hexnut

Is that really something to quibble about?  I’m sure for a heavily used boat like this there were lots of variations.  Let’s just enjoy looking at something different.  
 
My question though is where do the cannon go?🤣😂

1:32 Fifie – The Scottish Motor Fishing Vessel
Amati
Catalogue # 1300/09
Available from Amati for €268.00
 

 
 
The Fifie is a design of sailing boat developed on the east coast of Scotland. It was a traditional fishing boat used by Scottish fishermen from the 1850s until well into the 20th century. These boats were mainly used to fish for herring using drift nets, and along with other designs of boat were known as herring drifters. While the boats varied in design, they can be categorised by their vertical stem and stern, their long straight keel and wide beam. These attributes made the Fifies very stable in the water and allowed them to carry a very large set of sails. The long keel, however, made them difficult to manoeuvre in small harbours. Sailing Fifies had two masts with the standard rig consisting of a main dipping lug sail and a mizzen standing lug sail. The masts were positioned far forward and aft on the boat to give the maximum clear working space amidships. A large Fifie could reach just over 20 metres in length. Because of their large sail area, they were very fast sailing boats.
 
 
Fifies built after 1860 were all decked and from the 1870s onwards the bigger boats were built with carvel planking, i.e. the planks were laid edge to edge instead of the overlapping clinker style of previous boats. The introduction of steam powered capstans in the 1890s, to help raising the lugs sails, allowed the size of these vessels to increase from 30 foot to over 70 foot in length. From about 1905 onwards sailing Fifies were gradually fitted with engines and converted to motorised vessels. There are few surviving examples of this type of fishing boat still in existence. The Scottish Fisheries Museum based in Anstruther, Fife, has restored and still sails a classic example of this type of vessel named the Reaper. The Swan Trust in Lerwick, Shetland have restored and maintain another Fifie, The Swan, as a sail training vessel. She now takes over 1000 trainees each year and has taken trainees to participate in the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Races to ports in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland as well as around the UK.
Extract from Wikipedia
 
The kit
Fifie is packed into a large, heavy box that certainly hints that there’s a good quantity of material included to build this historic fishing vessel in all its glorious 1:32 scale. I do admit to particularly liking this scale, having built plastic models for many years and indeed for magazine publication. It’s definitely something I can relate to when eyeing up the various dimensions and features. Amati’s presentation is flawless and certainly stands out, with its large, glossy lid that captures an attractive view of the Fifie. It has to be noted here that the hull is usually fully painted, with green being common above the waterline, but this model was finished to show off the beauty of the walnut timber supplied in the kit. And why not! For those that don’t know, this kit, under the Victory Models label, was designed by Chris Watton. Many of you should be familiar with that name and his design pedigree. At 1:32, this kit is no shrinking violet in terms of size. Fifie is 700mm long, 470mm wide and with a height of 230mm (sans masts).
 





 
 
Lifting the lid does indeed show a box crammed with materials. Inside, we have several bundles of timber, plus a packet of timber dowel/strip/metal rod/tube, a thick packet containing numerous laser-cut sheets, another packet with plans and photo etch, and underneath the main timber, we have sail cloth and fittings packs. Thick foam is included to stop the main materials from banging around in the box.
 
Strip wood
Fifie has a double-planked hull, with the first layer being constructed from 1.5mm x 7mm lime strips. These, like many of the other bundles, are 600mm long, and very cleanly cut with no fuzzy edges Sixty-five of these are supplied. The same quality goes for the second planking layer, which is supplied as 90 strips of 1mm x 6mm walnut which is some of the best I’ve seen in a kit. There is little colour variation in these, and they look pleasantly uniform. I’ve always found Amati’s timber quality to be exceptional and this is no different. As well as elastic to hold the bundles some labels are also included to help identity the material.
 





Other strip wood is included (beech and walnut) for such things as deck planking, caulking (yes, caulk plank!), lining the various deck hatches, sheathing the deckhouse structures, rubbing strakes etc. These bundles are both taped and bound with elastic, with the deck planking having an identifying label also. Cutting is clean and precise.
 




 
Dowel and tube/rod

Various lengths of dowel is included for masting, false keel strengthening pins etc. and thicker strip wood for the timberheads. All is supplied in a nice uniform walnut colour….no nasty walnut dyes/stains in this kit! These latter lengths are also packaged into a thick clear sleeve, unlike the others. Note also various lengths of brass and copper wire, as timberheads well as some copper tube. Some mounting parts are included for RC conversion, but you will need to purchase other items to complete the model for radio.

