tarbrush

Tumbe-home bulwark.
 

Dear prospective ship modeler,
 
Welcome! If you're reading this, it's probably because you are ready and raring to get started on a first ship model. But before you do, allow me to share the following with you.
 
We get a lot of first-time builders on this forum. People who are eager to build a first ship model are attracted to the hobby for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you were captivated by a stunning model of the USS Constitution or the HMS Victory. Maybe you have a beloved relative who was a modeler. Or it could be that you just have a love of the sea, even if you've never sailed on anything larger than a rowboat. All of us came to MSW with similar motivations. Those of us who have been at this for a while not only love the hobby, but also love passing along our experience to new builders. It's a special treat to see a new modeler persevere through the joys and sorrows (and often tedium) of building a ship model and arrive successfully at the end of a build with a finished model to be proud of.
 
Unfortunately, many of those eager new members also turn out to be last-time builders as well. There are lots of reasons why a first-timer might give up. Building a nice ship model requires the learning of many new skills, a not inconsiderable amount of tenacity, and usually a significant time investment. Some new modelers get bored, others get overwhelmed, and some get overtaken by things like career changes, cross-country moves, babies, sudden illnesses -- that life stuff we all have to deal with occasionally. We understand those things happen. We get it.
 
This post, though, is written for a particular kind of first-time modeler: the modeler who takes on more ship then they can handle. Unfortunately, this kind of modeler is all too common. Bewitched by a clipper ship or sailing man-of-war, this kind of newbie believes that they can jump right in and build something similar.
 
Allow me to use an analogy. I'm not a pilot, but I love old warbirds. Suppose I go to an airshow and, having been awed by the spectacle, decide to go out and buy a P-51 and take her up for a few high-g maneuvers. All with no flying experience, mind you. I don't have to tell you how that first flight is likely to end up.
 
Sadly, many of the newcomers to MSW have a similar experience with model ships. They come brimming with pluck and determination, convinced that they can build a Constitution or Victory. In most instances, these bright-eyed neophytes wind up like the over-zealous new P-51 owner -- dead. Well, unlike the pilot, the would-be modelers are probably still alive, but their dreams of nice model ships have certainly gone to a better place.
 
Now, before I go any further, allow me to make a few things perfectly clear. Am I saying that a new modeler should never attempt a complicated model or that newcomers never finish such models? No, I'm not saying that. There are a few modelers who have attempted such projects and completed them, so it is certainly possible. But those modelers are very few in number. And we don't have any rules about what kind of model you can or can't build around here. If you absolutely, positively have to have a crack at a three-decker or frigate, then have at it. We'll be glad to help you along the way. But just be aware ahead of time how much of a challenge you are getting yourself into.
 
Let me throw some numbers at you to illustrate my point. One of my jobs here at MSW is to comb through old build logs and edit the titles of completed builds to show that the model has been finished (it makes searching for finished models easier). Obviously, as I sift through the builds I find many unfinished ones. On just one page that I was recently checking, I found twelve unfinished build logs started by first-time builders. In ten of those build logs, the new builder never made it past completing the hull of his ship. In the other two, the builder never started the model at all. Nine of those twelve modelers are no longer active on this site. I did not include among those twelve modelers any who gave a life-got-in-the-way reason for suspending their build. They're simply twelve modelers who eagerly started their project and then, usually quite early on, just gave up and quietly disappeared without giving any reasons why.
 
Those twelve builds all had one thing in common: each modeler had chosen a model that posed significant challenges for a first-time builder. Some of those models would have been a challenge even for a skilled builder. Simply put, they doomed their attempt at modeling by choosing a model that was over their head.
 
All of us ship modelers know how real the temptation is to skip an entry-level model and go straight for lots of guns and lots of sails. But here's the whole point I want to make: seriously think twice about caving into that temptation. The evidence speaks for itself - literally hundreds of abandoned build logs begun by modelers who bit off more than they could chew. Many of them not only abandoned their build, they also gave up on the hobby entirely.
 
It didn't have to be that way. Making a good start by honestly appraising your skill level and deciding to go with a simple first model is one of the surest ways to success in this hobby. Most true beginner models -- those actually designed for beginners and not merely labeled as such -- don't require a lot of money, time, or expensive tools. In a few weeks you'll know if this hobby is for you without having gotten yourself worked up over a model you couldn't realistically complete. And you know, most of us here enjoy watching the progress on a relatively 'easy' model, like a small sailboat, just as much as we enjoy watching the progress on an HMS Victory -- especially when we see those models being finished and proudly displayed.
 
