CiscoH

really really nice planking job. i used my first boxwood a few weeks ago and i found it to be a brittle wood as well. i think its just the way the wood is, especially compared to the kit basswood.

either a long sliver or make a new plank from wider stock and trim it to fit. but my vote would be for the sliver. i dont think anyone would notice unless you pointed it out

Good Thursday night MSW. A brief update tonight, more fine tuning than impressive progress. I finished the cap railing and moldings and sanded down the cross sections of the planking on the sides. Then I added the channel, which had to be sanded down thinner to match the width of the molding. I wasn't confident it would stay put with only glue so I pinned it as well. I managed to drill all the way through the bulwarks with all 3 pinning holes so beware future builders. I used epoxy and 20g brass wire which fit the holes loosely allowing me some wiggle room, and yellow glue. It's pretty solid now. After it was fully dry I realized I put the channel in upside down (the edge slots for the deadeye strops are not the same at each end, one is closer to the edge than the other) but I can't easily unattach the thing so its staying. I noticed in the Speedwell book (Vol II, pg 47) Greg and Gave show the deadeyes all the same size. They also chose to add a swivel mount directly over the channel, in between the 2 bolsters. I don't think I'm doing the swivel but maybe my brain will betray me. Again. We'll see. It might make the model a little too busy. Then I made the bolsters, which were straight-forward sanding exercises and pinned them as well. I used superglue for the pins. Both feel secure. And finally I manned up and attached the base pieces. They were not perfectly square to each other so I have some sanding in my future before I add the curved molding to ease the transition to the base. I also added the waterway piece, which in hindsight should have been holly so it matched the decking instead of the AYC i used but oh well. I also drilled out the scuppers and used #2 pencil to darken them as per the directions. They don't connect and you can't tell. and now I started on the cannon carriage. Thats it for tonight. Tomorrow the family and I are flying to not-sunny old England for a week of vacation. I bargained hard for a day to see the Victory and in return had to give up all control of the other 6 days. Pictures will be posted. thanks for reading, Cisco

Nothing is more rewarding than dealing with the public. And i too hope Chuck produces the Battle Station as a regular kit. Its small but packed with detail and perfect for introducing the use of Syren rope and other Syren materials to rig a practice cannon. I won mine at the CT conference and could have gotten a mini table saw but picked the kit instead. And I have so far really enjoyed building it.

I really liked the Old Blocks. Very Minecraft-y

excellent planking Jeff! the Confederate is a big ship and your smooth run of planking looks very even and tight. i’ve only planked one ship so far so i’m no expert but like you i had numerous re-dos. i felt like i didnt get better at planking, instead i got better at fixing mistakes. keep up the great work cisco

that looks great SkiBee. my AVS hull looked like a different beast once i sanded for the first time. and i’m glad my build log is helping you out

signed up for the print and digital option

I was thinking of trying to start a Northern Delaware club in the next year. The closest club I'm aware of is in Philly but thats too far for me. Also, its in Philly. I saw the post about a southern Delaware club and was thinking about it but realistically I would never go because its 1.5 hrs away. When/if I finally free up the time I'll post here and see if it gets any traction. My shipmodeling buddy Jason (JLong) lives in Newark DE and we hang out every month or two so I guess its already a club of 2 people.

i just got an order from him this weekend. Joe couldnt have been quicker to respond so he must have missed your email somehow

Mike- the Conference was in April in New London, CT. About 6 hrs from here.

Well Howdy MSW. Its hot and humid here in Middletown Delaware on Sunday afternoon. Most of this post is fixing my last post, oh well. I was not fully satisfied with my previous attempts at making moldings. The process was fine and good practice, but the wood I used (I think maple?) had a mottled pattern. It looked ... ok. After staring at it for a while I decided to hold off on making the upper molding until inspiration struck. In every misfortune lurks opportunity; this was the perfect excuse to order some wood. I'd heard good things about Modelers Sawmill in New Jersey so I gave it a try and ordered 2 billets of AYC and 2 of Boxwood (which I have never used before). Joe, the owner, was excellent and provided good communication and suggestions. The order took a few days to show up, was nicely wrapped on the outside, celophaned on the inside (to limit moisture exchange -> which leads to warping). An excellent experience - highly recommended. Joe even included 2 extra billets of AYC because of some discoloured areas. I normally assume 25% wastage from imperfections so this was above and beyond. Now that I had the wood I had to do it justice. I cut a strip from the boxwood and used the same scraper as before to remake the lower molding. Once it was scraped I trimmed it down to size. It was definitely better. Below the old molding is on the left. You can see the mottling/spots it has. The boxwood on the right is much cleaner. The old lower molding popped off distressingly easily. I changed from white glue to yellow in hopes the boxwood version would stick better. Next I made the scraper for the upper molding. My interpretation of the Battle Station plans indicated a double bead, the upper one bigger than the lower, with a small fillet at the bottom. This scraper took a lot more time to construct versus the lower molding; every time I had it almost right I tended to over-file. Here is the final result - the profile I used is on the bottom left side. The profile is cut pretty deep into the hacksaw because i had to redo it so many times. Then the same process as before. Scrape the boxwood, plane it down to the correct thickness, and yellow glue it in place. The upper molding sticks up a bit so next I added a strip (the cap rail?) to bring it flush. Now that I have my finished height I can make the inner molding next. And thats where we are. While waiting for my wood to arrive I had started on the cannon carriage but it can wait for my next post. I like Boxwood. Its hard, a bit stringy, and on the billets you can see the grain pattern but its not obvious once cut into strips. It will be my molding material of choice in the future on any AYC projects. Happy 4th of July weekend for those of you that celebrate thanks for reading Cisco

Beautiful Frank! Those 45 degree miters are challenging to get right. Even a little off and its glaringly obvious; I can't see any bad joints there atall.

the interior looks like a real, full-sized ship! astounding attention to detail Matthias

looking good Skibee. Getting the planking to fit around that very sharp curve under the transom strained my abilities to say the least. like you I used layer #1 as practice for the second.