druxey

Part 1: Cockpit Assembly
I started by separating the booklet pages and giving the parts pages my usual coat of matte clear varnish spray (some modelers have suggested that gloss varnish soaks into the paper better, and the shine can be knocked down later with a top coat of matte).
 
To make the pages easier to handle, I separated the cockpit parts from the fuselage parts.

 
Fold lines need to be scored in advance. For this I use a straight edge and a small-diameter manicurist's spotting tool. A scribing tool could also be used for this task, but it makes a sharper crease, which makes the ink more prone to cracking when a part is folded.

 
The part is then cut out and folded.

 
This task is repeated for the observer's tub. I wrote the part numbers for the two tubs (sounds like a missing novel in the LOTR series -- "Book 2A: The Two Tubs, in which the fellowship finally bathe after weeks on the road without showering") in pencil on the reverse side just to help distinguish which is which. Afterward, I glued one side of each tub. Leaving the other side open for now will make it easier to add internal details, such as the seats.

 
A quick note on edge coloring: At this point, I'm not sure how much, if any, of these edges will be visible later. To be safe, I have colored the cut edges with a gray Crayola marker (hi-tech, I know). At some point, each builder will need to decide on an edge-coloring technique to use and start thinking about matching colors in the kit.
 
That's it for this evening, but looking ahead at the build sequence I saw that laser-cut parts will soon be needed (if you are using them), and I was going to conclude my workbench session by numbering the parts with a pencil. But I was pleased to learn that each part already has its number laser-engraved, eliminating the need to manually add one -- a very nice touch!

 
See you next time!

A beautiful model Craig. The paint finish is spectacular and the details are superb. In several of the photos it looks completely real.
congratulations 
alan

I'm calling it finished. Ready to move on to something else now.
Thanks for following along, for your comments, for all your likes and reactions.

A few small bits and a few more decal placards and this one will be history. Maybe tomorrow or the next day?
 

Did I ever mention to you guys, my wife and I are great grandparents now. Here is baby Khloe. She turned two months old on the 28th last month.

Not finished but getting close.

Step 40 (Display Stand) completed
 
Finally had some half-decent weather, though colder than the spray paint would like (10C, meaning 50 for those who still follow Herr Fahrenheit), so I warmed it and the baseboard over a heater vent before heading out to a windless, sunny spot. Paint went on well despite the challenges, though my masking was less than perfect and I will need to re-touch the oil on the display-stand's plinth. Still, once the paint was dry the model supports went in nicely, all square without trouble (and a drip of CA in each hole to keep them that way:

That's kit supplied basswood baseboard (sprayed with hardware-store primer and gloss white), glued to a $5 offcut of jatoba (run across my router table with an ogive blade mounted, then oiled and wax-finished), acrylic-rod supports (optional extra recommended in kit instructions), with copper tape for filler and decoration, topped with kit-supplied basswood supports (primed and painted with kit paints). Far from perfect but much, much better than my dory model has (so I am learning!).
 
Looks nice with the (still incomplete) model on it too:

 
I have been working on the spars too, but they will keep for a later update.
 
 
Trevor

Step 48 (first "48", rowlocks) advanced, Steps 42, 43 & 44 (spars) commenced
 
With daylight for aid, I got the brass rowlock-pad protection on. First thing was to drill the rowlock holes down into the inwale (previously, they only passed through the pads). In a full-size boat, the holes would need to pass right through, so that a length of cord or light chain, attached to the rowlock, can hang down inboard, preventing loss of the rowlock but allowing it to be unshipped when not in use. That's great but drilling so deep risked damage to the sheerstrakes, so I only went far enough to accommodate the kit-supplied rowlocks.
 
Placing the photo-etched brass protective pieces wasn't hard. I impaled each one in turn on the point of a bamboo cocktail stick, touched a tiny dab of CA to each end of the brass, inverted the boat, put tip of stick into rowlock hole, flipped everything upright, assisted gravity in getting the brass into place, then gently pressed it down. The only trouble was when I had too much CA, letting the brass swim around before the glue caught. I then left the glue to set before getting onto the hard part.
 
