Stevinne

Very nice build. It looks beautiful. Congratulations.

Welcome aboard. I've never built any small boats as models, but my father-in-law built the Model Shipways Bounty launch and said it's his favorite of three builds he's done.

I always recommend new model builders get themselves a copy of Frank Mastini's "Ship Modeling Simplified," which I found to be an excellent introduction to the hobby. He covers everything from selecting kits to tools to step-by-step instructions for building a ship model. One problem with many European kits is that the instructions are sometimes sparse or difficult to follow. Mastini helps clear things up.

Moving along slowly. Back from a vacation in Charleston, S.C., with a visit to the Stede Bonnet monument at the Battery and Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island - a much more interesting and enjoyable place to tour than nearby Fort Sumter in my humble opinion.

Tonight I sanded the gun deck to ensure it followed the line of the frames, so there won't be any surprises when I start planking and then painted the metal gunport frames so they will match the wood that will surround them. Next comes the process of gluing the frames in place and trying to ensure they all lineup correctly with the hull planking.

I'm a big fan of the Patrick O'Brien books, but I would recommend listening to the unabridged books read by Patrick Tull as Books on CD. Tull is great at bringing the dialogue alive and is very good at reading the action scenes. Here is a clip of him reading 

The Hornblower series is very good - not quiet as realistic as O'Brien, but still very good. Hornblower isn't necessarily a sympathetic character, but that is part of his character, which is refreshing.

I really like the Dewey Lambdin books - they are much more modern in tone and jokey, but very entertaining.

Alexander Kent and Douglas Reeman are good, but pale in comparison to O'Brien and Forester - maybe it would be better  to start  with them, so you can appreciate them without comparing the work to the big two.

Not as big a fan of Nelson and the Kydd series. They are good reads, just not as good as the others in my opinion.

I have this kit in my stash waiting its turn in the yard. Gonna pull up a chair and watch. It looks like you are off to a good start.

Installed the planking on the gun deck. Not sure I'm all that keen on the Mamoli instructions, which don't seem to have a master parts list, are written in really poor English and aren't particularly clear. The instructions do call for planking and installing the cabin fronts on deck first, but I'm thinking I will wait on that because I don't want to damage anything while I'm turning the hull around and working.

I do think I should have fitted the deck before gluing the frames and false deck, since the deck planks appear a little wavy.

Once everything has a chance to dry, the next step will be shaping the outer deck plank to ensure it follows the contour of the hull planking.

Spent a little more time this evening sanding the slots to hold the gundeck planks. I'd tried using needle files, but found a long strip of 100 grit sandpaper worked a lot better. Now the planks slide in with no trouble

I was wondering if there is a good nautical history magazine folks could recommend.

I do have to say I read the NRG article on the development of Long Tom cannons and thought it was really well done.

I do find this site and the build logs here better, and more informative, than any magazine I've seen, and the pictures here are better than some of those that are published.

So, with Spring, hopefully around the corner my thoughts turn back to the water and ships.

Today I worked on fairing the frame, sanding the bulkheads and making sure, hopefully, that everything will lie nicely once I start planking.

The bulkheads have a slot to put in planking that will be the gun deck, though the slot is awfully narrow, so spent a lot of time opening that up, too. Next step will be installing the gun deck.

I built Constructo's Enterprise, and the instructions left lots to be desired, but I think they've updated the kit since then.I swear by Frank Mastini's "Ship Modeling Simplified," While not specific to one kit, it is a step-by-step guide that, with a good set of plans, can get you going on any beginner or internediate model. I gave the book and MS Bluenose to my father in law and he built a very nice ship, so that might be a kit to consider.

Moving on with the build. I sanded the slots in the frames that will hold planking for the gundeck. I figured I'd do this before I had the upper deck on to make things easier. Then I had to form some crossbeams for upper deck supports, which was accomplished using my mitre box and then some sanding to get a curve in the top of each beam to give the deck the bowed appearance. I put those in place, but then realized I had to remove the beams for the poop and quarter deck, as the sequence of installing the decks dictates when the beams can be put in place.

