Elia

Hello friends,
 
my next project in the planning:
 
The  74  GUN-SHIP
 
" L E   C E N T A U R E 1783 "
 
after the plan drawwings of:
 
 
Jean Boudriot, publishing company ANCRE, France.
Timbering Plans of
Jean C. Lemineur
as well as numerous photos and pictures of the construction of his 74 GUN -SHIP
Gaetan Bordeleau, Canada
I here with once again warmly thanks.
 
The construction of the rear section is planned as a cross section model with complete inside removal.
 
Scale :   1 : 48
 
NEW :    1 : 36
 
Type of wood : Deutsche Elsbeere
 
Karl

 
Hi friends.
Link: all photos during the construction phase:
 
https://cloud.web.de/ngcloud/external?locale=de&guestToken=22n438epR2m22PUrLw7l4A&loginName=karl.weinmann#/_

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 13 – Stem/Keel/Sternpost 2
 
The keel for this version of the model was made exactly like the keel on the framed version – in two tiers plus a shoe and with hooked scarph joints – but without the water stops and joint wedges.  I did not take pictures of the joinery work.  This was described in the posts for the framed version.  The first picture shows the upper tier being glued together using strips of wood to keep it straight.
 

 
The pieces of the lower tier are shown below the glued assembly before their joints were cut.  In the next picture the keel assembly with the two tiers and the shoe has been glued to the false stem assembly and the stem is being glued into the angle between the two assemblies.
 

 
The stem and keel were taped to the drawing to preserve alignment when fitting and gluing the stem into place.  The stem provided enough reinforcement to prevent to stem shape from distorting in the next steps.
 
In the next picture the stem/keel assembly has been fit up to the inverted hull for final fitting.
 

 
It can be seen in the picture that some shaping of the forward hull is needed.  This was left rough and slightly large.  The station marks accented in the picture were used to get the assembly correctly positioned as the forward curve of the hull was trimmed.  In the next picture the fitted assembly has been drilled with mounting bolt holes to match those on the hull and is being test fit.
 

 
With the stem/keel still unglued, the hull was bolted down on the shipway and plumbed so the stem could be centered.  The next picture shows the hull being marked to show the sides of the stem.
 

 
This allowed the forward deadwood to be trimmed to match the stem while the stem was removed and safe from damage.  The next picture shows the fairing to the stem sides.
 

 
The stem was next refitted and aligned to the marks so locating pin holes could be drilled as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Before attaching the stem/keel assembly, some additional work was required at the stern – to be covered next time.
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 12 – Stem/Keel/Sternpost 1
 
The stem assembly, keel and sternpost on the POB model are virtually identical to their counterparts on the framed model except for scale and the deletion of a few unnecessary internal structural parts.  Unlike the framed version that started construction with this work, on the POB model they were made and installed after the hull was shaped.
 
In keeping with the concept of simpler tools and readily available materials for this version, scale members were all cut from ¾” (4/4) material.  For the stem/keel/sternpost, hard maple was used – with pieces selected for straight grain.  Becaused of its visible grain pattern I would only use maple where work will be painted or metal sheathed.
 
The POB model did not require the thickness sander or band saw.  Members were sized using circular saws.  If ¾” hardwood can be ripped on an available 4” model circular saw, ripping stock to required dimensions is just a matter of setting the rip fence and cutting.  On the full-sized  (10”) table saw that I used, a different method was adopted.  The first picture shows stock for the 16” wide keel about to be ripped off of a piece of 3/4” maple.
 

 
Although cutting sized strips away from the rip fence as shown takes a bit more setup time, it is much safer and eliminates damage to small thicknesses left between the fence and the blade.  It also avoids having them come out of the saw at high velocity. The blade in the picture is an ultra-thin kerf (.080"), 40-tooth carbide blade that leaves a very clean surface on the strip.  The Plexiglas® table insert was specially made for close clearance to this blade.  The next picture shows the ripped 16” strip being checked for size.
 

