SkiBee

I’ve tried to pull in the top of the stem by wetting it and using rubber bands. It has reduced the gap between the stem and bow by half, still about a 32nd to 16th gap. I will fill the gap with glue and saw dust then putty for a smooth translon. You can see I’ve put on the first coat of putty in the gaps between the keel, stem, and stern post and the hull.

Finished the top step all around the boat, the depth looks even all the way around, about 1/16 in. There are a few dips in the step, maybe a little putty will smooth them out, I do believe in putty. Built the bow stem per the instructions, reduced it down with a jeweler saw, knife, file and sand paper. I did break the stem/keel piece at the joint, and then glued it back together, you can see some discontinuity at the joint at the curve. Also, you can see a gap at the top of the stem, I got to the point that I could not reduce the stem’s curve to allow a perfect fit due to lack of material. Will moisten it and use rubber bands to bend it to fit, and if that does not work, more putty. The main part of the keel when on ok, along with the stern post. You can see in the picture below that I have to fill in the aft part of the hull to match the keel and stern post, more putty.

Very nice work, I just started my first solid hull and wished it looked as good as yours. Keep up the great work.

First, I checked the hull to the templates #5 thru #9 on both sides. It appears that I need to reduce the thickness of the aft part of the keel all the way down for the sternpost to fit and deepen the curve in the hull. I used a chisel blade, #18, to reduce the thickness of the keel all the way down the aft end and just taking off a very small vertical notch along the keel from station #5 to #9. Then I used a curved x-acto #22 blade deepen the curve between the hull vertical and horizontal, as well as reduce the horizontal part of the hull from station #9 thru #7. Then I used some 80 grit sandpaper to smooth the areas and checked them against the templates. I had to do this about 4 times so I would not reduce to much at one time. The fwd part of the hull just needed to be reduced a small amount to match the templates #1 thru #5, so I just used 80 grit sandpaper to reduce and smooth the hull transitions. My final hull did not match all of the templates exactly, but I think it was good enough. I was more concerned about getting a smooth hull with acceptable transitions. You can see that some of the gouge areas and the aft part where the keel and sternpost will be glued will require some wood filler, but that is why the sell it. You can see a faint line where I will carve the step at the top of the hull, I also drew a line on the top of the bulwark 1/32 in from the outside to act as guides for cutting out the step. I also had to curve it up at the aft since the aft end of the fantail is only about 5/32 thick. I used a #22 curved blade to score along the line on the hull then I used the #18 chisel blade to take thin cuts down to the score line a couple of times. When I was done carving the step on the port side, I noticed that I ended up with 1/16 th deep step. I don’t think this will cause to much of a problem downstream, maybe with the way the cap rail fits.

I'm back working on the Phantom after finishing the Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by Model Shipways. I practiced whittling and sanding the initial hull before starting to shape the replacement hull, good experience. This confirmed that the hull center line was off-center and that one side of the hull was shorter than the other and the plan. But it looks pretty good and I don’t think anyone would notice in the final product. {From this point on I'm working on the new hull} Per the instructions, the first thing I did was to get a flat keel surface and I also did the bow. I laid a full sheet of 80 grit on the work surface and then just moved the boat back and forth on the sand paper, trying to keep even fore -aft pressure as I tried to keep the boat perpendicular to the work surface. I kept checking the overall fore to aft flatness with a rule as I went. I then did the same thing on the bow, dragging the boat on the paper to try and keep a flat perpendicular surface to the center line as I rounded the bow. I’ve been working on the aft end of the boat; cutting, chiseling with a knife chisel blade and sanding with 80 grit paper. I was having a hard time whitling or chiseling with a blade, so I tried to file it with an old wood rasp I had (it was old, over 50 years old) but it was too large for the job. So, I went back to 80 grit sand paper and the knife chisel. The instructions said that you might have to remove about an 1/8 inch from the aft. I only removed about 3/32 inch to get it close to the template. I think I will wait until I have the sides of the hull close to template before I reduce it any more in the aft, as I’m doing for the bow My initial check of the hull evenness with the templates indicates a good hull. Now to move on to drawing centerlines and carving the hull to match the templates.

Thanks to everyone for their comments, suggestions and likes. Your support is very helpful.

Well, I’m finally done with the build. I have improved my skills and learned some additional things building this boat. Planking of the aft end is definitely a challenge for a beginner builder. I was very glad I had had the planking experience from building the MS 18th Century Long Boat. Besides the issues that we all have had with this new kit, I will get on my soap box again, Model Shipways needs to add a more detail schematic of this boat to include one of how the rigging is laid out, such as the one with the Model Shipways 18th Century Long Boat. The Long Boat plans and instructions by Chuck Passaro are fantastic for a novice. In regard to the rigging, I wish I would have done a single loop & knot on the lashings to make an eye in the rigging. I tried to do a double loop, like a double clove hitch, and it did not look good. Also, I like it with a much finer line to do the lashing. Now on to my next build, I’m trying to decide between the Phantom New Your Pilot Boat, which is a solid hull, and the Armed Virginia Sloop, which is Plank on Bulkhead, both by Model Shipways. I have both and I had previous started the Phantom but shortly into shaping the solid hull, I determined that it had been miss-machined. Model Expo sent me a new hull and it looks better. I’m still a little intimidated by finishing a solid hull, I’ve never been good a carving or shaping small wood. Even in Boy Scouts, I was terrible at whittling. I have to take care of some other work for the next two weeks so I have time to decide which I start first.

I've just been using the rigging lines that come with my kits. It appears that most of the lines are Nylon. What are the different types of line? I've heard of Cotton, Nylon and Polyester/Cotton blend. What is the best type of line and why?