 
 
MDF sheet items

Again, Amati has made extensive use of 4mm MDF for the hull false keel and bulkheads, and all are laser-cut, as are all individual wooden items in this kit. Cutting looks very precise with very little in the way of scorching, apart from very localised discolouration. I know many don’t like MDF as a material for our models, but MDF sands easily and is also warp-free, lending itself to a nice, true hull. You won’t see any of this when you start to lay planks. There are FOUR sheets of this material, and you’ll notice that there aren’t any parts numbers engraved on here. You will need to refer to the first two sheets of plans which contain the parts references.






A single sheet of 2mm MDF contains parts such as the four-piece deck, cleats, and the bulkheads and keel for Fifie’s single launch vessel.


There is also a single 6mm sheet of MDF (sheet 2698-B) which contains the four parts needed for the cradle. I’ve seen numerous sites which now sell this model claim that no stand is included with this model. Well, this sort of proves that statement incorrect. This is the same cradle shown on the box lid images. Of course, you’ll need a suitable MDF primer for this, and some nice coats of gloss lacquer to get the best from this.

 
Ply sheet parts

SIX sheets of thin ply are included for just about every other timber construction elements of Fifie, including the deckhouse, deck superstructures, keel sheathing, and bulwark capping strip. Again, all parts are laser-cut and will require minimal effort to remove any edge char.



 
 
Fittings

Two boxes of fittings are included in the very bottom of the Fifie kit box. Some of the weight bearing down has caused a small crack in the two vac-form fittings boxes, as you can see, but all parts within are absolutely fine. The first box contains the cast metal propeller, deck buckets, ship’s wheel, rigging blocks, life preserver rings and a whole load of beautifully smooth wooden balls for making the many buoys which sit on Fifie’s deck. These are perfectly circular, yet the ones on the box image are slightly shaped. Instructions show these as the balls, and you could perhaps opt to use a little putty to add some shape to these.





The second fitting box contains seven spools of rigging cord in both black and natural colours, nails, various cast fittings such as bollards, plus rudder pintles, anchors etc. Copper eyelets, chain and ferrules etc. make up the set.





 
 
Sail cloth
Should you wish to add sails, then enough material is supplied for you, in bleached white cloth.

 
Photo-etch

Very few kits come without photo-etch parts these days, and this is no exception, with TWO sheets of 0.7mm brass with a very high number of included parts. A quick scan around the sheets will easily identify parts for the mast bases, steam winch, engine skylight, capstan, deck hand pump, wheel assembly, herring shovel, tabernacle, mast rings, etc.




 
Acetate and card

I have to say I’m not entirely sure what the card/cartridge paper is for except for maybe general use, but the thin acetate is obviously for the cabin windows.
 
Instructions and plans

Without a doubt, Amati produce some of the very best instruction manuals to come with any model kit. For reference, check out my Orient Express Sleeping Car review and that of Revenge. Fifie is no different with a luxurious and fully-pictorial, 64-page publication. Whilst this isn’t perfect-bound as with the previous reviews, it is in full colour and produced to a standard that’s still far higher than many contemporary manufacturers, with each stage being shown under construction so you get a perfect idea about what is required at that point in construction. Text is also in English, or at least in the sample I have been sent. The rear of the manual contains a complete components list. 










Backing up this publication is a set of seven plan sheets. The first two of these are for identifying the various timber and PE parts. The others show general profile and detail imagery, as well as masting and rig drawings. Remember that the hull itself is built entirely from the photographic sequences so everything you see on these drawings is for external details.








 
Conclusion
I have to say that you get a lot of kit for your money with Fifie, and when I first asked Amati what they envisaged the RRP to be, I was quite surprised at this. Everything about Fifie is quality, from the packaging and presentation, to the beautiful, photographic manual, fittings, sheet and strip timber, all the way to the superbly drawn plans. I’m very surprised that the gestation period has taken so long for them to bring this excellent kit to market. It’s also a Chris Watton thoroughbred. If you’ve seen his previous designs, then you’ll be familiar with the format of Fifie, which was quite the different vessel for Chris to tackle, when everyone seemed to think he would only design fighting vessels, armed to the teeth with cannon. I must admit that Fifie did take me quite by surprise too. The very shape of this iconic and historic vessel is so homely and welcoming and for me, invokes images of those times when fishing communities were happy and thriving. Whether you’re a fan of Chris’s work or not, Fifie is most certainly a kit that you should consider dropping into your virtual shopping cart next time you visit your favourite online model ship/boat retailer, and of course, if RC is your thing, then this kit will also suit your genre!
 
