SkerryAmp

Hi Bob, glad you like it so far, it really is a fun one to work on.
 
Well, ya got me =)
 
I didn't too much (hardly any) detail on the planking because quite honestly it is a lot of magic under there.  I am HORRIBLE at planking.  What you see is a great attempt at getting the planks somewhat where they are supposed to be and then filled, and sanded, and filled some more and sanded some more, and filled and yup - you guessed it, sanded.
 
Since most of the hull is painted I had the luxury of not having to stress on it too too much.  The planks that can be seen are not bad at all to lay in as they are for the most part just parallels and straigth with some simple bending at the bow to get them to lay in well.
 
=)
 
Planking is something I am working on improving my self as I do each build.  The other ones I am working on I am not going to be able to fake it in any way - so this will be interesting!

Augie, wonderful - wonderful!
 
Love the contrasting finish, and the natural look.
 
And that planking - I know what you have said, but I still do not believe you!!   It is faaaantabulous!!!

thanks Adam.......I actually did the rails separate,  and put them on after.  it worked out better that way  {masking can be a real pain} 
       thanks for the good word !
 
thanks Lawrence.....been a bit of a break though......our furnace decided to crap out {a s-l-o-w, agonizing death}.    we had a new one installed today........out with the oil and in with the Natural gas.  I hope it saves me money!  thanks for the good word! 
 
thanks Frank.......there's a fine line between scratch and bash.....but I am having to scratch out a few parts.  the crow's nests seemed to be the biggest problem.....a lot of the parts were missing in the kit.   the main mast nest gave me some trouble, but I think I have it sorted out pretty well.  now that the heat is back on....I assembled the fore and main mast.  the second steps are just dry fitted at the moment,  but I did that after I took these pictures.  I hope to have more up soon.  I'm not sure if I'm up to snuff with some of the other folks here,  I favor chalking it up to  "creative modeling" 
 

 
I hope no one get nose bleeds easily........we're going to up
 

 

 
here is what the frame work under the nests looks like
 

 
thanks for the good word Frank!   I'm still playing catch up here on the site.........I hope to see your fine build in the list! 

Thanks for the comments.  Hmm... now I am pressured by all the confidence expressed.
 
 
B.E.
Frolich actually cuts the frames from a slab of wood.   I just feel I know my limits at this point so I'll be doing the best I can at this point.  I may try Chuck's method if this fails.
 
 
 
Sjors,
I'm building the small boats that go onto Licorne's deck.  I'm still waiting on the wood for the framing.  I'll be posting pictures even if this is a failure, although I feel pretty good about how it's going.
 
 
Thanks Nigel.  Frolich, Bello and some of the others that I reference do beautiful work and I'm studying how they did it.  I like the idea of the solid piece shaped and I can see having two as he shows.. one aft and one forward at the bow. 
 
I have the mold lifts cut out and glued together so today will be spent shaping it.   For the mold, I'm using basswood since the experts said to use a "soft piece of wood".   After shaping, I'll coat it with a couple coats of diluted white glue, some wipe-on poly and then furniture polish.  But gotta' get it shaped first.   

This ship's boat business is giving me serious pause for reflection.  I at first thought: "Well, I've got a couple of the ME low-budget ship's boat kits...."   But they are too generic and not right.  If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right.
 
This first pic shows the kit boat with a new keel I thought I'd use...
 

 
So it's in the scrap box...
 
I dug through Frolich's book, re-examined the plans, and also looked at the Bonhomme Richard plans.  Seems the French pretty much standardized what boats and sized them accordingly.  I dug some more on the best way to do this... Frolich, Bello, various builds here on MSW, etc.  Ah-ha!!! Lifts!
 
After scaling the plans appropriately for all three boats, I generated a set of lifts for the longboat.  The barge and cutter will follow if this works.     The other alternative is to generate a series of bulkheads/frames like Chuck designed for his boats but I'm trying the lifts first.  The one thing that I'll change between the plans and the build is the framing wood dimension.  The plans show the frames to be 1/32" X 1/32" (~0.5 mm).. I've tried but I can't cut wood that small, so I'll be using 1/16" X 1/16"(~1 mm) for the frames.  Here's where I am now... cutting out the lifts on wood of the appropriate thickness.  There's also a small pile of cherry cut to the frame size and a wide strip for the keel, etc.
 

 
Now to go see where this path leads.... 

Very nice Wayne.  And yes yes yes - Chucks lines look so much better than the kit supplied stuff, I have them and can't wait to get to that part!

