augie

Hello everyone,
 
I had to make a new cabin roof for this little boat and also a working hatch.  I could not use the kit supplied wood, it was just too flimsy to my liking.  I used the 1 mm birch plywood.  As is usual I made a paper template for the roof outline and the entry opening.
I also made the sliding hatch in the rough.  I had to wait till the roof was secure to install the sliding hatch rails.
The kit does not have a working hatch or working doors.  
 
Oh yeah, I also put the "glass" in for the portholes before the roof was permanently on cemented. 
 
First I had to glue the extra moulding in on the top of the cabin coaming for a better glue surface for the roof.  Then fairing everything for a good fit of the roof.  After the TiteBond glue had set enough I could then cement the roof on using the "slow set" CA.  I had to use all ten fingers to hold it down.
 
At this point I made the sliding roof rails.  I cut a groove in them on the outboard side for the slider hardware.  These will be made from 0.2 mm brass shim stock cemented to the hatch sides.
The hatch has stop strips on the forward and aft sides to prevent it from sliding off.
 
The slider hardware and doors will be my next project.  I did cut the doors out and started to fit them when it was time to close shop.  There is always another day.  The doors will be hinged. 
 
Okay, here are a few pics for you to peruse, 
 

This shows the cabin roof installed with the sliding hatch in the closed position.  It's still loose and waiting for the slider hardware.
 

This hows the sliding hatch in the open position.  You can see here the aft stop strip cemented to the underside of the hatch.
 

A peek inside.  I still have to make pillows and blankets for the bunks.
 

Here is a bow view.
 

This shows the prototype cabin doors being fitted.
 
Cheers,

Looking good, Larry.  As for the dust, yes.....it's a nuisance.  The best 'cover' I've seen on MSW (and I don'r remember where) was one made of that PVC white pipe.  A few elbows and some plastic sheet and you've got a light cover ---- but it is clumsy.  I just try to keep the area clean, get the ship out of the way for sanding as much as possible and just blowing off the dust routinely.  A nice soft  and clean paintbrush also helps a lot.

I've finally decided to build basic deck first and then start with hull planking. In case somebody wants to buy the same model, I'll provide some explanation about improvements, which can get your build closer to original.
 
First of all, here's a colorized photo of Titanic's lifeboats:
 

 
Deck
 
All four parts of the deck combined on the skeleton:
 

 
First improvement
 
Manual suggests you do the planking first and then use mini-drill to sand down timbers, fore and aft. Since I've decided to build interior first, I did all this sanding right away. Never had a drill tho, used a file and sanding paper.
 

 
Pay attention to fore and aft in the manual (right bottom part of the picture) — they have incline. The original boats didn't have any (see the first pic). So you'd better do more sanding until the whole deck is straight.
 
Second improvement
 
Also, according to manual, you have to glue some magic planks (15) to the ends of the fore and aft decks (14):
 

 
Again, there were no such parts in original boat (see the first pic), so I had to lengthen a bit side parts of the deck, becase they were delibirately made shorter.
 
Minor planking improvement
 
Manual tells you to do the planking on fore and aft bases (13). I've added a black paper between planks to make them look more real (see the last pic in this post). Somehow manuals never tell you, how to imitate cracks between planks.
 
Side walls
 
Next thing is side walls (drawers, I guess):
 

 
Manual never says to put them in the water first, but you should or they'll break when glueing to the deck. I put them in a water and then clamped to the hull for a while to keep rounded shape.
 
Third improvement
 
Side walls also should be planked like fore and aft bases (see the first pic), which is not in the manual again. Right now I'm outta suitable planks, but will do as soon as I get them.
 
Fourth improvement
 
According to manual, side walls have drawers and thus they've made a square sockets for them, in which you have to put covers with small holes:
 

 
However, there weren't any drawers in these places (see the first pic). At least I didn't find any ones on photos or blueprints. Only small holes in planks, but no drawers, so I gonna skip them.
 
Flooring
 
Manual suggests you build the floor right in the hull, layer by layer. I did it another way and built the whole flooring block separately, then simply cut and sanded it.
 

