Alright, time for ya'll to follow my struggle.
The Modelshipways Bluenose will be my first ship model, I got the kit pretty cheap - $90,00ish - on the "Help us Move" sales Modelexpo just had. Huge model for a begginer, but since I live in Brazil, and it takes around two months for anything, really, to get here, I figured that I would get the big ship and double up on research time.
So the kit arrived and, naturally, I have some noob questions that I'd like to ask you gentlemen.
Dowels, regarding those.
None of them are perfectly straight but then there is this one:
Would it work to heat it up and straighten it, as you do with planking? Or would the wood eventually warp on me again, and thus I should contact Modelexpo for a replacement?
Also, my kit came with two different types of wood for masts and yards - basswood and green vietnamese stuff-, which I'm not too fond of, I'd like to keep it consistent. The basswood, as I understand, isn't the best for masts and yards, due to its softness. So I might be looking into getting some nicer wood for that.
As for the green vietnamese stuff. What is it? It feels light, it's fairly small grained, it's pretty consistent, it's kinda green, and it's "from vietnam" labeled:
Last question: I have some Mr. Hobby lacquer paints at hand, are there any cons to using those on wood instead of acrylics? Lacquers seem to be often used as clear coats over wood, but better ask, they're much more agressive than acrylics.
Afraid to screw up the big expensive ship, I decided to get my first taste of wood modelling with the dories. Overall, I'm pretty happy on how it's been going, even though the by the manual method of building them is hopeless. The jig Modelshipways provides is too fiddly, and there is no way, no way, the thin wood frames would hold the boat to it's proper shape, as per suggested. I won't elaborate further, getting you to propper understand the problems with the kit's dories would take a lot of text and some images, and I don't think you guys are interested in that. Rather, I'll show you what I'm currently doing about it:
These are the leftover of the laser cut pieces for the jig that should be used to get the dories to their correct shape. I've cut off the jig's "footprint" from the waste portion of the laser cut sheet provided by the kit, if that makes sense". Now I'm converting those "footprint" pieces into a small POB model, I'm making my own keel and bulkheads. Then, i'll add some filler blocks, make the boat a solid piece of wood, and use it as a template for constructing the dories. I'm currently aligning evrything up and shaping the boat's top.
That's it for now.
I look forward to learning a lot from you!
Cheers!
