drjeckl

Thomas, Got it. Your explanation and the sketch nailed it. The light bulb is lit! Thank you so much. .John

Thomas, Thanks for your writeup. I have and been using most of all the tools you mentioned, except the proportional dividers. Based on the topics I've seen here on this tool, I think I get how they are used. The post by mikiek gave me the insight to these. Question: Are the less expensive plastic PDs, which just let you do proportions in whole numbers, good enough for their use in planking? Would hate to spring for the more expensive metal PDs if planking would be their only use. Also, for the edge bending, would a set of french curves be useful? Barkeater: Thanks on which edge you use to go against the previous plank. That's what I thought and where I made my mistake that got me in trouble. I put the non-tapered edge against the the previous plank. David: Thanks for pitching in.

Jan, that's what I did, put the tapered edge next to the previous plank, so the non-tapered edge was at the bottom. Oh well, I thought I had something there. I will probably dry fit a couple of planks both ways and see if there is any difference. Diadeczek, The reason I put the math up there is that from all the planking docs read/videos seen over the past 3 weeks, there was nothing that concisely, put everything together about how to determine how much to taper and where to do it. There was always something like "divide by 1/8 inc.....", not divide by the width of the plank. Or use the planking fan template to line up the tick marks. There has to be some math about that, so what is it? Also, after reading vossie's build log again, I learned that cutting a rabbet, if you don't already have one, is kinda important for each planking so there is a tight place for the planks to land. I never saw that in any of Chuck's tutorials or any of the videos from Amati. And I'm with you, I don't have enough good practice; this is my first build. And I scoured all the documentation I could find on planking (MSW's docs, Modeller Central's docs, YouTube vids) way before I attempted my first first planking. I couldn't find enough of the math. So I went with what was the easiest to follow, the Amati video build logs on Amati's Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/search/videos/?q=Amati Modellismo lady nelson . I'm rambling, so I'll stop here. Thanks for helping...John

I think I see what the main problem I had, other than letting the planks go where they wanted to go. When I installed each plank, I put the tapered edge to the top and the non-tapered, straight edge at the bottom. From all the drawings I've looked at in the past three days, it appears that the non-taped edge went to the top. So did I have that wrong? And that's why I got what I got? I never saw anything written about that issue. I specifically checked on the videos from the Amati build logs to confirm that and I could have sworn I saw the non-tapered edge at the bottom. Maybe I missed that. Please tell me that's the main reason for what happened to me. Please...John

Being a math major, I needed to layout the math behind what you all have advised, what I've read in the planking tutorials and the Lady Nelson build log by vossiewulf, which I read for the 3rd time last night, this time in full detail. So here goes: Comments appreciated...John

Gents, Thanks for your advice. My mentor on the build was Leon Griffiths from The Modellers Shipyard with his videos up on the Amati Facebook site. I followed his planking technique, which is different that what's up on the MSW tutorials. I've been reading these again and going through, for the 2nd time, the LN build log by vossiewulf, which IMO is an exceptional tutorial (curious why he didn't finish). I am going to start over, with probably the exception being the first plank, which was pretty tough to get in. Fortunately, I do have enough spare planks. Thanks...John

Jan, I will try that technique going forward. How do you think I should resolve my current situation with the first 5 planks in position? Pull them off and start over? Keep filling in the gaps? This is my first build so I don't know the ramifications of filling in the gaps. Thanks for your advice...John

It appears that during the beveling of the bulkheads for the first planking of the Lady Nelson, I've removed too much material. I think that, because I have significant gaps between consecutive planks. This issue is only in the bow, as the planks at midships and the stern lay in tight. It's not as prominent in the pictures because I already plugged some of the big gaps with slivers of scraps. See below. Top View: Front view: Side View: It's somewhat hard to see but the planks are laying flat on the bulkheads. I figured I could resolve the gap issue with filler after the first planking was complete and sand it down to bevel it out. But I thought that I should at least plug the gaps so the filler didn't see seep through. Then I thought laying in a skinny, second plank in those areas would build that section up. I could see some issues with that solution. Finally, I thought, wait a minute, what am I crazy? Why am I not engaging the wealth of experience and knowledge at MSW? I'm from the tech business and have learned that when I have a problem that I can't solve in 30 minutes by myself, I call the help line. So, I'm calling the MSW help line. Help!!! John

Kevin, I went through all the logs for that build and didn't find anything specific. I searched this forum and found nothing. I googled this topic's text and found one with CA. The MS builder in the Amati video logs recommended epoxy. I got nutin'. John

Newbe here. I'm building the Amati Lady Nelson and I'm ready to attach the 3 x pieces that make up the real keel to the "false keel" that the bulwark frames are attached to. My question is what type of glue should I use to attach them? I've seen articles/discussions that include epoxy, CA and PVA. Amati Instructions don't specify. Also, I have not seen any discussion on the application of epoxy or PVA. If it's CA, that's fairly obvious. Also, if there is a gap between the rudder post part of the real keel and the stern edge of the false keel as a result of beveling the deadwood at the stern, do I need to fill that gap before gluing the rudder post? I would think so. See the photo., the gap Help greatly appreciated...John

