catopower

Meanwhile on the Perry, I’ve added more of the deck goodies.
 

I think the angle of the photo makes it look worse than it actually is.  Here's a similar photo of this area of the display model for the kit, but from a shallower angle.  I would agree that filling the outside a bit and doing some light shaving on the inner side would resolve your concern.
 
Al Ross

I took the plunge: I’ve glued the gunwales to the hull. I removed about a half an inch from the front the inner gulwales piece otherwise the curve of the bent wood was uneven and didn’t fit. I still have to trim and mate the bow. 

I found an older plan of the Perry (or should I say another Perry). This was from an old kit by Boucher found on ebay (all rights reserved by the original owners or whoever purchased the long-gone company).  The aft bulkhead here has one door. I'm working the deluxe version with two doors!

Meanwhile back at the dockyard, havoc ensues!! A number of laser cut parts don't match the plans or my work! I thought I screwed up (and I may have) but I see that @sjanicki also had some problems with the sides and added a some wood by the quarter deck and I will mostly likely follow a similar path.  The last six parts are at variance with the plans.  I'll share just one pic. The cut out for the side entrance (i'm not sure of the naval term) doesn't match the gun ports and the whole length isn't quite long enough for my ship though end to end I'm within 1/8" and the internal cut-out is spot on (well, less than  1/16"). Many thanks to @sjanicki for sharing his progress and pictures! For the last few days, I was trying to figure out where I went astray. The plans and the profiles from the kit do match for this part. USS Putty, here I come. 

Once I get to the deck fittings, it will matter less. So I'll push on. 

I started work on the decks. A bit of stain and finish. I added a suggestion of horizontal decking with a sharpened pencil and ruler. I couldn’t match the color of what looks to be a black aniline dye in the wood, so a little bit of stain to dampen the contrast.

Meanwhile back the model: 
I'm thinking about the deck's color and finish. That needs to be addressed before I permanently add the decks. The laser cut forecastle deck differs in shape to the part of the solid-wood hull I've been whittling away at. While I assume it is my silliness, I do see this in the plans: 
 
I can add bit of wood to either side or cut new one from the 'waste' wood that the decks came with. I'm guessing it might be covered by the waterways (or what I presume are the waterways).

Not much to report: the bottom of the hull is in ball park (85% there) so I turned my attention to the top. After a bit of cutting, I can finally test fit the deck. If I was to do this again, I would have trimmed the fop to fit the deck before working on the bottom. All work done with a small toothed saw (an Atlas Super saw used by model train folks and a 1” flat chisel).

I've started to whacking away at the hull - working on the contours of the bottom of the hull. I used a couple of gouges on one side. I may try the rotary tool on the other side. 
 
Unrelated, I did notice that the plans (General Arrangement - sheet PY1-5) don't match the beautiful laser-cut wooden deck. I didn't check the deck profile against the templates (Templates - sheet PY5-5) before cutting the hull, but luckily those match each other. The location of the masts is also different as well on the plans (General Arrangement - sheet PY1-5) than on the aforementioned beautiful laser-cut wooden deck. 
 

After 6 months and a huge number of hours, I'm finally calling this ship complete except for the case that I will have to make yet.  I made some mistakes along the way, but I am very pleased with the outcome.  This is my 1st 2 masted sailing ship, and it was quite the challenge for me.  Last year I was fortunate enough to take Nic's (Bluejacket ship crafters) rigging class, and I can say that class was very, very helpful and I learned so much.  The only problem I have now is figuring out what my next project will be.

Making more progress and just thought I would take some photos of where I'm at on the rigging.  

Work is progressing slowly, but she is starting to come to life.  Installed lower and top mast shrouds over the last few days. Hopefully I can get this completed in the next few weeks.  Sure, wish I knew some shortcuts to working with those tiny deadeyes as some modelers make this look so easy.  Although not perfect, I'm pleased with my results so far and I guess that's all that should matter.  I will get better at this as I gain experience.

