hamilton

The galley stack was quite straightforward. I constructed it out of a single 3mm x 3mm strip of lime, shaped according to the drawings in Goodwin and painted black. I drilled and filed out a hole for the actual funnel, but it's barely noticeable...I cut and stained a 6mm x .5mm piece of lime for the base and wrapped some pinstripe tape around it to simulate an iron band that Goodwin shows just below the outlet. Here it is.
 

 
I was a little worried about the pumps but they ended up not being too difficult to make. I used 2mm x 2mm lime, with a section filed out at the end for the pump bracket, and 3mm x .5mm lime (shaped) for the handle. Here is a shot of some of these parts beside the kit-supplied metal part.
 

 
I used a 4mm dowel for the pump barrel. I drilled a hole in the side for the spout, which I made from a piece of brass rod. I drilled another hole in the top and painted the interior black to simulate a well. A bit of pin stripe tape wrapped around the top simulates an iron band, and a small piece of wire set in the well and propping up the handle completed the assembly. Here is a comparison with the Corel part....
 

 
....and here are mine installed on deck....
 

 

 
hamilton

You are always welcome here Hamilton... 

Hi Ferit: Thanks a lot! But I'm afraid there will be no oars!! I will be making 38 sweeps for the big ship, and the thought of making even 8 tiny ones for this little boat - given my increasingly limited modelling time - is too much!! 
 
In other news, I tried this beer the other day at a friend's house - it says it's Turkish (at least the brewery is in Istanbul) - I imagine this is a mass market export and that there must be some fine Turkish beers out there....If I ever make it back to your lovely city (I was there for 10 very memorable days back in 1998) perhaps we can try some together!
hamilton
 

Right, I am re-posting the build I am currently undertaking of the Royal Caroline from Panart. This is a strictly kit build, no modifications.
 
I started on this build just after Christmas 2005 and I have had a couple of Hiatus periods between then and now. I am working on deck work and the ornamentation on the hull. It is time consuming and very difficult. The biggest criticisms of the kit that I have are the cut plywood pieces over the windows. It neccessitates cuttling a circle in half, trimming off some little pieces and getting them to look good. Not easy.
 
Overall though I like the kit, italian translations to hand make mantua / sergal / panart kits much easier.
 
Anyroad, I have attached some pictures and will update as I go.

This build log will detail the construction of the Model Shipways kit USF Confederacy (scale 1:64) designed by Chuck Passaro.
 
The brief history of this 36 gun American Continental Navy Frigate is presented in some detail in the full-color, 170 page instruction manual and is available at Model Expo online. 
 
The model will be constructed in the 'Admiralty' configuration (without full rigging) and shall have an overall length of 35".
 
Although actual construction will not begin until about 9/1/2013, I have opened the kit and will provide here my overall impression of the contents and some photos to show 'WHAT'S IN THE BOX'.
 
The inventory of the kit has been completed and all listed items were provided.  No, I did not count the 300 eyebolts.  The well-drawn plans comprise 5 sheets.  As model ship manufacturers have not embraced the concept of rolled plans, they come folded and required a bit of steam ironing to be rendered suitably flat for my taste.  As mentioned, the color manual is up to Chuck's usual standard and shall become my bible for the immediate future:
 

 
The kit contains 23 laser cut sheets varying in thicknesses from 1/32 to 1/4" :
 

 
The strip wood and dowels were supplied bundled so sorting was effortless.  The quality of the wood is not bad.  I am considering replacing some of the basswood strips but need some time to figure that out:
 

 
An extensive amount of photoetched parts are supplied:
 

 
Blocks, deadeyes, cleats, stanchions and parts including anchors:
 

 
Figurehead, cannon and some stern decorations --- all brittania metal.  Although some previous logs have felt these fittings were substandard, my opinion is that they can actually be used successfully.  However, as Chuck offers some after market upgrades through his Syren Model Ship Company, I opted for upgrades of the figurehead and cannon:
 

 
I shall provide a side-by-side comparison of the kit supplied vs. custom parts when the new ones are received.
 
It is now time to do some reading and perusing of the plans to get my head around this new lady.  I am hoping to improve on the skills developed during my recently completed Syren project.  As usual, I'll be keeping a log of time spent for those who might be interested.  All I can promise is to try my best and produce something worthy to stand with the other fine Confederacy kits already (or soon to be) underway.
 
Everyone is invited to join in and comments and critique are welcome.    WELCOME ABOARD TO ALL!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hi Ian:
 
Yes - 4 frames, plus a transom piece and a bow piece. I think you could probably dispense with the bow piece altogether and outfit the boat with a proper breast hook rather than the bow planking - though I guess it would depend on the type of boat you were trying to model. Planking across the 4 main frames and then yes, the removal of the frame formers. The other frames were added (in port and starboard sections) afterwards. I added bottom boards over the seams between the false frames and the keel to make it look more authentic (well....you know what I mean)
 
The ship's boat came together very easily. The strip wood was not of the highest quality and even after soaking the 1/16 x 1/16 pieces ended up shredding when bent around the frames. I had to spend a bit of time after they were dry in sanding then down and fairing them - tricky at this scale, particularly at the bow, which is why it looks a little kinked there.
 
Anyway - I say go for it. It was a fun little holiday project. Model expo offers several sizes of this same boat from 5" down to 3" (or smaller, I can't recall). The one I built was the 3 3/4 which pretty is much exactly the length of the Corel supplied metal boat hull.
 
hamilton

Hi Mark
 
Thanks! It was a pretty straightforward little kit, though there are issues with using a rather generic design for all manner of ship's boats. The basic ship's boat kit is a 5" kit (not sure the scale) and for the smaller ones they just scale down the same design. I understand the economics of this kind of thing, but it does pose limitations if your aim is to produce something historical.
 
