vaddoc

This is indeed cool. A bit illegal this side of the pond but I can imagine a Victory with a hundred odd of these firing broadsides.

Welcome Kevin. I cannot access your photos either. You will know what tools you need as you progress through the various phases and tasks of building your model. Regards Vaddoc

Your work is inspiring Mark, you keep things simple and produce very elegant results. The boat is coming out mighty nice! The cockpit sole looks great. Following your build I ve been encouraged to try on some metalwork myself. (Not as easy as you make it look) Vaddoc

Many thanks to all for your comments! I did not mention that all my tests using the Fearsome Step Drill ended up with the destruction of the test piece. But I thought I had enough training and took a leap of faith. Well, end's well, all well! I made some more progress and interesting things happened. I had taped off the edges of the cabin roof and the tape has been there for some time. I did not consider that masking tape gets stronger the more it is left. When I removed it, it lifted the polyurethane varnish! These areas had a rugged edge and also a much paler colour as the Valejo polyurethane varnish seems to have a tint. However, this was sorted very easily, to the credit of Valejo which really is a top company. I sanded the raised edges of the varnish layer with 600 grit and simply applied two more coats of varnish. The cabin top now looks like this incident never took place! I continued work on the cockpit, I glued the external panels and then shaped and fitted the top covers. These are screwed and I will replace the screws with tree nails. I also did some work with the rigging. I am thinking of using two large solid pieces of timber (not sure how they are called) to offset the chainplates. They actually came out fine and I will install them after the mast goes on. I also finished the hand rails. My main problem was how to secure them on the cabin top, and I wanted to also have a slight curve which would apply some pressure as they are two rather stiff pieces of timber. I do not have tree nails long or strong enough. I thought of using brass wire and CA glue but I am concerned it would come off with the extreme variations in temperature. Finishing would also be a problem. I thought of using 1 mm screws and countersinking the head but the screws I have are mild steel and easily deform. This would happen for sure and with the countersinking it would be impossible to remove the bad screws. The solution was to get stainless steel screws which are much stronger. They seem indeed to be stainless steel as they are non-magnetic whereas the normal ones are. So here it goes: Holes drilled and then countersinking Then screwed on the cabin top with the help of the Admiral. Looks good I think! I still need to plug the holes and apply two coats of enamel varnish but I am happy.

Spot on Bob Boat building needs a lot of space, a surface that ts ok if it gets ruined (it will) and a lot of light.

PVA glue will be the main glue you ll use. Aliphatic has quick set and dries yellow, normal PVA has more opening time and dries more clear. Epoxy can be useful for laminating and gap filling or for gluing dissimilar material, is messy and temperamental and has somewhat of a learning curve. I use it a lot though, usually thickened with talk powder as it is brittle on its own. CA glue for specific tasks. My personal opinion, all PVA glues are created more or less equal, epoxy and CA most definitely are not. For scratch building, glue sticks (pratt etc) are useful for gluing paper patterns to wood. There are various other glues but are rarely used.

Funny they mention basswood. Basswood and lime are pretty much the same wood, the former a bit softer. I ve found that lime when treated with Tung oil gets this yellow tint that remotely resembles boxwood. Generally not a good wood for modelling.

The "good to have" tools are more than the stars in the sky. But the absolutely necessary ones are few. I would agree on the ability to drill holes, I love my (vast) collection of drills! In regards to planes and chisels, you ll need diamond stones, straps etc to keep sharp and they are really in the "good to have" list. All in good time...

Your wood is fuzzy and has this yellow tint, It looks a bit like lime wood.

Well, since trees are wider at the base, the fibres should converge inwards towards the top. So planning from top to bottom should make the plane dig into the wood. If it was the other way around, there would be fibres ending up at the bark.

A quick addition, I drilled all the holes, initially with the fearsome step drill and then finished to size with the Dremel. I dry fitted the portholes and they look good!

It's been approx 400 tablets since the day of the tooth extraction and I am happy to report it has now settled! I found a bit of time to work on the boat and made some progress. First, I continued work on the cockpit. It was quite annoying to discover that a piece I had previously prepared with significant labour had gone missing. Also, a couple of other pieces did not fit anymore. All these had to be redone. I screwed the side plywood panels, then replaced the screws with tree nails, sanded the surface and then glued the cherry veneers on top. Thankfully I did not made a mess. Lots of springs and clamps were used. Then the back panels went on the same way. The fit of the bottom vertical panels is bad but I did not notice it when I put it together and of course now it cannot be repaired. I ll need to display the boat on the starboard side... The benches look scratched but they are not, in any case Il sand them again and re apply Tung oil and then oil based varnish. The portholes I bought arrived, they are very nice and I do not think I could have made anything close myself. I also bought a step drill as I will need to open 12.5 mm holes in the side panels of the cabin. Drilling such holes in the cabin that has taken me 12 months to make is a bit frightening! The first one came out fine but this drill needs to be used with extreme care as it is very aggressive. Pilot holes are needed. I dry fitted the first porthole and really liked the result. I think that the oiled wood and the shiny brass is a beautiful combination! When all 5 pertholes (per side) come on, it should look ok. I may need to add something on the inside of the glass to make it non-transparent, we will see though.

