GGibson

Began doing the stern and hull planking on this Santa Maria. I will remind viewers that this Pavel Nikitin Santa Maria kit comes with pre-shaped hull planks that are removed from the sheets provided. Here's what we begin with in order to plank the hull... I am beginning with the port side and the instructions have us placing the double-planked wale strips just below the deck line (in what they call position #14) on first and moving down to plank #1 at the keel. After the first couple planks, I realized that we should probably first place the planks on the stern section, as the hull planks will need to fit against the cedar stern planks. The stern planking went fairly smoothly until I discovered a problem with the diagonal planking that others working on this Pavel Nikitin kit and documenting on YouTube were having... all of the pre-cut diagonal planks on the transom were not long enough. To cure this, I added 3/32" square wood strips both vertically and horizontally to fill the gaps. There were still some of the planks that were still too short and those spaces will need to be filled with some wood filler during the sanding phase. The port side hull planking went fairly well. I did have to hold many of the planks under a stream of hot water to make the wood pliable enough to shape perfectly against the bulkheads. But the process worked quite well. There were a couple of the planks (#3 & #4 close to the keel) that were not quite long enough to meet the transom planking, but that will also be dealt with using some wood filler when we get to the sanding phase. Otherwise, edges of the planking at the stern will be sanded even with the transom. So, the port side lower planking is complete. I'll work on the lower starboard side next, then will work on the upper planking (Planks #15 and higher) on both sides. I will then sand and fill everything where needed. I haven't honestly become a big fan of this Pavel Nikitin kit. Definitely different with all of the pre-fabricated CNC pieces than what I have worked on previously and what I'll be doing in the future. But... I keep looking at what the finished product has a chance of looking like and continue moving forward. So, moving forward is what we shall do... Appreciate, as always, the follows, reads, likes, comments and criticisms.

I like the idea of some hooks or belaying pins on the bitts. Would be interesting if we could find some pictures showing how the rope is hung or set. Great question, Tom!

Looks really nice, Peter! Definitely worthy of the time. 👍🏆

Outstanding, Mustafa! Your work continues to impress.

DANG IT, Model Shipways!!!! Here I was all prepared to just try and finish what I have waiting in my shipyard, and NOT buy any more kits, and today I get an email from Model Shipways advertising the Mayflower, explaining that Master @Chuck Passaro fashioned the prototype and wrote the 52-page set of instructions... Now I have to seriously consider adding another iconic ship kit to my shipyard, right?!? 🤷‍♀️🤣 Model Shipways MAYFLOWER, 1620, 5/32 SCALE (1:76) EDIT: As I was looking more here on MSW, I realized that this Model Shipways Mayflower has been around for a few years (my newbie mistake thinking initially this was new), but still.... I'm excited!

Welcome to Model Ship World, Joanie! As you have already found out, MSW is an awesome resource and there are a ton of talented and knowledgeable fellow modelers here who are happy to help, point you in the right direction, and offer their insights. You are in a good place! I just finished my Model Shipways 1:64 version of the 1921 Bluenose (finished it without sails). I had a local Kansas City-area modeler in our local club who loaned me three books that I thought were all very helpful in my build journey. Johnny mentioned the L.B. Jenson book, which I probably used the most out of the three for research and information. The other two books, however, were also helpful in providing a lot of history and information regarding construction, including pictures. The other two books are Bluenose by Brain & Phil Backman and Bluenose & Bluenose II by R. Keith McLaren. I would also highly encourage you, if you haven't done so already, to look at the MANY Bluenose build logs here on MSW. I simply could not have completed my Bluenose without the prior build logs here by folks like genericDave, John Ruy, Ed Ku20, and others. Best wishes on your Bluenose! Take your time and make it the best you can. Frustration will sometimes rear its head, but take a day's break and hit hard again tomorrow. I had to continue telling myself "It's not a race, but a journey." Have fun, Joanie, and again, welcome to Model Ship World!