And you know what? Success breeds further success. 
 
For more information on choosing a first model, check out the NRG modeling resources page.
 
Choose wisely, enjoy the journey, and I look forward to seeing you complete your first build log.
 
Respectfully,
Chris

Hi everyone - just thought I would get the lower stays done before continuing with the shrouds(while I can still get my hands in close to the mast tops).
 

 

 
Thanks for looking in.
 
 
Mark

Update - all lower shrouds done!  Also,I went ahead and fixed the bowsprit in place & added the bobstays & gammoning.  The plans don`t show any catharpins,so I don`t know if I will add them or not.
 
 
 

 

 

 
Mark

All 14 frames are placed on the keel.

 
 
 
G.L.
 
Completed projects:

HMS Triton cross section - FINISHED - Scale 1:24

 
Current projects:

Oostends schipje (Ostend shrimper) - scale 1:20

Cross section Fishing Smack - Scale 1/20, POF, approx. 1920

Seven frames in place. Still seven to go.

 
G.L.

Completed projects:

HMS Triton cross section - FINISHED - Scale 1:24

 
Current projects:

Oostends schipje (Ostend shrimper) - scale 1:20

Cross section Fishing Smack - Scale 1/20, POF, approx. 1920

Thanks for your comment Carl and all the others for the likes.
 
Five frames set.

 
 
G.L.

Completed projects:

HMS Triton cross section - FINISHED - Scale 1:24


 
Current projects:

Oostends schipje (Ostend shrimper) - scale 1:20
Cross section Fishing Smack - Scale 1/20, POF, approx. 1920

John and Michael, thanks for your encouraging words.
Here some more progress:
 
Part 8: Thick stuff outer planking

Placing the garboard strake



The thick stuff over floor heads


The wales consist of four oak planks.

Part 10: Deck beams
The cross section contains five deck beams of three different widths. The sizes on the image in black are the real dimensions in cm, those in red between brackets are the conversions to scale 1/20.

I draw the round of the beam with the help of a small wooden bar, nailed in a bow on the plank of which I will saw the beam (as described in the practicum).

The beams are sawed with the fretsaw and sanded in shape.

I make the five deck beams one after the other. They are not yet fastened on the model because they have to be removed while making the interior. Meanwhile the excesses of the frames are removed.

 
 
 
 
G.L.
Completed projects:
HMS Triton cross section - FINISHED - Scale 1:24
 
Current projects:
Oostends schipje (Ostend shrimper) - scale 1:20
Cross section Fishing Smack - Scale 1/20, POF, approx. 1920

Welcome on board Moab!
Here is the progress of last week:
 
 
Part 11: Forward Bulkhead
The cross section includes 2 bulkheads. The forward bulkhead stretches from the upper deck to the keelson. The aft bulkhead from the upper deck to the lower deck. Between the two bulkheads are equipment stores and the anchor chain box. Behind the aft bulkhead is the fish hold and an icebox. The bulkheads were built of pitch pine planks.

I start with the forward bulkhead. In this bulkhead there are three openings. They are approx one meter high and give access to the forecastle. It does require a certain amount of agility to crawl through, so I believe they are more intended to pass material through it than as passageway for the crew. In rough weather when the for hatch is difficult to reach, they are a good alternative to reach the forecastle below deck.

I start to lay the oak profile slats which will support the bulkhead. Laying the deck beam 'E' right above the bulkhead position enables me to determine the bulkheads top. The profile slats have to follow the hull curve. I plunge them during 5 to 10 minutes in boiling water; like this it is much easier to bend them without cracking them.

The forward profile slats.

I continue laying a second layer of slats to support the other side of the bulkhead with an interval equal to the thickness of the bulkhead planks.

Starting to place the bulkhead planks. On the real vessels the planks fit in each other with tooth and groove. My planks are only 1.5 mm thick; I don't have sufficient joinery skills to make teeth and grooves in it so I will glue them against each other. I lay a lath over the wales and attach a triangle to it to make sure that my first plank is standing vertical.

After that it is just a matter of sawing and gluing plank after plank

The port side of the bulkhead is raised. The port passage is left open. The topside of the passage is placed. The horizontal plank is only temporally, it indicates the upper side of the opening. The small wooden bar at the bottom of the opening  is a spacer.

Continuing the planking to the starboard side.

To fill up the open spaces below the passages, I attach again a temporal horizontal guide.

