US Brig Niagara by mikiek - FINISHED - Model Shipways - Scale 1:64 - First wooden ship build

[mikiek]

Back to Niagara - sanding and sanding and sanding. Almost forgot to mention - I've been sanding. The hull is pretty smooth. No horrible gaps or holes. But I did see the need to break out the filler. In the past I have used Tamiya putty and it has worked OK but I wanted to try some of the other options. So I did a few spots with various products - spackle, PVA & saw dust, Elmer's filler (purple).  I was having problems with all, they didn't want to spread, so I started a thread about that.

 

Turns out I think most of the products were a little dry and then trying to smear them on a dry surface....  I ended up first wetting the hull surface, then using Elmer's and applying with a wet paint brush. The big globs smoothed right out and it spread very nicely.

 

 

 

What I didn't like is that it took 2-3 hours for it to really dry out.

 

I did one application yesterday - hitting what looked like the worst spots - then spent the entire evening sanding.

 

I'll say here, just like in the thread - I do not want a show car finish on my build. I want to know it is a wood surface. I want to see planks and the butt pattern and all that stuff. I had really hoped that simply airbrushing multiple coats of primer would do enough filling on it's own. Sadly it appears that it will not. This is after 2 coats.

 

 

At least the primer shows me the trouble spots. So I hit them with the brush on filler.

 

 

This may be dry enough to sand later tonite.

 

One more big decision to make in the near future on a related topic. Hull color. If you have followed this thread for long you will know what I think about the yellow and red colors suggested in the kit. You'll also know I've replaced both of them with my own mixes.  Honestly, I have to say that blue or green or whatever hull color that is just might be even worse. So the decision is what to do instead?

 

I have it on good authority that the first Niagara hull - if it was painted at all - may have been black. I've also read they used a sort of tar paint on hulls, which has a very dark brown look to it. Given the construction situation for Niagara - way out in the sticks - I don't know if it would have been available. They were having problems enough finding pitch for the caulking, so I suspect not.

 

At this point I'm thinking my Evil Black with maybe a white waterline mark. Just don't know yet.

 

One last item, I'm back to building deck toys again. The grates and hatch covers were done but I still have items like the pump, capstan and stove pipe to do.  I started on the pump and am really struggling. It's coming from a 3/16" square strip - 2 pieces each 3/8" long. Plans call for chamfered corners - yeah right! Times like this I wish I had bought that mill. This is going to be a test of will. Let me know when you need a good laugh - I'll post pics.

Edited May 23, 2016 by mikiek

[texxn5]

See Mike, all that fretting about plank counts and layouts mostly either get covered with filler or paint.  Bottom line is a nice smooth hull.  Painting the top or coppering the bottom - choices.  do you plan to copper the hull or just paint it?  You're getting there.

John

[mikiek]

I see some of that now John. However, there is a part of me that will not let go.

 

I have and am still doing a lot of reading on the historical boat. I've also received some excellent feedback regarding the history aspect from here. And I have been leaning towards a more historically accurate presentation. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking that way when I started. Regarding your copper question - when I said "built out in the sticks" it was for real. There was nothing in Erie except a lot of trees. Everything was shipped in - materials, people, supplies, etc.  Copper would have been a luxury.

 

I can't find the exact quote at the moment, but the shipmaster overseeing the build even told his guys something like "good is good enough". In other words don't bust a nut on this job. The 2 sister ships were built for one battle. If we won, we wouldn't need them any more. If they won why give them a good ship?

[Don Quixote]

1ST, I use Elmer's Carpenter's Woodfiller. BIG HINT! Reach to the back of the rows and grab from there. They rotate the stock and the stuff in the front with dust all over is already dried by the time you open it. Stuff in the back is FAR more pliable. At least that's the case at ACE Hardware here in the BIG city of Oakdale California. All 20,000 people. Heck, I bet they sell a good 12 bottles a year here!

 

Regarding colors. Send and email here: info@flagshipniagara.org and ask for support from Captain Timothy P. McLaughlin. I had a question regarding the hammocks and he went out and measured and drew me a picture with the measurements included. Seems like it must have had to have something between the wood of the hull and the water, else she's have been too water logged to move at all. Tar would be hard to find in that part of the country. My old stomping grounds. I suppose they could have brought it in over land.

