marked out and roughly 2 scale inches from the outside edge of the carling. I tapped it in lightly - this made a "v" shaped gouge along the grain, which I furthered to the markings using the x-acto. I then used the chisel again to tap gouges for the sides of the notch. Laying the chisel carefully on the top surface of the piece, with one edge along the gouge made to define the end of the notch, I then carefully carved out the notch, cleaning it once again with the x-acto at the end. The work is not perfect, but for a first-timer it is good enough. Now that I have the process down, I was able to complete and install the first flight of carlings and ledges between the centre and aft deck beams and between the chain pump shaft openings and the middle carling. I now need to turn to the lodging knees so I can complete the ledges between the centre and aft deck beams. Before doing that (or in tandem with it) I'll keep working on the carlings and ledges in line with the main hatch (between the middle and forward deck beams)....slow going, but still fun when I can find the time!!! hamilton

Planking looks great so far Greg hamilton

Welcome (or should I say bienvenue!) Nick! I'm jealous of your Indy - such a beautiful kit! hamilton

Wow - what a spectacular landscape - and an incredible adventure! I've not been further North than Rainbow Lake Alberta - there is just way too much Canada to deal with!! Glad that you shared this experience with us Jond hamilton

Love the generosity in sharing your process Cisco! The gorgeous results are one thing - how you get there makes it even better! hamilton

You've built a truly gorgeous version of the Bluenose Gregg - love her without the sails so the focus can be on the beauty of the hull lines and the lovely spider's web rig. Hope you've got a nice display area worked out for such a fine rendition. hamilton

Love to see the proud Nova Scotia flag flying high on the foremast - great work Gregg! hamilton

Ok - one last post seriously!! I made the jig referenced above for the deck framing and cut/notched out all the lower deck carlings. It was very tempting to install them on the deck beams, but I know I will have to notch them out for the ledges, so I have to be patient!! I cut a small piece of 3/4" ply and attached some 3/4" x 1/2" scrap wood strips to the bottom as risers. I then glued a 1/64" strip to the bottom edge as an anchor and marked out the position of the deck beams from the template I made earlier. I then clamped the deck beams to the board and cut each carling to length individually. As I went there were a couple of places where the notches in the deck beams had to be adjusted slightly to seat the carlings squarely. But I think there were only 2 or 3 of the 20 that needed this, which is a decent ratio I'd say. And now, a hiatus from building to focus on work and vacation...might be a few weeks or so before I have enough free time to really get moving again on Echo, but we'll see.....bye for now hamilton