Matrim

Looking for my next project and would appreciate suggestions.
I completed Model Shipways Bluenose II last year and have been working on MSW Pride of Baltimore and I'm into rigging and expect completion in q few weeks. (With Covid/stay at home I'm putting in 3-5 hours a day).
I think I'm ready for something more challenging for my next ship.
I love the lines of the schooners and don't really care for fancy "ornamental" looking ships. The 1:64 was perfect for my fingers and eyesight so I want to stay with large scale. Both of my builds are plank on bulkhead and I like that but may be ready for plank on frame if its a really nice ship.  I'm not an engineer and need good plans and instructions.
Please make any suggestions you can and thank you for your time.

Why don't you try the new HMS Flirt from Vanguard Models?
 
Currently on pre-order, but released very soon.  https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/product/order-164-hms-flirt/
 
Check the build link in my signature. 

Lining out for planking involves two separate steps. The first is scientific: dividing the surface to be covered into equal width belts. (I suggest four.) The second is art: looking at the hull from all angles and adjusting the belt divisions into visually pleasing lines. Read the planking primers on this site for full details. Also I suggest using black thread rather than wood strips.

Welcome.. it's also nice to have another scratch builder join! I think the thought of it scares some people (though some of the kits out nowadays are just amazing so I can see both sides)

Welcome.. it's also nice to have another scratch builder join! I think the thought of it scares some people (though some of the kits out nowadays are just amazing so I can see both sides)

Welcome.. it's also nice to have another scratch builder join! I think the thought of it scares some people (though some of the kits out nowadays are just amazing so I can see both sides)

Welcome.. it's also nice to have another scratch builder join! I think the thought of it scares some people (though some of the kits out nowadays are just amazing so I can see both sides)

Jamie, that is a puzzler. I don't see why or how you would fair bulkheads unless they were glued in place since they need to be faired in relationship to one another. Blocking you can either install before fairing or after fairing and the fair them in. I prefer putting the blocking in first and just fair once.

It does call for them to be installed in the bulkhead former, just not glued in until done fairing.  I think I’m going to deviate from the instructions and glue and block first, as you describe.  There’s really nothing I can’t sand or shape just because it’s glued up.
 
 

I recently built Model Shipways Picket Boat. The fairing lines were laser marked and I used a belt sander to do an initial fair before installing them and a final hand sanding once installed, saved a lot of hand sanding! See post #3 in this thread.   
 

Beginner question here, but I’m getting ready to install bulkheads, and the instructions say to fair the bulkheads before glueing them in or installing blocking. I would think the bulkheads are going to be moving around if not glued in and supported, leading to a poor fairing.  What would be the reason for that order and what would be downside if I glued them in first?

This is the start of my second build, the ‘18th Century Long Boat’ by Model Shipways.

I had bought this boat prior to reading some threads on this web site, which convinced me that my first build should be the ‘Lowell Grand Banks Dory’ by Shipways.  This model was a fantastic first build; it was cheap, simple in design, covered a number of needed skills for the future, and allowed me to make a lot of mistakes on a cheap model.  Even with the errors, I was very satisfied with the outcome and enjoyed the build.
 
Actually, my first wood boat was a Model Shipways solid hull that I tried to build about 20 years ago.  I never got past shaping the hull.  I tried to start it a few times and always got frustrated since I didn’t know what to do or how to finish the hull.  Now with COVID, I started building plastic airplane models again which I enjoy very much.  But I wanted to do something different and thought about wood ship models.  I always like how they looked in stores and really enjoyed them in the U.S. Naval Academy museum.
 
So here I am with my second build, the ‘18th Century Long Boat’.  I’ve tried to apply what I learned from t he Lowell Grand Banks Dory and this web site.
 
 
 
 
 
False Keel: not sure I got the rabbet right, did it all by just sanding, we’ll see when I start planking.  For a model that I’m sure a lot of beginners build, the instructions could use a lot more pictures.  Didn’t look at other build logs until now.

