ScottRC

Rings with rings and pins at the bottom of fore mast. Little pins are unusuable on this scale, and it overlays my skill, so I made two rings with rings, a bit larger and simplydied. It would not be visible when ropes come over one day

One step forward.
Connection by barbeque sticks. Strong and elastic.
Not glued jet, first to finish masts.
 

Thanks for the welcome and the great advice.
Really appreciate it.
This is my work space and where I'm at today. Long ways to go!

This project is going to be a little different from the other IJN ships I've build in that there is a combination of wood and linoleum decks, and multiple decks (and canopies) at that.  The other ships I've built I was pretty much able to completely assemble the ship, paint the deck, mask it, and then paint the hull and above deck items in one pass.  This is going to be trickier and will require painting and assembly in stages I think.
 
To start, I glued the hull halves together.  The bottom was very thin, almost to the point of the hull being too flexible for my liking.  So, I ended up gluing a strip of plastic card underneath which made the hull more stable and helpfully raised the ship a little given that I'll put it in water diorama.  I had pre-drilled some holes in the bottom of the kit hull so that when I glued the new bottom onto it, I could flow Tamiya extra thin cement into the holes and help secure the new bottom all along the base of the hull.  Worked pretty well.
 


Next I taped the hull plating lines, in preparation for spraying Mr. Surfacer 500 to help give definition to the plating runs:


Next I worked on the small deck at the bow.  The kit is correct in that the deck, from what I can tell from grainy black and white pictures, was wood.  The Five Star set includes a PE deck that represents a metal deck which is probably incorrect.  Since I am planning on using stick on wood decks to have some consistency throughout the ship, I decided to make my own deck out of plastic card with the cutouts for the winch, anchor chain holes, and pole for the elevated bow platform.  Seemed to work out ok.  I'll add the bollards, vents, etc. after.
 



Thanks for looking in!

Some pictures of the ship over the years:
 
1930:


1931:

1934:

1937:

1938:
 

 
1944 (back as an oiler):

 
The Yokosuka E1Y reconnaissance plane:
 


 

Clearly I was not doing very well even by my standards so I turned to the internet and found on other sites boat builders had used computer generated windows on transfer paper.  I did not have the necessary skills to draw such small objects so my daughter very kindly made pdf files in Vectorworks and sent them to me.  I measured the window and it’s spacing and by trial and error we produced a set of transfers for all but the very small windows.
 
Test prints - spacing incorrect.
 

 

 
Ready to print.

 
The small portholes and very small windows were done by hand.
 

 

 
They were so small that I did not think that I could have attached the transfers so I settled for my painting, poor as it was - I had no alternative!

Hello everyone! 
I'm sorry for the long absence, but finally I have some updates to share:
 
 
Mizzen mast completed and all sails completed! 
 
Yes, finally, even the last mast is completed! 
There is not so much left to say; the mizzen is similar to the main and foremast... 
The only thing worth mentioning is that I decided not to mount the Mizzen Staysail and the Main Royal Staysail. The  Mizzen Staysail has been sacrificed in order to see the deck better. Without the Mizzen Staysail, it seemed to me a good idea not to mount the Main Royal Staysail too, in order to better balance the appearance of the ship. 
As for all the other masts, also the mizzen has been trimmed a bit, about 1 centimeter on top.
Here are some pictures of mizzen completed:
 

 






 

 
Some details: 
 




 
 
And here the ship as she is now:
 




 
And here is a quick test of focus stacking, hoping to get you on board! 
 
 

 
That’s it for now, still many things to be done, but I finally see the end.
 
 
Oh, a question for all of you rigging masters: what is the path followed by the course's clewlines?
As you can see here they are visible here but the line is interrupted:
 

 
But they are not present in the main fairleads diagram:
 

 
Am I supposed to belay them directly to the pin rail port and starboard without passing through the fairlead or should I belay them elsewhere? If so, where?
Thank you!
 
 
 

Shaping the Hull continues…

Carved out mid-ship aft…

Bulwark added…

Using wood filler to refine the rough shape…


Adding the Keel and Stern Post…

Adding the Stem Post…
 
She is coming along nicely… Lots of fill and sanding left to do, we’ll get there. 
 