Well, nothing HUGE... but a quick update.   My plan as mentioned before was to get the other trim up over the weekend,  well - when I went to do that I noticed a tiny tiny flaw in my ship which I had to rectify ASAP.  One of the railings wasn't trimmed and sanded properly and was thicker than the other so had to work on that a bit before anything else could happen.
 
Then, of course tonight I realized I couldn't just lay the trim down either as it would be easier to take care of some of the painting first.
 
So - tonights up date,  the yellow painting along the exterior of the forward and rear decks.  This of course has to dry and then tomorrow will be masking it off and doing the green stripes.   THEN adding the trim!
 
Whew!
 
So, here it is, the mayflower + yellow paint!
 
I searched around for a yellow that I thought looked real good, and one of the threads here had mentioned using artist acrylics. So, poked around: the goal was to look for the right colors but more subdued and less vibrant than a lot of the model acrylics tend to come in.   Whalla!  Yellow Ochre.    I used Winsor and Newton Galeria artist acrylics, and while straight from the tube they worked well I did use a little liquitex flow aid to help even out the finish a bit.  
 
Here is the result
 

 
 I wasn't overly concerned with "neatness" at this point (I mean I didn't just slap the paint on but wasn't dialed into final lines etc) as there will be trim over the edges as well as masked and repainted secondary edges which is where I will start to hone in and focus on the lines. 
 
Until next time!!
 
Enjoy!

Hi Bob, glad you like it so far, it really is a fun one to work on.
 
Well, ya got me =)
 
I didn't too much (hardly any) detail on the planking because quite honestly it is a lot of magic under there.  I am HORRIBLE at planking.  What you see is a great attempt at getting the planks somewhat where they are supposed to be and then filled, and sanded, and filled some more and sanded some more, and filled and yup - you guessed it, sanded.
 
Since most of the hull is painted I had the luxury of not having to stress on it too too much.  The planks that can be seen are not bad at all to lay in as they are for the most part just parallels and straigth with some simple bending at the bow to get them to lay in well.
 
=)
 
Planking is something I am working on improving my self as I do each build.  The other ones I am working on I am not going to be able to fake it in any way - so this will be interesting!

Sjors, so far and so much!  The rigging all brings it together so nicely - such a wonderful piece of work!

Your delving into painting figures looks like it is working out for you quite well!!

And we're off!!
 
This is so exciting! =)

Anja, that is terrific to hear!  It is always great to get a chance to open up and learn new things and find a new challenge in life. GOOD FOR YOU!!!
 
I am sure you will be very successful!

That is the fun part,  you don't wade through it - you dive right in and immerse yourself in the vast depths of knowledge around here

Thank you much Marc!   Noted them down on my stickies here and will add those to the list on the next update!
 
And yeah, Mr Friskington is getting a little ornery - may need to give him a raise or a sardine or something

Well, nothing HUGE... but a quick update.   My plan as mentioned before was to get the other trim up over the weekend,  well - when I went to do that I noticed a tiny tiny flaw in my ship which I had to rectify ASAP.  One of the railings wasn't trimmed and sanded properly and was thicker than the other so had to work on that a bit before anything else could happen.
 
Then, of course tonight I realized I couldn't just lay the trim down either as it would be easier to take care of some of the painting first.
 
So - tonights up date,  the yellow painting along the exterior of the forward and rear decks.  This of course has to dry and then tomorrow will be masking it off and doing the green stripes.   THEN adding the trim!
 
Whew!
 
So, here it is, the mayflower + yellow paint!
 
I searched around for a yellow that I thought looked real good, and one of the threads here had mentioned using artist acrylics. So, poked around: the goal was to look for the right colors but more subdued and less vibrant than a lot of the model acrylics tend to come in.   Whalla!  Yellow Ochre.    I used Winsor and Newton Galeria artist acrylics, and while straight from the tube they worked well I did use a little liquitex flow aid to help even out the finish a bit.  
 
Here is the result
 

 
 I wasn't overly concerned with "neatness" at this point (I mean I didn't just slap the paint on but wasn't dialed into final lines etc) as there will be trim over the edges as well as masked and repainted secondary edges which is where I will start to hone in and focus on the lines. 
 
Until next time!!
 
Enjoy!

Egads!  Can it be!
 
YES, yes it is... an update!
 
Que fan faire!
 
So, pulled out the mayflower and have prepped to fit the exterior trims, wales etc.    The first two wales were bent by soaking them in some windex and clothespinning them to the rim of a glass to get a nice curve.   Once dried,took them out  and in they went. Surprisingly they went in pretty smooth.
 
I have a little touch up on the white to do where it meets the lower wale but other than that,  I think they came out pretty good.
 
Once all the trim is on I will poly it all up nice and neat and give it a slight sheen which should deepen the colors and really bring out the ebony a bit more.
 

