Craigie65

With the frames all faired and checked it is time to add the inner bulwarks. These parts do no seem to go fully into the slot as I first envisaged. Looking closely at the build manual and at other logs it seems as if the forward edge of the bulwarks barely rests inside the slot.
 
I decided to soak the forward bulwarks to put less strain on the stem as the top of the stem cracked just above the slot whilst dry fitting the bulwarks.  I will wait a few hours before glueing and pinning given the amount of swelling pear seems to have.  
 
Also took the opportunity to clamp the pre soaked counter to get the shape.
 
PS forgive the desk - it has been my office and shipyard throughout the pandemic.

With the frames all faired and checked it is time to add the inner bulwarks. These parts do no seem to go fully into the slot as I first envisaged. Looking closely at the build manual and at other logs it seems as if the forward edge of the bulwarks barely rests inside the slot.
 
I decided to soak the forward bulwarks to put less strain on the stem as the top of the stem cracked just above the slot whilst dry fitting the bulwarks.  I will wait a few hours before glueing and pinning given the amount of swelling pear seems to have.  
 
Also took the opportunity to clamp the pre soaked counter to get the shape.
 
PS forgive the desk - it has been my office and shipyard throughout the pandemic.

Glomar. nice start. When fairing use the longest plank you can. You should be checking as many bulkheads as possible, gentle curves included. Stop your hull fairing at the end of part 24. The rest is the transom area and is handled differently. Leave your hull planks at the stern long. the transom area planking will butt up with it. When I fair my bulkheads, I taper/bevel them from the scribe line to the back of the bulkhead when moving aft. When going from the stern forward the bevel goes the other way, so it is from the scribe line to the forward edge.Take your time , don't rush. When you start planking small issues can be sanded out or shimmed to make corrections.
 
Jim

The sails have progressed better than I had hoped, I got into something of a 'production line' mentality and tackled one edge of each sail at a time, first gluing on the edge strip of a side for each sail, then letting those dry, then iron them in place, then onto the next edge and so on around each sail.  Next I temporarily glued the edge wire in place with C-A, again tackling one edge on one sail at a time.  Then the same for folding over and gluing the edge strip to trap the wire, then ironing to seal and flatten each edge.  Really enjoyed the process actually, time just flew past, very Zen.  ☺️ 
Without getting ahead of myself (I haven't yet got them rigged onto the model!) I am daring to dream I might be able to add sails like these onto my "Bounty" build! 😲
 
Next step is give these sails a 'rusty red' spray tan.  I'm also considering what to do about the bolt ropes, if anything.  Not sure I'm up for trying to sew something on, maybe I could glue some thread on the edges, or perhaps at 1/64 scale just paint the edges hemp/tan colour to simulate the bolt rope, or ignore it all together.  Not sure yet, my prototype sail may serve yet for one last experiment on this question...
 
Until next time, thanks for looking in.

After about an hour or so the basic hull shape and false deck was done. No dramas getting to this point. The stern frames are delicate and I was a more careful than I was with Nisha to make sure I did not snap off the outer frames.  There is still a bit of fairing to do, but the sun is out and that will have to wait until tomorrow.

After about an hour or so the basic hull shape and false deck was done. No dramas getting to this point. The stern frames are delicate and I was a more careful than I was with Nisha to make sure I did not snap off the outer frames.  There is still a bit of fairing to do, but the sun is out and that will have to wait until tomorrow.

The first step is to pre fair the frames - a simple exercise with the guidelines to follow.  I heeded the warnings in the comprehensive instructions and wore a mask while using my proxxon.

Well it would be rude not to pull up a chair! 🍿

It is with some trepidation that I have decided to start a build log for Erycina. Thanks @AJohnson for the encouragement.  This, along with Nisha, was a Christmas gift.  I have finished Nisha and will post some photos of that one later.  I am undecided whether to build out of the box or to do some bashing to modernise her to emulate the Pilgrim or Vigilance of Brixham. Anyway, there is time to dwell on that. Not too much mind you as Nisha took shape very quickly. A testament to the designer not the builder.

Progress update on the sails this evening.  As mentioned earlier the prototype sail, was not what I wanted for the final model but was good enough to carry on to experiment with airbrush painting to see how it would come out.  I mixed some old enamels I have for plastic aircraft modelling to something I hoped would look like the classic "Trawler red/brown" sails found on those craft.  I sprayed of several light and fairly dry coats so as not to soak the paper and cause even more wrinkles.  Quiet happy with the results so far.
 
