RossR

If planking your model the way an actual ship was planked is not the most important thing to you on a first model, consider looking at Occre. I built their HMS Beagle as my first model and am happy with the results. They may not be the most historically accurate models when it comes down to the finer details, but they can be built with minimal tools and no prior experience. For the Beagle and I think the Polaris, they have a series of about 100 short YouTube videos to help step by step. If planking in the historically correct way is a goal on your first model I would go with something other than Occre. Good luck.

I am not sure if it can be accessed from a mobile device. May require a laptop. I also think there is a minimum number of posts required before you can edit the signature. 10 or 25 I think.

I am not always a fan of tree nails, but the ones on your deck are very good. I like how subtle they are. Looking forward to seeing the rest of your build.

Great work on the bow. I struggled with that on mine. Yours looks fantastic. I remember being short on one size of wood on my Beagle, I think it was the 2x4 mm sapelli and Occre sent more no questions asked. I made a mistake on my Diana and they even replaced those parts. It does take 2-3 weeks to get the replacement/missing items shipped from Spain to the US, so be ready for the wait if you are in the US.

I received my Half Hull kit last week. I have about a year before I finish my current build, then I will start the Half Hull. Looking forward to following your build in the meantime. Good luck.

Here is my attempt at scratch building the gallery. I did use the brass provided by the kit for the dividers between the pains of glass.

It has been awhile since my last update. I haven’t had much time in the shipyard lately. My daughter’s soccer season has keep us busy. I did have some time to start fabricating the galleries from scratch. I didn’t like the way the kit provided pieces fit. I built these new upper and bottom pieces by cutting pieces out of some thin basswood and glueing them together. A little filing and sanding and I am getting close. Hopefully I can finest these up in the next few days.

Wow. Looks fantastic.

Looks good. I like the drop plank below the wale. looking forward to seeing the rest of the planking.

Hard to believe you did all of this in a little over 3 months. Fantastic job.

Just ordered it myself.

I am a fan of Occre. Building my second Occre ship right now. They are a great way to get started in the hobby, but they are not designed to be planked in the traditional way. The second layer of planking on the Occre models is very thin (about 0.5 mm). The bending or spiling that would traditionally be done really doesn't work with that material, and the bulkhead former (piece that the bulkheads attach to that runs the length of the ship) is not designed to have a rabbet cut into it. If you want to have fun building something and end up with something that looks good on your shelf, Occre is a great way to go. They have video series for some of their models and I would watch them and plank the model according to their instructions if you go with Occre even though it is not the traditional way to plank. If you really want to learn "the right way" to plank a ship, consider Allen's advice or maybe the half hull project from the NRG. I will be tackling that before building my US Brig Syren model that I have on the shelf. I would have failed at planking a ship in the traditional way on my first ship, but that's me. I get a little impatient. I have seen some first time modelers do a great job of planking on their first ship on MSW. Good luck.

I spent quite a bit of time in the shipyard the last week. I finally finished putting together my Serv-O-Matic and started fooling around with that a little bit. I also started working on the chain plate. I don't care for the single brass wire that the kit came with for chain plate. I am going to use the instructions from my US Brig Syren that I have on the shelf as the basis for the chain plate on this model. I need to work out exactly how long the various components will be, but I started putting together some jigs for making various length components. I will be using dark annealed wire. Most of my time was spent working on the stern. The kit came with a large decorative piece of photo etched brass for the stern. I didn't like the look of that much brass on the ship. I decided to use some left over planking materials and the scrappers I purchased from Artesania Latina to make some trim for the lights on the stern. I added two other pieces of trim above and below the decorative scroll design on the photo etched brass piece. I still need to fill in a gap between the two trim pieces on the top, and touch up the paint after that. I am very happy with how this turned out. The bottom piece of trim is made 2mm x 5mm piece of basswood. To get that piece to match to curve of the stern I needed to pre-bend the piece. In the past I have struggled to successfully bend planks using heat. I think I haven't been patient enough. I didn't want to soak these because I thought it would distort the the grooves that I carved into the piece. I decided I needed to give using heat another try. I used a wood burning tool of my daughter's as the head source and took my time. I was able to match the curve of the stern without soaking the piece. I think this will give me confidence to start using heat more for bending planks. I will be continuing to work on the chain plate and finishing up the bowsprit in the next couple of weeks. I will also need to make some decisions on the gallery lights on the sides of the ship. I may attempt to build these from scratch instead of using the metal components that came with the kit. The way the stern has turned out gives me a little confidence in trying to build something myself.