 
I usually start with a very small cut into the plank and measure what will be the resulting strip thickness, then adjust the fence if necessary before cutting off the whole strip.  This was then repeated for each cut.  The ¾” strips were then used to make sections of the keel and the other components.
 
In the next picture the POB stem pieces are shown on a copy of the pattern sheet.
 

 
All were able to be cut from the ¾” inch stock except for the lower stem as shown above.  On the original ship this piece would have been cut from a very large piece of compass timber – probably live oak for strength.  On this model, two pieces of edge-glued ¾” maple were used.  The next picture shows the two pieces used for this being edge glued.
 

 
Undarkened Titebond® was used for this to minimize joint visibility, although on this model all this will be covered by metal sheathing. The long straight piece in the picture is being used to make sure the two glued pieces lie flat.
 
The next picture shows the four stem pieces cut out and ready for fitting. Dashed lines around the patterns show ¾” stock.
 

 
The pieces were cut on the scroll saw very close to the pattern lines, then dressed with a file for final fitting – as shown below.
 

 
The patterns were left pasted on for all of this work.  In the next picture,, the false stem  (the members forward of the stem proper) have been fitted and aligned on the drawing.
 

 
The false stem pieces are being glued in the next picture.
 

 
Alignment is again provided by the drawing.  To be continued…
 
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 11 – Hull Fairing – Method 2
 
For those who may have missed it, this POB model was initially built for demo purposes for Volume I of the book – to provide a smaller, simpler version for those less interested in the fully-framed larger model.  I have since been taking the construction further than planned and do not yet know how far that will go, but the project has been interesting and I am very pleased with the POB framing method used and the results so far.
 
Since the model is supposed to be simpler and more interesting for less experienced modelers, I tried to use fewer and simpler tools where possible. I do not put the carving gouges or the rasps used in the last part – or the necessary sharpening stones - in that category.  So, for the port side of the hull I used some much less expensive and easy to use tools.   These are shown in the first picture.
 

 
The primary tool here is the Microplane®.  This tool is inexpensive and very easy to use.  It worked very well on the pine of the spacers.  The tool comes with both flat and curved blades.  These can be fitted to allow either push or pull strokes.  I used mainly pull strokes that seemed easier to control.  The next picture shows the curved blade being used on the convex part of the stern.
 

 
In the next picture the flat blade is being used on a convex surface.
 

 
When the spacer material was removed, the final surface was produced with the Softsander® as before using 120-grit paper.  In the next picture the work is just about finished and I am appreciating the smooth feel of the faired hull.
 

 
As with the starboard side, this side also took less than 2 hours work.  The next picture shows the hull out of the vise and the curved Microplane®.
 

 
The next picture shows the hull next to its big sister.
 

 
The next step is to make and install the keel/stem/sternpost on to the POB hull.
 
Ed

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 10 – Hull Fairing – Method 1  
 
As seen in some of the previous photos, there is quite a bit of wood to be removed from the spacers used in this framing method.  It is much like working on a solid lift type hull, but the numerous bulkheads make it very easy to accurately duplicate the original shape by merely removing wood down the each of the bulkheads then finishing it off to a smooth fair surface.
 
My natural response to this work was to use available carving tools to remove wood between bulkheads, followed by rasping and sanding.  This is a good method to use if you have the tools and the ability to keep then razor-sharp.  However, although I used this method on the starboard side, I wanted to offer a simpler process, using less expensive tools on the opposite side.  That second method will be described in the next part.
 
The first picture shows shavings being pared off the hull using a shallow curved gouge with hand pressure.
 

 
A solid anchoring of the hull is essential to allow two hands for this work.  The sharp gouge easily removes thin cross-grain shavings.  In the next picture a deeper gouge is being used with a mallet to chip off larger pieces of the extreme bevels near the stern.  Again, this requires the hull to be firmly secured.
 

