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Quick progress update. Yard with main sail is now hanging at its place.




 
 

Time for an update in this build log.
I've managed to make shrouds. During tensioning unfortunetly one of the horizontal bars on sides came unglued which forced me to redo whole thing. Because of this setback I lost interest in the build for a couple of months. Finally recently I've managed to return to the build.
For blocks instead of using kit parts I've aquired laser cut parts from Shipyard. All ropes are made with cotton thread, stained with acrylic paints and then treated with beeswax. Anchor cable made from 1mm cotton line also from Shipyard.
Cargo was not included in the kit ;).




 
Finish is near as I need to only hang sails and fix all ropes in place.
 
 

Before I start rigging this boat I need to decide on the colour of rigging. For this purpose I've temporaily fitted yard with main sail. I've prepred three sets of sails for this vessel, each set in slightly different shade:
 



At first I wanted to use third option. But now after trying all of them I am hesitating between 1 and 3. I can delay this decision for a bit becuse I need to make new yard. This one is unfortunetly bent in upper part.
 
 
 

@BobG
I'm using many different kinds of glue. Below my list with brands that are available in Poland.
1. PVA - general use, putting together hull frame, planking and all that jazz. Because it contains water I don't use it to laminate larger areas on thicker cardstock, as it warrants shrinking and wrapping (ask me how I now :)). I like to use Pattex Express.
2. Contact glue, shoemarkers glue (at least I think that is how it is called in english) - chloroneoprene based glue. I use it to laminate larger areas as it does not contain water. For example I've used it to laminate frame parts onto 1mm card stock, also laminated planks to 0,5mm thickness with it. Many card modelers in Poland glue whole models with it, but I don't like its smell (and it is toxic, so use ventilation). I also sometimes glue metal parts with it (if I'm not in a hurry). I use Pattex Classic (it has classic yellow colour) or Pattex Butapren Bezbarwny (Clear). I think that outside of Poland you can find Butapren made by Dragon, as they export it, but I would caution against it. I've read on Polish card modelers forums that it can fall apart after two - three years.
3. CA glue, thin and gel - as fast contact glue for metal parts. Thin glue seeps nicely into cardstock making it hard and nice to sand. The darker areas on hull frame in my first post are evidence of me using CA in this manner. But I am trying to move away from this glue as I think I've developed allergy to it, and my painters mask with charcoal filter is not helping.
4. Two part clear 5 minute epoxy glue - I am exploring it as alternative to CA glue for metal parts. Currently I'am testing some pattex brand.
 
As for sanding, with parts soaked with CA it is no problem. But you cannot soak with CA everything. The more dense the cardstock, the easier it is to sand without much worry. For example plank edges were carefully sanded with 180 grit sandpaper, without soaking with CA, to achieve better fit between them. After sanding I've painted/touched up edges with vallejho acrylics.
Before I start cutting up any kit I cover both sides of every sheet with nitro based varnish - brand of my choice - Capon. I apply it with brush, I try to avoid making brush streaks (at least they don't seem to be visible on photos, and final varnish covers them). With nitro you need to perform test with every kit, as it can dissolve print. If I had airbrush I would probably switch to humbrol clear varnishes (after performing some tests).
All touch ups are made with thin paintbrush.
I don't own airbrush yet and because of this I am forced to use varnishes in rattle cans to cover model with final protecting coats.
 
@GrandpaPhil
I've never scratch built, but I've managed to butcher quite some number of not so good quality paper kits before
 
@druxey
Thx, have a seat

Current look with mast and bowsprit dry fitted (I need bigger shadeless tent :)).


From original kit only anchors are left to do. Then I can start to rig this vessel.
I've covered model with acrylic varnish. Two layers of glossy, and one of matt coat. Unfortunetly it came a bit too thick. I've used AK Interactive Spray.

Hello.
It is time to dust off build log for long overdue update.
For almost past two months I've tried to finish all the details and prepare for rigging.
Bow came first. It called for bending and glueing quite long and thin beams. After some tries on photocopied parts I've decided to cut parts along bend lines, then use this cuts and laminate them on beams made from cardstock. I think that pictures will describe it better.
 
Parts in 2D

After initial assembly, prepared to attach to boat:

Bow ready:


Next came stern construction with rudder fin


I have also finished mast and cargo hatch covers

Mast and cargo hatch covers are not yet glued in.

Time for another small update.
I've managed to make some detailing work on the deck. I've also decided to replace floor in cargo hold - I've messed a bit during gluing previous version. New one is made of pear veneer stained as dark oak.
 
Capstan and companion. I am not going to fit capstan bars into capstan itself, but I wonder where it could be stowed in reality, near sides or under the deck.

Pump:

Capstan and pump are not yet glued in so I can remove and not damage them during future works.

 
And here how it looks now.

