Ken_2
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Thanks all for your encouragement. That is very kind. As Dsmith points out, I do have a YouTube channel with this very build, if you are interested.
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Thats it, I have completed the build, and I think the furled sail is the pose I will display this boat. I sure appreciate this forum for all the information it provides. And especially those people who built their Fifie's before me or are in work building theirs now. It is an inspiring community, and all are very talented. I get better with each kit I build - but looking at other builds I see even better skills. All the insight, tips and examples continue to inform me of how to be better. Also, thanks for all the comments as they are encouraging. God bless you all, and thanks again. - Ken
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I have assembled the boat, as you can see in the following pictures. Next I will furl the sail and display it furled. Later this summer I will paint the captain and build a display case, neither of which I have done before. Thus the next post with furled a furled sail will conclude this build log. 🙂
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Next, I tackled the aft sail (as the fore mast will be rigged as a derrick). I liked what Tom Lauria said and showed on his YouTube channel, “Making Sails for Ship Models from Silkspan, Parts 1, 2”. I’ve been wanting to learn how to make more realistic sails. Since the cloth provided in our kit was a bit thick and coarse for me, I took the chance to learn more about sails. Tom stated that Silkspan is thinner than cloth and comes closest to real scale canvas and is equally suited for furled sails. All my model boats are display with all sails aloft. So, again, I am taking this opportunity to learn how to furl my model sails. Tom’s instructions are very clear, so I won’t repeat them here. I will say I have always had problems following instructions, and this is no exception. His video shows that he painted the silkspan before he cut the sail out. I cut the sail first, but the result turned out good anyway. He also showed using strips for the edge seams. But I had my wife sew the edges, as I am familiar with this “look” and it was easier for me (she did the work!) Below, on the right is a cardboard cutout derived from the drawings. To the left is my silkspan sail with the sides sewed. The upper part of the picture shows the Titanium acrylic and the foam application rollers he used in his video. Silkspan is a paper product which is sold under many names and was hard for me to find. But I found some on the internet from a model airplane kit manufacturer, Sig Manufacturing. I bought SILKSPAN TISSUE GM [MEDIUM] [Pk of 6 sheets]. Of course, after re-reading Tom’s YouTube description, I see he lists Bluejacket Shipcrafters as providing it as well. The next picture shows the painted sail with those miserable 3mm rings. Since the sail is paper, I am being very careful not to tear it. I am giving some thought on how to mate these smaller sail rings to the larger mast rings. This may be tricky! I plan to take some pictures with the sail hoisted, and then permanently furl the sail for display.
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I am heading into the “home stretch”. I finished the 31 net floats, and I am working on the brooms. These were tricky, and it took me several tries to get some decent looking brooms. As you can see below, I have two brooms, and a third in work. But some of the broom bristles (thread) on the finished ones look funky. I will keep making more until I get 3 that are at least good on one side.
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I turned my attention to the lifeboat. This took more time than the pilot house! – very time consuming. I assembled the frame, laid the garboard and wale planks, and proceeded to lay the planks in between. I narrowed the for and aft sections of these planks, but as I neared the bottom, the twist on the planks was significant, and required that I edge bend these. The lifeboat’s planking was not as smooth as I was hoping, even after sanding. Oh well.
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Next I installed most of the equipment on the deck, rigged most of the forward derrick mast and boom, along with most of the coiled lines.
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I used my Homedepot laser leveler to level a wooden platform, requiring two shims. Then, ensured that the cradle was level. I set the boat in the cradle with the stern 20 mm lower than the bow. The laser line confirmed the lower part of the boot-top to be level with the water line. I then used the pendicular laser feature of the laser level to set the masts straight fore and aft as well as “square” port and starboard. Once squared up, I glued the masts in place. They are slightly off from straight up, but close enough for me. A real boat would rely on the stays and shrouds to keep the masts straight and over time, the crew would adjust them as needed. However, since the thread used in the model will relax over time and will allow the masts to sag, I used glue to hold the masts in place, since there is no crew to make corrections! 🙂
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Thanks David!