Another example of how I continue to learn from all three of you! Can't wait to start on my Constitution after seeing your collective works... 👍🏆

My Constitution is up on the shelf waiting its turn, as well, Hamilton. If we both get to this point in our builds at roughly the same time, help me remember where you bookmarked Unegawahya's tutorial... 🤷‍♀️🤣

Thanks for sharing your process on these canopy frames, Unegawahya! I will definitely refer to this when I get to this point on my Constitution... whenever that will be! 🤷‍♀️😄👍

DO YOU WANT US TO TALK LOUDER?!?!? 🤷‍♀️🤣 Hope the roof replacement project goes well!

Jon, do you think something like this square brass tube from K&S would work for you? With dimensions of 1/16" OD x 0.014" wall, even though it appears to be a square opening inside rather than round, if I'm doing calculations correctly, that would mean the interior hole would be slightly less than 1/32" square? Is that small enough for what you are needing? Square Brass Tube: 1/16" OD x 0.014" Wall x 12" Long (2 Pieces) – ksmetals

I had some recent surgery and a group of out-of-town relatives, knowing that I had the USS Constitution in my shipyard and would be working on it soon, purchased as a "get-well gift" Karl Heinz Marquardt's Anatomy of a Ship - The 44-Gun Frigate USS Constitution "Old Ironsides" book. Very nice of them!! Trouble is, I had already purchased the book several months ago in preparation of this build. So, I thanked them immensely for their kind gift and, rather than return it where they can see the return or selling it on any other social media where it can be seen, I thought I'd "secretly" sell it here on MSW, since I already have the book. I don't need two. It is currently selling on Amazon for $45. So, how about $30 OBO + a reasonable shipping cost if sent from the Kansas City area to another US address. Through PM, we can determine the best shipping option... USPS, UPS, FedEx, etc. If outside the US, we'll figure out best shipping options. Please PM me any interest in this book. Thanks!

Thanks, Neil! I hope it looks good after I'm done! 🤷‍♀️🤣👍

OK, another silly little update before I start on another major sub-project... After I finished planking the main deck, I wanted to look at how I was going to paint/stain each of the decks, the hull, and all of the fittings and other gear that will be placed on all of the applicable decks. Pavel Nikitin has a pretty detailed YouTube video (narrated by Olha Batchvarov) on how to paint the ship using his paint kit and an airbrush. I am still horrible at airbrushing, so I am going to opt for using stains (either wiping on or brushing on) in order to achieve similarly satisfactory results. I tested three (3) different stains with multiple coat options to see which ones I liked, and which ones would provide close to the appearance that Pavel achieved in his work. Here's what I landed on... This ship is painted/stained very dark. So, I found a Minwax Honey stain (bottom sample on the test sheet) that, after about 3-4 coats, looked like it would be a good finish for the exterior hull. We'll go with that. The middle sample stain is Minwax's Poly Shades Satin Antique Walnut, and the far-right sample represents 3 passes/coats. We'll use that for each of the decks. And finally, the top sample is Minwax's Poly Shades Satin Bombay Mahogany, and I will use it for the fittings, furnishings and other pieces that will be placed on the various decks. The third coat got pretty dark, so I'll judge that "on the fly" on how many coats each fitting receives. So, with that said, I began staining the main deck, as a large part of it will be inaccessible once we place the quarterdeck planking in its place. I have given it 3 coats of stain so far and may give it another coat or two before finishing. I think, though, that the subtle differences in shades between decking, hull and furnishings should look sharp (well, I hope so, anyways!). Also, before planking the quarterdeck, I will need to secure the cannons in their proper places while I can get to those spots. So, I thought I'd take a break before the planking project and work on the cannon carriages. The Pavel Nikitin kit provides small parts to build up a basic carriage unit and since all that will pretty much be visible once everything is built is each of the four (4) cannon muzzles extending slightly from the hull gunports, we will use the kit's carriage parts. A bit of sanding was required for pieces to fit, but everything seemed to come together nicely. We'll set these aside for now until ready to secure to the main deck. Interestingly, in the Anatomy of the Ship - The Ships of Christopher Columbus book by Xavier Pastor, there is no mention or depiction of cannons or gunports on the Santa Maria. But, as has been widely discussed, there are no actual "certified" drawings of the Santa Maria, so.... we'll call it designer's prerogative! <shrug> Before beginning the hull planking, Pavel provided some additional "layered blocking" at the stern to help support the hull planking at the front of the ship. These layered pieces required beveling so that there was a smooth curve for the planking to adhere to. That process worked well. So... we are now to the stage where we need to begin planking the hull. Pavel Nikitin's kit includes several sheets that include a bunch of pop-out CNC plank pieces. The instructions assist in showing which numbered planks go where. Others who have worked on this kit recently have indicated that some shaping may be necessary, whether heating or soaking or a combination of both, to fit the planks properly. Well, let the hull planking begin! I'll check back in as this process progresses. As always, appreciate the likes, comments and criticisms!

