hamilton

I found those little things to be really tricky! Yours came out great! hamilton

Ferit!! It's great to hear from you! You know, I invested in the Corel Berlin a little while ago, so at some point the "factory" will start processing that Brandenburg beauty....though I can't imagine matching your work! hope to "see" you again soon hamilton

Well this is just a brief place-holding note to say that I've begun the first planking on America - or rather begun again, since I ripped off my first minor attempt a little while ago. So far it's going well. I'm using the kit-supplied planking material after all and planking the forward section first and then I will plank aft - an approach I've taken before with the first planking on my last several builds, and which helps a lot with getting a nice base for the second planking (in my opinion). I'm still a bit befuddled by the bulwark planking....I will have to edge glue the planks and try to avoid gluing them to the bulwark extensions, since these have to come off, while at the same time using the bulwark extensions to ensure that the planks run fair (particularly at the bow where the bulwarks flare outboard - not sure if there's a correct term for this.....). Edge gluing them will be difficult since the planks are thin (1mm) and because the inner face is the exposed inboard bulwark planking and should look neat and tidy......I'm sure I'll find a way to muddle through it, just hard to wrap my head around it at the moment.... More on the weekend when hopefully I'll have a chance to sit down at the bench once again hamilton

Looking forward to seeing the sails on your KC. She's shaping up really nicely hamilton

Hi Dave: Great start on the Phantom - the paint job looks great! Makes for such a nice finish on the hull. Good luck as she progresses hamilton

Great fix on the aft cant frames! She's really shaping up! hamilton

Just found your build log and perused through it - beautiful work at such a small scale. This is a very interesting vessel - looking forward to seeing more of it as she comes together hamilton

What a beauty! Excellent craftsmanship on a lovely boat! hamilton

Wow, so much about my own life has now been made clear!! Thanks for this Jason - much cheaper than a therapist! hamilton

Such beautiful tones in that wood - excellent work - a real beauty! hamilton

Hi Dave - just discovered this log. I haven't had time to read through the whole thing (too busy with work!!) but at some point soon I hope to wade in more deeply. Just wanted to say that she looks great and this seems like a really nice kit. When I first started modelling I joined the LSS forum through my build of the Model Shipways AVS. By that time, Bob had stopped actively marketing his kits, and it was my understanding that they were largely unavailable - though it seems that those who built them spoke very highly of their quality, and it seems that he's updated them with some 3D printed materials - very interesting! Anyways, once I free up some time from work I'll definitely be following along here with great interest hamilton

Such nice lines on this ship! Well done hamilton

Definitely worth it to replace them if my memory of the britannia castings serves correctly.....those guns look really nice hamilton

Thanks Dave! I certainly do plan on putting in some orders at Crown in the future - I've got a Syren build coming up that I'm thinking of using at least one of his wood replacement packages for just to give it a whirl. To be honest, I'm not sure this build is the one to drop the money on.....not that I "class" the models in this way, but my capacity to obsess is very high already so I'm trying to tone it down.... hamilton

Thanks David - I think my anxiety about the planking is less about the method and more about the material! Initially I wanted to replace Mamoli's planking stock for first planking, but it's impossible to find scale strip wood locally milled to metric sizes and the imperial equivalents are just a little too odd to find in real world hobby shops these days (at least where I live) - 5/32 x 3/16, for example is just not a possibility. I also don't want to incur the expense of ordering relatively small quantities online.....so I'm stuck with Mamoli's planking material. I have to make one small adjustment at the transom, where removing the already-installed 1/32 planks is no longer a possibility (using thicker strips for the second planking) but other than that I'll go with Mamoli's material. What this means is that I'll have to add to the supply of .5mm x 4mm strips used for the second planking of the lower hull, since Mamoli supplies only enough of these to plank to the waterline.....I think I have a number left over from other builds, but I need to check.....I want to use copper tape for the coppering instead of the wood tiles included with the kit.... Anyway, back to work! hamilton

Thanks Nigel - much appreciated. She's not much to look at now, of course....looking forward to finishing the first planking to get a sense of her real shape. As I prepare for this, I'm noticing all kinds of little flaws, which will need some careful attention....I don't think I've fretted this much over planking a model for a while....It's always possible I'm overthinking it. Last night I ripped the two planks I installed on the forward side of the hull off and replaced them with 1mm thick kit-supplied walnut - a real waste of nice material, but given the fact that I cannot acquire correct substitution strips locally I will have to use it if I want to hull to turn out right.....I'm heading into an extremely busy time at work these next few weeks so I doubt I will have much time at the bench, which is a shame.....but Christmas is coming and I might get a bit of a reprieve sometime in November.......stay tuned! hamilton

maybe you mention this elsewhere Brian, but where did you get the swivel guns? they are clearly not the britannia ones included with the kit... hamilton

So I've been giving it some thought and I think I'm going to strip the planks I laid down last night off the model and start again - thankfully I've not gone too far. My reason is that I think I've been using the wrong sizes of wood stock.....I need to resupply at a local hobby shop and begin again. The main issue is the incremental but cumulatively significant differences in metric versus imperial measures - the material I'm using to substitute for the kit supplied walnut is in Imperial....the width is less of an issue than the thickness....I'm going to invest in some wood strips for each section (bulwarks, wales, lower hull) that are very slightly thicker and then sand to blend where necessary....hopefully this is not too foolish hamilton

Hi Simon: I've always been intrigued by this model - looking forward to seeing it come together - with the wood replacements and extra details you're adding it should prove to be real beauty! One quick question - you mentioned in your first or second post that the kit came with a scribed deck - is there no separate decking supplied with the kit? The reason I ask is that I have Corel's Berlin up on the shelf and it comes with plywood decks that the modeller is meant to scribe - this is different from the common method of supplying a thin plywood sub-deck on which individual planks are laid. If Mercury is like Berlin, I'll be interested to see how you arrange the deck planking. hamilton