[Don Quixote]

 

If they won why give them a good ship?

Hind sight, we should have let them have the bankrupt arm-pit of a City itself and saved the trees.

[mikiek]

I've started keeping a damp cotton pad in the Elmer's. It really helps moisten up the contents and it turns a lovely shade of purple.

 

Good thought on pinging the Niagara Museum. The problem is there is no concrete answer. Some paintings show black to the waterline. There seem to be a few more paintings of the sister ship Lawrence. Some of those look all black, a few have the yellow/beige band at the bulwark (common for the period). But who's to say they were painted the same?

 

Given the supply/materials situation (or lack of), the no paint theory is a valid argument. The build truly was a "one battle" mindset and given the seasonal weather (can't do anything in the winter) and the need to coordinate with an upcoming Army offensive, I'm thinking the durability requirement was extremely low on the list. A few months afloat was all they needed.

[mikiek]

Moving right along. I've been thru several iterations of filling, sanding and priming. The painting method for applying filler (earlier post) has worked very well. One tough decision was when to stop. Like a broken record I keep saying I want to see the wood, the edges, the butts and maybe even a few minor screw ups. So I stopped after the 3rd iteration. What's left will have to add to the rusticness of the build.

 

 

 

So next was marking a waterline. Nothing revolutionary there - just a block and pencil strapped to it. The only problem was the pencil didn't want to mark on the primer. Ended up using a fine tip marks-a-lot - that may come back to haunt me.

 

The hull color question is resolved. All black hull - white water line. Trying to learn from past mistakes with painting light and dark colors next to each other, the plan was as follows:

 

1. Mark the hull.

2. Spray a wide band of white over the watermark. Remember my comment about the marks-a-lot? Couldn't cover it with the white paint.

3. Cut long strips of masking tape the width of the actual painted waterline. Apply over the white paint band following the marks. Ended up using the marks-a-lot marks as the edge of my painted watermark rather than the center.

4. Paint masking tape with clear acrylic to seal edges.

5. Spray hull with black.

6. Remove masking tape - hopefully there will be a nice clean white line underneath.

 

I've finished thru step 4 and am waiting for the clear paint to dry. Since I'm spraying black I decided to go ahead and spray the gunwale again - I roughed that up during the sanding. I will also spray the rail. So I had to mask off the rest of the bulwark. I got a bad feeling I will end up having to repaint the bulwarks before this is over.

 

 

 

 

You know I just love the lines on this boat. That last pic really shows them off.

 

So I have mixed up a pot of Evil Black

 

 

The next time you see Niagara she will be one Evil Black Mamba...........

Edited May 26, 2016 by mikiek

[Don Quixote]

That's the way you do it! Money for nothing and you chicks for free! I did the exact same thing. Except of course I went for the blue/green for the hull.

[mikiek]

Brian - just curious, did you have to mix that color or did you find some pre-made?

[Don Quixote]

I used what came with the kit with just a tad bit of white and air brushed it.

[mikiek]

As of this evening, still painting. I have a very  bad habit of slathering on the paint with the airbrush. Overall, the results have not been that bad. This time, I am trying to do it properly, ultra light coats and lots of them. I'm not sure what I prefer. My biggest gripe with light coats is if you have to do any sanding, you'll eat right thru the paint and be back to the primer - or worse.

 

This came to light the other nite. I noticed this huge ugly gap between the gunwale and the first plank. I've been staring at this hull for weeks - cleaning up the tiniest of gaps in the planking. Never saw this big honking gap looking right at me. I first tried to fill it with some white glue - not very effective. So half way into the painting I am going back to filling again, which I suppose means sanding and priming as well.    I hate rework.

 

If that isn't enough I am running out of the base color paints for Evil Black. Ordered more today, but given the weekend and holiday it may not be here until Weds or Thurs next week. So I will need to go sparingly with what I have. Also, I am a bit concerned about leaving the waterline masking on for that length of time. Hopefully it will still peel off and not take the underlying paint with it. It's already been on a lot longer than I had anticipated.

 

Niagara is masked over the inner and outer bulwark - above the gunwale, below the rail. I mentioned I was going to repaint the rail from buff to black (it looks really nice) . So I have overage on the masking from the hull and overage from the rail. The masking is now mostly black which makes the hull look a little weird. Here's a few pix

 

 

 

The waterline masking is visible here.