I'm very interested in that info, as well, Unegawahya! I have only been able to purchase the smaller scale brass rods and tubes (circular, not square) directly from K&S, although I have seen some inventory, but never the scale I was looking for, on sites like onlinemetals.com and metalsupermarkets.com. Appreciate the follow-up!

Agree that Joe is awesome!

The video paul ron posted helps in understanding how the proportional divider would work in a larger scale than what we are doing with model ships at anything from 1:64 to 1:96 scales, for example. I love seeing new tools being displayed (I'm a sucker for new tools) but would like to see an example of how the proportional divider would be used for something like our planking tasks. EDIT: I read the instructions on the MicroMark link regarding scale discussion and that, along with Wefalck's comments below, helps understand better how it would be used in our world. Thanks!...

Hey Jon! Great explanation of your process for these canopy stanchions. Hopefully, when I get to this point (probably 10 years from now at my speed), my Proxxon drill will work well in making those small drill holes. And, yes, I love K&S Metals and their brass rods. I have a decent supply already of the 0.51mm and 0.81mm rods, and I know where to get more if needed! Ha! Interesting info about the drill bits. I have the standard #61-#80 drill bit set, but also recently purchased a small supply of #65 & #75 Gyros premium HSS twist drill bits. Used one of the #65 bits awhile back and I recall it held up well with what I was cutting (not brass, though). Will be interested in hearing how your newly ordered bits do.

Continued amazing work, Mustafa! With all of your concentration lately working on the interior of your Constitution, it was especially nice to see some new exterior pictures in your latest post. Beautiful ship, sir!

Thank you, Peter! Appreciate the kind words. After this Santa Maria, the Constitution is the next one coming off my shelf. 👍

Another short update (or at least I'll try to make it short...) as I reach another transition point in this Santa Maria build. Time to plank the main deck! Of course, I began with the planks at the centerline and worked out both ways, alternating placement on the port side, then starboard. You will recall in the picture in the previous post with all of the main deck planks laid out, the centerline section of planks are in three sections. I lined up the two R & L center planks on the center line and in position with the bulkhead cut for the main mast drop. You can see there is a slight overlap discrepancy with the underlayment, but I'll take care of that, if needed, with a Dremel when we look at the main mast placement. But, with its placement there, you may be able to see that the two longer pre-cut planks do not line up properly with their neighboring planks for the hatchway placement. And, I found this to be the case with all of those planks on the aft side of center. After contemplating it for awhile and concerned about cutting into Pavel's designed kit, I decided to make the cuts. So, 4mm was cut from the following planks - 67-1/3R, 67-2/3R, 67-3R, 67-1/3L, 67-2/2L, 67-3L. As I continued with the deck plank placement, I decided to "pre-glue" the last six (6) outside planks on each side and then fit them in position with any necessary tapering done where needed in order for them to fit in with the best placement. That process seemed to work pretty well, and the finished main deck planking looked like this... There are some areas along the bulwarks that may need some scrap fill, but I will look at that when we look at completing those inner sides. You can also see in the above picture the layout of planks for the other three decks, as well. Before I start working on the quarterdeck placement including the support beams that will support the quarterdeck, it is probably smart to do some main deck staining and place the smaller hatchway, as that work will be impossible to get to after the quarterdeck is up. Also, I believe there are some cannons that will be located under the quarterdeck, as well, so determining their placement will be important now, too. So, I pulled out the laser-cut sheet that has the hatchway pieces on it. In the instruction drawings, it appears the two hatchways have some ring handles to open or remove the hatchways. The laser sheets have locations drilled or burned on a couple spots on boards, but not all of them. So, I'll mark and drill those, and then use some available eye pins and jump rings to create the handles, as I do not see those included in any of the kit boxes. So, I will work on these hatchways and the main deck staining. I have several different darker stains I am going to test on some scrap sheets to see what best replicates what Pavel achieved in his demo videos and pictures. We continue to move forward. As always, appreciate the reads, likes, comments, suggestions and criticisms. Thanks for peeking in.

