CaptainSteve

Chuck and Paul
 
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
 
 

I will adhere to some strict ground rules for building this boat.  They are below. 
 
1.     I will use only basic hand tools.
 
2.     I will not use any power tools.
 
3.     I will document my tool use as I use them.  I will try different tools to achieve the result in order to determine what is the best tool to complete the job. Where appropriate I will advise you what tools I tried. 
 
4.     I will TRY to keep the costs down by limiting the choices and the variety of tools and other materials.  This is already turning into the hardest part of the build because if I need something I naturally reach for it to do the job.  I have caught myself already on more than one occasion. There are tools that may make a portion of any particular job easier, but if it requires making a special purchase to obtain it, I will refrain from using the tool.  The best example I can think of now are  steel angle blocks for bulkhead alignment and for weights. 
 
5.     I will use tools I already own and routinely use.   I have been amazed over the years at how few tools I use for 90 percent of actual modeling work.  I will not handicap myself by not using my favorites.   The best example here is my sanding block, which is from a worn out True Sander.
 
6.     There are basic tools that will have to be bought or made (a sanding block) and it is unavoidable if you do not own them or already possess suitable other tools.  
 
7.     I will attempt to create work a rounds to avoid tool and material purchases.  This is more time consuming than you might think.
 
8.     I have not worked it all out in advance and as I go along I might have to change the processes and edit previous posts.  Where appropriate I will notify all when I have to edit.
 
9.     I will use my personal books to help problem solve, although a beginner will not necessarily have access to, or the desire to purchase books to complete this model.
 
10.    THIS IS NOT A GROUP BUILD----This build log is for posterity.  I am the slowest and most time consuming ship modeler on the face of the earth.  I am still fully employed and finding time to model is hard to balance against work and family.  If you wait on me to get to the next step in the model, I would suggest that you take up stamp collecting while you wait.
 
11.     I have already received private feed back on my opinion that the Long Boat is a good choice for the beginner.  I may change my mind about that when I get to the end.  I also invite private feed back from all my friends and others on Model Ship World if you can suggest a better way to achieve the result.  I will give full credit for the suggestions, and perhaps it will make a cleaner and more concise build log if they are incorporated that way rather than replies within the log. Help is always welcome, so if you want, send a private message and I will provide my email.

Hello All
 
I have decided to build my Model Shipways kit of the 18th Century Long Boat.  In order to make the build log a little bit different than the others here I am gearing it for the beginner who has never built a ship model before.  I and I alone have decided its a good kit for the beginner for the following reasons.
 
1.     The model has a very modest cost compared to others, especially if you catch a sale.  At the time of writing this it is listed at $49.99 without entering a sales code on the website.  I paid less for mine. 
 
2.     Model Shipways quality control is very high and their free replacement parts for missing or broken parts is superb.  Although made completely from bass wood Model Shipways strives for the best it can put in the kit.
 
3.     Bass wood is a good material for a beginner. 
 
4.     The hull itself will introduce the beginner to most basic hull construction techniques found in many kits.   It is a plank on bulkhead constructed kit that when the bulkheads are removed, it turns into a plank on frame construct.
 
5.     Although the planking may cause some difficulty to the beginner because it is only a single layer and errors will show, it is a small hull and the planking lengths should be easy to accomplish.
 
6.     The kit presents a subject with a simplified rig that should not place a barrier between the builder and the finish line.
 
7.     The number of tools needed to build the boat should be limited.
 
 
I will adhere to some very strict ground rules for the build log.  Mostly related to tool use.  Those will be in my next post. 
 
 

I guess it depends on whether or not you feel compelled to adhere to that tagline..
 
Getting paint colors " historically accurate " is not very likely, but if you want to settle for " some shade of red " , then that is up to you..
 
Personally, my goal in ship modeling, is to end up with an " art " piece, that aunt May, Uncle Jack  or myself  would be happy with on the mantle.
I accomplish that with the natural wood look.
 


 
There are countless examples of unpainted  models in the Gallery that are far better than what I could hope to achieve..
 
One of my favorites is Longridge's Victory Model..

Denis - thanks - kind of you to catch up as well as the good wishes.
Vivian - SO nice to have you stop by - welcome back - I'll go to your log and catch up. 
 
So - as I have not quite learned "measure twice cut once"haha  - rebuilt the upper deck, learned more about proper plank spacing so all in all a good mistake to learn from.
 
Hesitant to drill holes for deck treenails - mistakes would be visually a real mess. need to ponder that one. I know that some ships did not have treenailed upper decks - need to go to my books, and Google University ---
Next will be adding two carriages/guns to upper gundeck - adding last set of lanterns, and gun door ropes to underside of upper deck. As always thanks so much for your visits.
 