 
After paring with the gouges the shape was further smoothed out with fine-cut rasps.  The curved rasp in the next picture was used on the concave surfaces.
 

 
A flat rasp was used on the convex hull surfaces as shown in the next picture.
 

 
The rasps used here are fine-cut Iwasaki® carving rasps.  This is not a job for the coarse hardware-store variety.  You can pay almost anything for a rasp.  These are good quality and reasonably priced.  The last step on this side was done with 120-grit sandpaper on Softsander® pads – as shown in the next two pictures.
 

 
The rasping and sanding bevel the plywood bulkheads as necessary to leave a smooth surface.  This involves trimming only the small side of the plywood shapes.  This point is indicated by feel as well as sight.
 

 
The above picture shows the finished and unbeveled sides and gives an idea of the amounts of wood to be removed.
 
This work went pretty fast, taking less than 2 hours for this side of the hull.  A second method will be shown on the port side in the next part.
 
Ed

Got plenty of work time in at the museum yesterday, but I didn't seem to get very far.  I was hoping to at least get all the capping fitted but, as you can see from the photos, I didn't quite get there.  Oh well, next time!
 
John
 

 

 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 9 – Support for the inverted hull  
 
The hull of the model is very strong and solid – except for the fragile plywood toptimbers.  Since there is a lot of work to do with the hull inverted, some form of robust support was needed - to support the hull for heavy work like fairing, but at the same time to keep the toptimbers protected. A heavy wooden block that could be securely fastened in a vice was made and attached to the hull for this purpose.  It is shown screwed down to the “deck beams” in the first picture.
 

 
To secure the block to the hull a pair supporting spacers were fitted and glued between bulkheads – away from later facilities.  These are shown glued and clamped in the next picture.  Four long wood screws were used to fasten the block to these supports.
 

 
The wood block was rabbeted along the sides as shown below to keep the toptimbers clear of the vise jaws.
 

 
Two strips of wood were used to keep the block from rocking on the round up of the deck.  The next picture shows the hull securely clamped in a bench level woodworking vise ready for the next steps.
 

 
Removal of the excess spine was the first of these steps.  In the next picture a coping saw is being used to cut just outside of the bearding line previously marked on the forward part of the hull.
 

 
The spine aft of the post was also removed by cutting on a line marked from a stern template.  Both these cuts are rough at this stage.
 
After this work the hull was ready for fairing – to be covered in the next parts.
 
 
Ed
 

After looking at the model for all this time I found that the wooden stock anchors noted on my plan set looked out of place on such a progressive vessel. The big splash of brown drew the eye too much up on the this area. I made an artist's call and put more modern looking anchors in place. I find it much more pleasing to the eye.  My research showed the type as correct for this period also. I feel that as long as this was historically feasible it would be OK.
 
All for now. I'll be back soon.
 
Bruce

Hi guys,
 
It's good to be back. I've finished the work that I need to bring in the bucks, now it's fun time.
 
I'm doing the ratlines now. I'll never forget how to do a clove hitch, there are well over 1000 of them. As I began I found that my tweezers were opening too far at times and stretching the ratlines above and below. By limiting them with tape I solved this. I forget the dia. right now, but I think the thread is about .015.
 
As I had finished this side I could finally put on the davits and hang the boats. The griping straps are of paper strengthened with acrylic gesso.
 
I found that very few tools have been needed. I'll show the later. I've been up all night so i'll get back to you this evening.
 
It's so good to be back, I've missed you all. I see Dan wrote. Hi buddy.
 
Bruce

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 8 – Bow
 
As with the stern, the bow required some solid support forward of the last bulkhead. The first picture shows the bow before the last bulkhead at frame g had been set.
 

 
The line of the stem was first roughly drawn on the hull using a template as shown below.
 

 
This template was used on both sides by marking one of its frame lines on the opposite side.  The line is rough at this stage – slightly on the full side.  This will later be adjusted and the stem/keel assembly fit over this.  In the next picture the forward spacer is being shaved back below the bearding line.
 

