Papa

The desire to trash this kit and give up resurfaced yesterday when i tried to assemble the wings. Lower pieces went on easily but the upper halves were not going to fit. There was not enough clearance to allow a part that forms the rear of the engine nacelle to fit in the opening provided. Once i determined that was the issue, i removed it and the wing then went on smoothly.  I then removed the lower part of this whatever it is, and glued the upper part where it belongs.  I should have taken some pictures. The next step was assembling the elevator halves.  The instructions here had the part numbers wrong. They said glue B6 and B7 for one side and then An and Am (don’t have instructions in front of me) for the other side. Wrong. The B parts just had alignment holes. While the A parts both had pins.  One needed to match a B and an A. Fortunately I discovered the problem before the glue had set on the joined B parts.  I thought it was strange the there were no pins for the holes.  I should have looked at the next step right away.  One wonders if someone actually tried to build this kit from the instructions before release. 

On 4/19/2022 at 7:28 PM, Louie da fly said:

Surprising. I often find that naughty words magically fix the problem. Or perhaps it's the threat to throw the rotten thing against the nearest wall . . .?

 

Steven

I was certainly tempted to toss the whole box in the trash. But sanity prevailed 

I had a heck of a time putting the fuselage halves together.  Just could not get the seam to close tightly. I am going to need plenty of filler😬. During my test fitting the windows started popping out and the map table came apart.  Re-glued all that and filed and fussed and fumed and used several naughty words 👿 .  It didn’t help the fit. And a newly purchased  bottle of Tamiya flat black paint dries glossy!  😝 fortunately i still had some older flat black. So here we are today. Now i am going to tie some more battens on the C W Morgan. I am almost finished with that step; on the mizzen

The kit has some nice interior detail that, unfortunately, won’t be visible once the fuselage is together.

Better angle to see hands free

Pilot flying “no hands”

I needed something to break up the tedium of tying ratlines on my C W Morgan so i started this Lancaster from the Dambusters mission that I’ve had on the shelf for a few years.  There are 7 gray sprues and one with the clear parts.  The quality is excellent. And the few pieces I’ve assembled so far have very positive positioning locators. The pilot in the photo has been primed and is ready for painting. 

I spent the first 20 years of my life living less than 10 miles from the USS Constitution and never once visited.  Why not?  I have no idea. For that matter, I was 15 before i even ventured into the City of Boston.  

Thanks for the info. 

9 hours ago, John Ruy said:

Your shroud battens are looking good.

And thanks for the complement.  

Question for you John.  There are, what i am calling “boat skids” , on the hull where the whale boats are hanging.  Are these painted black like the hull?  Or left natural?

Using a card to align the battens as i glue them on the shrouds. I will tie them off when they are all on.  Also i installed the bowsprit shrouds and the bobstays.  I leave the lanyards long so that i can tighten them at the end of the build. I don’t know why they are rotated.  

Attached all the batten rat lines on the lower foremast. I think that was more tedious than conventional thread lines.  Only another 400 plus knots and all the lower masts will done.  🤪

On 12/3/2021 at 12:33 PM, Cathead said:

Please tell me there's more than just that page!

Those instructions look much like what i had with my “yellow box” Essex kit back in 1968.   Sort of “we have given you some wood, some fittings, a few blocks.   Now go make a ship. Good luck”.  

In rigging the stays i saw that the fore and mizzen stays used an eye and lanyard arraignment at the tops.  The photo shows how i kept the lines taut while tying the second eye. 

A few more rocks.  Some characters in Spongbob Square Pants, and a mouse. 

Rigging requires so much moving the ship around that I decided to go back to my keel vise.  Much easier now. Fortunately there was room on my Elfa cart to mount it without obstructing the drawers. The lower shrouds on the fore and main mast are completed. Mizzen is next. 

Made 2 fairleads for the mainmast.  1/8 by 1/32 basswood.  I coated the needed area with some AC glue to prevent splitting and sanded the arc by wrapping some sandpaper around the mast.  One of them split anyway and had to make a 3rd one.  Also checking out a homemade jig for setting the proper 4 deg rake on the mainmast.

My replacement main mast parts arrived from Model Expo just as I finished up the lower foremast shrouds.  Shaping a square end to a maple dowel is a bit tedious.  I have read that it is better to start with square stock and then round the mast by shaving off the corners. It might be a bit easier to get a taper that way also.  

While waiting for my replacement parts for the mainmast, I started rigging the foremast. 

Some patience and a Dremel tool and the fife rail and pumps are repaired and mast hole is cleaned out. 

On 1/16/2022 at 7:14 PM, John Ruy said:

Good job!!

Actually not so good.  I decided the mainmast rake was bad and on top of that, the main top was slopped excessively.  I had tried to mount it so that it would look level when the mast was mounted with the proper rake.   I seem to have over compensated.  It looked bad and every day when i looked at it it looked worse.  It could no longer be ignored. Today I attempted to remove the mast.  Bad idea. It split rather than coming out and broke the fife rail on top of that.  I requested some replacement parts from Model Expo and will have to make the lower mainmast again.  Oh, and drill out the stub left in the hole.   Totally bad day.  I think i will take a week or three off from the Morgan and build something else.  Maybe i’ll paint some rocks 😬🤬🤯

I only have 3 going at this time.  Charles W Morgan, Gjoa (Model Shipways solid hull Amundson’s ship), and the United States, (paper).  Lately i have only been working on the Morgan.

Still working on the masts.  Want as much done on them as possible before mounting permanently (blocks, eyebolts, fairleads etc.)  I noticed that i am approaching the 4 year mark on this build; started April 2018

On 10/9/2020 at 11:33 PM, DanielD said:

illuminators” glued in, but I’ll think of something, maybe a clear polished dowel that slides in to make a lens..

HO model train suppliers have a window glazing material that will work here.  I forget what they call it. It looks like thin white glue and it dries clear. Just spread a drop on the openings with a toothpick.   In addition to glazing windows I have used it to make “water” in some  buckets on a model barge. It is quite effective