I assume the second hole is to allow a second anchor on either side is the ship, but that is just a guess. Your workmanship is really impressive for your first build.

Great job. I followed your build closely and as someone still new to modeling, your craftsmanship is a standard I hope to achieve someday. Well done.

Allen Thanks for the great info. Always appreciate your help.

I have started fabricating the components for the bowsprit. I have also been assembling my Serv-O-Matic from Syren. I have a pretty good handle on what should be served on the shrouds and stays, but I am not as sure about some of the lines that are used to secure the components of the bowsprit. I have attached a photo of the plan for the bowsprit. Should the items that I pointed to the photo be served? I would appreciate any help anyone can provide.

I have made progress on the mid-ships section of the deck, including mounting the ships boats and adding the railings. The boats that came with the kit were metal castings that required the addition of some planks for the floors and the seats. I considered trying to scratch build something more interesting. I got some great info from one of the users on the forum, but in the end I do not think that my skills are quite up to scratch building the boat at this time. I completed the kit provided boats for now. I know these are nothing special, but I didn't glue them in place. They are held only by the line tying them down. If I ever decide to attempt the build something more interesting, these can be removed and replaced pretty easily. The kit provided 1mm x 4mm strips for the railings. The material was a little too thin to fit snugly in the stanchion and at 4mm it looked too tall. I bought a couple of 1/8 x 1/16 strips at a hobby shop to replace the 1mm x 4mm strips and I needed to sand the 1/16 dimension down a little to get it to fit in the stanchion, but I am really happy with the result I have a few more items to add to the deck and then it is on to the bowsprit. I have already started fabricating some of the pieces. Starting to think about the deadeyes and chain plate also.

I haven’t used that brand. I have had good luck with the “Folk Art” brand available at a lot of the big box craft stores. Not very expensive. Most of the big box stores have store brand that is the least expensive and I have had bad luck getting good coverage with those. Are you using any sort of primer or sealer? I have good luck with a coat of shellac before painting.

It took me awhile, but I finally have the 12 - 6 pound guns rigged and installed. I have some of the other features of the quarter deck installed, but not everything including the ships wheel. I rigged all of the guns, because one of my goals was to try new things. I don't know if I would recommend it on a 1:85 scale, but I am glad I did. I will be finishing the quarter deck over the next few weeks, but I will also be working on mounting the ships boats over the opening on the upper deck and I have already started fabricating the components of the bow sprit. I will post updates on those items as I finish them. Thanks to everyone that has liked and commented on my build log. I appreciate all the support.

I need to take a lesson from you and learn to take my time on the planking. Your patience is paying off. Looks really good.

I have been making progress on rigging and installing the 12 - 6 pound guns that are on the upper gun deck. I will get some pictures of that posted in a few days when I am finished with them. I have also started putting together some of the other deck features on the aft part of the ship such as the ship's wheel. I didn't care for the cast metal pieces that were provided with the kit that the wheels were mounted to. I decided to fabricate my own out of some scraps of walnut that I had. I built wooden frames that were the same shape and size of the parts provided by Occre. This is what I came up with and I am pretty happy with the result. The picture on the right shows my version next to the part supplied by Occre. Now the problem - after putting this together and setting it on the deck, it looked way too big. The wheel measures 24mm in diameter. A 1:85 scale that works out to a diameter 7.5 feet. Add another few mm for the frame and the total height is close to 8 feet tall. I looked online at a few modern photos of ships and I can't find any that appear to have a wheel even close to that big. If anyone has any information to suggest that these aren't way to big, please share it with me, but I really think I am going to have to purchase some smaller wheels and start over. I found some online that are 14mm that should be closer to a 4 foot diameter. I am a little bummed because I liked how these turned out.

Progress has been a little slow in the shipyard. Summer activities have gotten in the way. I have made some progress adding the deck features on the forward part of the ship. I didn't like the cleats that came with the kit. They were mounted flush with no pin, and I didn't trust they would hold effectively without a pin. I decided to take a try at carving my own. I glued a couple of pieces of 1/8 x 1/8 inch basswood together and then shape it with a file. Then added a pin so it could be securely attached. I added the belfy, a railing the pin rails and some sampsons to complete the forward part of the deck.

Nice job on the brass wire. I struggled with that on mine.

Your first layer of planking on the hull looks fantastic. I am very impressed for your first ship. Cutting the deck planks is a good decision. Looks really good.