Hello, some time has passed since last update.
I haven't made much progress, but build still goes well. I've managed to add railing (correct word?) on top of sides. Most boring part was fitting, cutting and gluing bulkhead extensions under the railing. I've also made some details in the bow section of the deck. If anybody is going to build this kit I suggest to not adhere here strictly to parts numbering. The curved beam in the bow section has number 74, and parts that cover it on the sides have number 67. There is also minor printing error. As you can see there is number 75 printed in bow section, and not covered by anything. Part 75 is actually this square hatch under curved beam. I need to figure out how to cover it later, maybe some rope coil or something.
 


I'm thinking about making mast and yard. As a test I've made one mast with lemon wood, but I'm not sure if it is good wood for this application. I'm waiting for delivery of some spruce and birch wood to test and figure out what to use.

It is time for another small update, I've managed to finish planking the sides. I'am quite happy with the result. I've made some errors but they are not that noticeable.
 
This is how it looked like a week ago:

And this is how it looks now:
 



Now it is time to add some details.
 

Small update. Deck has been glued on. Dry fitting was a bit tricky, because it needed to be shaped like saddle, but once glue was added into equation it went without problems.

Keel, bow and stern were covered.
 

Until next time.
 

Great work so far -- glad to see another card build around here!

After first layer was finished it was time for final planking. This is how build looks currently, after first stage according to build instructions.

Until next time.

After some sanding it was time to cover the hull frame with first layer of skin. Deck and bottom support was glued as well.

 

Hi.
I would like to present you my current build - Allege d'Arles published by WAK in Poland. Card kit was designed by Tomasz Weremko who is lurking on this forum under the name of 0Seahorse.
 
I made quite a few card kits in my teenage years, but this is my second ever build of sailing ship (first being Koga Elbląska). I hope you will find this build interesting and that we can learn something new together.
 
According to short brief in kit, Allege d'Alres where small, 25 - 30 meters long merchant vessels used near Rhone estuary on the Mediterranean coast of France.
 
Cover of the kit:

Hull frame:

More to follow.
 
 

The “falucho” is already finished.
I hope you like it.
Cheers,
 
Javier

Here's a video of this amazing guitar... 

Rudder fail. I originally cut the rudder even with the waterline, with the intention of pinning the underwater part to the base and then attaching the top part after the last pour. I pinned it to the bottom, and of course after the first 3/4" of pours it floated loose, totally soaked in resin and unusable. Now I have to wait for the resin to harden completely and then rout a groove for the bottom of the rudder (of course I'll have to make a new piece). Oh well, this was the only real problem I had, and with some effort I think I can make it look right.

Thanks, Bob! Dioramas are a lot of fun and can really complement a model.
   I've found that mica powder is the best for tinting about anything. It's very concentrated and finely ground, and blends evenly. I got a set of 24 tints, I used the middle two in the picture on the first pour only. I did most of my pre-shading of the riverbed beforehand with paint, washes and dry-brushing. I wouldn't use paint or food coloring, you might get unpredictable results with the resin not hardening or fish-eyeing. Mica powder comes in some pretty crazy types: sparkle, pearl, candy, metallic and a lot of colors. It's pretty cheap, and it's so concentrated it'll last forever.

   
   Very cool! The mica tints would be perfect. There are tons of good YouTube videos of people making "river" coffee tables that use graduated tint techniques that would apply to your didgeridoos. You have some very interesting hobbies, Bob... If you're didgeridoos are anything like your Medway Longboat, I'll bet they're sweet!

Hi all,
   Final pours done. The draft ended up about 3/4", and the total depth about 1-1/4". I ended up using the whole gallon, about seven pours total. To facilitate handling the boat, I removed most of the furniture and cannons. I was lucky... the Tyvek and Vaseline trick worked, the only moderate resistance when I removed the boat was some suction (probably the Vaseline). As the final coat set, I poked and prodded it to simulate ripples and swells. After the resin finally sets (about 72 hours) I'll start with the gloss ModPodge to detail out the ripples and edges of the resin where it meets the boat. After that, I'll add the soil, foliage, trees and grass and touch up where the water meets the shore.
   Now that the hull is finally fitted to the base, I can start completing the boat. All the furniture, masts, fittings and cargo are done, and just need attaching. After that, I'll start rigging. I'm so happy to have achieved this milestone, I was so afraid the boat would be permanently stuck to the base... that would have been very bad...
 
Here's some pics... I like the sun reflections off the water on the hull.