 
This allows the template to be more accurately placed flat on the deadwood for more accurate marking.  The extreme bevel of this last spacer can be seen in the next picture, taken after setting bulkhead g.  There is a lot of wood to remove from these forward spacers.
 

 
In the next picture a small pine block is being fitted between bulkhead g and the spine with its lower face on the bearding line..
 

 
The breadth of the hull at the bearding line is the breadth of the deadwood – 16” on this ship.  The spine is larger than this at ¼” = 24”.  This leaves some allowance for final fairing.
 
These forward pieces are temporary, to be removed and replaced later with the knightheads and stem pieces.  Their purpose at this stage is to protect the plywood of bulkhead g from being damaged when the forward hull is fared.
 
 
Ed

John,
 
You are absolutely right.  If left on the bulkheads, the paper would prevent a good bond with the spacers and the hull would be weak.  The glue joints between the plywood bulkheads and the spacers is the main source of hull strength.  The notch over the spine is glued but that does not provide much strength.  It is primarily for alignment and setting the heights of the frames.
 
I remove the paper wherever there is a glue joint, for example in the area of every spacer.  When locating the spacer on the bulkhead I scribe a line through the pattern, then wet the part to be removed and rub it off.  Using school glue paste sticks allows this simple removal.  A damp paper towel serves to clean off any residue that might interfere with the glue.  Because I scribe the line right at the edge of most spacers, it may appear that the spacers are glued to the paper - not so.  I leave the rest of the patterns on so I can quickly identify the frame numbers and use the pattern centerlines.
 
I do use the technique you describe for holding pieces together to allow identical cutting, but for these small parts I do not bother with the paper.  The school glue is enough.  It might not be enough for turning, but works well for matched cutting on the scroll saw.  I will show that when I make the carrick bits and may have shown it for those parts on the framed model.
 
Jan, what you say about planking adding strength is quite true.  When glued to the outside of the hull the planking reinforces the plywood/spacer joints and also any plywood delamination.  Good point.
 
Ed

Glad to be of some help, Bob. Heck, your build helped inspire me many times, so I'm glad to return the favor!
 
Well, the last couple of days, my brain has just been all fuzzy. I'm not in a ship modeling rut, just a general rut. Looking forward to our local gathering of forum ship modelers in Vallejo tomorrow. Maybe that will wake up my brain a little.
 
Am managing this post, though, so I guess I'm not totally fried...
 
 
Okay, so about that walkway platform. The kit instructions translate this to either railing or parapet. I'll just call it railing. Here's the translation I worked out from the instructions for this step:
Step 15 Installation of Railing, Part 1•Refer to the plans in the installation of the walkway.
 
Cut (planks ends) flush with the edge of the beams
Trim off the protruding ends of the beams
 
 
This step requires a little soaking and bending of wood strips. Again, definitely wet the wood thoroughly before trying to bend it. Bends very nicely when wet, no heat required.
 

Walkway planks added.
 

Closeup of the walkway planks. You can see the beam sticking out a little at lower left that will need to get trimmed flush with the planking. Also, I think you can make out that the outer planks here are the L-shaped ones. This creates a little lip against which the posts of the side railing fits against.
 
Carrying on to complete the rail installation...
 
 
Step 16 Installation of Railing, Part 2• Please assemble the handrails according the full size diagrams.
 
Mount the railing to fit up against the lip
 
 
With pre-cut parts for the rail stanchions, this step is pretty simple. It just requires a little pre-bending of the rails themselves, and the stanchions should be kept vertical, so they aren't all perpendicular to the rails themselves.
 

Rails assembled according to the full-size plan sheets
 

The stanchions aren't pegged in, just glued. I'm using Titebond, so I want to clamp them firmly in place until glue sets
 

Both rails now in place
 

Closeup of the rail detail.
 
 
It's at this point that I really started to look at this model as a really nice example of a very Japanese boat. The concept of the pleasure boats with several people out on the water for an evening and watching fireworks over the river on a warm summer night is a very charming image.
 