Sanded the edges off the blocks but did not shorten them. Broke a few wires as I was twisting to make the wire tight around the blocks, but had enough wire. I left the hook loop unfinished until I threaded the wire in the brass eye. Making the sails was very similar to the Norwegian Pram. I used water thinned Mod-Podge which is very similar to white glue if not the same material. Ended up with some pencil lines which don’t look so good. Also, might have used to much Mod-Podge, the sail is very stiff, will have to wait and see. I also don’t think I should have tied the brass mast hoops so close to the sail as well as the sail to the gaff. Completed the running rigging on the mast and starting to make the standing rigging. I wish I would have waited to after I put the standing rigging on the mast before I put the upper gaff block so I could have made the standing rigging eye off the mast.

First, I’m a beginner too and you’re doing great on this build. What’s the old saying, “we learn from our mistakes.” Instead of the Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack by Model Shipways look at the Model Shipways 18th Century Long Boat. I built the Dory and Pram like you did, and then I built the Long Boat since the Lobster Smack wasn’t available. I learned a lot from the Long Boat and the instructions were SO much better than the Lobster Smack or the Pram. The Long Boat has a great schematic that showed great details. The planking on the Long Boat was better for a beginner than the Lobster Smack. The Lobster Smack planking has a tricky aft end due to the complex curves and bends. So far my two favorite builds are the Long Boat and Dory. I’m finishing up the Lobster Smack now and it’s my least favorite of the four. I’ve learned a lot and some past learning was reinforced by the Lobster Smack. Take a look at the Model Shipways Muscongus Bay Lobster Smack build logs that exist on this Web site before you choose your next build.

Grate start, this was a challenging build for me as it was my second build too. But I learned a lot from this build. Yell if you need help

Well after a break of over 2 months, I’ve started back on the build. Installed the rudder and tiller without too much problem. I did make the tiller out of thicker material than the kit, it was just too thin and flimsy to do anything with and I did not want to go through the trouble of doubling it. I had better luck at this mast, boom, gaff and bowsprit; at getting them round than the Norwegian Sailing Pram. The dimensions of my mast were not the same length as the drawing but it should work without a problem. Small goof, I stained the mast, boom and gaff prior to installing the stops. Had to make two small stop cleats for the gaff since I could not find any on any of the sheets in the kit. I used cyano to glue the bowsprit on, had to glue the aft end first then bend the bowsprit a little to align with the beakhead. Drilling the holes in the two brass chainplates was a challenge, even after annealing the brass strip. Need to find some stronger drill bit tips that will cut through brass better and quicker. I painted the cleats and turnbuckles brass with some enamel model paint, had to let them dry for over 24 hours before gluing them on. On to the mast hardware, making the blocks and sails.

Great job, have one on me before you start another ship.

@Retiredpm Great job. I regard to the oars, they look good and the only way to get them round a this point is sanding. Just be careful not to put to much pressure while sanding, they break very easily.

My coaming look just like yours, but I glued it in and used a little filler to smooth it out an it looks good now.

Fantastic work, I like your lighter deck more then mine. How do you compare this build to the 18th Century Long Boat? I really appreciated the Long Boat schematic, it answered a lot of my build questions. What is you next build?

Also, note that the brass rod to raise and lower the centerboard is missing now. It came out while I was painting the model and I couldn't get it back so I just left it off and filled in the slot on the deck for it. I also used Mod-podge to adhere the 'trail board appliques' to the trail boards, I had used this water down white glue to adhere appliques on my 18th Century Long Boat. In both cases it worked grate and dried clear. I did break one of the trail boards in half while I was sanding it.

I didn’t like the small gap between the coaming and the end of the cabin sides so I filled it in with putty. Also, I filled in the area in the aft part of the coaming were it had a tendency to crease. Put the cabin roof on and the access hatches on and then sprayed with a matte clear coat. Now I will move on to shape the mast and spars. Waiting on the replacement sheet that has the rudder and tiller as well as the right size of line.

Paint will cover all fills. Looks really great

It took me 3 bending sessions for the Coaming and Cabin Sides so as not to break the wood. I started with a wide bend, then a smaller one, then actually using the model as a bending mold. The Cabin Sides worked out really nice. However, the Coaming kept wanting to bend at a 90 deg angle rather than a curve but I finally was able to get the curve. It took me a minute to figure out that the top of the fwd end of the coaming sat level with the deck since there weren’t good pictures in the instruction of this area and since a schematic drawing was not included in the kit. The real problem was the coaming would not fit level to the deck and the fwd starboard tab kept wanting to go below the deck level. The problem was the Coaming stopped when it hit the ‘seat back’, since the seat back stuck out fwd of the deck opening. I had to reduce the height of the seat back to the Coaming could sit lower. Also, I had to cut down the two starboard frames in the seating area to get the coaming to sit level. I also had to widen the space between the deck and the frames in the cabin area. I cut the frame to widen the gap for the cabin side to sit down in rather than the deck to ensure a smooth curve of the cabin side.

I glued the planks on the same way, just be careful not to push down anywhere but directly over a bulkhead, I pushed on some unsupported sections and that’s how I ended up with some depressions that I had to fill

I’ve finished the hull painting; I painted the upper half a slight off white, mixing white paint with a little cream color paint. (My wife does a lot of crafts and has a lot of acrylic paints) I did paint the bottom of the hull Model Expo Hull Red, MS4968. I thought that the hull was a little bland so I painted the rub rail a Tamiya Flat Black that I had. For the first time I used Tamiya plastic masking tape and it was fantastic. I really like the way you can stretch the tape to make curves, the water line, or fit a curved piece, the toe rail.

After a couple of coats of gray spay primer and an off-white spray paint, I thought might look ok but did not like the color. Needs a little more work on the bow. Wet sanded to get some dust off and will start painting the hull later this week.

Fantastic job.