Mike Y

Hi Lawrence, Yes, the decorations and windows are good quality, two bottom sheets on this photo: Though you need to be really careful when building a transom area to make sure that windows will fit, there is no room for error. I was not so accurate in this area, so my windows would be made to fit instead... Also, note the grain direction. I would try to make those out of multiple pieces - more realistic and less chance to snap off a flimsy piece that has a grain running across its width. Though it is boxwood, so it might survive. But trying to clean off the char while trying not to break it - is a big challenge, probably more difficult than just cutting the piece from scratch (the plans have all the necessary patterns). So there is no clear answer, just imagine yourself making those from scratch or using laser cut pieces. What would you prefer?

Hope to start reading your build log soon! Please send me a message if you need a wood list or a detailed photo of some parts to know what you will get in a box.

Not planning any rigging (not my cup of tea at the moment, but never say never). Haven't heard about rigging plans of Cromwell, but it is a very typical ship of that period, and there are plenty of other frigates with a rigging diagrams. Pandora or a Swan class as an example - you can buy rigging plans for them (and an Anatomy Of The Ship book for Pandora) and easily use this for an Oliver Cromwell. Of course, it is a stretch - but probably not very far fetched.

Hi Lawrence, Thanks for the compliments! The "timbering set" I bought from the Lumberyard does not contain frames, but instead it has lots of "framing stock" (strips that are laminated together to be used as a blank for framing). The process should be quite clear from the first 10 pages of this build log. The process is quite simple, once you get the hang of it (for example, how to join the pieces together on a proper angle without gaps, or how to laminate two layers without wood cupping because of a moisture in a glue). I haven't planned to replace the wood, but was kind of forced to, because of a number of reasons: 1) Included framing stock was a bit different kind of pear that I expected - it is a golden colour pear, instead of pink-brown swiss pear I was looking for. I did not know that the term "swiss pear" has different meanings, so I was just expecting a different wood. The golden pear is not bad, in fact some modellers even value it more than the pink one, but it is purely a matter of taste. Most swiss pear you see on this forum is a pink-brown variety. 2) The stock was very rough with a deep sanding marks. I had no planer or sander back then, and sanding it by hand was a major time waste and it was not fun at all. Also, they had an inconsistent thickness, which leads to even more sanding 3) High colour variation and lots of defects (grey areas in that wood) The laser cut parts were also made out of golden pear, but a higher quality one. Though some joints were too wide, and the laser char was thick - cleaning it was worse than just cutting a new part out of a pear sheet. Also, they were a bit too simplified (stem was made out of one single piece, etc). This specific point is not a lumberyards fault, this is the way how Hahn did it, simplifying it on purpose to make it a bit more beginner-friendly. All that together lead to a decision to just buy the wood I like (pink-brown swiss pear) and do it from scratch. I haven't regretted that decision, and I have nobody to blame if smth does not fit together Lumberyard do not have any photos of the package contents, so hope my log helps a bit. Now you know how the "swiss pear timber set" looks like in reality. I posted a lot of photos and whining texts in the first part of that log, if you need more details. If I would do it again - I would do it like this: 1) Buy the full set of plans (from Hahn family directly or from Lumberyard, not sure what is easier nowadays). Maybe a framing jig as well, Lumberyard have it laser cut. If you cut the jig yourself using the paper template that is a part of the plans - paper distortion might be a problem - it is a really big object, and if it is skewed - the resulting ship would be skewed as well. 2) Once you have the plans - order the wood separately from a source you like and trust, using photos or sample pieces to make sure you get what you expect. That is easier than I though - you need lots of framing stock (dimensions and amount is easy to calculate from the plans, I can share the numbers for Cromwell if you need), and a number of sheets of various thicknesses for all other parts. That is also easy to do once you have plans - just pick up the wood type for different pieces, check their thickness, ballpark the quantity you need, buy 50% more just in case. Luckily, you do not need a lot of different thicknesses (think about oaks that the real ship was made of - they can only be so thick). So I bought a number of pear sheets of various increments - from 2mm (planking and such) all the way up to 10mm for a thicker parts. Add a 1-2mm reserve for sanding - if you need a 6mm thick part, you need a thicker sheet for it (8mm or so), otherwise you will end up with a 5mm part In hindsight, I am not sure what is the point of a timbering package. Framing stock - any wood supplier will mill you a custom sized planks. Parts that are laser cut - it is easy to cut them on a bandsaw/scroll saw, and finish with a disk sander. You can't build that model without these tools anyway, and making them out of a clean sheet is maybe even easier and more pleasant than trying to scrape away or sand away that nasty char, that ends up screwing dimensions here and there. Either you sell a kit where everything is pre-cut and a scroll saw is not needed, or you sell plans + jigs. Please send me a message if you need more details, would be happy to help!