Wasn't sure whether to post this here in the Tools discussion or in the Shore Leave "What Did You Receive Today?" forum, but decided here since it is... well... a pretty sharp tool! Saw this on someone's post, whether it was here on MSW or another forum, and I was intrigued, so had to order it. It has a nice wooden handle and 4 separate blades that can be attached. It comes with all four blades on the handle but you remove all but you are using. I'll keep all of them stored in a small plastic bin I have when not in use. There is a finger-nut on the other side of the screw to tighten the blade onto the holder. The four blades are: 52tpi Ultra Thin Kerf , 24tpi Keyhole Saber, 24tpi Large Saber, and 32tpi Fine Kerf. I know we all have acquired numerous types and sizes of blades and knives, but thought this was a good addition to what I already have. And, I have a large fine kerf saw that I use with a really nice steel miter box, but I lost the handle of the saw somewhere a while ago, so been using it without a handle for years. This will be much more comfortable!

One more (brief) update before we finish this section of construction... As mentioned briefly in my post above, I resolved my spacer issue by simply cutting off the single tab side and gluing a small shelf for the spacer to rest on using a couple small spare strips of 1/32"-square wood. This should work out OK. The last few bulkheads and corresponding spacers that needed to be added were a bit challenging to get set just right and secured properly, but after a couple "glue and unglue and re-glue" sessions, I believe we got it how it's supposed to look. One can never use too many clamps to make sure everything sets properly, right? As you have probably noted in these pictures I have posted so far, all of the parts in Pavel's kit have numbers lasered into the piece. On these last bulkheads 17, 18, 20, 21 & 22, I was having difficulty determining just how the spacers would be placed in order to have a natural (and correct) rise in bulkhead tops to create what will become the poop deck. This is how my spacer placement ended up... Port Side Between BH 17-18, Spacer 47R Facing Out Between BH 18-20, Spacer 48R Facing In Between BH 20-21, Spacer 49R Facing In Starboard Side Between BH 17-18, Spacer 47L Facing In Between BH 18-20, Spacer 48L Facing In Between BH 20-21, Spacer 49L Facing In & Upside Down We also placed some thin 1.3mm strips along the outside next to the bulwarks that I guess will serve as an underlayment, if you will, for the decking for the main deck, the quarterdeck and the poop deck. I did need to use the Dremel a bit to allow the pieces to fit snuggly in place. A few pictures of the ship after all of the initial framing is complete and before the decks are placed... Next up is placement of the deck planks, beginning with the main deck planking. I popped out all the laser-cut pieces from the sheets and laid them out to see how they were looking, and they seem to be ok. Having these deck planks pre-formed (hooked scarf joints and all!) is a huge time-saver. As with all of the other pieces in the Pavel Nikitin kit, you can see that the deck planks have numbers and locations laser-burned on the planks. One thing I should note here, as I don't think I've mentioned it before... you have seen that pieces are designated with numbers and either R or L. The R-designated pieces are placed on the port side of the ship, the L-designated pieces go on the starboard side, as if you were looking down the center of the ship from its bow. However, when placing these deck planks, we will flip them so the laser-burned markings are on the bottom. The "R" planks will be on the starboard side, the "L" planks on the port side. I'll let you know on how everything fits on the next update, I suppose! Fun to see this ship taking shape! I will trudge forward. As always, appreciate the reads, the likes, the comments, the advice and the criticism!