 

 

You can probably see the glossiness of the glue where I tried to fill that gap.

 

I've also made some progress on the deck pump. Haven't painted or assembled yet but here are the parts (still in progress). Heck it might come out a little better than I expected.

 

 

 

A little off topic - if you have heard about the rain and flooding in Texas, I am right in the middle of it. Actually yesterday we were under the very worst of it. A neighbor had 8" in his rain gauge and it was still coming down. Had a lightening strike in the back yard. That was wild. We all know the sound of thunder after the lightening. This was a completely different sound more like an explosion and it happened at the same instant as the strike. I was looking out the window right at it. I don't know what physics are behind it but I guess the air must have vaporized or something. One second I'm seeing he trees out the window, the next second it was as if in a fog - couldn't see a thing. A second or two later back to trees again. I have a number of small electrical items that were fried

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

[Don Quixote]

Sounds like a mild summer day in Michigan where I spent the 1st 40 year of my life. A little light rain, a tiny little lightning bolt. P-Shaw! Like anything that burns, lightning needs oxygen to burn. Once consumed at such an incredible speed (speed of light in fact - 186 thousand miles per second) the air rushes back in filling the vacuum. That's what makes the sound we call thunder.

 

Here in Central California, THEY get "storms" that we call sprinkles.

 

Y'all are getting hammered this year! Us? A balmy 90 degrees and as you know. Dry. 8 % humidity. Very nice indeed.

Edited May 28, 2016 by JustBlowinInTheWind

[Elijah]

Mike, you could peel off the masking tape and re-mask it. The hull is looking great! That lightning strike sound dangerous and a little bit amazing. I'm not sure if I would've wanted to be there or not ! Good luck!

[texxn5]

Hi Mike, got 6" in the garage twice again - that makes 13 times in 12 months and 5 times since March.  Lake is at the edge of the house.  How's your's?  We are now at the highest Lake level since 94 - this is the 2nd highest this lake has ever been.  Only good thing about this flood is we didn't lose electricity.   Did you lose your power with the lightning?  Glad you guys didn't get hurt with yours.  My Davis weather monitor registered 9.89" in 24 hours.  Lake was showing 3.5' above normal and was 1.6' above my bulkhead & boat lift.

Hope all is ok,

John

[mikiek]

Hey John - glad nothing worse happened to you. Water in the garage must be run of the mill for you by now. Hopefully everything is on tables.

 

I'm a block over and usually 14' above lake level. Also at the top of a hill, so flooding doesn't worry me much. I can get cut off though and probably did. Did not lose power however we must have gained quite a bit for a second or two. The strike didn't blow a single breaker but I'm still finding things that don't work any more. So far - network switch, cable wireless receivers, electric ignitor on gas stove, one of the sprinkler systems (spray heads stuck open and running thru all the rain), dishwasher, blower motor for Jacuzzi in bathroom. I'm still trying to figure out if it was a spike in the electrical system or just so close that some sort of electromagnetic energy just fried things.

 

Back to boatworld for a second - Elijah, it takes sooo long to get all the masking down. Besides that waterline mask was a strip of tape about 1/8" wide and I doubt I could get it back exactly where it was. You'll know what I'm talking about when you get to painting.

 

The good news is painting is done! I tried several ways to fill that gap without making a huge mess of the hull. Filling with primer didn't help. Then I tried white glue but it didn't spread evenly and after it dries it's like sanding a rock. Finally went back to the filler painting method - I knew this was the best option but also the messiest and would require the most repainting. Since I was so low on hull color, that concerned me. So I sanded a lot and reprimed the gunwale area, mixed the last of my Evil Black and started spraying.

 

I've finished with about 1 airbrush cup of paint left. I think what saved me was the double action in the airbrush. Still being new to that I usually just press down on the air and throttle the paint all the way back. This time (twice) I was paying close attention to that and spraying at about half volume. I actually finished the first coat with paint left over.

 

All the masking tape did just that. The waterline masking worked. No bleed over anywhere!  I am totally sold on applying clear paint over the tape edges. I started doing that on the bulwark repaint and since then have had no wicking or bleeding. Even with the airbrush spraying right up close. Don't remember who told me to do that but it is a great technique and well worth the extra time.

