KenW
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I made the hatch covers because I want to have them installed before I do the deck planking. The problem is that I thought that the grating was made by using the included grating pieces “crisscross”. But after doing the larger hatch (left in the photo), I didn’t have enough wood pieces for the smaller grating. Then I noticed that other modelers laid the pieces side-by-side. So now I have one hatch grating done one way and the other done another way. But I don’t, at this time, think that it looks so bad. I don't want to take the larger one apart; or try to get more grating pieces from Model Expo. I'm leaving the coaming in walnut. I like the look of walnut deck ‘furniture’. So I will probably stain the rest of the furniture wood walnut color. Also, I glued the waterway.
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Thanks Bob; I will keep a lookout for a source either deep in my cellar or the local hardware stores.
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Next question: Where did you get the "chain plates" from? I don't see anything like them in the kit. Sorry to keep bothering you. Cheers.
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Thank you all for your support. Ed: I used the gun carriages and barrels supplied with the kit. The bottom of the carriage, including the axles, were pre-cut and square (i.e. the cheeks are parallel). And, I also had problems extracting the laser carriage parts from the basswood board. Basswood splits too easily. My previous model had the carriage parts in a walnut board and I cut the axles from planks. In this case, I prefer the walnut. My solution was to simply glue the trucks right onto the cheeks when the axles split off. The carriage is small enough so that is hard to see. Alistair: I am glad that there are more rather than less bulkheads. I think smaller spans between bulkheads would make things easier.
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Structure creation is progressing. I attached the Stern, Keel and Stem to the Center Keel first and then fitted and glued the bulkheads. I added some scrap wood to strengthen the bulwarks during fairing. The fairing is complete; but I had to add shims to a few bulkheads – including the starboard side of bulkhead #1. I also added the filler blocks fore and aft. I added scrap wood around the hatch openings so I can install the combings before laying down the deck. Everything, so far, is pretty basic but enjoyable and relaxing.
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Thanks. I will do some research on this company's site.
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Since you have been great answering my questions, I have another one. (Punishment?) I know I am getting way ahead of myself, (I am still carving the bow and stern filler blocks), I was looking at your stern molding and the bow knees and rails. It looks like you are able to score the wood perfectly down the middle making it look like you glued two pieces together - similar to the way you glued together three pieces of wood to make the head rail. Is there a trick to the scoring, or your hand real steady with the x-acto blade, or did you glue two pieces together. (Also, any tips about the round "ball" on the upper cheek knee would be appreciated.) Thanks.
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Another question - On the plans and center keel, it looks like the foremast is perpendicular to the water line while the mainmast is angled aft. Your model looks like you changed that angle of the mainmast. Did you? And what are your thoughts? Thanks.
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The replacement center keel finally arrived yesterday. The new part matches the Fair American’s plans exactly. I attach photos of the old center keel sitting on top of the new replacement center keel. The two parts line up perfectly at the stern, but the difference in size is well over a ¼ inch at the stem. So now I am able to start removing the laser burn, redrawing and cutting the rabbet line, and gluing the stern/stem posts, the keel, as well as the 16 bulkheads to the new center keel. It is great to be back modeling again.
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I still am in awe of your model. I also notice now that you placed the housing wall almost at BHD 13 rather that on BHD12. Can you give me a more detailed explanation of your, "built-up fixed blocks using stripwood boxes with dowel slice sheaves"? Thanks.
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You model looks great! You hull planking is excellent. Are you planning on painting or going with the natural finish look? Cheers
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Ed: It took me quite awhile to figure out how to use the new MSW. Once I got started, it seems sort of logical. The place I started was in "The Captain's Lounge". There is a tutorial on how to start a log, add photos, etc. I would recommend starting there. Cheers.
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Thanks Alistair and Bob for the encouraging comments. I uploaded a couple of photos of my Armed Virginia Sloop on the completed models gallery. Cheers.