Håkan, glad to see you! Hope there would be more updates this year when I will finally get back to the actual modelling... The room is actually good enough, forces me to keep everything in order. The workshop will just allow to increase the scale (larger bandsaw, larger planer, larger mill, etc) - which means I will get sucked into making furniture, tables, etc etc etc. And there are only so many hours I can spend on a hobby. And it is nice when I can be close with my family, at the same time doing some tedious task that does not occupy a lot of brain (some random glue-up, sanding, etc etc).

Your lion looks great! This is a surprisingly difficult figurehead to model - lots of other carved lions have trouble with a face expression, it is frequently something like "please, no more sour bread, I need meet! bleh". While your lion looks healthy and strong! Can't recognise the wood you are using for the stem, what is it?

And there is also a handy app that helps to reduce errors when converting back and forth: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/model-scaler/id528641484?mt=8

Nice! Guess it took some time to translate it. Glad to meet the kit designer!

Chuck, thanks for the interesting perspective! Even if you split the pump into two pieces - it will still take a while to mill them (too many operations, multiplied by number of pumps). The only ideas that come to mind are about tablesaw jigs, but hard to see how that will work on that tiny scale Would be too inaccurate, not good enough for the Syren brand.

What is your view on the approach used by Master Korabel - offer two versions of the kit, regular and "plus", with the "plus" version having a bit better quality of blocks and fittings, but being a bit more expensive? In your case - something in 250-275 range, but with a PE set included? So it does not involve having two sets of parts, the "plus" version is "regular version plus extra parts".

Wait for it - the satisfaction you are going to get once the fairing is complete - is priceless!

... and please do not worry about repetitive postings about wales, few recent pages of this log yielded an unexpectedly interesting discussion and lots of photos of a pretty top-notch models. Please do not stop!

Are you sure you want to blacken that beauty? Nice machining, makes me want to dive into a metalworking lathe.

Nice and so quick!

Sidenote: Sherline is available in EU, and last time I checked - the prices were very reasonable, not far off from the US prices: http://sherline.com/sherline-worldwide-dealers/

Jan, thanks, now it is much clearer. Interesting background information!

Kurt, I only had 3-4 hours alone, not enough to plane all planks. So need to wait until next Sunday It would be a classic "fishbone parquet" pattern, same as on the floor in this room (you see the floor in the other photos). Like this, but nicer: Wider 40mm planks along the edges, with sapwood remaining on a plank. Narrower 30mm planks for the pattern itself. I have just enough planks, so might need to improvise

Started turning rough "resawed" willow planks into thin straight planks suitable for the display case floor. That worked fairly well with a straight thick pine plank as a planing sled, and a double sided sticky tape to hold them. Some planks had some holes, look like insect holes: Then this piece cracked around those holes, exposing some disgusting internals: I do not want this organic stuff anywhere close the model, so cut this off quickly Overall it was a lot of sawdust and chips The target plank thickness is 2mm, so I guess more than a half of the log was turned into sawdust and cutoffs. Still not very bad

I was thinking about this idea, scribing the joints to make them a bit visible. On this model, this approach is taken to extreme: Will try something like this on my wales, but very subtle. Though it will require some practice - glue and wood grain will make it hard to make a clear line. Maybe just scraping the wale part with a blade or chisel before the glue-up will work better.

The Boeier looks very charming, I will definitely sign up for one! But why POB, not POF? All other small boats designed by Chuck are in frames, and this one is suddenly POB? Any chance for the POF version?

Smooth! Are you planning to highlight the joints somehow? They are so tight that will probably disappear when the wales are finished and dyed black

Please please please share your finish technique! Each photo is an eye candy for perfectionists! Everything is aligned, no gaps, clear joints, brilliant!

Welcome! Eugeny, thank you for your kits, they are a pleasure to build. It would be interesting to see what will come out of that collaboration!

Was worried about painting such a nice wheel over, but your "painting" ended up very nice!

Very nice, and it is built so quick! Do you have a photos showing the entire model?