Each of the four brass plates needs two nail holes drilled. (OK after the first one: That time, I drew the drill back too vigorously, it caught in the brass and pulled the metal off its glue. Back up and try over ...) Then each of 8 0.6mm nails had to be picked up with forceps, snipped for length, placed in its hole, lined up ... and pressed home. I think I snipped twice as many nails as I placed, though where the others went, I cannot say. Anyway, the job was done and adds some nice, shiny brass to the model:

Rowlock (technically a "crutch") only inserted temporarily, as I don't want it causing trouble until the rigging is finished.
 
While the CA was setting, I got the three spars out of their basswood sheets. The mast is in two halves that have to be glued together, back to back:

Lots of clamps and yellow glue -- yellow for strength and because the edges where it might ooze out will be sanded for char anyway.
 
Once the two halves were united, they formed a spar with rectangular section. That will need to be taken down to square, including the tapering towards head and heel, matching the laser-cut sides -- all before taking off the corners (making it "eight-square") ad rounding off.
 
The boom has its own complications which can wait for later. I did begin work on the yard (which the instructions bizarrely call a "gaff"). Its lower edge needs to be straight, to receive the straight-cut head of the sail, but its upper edge can taper from the slings towards either end. I just gave it straight tapers. The basswood stock was thicker than the laser-cut piece was wide, so the spar started with a rectangular section throughout. I have shaped the upper and lower surfaces into half-rounds but, so far, I have not tried to reduce the thing to circular. Strength and stiffness would be better with some depth to the section. later, I'll take another look and see whether I like what I have. I might sand more.
 
Enough for now!
 
Trevor

Meant to include these yesterday. Showing rabbets actually cut in.

Hello,
Have been working away and have completed the rabbets on both sides. Made a couple of depth gauges using a six inch rule and tapped off at the 1/32 and 1/8" marks. The continued to build up the tape until I had a sufficient stop to rest against the deck or to check depth of rabbet. 

Picture of keel and stem gap. A lot of bodywork and wood filler to close the gap. Sorry that this is out of sequence with previous pictures.

Hello,
Here are hopefully current pictures of the build. Most of the bodywork is completed, the sternpost is in place, the rudder has been fitted and shows a reasonably parallel line with the sternpost. One of the problems I encountered was the supplied keel, while laser cut, had quite a warp to the forward 2 inches. That caused misalignment with the stem. Wood filler and a lot of cautious sanding has got the area looking much better. The tool shown is a Dremel round cutter. I used that to create the small cutout to accept the flat at the top of the rudder. I also worked on the cockpit area. The problem I ran into there was the supplied cutout was oblong and to the right of center.

Thank you. I will try that. However, I disagree somewhat with your Apple observation. The first pictures I posted on the build thread were from my previous iPhone and there was no issue loading and posting.
Below are two images which would not load from my other PC. This PC has Google loaded as the browser, I think the other has MS Edge. However, I previously had no problems uploading my first pictures. 

Accomplished a fair amount on the stern area. Keel pretty much completed. Just need to get some wood filler and I can move ahead on that. Then some final sanding of the hull. I shaped the stern using an Exacto #10 general purpose carving blade. After getting used to how to angle it correctly so as not to dig in to deeply, it could be used as a plane. I was able to shave off very fine layers of wood and had great control over how much stock was coming off. I have learned from previous sanding mistakes how easy it is to get into trouble. Starting to move along. Thanks.

All very fascinating and enjoyable.

