src

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

Cisco,
Well done on the hooked scarfs, the addition of the dust in the joint makes a big difference. When I cut the scarfs on my Enterprise I wish I had done something similar, other than on the transom all that hard work has disappeared.
Agreed on the use of hand tools, I love watching what others are doing with laser cutters and 3d printing, but for me I need the feel of making dust myself.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

It depends on the amount of char and the type of wood..  I brush off any loose char, but my experience has been that it doesn't behave differently than fine sawdust, which could cause a bonding problem if it forms a relatively thick layer that keeps the glue from penetrating the wood.
I use yellow PVA, and as long as it is penetrating the wood, it forms as good a bond as when the pieces have no char.
 
The char creates the "caulking look".    I use this for my deck planks also.
 

 
From my Resolution build.

An update!  Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather, if your located on my latitude.  I've done a lot since my last post.
 
First, I visited the house of another MSW member, Jason Long (JLong), who lives 20 minutes north of me in Delaware.  I got to see his Fair America, which is much further along than my AVS.  A great time was had discussing all things shippy and I hope to have him down to my place in the near future.
 
Second, a few weeks ago I attended my first Admiralty Workshop hosted by Greg Herbert and Dave Antscherl with special guest host Chuck and it was a lot of fun.  We all made rope with Chuck, then learned how to splice and tie and wrap and seize.  My ancient iphone can't take clear pictures of work this tiny so when I finally upgrade I'll try and post some of it.
At the end we spent an afternoon getting a tour of the Naval Academy museum in Annapolis by Grant Walker (hope I got his name right, on the right in the below pic).

I don't know how but Barry Rudd, the gentleman in the blue shirt behind Grant, seems to be in every picture of this event.  I sat next to him in the workshop and he was a very nice guy, and clearly a regular at these events. 
 
The museum recently acquired a collection of miniature model ship that have to be seen to be believed.  Very tiny and protected by glass cases so ham-fisted people like me can't pet them.   The one below is plank on frame and about 2 inches long.   Crazy.

We also toured the main museum area and got a behind-the-scenes history of various models.  I personally find the cases and stands as interesting as the ships themselves.

But on to my AVS.  Since last post I sanded, mostly, the first planking smooth.  I hadn't installed the waterway earlier as the practicum directed because I was worried the bulkhead extensions would be too fragile when clamping the hull.  So time to rectify that and thin the extensions.  I used a chisel, then an xacto, and finally some sandpaper.  The bulkheads curve upwards and the grain likes to runnout so it took a while.  


Once that was done I went about replacing the kit supplied waterways (walnut) with holly.  Initially pretty easy, just trace.

Since my billet of holly was pretty narrow I had to make my waterway in 3 pieces scarfed together.  To make it more exciting the scarfs are on the curved section, and the kit supplied waterway didn't precisely fit my AVS; my prow was more rounded, so I had to do some finagling.  Below is the 3 pieces before being glued together.

I followed Cheerful's directions for forming the scarfs.  Drawing on and cutting out the first half of the joint wasn't too bad, but it was a bear making the mating joint.  I ended up overlaying the first joint and tracing it onto a lower piece of wood with a very sharp pencil, then using my chisel first for rough removal, then files to sneak up to the pencil lines.  I still had some tiny joint gaps which I filled with a mixture of white glue, holly dust, and graphite (rubbing the pencil point on sandpaper then dumping the results onto the holly dust and mixing all 3 together).  This worked better than I planned.  It seemed to fill the gaps and made the joint more visible.
 
After gluing the pieces up and using spokeshaves, a thick dowel wrapped in sandpaper, and the flat of my chisel as a scraper I got my final version. 

To glue the waterway in had 1 final challenge- the deck isn't flat.  After struggling with clamping I came up with the following- I placed clamps along the bulkheads a bit less than 1/8" above the waterway.  Then I cut the provided 1/8" thick walnut waterway, which I didn;t need anymore anyway, into a series of short wedges and used these between the flat clampheads and the waterway to push it flush with the deck.

And thats it for today.  Now I have to make the other side.
 
thanks for reading, Cisco

src/Sam- sorry about the long delay responding.  I can't easly find where I said LunchBox plane, but usually that means a 12" tabletop planer that you plug in, mine is a Dewalt I got at Home Depot years ago that still runs great.  But for finish stuff you need hand tools; I've had several 2 Cherries chisels for a long time and we get along very well.  As long as I don't forget to sharpen then.

I managed to go 1 week between updates!  This is only because the wife and kids are away until tomorrow on an end of the year ski trip so I have that thing called Free Time.  Gotta take advantage while it lasts...
 
This week I followed Paul Le Wol's advice and instead of filling in the remaining port side planks willie nilly I busted out the tic strips and planking fan, my first experience using them.  I followed Chuck's Cheerful instructions, free to download, chapter 4, which includes the planking fan.  It so far has gone easier than I anticipated, words that may come back to haunt me.
 