In a previous post, I mentioned Japanese lanterns. Then, the person who suggested them had a though about how maybe these standing floor lanterns might not have been used by a boat that might rock and they might tip over, which I really did wonder about. Then, I spoke with my Japanese music teacher (I have been a student of the Japanese 3-stringed lute called a "Shamisen" for about 10 years now), who used to live in Asakusa, which is a part of Tokyo with a traditional Edo period theme (well, that and lots of old style shopping).
 
As far as Japanese people go, my teacher is pretty connected with traditional culture and she's been interested in my traditional Japanese boats, but especially the Yakatabune. I think it's a real cultural symbol of "the good life" and very important to many people when they think about it.
 
Anyway, I mentioned the lantern to her and about the possibility that they might have had to use hanging lanterns because it was in a boat. She pretty confidently dismissed that idea. I guess the idea is that floor lanterns were classy and the hanging ones, not so much, except outdoors. Probably the boatmen worked pretty hard to not rock the boat.
 
Thinking about it, it's not like there were any power vessels at the time to create big wakes, so not much reason for a decent sized boat to rock. So, I'm sticking with the floor lanterns idea, which I'm really glad about.
 
Clare
 

Hi everyone!
I continue the planking of the hull

Hey Bob!
Yes, she is really big in this time The big ship - a lot of sanding, sanding and again sanding
Here is next update - I started to glue the planks on the hull.
Another important point - gluing of the first plank of the shell hull. It is better to keep in hands during gluing.

 
 
Best Regards!
Igor.

Next update

Thank you Bob!
 
The next stage - the deck.
The important point - the first deck plank should be glued exactly in the center of the deck

Some time ago I promised my wife to make for her a ship in a bottle larger sizes than previously made. I begin to fulfill a promise - it will the model of the steam schooner with the glorious history and the symbolic name "LENA".
 
History:
The wind power meets the power of steam in late 1800’s . In this period of maritime history, a hybrid generation of ships appeared combining these two. They kept the glory of sail ships and added independency from wind. Lena is a little steam schooner like that.
She was launched in 1875 in Sweden by Motala. She was 26.8m long, 4.95m wide and 2.59m deep. While sailing by wind, the funnel tilts back so that the sail boom can move freely.
She has an interesting story beginning with Nils Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld’s polar expedition. She joined the expedition as an auxiliary ship up to a point. She took part in Russian revolutions. She was reconstructed several times. Once in 1938. She was extended two meters in length, a new boiler was installed and living quarters were rebuilt.
In 1959, she was planned to be reserved as a historical vessel. But the attempts failed in 1967, the damage she suffered was beyond repair. But the model ship builders will help her to live forever. - by Captain from Free Ship Plans
 
Best REgards!
Igor.

Hi Patrick,
Many years ago I have started to make the model of this ship. But at that time I have done too large hull and could not find a bottle for him. This hull lies in my bookcase now.
The name of my wife is Lena also
 
So, I begin.
The first stage does not differ from other models. The housing consists of several wooden plates.

Alfons,
 
Very nice dory rail and very very nicely done oar.  I have to say again that's a great looking dory you've built.  The smoothness of the wood finish, along with the paint job, makes for a really attractive little boat.
 
Elia

The Yakatabune has a walkway platform on either side of the deck house, allowing the boatmen to travel more easily between the bow and stern ends of the boat. 
 
In building this, I'm noticing the use of parts which aren't laser cut and aren't simply cut strips of wood. There is a strip, Part 19, that has an L-shaped cross section. So, this is a milled piece of wood. In fact, as I look through this kit, there are several parts that are milled so that they are notched or slotted. This is kind of a carry-over from the older Woody Joe kits, before they had laser cut parts. But, it's kind of nice.
 
On a Western kit, I think one would be expected to make an L-shaped cross section by gluing together to strips to for the L. Slotted pieces I expect would have to be built up similarly. But, not only are there these parts, but also a fair number of pre-cut parts as well.
 