Cheers,
 

hello Michael.......finally caught up to your log    good to hear that your wrist is better.........shows with the mileage you've put on your log     you've added some really great detail and looks even better when lit!   glad to see your back at the table   

She looks fabulous Michael, especially under lighting...

I can easily understand the confusion on the planking especially when a double planked hull is a common model building practice. It become easy to forget that real ships only have the single layer.
 
Always nice when a whoops works out for the best.

Good afternoon everyone, dreaded doing the fine painting, but it wasnt something i could put off any longer

Three months already... As I'm rather focused on my Armed Virginia Sloop, progress on the Queen barge is rather slow 😉
But I continue to advance when I get tired from the A.V.S build.
So I worked on the thwarts.  I first prepared all the pieces and made a test fit. Each piece was then numbered when I disassembled them for painting.

I pasted them on a double sided tape so I can paint all the thwarts together.

I then glued the pieces one after the other.


I will now finish the inside planking.
Always so much pleasure with this build. Just that the advancement is not as fast as I would like...
 

You don't really need to glue them at all against the bulkheads, just edge glue one to the next. If you feel you have to glue them, just tack them- use as little glue as possible in one spot which will make it easy to pull the bulkhead piece off later without damage.
 
And this is a standard convention with plank on bulkhead ships, the upper parts of the bulkheads are just temporary forms for the bulkhead planking. Which itself will then probably be planked a second time from the inside.

Small advance of this week-end. The elm tree pumps are done.

The metal reinforcement band is simulated using some black card stock strips.

Now it's really time to work on the catheads...
 

Completed installation of all the Thwarts, knees, windlass, mast iron work, and the sheeve.
Time to start work on the Rudder, some thole pins, belaying pins.
 
ben

Floors completed and “nailed”, now onto the platforms.
 
 

Planking is complete.
 
As you can see, I’am only partially planking the hull as per the other contemporary model, I prefer the look with the framing exposed.
Now that comes with perils of its own - just like with the QAB (Queen Anne barge) I only used the upper 3 strakes and everything is much more fragile as you have less supporting planking but if your slow and careful it’s entirely possible.
 
Hopefully I will get time over the holidays to get the frame tabs removed and get the cap rails installed but Pegasus lower deck framing is going to take modeling priority.
 
ben

Thanks for all the welcomes.
Before I start a build log (and likely break all the rules for posting photos, etc.), I thought I'd trash my intro and experiment a bit.
A member suggested updating my signature line but from what I can tell, I have to have 10 or more posts before I'm allowed to do that.
I expect to title the build log something like "18th Century Longboat by zeeprogrammer - Model Shipways - Scale 1:48"
 
I was surprised by the size of the model. Quite small for me. Patience will be (is) my nemesis so we'll see if my ham sized hands can be trained.
 
This will be a slow slow process getting started and making progress. Since I retired last year I've found myself being asked to play work in my wife's garden and with summer approaching there will be many demands on my time. Not a bad thing...but it takes away from 'me'.
 
I've spent the last several weeks just reading this forum. The skill and expertise is awesome. Most important for a newbie like me is the helpfulness and politeness. I will depend on that with many many questions.
 
I know there are no stupid questions, but I'll try my best.
 
And here, hopefully, is a photo of the box.

 
Cool. I read that 1600x1200 is a good size but I may go smaller.
 
Thanks everyone for contributing to this wonderful forum. I look forward to living here for a long long while.
 
As a temporary signature it goes something like this...
 
zeeprogrammer/zeep/zee (Carl)
Will answer to 'hey' but never 'hey you'.
To work. To work.
 
P.S. "To work. To work" comes from the movie "The Great Race" which, as a kid, had an influence that helped make me an engineer.
 

Carl,
Add your signature name to your profile then it will appear with every post.  Same goes for your build log(s).  
 
As for gluing... many of (maybe most?) put a small amount on a piece of wax paper, maybe a small plastic cup, that type of thing and they use toothpicks (small end) to apply the glue.  If the end is too big, it can be trimmed down.  I use this method for the glues I use (PVA and CA).   It also works for epoxy.

No launch or jolly boat. I went with the '18th Century Longboat' from Model Expo. I got the combo. Even though I already have the tool kit, it's almost a freebie versus buying the kit and paints separately. Besides, my old tool kit was miss-used building the 1/16 scale ModelExpo Albatross DVa.
 
The thing that triggered me was finding Chuck has a practicum on building this model. That and realizing my goal is to learn to plank, rig, etc. and I shouldn't worry about historical anything at this point.
 
From my model steam engine building, I don't much care to buy combo kits of anything. For example, when I need an end mill or drill bit, I've found buying the specific one I need tends have higher quality than sets where most of the bits and pieces are never even used. But sometimes, especially when starting out, I'm okay with it.
 
Now to await delivery. Woo hoo!
 
