realworkingsailor

Post Twenty-eight
Second planking begins
I start by taking the trouble to sort and match the Box planking strips I obtained from Hobbymill eu.
They are well colour matched and consistent in dimensions.
So, time to apply the first Box plank.

0925
The blurb indicates fitting the first plank directly underneath the outer pear bulwarks; seems simple enough, but when it comes to the bow pattern there is an inconvenient gap between plank and pear bulwark of around 2 -3mm.

0938
The second plank fitted without issue; I used ca to start at the bow but followed by using pva for the remainder.  It is possible to clamp these two strakes.
Both strakes were fitted without tapering.
The manual suggests the strake that represents the top level of the Wale (in fact the Black Strake) is next fitted.

0924
The line is taken from Plan six and marked on the hull below the gunport centres. (above the ports in the case of the aftermost two) It is then a matter of running the plank along the hull.
I pinned the plank to the hull, and applied heat to form the shape. Pins are not an issue with this plank as it will be covered by a further wale plank.
 
 I opted to plank the topsides down to it, and then glue it into place. My preference is to part clear the ports as I go along.
Fixing the planks between wale and topsides is not quite as straight forward as it may seem, if the intention is not to cover it all in paint. In that case the paint will hide a multitude of sins.
 
On many kits the wale line is marked after the second planking has been applied, and I suppose this could still be done. It is just a matter of marking the dots on the second planking rather than the first. This would I think simplify the topsides planking.

0937
The wale sweeps up at the stern and bow, more so at the stern, and has a slight concave curve around midships.

0934
This means the planking between the gunports and down to the wale will have to be made to fit, requiring tapering at both bow and stern.
Starting with the stern I tick stripped each gunport to determine the taper. The hull mid-section is broadly full width with tapering stating around the second gunport from the bow, and fourth from the stern.

0928

0940
Not an entirely authentic method of planking the Topsides, but the taper at the bow will be masked by the hawse bolsters and at the stern by the Qtr gallery lower finishings, so little to draw the eye.
 
I am using ca gel exclusively now, but take the precaution of having a container of acetone and cotton buds handy to remove any ca spillage.

0933

0926

0930

0941
After five days the topsides planking is completed on the Starboard side. A preliminary sanding has been applied, but the gunports remain unfinished at this point.
Onwards…
 
B.E.
05/05/2023.

 

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

Thanks Egilman for chiming in here - that is exactly correct. But here are some photos, just in case.
 
Take a felt polishing wheel for a Dremel-type tool.
 

 
Use a single edge razor blade to cut it in half.
 

 
Now use the semi-circular piece to polish the metal casting BY HAND. These parts were way to small and fragile to go anywhere near a spinning tool. You could attach a handle to it if you wished, as Egilman suggested, but I just held the felt in my fingers.
 
Moving right along...

The Castings – Painting the Details
There is an excellent video tutorial on the Sierra West Scale Models website that demonstrates an extremely easy, yet highly effective technique for achieving peeling and chipped paint effects on the castings. In summary, Once the base coat of black has been allowed to dry thoroughly (in my case it was left for a couple of days), colour is applied using a selection of AK paint colours, and while still wet the part is dunked in Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) and then dabbed with a make-up sponge to randomly remove bits of paint. It is left to dry for at least a couple of hours, and then the process repeated if there is a second colour to be added. Once that has also dried thoroughly, the parts are dusted with various rust-coloured chalk powders and given another dunk and swirl in IPA to remove most but not all of the chalk, and left to dry again. That’s it – process complete. Here are some of the resin cast oil drums – I have yet to paint the details of the contents of the one in the centre at the back.
 

 
The process works equally well on the metal castings of the Acetylene Tanks.
 

 
Back to painting wooden crates……..
 

The Speedwell castings arrived.   Just like the Winnie these are cast in a very light Tan.  Almost white but not.  This is a big help for the finishing.  They were treated just like those on the Winnie.  See the unfinished quarter badge on the can of gel stain?
 