So the journey begins. I'd been planning on getting into building model ships and what better excuse than the quarantine to start? After some online research, I picked the Amati Lady Nelson. Then I needed tools. I basically had nothing since I had downsized into a small cottage from a 4-bedroom house and had to sell/giveaway most every tool I had accumulated over 30 years. Boy, it wasn't cheap to restock and I included a starter airbrushing kit from Master Airbrush and a spray booth. Was not willing to brush paint all what needed to be painted. Also, it was a scramble to get tools; most of the modeling sites had a lot of out-of-stock for items. Guess a lot of folks are doing the same as me. Then it was looking for help. This site was fairly easy to find and has a lot of good stuff, especially the Build Logs. I also looked for build video logs. Those on Modelers Central were way too expensive. But I did find that Amati released free video build logs of the their Lady Nelson by Models Shipyard. There are 20 of them on Facebook, starting here: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=Amati Modellismo lady nelson&epa=SEARCH_BOX . The builder takes some different paths from the Amati instructions, such as beveling the bulwarks AFTER adding them to the false keel. After comparing his approach to what I found in the build logs and other tutorials here, I decided to follow his process, supplemented with tips from the MSW logs. The most comprehensive MSW log I found for this ship was by vossiewulf. Wow, he is one master builder! Anybody know why he didn't finish it? Too bad; I would have loved to see the final product. Anyway, as to my build. Below is where I am. One issue I ran into was while beveling the bulwarks: the false deck popped up at the edges, not by much, but it did flatten the deck somewhat. When I first glued the deck, it had a bigger curve to it, port to starboard. I didn't see a problem with that. After it popped up, I decided to leave it. It still had the curve, just not as pronounced. I looked at the the MS logs and he had the same gaps at the edges that I had, so I don't seem too worried. Here's the bow: And the stern: The MS builder used a marker to highlight the filler blocks and the deadwood before beveling to show what had to be taken off. I also had to take some of the deck off here since it overhung the last bulwark. I guessed that was needed based from what I saw from the MS logs. The only issue I had at this point was supporting the gluing of the outside stern counter frames into their slots. With the bulwark beveling, I had removed most of what those frames would stick to. So I glued 2 x pieces of the 1mm plywood sheet underneath the deck between the last two bulwarks. See below. Those frames are not going to move. So I'm off to attach the 3 x keel pieces and then move onto the first planking. Some observations: The MS builder avoided using balsa bulwark filler blocks between the bow and stern bulwarks. When I saw that technique in the MSW logs, I did think that was a bit overkill for this small ship. I figured two sets of hull planking would eliminate having to deal with the thick filler blocks. Surprised vossiewulf went there. Also, he and others had the tools to easily make those blocks; I don't. Comments anybody? The MS builder's plan for tapering the planks involves calculating how much to take off on either end based on mathematical formulae which I found easy to comprehend. When I looked at planking guidelines here, it appeared to involve drawing lines on the bulwark edges or lines, bow to stern, on a fully filler-block loaded hulls and then taking measurements. That seemed a little tedious so I'm planning on following the MS builder's plan. Also, he planes off what needs to go . Some of the MSW log techniques appear to draw a line on the planks and then utilize a craft knife to remove the excess. I'm going with planing the edge off a plank held in a vise. Final painting scheme is still fluid. My current thinking is (comments welcome): Hull: White paint from the bottom to the waterline. (Maybe tinged with a little green or maybe grey.) Walnut paint from the waterline to the main whale (maybe walnut stain) Black paint main wale Walnut paint from top of main wale to the top of the hull, including the upper wale (Again, maybe walnut stain) Black paint for capping rail. (Any reason I shouldn't paint the rails before attaching them? Obliviously need to deal with the pin holes, but not a big deal compared to painting the rails in place.) Deck: Carriage red for the bulwark side planks. Same for hatches and the frames walnut (flipped from what I see on the MSW logs, but the Italian version of MSW showed that and I thought it had a better look.) Red for the gun carriage, flat black for the guns. As for the rigging of these, I see vossiewulf tried but then abandoned to rig with them with 2 x side tackles and 2 x train tackles and went with just 1 x centered train tackle because there was no room on the deck for all that rigging. I will follow his lead on that. Natural for the deck, no paint. The MS builder used, as a deck scraper, a piece of thick glass and that gave it a nice look. I'm trying to find a piece of glass; may break a window! Off I go; wish me luck...John

All, I have not heard back from the manufacturer regarding the chemical composition of their product. But isn't likely that all painting of our models, or at least airbrush painting them, will be completed before rigging, and therefore before using this thread conditioner, whatever it contains, starts? I'm taking Kurt's endorsement of Thread Magic ("I have used the Thread Magic product for several years") and running with it. 😀 Thanks...jce

The type of thread in the Amati LN kit is not specified; I think it's cotton. I'll try to reach to the Thread Magic manufacturer to get a list of the composition of the conditioner. .drjeckl

Newbee here, first one up is the Lady Nelson. And I'm in tool and supplies accumulation mode For treating the lines/cords/threads for rigging, I cam across a product called Thread Magic. It appears that it does the same thing as beeswax but maybe less destructive (claim is that it has a pH of 7) , won't melt or freeze. It also comes in a dispenser. Wondering if anyone has tried Magic Thread. Thanks drjeckl