Jim Low

I’m steadily moving forward, and I promise to share pictorial evidence of my progress once I’ve swallowed my pride. At this point I have completed hull planking/painting, decking and rails and am now moving on to deck furniture and gizmos. I am scratch building what I have to, but my carpentry skills are better suited to normal sized lumber, so my furnishings don’t show the remarkable level of skill I’ve seen on other build logs. Oh well, learn by doing. One question I will throw out there to any of you who have worked on a Model Shipways build, particularly those who have worked on the Latham or the Bluenose. How much should I suffer through trying to get the Brittania metal hardware to function anything like the plans call for? I’m speaking mainly about the construction of the capstan. Has anyone actually created the capstan assembly that they diagram? The pieces don’t have holes where they should, and the microscopic hardware they call for (e.g. clevis pins that measure about 0.1 mm in length) appear to be unrealistic. I’m tempted to bypass realism for generous applications of CA. Also, did anyone notice that the aft view of the assembly in the instructions reverses the P/S orientation as shown in the plans?? Thanks.

Hi Dave— I too am new to model ship building and am currently slugging away at my second build — the Benjamin W Latham by Model Shipways. I have to tell you, your level of detail and precision blows me away. I’ll admit that I find myself often settling for ok, when that falls well short of the sort of perfection I see you achieve. Couple of questions: how often do you find yourself using materials that weren’t “in the box?” Do you have some sort of background that lends itself it your remarkable craftsmanship? If you have a significant other, how does he/she forgive you for the hours you must neglect them? Seriously, you’re doing some remarkable work. Have you watched Gary Brinker’s you tube series on his build of the Bluenose? Lots of fun. Continued success with your efforts. Jim

So far, so good. I’ve still got nine fingers left.

Thanks for the encouragement Joe. I’ve looked at your Latham log, and if I can do half that well I’ll be very happy. Just started on the transom, so your pix came in very handy. Just so I’m clear on the bending, the transom curves out , right? The piece should be convex away from the side with the top bevel?

Ok, this being my second wooden ship model (first was a Bluejacket Swampscott Dory), I’m prepared to take the plunge into sharing my ignorance. I’ve been closely following the logs of experienced builders of this model and similar schooners, and I hope to learn by doing. Having just completed bulkhead framing, I thought it would be helpful to pass on some initial thoughts to newbies like me, who are considering this model: 1. A Dremel tool is proving remarkably helpful for sanding, shaping, fudging, etc. 2. When completing the initial steps of gluing the keel halves (port and starboard), take the extra step of inserting a piece of scrap wood or two from the bulkhead sheet into one or two of the bulkhead slots before gluing and weighting/clamping. Do this regardless of whether you glue fore/aft sections before p/s or after. Any minuscule deviance fore and aft at the slots will create a lot of work in the next step of inserting and gluing the bulkheads, since there is virtually no tolerance in the laser cut pieces. As an alternative to the order prescribed in the instruction, you may want to glue up the entire keel bulkhead assembly at one time, then check alignment with the plank sheers before the glue dries. 3. In the event you choose to ignore item 2 above, see item 1. 4. When attaching the keel-stem per the instructions (i.e. after chiseling out from the beardline), I found it helpful to use toothpicks (the good, round hardwood ones) as dowels after the glue has set. This wasn’t for alignment—which was pretty easy— but rather to add strength to the joint, which has been glued along a rather narrow interface. I just drilled (again Dremel) conforming vertical holes through keel-stem and main keel piece and glued them in place. That’s all for now. More headaches to be identified as I trip over them.