Cheers 🍻 
 

Weather and a mild case of Covid kept me indoors so I sat down and did some work on this project.  I completed the bowsprit and dolphin striker rig.  Now starting on the lifts, braces, and then shrouds.


Its not pretty, the fingers and eyes are out of practice with my threading and knot tying.  But that is what this project is about.

 

Had some time this last week to actually spend in my workshop.  Added more standing rigging.  
Hope to add more soon.  I am kind of in the doldrums with building at the moment.  

So now I have added the two rear decks.

Thanks Glenn and JJ and for the likes.  I've glued in the bollard timbers JJ. I know they are not bevelled quite enough but they look OK on the model.
 
Here is a bit of an update  in pictures.
 
I completed the firrst two belts below the wales. The flow of the planking seems fine to me and there are no dips ( the one just below the wales midships easily sanded out) or  high spots but some of the seams could have been tighter. 
 



I don't have a  table saw so cuting the keel components was done with the scorll saw and then the Proxxon mill. A little slow but does the job.
 

Here is the boxing joint.

It came out pretty well to my ever optimistic eyes.
 

So on to the lowest belt.
 

I intend to "treenail" the hull. I used a 0.6mm drill and then pushed a sharp pencil into the hole before using a woodfiller. I'm sure there are better ways not least because wood filler, no matter how carefully applied, tends to fill and emphasise any gaps in the between planks seems - see the picture below. If I had a Byrnes draw plate perhaps I'd have a go at the real deal.
 
I've no idea how many vertical "lines" of treenails there should be. I think I will add one more line between those presently existing - but I will make my mind up when the planking is finished and I have a better overall view.
 


Thank you for looking by.
 
All the best and very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year.
 
Fred
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Debated until the cows came home on whether to use the pre-molded shrouds or make them up, but time and budget overruled and I'm using the ones off the kit.  

She looks splendid Gary.  

Scott,
I began building that model when I was I was twelve, finished it when I was 13 (1960...whew!), then won a
1st place trophy with it the next year at a USNR model contest. Amazingly, it's still intact. I just dusted it off
last month and all of the masts and spars are in excellent condition, perhaps because for many years the
ship was stored in a wooden crate during my many moves around the country. I'm happy that you're restoring
yours and hope that one of our sons will someday treasure mine as well.
 
Best Regards,
Gary
 

Rigging the bowsprit and dolphin striker are far more challenging than any aspect of rigging the mast, IMHO. Very nicely done, Scott.  

Debated until the cows came home on whether to use the pre-molded shrouds or make them up, but time and budget overruled and I'm using the ones off the kit.  

Weather and a mild case of Covid kept me indoors so I sat down and did some work on this project.  I completed the bowsprit and dolphin striker rig.  Now starting on the lifts, braces, and then shrouds.


Its not pretty, the fingers and eyes are out of practice with my threading and knot tying.  But that is what this project is about.

 

I'm following along with your build because I like these old solid hull models.  I have two Marine kits in the stash I hope to build.  

Interesting story, I look forward to watching the VR presentation when I get some time.  Thanks for sharing this.
Scott

Very nice job with the planking.  

Interesting story, I look forward to watching the VR presentation when I get some time.  Thanks for sharing this.
Scott

Welcome,
I was raised in Great Falls and went to school in Havre and was the only one building sailing ships in my club.  I now live in Kansas.

Welcome,
I was raised in Great Falls and went to school in Havre and was the only one building sailing ships in my club.  I now live in Kansas.

Hey guys,
When I was looking for pictures of contemporary models with painted friezes
I came across an interesting project by the Art Gallery of Ontario.
https://ago.ca/collection/exploring-bristol
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2605210/AGO_BRISTOL_1775_From_Warship_to_Prison_Hulk/
Unfortunately I don't have the necessary VR set but I'll give it a try and hopefully a mouse and keyboard will be partly possible.
I would love to build a Bristol or Portland one day and this looks like a great source of information for us modellers.