BrochBoating

Thanks Andrew I'll be happy tomorrow Whatever happens I'm pleased compared to my first kit and probably can't ask for more than that. It's this one. I'll leave it for a day or two to see how strong it is. I've not done any PE before and couldn't see a readily available product here so I was going to try grey prime then matt black sprays and touch up if needed once fitted. I must subscribe to your cutter build as I think that will be my next but I believe Santa has visited Vanguard for me too.

Very welcome. Again a thought from an inexperienced novice who doesn't know this kit. That said if there is scrap material available I'd consider adding another layer where it's marked a14 & a15 (and the same at the stern) so there's more space to make securing the planking easier whether with glue or pins.

Welcome! As another novice my first impression is that you probably haven't gone too far, yet. Take a plank from the kit and use that to see/feel if the wood flows over the shapes you've made. Bear in mind you will probably need to soak the plank so it relaxes enough. Should give you a much better idea how it is. Good luck and maybe start a build log in the relevant section. Much more experienced people than me will help and you can use it look back on to improve your next kit.

Weekend update. A few errors now, no one to blame but myself. Worst is trying to be prepared I painted as many components whilst still in sheets as I thought I should but didn't think about the the bow pear pieces of course only needed painting to the waterline. Had a look and was worried they were too thin to sand off so I've left them as is for now and I'll deal with it when painting the finished hull. Fitted the cover pieces along the keel and all fit very well with the alignment pegs provided. A little fiddly but a good lesson in patience which worked out well overall. Next was soak and 'dry' fit the stern piece. This seems to have shown that something at the stern wasn't totally straight. Not awful and I'm sure solvable once its all together. Outer bulwarks fitted as per manual without a hitch. Only change I made was to use CA gel at either end and along the bottom edge but white glue across the rest. Seems fine. Onto making a start with the second planking. This time I'm fitting the plank, as in the length and shape at either end, then soaking and using a dry iron to set the curve as much as possible then using small amounts of CA gel along the back to attach.. Only done the first two top planks so far but I like the method so far. The work I did with filler at the bow to correct the fairing of bulkhead two seems to have been good. Stopped now to make sure I'm still happy tomorrow, or whenever. A more tiresome problem is not realising/noticing that the plank stock varied in tone quite a lot. Noticed this when applying the second plank on one side. Now sorted by tone so hopefully with the offending planking being right at the top it'll not be too obvious. Last job of the day was to etch prime the PE parts for later. Simon.

I had a similar problem with mine too but it was most likely operator error. I thought I'd faired well but bulkhead 2 ended up too short. If I'd realised earlier I would have fixed at this stage by adding material behind the bulkhead and re-fairing. As it is was I used filler after the first planking and that seems to have sorted the problem. Only done top two planks on second planking but seems ok. Stick with it they're really good kits.

Me too the gel is much more manageable.

Thanks. The Vanguard kits seem to be so far beyond any other I’ve been put off looking elsewhere. Yes they’re a premium price but so obviously worth the extra. I’d rather model civilian craft so hopefully there will be more.

As a test I soaked (sucked on the end for 30 seconds) of the second planking and tried it out on the tightest section of the curve from various, vaguely correct, angles and all was well so hoping can proceed well. Simon.

PS love your Nisha. Probably my next fishing boat as my late dad's family had one in Brixham. Unfortunately for the wallet one of the other Vanguard fishing boats was built about two miles along the coast from my village and another fished from our harbour so I think I'm obligate to really

Thanks I\m intending to fill the well with resin and the 'fish' with some surface effects. If it' doesn't work out I can always close the hatch! I think my next step is to fit the stern plate and then see how the secondary planks will mate to that. Looking (and feeling) again I still think the shape is good. I can see that if the shape between the two 'sides' had less of a curve between them right at the stern then it might make planking easier but also looking down the line of the first planking the current shape is organic. The reason I resorted to shaped filler was purely that I made mistakes with the length of those planks and by the time I'd realised what I'd done I couldn't go far enough back.

A is looking at the part from the front as shown in the A elevation on the right. B is looking down on the part, showing the platform in B elevation on the left.