Attaching the Bulkheads: I built a simple jig to hold the keel while I glued the bulkhead on, learned that from this site.  I applied a lot that I learned about the importance of getting the bulkheads plum and level from my first build and tried to apply here.  I relied on a small 1/64 metal scale I had from the old days and did a lot of measurements on each bulkhead while the wood glue was setting.  I also glued scrap wood pieces to the top of the waste bulkheads to keep them plum/level.  This work extremely well since I could not figure a way to hold the bulkheads with the few clamps I have.  Learned this from other build logs.

Hi all,
 
It's a few weeks since I last posted, and lots has happened in the shipyard. 
 
Fighting tops
 
I wanted to finish off the fighting tops, so I could get shrouds in place, and start the (significant) job of the ratlines. That meant constructing the barrier at the back of the fighting tops. I was concerned that wood would be a little vulnerable in that position as I rigged the ship. Also, I suspected that the ship itself had metal posts, and not wooden uprights, so I ordered the smallest square brass cross-section I could fine, and set about soldering them with a little jig made using balsa and pins.
 

 

 

 
Burton pendants
 
These are added to the mast before the shrouds - made of 1.25mm thread, tied with .25mm thread and secured with watered down Aliphatic glue (carpenters PVA).  My understanding is that they're attachments to which temporary rigging can be fixed when necessary.
 
Starboard first, Larboard second  for the main and fore, one hanging down on either side on the mizzen mast. That was achieved by unravelling the rope in the centre by twisting it - passing it round the mast, and then letting it spring back.
 

 

 
Shrouds
 
Again, a starboard pair, then a larboard pair - starting at the front and working back. I used 1.25mm black rope for these. (The recommended 1mm looked a bit weedy to me!)
 

 

 
It's worth noting at this point that if the shrouds don't sit on top of each other, but sit side by side (i.e. the higher loops are bigger and sit down around the lower) - you may run out of space between main and top masts, and it will force the base of the topmast forward, thereby stopping the two from being parallel. Thankfully, when I checked this hadn't proven an issue, but it almost caught me out, so hopefully others will avoid the dilemma.
 
Bent steel wire was used for spacers on the deadeyes whilst rigging the shrouds... I found the recommended brass wire both too large in diameter for the deadeyes, and suspected the wire I had might be too soft. 
 

 
As you can see below, I rigged the lanyards on one side of each shroud pair first, before I secured the other end of the shroud so that I could be confident of the length. As it was, I think I still left the shrouds a little loose, but I didn't want to pull the chainwale off the side of the hull causing all sorts of inglorious muttering and holding of head in hands.
 

 

 
As running rigging, the lanyards were 0.5mm light rope, and I'm quite pleased with the contrast... 
 
Rattling down the ratlines
 
I wanted to learn serving, and rope-making, but those are going to have to wait for the next model
 
DISCLAIMER: Now comes the controversial bit. Bear with me here. I've used both light and dark rope in the past for ratlines. I like the light. It's a personal choice. I know it's showy. And this is a showy frigate... just look at the paintwork - the captain would rightly have been proud of this crack frigate... so I've gone with untarred manila! I know it's probably not the right colour, but hey... it's my model  And I really like the effect it made on my Pickle schooner... Sherborne and Royal Yacht Caroline both look great with black ratlines, but I also found the 0.1mm thread much easier to get neat scale tidy ratlines with... So. That's the decision. I'm 1200 knots in, so the decision is well and truly made... and I'm not about to go anywhere near this model with india ink (as the instructions suggest) - I'm simply not brave / foolish enough to attempt it over neat maple decks.
 
With that said, I printed off a bunch of CAD sheets with lines 5.8mm apart, and used these as the guides. Here are the pictures of progress so far.
 
It always takes me a bit of head-scratching to remind myself what a clove hitch looks like... (at least the way I do them  - am I wrong again?) 
 

 

 
And an inspection of the work so far... I find by applying watered down PVA to each row as I finish it, the whole thing stiffens up quite well, and as I go it gets quicker... This way I can pull out the tension as it shrinks, too and avoid the whole thing bowing in and becoming curved along its length. (to some extent at least...)
 