BTW I just realized no one knows my name. While I go by 'zeeprogrammer' or 'zee', 'zeep', 'zeepster', my name is Carl Phillips. Happy to meet you all.
 
I'll finish off with a bit of "why I'm here"...
 
I was a military brat whose father married a German woman. We were stationed in Hawaii (I was there when it became a state), France, Germany, and then the states. My German grandparents lived in Munich and I spent summers there. Which meant many trips to the Deutches Museum. It didn't hurt that Opi was a machinist. The upshot is...as a kid I was exposed to steam engines, locomotives, sailing ships, not to mention most anything military World War II and prior (I'm not into jets). My favorite eras to learn about is the industrial revolution and World War I.
 
I'm also prone to try and get little tunes into people's heads. "Found a peanut" is a favorite. 😁
 
Lastly, I'm in southeast Pennsylvania (West Chester)...anyone nearby?
 
 

Thank you Chris. That's good to know.
 
I finally found a bit more information. From the Pacific Union College, I got this..."During the events of the mutiny on the Bounty, three boats were launched: first the jolly boat which was found to be rotten through with worms and would certainly have sunk, then the cutter which also leaked and simply would not hold the large number of loyalists who preferred to go with Bligh, and finally the launch. . . .". The rest of the description had to do with how little room there was left in the launch that was meant for at most 15 people but carried 19 and that such a craft was meant for short distances.
 
Sounds like the launch is the way to go. A quick check shows several builds and comments here so first a bit more fun perusing.
 
Once I get a kit I'll start a build log and then the fun begins (i.e. fun in the many questions I'll ask that I'm sure have been asked before.)
 
Woo woo!

Hi,
 
I go by 'zeeprogrammer', 'zee', 'zeep', 'zeepster' and other variations. I will answer to 'hey' but never to 'hey you'.
 
I've not gotten scratch-building the HMS Beagle out of my mind for some years now but I have virtually no experience.
Sure, I did the plastic 1/96 Revell USS Constitution (years and years ago) but I don't know much more than what a mast is and my wood work is limited to simple balsa airplanes (and none good).
 
Yes, I made the newbie mistake of jumping in a couple of years ago with a Mamoli model of the Beagle. It now sits unfinished in my cabinet of learning, a combination of cruddy work and the realization it wasn't anything close to a model of the Beagle. (I have the 'Anatomy of the Ship' book which has given me hours of enjoyment.) I'm currently finishing a couple of steam engines and a model of the Albatross DVa aircraft.
 
My desire to build the HMS Beagle is undiminished.
 
I now intend to start with a simpler model (perhaps the HMS Bounty Jolly Boat or the Medway) and with this forum and helpful members I may someday achieve my dream. The goal is to learn something about planking and rigging as well as all else related to model ship building.
 
I retired last year and in preparation for that, my wife and I renovated our house. I now have a shop with a decent lathe and mill and space to pursue my various interests.
 
I don't expect to start a build log for some time. I have much to learn here and I hope my questions and future experiences will help other newbies.
 
Thank you for letting me join.

Hello all
 
Well another mistake from the kit makers.
Part 10, the slot has been cut wrong, when you put it on the keel it leans over.
 
Looks like I will have to file it down so it is vertical on the keel.
 
Good job I am not a person that gives up that easy.
 
I have to say that it is not a good advert for some one that is just starting out building wooden ship models.
 
Jo.
 

I'm smiling at the re-work.    As for the "blue line", hold off until you get the bulkheads installed and can check the "flow" across the top to it.  Better to wait and see than wonder how to put the wood back if it needs to be there.  It does appear that the "slot" is also too high but... I'd hold off as long as possible and check the fit after the bulkheads go on.

Hello all.
 
After taking the parts apart I found after putting them on the plans that I did not have to make a V shaped piece of wood.
In fact I had to file some off part 16.
 
It looks like I have to file down to the blue line as this looks a bit too high.
 
It amazed me that taking only a little bit off part 16 can move the top over by about 5mm.
 
Jo.
 

Jo,
In addition to what the others said I think if I was doing this I would lay part 16 on the plans and secure it in some way; push pins, tape something to keep it from moving about. The I would carefully lay your keel on top of that and carefully line it up to the plans and secure it with pins, tape etc. Then with your sharpest hobby blade scalpel or razor knife trace the overlap. That will give you exactly what you need to remove. That will give you a cut line. From there carefully trim away the excess and finish with a file right to the line. You may find you have to add material down at the bottom also.
Best of luck.
Sam

Hi again Gals and Guys
 
Ok I took the advice and took it all apart.
This is how far it is out according to the plans.
 
Now I don't know if what I am going to do is right or not.
This is what I have been thinking about, try and unglue the parts, then put a piece of wood by the blue lines in a V shape this I hope will push the top over, see red arrow.
 
Any other suggestions before I completely destroy the wood.
 
Jo.