I also notice some parts are simply pre-cut, again not by laser. It doesn't affect the build in any way, but it's just interesting to see, since we don't often see this in American or European kits.
 

Some milled parts.
 

Pre-cut parts
 

And more pre-cut parts
 
 
Actually, looking back, I realize the parts for the stand were milled and machine cut too. But, the parts are perfectly cut parts, clearly it's not like the old days of die-cutting. I'm guessing they are actually CNC milled. Woody Joe does make some other wood products including castle and temple and small structure kits, plus Japanese flower holder kits and I don't know how much other stuff. 
 
Clare
 
 
 

Young America 1853 – POB 1:96
Part 6 – Upper Stern
 
After erecting all the “square frame” bulkheads, a foundation for the circular stern was fashioned from blocks of ¾” pine – one for the area above the wale and one for the lower section.  First the upper piece.  The first picture shows a piece of ¾” pine stock with a pattern for the top pasted on.
 

 
The pattern for the underside of this piece as well as the pattern for bulkhead 48 showing the positioning of the blocks is shown.  The circular (really elliptical) pattern line on the top of the block is the line of the fancy rail at the top of the framing.  It is also the line of the main rail.  The hull is vertical between these two lines at the stern.  The curve of the lower side of this block – shown on the cut out bottom pattern – is roughly at the line of the wale.
 
In the next picture both patterns have been aligned and attached and the line at the top is being cut on the scroll saw.
 

 
Note that a hole for the helm port was bored through this piece.  The key hole shape of this was cut out once the curve was cut.  In the next picture the piece is held at its proper position on the aft side of bulkhead 48 and the curve of the deck at that point is being marked.
 

 
Do to the shear of the decks, the top of the piece will be higher at the very stern.  The top of the piece is next pared off to yield the correct shear and round up to provide the surface for deck planking.  In the next picture this has been done and the line of the main rail is being marked out.
 

 
The underside of the main rail is about 18” below the fancy rail line to allow two strakes of 6” plank and the 6” main rail to fill the space above the line.  The area below this line is then cut back at an angle to the line on the underside pattern as shown in the next picture.
 

 
Most of the wood removal was done on the disk sander, then refined using the rasp shown.  In the next picture the piece has been glued to bulkhead 48 – after removal of part of the bulkhead pattern.
 

 
Note that the stern piece is slightly smaller than the bulkhead.  This is due to the curvature of the hull.  The forward face of the bulkhead is on station 48.  The aft edge will be faired back to its smaller line.  The other block in this picture – marked with a center line - will be the lower stern piece.  Next time.
 
Ed

John,
 
That deck looks tremendous. Very nice work (as always!).
 
Cheers,
 
Elia

Now, getting back to boat construction. The deck planking is complete since the center section is the area for the deck house. 
 
The next step is to cut and fit the beams. On a real traditional Japanese boat, the beams would be mortised into place. On the model, they're not really structural members and just glue in place in the laser cut notches of the upper planks. If the upper planks were mounted too low, the beams wouldn't fit properly as there is little clearance for them once the deck planks are installed.
 
The beams are among the included strip wood supply, so they have to be cut to length. This was a good opportunity for me to use the Japanese hobby saw I got from Zootoys. The saw isn't cheap, but if you're buying a kit from Japan, it shouldn't add much to the shipping cost since it's so light.
 
This is the first Japanese saw I've owned and it is a treat to use. Unlike Western saws, Japanese saws cut on the pulling stroke. This keeps the cut very straight and allows the saw to be very thin. This is, in fact, the thinnest hobby saw I've ever seen at only 0.1mm thick. All in all, the cuts are very straight, very quick, and very clean.
 

This photo may make the saw look a lot bigger than it really is. It's just under 8" long and is very light weight.
 
 
Anyway, cutting and fitting the beams was very simple. The short beams were a bit more of a challenge since the inside edge is sanded flush.
 