VERY highly recommended!
 
My sincere thanks to Amati for sending out the sample kit you see reviewed here. To purchase directly click the link at the top of the article to take you to Amati’s online shop or check out your country’s local distributor. Plans are also available from Amati, for €21.00
 


 
 

 

I got some Woodland Scenics trees today (cool shade #TR3521) and couldn't resist test fitting them... and the Philly...
Pics:

 

Thanks, Ken. I figured Philly needed a "picture frame" to provide context and concept. This is the messy (and fun... like a four old kid type of fun...) part of the build, and Slim and I are both slinging plaster outside. I'm getting tanner, but I think Slim is just bleaching out.
 I've been breaking rocks today, I kinda feel I'm in an old prison movie. I was going to cast all the rocks on the base, but I ran across some rocks that with a little "mechanical excitation" look like they'll work for most of the rock work. I'll still do some rock casting, but not near as many as I originally planned.

Here's the main materials I use to do the terrain work. As mentioned earlier, I used Styrofoam for the coarse elevations. It's cheap, easy to rough form and doesn't add a lot of weight. The next pass is FastMache, kind of a blend of plaster and paper flakes. It works great for forming out the terrain, is light, has a long working time and dries hard. After I did this pass, while the mache was still workable I embedded some rocks and blended them in. I'll be using the casting plaster for some more rocks and detail, and The Durham's for the final pass before adding dirt, gravel, foliage, trees and other stuff. The hot melt glue gun is indispensable!

Here's some shots with the mache and rocks...

Greetings All,
   I got a lot of work done on the base. It's time consuming, as I'm using water based stuff and things need to dry out good between steps. Luckily, the Florida sun is assisting nicely, not only for bake-out but also for some more outdoor pics. I love "real" lighting! 
 
Here's some of the ideas I use to improve dioramas.
 
   First, scenic compression. Most of the real world is pretty spread out and featureless, with interesting stuff scattered few and far between. This means "real scale" distances and dimensions are too great to model effectively. To overcome this, I try to "squish" my interesting sections together more so than they would be in the real world. This trick gets rid of "dead spots" and allows the viewer to focus on the interesting stuff. It also tightens up the display and saves on work and materials.
 
   Second, vertical exaggeration. Like scenic compression, this helps overcome nature's boring tendency to make gentle grades. Rapid changes in elevation seem to add more "space" and give more of a dynamic effect. My base (from the second picture onward) has an elevation change of three and a half inches from the lake bottom to the highest part of the frame in a span of only four inches. In scale, this would be about seven feet, much higher than what nature would usually do but effective. 
 
   Third, use the rule of thirds (bad pun intended). Painters, photographers and other artists divide the work into nine rectangles, and put the focus around the intersection of the four points in the center. Try not to orient either the model or scenery square, this can constrict the overall appearance and pull the user's eye off the display. I like to use a lot of diagonals, they seem to draw the viewer's eye into the display better.
   
   Fourth, KISS (not the band...). Keep it simple... reduce the overall size, eliminate anything that doesn't add to the model's presentation and try not to have abrupt transitions. Remember, THE MODEL is the primary focus. The base is just the stage.
 
I'll continue to describe my progress and methods as I go along.
 
Here's the base after the first glue-up.

   Here's the base after I decided to add a feeder stream and some more elevation. I also contoured the frame and and lowered the part around the water (I'll build a temporary resin dam when I pour the water).

Here's the base with some minor changes. I put some reference coats of different colored paint to both seal the work done so far and get an idea of the evolving appearance. The board in the center is to elevate the boat to it's proper distance above the bottom (approx. 1/2") and make the boat appear to be "floating". After all this stuff dries, I'm going to start on the riverbed grade, rock casting and terrain buildup.

