Anja

hello dan 
welcome in this nice forum and remember they say there are no stupid questions, only  stupid answers

Welcome to MSW Dan! Great choice to go with the Phantom. That model will give you opportunity to learn many of the basic skills and set you up well to move onto bigger and more complicated builds. Best of luck to you on your first wooden ship build. I look forward to seeing your work!

Hello Dan. We all started with the first kit.
 
There are several horror stories about starting with an advanced kit as a first project. ( I have my own) so your change in direction from the Connie to the Phantom is a wise move. It will tell you if you have what it takes to tackle the Constitution or Victory in the future.
 
My best wishes in your project.
Don't be afraid or shy to ask questions.

Welcome to MSW Daniele! Good to have you with us. I'm sure you have already discovered that this place is full of great information and friendly people if you have been hanging around for a while. I look forward to seeing your work and I wish you the best of luck on your Constitution build.

Hello Dan and welcome aboard.
 
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an advanced builder, this is a great place to learn and share tips and techniques.
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
And remember, the only stupid questions are the ones that you don't ask.
 
I wish you smooth sailing with our gallant crew.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hello Dan and welcome aboard.
 
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an advanced builder, this is a great place to learn and share tips and techniques.
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
And remember, the only stupid questions are the ones that you don't ask.
 
I wish you smooth sailing with our gallant crew.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hello Dan and welcome aboard.
 
It doesn't matter if you're a beginner or an advanced builder, this is a great place to learn and share tips and techniques.
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
And remember, the only stupid questions are the ones that you don't ask.
 
I wish you smooth sailing with our gallant crew.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hi everyone. I've been lurking and reading old threads for a while and thought it was time to register and say hello. My name is Dan, I'm 58 and live in the Dallas, TX area.
 
I've built several kinds of plastic models at various stages in my life but always wanted to try making a wooden model ship. I recently found out that a coworker is a model ship builder and after talking to him and seeing his work it brought the urge back and I decided to finally give it a shot. My first thought was to dive into the deep end with a complicated build like the Constitution, but common sense prevailed and my first attempt will be the solid hull model Phantom that I got from Model Expo.
 
I haven't actually started the build yet, I've been reading a lot about the hobby in general and the Phantom in particular. I think I'm about ready to start work now so I've got the model kit, a starter tool kit, a printed copy of Chuck Passaro's practicum and my working area kind of organized so I am going to start on the hull shaping today. I'm not that confident with my carving ability so my dremmel will probably be used a lot and hopefully I won't have to use filler to fix to many mistakes.
 
I'm sure I'll have some stupid rookie questions so please bare with me and wish me luck.
 
Dan
 

Hello friends,
 
Thank you all for the compliments and the likes and welcome to my build log.
 
@ Django - Santisima Trinidad is a fantastic looking ship when finished. Good choice.
@ Marcus - I think my Halve Mean is sitting on other people's mantelpiece (or maybe even in the mantelpiece  )
@ Wayne - With popcorn you are allowed to make a little mess, as long as you clean up afterwards. 
@ Hennie - Don't worry about Sjors' netting, it is still a work in progress. Three more to go.  Oh, before I forget, I need netting to. Isn't that convenient.
@ Ulises - Yes, she is indeed a beauty.  And to keep her beautiful, I decided not to use the bright colors OcCre used.  I will use the Admiralty paints yellow ochre, red ochre, dull black and French blue.
 
And now it is time for an update. Enjoy.
 
 The deck came in four parts.  Glued two of the parts together and planked the starboard and port side separately.
 
 The lined sections of the deck were glued onto the structure of the ship.
 
 Reinforcing parts glued in place on each side of the false keel and on the bow frame.
 
 Glued eleven gun ports to each side of the deck and started the lining onto the interior of the frames.
 
 
Thank you for watching.
Anja
 
 

Hello Remco,
 
Welcome back! And thank you for reposting all those pictures. You're doing a wonderful job.
 
Looking forward to your progress,
 
Anja

Welcome aboard Daniele,
 
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
I wish you smooth sailing and happy modelling.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hoi Anja, good seeing you back building.  With your permission I'd like to join in on the progress of this marvelous ship.  My goodness, you are moving fast.
 
Cheers,

Hello friends,
 
Thank you all for the compliments and the likes and welcome to my build log.
 
