SkerryAmp

Thanks all for the likes - they are greatly appreciated!
 
Just a little bit more of an update.   Decided to tackle the bulwarks tonight on this one while the parts fo they mayflower sit ever so patiently (that is tomorrows event).
 
The kit comes with very well done laser cut bulwarks,  they were clean and uniform (quite nice).
 

 
Decided to go at it what I think was the simplest way, again going by the kits instructions and trying not to add too much "extra", spread a VERY thin layer of white glue on the bulwark.  Then just lay the african walnut strips and let dry.   One of the problems with the strips is because they are so thin  of the edges are VERY narrow (like a sliver) it was difficult to get the to alll lay flat.  So, flipped it over once they were all laid on and looked around my work bench for heavy objects to flatten it down.   This is when it occured to me with all my tools, gadgets and gizmos I don't have a good selection of flat weights.
 
So, had to get a little creative
 

 
Worked PERFECT!  whew.
 
Now, once all was dry and I was sure they wouldn't slip around, I then flipped it back over and carefully trimmed the edges.  One thing to note with the walnut, it is VERY dry and VERY brittle as it turns out.  So I had to use a brand spanky new sharp sharp sharp knife and score it.  DO NOT try to cut it in one shot, it seems suseptable to tearing
 
Luckily the tearing was just along the hull edge and a couple inside spots which will be covered up once assembled.   WHEW again!!
 

 
Then it was just a matter of lining them up and installing them onto the ships hull.  Easy peasy! (not really,  Had to go at the formers a bit more to get the curves a bit better, but eventually it went on relativly easy.
 

 

 
Letting that setup and dry solid and will install the second one tomorrow then move onto the additional decks.
 
So far, AL seems to make a fairly decent kit (still really digging the color build steps companion, very nice - very nice)
 
Until later...
 
Enjoy and happy building!!! 

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

Ships, ships,  EVERYWHERE!
 
Love it!    Keeps reminding me I am not crazy nor am I working on "too many"  I just point to popeye and say see!  In good company!

Off and running nicely Popeye!!
 
-Adam

EJ what a fantastic start to what looks to be a monster of a kit.  Looking forward to this progress as I am always in awe of some of the sizes of these ships.  I will stick to my smaller ones but gladly live vicariously through those of you who take on the monsters! =)

So after much debate with myself, ultimately losing I decided to go out on a limb and throw this out to the masses.
 
I have seen many people ask here on the forums, and I personally have been asked by friends of mine, some variation of - what is a good entry level wooden ship?
 
When I worked in the hobby store, the answer was easy – not personally having built them myself I had to go by the marketing materials and the word of the ship builders who came through.    When I got into the hobby myself last spring I leveraged that information as well as the write ups of various ships to decide ultimately on the Phantom.
 
However, after building the phantom and now working on a few other models I find myself sometimes wondering myself, when that question is asked, what is a good starter ship model?
 
I had been debating on bringing this up here, just for general conversation as I don’t think there truly is a “correct” answer, but the opinions would be interesting I think.
 
Where I kind of found myself drifting towards is that there really isn’t an easy answer to that question.  After answering it to some degree in another thread earlier today I decided what the heck, let’s bring it up and see what sticks!
 
Here is where my thoughts on the matter tend to circulate.
 
In the plastic world you have a box of parts and those parts, with zero modification, create a rough model of the box art.  You can in some cases (snap together) create something with zero tools and zero experience.  You can, of course, get more expensive detailed kits but still in most cases the parts in the box will assemble as is to create what it is you are after.  The difficulty of plastic comes in when you start adding glue or when you decide to go for it and craft aftermarket parts etc. to add to the existing model. So there is a curve, but in many ways it is a voluntary one.
 
Wooden ship models are very much not the case.   You cannot (as far as I can tell) open a wooden ship kit and create a model of the ship on the box with the parts in the box as is.  It isn’t even an option.   I remember joking about it when I opened up that Phantom.  I was staring at a bunch of wood with a handful of prefabbed parts. 
 
So this is where my thinking that there really isn’t such a thing as “entry level” model ship kits.  By default, the model ship world starts you at advanced.   I have seen people marvel at scratch building, and oh my there are some incredible masters of it that scratch build from front to back and top to bottom .  However, I think some people do themselves an injustice in not believing that they themselves have scratch built something on their ship.   Whether it is a door way, a hatch, a wheel house or a mast; everything about model ship building is about taking one thing and making it into something else so as to fit the rest of the things to make a ship.
 
I think with wooden ships you start at advanced and go up from there.  I think when we talk about “difficulty” in wooden ships it isn’t so much what you have to do, but how much of it you have to do.  The skills come with the practice of what is done; learning how to plank properly, learning how to lay a deck, rig a mast, mount a cannon etc.  The difficulty and challenge is how much planking has to be done, how much detail is in place, how many lines have to be rigged and the pattern or how many tree nails have to be done, sails etc.
 
Please do not get me wrong, I am not in any way saying that everyone who builds wooden ships are at the same skill level, trust me I look at my work and then at others and it is painfully obvious I have a way to go. 
 