Thanks, Ronald & Bob both, for your perspectives and possible solutions. But, no, I had tried that "flip", but the single tab is still in an incorrect position, so... I've already chopped it off and glued a small knee "shelf" for that spacer. Details will be shown in my next update. You may be right on the future for these kit companies, Bob. I see that OcCre has been announcing an upcoming launch (their promotional email this morning says its 3 days away) that may incorporate some of these same designs. 🤷‍♂️

Another update! I have been working on the placement of each of the bulkheads along the former (thanks, Mustafa, for the proper vocabulary lesson!) and placement of the kit-provided battens or support reinforcements that are secured between each bulkhead. As I began through this build process and reviewed through the 90+ page pictorial Guide to Manual booklet (or at least the initial section pertaining to the bulkheads), several of the pages seemed out of place for me to follow. So... I reorganized the first few pages to make it easier for me. Pavel's instructions do say that on some of the pictures, you can see details from later steps of construction, but it was easier for my mind to process it all with at least these first few pages reorganized. My sorted page list is now... 1-4, 25, 5-9, 12, 10-11, 14-15, 26, 16-17, 27, 18, 28, 19-24, 29-30, 13, 31-33. With that said, on to my construction notes... First off, I sanded each of the bulkheads and their corresponding bulwarks as marked to the fairing lines indicated. This worked really well using the Dremel (outside!) and then smoothing with sandpaper. Each of the bulwark pieces are then glued to their respective bulkheads. I was impressed with the fit between each of the matching pieces, as they all fit snuggly with a nice thin glaze of Titebond. In addition to the bulwark attachments, bulkheads 2 & 3 on the fore end and bulwarks 11-16 on the aft end have little knees or supports glued in position to support decks that will be above them. Again, the fit on these were impressive. Kudos (so far) to the precision laser cutting. Bulkheads 1-3 were able to be assembled off-ship, with the kit-supplied battens or reinforcements placed and secured between bulkheads. The three assembled bulkheads were then able to be slid down into place onto the former. Nice fit, and the batten spacers seem to be helping quite a bit in solidifying the bulkheads in place. I, then, proceeded to move down the line, placing each bulkhead in its rightful spot and inserting the batten spacers between each bulkhead for support. After every two or three, I would spread some Titebond using a toothpickand use a mini-clamp to secure for a period of time. In the second picture below, you can see how each of the batten spacers are shaped with the tabs, two on one side, one on the other, that were inserted into the existing square holes. For each placement (especially for the second placement between the R & L sides) it was difficult to spread the bulkheads out away from each other enough for the tabs to pop into place. My routine was to insert the two-sided tab on the fore end and then spread the bulkheads enough for the single tab to pop in (I used small pliers to hold while positioning). And more on that in a second... I did fine on all of the inserts until one of the last bulkheads, and on bulkhead 16 I was attempting to spread wide enough to insert the support piece and... snap! The wood cracked on the left side of bulkhead 16. I forgot to take a picture of the "post-snap, pre-repair" bulkhead, but I took a couple small pieces of scrap from an empty sheet, glued on each side of the break and squeezed until the repair dried, and... I think that will work. My next concern that I ran into is one that I'm totally unclear why it appears this way, but think I know a resolution in order to move forward. Bulkhead 17 is one of the final bulkheads that will be placed on the ship and is different than its neighbor bulkhead 16. There is a batten spacer similar to the other spacers that needs to be placed in between. However, it appears to me (and I have positioned all of the affected parts in multiple positions, right-side up, upside down, pivoted 180 degrees, etc.) that the single tab on the #46 batten support (it's the same concern on both left and right sides) is in the wrong place for it to be inserted into the square hole on bulkhead 17. The double tabs will be placed in the two holes on bulkhead 16 (all marked with the blue X's). But, as the two bulkheads are placed in their proper positions on the former, bulkhead 17's square hole is to the inside of the inside hole on bulkhead 16! And, as it hopefully depicts in the picture, its tab on the 46R batten support is roughly in the middle of the two tabs on the fore side of the support. They ain't gonna fit! Does this explanation make sense? My resolution to this at this time is to simply cut off the single tab and, with some type of small strip of wood, glue a knee of shelf underneath where each of the 46R and 46L pieces should sit, and glue it all securely... and move on. Other than that latest little hiccup, it is all coming together well so far. Pavel's Santa Maria continues to be a ship that I look forward to getting more involved in and excited about as I continue forward. I think this has been a good selection for my 5th build, although as I said before, a bit different than the previous four builds. As always, thanks for the reads, the follows, the likes, the comments and the criticisms.