gerty

More photos after the dry brushing with white pigment powder.

Thanks Mike, good to see you back into it. I have been very slow on my build, I don't get to it very often, too much other stuff to do.
 
Dashi, I don't know either way on the gaff. I have just followed the AOTS for all my masts and yards, because it was easy to photocopy the drawings and enlarge them to the correct scale.
 
I have mostly finished the standing rigging, except for some ratlines on the fore and mizzen topmast shrouds. I have started ading all the footropes and various blocks to the yards, starting at the bowsprit.
 
Cheers
 

As I wait for some rope and fittings from Syren Company to arrive, I thought about adding a shot garland to each cannon. Since the 3-pounder cannonball has a diameter of about 6,5cm AFAIK 1,5mm steel balls may be a little oversized but a smaller diameter would be too small to recognize. The garland stores 6 balls each and is made of 1,5mm square stripes with addition to 1x3mm stripes glued to each sides. Then the space for the balls (9mm) is enclosed by 1,5mm square stripe pieces. Sanded both sides so the garland is only 2 mm thick in the end, then sanded a 30 degrees slope on each side and rounded the edges. Have to paint them red and installed them next weekend.

OK I think I'm done now.
Maybe a bit of touch up paint but I'll wait for that till I have a case.
Here are some pictures.
 

Hi Wizbang69
I actually completed this build last year and there are some pics in the gallery (uploaded feb 2018) if they help at all.
I'm a long way from being a good or experienced builder and I found the Fish to be extremely challenging at times but more than worth it in the end.
Good Luck and I'll drag up a chair if you don't mind.
Mike

75% complete on the ratlins...good grief, what a chore. A couple challenges:
 
1. I note that the shrouds over time have relaxed since the day they were initially installed. Not certain what this is from...perhaps the miniature rope relaxed over time. They did not relax to the point of being slack, just not as taught as the first day.  The lines were waxed...if that means anything. In future, will plan to do the shroud/ratlins more closely to make the install of the ratlins a bit easier. Looser shrouds make ratlin install a MUCH longer chore...and not a fun chore since the shroud tends to kink, and the ratlins tend to more easily pull or distort the angle of the shroud. 

2. Ratlins should be installed to be parallel to the ground (sea). This can be a bit of a problem as your eye tends to drift or tilt to be parallel to the deck. So I found myself really needing to focus the knot placement...and a little bubble level might be useful in future models!!!
 
Moving on. Trying to be consistent!!!

 

Just thought I’d post a few photos of my first project model shipways flying fish , my wife bought me this kit for Xmas , to be honest I’m totally out of my depth but I’m willing to learn and I would be grateful for any advice you builders can give me .
thanks
andywaterways fitted I managed to buy a second hand Dremel scroll saw , think I’m going to need it 😄
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Ratlines, ratlines and more ratlines.. Time consuming but awarding task. The first clove hitch was tight as soon as it was completed and a small amount of glue (diluted white glue this time) was applied to it. The rest of the cloves was not secured with glue right away; instead they were secured at the end which was living a bit space to tight them up and to adjust a height as needed.
 

 

 

Happy modeling..
 
 
 

A work on masts have been completed.
 
The 3mm single whip blocks were mounted to correct position in front of masts.
 

 

Then it was a time to install the masts. I decided to use carpenter glue to glue masts to the ship, which would give me a bit of time to properly position them and make sure they are straight..
 
First the main mast was in..
 

 

 
Then the foremast...
 

 
 
And both were on ...
 

 

 


Now i have to make sure when moving the ship around and reaching out for tools; masts are tall...
 
Happy modeling.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thank you all for the kind words.
 
Micheal, I can only imagine what this would be like with double topgallants as well as the double tops - to say nothing of all the stunsl rigging that I have left off.  There is a wonderful order to the lines, provided by the fairleads and the belaying plan.  this keeps it generally in order.  Fouling problems occur when running lines and crossing them - good eyes would help.  The belaying plan I used came from a combination of Crothers's drawings and Underhill - neither had the whole story.  I am happy to say there have been few revisions required along the way.   There is a logic - probably time-tested - to the  layout.  As to sequence this has been a learning process.  I have a much better grip on it than I did at the start - and I made a number of mistakes in ordering the work.  Hopefully others may learn from these through the book.
 