What I am suggesting is that newcomers to the hobby should not steer away from things because they are “advanced” looking or complicated because in reality whether it is a small boat like the phantom or a huge boat like the MS Constitution, you are using the same sets of skills and doing the same activities just more of it on one than on the other?
 
I can see the phantom being beginner due to quicker turnaround time, easier to “get one under the belt” maybe.  But after building the phantom and realizing it may be smaller but there was a lot more to it than what I expected.   The Harriet Lane, also listed as an entry level, seems to have a level of complexity that may initially shock someone who picked it up thinking entry level in a different way than the model ship world does.
 
I have done the Phantom (a solid hull) and worked on the hull of the Willie L Bennett (planked) and the Mayflower (planked) and I personally think planking was easier than the solid hull!
 
I truly hope I am getting this question out correctly,  as I have said I have debated it back and forth so many times in my head because I think it is a more complex answer than – This one or That one.
Now, this does not include built from plans type ship building, which is a whole different ball game.  
 
This is primarily in regards to kits.
 
Maybe a lot of this comes from what my expectations were of “Starter” versus advanced.  The Phantom was a challenge, again coming from the world of pre-formed parts.
 
Having only been at this just over a year just has me philosophizing over wooden ship building in general.   Looking at the builds and the people around here just got me to thinking; there really isn’t an entry level wooden ship builder. 
 
By default it is an advanced hobby.
 
Is the advancedness of  a particular model  in the kit? 
Or in the builder?
Or in both?
 
What do you guys think?  (And if you think I am just out of control, feel free to say so – I can take it; sometimes my mind goes weird places and the Admiral has to reel me back in)
 
Thanks for taking the time to indulge my random rambling.
 
Enjoy!!
-Adam

Looking great Larry!   Love the colorful builds - need to find one myself someday.
 
The mast footing bit, while I didn't run into a footing (since the one I finished didn't have footings per say) I did have an over-sized hole for the mast and basically did what you mentioned.   Fill it a bit, insert mast - find proper rake and brace it in place until it set up.
 
Having a footing piece you may be able to just shim it a bit and avoid the permanency of epoxy unitl you get it just right then set it up once in position.

Love it Popeye - the way you attack these ships is awesome.   Errant breaks, repairs etc always send me into bout of frustration - I think I need to figure out how to look at it like you - an opportunity!
 
Nice going so far, as always my friend - this  should be a good one 'specially once it has been popeyed! =)

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

Thanks Russ.   Tis tedious work, but I am liking how it is going so far.
 
Thanks Moonbug!
 
 
 
Thanks Steve,  it is funny - my dad and comment often over the years how every so often you get a tool and it is just perfect, awesome even.  Sometimes it is the strangest or surprise tool.    In my case, my most recent is that curling iron.
 
PLUS being able to tell my wife hands off my curling iron is kind of fun.

LOL, are you trying to tell me something sir
 
Good to see ya Sjors!

(Returning Preamble)

Whew.  Hey all.
 
I am not sure what protocol or etiquette is for continuing a build log after a very long hiatus.  I feel the need to explain my absence though, so whether necessary or not here goes.
 
It has been one heck of a year.  Shortly before my last updates here I was beginning to venture into a new career as well as getting involved in Muay Thai Kickboxing.  The first, for security the second for health reasons.   That, very quickly, became my life for the last year.   If the admiral and I were not going to the gym or sparring I was dug deep into code projects and work related things.  It pretty much consumed my world and thus my time.  Combine that with a bit of frustration and a disheartening event with the mayflower and well - a building hiatus ensued.

My career seems to be going well at the moment (hopefully I did not just jinx myself) and I have evened out on the learning curve. The Kickboxing has hit a nice groove with a nice schedule that we have fallen into.  This has, luckily for me, freed up some time and let me return to my other loves - writing, playing guitar and building these wonderful wooden vessels.

I popped back on shortly before Christmas to get caught up.  Am amazed, as always, at the progress of several projects and all the new ventures I saw.  As I searched for updates on some of you guys I sadly came across the news of Augie.  That took me back a bit - so sorry to hear that (even though I am late to the news).

Well, after re-evaluating my process and goals with building ships I am getting back to it.  I sort of have a very high bar set for myself which did lend itself to frustrations with my various builds.  I have decided to put that to the side.  After all, I am far from an expert - heck barely out of novice really - so my ships will be as good as I can do them with the skills i have.  Each ship will get better and my skills will grow - and that will do just fine =)

So - if there my seat at the table is still around here some place - I think I will get back to building =)

Good to see you all again!
(Since I have many build logs going, this will be CnP'd to the my first post across all of them - sorry for the repetition).

With regards to this build log - well, the Mayflower build ran into a bit of trouble when I last left it.  I damaged some deadeyes trying to rig the ship and could not come up with a good solution for fixing it.  Still can't really.  So, until I solve for that I will be focusing on the other builds I have going for now.  Specifically the Santa Maria the moment - which I will be updating in a moment.
 
Hopefully progress there will help build some confidence in repairing the Mayflower and I can finish her up!
 