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I used the kit drawings to determine each shroud length. I placed a ruler against the upper shroud ring, stretched the shroud, and made a loop where the thimble should be placed. Using forceps, my vice, and various clips, clamps, and coarse language, I installed the thimbles and blocks. I gave up on using wire to hold the thimbles in place, since the forceps and glue worked just fine. Once the shrouds were terminated with thimbles and blocks, I seized corresponding thimbles and blocks to eyelets. I used the drawings to locate where to drill and glue the eyelet assemblies. Then I wove the thimbles of the shrouds to the thimbles of the eyelets. Now that the mast and shrouds are installed, I started to place some of the aft deck equipment (the pilot house, various cleats, etc.). I noticed one of the shrouds was too long, so I undid the one lower shroud thimble, and shortened it and reseized it so that all of the thimbles would be of similar length. Now I see that the forward shroud blocks are connected with black line rather than the tan line. I guess black line represents standing rigging, whereas these blocks must be used to adjust the mast rake and are thus running rigging (tan). I’ll change the line to tan. I’ll install more of the aft running rigging and the smokestack, and turn my attention to the foremast. I plan to rig it to support a derrick boom. From there I will install some of the forward deck equipment. There is still a lot to do! I agree with David (above). I had hoped to be completed in 12 months. It is near the end of February (14 months), and I have not yet started on the small boat nor even decided on my display configuration. Now I am hoping to be completed by June! I did log my time during planking, and it took me 280 hours to finish the 2nd layer of planks. Clearly, I am slow, but clearly, Amati's estimate of 100-150 hours for total build was optimistic. Good insight David - Amati's estimate is off.
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I decided to install the two masts onto the boat before I add other equipment. These masts seemed wobbly when seated in the deck and superstructure. It seemed to me that I need to add the shrouds and stays to get the mast angles correct and secure before I proceed. I had previously added the blocks and rings to all the spars. The next step was to add the 6 ends of the shrouds to the mizzen spreader band (157). The drawings showed the lines being seizing to these 6 loops, so I practiced my seizing (see below). Once I reviewed seizing, I chose some 0.3 mm thread from another boat and seized the 6 shroud ends to the mast. Next, I decided to use the dimensions from drawing 7 to locate where to seize the wooden thimbles (202) to the lower end of the shrouds. I hope the thimbles end up somewhat even with the deck and one another. I will do a dimension check before I permanently fasten the thimbles and cut and seize the shrouds. Again, I practiced seizing rings. First, I used just the seizing thread, but as hard as I could work, I could not get the thread to provide a solid grip around the thimble. It seemed like an awkward push would knock the thimble out. Also, after time, the line will relax, become looser, and again the ring could be knocked out and worse disappear, being so small. (There were no spare rings provided). I thought about gluing the line to the thimble, but I ended up adding 0.4 mm black wire. Next will be the stays, and this should create a firm and stable aft mast, mounted to the Super structure. After this (a week or more) will have to study what comes next. Any suggestion about better assembly methods or the future sequence of events will be appreciated. Comments or suggestions are appreciated, even if I have finished the task - I try to use lessons learned on future boats.
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I’m not sure of the next steps of the assembly sequence, but I will focus on assembling the superstructure onto the boat. The rudder chains needed installation first. Then I added the “fish pen” and then the roller assembly for the nets. The roller assembly is fragile, so I will remove it from the boat until the boat is completed, where I will determine the display configuration, and likely put them in then.
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I tapered the aft mast and spars and collected all the hardware. There are many parts, but nothing seems to be complex except the skill to rig a block to a yard (there is nothing like practice). Also, the sequence of assembly is not defined. However, the instructions provide pictures that clearly define the result. I am thinking I will hoist the aft sail, but not the foresail. This assembly remined me that my skills for handling small blocks and thread need improvement. I spent time studying YouTube and several “writings” I have. But for me, practice is the main way I learn. My rigging, stropping, and seizing improved as I went along. But. I am sure this is a skill I still need to study and improve. I struggled to like the color of the tapered plain walnut dowels for spars. The various acrylic colors I painted onto the spars only made things look worse, so I tried a couple of stains. I ended up using a semi-transparent golden oak. I brushed it on, and then wiped it off quickly. This seemed to enhance the look.
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It took some time to finish the fish hatches. I had to narrow each hatch since they were a bit too long and wide. Then I enlarged the holes provided for the post with rings and painted all sides of the hatches. The real time was spent figuring out how to install the rings onto the posts – (the holes in the post are 0.5 mm). Once all 52 rings were on the posts, I added them to the hatches.
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The pilot house or wheelhouse was more complicated than I expected and is an assembly by itself. This assembly took some time! I stole the idea of adding controls from Ras Ambrioso’s Fifie – Thanks Ras.
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I've been preassembling many of the deck parts in preparation of installing them on the deck.
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The holidays really slowed my boat work, but I sure enjoyed the family time. I am now back working at my slow pace. My next task was to turn my attention to the rudder installation. I planked the rudder and sanded the planks to align with the hinge cut-outs and propeller cut-out. As I installed each hinge on the stern post, I bent each hinge arm so it would conform to the stern post. I installed the lower hinge on the stern post as low as I could get it and installed the corresponding hinge on the rudder. The middle hinges were more of a problem. First, I wanted the middle hinge to be below the white waterline mark. So, I had to lower the cutout on the rudder a millimeter or so. Second, I could not figure out how to add the hinge parts separately; one hinge to the stern post and the mating part separately to the rudder. Just not enough room. So, I added the assembly to the rudder. I then “dry fit” the rudder to the boat, marked where the red and white paint should be and then painted the rudder. Next, I added both top hinge components to the rudder and nailed the hinges to the boat. Sometimes I used my plyers wrapped with electrical tape to squeeze the nails into the holes and other times I used a 4 oz hammer and pounded them in. I used a short nail in 1 or both of the provided holes. But where the 2nd hole was close to an edge, or the nail interfered with other parts, I cut the 2nd nail very short and glued the top of the nail so it looked like it was nailed.