 
I don't say it's the best way, but this will make things less messy. I'm always worried about excessive glue, so the less you put your finger/brush/whatsoever with glue inside the model the better :-)
 
Colors
 
I've also finally decided not to use paint, but instead use woodstain. I have teak and pine woodstains. Titanic's lifeboats were brown-white, so I'm gonna use teak for brown and highly diluted pine as white (very light yellow, actually). Here's a quick peek on how it's gonna look assembled (parts not glued yet):
 

Thanks Robin.  This is a great way to sort things out and get input from others.  Pity we can't all meet and talk over coffee or tea.
 
Thanks Gaetan.  That's what I was thinking but needed another input. 

The hull planking is coming along.  It took me a while to put that first plank on but now that I’ve started I’ve developed a system that seems to work pretty well for me.
 
First I made two templates from the plank pattern I drew as part of my “planking-plan-of-attack”, one for the planking of the bow and one for planking the stern.  I colored them with a red pencil to help distinguish them from other planks.
 

 
Using these templates as a guide I sanded eight planks at a time, four for the starboard side and four for the port. The red color on the edge of the template came in handy as an indicator as to when to stop sanding.  As soon as the red color became lighter I would know the planks were close to their final profile.
 

 
I would sand each plank individually and compare it to the plank pattern to get its final shape.
To form these planks to the shape of the hull I would first soak and steam them and then place them in position on the hull itself.  I would do this on each side of the hull.
 


 
After letting them dry overnight I would do any final sanding and then glue them in place one at a time.   
 

 
Planking progress to date
 



 
One minor faux pas I discovered while laying out the planking at the stern was that I did not place the counter filler along the bulkhead former correctly.  When placing the filler I stop it at the bearding line and not at the rabbet.   Fortunately it wasn’t a hard fix so I added fillers to both sides of the stern and it sanded them smooth.
 

Looking good, Larry.  As for the dust, yes.....it's a nuisance.  The best 'cover' I've seen on MSW (and I don'r remember where) was one made of that PVC white pipe.  A few elbows and some plastic sheet and you've got a light cover ---- but it is clumsy.  I just try to keep the area clean, get the ship out of the way for sanding as much as possible and just blowing off the dust routinely.  A nice soft  and clean paintbrush also helps a lot.

Sand the CA off with 150 grit paper on a block.  You fingers will be sensitive like a safe cracker!

Sand the CA off with 150 grit paper on a block.  You fingers will be sensitive like a safe cracker!

usually I just do the dishes for the admiral.......she likes this      I've been holding the ends of the wire down with my thumb nail......you know this stuff makes for great finger nail polish.............hard and very shiny!!!      hey!!!   it's what all the fashionable modelers are wearing these days 

Sand the CA off with 150 grit paper on a block.  You fingers will be sensitive like a safe cracker!

I've managed to get a little work completed over the holidays, along with the usual amount of rework. The hull is painted along with two coats of Wipe On Poly (WOP). I also worked on one anchor, using Augie's suggestion of shrunk tube for simulating metal straps (worked out great - Thanks Augie).
 
I made the anchor ring out of some brass rod that was left over form another project. Solder world a not stick to it very well, probably due to not being clean enough. I did not think of sanding it down until after I made the ring. I did soak it in alcohol for a while, plus I tried several types of flux all to no avail. Heat was not an issue since I was using a mini torch. Since there is little stress on the ring, I just epoxied the ends together. I wrapped the ring using some rope supplied with the kit. I do not know what material was used for the rope, but it convinced me to order some of Chuck's from his Syren Company.
 
I made up a spread sheet listing rope and rigging blocks supplied from the kit, weighted against buying better replacements. All I can say is OMG on how quickly it adds up. I'll have to proceed with caution when going down this path. In respect to buying replacement rope and blocks, can anyone comment of how much extra you think is supplied by Model Expo. I do not expect an accurate number, knowing kits may vary and re-do's occur all the time, but any input on personal observations would be appreciated. I'll buy in batches as I go to help spread out the cost and to make sure I do not buy more than what is needed.
 
I noticed I had a lot of dust show up in the pictures. I guess I need to do a better job of cleaning off the parts before taking pictures or maybe get a lower res camera
 
Speaking of dust, it's a real PIA to deal with and thinking ahead as to when there will be masts, spars, rigging and all kinds of thing to collect dust, that would be difficult to clean off, are there any suggestions on how to minimize dust collection during a build. I was thinking of a curtain box, that would be lowered over the ship when I not working on it, but it sounds big and clumsy when thinking about it. So I thought I would break tradition and ask the many fine builders on MSW BEFORE I build something and ask afterwards where i went wrong...
 
