LCdr Dave

Unfortunately, it’s a single-planked model. I have gone over all the tutorials and literature I could find here but reading theory just isn’t the same as doing it. Once the rubber hit the road things were different. 
I guess I need to curve the garboard planks into the keel more, either by tapering or spiling…..or both. Then keep tapering the remaining planks at the bow. It looks as though the stern will need stealers or some consistent widening of planks. Once I get the garboard planks sorted I think things will be smoother. 
here’s hoping,

Dave

I added a couple of filler blocks to get me some help with that front bit. That was tough to shape - wasn’t sure what the shape should actually be but I kept running some planking over it until everything seemed to sit flat-ish.

I finally attempted to lay the garboard planks but I’m not sure it’s going the way it should. I know I’m not supposed to let them run up the bow but I don’t see any way around that. I finally tried spiling the plank to get it to curve towards the keep a bit but I think I will still need to taper every plank and even drop some to fit them.

Nothing is glued yet. I can still try something different or modify them in some way, if someone has any ideas. Of course, in the awesome instructions Billing Boats has, there isn’t a single picture showing the planking of the hull, especially from the front.

In case anyone is wondering, I ended up putting a bit of water on my planks and the used an iron to bend them. I just held the moist wood under the iron, put some pressure on it, and pulled in the direction I wanted the curve to be. Worked like a charm. No waiting overnight for wet wood to conform to a shape, or boiling water, or using additives, jigs, or special tools - just pig-headedness and brute strength.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canucks!

Dave

It’s been a while but I’ve been trying to figure out planking. I did some measuring and it looks like I need 4 bands to fit my 7mm planks into a neat 28mm band at the widest bulwark. That leaves about 10mm for the garboard plank. 

Here are some views of one side showing the proposed bands. I know I’m supposed to keep the garboard strake as level as possible and not let it ride up the bow but it looks I will have a problem with a weird  double bend at the transition from bottom of keel going up the bow. 
 

…and then the stern 

Any hints, tips, comments would be welcome. 
Cheers,

Dave

23 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 

You mean like fishing bare-handed for catfish, or some other kind of noodling?

Ok, then…..we’ll there aren’t too many catfish on the Western seaboard and I was blissfully unaware of said pastime. It was more along the lines of exercising the grey cells. 🤔

Allan, I am hoping I will catch errors before it’s too late. I’m not worried about authenticity; no one I know will have a clue as long as it looks good. I never would have caught on to the railing slope if it hadn’t been for another member’s sharp eye. 
I'm grateful for everyone’s observations. 
cheers,

Dave

It’s been a while but my time was spent noodling and finishing my hobby desk. So now I can get back to this project. Closer examination of the drawings and my model revealed that the previous owner added one too many planks at the stern so I will need to cut one out.

I sanded the bulwarks to get a more even gluing surface and to bevel them appropriately. This led to the observation that No. 9, on both sides, needed shimming. I dug around my workroom and found some thin veneer-like shavings that I glued down. Hopefully that will do the trick. I didn’t want to end up with a bit of a divot happening there.

More measuring determined that some of the bulwarks are a bit too short, in relation to the drawing. What is a “bit” well sometimes it is .5mm and others it is almost 2mm. I am debating whether to remove the offending members completely and just glue in a bit of wood, similar in size, or just get them to some semblance of even so that the railing looks OK.

Almost ready to start planking! I’ve been going over the various PDFs on the site here and watched a video or two over and over again and I think I have the theory down. Of course, as we said in the Army - no plan ever survives the start line.

Cheers,

Dave

Coming along nicely. You do fine work!
Dave

Looking real good. Clear instructions...so helpful.

Dave

Patrick, thanks for the suggestion to look at the Model Shipways instructions. So many questions answered! 
Freakin’ brilliant!
Dave 

Bit of an update...I had the plans copied so I could scrawl over them. I managed to figure out blocks and eye bolts go where for the most part. There are some anchor points on the ship that don't seem to be specified. Not sure if it is a hole or an eyebolt - again, more scrutiny required.

I did a complete inventory of all the parts and, lo and behold, they are all accounted for! The mizzen mast seems to be poorly tapered, however. It is definitely longer than need be but the bottom end seems too narrow - it rattles around in the deck hole (am I using proper navy terminology...LOL). It also seems to get a bit fatter higher up and I am hoping that if I cut it down, the wider part will fit OK. 

That brings me to another question. The upper masts seem to be the correct diameter, according to the drawings, but the tops or bottoms won't fit into the brackets that are supplied. Am I better to enlarge the holes (one is square, the other round) or taper the mast more. Bringing the diamter down to fit the hole, I think will make the mast too skinny. Maybe square off the bottom to fit and likewise step the top to fit - or a bit of both. As I write, I'm thinking that changing the proportions of the masts is a bad idea and making steps to slide into the existing holes is a better one.

The anchor seems to be just hanging from a couple of dead-eyes and is tied off on the railing. No chain or heavy rope at all. I assume this is not historically accurate, but I will have to figure our how the anchor was actually deployed and fastened while travelling.

There has been so much info on this site and the assistance, so far, has been great. I am looking forward to getting my hobby desk finished so I can get to work. 

Oh, and good news - it looks like my rudder fits the brackets, so no tapering!

Cheers,

Dave

TigerSteve,

This post comes at an opportune time as I try to navigate my, apparently, old version of a Billing Boat Mayflower. When I searched for other build logs I didn’t see yours until I Googled ModelShipway plans… Go figure. Anyway, I will now be following eagerly. So far, it is looking great.

Dave

DavidG, Thanks for that insight. I will include checking the decal fit into my list of recce assignments. BTW, I would be proud to have your ship adorning my place. I was a little worried about the garrishness of the Green/Yellow geometrics but it looks good on your model.