Hi Leo: Thanks for this. I am going to copper the hull, but I'll use copper tape cut into plates - it's much thinner than the plates provided in the kit and it will allow me simply to plank the entire hull rather than trying to cut the second planking off at the waterline. I'm going to experiment with some techniques for weathering the copper when the time comes. Thanks again for the comment! hamilton

So I did end up making some time for the America this evening. The first part of the night was spent fiddling with the aft bulwark extensions to make sure that the planking will run true. I also marked out the area on the transom piece that needs to be trimmed away. Here it is. I then continued to think a bit more about the planking. As I've mentioned, I'm deviating from Mamoli's approach. The photo on the box clearly shows a defined step marking out the top of the wales and running along the hull at the level of the aft deck. This step disappears forward and the wales blend into the hull planking. I couldn't see how Mamoli's planking scheme would produce this result. Here's what they suggest 1. Lay two 1 x 3mm strakes from the transom forward with the lower edge flush with the top of the aft deck - these are the bulwark strakes. The problem is that there really is nothing to attach these to, since the bulwark extensions will be removed. 2. Lay two 2 x 3mm strakes below the bulwarks - these are the wales. But if these were to run the whole length of the hull, then to create the blending on the image in the box, I'd have to sand down the planks even with the bulwark strakes all the way from mid-ships to the bows. This hardly seemed right 3. plank the remainder of the hull with 1.5mm x 4mm strakes - this seemed fine. I decided to go a different route with steps 1 and 2. For step 1, I first laid one of the wale planks (2 x 3mm) from mid-ships (b/h 8) back to the transom - it had to bend quite a bit there so I thinned it slightly and soaked it to bend around the counter - there ended up being a bit of a kink here which I'll sand out. I used fold-back clips to provide an upper limit to the planks so they would lay flush with the deck. Here are a couple of images I then added a second 2mm x 3mm strake immediately below it with the same run - bulkhead 8 to the transom. The next step was to take a thinner strip - 1mm x 3mm - and ran this forward from the lower of the two thicker strakes forward - this strake is flush with the top of the forward deck. It was then a matter of blending the thicker aft strake into the thinner forward one. It's not perfect at the moment, but with a bit more work i think it'll work ok.... The second planking will have to be done a bit differently, but this is for later....for now, it's bedtime hamilton

Wow - the planking finished up great, Brett! It'll be smooth sailing from here, I'm sure! The plastic tube idea is one I've never seen before and never would have thought of - intriguing! hamilton

Hi Nigel: Just took a glance through your build log - really great work here! Very clean and sharp hamilton

Have fun with it Owen! If you keep a log I'll follow along hamilton

Hello all - a brief update. I've been spending a few minutes here and there fairing and shimming the outside edges of the bulkhead frames in preparation for planking. It's so hard to document this work that I'm not bothering. I'll only say that I tried very hard to be extra careful this time - often I find the fairing process so dreary that I'll rush through it only to pay the price later.....Anyway, hopefully the extra attention pays off! The first bit of planking is also complete - two planks covering the outside of the transom piece. At some point I'll explain how and why I'm going to deviate from the planking scheme suggested in the Mamoli instructions. But for now, suffice to say that I'm replacing the wood for the first planking (and possibly the second, too). Mammal supplies Walnut for the first planking for the wales and bulwarks and thicker lime (1.5mm) for the lower hull. I'm replacing all of this with basswood of various dimensions. Again, I'll save my explanation and itemization for a later update once I've gone into the planking and seen how my approach works (or doesn't!). I used 1mm x 3mm basswood for the two transom planks. I soaked both of them in hot water for roughly 30 minutes and then very gently turned them around the transom piece, using micro fold-back clips to hold the pieces in place. This first photo shows the piece clamped on and being shaped (no glue yet). I left this piece there to dry for about 20 minutes or so and then unclipped it. It sprang back a little and I noticed that the laser burn from the transom piece had stained the basswood slightly - though since this is on the inside, it's not really an issue. Here is it. And here it is installed - sorry for the poor focus! I then repeated this procedure for the second plank. When I clamped the plank to shape it however, I had to angle one of the clips a little bit, which ended up pinching the wood....a minor distortion which I'll correct with some wood filler and sanding. Also - the planks do not cover the entire height of the laser-cut transom piece. There is a space of about 1mm or a bit less that will need to be shaved off. The transom piece will also need to be thinned down to about half its width through the whole piece. I only noticed this aspect of the plans after the transom was installed, so I will have to thin it at a taper from bottom to top. I don't own a good set of micro chisels, otherwise, I'd try to use those to thin it consistently from the deck to the rail......Anyway, here's a shot of the planked transom piece prior to final adjustments (trimming down transom piece flush with planking; filling and lightly sanding the planking for evenness). Finally, it seems, I'll have to make some adjustments to the point where the transom piece meets the extensions on bulkhead 15. First, the extension itself needs to be raised flush to the level of the bulwark planking. This is because the plans show the waterway terminating at bulkhead 15, which unlike the other extensions (which will be removed), will be thinned down flush with the inner edge of the transom piece (I've done this roughly here) to form a bulwark stanchion. I personally think it will look weird to have the waterway end at this point. I think it should run the whole circumference of the deck, including across the stern at the base of the transom. Perhaps I'm wrong, though - I'll need to give it some thought as I approach the deck planking part of the build.....Anyway, here's a photo that illustrates the work to be done... That's all for now - I might get to squeeze another night's modelling out tonight if I can get some work done this afternoon, but I can never bank on having more than 1 night a week these days.....makes progress slow... hamilton