Here's some outdoor shots with the boat oriented about where it's going to end up. I also scattered some deck ornaments that I've finished in random locations to start planning the deck build-out.
Gotta love the Florida sun!🌞

Thanks, Peter!
   I'll check out the video. I've done some multi-layer pours before, but nothing this big. As far as "resin creep", it depends on what you're pouring around. I've found that a first coat of resin applied as a thin coat helps in sealing the base details as well as prevent bubbles from appearing in later pours. An old model RR trick for any objects that stick out of the water is to cut them exactly even with the top of the final pour. Then take the above water section of the object and glue it directly over the immersed cut off piece. I've done this with docks, trees, seawalls and other structures that protrude from the water surface. This doesn't work well with foliage, rocks and shoreline stuff, so for those I blend in the object with dirt, grass and plaster soaked in matte medium. That way you can hide the resin creep pretty effectively.
 
   
 Slim's a butthead. Everyone in the shop has a beef with him, it's no surprise he has issues with animal relations. All our cats are convinced he's stealing their food... Heck, they probably hired Ole Smiley to provide Slim with some "attitude adjustment". I have a dreadful feeling this is going to escalate...
 
   For the oarlocks, I just used toothpicks. if you look at pictures of the reconstructed Philly II, you'll see the oarlocks are tapered. The toothpicks worked perfectly for that.
 
I completed the mortar and carriage rails. I still don't know if I'll use it, luckily I don't have to finally decide until I start the awning battens. Here's the mortar... ( I know, not accurate, but looks cool and fills a "void").


   Here's some shots of the base sides attached and ready for finishing. I've got to square up the frame and make sure it won't leak resin (hot melt glue). This looks pretty rough, but everything on the base including the frame will have a finish treatment so won't be visible. The frame top edges will be cut to match the shore and waterline. I'll start this week on the lake bed, rocks and shore. Really messy work, but strangely satisfying to be "slingin' plaster" again.




 
 

Hi all,
This is my first build log. I didn't discover this site until I was nearly finished with my first build, the HMS Terror. I am planning to post pictures of the Terror in the "Completed models" section.
A quick introduction... I am new to the hobby with about one year of experience but that one year has been a lot fun and a lot of learning. I am really diving in and am very interested in making historically accurate models. My next project, AL's HMS Bounty, is one that I plan to do a lot of kit bashing and hopefully producing a historically accurate model. I am still a working guy and I find time in the evenings and the weekends to work on my projects. I also own a boat and spend a lot of time on it.
I joined the NRG a few months ago and am learning from all of you! This half hull project will help me be a better, more historically accurate builder!
So, here we go!
I received the kit about a month ago but didn't get going on it until today!
The kit came well boxed and wrapped in material to prevent damage from occurring, especially to the planking material:

Inside the plastic bag are three pieces of laser-cut plywood, one with the frames, etc and one with the keel sections. Wrapped in the bubble wrap are four sheets of basswood:

Also, included is the plans - a single piece of paper:

The nice folks at NRG emailed the instructions to me in a separate email. I'll be following these to the letter! Or at least trying!
The first thing to be done is adhere the plans to a working board. I happen to have a piece of 1/4" foam board laying around and I decided to use it for my working surface. I have a 3M spray adhesive and chose that for my glue:
  
Once the glue was tacky enough, I laid the plans down and smoothed out ensuring there were no wrinkles or bubbles:

...and trimmed the edges of the board to match the plans:

Next, I removed the keel sections and laid them out on the plans. The pieces have not been cleaned up or the char removed yet.

That's it for this post!
I know that there are two other build logs on the site, one from the original builder and one other. I hope that my log will show something different that will help others down the road.
More to come!

good evening everyone, from a lovely locked in, self isolating Somerset, i dont have the plague, just retired and enjoying being at home, hope everyone one id safe and well out there
 
well i now have the pier frame work made up, i will need to cut some bits out, as it will form the support for the build, and contain the electrics, forgot the photo, but what was there before, now has a top to form the jetty deck, thid is it
 
the whole unit will be covered in plasterboard, lighter materials are available in the shops, but i dont have any, and the shops are shut,
this has been cut into small sections, although i cannot remember why, the top paper removed (very messy) and brick work cut in (even messier)
the board was then sprayed in grey primer as i was going to use acrylics with lots of dry brushing the primer would also keep the dust down and act as the base colour for the grouting
 
after quite a few hours experimenting with different stone effects, some worked better than others, then i made a mistake, well accident, and spilt some wash which i was using to tone down the grouting, and the result was better than anything i had done
 
so here  are a few photos. still very much WIP
 
 
 
 