I gave up trying to remove them, however their tip to file the tops of them worked ok as they're quite domed meant it didn't damage the wood beyond anything that isn't going to be sanded anyway. Please don't take me as any kind of authority but the various kinds of superglue (CA) are widely used and recommended. Thick (what I'd call 'normal'), thin and gel all seem to have their place you just need to learn where and how to apply so you don't end up with a stick mess. I've found I can apply very tiny bits of gel with the standard Gorilla bottle but thin, as you expect goes all over the place. I've bought some of these to try for the normal glue but haven't tried yet.

Thanks, I'll check again together with the stern piece that fits before the planking. It does blend well but I take your point.

Does it refer to a different elevation on another plan at that point on the part?

Filling sanding and shaping after first planking done. Decided to add at the bow to make up for the fairing error (at least I assume that's what happened) before the second planking. Also shaped the stern to make up for the errors there too. Used 120 then 320 and 600 paper to finish. Looks good under a decent light and feels well blended. I prefer to use paper over finger tips rather than blocks so I can feel what I'm doing. Also made up and painted some of the parts for later and experimented with some light weathering. Painted plain grey then dry brushed with a darker grey, black mix. Simon.

Nail files can be found easier in some places and work well. I can sympathise with using them as only on my second kit. However the Occre ones (I did the Occre Polaris first), at least with the Occre wood stock are very coarse and hard to remove. The pins supplied by Vanguard (which I think are Amati pins?) are much finer and easily removed. Another tip I'd consider is to learn to use gel superglue as it's very useful.

Now that's exciting Any hints?

Made progress with stern plate painting. Paint and wipe didn't work so made a 'brush' with a brass pin stuck into some mast stock which made picking the name out in white easier. Once dried the paint had settled and looks better than here. Began the sanding and got the first run with 220 all done. Got some wood filler on the way to make up for the poor work at the stern and will continue sanding once done. Simon.

Weekend update. Finished the first planking. Happy overall. Better than the first kit but note for next time is to leave the planks long at the stern to shape and trim properly not try and trim at fitting and leave a problem. As you can see I'll need to do work at the stern because of this but I think filler and sanding before second planting should rectify this. As you can see at the bow I have a problem with a gap between the planking and the bulwark. I can only assume I was at fault with the fairing. Not certain if this could/should be fixed before the second planking. Didn't think I'd be able to but removed all but one of the pins after curing. Simon.

Bit of time today. Tried to pay attention but some mistakes got through. I was concentrating on trying to get the bow shape better than my last build and I think I succeeded but at the same time haven't tapered any of these lower planks. That said I did start to learn how to use CA gel which went well. Now I'm left with a space that's wide at the bow and narrower in the midsection which I'm not sure of the best way to fill. I know it's only the first planking but I'm trying to do it as well as I can to learn as much as possible and provide a good base. If anyone can advise the best way to proceed here and any techniques to remove the pins I'd be grateful. Simon.

Started off with some Danish oil to bring out the grain on some future pieces. Will probably matt varnish these tomorrow. Then made a start on the first planking. From reading on here and the manual this time I'm trying to be much neater and started tapering at the bow. This seems to be going ok. Also made my first drop plank (is that right) to avoid stealers, hopefully, at the stern on each side. Pretty pleased with them for a first go. Will be the garboard planks first on my next session. Might need some more fairing here.

Excellent that makes sense. Thanks.

My theory to pick out the name didn't work. Sure I can rescue it though The stern piece fitted and faired well though In better news the prow, keel and inner bulkhead parts seem to have gone together very well. I used pins to try and make sure they stick in place correctly. Not sure if I'll need to remove them. Pins are really tiny but the Modelcraft pen type pusher (I found the adjustable one too clunky) made the job very easy. Simon.

Don't think any of the crop sensor models have it. Could make a shift to full frame expensive with change of lenses. That said it might be worth (for framing advantages with a movable screen if nothing else) a jump to mirrorless. Various crop sensors but in the UK I'd look at used from MPB and maybe a shift to Olympus?

More time than expected today! Got the bulkheads faired and deployed tape, clamps, bands to hold the first stern piece in place while glue sets. Finally for today painted the name on the stern, my theory being I can very gently sand to remove bleed once thoroughly dry and it'll be more obvious once in place. Simon.