 

One issue now, the black on the hull is so flat, anything will make it look dirty. And after spraying so lightly, the smallest ding takes of the black and the gray primer shows thru. Even hand and fingerprints show up. I need to get something over the paint pretty quick. The problem is I know, given the stage I'm in, there will be a lot more bumps and dings before it's all over. If I varnish now, I will likely have to touch up with paint later on and I imagine that means varnishing again after that. Another idea is spraying on a few coats of clear paint. Probably not as effective as varnish for protection, but might be good enough so that I can hold off on the varnish until I'm done with the build.  Sounds like I am talking myself into the paint option.

 

Well, I was going to hold off until tomorrow to log all the painting stuff. Since I shot my mouth off I guess I better go take a few pix. Here ya go:

 

 

 

 

 

I'm happy with the decision to go all black on the hull. It's very close to what I have been imagining for some time now. That Evil Black reminds me of a black hole. All those pix were taken with flash, and yet there is no reflection. It just sucks up the light.

 

I believe I mentioned previously I was repainting the hand rail from buff to black. I think that one small move changed the whole character of the paint scheme. Even the forest green inner bulwark color is more palatable now. I'm really pleased. I think the Buff was adding a lot of contrast to the green and red. With the black it all just looks simpler. It all comes together nicely. These shots also give a decent rendering of the Chili Red I mixed for the trim. In a few of them you can see spots of the old fire engine red it replaced. That will be covered by the deck - he hopes.

 

 

 

 

 

A little touch up on the red and I will be ready to set the deck in. Have you heard that before?

 

 

 

 

[texxn5]

Hi Mike, sorry to hear about your electronics and electric.  After the 7" 2 weeks ago I put the Ferrari up on 4 concrete 4" concrete blocks to keep water from getting in it.  It got within 1/2" last time.  Lake level has dropped 18" today so it's back below the bulkheads.  We still have 2' to go yet.  Niagara is looking good.

John

[jbshan]

The colors work much better together now, doncha think?  No more Ringling Brothers.

[mikiek]

Thanks Joel. Could not agree more!  The interior combination and exterior combination are now a lot easier on the eyes. Much more understated than before. Looks like a different ship.  I'm very pleased with the outcome.

[Elijah]

Nice job! She's looking great!

[mikiek]

Thank you Elijah. It's a good feeling when you hit some obstacles and your solutions work out. Painting has not been one of my favorite tasks with this build. But then I ask myself - what if all this were to be stained rather than painted?

[mikiek]

Deck Toys!  Just toying around.

 

 

 

 

Been debating whether or not to repaint the bulwarks one last time. They need touch up, and I could try to do it by hand. But since the hull looks so nice I'm thinking masking and airbrushing. Obviously that would give me a lot better finish. With all the masking I have done, I should have invested in 3-M.

 

I'm also going back over the hull and deck plans to identify all the little parts & pieces that go on and around the deck area. There's enough on my list to keep me busy for a month.

[mikiek]

Hit what I will call a milestone today. Hull painting is complete. A few posts back I mentioned completing the lower hull with the waterline. That looked so nice I felt obligated to repaint the bulwarks and waterways. That and the fact that when I changed tones of red paint I tried to hand paint over the original color. That was about 85% successful - still a few spots of bright red that I was nervous about trying to get by hand - and in the end it all looked hand painted. The airbrush finish was gone. It was inevitable I suppose.

 

Now it was a little trickier. The first (and second) time I didn't have to worry about planks on a hull and handrail, both fully painted. So I needed to plan the order of surfaces to paint. So it went something like this

 

1. Mask & seal the lower hull from the upper gunwale down

2. Mask & seal the handrail

3. Spray the plank shear & waterway with the new red. At this point I didn't care about overspray.

4. Mask & seal the waterway where it meets the inner bulwark. Also masked lower portion of gun ports.

5. Spray inner bulwark green. Of course this covered over the red trim of the oar/gun ports.

6. Spray outer bulwarks Dijon Yellow. This also sprayed over the trim.

7. Remove masking from gunport lower.

8. Mask & seal inner and outer bulwarks so only the port trim is exposed. Very tedious - took about 2 hours.

9. Spray all trim - inner and outer - red. Sure hope my sealing works!

 

Elapsed time was about 3 days for all this. Finished the trim this evening and pulled off all the masking. Wow! I'm really pleased! Just the tiniest spots of bleeding under the tape - touched that up with a detail brush. The edges around the trim are the sharpest yet - the time taken for the masking was worth it.