 

 
 
Below, you can see how the battery cover section of the deck is left so that it can slide in and out of place. I recommend removing this section while working on steps 13 and 14 to better avoid accidentally gluing it into place.
 

 
Note that all the photos show the caprail in place. That's actually step 14. Basically, full length strips are shaped to fit at the stem, but the won't be long enough to reach the full length of the boat. At the aft end then, short pieces are put into place. The caprail fits so that the inner edge is flush with the hull planking.
 
This is a very straightforward part of the build.
 
 
Roughly Translated Text (some of this required a little more interpretation to make sense):
Step 13 Installation of Beams
• Cut and install 17 to dimensions shown and install.
 
Short beams should be mounted flush with the inside of the hull planking
Cut a part 18 to fit the laser cut area at the bow deck as illustrated.
Fit of short beams on starboard side is the same as on the port side.
 
One line I can't quite translate exactly, but can only interpret.
 
On Bing Translate it comes out as:
"3 mm difference between narrow the scope"
 
On Google it comes out as:
"3 mm Masu Plug"
 
What do either of these mean? This is a straight forward step where a 2mm hole is drilled in either end of a beam and a 12mm long dowel piece is fit into them. The exact positions can be viewed on the plans. The only thing that I can figure about the “3 mm” reference is that 3 mm of the dowels will fit into the beam.
 
I should point out that Bing seems to translate better than Google – At least for Japanese text.
 

The above text makes more sense with the instructions illustrations. Again, with permission from Woody Joe.
 
Step 14 Installation of Deck Edge (Caprail)
Bend pieces to shape of hull.
Please add short sections at stern. (Japanese instructions are quite polite and often say "please")
Align inside edges of rail to inside of hull.
 
 
The model is looking more like a traditional Japanese boat now and I'm really finding that I am enjoying this build perhaps even more than the last one, which had sails and oars. This one, somehow feels culturally significant, if that makes sense.
 
Clare

In my last model photo posted, you can catch a glimpse of the stand that is included with the Woody Joe kit. This is a nice feature that is included in all the Woody Joe kits I've owned. The stands are all made of Japanese Magnolia, called "Ho" in Japanese. It's kind of a light grayish brown color with very little grain. It's a somewhat plain looking wood. But maybe that keeps your eye focussed on the model and not the stand.
 
On other models, I've drilled the stand out to add a brass rod that runs into the bottom of the model, helping to keep it from sliding around. I haven't gotten to it yet, but I think I will use a piece of brass tubing in one of the stand pedestals to allow wiring to pass on into the bottom of the model.
 
This step really requires not translation or explanation. I think every ship modeler understands that the top ends of the supports need to be tapered to fit the hull of the model, and the base of the supports need to be trimmed to sit flush with the bottom of the stand.
 
Translated text:
 
12 Stand Assembly
• Stand is assembled to fit the hull.
• Trim the hull supports, parts 33, to fit the shape of the bottom of the hull. Then, trim to bottom of the supports to fit flush with the bottom of the stand.
 
Note: See full sized drawings for mounting location of hull on stand.
 
Cut to fit the lower hull planking.
Bottom of hull rests on the stand.
Cut the bottom of the supports.
 

 
On the name plate, I decided to try to fill in the text. The plate is a piece of wood and the text is laser-etched into it. The etching is darker than the rest of the wood, but it doesn't stand out all that much. So, I tried to seal the wood with Danish Wood oil. I didn't know if this would actually seal the wood, but it seemed like it should give a couple good coats. After giving it time to dry, I used some black acrylic paint and filled in the etched areas as cleanly as I could. Some paint did get out of the flat surface of the name plate and I had a difficult time cleaning the excess paint off completely.
 
After a couple applications of black paint had dried thoroughly, I lightly sanded the surface of the name plate to take off any smudged paint. This worked well enough, though not as cleanly as I would have liked. People who can read Japanese can probably make out the characters. People who can't read Japanese can't tell what's readable and what's not, so all is probably well!
 

