Nightdive

Thanks @palmerit, I used a tiny bit of filler at the bow, but think I'll leave the plank seams alone at this point. We'll see where it goes after a couple of coats of acrylic. I also decided to prime the PE parts separately and add them later, their details might become cluttered by paint if added at this point.

Thank you again! Your build logs and tips have helped me reach this point in the build. The hull is now primed, but some of the gaps seem a bit large. Do you think that I should use some watered-down filler, or will layers of top coat and sanding in between be enough? I'd prefer planking to be visible in the finished model, so I'm concerned that using filler might be too much.

Thank you for your likes and comments, everyone! The Sherbourne is now sanded, filled, and ready to be painted - if the weather permits - later this week. My plan is to seal the wood with Tamiya fine surface primer, sand if necessary, add the photo-etch parts, prime those parts, and then apply as many coats of AK off-white as needed.

As I got to this point in the planking, I noticed that there was a 2 mm difference in the remaining gaps. I could finish the port side with 15 planks, but the starboard would require 16. So initially I split my spreadsheet in two and had elaborate plans about heavily thinning and tapering all eight remaining planks. But after shaping the first one, I understood how laborious it would be and decided to just finish both sides identically with three planks each, then add a small filler piece to the starboard side. And with that, the second planking was done. While everything I learned during the first planking certainly helped a lot, I think the second layer was easier in general, as there was almost no need to twist planks over a kettle in multiple spots.

https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/shipwreck-uunihylky-varmbadan-kirkkonummi-9e3320db5a2c45faa24f414b68799421 Before its identification, the Falken was known as the 'Stove Wreck' due to a large brickwork stove found within it. It has been a well-known dive site since its discovery in 1974. The details of her loss remain unknown, but due to her shallow location (above 9 m/30 ft), it has been speculated that she was intentionally grounded to allow some salvage of her cargo. I planned to dive it and other wrecks in the area last summer, but the weather didn't permit on the days that we had set aside.

The visually closest one I could find is the SS Peruvian of the Allan Line. Could very well be some other migrant ship of that era.

I'm now past the halfway point on the second planking and have been able to get away with fairly little clinker. I've used @Jase's spreadsheet method and re-measured after every few planks. Only some small adjustments to the spreadsheet have been needed. I've primarily used PVA again, with some CA for the bow and stern.

Excellent information, thank you for taking the time to write your posts. @ERS Rich interesting point about sealing, as a beginner, I assumed that harder woods should just be airbrushed directly. I've been meaning to mix some shellac from dewaxed flakes to touch up some old shellacked furniture scratches, Sherbourne will give me the perfect reason to finally do it. There's also plenty of extra wood in the kit, and that will give me a chance to experiment with different methods before doing the final painting. @palmerit I've already gone ahead and purchased an airbrush, though it is a fairly inexpensive hardware store one. I haven't tested it with paint yet, and I'll keep your Iwata and Badger recommendations in mind if it turns out to be of low quality. I was hoping to do all my painting outside, but it's getting late in the year. I might have to purchase one of those cabinets for later stages of the build. For compressed air I've decided to use a scuba tank. It should work well, the air is already bone dry. The adapters and a small additional pressure regulator cost only a fraction of a compressor's price. For fun, I'll post a picture of the setup once I get to the painting phase. @Desertanimal @palmerit Good point about blackening. I was already opting to do it for companionway hinges and belaying pins, but just as with hardwood, I assumed that PE can also be painted directly. My local hobby shop seems to carry Tamiya primer too, so I'll use that one in case I decide to paint the below-waterline brass parts white.

