alde

It looks like you put a lot of attention into fairing the frames. It looks great.

CaptainSteve, your launch is progressing well. You do have quite the pile of broken sticks though. I see no reason not to substitute the wood as long as you are able to get the color fairley close. The Cherry they supplied was way too brittle for the sharp bends of the frames.

Is the football you speak of what we Americans would call soccer or rugby? I had a niegbor who was a professional rugby player from Scotland. He moved to New Zeland to join a team. He was a good guy but I could only understand about half of what he was saying. He was married to a lady from Austrailia so the move to New Zeland put her closer to her family. She was much easier to understand. That was 20 years ago. Where do the years go?

Thanks for the heads up on the with expanding Keith. I will keep a watch for that. So far it seems to be holding.

I agree with David. Furled sails would look great. You are doing a fantastic job. I would also fix the keel lift bar. At least you will know it's right.

Thanks Bindy. It can be hard to make the decision to take apart a couple of days of work but it's worth the effort to at least try to do it right. 

Now that was close. When I ordered extra cherry sticks I asked for 5 or 6. The sent me 6 and I used a full five. These seemed more brittle than the ones that came in the kit. The sticks in from of the boat are breakage. This also again illustrates the need for more clamps than you think you need.

Model Expo is the best. The mailman just dropped off my extra cherry sticks.

Steve,

I don't have enough cherry wood to complete the tween frames and had to request some from Model Shipways. They did send the order out within a couple of days of the order but you being in Australia I'm sure it would take a while for you to get them. You may want to put in a request sooner than later unless you have a good local source.

I don't think you will have any trouble the the hull springing wider as long as you bend the frames tight to the forms.  

The cherry wood is yielding to your superior prowess. You can go forth with much pride in having vanquished your foe.

She came right off the mould with no problems. It inside looks pretty decent without too many weird spots. There is no excess glue to speak of and it feels really solid. I also didn't notice any tendency to spring to a wider dimension like some others have reported. I think the people that had this happen used one cherry stick for one continues frame.

I made a bit of progress on the hull. With a bit of filler, some sanding and a bit of primer it's looking better. I'm not sure I want to go much further on the sanding and such. It could be better but I'm happy with it so far.

Al D.

I did mine in 4.5 inch lengths as suggested in the instructions. I think with this method the hull is less likely to spring to a wider dimension when removed from the mold. I don't know this for sure yet but it's my theory.  

Al D.

Oh no, not the frames. I broke so many I had to request a few extra from MS. I had enough to bend over the form but do not have enough for the framing that goes into the hull after it's poped out of the form. I only have 3 sticks left for that job. I soaked mine overnight in plain water. I will use some amonia on the tween frames and see if that works better.

They sure did burn TRANS deep enough. They really do need to put it next to the part.

Mike, They sure don't tell you any of this in the instructions. They need to be re-writen. This was the first planked hull that I tried and before I was a member on MSW and got frustrated with it. I didn't know anything about fitting and bending the planks. Soaking and pinning will go a long way to getting your planks right. You may also have to bevel the plank edges so the sit next to each other tight. Also, try a little amonia in the warm water when you soak the planks and give them a few hours to soak.

Fantastic looking whaleboat. They sure carried a lot of gear in these boats. Not much room for the crew.

All planks did overhang the transom. I guess they could have gone further aft but I probably didn't take enough care in bending the planks to the correct shape. They have to make a pretty tight twist at the bow so the edges all line up. I know it's not a problem with the kit as it looks like other people did not have this trouble. I did get buy without a stealer though.

I have learned a lot to carry over to my next build. The best thing is I am looking forward to the next one after this one if done. I am having a blast with it and look forward to the time at the workbench.

Thanks for the tips. I think having a bit of primer on will help me just take down the high spots. I will also make a bunch of sawdust from my scrap to use as filler. It looks a lot better with the primer on.

I think where I got into trouble was the first bulkhead didn't quite touch the planking in some cases. This made the planks want to curl under a bit. It looks ok on the inside so if I get outside looking good with filling and sanding all will be good. Keep an eye on that CaptainSteve. You might have to add some material to the first bulkhead for the planks to flow.

Al D.

You need to use the tabs to align the sheer plank too. Keep them on until you get the planks on and then they get in the way of sanding and more sanding.

I wish I could say I was totally happy with this but here is my fully planked hull, warts, bumps and all. As you can see I have done some filling and sanding but it's still not very smooth. I have since given it a quick shot of grey primer and it looks a little better. Any suggestions on smoothing it up better? I do like the fact that the plank seams show.

Heck, we will take pictures of sawdust.

When you glue those tabs back on don't spare the glue. You will need them in the later stages of planking to secure rubber bands to under a good amount of stress. They sure come in handy.

I will be watching this one with great interest. I love the lines of this boat.

When I was a draftsman my old boss used to tell me "don't draw more in one day than you can erase the next". Seems like it applies to model ship building.

A minor setback. I can't see where it would really make all that much difference anyway. Just pop those puppies off and stick em to the other side and all will be right in the world.

Tim, I have that Pinky kit on the shelf right now. I think it may be next after the Bounty Launch. These Model Shipways kits with the laser cut parts and great instructions sure do make it nice for us beginners. Of course having the fine folks on this forum helps a lot too.