Good evening Everyone
 
The top of the wooden jetty is complete (when i say complete, it means lots more still to do)
i now have 4 feet of stone jetty to think about, 
 
the pier legs are not secured, as i dont have a definite height yet
 
  
 

good evening everyone
 
i will move the boat in the morning for a photo shoot to show better what is is all about, but today has been continuing the wood pier / jetty 
 
i dont want a pristine looking area, i want it to looked work and battered, here is the start
 
 

Good evening everyone
taking advice, i have scaled the plans back, what i am aiming for now is just a harbour wall with a wooden jettey, this will serve as another point of interest and as a stand, there will be no water, or beach
 
the white unit will be used as a prop for now, and serves as a guide for height and width
 
 
for the wooded jetty which is being built first, it will stand above the height of the build(as if the tide was out and the end of a jetty train track way
 
the boat reminds just how much work i have myself in for

practising wood effects on balsa, sprayed black with brown drybrushing and getting an effect i like using a wire brush before paint
 
 

jetty platform.is quite big

track base going in, this is from the trumpeter BR52 war train i was building

the sleepers were treated the same as the balsa
tonight the track bed is laid, the other side although will be a working jetty i want it to be a lot cleaner

as she stands tonight

 
 

Hi all – and Happy New Year.
 
Thanks as always for the comments and likes. 
I hope you will enjoy this final installment of the Leviathan build log.
 
With the completion of the model itself, I turned to its display.  Under the contract I was asked to set the waterline model in a seascape for exhibition in the museum.  Here is how I went about it –
 
The model was located on a board of ¾” furniture grade plywood that allowed about 4 to 6 inches all around.  To help show a bit of movement, there was just a bit more space allowed at the stern than at the bow.  The model was secured in place with several screws from underneath.
 
Before being screwed down a long strip of kitchen plastic wrap was laid between the model and the board.  The excess all around was folded up and lightly taped to the hull to protect it from the plaster sea.  Around the perimeter of the board a ¼” lip was created with wooden strips.

The space between the lip and the model was filled with premixed vinyl spackle from the hardware store.  The tub of product can be seen in the left of the above picture.  Three layers were needed to reach the full depth of ¼” since the plaster shrinks a bit and cracks when applied too thickly.

The plaster was shaped to illustrate a moderately calm sea.  In the middle layer a palette knife was used to impose some swells and waves, but nothing too choppy.   The final thin layer of plaster was textured with a damp sponge as it dried to show the random small peaks and valleys of a moving sea.  I used a piece cut from a large wallpaper sponge which has a lot more large open holes rather than a denser kitchen sponge. 

The texturing process was repeated several times until I was satisfied with the results and the plaster layers were fully built up.  This process can be continued as many times as desired, and even removed and redone, all without danger to the model itself.

When the sea was dry the model was removed, the plastic wrap discarded and the model replaced.  Any gaps were filled and the bow wave was laid in with a small spatula.  Now the coloring could begin. The first color was straight black, laid into the deepest hollows.  Although most were generally parallel, random spots and lines were painted on as well.  I took the opportunity to paint the lips and edges as well.

Medium blue was painted over the whole surface, followed by dark green.  The tops of wave peaks were left white, as was the wake around the ship.

These rough colors were tempered by multiple coats of gloss Liquitex medium tinted with color.  Dark blue was applied several times, and light green as well.  Flat white highlighted crests, and even some deeper foam.  These latter were ‘sunk’ into the sea with more transparent layers of blue and green.

Along the sides of the ship there was little in the way of wake, the ship moving slowly as it approached harbor.  There were some diagonal wakes shown where the pressure waves would have impacted the hull, but these were severely muted with green tinted gloss.  Similarly, the water alongside the hull was lightened to show its disturbance by the ship’s passage.

At the stern the chop from the four propellers was mottled with white, stippled with a dry brush and, again, toned down and ‘sunk’ with tinted glaze.

The beauty of this method is that the colors and tints, and even the white highlights, can be altered and adjusted almost indefinitely until the desired shape, color, tint and reflectance is reached.

With so many transparent and translucent layers, the water looks deep and changes hue with changes in light and viewing angles, just like the real sea.

So here she is.  Finished.  The troop ship, port side.

And the ocean liner with the photo reversed to show the same port side.

The model’s bow showing the contrasting presentations.

And the photo cropped and mirrored to show how each might have been seen as a whole ship.