Thank you for the encouraging comments! I hope that the second planking goes well too. Sanded with 180 grit paper. I also used a little bit of filler at the bow to ensure a snug fit for the second layer of planks. I have some thoughts and questions about paints, as I need to order them soon, and I'd appreciate your opinions. This is completely new to me, so I've done some research by reading older discussions on this site. If I've understood correctly, there is no single correct mix for the ochre paints or the "white stuff". The colours varied in real life, and it's ultimately up to the modeler's taste. So I've decided to go for more muted colours for scale effect, plus it looks better to my eye in other models. My current paint selection is Admiralty Paints’ red ochre for inner bulwarks, AK off-white for the white stuff, and AK smoke black for wales. I originally wanted to paint the sides with Admiralty Paints' yellow ochre. It seems fairly close to HMS Victory's current colour scheme, which I like personally, and it could be a nice little nod to the connection between these two ships. However, after looking at these contemporary cutter models, I'm no longer so sure about painting the sides at all. In this thread, it was mentioned that yellow or red sides were mandated by the Navy Board in 1777, so I suppose it's theoretically possible that the Sherbourne was painted yellow in the last years of her career. My question is, if I choose to paint the parts, can they be thinly airbrushed so that the lasered details will remain visible? Also, would it be historically inaccurate to paint the depth markings, horseshoe and stern fish plate white at the same time as I airbrush the hull?

First planking done! It took some measuring and planning, but I was able to finish it without creating terribly irregular last planks.

Hello everyone, I'm back after a break from modeling for other projects. To be honest, I also kept procrastinating this step, as I knew that planking would be a challenge. I'm twelve planks in and it seems to be going fairly well so far. I've roughly followed the planking method that Jase presented in his Sherbourne video series; starting from the centre, marking the spot where the plank starts to overlap the previous one, then beveling the plank from that point onward. Chuck Passaro's planking videos and GlennUK's very detailed Sherbourne build log have also been very helpful. I've beveled the first two planks by 2.5 mm and the next two by 2.0 mm. Everything has been glued with PVA with CA only for the last bulkhead (no. 17). There is more clinker effect in the bow than I had hoped for. I need to step up my edge-bending game for the second planking.

Thanks JC, I'm trying to be meticulous, especially at this point of the build, since as a new modeler I don't yet know what sort little errors will cause major issues later on. Still need to learn patience and how to handle the model more carefully, I too managed to break part of the stern. The starboard counter cracked in half when fitting the bulwarks. Luckily it was along the laser etched line, so it can't really be seen from the side that matters. I'm glad that it is now sandwiched in between the bulwarks for some protection. I did pretty much this, and concluded that it's probably fine as long as the gun ports and other features are identically located on both sides. There was also only about 1 mm of extra bulwark on both sides of the stern, so I can't be too far off. Doing any extra sanding wouldn't have fixed anything, only moved the point where the bulwarks didn't match the etched lines, and made the hull shorter. Those tutorials by ModelKitStuff have been useful, I've also binged Tagliamare's videos on the Sherbourne. After many dry fits I glued the bulwarks on, let them cure for 24 hours, and then brushed some watered down PVA from below. Looks pretty good to me. Now, onto planking.

I tried installing the bulwarks straight from the sheet, but there were some cracking sounds and I felt that there just isn't enough give. So I soaked the parts in hot water for a couple of minutes and clipped them around a drinking glass for 24 hours. I'm currently dry fitting them in place, but the bulwark tabs do not exactly fit the engraved lines. The manual said that some variation due to sanding is fine, but is this too much? There's about 1.5 millimeter difference in the bow, while the stern is perfect. It's the same in the other bulwark.

That sponge tip was a good one, thank you! I cut pieces from a kitchen sponge and those helped me work around the bow and the stern. The rest I sanded with blocks using 180 and 240 grit sandpaper in as long strokes as possible, following the curve of the hull. I also used one of the lime wood planks to see whether there were any bulkheads that didn't make full contact. The last one in the stern doesn't, but I was afraid to sand it any further.

Likewise, your log had good information about the steps that I'm just getting into. I spent today's hobby time cutting some sanding blocks from scrap wood with a table saw. I will try to do the fairing process slowly and carefully, and not replicating my previous experience of having to create filler pieces after removing too much.