Jolly Jo

Phil, thank you very much for your help! In the process of learning I sometimes feel foolish but you're absolutely right, mishaps and misconceptions are inevitable, especially for a newbie. I'll upgrade the mock up cardboard deck with frames to figure out the planking pattern.

When I went to bed last night I realized I made a fool of myself. Laying out the whole deck, then joggling the planks and after that building the covering boards accordingly would have been the right way. that's what I will do. Oh dear..

The hull looks great, very nicely done!

Last week was slow as I continued painting, or was learning to paint... I put on a paint job in the evening, let the color dry over night, corrected an error or part I was not satisfied with and so on... In the end I learned a lot and I'm finally okay with the result. I was happy to finally get to planking the deck but first I had to think how it should look like. The manual just said to simply butt the planks to the bulwark and glue a stringer on top. As I already deviated from the width of the planks which I think are too wide I want to go for a more realistic approach and add more details. Therefore I will use two 4mm stripes as king planks (regular planks are 3mm), add covering boards and staunchions like on Mosquitobit and Flying Fish shown in Chapelle's book and on on Pride of Baltimore II. How to make covering boards was a tough nut to crack... First I cut a template of the deck out of cardboard and wrapped some tape around it to test fit the planks. Then I cut a 4 mm covering cardboard as mock up I traced the cardboard to an oak stripe and fit it to the bulwark. Port side fit best so I continued accordingly. Next step was to place sandwich paper over the stripes to determine how to joggle the ends. I read that joggling would be done if a plank joins the covering boards at an angle wider than 45°. Afterwards I cut the sandwich paper, traced it to the cardboard, cut the cardboard and traced that to the oak stripe. I guess it was a step many many but it felt safer... Last thing was to cut some test staunchions from scrap wood to loosely test fit and I like it. I know on Mosquitobit and the other ships the planks did / do not go directly into the covering boards but in a separate margin plank next to it but I have to compromise on that. Their planks are considerably thinner so I think it looks best as it is.

This is an amazing diorama, I love every part of it!

Ist ein bisschen spät hier zu schreiben aber vielleicht hilft es für zufünftige Vorhaben: "Lupus Brünier Gel" ist gut zum brüniergen von Zink, Messing, Kupfer oder Bronze. Das Ölbad nach dem Brünieren ist wichtig, am besten so 8-12 Stunden einwirken lassen. Ich nehme Ballistol. https://lupus-pro.de/c/waffenpflege/brueniergel-brueniersets/antik-fuer-kupfer-messing-bronze-und-zink (It's a little late to respond but I think it might help for future builds: A very good product to darken zinc, brass, copper or bronze is "Lupus Brünier Gel" It's important to soak the pieces in oil for about 8-12 hours to complete the process. I use Ballistol )

geht doch (it does work after all)

Nope, indeed I didn't. Thanks a lot sir!

The PAINt job really is a bottleneck as I'm afraid to screw up so I take my time. After trial and error the first color came out well *phew That's when I realized the wale at the starboard side sat to high and wasn't flush with the lower end of the transom. I have no idea how this has evaded me so long or didn't I care? Anyway, last chance for a correction before applying the next color. Therefore I had to unglue the piece. First I slightly sanded the surface and then I applied water to scratch off the acrylic primer. I kept on watering the wale and its adjacent sides with a cotton swab for about half an hour, then applied heat with a heat gun. Moving the gun steadily along the wale, always applying water in between turns, it came off nicely. I then stripped away the layer of walnut planking where the wale had to sit and covered the empty space with scarp walnut I kept from tapering the planks. After spraying on new primer she is ready for the black layer.

At least it sounds like a happy ending. It is quite hard to step away when one is determined to finish something or make progress of some kind. Especially getting one's mind off the subject afterwards... Have a great new day! I'm looking forward to seeing how you progress.

