ERS Rich

Good Morning, Ebay is a quick way to find the value of a kit. In terms of dollar value, most likely an older kit is not worth very much. The kit could have educational value for your son. New kits are made with laser cut parts, which save the builder time because less work and skill are needed to prepare the parts. Older kits typically have the lines of parts printed sheet stock - which means it takes much time and skill to prepare them. This means older kits are less appealing, therefore less demand, therefore less value. That being said, if your son is interested, try building it. It could be a great learning experience. Model building teaches skills like following directions. understanding plans, instructions, and three dimensional relationships. And the satisfaction of seeing something built with your own hands. Cheers!

Smoothing the Planking Working on the starboard gun ports and planking is complete to the first full strake below the ports. Next step is smoothing the planks. Here the fishtail chisel is used as a scraper to lower the high spots. The chisel edge has a slight curve. This technique is useful for blending plank edges higher than their neighbor. And the pattern file is used to remove material right along the edge. Check progress by wiping the planks with a rag and alcohol - helps to get rid of the fuzzies. Working from the bow to stern, picture shows progress and work to be done. She’s a big model! I do want imperfections, to give the observer visual cues that the model is made of wood, and planked. Once built a model with a hull surface so smooth an observer that it was made of metal....

Hello J11, Thanks for the comment. One step at a time and learning on the way. First time building a multi deck/3 masted ship for me. Enjoy the springtime! Started work on the hatches and companionways - coamings specified in the kit as glued up strip wood but working on milling the rabbets in 7/32 x 5/32 stock. Stay tuned!

Lower Gunport Framing & Planking The lower sills were installed with 13/32” wide spacer blocks, height of the Gunport opening, against the upper sill. Next the side frames were cut on the table saw using the same spacer blocks to set the fence. The side frames were also aligned with a 9/16” block, which is the width of the Gunport. Wood tabs were glued to the Gunport backs to act as a backstop for the cannon. Planking 4 strakes down from the planksheer is straightforward. Planking ends 1/32” above the lower edge of the upper sill leaving a lip for the Gunport doors. Now is the time for final shaping/fairing of the bulkheads and the sills. Last photo shows blocks in Gunports with 1/32” stripping which establish the lip on the Gunport side frames during planking.

Lower Gunport Upper Sills Measured, cut, and dry fitted sills. Then glue and install in assembly line fashion. Used a spacer block 17/32” wide for uniform spacing from the bottom of the planksheer to the top of the sill. Sill between bulkheads A and B required a bevel cut, so used the protractor as a guide for marking the board. Aligned the mitre gauge by lining up the line on the board with the table saw slot edge. Last photo shows sills installed. They are the boards below the plank sheer.

Leveling the Bulwarks Using this setup to level the heights of the bulwarks athwartship, port and starboard. First photo shows the combination square sitting on the bench top, with the stem clamped to it. My bench is level. The torpedo level shows the first set of sills are level. Second shot shows torpedo level on next set of bulwarks aft, and port side is a little high, so will file it down. And will proceed aft along the bulwarks and repeat.

Hello and welcome to the forum. I’m originally from Norristown and miss the pizza! Good luck with your first project. A ship with a single mast is a great place to start! Always around to answer a question.

Hello Reynard, welcome to the forum. Always available to answer a question. Have a great day.

Hello and greetings from Boston, USA. Always open to answering a question. Have fun and happy springtime!

Hello, the paint, shading, and rope work is convincing. Sometimes I get tired of processing wood and your work shows there is an alternative. Thank you for taking the time to post. Have a good day.

Bulwark Completion Wrapped up the bulwarks. Installed over 120 planks to complete the inside of the bulwarks. Methodology pretty simple. Measure width with the calipers and cut planks with the Byrnes saw. Used the pattern file to smooth the gun port edges. Also laid the file across the sills, from side to side, to even the sills. See second photo. At the bow it was time to fair the bulkhead extensions. Essential to steam bend the bow bulwark planking. Spent some time thinking about the stern bulwark planking and the port and starboard counter extensions. To get the correct angle, made the planks extra long, clamped the extensions to the planks, then used the mini saw to cutout the ends of the bulwark planks and the planksheer. See the photo with the blue clamp. Along the way cutout the openings for the catheads. Cut inside opening first after framing, then planked over the outside, and cut inside out. Little holes are visible, from drilling to get started with removing the waste from the opening. Overall I’m happy with the result, however found I made a mistake as the planksheer port and starboard side aft are out of alignment vertically a little less than a 1/16”. I think it will be covered by the stern galleries.