 

After cutting new channels to accommodate the topgallant backstays, here they are test fit to the hull.  On the foremast, the last channel, which accommodates the topmast backstays and topgallant backstays, is narrower.  I saw this detail on Glenn Greico's Jefferson model.  I was less sure what to do on the second channel for the mainmast, which has a foremast shroud, the topmast backstays, and the topgallant backstays.  In the end, I decided to notch it back, rather than taper it, reasoning that that way, the chainplate links for the topmast backstay deadeyes would be more consistent, and the deadeyes themselves would be straight in a row, parallel to the rail.   Perhaps a wrong guess there, but Glenn's photos didn't show a similar situation! 
 
Here they are test fit--

 
Next I made card templates to set the mast rake angles.  The bottom edge goes on deck, or at least parallel to it if there are hatches in the way.  The left edge is the rake of the mast--

 
My foremast was right on, so I attached a string at the height of the platform--

 
Then I marked the location and angle of the preventer plates on the wale--


When I got to the narrower channel with the topmast deadeyes, I realized I couldn't mark the chainplate links.  Those angles need to come from the crosstrees of the topmast!   So more mast building needs to happen, or at least something rigged up to the correct location to run a string.
 
I then checked the rake of the mainmast, and was surprised to see how far off it was.  I double checked the template, because it seems like a big difference--

 
I'll need to work on the mast partner piece, as it's a snug fit to the present angle of the mast with not that much play.   I may be able to file it to work, if not I'll need a new one of those.
 
Ron
 
 

Afternoon Quickie 
Cutty Sark drying her sails. In the days before becoming a tourist attraction she was a hard working vessel in the Tea and wool trade.
19” X 7”
Jim
 

Hey all,
The pours have begun!!!
   First, I put the resin in a sink full of hot water and let it sit for about an hour. I attached the dams, and Tyvek'ed the boat and dam sides. Then I put the base out in the sun to get good and warm. After everything was nice and toasty, I got all the stuff ready for the pours. I attached the boat to the base with three screws to keep it stable. Don't want it to float away!!!

 
   I started at 9 AM, hoping to get at least three to four 1/8" deep pours done. Most 1:1 epoxies (if it's a warm day, it's 80 deg F here, and sunny) can be re-coated in about 2 hours, so I hoped I could pour to the bottom of the rudder today.
 
   The rudder is a separate challenge, as I will have to cut off and embed the part of it that will be under water. I'll drill locating pins in the resin and also the upper part of the rudder so everything will align properly when the final pours are done tomorrow.
   
   Here's the procedure I followed (from the brand I used, but the method is similar for most 1:1 resins). First, I mixed up 4+4 oz. of resin to use as a seal coat. Measure by volume, and stir until the mixture is no longer milky. I then used a disposable brush to apply the seal coat over all the base that would be under water. I did find one small leak in the lower front corner, easily fixed by a toothpick pushed into the gap. When the seal coat was tacky but not sticky (use a cotton swab... if it tacks but doesn't pull cotton away it's OK for the next pour). For my first flood pour, I mixed 8 oz. of resin and tinted it a tiny amount with some green and brown mica powder. I poured some resin in all four corners of the river bed, and evened it all out with a craft stick and toothpick. I was lucky, the seal coat worked well and because all the materials were quite warm, I didn't have any major bubble trouble. The ones that did pop up were easily removed with a heat gun. 
   
   Doing four more 8 oz. pours, I was able to pour up to the bottom of the rudder (total pour depth so far about 5/8", or half way there). The resin is hardening nicely, even and smooth. The base did get pretty hot as the resin set, but it's cooled off with no apparent damage to the boat. The part I'm apprehensive about is the boat sticking to the base. In a few hours, I'll attempt to remove the boat, we'll see if all my precautions worked... (fingers and all appendages crossed...).
 
   Here's some shots after today's pours:




 

