KevinR

Dont be so quick to say its crap....I basically use it to produce all of my rope for Syren Ship Model company.   With a modification or two....you can lay up a 21 foot length of rope in about 8 minutes.   I have demonstrated this at my local club.  I make approximately 5-6000 feet of rope on that so-called piece of crap every month.   You can buy them for 20 bucks and when it gets used up...throw it away and get another.  The average builder will never need to make 70,000 feet of rope per year so it will last a lifetime.  In my case...I used one for three years....so I recommend them highly.   I use a variable speed drill to power each end.   The principle of making rope is very simple...I subscribe to the KISS philosophy.  Why over complicate things.  It does the job nicely.  But if you want to spend a lot more.....on ...other machines...thats OK too.   I just decided yesterday to retire my current ropewalk and built another in 30 minutes.  I am good to go for another  100,000 feet of rope at least.  The one I use is the Model shipways version but they are identical in every respect.  The exact same design and parts.
 
I think my rope is the best on the market today so if its any indication.....
 

It's looking nice so far.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Amazon has it.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_13?url=search-alias%3Darts-crafts&field-keywords=thread%20heaven&sprefix=thread+heaven%2Caps%2C262

Looks like you've found a winner there, have to see if I can get some!

Well I found, at least for me, the ideal hunk of wood for my weathered looking display case base.
It was 12"x3'. Now 8 1/4 W. by 28" L by 7" H.
 
I think it's cherry and surprisingly sound under all that grey.  I had to rip 45o cuts all around to reverse the pieces and glue them back on to preserve the weathered look. The short ends needed a veneer of 3/32 glued back on. The boat is elevated 1 3/8" by means of a 6/32 FH steel bolt in a brass sleeve.
I reinforced the inside of the bilge and drilled and tapped it to receive the bolt. The floor board will cover the bolt end.
 
I had on hand an imitation Sperm Scrimshawed whale tooth that I decided to be in the display. 
I drilled into the base and tapped it out to receive a 2".. 10/24 steel bolt, which holds it erect on the base.
 
A local plastic shop cut the pieces for the case (not shown). I glued it together with little trouble doing only one side at a time.
 
Now all I have to do is to finish the model. Mostly the small whale hunting gear and figure a way to impart a grungy look to the furled sail.  Maybe just wipe up the shop floor will do it.
 



 
 
S.os
 
 

Thanks mark for your suggestions. They are good ones for sure.
 
My intention is to have it look like it is ready to hunt whales. That is one harpoon at the ready.  Also to enable the viewer to have some eye candy and to see the various boat gear, which is quite numerous.  The oars will have to be in the locks but the blades extended past the gunnel. To give the viewer a sense of scale, the ships cat will be somewhere in the boat stalking a rat (also aboard) this will give the viewer a reason to scan the innards of the boat. I'm thinking this will add a little fun to the display.
 
If I build the Bounty's launch, the beach idea would be a good one as the good captain Bligh did land on the great barrier reef and also on the Island of Tofua.
 
S.os

I have been following this discussion because I am about to start my rigging. The conservative wax sounds good but I thought it was to expensive and not easy to find. I decided to go with the beeswax for the time being and upgrade on later models. i went to Joannes's Fabrics to pick up the beeswax and came across a product called "Thread Heaven", next to the beeswax. It is suppose to Prevent tangling and fraying, won't melt, Acid Free and safe for all threads and fabrics. It was only $2 more, so I decided to give it a try. Has anyone else used this product before?
http://www.threadheaven.com

USS Independance (CVL 22)
 
Aircraft markings kind of made that one a give away...
 
Andy

Agreed; finding an image of an interesting ship to post is frequently more challenging than finding the name that goes with a posted image, but I try to have fun with it.
 
 
Name the Ship:

The Wikipedia entry for Great Eastern quoted from an article by R. A. Buchanon in Technology and Culture: "...she was used in the transatlantic business, where she could not compete in speed and performance with similar vessels already in service." Being even marginally slower than her competitors made it more difficult for her to make use of her capacity in passengers and cargo. The same Wiki entry also commented that Great Eastern could not take full advantage of the square sails on the center masts because the sparks and hot ash from the stacks set the sails on fire.
 
