Carmen 1850 by Bobstrake - FINISHED - Constructo - Scale 1:80

[Bobstrake]

Here is my very first ship build, the Carmen 1850, from Constructo, scale 1:80. It is described as a small freight schooner, of 250 tons capacity, that was able to survive in an age of steam ships due to lower freight charges.

I retired on May 1st, and received the kit on May 23rd. I chose the kit because of the simplified rigging, fine looking lines, and reasonable cost. It also came with some tools, which turned out to be of much higher quality than I expected. I still use them.

 

Aaaaarrrrrrr! Here be the unpacking.

I must admit to being intimidated with the contents: flat boards, bundles of sticks, and what looked like millions of teeny, tiny parts.

 

Although it also comes with a fine color-illustrated assembly booklet, it doesn't give detail instructions of how to get to the beautifully pictured build points.

In my ignorance , I frantically scoured the internet for pointers. I wish I had discovered MSW before plunging ahead.

 

Beginning in June, I commenced building. Here's what I called my "fish bones". As a first attempt at framing, I "eyeballed" the alignment of the parts. I was pleased with the results at first, but payed for my lack of precision several times later.

 

I glued down the deck and planked it. Well, actually it didn't go that smoothly.

I marked one side of the deck planks with a black marker pen, and was alarmed to see how much the ink bled through. But after lining up the planks, I was relieved to see how the deck had an aged look to it.

I glued down the planks with contact glue. The instructions said to glue each surface, wait a couple minutes, then press together. The planks only stuck to my fingers. So finally, after a liberal addition of sailor language, I persuaded the planks to stick. Unfortunately, a few have some space between them.

I made cuts across the planks and punched two holes on each side of the cuts with a mechanical pencil to represent nails.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

I'm afraid I skipped taking some photos of blunders with this next post. After gluing the rail to the edge of the deck planks, I noticed that one side had an overhang, so filed it down. This made the rail narrower on one side, but it doesn't really show.

My first hull planks took a full day apiece. I bent them using a steam iron, then filed them slightly.

 

Now comes the BIG BLUNDER.

 

Notice the notch in the bow, where the planks come together? This notch is made to accept the cutwater or stem piece.

 

I decided that the notch was too frustrating, so I filed it off! This was recommended in a very old, and very bad, ship modeling magazine I found. This was a bad idea.

I took this picture when I had laid in my last hull strake. It also shows the missing notch.

 

When fitting the stem, the missing notch caused me to file the planks down to the false keel on the bow, as you can see in this picture. It left ugly white blotches instead of the beautiful Sapelly wood.

 

As a fix, I was able to glue some of the beautiful Sapelly wood sawdust over the blemishes. It worked! Nobody seems to notice the blunder now. Being such nice people, I know you won't tell anyone.

I tried several recipes before discovering what I liked. The main ingredient was Sapelly wood filed down into a nice pile of sawdust. I tried mixing it with wood glue and it came out way too dark when it dried. I tried mixing it with thick cyano glue, and it dried white and was very hard to work with. When I tried applying wood glue first, then covering the glue with Sapelly saw dust, it came out just right. (Kind of sounds like the story of the Three Bears, doesn't it?)

 

In the above picture, I broke the nose (stem) off three times before adding the side supports.

The timbers under the cap rail caused some frustration. Even after measuring the spacing three times, I couldn't get them to end up looking even. I ended up just "eyeballing" the spacing, and was happier with the results.

Edited May 1, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

Being my first build, it was with great reluctance that I started drilling holes. I drill small holes for the bowsprit and jib boom, then enlrged the holes with a rat tail file.

Edited May 4, 2015 by Bobstrake

[michael20]

Hey Bob,

   Your build looks just fine to me, Keep at it .  It looks as though you have the hard part over with. Everything you do right and do wrong. Which all of us have had our fair share of mistakes, is a lesson learned and will make you a better modeler on your next project. I'll be here looking forward to more of your build. So keep the updates coming.

 

                       Happy Modeling,

                              Marty G.

[Bobstrake]

Thanks for the encouragement, Marty.

 

I've test fitted the deck structures and wish I had taken some pictures of their assembly. The instructions are well illustrated for this.

For an entry level kit, I have been amazed at the fine woods Constructo provided.

 

In keeping with the age of the ship, I decided to use Blacken It on the brass to give it a darker patina. I like what it did to the portholes.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

Getting to this point was pretty smooth, except for the drill holes.

I would make nicely centered punch marks, but the holes never ended up in the same places after drilling. I made the pin racks twice, and they stii came out wonky. I will probably have to try again.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

I filed and fiddled with the pin rails for some improvement, but the holes are still uneven.

 

Next I tackled the chain plates. As my first experience, I broke the first attempts at winding the wire around the deadeyes.

Shaping and gluing the chainplates was more difficult than imagined. At this point, they look rather sad.

[GuntherMT]

Hi Bob, 

 

Nice to see another Carmen coming together, this was my first build as well.  You can find a link to my log in my signature, maybe there is something there that might help you out.

 

I like the effect of blackening your brass, that is something that I did not do in my build, I just built it out of the box, except that I replaced all the kit rigging line with Syren line.

 

I've been working crazy hours lately so haven't been keeping up with all the logs on here, but I'll follow this one and if you have any questions that you think I might be able to help with, fire away and I'll do my best!

[TheDutchShipBuilder]

Wow, Bob! Really nice work. My first built was the Albatros of Constructo. Those kits deliver some handy tools to get used with this hobby. Sadly the Albatros is now in the bin because I made a mistake with varnish 

[Bobstrake]

Brian, I really like your Carmen build log. It's quite helpful. Thanks for sharing.