So now I bid a fond farewell as she sails off to her permanent home in the museum of the American Merchant Marine Academy at King’s Point, NY, on the shores of Long Island Sound. 

If you can, it is well worth a trip to this wonderful little museum.  You can also book a tour of the school where you can view many more excellent models and even take the helm in a bridge simulator.
 
Meanwhile, I have been working on the next project for the museum.  It is a Great Lakes whaleback steamer called the SS James B. Colgate.  It was a bulk grain and ore carrier launched in 1892 and sunk in a storm in 1916.  I will post photos soon.
 
Till then, thanks for following along.
 
Be well.
 
Dan
 
 

Thanks, everyone, as always.
One of the best things about our community is all the support we give each other.
 
Here are the finishing details for the ship. 
 
First, the 6 inch cannon.
The 3-D printed ones from Shapeways are little gems and match quite closely the photos.

On top of the flying bridge a square platform was built with angled sides.
The history of the ship identifies it as the large rangefinder for the guns.
This is the best photo, taken during the conversion to the troop ship.

I believe that the long thin box on top was a wooden cover for the rangefinder, but I have no definitive proof.
I did manage to locate a schematic for a contemporary rangefinder of the size that would fit the platform and which is just tall enough to rise above the platform sides.

And here is how it came out on the model. 
I am not sure about the metallic ends, but I reasoned that paint might interfere with its operations, and when not in use the wooden cover would hide them.
I cheated a bit by giving the rangefinder a complete base and pedestal rather than cutting it in half.
As before, the red edges indicate that the structures were cut along the centerline.
 

On the liner side the bridge deckhouse sported a wooden nameboard.
It was computer printed on acid free art paper.


The model sports several flags.
This is the house flag of the United States Lines from 1929

The signal halyard bears the flags of its radio call sign, LHGD  (thanks for this information go out to Richard Rabbett)
They are mounted on a wire halyard that is bent as if by the wind.

At the bow is the US ensign with 48 stars. 
Although this would not normally be flown at sea, I am picturing her moving 'slow ahead' and entering New York harbor.

And at the stern the Stars and Stripes.

This completed the model.
Next, making the ocean, and final photos.
 
A Healthy and Happy Holiday to one and all.
 
Dan

Hi all –
 
I hope my countrymen all had a good Thanksgiving and everyone's favorite football team, whether round or oval, won.
Unfortunately, I root for the NY Giants.  Oh well . . .
 
Here is the next segment of the build.  As before, mostly photos with captions.
 
The final major components of the ship were the masts, which also acted as the cranes for the cargo booms.  Here they are in photographs.


And how they turned out.


The mast tops anchored the shrouds and stays, and the single and triple blocks of the boom tackle were secured here as well.

I could not fit any available triple blocks for the topping lift tackle so I used doubles.


The lift tackles reeve through double blocks at the deck just inboard of the shroud turnbuckles.

There are four shrouds, with ratlines only between the inner two, though there are swifters every fourth ratline that go across all four.

The bases of the booms have clevis joints that fit in a ring around the base of the mast.

There is a multi-headed steam winch for each boom, set in a circle on deck around the mast.

A large searchlight sits on a railed platform on the foremast.

On the troop ship a large lookout station was hung below the searchlight.

Its peculiar shape had to be pieced together from segments of plastic tube turned inside out.

 
The final few details to finish the ship will be covered in the next installment.
 
Till then, be well.
 
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Pictures of model attached.  I also sent you a PM.
 
Roger
 

Thanks, Roger.  I feel more connected to this model than I might another, because the ship was built and sailed in my "neck of the woods".
 
Work now commences on the channels.  I marked the rough sizes on some wood stock--

 
I cut the overall piece out, and sanded it to approximate maximum thickness of about 5".  It will eventually need to be 4.5" on the sides that meet the hull, but I like to give myself some leeway initially.  I re-marked the center line, which will be the hull side when the individual channel pieces are cut out, and scribbled on each side of the centerline.  These areas need to taper down to about 2 1/2" at the edges.  I sand them on a piece of sandpaper laid flat on the table, using finger pressure to create the bevel.  The centerline marking and scribble help make sure I am not sanding the center--
 
 
Here is progress on one side, a little more to go--

 
I think in hindsight it would have been better to make a single long strip, so to only have to sand one bevel.  Next time.
 