Note: The bow sprite is held in place with tape - could not resist the photo op.

That would be Robert Shaw, may he rest in Peace.  Another good choice!

Please use Clint Eastwood  or Gregory Peck instead of George Clooney 

Please use Clint Eastwood  or Gregory Peck instead of George Clooney 

Hi Denis,
 
Not sure who you'd use here mate, Clooney just fell overboard, Peck is still fighting the white whale and Eastwood is busy shootin up the bad guys, how about the skipper from Amity, Jaws, ( can't think of his name ).    .  I reckon the forum brothers can come up with someone.
 
What you are doing here is I believe, surpassing anything you have done in the past mate, it really is wonderful.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

Thanks for the additional info on the 'beat to quarters' routine, Mobbsie.  A whole different time line then what we think of today.  I knew they put all the ship's boats overboard and I have also heard that on some smaller ships they would actually take the binnacle below.

Hi Augie,
 
I really cant add anything to the plaudits you have already received, suffice to say that I totally agree with all of them.
 
Regarding the Bulkheads when beating into action, all the bulkheads and cabin furniture were removed and placed below the waterline to avoid damage, this allowed a complete through deck for the gun captains and powder monkeys.
 
Looking forward to further updates mate.
 
Be Good
 
mobbsie

my first week back at work was.........well.......OK.   at least I was able to find humor in it all     I left the fuel drum assembly on my desk all week end.......I even cleaned up the desk a little.....which made the admiral very happy       so the count was left off like this.......five are ready for paint.......four of them had the ribbing around the body.......and two are bare.   I tried to do a little during the work week....but as I figured, that didn't happen.
 

 

 
I was also on line,  and found the color schemes for quite a few oil companies,  along with their logos,  so I'll be able to splash enough color on the deck,  to offset the white {the dominant color}.  at this point...the other two drums have the banding.....they all  {6}  need the tops
 
I still need to see if the decal maker will install

This is typical of the lowers Rich but this is the MS version

The rest aren't blown up but the pics are higher res so you can put them on your desktop and zoom in.



 
Hope these help
Cheers 
 

Yes, you'll like the wood stocks.  By the way, if you need to make black iron bands for them, think about black heat shrink electrical tubing.  I've got an assortment in flat black I think I picked up at Radio Shack...... probably 1/2" down to 1/16".  It takes paint and dullcoat well.  If not, there's always thick paper.

oh augie..me thinks i'll be sticking with the urethane satin, so i can't stain now, unless it's a stained urethane....i didn't oil because it would have come out too dark and all the grain would have been more exaggerated, which i was trying to avoid...on the wales etc i was thinking of a darker stained urethane instead of black but i don't know yet.....

Why not?  A coat of natural stain would bring out the depth beautifully!

Mark,
 
At least with "senior's moments" re-dos look like a new experience every time! :P

Went and looked at various furniture Friday, and they definitely have some stuff that I'll probably use.  Big issue is transport, the shelf unit I'd like won't fit in my car!  I'll have to bug a friend and borrow a truck one of these days when I'm ready to grab some of it.
 
Oh look - a ship building update!
 
I finished the lower band of planking on the port side of the AVS.

 
I'm pretty annoyed at that last stealer.  When I placed it the fitment was absolutely perfect, and the piece would just barely fit into the spot for it, yet after letting it dry and removing the clamp..  there is a big ol' gap there (not terribly apparent in 'life', but the macro shot sure shows it up ugly as can be).

 
Ah well..  I'll do some sanding/white glue fill and hopefully it will cover it up pretty well.

Continuing with the 25' cutter.  Bulkheads have been trimmed and ribs added.
 

 
Gunwale and rising plank added.
 

 
Final fairing, sanding and painting, sanding and painting, sanding and painting, painting, painting, painting, etc., etc
 
.
 
Weathered thwarts and floor boards (a bit too much), and comparison with the launch
 

 
Still a number of details to be added, aft seating, rudder, lifting rings, thole pins, etc.