 
No photos of the nameplate yet. Also, I haven't added the wiring tube or brass rods to the stand yet. I figured I'd wait and give myself time to think the wiring process through. 
 
Clare

The Yakatabune kit is designed with internal lighting. Kind of separates this model from some of Woody Joe's other models. The lighting is simple and consists of a pair of small incandescent bulbs powered by a pair of AA batteries.
 

 
I considered a few possibilities with this. One possibility is just to leave the lighting out of it, since the real idea behind building this model is to accompany a couple other models for a bank window display. The lighting wouldn't be noticeable and certainly wouldn't last long on a pair of double-A's. Also, the battery switch is made to stick up out of the deck and I don't like that idea.
 
Another possibility is to use LEDs, light up the interior and make new hanging lanterns outside the deck house with LEDs in them. Problem with that is all the wiring and the fact that I don't necessarily want to light it up like a Christmas tree.
 
The last option I considered is to just replace the bulbs in the model with LEDs, which should give longer life, and not require too much wiring.
 
In all cases where there is lighting, I wouldn't want to go with a battery pack. So, I'll have to do some planning out of the wiring to use an external power source.
 
 
 
Steps 10 and 11 mostly deal with the battery pack, so I skipped most of this in my model construction. However, the kit text is roughly as follows:
 
10 Installing the Battery Box
• Referring to full scale drawings, install Part 14 stands for battery box.
• Wire leads pass through hole in bottom of frame
 
There are a couple parts labeled
• Miscellaneous Part 2, Battery Box
• Metal Part 3, Screws  
This step requires gluing a pair of support blocks to the floor of the boat, running the wire leads forward through the hole in the bulkhead, and screwing the battery box into the support blocks.
 
 
11 Installing the Battery Box Lid
• Do not glue battery cover in place. This needs to be free to open and close.
• Deck/Battery Cover should be long enough to cover the edge of the frame (frame 6).
• Cut a slot in the deck 3mm wide and 27mm long to allow movement of the battery switch.
 
You'll need to refer to the position of the switch to make sure the slot in the cover lines up with it properly.
 
 

 
You can see here that Woody Joe now puts a nice big icon with a glue bottle crossed by a red "X" to indicate to not glue a part. This was one weak point on their Higaki Kaisen instructions that I wrote to them about. I don't know if I was any influence, but this is a big improvement for those who don't read Japanese AND for those who just don't read instructions very closely!
 

Here's the deck piece that would have served as the battery cover. I'm leaving it removable so I can work on wiring.
 

And here is the battery cover deck in place. It's a bit of a pain trying to slide it out as it's hard to get a grip on the deck without marring it. I'm probably going to glue something to the edge of the cover so that I can get a better grip without causing any damage to the wood.
 
And, now that I think about it, with that battery switch, I'm not sure how that would work. If it's sticking up through the slot, you can't slide the cover out. If you push it into the slot so that you can slide the cover off, how do you reach the switch to pull it back up into place once the cover is back on?
 
Maybe I'm not seeing something here. But, since I'm not installing the battery pack and switch anyway, that's a question I'll leave to another builder.
 
 
My latest thought is based on a suggestion someone made when I discussed the adding of details to the model. The idea is instead of putting in two ceiling lights, which would not have existed in an Edo period boat, putting in a couple large floor lanterns. These would be box-like structures that would probably sit in the corner of the room to provide light.
 
This avoids having to run wires into the ceiling. This also should make the deck house more easily removable if needed. I can try to make the lanterns and mount LEDs in them quite easily. The resistors for the LEDs can then easily be mounted just underneath the floor.
 
Here's a look ahead in the instructions, so you can see how it's intended to work.

 
The lanterns should be similar to these modern made floor lamps that I found on the Internet.

 
Not sure yet what level of detail I want to go to yet, but I'm developing some ideas.
 
 
Clare