In order to correctly angle the chainplates, I need the masts in place to run a "dummy" shroud down to the channels and use it to successively mark the angle of each chainplate and notch in the channel.  Here are the masts temporarily fitted--

 
I haven't measured the exact rake angle, this is just by eye, looking at the sail plan.  I will be sure to do that before marking the chainplates--

 
Ron
 

Thanks Dan.  I appreciate you checking in and supplying help and information!  I'm sure I made the head rails and timbers harder to make than they should have been.  I did as you suggested, cut the timbers to match the rails.  Making the angled and sloped notches in the ends of the timbers was the hard part.  Getting those angles correct, at the right height to meet the headrail, and still making sure the other end of the timber was square and the right height on the stem was a challenge.  I think the version of timbers you posted would have been easier (except for the multiple rail aspect!)  I don't think I found the best technique in making mine this first time around.  Maybe I should have made card patterns, though being only two dimensional, they wouldn't have helped with all the devilish angles.  Or maybe I just need more practice at it.  As far as straddling the stem (or as I probably should be calling it, the knee of the head), It looks like some did and some didn't, depending on the various configurations, size of ships, time periods, etc.  David's FFM shows timbers that straddle for the Swan class, which are the ones I more or less tried to follow.
 
In any event, I have stuck a fork in them, and they are done.  Here they are removed, in order to reinstall the bowsprit--

 
They are in two pieces, with the timbers glued to the headrails, reminding me of chicken bones--

 
Here the bowsprit and gammoning have been re-attached, and the headrail assemblies glued.  I've scratched the finish under the cathead, for a support that needs to go there--

 
Fitting a card pattern--

 
The horizontal leg needed to be shortened, the pattern didn't account for the cat rope that threads through a hole inboard of the sheaves in the cathead--

 
Here it is installed.   What a relief to work on something not as frustrating as the head timbers!--

 
Here's a straight on bow shot--

 
Next order of business will be the channels and deadeyes, though at some point I should buckle down and work on the installation of the carronades.  The one I have done you see askew on the deck.
 
Ron

Work continues on the head timbers.
 
I've made the decision (at least for now) to omit the most forward tiny timber.  The second timber, which is one piece and straddles the stem is now my starting point.  Surprisingly, making some trims to the port headrail made the two headrails join more symmetrically than they had before, and there was no modification needed to that second (now the first) timber--

 
I worked on the remaining starboard timbers, and with some adjustments, I was able to keep them.  This is so much easier without the bowsprit in the way--

 
The port side is another matter entirely--
 
 
The last timber is way off, and the second may be close, but I'm going to redo it to have it close that gap between it and the starboard one.  The join won't be on the centerline, but it will be better than the current gap.  Another view showing the terrible unevenness of the port side timbers.  Here it looks like the second one is the worst offender, but the problems are pretty much shared between the second and third--

 
The second and third were redone, and it's getting close now--

 
Ron
 

Hi Martin,
 
Pins seem to be the preferred/recommended way to hold pieces, but when I have tried, as you said, the pieces slip and spin, or the pins fall out.  I do pin the aft end of the headrail in place quite often when I'm testing the fit of the timbers.   I have trouble getting the pin to stay in place without pushing it so hard that I'm afraid of breaking something.  I'm going to try small bits of PA glue on the timbers, that seems to work okay for me.
 
I made the difficult decision to remove the gammoning and bowsprit.  It really gets in the way.  I have also been thinking that my gammoning rope should have been just a little smaller diameter.  It was close to what I had researched it should be, maybe just a bit on the heavy side.  The next size I have is just a bit on the light side, but I think it will look more correct, and will also not crowd the head timbers as much.  My plan is to get the head timbers and rail to fit right, take them back off, reinstall the bowsprit and gammoning, and then permanently glue the rails and timbers.  We'll see how that goes.
 
So off comes the gammoning--

 
I optimistically carved the second timber with the decorative panels--

 
Glued the first two timbers, and the starboard half of the third--


 
And test fit the rail--

 
As you can see, I've got some problems.  It looks clear that the notch in the second timber is too low.  This may or not be so--it could be that the notch in the third is too high.  It had seemed that way when I was trying to do this before taking the gammoning and bowsprit off.   At this point I am not sure if it's worth using any of these timber pieces, or if they should all be redone.  More testing is in order.
 
Ron 
 

So, I ended up adding the ribs, which was a change from all the planking.
 
It was hard to keep track of them as they are all different. I had it all worked out, but try as I might, I managed to lose track at one point, so I just had to figure out where I went wrong and do the best I could.
 