@ Django - Santisima Trinidad is a fantastic looking ship when finished. Good choice.
@ Marcus - I think my Halve Mean is sitting on other people's mantelpiece (or maybe even in the mantelpiece  )
@ Wayne - With popcorn you are allowed to make a little mess, as long as you clean up afterwards. 
@ Hennie - Don't worry about Sjors' netting, it is still a work in progress. Three more to go.  Oh, before I forget, I need netting to. Isn't that convenient.
@ Ulises - Yes, she is indeed a beauty.  And to keep her beautiful, I decided not to use the bright colors OcCre used.  I will use the Admiralty paints yellow ochre, red ochre, dull black and French blue.
 
And now it is time for an update. Enjoy.
 
 The deck came in four parts.  Glued two of the parts together and planked the starboard and port side separately.
 
 The lined sections of the deck were glued onto the structure of the ship.
 
 Reinforcing parts glued in place on each side of the false keel and on the bow frame.
 
 Glued eleven gun ports to each side of the deck and started the lining onto the interior of the frames.
 
 
Thank you for watching.
Anja
 
 

Hello friends,
 
Thank you all for the compliments and the likes and welcome to my build log.
 
@ Django - Santisima Trinidad is a fantastic looking ship when finished. Good choice.
@ Marcus - I think my Halve Mean is sitting on other people's mantelpiece (or maybe even in the mantelpiece  )
@ Wayne - With popcorn you are allowed to make a little mess, as long as you clean up afterwards. 
@ Hennie - Don't worry about Sjors' netting, it is still a work in progress. Three more to go.  Oh, before I forget, I need netting to. Isn't that convenient.
@ Ulises - Yes, she is indeed a beauty.  And to keep her beautiful, I decided not to use the bright colors OcCre used.  I will use the Admiralty paints yellow ochre, red ochre, dull black and French blue.
 
And now it is time for an update. Enjoy.
 
 The deck came in four parts.  Glued two of the parts together and planked the starboard and port side separately.
 
 The lined sections of the deck were glued onto the structure of the ship.
 
 Reinforcing parts glued in place on each side of the false keel and on the bow frame.
 
 Glued eleven gun ports to each side of the deck and started the lining onto the interior of the frames.
 
 
Thank you for watching.
Anja
 
 

Hello all,
 
It is good to welcome old friends. Thank you all for stopping by,
 
@ John,
Thanks for being so observant. I just removed the part about the naval battle.
And to answer your question, she is an OcCre model.
 
@ Mark,
Will you be starting your buildlog soon?
 
Regards,
Anja

all,
 
My Halve Maen build was already on hold, but during our move to a new house in November 2015, she got lost because one of our friends put her box on the pavement instead of in our car.
 
After that the enthusiasm to build was completely gone. I spent last year enjoying my other hobbies.
 
But, as a Dutch saying goes: 'Blood is thicker than water' and the urge to build another ship came back.
 
So, May I present to you the Spanish Galleon Nuestra Señora del Pilar De Zaragoza (Our lady of the pillar of Zaragoza), a Spanish Treasure Galleon.
 

 
Measurements
Length: 1110 mm
Height: 970 mm
Width: 520 mm
 
History
During the 17th and 18th centuries Spanish galleons served the Spanish crown as merchantmen and warships. Many of them sailed between Acapulco and Manila, transporting South American silver to the Philippines and exotic goods from Asia to Mexico, from where the treasures were sent back to Spain.
 
Commisioned in 1731 and launched in 1733, Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza (Our Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza) was one of these Manila Galleons built of the finest Philippine wood, she was 112 feet on deck and displaced 1,000 tons. A 4th rate of the Cavogonda class, she was fitted with 50 cannon, two stern chasers and six swivel guns. She carried a crew of 385 men.
 
For twenty years she sailed the route from Mexico to Manila and in 1750 underwent a complete refit in the Port of Cavite. In 1750, on her last voyage, she set sail from Manila bound for Acapulco. Despite being overloaded, and contrary to the opinion of both pilots and Master, her Captain insisted on weighing anchor at the beginning of September. En route for the Mariana Islands, in the Pacific, they began to have difficulties after sailing into a heavy storm, and she sank taking all of her crew down with her.
 

Frames dry fit.
 

Frames glued in place. Reinforcing pieces not glued yet.
 

Frames glued in place.
 