This looking nice....now the USS Perry, no longer the USS Putty! Cheers!

Hello, a really nice ship model. I like the look and feel overall and the deck in particular. Enjoy your rides, still a little early, but today is a warm day in Massachusetts. We’ll be riding soon. Have this kit on the shelf and will use your work for guidance. Thanks for posting.

Hello, greetings from Massachusetts! Welcome aboard and I’m always open to answering a question. Cheers!

Greetings from Boston USA, Stereo microscope! Wow! Thank you for showing how it’s done. Would you happen to know where one could purchase a Jewelers Lathe? Cheers

Final coat of furniture paste wax is also an option....easy to apply, ready quickly, a traditional wood finish, looks good.... Coating wood with plastic, that’s what poly is, seems incongruous with a ship model, and I hate the hazardous waste.... My personal preference is shellac or stain under acrylics (painted finish) or stain/wax (unpainted finish). Cheers

Hello, When shipbuilding in all things, I pick the color that appeals to me.... One of my professions is cabinet making, so based on my work with pine, 1 or 2 look ok.... And we know in real life, based on the finish, how old it is, and how well it’s maintained there is no one true mast color.... Therefore I just pick what makes sense to me.... Thank you.

1 or 2 look good to me....however in life the color variations are infinite.... Cheers

Gun Port Cleanup and Bulwark Prep Some gaps to fill in the bulwarks. I avoid sanding whenever possible. Mask the area. Fill with plastic wood. Peel masking tape before drying. Remove chunks with chisel and smooth with sandpaper. Last few ports were cut with a Tamiya mini saw. I like to chisel for the practice, however, going forward will use the mini saws. Pattern file used to smooth gun port sides and sill. Safe sides are helpful. Tip: when working the gun port sides, cut and file from the inside out to avoid tearing the wood fibers on the bulwark board ends. Tamiya razor saw used to cutoff extensions.

It took me quite a while to get it....I’m the guy who needs to make all the mistakes before getting it right....

Hi, About priming with shellac....go with a light coat, too much will form too smooth of a layer....unless that’s the goal. I like to have a little wood texture....to give the viewer a visual clue that they are looking at wood.... Wood stain works as well... Thank you

Hi, Just jumping in here.....I’ve lived through this. 🤔 The general issue here is the planks are not tapered at the fore and aft ends.....so say at the aft end the plank needed to be pulled toward the keel to fit against it’s upper neighbor....notice instead of sweeping up aft into the stern, the shape is a frown...notice at the bow, the plank is sweeping up.... The garboard plank is generally thin amidships and fat at the bow.... Here was a big idea that helped me understand what can be done with a plank....a plank laid across the bulkheads can only be naturally pressed down onto the neighboring bulkhead (plank sweeps up), or twisted. Planks cannot be pushed up or down towards the keel or deck because that will warp the plank. So if you find the plank needs to be pulled down, say towards the keel, to fit against it’s neighbor, the plank must be tapered. If a plank is laid and there is a gap, the planked can’t be pushed up or down to close the gap, a filler piece or stealer is needed. So what to do here and now? While the result may not be idea, you can still get a great result with what you have. Have to go with a painted hull. Hull planking does not need to be perfect, because it will be viewed from above and down. And the interior of that boat is where the action is, the viewers eye will be drawn towards the interior. Plank the remainder of the hull with short pieces. At the stern it looks like it will be wedge shaped planks. Try dots of CA on the bulkheads and carpenters glue on the edges. Is there a stem piece? Install if there is. Next sand the hull to smooth the plank edges. Easy with 150 grit, then 220. Vacuum the hull and clean it up with rubbing alcohol. Next fill in the gaps. I like to mask around the gaps and fill with plastic wood - DAP. Go with very small amounts of filler. The last thing you want to do is cover the hull with a layer of filler. A pain in the neck to sand it all off. I would then prime the hull with rattle can shellac. Rub it out with steel wool. You’re going for a relatively smooth surface, no major depressions. Mask and fill again. At this point I like to use something called Gesso. Artists use it to seal canvas prior to painting. It’s an acrylic with fine gypsum. It’s cheap and easy to apply. It gives a uniform surface. Then mask and paint as normal. Looking forward to seeing how it goes. Thanks.

A way to deal with the taunt line makes another line go slack problem....rig the line to the belay point, then run the line over the side and weight it with a clip.....this allows for adjustments, after all lines are rigged fix them to the belay point.... Cheers!

Looking good Daniel....deck markings are nice!