When the glue is dry the planks which stick out above the deck beam are sanded equal.

The bulkhead seen from forward

Seen from aft.

The bulkhead is finished on both sides with an oak profile slat on the top. As the slope of the bow is weak here, the slats do not need to be plunged in boiling water.

I used the boiling method only for small rods which fit in the cooking pot. When I have to bend larger planks to plank a hull, I use a paint stripper heat gun. On the picture below I have to plank a hull with 75 cm long and 3mm thick planks. I bend them dry above the heat of the paint stripper. If you are bending them carefully it takes only some moments before they keep the bended shape.

 
G.L.

Thank you for the complements, Michael. 
Normally I am caching the good ideas by following your logs. The belt sander is a very useful tool, I use it very often. As you see so often that the sanding paper should be urgently replaced once again. The only disadvantage is that the sander makes a lot of noise.

G.L.

Part 13: The lower deck.

The height of the equipment stores was 1.85 m. To determine the level of the lower deck, I lay a lath from wale to wale with a small perpendicular metal lath which stretches down to the right distance. With this simple tool I can mark the deck level where ever I want in the hull.



With the lower deck laid, the space below will be hard to reach so before placing the lower deck beams I brush the interior with oil (2/3 linseed oil + 1/3 turpentine).



Starting to lay the deck beams.

                   
Behind the chain box the beams extend over the width of the vessel.



To avoid point load on the inner hull planks, the beams lay on a deck clamp at both sides.



On the real smack the lower deck beams behind the chain box extend over about 4 meter so they need to be supported in the middle. This is done by two vertical buttresses each beam which stand also on a clamp at each side of the keelson.



The deck beams with their buttresses are sawn to size and presented on the model. Some weights hold the beams in place.



Everything is appropriate, the beams can be assembled and finished by drilling nail holes and nailing small brass nails in them.


The deck beams in place.

 

Part 12: The anchor chain box
On the after side against the bulkhead stands a deep wooden box. The box is divided in two parts. The forward part is the anchor chain box the aft houses the mast step.

I assemble the box outside the model.

Now and then I place it in the model to check if everything fits.

There is a partition in the middle of the box to separate the chain box from the mast step.

The anchor chain box in place.

 
G.L.
Completed projects:
HMS Triton cross section - FINISHED - Scale 1:24
 
Current projects:
Oostends schipje (Ostend shrimper) - scale 1:20
Cross section Fishing Smack - Scale 1/20, POF, approx. 1920

Just so you all know I do work on my model from time to time. Like most I have many spring and summer things to do and do not get to spend much time in the shipyard. I have managed to cast some deck cleats( twice ) The first ones I ended up not liking, in photo on the left. The second ones are more correct with the wood block base as I have seen examples locally. For my stays and shrouds I used some telephone wire That had four coated strands and each strand has 7 small copper strands. After cleaning the coating from the wires I separated them and twisted up 3 strands for my davits and stack stays also aft mast shrouds. For my main mast shrouds I twisted up 7 strands. I used a single strand as whipping to tie off eyes. the copper wire will take L.O.S. nicely.Now on to the shroud bars/ladder.

Patrick, I have been at the bench just not alot to show for it. I did manage to get these little buggers made. Two on left the line was to heavy and they came out a little big for scale. I liked the color though. Middle ones are cotton string which was the right size scale wise but the color needed help. I colored one on the left. The three on the right is also cotton string that I found in my line stash. It had a reasonable color and the scale size worked out. Still need some triming and maybe a little coloring/weathering. Now it's on to the bow fender..... oh boy!!

Just a few more shots of the engine, have added a few things have a few to go.

Fine work mark,  reminds me of my Agostini Vic build on here before the site problem  - this was my ships barge I had built.
 
OC.

Thanks for the patience on this build, the advice, and the likes.
 
It's been slow going what with personal issues, re-cutting some pieces, etc.   Here's where I am on the this first ship's boat.  The build jig has been built and the keel and the two risers on each side are installed.  The risers still need a bit of tweaking as to some bits and pieces where the planking will run and then glue them into position.  I'm pretty pleased with how it's going just need more time and focus.   After the tweaks, the next step is to cut out the ribs and install them.  I see from the photos, I need to do some more clean up of the char on the keel and the risers.
 