Last three frames fitted and glued. Reinforcing pieces glued.
 

Close-up bow section
 

Close-up stern section
 
 
Enjoy and thank you for watching.
Anja

Welcome aboard Daniele,
 
When you're ready, feel free to start a buildlog.
If needed, you'll find plenty of advise, help and encouragement from everyone.
 
I wish you smooth sailing and happy modelling.
 
Regards,
Anja

Hi all , my name is Daniele and i live in Denver CO. 
i registered a while ago' and i thought its now time to introduce myself sorry if i didnt do it before .
I started with shipmodelling when i was 18 , i remember my first model was a small fishing boat and after that i did a scratch build from and aeropiccola plan of the Cutty sark . After that life started to get very busy and after 2 years of navy i continued the  career as a merchant marine officer so the time for modeling was kind of over especially for big project.
I did continue on small project like warship in 1/700 and now after more than 25 years seems that i am finally settling in one place ( hopefully ), so  its growing in me the desire to start again on "big" shipmodelling project .
Few months ago' i picked up at an auction a Model Shipways kit of the Uss constitution ( the hull was already builded) so now i am setting up a small workplace because i want to start to work on this project asap .
 
 

As a favor to my very good friend Dr. Andrew Hendricks (my dermatologist), I have interrupted my scratch build of the USS Constitution for several days in order to repair this very old model of the Half Moon which was gifted to him by a friend in Italy.

The model is well over fifty years old, and the original builder is unknown.  In shipping from Italy to America, the poor job of packing and securing it in the crate resulted in considerable damage to the fragile rigging and a couple of masts.  Also, it appears the model had been stored is a very dusty place over the years.  It may have been the dirtiest model I have ever seen.
 
Dr. Hendricks is a major partner in a group of investors who, several years ago, raised over a million dollars for the building of a full size replica of this historic ship (Dr. Hendricks is seen in the middle of this photo).
Another model of the ship is seen behind the three investors. 
 


He gave me a call immediately after opening up the shipping container and discovering the condition of the model he was so looking forward to receiving.

Here's what he saw....


 

 

 
While the damage to the rigging was considerable, I found the the heavy line used managed to remain in tact without breaking, in spite of the age.  
Much of the breaking occurred at belaying points along the spars where small thread was used to attach rigging blocks.
After reattaching all of the rigging, I had to spend several hours on re-tensioning quite a few drooping lines.
 
Then there was the cleaning.....
Boy!  Was she incredibly filthy!
 

 

 
Here's a few shots of the finished restoration.
 

 

 
I did create the coat of arms shield for the city of Horne and also the single arched window to the transom.
 

 

Michael, yes the Foil paints are great for metal finishes. Here is a link to there selections.
 
http://www.krylon.com/products/premium-metallic/
 
I checked your build out and what a big model, I could not build anything that size in my workshop now. Great job and keep up the great work you are doing on it.
 
I heard form the company and the sitting figure will not be here until the 14th so I am moving ahead on the breastplate for the helmet. Unlike the helmet the breastplate will be all metal both brass and copper per the original.
 
First I developed a card stock pattern using the figure and then I formed the copper with a hole cut to match the shoulder ring and soldered them together. Once cooled and cleaned I final formed the copper shape to fit the figure. Next I used the card stock pattern and traced the outline to match the copper onto a 1/32" thick brass sheet and sawed out the shape. Using a small divider I traced the 3/32" inside edge and sawed it out. The brass ring was then annealed to soften and it was form fitted to match the copper and soldered in place. I turned and drilled the lead weight holders and soldered them to the front of the breastplate.
 
 
 

 

 
Next came the more challenging parts, the small wing nuts to hold the breast plate to the suit. I cut a V groove into a scrap piece of wood, set a 1/16" tube with two strips to either side and soldered them in place. Once cleaned with acetone the excess solder was removed form the joints. The edges of the side strips were held in a vise and filed down to 1/32". Then while held in the vise one side was sawed into 1/16" sections then turned over in the vise and the other side sawed to release each wing nut. Next I drilled 1/32" holes where needed and added 1/32" rods, slipped the nuts on and soldered them in place from the underside. Trimmed the rod ends and cleaned the entire breastplate.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Now back to more writing.
 