Put in the decking at the very bow of the ship, which caused me to come up with my first question for you folks out there.

The instructions don't say anything, but I don't  think I should sand frame No. 1 that is extending past the deck to follow the curve of the deck, While this will assure there is no gap when I start to plank, it would also require I sand frame No.2 I will likely just sand the edges, to allow for a nice bend, and then plank the deck to follow the lay of the hull planking, if that makes sense.

Anyone disagree?

Thanks in advance for any input.

Time to add the bulkheads. The big beams down the center assure things are kept true.

I agree these U boats should be left alone. They are wargraves.

Beautiful work.

So the build begins. This is the first time I've had to deal with a multi-part main frame. A little glue and some weights should do the trick.

Had some help from my second mate tonight. A thunder storm was rumbling through, and she felt it important to be as close as possible to guard my feet.

I love Columbus' ships, looking forward to following this.

It's with a little trepidation that I start my first build log on MSW. The Roter Lowe is my third plank-on-bulkhead build, the first being Constructo's Enterprise, followed up by AL's Renard. It's by far the most complex build I've undertaken, and my first with multiple gun decks and decorative woodwork. In this kit, the decorations are a mix of inlaid wood and printed cardboard. Not sure how I feel about the cardboard, yet. The materials look nice and the instructions come on five dual-sided sheets of plans.

I'm a bit concerned because the guns on the enclosed gun deck are to be mounted on carriages - I worry about them coming loose during the build and rattling around in the hull. I have to figure out some way to address that.

I picked up the kit a couple of years ago when Model Expo was having a moving sale. 

I'm a very slow builder, with lots of starts and stops, so be warned.

All that being said, let's post some pictures.

Zoran, Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

Bender, I'm sorry for hijacking your log. I look forward to future entries.

The ship is coming along beautifully. Great planking.

Can you tell me the cost of shipping the model to the US?

Maris Stella has some interesting galleys and I've been thinking about trying one, but worried that the reasonable price of their kits will be negated by expensive shipping costs.

My experience with Model Expo has been great. I had an old version of their Harriet Lane and, when the new version with laser-cut sides for the wheel houses were added, I wrote and asked if I could purchase the part. They sent me the part for free.

I did have a friend who purchased an AL kit from them and requested parts within the year and was told to contact the company, as they no longer carried Latina kits - he was angry with me because I had recommended them very highly based on my very first build.

As I recall, it was a credit.

I wonder how many uncompleted build logs are actually completed ships. I build very slowly, so never started a build log because I will start, work like crazy for a couple of weeks, put the model aside when another hobby project catches my fancy, and maybe not return to the build for a year.If I had a build log, I might be embarrassed to come back and suddenly start posting again. I also start my build with a clean work bench, but about halfway through I have toy soldiers, model airplanes and whatever stuff my wife gets tired of looking at in other rooms stacked sort of haphazardly on my work bench. I'm not taking and posting any pictures of that mess.

Just because someone has lost interest in a build log doesn't mean they've lost interest in the build.

I love rigging my ships. To me, it's the part that teaches me how the ships were operated. When I was a kid, I would just run lines all over my plastic ship kit. Now, it's great knowing that each line and shroud has a purpose and what that purpose is.

That being said, I do HATE ratlines.

I've already added my 2cents on Civil War era ships, but then had this thought:How about a USS Housatanic pob packaged with a resin Hunley in the same scale. Saw a photo of such a model on the NUMAsite and thought it was a cool display.

I would like something in the sail-to-steam category

- Name of ship .....or type: USS Kearsage or USS Hartford

- Country of origin - USA

- Material choices and what style...POB or POF or Solid hull: POB

- Price range you would expect to pay...whether realistic or not $200-$300

-How long do you prefer a build to last from a kit.  Will you want to spend 6 months for a small kit or 6 years for that 100 gun French frigate from 1820?

-Advanced or beginner......Intermediate?

I also think a double-ended gunboat, such as Sassacus or a sleek, paddle-wheel blockade runner would be interesting builds.