Now it was time to tackle something that I had never done before, coppering the hull!  I spent a lot of time combing through all of my books, magazines, MSW and finally the internet for needed details.  All in all, I came up with my own method.  Sorry, but I didn’t take any pictures of this process.
     Rather than trying to split the copper tape that came with the kit which would leave me with a scaled 12” width which would leave me with no overlap, I just bought some copper tape used for stained glass work from Hobby Lobby instead that was 5/32” wide.  That’s very close to 14” at scale which was the actual width of the copper plates on the ship. I decided against trying to indicate the nails on the plates for two reasons.  For one thing, they would be very tiny at this small scale.   And two, since they were hammered in flat they would leave very little visible evidence that they were even there.  So cutting them to the proper length of 50” at scale was all that was required.
    I started by mass producing the individual plates by simply stretching out the tape and stepping off tic marks on the edge of the plates with my old drafting dividers with the opening set at that scale 50” length.  Once the tape was marked, I simply cut them with a pair of scissors, being careful to make the cuts perpendicular to the edge.   The only tedious part of making individual plates was separating the cut plates from the backing paper.  It required a steady hand with a sharp scalpel and a lighted optivisor on your head to see what you’re doing.                              
        Just drawing the layout for the coppering on the hull was the next problem to solve.  Since the exposed width of the plates was 12” at scale, I locked a pair of my old drafting dividers at 1/8” and I inserted the shouldered points into both legs to keep from poking the points too far into the wood.   The lines of the strakes were then laid out by placing the bottom leg on the previous line with the other leg held perpendicular to that line and poking a hole into the hull with the upper leg, spaced about every ¼” along that line.  When done, I just connected the poke marks with a flexible straight edge and a pencil forming the new line parallel to the previous line.  This allowed me to leave a scale 12” exposure and still have a slight overlap.
     As near as I could determine from the plans, the gore line between the upper and lower belts was a line that more or less ran parallel with the keel from around the midpoint of the hull and then curved up to within to about a strake or so below the waterline at the sternpost.  So basically, this lower belt just covered the skeg of the hull.  The next strake of plates continued up the hull until it overlapped the gore line.  I ran the plates just beyond this line and trimmed them off so there was a slight overlap with the upper belt.
     The first strake was started along the bottom edge of the keel which allowed the first plate to reach the knuckle of the hull and run up onto the hull itself a bit.  Then the next strake would start at that knuckle, thereby overlapping that first strake.  From there on, I just kept on marking one strake at a time parallel to the keel until I reached the gore line of the upper belt.  From there on the strakes were marked parallel to the gore line of the belt.  I continued this procedure, alternating port and starboard sides of the hull to ensure the layouts would align with each other at bow and stern.   Once I had all of the strakes drawn on the hull, the area to be coppered was given two coats of polyethylene and sanded smooth to ensure a good bond with the tapes adhesive.   
    At this point I noticed that I seemed to have forgotten to make the rudder, so I glued up three pieces of 1/8” basswood and filed it to the proper shape.  Rounding the rudder post portion, I left it extended about 3/8” to fit into its hole in the hull.   Notches were filed for the hinge joint.  The very upper portion that was above the waterline was painted hull black and the coppered portion was given two coats of poly.  I decided to make the pintles and gudgeons from brass rather than the paper suggested in the kit, so I needed to bone up a bit on making ironwork and soldering.  Narrow strips were cut from some shim brass sheets and bent around some 1/8” forms into U shapes.  The U shapes were stacked on top of each other, the ends cut to their proper lengths and were soldered together in pairs while still on the forms.   At first I was going to blacken them, but decided instead to paint them a bronze color, since I remembered reading somewhere that bronze and copper were more compatible than iron and was used more for ships of this era.
      I started coppering the ship at the sternpost with a full plate, overlapping that odd horn on the bottom of the keel.  The plate was just trimmed around the horn and pressed into place.  The next plate in line was overlapped, leaving the previous plate with a scale 48” exposure.  This was repeated up to the front edge of the stem and trimmed to match its curve.  The hull was then reversed and this strake was repeated on the other side.  About every third plate or so, I used a wooden stick to firmly burnish the plates. 
    The second row of plates was laid similar to the first row but starting with a half plate at the sternpost.  When the rows of plates for the lower belt came to the gore line with the upper belt, the plates were left overlong and then trimmed off with a knife leaving a slight overlap.  Once the bottom belts for both sides of the hull were finished, I went on to work on the upper belts.  The same procedure was followed there until the top rows of plates were trimmed off at a scale 8” below the waterline.  A final strake of plates was then laid parallel to the waterline with the top edge of the plates 6 scale inches above the waterline.
    Going back now to the the very bottom of the keel, I needed wider plates to cover the bottom and be bent over the keel edges to overlap the bottom row of plates. Since the 5/32” tape was a little bit too wide, I used some of the ¼” tape that came with the kit.  This allowed about a 1/16” of lap on the sides which looked about right.  I continued coppering the bottom of the keel with 48” scaled lengths of exposure that were offset from the bottom row of plates by half, right up the curve of the stem to the waterline, but switched to plates that were cut to 5/32” lengths so the plates could more easily follow the curve.
    Returning once again to the rudder, it was given its coat of copper plates below the waterline.  I used plates long enough to start at the rear edge on one side and finish at the rear edge on the other side.  As it went around the front edge it was carefully trimmed at the pintle notches.  Then the rear edge of the rudder was finished similar to the wrap at the stem of the ship.  The hole was drilled for the rudder post in the transom, the pintle and gudgeon assemblies were then pressed in place on the edge of the rudder and glued with medium AC.  The rudder post was then slipped into the hole in the hull and the gudgeons were pressed into place on the sternpost and also glued with medium AC. 
    Once I had all of the copper plates in place, I burnished all of the plates with my wooden stick to ensure a good bond and brushed on a coating of poly to seal it.  The hull was set upside down and left to dry for a few days.
    OK, at least this is a photo of the coppered hull when it was finished.