 

The sealing step has really paid off. I used to do this with whatever color paint I was trying to protect. However using the Clear paint is a lot easier as I could apply it over any color at the same time. This was a time saver as I had various areas of black, red, green and yellow to seal. The clear will go over them all.

 

I'm going to let the colors dry overnight and then hit everything with a few coats of Clear tomorrow for protection.

 

The only down note is that at some point I will have to give the lower hull one last coat of black. It is showing every speck of dust, dings and fingerprints. You can already see it in one of the pics. Without a doubt it will get more abuse before I'm done.

 

Speaking of pics:

 

 

 

Ready for trim painting

 

 

 

 

 

Some day I will learn how to photograph models

So moving on, I have a list of items from plan pages 2 & 3 . Everything from cleats to pinrails to oar holders. And somewhere in all that I WILL install the deck.

 

 

 

 

[mikiek]

Was playing around with the deck and fitting it into the hull. First off remember that everything lives in a garage that is not climate controlled most of the time. I remember back when I was shaping the nibbing strake I had it sized so the deck dropped in but it was a pretty tight fit. A few days later I was horrified when I dropped the deck in again and it fell right in. There was a lot of space around it. Had no idea how I was going fill the space.

 

Seems like over the months sometimes it drops in, sometimes not. Right now it doesn't - not even close. All I can figure is the weather? It's warm and very humid now. Back when I was building the deck it was cool/cold and relatively drier. I suppose there are more paint layers on the waterway now, maybe a little thicker there. It's really weird.

 

I'm going to bring it into the house tonite and see what happens tomorrow.

[mikiek]

Very weird - I seem to have lost a post. It was about making the fashion pieces for the stern and installing the deck.

 

The fashion pieces ended up being 2 parts, both made from a 1/4"x3/32" strip. There was a bit of chiseling and carving out to get a good fit - the reasoning behind the larger sized strip. I left some overhang at the transom. Don't know if this was done on Niagara but I have seen it on other ships.

 

 

 

 

 

I have also installed the deck. With all the shrinkage and swelling I have seen it go thru in the past months I decided it was time to make it permanent. It went in without any real issues, the only hard part was I had to hold it down while the glue set. No way to get clamps in there.

 

 

 

 

There's a few small gaps between the nibbing strake and waterway. I'm thinking the best way to fill those would be white glue with some of the red paint. I would prefer to use filler, but given that all the painting is finished and I would have to sand down the filler and risk scuffing the paint, I don't see that as an option.

 

[Don Quixote]

Okay, now you're just showing off!

[mikiek]

Brian - here is where the showing off starts (if you can call it that).  I started going down my list of items that need to be made/installed on and around the hull - my "honey do" list. There were some things that would make the deck more deck-like. The grates have been made for some time but I did not want to glue them down until the deck was installed.

 

 

 

 

 

Another item was to glue the chock rails at the bow. I started looking at this and realized that the hand rail is not lined up on center. The joint where the starboard and port rail meet was a bit to the port side of center. I wasn't about to tear that off and redo so I ended up sanding the center over to starboard a little. Sounds confusing, but I think you can see what I mean in the pic.

 

 

Had to do some appliance replacements yesterday including the dishwasher. This is the silverware basket from the old one. Might make a good tool holder. As you can see, you put put items in it from the top or the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

[jbshan]

Coming along, coming along.  Clever find with the basket.  You no doubt have a plan to paint the new fashion pieces.

[donrobinson]

Your little lady is coming along real nice Mike

[mikiek]

Thank you Don & Joel. She is beginning to look more ship-like.

 

Joel, yes I will be painting them. Just having a hard time deciding between neon green or orange Seriously, I am already creating a lot of touch up work - the bow rail, fashion pieces, I'm sure there will be more. Should probably start a list of items so I don't overlook something.

[Elijah]

Nice progress! It's a lot of fun putting all the pieces together, isn't it? Just as a reminder, I'm not sure if you noticed, but there is a red splotch on your deck starboard of your aft hatch. I hope that was correct terminology ! She is looking fantastic!