Great Eastern should be remembered for the innovations she brought to ship-building that are now standard features: the double hull and a compartmentalized hold. These features saved her from disaster when a pilot grazed the Northeast Ripps (now known as Great Eastern Rock) near Montauk, Long Island at 2:00 am, 28 August, 1862, that cut a hole over 9 feet wide and 83 feet long in her port side outer hull - about 60 times the area of the gash that sank Titanic. The passengers never even knew of this accident.

Because I chose the 4 3/4" sized boat to fit the Rattlesnake, I'm treating my model boat as 1:64 scale, the same as the Mamoli kit.
 
I thought about a bow locker, but not sure what it would look like for this boat. Take a look at the boats Captain Steve made for his 1:76 scale USS Constitution. He did a fabulous job on four different boats. There should be plenty of ideas to choose from for lockers, seats, oars, etc.
 
Jon
 
Edit: changed "six" to "four: I stand corrected

It's coming along very nicely. You're making a lot more progress than I am as I plod along.
 
I did notice that you ended up with the result that I have been trying to avoid so it will be interesting to see how you handle it. There is a gap between the bow bulkhead and the planking which I believe is a model design flaw. As I figured it, there should have been a notch in the keel for the bulkhead and handled just like the ribs. It would have made the bulkhead wider so all the planking would have fitted flush. Hopefully, when all the other stuff is put it their place, this minor flaw will be hidden.
 
Jon

Kevin,
 
I agree with DG. She looks just fine.
Besides, these boats were all hand-made by imperfect creatures called "humans".
So, a few tiny imperfections will give it "character".

I finished the planking today and cut the boat off of the formers.








I started sanding the port side. I left the starboard side alone so that I could see the difference.


 
Marty, I am hoping that the glue does not screw up that stain. I really do not want to paint it.
I See no reason to use a plastic or cast metal ship's boat if you can build a boat to replace it.

Jon,
I also noticed the transom was short.  After I remade the keel, I noticed that I forgot to cut the notch for the transom, when I went to glue it. I thought about going back and cutting it, but decided that it would look better if the transom was a little higher, and it fit perfectly without it. If I had cut the notch the bottom of the boat would have been straight. The bottom of my boat is a little higher in the stern. I think it looks more realistic. Whether it is historically accurate, I do not know.

As for the shear meeting the stem, I just estimated based off of the drawing in the plans.
 
   

I finished the planking today and cut the boat off of the formers.








I started sanding the port side. I left the starboard side alone so that I could see the difference.


 
Marty, I am hoping that the glue does not screw up that stain. I really do not want to paint it.
I See no reason to use a plastic or cast metal ship's boat if you can build a boat to replace it.

Outstanding job Kevin.  I can understand why you wish to leave it natural.
David B

Got my planking finished up pretty good. The coamings were kinda tricky, and I guess I didn't get them on just right, because the cabin roof was too small. So I had to add some width around the edges to get my overhang back. I'll shape it up to look better than this. Good thing it is all getting painted over. Oh well, learning some stuff the hard way, I guess. It'll still come out OK for a first build I think.
I did jump ahead a couple steps and added the cutwater - it just looks too cool on there and I couldn't wait to see it. It makes the boat, I think.

Having decided not to build the ship's boats for the Euromodel Friederich Wilhelm, I 'undecided' that ! Bar constructing the actual hull from scratch, I examined the white resin hull provided and whilst the actual depth is far from perfect, the final build would not show this. The interior section immediately adjacent to the bow and stern was far too thick but easily reduced in size with my Dremel and a small grinding tool.  It was like carving butter ! The end result I am happy with and all I need to do now is to teach myself a dry brushing technique to make it look old and weathered and all will be fine. Should I have painted the hull interior first ? Well, that was my choice not to so that photographic illustrations would be enhanced. This little project was such a diversion from normal ship building and I am glad that I did do it.
 