Again, glad to see you all again - missed ya'll quite a bit and am glad to be able to return and look forward to a nice solid year of modeling!
 
Enjoy!
 

LOL, are you trying to tell me something sir
 
Good to see ya Sjors!

I think I have a plan for them when the time comes.  I hope I have a plan. Well I definitely have A plan, whether it is a good plan or not - it is at least.... a plan

Yessiree.
 
Picked up a couple of doo dads from Hobby Lobby for this one the other day.  Since it is being recommissioned in honor of the admiral I needed things that were kind of "her.  Found a couple of charms in the jewelry isle that will make nice deco for the ship. 

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

Thanks Russ.   Tis tedious work, but I am liking how it is going so far.
 
Thanks Moonbug!
 
 
 
Thanks Steve,  it is funny - my dad and comment often over the years how every so often you get a tool and it is just perfect, awesome even.  Sometimes it is the strangest or surprise tool.    In my case, my most recent is that curling iron.
 
PLUS being able to tell my wife hands off my curling iron is kind of fun.

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

Thanks Russ.   Tis tedious work, but I am liking how it is going so far.
 
Thanks Moonbug!
 
 
 
Thanks Steve,  it is funny - my dad and comment often over the years how every so often you get a tool and it is just perfect, awesome even.  Sometimes it is the strangest or surprise tool.    In my case, my most recent is that curling iron.
 
PLUS being able to tell my wife hands off my curling iron is kind of fun.

So, we continue trudging along.   Working solely on the outboard trim at the moment and have one side all done and in place
 
These took a bit longer than the horizontal boards.   The verticals required a bit of cutting and aligning.  To do it I went down one board at a time.
 

 
This way I was able to control the alignment going down along the hull.   Worked out pretty well, just had to trim out enough to fit it in the slot, slide it down to meet the board below and repeat.
After much toiling and fixing a few booboos along the way we have one side completed.
 

 
Once I finish the other side and the transom I will go over it with a couple of sanding sticks to clean up the roughness, a quick wipe with poly and she should be good to go!
 
Thanks all for stopping in, have a great day and happy modeling!

Alrighty then, let's see what we have going on now - whew.
 
When last we left the Santa Maria I had just finished up the second layer of planking.  I then moved onto some trim, the waterways, timber heads,  and started the hull details. So onward we go.
 
The first thing I want to say is that the next bit of work was made a thousand times easier with the help of a few things.
 
I pulled out my NorthWest Short Line Chopper - boy do I love this little gadget, made cutting some of the thicker walnut pieces a breeze.  If you don't have one and/or something similar I cannot recommend this enough - it is fantastic!
 

 
Being my first time working with walnut I was surprised at how fragile it is.  Splinters VERY easy, cracks etc.  So, aside from the normal clean up of gaps and spaces I found this product to be very helpful.  Walnut colored Plastic Wood.  It dries much lighter than the walnut wood, however a quick wipe of a diluted walnut stain (very diluted 10:1 natural:walnut) it actually blended quite nicely.
 

 
Finally - a LIFE saver.  I have never had a good knack for bending wood.  There were a couple of waterways as well as the outside hull parts that, being thicker wood, did not want to bend nicely.  Doing some digging I found some articles as well as a supporting comments from a couple of MSW member posts regarding a curling iron.  So - gave it a try... and WOWIE,  I was able to bend so much easier than I ever did in the past, including an edge bend on the walnut waterways.   SO HAPPY!
 

 
So - with that little intro out of the way, here is where we have come....
 
First thing I tackled was trimming out the poop deck and the rear stair entry way.  This was pretty straightforward, made easy with the chopper. Cut to length, angle where necessary and glue into place.  My joints still need a LOT of work - as you can see. SO there will be some cleanup/sanding required on the poop deck.
 

 
 
Next was to lay in the waterways.  As I mentioned above they did NOT want to bend into place.  So, this is where i gave the curling iron a shot and again - wow.  A little patience and gentle nudging (after learning how to use the little clamp thingy as leverage) and it bent just fine - quickly even.
 

 
Next up was popping in the timberheads. Again, used the chopper to get some nice clean cuts and once installed sanded/trimmed the top flush with the hull.  Once the upper rail is on I think that will look quite good! At this point I also installed the mast hole base and marked off where I am going to have to drill later (that still makes me nervous).
 

 
 
Lastly I started working the outer hull details.  Again, the curling iron came in VERY handy to help bend these guys both at the bow and along the edge to help seat them nicely.
 
As you can see I only got so far as installing them, I still need to clean them up - sand them out, fill and finish.  That will be the next step!


 
 
Well, that is it for this update!  As always - comments, suggestions are welcome and encouraged.

I have a long way to go with growing my skills but at least I am seeing improvements in some areas as I move along - which is encouraging!
 
Until later -  Enjoy and Happy Modeling!
 
 
 

The deck and timberheads look good. The outboard trim seems like it has a nice even curvature. That looks good as well. Nice work.
 
Russ

Coming together nicely Adam!

It's looking really good. She'll look nice with the Mayflower. I will have to get a curling iron now. Lol
Steve