How they got the engine started is a great question - I have not seen a picture where the engine is running / propeller is spinning. I have seen a picture of how the SD 14bis was started:

Can't imagine getting something like this out on the water and stabilized enough to crank it. Also don't see how anyone would be willing to stand in front of this beast and turn the prop by hand - just imagine the problem of not getting trapped between the pontoon and a nacelle and all of the bracing wires! A quick Google search indicates that electric starters were not used (commonly) on planes until after WWI, and that Charles Kettering received the first US pattern for an electric car engine starter in 1911 - the starting being used on Cadillacs starting in 1912. So the chances of an electronic starter on this engine / hydroplane seems unlikely.

Thank you very much... I wanted to put realism into this space since you'll be able to see into the front windows. I used St. Roch's chart table and flag cuddies as they appear today. I am thinking they are original and were re-used during the various deckhouse rebuilds.  The chart is Queen Maud Gulf, waters that St. Roch sailed during her Arctic voyages. 

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Alice!

This may sound bizarre, but in the first photo it appears that the seat and wheel, as well as the foil/rudder, is rotated. Was steering literally by the 'seat of the pants'?

Only a small update: the galion, inspired by Boudriot and much simplified.




I hope to find some time to do the deadeyes on starboard and the rudder.
 
Cheers,
Gregor

Very nicely rendered, Mathias. Never make a thing simple if you can make it complicated!

Dear fellow modellers,
thank you all for your comments and likes.
Over the last few days I have been working on the canopy above the stern gallery.
It is an imposing vault, interrupted by four supporting ribs, which swings upwards from the window front of the main cabin almost like a domed vault in a church and then descends again on the inside of the transom arch to end there. All in all, a beautiful but, in my opinion, somewhat unusual construction that raises several questions.
First question: How was the vault constructed?
Second question: As it protrudes very far above the aft deck, how was the poop designed here?
Third question: What might the ship's carpenters have been thinking when they were asked to build it? They probably rebelled at first.
I'll start with a few photos of the original model to illustrate the problem:



 
You can see here that in the model the vault shell has obviously been carved out of a block and fitted into place. You can also see in the last picture how far the vault protrudes above the poop deck.
There are some historical models and drawings that show vaulted canopies over the stern gallery, but not to these dimensions.
Here are two pictures of the stern model of a Swedish ship of the line from the first half of the 18th century:


and the drawing of a French ship of the line, also from the first half of the 18th century:

Both show the end of the poop deck above the window front and a construction of knees supporting the canopy and reaching up to the transom.
This is exactly what this English ship of the line from 1735 looks like.

Here you can already see a solution for a raised deck level above the canopy; I will end up with something similar.
I decided not to make the canopy out of knees, support ribs and planks because of the complex shapes, but instead, as the construction will no longer be visible from above, I also chose to carve the vaults out of solid wood and insert them as a block.
Let's start again with my paper templates to find the shape:

then the wooden blocks were cut to size, the vaults worked out and fitted:



Here you can see the centre vault:
 



The inside is puttyled and sanded before painting so that the surface can be smoothed out nicely and the unavoidable dentswich appear, when carving out the curvatures can be levelled out.

...and finally everything is fitted to the model.

...then the transom could finally be fitted.
Finally, here are some pictures of the result:
 






Best regards,
Matthias
 
 

Exactly, Mark! Except I'd make the carlings much wider.

Good question... Captain Larsen refers to a system of bells used to signal the engine room... presumably this was either magneto operated like an old telephone ringer (because St. Roch had no electric power unless the auxiliary engine was running), or pull cord operated like Edwardian era stately homes, used for summoning servants.
Either way, or if a third system was used, Captain Larsen reported the bell system was unsuitable because the engine commands came in quick succession as the ship maneuvered through the pack ice, and the engineer at the throttle often got confused as to what was required from the engine!
A telegraph was fitted in 1940, also a voice pipe, although I believe this led up to the open pilotage above the wheelhouse.
Unfortunately the historic record is silent, or unclear, on many of these details.
Thanks for your interest!

Examples of the curved beam:
 
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81208.html
 
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81282.html
 
and, more interestingly:
 
https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/81164.html