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I added the grating and the scuttles as well as a few scuppers. I assume the nets are emptied on the grating, and the fish are tossed in the open scuttles and/or down the superstructure hatches. The kit does not provide instructions for scuppers to drain water from the deck, but it was not too hard to add 4 token scuppers. I finally got around to building the boat stand. This was a complex task that has taken a lot of time. 1) All the painting on the boat has had flat finish. I think a black gloss finish would look nice for the stand. I sprayed several coats of gloss black enamel on the 4 pieces, but the result was not glossy. Especially on the edges of the MDF wood, which kept soaking up the paint. So, I re-sanded the wood smooth, and used Tamyia grey sealer – two coats. The result was much better. Except some of the curved end pieces of the stand only received a light dusting of paint due to the angle. So again, I sanded, sealed, and sprayed, waiting a day or more in-between painting for curing. I learned a lot about gloss painting. Sanding and sealing are most important for a gloss finish. My final paint job is not perfect, but good enough. I now know how to do better next time. 2) I set the boat on the stand, and the “pitch” of the boat was not correct. The bow set too low. … So I sanded the middle edge of the rear frame since it held the stern too high. Which of course means I need to repaint these sanded spots: - again. 3) With all this boat “on and off” of the stand, the paint job on the hull is getting scuffed. I may need to retouch the paint on the hull when I am completed. Hopefully this is just dust from sanding. 4) I decided to place a felt cover on part of the stand that holds the boat. Such coverings are common on trailered boats, so this is not too weird, other than the 70’ Fifie is not trailed. After spray painting the sanded portions of the boat stand, assembling the stand, and gluing on the felt, it seems the stand presents the boat’s water line correctly.
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Thanks to Dsmith's suggestion, I will post a link to my youtube channel. The following is a post to my 3rd video of building the Scottish Fifie (planking the deck). (Thanks Don). If you click on my channel in YouTube, you can find all three parts of the assembly of the Fifie, and several other boats I have built. Ken - YouTube
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I drilled 1 mm holes in the timbers and pushed the nails in the hole. I tried a nail pusher, which exerted a fair amount of force and created a chance for a bent nail or worse, a slip which would gouge the surrounding wood. Hammering the nail also presented similar risks. My nylon coated plyers were not wide enough to squeeze the nail in squarely, so I wrapped some plyers with several layers of electrical tape. This cleanly pushed in each nail. After dry fitting the top rail, I trimmed the stem and stern. Then I painted the 4 parts of the top rails and glued the front portions on the boat. Then trimmed the aft portions of the top rails so they would fit and glued them in place. I used white wood filler where the 2 halves met and sanded them smooth and brushed on more paint. As you can see, there are still a few gaps to fill where the top rail meets the bow and stern. I will experiment with wood glue and sawdust or mixing white and walnut wood filler or if I can cut and fit a piece of wood to see which hides the gaps best.
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David: This boat has stretched my planking skills, since there are so many planks. Each with a different bend. - Ken
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Diver: I looked up the Sanson tug kit, and it looks like a beautiful boat. are you going to do a build log for this boat? I hope so. - Ken
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Next, I cut and placed the timbers. There were many timbers, each at a different height. I created a 12 mm spacer to mark distance between the timbers and cut each one to the correct height. 80 timbers later I am ready for the next task.
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The next task is to plank the inner bulkhead and trim the side rail. The provided planks were not as long as the boat and required 2 planks for each side. The 2nd bulkhead plank requires the width to be trimmed. The bow on my boat required most of the 2nd plank to be trimmed away. I started sizing and trimming this top plank using a pencil to mark what has to be trimming. I used an X-Acto blade to remove any areas that were large. Then I used a Dremel, an X-Acto as a chisel, a mini-plane, and sandpaper to get the side rail smooth. As well, the bow and stern caps did not fit, so I cut my own from some left-over cherry wood.
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Next I started on the super structure. I used squares to hold the first 2 pieces together, then the next 2 pieces, and finally the assembly. I fit the partial assembly in the deck and found the superstructure was a bit too large. A little sanding on the superstructure and then on the deck itself was required. Nothing more than a half of a mm, except in the middle where the perpendicular plank overshot the hole. I stained all the parts, glued them together. A little more sanding, and a little more staining was required, but now it fits. Next, I will seal this super structure. After that, I worked on the companion ways. And finally, my new wood arrived, and I finished the deck.
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