The ribs are each numbered, but number is engraved on the part itself. It's so tiny that someone looking at the model would NEVER see it. Unfortunately, that also made it really difficult to tell which number rib I was looking at, even when wearing magnifying lenses. But, they are in order on the sheet, so I just went down the line and, near the end, found that I was off somewhere. I don't think it's a big deal. I ended up fashioning a pair of the pieces from scrap card stock.
 
It's too soft to cut easily, even with a scalpel blade, so I hit the paper with a shot of thin CA, which made it stiff as plastic. Then, I could shape the part fairly easily. The only difficulty was the small size of the part. But, I managed.
 
Now, the one thing about models where parts are all pre-engineered and pre-cut is that at some point, you find out how far you were off in the laying down of those planks. Because it's a clinker hull, the ribs are shaped to fit, like a shallow saw tooth, against each plank. Clearly, after all the planks have been laid down, I'm off by a couple millimeters, as the shape of the ribs doesn't quite match the lay of the planks. 
 
Again, I don't think it's a big deal, as you can't really see any of this at this scale once the planks are all in place. Still, it's a little disconcerting when you get to this step. You just have to ignore the need for perfection.
 
This isn't a feature of just these card models. I've found this is also true on some of the Woody Joe kits of traditional Japanese boats, in which all the parts are laser cut. If you don't build it precisely as intended, you end up with little imperfections. And, it's nearly impossible to build a kit like this without having little imperfections. It's just the nature of the kit.

I also started work on the reinforcements on the forward quad Bofors and gun director platforms. While the platforms were pretty quickly done with some 0.5 mm plastic and some brass sheet (and to my surprise, unlike some funnel parts, just the plastic parts needed more than one attempt!), it took me a while to find a solution for those reinforcements. In the end, I decided to try some 0.25mm plastic strips:

Still quite a way to go, but it seems I can pull that off!
Missing some basic supplies usually isn't a big thing, but what's 'usual' these days? Thanks to everything closed due to Corona, I had to place an order for 5€ worth of plastic (okay, 10 € of plastic and 15 more for paint...) and had to wait five days until the parcel arrived. Oh, well...
 
Overall view:
 



and because it is so nice, a better view on the funnels:

Thanks for watching! :)

To chill down inbetween, the direction finder received some attention:



Also, checking the few pictures of the ship I have, I suddenly realised Thatcher had the revised stern Bofors platform. Running a bit out of motivation to modify the kit-supplied platform (especially after I already put a few hours effort in it), I made an order at Shapeways and got that lil' gem:
 


I'm certain it'll look awesome once it got some paint!

Two weeks and a couple of unquotable exclamations later, main work on the funnels is done. The rear one was pretty straightforward, but the forward one almost gave me the fits. I had to make 8 of the large whistle, and for the small one, I went through about 10 cm of 0.75 mm plastic rod. That railing around the middle platform went through three or four iterations, and then, the platform itself wouldn't want to stick at the first attempt, as well. The railing on the searchlight platform is from the Tom's Modelworks set, which is made from a somewhat soft brass and thus pretty delicate. That definitely still needs a little extra care.


The forward funnel still needs the persenning around the searchlight platform and some floater baskets, and both still need ladders. And a good cleanup, as the makro reveals...
Unfortunately, I lost a significant piece of ladder from the rear funnel and need a replacement. The ones from the Eduard set are much smaller than the ladders from the Tom's set, so I'm looking for some generic ladders in a comparable size.

Maybe we should establish a support group?
 
"Hello, my name is Michael, and I'm unable to build kits as intended!"
 
Anyways, todays harvest, a little work on the funnels. Funnel caps, the whistle platform and the center tube leading up to the ship's whistle. More tubework ahead!
 

As I mentioned in my introduction, I am currently working on Tamiya's 1/350 Fletcher. As I'm genetically unable to simply build a kit as provided, I'm trying to build her as USS Thatcher DD-514, as she appeared ca. February 1944 after she was rebuilt at Mare Island. That requires some extra work, as the kit covers only the earliest (6?) Fletchers, which differed a little in their AA arrangement Thankfully, I could borrow a couple of the required parts from Trumpeter's 'The Sullivans' kit. Furthermore, I'm throwing in some aftermarket for additional excitement.
 
Enough of the words for the moment, here she as she currently appears:

There's still quite some way to go, apparently...