MrBlueJacket

After several weeks of other things, I am back to the Virginia again. I decided to laser-cut the gunport lids, and a Google search showed them to be split vertically, with the hinges on the upper outer corner. Note they are only on the ends, not on the broadside.

These laser cut lids, and the top gratings, will be added to the kit.

Your progress makes me smile.

A little progress this weekend. Sprayed gray primer, so when sanding I can see how many layers of paint I'm going through. The another coat of gray and Auto glazing putty to fill (hopefully) the last of the imperfections.

In addition, I put some 1/16" striping tape on the rudder for the pintles and on the smokestack for the reinforcing bands. Once painted, they will look really good.

This past w/e I roughed in the gunports, 4 on each side and one on each end. And yes, I switched to red oxide primer

Haven't done much work in the last two weeks, but made a little progress this past weekend. The instructions show adding strips of heavy paper to various parts.

For the armour belting I used 1/32 x 3/16 basswood. Then I shot a quick coat of primer on the model to see how much more sanding I need to do. The even color makes it easier to see irregularities than the bare wood does. Time for a little auto body filler, I'm afraid......

TIme to start gluing. Stem, keel, sternpost, propeller cage, fantail. Here's photos of the top and bottom. Also the rudder, carved out of sheet stock. Some striping tape will simulate the gudgeons and pintles.

And the bow, followed by a shot of the stem piece being fitted.

So I used the belt sander at work to get the bow and stern roughed down, then spent about an hour sanding to final shape. Here's the stern:

I played around with a closed chock (1/2") and came up with this - not too successful, I'm afraid.

Nic

The first thing the instructions say is to strike a good centerline on the top and bottom, then trim the hull to the plans.

And here is the kit contents.

I will be building the CSS Virginia (ex-Merrimac) model. When finished, it will be 17 1/2" long. The instructions start with a nice bit of history on the ship:

And finally, it has all come together in the display case. This was a rewarding project, and probably took me 15 hours, not including the paint screw-ups.

Now here's the model permanently mounted in its cradle. I needed to be very careful to make sure the mast is straight, not leaned over, and very careful with the CA as well.

So I haven't done anything for a couple of weeks, but this past weekend I did finish the ship. Here's a shot of all the rigging finished.

Over the weekend I had some time to do the rigging. I was able to do all the standing rigging with silver metallic thread, and some of the running rigging with .005 white thread. Only 3 lines left to go and it will be complete. Then comes the final mounting into the case, which is 11 x 4 x 14 acrylic.

Bluejacket Shipcrafters was the topic of "small businesses in Maine" on WAB I TV, which airs every Thursday during the 5:00 PM segment. Here's the link:

http://www.wabi.tv/content/news/Maine-Is-Home-To-The-Oldest-Model-Ship-Manufacturing-Company-In-Country-468022253.html

If that doesn't work, go to www.wabi.tv and search for bluejacket.

I really haven't done much over the holidays, just made the mast and started to finish the display base. Here's a shot of the incomplete pieces cobbled together so I can get an idea of the finished model. I think every modeler plays "put together" with the sub assemblies. I know I always have.......Notice the left plaque says "thank you" in the middle

And here's a picture of the deck all fitted out, and also the boom with the spreaders attached. now to work on the mast........

Time to drill all the holes needed in the deck. Something like 26 holes altogether. Sooo glad they're pre-marked.

And moving onto other bits and pieces, I painted the liferings. Boy, are they tiny!

So I'm working on some pieces, and looked at the small steering wheel. It is a photo-etched piece, and I decided rather than just paint it, I wanted to leave the ring brass colored. So I took an 18/0 paintbrush and brown gloss paint and did this: (that's my index finger)

Last night I attached the laser-cut deck to the hull.Having the locations of the major components cut in is a big help, no need to measure where things go!

To make a work cradle, I cut an oval out of a cardboard box bottom and lined it with foam. I used the waterline template as my guide, cutting about 1/2" larger all around.

Now I can start to do some fun stuff, like populating the deck and getting to the rigging. I consider the hull work a necessary evil that has to be done so I can get to what I like to do.

(makes no difference if its' a solid or planked hull)

The trailboards are a pair of boards that may be found at the bow of certain sailing vessels, where they run from the figurehead or billethead back to or towards the hawsepipe. They are in the main decorative, though they often bear the name of the ship; they may be more or less elaborately carved and painted.