The full description is contained in my latest posting for the Wilhelm on the Euromodel website under 'Customer Assistance' - FW.INT.04.v8
Pete

I found a card model I like.  If I screw up I will be able to print out another sheet.  Here are some photos.  I will show the progress I make along with the booboos.
David B

Jon,
I also noticed the transom was short.  After I remade the keel, I noticed that I forgot to cut the notch for the transom, when I went to glue it. I thought about going back and cutting it, but decided that it would look better if the transom was a little higher, and it fit perfectly without it. If I had cut the notch the bottom of the boat would have been straight. The bottom of my boat is a little higher in the stern. I think it looks more realistic. Whether it is historically accurate, I do not know.

As for the shear meeting the stem, I just estimated based off of the drawing in the plans.
 
   

Hey Kevin,
I see you have made great progress, Your bat looks great. Once you sand it up you will find that it will make most of your glue mistakes disappear. You can always use natural stain and it would highlight the grain and not change the color of your wood. Keep it up, it looks fantastic.
 
Happy Modeling,
Marty G.

Well folks I am going to jump in here. I will dispense with posting any pictures of the box etc. I am sure that has been covered by the wealth of logs on this forum.
 
My recent acquisition of this kit is explained elsewhere (see Dr. Per)
 
So let me begin with my impressions and a few question for my fellow Longboat builders
 
First of all this is a 1st class kit. Extremely well designed (what else would you expect from Chuck?) and the materials are very good. I have done a trial fit of the bulkheads and they all fit very snugly with almost no adjustment.
 
I plan to use this as a learning tool. I want to experiment with Boxwood (which I have never used before). I also plan to use this as a platform to do treenailing (another item I have never attempted). I am especially interested in Chuck's method of using putty.
 
Lastly Sam has inspired me to think outside the box and so I am not sure yet how I will modify the kit from the standard provided.
 
So now some questions for those who have built this kit -
 
The Basswood sheet that contains the bulkheads is 3/32 of an inch thick. Also on this sheet are the 2 lengths for the keel & 2 rudders. is this just extras or are we intended to glue then together to get a thickness of 3/16? The same occurs on the sheet with the Stem. I have 2 stems.
 
Next question, On the 3/32 sheet with the stem there are 2 small pieces which I believe are the stern post. Again is the intent to glue them together to get more thickness. Finally there are 3 bow blocks on this sheet. I can figure out what to do with 2 bow blocks but is the 3rd one extra?
 
Last question (for now) - I see many using brass rods to mount the longboat. In particular concentric brass rods. can you tell me where you got these? this method looks quite nice.
 
A final comment, since Jeff is backed up supplying all of us builders with wood. This log may move a bit sow for the next couple of months. I started it now because this is a great opportunity to gather info from those who have gone before me. I also felt this was the best way to ask questions without cluttering someone else's build.
 
PS you should all hound Dr. Per to start his build log here too. he has agreed to do a group build with me. My local club is meeting at my house today. I am going to suggest that this would be a great club build.

Jon,
I also noticed the transom was short.  After I remade the keel, I noticed that I forgot to cut the notch for the transom, when I went to glue it. I thought about going back and cutting it, but decided that it would look better if the transom was a little higher, and it fit perfectly without it. If I had cut the notch the bottom of the boat would have been straight. The bottom of my boat is a little higher in the stern. I think it looks more realistic. Whether it is historically accurate, I do not know.

As for the shear meeting the stem, I just estimated based off of the drawing in the plans.
 
   

Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. Today has seen a ton of progress and I'd like to show one more photo of how it sits now. The planking is all trimmed up. I'm glad I bought a set of needle files - they worked great for shaping the planking.   I've left the turn of the bilge looking a bit like a hard chine boat for right now. I plan to add and shape the blocks up front before I attempt to sand it all smooth at once - including carefully rounding those chines!
I'm having a great time working on it today.