Completed and attached bowsprit, added all the required blocks, eye bolts to the bow for the rigging.  Also installed trail boards then finished and installed the cutter.  Progress has been slow for me the last month or so as I've been busy with other projects, but after all this work completed, I finally mounted the ship to its permanent base.  I previously had all the masts, yards, boom and gaffs completed so now I'm ready to put my rigging skills that I have learned to work.

Prepared the masts and trestles. painted the lower masts white and stained all the upper masts and spencer mast with Mini wax "golden pecan" stain.   Continued on to prepping the yards attaching required blocks and foot ropes which I gave a coat of matte black paint.  As far as the blocks were concerned, I thought I would experiment with India ink as paint always seems to peel off from handling excessively.  After cleaning blocks with some lacquer thinner and "Pre-clean" I dipped the blocks in the ink and set them to dry.  So far, the ink hasn't rubbed off from handling and covers blocks nicely, any thoughts on the use of India ink would be appreciated.

Completed all the carronades and the 2 cannons, installed all gun port hatches, and ship's wheel. Next, I can direct my attention to preparing the masts.

Installed the channel pin rails, chain plates, I then cut out the hull for the catheads, installed the windlass, riding bits and hatches.  For the brown wood looking color for all deck furniture, I used acrylic tube paint and made a stain thinning the colors with water. Next, I drilled out the mounting holes in the hull and the permanent base which I still have temporarily mounted just for the photo.  Just a few more things to finish up on deck then I will start the cannons which I already have painted.  I'm really enjoying this project so far and happy with my results, am looking forward to the rigging though.

Thank you for the photo Nic, very helpful comparison.  I have to get over the shiny copper look and go with realism. 

That's looking pretty good. Here's a shot of our gallery model:

After buffing out with 1000 grit sandpaper I dry brushed some copper to tone down some of the green, better, but I'm still deciding if I should leave it alone at this point or tweak it some more.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Here is what I came up with for the copper patina.  I used Vallejo paint and gave it a dusting with my airbrush.  Just wondering if I went to heavy on the dusting??

Just completed the painting of the hull, a couple of areas I will have to touch up, but overall, I'm pleased with the result.  Next, I'm going to try to figure out a good way to get that greenish patina on the copper.  If anyone has any ideas on how to achieve that look, I'm open to suggestions.  I may try dry brushing some pastel powders on some copper painted scrap wood or using my airbrush with the correct green color which I'm still trying to figure out.

Drilled a 3/16" hole for rudder shaft, proceeded to install gammon knee, stern post and keel.  I added a couple of filler pieces between gammon knee and keel plank to fill in a gap from my over-sanding.  Using Bondo automotive spot putty I filled in all sanding defects, then gave a final sanding before priming.  After 1st coat of primer, I used some vinyl spackling to fill in a low area on hull side and a few small scratches.  After my final 3rd coat of primer and final sanding I'm ready for paint. 

One mistake I made was when attaching deck, I wasn't careful and did not butt up the seam good as illustrated in 1st photo.  I didn't like this, so I cut an 1/8" notch down the centerline then used scrap deck material and ripped a 1/8" wide strip and glued in place as shown in the photos.  Most of that seam will be covered by deck furniture but you would have seen some of that seam and it would've bothered me.  Live and learn. 

Recently, I started posting on MSW.  I started the USS Perry on 12/15/24 and will describe some interesting modifications that have brought me to the current stage of my build log.  I must acknowledge the generous coaching of a USSCMSG member who has mentored me for 25 years.  To build the Perry, he recommended I follow Chuck Parrasro's instructions on the Modey Shipways website for the 1/16=1" scale USS Syrene, a similar ship of this era in the US Navy, as well as his instructions on Model Shipways Sultana of 1767.
 
To begin with, I copied all templates and pasted them on the hull and penciled horizontal lines on each of the deck planks.