First I measured the widths I wanted to plank at the stern, amidships, and at the bow.  Pretty simple - lay a strip of paper across the width and mark it.  (The below picture is a re-enactment as I had already marked it so pretend the tic marks on the bulkheads aren't there).  Since paper strips are flexible they will follow the contour of any curves and measure the true width.
 

 
Next figure out how many planks will fit in these spaces.   I measured each width and did some math.  For this first layer of planking the practicum has you use 1/4" wide basswood planks, so I divided the measured widths (1" at the Bow, 1.5" amidships and 1 3/4" at the stern) by 1/4" and got 4, 6, and 7 planks wide.   And I assumed I wouldn't want to narrow the planks at the stem to more half the original plank width, which would be 1/8", so I divided the original widths by 1/8" and got 8, 12, and 14.   So if I want single planks without stealers that don't taper more than half their width I can do between 7 and 8 planks.  That led me to trying to use 7 planks total, each of which would be the full 1/4" wide at the stern, and taper to a little more than 1/8" at the bow.  I hope I didn't mess up that math.
 

 
Next I took each tic strip and laid it across the planking fan to create 7 planks.  Just like reading a hematocrit.
 

 
Then I laid the tic strip back across the bulkhead and transferred the marks.  I used a separate strip for each bulkhead unless it was really close to the previous one.
 

 
Next I used a compass to measure each bulkhead mark and transferred it to the plank.
 

 
 
 

 
I connected the marks and cut off most of the excess plank to make bending easier.  The next plank was going to be from the stern -> forward and I had previously soaked it and bent it in place to dry over the transom.  The transom upwards curve this far inward is not nearly as pointy as the outside planks so this one bent fine and didn't try to splinter.
 
And here is me test fitting the new plank.  You can see it tapers some as it gets amidships and I left it a bit long to make it easier to bend.  I sanded my bevels to make it fit tight, trimmed off the excess tip, and glued it in place. 
 

 
 
 

 
For the next round I need to leave the plank a little fatter so there is enough width to bevel the edges.   Also I am running out of easy clamp room.
 
Thats all for tonight.  Happy modeling and thanks for reading
 
Cisco

grant,
This is such a cool project. You have a talent for finding interesting and unusual projects. The knots are a nice subtle addition as is the wire brush graining. I have done this look on full size projects with a torch and brush or even sand blasting. Its cool to see how to do it at a smaller scale.
Sam

Thanks OC and Ken, and also to all of the "likes".
 

Wall Construction – Main windows
 
The main windows are constructed in a very similar way to the freight doors – they are just a whole lot smaller….
 
The windows are comprised of a base, trim, and frame plus two separate lower sashes per window and one very small “pop out” window that goes in the top of the window. Here are the pieces for the three main windows, after receiving the same treatment as applied to the door pieces earlier. The blue object in the top of the photo is the handle of my scalpel, which might serve to show just how tiny some of these pieces are!
 

 
We are next instructed to “locate the sheet of laser cut mylar”. A brief moment of panic while I rummaged through the box without finding said sheet. Then I remembered that I had in fact seen it before, and sure enough there it was, hiding in plain sight within Bag #5 among other “miscellaneous” items. Heart attack over, we are instructed to spray a light, even coating of Testors Dull Coat over the window pieces. I didn't have Testors Dull Coat to hand, but I did have some permanent matt spray finish for artists. As it claims to be suitable for all papers and boards, artwork, transfer lettering etc, I figured it must be pretty much the same stuff. And indeed it seems to have done the job just nicely. After allowing it to dry for a few minutes, it was again given a light dusting of chalk powder to give the windows a "dull and muddy look, but not so much that it looks painted". To quote again from the manual, "you are looking to represent years of dirt and grime build-up". So here is the sheet after that treatment. (Three of the lower sashes had already been removed before I remembered to take a photo).
 

 
The lower sashes then have their mylar "glass" installed by peeling off the backing on the sash and carefully applying the mylar. Here is a close-up of one sash after receiving it's glass.
 

 
The remainder of the mylar "glass" was then installed and the sashes and "pop-out" windows installed. Following the instructions, I've placed the lower sashes in a varying degree of open positions. At this stage I haven't added any cracks or holes in the windows - as the instructions note, this is a working structure, so I'm inclined not to add these.
 

 
Next, we return to the Dormers to add some more detail….

Thanks for that additional tip Andy. I'm sure there are many ways to skin this particular cat. One of the reasons I like the method I've been following, is that so far, everything has been both relatively easy and relatively quick.
 
So, I had just posted the pics from my last post on the Sierra West forum and one of the “gurus” there gave me a great tip to tone down the white paint a little – it does look a little stark as is, despite the peeling effect.
 
His tip was to use a soft brush and very lightly dust some DRY chalk powder onto the white to dull it down and age it a little. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?
 
Here is a “before” (on the right) and “after” (on the left) following that advice.
 