Russ,
 
I think there must be at least three phases of Leon's history the first would be as a Brigantine in presumably pretty good financial straits then as a Brigantine in not such good financial straits and then as a schooner in presumably pretty poor financial straits.  The picture comes from the middle phase, of course. I have three questions about these phases:  When was she cut down to a schooner?  And was she a fore-after or did she have any square sails?  Also when did she acquire her windmill pump, was it during the second phase or after she became a schooner? Im learning to just toss these questions out because sometimes there are interesting and useful responses!  I would love to model the windmill pump if she had it as a brigantine because it is such an unusual piece of equipment!8
 
Doug

Hi Doug,
I have no reaction from the Aust-Agder-Museum yet, so I just send you the link for the
drawing of LEON.
https://digitaltmuseum.org/011012548813/ukjent
the ships bell
https://digitaltmuseum.org/011022541446/skipsklokke
a nice model
https://digitaltmuseum.org/021025899933/fartygsmodell
By the way, today I posted some photos of my own model. 
Matthias

Hi Doug, the photo, Chuck posted, ist exactly the one. It has some handwritten informations about the ship (see below). The Aust-Agder-Museum at KUBEN in Norway has some items about LEON. A bottleship-model, the ships bell and the drawing I was talking About. I wrote to them to ask for permission to use the Images. If they allow, I will post them here. 
I will think about the build log, perhaps I will start one.
Matthias

HI.
Just a late update..
Got distracted by a bedroom that needed clearing and decorating.
Grandson now has his own bedroom that's Dinosaur themed.
Onto the Mayflower..
Have been working on the model for a few hours here and there and making some progress.
 

 
The Bow area is now the correct shape according to drawings.

 
All the frames (False) have been faired on the inside only and tested with strips 2 X 6 strip wood. 

 
 
The Yellow card is cut to shape of the contour lines on the interior planking. I will mark out the planks as I lay them and transfer the cut lines to the planks.

 
View from the tops.

 
Timber has been rough cut to the camber of the decks (Saves me from bending a load of timber latter on in the build. And the 3 strips are pre bent with heat only. So far after 2 weeks they have moved back 1\5. Not as much as I expected then to move.

 

 

 

 
Will do the majority of the Visual cleaning much later after the outer hull has been planked.
Will be using Many types of timber throughout the build. as there will be No painting done on the model.
 
That's it for now. Please ask if there is anything that I have missed.
 
Regards Antony.

Cabin stuff…….


 
The Captains cabin will have two windows on the stern and also a window on each side, so although here will not be any lighting inside, the inside will be visible to some degree.

One thing I have taken from making the interior of other models id that whilst every detail, line or shade may not be exactly discernible to the observer, the fact that it is there gives an impression of realism and authenticity.

First off was a table for Capn Kennit to peruse his charts. It was made from some scrap wood and the underside was sanded along the edges to make it appear thinner.


 
I photo’d a map from the books, and suitably old map from the web (of Fowey in Cornwall), printed them out, rolled one up as a scroll, made a ruler out of wood and a pair of dividers out of paper (yes, they are BIG dividers!)




I made a couple of chairs, and a mock up of the bunk (double of course, Kennit IS a pirate!) and wardrobe and placed them on the cabin space.




Whilst I know that space on ship is at a premium, I thought that this was too cramped for the cabin of a rich Bingtown Trader (whom the ship was originally built for) so I changed the table to a smaller one and moved the orientation of the bunk




I realised that the walls were too thin. I would need to either show the frames or make the walls thicker. I decided that, for the money that was being paid for this ship (in the books) that the walls would be planked or panelled. As I think I said at the beginning the ship would be well built but not ostentatious, so planking it is.

At this point I decided to paint the interior. I decided that the cabin would be resplendent in mahogany so I set about getting a nice reddish brown.

I used Tamiya Hull Red, Cryla artists Burnt Sienna acrylic, and Citadel’s Mechrite Red and Blood Red. I used a wet palette and mixed the colours willy-nilly. The wet palette keeps the acrylics from drying out and allows me to constantly apply different shades and thickness of paint. This eliminates having everything just one colour, and as I said, adds to the realism.







 
I wasn’t happy with how I had painted the door in the cabin so I tried to improve it with some pencil colours.


 
 


It didn’t work.


 
So I made a new wall and door which will be stuck to the b/h. The door itself was cut out of the wall, and then sanded thin to give the impression of depth. A tiny thin strip (maple?) was placed around the door to give the impression of a frame - because of the rise of the deck the door would open outwards.



 
Captain Kennit at last approves, although I still have to paint the wall/door a mahogany colour.


 
Thanks for looking and if you have any criticism or ideas, please keep ‘em coming.

Cheers

Paul