I used Old Masters gel stain.   The color is Fruitwood.  This is the best color for our purposes in my opinion.  Just brush it on and let sit for a few minutes.  The longer you leave it on the deeper and darker your color will be.   Dont leave it on too long...you can always add another coat after it dries.   
 
Brush it off before it dries however with a soft clean brush.  Almost buff it.  The more you brush the more you will remove.   This evens it all out while leaving darker bits in the deeper areas. But not overly so. 
 
The one drawback with this method is the parts tend to get shiny.  But a quick spray with some dull coat after it dries does the trick.   The color matches quite well as you can see.  This preserves all the detail as well because unlike paint, this does not build up and obscure the small details.
 

Pictures are great, but you just can’t beat hearing those old engines run:
 
 
Andy

If you take a quick trip into the history of Holt tractors, the first machines that Holt  built were all wheeled tractors. The tracks were a later development driven by the need to spread the tractor’s weight out over a greater surface area when working soft ground. The other option was to use massively large diameter and width drive wheels, which would have been impractical. So as a development of a four wheeled machine, a steering clutch was unnecessary.
 
Holt did eventually buy the patent for a steering clutch system (from Richard Hornsby & Sons), in 1912. This did enable Holt to eventually do away with the front tiller wheel, but likely any manufacturing development would not have come early enough for government requirements driven by WW1.

Andy

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

thats Dobbie Pingate Periscope and 8 year old English Cocker Spaniel
 
My two loves 
 

Hi
I have achieved my slightly absurd, self, challenge of planking the VM 26' foot launch without resorting to stealers, infill planks or any fillers. Strangely I get wood striping even though all of the planks came off the same sheet and were always orientating outwards on one side. It doesn't really matter but is odd and I can still elect to paint. The keel has some variant colours too - but that is also okay with me. Of course there are some air gaps and you couldn't float this boat but it isn't a bathtub toy! The shell is eggshell fragile and I have yet to sand inside. A tricky but very cool little kit. I did the last plank in three sections on both sides (it's the third one up from the keel) - it was a killer to fit. Otherwise all planks run full length. When I finish it, I'll get back to the main subject = Fly.
 
 

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

So the extras (dandyfunk) to add interest 

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

I saw a similar video from “Model Minutes”:
 
 
He also made a visit to Airfix HQ:
 
 
Andy

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

Here is that tour of the Airfix factory if anyone cares to see it. I thought it was interesting. Jenesis Designs and Modelcraft is a very good scale modeling channel IMO and something not seen too often...a female scale model enthusiast. 
 
 

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

Thanks for the likes and comments guys.
 
Moved on to the main fuselage. I won't replicate the posts/pictures Craig has already done, so just some highlights of things I found on my kit.  Namely small niggly "short shot" areas in the mould.  The main one being the intake on the leading edge of the tail fin and then on the trailing edge of the fin itself, just above the rudder. Filled with some putty and drilled out again, but I think it still needs some fine sanding to get as close as I can to how it should look. @CDW did you have this?  Also had to grind off some prominent ejector pin marks in some placed that would prevent a clean fit.
 
Next onto the wing-fold joints and I will try to replicate the work Craig did.
 
Thanks for following along! 🤓
 
 

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

Great photo! (“Hooman look sad, I bring toys, help hooman happy”). Glad to hear you’re continuing on!
 
Andy

good evening everyone
 
im back
 
thank you so much for the comments and suggestions, very much appreciated
 
first of all this was to be my masterpiece build, having looked forward to it for so long, it was an accident, but could have been avoided, if I had been 100% 
anyway having thrown all my toys , and the bois out of my pram i have now picked them back up and continuing from where i  left off, HOWEVER - my lovely Box wood will now be painted  

6) Boomkins and railings: We are almost done and must focus on the boomkins and railings of the bow: 
 

 

 
The railings are made with 0.8 mm brass wire (not included in the kit), soldered in their middle and painted cannon black.
 

 

 

 
Finally, a couple of overall views of the progress: 
 

 

 

 
I hope you have enjoyed that sequence of building. I cannot convey enough the relief and the joy to have this delicate section behind me.
 
Yves