 
I think I like that even more! Here are all four doors, with trim permanently attached and blended down.
 

 
And finally, following the earlier advice, here is one of the doors placed temporarily in situ.
 

 
Okay, now I’m ready to tackle the windows….

Thanks for all the comments and likes folks. It seems to be a while since I updated this log - the usual excuse of "life" getting in the way. Anyway, I've been progressing slowly and finally have something worth posting.

Wall Construction – Adding the Siding
 With the board detailing complete, it was time to add the siding to the walls. This commences with laying one complete board on the Right wall. This is butted against the slight overhang created by the upper floor, ensuring that the board is straight and even.
 

 
Boards were then selected randomly and glued in place using the horizontal scribed lines as an aid to ensure they were straight. All boards were left long and slightly covering the window openings, to be trimmed up later.
 

 
The same process was followed with the remaining walls, this time also using the vertical scribed lines as a guide to placement of butt joints.
 

 

 
Here are the three walls with horizontal siding attached. Once I’d finished these, I noticed that on the Left wall (top left in the picture below), I could see the untreated card around the gaps in the butt joints. I decided to go back in and add some alcohol and chalk to darken these up, but this then left a noticeable dark patch around the joints.
 

 
To remedy this, I went over that section of the wall very lightly with a wire brush again, applied a very light wash of alcohol/ink mixture and dabbed a variety of chalk powder randomly over that section.
 
The vertical boards were then added to the second floor in a similar fashion, being careful to align the bottom edges just slightly overhanging the first-floor horizontal boards. I worked in from each side, covering over window openings as I went and then trimming them out once the glue had cured overnight. Here is that same wall after the “repair” treatment and addition of the second-floor siding. The unplanked area is where the dormers will go later on.
 

 
And the remaining walls.
 

 

 

 
And a “group” shot of the completed walls.
 

 
Next up will be to complete the Dormers in a similar fashion and then assemble the laser cut doors and windows.

That looks really, really good. cant wait to see what it looks like in Cherry. The contrast of the char and the wood is very nice, it will be interesting to see the contrast on the Cherry. Since glue will not stick to char what is your plan for gluing them?
 
 

Popeye,
That looks really good.
Is it the camera angle or does the main deck become narrower about the Fore Castle?
Sam

Popeye,
That looks really good.
Is it the camera angle or does the main deck become narrower about the Fore Castle?
Sam

Popeye,
That looks really good.
Is it the camera angle or does the main deck become narrower about the Fore Castle?
Sam

That looks really, really good. cant wait to see what it looks like in Cherry. The contrast of the char and the wood is very nice, it will be interesting to see the contrast on the Cherry. Since glue will not stick to char what is your plan for gluing them?
 
 

Popeye,
That looks really good.
Is it the camera angle or does the main deck become narrower about the Fore Castle?
Sam

Masts are now done and permanently mounted.  Including the bowsprit, the masts have taken me just about a month.
 
Now on to standing rigging.
 
Regards,
David

hello all........I made a bit more progress.  it would have been larger,  but I hit a snag and had to resolve it.  firstly.......I did finally stain the base,  right after augering out the holes to allow for washers.  I'm even going the next size up for the machine screws.  rather than cut the ones I have down,  I bought a bag of 2 inch long machine screws.  I got some stainless steel washers from work,  courtesy of a trailer I was working on.

done in a dark walnut.........

last week,  I found the time to give it two coats of clear lacquer.  I'll be sure to post a picture in the next session.   I did mess around with the hull earlier.......fitting the center section of the deck in place,  but not really concerned with the way it fit.  toying with it at this time,  I began to notice things..........the hull seems to be warped,  not allowing it to fall into place.  the bow and stern section have already been cemented into place when I got the model........it may be a contributing factor to the problem.  it may also be in how the hull is picked up too.........one hand holding it in the center of the hull {I'm guilty of it}.   I have heard how some folks are lucky enough to have bulkheads supplied in their kits,  for support of the hull...........I envy you.  so,  I will have to make up some spreaders for the center section of the hull.   I measured and cut some dowel to spread the hull.

they are not perfect........some fine tuning is still needed,  but they do help out.  I also trimmed the structure flanges at the front of the section.......the two structure 'ears' on both sides of the bottom level to get it to fit better.  as mentioned....it still needs some fine tuning  

I will have to mount the base before tis section can be cemented into place.  I began to try and touch up the bottom of the hull with the paint I zeroed in as the color used........just getting an air brush to work was a project.  as a last resort,  I brought out my gravity feed air brush and did a fairly reasonable job.  this was compounded by the fact that I didn't want to thin down the paint too much,  and likely cause the original color to 'wrinkle'.  in the end,  it was all in vain.......the color does not match.  today I went out and bought a can of red primer.........I'm just going to redo it.  the hull is all masked up and ready to dance,  so it's all ready to shoot.  I should have some more for you soon