Not really Patrick. For some reason CA never worked for me so bonding dissimilar material is a headache. I sometimes use epoxy as good surface mating is not essential but it is messy and does not work very well. I have a feeling I ve been using the wrong CA glue, too fluid and too cheap! I think next I ll try a combination of gell CA with an activator to set it in seconds. I need to remember not to scratch my eyelids when gluing...😀

It is certainly coming along Patrick, no easy task capturing the very many curves and recesses! You are gluing plastic, paper, styrene and wood together and some times the contact area is tiny, is it CA glue you are using? Vaddoc

Welcome Pherigo! For sure start a build log and share your journey. Vaddoc

Thanks Patrick, good to hear from you again! Between work, family and a wisdom tooth extraction that went pear shaped, I managed to do very little work. Still, I made the cabin top hand rails. Turned out to be one of the most enjoyable tasks! I wanted to use pear but somehow, I only realised the wood I was using was cherry after the rails were finished. A splash of Tung oil and they are ready to be installed and then varnished.

Welcome Bruce! I d say start building, far too much fun to miss out.

Regarding saw discs. Both the tungsten tip one and the steel wood disc are very good. Could not really tell a huge difference for the dimensions I cut. The metal cutting HSS I found completely useless. I could not cut 1 mm brass, it was even dangerous. Maybe it's me though. Another thing, I ve read that the bearings on the saw are not shielded and gather dust easily. I ve attached the admiral's decommissioned vacuum cleaner and it sucks all the dust away, the dust extraction port is excellent. Highly recommended set up. As Brian and Bill say, it can send pieces flying so wear glasses and count your fingers. I am ashamed to say though I took the guard immediately off...

Have fun with your new saw Nick! I found my KS very useful for cutting strips and long straight sides in panels. For accurate sizing of parts though I use the disc sander or multiple passes with a sharp knife. I think you ll find this little saw useful and personally I did not find it underpowered, considering it is intended fro small jobs. I sanded flat the end of the screw that tightens the fence, it comes out from factory slightly oblique and ruins the alignment of the fence. Took less than a second, used the disc sander, look into this.

Spot on Carl! Lawrence, I run the drill press at the highest speed. I have a pair of excellent (and expensive) Knipex side cutters. The raised surface easilt sands away, especially if the nails are made of softwood and the boat timber from something harder. You can very easily make 0.6 mm wide, probably smaller if you wish. I make a few hundreds each time I sit down to it. I now use them all the time as structural nails Regards

Good to hear from you Patrick! Loved the Leopard rug, very classy.

Good suggestion Mark, I thought about it but in the end I just sanded everything and applied Tung oil! It darkened the nails a bit, it stands out less. I think I ll leave it as is and carry on with the rest of the building... After the Tung oil went on, things look better. My 3 year old daughter saw the cabin and said "look daddy, this is a door!" so it probably looks like one! I ll put brass hinges and two knobs and then the top hatch and it should look ok I think. I continued work on the cockpit, I laminated and installed the side plywood panels. Cherry veneers will be added on both sides and then a top bit like a gunwale. I had also prepared the aft panels but following the installation of the sides they do not fit properly so I need to make them again. The screws will be removed and replaced with treenails. I realised that I do not have enough clamps! Not very original but I really need to get some more. Also, at some point I need to start thinking about the rudder. Regards

Thank you all for the good wards. Druxey, very useful tips! I did a bit more work, I made again one of the benches as it was not a good fit. I also added more panels to the doors, I think it looks better and there are still pieces that have not had Tung oil on. I also installed more bits to the cabin and started replacing the screws with treenails. Regarding the treenails, things did not go as planned. For some reason my cherry piece stopped producing treenails like before. The needle drills constantly burn and clog. I had to use pine so the treenails are white. Also, for some reason I can no longer produce 0.6 mm diameter but only 1 mm. they are a bit out of scale but I do not think it matters a lot. Either way, I have accepted that due to current life circumstances some compromises will need to be made to allow me to keep on building. At some point I will fix this issue but I do not rely want to invest time in this so I ll use the treenails I already have. I also finished the steps, I am not sure if it is really a good idea but I invested time making it and in the end of the day something is needed as the companionway doors are quite high. A few pictures, really difficult to get good ones due to the size of the boat. The hatches are not glued on yet.

According to Wood Database, it does not look a very good alternative. "With its low density and interlocked grain, willow has very poor machining characteristics, frequently resulting in fuzzy surfaces or tearout. Willow also tends to develop numerous drying defects and can be difficult to season. Glues and finishes well. Responds moderately well to steam bending."

Best filler I ve used is Elmers color change wood filler. The trade ones are very hard and the lightweight fillers from model shops do not sand well. I never liked the PVA/wood dust mix. Elmers is brilliant, applies well, dries quickly and sands very well. You can mix it with water based paint (and probably wood dust), it will still work. When it changes from purple to pale, it is ready for sanding.