Thank you, Druxey.  Mixed feelings - true.  Its been a long haul, but not an arduous one.  The pace has been comfortable - there are other things in life.
 
Thanks again everyone.  
 
Ed

Young America - extreme clipper 1853
Part 319 – Running Rigging Continued
 
I keep looking at the model and thinking that it doesn't look a lot different than it did last month - considering the amount of time being spent on it.  All these pictures were taken today after a fairly major cleanup of the work area.  The first picture shows most of the model.
 
 
 
In the picture the rigging of the foremast is essentially finished except for the lower braces which are deferred for access reasons.  On the main mast all the lines are run and belayed at least initially, again except for braces.  The mizzen still lacks its four upper yards but these have been made and are ready for rigging.
 
The next picture shows the fore course sheets that were installed this week.
 
 
 
Again, these were deferred until now to permit access.  These large, 5" lines run from a shackled eyebolt on the outside of the sheer rail, then forward and up through the large block ganged with the clue garnet block, the tack and the lazy tack.  Finally they pass back through a bulwark sheave and are belayed to cleats on the deck.  The next picture may be clearer.
 

 
Without sails, the lines drape across the lower shrouds.  The tacks are the lines running forward to cleats on the catheads.  The lazy tacks angle aft and belay on the first pin on the main rack rails.  These were used to control the tack of the sail when the yard was being braced around – between the casting off of the sheet and the belaying of the tack – or vice versa.  The starboard tack may be seen belayed to its cleat on the cathead in the next picture.
 

 
This picture also shows the new lashing between the bullseyes on the martingale stay where it is shackled to the cathead.  This outer bowsprit standing rigging suffered damage during nearby work.  It should have been deferred.  The jibboom guys are still scheduled for replacement.
 
Further aloft, work on the fore upper yard braces has progressed.  The next picture shows the topgallant brace tackles between yard and stay pendants.
 
 
 
Tension on these will be relieved to normalize the stay.  Below this, the fore upper topsail braces have been run except for the falls, which are delayed to permit access to belaying points below.
 
The main spencer gaff has finally been mounted and rigged and is shown in the next picture.
 
 
 
 
The rigging on these consist of one standing lift and two vang pendants with tackles.  The tackles and belaying points on the side rails are out of this picture.
 
Rigging of the fore braces gets complex at the heads of the stays as seen in the next picture.
 
 
 
The tackle falls run through blocks seized to the stay then through blocks on the shrouds to direct them downwards without fouling.  Two sets of braces attach to this stay.  One level up it gets even more congested with the two upper sets of braces as well as the staysail halyard block.
 

 
Finally another view of the full model.
 

 
The two broken jibboom guy chains may be seen dangling from the boom waiting for replacement in this picture.
 
Approaching endgame.
 
Ed

Mondays aren’t always bad!  Got the sheer poles in...it is a bit scary manhandling the shrouds and deadeyes. I always think something will snap off.  And yes...that fear is well founded. I’ve broken or snapped off bits and pieces here and there...including my entire bowsprit assembly. 
 
But I have to say, I’m pretty happy with this result!  Getting the sheer poles on represented a big milestone for me!!!  So, I’m going to bask in the glow a bit. 
 




 
I find find myself really trying hard to focus on symmetry. Proof is in the pudding...not perfect by pretty good. 
 


 
And yes...deadeyes come in uneven flavors too!  But I found many references where deadeyes were not even and had some horizontal asymmetry. 

 
Not too shabby!  Moving  on!!!...to ratlins!

 
 

Hi Gals and Guys
 
My name is Jolene but my friends call me Jo.
I recently joined this wonderful forum and have received wonderful advice from some of the members.
 
I have been looking round on people's logs and I am amazed at the very high standard of workmanship, I take my hat off to you all.
 
So it is time to dip my toes in the icy waters of wooden model ship building.
 
So as this is my first wooden ship build I am asking for you all not to be hard on me with your comments, as I am willing to learn and take advice.
 
My first build will be the IL Leudo.
But I am still waiting for the postman to deliver my little ship to my door that I will be waiting behind so I can grab it out of his hands.
 