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The replacement center keel from Model Expo still has not arrived; although they say it was shipped on July 9th. The binnacle in the Fair American is also made from dye cast metal. It doesn’t look very good to me so I decided to make my own from left over walnut planks from the Armed Virginia Sloop. I based my design on rafine’s and added an extra drawer that can hold charts and stuff. There probably should be some kind of vents on the back or roof since I assume that there were lanterns behind those “triangle” shaped doors. I may be changing the overall “look” of the Fair American with these changes, but I guess I can always use the metal binnacle, as well as the metal bilge pumps if necessary. Anyway, I wish my center keel replacement part would finally get here so I can start building this kit in earnest.
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Thanks. My thoughts were the same as yours. I remembered that this is a model created from a model. I will have to give it more consideration. I am not at that point in my build yet, so I do have time. I also agree with you and Figuerres that two stairs and two doors makes things pretty crowded. Thanks again.
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I don't know what it means to be "photo-etched". I will have to do some research here. Thanks.
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Does anyone have a way to get that fancy scroll work onto the stern? My hand is not steady enough and the Fair American does not come with metal scroll work that I can just glue on. I would need the letters for "Fair . American ." as well (although I can probably get decals for that). Thanks.
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Ed - I'm glad Augie answered your question since I haven't gotten that far yet on my model. Also, I forgot to credit Aliluke with the design of the bilge pumps. His Armed Virginia Sloop model is outstanding! Still waiting on the replacement center keel from Model Expo. Cheers.
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I have a question regarding the placement of the guns. I see that you have only one stairway and one door into the cabin. Using the plans I see that the aft guns block the doors; and firing the guns would completely destroy the stairs. Also, your aft gun is not as close to the cabin 'panel' as the plans show. How did you determine where to place the guns? And was your center keel the correct length as per the plans? Thanks.
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The replacement center keel from Model Expo still has not arrived. The Fair American kit provides bilge pumps made from dye cast metal. I didn’t like the look of them and think that wooden pumps would be much better. So I constructed two pumps based on the ones from the Armed Virginia Sloop. I started with a ¼ inch dowel cut to a length of 3/8 inches. I used 3/16” .020 walnut planking split in two around the dowel to give the look of a barrel. The handle bracket was made from 1/8” square walnut stock with a notch cut in the top. The handles were 1/16” walnut rounded from about halfway to one end and leaving a nob or ball at that end. I made the straps and U-bracket from 1/16” strips cut from a manila folder. I find it is better to paint the manila strips before gluing. Finally, a spout was cut from 1/16” square walnut stock with a gouge cut into the top. A photo of the pumps is attached below. Next I plan on replacing the dye cast metal binnacle. Again, a wooden binnacle will look much better.
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Thanks. That should work. I do have the "More Reply Options" box.
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I am still waiting for the replacement center keel from Model Expo so I decided to make the cannon carriages. It should be easier for me to correctly frame the gun ports, when I reach that point in the building process, by having some completed carriages. The gun carriages are made from laser cut parts: 2 side parts, a bottom part that contains the axles and 4 trucks. Unfortunately, all the parts are made from basswood which splits easily. I had 3-4 axles break off and one truck split apart. These parts are very small and do not glue back together easily so I just glued trucks over where the axles were and cut a new truck (which was not easy) from spare basswood. The motto here is that it is not the deficiencies of the kit or the mistakes made which are important, but the strategies created to overcome the issues and enable model building to continue. Anyway, I attach photos of the carriages in various stages of completion. The barrel is not glued as yet and still needs to be painted black. The trunnion was made from a toothpick slimmed down. I made quoin beds and quoins; however I may not use the quoins depending on the height of the barrel vs. the gun port opening. Thanks.
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Actually there is and "Edit" Box on the post, but only after it has been posted. Does that mean that you post the text, and then edit the post to add the images? Thanks.
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I have just started my build log of a model in progress. I want to add images to my blog but and totally baffled as to how it is done. The first statement in these instructions is: 1. Open the Edit Box by clicking the "Edit" at the bottom of the Post : Yet there is NO Edit box and the bottom of my post. Can someone supply me with a set of instructions on how to attach a photo of my model to my blog? Thanks. (NOTE: There is no Edit Box at the bottom of this post.)
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Hi Augie. I just checked out your MS Syren build log and the Syren looks a lot like the Fair American. I will probably reference your site for helpful tips and advice. I may even ask some questions. Thanks.
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