Introduction
 
It’s time to attempt something I’ve been wanting to have a go at for a long time. A frigate of the napoleonic era. Having spent a lot of time looking round, I decided that I had neither the tools, the time, nor the expertise currently to complete a fully-framed scratch build. I was drawn by Chuck Passaro’s HMS Winchelsea, not least because I am sure the instructions when they are released will be utterly brilliant and the builds look beautiful so far, however at the time of writing the prototype is not yet completed. Given these factors, added to the expense and difficulty in sourcing good quality wood in the UK, I came back to model kits. I hope to keep on dabbling in scratch building though, and I have a cross-section of Triton underway for that purpose.
I wanted to build a model in 1:64, partly because it would give a good contrast to the boats I already have in the house, which are of the same scale. I looked at Victory Models, however, though there Pegasus and Fly models are very handsome in their own rights, I could not reconcile that they were not quite Frigate enough in my mind to fit the bill.
Having built two of Caldercraft’s models in the past (HM Schooner Pickle and HM Cutter Sherbourne), I was keen to come back to the same manufacturer, as I have found their models to be rewarding to build, and to have a level of detail that is manageable, but results in great looking models.
Sadly, HMS Surprise, though prototyped, has not been released by Caldercraft so that was not an option, though I am a great fan of the Aubrey / Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. However, Caldercraft do have another Frigate already in their line-up. HMS Diana. An Artois-class Heavy Frigate of 38 guns.
Having seen other builds of sister-ships on ModelShipWorld.com, and since I am married to a Classicist, my interest was piqued by the other boats in the class, and I settled on Ethalion – built in 1797. In part because I didn’t really want a scantily clad woman glued to the front of the boat when I finished it, and Ethalion brings the possibility of a dolphin.
Once that was decided, it was time to break out google and a some books, and try and track down firstly, who Ethalion was, and secondly some of the history of this particular HMS Ethalion.

Thank you for the advice Backer I have made another filler block in the next frame along and can see from that the shape of the bow is wrong  easily fixed with a little sanding. 

Sails need to be made by themselves, but not sewn,I'll give you a tool for cutting cloth
First of all, you need to color the cloth, then sizing and hardening
Smooth with an iron and cut into strips
Then stick the strips together,You can get a sail

Ok, I've had a play with your settings. See if that works now. 

Mike, when a line has the type of construction line ( ----) that means most of the time it's behind like, a hidden line.
The running yard should be behind the sails, if I am correct.

This is Enterprise 1799. The rope pointed out in the diagram. If I read it correctly it would be siezed to the yard then run down the front side of the sail to the corner then under and back up the back side to the block? Or maybe under the sail into that block at the foot and then back up? Seems like a rope running down the front of a sail could keep it from filling properly.
 
Hope someone can set me straight....
 

Nice to have you with us. It can be a very satisfying hobby, I would also recommend starting a build log as it is a good way to get assistance and helps mark your own progress (which in years to come you will be pleased to look back on)

(the post numbers by the way are at the top right of the post in format #9  - that post is on page 7 on my browser.
 
It basically shows how many very strong plans designers are on the site and are willing to discuss and assist. One of the strengths of NMM and we are lucky to have them all (I dont want to imagine how wrong my plans would be without their assistance..) . Plus it reminds me how fun drawing ship plans can be. You can such a sense of progress..

This looks like a pretty clear statement on the subject:

 
... from page 179 of Naval Architecture: A Treatise on Laying Off and Building Wood, Iron, and Composite Ships (1876)
by Samuel James Pope Thearle Naval Architecture- A Treatise on Laying Off and Building Wood, Iron, and Composite Ships 1876.pdf Writing in 1876 his wording indicates he is describing an outdated practice but does not nail down when it was in use.

(the post numbers by the way are at the top right of the post in format #9  - that post is on page 7 on my browser.
 
It basically shows how many very strong plans designers are on the site and are willing to discuss and assist. One of the strengths of NMM and we are lucky to have them all (I dont want to imagine how wrong my plans would be without their assistance..) . Plus it reminds me how fun drawing ship plans can be. You can such a sense of progress..