Cheers,

Dave

David, Brilliant! That makes sense with respect to the rudder - I will go with that. Again, that the belaying points are shown with numbers makes sense and explains why the same-looking part has a different number associated with it. Apparently my hope hope of ever making it out of an escape room are slim-to-none….. Thanks!

Dave

Lapinas, you are making great progress. The ship is looking fantastic! I have learned quite a bit already just from “watching “ you. Some great links you posted, thanks. 
Dave

Clementine, that is a great build you have going on. I will follow along to see your progress and pick up any tips I can. Sanding the wood strips before attaching is a good idea. I usually get carried away by my enthusiasm and forget. I think your planking turned out well albeit, apparently, not to spec. At the end of the day, you will have a lovely ship and whether the planking is historically accurate or not will matter only to the rivet-counters. Cheers,

Dave

I have used AK products, oil paints, acrylic washes and pastels for weathering all over top of acrylics. I use high quality acrylics meant for modelling - not the craft stuff, although I know many use them for ease of purchase and price point. The AK products are specific mixtures so one doesn't have to figure out what to use it for  - a bit of marketing and a bit ease of use for the beginner, I think. "Oil stain" is just that and 'Afrika Korps dust" is exactly what it says - easy, peasy. The nice think about AK washes and oil paints is that they flow well into nooks and crannies, giving you that layered effect. Acrylics need a "wetting agent" (ie drop of dish soap), to break the surface tension of the water so that it will flow and not dry leaving a "ring" at the outer edge. I have never had my acrylics react badly to any of these products. If you want to stick with acrylics, however, Games Workshop, aka Citadel paints, makes a load of washes, base colours, metallics, etc for their miniatures. They all have fantasy-type names but they work really well. The washes are great.

Best of luck!

Dave

Some more mysteries to solve. The rigging diagram shows which thread to use where (fantastic!) but I also have two spools of thread that aren’t mentioned anywhere. A spool of Coats thread and a larger spool of nylon thread. Maybe PO thought she would use different thread for rigging than what was supplied?

The other diagram has numbers in circles pointing to parts and I don’t know what they mean - they don’t relate to the actual part numbers, they aren’t colours, no idea. I’m stumped. More noodling required.

Here’s a picture of the ship from the instruction book. It seems that the bow extension is wood but the manufacturer has included a plastic piece. Wood definitely looks better. Will have to try to replicate that.

Hey, I like how easy it is to post pictures on this site. I have been on other sites where doing so required many steps and use of picture-sizing software, etc.

The more I study the plans and the extremely cryptic and generalized instructions, the more I am getting a feel of the steps to build this ship, but the without an itemized list of parts and where they go, or which use they have, I am afraid of misusing something or using it up for the wrong part. More study, I guess……

My other worry (there are lots, I see) is missing a step and closing in something to which I need access later. For example, while looking at the drawings I noticed that the bowsprit gets tied down to a support (no idea what it’s called) and there needs to be a slit cut through it for the cord to run through. This hasn’t been cut out on mine but I see the mark where it needs to go. Maybe one disaster averted? 

Here is a sample of the lack of instructions.. I need to taper (I guess) the rudder but where and to what dimension?

“Start a build log”, they said….

OK, here goes. Falling back my army background I will be spending time in reconnaissance, planning and finally execution. If you checked back on my intro, I picked up this kit at a 2nd hand shop. The previous owner (PO) started it and got as far as decking and planking the upper hull. I know zippo about ships and have never built a wooden ship so I apologize in advance for any confusion or my lack of what may appear to be basic knowledge. 

I took inventory of the remainder of the parts and am trying to figure out what they are and what they are for. I can somewhat match the physical description with the written one but the part names don’t always make sense to me.

Ed, Lovely job so far. I will be following along to see how you tackle the lack of instructions. My 
BB Mayflower is similar. Don’t beat yourself up about the drop of superglue on the door handle. The viewer’s eye will have so much else to see that “boo boo” will get lost.

Cheers,

Dave

Ships88, I will be following your build. I also just got a Billings Boat model - the Mayflower - and I will hopefully learn from you as I navigate the dearth of instructions. Your build is looking fantastic. 

LCdr Dave

super-late to the party but will definitely be using some (many) of the tips I have seen here. Beautiful workmanship. 

Thanks for sharing.

LCdr Dave

Haha! My ship looks the same as yours, David, minus the stain. 

No navy experience - Army, but I figured I should translate to the navy for fun. 

Dave

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Jeff, you a Led Zep fan? ..and Jim I thought your avatar would be upside down  ...

I will start a build log once I actually start to build or make any kind of progress. Getting the work space finished must come first! 

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Everyone,

Moved to waterfront and feel the need to have a ship in the house. I've been modelling off and on for nigh on 50 years (had a bit of a hiatus during my military career) - mostly military miniatures then figurine painting, an O scale railroad, etc. I came across a Billings Boat model of the Mayflower in a second-hand store. It had been started (I'm told the lady had expert guidance but didn't get to finish it but all the parts were there) which makes me a little leery but... I've been perusing the site and the web for assistance and it appears that I inadvertently chose a dark horse. Only a few people even attempted it and less completed it. The instructions are a joke - at best they are guidance. So much to learn! So I have a hull that has been decked and some planking applied above the deck level and that is my starting point. At some point I will go through the box of parts to see what I have but first I need to finish building my work bench (I also dabble in furniture building) to fit my new hobby room. I figure I have lots of research and learning to do before I get going anyway. 

Anyway, that's me. I had good experiences with the model railroad line and hope to duplicate that here. There are some fantastic pieces of work here!

Cheers from Vancouver Island,

Dave