I started following Bluejacket BJ's instructions.  For the past decade, I have used as a workbench a table with a glass top that allows for plans and other pertinent documents to be stored below that table top.
Taped deck and installed cap rails.

To rid the brush marks I was advised to sand with 350 grit, buy quality brushes, and use model paints (Tamiya).  
 

From a Guild member, I acquired wood from the real USS Constitution which I have used to make block stands for many of my models.

 

Built Chuck Passaro's tape jig and made nail perforations in simulated copper sheathing. 


Installed furniture, added 6 more pins at the bow, and installed chains according to BJ's instructions.  First, I blackened the chain with Brass Black at a 9:1 ratio with water, because ships did not use a gold or brass chain.  At the time, this ship was built the Navy was just beginning to install chains and it is unlikely that chains would have been used on a ship built in 1843.  As you will see, I had to undo and redo with Syrene's line, 

I was advised to touch up the white paint and remove the gloss on the anchor line scuttles by using 2 parts water and one part matte medium.

I have been advised to vertically cut the companionway doors in half with a Zona razor saw to make them more accurate.  I was also advised to paint the skylight frames brown and to simulate the glass skylights.  This is done by cutting clear plastic to fit the skylights and painting the underside black.  

Following other NRG USS Perry build loggers, I purchased Syrene and Model Shipways deadeyes and blocks to replace the BJ white metal fittings.  I then installed the deadeyes for the shrouds using my unorthodox method.   I found it difficult to follow Passaro's method of making links to connect the deadeyes to the hull because the deadeyes for the Perry are 3/32" are smaller than the 3/16" scale of his Syrene.   My method was to take 28 gauge dark annealed wire wrap it around the deadeye and twist it to the correct length. 

I painted the cannon carriages red, as well as the inner port frames, painted the cannons black, and made eyebolts from the annealed wire,  

In preparing the masts and yards, I used my modified Vevor mini-lathe tapering lathe.



Following Passaro's Syrene instructions, I added battens to the fore and main topmasts, added lower mast irons, foot ropes to all but the royal yards, painted the rear fish white, stained the jib boom, stuns'l yards, jib boom, boom, and gaffs, and installed the ball truck to the top.

Before rigging, I had to install the cannons to complete the deck accessories.  I started by using a hemostat to hold the block, secured my annealed wire, connected the other end to an additional block, and attached it to the underside of the carronades.


I secured the wire eye bolts to the bulwarks with one long tail that was to be fitted through the hull.   
 

 
Using a portable drill with an extension and 5/128" bit, I reached through the cannons and furniture and could appropriately place the hole for the eye bolt.  I then drilled hole through the hull, grabbing the end and attaching it with glue on the inside bulwark and cutting off the eye bolt tail and painting over the outside hull.  Thus, securing the eye bolt in its proper place. 
I also installed eye bolts in the empty ports. 

I then attached lines to cannon blocks.

I then attached the breech lines first to hold the cannon in place.

Used clamps to tightened lines.

To create a coil, I cut off the head of a needle and installed it into a Dowell.  I would use it to grab the end of a line and twist it to the appropriate size.  I used a dropper mixed 50/50 with water and a matte medium to lubricate the twisting.

This method worked well on BJ's .010" line but the .005" line kept popping up. To solve this, I cut a piece of clear plastic and pressed it over 1/2 of the coiled line, and let it dry overnight. Another method would be to add 5% rubbing alcohol to the matte medium to penetrate the line.

 

Tightened lines and installed coiled lines.

I still must rig the lifeboat and install its oars. 

This is my progress to date and I am now ready to rig this kit
 
This is also my first post in years.
 
 
 
 

I love our laser.  This is one side of the forward house.  The top piece is .015" laserboard and has the mullions for the windows.  It will be laminated to the inside of the bottom piece which is 1/32" basswood.  The square and rectangle on the bottom piece are the window frames which are .015" laserboard.  When the house is completely built and painted, .010" clear styrene with its back side painted black will be glued to the inside of the inner lamination.  Both houses will be built this way.