Nick, I hope your Albatros isn't gone. It seems that almost all wood mistakes are fixable, unless, of course, the dog ate it.

 

I've decided to leave the chain plates, for now. I may learn to love them later.

I've moved on to the sprit and jib boom, and added anchors. I used an oak stain to make them a little darker.

[Bobstrake]

I assembled the masts, crosstrees and topmasts. I may not have tapered the masts enough for fear of making them too flimsy.

This picture shows test fitting for the masts. I'm pleased with the look of the ship so far.

[GuntherMT]

Looking good.  

 

For what it's worth, I had no issue with the masts strength and I tapered them to match the plans by chucking the dowels in a drill (protect the dowel with masking tape!) and using sand paper.  I think the mast taper adds to the overall look quite a bit, but ultimately, if you are happy with the way it looks, then that's all that really matters, and chances are that outside of this forum, nobody that looks at it will have any idea that they aren't tapered to plan.

[TheDutchShipBuilder]

Well Bob, sadly it is gone. I tried to repair it and that attempt went badly wrong and I broke the mast. And I was busy with the Hermione so I threw it in the bin ( )

[Bobstrake]

Brian, I will be using your drill idea on my Hermione masts. Great idea!
Nick, don't let your Hermione get away. It's much too nice.

I've been struggling with tiny blocks and deadeyes. They've been getting fired from my tweezers all around the room, and they defy being wrapped with copper wire.



The shrouds have finally been attached. I have yet to learn how to make them look anywhere as perfect as all the other builders on MSW, but I'm happy with the new experience.

So far, the attached blocks look like jewelry, so my lady now has ear rings.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

Carmen is starting to look like a proper ship. Added some forstays and made first attempt at ratlines. Unfortunately, they turned out too ratty. This was more difficult than I imagined. As I tied the ratlines up the shrouds, they pulled slightly together, until half way up, the shrouds joined. I continued to tie knots to simulate the existance of actual ratlines, but will have to consider options for making corrections.

Edited June 4, 2015 by Bobstrake

[GuntherMT]

I had the same problem Bob.  I cheated and just glued the ratlines on in the end.  The small scale coupled with only a pair of shrouds made the ratlines a fair challenge to do properly, and the end result of gluing them worked well enough for me.  Nobody has ever even mentioned that when I asked for criticism, even when I entered it into a fairly large model competition.

[Bobstrake]

Brian,
You and Larry Van Es have been most generous with your help.  I thank you again.

I cut down the ratty rat lines and started again. This time the gluing method came out much better. Not perfect, but I'm thrilled with the improvement.

I also started cutting and sewing the sails. The Commodora gave me a lesson. Here's my first two hours of labor. Ouch!

 

It's going to be slow going from here.

 

Edited June 10, 2015 by Bobstrake

[GuntherMT]

More ambitious than I was on my Carmen, which was my first ship.  I chose to leave her bare of sails.  Look forward to seeing yours with sails though, since mine doesn't have any!

[Bobstrake]

Okay, I've finally completed the darning. Well, "gosh darning" would be more correct. I would say this has been an eighty "gosh darn it" job so far, with several other expletives thrown in as well. Nobody wants to be near me when I'm sewing.

 

Now that the hems are complete, I will have a go at the seams.

[Bobstrake]

The next milestone has been reached. The sails now have their seams.

 

Now to sew the boltropes onto all of the sails....

[thomaslambo]

Hi Bob,

 

Thought I'd jump into this build as well....very ambitious running two build logs my friend   

 

Nice job on the sails....something I doubt I'll try anytime soon     

[Bobstrake]

Nice to hear from you , Boyd.

 

The sails have been so daunting, that I just had to get my hands on some wood again. L'Hermione began a little early because of that. I'm taking a little time off for some great science fiction reading, as well.

 

I decided to go as far as sail making to get the whole experience as a novice. You may have noticed, though, that L'Hermione comes with the sails already made. I don't know if I will ever tackle sails again, after this.

 

Here's the beginning of my bolt rope attachments.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Bobstrake

[Bobstrake]

Completed boltropes on two sails.. Loosely hung them up for fun. Kinda wanted to get a peek at how Carmen was going to look in her new clothes.

[Bobstrake]

Finally, oh yes, finally, I finished sewing the sails. Yippee, Yahoo, Hooray!!    

The sails are loosely attached for a test fitting.

 

I am liking the look of her.

 

Next, must decide whether to make the sails darker, then attach them properly, and complete the rigging. 

[TheDutchShipBuilder]

Nice work Bob! If you make your Hermione just like that then it will be a beauty!

[Mirabell61]

nice work on ship and sails Bob,

 

not so far to go any more...

 

Nils

[GuntherMT]

She looks great with the sails Bob, the effort has paid of nicely I do believe.

[Jparsley]

Bob you have a good looking boat there Be proud wouldn't go to dark might blend to much to the wood color

[GuntherMT]

Color wise, it depends on what effect you are trying to achieve.  Your kit appears to be finished nice and clean with no weathering, so 'old' looking sails would seem to be somewhat out of place.  If you think that brand new sails need to be a different color, certainly go for it, but I think I'd be pretty happy with them just the way they are right now!

[thomaslambo]

Hi Bob,

 

The lighter sails provide beautiful contrast against the darker hull and masts/spars....but of course it's your call 

Edited August 14, 2015 by thomaslambo