Jo.
 

Evening, 
Very quiet weekend here in New Hampshire.       It's been awesome!! 
Cleaned the house, went to the market....all done early on Saturday.
Sunday has been a lazy Sunday! 
 
I've lived off the left over donuts from this morning all day long....it's been great! 
 
There has been some work done in the Shipyard.
I installed the first of many Cleats on the Bulwarks. Just one, mostly as a walk thru for the rest of them. 
Using an old Model Master Wood paint for the color.
I really need to focus more on outfitting the deck. The deck furniture is almost done.

With the Saloon Skylight officially done, the Capstan off getting its paint, time to start the Companionway.
Never built anything like this before!
I decided to keep it simple as towards reinforcements on the inside. This thing has an opening in it, I have to account for that.

Most of my reinforcements goes up and under the roof.
You can see it just under the roof below.
That's where my opening ends.

Now I need to think a bit on the sliding contraption on top.
At this scale that's seems difficult.
I'll figure it out.

Had to include the below pic.
Sometimes you cant beat the view from the Shipyard.
Beautiful late winters morning, really starting to feel the angle of the sun. 
Feels great! Spring does eventually come!

Stay warm, 
Tom E 
 
 
 

My son lives in Canberra and each time he's come to Sydney the weather has been lousy for boating so on Sunday I took her to Canberra and put her in Lake Burley Griffin, it was a perfect day for it.
It took a while for him to get out of kayak paddle mode and into row mode but when he did we made pretty good head way, we came alongside the jetty at the Australian Museum, tied up and went in for lunch followed by more rowing and a spot of fruitless fishing before rowing back to the boat ramp.
 
He took a pic of her when we launched her and he has an eye for pictures, always takes a better pic than I do.
 

Thanks OC!

A few minor things added, like the Running Gear, Brake Lever and Wheels and she's all done and FINISHED. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out :
 



 
  Danny

Here is my first installment of building construction and painting photos. As is usual with most aircraft models, one starts with the cockpit first. The whole cockpit and structural tubing is painted in typical German RLM 02 (in this pre-1941 time period). Since I was out of that particular color, I substituted something close to it, albeit a little darker, with a Tamiya acrylic I had available. The seat is painted a light olive green using a Mr Hobby acrylic. Then various parts of the cockpit interior receive various shades of gray and brown paints to highlight various boxes, radios, switches, etc. 
The instruments are kit supplied decals, which poor lighting made it very difficult to see in my photos. 
***Important Suggestion/Tip***
If you ever decide to use kit supplied decals to appoint your instrument panel, take the time and care to cut each and every instrument from the decal sheet and apply each one separately. A "clump" of instrument dials all bound together by one clear decal will look a jumbled and sloppy mess if applied as a whole to the panel face with raised dial details as this kit has. If the panel is flat with no raised detail, it would not matter and the entire instrument cluster decal would go down fine as a whole unit. Also, have some Solvaset or similar decal softener to make those decals settle into the raised dial detail. A drop of clear varnish on each instrument will give a great appearance after the decals are completely dry.
The first dry fit of the fuselage halves with the cockpit inside looks great! Very nicely done molds by Revell. The fuelage has beautiful engraved detail as well as throughout the rest of the model. 

I decided to do a little work on the exterior, so the new Knee of the Head was made and installed, then final fairing and sanding to 220/400 was completed below the Wales and 1st coat of finish applied ( 50% danish oil / 50% mineral spirits ), the wales took some damage during sanding and will have to be re-dyed later on.
Im quite happy with the color that the Swiss pear has taken on with this type of finish.
Next up - remove the knight heads and fair the top timber line, then proberbly start the stern framing.
 
ben
 
 

Thanks Everyone 
 
Mast partners completed, I was thinking about adding hatch gratings but have decided not to to allow what can be seen of below as much as possible.
 
now to decide on what to work on next.
 
 
ben

I finished the channels (donˋt know if that is the correct english word for ‚Rüste‘ - the sheet, where the chain plates are fitted on). Also installed all eyebolts on deck. All that is left (before rigging) is finishing the guns, gluing all the deck items and installing the mast.