 
 
 
 

I took a break from writing and decided to start on the dive helmet and go the extra mile for the Maritime Museum adding the two figures but I am still waiting for the sitting one to arrive along with window glass for the boat. The sitting figure will have the suit on with the helmet perhaps sitting beside him.
 
I studying pictures of the helmet shape and details it finally hit me where I had seen the kind of shape before; the end of file handles. I found an old file handle that was the perfect size and cut it to length after milling a 1/4" hole in the end to receive a 1/4" aluminum bar as a work handle for holding.
 
Once the bar glue set I chucked it in the lathe and stated to core the inside out down to the end of the aluminum bar. I then located all the window holes drilled and sanded them to each size and then finished the coring process using the window edge thicknesses for reference. The wood shape was then finished up smooth with sanding and filing.
 

 
I then turned the helmet ring and shoulder ring to index into each other and test fitted them over the standing figure I have.
 

 
Next I cut all the window frames with an inside shoulder to hold the window glass.
 

 
Next I added the exhaust valve device with turned and formed parts.
 

 
Next I painted the helmet with Copper Foil paint having masked off all the brass elements.
 

 
Next came the faceplate again turned with a shoulder to receive glass like the windows and offset hinge drilled for a 1/32" pin and locking receiver. Here the hinge half is test fitted into window frame. 
 

 
Following is a series on fabricating the wing nut to lock the faceplate against the frame.
 

 

 

 
Here is the helmet finished to this point and awaiting the glass to show up as well as the sitting figure. Then to try my hand at working Sculpty over the resin figure with a dive suit. 
 

 
Now back to writing.

I received only one of the two figures I ordered today. I also wanted a sitting figure which I guess is out of stock. Communicating with the company now for options. Anyway here is the standing figure which will need a little scruffing up to make a fisherman but it now gives the boat a sense of scale. He is painted good colors to go with the boat but needs a salty hat.
 

 
I also finally connected with the actual boat builder who built the boat in 1967. We had a great conversation about the boat and it's details and he really enjoyed it. He is also a wealth of information on the local history and boat building. He related that be built 12 abalone fishing boats and that this was one of the last ones built. I have arranged that he and the president of the maritime museum meet and have him relate the oral history for the museum before all the information is lost. He moved here in 1948 and his father and he built fishing boats. No plans were ever used started only with length, width and height and purpose of the boat. They used 2 layers of 1/4" marine grade plywood glued together with staggered joints that were glued and nailed with copper nails peened like rivets to secure the joints. The hull was laid up upside down and covered with Fiberglas then turned over and inner hull built up. No two boats were ever the same but a few were similar in design. 
 
I think we both had a great time talking about the boat and boat building in general. It also turns out his sister married a guy named Dick Foran from Oregon which is where they live. My last name is Foran, what are the odds? He also lives only three streets away from me in the same housing track only down the hill from me.
 
Here is a picture of him with the model.
 

 
 

Et voilà, c'est complété.
 
It was a nice  week end project to build.
 
For the next build, knowing that the better the plans, the better are the chance to produce better results.
What are the better set of plans available on the market?
 
I guess I could build the same  as the next project of a member of MSW.
 
There is also another important factor, the model must be nice to my eyes.

very nice progress Anja      sounds like turnaround is fair play with the nets  

Hello friends,
 
Thank you all for the compliments and the likes and welcome to my build log.
 
@ Django - Santisima Trinidad is a fantastic looking ship when finished. Good choice.
@ Marcus - I think my Halve Mean is sitting on other people's mantelpiece (or maybe even in the mantelpiece  )
@ Wayne - With popcorn you are allowed to make a little mess, as long as you clean up afterwards. 
@ Hennie - Don't worry about Sjors' netting, it is still a work in progress. Three more to go.  Oh, before I forget, I need netting to. Isn't that convenient.
@ Ulises - Yes, she is indeed a beauty.  And to keep her beautiful, I decided not to use the bright colors OcCre used.  I will use the Admiralty paints yellow ochre, red ochre, dull black and French blue.
 
And now it is time for an update. Enjoy.
 
 The deck came in four parts.  Glued two of the parts together and planked the starboard and port side separately.
 
 The lined sections of the deck were glued onto the structure of the ship.
 
 Reinforcing parts glued in place on each side of the false keel and on the bow frame.
 
 Glued eleven gun ports to each side of the deck and started the lining onto the interior of the frames.
 
 
Thank you for watching.
Anja