Now gone on to what I hope will be the final sails that I'll attach to the "Nisha", having messed about with dilute PVA glue and spray glue; the first causes too mush wrinkling of the paper and the second is well just too messy! I settled on using glue sticks!  Those of you with kids, go raid their art supplies as it worked! 😂 I didn't mention in my previous post that I am using baking parchment paper and this has a slight sheen, so I needed to apply glue to both the backing template and the thin strips that I cut.  But this slightly shiny surface means I had chance to position each strip before it grabbed for good.  To make sure of a good fix I then iron each sail between two sheets of cartridge paper.
 
As I am cheating a bit and only applying 'panels' to one side of the sails; to keep them as thin as possible, I am applying the reinforcement corner patches and luff reinforcement bands etc on the opposite side so that side also has some textural interest to it and relying on the still semi translucent appearance for the panel bands to show through when the lighting conditions allow.  Edgar Marsh shows "Nisha" with two reef bands on the main sail and one on the foresail (but admit I have no idea how to rig that!)  so I will add these, so next update will hopefully have those and the wire edging done.
 
Thanks all for continuing to follow and comment/like.

Very nice!  
I took the easy way out and bought the pre made sails. Very good they are too!

Very nice!  
I took the easy way out and bought the pre made sails. Very good they are too!

Phew, thought I had missed your log.  Well when you have finished your "Nisha" put some pictures up in the "Finished Gallery" if you have chance, so we can all have a look! 😁

Thanks Andrew.
I had great intentions of starting a log. After a week of building in the Christmas break I realised I had finished and painted the hull and had not taken a single photo. 
 
Maybe I will for Erycina

That is a lovely looking model Craig, did you do a build log I have missed, I usually hunt out the Vanguard trawler builds, you have slipped under the radar!

Very nice!  
I took the easy way out and bought the pre made sails. Very good they are too!

Very nice!  
I took the easy way out and bought the pre made sails. Very good they are too!

Small update of progress so far making some sails, pictures below of my prototype.
 
I am following in the footsteps of some master sail makers here on MSW using paper, and shamelessly copying them! 😆
 
I  Started out by cutting a backing template and then gluing strips onto this to simulate sail panels and corner reinforcements using dilute PVA.  Next I glued edging strips to wrap around some thin wire; this wire was spun in a drill to make it straight and stiffer than off the spool.
 
The lessons learned so far is that I think a spray on glue, like board-mount/photograph mounting spray, might be better as the thin paper might wrinkle less - I will try this next.  Also getting the wire to stay still is a challenge as you try to trap it with the edge strip, so I am going to apply a few dabs of C-A to hold it first.
 
This sail is not going on the model, a few too many mistakes on it (a bit rough in places), but I wasn't entirely surprised as it is my first sail.  But it won't be wasted, as I will use it to experiment with spraying paint on it.  I'm going to try thin light coats to see if I can preserve some of the paper translucence, even with the brown/red colouring I intend to use.  I was pleased the thin wire does hold a nice "blown" shape in the sail when gently bent into a curve.
 
More instalments soon.  Also thinking of adding a Trawl beam and frames, maybe even the net!  But thinking on that, whilst tinkering with sails.

Please remember that not everyone has the time, inclination or workshop space to produce the parts needed to scratch build. 
 
I know I don't. That's why I'm happy to work on quality kits. I sometimes feel that there are folks on MSW that look down both on kits, and those that build them. 

Wow, glad I ordered mine straight away! 

Just a little, if regretful update:
 
Over the past few months, material costs have risen from 10-25%, from essential materials to stuff you don't really give a second thought to, packaging materials. On top of this, in the UK at least, electricity/fuel costs are rising - this does have an impact, especially for larger kits like Sphinx, which takes a whole day of laser cutting time per kit, a lot of electricity.
 
With this in mind, from Monday, I have to increase prices across the board by 10%. I really don't want to, but have little choice. I have swallowed any past extra cost as best I can, like the import duty costs for my materials from the EU, but I cannot soak up the new price rises for the rest of the materials I have to buy that go into each kit. 
 
 

On a happier note, Indefatigable development moves on relentlessly. I have started the first planking of the hull, which will take a few days. Still not sorted a figurehead though, but all armament, anchors and other castings type fittings have already been produced.
 
I decided to 3-d print the majority of the belfry. This is still quite small, and the original has many shapes.  I did originally design it in separate parts, with laser cut and engraved supports, but it would have been quite fiddly to assembly, and I don't like fiddly if I can help it. I then designed it with the stanchions and canopy (always a problematic shape if in wood form) as one piece, and the bell cross beam in pear.
 
I have attached my original drawing for this, it will not look as 'clunky' as a wood only part. As with the anchors and guns, this is produced using black resin.

Wow, glad I ordered mine straight away! 

Wow, glad I ordered mine straight away! 

Wow, glad I ordered mine straight away!