Other issues I had were the use of 1/16 x 1/16 lime for the frames - it's easy enough to work, but in the end it needs to be sanded down to 1/32" to bring it closer to scale.
 
Anyway, it was fun to put together! Thanks for coming by
hamilton

Deck fittings
 
Now that all the main deck guns are in place I finished of the rest of the gun deck fittings. The stove looks very good as do the capstan and pumps in some ways its a pity most of these items will be hidden, when the top deck goes on,all the fitting made up well, the only tricky bit is the pump handles which I made up and fitted as the other components were fitted to the deck,these and the other parts had brass pins glued into the bottom of them and a .7mm hole drilled into the deck to receive them,and finally they were fixed in place with cyno.
 
Looking down the deck

 
Looking up the deck

 
 
looking down on the deck


 
view up the deck


 
down on the deck


 
 
 
 

Guns fully mounted
 
All the guns have now been fitted and the ones that can be seen have been fully rigged. Next job to finish the gun deck fittings.
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

Thank you very much for your kind words Bill, Pete, Ferit, Jason and Hamilton.

Jason I think styrene is a good alternative to simulate wooden frames.
By the way I didn‘t use the provided paper. I‘ve bought a sheet of black cardboard with a higher paper weight and used it instead.

Hamilton I‘m very happy with the result and all the rest is hidden by the colour.

So thanks again, guys.

Hi Ian:
 
Yes - 4 frames, plus a transom piece and a bow piece. I think you could probably dispense with the bow piece altogether and outfit the boat with a proper breast hook rather than the bow planking - though I guess it would depend on the type of boat you were trying to model. Planking across the 4 main frames and then yes, the removal of the frame formers. The other frames were added (in port and starboard sections) afterwards. I added bottom boards over the seams between the false frames and the keel to make it look more authentic (well....you know what I mean)
 
The ship's boat came together very easily. The strip wood was not of the highest quality and even after soaking the 1/16 x 1/16 pieces ended up shredding when bent around the frames. I had to spend a bit of time after they were dry in sanding then down and fairing them - tricky at this scale, particularly at the bow, which is why it looks a little kinked there.
 
Anyway - I say go for it. It was a fun little holiday project. Model expo offers several sizes of this same boat from 5" down to 3" (or smaller, I can't recall). The one I built was the 3 3/4 which pretty is much exactly the length of the Corel supplied metal boat hull.
 
hamilton

Really nice work on the ships' boat.  Those little details are adding a lot to your build.
 
 
CONGRATS !!!!   

That's a very nice little boat, Hamilton. I think the traditional construction technique is the best.

Nice stuff Hamilton - the boat looks great. I'm waiting for Syren - Chuck - to come through with a boat or boats but I'm far from needing them at the moment. I'll have to stick to decking and planking for a while yet!
 
Cheers
Alistair

Hamilton,
 
Nice looking little boat. I will be building one in the not too distant future and am interested in this.
 
If I understand the photos correctly there are 4 formers that hold some of the frame parts in shape whilst they are attached to the keel and whilst the planking is added. The rest of the frames are added after the planking is secure. Have I got that correct? Was it at this point that the formers were removed?
 
If so this is a different approach to the usual frames with detachable central part. The use of formers looks to me to be more suited to the smaller scales and hence ideal for what I will be doing.

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright - though I've been away I have been working on the ship's boat. We just arrived back this morning and after putting the boy down to sleep I did a tiny bit of work and finished it off.
 
It was made from a Model Shipway's ship's boat kit (the 3 3/4" version). The boat is just about the right size - pretty much right on the length of the metal boat provided by Corel and only a touch wider on the beam. I deviated from the design of the ship's boat - mostly by referencing the pinnace drawings from the Blandford book and the large cutter drawings from the AOS Bellona. I could not achieve the precise effect of either of these boats and mine is something of a mongrel. It is probably most like the yawl in the Goodwin book in the end....
 
Anyway, I'm more or less please with the results. My main issue is that my dad didn't have any blue paint, so I was unable to paint the sheer strake blue as I had wanted - I could (and should) have left it raw for when I came home, but exercising my usual impatience I just painted it all black...Here are the pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Now that's a sweet little boat.  I've got a couple of those in the closet to put together.  Any issues with them?

Hi Augie:
 
In one of the last set of photos it looks like you've got your jacket hanging off the main topgallant! But that can't be....Looking great - can't wait to see it installed in all its splendour
hamilton

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ship's boats look amazing - it must have been very tricky using the paper for the ribs! I just finished a ship's boat at 1:100 and used 1/16 x 1/16 lime sanded down after installation to 1/32...this was fiddly enough - I can't imagine using the paper to the same high quality result you've obtained!
hamilton

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alright - though I've been away I have been working on the ship's boat. We just arrived back this morning and after putting the boy down to sleep I did a tiny bit of work and finished it off.
 
It was made from a Model Shipway's ship's boat kit (the 3 3/4" version). The boat is just about the right size - pretty much right on the length of the metal boat provided by Corel and only a touch wider on the beam. I deviated from the design of the ship's boat - mostly by referencing the pinnace drawings from the Blandford book and the large cutter drawings from the AOS Bellona. I could not achieve the precise effect of either of these boats and mine is something of a mongrel. It is probably most like the yawl in the Goodwin book in the end....
 
Anyway, I'm more or less please with the results. My main issue is that my dad didn't have any blue paint, so I was unable to paint the sheer strake blue as I had wanted - I could (and should) have left it raw for when I came home, but exercising my usual impatience I just painted it all black...Here are the pictures
hamilton
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Hi there:
 
It seems I've had to divide this post in two - I was having trouble uploading some of the photos in the last post - not sure why....let's try again
hamilton