I would tend to run in as well. This way the proportions of the very the short gun and the carriage pushed together look best (at least to me). Run out shows a long empty carriage and an even shorter carronade as the barrel is hidden by the gun port. For all three positions picture 3662a looks like the best option. Anyway, very niceley done done so far!

Keeping my fingers crossed. She looks very nice so far!

Yes sir, I will. The kit includes 4 swivel guns and I will mount one pair fore and aft.

Hello fellow modelers, I had to pause posting as I messed up big time coloring the hull. Coating it in primer was relatively easy but putting on color not so much, especially as I had very little experience with an airbrush. The first paint jobs looked quite uneven and I didn't get the waterline correctly either. Meanwhile I received Chapman's “The Baltimore Clipper” and Marquardt's “The Global Schooner”, so I decided to take a step back, study the books and reconsider what I've done so far and how to proceed. First I had to figure out what to make of the model as it is not based on a particular ship. What could it have been, what makes sense and what doesn't. The way she is set up she lacks in firepower to be a commissioned vessel or privateer. To see if it would make sense to increase armament I built a canon labeled period correct 4 pounder around 1790 in 1:64 scale. Even though smaller in scale the 4 pounder looks too large for the ship and also doesn't clear the gun port. That's when I figured that the deck sits a little too high. I put the sheer strakes flush to the deck as indicated in the manual for the first planking. The cross section, shown for the second planking, indicated a position about 1.5 mm lower than the deck which would have been better. Too late... Therefore fighting Vessel was out of the question as was a slaver of course. The deck plan includes three gratings but she is a bit to lean for just being a merchant. Furthermore one grating has to go anyway as there is no companionway... So, in conclusion, she's a smuggler. Shipping a little less but more valuable cargo, fast, to outrun the coast guard and capable to defend herself if she has to. Maybe I rename her "Shiny Moon" Here's the final paint job for the underwater part. Murphy applied a speck of dust or so, arrgh. I deal with it later when the paint has dried. I also made some rudders to replace the one (on the left) from the kit. I guess I mount the one in the middle.

She looks really nice, well done!

A real beauty, nicely done, Mark ! 👌 I also love the stand!

Such a beautiful boat! Nicely done indeed

Yes, I used a piece of wet cloth The filler I was using dries really fast so I had to wipe off the remainders right after filling

It was time to prepare the hull for painting. The first coat of primer was rather to show areas that need to be mended Oh dear... Closing gaps with wood filler, then sanding That's better

She looks amazing, well done!

That is a very nice looking Boat, congratulations! Good luck with the next one. Mistakes may happen but it is important to have endurance

I thought about the width of the deck planks again. As 7" scaled down to 1:57 would be very close to 3mm I decided to look for 3mm stripes. The company I usually buy my stuff from sells batches of 10 but they are just 100mm long, so for 70 mm planks I would waste 30mm each and I also need to buy quite a lot. In consequence I build a jig to thin out the planks I had already cut before. It's made from spruce with a 3mm wide bar of oak as straight edge. The pins hold the plank in place and can stay when sliding in a new plank. After some cutting I loosely laid out both version of the planks for comparison and I think the thinner ones look just right.

I am waiting impatiently for it's arrival... As the "Newport" is not designed after an existing vessel I have some leeway in the details. That's good for a beginner's project. Nevertheless I aim to get it as realistic as (for me) possible.

Mark, Thank you very much for your help and encouragement, vielen Dank! I once built a portable workbench I saw on YouTube. Being an inexperienced woodworker I bought the plans, acquired the tools step by step and even went to a carpenter's shop to get the large piece of oak cut as I was uncomfortable to do it myself on the table saw (safety first). Took me three month but it turned out beautiful. Making improvements, learning new skills and doing research is so much fun! I'm glad to have you aboard, sir! Jo

Phil, thanks a lot for the advice and information! I don't think I will or can be as accurate as Mark but rather then just going along with the plan and material provided to "just" learn the basics, my idea is to make improvements were I can to get a result I am still happy with in the years to come when I hope I'll be an experienced modeler.