Hullo, yes, it's been a while. I was waiting until I had some discernible progress to show. The caprails, knees, and rubbing strakes have been added. Next up is supposed to be installation of the gun, oh boy!
 

Hi folks
 
I was feeling a bit nostalgic tonight, so I dragged Genesis’ sisters from the fleet for a quick and nasty photo-shoot.
 
Here goes..
 
Thanks
 
Patrick

Hi folks!
 
Thanks for all of your Likes and comments.
 
A quick update for you on Genesis. Last night, I painted the first coat of matt red paint below the waterline. The painting of the rest of the hull and superstructure is still progressing, but will require several more applications of wet and dry sandpaper and  paint, before I’m satisfied with it.   
Have a great week.
 
Cheers
 
Patrick

A heavy work schedule and many personal responsibilities have continued to impact the amount of time I have to work on my America kit. I worked on the planking during April and into mid-May as time permitted. Following the other build logs, I planked the stern piece first. Here is a sequence of photos of that work.





The following covers many weeks of work as time permitted. After gluing the transom piece and the planking around it, I began planning the rest of the hull. After studying some of the other build logs and re-reading the instructions I decided to begin with the planking at the top at the deck level.










The above picture is the completed planking and is un-sanded. The process has been a good learning experience for me. As the saying goes, you learn from your mistakes. Also, some of the descriptions and comments in the other build logs really hit home and will definitely affect the care I will take when I build my future models. I will explain some of what I am referring to. I failed to think about taking pictures from certain angles so I can only describe the problems.
Without the planking on the keel and bulkhead assembly, the lines of the hull appeared okay to me. I did dry fit some of the planking, but it just did not appear to me there were any issues. As I glued each strake, the lines of the hull looked peculiar to me. The biggest flaw was at bulkhead no. 6 on both sides. Beginning with bulkhead no. 5, across bulkhead 6 and onto bulkhead no. 7 the lines sink in to the hull to bulkhead no. 6 and back out to bulkhead no. 7. The effect was there appeared to be a section sunken in on both sides at bulkhead no. 6. The depression was about 3 to 4 mm deep, and 60 or 70 mm by 120 or 130 mm. In hindsight, bulkhead no. 6 needed significant shimming that I did not do. I tried to correct it later with wood filler as other pictures will show. There were other areas where lines of the hull were not good due to the shape of the bulkheads. This goes back to previous comments I’ve made about the poor quality of the kit and the cuts in many of the pieces, combined with my lack of experience.
The quality of the 1.5 x 5 mm planking in the kite was poor. I considered using other planking that I have previously purchased but decided that I would use what was in the kit. I chose to run the planking in single pieces the full length of the hull. This eventually worked out okay, however as I proceeded down the hull the angles became increasingly sharper. I soaked some in hot water to facilitate bending, but in my desire to move more quickly I stopped doing that. As the angles became sharper, I used drop planks and stealers to bring the lines of the planks into a straighter pattern so that as I approached the bottom of the keel the planks begin to line up with it. It was definitely a learning experience, and it taught that I have lot to learn. My goal was to have the planking as tight as I could make it. The bends of the planking tended to bow out the edges, but as you will see the sanding took it out nicely.
Another mistake was that I did not trim the bow reinforcement pieces back enough. I did not allow for the thickness so as the planking bent up to the bow it was too think in the bow area. It’s a good lesson in how the clearances need to allow for the ends of the planking.
Next, I proceeded with sanding the entire hull and trimming the planking around the transom area. I did not make any photos after the first sanding. Once the first sanding was finished I applied a thin coat of Elemer’s Probond Wood Filler.



You’ll notice in the photos that this wood filler is somewhat grainy. As I sanded it down there were many small spots, and it took some time to get it smooth. I do not recommend this wood filler. The following is after sanding the first coat of wood filler.

There were still numerous gaps in the planking and then there the areas such as the bulkhead no. 6 area that need to be built up. I chose not to use the Probond filler anymore and just used standard Elmer’s Wood Filler.

I applied several thin coats, followed by a lot of sanding to build up the indentions in the hull.




It appears in the pictures that there are uneven areas due to the wood filler. It is an optical illusion. As you run your hand down the hull it is smoother that it looks. Next, I will add the strakes above the deck planking. More posts to slowly follow as time permits.