 
Looks like I will have some more time for a while to be at the bench so will be making the most of it as best I can!!!
 
Enjoy and Happy Building all!!
 
 
 

Checked out the DB and it looks great.
Here is several other wood kit co. and some modern RC ones as well. Some of these have the ships no one else carries.
 
Amati
http://amatimodelusa.com/
 
Aeronaut
http://www.faber-modellbau.de/index.php/katalog/showarticles/37210-1-standmodelle.html
German
 
Dusek
http://www.dusekshipkits.com/
Czech Republic
 
Dumas (was already mentioned).
 
euromodel-ship
http://www.euromodel-ship.com
 
Graupner
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/graupner_rc_boats.html
German-nice tugs-RC
 
Robbe
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/robbe-boats.html
German - Tugs RC
 
Krick
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/krick_model_boats_rc.html
German
 
New Maquettes
http://www.cornwallmodelboats.co.uk/acatalog/new-maquettes-model-boats.html
UK
 
I like your phrase when the page has no picture, "This will be coming along very shortly. Mr. Friskington is working extremely hard as you can see".
 
Regards,
Marc

look at the detail at the lower railing...

Here she is , went to the Seaport yesterday and took about 200 photos. There wasn't a lot of people there, actually it was empty, so i did my best to get pics of all the nooks and crannies on all the big vessels. I really wanted to get pics of the fish hold on the Emma C. but i couldn't at that time. 

Take your time on that planking.  I think we all wrestle with it to one extent or another.  Someone on here once said 'treat each plank as a mini-modeling project' --- good advice.  The key is to keep improving from one model to the next ---- or even from port to starboard.
 
Or you can do what I did.   Get a camera with a 'Make Planking Look Decent' setting !
 
PATIENCE!!!!!

Hi Adam,
Me too, I also agree the agreement of Sjors with Popeye  ...
Colors really look very smooth, in soft harmony...

Well, FINALLY!!!!  Here are a couple of shots - not sure how well you can tell the difference, but first is a picture of the shrouds on the fore mast.  These are with the kit supplied thread.
 

 
This shows the shrouds on the main mast using thread from Chuck. I used the brown vs the black - think it is a better approximation for this scale.  To me, the thread looks better than the kit thread but, more importantly, it is much easier to work with!
 

 
 

I also need to get a move-on with the exterior hull work.   I'm just going to go with the best looking scheme and be done with it     the way I did the railings,  will make it hard to follow the flow of the lines,  but I will try to make it work.   the first aspect was with the railings themselves.....the red and white striping.  I took a bunch of thin mahogany......in different widths,  and painted them white.   I sorta goofed here when I masked off for the red........I should have cut the tape down and cut down on the length of the dashes.
 

 
yea........I used that crappy blue stuff!   it didn't come out as good as I wanted it to......but it is salvageable,  so I guess it's not a total loss.   just as well.......I don't have much extra stripping left.
 

 

 
I tried a piece of it on the model.......touched up,  it will look better 
 

Augie, wonderful - wonderful!
 
Love the contrasting finish, and the natural look.
 
And that planking - I know what you have said, but I still do not believe you!!   It is faaaantabulous!!!

I'm kinda wondering,  if this is also to denote port and starboard......something I've never seen before.
 
 
anyway......................................I mentioned the whittling I was doing on the masts.  I needed to get the top capping down to the size that will fit into the nests.  so, I cut into the mast with my miter box and saw,  and cut away the excess....later sanded smooth.
 

 
now,  I had mentioned perhaps making a new main mast nest,  but I chose to repair the original one,  only because it has the pre drilled holes.
 

 
later, I chose to rip off all of the upper railing and start over,  adjusting the post in the area I started from,  and the redo.   I assembled the framework that the nests will be located on.
 

 
the fore mast nest was assembled to the mast......since that one turned out OK.
 

 

 
after the railing was finished on the main mast nest.....there was still an area on it that wasn't right.  I am making the change yet again.
 

 
while I was working on that,  I continued on other aspects,  between drying times.   the capstan is an assembly,  consisting of a  bunch of little pieces....most of them are missing.   so I opted to use the parts that the nests would have been made up with.   after making up a scratch base ring for the supplied capstan post,  the railing parts were cemented around the base.
 

 
then,  the bow spirit was assembled.  it is not trimmed to size yet.
 

 
I had some smaller dowel to use,  instead of the supplied dowel for the capstan bars.   I added some brass banding to spruce it up a bit more.
 

 
I did the same for the pump,  and stained other parts that can be readily assembled onto the ship.  I'll lightly stain them with the mahogany stain to match them up with the rest of the ship.