cdogg

Did you start a build log?  That is the best way to get help , take pictures of each step, people will help along the way, some members are more helpful with hull building, some with rigging, some with planking, etc

Nice job man, I am about 25% done with this kit, got side tracked with a dollhouse kit, and lost my picture instructions!

Thanks for posting the pictures about the kit pieces not fitting, it seems everything piece I got with the kit is off.  pain in the a$$

I haven't had a chance to touch up the grates yet, just wanted to get them placed.  Also I need to do some fins touched on the cabin door yet, a little raw

It's been a busy time of year, finally spent a few hours on the boat

Here I measured and placed the pin rack and the grating on the deck

The wonderful kit provided posts were too small for the 1.5x3mm walnut pin rack so I went to a 1mmx3mm walnut piece, worked fine

The grating was a pain in the a*s, first time making one, at least now I know how to do it correctly.  lol

http://www.corel-srl.it/modell.html

The ship is looking awesome, that balcony is pretty cool.

Hi Rob

Here is my advice

Every model I build I learn something that I could have applied to a previous one.  Now I look at the first two ships I built and think, "Man, I should have used the technique I used on the other".  So if you want the Constitution to be your pride and joy, then you should probably build your skills up with smaller kits.  Experience will make the build more enjoyable and more efficient.  Building wooden display ships is my favorite hobby but very difficult.

Thanks Hof. A few of those pics will help.

I will figure it out, just in shock that AL thinks two pictures and a paragraph are sufficient for planking instructions.  I do not really need them but that stern is a pain in the a**.  Also there is no guidance on how to build the boards behind the pile of boxes.  They go into detail about how to build the box but not that piece, lol.  I am just venting more than anything, never built an AL kit before.

Well, this has been on my shelf forever so I thought I would dust it off.  I know this forum is no stranger to this kit so I am going to try to focus on the work after the first hull planking

This is my first AL kit, and I can honestly say these instructions are horrible.  There is no direction for some of the prominent items on the deck.  Also, the stern / bulwark planking is the most frustrating planking I have yet to encounter in my few years of this hobby.

Here are some early pictures of the hull now that I have the first layer on, very raw yet.

Thanks for checking out my painfully slow build log, now I have motivation to get this going this weekend! lol

tasanhalas - use the same wood as you used for railing, 2x5mm or 2x4mm beech wood.  just cut out the notches with a blade, fairly easy

I will look tonight and get back to you

I bought a Master airbrush kit off Amazon a few years ago around $75, played around with the cheap airbrush until I knew what I was doing.  Buying an airbrush is like buying a guitar.  You don't know if you will enjoy it, so don't go an buy a $400 toy to sit in a closet.

Once I got the hang of airbrushing I moved to a more advanced "cheap" airbrush, a Master G233.  As long as I keep it clean I can do decent work, here is a picture of a 1/72 Bf109 that I finished last October with the Master starter kit.

Not exactly museum quality, but proof that a starter kit can get you a decent paint job.  This winter I will buying a badger brush or two for more detailed work.

Don't worry about all the complexities, just buy a starter kit and go from there.

Thanks everyone!

Got her done!  Added a few coiled lines on the cabin and deck.  Into the display case and on to the next project!

Finished the rigging, 99% done!

I use tanganyika on all mine, it looks great after a single coat of poly.  But it is very brittle so make sure you have extra. 

Thanks. I'm having a hard time picking rigging lines. The ones with the kit are very thin and the ropes I have in storage a a bit too big for the blocks

Ready for the sails, this was a fun kit.  Hopefully the next pictures will be in the completed section!

This is a good topic, I have thought about it a lot over the past few years.

I have a theory that may apply to Chris's post. When I started building my first log, I came to conclusion that my boat will never look as good as most of the builds on this site no matter what I did at the time. This led me to find myself at times thinking, "If I do this, I'll never be able to post the pics on MSW". Now that I have four kits under my belt I feel a lot better about posting to build logs. Unfortunately I do not have the time these days like I did 4 years ago to work on my builds. My Scotland Kit is over two years old now, still trying to get one whole day to sit down and get going on it.

These people may have finished their boats but chose not to continue the log because they felt it wasn't good enough to share. Some of the people on this forum are 30 plus year veterans at this hobby and they make such beautiful ships that it may drive away novices from posting.

Who knows where these build logs have gone, just saying my theory could be valid along with people just losing interest.

Chris asked him in Spanish a few posts ago, google can translate too

Great job!  That looks like a cool kit

Great thanks!